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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Girl in the Golden Atom, by Raymond King
+Cummings
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Girl in the Golden Atom
+
+
+Author: Raymond King Cummings
+
+
+
+Release Date: April 15, 2007  [eBook #21094]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan, and the Project Guenberg
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+   No evidence was found to indicate the copyright on this
+   book was renewed.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM
+
+by
+
+RAY CUMMINGS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO
+MY FRIEND AND MENTOR
+ROBERT H. DAVIS
+WITH GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF
+HIS ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRACTICAL
+ASSISTANCE TO WHICH I OWE MY
+INITIAL SUCCESS
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+       I. A Universe in an Atom
+
+      II. Into the Ring
+
+     III. After Forty-eight Hours
+
+      IV. Lylda
+
+       V. The World in the Ring
+
+      VI. Strategy and Kisses
+
+     VII. A Modern Gulliver
+
+    VIII. "I Must Go Back"
+
+      IX. After Five Years
+
+       X. Testing the Drugs
+
+      XI. The Escape of the Drug
+
+     XII. The Start
+
+    XIII. Perilous Ways
+
+     XIV. Strange Experiences
+
+      XV. The Valley of the Scratch
+
+     XVI. The Pit of Darkness
+
+    XVII. The Welcome of the Master
+
+   XVIII. The Chemist and His Son
+
+     XIX. The City of Arite
+
+      XX. The World of the Ring
+
+     XXI. A Life Worth Living
+
+    XXII. The Trial
+
+   XXIII. Lylda's Plan
+
+    XXIV. Lylda Acts
+
+     XXV. The Escape of Targo
+
+    XXVI. The Abduction
+
+   XXVII. Aura
+
+  XXVIII. The Attack on the Palace
+
+    XXIX. On the Lake
+
+     XXX. Word Music
+
+    XXXI. The Palace of Orlog
+
+   XXXII. An Ant-hill Outraged
+
+  XXXIII. The Rescue of Loto
+
+   XXXIV. The Decision
+
+    XXXV. Good-bye to Arite
+
+   XXXVI. The Fight in the Tunnels
+
+  XXXVII. A Combat of Titans
+
+ XXXVIII. Lost in Size
+
+   XXXIX. A Modern Dinosaur
+
+      XL. The Adventurers' Return
+
+     XLI. The First Christmas
+
+
+
+
+THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A UNIVERSE IN AN ATOM
+
+
+"Then you mean to say there is no such thing as the _smallest_ particle
+of matter?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"You can put it that way if you like," the Chemist replied. "In other
+words, what I believe is that things can be infinitely small just as
+well as they can be infinitely large. Astronomers tell us of the
+immensity of space. I have tried to imagine space as finite. It is
+impossible. How can you conceive the edge of space? Something must be
+beyond--something or nothing, and even that would be more space,
+wouldn't it?"
+
+"Gosh," said the Very Young Man, and lighted another cigarette.
+
+The Chemist resumed, smiling a little. "Now, if it seems probable that
+there is no limit to the immensity of space, why should we make its
+smallness finite? How can you say that the atom cannot be divided? As a
+matter of fact, it already has been. The most powerful microscope will
+show you realms of smallness to which you can penetrate no other way.
+Multiply that power a thousand times, or ten thousand times, and who
+shall say what you will see?"
+
+The Chemist paused, and looked at the intent little group around him.
+
+He was a youngish man, with large features and horn-rimmed glasses, his
+rough English-cut clothes hanging loosely over his broad, spare frame.
+The Banker drained his glass and rang for the waiter.
+
+"Very interesting," he remarked.
+
+"Don't be an ass, George," said the Big Business Man. "Just because you
+don't understand, doesn't mean there is no sense to it."
+
+"What I don't get clearly"--began the Doctor.
+
+"None of it's clear to me," said the Very Young Man.
+
+The Doctor crossed under the light and took an easier chair. "You
+intimated you had discovered something unusual in these realms of the
+infinitely small," he suggested, sinking back luxuriously. "Will you
+tell us about it?"
+
+"Yes, if you like," said the Chemist, turning from one to the other. A
+nod of assent followed his glance, as each settled himself more
+comfortably.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, when you say I have discovered something unusual in
+another world--in the world of the infinitely small--you are right in a
+way. I have seen something and lost it. You won't believe me probably,"
+he glanced at the Banker an instant, "but that is not important. I am
+going to tell you the facts, just as they happened."
+
+The Big Business Man filled up the glasses all around, and the Chemist
+resumed:
+
+"It was in 1910, this problem first came to interest me. I had never
+gone in for microscopic work very much, but now I let it absorb all my
+attention. I secured larger, more powerful instruments--I spent most of
+my money," he smiled ruefully, "but never could I come to the end of the
+space into which I was looking. Something was always hidden
+beyond--something I could almost, but not quite, distinguish.
+
+"Then I realized that I was on the wrong track. My instrument was not
+merely of insufficient power, it was not one-thousandth the power I
+needed.
+
+"So I began to study the laws of optics and lenses. In 1913 I went
+abroad, and with one of the most famous lens-makers of Europe I produced
+a lens of an entirely different quality, a lens that I hoped would give
+me what I wanted. So I returned here and fitted up my microscope that I
+knew would prove vastly more powerful than any yet constructed.
+
+"It was finally completed and set up in my laboratory, and one night I
+went in alone to look through it for the first time. It was in the fall
+of 1914, I remember, just after the first declaration of war.
+
+"I can recall now my feelings at that moment. I was about to see into
+another world, to behold what no man had ever looked on before. What
+would I see? What new realms was I, first of all our human race, to
+enter? With furiously beating heart, I sat down before the huge
+instrument and adjusted the eyepiece.
+
+"Then I glanced around for some object to examine. On my finger I had a
+ring, my mother's wedding-ring, and I decided to use that. I have it
+here." He took a plain gold band from his little finger and laid it on
+the table.
+
+"You will see a slight mark on the outside. That is the place into which
+I looked."
+
+His friends crowded around the table and examined a scratch on one side
+of the band.
+
+"What did you see?" asked the Very Young Man eagerly.
+
+"Gentlemen," resumed the Chemist, "what I saw staggered even my own
+imagination. With trembling hands I put the ring in place, looking
+directly down into that scratch. For a moment I saw nothing. I was like
+a person coming suddenly out of the sunlight into a darkened room. I
+knew there was something visible in my view, but my eyes did not seem
+able to receive the impressions. I realize now they were not yet
+adjusted to the new form of light. Gradually, as I looked, objects of
+definite shape began to emerge from the blackness.
+
+"Gentlemen, I want to make clear to you now--as clear as I can--the
+peculiar aspect of everything that I saw under this microscope. I seemed
+to be inside an immense cave. One side, near at hand, I could now make
+out quite clearly. The walls were extraordinarily rough and indented,
+with a peculiar phosphorescent light on the projections and blackness in
+the hollows. I say phosphorescent light, for that is the nearest word I
+can find to describe it--a curious radiation, quite different from the
+reflected light to which we are accustomed.
+
+"I said that the hollows inside of the cave were blackness. But not
+blackness--the absence of light--as we know it. It was a blackness that
+seemed also to radiate light, if you can imagine such a condition; a
+blackness that seemed not empty, but merely withholding its contents
+just beyond my vision.
+
+"Except for a dim suggestion of roof over the cave, and its floor, I
+could distinguish nothing. After a moment this floor became clearer. It
+seemed to be--well, perhaps I might call it black marble--smooth,
+glossy, yet somewhat translucent. In the foreground the floor was
+apparently liquid. In no way did it differ in appearance from the solid
+part, except that its surface seemed to be in motion.
+
+"Another curious thing was the outlines of all the shapes in view. I
+noticed that no outline held steady when I looked at it directly; it
+seemed to quiver. You see something like it when looking at an object
+through water--only, of course, there was no distortion. It was also
+like looking at something with the radiation of heat between.
+
+"Of the back and other side of the cave, I could see nothing, except in
+one place, where a narrow effulgence of light drifted out into the
+immensity of the distance behind.
+
+"I do not know how long I sat looking at this scene; it may have been
+several hours. Although I was obviously in a cave, I never felt shut
+in--never got the impression of being in a narrow, confined space.
+
+"On the contrary, after a time I seemed to feel the vast immensity of
+the blackness before me. I think perhaps it may have been that path of
+light stretching out into the distance. As I looked it seemed like the
+reversed tail of a comet, or the dim glow of the Milky Way, and
+penetrating to equally remote realms of space.
+
+"Perhaps I fell asleep, or at least there was an interval of time during
+which I was so absorbed in my own thoughts I was hardly conscious of the
+scene before me.
+
+"Then I became aware of a dim shape in the foreground--a shape merged
+with the outlines surrounding it. And as I looked, it gradually assumed
+form, and I saw it was the figure of a young girl, sitting beside the
+liquid pool. Except for the same waviness of outline and phosphorescent
+glow, she had quite the normal aspect of a human being of our own world.
+She was beautiful, according to our own standards of beauty; her long
+braided hair a glowing black, her face, delicate of feature and winsome
+in expression. Her lips were a deep red, although I felt rather than saw
+the colour.
+
+"She was dressed only in a short tunic of a substance I might describe
+as gray opaque glass, and the pearly whiteness of her skin gleamed with
+iridescence.
+
+"She seemed to be singing, although I heard no sound. Once she bent over
+the pool and plunged her hand into it, laughing gaily.
+
+"Gentlemen, I cannot make you appreciate my emotions, when all at once I
+remembered I was looking through a microscope. I had forgotten entirely
+my situation, absorbed in the scene before me. And then, abruptly, a
+great realization came upon me--the realization that everything I saw
+was inside that ring. I was unnerved for the moment at the importance of
+my discovery.
+
+"When I looked again, after the few moments my eye took to become
+accustomed to the new form of light, the scene showed itself as before,
+except that the girl had gone.
+
+"For over a week, each night at the same time I watched that cave. The
+girl came always, and sat by the pool as I had first seen her. Once she
+danced with the wild grace of a wood nymph, whirling in and out the
+shadows, and falling at last in a little heap beside the pool.
+
+"It was on the tenth night after I had first seen her that the accident
+happened. I had been watching, I remember, an unusually long time before
+she appeared, gliding out of the shadows. She seemed in a different
+mood, pensive and sad, as she bent down over the pool, staring into it
+intently. Suddenly there was a tremendous cracking sound, sharp as an
+explosion, and I was thrown backward upon the floor.
+
+"When I recovered consciousness--I must have struck my head on
+something--I found the microscope in ruins. Upon examination I saw that
+its larger lens had exploded--flown into fragments scattered around the
+room. Why I was not killed I do not understand. The ring I picked up
+from the floor; it was unharmed and unchanged.
+
+"Can I make you understand how I felt at this loss? Because of the war
+in Europe I knew I could never replace my lens--for many years, at any
+rate. And then, gentlemen, came the most terrible feeling of all; I knew
+at last that the scientific achievement I had made and lost counted for
+little with me. It was the girl. I realized then that the only being I
+ever could care for was living out her life with her world, and, indeed,
+her whole universe, in an atom of that ring."
+
+The Chemist stopped talking and looked from one to the other of the
+tense faces of his companions.
+
+"It's almost too big an idea to grasp," murmured the Doctor.
+
+"What caused the explosion?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"I do not know." The Chemist addressed his reply to the Doctor, as the
+most understanding of the group. "I can appreciate, though, that through
+that lens I was magnifying tremendously those peculiar light-radiations
+that I have described. I believe the molecules of the lens were
+shattered by them--I had exposed it longer to them that evening than any
+of the others."
+
+The Doctor nodded his comprehension of this theory.
+
+Impressed in spite of himself, the Banker took another drink and leaned
+forward in his chair. "Then you really think that there is a girl now
+inside the gold of that ring?" he asked.
+
+"He didn't say that necessarily," interrupted the Big Business Man.
+
+"Yes, he did."
+
+"As a matter of fact, I do believe that to be the case," said the
+Chemist earnestly. "I believe that every particle of matter in our
+universe contains within it an equally complex and complete a universe,
+which to its inhabitants seems as large as ours. I think, also that the
+whole realm of our interplanetary space, our solar system and all the
+remote stars of the heavens are contained within the atom of some other
+universe as gigantic to us as we are to the universe in that ring."
+
+"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man.
+
+"It doesn't make one feel very important in the scheme of things, does
+it?" remarked the Big Business Man dryly.
+
+The Chemist smiled. "The existence of no individual, no nation, no
+world, nor any one universe is of the least importance."
+
+"Then it would be possible," said the Doctor, "for this gigantic
+universe that contains us in one of its atoms, to be itself contained
+within the atom of another universe, still more gigantic, and so on."
+
+"That is my theory," said the Chemist.
+
+"And in each of the atoms of the rocks of that cave there may be other
+worlds proportionately minute?"
+
+"I can see no reason to doubt it."
+
+"Well, there is no proof, anyway," said the Banker. "We might as well
+believe it."
+
+"I intend to get proof," said the Chemist.
+
+"Do you believe all these innumerable universes, both larger and smaller
+than ours, are inhabited?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"I should think probably most of them are. The existence of life, I
+believe, is as fundamental as the existence of matter without life."
+
+"How do you suppose that girl got in there?" asked the Very Young Man,
+coming out of a brown study.
+
+"What puzzled me," resumed the Chemist, ignoring the question, "is why
+the girl should so resemble our own race. I have thought about it a good
+deal, and I have reached the conclusion that the inhabitants of any
+universe in the next smaller or larger plane to ours probably resemble
+us fairly closely. That ring, you see, is in the same--shall we
+say--environment as ourselves. The same forces control it that control
+us. Now, if the ring had been created on Mars, for instance, I believe
+that the universes within its atoms would be inhabited by beings like
+the Martians--if Mars has any inhabitants. Of course, in planes beyond
+those next to ours, either smaller or larger, changes would probably
+occur, becoming greater as you go in or out from our own universe."
+
+"Good Lord! It makes one dizzy to think of it," said the Big Business
+Man.
+
+"I wish I knew how that girl got in there," sighed the Very Young Man,
+looking at the ring.
+
+"She probably didn't," retorted the Doctor. "Very likely she was created
+there, the same as you were here."
+
+"I think that is probably so," said the Chemist. "And yet, sometimes I
+am not at all sure. She was very human." The Very Young Man looked at
+him sympathetically.
+
+"How are you going to prove your theories?" asked the Banker, in his
+most irritatingly practical way.
+
+The Chemist picked up the ring and put it on his finger. "Gentlemen," he
+said. "I have tried to tell you facts, not theories. What I saw through
+that ultramicroscope was not an unproven theory, but a fact. My theories
+you have brought out by your questions."
+
+"You are quite right," said the Doctor; "but you did mention yourself
+that you hoped to provide proof."
+
+The Chemist hesitated a moment, then made his decision. "I will tell you
+the rest," he said.
+
+"After the destruction of the microscope, I was quite at a loss how to
+proceed. I thought about the problem for many weeks. Finally I decided
+to work along another altogether different line--a theory about which I
+am surprised you have not already questioned me."
+
+He paused, but no one spoke.
+
+"I am hardly ready with proof to-night," he resumed after a moment.
+"Will you all take dinner with me here at the club one week from
+to-night?" He read affirmation in the glance of each.
+
+"Good. That's settled," he said, rising. "At seven, then."
+
+"But what was the theory you expected us to question you about?" asked
+the Very Young Man.
+
+The Chemist leaned on the back of his chair.
+
+"The only solution I could see to the problem," he said slowly, "was to
+find some way of making myself sufficiently small to be able to enter
+that other universe. I have found such a way and one week from to-night,
+gentlemen, with your assistance, I am going to enter the surface of that
+ring at the point where it is scratched!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+INTO THE RING
+
+
+The cigars were lighted and dinner over before the Doctor broached the
+subject uppermost in the minds of every member of the party.
+
+"A toast, gentlemen," he said, raising his glass. "To the greatest
+research chemist in the world. May he be successful in his adventure
+to-night."
+
+The Chemist bowed his acknowledgment.
+
+"You have not heard me yet," he said smiling.
+
+"But we want to," said the Very Young Man impulsively.
+
+"And you shall." He settled himself more comfortably in his chair.
+"Gentlemen, I am going to tell you, first, as simply as possible, just
+what I have done in the past two years. You must draw your own
+conclusions from the evidence I give you.
+
+"You will remember that I told you last week of my dilemma after the
+destruction of the microscope. Its loss and the impossibility of
+replacing it, led me into still bolder plans than merely the visual
+examination of this minute world. I reasoned, as I have told you, that
+because of its physical proximity, its similar environment, so to speak,
+this outer world should be capable of supporting life identical with our
+own.
+
+"By no process of reasoning can I find adequate refutation of this
+theory. Then, again, I had the evidence of my own eyes to prove that a
+being I could not tell from one of my own kind was living there. That
+this girl, other than in size, differs radically from those of our race,
+I cannot believe.
+
+"I saw then but one obstacle standing between me and this other
+world--the discrepancy of size. The distance separating our world from
+this other is infinitely great or infinitely small, according to the
+viewpoint. In my present size it is only a few feet from here to the
+ring on that plate. But to an inhabitant of that other world, we are as
+remote as the faintest stars of the heavens, diminished a thousand
+times."
+
+He paused a moment, signing the waiter to leave the room.
+
+"This reduction of bodily size, great as it is, involves no deeper
+principle than does a light contraction of tissue, except that it must
+be carried further. The problem, then, was to find a chemical,
+sufficiently unharmful to life, that would so act upon the body cells as
+to cause a reduction in bulk, without changing their shape. I had to
+secure a uniform and also a proportionate rate of contraction of each
+cell, in order not to have the body shape altered.
+
+"After a comparatively small amount of research work, I encountered an
+apparently insurmountable obstacle. As you know, gentlemen, our living
+human bodies are held together by the power of the central intelligence
+we call the mind. Every instant during your lifetime your subconscious
+mind is commanding and directing the individual life of each cell that
+makes up your body. At death this power is withdrawn; each cell is
+thrown under its own individual command, and dissolution of the body
+takes place.
+
+"I found, therefore, that I could not act upon the cells separately, so
+long as they were under control of the mind. On the other hand, I could
+not withdraw this power of the subconscious mind without causing death.
+
+"I progressed no further than this for several months. Then came the
+solution. I reasoned that after death the body does not immediately
+disintegrate; far more time elapses than I expected to need for the
+cell-contraction. I devoted my time, then to finding a chemical that
+would temporarily withhold, during the period of cell-contraction, the
+power of the subconscious mind, just as the power of the conscious mind
+is withheld by hypnotism.
+
+"I am not going to weary you by trying to lead you through the maze of
+chemical experiments into which I plunged. Only one of you," he
+indicated the Doctor, "has the technical basis of knowledge to follow
+me. No one had been before me along the path I traversed. I pursued the
+method of pure theoretical deduction, drawing my conclusions from the
+practical results obtained.
+
+"I worked on rabbits almost exclusively. After a few weeks I succeeded
+in completely suspending animation in one of them for several hours.
+There was no life apparently existing during that period. It was not a
+trance or coma, but the complete simulation of death. No harmful results
+followed the revivifying of the animal. The contraction of the cells was
+far more difficult to accomplish; I finished my last experiment less
+than six months ago."
+
+"Then you really have been able to make an animal infinitely small?"
+asked the Big Business Man.
+
+The Chemist smiled. "I sent four rabbits into the unknown last week," he
+said.
+
+"What did they look like going?" asked the Very Young Man. The Chemist
+signed him to be patient.
+
+"The quantity of diminution to be obtained bothered me considerably.
+Exactly how small that other universe is, I had no means of knowing,
+except by the computations I made of the magnifying power of my lens.
+These figures, I know, must necessarily be very inaccurate. Then, again,
+I have no means of judging by the visual rate of diminution of these
+rabbits, whether this contraction is at a uniform rate or accelerated.
+Nor can I tell how long it is prolonged, for the quantity of drug
+administered, as only a fraction of the diminution has taken place when
+the animal passes beyond the range of any microscope I now possess.
+
+"These questions were overshadowed, however, by a far more serious
+problem that encompassed them all.
+
+"As I was planning to project myself into this unknown universe and to
+reach the exact size proportionate to it, I soon realized such a result
+could not be obtained were I in an unconscious state. Only by successive
+doses of the drug, or its retardent about which I will tell you later,
+could I hope to reach the proper size. Another necessity is that I place
+myself on the exact spot on that ring where I wish to enter and to climb
+down among its atoms when I have become sufficiently small to do so.
+Obviously, this would be impossible to one not possessing all his
+faculties and physical strength."
+
+"And did you solve that problem, too?" asked the Banker.
+
+"I'd like to see it done," he added, reading his answer in the other's
+confident smile.
+
+The Chemist produced two small paper packages from his wallet. "These
+drugs are the result of my research," he said. "One of them causes
+contraction, and the other expansion, by an exact reversal of the
+process. Taken together, they produce no effect, and a lesser amount of
+one retards the action of the other." He opened the papers, showing two
+small vials. "I have made them as you see, in the form of tiny pills,
+each containing a minute quantity of the drug. It is by taking them
+successively in unequal amounts that I expect to reach the desired
+size."
+
+"There's one point that you do not mention," said the Doctor. "Those
+vials and their contents will have to change size as you do. How are you
+going to manage that?"
+
+"By experimentation I have found," answered the Chemist, "that any
+object held in close physical contact with the living body being
+contracted is contracted itself at an equal rate. I believe that my
+clothes will be affected also. These vials I will carry strapped under
+my armpits."
+
+"Suppose you should die, or be killed, would the contraction cease?"
+asked the Doctor.
+
+"Yes, almost immediately," replied the Chemist. "Apparently, though I am
+acting through the subconscious mind while its power is held in
+abeyance, when this power is permanently withdrawn by death, the drug no
+longer affects the individual cells. The contraction or expansion ceases
+almost at once."
+
+The Chemist cleared a space before him on the table. "In a well-managed
+club like this," he said, "there should be no flies, but I see several
+around. Do you suppose we can catch one of them?"
+
+"I can," said the Very Young Man, and forthwith he did.
+
+The Chemist moistened a lump of sugar and laid it on the table before
+him. Then, selecting one of the smallest of the pills, he ground it to
+powder with the back of a spoon and sprinkled this powder on the sugar.
+
+"Will you give me the fly, please?"
+
+The Very Young Man gingerly did so. The Chemist held the insect by its
+wings over the sugar. "Will someone lend me one of his shoes?"
+
+The Very Young Man hastily slipped off a dancing pump.
+
+"Thank you," said the Chemist, placing it on the table with a quizzical
+smile.
+
+The rest of the company rose from their chairs and gathered around,
+watching with interested faces what was about to happen.
+
+"I hope he is hungry," remarked the Chemist, and placed the fly gently
+down on the sugar, still holding it by the wings. The insect, after a
+moment, ate a little.
+
+Silence fell upon the group as each watched intently. For a few moments
+nothing happened. Then, almost imperceptibly at first, the fly became
+larger. In another minute it was the size of a large horse-fly,
+struggling to release its wings from the Chemist's grasp. A minute more
+and it was the size of a beetle. No one spoke. The Banker moistened his
+lips, drained his glass hurriedly and moved slightly farther away. Still
+the insect grew; now it was the size of a small chicken, the multiple
+lens of its eyes presenting a most terrifying aspect, while its
+ferocious droning reverberated through the room. Then suddenly the
+Chemist threw it upon the table, covered it with a napkin, and beat it
+violently with the slipper. When all movement had ceased he tossed its
+quivering body into a corner of the room.
+
+"Good God!" ejaculated the Banker, as the white-faced men stared at each
+other. The quiet voice of the Chemist brought them back to themselves.
+"That, gentlemen, you must understand, was only a fraction of the very
+first stage of growth. As you may have noticed, it was constantly
+accelerated. This acceleration attains a speed of possibly fifty
+thousand times that you observed. Beyond that, it is my theory, the
+change is at a uniform rate." He looked at the body of the fly, lying
+inert on the floor. "You can appreciate now, gentlemen, the importance
+of having this growth cease after death."
+
+"Good Lord, I should say so!" murmured the Big Business Man, mopping his
+forehead. The Chemist took the lump of sugar and threw it into the open
+fire.
+
+"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man, "suppose when we were not looking,
+another fly had----"
+
+"Shut up!" growled the Banker.
+
+"Not so skeptical now, eh, George?" said the Big Business Man.
+
+"Can you catch me another fly?" asked the Chemist. The Very Young Man
+hastened to do so. "The second demonstration, gentlemen," said the
+Chemist, "is less spectacular, but far more pertinent than the one you
+have just witnessed." He took the fly by the wings, and prepared another
+lump of sugar, sprinkling a crushed pill from the other vial upon it.
+
+"When he is small enough I am going to try to put him on the ring, if he
+will stay still," said the Chemist.
+
+The Doctor pulled the plate containing the ring forward until it was
+directly under the light, and every one crowded closer to watch; already
+the fly was almost too small to be held. The Chemist tried to set it on
+the ring, but could not; so with his other hand he brushed it lightly
+into the plate, where it lay, a tiny black speck against the gleaming
+whiteness of the china.
+
+"Watch it carefully, gentlemen," he said, as they bent closer.
+
+"It's gone," said the Big Business Man.
+
+"No, I can still see it," said the Doctor. Then he raised the plate
+closer to his face. "Now it's gone," he said.
+
+The Chemist sat down in his chair. "It's probably still there, only too
+small for you to see. In a few minutes, if it took a sufficient amount
+of the drug, it will be small enough to fall between the molecules of
+the plate."
+
+"Do you suppose it will find another inhabited universe down there?"
+asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"Who knows," smiled the Chemist. "Very possibly it will. But the one we
+are interested in is here," he added, touching the ring.
+
+"Is it your intention to take this stuff yourself to-night?" asked the
+Big Business Man.
+
+"If you will give me your help, I think so, yes. I have made all
+arrangements. The club has given us this room in absolute privacy for
+forty-eight hours. Your meals will be served here when you want them,
+and I am going to ask you, gentlemen, to take turns watching and
+guarding the ring during that time. Will you do it?"
+
+"I should say we would," cried the Doctor, and the others nodded assent.
+
+"It is because I wanted you to be convinced of my entire sincerity that
+I have taken you so thoroughly into my confidence. Are those doors
+locked?" The Very Young Man locked them.
+
+"Thank you," said the Chemist, starting to disrobe. In a moment he stood
+before them attired in a woolen bathing-suit of pure white. Over his
+shoulders was strapped tightly a narrow leather harness, supporting two
+silken pockets, one under each armpit. Into each of these he placed one
+of the vials, first laying four pills from one of them upon the table.
+
+At this point the Banker rose from his chair and selected another in the
+further corner of the room. He sank into it a crumpled heap and wiped
+the beads of perspiration from his face with a shaking hand.
+
+"I have every expectation," said the Chemist, "that this suit and
+harness will contract in size uniformly with me. If the harness should
+not, then I shall have to hold the vials in my hand."
+
+On the table, directly under the light, he spread a large silk
+handkerchief, upon which he placed the ring. He then produced a
+teaspoon, which he handed to the Doctor.
+
+"Please listen carefully," he said, "for perhaps the whole success of my
+adventure, and my life itself, may depend upon your actions during the
+next few minutes. You will realize, of course, that when I am still
+large enough to be visible to you I shall be so small that my voice may
+be inaudible. Therefore, I want you to know, now, just what to expect.
+
+"When I am something under a foot high, I shall step upon that
+handkerchief, where you will see my white suit plainly against its black
+surface. When I become less than an inch high, I shall run over to the
+ring and stand beside it. When I have diminished to about a quarter of
+an inch, I shall climb upon it, and, as I get smaller, will follow its
+surface until I come to the scratch.
+
+"I want you to watch me very closely. I may miscalculate the time and
+wait until I am too small to climb upon the ring. Or I may fall off. In
+either case, you will place that spoon beside me and I will climb into
+it. You will then do your best to help me get on the ring. Is all this
+quite clear?"
+
+The Doctor nodded assent.
+
+"Very well, watch me as long as I remain visible. If I have an accident,
+I shall take the other drug and endeavor to return to you at once. This
+you must expect at any moment during the next forty-eight hours. Under
+all circumstances, if I am alive, I shall return at the expiration of
+that time.
+
+"And, gentlemen, let me caution you most solemnly, do not allow that
+ring to be touched until that length of time has expired. Can I depend
+on you?"
+
+"Yes," they answered breathlessly.
+
+"After I have taken the pills," the Chemist continued, "I shall not
+speak unless it is absolutely necessary. I do not know what my
+sensations will be, and I want to follow them as closely as possible."
+He then turned out all the lights in the room with the exception of the
+center electrolier, that shone down directly on the handkerchief and
+ring.
+
+The Chemist looked about him. "Good-by, gentlemen," he said, shaking
+hands all round. "Wish me luck," and without hesitation he placed the
+four pills in his mouth and washed them down with a swallow of water.
+
+Silence fell on the group as the Chemist seated himself and covered his
+face with his hands. For perhaps two minutes the tenseness of the
+silence was unbroken, save by the heavy breathing of the Banker as he
+lay huddled in his chair.
+
+"Oh, my God! He _is_ growing smaller!" whispered the Big Business Man in
+a horrified tone to the Doctor. The Chemist raised his head and smiled
+at them. Then he stood up, steadying himself against a chair. He was
+less than four feet high. Steadily he grew smaller before their
+horrified eyes. Once he made, as if to speak, and the Doctor knelt down
+beside him. "It's all right, good-by," he said in a tiny voice.
+
+Then he stepped upon the handkerchief. The Doctor knelt on the floor
+beside it, the wooden spoon ready in his hand, while the others, except
+the Banker, stood behind him. The figure of the Chemist, standing
+motionless near the edge of the handkerchief, seemed now like a little
+white wooden toy, hardly more than an inch in height.
+
+Waving his hand and smiling, he suddenly started to walk and then ran
+swiftly over to the ring. By the time he reached it, somewhat out of
+breath, he was little more than twice as high as the width of its band.
+Without pausing, he leaped up, and sat astraddle, leaning over and
+holding to it tightly with his hands. In another moment he was on his
+feet, on the upper edge of the ring, walking carefully along its
+circumference towards the scratch.
+
+The Big Business Man touched the Doctor on the shoulder and tried to
+smile. "He's making it," he whispered. As if in answer the little figure
+turned and waved its arms. They could just distinguish its white outline
+against the gold surface underneath.
+
+"I don't see him," said the Very Young Man in a scared voice.
+
+"He's right near the scratch," answered the Doctor, bending closer.
+Then, after a moment, "He's gone." He rose to his feet. "Good Lord! Why
+haven't we a microscope!"
+
+"I never thought of that," said the Big Business Man, "we could have
+watched him for a long time yet."
+
+"Well, he's gone now," returned the Doctor, "and there is nothing for us
+to do but wait."
+
+"I hope he finds that girl," sighed the Very Young Man, as he sat chin
+in hand beside the handkerchief.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+AFTER FORTY-EIGHT HOURS
+
+
+The Banker snored stertorously from his mattress in a corner of the
+room. In an easy-chair near by, with his feet on the table, lay the Very
+Young Man, sleeping also.
+
+The Doctor and the Big Business Man sat by the handkerchief conversing
+in low tones.
+
+"How long has it been now?" asked the latter.
+
+"Just forty hours," answered the Doctor; "and he said that forty-eight
+hours was the limit. He should come back at about ten to-night."
+
+"I wonder if he _will_ come back," questioned the Big Business Man
+nervously. "Lord, I wish _he_ wouldn't snore so loud," he added
+irritably, nodding in the direction of the Banker.
+
+They were silent for a moment, and then he went on: "You'd better try to
+sleep a little while, Frank. You're worn out. I'll watch here."
+
+"I suppose I should," answered the Doctor wearily. "Wake up that kid,
+he's sleeping most of the time."
+
+"No, I'll watch," repeated the Big Business Man. "You lie down over
+there."
+
+The Doctor did so while the other settled himself more comfortably on a
+cushion beside the handkerchief, and prepared for his lonely watching.
+
+The Doctor apparently dropped off to sleep at once, for he did not speak
+again. The Big Business Man sat staring steadily at the ring, bending
+nearer to it occasionally. Every ten or fifteen minutes he looked at his
+watch.
+
+Perhaps an hour passed in this way, when the Very Young Man suddenly sat
+up and yawned. "Haven't they come back yet?" he asked in a sleepy voice.
+
+The Big Business Man answered in a much lower tone. "What do you
+mean--they?"
+
+"I dreamed that he brought the girl back with him," said the Very Young
+Man.
+
+"Well, if he did, they have not arrived. You'd better go back to sleep.
+We've got six or seven hours yet--maybe more."
+
+The Very Young Man rose and crossed the room. "No, I'll watch a while,"
+he said, seating himself on the floor. "What time is it?"
+
+"Quarter to three."
+
+"He said he'd be back by ten to-night. I'm crazy to see that girl."
+
+The Big Business Man rose and went over to a dinner-tray, standing near
+the door. "Lord, I'm hungry. I must have forgotten to eat to-day." He
+lifted up one of the silver covers. What he saw evidently encouraged
+him, for he drew up a chair and began his lunch.
+
+The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette. "It will be the tragedy of my
+life," he said, "if he never comes back."
+
+The Big Business Man smiled. "How about _his_ life?" he answered, but
+the Very Young Man had fallen into a reverie and did not reply.
+
+The Big Business Man finished his lunch in silence and was just about to
+light a cigar when a sharp exclamation brought him hastily to his feet.
+
+"Come here, quick, I see something." The Very Young Man had his face
+close to the ring and was trembling violently.
+
+The other pushed him back. "Let me see. Where?"
+
+"There, by the scratch; he's lying there; I can see him."
+
+The Big Business Man looked and then hurriedly woke the Doctor.
+
+"He's come back," he said briefly; "you can see him there." The Doctor
+bent down over the ring while the others woke up the Banker.
+
+"He doesn't seem to be getting any bigger," said the Very Young Man;
+"he's just lying there. Maybe he's dead."
+
+"What shall we do?" asked the Big Business Man, and made as if to pick
+up the ring. The Doctor shoved him away. "Don't do that!" he said
+sharply. "Do you want to kill him?"
+
+"He's sitting up," cried the Very Young Man. "He's all right."
+
+"He must have fainted," said the Doctor. "Probably he's taking more of
+the drug now."
+
+"He's much larger," said the Very Young Man; "look at him!"
+
+The tiny figure was sitting sideways on the ring, with its feet hanging
+over the outer edge. It was growing perceptibly larger each instant, and
+in a moment it slipped down off the ring and sank in a heap on the
+handkerchief.
+
+"Good Heavens! Look at him!" cried the Big Business Man. "He's all
+covered with blood."
+
+The little figure presented a ghastly sight. As it steadily grew larger
+they could see and recognize the Chemist's haggard face, his cheek and
+neck stained with blood, and his white suit covered with dirt.
+
+"Look at his feet," whispered the Big Business Man. They were horribly
+cut and bruised and greatly swollen.
+
+The Doctor bent over and whispered gently, "What can I do to help you?"
+The Chemist shook his head. His body, lying prone upon the handkerchief,
+had torn it apart in growing. When he was about twelve inches in length
+he raised his head. The Doctor bent closer. "Some brandy, please," said
+a wraith of the Chemist's voice. It was barely audible.
+
+"He wants some brandy," called the Doctor. The Very Young Man looked
+hastily around, then opened the door and dashed madly out of the room.
+When he returned, the Chemist had grown to nearly four feet. He was
+sitting on the floor with his back against the Doctor's knees. The Big
+Business Man was wiping the blood off his face with a damp napkin.
+
+"Here!" cried the Very Young Man, thrusting forth the brandy. The
+Chemist drank a little of it. Then he sat up, evidently somewhat
+revived.
+
+"I seem to have stopped growing," he said. "Let's finish it up now. God!
+how I want to be the right size again," he added fervently.
+
+The Doctor helped him extract the vials from under his arm, and the
+Chemist touched one of the pills to his tongue. Then he sank back,
+closing his eyes. "I think that should be about enough," he murmured.
+
+No one spoke for nearly ten minutes. Gradually the Chemist's body grew,
+the Doctor shifting his position several times as it became larger. It
+seemed finally to have stopped growing, and was apparently nearly its
+former size.
+
+"Is he asleep?" whispered the Very Young Man.
+
+The Chemist opened his eyes.
+
+"No," he answered. "I'm all right now, I think." He rose to his feet,
+the Doctor and the Big Business Man supporting him on either side.
+
+"Sit down and tell us about it," said the Very Young Man. "Did you find
+the girl?"
+
+The Chemist smiled wearily.
+
+"Gentlemen, I cannot talk now. Let me have a bath and some dinner. Then
+I will tell you all about it."
+
+The Doctor rang for an attendant, and led the Chemist to the door,
+throwing a blanket around him as he did so. In the doorway the Chemist
+paused and looked back with a wan smile over the wreck of the room.
+
+"Give me an hour," he said. "And eat something yourselves while I am
+gone." Then he left, closing the door after him.
+
+When he returned, fully dressed in clothes that were ludicrously large
+for him, the room had been straightened up, and his four friends were
+finishing their meal. He took his place among them quietly and lighted a
+cigar.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, I suppose that you are interested to hear what
+happened to me," he began. The Very Young Man asked his usual question.
+
+"Let him alone," said the Doctor. "You will hear it all soon enough."
+
+"Was it all as you expected?" asked the Banker. It was his first remark
+since the Chemist returned.
+
+"To a great extent, yes," answered the Chemist. "But I had better tell
+you just what happened." The Very Young Man nodded his eager agreement.
+
+"When I took those first four pills," began the Chemist in a quiet, even
+tone, "my immediate sensation was a sudden reeling of the senses,
+combined with an extreme nausea. This latter feeling passed after a
+moment.
+
+"You will remember that I seated myself upon the floor and closed my
+eyes. When I opened them my head had steadied itself somewhat, but I was
+oppressed by a curious feeling of drowsiness, impossible to shake off.
+
+"My first mental impression was one of wonderment when I saw you all
+begin to increase in size. I remember standing up beside that chair,
+which was then half again its normal size, and you"--indicating the
+Doctor--"towered beside me as a giant of nine or ten feet high.
+
+"Steadily upward, with a curious crawling motion, grew the room and all
+its contents. Except for the feeling of sleep that oppressed me, I felt
+quite my usual self. No change appeared happening to me, but everything
+else seemed growing to gigantic and terrifying proportions.
+
+"Can you imagine a human being a hundred feet high? That is how you
+looked to me as I stepped upon that huge expanse of black silk and
+shouted my last good-bye to you!
+
+"Over to my left lay the ring, apparently fifteen or twenty feet away. I
+started to walk towards it, but although it grew rapidly larger, the
+distance separating me from it seemed to increase rather than lessen.
+Then I ran, and by the time I arrived it stood higher than my waist--a
+beautiful, shaggy, golden pit.
+
+"I jumped upon its rim and clung to it tightly. I could feel it growing
+beneath me, as I sat. After a moment I climbed upon its top surface and
+started to walk towards the point where I knew the scratch to be.
+
+"I found myself now, as I looked about, walking upon a narrow, though
+ever broadening, curved path. The ground beneath my feet appeared to be
+a rough, yellowish quartz. This path grew rougher as I advanced. Below
+the bulging edges of the path, on both sides, lay a shining black plain,
+ridged and indented, and with a sunlike sheen on the higher portions of
+the ridges. On the one hand this black plain stretched in an unbroken
+expanse to the horizon. On the other, it appeared as a circular valley,
+enclosed by a shining yellow wall.
+
+"The way had now become extraordinarily rough. I bore to the left as I
+advanced, keeping close to the outer edge. The other edge of the path I
+could not see. I clambered along hastily, and after a few moments was
+confronted by a row of rocks and bowlders lying directly across my line
+of progress. I followed their course for a short distance, and finally
+found a space through which I could pass.
+
+"This transverse ridge was perhaps a hundred feet deep. Behind it and
+extending in a parallel direction lay a tremendous valley. I knew then I
+had reached my first objective.
+
+"I sat down upon the brink of the precipice and watched the cavern
+growing ever wider and deeper. Then I realized that I must begin my
+descent if ever I was to reach the bottom. For perhaps six hours I
+climbed steadily downwards. It was a fairly easy descent after the first
+little while, for the ground seemed to open up before me as I advanced,
+changing its contour so constantly that I was never at a loss for an
+easy downward path.
+
+"My feet suffered cruelly from the shaggy, metallic ground, and I soon
+had to stop and rig a sort of protection for the soles of them from a
+portion of the harness over my shoulder. According to the stature I was
+when I reached the bottom, I had descended perhaps twelve thousand feet
+during this time.
+
+"The latter part of the journey found me nearing the bottom of the
+cañon. Objects around me no longer seemed to increase in size, as had
+been constantly the case before, and I reasoned that probably my stature
+was remaining constant.
+
+"I noticed, too, as I advanced, a curious alteration in the form of
+light around me. The glare from above (the sky showed only as a narrow
+dull ribbon of blue) barely penetrated to the depths of the cañon's
+floor. But all about me there was a soft radiance, seeming to emanate
+from the rocks themselves.
+
+"The sides of the cañon were shaggy and rough, beyond anything I had
+ever seen. Huge bowlders, hundreds of feet in diameter, were embedded in
+them. The bottom also was strewn with similar gigantic rocks.
+
+"I surveyed this lonely waste for some time in dismay, not knowing in
+what direction lay my goal. I knew that I was at the bottom of the
+scratch, and by the comparison of its size I realized I was well started
+on my journey.
+
+"I have not told you, gentlemen, that at the time I marked the ring I
+made a deeper indentation in one portion of the scratch and focused the
+microscope upon that. This indentation I now searched for. Luckily I
+found it, less than half a mile away--an almost circular pit, perhaps
+five miles in diameter, with shining walls extending downwards into
+blackness. There seemed no possible way of descending into it, so I sat
+down near its edge to think out my plan of action.
+
+"I realized now that I was faint and hungry, and whatever I did must be
+done quickly. I could turn back to you, or I could go on. I decided to
+risk the latter course, and took twelve more of the pills--three times
+my original dose."
+
+The Chemist paused for a moment, but his auditors were much too intent
+to question him. Then he resumed in his former matter-of-fact tone.
+
+"After my vertigo had passed somewhat--it was much more severe this
+time--I looked up and found my surroundings growing at a far more rapid
+rate than before. I staggered to the edge of the pit. It was opening up
+and widening out at an astounding rate. Already its sides were becoming
+rough and broken, and I saw many places where a descent would be
+possible.
+
+"The feeling of sleep that had formerly merely oppressed me, combined
+now with my physical fatigue and the larger dose of the drug I had
+taken, became almost intolerable. I yielded to it for a moment, lying
+down on a crag near the edge of the pit. I must have become almost
+immediately unconscious, and remained so for a considerable time. I can
+remember a horrible sensation of sliding headlong for what seemed like
+hours. I felt that I was sliding or falling downward. I tried to rouse
+but could not. Then came absolute oblivion.
+
+"When I recovered my senses I was lying partly covered by a mass of
+smooth, shining pebbles. I was bruised and battered from head to
+foot--in a far worse condition than you first saw me when I returned.
+
+"I sat up and looked around. Beside me, sloped upward at an apparently
+increasing angle a tremendous glossy plane. This extended, as far as I
+could see, both to the right and left and upward into the blackness of
+the sky overhead. It was this plane that had evidently broken my fall,
+and I had been sliding down it, bringing with me a considerable mass of
+rocks and bowlders.
+
+"As my senses became clearer I saw I was lying on a fairly level floor.
+I could see perhaps two miles in each direction. Beyond that there was
+only darkness. The sky overhead was unbroken by stars or light of any
+kind. I should have been in total darkness except, as I have told you
+before, that everything, even the blackness itself, seemed to be
+self-luminous.
+
+"The incline down which I had fallen was composed of some smooth
+substance suggesting black marble. The floor underfoot was quite
+different--more of a metallic quality with a curious corrugation. Before
+me, in the dim distance, I could just make out a tiny range of hills.
+
+"I rose, after a time, and started weakly to walk towards these hills.
+Though I was faint and dizzy from my fall and the lack of food, I walked
+for perhaps half an hour, following closely the edge of the incline. No
+change in my visual surroundings occurred, except that I seemed
+gradually to be approaching the line of hills. My situation at this
+time, as I turned it over in my mind, appeared hopelessly desperate, and
+I admit I neither expected to reach my destination nor to be able to
+return to my own world.
+
+"A sudden change in the feeling of the ground underfoot brought me to
+myself; I bent down and found I was treading on vegetation--a tiny
+forest extending for quite a distance in front and to the side of me. A
+few steps ahead a little silver ribbon threaded its way through the
+trees. This I judged to be water.
+
+"New hope possessed me at this discovery. I sat down at once and took a
+portion of another of the pills.
+
+"I must again have fallen asleep. When I awoke, somewhat refreshed, I
+found myself lying beside the huge trunk of a fallen tree. I was in what
+had evidently once been a deep forest, but which now was almost utterly
+desolated. Only here and there were the trees left standing. For the
+most part they were lying in a crushed and tangled mass, many of them
+partially embedded in the ground.
+
+"I cannot express adequately to you, gentlemen, what an evidence of
+tremendous superhuman power this scene presented. No storm, no
+lightning, nor any attack of the elements could have produced more than
+a fraction of the destruction I saw all around me.
+
+"I climbed cautiously upon the fallen tree-trunk, and from this
+elevation had a much better view of my surroundings. I appeared to be
+near one end of the desolated area, which extended in a path about half
+a mile wide and several miles deep. In front, a thousand feet away,
+perhaps, lay the unbroken forest.
+
+"Descending from the tree-trunk I walked in this direction, reaching the
+edge of the woods after possibly an hour of the most arduous traveling
+of my whole journey.
+
+"During this time almost my only thought was the necessity of obtaining
+food. I looked about me as I advanced, and on one of the fallen
+tree-trunks I found a sort of vine growing. This vine bore a profusion
+of small gray berries, much like our huckleberries. They proved similar
+in taste, and I sat down and ate a quantity.
+
+"When I reached the edge of the forest I felt somewhat stronger. I had
+seen up to this time no sign of animal life whatever. Now, as I stood
+silent, I could hear around me all the multitudinous tiny voices of the
+woods. Insect life stirred underfoot, and in the trees above an
+occasional bird flitted to and fro.
+
+"Perhaps I am giving you a picture of our own world. I do not mean to do
+so. You must remember that above me there was no sky, just blackness.
+And yet so much light illuminated the scene that I could not believe it
+was other than what we would call daytime. Objects in the forest were as
+well lighted--better probably than they would be under similar
+circumstances in our own world.
+
+"The trees were of huge size compared to my present stature; straight,
+upstanding trunks, with no branches until very near the top. They were
+bluish-gray in color, and many of them well covered with the berry-vine
+I have mentioned. The leaves overhead seemed to be blue--in fact the
+predominating color of all the vegetation was blue, just as in our world
+it is green. The ground was covered with dead leaves, mould, and a sort
+of gray moss. Fungus of a similar color appeared, but of this I did not
+eat.
+
+"I had penetrated perhaps two miles into the forest when I came
+unexpectedly to the bank of a broad, smooth-flowing river, its silver
+surface seeming to radiate waves of the characteristic phosphorescent
+light. I found it cold, pure-tasting water, and I drank long and deeply.
+Then I remember lying down upon the mossy bank, and in a moment, utterly
+worn out, I again fell asleep."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+LYLDA
+
+
+"I was awakened by the feel of soft hands upon my head and face. With a
+start I sat up abruptly; I rubbed my eyes confusedly for a moment, not
+knowing where I was. When I collected my wits I found myself staring
+into the face of a girl, who was kneeling on the ground before me. I
+recognized her at once--she was the girl of the microscope.
+
+"To say I was startled would be to put it mildly, but I read no fear in
+her expression, only wonderment at my springing so suddenly into life.
+She was dressed very much as I had seen her before. Her fragile beauty
+was the same, and at this closer view infinitely more appealing, but I
+was puzzled to account for her older, more mature look. She seemed to
+have aged several years since the last evening I had seen her through
+the microscope. Yet, undeniably, it was the same girl.
+
+"For some moments we sat looking at each other in wonderment. Then she
+smiled and held out her hand, palm up, speaking a few words as she did
+so. Her voice was soft and musical, and the words of a peculiar quality
+that we generally describe as liquid, for want of a better term. What
+she said was wholly unintelligible, but whether the words were strange
+or the intonation different from anything I had ever heard I could not
+determine.
+
+"Afterwards, during my stay in this other world, I found that the
+language of its people resembled English quite closely, so far as the
+words themselves went. But the intonation with which they were given,
+and the gestures accompanying them, differed so widely from our own that
+they conveyed no meaning.
+
+"The gap separating us, however, was very much less than you would
+imagine. Strangely enough, though, it was not I who learned to speak her
+tongue, but she who mastered mine."
+
+The Very Young Man sighed contentedly.
+
+"We became quite friendly after this greeting," resumed the Chemist,
+"and it was apparent from her manner that she had already conceived her
+own idea of who and what I was.
+
+"For some time we sat and tried to communicate with each other. My words
+seemed almost as unintelligible to her as hers to me, except that
+occasionally she would divine my meaning, clapping her hands in childish
+delight. I made out that she lived at a considerable distance, and that
+her name was Lylda. Finally she pulled me by the hand and led me away
+with a proprietary air that amused and, I must admit, pleased me
+tremendously.
+
+"We had progressed through the woods in this way, hardly more than a few
+hundred yards, when suddenly I found that she was taking me into the
+mouth of a cave or passageway, sloping downward at an angle of perhaps
+twenty degrees. I noticed now, more graphically than ever before, a
+truth that had been gradually forcing itself upon me. Darkness was
+impossible in this new world. We were now shut in between narrow walls
+of crystalline rock, with a roof hardly more than fifty feet above.
+
+"No artificial light of any kind was in evidence, yet the scene was
+lighted quite brightly. This, I have explained, was caused by the
+phosphorescent radiation that apparently emanated from every particle of
+mineral matter in this universe.
+
+"As we advanced, many other tunnels crossed the one we were traveling.
+And now, occasionally, we passed other people, the men dressed similarly
+to Lylda, but wearing their hair chopped off just above the shoulder
+line.
+
+"Later, I found that the men were generally about five and a half feet
+in stature: lean, muscular, and with a grayer, harder look to their skin
+than the iridescent quality that characterized the women.
+
+"They were fine-looking chaps these we encountered. All of them stared
+curiously at me, and several times we were held up by chattering groups.
+The intense whiteness of my skin, for it looked in this light the color
+of chalk, seemed to both awe and amuse them. But they treated me with
+great deference and respect, which I afterwards learned was because of
+Lylda herself, and also what she told them about me.
+
+"At several of the intersections of the tunnels there were wide open
+spaces. One of these we now approached. It was a vast amphitheater, so
+broad its opposite wall was invisible, and it seemed crowded with
+people. At the side, on a rocky niche in the wall, a speaker harangued
+the crowd.
+
+"We skirted the edge of this crowd and plunged into another passageway,
+sloping downward still more steeply. I was so much interested in the
+strange scenes opening before me that I remarked little of the distance
+we traveled. Nor did I question Lylda but seldom. I was absorbed in the
+complete similarity between this and my own world in its general
+characteristics, and yet its complete strangeness in details.
+
+"I felt not the slightest fear. Indeed the sincerity and kindliness of
+these people seemed absolutely genuine, and the friendly, naïve, manner
+of my little guide put me wholly at my ease. Towards me Lylda's manner
+was one of childish delight at a new-found possession. Towards those of
+her own people with whom we talked, I found she preserved a dignity they
+profoundly respected.
+
+"We had hardly more than entered this last tunnel when I heard the sound
+of drums and a weird sort of piping music, followed by shouts and
+cheers. Figures from behind us scurried past, hastening towards the
+sound. Lylda's clasp on my hand tightened, and she pulled me forward
+eagerly. As we advanced the crowd became denser, pushing and shoving us
+about and paying little attention to me.
+
+"In close contact with these people I soon found I was stronger than
+they, and for a time I had no difficulty in shoving them aside and
+opening a path for us. They took my rough handling in all good part, in
+fact, never have I met a more even-tempered, good-natured people than
+these.
+
+"After a time the crowd became so dense we could advance no further. At
+this Lylda signed me to bear to the side. As we approached the wall of
+the cavern she suddenly clasped her hands high over her head and shouted
+something in a clear, commanding voice. Instantly the crowd fell back,
+and in a moment I found myself being pulled up a narrow flight of stone
+steps in the wall and out upon a level space some twenty feet above the
+heads of the people.
+
+"Several dignitaries occupied this platform. Lylda greeted them quietly,
+and they made place for us beside the parapet. I could see now that we
+were at the intersection of a transverse passageway, much broader than
+the one we had been traversing. And now I received the greatest surprise
+I had had in this new world, for down this latter tunnel was passing a
+broad line of men who obviously were soldiers.
+
+"The uniformly straight lines they held; the glint of light on the
+spears they carried upright before them; the weird, but rhythmic, music
+that passed at intervals, with which they kept step; and, above all, the
+cheering enthusiasm of the crowd, all seemed like an echo of my own
+great world above.
+
+"This martial ardor and what it implied came as a distinct shock. All I
+had seen before showed the gentle kindliness of a people whose life
+seemed far removed from the struggle for existence to which our race is
+subjected. I had come gradually to feel that this new world, at least,
+had attained the golden age of security, and that fear, hate, and
+wrongdoing had long since passed away, or had never been born.
+
+"Yet, here before my very eyes, made wholesome by the fires of
+patriotism, stalked the grim God of War. Knowing nothing yet of the
+motive that inspired these people, I could feel no enthusiasm, but only
+disillusionment at this discovery of the omnipotence of strife.
+
+"For some time I must have stood in silence. Lylda, too, seemed to
+divine my thoughts, for she did not applaud, but pensively watched the
+cheering throng below. All at once, with an impulsively appealing
+movement, she pulled me down towards her, and pressed her pretty cheek
+to mine. It seemed almost as if she was asking me to help.
+
+"The line of marching men seemed now to have passed, and the crowd
+surged over into the open space and began to disperse. As the men upon
+the platform with us prepared to leave, Lylda led me over to one of
+them. He was nearly as tall as I, and dressed in the characteristic
+tunic that seemed universally worn by both sexes. The upper part of his
+body was hung with beads, and across his chest was a thin, slightly
+convex stone plate.
+
+"After a few words of explanation from Lylda, he laid his hands on my
+shoulders near the base of the neck, smiling with his words of greeting.
+Then he held one hand before me, palm up, as Lylda had done, and I laid
+mine in it, which seemed the correct thing to do.
+
+"I repeated this performance with two others who joined us, and then
+Lylda pulled me away. We descended the steps and turned into the broader
+tunnel, finding near at hand a sort of sleigh, which Lylda signed me to
+enter. It was constructed evidently of wood, with a pile of leaves, or
+similar dead vegetation, for cushions. It was balanced upon a single
+runner of polished stone, about two feet broad, with a narrow, slightly
+shorter outrider on each side.
+
+"Harnessed to the shaft were two animals, more resembling our reindeers
+than anything else, except that they were gray in color and had no
+horns. An attendant greeted Lylda respectfully as we approached, and
+mounted a seat in front of us when we were comfortably settled.
+
+"We drove in this curious vehicle for over an hour. The floor of the
+tunnel was quite smooth, and we glided down its incline with little
+effort and at a good rate. Our driver preserved the balance of the
+sleigh by shifting his body from side to side so that only at rare
+intervals did the siderunners touch the ground.
+
+"Finally, we emerged into the open, and I found myself viewing a scene
+of almost normal, earthly aspect. We were near the shore of a smooth,
+shining lake. At the side a broad stretch of rolling country, dotted
+here and there with trees, was visible. Near at hand, on the lake shore,
+I saw a collection of houses, most of them low and flat, with one much
+larger on a promontory near the lake.
+
+"Overhead arched a gray-blue, cloudless sky, faintly star-studded, and
+reflected in the lake before me I saw that familiar gleaming trail of
+star-dust, hanging like a huge straightened rainbow overhead, and ending
+at my feet."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE WORLD IN THE RING
+
+
+The Chemist paused and relighted his cigar. "Perhaps you have some
+questions," he suggested.
+
+The Doctor shifted in his chair.
+
+"Did you have any theory at this time"--he wanted to know--"about the
+physical conformation of this world? What I mean is, when you came out
+of this tunnel were you on the inside or the outside of the world?"
+
+"Was it the same sky you saw overhead when you were in the forest?"
+asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"No, it was what he saw in the microscope, wasn't it?" said the Very
+Young Man.
+
+"One at a time, gentlemen," laughed the Chemist. "No, I had no
+particular theory at this time--I had too many other things to think of.
+But I do remember noticing one thing which gave me the clew to a fairly
+complete understanding of this universe. From it I formed a definite
+explanation, which I found was the belief held by the people
+themselves."
+
+"What was that?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"I noticed, as I stood looking over this broad expanse of country before
+me, one vital thing that made it different from any similar scene I had
+ever beheld. If you will stop and think a moment, gentlemen, you will
+realize that in our world here the horizon is caused by a curvature of
+the earth below the straight line of vision. We are on a convex surface.
+But as I gazed over this landscape, and even with no appreciable light
+from the sky I could see a distance of several miles, I saw at once that
+quite the reverse was true. I seemed to be standing in the center of a
+vast shallow bowl. The ground curved upward into the distance. There was
+no distant horizon line, only the gradual fading into shadow of the
+visual landscape. I was standing obviously on a concave surface, on the
+inside, not the outside of the world.
+
+"The situation, as I now understand it, was this: According to the
+smallest stature I reached, and calling my height at that time roughly
+six feet, I had descended into the ring at the time I met Lylda several
+thousand miles, at least. By the way, where is the ring?"
+
+"Here is it," said the Very Young Man, handing it to him. The Chemist
+replaced it on his finger. "It's pretty important to me now," he said,
+smiling.
+
+"You bet!" agreed the Very Young Man.
+
+"You can readily understand how I descended such a distance, if you
+consider the comparative immensity of my stature during the first few
+hours I was in the ring. It is my understanding that this country
+through which I passed is a barren waste--merely the atoms of the
+mineral we call gold.
+
+"Beyond that I entered the hitherto unexplored regions within the atom.
+The country at that point where I found the forest, I was told later, is
+habitable for several hundred miles. Around it on all sides lies a
+desert, across which no one has ever penetrated.
+
+"This surface is the outside of the Oroid world, for so they call their
+earth. At this point the shell between the outer and inner surface is
+only a few miles in thickness. The two surfaces do not parallel each
+other here, so that in descending these tunnels we turned hardly more
+than an eighth of a complete circle.
+
+"At the city of Arite, where Lylda first took me, and where I had my
+first view of the inner surface, the curvature is slightly greater than
+that of our own earth, although, as I have said, in the opposite
+direction."
+
+"And the space within this curvature--the heavens you have
+mentioned--how great do you estimate it to be?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"Based on the curvature at Arite it would be about six thousand miles in
+diameter."
+
+"Has this entire inner surface been explored?" asked the Big Business
+Man.
+
+"No, only a small portion. The Oroids are not an adventurous people.
+There are only two nations, less than twelve million people all
+together, on a surface nearly as extensive as our own."
+
+"How about those stars?" suggested the Very Young Man.
+
+"I believe they comprise a complete universe similar to our own solar
+system. There is a central sun-star, around which many of the others
+revolve. You must understand, though, that these other worlds are
+infinitely tiny compared to the Oroids, and, if inhabited, support
+beings nearly as much smaller than the Oroids, as they are smaller than
+you."
+
+"Great Caesar!" ejaculated the Banker. "Don't let's go into that any
+deeper!"
+
+"Tell us more about Lylda," prompted the Very Young Man.
+
+"You are insatiable on that point," laughed the Chemist. "Well, when we
+left the sleigh, Lylda took me directly into the city of Arite. I found
+it an orderly collection of low houses, seemingly built of uniformly
+cut, highly polished gray blocks. As we passed through the streets, some
+of which were paved with similar blocks, I was reminded of nothing so
+much as the old jingles of Spotless Town. Everything was immaculately,
+inordinately clean. Indeed, the whole city seemed built of some curious
+form of opaque glass, newly scrubbed and polished.
+
+"Children crowded from the doorways as we advanced, but Lylda dispersed
+them with a gentle though firm, command. As we approached the sort of
+castle I have mentioned, the reason for Lylda's authoritative manner
+dawned upon me. She was, I soon learned, daughter of one of the most
+learned men of the nation and was--handmaiden, do you call it?--to the
+queen."
+
+"So it was a monarchy?" interrupted the Big Business Man. "I should
+never have thought that."
+
+"Lylda called their leader a king. In reality he was the president,
+chosen by the people, for a period of about what we would term twenty
+years; I learned something about this republic during my stay, but not
+as much as I would have liked. Politics was not Lylda's strong point,
+and I had to get it all from her, you know.
+
+"For several days I was housed royally in the castle. Food was served me
+by an attendant who evidently was assigned solely to look after my
+needs. At first I was terribly confused by the constant, uniform light,
+but when I found certain hours set aside for sleep, just as we have
+them, when I began to eat regularly, I soon fell into the routine of
+this new life.
+
+"The food was not greatly different from our own, although I found not a
+single article I could identify. It consisted principally of vegetables
+and fruits, the latter of an apparently inexhaustible variety.
+
+"Lylda visited me at intervals, and I learned I was awaiting an audience
+with the king. During these days she made rapid progress with my
+language--so rapid that I shortly gave up the idea of mastering hers.
+
+"And now, with the growing intimacy between us and our ability to
+communicate more readily, I learned the simple, tragic story of her
+race--new details, of course, but the old, old tale of might against
+right, and the tragedy of a trusting, kindly people, blindly thinking
+others as just as themselves.
+
+"For thousands of years, since the master life-giver had come from one
+of the stars to populate the world, the Oroid nation had dwelt in peace
+and security. These people cared nothing for adventure. No restless
+thirst for knowledge led them to explore deeply the limitless land
+surrounding them. Even from the earliest times no struggle for
+existence, no doctrine of the survival of the fittest, hung over them as
+with us. No wild animals harassed them; no savages menaced them. A
+fertile boundless land, a perfect climate, nurtured them tenderly.
+
+"Under such conditions they developed only the softer, gentler qualities
+of nature. Many laws among them were unnecessary, for life was so
+simple, so pleasant to live, and the attainment of all the commonly
+accepted standards of wealth so easy, that the incentive to wrongdoing
+was almost non-existent.
+
+"Strangely enough, and fortunately, too, no individuals rose among them
+with the desire for power. Those in command were respected and loved as
+true workers for the people, and they accepted their authority in the
+same spirit with which it was given. Indolence, in its highest sense the
+wonderful art of doing nothing gracefully, played the greatest part in
+their life.
+
+"Then, after centuries of ease and peaceful security, came the
+awakening. Almost without warning another nation had come out of the
+unknown to attack them.
+
+"With the hurt feeling that comes to a child unjustly treated, they all
+but succumbed to this first onslaught. The abduction of numbers of their
+women, for such seemed the principal purpose of the invaders, aroused
+them sufficiently to repel this first crude attack. Their manhood
+challenged, their anger as a nation awakened for the first time, they
+sprang as one man into the horror we call war.
+
+"With the defeat of the Malites came another period of ease and
+security. They had learned no lesson, but went their indolent way,
+playing through life like the kindly children they were. During this
+last period some intercourse between them and the Malites took place.
+The latter people, whose origin was probably nearly opposite them on the
+inner surface, had by degrees pushed their frontiers closer and closer
+to the Oroids. Trade between the two was carried on to some extent, but
+the character of the Malites, their instinctive desire for power, for
+its own sake, their consideration for themselves as superior beings,
+caused them to be distrusted and feared by their more simple-minded
+companion nation.
+
+"You can almost guess the rest, gentlemen. Lylda told me little about
+the Malites, but the loathing disgust of her manner, her hesitancy, even
+to bring herself to mention them, spoke more eloquently than words.
+
+"Four years ago, as they measure time, came the second attack, and now,
+in a huge arc, only a few hundred miles from Arite, hung the opposing
+armies."
+
+The Chemist paused. "That's the condition I found, gentlemen," he said.
+"Not a strikingly original or unfamiliar situation, was it?"
+
+"By Jove!" remarked the Doctor thoughtfully, "what a curious thing that
+the environment of our earth should so affect that world inside the
+ring. It does make you stop and think, doesn't it, to realize how those
+infinitesimal creatures are actuated now by the identical motives that
+inspire us?"
+
+"Yet it does seem very reasonable, I should say," the Big Business Man
+put in.
+
+"Let's have another round of drinks," suggested the Banker--"this is dry
+work!"
+
+"As a scientist you'd make a magnificent plumber, George!" retorted the
+Big Business Man. "You're about as helpful in this little gathering as
+an oyster!"
+
+The Very Young Man rang for a waiter.
+
+"I've been thinking----" began the Banker, and stopped at the smile of
+his companion. "Shut up!"--he finished--"that's cheap wit, you know!"
+
+"Go on, George," encouraged the other, "you've been thinking----"
+
+"I've been tremendously interested in this extraordinary story"--he
+addressed himself to the Chemist--"but there's one point I don't get at
+all. How many days were you in that ring do you make out?"
+
+"I believe about seven, all told," returned the Chemist.
+
+"But you were only away from us some forty hours. I ought to know, I've
+been right here." He looked at his crumpled clothes somewhat ruefully.
+
+"The change of time-progress was one of the surprises of my adventure,"
+said the Chemist. "It is easily explained in a general way, although I
+cannot even attempt a scientific theory of its cause. But I must confess
+that before I started the possibility of such a thing never even
+occurred to me."
+
+"To get a conception of this change you must analyze definitely what
+time is. We measure and mark it by years, months, and so forth, down to
+minutes and seconds, all based upon the movements of our earth around
+its sun. But that is the measurement of time, not time itself. How would
+you describe time?"
+
+The Big Business Man smiled. "Time," he said, "is what keeps everything
+from happening at once."
+
+"Very clever," laughed the Chemist.
+
+The Doctor leaned forward earnestly. "I should say," he began, "that
+time is the rate at which we live--the speed at which we successively
+pass through our existence from birth to death. It's very hard to put
+intelligibly, but I think I know what I mean," he finished somewhat
+lamely.
+
+"Exactly so. Time is a rate of life-progress, different for every
+individual and only made standard because we take the time-duration of
+the earth's revolution around the sun, which is constant, and
+arbitrarily say: 'That is thirty-one million five hundred thousand odd
+seconds.'"
+
+"Is time different for every individual?" asked the Banker
+argumentatively.
+
+"Think a moment," returned the Chemist. "Suppose your brain were to work
+twice as fast as mine. Suppose your heart beat twice as fast, and all
+the functions of your body were accelerated in a like manner. What we
+call a second would certainly seem to you twice as long. Further than
+that, it actually would be twice as long, so far as you were concerned.
+Your digestion, instead of taking perhaps four hours, would take two.
+You would eat twice as often. The desire for sleep would overtake you
+every twelve hours instead of twenty-four, and you would be satisfied
+with four hours of unconsciousness instead of eight. In short, you would
+soon be living a cycle of two days every twenty-four hours. Time then,
+as we measure it, for you at least would have doubled--you would be
+progressing through life at twice the rate that I am through mine."
+
+"That may be theoretically true," the Big Business Man put in.
+"Practically, though, it has never happened to any one."
+
+"Of course not, to such a great degree as the instance I put. No one,
+except in disease, has ever doubled our average rate of life-progress,
+and lived it out as a balanced, otherwise normal existence. But there is
+no question that to some much smaller degree we all of us differ one
+from the other. The difference, however, is so comparatively slight,
+that we can each one reconcile it to the standard measurement of time.
+And so, outwardly, time is the same for all of us. But inwardly, why, we
+none of us conceive a minute or an hour to be the same! How do you know
+how long a minute is to me? More than that, time is not constant even in
+the same individual. How many hours are shorter to you than others? How
+many days have been almost interminable? No, instead of being constant,
+there is nothing more inconstant than time."
+
+"Haven't you confused two different issues?" suggested the Big Business
+Man. "Granted what you say about the slightly different rate at which
+different individuals live, isn't it quite another thing, how long time
+seems to you. A day when you have nothing to do seems long, or, on the
+other hand, if you are very busy it seems short. But mind, it only
+_seems_ short or long, according to the preoccupation of your mind. That
+has nothing to do with the speed of your progress through life."
+
+"Ah, but I think it has," cried the Chemist. "You forget that we none of
+us have all of the one thing to the exclusion of the other. Time seems
+short; it seems long, and in the end it all averages up, and makes our
+rate of progress what it is. Now if any of us were to go through life in
+a calm, deliberate way, making time seem as long as possible, he would
+live more years, as we measure them, than if he rushed headlong through
+the days, accomplishing always as much as possible. I mean in neither
+case to go to the extremes, but only so far as would be consistent with
+the maintenance of a normal standard of health. How about it?" He turned
+to the Doctor. "You ought to have an opinion on that."
+
+"I rather think you are right," said the latter thoughtfully, "although
+I doubt very much if the man who took it easy would do as much during
+his longer life as the other with his energy would accomplish in the
+lesser time allotted to him."
+
+"Probably he wouldn't," smiled the Chemist; "but that does not alter the
+point we are discussing."
+
+"How does this apply to the world in the ring?" ventured the Very Young
+Man.
+
+"I believe there is a very close relationship between the dimensions of
+length, breadth, and thickness, and time. Just what connection with them
+it has, I have no idea. Yet, when size changes, time-rate changes; you
+have only to look at our own universe to discover that."
+
+"How do you mean?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"Why, all life on our earth, in a general way, illustrates the
+fundamental fact that the larger a thing is, the slower its
+time-progress is. An elephant, for example, lives more years than we
+humans. Yet how quickly a fly is born, matured, and aged! There are
+exceptions, of course; but in a majority of cases it is true.
+
+"So I believe that as I diminished in stature, my time-progress became
+faster and faster. I am seven days older than when I left you day before
+yesterday. I have lived those seven days, gentlemen, there is no getting
+around that fact."
+
+"This is all tremendously interesting," sighed the Big Business Man;
+"but not very comprehensible."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+STRATEGY AND KISSES
+
+
+"It was the morning of my third day in the castle," began the Chemist
+again, "that I was taken by Lylda before the king. We found him seated
+alone in a little anteroom, overlooking a large courtyard, which we
+could see was crowded with an expectant, waiting throng. I must explain
+to you now, that I was considered by Lylda somewhat in the light of a
+Messiah, come to save her nation from the destruction that threatened
+it.
+
+"She believed me a supernatural being, which, indeed, if you come to
+think of it, gentlemen, is exactly what I was. I tried to tell her
+something of myself and the world I had come from, but the difficulties
+of language and her smiling insistence and faith in her own conception
+of me, soon caused me to desist. Thereafter I let her have her own way,
+and did not attempt any explanation again for some time.
+
+"For several weeks before Lylda found me sleeping by the river's edge,
+she had made almost a daily pilgrimage to that vicinity. A maidenly
+premonition, a feeling that had first come to her several years before,
+told her of my coming, and her father's knowledge and scientific beliefs
+had led her to the outer surface of the world as the direction in which
+to look. A curious circumstance, gentlemen, lies in the fact that Lylda
+clearly remembered the occasion when this first premonition came to her.
+And in the telling, she described graphically the scene in the cave,
+where I saw her through the microscope." The Chemist paused an instant
+and then resumed.
+
+"When we entered the presence of the king, he greeted me quietly, and
+made me sit by his side, while Lylda knelt on the floor at our feet. The
+king impressed me as a man about fifty years of age. He was
+smooth-shaven, with black, wavy hair, reaching his shoulders. He was
+dressed in the usual tunic, the upper part of his body covered by a
+quite similar garment, ornamented with a variety of metal objects. His
+feet were protected with a sort of buskin; at his side hung a
+crude-looking metal spear.
+
+"The conversation that followed my entrance, lasted perhaps fifteen
+minutes. Lylda interpreted for us as well as she could, though I must
+confess we were all three at times completely at a loss. But Lylda's
+bright, intelligent little face, and the resourcefulness of her
+gestures, always managed somehow to convey her meaning. The charm and
+grace of her manner, all during the talk, her winsomeness, and the
+almost spiritual kindness and tenderness that characterized her, made me
+feel that she embodied all those qualities with which we of this earth
+idealize our own womanhood.
+
+"I found myself falling steadily under the spell of her beauty,
+until--well, gentlemen, it's childish for me to enlarge upon this side
+of my adventure, you know; but--Lylda means everything to me now, and
+I'm going back for her just as soon as I possibly can."
+
+"Bully for you!" cried the Very Young Man. "Why didn't you bring her
+with you this time?"
+
+"Let him tell it his own way," remonstrated the Doctor. The Very Young
+Man subsided with a sigh.
+
+"During our talk," resumed the Chemist, "I learned from the king that
+Lylda had promised him my assistance in overcoming the enemies that
+threatened his country. He smilingly told me that our charming little
+interpreter had assured him I would be able to do this. Lylda's blushing
+face, as she conveyed this meaning to me, was so thoroughly captivating,
+that before I knew it, and quite without meaning to, I pulled her up
+towards me and kissed her.
+
+"The king was more surprised by far than Lylda, at this extraordinary
+behavior. Obviously neither of them had understood what a kiss meant,
+although Lylda, by her manner evidently comprehended pretty thoroughly.
+
+"I told them then, as simply as possible to enable Lylda to get my
+meaning, that I could, and would gladly aid in their war. I explained
+then, that I had the power to change my stature, and could make myself
+grow very large or very small in a short space of time.
+
+"This, as Lylda evidently told it to him, seemed quite beyond the king's
+understanding. He comprehended finally, or at least he agreed to believe
+my statement.
+
+"This led to the consideration of practical questions of how I was to
+proceed in their war. I had not considered any details before, but now
+they appeared of the utmost simplicity. All I had to do was to make
+myself a hundred or two hundred feet high, walk out to the battle-lines,
+and scatter the opposing army like a set of small boys' playthings."
+
+"What a quaint idea!" said the Banker. "A modern 'Gulliver.'"
+
+The Chemist did not heed this interruption.
+
+"Then like three children we plunged into a discussion of exactly how I
+was to perform these wonders, the king laughing heartily as we pictured
+the attack on my tiny enemies.
+
+"He then asked me how I expected to accomplish this change of size, and
+I very briefly told him of our larger world, and the manner in which I
+had come from it into his. Then I showed the drugs that I still carried
+carefully strapped to me. This seemed definitely to convince the king of
+my sincerity. He rose abruptly to his feet, and strode through a doorway
+on to a small balcony overlooking the courtyard below.
+
+"As he stepped out into the view of the people, a great cheer arose. He
+waited quietly for them to stop, and then raised his hand and began
+speaking. Lylda and I stood hand in hand in the shadow of the doorway,
+out of sight of the crowd, but with it and the entire courtyard plainly
+in our view.
+
+"It was a quadrangular enclosure, formed by the four sides of the
+palace, perhaps three hundred feet across, packed solidly now with
+people of both sexes, the gleaming whiteness of the upper parts of their
+bodies, and their upturned faces, making a striking picture.
+
+"For perhaps ten minutes the king spoke steadily, save when he was
+interrupted by applause. Then he stopped abruptly and, turning, pulled
+Lylda and me out upon the balcony. The enthusiasm of the crowd doubled
+at our appearance. I was pushed forward to the balcony rail, where I
+bowed to the cheering throng.
+
+"Just after I left the king's balcony, I met Lylda's father. He was a
+kindly-faced old gentleman, and took a great interest in me and my
+story. He it was who told me about the physical conformation of his
+world, and he seemed to comprehend my explanation of mine.
+
+"That night it rained--a heavy, torrential downpour, such as we have in
+the tropics. Lylda and I had been talking for some time, and, I must
+confess, I had been making love to her ardently. I broached now the
+principal object of my entrance into her world, and, with an eloquence I
+did not believe I possessed, I pictured the wonders of our own great
+earth above, begging her to come back with me and live out her life with
+mine.
+
+"Much of what I said, she probably did not understand, but the main
+facts were intelligible without question. She listened quietly. When I
+had finished, and waited for her decision, she reached slowly out and
+clutched my shoulders, awkwardly making as if to kiss me. In an instant
+she was in my arms, with a low, happy little cry."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A MODERN GULLIVER
+
+
+"The clattering fall of rain brought us to ourselves. Rising to her
+feet, Lylda pulled me over to the window-opening, and together we stood
+and looked out into the night. The scene before us was beautiful, with a
+weirdness almost impossible to describe. It was as bright as I had ever
+seen this world, for even though heavy clouds hung overhead, the light
+from the stars was never more than a negligible quantity.
+
+"We were facing the lake--a shining expanse of silver radiation, its
+surface shifting and crawling, as though a great undulating blanket of
+silver mist lay upon it. And coming down to meet it from the sky were
+innumerable lines of silver--a vast curtain of silver cords that broke
+apart into great strings of pearls when I followed their downward
+course.
+
+"And then, as I turned to Lylda, I was struck with the extraordinary
+weirdness of her beauty as never before. The reflected light from the
+rain had something the quality of our moonlight. Shining on Lylda's
+body, it tremendously enhanced the iridescence of her skin. And her
+face, upturned to mine, bore an expression of radiant happiness and
+peace such as I had never seen before on a woman's countenance."
+
+The Chemist paused, his voice dying away into silence as he sat lost in
+thought. Then he pulled himself together with a start. "It was a sight,
+gentlemen, the memory of which I shall cherish all my life.
+
+"The next day was that set for my entrance into the war. Lylda and I had
+talked nearly all night, and had decided that she was to return with me
+to my world. By morning the rain had stopped, and we sat together in the
+window-opening, silenced with the thrill of the wonderful new joy that
+had come into our hearts.
+
+"The country before us, under the cloudless, starry sky, stretched
+gray-blue and beautiful into the quivering obscurity of the distance. At
+our feet lay the city, just awakening into life. Beyond, over the
+rolling meadows and fields, wound the road that led out to the
+battle-front, and coming back over it now, we could see an endless line
+of vehicles. These, as they passed through the street beneath our
+window, I found were loaded with soldiers, wounded and dying. I
+shuddered at the sight of one cart in particular, and Lylda pressed
+close to me, pleading with her eyes for my help for her stricken people.
+
+"My exit from the castle was made quite a ceremony. A band of music and
+a guard of several hundred soldiers ushered me forth, walking beside the
+king, with Lylda a few paces behind. As we passed through the streets of
+the city, heading for the open country beyond, we were cheered
+continually by the people who thronged the streets and crowded upon the
+housetops to watch us pass.
+
+"Outside Arite I was taken perhaps a mile, where a wide stretch of
+country gave me the necessary space for my growth. We were standing upon
+a slight hill, below which, in a vast semicircle, fully a hundred
+thousand people were watching.
+
+"And now, for the first time, fear overcame me. I realized my
+situation--saw myself in a detached sort of way--a stranger in this
+extraordinary world, and only the power of my drug to raise me out of
+it. This drug you must remember, I had not as yet taken. Suppose it were
+not to act? Or were to act wrongly?
+
+"I glanced around. The king stood before me, quietly waiting my
+pleasure. Then I turned to Lylda. One glance at her proud, happy little
+face, and my fear left me as suddenly as it had come. I took her in my
+arms and kissed her, there before that multitude. Then I set her down,
+and signified to the king I was ready.
+
+"I took a minute quantity of one of the drugs, and as I had done before,
+sat down with my eyes covered. My sensations were fairly similar to
+those I have already described. When I looked up after a moment, I found
+the landscape dwindling to tiny proportions in quite as astonishing a
+way as it had grown before. The king and Lylda stood now hardly above my
+ankle.
+
+"A great cry arose from the people--a cry wherein horror, fear, and
+applause seemed equally mixed. I looked down and saw thousands of them
+running away in terror.
+
+"Still smaller grew everything within my vision, and then, after a
+moment, the landscape seemed at rest. I kneeled now upon the ground,
+carefully, to avoid treading on any of the people around me. I located
+Lylda and the king after a moment; tiny little creatures less than an
+inch in height. I was then, I estimated, from their viewpoint, about
+four hundred feet tall.
+
+"I put my hand flat upon the ground near Lylda, and after a moment she
+climbed into it, two soldiers lifting her up the side of my thumb as it
+lay upon the ground. In the hollow of my palm, she lay quite securely,
+and very carefully I raised her up towards my face. Then, seeing that
+she was frightened, I set her down again.
+
+"At my feet, hardly more than a few steps away, lay the tiny city of
+Arite and the lake. I could see all around the latter now, and could
+make out clearly a line of hills on the other side. Off to the left the
+road wound up out of sight in the distance. As far as I could see, a
+line of soldiers was passing out along this road--marching four abreast,
+with carts at intervals, loaded evidently with supplies; only
+occasionally, now, vehicles passed in the other direction. Can I make it
+plain to you, gentlemen, my sensations in changing stature? I felt at
+first as though I were tremendously high in the air, looking down as
+from a balloon upon the familiar territory beneath me. That feeling
+passed after a few moments, and I found that my point of view had
+changed. I no longer felt that I was looking down from a balloon, but
+felt as a normal person feels. And again I conceived myself but six feet
+tall, standing above a dainty little toy world. It is all in the
+viewpoint, of course, and never, during all my changes, was I for more
+than a moment able to feel of a different stature than I am at this
+present instant. It was always everything else that changed.
+
+"According to the directions I had received from the king, I started now
+to follow the course of the road. I found it difficult walking, for the
+country was dotted with houses, trees, and cultivated fields, and each
+footstep was a separate problem.
+
+"I progressed in this manner perhaps two miles, covering what the day
+before I would have called about a hundred and thirty or forty miles.
+The country became wilder as I advanced, and now was in places crowded
+with separate collections of troops.
+
+"I have not mentioned the commotion I made in this walk over the
+country. My coming must have been told widely by couriers the night
+before, to soldiers and peasantry alike, or the sight of me would have
+caused utter demoralization. As it was, I must have been terrifying to a
+tremendous degree. I think the careful way in which I picked my course,
+stepping in the open as much as possible, helped to reassure the people.
+Behind me, whenever I turned, they seemed rather more curious than
+fearful, and once or twice when I stopped for a few moments they
+approached my feet closely. One athletic young soldier caught the loose
+end of the string of one of my buskins, as it hung over my instep close
+to the ground and pulled himself up hand over hand, amid the
+enthusiastic cheers of his comrades.
+
+"I had walked nearly another mile, when almost in front of me, and
+perhaps a hundred yards away, I saw a remarkable sight that I did not at
+first understand. The country here was crossed by a winding river
+running in a general way at right angles to my line of progress. At the
+right, near at hand, and on the nearer bank of the river, lay a little
+city, perhaps half the size of Arite, with its back up against a hill.
+
+"What first attracted my attention was that from a dark patch across the
+river which seemed to be woods, pebbles appeared to pop up at intervals,
+traversing a little arc perhaps as high as my knees, and falling into
+the city. I watched for a moment and then I understood. There was a
+siege in progress, and the catapults of the Malites were bombarding the
+city with rocks.
+
+"I went up a few steps closer, and the pebbles stopped coming. I stood
+now beside the city, and as I bent over it, I could see by the battered
+houses the havoc the bombardment had caused. Inert little figures lay in
+the streets, and I bent lower and inserted my thumb and forefinger
+between a row of houses and picked one up. It was the body of a woman,
+partly mashed. I set it down again hastily.
+
+"Then as I stood up, I felt a sting on my leg. A pebble had hit me on
+the shin and dropped at my feet. I picked it up. It was the size of a
+small walnut--a huge bowlder six feet or more in diameter it would have
+been in Lylda's eyes. At the thought of her I was struck with a sudden
+fit of anger. I flung the pebble violently down into the wooded patch
+and leaped over the river in one bound, landing squarely on both feet in
+the woods. It was like jumping into a patch of ferns.
+
+"I stamped about me for a moment until a large part of the woods was
+crushed down. Then I bent over and poked around with my finger.
+Underneath the tangled wreckage of tiny-tree trunks, lay numbers of the
+Malites. I must have trodden upon a thousand or more, as one would stamp
+upon insects.
+
+"The sight sickened me at first, for after all, I could not look upon
+them as other than men, even though they were only the length of my
+thumb-nail. I walked a few steps forward, and in all directions I could
+see swarms of the little creatures running. Then the memory of my coming
+departure from this world with Lylda, and my promise to the king to rid
+his land once for all from these people, made me feel again that they,
+like vermin, were to be destroyed.
+
+"Without looking directly down, I spent the next two hours stamping over
+this entire vicinity. Then I ran two or three miles directly toward the
+country of the Malites, and returning I stamped along the course of the
+river for a mile or so in both directions. Then I walked back to Arite,
+again picking my way carefully among crowds of Oroids, who now feared me
+so little that I had difficulty in moving without stepping upon them.
+
+"When I had regained my former size, which needed two successive doses
+of the drug, I found myself surrounded by a crowd of the Oroids, pushing
+and shoving each other in an effort to get closer to me. The news of my
+success over their enemy have been divined by them, evidently. Lord
+knows it must have been obvious enough what I was going to do, when they
+saw me stride away, a being four hundred feet tall.
+
+"Their enthusiasm and thankfulness now were so mixed with awe and
+reverent worship of me as a divine being, that when I advanced towards
+Arite they opened a path immediately. The king, accompanied by Lylda,
+met me at the edge of the city. The latter threw herself into my arms at
+once, crying with relief to find me the proper size once more.
+
+"I need not go into details of the ceremonies of rejoicing that took
+place this afternoon. These people seemed little given to pomp and
+public demonstration. The king made a speech from his balcony, telling
+them all I had done, and the city was given over to festivities and
+preparations to receive the returning soldiers."
+
+The Chemist pushed his chair back from the table, and moistened his dry
+lips with a swallow of water. "I tell you, gentlemen," he continued, "I
+felt pretty happy that day. It's a wonderful feeling to find yourself
+the savior of a nation."
+
+At that the Doctor jumped to his feet, overturning his chair, and
+striking the table a blow with his fist that made the glasses dance.
+
+"By God!" he fairly shouted, "that's just what you can be here to us."
+
+The Banker looked startled, while the Very Young Man pulled the Chemist
+by the coat in his eagerness to be heard. "A few of those pills," he
+said in a voice that quivered with excitement, "when you are standing in
+France, and you can walk over to Berlin and kick the houses apart with
+the toe of your boot."
+
+"Why not?" said the Big Business Man, and silence fell on the group as
+they stared at each other, awed by the possibilities that opened up
+before them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+"I MUST GO BACK"
+
+
+The tremendous plan for the salvation of their own suffering world
+through the Chemist's discovery occupied the five friends for some time.
+Then laying aside this subject, that now had become of the most vital
+importance to them all, the Chemist resumed his narrative.
+
+"My last evening in the world of the ring, I spent with Lylda,
+discussing our future, and making plans for the journey. I must tell you
+now, gentlemen, that never for a moment during my stay in Arite was I
+once free from an awful dread of this return trip. I tried to conceive
+what it would be like, and the more I thought about it, the more
+hazardous it seemed.
+
+"You must realize, when I was growing smaller, coming in, I was able to
+climb down, or fall or slide down, into the spaces as they opened up.
+Going back, I could only imagine the world as closing in upon me,
+crushing me to death unless I could find a larger space immediately
+above into which I could climb.
+
+"And as I talked with Lylda about this and tried to make her understand
+what I hardly understood myself, I gradually was brought to realize the
+full gravity of the danger confronting us. If only I had made the trip
+out once before, I could have ventured it with her. But as I looked at
+her fragile little body, to expose it to the terrible possibilities of
+such a journey was unthinkable.
+
+"There was another question, too, that troubled me. I had been gone from
+you nearly a week, and you were only to wait for me two days. I believed
+firmly that I was living at a faster rate, and that probably my time
+with you had not expired. But I did not know. And suppose, when I had
+come out on to the surface of the ring, one of you had had it on his
+finger walking along the street? No, I did not want Lylda with me in
+that event.
+
+"And so I told her--made her understand--that she must stay behind, and
+that I would come back for her. She did not protest. She said
+nothing--just looked up into my face with wide, staring eyes and a
+little quiver of her lips. Then she clutched my hand and fell into a
+low, sobbing cry.
+
+"I held her in my arms for a few moments, so little, so delicate, so
+human in her sorrow, and yet almost superhuman in her radiant beauty.
+Soon she stopped crying and smiled up at me bravely.
+
+"Next morning I left. Lylda took me through the tunnels and back into
+the forest by the river's edge where I had first met her. There we
+parted. I can see, now, her pathetic, drooping little figure as she
+trudged back to the tunnel.
+
+"When she had disappeared, I sat down to plan out my journey. I resolved
+now to reverse as nearly as possible the steps I had taken coming in.
+Acting on this decision, I started back to that portion of the forest
+where I had trampled it down.
+
+"I found the place without difficulty, stopping once on the way to eat a
+few berries, and some of the food I carried with me. Then I took a small
+amount of one of the drugs, and in a few moments the forest trees had
+dwindled into tiny twigs beneath my feet.
+
+"I started now to find the huge incline down which I had fallen, and
+when I reached it, after some hours of wandering, I followed its bottom
+edge to where a pile of rocks and dirt marked my former landing-place.
+The rocks were much larger than I remembered them, and so I knew I was
+not so large, now, as when I was here before.
+
+"Remembering the amount of the drug I had taken coming down, I took now
+twelve of the pills. Then, in a sudden panic, I hastily took two of the
+others. The result made my head swim most horribly. I sat or lay down, I
+forget which. When I looked up I saw the hills beyond the river and
+forest coming towards me, yet dwindling away beneath my feet as they
+approached. The incline seemed folding up upon itself, like a telescope.
+As I watched, its upper edge came into view, a curved, luminous line
+against the blackness above. Every instant it crawled down closer, more
+sharply curved, and its inclined surface grew steeper.
+
+"All this time, as I stood still, the ground beneath my feet seemed to
+be moving. It was crawling towards me, and folding up underneath where I
+was standing. Frequently I had to move to avoid rocks that came at me
+and passed under my feet into nothingness.
+
+"Then, all at once, I realized that I had been stepping constantly
+backward, to avoid the inclined wall as it shoved itself towards me. I
+turned to see what was behind, and horror made my flesh creep at what I
+saw. A black, forbidding wall, much like the incline in front, entirely
+encircled me. It was hardly more than half a mile away, and towered four
+or five thousand feet overhead.
+
+"And as I stared in terror, I could see it closing in, the line of its
+upper edge coming steadily closer and lower. I looked wildly around with
+an overpowering impulse to run. In every direction towered this rocky
+wall, inexorably swaying in to crush me.
+
+"I think I fainted. When I came to myself the scene had not greatly
+changed. I was lying at the bottom and against one wall of a circular
+pit, now about a thousand feet in diameter and nearly twice as deep. The
+wall all around I could see was almost perpendicular, and it seemed
+impossible to ascend its smooth, shining sides. The action of the drug
+had evidently worn off, for everything was quite still.
+
+"My fear had now left me, for I remembered this circular pit quite well.
+I walked over to its center, and looking around and up to its top I
+estimated distances carefully. Then I took two more of the pills.
+
+"Immediately the familiar, sickening, crawling sensation began again. As
+the walls closed in upon me, I kept carefully in the center of the pit.
+Steadily they crept in. Now only a few hundred feet away! Now only a few
+paces--and then I reached out and touched both sides at once with my
+hands.
+
+"I tell you, gentlemen, it was a terrifying sensation to stand in that
+well (as it now seemed), and feel its walls closing up with irresistible
+force. But now the upper edge was within reach of my fingers. I leaped
+upward and hung for a moment, then pulled myself up and scrabbled out,
+tumbling in a heap on the ground above. As I recovered myself, I looked
+again at the hole out of which I had escaped; it was hardly big enough
+to contain my fist.
+
+"I knew, now, I was at the bottom of the scratch. But how different it
+looked than before. It seemed this time a long, narrow cañon, hardly
+more than sixty feet across. I glanced up and saw the blue sky overhead,
+flooded with light, that I knew was the space of this room above the
+ring.
+
+"The problem now was quite a different one than getting out of the pit,
+for I saw that the scratch was so deep in proportion to its width that
+if I let myself get too big, I would be crushed by its walls before I
+could jump out. It would be necessary, therefore, to stay comparatively
+small and climb up its side.
+
+"I selected what appeared to be an especially rough section, and took a
+portion of another of the pills. Then I started to climb. After an hour
+the buskins on my feet were torn to fragments, and I was bruised and
+battered as you saw me. I see, now, how I could have made both the
+descent into the ring, and my journey back with comparatively little
+effort, but I did the best I knew at the time.
+
+"When the cañon was about ten feet in width, and I had been climbing
+arduously for several hours, I found myself hardly more than fifteen or
+twenty feet above its bottom. And I was still almost that far from the
+top. With the stature I had then attained, I could have climbed the
+remaining distance easily, but for the fact that the wall above had
+grown too smooth to afford a foothold. The effects of the drug had again
+worn off, and I sat down and prepared to take another dose. I did
+so--the smallest amount I could--and held ready in my hand a pill of the
+other kind in case of emergency. Steadily the walls closed in.
+
+"A terrible feeling of dizziness now came over me. I clutched the rock
+beside which I was sitting, and it seemed to melt like ice beneath my
+grasp. Then I remembered seeing the edge of the cañon within reach above
+my head, and with my last remaining strength, I pulled myself up, and
+fell upon the surface of the ring. You know the rest. I took another
+dose of the powder, and in a few minutes was back among you."
+
+The Chemist stopped speaking, and looked at his friends. "Well," he
+said, "you've heard it all. What do you think of it?"
+
+"It is a terrible thing to me," sighed the Very Young Man, "that you did
+not bring Llyda with you."
+
+"It would have been a terrible thing if I had brought her. But I am
+going back for her."
+
+"When do you plan to go back?" asked the Doctor after a moment.
+
+"As soon as I can--in a day or two," answered the Chemist.
+
+"Before you do your work here? You must not," remonstrated the Big
+Business Man. "Our war here needs you, our nation, the whole cause of
+liberty and freedom needs you. You cannot go."
+
+"Lylda needs me, too," returned the Chemist. "I have an obligation
+towards her now, you know, quite apart from my own feelings. Understand
+me, gentlemen," he continued earnestly, "I do not place myself and mine
+before the great fight for democracy and justice being waged in this
+world. That would be absurd. But it is not quite that way, actually; I
+can go back for Lylda and return here in a week. That week will make
+little difference to the war. On the other hand, if I go to France
+first, it may take me a good many months to complete my task, and during
+that time Lylda will be using up her life several times faster than I.
+No, gentlemen, I am going to her first."
+
+"That week you propose to take," said the Banker slowly, "will cost this
+world thousands of lives that you could save. Have you thought of that?"
+
+The Chemist flushed. "I can recognize the salvation of a nation or a
+cause," he returned hotly, "but if I must choose between the lives of a
+thousand men who are not dependent on me, and the life or welfare of one
+woman who is, I shall choose the woman."
+
+"He's right, you know," said the Doctor, and the Very Young Man agreed
+with him fervently.
+
+Two days later the company met again in the privacy of the clubroom.
+When they had finished dinner, the Chemist began in his usual quiet way:
+
+"I am going to ask you this time, gentlemen, to give me a full week.
+There are four of you--six hours a day of watching for each. It need not
+be too great a hardship. You see," he continued, as they nodded in
+agreement, "I want to spend a longer period in the ring world this time.
+I may never go back, and I want to learn, in the interest of science, as
+much about it as I can. I was there such a short time before, and it was
+all so strange and remarkable, I confess I learned practically nothing.
+
+"I told you all I could of its history. But of its arts, its science,
+and all its sociological and economic questions, I got hardly more than
+a glimpse. It is a world and a people far less advanced than ours, yet
+with something we have not, and probably never will have--the
+universally distributed milk of human kindness. Yes, gentlemen, it is a
+world well worth studying."
+
+The Banker came out of a brown study. "How about your formulas for these
+drugs?" he asked abruptly; "where are they?" The Chemist tapped his
+forehead smilingly. "Well, hadn't you better leave them with us?" the
+Banker pursued. "The hazards of your trip--you can't tell----"
+
+"Don't misunderstand me, gentlemen," broke in the Chemist. "I wouldn't
+give you those formulas if my life and even Lylda's depended on it.
+There again you do not differentiate between the individual and the
+race. I know you four very well. You are my friends, with all the bond
+that friendship implies. I believe in your integrity--each of you I
+trust implicitly. With these formulas you could crush Germany, or you
+could, any one of you, rule the world, with all its treasures for your
+own. These drugs are the most powerful thing for good in the world
+to-day. But they are equally as powerful for evil. I would stake my life
+on what you would do, but I will not stake the life of a nation."
+
+"I know what I'd do if I had the formulas," began the Very Young Man.
+
+"Yes, but I don't know what you'd do," laughed the Chemist. "Don't you
+see I'm right?" They admitted they did, though the Banker acquiesced
+very grudgingly.
+
+"The time of my departure is at hand. Is there anything else, gentlemen,
+before I leave you?" asked the Chemist, beginning to disrobe.
+
+"Please tell Lylda I want very much to meet her," said the Very Young
+Man earnestly, and they all laughed.
+
+When the room was cleared, and the handkerchief and ring in place once
+more, the Chemist turned to them again. "Good-by, my friends," he said,
+holding out his hands. "One week from to-night, at most." Then he took
+the pills.
+
+No unusual incident marked his departure. The last they saw of him he
+was calmly sitting on the ring near the scratch.
+
+Then passed the slow days of watching, each taking his turn for the
+allotted six hours.
+
+By the fifth day, they began to hourly expect the Chemist, but it passed
+through its weary length, and he did not come. The sixth day dragged by,
+and then came the last--the day he had promised would end their
+watching. Still he did not come, and in the evening they gathered, and
+all four watched together, each unwilling to miss the return of the
+adventurer and his woman from another world.
+
+But the minutes lengthened into hours, and midnight found the
+white-faced little group, hopeful yet hopeless, with fear tugging at
+their hearts. A second week passed, and still they watched, explaining
+with an optimism they could none of them feel, the non-appearance of
+their friend. At the end of the second week they met again to talk the
+situation over, a dull feeling of fear and horror possessing them. The
+Doctor was the first to voice what now each of them was forced to
+believe. "I guess it's all useless," he said. "He's not coming back."
+
+"I don't hardly dare give him up," said the Big Business Man.
+
+"Me, too," agreed the Very Young Man sadly.
+
+The Doctor sat for some time in silence, thoughtfully regarding the
+ring. "My friends," he began finally, "this is too big a thing to deal
+with in any but the most careful way. I can't imagine what is going on
+inside that ring, but I do know what is happening in our world, and what
+our friend's return means to civilization here. Under the circumstances,
+therefore, I cannot, I will not give him up.
+
+"I am going to put that ring in a museum and pay for having it watched
+indefinitely. Will you join me?" He turned to the Big Business Man as he
+spoke.
+
+"Make it a threesome," said the Banker gruffly. "What do you take me
+for?" and the Very Young Man sighed with the tragedy of youth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+AFTER FIVE YEARS
+
+
+Four men sat in the clubroom, at their ease in the luxurious leather
+chairs, smoking and talking earnestly. Near the center of the room stood
+a huge mahogany table. On its top, directly in the glare of light from
+an electrolier overhead, was spread a large black silk handkerchief. In
+the center of this handkerchief lay a heavy gold band--a woman's
+wedding-ring.
+
+An old-fashioned valise stood near a corner of the table. Its sides were
+perforated with small brass-rimmed holes; near the top on one side was a
+small square aperture covered with a wire mesh through which one might
+look into the interior. Altogether, from the outside, the bag looked
+much like those used for carrying small animals.
+
+As it lay on the table now its top was partly open. The inside was
+brightly lighted by a small storage battery and electric globe, fastened
+to the side. Near the bottom of the bag was a tiny wire rack, held
+suspended about an inch from the bottom by transverse wires to the
+sides. The inside of the bag was lined with black plush.
+
+On an arm of the Doctor's chair lay two white tin boxes three or four
+inches square. In his hand he held an opened envelope and several letter
+pages.
+
+"A little more than five years ago to-night, my friends," he began
+slowly, "we sat in this room with that"--he indicated the ring--"under
+very different circumstances." After a moment, he went on:
+
+"I think I am right when I say that for five years the thought uppermost
+in our minds has always been that ring and what is going on within one
+of its atoms."
+
+"You bet," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"For five years now we have had the ring watched," continued the Doctor,
+"but Rogers has never returned."
+
+"You asked us here to-night because you had something special to tell
+us," began the Very Young Man, with a questioning look at the valise and
+the ring.
+
+The Doctor smiled. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't mean to be
+aggravating."
+
+"Go ahead in your own way, Frank," the Big Business Man put in. "We'll
+wait if we have to."
+
+The Doctor glanced at the papers in his hand; he had just taken them
+from the envelope. "You are consumed with curiosity, naturally, to know
+what I have to say--why I have brought the ring here to-night.
+Gentlemen, you have had to restrain that curiosity less than five
+minutes; I have had a far greater curiosity to endure--and restrain--for
+over five years.
+
+"When Rogers left us on his last journey into the ring, he gave into my
+keeping, unknown to you, this envelope." The Doctor held it up.
+
+"He made me swear I would keep its existence secret from every living
+being, until the date marked upon it, at which time, in the event of his
+not having returned, it was to be opened. Look at it." The Doctor laid
+the envelope on the table.
+
+"It is inscribed, as you see, 'To be opened by Dr. Frank Adams at
+8 P. M. on September 4th, 1923.' For five years, gentlemen, I kept that
+envelope, knowing nothing of its contents and waiting for the moment
+when I might, with honor, open it. The struggle has been a hard one.
+Many times I have almost been able to persuade myself, in justice to our
+friend's safety--his very life, probably--that it would be best to
+disregard his instructions. But I did not; I waited until the date set
+and then, a little more than a month ago, alone in my office, I opened
+the envelope."
+
+The Doctor leaned forward in his chair and shuffled the papers he held
+in his hand. His three friends sat tense, waiting.
+
+"The envelope contained these papers. Among them is a letter in which I
+am directed to explain everything to you as soon as I succeed in doing
+certain other things. Those things I have now accomplished. So I have
+sent for you. I'll read you the letter first."
+
+No one spoke when the Doctor paused. The Banker drew a long breath. Then
+he bit the end off a fresh cigar and lit it with a shaking hand. The
+Doctor shifted his chair closer to the table under the light.
+
+"The letter is dated September 14th, 1918. It begins: 'This will be read
+at 8 P. M. on September 4th, 1923, by Dr. Frank Adams with no one else
+present. If the envelope has been opened by him previous to that date I
+request him to read no further. If it has fallen into other hands than
+his I can only hope that the reader will immediately destroy it
+unread.'" The Doctor paused an instant, then went on.
+
+"Gentlemen, we are approaching the most important events of our lives.
+An extraordinary duty--a tremendous responsibility, rests with us, of
+all the millions of people on this earth. I ask that you listen most
+carefully."
+
+His admonition was quite unnecessary, for no one could have been more
+intent than the three men silently facing him.
+
+The Doctor continued reading: "'From Dr. Frank Adams, I exact the
+following oath, before he reads further. You, Dr. Adams, will divulge to
+no one, for a period of thirty days, the formulas set down in these
+papers; you will follow implicitly the directions given you; you will do
+nothing that is not expressly stated here. Should you be unable to carry
+out these directions, you will destroy this letter and the formulas, and
+tell no one of their ever having been in existence. I must have your
+oath, Dr. Adams, before you proceed further.'"
+
+The Doctor's voice died away, and he laid the papers on the table.
+
+"Gentlemen," he went on, "later on in the letter I am directed to
+consult with you three, setting before you this whole matter. But before
+I do so I must exact a similar oath from each of you. I must have your
+word of honor, gentlemen, that you will not attempt to transgress the
+instructions given us, and that you will never, by word or action, allow
+a suggestion of what passes between us here in this room to-night, to
+reach any other person. Have I your promise?"
+
+Each of his three hearers found voice to agree. The Banker's face was
+very red, and he mopped his forehead nervously with his handkerchief.
+
+The Doctor picked up the papers. "The letter goes on: 'I am about to
+venture back into the unknown world of the ring. What will befall me
+there I cannot foretell. If by September 4th, 1923, I have not returned,
+or no other mortal has come out of the ring, it is my desire that you
+and the three gentlemen with you at the time of my departure, use this
+discovery of mine for the benefit of humanity in your world, or the
+world in the ring, exactly as I myself would have used it were I there.
+
+"'Should the European war be in progress at that time, I direct that you
+four throw your power on the side of the United States for the defeat of
+the Central Powers. That you will be able to accomplish that defeat I
+cannot doubt.
+
+"'If, on September 4th, 1923, the United States is formally at peace
+with the powers of the world, you are forbidden to use these chemicals
+for any purpose other than joining me in the world of the ring. If any
+among you wish to make the venture, which I hope may be the case, I
+request that you do so.
+
+"'Among these pages you will find a list of fourteen chemicals to be
+used by Dr. Frank Adams during the month following September 4, 1923,
+for the compounding of my powders. Seven of these chemicals (marked A),
+are employed in the drug used to diminish bodily size. Those seven
+marked B are for the drug of opposite action.
+
+"'You will find here a separate description of each chemical. Nine are
+well known and fairly common. Dr. Adams will be able to purchase each of
+them separately without difficulty. Three others will have to be
+especially compounded and I have so stated in the directions for each of
+them. Dr. Adams can have them prepared by any large chemical
+manufacturer; I suggest that he have not more than one of them
+compounded by the same company.
+
+"'The two remaining chemicals must be prepared by Dr. Adams personally.
+Their preparation, while intricate, demands no complicated or extensive
+apparatus. I have tried to explain thoroughly the making of these two
+chemicals, and I believe no insurmountable obstacle will be met in
+completing them.
+
+"'When Dr. Adams has the specified quantities of each of these fourteen
+chemicals in his possession, he will proceed according to my further
+directions to compound the two drugs. If he is successful in making
+these drugs, I direct that he make known to the three other men referred
+to, the contents of this letter, after first exacting an oath from each
+that its provisions will be carried out.
+
+"'I think it probable that Dr. Adams will succeed in compounding these
+two drugs. It also seems probable that at that time the United States no
+longer will be at war. I make the additional assumption that one or more
+of you gentlemen will desire to join me in the ring. Therefore, you will
+find herewith memoranda of my first journey into the ring which I have
+already described to you; I give also the quantities of each drug to be
+taken at various stages of the trip. These notes will refresh your
+memory and will assist you in your journey.
+
+"'I intend to suggest to Dr. Adams to-day when I hand him this letter,
+that in the event of my failure to return within a week, he make some
+adequate provision for guarding the ring in safety. And I must caution
+you now, before starting to join me, if you conclude to do so, that you
+continue this provision, so as to make possible your safe return to your
+own world.
+
+"'If our country is at war at the time you read this, your duty is
+plain. I have no fears regarding your course of action. But if not, I do
+not care to influence unduly your decision about venturing into this
+unknown other world. The danger into which I personally may have fallen
+must count for little with you, in a decision to hazard your own lives.
+I may point out, however, that such a journey successfully accomplished
+cannot fail but be the greatest contribution to science that has ever
+been made. Nor can I doubt but that your coming may prove of tremendous
+benefit to the humanity of this other equally important, though, in our
+eyes, infinitesimal world.
+
+"'I therefore suggest, gentlemen, that you start your journey into the
+ring at 8 P. M. on the evening of November 4, 1923. You will do your
+best to find your way direct to the city of Arite, where, if I am alive,
+I will be awaiting you.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+TESTING THE DRUGS
+
+
+The Doctor laid his papers on the table and looked up into the white
+faces of the three men facing him. "That's all, gentlemen," he said.
+
+For a moment no one spoke, and on the face of each was plainly written
+the evidence of an emotion too deep for words. The Doctor sorted out the
+papers in silence, glanced over them for a moment, and then reached for
+a large metal ash tray that stood near him on the table. Taking a match
+from his pocket he calmly lighted a corner of the papers and dropped
+them burning into the metal bowl. His friends watched him in awed
+silence; only the Very Young Man found words to protest.
+
+"Say now, wait," he began, "why----"
+
+The Doctor looked at him. "The letter requests me to do that," he said.
+
+"But I say, the formulas----" persisted the Very Young Man, looking
+wildly at the burning papers.
+
+The Doctor held up one of the white tin boxes lying on the arm of his
+chair.
+
+"In these tins," he said, "I have vials containing the specified
+quantity of each drug. It is ample for our purpose. I have done my best
+to memorize the formulas. But in any event, I was directed to burn them
+at the time of reading you the letter. I have done so."
+
+The Big Business Man came out of a brown study.
+
+"Just three weeks from to-night," he murmured, "three weeks from
+to-night. It's too big to realize."
+
+The Doctor put the two boxes on the table, turned his chair back toward
+the others, and lighted a cigar.
+
+"Gentlemen, let us go over this matter thoroughly," he began. "We have a
+momentous decision to make. Either we destroy those boxes and their
+contents, or three weeks from to-night some or all of us start our
+journey into the ring. I have had a month to think this matter over; I
+have made my decision.
+
+"I know there is much for you to consider, before you can each of you
+choose your course of action. It is not my desire or intention to
+influence you one way or the other. But we can, if you wish, discuss the
+matter here to-night; or we can wait, if you prefer, until each of you
+has had time to think it out for himself."
+
+"I'm going," the Very Young Man burst out.
+
+His hands were gripping the arms of his chair tightly; his face was very
+pale, but his eyes sparkled.
+
+The Doctor turned to him gravely.
+
+"Your life is at stake, my boy," he said, "this is not a matter for
+impulse."
+
+"I'm going whether any one else does or not," persisted the Very Young
+Man. "You can't stop me, either," he added doggedly. "That letter
+said----"
+
+The Doctor smiled at the youth's earnestness. Then abruptly he held out
+his hand.
+
+"There is no use my holding back my own decision. I am going to attempt
+the trip. And since, as you say, I cannot stop you from going," he added
+with a twinkle, "that makes two of us."
+
+They shook hands. The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette, and began
+pacing up and down the room, staring hard at the floor.
+
+"I can remember trying to imagine how I would feel," began the Big
+Business Man slowly, "if Rogers had asked me to go with him when he
+first went into the ring. It is not a new idea to me, for I have thought
+about it many times in the abstract, during the past five years. But now
+that I am face to face with it in reality, it sort of----" He broke off,
+and smiled helplessly around at his companions.
+
+The Very Young Man stopped in his walk. "Aw, come on in," he began,
+"the----"
+
+"Shut up," growled the Banker, speaking for the first time in many
+minutes.
+
+"I'm sure we would all like to go," said the Doctor. "The point is,
+which of us are best fitted for the trip."
+
+"None of us are married," put in the Very Young Man.
+
+"I've been thinking----" began the Banker. "Suppose we get into the
+ring--how long would we be gone, do you suppose?"
+
+"Who can say?" answered the Doctor smiling. "Perhaps a month--a
+year--many years possibly. That is one of the hazards of the venture."
+
+The Banker went on thoughtfully. "Do you remember that argument we had
+with Rogers about time? Time goes twice as fast, didn't he say, in that
+other world?"
+
+"Two and a half times faster, if I remember rightly, he estimated,"
+replied the Doctor.
+
+The Banker looked at his skinny hands a moment. "I owned up to
+sixty-four once," he said quizzically. "Two years and a half in one
+year. No, I guess I'll let you young fellows tackle that; I'll stay here
+in this world where things don't move so fast."
+
+"Somebody's got to stay," said the Very Young Man. "By golly, you know
+if we're all going into that ring it would be pretty sad to have
+anything happen to it while we were gone."
+
+"That's so," said the Banker, looking relieved. "I never thought of
+that."
+
+"One of us should stay at least," said the Doctor. "We cannot take any
+outsider into our confidence. One of us must watch the others go, and
+then take the ring back to its place in the Museum. We will be gone too
+long a time for one person to watch it here."
+
+The Very Young Man suddenly went to one of the doors and locked it.
+
+"We don't want any one coming in," he explained as he crossed the room
+and locked the others.
+
+"And another thing," he went on, coming back to the table. "When I saw
+the ring at the Biological Society the other day, I happened to think,
+suppose Rogers was to come out on the underneath side? It was lying
+flat, you know, just as it is now." He pointed to where the ring lay on
+the handkerchief before them. "I meant to speak to you about it," he
+added.
+
+"I thought of that," said the Doctor. "When I had that case built to
+bring the ring here, you notice I raised it above the bottom a little,
+holding it suspended in that wire frame."
+
+"We'd better fix up something like that at the Museum, too," said the
+Very Young Man, and went back to his walk.
+
+The Big Business Man had been busily jotting down figures on the back of
+an envelope. "I can be in shape to go in three weeks," he said suddenly.
+
+"Bully for you," said the Very Young Man. "Then it's all settled." The
+Big Business Man went back to his notes.
+
+"I knew what your answer would be," said the Doctor. "My patients can go
+to the devil. This is too big a thing."
+
+The Very Young Man picked up one of the tin boxes. "Tell us how you made
+the powders," he suggested.
+
+The Doctor took the two boxes and opened them. Inside each were a number
+of tiny glass vials. Those in one box were of blue glass; those in the
+other were red.
+
+"These vials," said the Doctor, "contain tiny pellets of the completed
+drug. That for diminishing size I have put in the red vials; those of
+blue are the other drug.
+
+"I had rather a difficult time making them--that is, compared to what I
+anticipated. Most of the chemicals I bought without difficulty. But when
+I came to compound those two myself"--the Doctor smiled--"I used to
+think I was a fair chemist in my student days. But now--well, at least I
+got the results, but only because I have been working almost night and
+day for the past month. And I found myself with a remarkably complete
+experimental laboratory when I finished," he added. "That was yesterday;
+I spent nearly all last night destroying the apparatus, as soon as I
+found that the drugs had been properly made."
+
+"They do work?" said the Very Young Man anxiously.
+
+"They work," answered the Doctor. "I tried them both very carefully."
+
+"On yourself?" said the Big Business Man.
+
+"No, I didn't think that necessary. I used several insects."
+
+"Let's try them now," suggested the Very Young Man eagerly.
+
+"Not the big one," said the Banker. "Once was enough for that."
+
+"All right," the Doctor laughed. "We'll try the other if you like."
+
+The Big Business Man looked around the room. "There's a few flies around
+here if we can catch one," he suggested.
+
+"I'll bet there's a cockroach in the kitchen," said the Very Young Man,
+jumping up.
+
+The Doctor took a brass check from his pocket. "I thought probably you'd
+want to try them out. Will you get that box from the check-room?" He
+handed the check to the Very Young Man, who hurried out of the room. He
+returned in a moment, gingerly carrying a cardboard box with holes
+perforated in the top. The Doctor took the box and lifted the lid
+carefully. Inside, the box was partitioned into two compartments. In one
+compartment were three little lizards about four inches long; in the
+other were two brown sparrows. The Doctor took out one of the sparrows
+and replaced the cover.
+
+"Fine," said the Very Young Man with enthusiasm.
+
+The Doctor reached for the boxes of chemicals.
+
+"Not the big one," said the Banker again, apprehensively.
+
+"Hold him, will you," the Doctor said.
+
+The Very Young Man took the sparrow in his hands.
+
+"Now," continued the Doctor, "what we need is a plate and a little
+water."
+
+"There's a tray," said the Very Young Man, pointing with his hands
+holding the sparrow.
+
+The Doctor took a spoon from the tray and put a little water in it. Then
+he took one of the tiny pellets from a red vial and crushing it in his
+fingers, sprinkled a few grains into that water.
+
+"Hold that a moment, please." The Big Business Man took the proffered
+spoon.
+
+Then the Doctor produced from his pocket a magnifying glass and a tiny
+pair of silver callipers such as are used by jewelers for handling small
+objects.
+
+"What's the idea?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.
+
+"I thought I'd try and put him on the ring," explained the Doctor. "Now,
+then hold open his beak."
+
+The Very Young Man did so, and the Doctor poured the water down the
+bird's throat. Most of it spilled; the sparrow twisted its head
+violently, but evidently some of the liquid had gone down the bird's
+throat.
+
+Silence followed, broken after a moment by the scared voice of the Very
+Young Man. "He's getting smaller, I can feel him. He's getting smaller."
+
+"Hold on to him," cautioned the Doctor. "Bring him over here." They went
+over to the table by the ring, the Banker and the Big Business Man
+standing close beside them.
+
+"Suppose he tries to fly when we let go of him," suggested the Very
+Young Man almost in a whisper.
+
+"He'll probably be too confused," answered the Doctor. "Have you got
+him?" The sparrow was hardly bigger than a large horse-fly now, and the
+Very Young Man was holding it between his thumb and forefinger.
+
+"Better give him to me," said the Doctor. "Set him down."
+
+"He might fly away," remonstrated the Very Young Man.
+
+"No, he won't."
+
+The Very Young Man put the sparrow on the handkerchief beside the ring
+and the Doctor immediately picked it up with the callipers.
+
+"Don't squeeze him," cautioned the Very Young Man.
+
+The sparrow grew steadily smaller, and in a moment the Doctor set it
+carefully on the rim of the ring.
+
+"Get him up by the scratch," whispered the Very Young Man.
+
+The men bent closer over the table, as the Doctor looking through his
+magnifying glass shoved the sparrow slowly along the top of the ring.
+
+"I can't see him," said the Banker.
+
+"I can," said the Very Young Man, "right by the scratch." Then after a
+moment, "he's gone."
+
+"I've got him right over the scratch," said the Doctor, leaning farther
+down. Then he raised his head and laid the magnifying glass and the
+callipers on the table. "He's gone now."
+
+"Gosh," said the Very Young Man, drawing a long breath.
+
+The Banker flung himself into a chair as though exhausted from a great
+physical effort.
+
+"Well, it certainly does work," said the Big Business Man, "there's no
+question about that."
+
+The Very Young Man was shaking the cardboard box in his hands and
+lifting its cover cautiously to see inside. "Let's try a lizard," he
+suggested.
+
+"Oh, what's the use," the Banker protested wearily, "we know it works."
+
+"Well, it can't hurt anything to try it, can it?" the Very Young Man
+urged. "Besides, the more we try it, the more sure we are it will work
+with us when the time comes. You don't want to try it on yourself, now,
+do you?" he added with a grin.
+
+"No, thank you," retorted the Banker with emphasis.
+
+"I think we might as well try it again," said the Big Business Man.
+
+The Very Young Man took one of the tiny lizards from the box, and in a
+moment they had dropped some water containing the drug down its throat.
+"Try to put him on the scratch, too," said the Very Young Man.
+
+When the lizard was small enough the Doctor held it with the callipers
+and then laid it on the ring.
+
+"Look at him walk; look at him walk," whispered the Very Young Man
+excitedly. The lizard, hardly more than an eighth of an inch long now,
+but still plainly visible, was wriggling along the top of the ring.
+"Shove him up by the scratch," he added.
+
+In a moment more the reptile was too small for any but the Doctor with
+his glass to see. "I guess he got there," he said finally with a smile,
+as he straightened up. "He was going fast."
+
+"Well, _that's_ all right," said the Very Young Man with a sigh of
+relief.
+
+The four men again seated themselves; the Big Business Man went back to
+his figures.
+
+"When do you start?" asked the Banker after a moment.
+
+"November 4th--8 P. M.," answered the Doctor. "Three weeks from
+to-night."
+
+"We've a lot to do," said the Banker.
+
+"What will this cost, do you figure?" asked the Big Business Man,
+looking up from his notes.
+
+The Doctor considered a moment.
+
+"We can't take much with us, you know," he said slowly. Then he
+took a sheet of memoranda from his pockets. "I have already spent
+for apparatus and chemicals to prepare the drugs"--he consulted his
+figures--"seventeen hundred and forty dollars, total. What we have still
+to spend will be very little, I should think. I propose we divide it
+three ways as we have been doing with the Museum?"
+
+"Four ways," said the Very Young Man. "I'm no kid any more. I got a good
+job--that is," he added with a rueful air, "I had a good job. To-morrow
+I quit."
+
+"Four ways," the Doctor corrected himself gravely. "I guess we can
+manage that."
+
+"What can we take with us, do you think?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"I think we should try strapping a belt around our waists, with pouches
+in it," said the Doctor. "I doubt if it would contract with our bodies,
+but still it might. If it didn't there would be no harm done; we could
+leave it behind."
+
+"You want food and water," said the Banker. "Remember that barren
+country you are going through."
+
+"And something on our feet," the Big Business Man put in.
+
+"I'd like to take a revolver, too," said the Very Young Man. "It might
+come in awful handy."
+
+"As I remember Rogers's description," said the Doctor thoughtfully, "the
+trip out is more difficult than going down. We mustn't overlook
+preparations for that; it is most imperative we should be careful."
+
+"Say, talking about getting back," burst out the Very Young Man. "I'd
+like to see that other drug work first. It would be pretty rotten to get
+in there and have it go back on us, wouldn't it? Oh, golly!" The Very
+Young Man sank back in his chair overcome by the picture he had conjured
+up.
+
+"I tried it," said the Doctor. "It works."
+
+"I'd like to see it again with something different," said the Big
+Business Man. "It can't do any harm." The Banker looked his protest, but
+said nothing.
+
+"What shall we try, a lizard?" suggested the Very Young Man. The Doctor
+shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"What'll we kill it with? Oh, I know." The Very Young Man picked up a
+heavy metal paper-weight from the desk. "This'll do the trick, fine," he
+added.
+
+Then, laying the paper-weight carefully aside, he dipped up a spoonful
+of water and offered it to the Doctor.
+
+"Not that water this time," said the Doctor, shaking his head with a
+smile.
+
+The Very Young Man looked blank.
+
+"Organisms in it," the Doctor explained briefly. "All right for them to
+get small from the other chemical, but we don't want them to get large
+and come out at us, do we?"
+
+"Holy Smoke, I should say not," said the Very Young Man, gasping; and
+the Banker growled:
+
+"Something's going to happen to us, playing with fire like this."
+
+The Doctor produced a little bottle. "I boiled this water," he said. "We
+can use this."
+
+It took but a moment to give the other drug to one of the remaining
+lizards, although they spilled more of the water than went down its
+throat.
+
+"Don't forget to hit him, and don't you wait very long," said the Banker
+warningly, moving nearer the door.
+
+"Oh, I'll hit him all right, don't worry," said the Very Young Man,
+brandishing the paper-weight.
+
+The Doctor knelt down, and held the reptile pinned to the floor; the
+Very Young Man knelt beside him. Slowly the lizard began to increase in
+size.
+
+"He's growing," said the Banker. "Hit him, boy, what's the use of
+waiting; he's growing."
+
+The lizard was nearly a foot long now, and struggling violently between
+the Doctor's fingers.
+
+"You'd better kill him," said the Doctor, "he might get away from me."
+The Very Young Man obediently brought his weapon down with a thump upon
+the reptile's head.
+
+"Keep on," said the Banker. "Be sure he's dead."
+
+The Very Young Man pounded the quivering body for a moment. The Big
+Business Man handed him a napkin from the tray and the Very Young Man
+wrapped up the lizard and threw it into the waste-basket.
+
+Then he rose to his feet and tossed the paper-weight on to the desk with
+a crash.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he said, turning back to them with flushed face,
+"those drugs sure do work. We're going into the ring all right, three
+weeks from to-night, and nothing on earth can stop us."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE ESCAPE OF THE DRUG
+
+
+For the next hour the four friends busily planned their preparations for
+the journey. When they began to discuss the details of the trip, and
+found themselves face to face with so hazardous an adventure, each
+discovered a hundred things in his private life that needed attention.
+
+The Doctor's phrase, "My patients can go to the devil," seemed to
+relieve his mind of all further responsibility towards his personal
+affairs.
+
+"That's all very well for you," said the Big Business Man, "I've too
+many irons in the fire just to drop everything--there are too many other
+people concerned. And I've got to plan as though I were never coming
+back, you know."
+
+"Your troubles are easy," said the Very Young Man. "I've got a girl. I
+wonder what she'll say. Oh, gosh, I can't tell her where I'm going, can
+I? I never thought of that." He scratched his head with a perplexed air.
+"That's tough on her. Well, I'm glad I'm an orphan, anyway."
+
+The actual necessities of the trip needed a little discussion, for what
+they could take with them amounted to practically nothing.
+
+"As I understand it," said the Banker, "all I have to do is watch you
+start, and then take the ring back to the Museum."
+
+"Take it carefully," continued the Very Young Man. "Remember what it's
+got in it."
+
+"You will give us about two hours to get well started down," said the
+Doctor. "After that it will be quite safe to move the ring. You can take
+it back to the Society in that case I brought it here in."
+
+"Be sure you take it yourself," put in the Very Young Man. "Don't trust
+it to anybody else. And how about having that wire rack fixed for it at
+the Museum," he added. "Don't forget that."
+
+"I'll have that done myself this week," said the Doctor.
+
+They had been talking for perhaps an hour when the Banker got up from
+his chair to get a fresh cigar from a box that lay upon the desk. He
+happened to glance across the room and on the floor in the corner by the
+closed door he saw a long, flat object that had not been there before.
+It was out of the circle of light and being brown against the polished
+hardwood floor, he could not make it out clearly. But something about it
+frightened him.
+
+"What's that over there?" he asked, standing still and pointing.
+
+The Big Business Man rose from his seat and took a few steps in the
+direction of the Banker's outstretched hand. Then with a muttered oath
+he jumped to the desk in a panic and picking up the heavy paper-weight
+flung it violently across the room. It struck the panelled wall with a
+crash and bounded back towards him. At the same instant there came a
+scuttling sound from the floor, and a brown shape slid down the edge of
+the room and stopped in the other corner.
+
+All four men were on their feet in an instant, white-faced and
+trembling.
+
+"Good God," said the Big Business Man huskily, "that thing over
+there--that----"
+
+"Turn on the side lights--the side lights!" shouted the Doctor, running
+across the room.
+
+In the glare of the unshaded globes on the wall the room was brightly
+lighted. On the floor in the corner the horrified men saw a cockroach
+nearly eighteen inches in length, with its head facing the angle of
+wall, and scratching with its legs against the base board as though
+about to climb up. For a moment the men stood silent with surprise and
+terror. Then, as they stared they saw the cockroach was getting larger.
+The Big Business Man laid his hand on the Doctor's arm with a grip that
+made the Doctor wince.
+
+"Good God, man, look at it--it's growing," he said in a voice hardly
+above a whisper.
+
+"It's growing," echoed the Very Young Man; "_it's growing_!"
+
+And then the truth dawned upon them, and brought with it confusion,
+almost panic. The cockroach, fully two feet long now, had raised the
+front end of its body a foot above the floor, and was reaching up the
+wall with its legs.
+
+The Banker made a dash for the opposite door. "Let's get out of here.
+Come on!" he shouted.
+
+The Doctor stopped him. Of the four men, he was the only one who had
+retained his self-possession.
+
+"Listen to me," he said. His voice trembled a little in spite of his
+efforts to control it. "Listen to me. That--that--thing cannot harm us
+yet." He looked from one to the other of them and spoke swiftly. "It's
+gruesome and--and loathsome, but it is not dangerous--yet. But we cannot
+run from it. We must kill it--here, now, before it gets any larger."
+
+The Banker tore himself loose and started again towards the door.
+
+"You fool!" said the Doctor, with a withering look. "Don't you see, it's
+life or death later. That--that thing will be as big as this house in
+half an hour. Don't you know that? As big as this house. We've got to
+kill it now--now."
+
+The Big Business Man ran towards the paper-weight. "I'll hit it with
+this," he said.
+
+"You can't," said the Doctor, "you might miss. We haven't time. Look at
+it," he added.
+
+The cockroach was noticeably larger now--considerably over two feet; it
+had turned away from the wall to face them.
+
+The Very Young Man had said nothing; only stood and stared with
+bloodless face and wide-open eyes. Then suddenly he stooped, and picking
+up a small rug from the floor--a rug some six feet long and half as
+wide--advanced slowly towards the cockroach.
+
+"That's the idea," encouraged the Doctor. "Get it under that. Here, give
+me part of it." He grasped a corner of the rug. "You two go up the other
+sides"--he pointed with his free hand--"and head it off if it runs."
+
+Slowly the four men crept forward. The cockroach, three feet long now,
+was a hideous, horrible object as it stood backed into the corner of the
+room, the front part of its body swaying slowly from side to side.
+
+"We'd better make a dash for it," whispered the Very Young Man; and
+jerking the rug loose from the Doctor's grasp, he leaped forward and
+flung himself headlong upon the floor, with the rug completely under
+him.
+
+"I've got the damned thing. I've got it!" he shouted. "Help--you. Help!"
+
+The three men leaped with him upon the rug, holding it pinned to the
+floor. The Very Young Man, as he lay, could feel the curve of the great
+body underneath, and could hear the scratch of its many legs upon the
+floor.
+
+"Hold down the edges of the rug!" he cried. "Don't let it out. Don't let
+it get out. I'll smash it." He raised himself on his hands and knees,
+and came down heavily. The rug gave under his thrust as the insect
+flattened out; then they could hear again the muffled scratching of its
+legs upon the floor as it raised the rug up under the Very Young Man's
+weight.
+
+"We can't kill it," panted the Big Business Man. "Oh, we can't kill it.
+Good God, how big it is!"
+
+The Very Young Man got to his feet and stood on the bulge of the rug.
+Then he jumped into the air and landed solidly on his heels. There was a
+sharp crack as the shell of the insect broke under the sharpness of his
+blow.
+
+"That did it; that'll do it!" he shouted. Then he leaped again.
+
+"Let me," said the Big Business Man. "I'm heavier"; and he, too, stamped
+upon the rug with his heels.
+
+They could hear the huge shell of the insect's back smash under his
+weight, and when he jumped again, the squash of its body as he mashed it
+down.
+
+"Wait," said the Doctor. "We've killed it."
+
+They eased upon the rug a little, but there was no movement from
+beneath.
+
+"Jump on it harder," said the Very Young Man. "Don't let's take a
+chance. Mash it good."
+
+The Big Business Man continued stamping violently upon the rug; joined
+now by the Very Young Man. The Doctor sat on the floor beside it,
+breathing heavily; the Banker lay in a heap at its foot in utter
+collapse.
+
+As they stamped, the rug continued to flatten down; it sank under their
+tread with a horrible, sickening, squashing sound.
+
+"Let's look," suggested the Very Young Man. "It must be dead"; and he
+threw back a corner of the rug. The men turned sick and faint at what
+they saw.
+
+Underneath the rug, mashed against the floor, lay a great, noisome,
+semi-liquid mass of brown and white. It covered nearly the entire
+under-surface of the rug--a hundred pounds, perhaps, of loathsome pulp
+and shell, from which a stench arose that stopped their breathing.
+
+With a muttered imprecation the Doctor flung back the rug to cover it,
+and sprang to his feet, steadying himself against a chair.
+
+"We killed it in time, thank God," he murmured and dropped into the
+chair, burying his face in his hands.
+
+For a time silence fell upon the room, broken only by the labored
+breathing of the four men. Then the Big Business Man sat up suddenly.
+"Oh, my God, what an experience!" he groaned, and got unsteadily to his
+feet.
+
+The Very Young Man helped the Banker up and led him to a seat by the
+window, which he opened, letting in the fresh, cool air of the night.
+
+"How did the drug get loose, do you suppose?" asked the Very Young Man,
+coming back to the center of the room. He had recovered his composure
+somewhat, though he was still very pale. He lighted a cigarette and sat
+down beside the Doctor.
+
+The Doctor raised his head wearily. "I suppose we must have spilled some
+of it on the floor," he said, "and the cockroach----" He stopped
+abruptly and sprang to his feet.
+
+"Good God!" he cried. "Suppose another one----"
+
+On the bare floor beside the table they came upon a few drops of water.
+
+"That must be it," said the Doctor. He pulled his handkerchief from his
+pocket; then he stopped in thought. "No, that won't do. What shall we do
+with it?" he added. "We must destroy it absolutely. Good Lord, if that
+drug ever gets loose upon the world----"
+
+The Big Business Man joined them.
+
+"We must destroy it absolutely," repeated the Doctor. "We can't just
+wipe it up."
+
+"Some acid," suggested the Big Business Man.
+
+"Suppose something else has got at it already," the Very Young Man said
+in a scared voice, and began hastily looking around the floor of the
+room.
+
+"You're right," agreed the Doctor. "We mustn't take any chance; we must
+look thoroughly."
+
+Joined by the Banker, the four men began carefully going over the room.
+
+"You'd better watch that nothing gets at it," the Very Young Man thought
+suddenly to say. The Banker obediently sat down by the little pool of
+water on the floor.
+
+"And I'll close the window," added the Very Young Man; "something might
+get out."
+
+They searched the room thoroughly, carefully scanning its walls and
+ceiling, but could see nothing out of the ordinary.
+
+"We'll never be quite sure," said the Doctor finally, "but I guess we're
+safe. It's the best we can do now, at any rate."
+
+He joined the Banker by the table. "I'll get some nitric acid," he
+added. "I don't know what else----"
+
+"We'll have to get that out of here, too," said the Big Business Man,
+pointing to the rug. "God knows how we'll explain it."
+
+The Doctor picked up one of the tin boxes of drugs and held it in his
+hand meditatively. Then he looked over towards the rug. From under one
+side a brownish liquid was oozing; the Doctor shuddered.
+
+"My friends," he said, holding up the box before them, "we can realize
+now something of the terrible power we have created and imprisoned here.
+We must guard it carefully, gentlemen, for if it escapes--it will
+destroy the world."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE START
+
+
+On the evening of November 4th, 1923, the four friends again assembled
+at the Scientific Club for the start of their momentous adventure. The
+Doctor was the last to arrive, and found the other three anxiously
+awaiting him. He brought with him the valise containing the ring and a
+suitcase with the drugs and equipment necessary for the journey. He
+greeted his friends gravely.
+
+"The time has come, gentlemen," he said, putting the suitcase on the
+table.
+
+The Big Business Man took out the ring and held it in his hand
+thoughtfully.
+
+"The scene of our new life," he said with emotion. "What does it hold in
+store for us?"
+
+"What time is it?" asked the Very Young Man. "We've got to hurry. We
+want to get started on time--we mustn't be late."
+
+"Everything's ready, isn't it?" asked the Banker. "Who has the belts?"
+
+"They're in my suitcase," answered the Very Young Man. "There it is."
+
+The Doctor laid the ring and handkerchief on the floor under the light
+and began unpacking from his bag the drugs and the few small articles
+they had decided to try and take with them. "You have the food and
+water," he said.
+
+The Big Business Man produced three small flasks of water and six flat,
+square tins containing compressed food. The Very Young Man opened one of
+them. "Chocolate soldiers we are," he said, and laughed.
+
+The Banker was visibly nervous and just a little frightened. "Are you
+sure you haven't forgotten something?" he asked, quaveringly.
+
+"It wouldn't make a great deal of difference if we had," said the
+Doctor, with a smile. "The belts may not contract with us at all; we may
+have to leave them behind."
+
+"Rogers didn't take anything," put in the Very Young Man. "Come on;
+let's get undressed."
+
+The Banker locked the doors and sat down to watch the men make their
+last preparations. They spoke little while they were disrobing; the
+solemnity of what they were about to do both awed and frightened them.
+Only the Very Young Man seemed exhilarated by the excitement of the
+coming adventure.
+
+In a few moments the three men were dressed in their white woolen
+bathing suits. The Very Young Man was the first to be fully equipped.
+
+"I'm ready," he announced. "All but the chemicals. Where are they?"
+
+Around his waist he had strapped a broad cloth belt, with a number of
+pockets fastened to it. On his feet were felt-lined cloth shoes, with
+hard rubber soles; he wore a wrist watch. Under each armpit was fastened
+the pouch for carrying the drugs.
+
+"Left arm for red vials," said the Doctor. "Be sure of that--we mustn't
+get them mixed. Take two of each color." He handed the Very Young Man
+the tin boxes.
+
+All the men were ready in a moment more.
+
+"Five minutes of eight," said the Very Young Man, looking at his watch.
+"We're right on time; let's get started."
+
+The Banker stood up among them. "Tell me what I've got to do," he said
+helplessly. "You're going all but me; I'll be left behind alone."
+
+The Big Business Man laid his hand on the Banker's shoulder
+affectionately. "Don't look so sad, George," he said, with an attempt at
+levity. "We're not leaving you forever--we're coming back."
+
+The Banker pressed his friend's hand. His usual crusty manner was quite
+gone now; he seemed years older.
+
+The Doctor produced the same spoon he had used when the Chemist made his
+departure into the ring. "I've kept it all this time," he said, smiling.
+"Perhaps it will bring us luck." He handed it to the Banker.
+
+"What you have to do is this," he continued seriously. "We shall all
+take an equal amount of the drug at the same instant. I hope it will act
+upon each of us at the same rate, so that we may diminish uniformly in
+size, and thus keep together."
+
+"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man. "I never thought of that. Suppose it
+doesn't?"
+
+"Then we shall have to adjust the difference by taking other smaller
+amounts of the drug. But I think probably it will.
+
+"You must be ready," he went on to the Banker, "to help us on to the
+ring if necessary."
+
+"Or put us back if we fall off," said the Very Young Man. "I'm going to
+sit still until I'm pretty small. Gracious, it's going to feel funny."
+
+"After we have disappeared," continued the Doctor, "you will wait, say,
+until eleven o'clock. Watch the ring carefully--some of us may have to
+come back before that time. At eleven o'clock pack up everything"--he
+looked around the littered room with a smile--"and take the ring back to
+the Biological Society."
+
+"Keep your eye on it on the way back," warned the Very Young Man.
+"Suppose we decide to come out some time later to-night--you can't
+tell."
+
+"I'll watch it all night to-night, here and at the Museum," said the
+Banker, mopping his forehead.
+
+"Good scheme," said the Very Young Man approvingly. "Anything might
+happen."
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said the Doctor, "I believe we're all ready. Come on,
+Will."
+
+The Big Business Man was standing by the window, looking out intently.
+He evidently did not hear the remark addressed to him, for he paid no
+attention. The Doctor joined him.
+
+Through the window they could see the street below, crowded now with
+scurrying automobiles. The sidewalks were thronged with
+people--theater-goers, hurrying forward, seeking eagerly their evening's
+pleasure. It had been raining, and the wet pavements shone with long,
+blurred yellow glints from the thousands of lights above. Down the
+street they could see a huge blazing theater sign, with the name of a
+popular actress spelt in letters of fire.
+
+The Big Business Man threw up the window sash and took a deep breath of
+the moist, cool air of the night.
+
+"Good-by, old world," he murmured with emotion. "Shall I see you again,
+I wonder?" He stood a moment longer, silently staring at the scene
+before him. Then abruptly he closed the window, pulled down the shade,
+and turned back to the room.
+
+"Come on," said the Very Young Man impatiently. "It's five minutes after
+eight. Let's get started."
+
+"Just one thing before we start," said the Doctor, as they gathered in
+the center of the room. "We must understand, gentlemen, from the moment
+we first take the drug, until we reach our final smallest size, it is
+imperative, or at least highly desirable, that we keep together. We
+start by taking four of the pellets each, according to the memoranda
+Rogers left. By Jove!" he interrupted himself, "that's one thing
+important we did nearly forget."
+
+He went to his coat, and from his wallet took several typewritten sheets
+of paper.
+
+"I made three copies," he said, handing them to his companions. "Put
+them away carefully; the front pocket will be most convenient, probably.
+
+"It may not be hard for us to keep together," continued the Doctor. "On
+the other hand, we may find it extremely difficult, if not quite
+impossible. In the latter event we will meet at the city of Arite.
+
+"There are two things we must consider. First, we shall be constantly
+changing size with relation to our surroundings. In proportion to each
+other, we must remain normal in size if we can. Secondly we shall be
+traveling--changing position in our surroundings. So far as that aspect
+of the trip is concerned, it will not be more difficult for us to keep
+together, probably, than during any adventurous journey here in this
+world.
+
+"If through accident or any unforeseen circumstance we are separated in
+size, the one being smallest shall wait for the others. That can be
+accomplished by taking a very small quantity of the other drug--probably
+merely by touching one of the pellets to the tongue. Do I make myself
+clear?" His friends nodded assent.
+
+"If any great separation in relative size occurs," the Doctor went on,
+"a discrepancy sufficient to make the smallest of us invisible for a
+time to the others, then another problem presents itself. We must be
+very careful, in that event, not to change our position in space--not to
+keep on traveling, in other words--or else, when we become the same size
+once more, we will be out of sight of one another. Geographically
+separated, so to speak," the Doctor finished with a smile.
+
+"I am so explicit on this point of keeping together," he continued,
+"because--well, I personally do not want to undertake even part of this
+journey alone."
+
+"You're darn right--me neither," agreed the Very Young Man emphatically.
+"Let's get going."
+
+"I guess that's all," said the Doctor, with a last glance around, and
+finally facing the Banker. "Good-by, George."
+
+The Banker was quite overcome, and without a word he shook hands with
+each of his friends.
+
+The three men sat beside each other on the floor, close to the
+handkerchief and ring; the Banker sat in his chair on the other side,
+facing them, spoon in hand. In silence they each took four of the
+pellets. Then the Banker saw them close their eyes; he saw the Big
+Business Man put his hands suddenly on the floor as though to steady
+himself.
+
+The Banker gripped the arms of his chair firmly. He knew exactly what to
+expect, yet now when his friends began slowly to diminish in size he was
+filled with surprise and horror. For several minutes no one spoke. Then
+the Very Young Man opened his eyes, looked around dizzily for an
+instant, and began feeling with his hands the belt at his waist, his
+shoes, wrist-watch, and the pouches under his armpits.
+
+"It's all right," he said with an enthusiasm that contrasted strangely
+with the tremor in his voice. "The belt's getting smaller, too. We're
+going to be able to take everything with us."
+
+Again silence fell on the room, broken only by the sound of the three
+men on the floor continually shifting their positions as they grew
+smaller. In another moment the Doctor clambered unsteadily to his feet
+and, taking a step backward, leaned up against the cylindrical mahogany
+leg of the center-table, flinging his arms around it. His head did not
+reach the table-top.
+
+The Very Young Man and the Big Business Man were on their feet now, too,
+standing at the edge of the handkerchief, and clinging to one another
+for support. The Banker looked down at them and tried to smile. The Very
+Young Man waved his hand, and the Banker found voice to say: "Good-by,
+my boy."
+
+"Good-by, sir," echoed the Very Young Man. "We're making it."
+
+Steadily they grew smaller. By this time the Doctor had become far too
+small for his arms to encircle the leg of the table. The Banker looked
+down to the floor, and saw him standing beside the table leg, leaning
+one hand against it as one would lean against the great stone column of
+some huge building.
+
+"Good-by, Frank," said the Banker. But the Doctor did not answer; he
+seemed lost in thought.
+
+Several minutes more passed in silence. The three men had diminished in
+size now until they were not more than three inches high. Suddenly the
+Very Young Man let go of the Big Business Man's arm and looked around to
+where the Doctor was still leaning pensively against the table leg. The
+Banker saw him speak swiftly to the Big Business Man, but in so small a
+voice he could not catch the words. Then both little figures turned
+towards the table, and the Banker saw the Very Young Man put his hands
+to his mouth and shout. And upward to him came the shrillest, tiniest
+little voice he had ever heard, yet a voice still embodying the
+characteristic intonation of the Very Young Man.
+
+"Hey, Doctor!" came the words. "You'll never get here if you don't come
+now."
+
+The Doctor looked up abruptly; he evidently heard the words and realized
+his situation. (He was by this time not more than an inch and a half in
+height.) He hesitated only a moment, and then, as the other two little
+figures waved their arms wildly, he began running towards them. For more
+than a minute he ran. The Very Young Man started towards him, but the
+Doctor waved him back, redoubling his efforts.
+
+When he arrived at the edge of the handkerchief, evidently he was nearly
+winded, for he stopped beside his friends, and stood breathing heavily.
+The Banker leaned forwards, and could see the three little figures (they
+were not as big as the joint of his little finger) talking earnestly;
+the Very Young Man was gesticulating wildly, pointing towards the ring.
+One of them made a start, but the others called him back.
+
+Then they began waving their arms, and all at once the Banker realized
+they were waving at him. He leaned down, and by their motions knew that
+something was wrong--that they wanted him to do something.
+
+Trembling with fright, the Banker left his chair and knelt upon the
+floor. The Very Young Man made a funnel of his hands and shouted up:
+"It's too far away. We can't make it--we're too small!"
+
+The Banker looked his bewilderment. Then he thought suddenly of the
+spoon that he still held in his hand, and he put it down towards them.
+The three little figures ducked and scattered as the spoon in the
+Banker's trembling fingers neared them.
+
+"Not that--the ring. Bring it closer. Hurry--Hurry!" shouted the Very
+Young Man. The Banker, leaning closer, could just hear the words.
+Comprehending at last, he picked up the ring and laid it near the edge
+of the handkerchief. Immediately the little figures ran over to it and
+began climbing up.
+
+The Very Young Man was the first to reach it; the Banker could see him
+vault upwards and land astraddle upon its top. The Doctor was up in a
+moment more, and the two were reaching down their hands to help up the
+Big Business Man. The Banker slid the spoon carefully along the floor
+towards the ring, but the Big Business Man waved it away. The Banker
+laid the spoon aside, and when he looked at the ring again the Big
+Business Man was up beside his companions, standing upright with them
+upon the top of the ring.
+
+The Banker stared so long and intently, his vision blurred. He closed
+his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again the little figures
+on the top of the ring had disappeared.
+
+The Banker felt suddenly sick and faint in the closeness of the room.
+Rising to his feet, he hurried to a window and threw up the sash. A gust
+of rain and wind beat against his face as he stood leaning on the sill.
+He felt much better after a few moments; and remembering his friends, he
+closed the window and turned back towards the ring. At first he thought
+he could just make them out, but when he got down on the floor close
+beside the ring, he saw nothing.
+
+Almost unnerved, he sat down heavily upon the floor beside the
+handkerchief, leaning on one elbow. A corner of the handkerchief was
+turned back, and one side was ruffled where the wind from the opened
+window had blown it up. He smoothed out the handkerchief carefully.
+
+For some time the Banker sat quiet, reclining uncomfortably upon the
+hard floor. The room was very still--its silence oppressed him. He
+stared stolidly at the ring, his head in a turmoil. The ring looked
+oddly out of place, lying over near one edge of the handkerchief; he had
+always seen it in the center before. Abruptly he put out his hand and
+picked it up. Then remembrance of the Doctor's warning flooded over him.
+In sudden panic he put the ring down again, almost in the same place at
+the edge of the handkerchief.
+
+Trembling all over, he looked at his watch; it was a quarter to nine. He
+rose stiffly to his feet and sank into his chair. After a moment he
+lighted a cigar. The handkerchief lay at his feet; he could just see the
+ring over the edge of his knees. For a long time he sat staring.
+
+The striking of a church clock nearby roused him. He shook himself
+together and blinked at the empty room. In his hand he held an unlighted
+cigar; mechanically he raised it to his lips. The sound of the church
+bells died away; the silence of the room and the loneliness of it made
+him shiver. He looked at his watch again. Ten o'clock! Still another
+hour to wait and watch, and then he could take the ring back to the
+Museum. He glanced down at the ring; it was still lying by the edge of
+the handkerchief.
+
+Again the Banker fell into a stupor as he stared at the glistening gold
+band lying on the floor at his feet. How lonely he felt! Yet he was not
+alone, he told himself. His three friends were still there, hardly two
+feet from the toe of his shoe. He wondered how they were making out.
+Would they come back any moment? Would they ever come back?
+
+And then the Banker found himself worrying because the ring was not in
+the center of the handkerchief.
+
+He felt frightened, and he wondered why. Again he looked at his watch.
+They had been gone more than two hours now. Swiftly he stooped, and
+lifting the ring, gazed at it searchingly, holding it very close to his
+eyes. Then he carefully put it down in the center of the handkerchief,
+and lay back in his chair with a long sigh of relief. It was all right
+now; just a little while to wait, and then he could take it back to the
+Museum. In a moment his eyes blinked, closed, and soon he was fast
+asleep, lying sprawled out in the big leather chair and breathing
+heavily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+PERILOUS WAYS
+
+
+The Very Young Man sat on the floor, between his two friends at the edge
+of the handkerchief, and put the first pellets of the drug to his
+tongue. His heart was beating furiously; his forehead was damp with the
+sweat of excitement and of fear. The pellets tasted sweet, and yet a
+little acrid. He crushed them in his mouth and swallowed them hastily.
+
+In the silence of the room, the ticking of his watch suddenly sounded
+very loud. He raised his arm and looked at its face; it was just ten
+minutes past eight. He continued to stare at its dial, wondering why
+nothing was happening to him. Then all at once the figures on the watch
+became very sharp and vivid; he could see them with microscopic
+clearness. A buzzing sounded in his ears.
+
+He remembered having felt the same way just before he fainted. He drew a
+deep breath and looked around the room; it swam before his gaze. He
+closed his eyes and waited, wondering if he would faint. The buzzing in
+his head grew louder; a feeling of nausea possessed him.
+
+After a moment his head cleared; he felt better. Then all at once he
+realized that the floor upon which he sat was moving. It seemed to be
+shifting out from under him in all directions. He sat with his feet flat
+upon the floor, his knees drawn close against his chin. And the floor
+seemed to be carrying his feet farther out; he constantly had to be
+pulling them back against him. He put one hand down beside him, and
+could feel his fingers dragging very slowly as the polished surface
+moved past. The noise in his head was almost gone now. He opened his
+eyes.
+
+Before him, across the handkerchief the Banker sat in his chair. He had
+grown enormously in size, and as the Very Young Man looked he could see
+him and the chair growing steadily larger. He met the Banker's anxious
+glance, and smiled up at him. Then he looked at his two friends, sitting
+on the floor beside him. They alone, of everything within his range of
+vision, had grown no larger.
+
+The Very Young Man thought of the belt around his waist. He put his hand
+to it, and found it tight as before. So, after all, they would not have
+to leave anything behind, he thought.
+
+The Doctor rose to his feet and turned away, back under the huge table
+that loomed up behind him. The Very Young Man got up, too, and stood
+beside the Big Business Man, holding to him for support. His head felt
+strangely confused; his legs were weak and shaky.
+
+Steadily larger grew the room and everything in it. The Very Young Man
+turned his eyes up to the light high overhead. Its great electric bulbs
+dazzled him with their brilliancy; its powerful glare made objects
+around as bright as though in daylight. After a moment the Big Business
+Man's grip on his arm tightened.
+
+"God, it's weird!" he said in a tense whisper. "Look!"
+
+Before them spread a great, level, shining expanse of black, with the
+ring in its center--a huge golden circle. Beyond the farther edge of the
+black they could see the feet of the banker, and the lower part of his
+legs stretching into the air far above them.
+
+The Very Young Man looked up still higher, and saw the Banker staring
+down at him, "Good-by, my boy," said the Banker. His voice came from far
+away in a great roar to the Very Young Man's ears.
+
+"Good-by, sir," said the Very Young Man, and waved his hand.
+
+Several minutes passed, and still the Very Young Man stood holding to
+his companion, and watching the expanse of handkerchief widening out and
+the gleaming ring growing larger. Then he thought of the Doctor, and
+turned suddenly to look behind him. Across the wide, glistening surface
+of the floor stood the Doctor, leaning against the tremendous column
+that the Very Young Man knew was the leg of the center-table. And as the
+Very Young Man stood staring, he could see this distance between them
+growing steadily greater. A sudden fear possessed him, and he shouted to
+his friend.
+
+"Good Lord, suppose he can't make it!" said the Big Business Man
+fearfully.
+
+"He's coming," answered the Very Young Man. "He's got to make it."
+
+The Doctor was running towards them now, and in a few moments he was
+beside them, breathing heavily.
+
+"Close call, Frank," said the Big Business Man, shaking his head. "You
+were the one said we must keep together." The Doctor was too much out of
+breath to answer.
+
+"This is worse," said the Very Young Man. "Look where the ring is."
+
+More than two hundred yards away across the black expanse of silk
+handkerchief lay the ring.
+
+"It's almost as high as our waist now, and look how far it is!" added
+the Very Young Man excitedly.
+
+"It's getting farther every minute," said the Big Business Man. "Come
+on," and he started to run towards the ring.
+
+"I can't make it. It's too far!" shouted the Doctor after him.
+
+The Big Business Man stopped short. "What'll we do?" he asked. "We've
+got to get there."
+
+"That ring will be a mile away in a few minutes, at the rate it's
+going," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"We'll have to get him to move it over here," decided the Doctor,
+looking up into the air, and pointing.
+
+"Gee, I never thought of that!" said the Very Young Man. "Oh, great
+Scott, look at him!"
+
+Out across the broad expanse of handkerchief they could see the huge
+white face of their friend looming four or five hundred feet in the air
+above them. It was the most astounding sight their eyes had ever beheld;
+yet so confused were they by the flood of new impressions to which they
+were being subjected that this colossal figure added little to their
+surprise.
+
+"We must make him move the ring over here," repeated the Doctor.
+
+"You'll never make him hear you," said the Big Business Man, as the Very
+Young Man began shouting at the top of his voice.
+
+"We've got to," said the Very Young Man breathlessly. "Look at that
+ring. We can't get to it now. We're stranded here. Good Lord! What's the
+matter with him--can't he see us?" he added, and began shouting again.
+
+"He's getting up," said the Doctor. They could see the figure of the
+Banker towering in the air a thousand feet above the ring, and then with
+a swoop of his enormous face come down to them as he knelt upon the
+floor.
+
+With his hands to his mouth, the Very Young Man shouted up: "It's too
+far away. We can't make it--we're too small." They waited. Suddenly,
+without warning, a great wooden oval bowl fifteen or twenty feet across
+came at them with tremendous speed. They scattered hastily in terror.
+
+"Not that--the ring!" shouted the Very Young Man, as he realized it was
+the spoon in the Banker's hand that had frightened them.
+
+A moment more and the ring was before them, lying at the edge of the
+handkerchief--a circular pit of rough yellow rock breast high. They ran
+over to it and climbed upon its top.
+
+Another minute and the ring had grown until its top became a narrow
+curving path upon which they could stand. They got upon their feet and
+looked around curiously.
+
+"Well, we're here," remarked the Very Young Man. "Everything's O.K. so
+far. Let's get right around after that scratch."
+
+"Keep together," cautioned the Doctor, and they started off along the
+path, following its inner edge.
+
+As they progressed, the top of the ring steadily became broader; the
+surface underfoot became rougher. The Big Business Man, walking nearest
+the edge, pulled his companion towards him. "Look there!" he said. They
+stood cautiously at the edge and looked down.
+
+Beneath them the ring bulged out. Over the bulge they could see the
+black of the handkerchief--a sheer hundred-feet drop. The ring curved
+sharply to the left; they could follow its wall all the way around; it
+formed a circular pit some two hundred and fifty feet in diameter.
+
+A gentle breeze fanned their faces as they walked. The Very Young Man
+looked up into the gray of the distance overhead. A little behind, over
+his shoulder he saw above him in the sky a great, gleaming light many
+times bigger than the sun. It cast on the ground before him an opaque
+shadow, blurred about the edges.
+
+"Pretty good day, at that," remarked the Very Young Man, throwing out
+his chest.
+
+The Doctor laughed. "It's half-past eight at night," he said. "And if
+you'll remember half an hour ago, it's a very stormy night, too."
+
+The Big Business Man stopped short in his walk. "Just think," he said
+pointing up into the gray of the sky, with a note of awe in his voice,
+"over there, not more than fifteen feet away, is a window, looking down
+towards the Gaiety Theater and Broadway."
+
+The Very Young. Man looked bewildered. "That window's a hundred miles
+away," he said positively.
+
+"Fifteen feet," said the Big Business Man. "Just beyond the table."
+
+"It's all in the viewpoint" said the Doctor, and laughed again.
+
+They had recovered their spirits by now, the Very Young Man especially
+seeming imbued with the enthusiasm of adventure.
+
+The path became constantly rougher as they advanced.
+
+The ground underfoot--a shaggy, yellow, metallic ore--was strewn now
+with pebbles. These pebbles grew larger farther on, becoming huge rocks
+and bowlders that greatly impeded their progress.
+
+They soon found it difficult to follow the brink of the precipice. The
+path had broadened now so that its other edge was out of sight, for they
+could see only a short distance amid the bowlders that everywhere
+tumbled about, and after a time they found themselves wandering along,
+lost in the barren waste.
+
+"How far is the scratch, do you suppose?" the Very Young Man wanted to
+know.
+
+They stopped and consulted a moment; then the Very Young Man clambered
+up to the top of a rock. "There's a range of hills over there pretty
+close," he called down to them. "That must be the way."
+
+They had just started again in the direction of the hills when, almost
+without warning, and with a great whistle and roar, a gale of wind swept
+down upon them. They stood still and looked at each other with startled
+faces, bracing with their feet against its pressure.
+
+"Oh, golly, what's this?" cried the Very Young Man, and sat down
+suddenly upon the ground to keep from being blown forward.
+
+The wind increased rapidly in violence until, in a moment, all three of
+the men were crouching upon the ground for shelter.
+
+"Great Scott, this is a tornado!" ejaculated the Big Business Man. His
+words were almost lost amid the howling of the blast as it swept across
+the barren waste of rocks.
+
+"Rogers never told us anything about this. It's getting worse every
+minute. I----" A shower of pebbles and a great cloud of metallic dust
+swept past, leaving them choking and gasping for breath.
+
+The Very Young Man got upon his hands and knees.
+
+"I'm going over there," he panted. "It's better."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+STRANGE EXPERIENCES
+
+
+Led by the Very Young Man, the three crawled a few yards to where a
+cluster of bowlders promised better shelter. Huddled behind this mass of
+rock, they found themselves protected in a measure from the violence of
+the storm. Lying there, they could see yellowish-gray clouds of sand go
+sweeping by, with occasionally a hail of tiny pebbles, blowing almost
+horizontal. Overhead, the sky was unchanged. Not a vestige of cloud was
+visible, only the gray-blue of an immense distance, with the huge
+gleaming light, like an enormous sun, hung in its center.
+
+The Very Young Man put his hand on the Doctor's arm. "It's going down,"
+he said. Hardly were the words out of his mouth before, with even less
+warning than it began, the gale abruptly ceased. There remained only the
+pleasantly gentle breeze of a summer afternoon blowing against their
+faces. And this came from almost an opposite direction to the storm.
+
+The three men looked at one another in amazement.
+
+"Well, I'll be----" ejaculated the Very Young Man. "What next?"
+
+They waited for some time, afraid to venture out from the rocks among
+which they had taken refuge. Then, deciding that the storm, however
+unexplainable, was over for the time at least, they climbed to their
+feet and resumed their journey with bruised knees, but otherwise none
+the worse for the danger through which they had passed.
+
+After walking a short distance, they came up a little incline, and
+before them, hardly more than a quarter of a mile away, they could see a
+range of hills.
+
+"The scratch must be behind those hills," said the Very Young Man,
+pointing.
+
+"It's a long distance," said the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "We're
+still growing smaller--look."
+
+Their minds had been so occupied that for some time they had forgotten
+the effect of the drug upon their stature. As they looked about them now
+they could see the rocks around them still increasing steadily in size,
+and could feel the ground shifting under their feet when they stood
+still.
+
+"You're right; we're getting smaller," observed the Very Young Man. "How
+long before we'll stop, do you suppose?"
+
+The Doctor drew the Chemist's memoranda from the pouch of his belt. "It
+says about five or six hours for the first four pellets," he read.
+
+The Very Young Man looked at his watch. "Quarter to nine. We've been
+less than an hour yet. Come on, let's keep going," and he started
+walking rapidly forward.
+
+They walked for a time in silence. The line of hills before them grew
+visibly in size, and they seemed slowly to be nearing it.
+
+"I've been thinking," began the Doctor thoughtfully as he glanced up at
+the hills. "There's one theory of Rogers's that was a fallacy. You
+remember he was quite positive that this change of stature became
+steadily more rapid, until it reached its maximum rate and then remained
+constant. If that were so we should probably be diminishing in size more
+rapidly now than when we first climbed on to the ring. If we had so much
+trouble getting to the ring then"--he smiled at the remembrance of their
+difficulty--"I don't see how we could ever get to those hills now."
+
+"Gee, that's so," said the Very Young Man. "We'd never be able to get
+anywhere, would we?"
+
+"How do you figure it works?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+The Doctor folded up the paper and replaced it in his belt. "I don't
+know," he answered. "I think probably it proceeds in cycles, like the
+normal rate of growth--times of rapid progress succeeded by periods of
+comparative inactivity."
+
+"I never knew people grew that way," observed the Very Young Man.
+
+"They do," said the Doctor. "And if these drugs produce the same effect
+we----" He got no further, for suddenly the earth seemed to rise swiftly
+under them, and they were thrown violently to the ground.
+
+The Very Young Man, as he lay prone, looked upward, and saw the sunlike
+light above fall swiftly down across the sky and disappear below the
+horizon, plunging the world about them into the gloom of a
+semi-twilight. A wind, fiercer than before, swept over them with a roar.
+
+"The end of the world," murmured the Very Young Man to himself. And he
+wondered why he was not frightened.
+
+Then came the feeling of an extraordinary lightness of body, as though
+the ground were dropping away from under him. The wind abruptly ceased
+blowing. He saw the ball of light rise swiftly from the horizon and
+mount upward in a great, gleaming arc to the zenith, where again it hung
+motionless.
+
+The three men lay quiet, their heads reeling. Then the Very Young Man
+sat up dizzily and began feeling himself all over. "There's nothing
+wrong with me," he said lugubriously, meeting the eyes of his friends
+who apparently were also more surprised than hurt. "But--oh, my gosh,
+the whole universe went nutty!" he added to himself in awe.
+
+"What did that?" asked the Big Business Man. He climbed unsteadily to
+his feet and sat upon a rock, holding his head in his hands.
+
+The Doctor was up in a moment beside him. "We're not hurt," he said,
+looking at his companions. "Don't let's waste any more time--let's get
+into that valley." The Very Young Man could see by his manner that he
+knew or guessed what had happened.
+
+"But say; what----" began the Very Young Man.
+
+"Come on," interrupted the Doctor, and started walking ahead swiftly.
+
+There was nothing for his two friends to do but to follow. They walked
+in silence, in single file, picking their way among the rocks. For a
+quarter of an hour or more they kept going, until finally they came to
+the ridge of hills, finding them enormous rocks, several hundred feet
+high, strewn closely together.
+
+"The valley must be right beyond," said the Doctor. "Come on."
+
+The spaces between these huge rocks were, some of them, fifty feet or
+more in width. Inside the hills the travelers found the ground even
+rougher than before, and it was nearly half an hour before they emerged
+on the other side.
+
+Instead of the shallow valley they expected to find, they came upon a
+precipice--a sheer drop into a tremendous cañon, half as wide possibly
+as it was deep. They could see down to its bottom from where they
+stood--the same rocky, barren waste as that through which they had been
+traveling. Across the cañon, on the farther side, lay another line of
+hills.
+
+"It's the scratch all right," said the Very Young Man, as they stopped
+near the brink of the precipice, "but, holy smoke! Isn't it big?"
+
+"That's two thousand feet down there," said the Big Business Man,
+stepping cautiously nearer to the edge. "Rogers didn't say it was so
+deep."
+
+"That's because we've been so much longer getting here," explained the
+Doctor.
+
+"How are we going to get down?" asked the Very Young Man as he stood
+beside the Big Business Man within a few feet of the brink. "It's
+getting deeper every minute, don't forget that."
+
+The Big Business Man knelt down and carefully approached to the very
+edge of the precipice. Then, as he looked over, he got upon his feet
+with a laugh of relief. "Come here," he said.
+
+They joined him at the edge and, looking over, could see that the jagged
+roughness of the wall made the descent, though difficult, not
+exceptionally hazardous. Below them, not more than twenty feet, a wide
+ledge jutted out, and beyond that they could see other similar ledges
+and crevices that would afford a foothold.
+
+"We can get down that," said the Very Young Man. "There's an easy
+place," and he pointed farther along the brink, to where a break in the
+edge seemed to offer a means of descent to the ledge just below.
+
+"It's going to be a mighty long climb down," said the Big Business Man.
+"Especially as we're getting smaller all the time. I wonder," he added
+thoughtfully, "how would it be if we made ourselves larger before we
+started. We could get big enough, you know, so that it would only be a
+few hundred feet down there. Then, after we got down, we could get small
+again."
+
+"That's a thought," said the Very Young Man.
+
+The Doctor sat down somewhat wearily, and again took the papers from his
+belt. "The idea is a good one," he said. "But there's one thing you
+overlook. The larger we get, the smoother the wall is going to be. Look,
+can't you see it changing every moment?"
+
+It was true. Even in the short time since they had first looked down,
+new crevices had opened up. The descent, though longer, was momentarily
+becoming less dangerous.
+
+"You see," continued the Doctor, "if the valley were only a few hundred
+feet deep, the precipice might then be so sheer we could not trust
+ourselves to it at all."
+
+"You're right," observed the Big Business Man.
+
+"Well, it's not very hard to get down now," said the Very Young Man.
+"Let's get going before it gets any deeper. Say," he added, "how about
+stopping our size where it is? How would that work?"
+
+The Doctor was reading the papers he held in his hand. "I think," he
+said, "it would be our wisest course to follow as closely as possible
+what Rogers tells us to do. It may be harder, but I think we will avoid
+trouble in the end."
+
+"We could get lost in size just as easily as in space, couldn't we?" the
+Big Business Man put in. "That's a curious idea, isn't it?"
+
+"It's true," agreed the Doctor. "It is something we must guard against
+very carefully."
+
+"Well, come on then, let's get going," said the Very Young Man, pulling
+the Doctor to his feet.
+
+The Big Business Man glanced at his watch. "Twenty to ten," he said.
+Then he looked up into the sky. "One hour and a half ago," he added
+sentimentally, "we were up there. What will another hour bring--I
+wonder?"
+
+"Nothing at all," said the Very Young Man, "if we don't ever get
+started. Come on."
+
+He walked towards the place he had selected, followed by his companions.
+And thus the three adventurers began their descent into the ring.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE VALLEY OF THE SACRIFICE
+
+
+For the first half-hour of their climb down into the valley of the
+scratch, the three friends were too preoccupied with their own safety to
+talk more than an occasional sentence. They came upon many places that
+at first glance appeared impassable, or at least sufficiently hazardous
+to cause them to hesitate, but in each instance the changing contour of
+the precipice offered some other means of descent.
+
+After thirty minutes of arduous effort, the Big Business Man sat down
+suddenly upon a rock and began to unlace his shoes.
+
+"I've got to rest a while," he groaned. "My feet are in terrible shape."
+
+His two companions were glad of the opportunity to sit with him for a
+moment.
+
+"Gosh, I'm all in, too!" said the Very Young Man with a sigh.
+
+They were sitting upon a ledge about twenty feet wide, with the wall
+down which they had come at their back.
+
+"I'll swear that's as far down there as it ever was," said the Big
+Business Man, with a wave of his hand towards the valley below them.
+
+"Further," remarked the Very Young Man. "I've known that right along."
+
+"That's to be expected," said the Doctor. "But we're a third the way
+down, just the same; that's the main thing." He glanced up the rocky,
+precipitous wall behind them. "We've come down a thousand feet, at
+least. The valley must be three thousand feet deep or more now."
+
+"Say, how deep does it get before it stops?" inquired the Very Young
+Man.
+
+The Doctor smiled at him quietly. "Rogers's note put it about twelve
+thousand," he answered. "It should reach that depth and stop about"--he
+hesitated a moment, calculating--"about two o'clock," he finished.
+
+"Some climb," commented the Very Young Man. "We could do this a lot
+better than we're doing it, I think."
+
+For some time they sat in silence. From where they sat the valley had
+all the appearance of a rocky, barren cañon of their own world above, as
+it might have looked on the late afternoon of a cloudless summer day. A
+gentle breeze was blowing, and in the sky overhead they could still see
+the huge light that for them was the sun.
+
+"The weather is certainly great down here anyway," observed the Very
+Young Man, "that's one consolation."
+
+The Big Business Man had replaced his shoes, taken a swallow of water,
+and risen to his feet, preparing to start downward again, when suddenly
+they all noticed a curious swaying motion, as though the earth were
+moving under them.
+
+"Now what?" ejaculated the Very Young Man, standing up abruptly, with
+his feet spread wide apart.
+
+The ground seemed pressing against his feet as if he were weighted down
+with a heavy load. And he felt a little also as though in a moving train
+with a side thrust to guard against. The sun was no longer visible, and
+the valley was plunged in the semidarkness of twilight. A strong wind
+sprang up, sweeping down upon them from above.
+
+The Very Young Man and the Big Business Man looked puzzled; the Doctor
+alone of the three seemed to understand what was happening.
+
+"He's moving the ring," he explained, with a note of apprehension in his
+voice.
+
+"Oh," ejaculated the Big Business Man, comprehending at last, "so that's
+the----"
+
+The Very Young Man standing with his back to the wall and his legs
+spread wide looked hastily at his watch. "Moving the ring? Why, damn
+it----" he began impetuously.
+
+The Big Business Man interrupted him. "Look there, look!" he almost
+whispered, awestruck.
+
+The sky above the valley suddenly had become suffused with red. As they
+watched it seemed to take form, appearing no longer space, but filled
+with some enormous body of reddish color. In one place they could see it
+broken into a line of gray, and underneath the gray, two circular holes
+of light gleamed down at them.
+
+The Doctor shuddered and closed his eyes; his two friends stared upward,
+fascinated into immobility.
+
+"What--is--that?" the Very Young Man whispered.
+
+Before he could be answered, the earth swayed under them more violently
+than before. The red faded back out of the sky, and the sun appeared
+sweeping up into the zenith, where it hung swaying a moment and then
+poised motionless. The valley was flooded again with light; the ground
+steadied under them and became quiet. The wind died rapidly away, and in
+another moment it was as though nothing unusual had occurred.
+
+For a time the three friends stood silent, too astonished for words at
+this extraordinary experience. The Doctor was the first to recover
+himself. "He moved the ring," he said hurriedly. "That's twice. We must
+hurry."
+
+"It's only quarter past ten. We told him not till eleven," protested the
+Very Young Man.
+
+"Even that is too soon for safety," said the Doctor back over his
+shoulder, for already he had started downward.
+
+It was nearly twelve o'clock when they stopped again for rest. At this
+time the valley appeared about seven or eight thousand feet deep: they
+estimated themselves to be slightly more than half-way down. From eleven
+until twelve they had momentarily expected some disturbing phenomena
+attendant upon the removal of the ring by the Banker from the clubroom
+to its place in the Museum. But nothing unusual had occurred.
+
+"He probably decided to leave it alone for a while," commented the Big
+Business Man, as they were discussing the matter. "Glad he showed that
+much sense."
+
+"It would not bother us much now," the Doctor replied. "We're too far
+down. See how the light is changing."
+
+The sky showed now only as a narrow ribbon of blue between the edges of
+the cañon's walls. The sun was behind the wall down which they were
+climbing, out of sight, and throwing their side of the valley into
+shadow. And already they could begin to see a dim phosphorescence
+glowing from the rocks near at hand.
+
+The Very Young Man, sitting beside the Doctor, suddenly gripped his
+friend by the arm. "A bird," he said, pointing down the valley. "See it
+there?"
+
+From far off they could see a bird coming up the center of the valley at
+a height apparently almost level with their own position, and flying
+towards them. They watched it in silence as it rapidly approached.
+
+"Great Scott, it's big!" muttered the Big Business Man in an undertone.
+
+As the bird came closer they saw it was fully fifty feet across the
+wings. It was flying straight down the valley at tremendous speed. When
+it was nearly opposite them they heard a familiar "cheep, cheep," come
+echoing across the valley.
+
+"The sparrow," whispered the Very Young Man. "Oh, my gosh, look how big
+it is!"
+
+In another moment it had passed them; they watched in silence until it
+disappeared in the distance.
+
+"Well," said the Very Young Man, "if that had ever seen us----" He drew
+a long breath, leaving the rest to the imagination of his hearers.
+
+"What a wonderful thing!" said the Big Business Man, with a note of awe
+in his voice. "Just think--that sparrow when we last saw it was
+infinitesimally small."
+
+The Doctor laughed. "It's far smaller now than it was then," he said.
+"Only since we last saw it we have changed size to a much greater extent
+than it has."
+
+"Foolish of us to have sent it in here," remarked the Big Business Man
+casually. "Suppose that----" He stopped abruptly.
+
+The Very Young Man started hastily to his feet.
+
+"Oh, golly!" he exclaimed as the same thought occurred to him. "That
+lizard----" He looked about him wildly.
+
+"It was foolish perhaps." The Doctor spoke quietly. "But we can't help
+it now. The sparrow has gone. That lizard may be right here at our
+feet"--The Very Young Man jumped involuntarily--"and so small we can't
+see it," the Doctor finished with a smile. "Or it may be a hundred miles
+away and big as a dinosaur." The Very Young Man shuddered.
+
+"It was senseless of us to let them get in here anyway," said the Big
+Business Man. "That sparrow evidently has stopped getting smaller. Do
+you realize how big it will be to us, after we've diminished a few
+hundred more times?"
+
+"We needn't worry over it," said the Doctor. "Even if we knew the lizard
+got into the valley the chances of our seeing it here are one in a
+million. But we don't even know that. If you'll remember it was still
+some distance away from the scratch when it became invisible; I doubt
+very much if it even got there. No, I think probably we'll never see it
+again."
+
+"I hope not," declared the Very Young Man emphatically.
+
+For another hour they climbed steadily downward, making more rapid
+progress than before, for the descent became constantly less difficult.
+During this time they spoke little, but it was evident that the Very
+Young Man, from the frequent glances he threw around, never for a moment
+forgot the possibility of encountering the lizard. The sparrow did not
+return, although for that, too, they were constantly on the look-out.
+
+It was nearly half-past one when the Big Business Man threw himself upon
+the ground exhausted. The valley at this time had reached a depth of
+over ten thousand feet. It was still growing deeper, but the travelers
+had made good progress and were not more than fifteen hundred feet above
+its bottom.
+
+They had been under tremendous physical exertion for over five hours,
+too absorbed in their strange experiences to think of eating, and now
+all three agreed it was foolish to attempt to travel farther without
+food and rest.
+
+"We had better wait here an hour or two," the Doctor decided. "Our size
+will soon remain constant and it won't take us long to get down after
+we've rested."
+
+"I'm hungry," suggested the Very Young Man, "how about you?"
+
+They ate and drank sparingly of the little store they had brought with
+them. The Doctor would not let them have much, both because he wanted to
+conserve their supply, and because he knew in their exhausted condition
+it would be bad for them to eat heartily.
+
+It was about two o'clock when they noticed that objects around them no
+longer were increasing in size. They had finished their meal and felt
+greatly refreshed.
+
+"Things have stopped growing," observed the Very Young Man. "We've done
+four pills' worth of the journey anyway," he added facetiously. He rose
+to his feet, stretching. He felt sore and bruised all over, but with the
+meal and a little rest, not particularly tired.
+
+"I move we go on down now," he suggested, walking to the edge of the
+huge crevice in which they were sitting. "It's only a couple of thousand
+feet."
+
+"Perhaps we might as well," agreed the Doctor, rising also. "When we get
+to the floor of the valley, we can find a good spot and turn in for the
+night."
+
+The incongruity of his last words with the scene around made the Doctor
+smile. Overhead the sky still showed a narrow ribbon of blue. Across the
+valley the sunlight sparkled on the yellowish crags of the rocky wall.
+In the shadow, on the side down which they were climbing, the rocks now
+shone distinctly phosphorescent, with a peculiar waviness of outline.
+
+"Not much like either night or day, is it?" added the Doctor. "We'll
+have to get used to that."
+
+They started off again, and in another two hours found themselves going
+down a gentle rocky slope and out upon the floor of the valley.
+
+"We're here at last," said the Big Business Man wearily.
+
+The Very Young Man looked up the great, jagged precipice down which they
+had come, to where, far above, its edge against the strip of blue marked
+the surface of the ring.
+
+"Some trip," he remarked. "I wouldn't want to tackle that every day."
+
+"Four o'clock," said the Doctor, "the light up there looks just the
+same. I wonder what's happened to George."
+
+Neither of his companions answered him. The Big Business Man lay
+stretched full length upon the ground near by, and the Very Young Man
+still stood looking up the precipice, lost in thought.
+
+"What a nice climb going back," he suddenly remarked.
+
+The Doctor laughed. "Don't let's worry about that, Jack. If you remember
+how Rogers described it, getting back is easier than getting in. But the
+main point now," he added seriously, "is for us to make sure of getting
+down to Arite as speedily as possible."
+
+The Very Young Man surveyed the barren waste around them in dismay. The
+floor of the valley was strewn with even larger rocks and bowlders than
+those on the surface above, and looked utterly pathless and desolate.
+"What do we do first?" he asked dubiously.
+
+"First," said the Doctor, smiling at the Big Business Man, who lay upon
+his back staring up into the sky and paying no attention to them
+whatever, "I think first we had better settle ourselves for a good long
+rest here."
+
+"If we stop at all, let's sleep a while," said the Very Young Man. "A
+little rest only gets you stiff. It's a pretty exposed place out here
+though, isn't it, to sleep?" he added, thinking of the sparrow and the
+lizard.
+
+"One of us will stay awake and watch," answered the Doctor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE PIT OF DARKNESS
+
+
+At the suggestion of the Very Young Man they located without much
+difficulty a sort of cave amid the rocks, which offered shelter for
+their rest. Taking turns watching, they passed eight hours in fair
+comfort, and by noon next day, after another frugal meal they felt
+thoroughly refreshed and eager to continue the journey.
+
+"We sure are doing this classy," observed the Very Young Man. "Think of
+Rogers--all he could do was fall asleep when he couldn't stay awake any
+more. Gosh, what chances he took!"
+
+"We're playing it safe," agreed the Big Business Man.
+
+"But we mustn't take it too easy," added the Doctor.
+
+The Very Young Man stretched himself luxuriously and buckled his belt on
+tighter. "Well, I'm ready for anything," he announced. "What's next?"
+
+The Doctor consulted his papers. "We find the circular pit Rogers made
+in the scratch and we descend into it. We take twelve more pills at the
+edge of the pit," he said.
+
+The Very Young Man leaped to the top of a rock and looked out over the
+desolate waste helplessly. "How are we going to find the pit?" he asked
+dubiously. "It's not in sight, that's sure."
+
+"It's down there--about five miles," said the Doctor. "I saw it
+yesterday as we came down."
+
+"That's easy," said the Very Young Man, and he started off
+enthusiastically, followed by the others.
+
+In less than two hours they found themselves at the edge of the pit. It
+appeared almost circular in form, apparently about five miles across,
+and its smooth, shining walls extended almost perpendicularly down into
+blackness. Somewhat awed by the task confronting them in getting down
+into this abyss, the three friends sat down near its brink to discuss
+their plan of action.
+
+"We take twelve pills here," said the Doctor. "That ought to make us
+small enough to climb down into that."
+
+"Do you think we need so many?" asked the Big Business Man thoughtfully.
+"You know, Frank, we're making an awful lot of work for ourselves,
+playing this thing so absolutely safe. Think of what a distance down
+that will be after we have got as small as twelve pills will make us. It
+might take us days to get to the bottom."
+
+"How did Rogers get down?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.
+
+"He took the twelve pills here," the Doctor answered.
+
+"But as I understand it, he fell most of the way down while he was still
+big, and then got small afterwards at the bottom." This from the Big
+Business Man.
+
+"I don't know how about you," said the Very Young Man drily, "but I'd
+much rather take three days to walk down than fall down in one day."
+
+The Doctor smiled. "I still think," he said, "that we had better stick
+to the directions Rogers left us. Then at least there is no danger of
+our getting lost in size. But I agree with you, Jack. I'd rather not
+fall down, even if it takes longer to walk."
+
+"I wonder----" began the Big Business Man. "You know I've been
+thinking--it does seem an awful waste of energy for us to let ourselves
+get smaller than absolutely necessary in climbing down these places.
+Maybe you don't realize it."
+
+"I do," said the Very Young Man, looking sorrowfully at the ragged shoes
+on his feet and the cuts and bruises on his legs.
+
+"What I mean is----" persisted the Big Business Man.
+
+"How far do you suppose we have actually traveled since we started last
+night?"
+
+"That's pretty hard to estimate," said the doctor. "We have walked
+perhaps fifteen miles altogether, besides the climb down. I suppose we
+actually came down five or six thousand feet."
+
+"And at the size we are now it would have been twelve thousand feet
+down, wouldn't it?"
+
+"Yes," answered the Doctor, "it would."
+
+"And just think," went on the Big Business Man, "right now, based on the
+size we were when we began, we've only gone some six feet altogether
+from the place we started."
+
+"And a sixteenth of an inch or less since we left the surface of the
+ring," said the Doctor smiling.
+
+"Gee, that's a weird thought," the Very Young Man said, as he gazed in
+awe at the lofty heights about them.
+
+"I've been thinking," continued the Big Business Man. "You say we must
+be careful not to get lost in size. Well, suppose instead of taking
+twelve pills here, we only take six. That should be enough to get us
+started--possibly enough to get us all the way down. Then before we
+moved at all we could take the other six. That would keep it straight,
+wouldn't it?"
+
+"Great idea," said the Very Young Man. "I'm in favor of that."
+
+"It sounds feasible--certainly if we can get all the way down with six
+pills we will save a lot of climbing."
+
+"If six aren't enough, we can easily take more," added the Big Business
+Man.
+
+And so they decided to take only six pills of the drug and to get down
+to the bottom of the pit, if possible, without taking more. The pit, as
+they stood looking down into it now, seemed quite impossible of descent,
+for its almost perpendicular wall was smooth and shining as polished
+brass.
+
+They took the drug, standing close together at the edge of the pit.
+Immediately began again the same crawling sensation underfoot, much more
+rapid this time, while all around them the rocks began very rapidly
+increasing in size.
+
+The pit now seemed widening out at an astounding rate. In a few minutes
+it had broadened so that its opposite side could not be seen. The wall
+at the brink of which they stood had before curved in a great sweeping
+arc to enclose the circular hole; now it stretched in a nearly straight,
+unbroken line to the right and left as far as they could see. Beneath
+them lay only blackness; it was as though they were at the edge of the
+world.
+
+"Good God, what a place to go down into," gasped the Big Business Man,
+after they had been standing nearly half an hour in silence, appalled at
+the tremendous changes taking place around them.
+
+For some time past the wall before them had become sufficiently indented
+and broken to make possible their descent. It was the Doctor who first
+realized the time--or perhaps it should be said, the size--they were
+losing by their inactivity; and when with a few crisp words he brought
+them to themselves, they immediately started downward.
+
+For another six hours they traveled downward steadily, stopping only
+once to eat. The descent during this time was not unlike that down the
+side of the valley, although towards the last it began rapidly to grow
+less precipitous.
+
+They now found themselves confronted frequently with gentle slopes
+downward, half a mile or more in extent, and sometimes by almost level
+places, succeeded by another sharp descent.
+
+During this part of the trip they made more rapid progress than at any
+time since starting, the Very Young Man in his enthusiasm at times
+running forward and then sitting down to wait for the others to overtake
+him.
+
+The light overhead gradually faded into the characteristic luminous
+blackness the Chemist had described. As it did so, the phosphorescent
+quality of the rocks greatly increased, or at least became more
+noticeable, so that the light illuminating the landscape became hardly
+less in volume, although totally different in quality.
+
+The ground underfoot and the rocks themselves had been steadily
+changing. They had lost now almost entirely the yellowishness, metal
+look, and seemed to have more the quality of a gray opaque glass, or
+marble. They appeared rather smoother, too, than before, although the
+huge bowlders and loosely strewn rocks and pebbles still remained the
+characteristic feature of the landscape.
+
+The three men were still diminishing in size; in fact, at this time the
+last dose of the drug seemed to have attained its maximum power, for
+objects around them appeared to be growing larger at a dizzying rate.
+They were getting used to this effect, however, to a great extent, and
+were no longer confused by the change as they had been before.
+
+It was the Big Business Man who first showed signs of weakening, and at
+the end of six hours or more of steady--and, towards the end, extremely
+rapid--traveling he finally threw himself down and declared he could go
+no farther. At this point they rested again several hours, taking turns
+at watch, and each of them getting some measure of sleep. Of the three,
+the Very Young Man appeared in the best condition, although possibly it
+was his enthusiasm that kept him from admitting even to himself any
+serious physical distress.
+
+It was perhaps ten or twelve hours after they had taken the six pills
+that they were again ready to start downward. Before starting the three
+adventurers discussed earnestly the advisability of taking the other six
+pills. The action of the drug had ceased some time before. They decided
+not to, since apparently there was no difficulty facing them at this
+part of the journey, and decreasing their stature would only
+immeasurably lengthen the distance they had to go.
+
+They had been traveling downward, through a barren land that now showed
+little change of aspect, for hardly more than another hour, when
+suddenly, without warning, they came upon the tremendous glossy incline
+that they had been expecting to reach for some time. The rocks and
+bowlders stopped abruptly, and they found at their feet, sloping
+downward at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees, a great, smooth
+plane. It extended as far as they could see both to the right and left
+and downward, at a slightly lessening angle, into the luminous darkness
+that now bounded their entire range of vision in every direction.
+
+This plane seemed distinctly of a different substance than anything they
+had hitherto encountered. It was, as the Chemist had described it,
+apparently like a smooth black marble. Yet it was not so smooth to them
+now as he had pictured it, for its surface was sufficiently indented and
+ridged to afford foothold.
+
+They started down this plane gingerly, yet with an assumed boldness they
+were all of them far from feeling. It was slow work at first, and
+occasionally one or the other of them would slide headlong a score of
+feet, until a break in the smoothness brought him to a stop. Their
+rubber-soled shoes stood them in good stead here, for without the aid
+given by them this part of the journey would have been impossible.
+
+For several hours they continued this form of descent. The incline grew
+constantly less steep, until finally they were able to walk down it
+quite comfortably. They stopped again to eat, and after traveling what
+seemed to them some fifteen miles from the top of the incline they
+finally reached its bottom.
+
+They seemed now to be upon a level floor--a ground of somewhat metallic
+quality such as they had become familiar with above. Only now there were
+no rocks or bowlders, and the ground was smoother and with a peculiar
+corrugation. On one side lay the incline down which they had come. There
+was nothing but darkness to be seen in any other direction. Here they
+stopped again to rest and recuperate, and then they discussed earnestly
+their next movements.
+
+The Doctor, seated wearily upon the ground, consulted his memoranda
+earnestly. The Very Young Man sat close beside him. As usual the Big
+Business Man lay prone upon his back nearby, waiting for their decision.
+
+"Rogers wasn't far from a forest when he got here," said the Very Young
+Man, looking sidewise at the papers in the Doctor's hand. "And he speaks
+of a tiny range of hills; but we can't see anything from here."
+
+"We may not be within many miles of where Rogers landed," answered the
+Doctor.
+
+"No reason why we should be, at that, is there? Do you think we'll ever
+find Arite?"
+
+"Don't overlook the fact we've got six more pills to take here," called
+the Big Business Man.
+
+"That's just what I was considering," said the Doctor thoughtfully.
+"There's no use our doing anything until we have attained the right
+size. Those hills and the forest and river we are looking for might be
+here right at our feet and we couldn't see them while we are as big as
+this."
+
+"We'd better take the pills and stay right here until their action wears
+off. I'm going to take a sleep," said the Big Business Man.
+
+"I think we might as well all sleep," said the Doctor. "There could not
+possibly be anything here to harm us."
+
+They each took the six additional pills without further words.
+Physically exhausted as they were, and with the artificial drowsiness
+produced by the drug, they were all three in a few moments fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE WELCOME OF THE MASTER
+
+
+It was nearly twelve hours later, as their watches showed them, that the
+first of the weary adventurers awoke. The Very Young Man it was who
+first opened his eyes with a confused sense of feeling that he was in
+bed at home, and that this was the momentous day he was to start his
+journey into the ring. He sat up and rubbed his eyes vigorously to see
+more clearly his surroundings.
+
+Beside him lay his two friends, fast asleep. With returning
+consciousness came the memory of the events of the day and night before.
+The Very Young Man sprang to his feet and vigorously awoke his
+companions.
+
+The action of the drug again had ceased, and at first glance the scene
+seemed to have changed very little. The incline now was some distance
+away, although still visible, stretching up in a great arc and fading
+away into the blackness above. The ground beneath their feet still of
+its metallic quality, appeared far rougher than before. The Very Young
+Man bent down and put his hand upon it. There was some form of
+vegetation there, and, leaning closer, he could see what appeared to be
+the ruins of a tiny forest, bent and trampled, the tree-trunks no larger
+than slender twigs that he could have snapped asunder easily between his
+fingers.
+
+"Look at this," he exclaimed. "The woods--we're here."
+
+The others knelt down with him.
+
+"Be careful," cautioned the Doctor. "Don't move around. We must get
+smaller." He drew the papers from his pocket.
+
+"Rogers was in doubt about this quantity to take," he added. "We should
+be now somewhere at the edge or in the forest he mentions. Yet we may be
+very far from the point at which he reached the bottom of that incline.
+I think, too, that we are somewhat larger than he was. Probably the
+strength of our drug differs from his to some extent."
+
+"How much should we take next, I wonder?" said the Big Business Man as
+he looked at his companions.
+
+The Doctor took a pill and crushed it in his hand. "Let us take so
+much," he said, indicating a small portion of the powder. The others
+each crushed one of the pills and endeavored to take as nearly as
+possible an equal amount.
+
+"I'm hungry," said the Very Young Man. "Can we eat right after the
+powder?"
+
+"I don't think that should make any difference," the Doctor answered,
+and so accustomed to the drug were they now that, quite nonchalantly,
+they sat down and ate.
+
+After a few moments it became evident that in spite of their care the
+amounts of the drug they had taken were far from equal.
+
+Before they had half finished eating, the Very Young Man was hardly more
+than a third the size of the Doctor, with the Big Business Man about
+half-way between. This predicament suddenly struck them as funny, and
+all three laughed heartily at the effect of the drug.
+
+"Hey, you, hurry up, or you'll never catch me," shouted the Very Young
+Man gleefully. "Gosh, but you're big!" He reached up and tried to touch
+the Doctor's shoulder. Then, seeing the huge piece of chocolate in his
+friend's hand and comparing it with the little one in his own, he added:
+"Trade you chocolate. That's a regular meal you got there."
+
+"That's a real idea," said the Big Business Man, ceasing his laughter
+abruptly. "Do you know, if we ever get really low on food, all we have
+to do is one of us stay big and his food would last the other two a
+month."
+
+"Fine; but how about the big one?" asked the Very Young Man, grinning.
+"He'd starve to death on that plan, wouldn't he?"
+
+"Well, then he could get much smaller than the other two, and they could
+feed him. It's rather involved, I'll admit, but you know what I mean,"
+the Big Business Man finished somewhat lamely.
+
+"I've got a much better scheme than that," said the Very Young Man. "You
+let the food stay large and you get small. How about that?" he added
+triumphantly. Then he laid carefully on the ground beside him a bit of
+chocolate and a few of the hard crackers they were eating. "Stay there,
+little friends, when you grow up, I'll take you back," he added in a
+gleeful tone of voice.
+
+"Strange that should never have occurred to us," said the Doctor. "It's
+a perfect way of replenishing our food supply," and quite seriously both
+he and the Big Business Man laid aside some of their food.
+
+"Thank me for that brilliant idea," said the Very Young Man. Then, as
+another thought occurred to him, he scratched his head lugubriously.
+"Wouldn't work very well if we were getting bigger, would it? Don't
+let's ever get separated from any food coming out."
+
+The Doctor was gigantic now in proportion to the other two, and both he
+and the Big Business Man took a very small quantity more of the drug in
+an effort to equalize their rate of bodily reduction. They evidently hit
+it about right, for no further change in their relative size occurred.
+
+All this time the vegetation underneath them had been growing steadily
+larger. From tiny broken twigs it grew to sticks bigger than their
+fingers, then to the thickness of their arms. They moved slightly from
+time to time, letting it spread out from under them, or brushing it
+aside and clearing a space in which they could sit more comfortably.
+Still larger it grew until the tree-trunks, thick now almost as their
+bodies, were lying broken and twisted, all about them. Over to one side
+they could see, half a mile away, a place where the trees were still
+standing--slender saplings, they seemed, growing densely together.
+
+In half an hour more the Very Young Man announced he had stopped getting
+smaller. The action of the drug ceased in the others a few minutes
+later. They were still not quite in their relative sizes, but a few
+grains of the powder quickly adjusted that.
+
+They now found themselves near the edge of what once was a great forest.
+Huge trees, whose trunks measured six feet or more in diameter, lay
+scattered about upon the ground; not a single one was left standing. In
+the distance they could see, some miles away, where the untrodden forest
+began.
+
+They had replaced the food in their belts some time before, and now
+again they were ready to start. Suddenly the Very Young Man spied a
+huge, round, whitish-brown object lying beside a tree-trunk near by. He
+went over and stood beside it. Then he called his friends excitedly. It
+was irregularly spherical in shape and stood higher than his knees--a
+great jagged ball. The Very Young Man bent down, broke off a piece of
+the ball, and, stuffing it into his mouth, began chewing with
+enthusiasm.
+
+"Now, what do you think of that?" he remarked with a grin. "A cracker
+crumb I must have dropped when we first began lunch!"
+
+They decided now to make for the nearest part of the unbroken forest. It
+was two hours before they reached it, for among the tangled mass of
+broken, fallen trees their progress was extremely difficult and slow.
+Once inside, among the standing trees, they felt more lost than ever.
+They had followed implicitly the Chemist's directions, and in general
+had encountered the sort of country they expected. Nevertheless, they
+all three realized that it was probable the route they had followed
+coming in was quite different from that taken by the Chemist; and in
+what direction lay their destination, and how far, they had not even the
+vaguest idea, but they were determined to go on.
+
+"If ever we find this city of Arite, it'll be a miracle sure," the Very
+Young Man remarked as they were walking along in silence.
+
+They had gone only a short distance farther when the Big Business Man,
+who was walking in front, stopped abruptly.
+
+"What's that?" he asked in a startled undertone.
+
+They followed the direction of his hand, and saw, standing rigid against
+a tree-trunk ahead, the figure of a man little more than half as tall as
+themselves, his grayish body very nearly the color of the blue-gray tree
+behind him.
+
+The three adventurers stood motionless, staring in amazement.
+
+As the Big Business Man spoke, the little figure, which had evidently
+been watching them for some time, turned irresolutely as though about to
+run. Then with gathering courage it began walking slowly towards them,
+holding out its arms with the palm up.
+
+"He's friendly," whispered the Very Young Man; and they waited, silent,
+as the man approached.
+
+As he came closer, they could see he was hardly more than a boy, perhaps
+twenty years of age. His lean, gray body was nearly naked. Around his
+waist he wore a drab-colored tunic, of a substance they could not
+identify. His feet and legs were bare. On his chest were strapped a thin
+stone plate, slightly convex. His thick, wavy, black hair, cut at the
+base of his neck, hung close about his ears. His head was uncovered. His
+features were regular and pleasing; his smile showed an even row of very
+white teeth.
+
+The three men did not speak or move until, in a moment, more, he stood
+directly before them, still holding out his hands palm up. Then abruptly
+he spoke.
+
+"The Master welcomes his friends," he said in a soft musical voice. He
+gave the words a most curious accent and inflexion, yet they were quite
+understandable to his listeners.
+
+"The Master welcomes his friends," he repeated, dropping his arms to his
+sides and smiling in a most friendly manner.
+
+The Very Young Man caught his breath. "He's been sent to meet us; he's
+from Rogers. What do you think of that? We're all right now!" he
+exclaimed excitedly.
+
+The Doctor held out his hand, and the Oroid, hesitating a moment in
+doubt, finally reached up and grasped it.
+
+"Are you from Rogers?" asked the Doctor.
+
+The Oroid looked puzzled. Then he turned and flung out his arm in a
+sweeping gesture towards the deeper woods before them. "Rogers--Master,"
+he said.
+
+"You were waiting for us?" persisted the Doctor; but the other only
+shook his head and smiled his lack of comprehension.
+
+"He only knows the first words he said," the Big Business Man suggested.
+
+"He must be from Rogers," the Very Young Man put in. "See, he wants us
+to go with him."
+
+The Oroid was motioning them forward, holding out his hand as though to
+lead them.
+
+The Very Young Man started forward, but the Big Business Man held him
+back.
+
+"Wait a moment," he said. "I don't think we ought to go among these
+people as large as we are. Rogers is evidently alive and waiting for us.
+Why wouldn't it be better to be about his size, instead of ten-foot
+giants as we would look now?"
+
+"How do you know how big Rogers is?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"I think that a good idea," agreed the Doctor. "Rogers described these
+Oroid men as being some six inches shorter than himself, on the
+average."
+
+"This one might be a pygmy, for all we know," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"We might chance it that he's of normal size," said the Doctor, smiling.
+"I think we should make ourselves smaller."
+
+The Oroid stood patiently by and watched them with interested eyes as
+each took a tiny pellet from a vial under his arm and touched it to his
+tongue. When they began to decrease in size his eyes widened with fright
+and his legs shook under him. But he stood his ground, evidently assured
+by their smiles and friendly gestures.
+
+In a few minutes the action of the drug was over, and they found
+themselves not more than a head taller than the Oroid. In this size he
+seemed to like them better, or at least he stood in far less awe of
+them, for now he seized them by the arms and pulled them forward
+vigorously.
+
+They laughingly yielded, and, led by this strange being of another
+world, they turned from the open places they had been following and
+plunged into the depths of the forest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE CHEMIST AND HIS SON
+
+
+For an hour or more the three adventurers followed their strange guide
+in silence through the dense, trackless woods. He walked very rapidly,
+looking neither to the right nor to the left, finding his way apparently
+by an intuitive sense of direction. Occasionally he glanced back over
+his shoulder and smiled.
+
+Walking through the woods here was not difficult, and the party made
+rapid progress. The huge, upstanding tree-trunks were devoid of limbs
+for a hundred feet or more above the ground. On some of them a luxuriant
+vine was growing--a vine that bore a profusion of little gray berries.
+In the branches high overhead a few birds flew to and fro, calling out
+at times with a soft, cooing note. The ground--a gray, finely powdered
+sandy loam--was carpeted with bluish fallen leaves, sometimes with a
+species of blue moss, and occasional ferns of a like color.
+
+The forest was dense, deep, and silent; the tree branches overhead
+locked together in a solid canopy, shutting out the black sky above. Yet
+even in this seclusion the scene remained as light as it had been
+outside the woods in the open. Darkness indeed was impossible in this
+land; under all circumstances the light seemed the same--neither too
+bright nor too dim--a comfortable, steady glow, restful, almost hypnotic
+in its sameness.
+
+They had traveled perhaps six miles from the point where they met their
+Oroid guide when suddenly the Very Young Man became aware that other
+Oroids were with them. Looking to one side, he saw two more of these
+strange gray men, silently stalking along, keeping pace with them.
+Turning, he made out still another, following a short distance behind.
+The Very Young Man was startled, and hurriedly pointed them out to his
+companions.
+
+"Wait," called the Doctor to their youthful guide, and abruptly the
+party came to a halt.
+
+By these signs they made their guide understand that they wanted these
+other men to come closer. The Oroid shouted to them in his own quaint
+tongue, words of a soft, liquid quality with a wistful sound--words
+wholly unintelligible to the adventurers.
+
+The men came forward diffidently, six of them, for three others appeared
+out of the shadows of the forest, and stood in a group, talking among
+themselves a little and smiling at their visitors. They were all dressed
+similarly to Lao--for such was the young Oroid's name--and all of them
+older than he, and of nearly the same height.
+
+"Do any of you speak English?" asked the Doctor, addressing them
+directly.
+
+Evidently they did not, for they answered only by shaking their heads
+and by more smiles.
+
+Then one of them spoke. "The Master welcomes his friends," he said. And
+all the others repeated it after him, like children in school repeating
+proudly a lesson newly learned.
+
+The Doctor and his two friends laughed heartily, and, completely
+reassured by this exhibition of their friendliness, they signified to
+Lao that they were ready again to go forward.
+
+As they walked onward through the apparently endless and unchanging
+forest, surrounded by what the Very Young Man called their "guard of
+honor," they were joined from time to time by other Oroid men, all of
+whom seemed to know who they were and where they were going, and who
+fell silently into line with them. Within an hour their party numbered
+twenty or more.
+
+Seeing one of the natives stop a moment and snatch some berries from one
+of the vines with which many of the trees were encumbered, the Very
+Young Man did the same. He found the berries sweet and palatable, and he
+ate a quantity. Then discovering he was hungry, he took some crackers
+from his belt and ate them walking along. The Doctor and the Big
+Business Man ate also, for although they had not realized it, all three
+were actually famished.
+
+Shortly after this the party came to a broad, smooth-flowing river, its
+banks lined with rushes, with here and there a little spot of gray,
+sandy beach. It was apparent from Lao's signs that they must wait at
+this point for a boat to take them across. This they were glad enough to
+do, for all three had gone nearly to the limit of their strength. They
+drank deep of the pure river water, laved their aching limbs in it
+gratefully, and lay down, caring not a bit how long they were forced to
+wait.
+
+In perhaps another hour the boat appeared. It came from down the river,
+propelled close inshore by two members of their own party who had gone
+to fetch it. At first the travelers thought it a long, oblong raft. Then
+as it came closer they could see it was constructed of three canoes,
+each about thirty feet long, hollowed out of tree-trunks. Over these was
+laid a platform of small trees hewn roughly into boards. The boat was
+propelled by long, slender poles in the hands of the two men, who, one
+on each side, dug them into the bed of the river and walked with them
+the length of the platform.
+
+On to this boat the entire party crowded and they were soon well out on
+the shallow river, headed for its opposite bank. The Very Young Man,
+seated at the front end of the platform with his legs dangling over and
+his feet only a few inches above the silver phosphorescence of the
+rippling water underneath, sighed luxuriously.
+
+"This beats anything we've done yet," he murmured. "Gee, it's nice
+here!"
+
+When they landed on the farther bank another group of natives was
+waiting for them. The party, thus strengthened to nearly forty, started
+off immediately into the forest, which on this side of the river
+appeared equally dense and trackless.
+
+They appeared now to be paralleling the course of the river a few
+hundred yards back from its bank. After half an hour of this traveling
+they came abruptly to what at first appeared to be the mouth of a large
+cave, but which afterwards proved to be a tunnel-like passageway. Into
+this opening the party unhesitatingly plunged.
+
+Within this tunnel, which sloped downward at a considerable angle, they
+made even more rapid progress than in the forest above. The tunnel walls
+here were perhaps twenty feet apart--walls of a glistening, radiant,
+crystalline rock. The roof of the passageway was fully twice as high as
+its width; its rocky floor was smooth and even.
+
+After a time this tunnel was crossed by another somewhat broader and
+higher, but in general of similar aspect. It, too, sloped downward, more
+abruptly from the intersection. Into this latter passageway the party
+turned, still taking the downward course.
+
+As they progressed, many other passageways were crossed, the
+intersections of which were wide at the open spaces. Occasionally the
+travelers encountered other natives, all of them men, most of whom
+turned and followed them.
+
+The Big Business Man, after over an hour of this rapid walking downward,
+was again near the limit of his endurance, when the party, after
+crossing a broad, open square, came upon a sort of sleigh, with two
+animals harnessed to it. It was standing at the intersection of a still
+broader, evidently more traveled passageway, and in it was an attendant,
+apparently fast asleep.
+
+Into this sleigh climbed the three travelers with their guide Lao; and,
+driven by the attendant, they started down the broader tunnel at a rapid
+pace. The sleigh was balanced upon a broad single runner of polished
+stone, with a narrow, slightly shorter outrider on each side; it slid
+smoothly and easily on this runner over the equally smooth, metallic
+rock of the ground.
+
+The reindeer-like animals were harnessed by their heads to a single
+shaft. They were guided by a short, pointed pole in the hands of the
+driver, who, as occasion demanded, dug it vigorously into their flanks.
+
+In this manner the travelers rode perhaps half an hour more. The
+passageway sloped steeply downward, and they made good speed. Finally
+without warning, except by a sudden freshening of the air, they emerged
+into the open, and found themselves facing a broad, rolling stretch of
+country, dotted here and there with trees--the country of the Oroids at
+last.
+
+For the first time since leaving their own world the adventurers found
+themselves amid surroundings that at least held some semblance of an
+aspect of familiarity. The scene they faced now might have been one of
+their own land viewed on an abnormally bright though moonless evening.
+
+For some miles they could see a rolling, open country, curving slightly
+upward into the dimness of the distance. At their right, close by, lay a
+broad lake, its surface wrinkled under a gentle breeze and gleaming
+bright as a great sheet of polished silver.
+
+Overhead hung a gray-blue, cloudless sky, studded with a myriad of
+faint, twinkling, golden-silver stars. On the lake shore lay a
+collection of houses, close together, at the water's edge and spreading
+back thinly into the hills behind. This they knew to be Arite--the city
+of their destination.
+
+At the end of the tunnel they left the sleigh, and, turning down the
+gentle sloping hillside, leisurely approached the city. They were part
+way across an open field separating them from the nearest houses, when
+they saw a group of figures coming across the field towards them. This
+group stopped when still a few hundred yards away, only two of the
+figures continuing to come forward. They came onward steadily, the tall
+figure of a man clothed in white, and by his side a slender, graceful
+boy.
+
+In a moment more Lao, walking in front of the Doctor and his two
+companions, stopped suddenly and, turning to face them, said quietly,
+"The Master."
+
+The three travelers, with their hearts pounding, paused an instant. Then
+with a shout the Very Young Man dashed forward, followed by his two
+companions.
+
+"It's Rogers--it's Rogers!" he called; and in a moment more the three
+men were beside the Chemist, shaking his hand and pouring at him
+excitedly their words of greeting.
+
+The Chemist welcomed them heartily, but with a quiet, curious air of
+dignity that they did not remember he possessed before. He seemed to
+have aged considerably since they had last seen him. The lines in his
+face had deepened; the hair on his temples was white. He seemed also to
+be rather taller than they remembered him, and certainly he was stouter.
+
+He was dressed in a long, flowing robe of white cloth, gathered in at
+the waist by a girdle, from which hung a short sword, apparently of gold
+or of beaten brass. His legs were bare; on his feet he wore a form of
+sandal with leather thongs crossing his insteps. His hair grew long over
+his ears and was cut off at the shoulder line in the fashion of the
+natives.
+
+When the first words of greeting were over, the Chemist turned to the
+boy, who was standing apart, watching them with big, interested eyes.
+
+"My friends," he said quietly, yet with a little underlying note of
+pride in his voice, "this is my son."
+
+The boy approached deferentially. He was apparently about ten or eleven
+years of age, tall as his father's shoulder nearly, extremely slight of
+build, yet with a body perfectly proportioned. He was dressed in a white
+robe similar to his father's, only shorter, ending at his knees. His
+skin was of a curious, smooth, milky whiteness, lacking the gray, harder
+look of that of the native men, and with just a touch of the iridescent
+quality possessed by the women. His features were cast in a delicate
+mold, pretty enough almost to be called girlish, yet with a firm
+squareness of chin distinctly masculine.
+
+His eyes were blue; his thick, wavy hair, falling to his shoulders, was
+a chestnut brown. His demeanor was graceful and dignified, yet with a
+touch of ingenuousness that marked him for the care-free child he really
+was. He held out his hands palms up as he approached.
+
+"My name is Loto," he said in a sweet, soft voice, with perfect
+self-possession. "I'm glad to meet my father's friends." He spoke
+English with just a trace of the liquid quality that characterized his
+mother's tongue.
+
+"You are late getting here," remarked the Chemist with a smile, as the
+three travelers, completely surprised by this sudden introduction,
+gravely shook hands with the boy.
+
+During this time the young Oroid who had guided them down from the
+forest above the tunnels, had been standing respectfully behind them, a
+few feet away. A short distance farther on several small groups of
+natives were gathered, watching the strangers. With a few swift words
+Loto now dismissed their guide, who bowed low with his hands to his
+forehead and left them.
+
+Led by the Chemist, they continued on down into the city, talking
+earnestly, telling him the details of their trip. The natives followed
+them as they moved forward, and as they entered the city others looked
+at them curiously and, the Very Young Man thought, with a little
+hostility, yet always from a respectful distance. Evidently it was
+night, or at least the time of sleep at this hour, for the streets they
+passed through were nearly deserted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE CITY OF ARITE
+
+
+The city of Arite, as it looked to them now, was strange beyond anything
+they had ever seen, but still by no means as extraordinary as they had
+expected it would be. The streets through which they walked were broad
+and straight, and were crossed by others at regular intervals of two or
+three hundred feet. These streets paralleled each other with
+mathematical regularity. The city thus was laid out most orderly, but
+with one peculiarity; the streets did not run in two directions crossing
+each other at right angles, but in three, each inclined to an equal
+degree with the others. The blocks of houses between them, therefore,
+were cut into diamond-shaped sections and into triangles, never into
+squares or oblongs.
+
+Most of the streets seemed paved with large, flat gray blocks of a
+substance resembling highly polished stone, or a form of opaque glass.
+There were no sidewalks, but close up before the more pretentious of the
+houses, were small trees growing.
+
+The houses themselves were generally triangular or diamond-shaped,
+following the slope of the streets. They were, most of them, but two
+stories in height, with flat roofs on some of which flowers and
+trellised vines were growing. They were built principally of the same
+smooth, gray blocks with which the streets were paved. Their windows
+were large and numerous, without window-panes, but closed now, nearly
+all of them by shining, silvery curtains that looked as though they
+might have been woven from the metal itself. The doors were of heavy
+metal, suggesting brass or gold. On some of the houses tiny low-railed
+balconies hung from the upper windows out over the street.
+
+The party proceeded quietly through this now deserted city, crossing a
+large tree-lined square, or park, that by the confluence of many streets
+seemed to mark its center, and turned finally into another diagonal
+street that dropped swiftly down towards the lake front. At the edge of
+a promontory this street abruptly terminated in a broad flight of steps
+leading down to a little beach on the lake shore perhaps a hundred feet
+below.
+
+The Chemist turned sharp to the right at the head of these steps, and,
+passing through the opened gateway of an arch in a low gray wall, led
+his friends into a garden in which were growing a profusion of flowers.
+These flowers, they noticed, were most of them blue or gray, or of a
+pale silvery whiteness, lending to the scene a peculiarly wan, wistful
+appearance, yet one of extraordinary, quite unearthly beauty.
+
+Through the garden a little gray-pebbled path wound back to where a
+house stood, nearly hidden in a grove of trees, upon a bluff directly
+overlooking the lake.
+
+"My home, gentlemen," said the Chemist, with a wave of his hand.
+
+As they approached the house they heard, coming from within, the mellow
+voice of a woman singing--an odd little minor theme, with a quaint,
+lilting rhythm, and words they could not distinguish. Accompanying the
+voice were the delicate tones of some stringed instrument suggesting a
+harp.
+
+"We are expected," remarked the Chemist with a smile. "Lylda is still
+up, waiting for us." The Very Young Man's heart gave a leap at the
+mention of the name.
+
+From the outside, the Chemist's house resembled many of the larger ones
+they had seen as they came through the city. It was considerably more
+pretentious than any they had yet noticed, diamond-shaped--that is to
+say, a flattened oblong--two stories in height and built of large blocks
+of the gray polished stone.
+
+Unlike the other houses, its sides were not bare, but were partly
+covered by a luxuriant growth of vines and trellised flowers. There were
+no balconies under its windows, except on the lake side. There, at the
+height of the second story, a covered balcony broad enough almost to be
+called a veranda, stretched the full width of the house.
+
+A broad door of brass, fronting the garden, stood partly open, and the
+Chemist pushed it wide and ushered in his friends. They found themselves
+now in a triangular hallway, or lobby, with an open arch in both its
+other sides giving passage into rooms beyond. Through one of these
+archways the Chemist led them, into what evidently was the main
+living-room of the dwelling.
+
+It was a high-ceilinged room nearly triangular in shape, thirty feet
+possibly at its greatest width. In one wall were set several
+silvery-curtained windows, opening out on to the lake. On the other side
+was a broad fireplace and hearth with another archway beside it leading
+farther into the house. The walls of the room were lined with small gray
+tiles; the floor also was tiled with gray and white, set in design.
+
+On the floor were spread several large rugs, apparently made of grass or
+fibre. The walls were bare, except between the windows, where two long,
+narrow, heavily embroidered strips of golden cloth were hanging.
+
+In the center of the room stood a circular stone table, its top a highly
+polished black slab of stone. This table was set now for a meal, with
+golden metal dishes, huge metal goblets of a like color, and beautifully
+wrought table utensils, also of gold. Around the table were several
+small chairs, made of wicker. In the seat of each lay a padded fiber
+cushion, and over the back was hung a small piece of embroidered cloth.
+
+With the exception of these chairs and table, the room was practically
+devoid of furniture. Against one wall was a smaller table of stone, with
+a few miscellaneous objects on its top, and under each window stood a
+small white stone bench.
+
+A fire glowed in the fireplace grate--a fire that burned without flame.
+On the hearth before it, reclining on large silvery cushions, was a
+woman holding in her hands a small stringed instrument like a tiny harp
+or lyre. When the men entered the room she laid her instrument aside and
+rose to her feet.
+
+As she stood there for an instant, expectant, with the light of welcome
+in her eyes, the three strangers beheld what to them seemed the most
+perfect vision of feminine loveliness they had ever seen.
+
+The woman's age was at first glance indeterminate. By her face, her
+long, slender, yet well-rounded neck, and the slim curves of her girlish
+figure, she might have been hardly more than twenty. Yet in her bearing
+there was that indefinable poise and dignity that bespoke the more
+mature, older woman.
+
+She was about five feet tall, with a slender, almost fragile, yet
+perfectly rounded body. Her dress consisted of a single flowing garment
+of light-blue silk, reaching from the shoulders to just above her knees.
+It was girdled at the waist by a thick golden cord that hung with golden
+tasseled pendants at her side.
+
+A narrower golden cord crossed her breast and shoulders. Her arms, legs,
+and shoulders were bare. Her skin was smooth as satin, milky white, and
+suffused with the delicate tints of many colors. Her hair was thick and
+very black; it was twisted into two tresses that fell forward over each
+shoulder nearly to her waist and ended with a little silver ribbon and
+tassel tied near the bottom.
+
+Her face was a delicate oval. Her lips were full and of a color for
+which in English there is no name. It would have been red doubtless by
+sunlight in the world above, but here in this silver light of
+phosphorescence, the color red, as we see it, was impossible.
+
+Her nose was small, of Grecian type. Her slate-gray eyes were rather
+large, very slightly upturned at the corners, giving just a touch of the
+look of our women of the Orient. Her lashes were long and very black. In
+conversation she lowered them at times with a charming combination of
+feminine humility and a touch of coquetry. Her gaze from under them had
+often a peculiar look of melting softness, yet always it was direct and
+honest.
+
+Such was the woman who quietly stood beside her hearth, waiting to
+welcome these strange guests from another world.
+
+As the men entered through the archway, the boy Loto pushed quickly past
+them in his eagerness to get ahead, and, rushing across the room, threw
+himself into the woman's arms crying happily, "_Mita, mita._"
+
+The woman kissed him affectionately. Then, before she had time to speak,
+the boy pulled her forward, holding her tightly by one hand.
+
+"This is my mother," he said with a pretty little gesture. "Her name is
+Lylda."
+
+The woman loosened herself from his grasp with a smile of amusement,
+and, native fashion, bowed low with her hands to her forehead.
+
+"My husband's friends are welcome," she said simply. Her voice was soft
+and musical. She spoke English perfectly, with an intonation of which
+the most cultured woman might be proud, but with a foreign accent much
+more noticeable than that of her son.
+
+"A very long time we have been waiting for you," she added; and then, as
+an afterthought, she impulsively offered them her hand in their own
+manner.
+
+The Chemist kissed his wife quietly. In spite of the presence of
+strangers, for a moment she dropped her reserve, her arms went up around
+his neck, and she clung to him an instant. Gently putting her down, the
+Chemist turned to his friends.
+
+"I think Lylda has supper waiting," he said. Then as he looked at their
+torn, woolen suits that once were white, and the ragged shoes upon their
+feet, he added with a smile, "But I think I can make you much more
+comfortable first."
+
+He led them up a broad, curving flight of stone steps to a room above,
+where they found a shallow pool of water, sunk below the level of the
+floor. Here he left them to bathe, getting them meanwhile robes similar
+to his own, with which to replace their own soiled garments. In a little
+while, much refreshed, they descended to the room below, where Lylda had
+supper ready upon the table waiting for them.
+
+"Only a little while ago my father and Aura left," said Lylda, as they
+sat down to eat.
+
+"Lylda's younger sister," the Chemist explained. "She lives with her
+father here in Arite."
+
+The Very Young Man parted his lips to speak. Then, with heightened color
+in his cheeks, he closed them again.
+
+They were deftly served at supper by a little native girl who was
+dressed in a short tunic reaching from waist to knees, with circular
+discs of gold covering her breasts. There was cooked meat for the meal,
+a white starchy form of vegetable somewhat resembling a potato, a number
+of delicious fruits of unfamiliar variety, and for drink the juice of a
+fruit that tasted more like cider than anything they could name.
+
+At the table Loto perched himself beside the Very Young Man, for whom he
+seemed to have taken a sudden fancy.
+
+"I like you," he said suddenly, during a lull in the talk.
+
+"I like you, too," answered the Very Young Man.
+
+"Aura is very beautiful; you'll like her."
+
+"I'm sure I will," the Very Young Man agreed soberly.
+
+"What's your name?" persisted the boy.
+
+"My name's Jack. And I'm glad you like me. I think we're friends, don't
+you?"
+
+And so they became firm friends, and, as far as circumstances would
+permit, inseparable companions.
+
+Lylda presided over the supper with the charming grace of a competent
+hostess. She spoke seldom, yet when the conversation turned to the great
+world above in which her husband was born, she questioned intelligently
+and with eager interest. Evidently she had a considerable knowledge of
+the subject, but with an almost childish insatiable curiosity she sought
+from her guests more intimate details of the world they lived in.
+
+When in lighter vein their talk ran into comments upon the social life
+of their own world, Lylda's ready wit, combined with her ingenuous
+simplicity, put to them many questions which made the giving of an
+understandable answer sometimes amusingly difficult.
+
+When the meal was over the three travelers found themselves very sleepy,
+and all of them were glad when the Chemist suggested that they retire
+almost immediately. He led them again to the upper story into the
+bedroom they were to occupy. There, on the low bedsteads, soft with many
+quilted coverings, they passed the remainder of the time of sleep in
+dreamless slumber, utterly worn out by their journey, nor guessing what
+the morning would bring forth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE WORLD OF THE RING
+
+
+Next morning after breakfast the four men sat upon the balcony
+overlooking the lake, and prepared to hear the Chemist's narrative of
+what had happened since he left them five years before. They had already
+told him of events in their world, the making of the chemicals and their
+journey down into the ring, and now they were ready to hear his story.
+
+At their ease here upon the balcony, reclining in long wicker chairs of
+the Chemist's own design, as he proudly admitted, they felt at peace
+with themselves and the world. Below them lay the shining lake, above
+spread a clear, star-studded sky. Against their faces blew the cool
+breath of a gentle summer's breeze.
+
+As they sat silent for a moment, enjoying almost with awe the beauties
+of the scene, and listening to the soft voice of Lylda singing to
+herself in the garden, the Very Young Man suddenly thought of the one
+thing lacking to make his enjoyment perfect.
+
+"I wish I had a cigarette," he remarked wistfully.
+
+The Chemist with a smile produced cigars of a leaf that proved a very
+good substitute for tobacco. They lighted them with a tiny metal lighter
+of the flint-and-steel variety, filled with a fluffy inflammable wick--a
+contrivance of the Chemist's own making--and then he started his
+narrative.
+
+"There is much to tell you, my friends," he began thoughtfully. "Much
+that will interest you, shall we say from a socialistic standpoint? I
+shall make it brief, for we have no time to sit idly talking.
+
+"I must tell you now, gentlemen, of what I think you have so far not
+even had a hint. You have found me living here," he hesitated and
+smiled, "well at least under pleasant and happy circumstances. Yet as a
+matter of fact, your coming was of vital importance, not only to me and
+my family, but probably to the future welfare of the entire Oroid
+nation.
+
+"We are approaching a crisis here with which I must confess I have felt
+myself unable to cope. With your help, more especially with the power of
+the chemicals you have brought with you, it may be possible for us to
+deal successfully with the conditions facing us."
+
+"What are they?" asked the Very Young Man eagerly.
+
+"Perhaps it would be better for me to tell you chronologically the
+events as they have occurred. As you remember when I left you twelve
+years ago----"
+
+"Five years," interrupted the Very Young Man.
+
+"Five or twelve, as you please," said the Chemist smiling. "It was my
+intention then, as you know, to come back to you after a comparatively
+short stay here."
+
+"And bring Mrs.--er--Lylda, with you," put in the Very Young Man,
+hesitating in confusion over the Christian name.
+
+"And bring Lylda with me," finished the Chemist. "I got back here
+without much difficulty, and in a very much shorter time and with less
+effort than on my first trip. I tried an entirely different method; I
+stayed as large as possible while descending, and diminished my size
+materially only after I had reached the bottom."
+
+"I told you----" said the Big Business Man.
+
+"It was a dangerous method of procedure, but I made it successfully
+without mishap.
+
+"Lylda and I were married in native fashion shortly after I reached
+Arite."
+
+"How was that; what fashion?" the Very Young Man wanted to know, but the
+Chemist went on.
+
+"It was my intention to stay here only a few weeks and then return with
+Lylda. She was willing to follow me anywhere I might take her,
+because--well, perhaps you would hardly understand, but--women here are
+different in many ways than you know them.
+
+"I stayed several months, still planning to leave almost at any time. I
+found this world an intensely interesting study. Then, when--Loto was
+expected, I again postponed my departure.
+
+"I had been here over a year before I finally gave up my intention of
+ever returning to you. I have no close relatives above, you know, no one
+who cares much for me or for whom I care, and my life seemed thoroughly
+established here.
+
+"I am afraid gentlemen, I am offering excuses for myself--for my
+desertion of my own country in its time of need. I have no defense. As
+events turned out I could not have helped probably, very much, but
+still--that is no excuse. I can only say that your world up there seemed
+so very--very--far away. Events up there had become to me only vague
+memories as of a dream. And Lylda and my little son were so near, so
+real and vital to me. Well, at any rate I stayed, deciding definitely to
+make my home and to end my days here."
+
+"What did you do about the drugs?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"I kept them hidden carefully for nearly a year," the Chemist replied.
+"Then fearing lest they should in some way get loose, I destroyed them.
+They possess a diabolical power, gentlemen; I am afraid of it."
+
+"They called you the Master," suggested the Very Young Man, after a
+pause. "Why was that?"
+
+The Chemist smiled. "They do call me the Master. That has been for
+several years. I suppose I am the most important individual in the
+nation to-day."
+
+"I should think you would be," said the Very Young Man quickly. "What
+you did, and with the knowledge you have."
+
+The Chemist went on. "Lylda and I lived with her father and Aura--her
+mother is dead you know--until after Loto was born. Then we had a house
+further up in the city. Later, about eight years ago, I built this house
+we now occupy and Lylda laid out its garden which she is tremendously
+proud of, and which I think is the finest in Arite.
+
+"Because of what I had done in the Malite war, I became naturally the
+King's adviser. Every one felt me the savior of the nation, which, in a
+way, I suppose I was. I never used the drugs again and, as only a very
+few of the people ever understood them, or in fact ever knew of them or
+believed in their existence, my extraordinary change in stature was
+ascribed to some supernatural power. I have always since been credited
+with being able to exert that power at will, although I never used it
+but that once."
+
+"You have it again now," said the Doctor smiling.
+
+"Yes, I have, thank God," answered the Chemist fervently, "though I hope
+I never shall have to use it."
+
+"Aren't you planning to go back with us," asked the Very Young Man,
+"even for a visit?"
+
+The Chemist shook his head. "My way lies here," he said quietly, yet
+with deep feeling.
+
+A silence followed; finally the Chemist roused himself from his reverie,
+and went on. "Although I never again changed my stature, there were a
+thousand different ways in which I continued to make myself--well,
+famous throughout the land. I have taught these people many things,
+gentlemen--like this for instance." He indicated his cigar, and the
+chair in which he was sitting. "You cannot imagine what a variety of
+things one knows beyond the knowledge of so primitive a race as this.
+
+"And so gradually, I became known as the Master. I have no official
+position, but everywhere I am known by that name. As a matter of fact,
+for the past year at least, it has been rather too descriptive a
+title----" the Chemist smiled somewhat ruefully--"for I have had in
+reality, and have now, the destiny of the country on my shoulders."
+
+"You're not threatened with another war?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"No, not exactly that. But I had better go on with my story first. This
+is a very different world now, gentlemen, from that I first entered
+twelve years ago. I think first I should tell you about it as it was
+then."
+
+His three friends nodded their agreement and the Chemist continued.
+
+"I must make it clear to you gentlemen, the one great fundamental
+difference between this world and yours. In the evolution of this race
+there has been no cause for strife--the survival of the fittest always
+has been an unknown doctrine--a non-existent problem.
+
+"In extent this Inner Surface upon which we are now living is nearly as
+great as the surface of your own earth. From the earliest known times it
+has been endowed with a perfect climate--a climate such as you are now
+enjoying."
+
+The Very Young Man expanded his chest and looked his appreciation.
+
+"The climate, the rainfall, everything is ideal for crops and for living
+conditions. In the matter of food, one needs in fact do practically
+nothing. Fruits of a variety ample to sustain life, grow wild in
+abundance. Vegetables planted are harvested seemingly without blight or
+hazard of any kind. No destructive insects have ever impeded
+agriculture; no wild animals have ever existed to harass humanity.
+Nature in fact, offers every help and no obstacle towards making a
+simple, primitive life easy to live.
+
+"Under such conditions the race developed only so far as was necessary
+to ensure a healthful pleasant existence. Civilization here is what you
+would call primitive: wants are few and easily supplied--too easily,
+probably, for without strife these people have become--well shall I say
+effeminate? They are not exactly that--it is not a good word."
+
+"I should think that such an unchanging, unrigorous climate would make a
+race deteriorate in physique rapidly," observed the Doctor.
+
+"How about disease down here?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"It is a curious thing," replied the Chemist. "Cleanliness seems to be a
+trait inborn with every individual in this race. It is more than
+godliness; it is the one great cardinal virtue. You must have noticed
+it, just in coming through Arite. Personal cleanliness of the people,
+and cleanliness of houses, streets--of everything. It is truly
+extraordinary to what extent they go to make everything inordinately,
+immaculately clean. Possibly for that reason, and because there seems
+never to have been any serious disease germs existing here, sickness as
+you know it, does not exist."
+
+"Guess you better not go into business here," said the Very Young Man
+with a grin at the Doctor.
+
+"There is practically no illness worthy of the name," went on the
+Chemist. "The people live out their lives and, barring accident, die
+peacefully of old age."
+
+"How old do they live to be?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"About the same as with you," answered the Chemist. "Only of course as
+we measure time."
+
+"Say how about that?" the Very Young Man asked. "My watch is still
+going--is it ticking out the old time or the new time down here?"
+
+"I should say probably--certainly--it was giving time of your own world,
+just as it always did," the Chemist replied.
+
+"Well, there's no way of telling, is there?" said the Big Business Man.
+
+"What is the exact difference in time?" the Doctor asked.
+
+"That is something I have had no means of determining. It was rather a
+curious thing; when I left that letter for you," the Chemist turned to
+the Doctor--"it never occurred to me that although I had told you to
+start down here on a certain day, I would be quite at a loss to
+calculate when that day had arrived. It was my estimation after my first
+trip here that time in this world passed at a rate about two and
+two-fifth times faster than it does in your world. That is as near as I
+ever came to it. We can calculate it more closely now, since we have
+only the interval of your journey down as an indeterminate quantity."
+
+"How near right did you hit it? When did you expect us?" asked the
+Doctor.
+
+"About thirty days ago; I have been waiting since then. I sent nearly a
+hundred men through the tunnels into the forest to guide you in."
+
+"You taught them pretty good English," said the Very Young Man. "They
+were tickled to death that they knew it, too," he added with a
+reminiscent grin.
+
+"You say about thirty days; how do you measure time down here?" asked
+the Big Business Man.
+
+"I call a day, one complete cycle of sleeping and eating," the Chemist
+replied. "I suppose that is the best translation of the Oroid word; we
+have a word that means about the same thing."
+
+"How long is a day?" inquired the Very Young Man.
+
+"It seems in the living about the same as your twenty-four hours; it
+occupies probably about the interval of time of ten hours in your world.
+
+"You see," the Chemist went on, "we ordinarily eat twice between each
+time of sleep--once after rising--and once a few hours before bedtime.
+Workers at severe muscular labor sometimes eat a light meal in between,
+but the custom is not general. Time is generally spoken of as so many
+meals, rather than days."
+
+"But what is the arbitrary standard?" asked the Doctor. "Do you have an
+equivalent for weeks, or months or years?"
+
+"Yes," answered the Chemist, "based on astronomy the same as in your
+world. But I would rather not explain that now. I want to take you,
+later to-day, to see Lylda's father. You will like him. He is--well,
+what we might call a scientist. He talks English fairly well. We can
+discuss astronomy with him; you will find him very interesting."
+
+"How can you tell time?" the Very Young Man wanted to know. "There is no
+sun to go by. You have no clocks, have you?"
+
+"There is one downstairs," answered the Chemist, "but you didn't notice
+it. Lylda's father has a very fine one; he will show it to you."
+
+"It seems to me," began the Doctor thoughtfully after a pause, reverting
+to their previous topic, "that without sickness, under such ideal living
+conditions as you say exist here, in a very short time this world would
+be over-populated."
+
+"Nature seems to have taken care of that," the Chemist answered, "and as
+a matter of fact quite the reverse is true. Women mature in life at an
+age you would call about sixteen. But early marriages are not the rule;
+seldom is a woman married before she is twenty--frequently she is much
+older. Her period of child-bearing, too, is comparatively
+short--frequently less than ten years. The result is few children, whose
+rate of mortality is exceedingly slow."
+
+"How about the marriages?" the Very Young Man suggested. "You were going
+to tell us."
+
+"Marriages are by mutual consent," answered the Chemist, "solemnized by
+a simple, social ceremony. They are for a stated period of time, and are
+renewed later if both parties desire. When a marriage is dissolved
+children are cared for by the mother generally, and her maintenance if
+necessary is provided for by the government. The state becomes the
+guardian also of all illegitimate children and children of unknown
+parentage. But of both these latter classes there are very few. They
+work for the government, as do many other people, until they are of age,
+when they become free to act as they please."
+
+"You spoke about women being different than we knew them; how are they
+different?" the Very Young Man asked. "If they're all like Lylda I think
+they're great," he added enthusiastically, flushing a little at his own
+temerity.
+
+The Chemist smiled his acknowledgment of the compliment. "The status of
+women--and their character--is I think one of the most remarkable things
+about this race. You will remember, when I returned from here the first
+time, that I was much impressed by the kindliness of these people.
+Because of their history and their government they seem to have become
+imbued with the milk of human kindness to a degree approaching the
+Utopian.
+
+"Crime here is practically non-existent; there is nothing over which
+contention can arise. What crimes are committed are punished with a
+severity seemingly out of all proportion to what you would call justice.
+A persistent offender even of fairly trivial wrongdoing is put to death
+without compunction. There is no imprisonment, except for those awaiting
+trial. Punishment is a reprimand with the threat of death if the offense
+is committed again, or death itself immediately. Probably this very
+severity and the swiftness with which punishment is meted out, to a
+large extent discourages wrongdoing. But, fundamentally, the capacity
+for doing wrong is lacking in these people.
+
+"I have said practically nothing exists over which contention can arise.
+That is not strictly true. No race of people can develop without some
+individual contention over the possession of their women. The passions
+of love, hate and jealousy, centering around sex and its problems, are
+as necessarily present in human beings as life itself.
+
+"Love here is deep, strong and generally lasting; it lacks fire,
+intensity--perhaps. I should say it is rather of a placid quality.
+Hatred seldom exists; jealousy is rare, because both sexes, in their
+actions towards the other, are guided by a spirit of honesty and
+fairness that is really extraordinary. This is true particularly of the
+women; they are absolutely honest--square, through and through.
+
+"Crimes against women are few, yet in general they are the most
+prevalent type we have. They are punishable by death--even those that
+you would characterize as comparatively slight offenses. It is
+significant too, that, in judging these crimes, but little evidence is
+required. A slight chain of proven circumstances and the word of the
+woman is all that is required.
+
+"This you will say, places a tremendous power in the hands of women. It
+does; yet they realize it thoroughly, and justify it. Although they know
+that almost at their word a man will be put to death, practically never,
+I am convinced, is this power abused. With extreme infrequency, a female
+is proven guilty of lying. The penalty is death, for there is no place
+here for such a woman!
+
+"The result is that women are accorded a freedom of movement far beyond
+anything possible in your world. They are safe from harm. Their morals
+are, according to the standard here, practically one hundred per cent
+perfect. With short-term marriages, dissolvable at will, there is no
+reason why they should be otherwise. Curiously enough too, marriages are
+renewed frequently--more than that, I should say, generally--for
+life-long periods. Polygamy with the consent of all parties is
+permitted, but seldom practiced. Polyandry is unlawful, and but few
+cases of it ever appear.
+
+"You may think all this a curious system, gentlemen, but it works."
+
+"That's the answer," muttered the Very Young Man. It was obvious he was
+still thinking of Lylda and her sister and with a heightened admiration
+and respect.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+A LIFE WORTH LIVING
+
+
+The appearance of Lylda at one of the long windows of the balcony,
+interrupted the men for a moment. She was dressed in a tunic of silver,
+of curious texture, like flexible woven metal, reaching to her knees. On
+her feet were little fiber sandals. Her hair was twisted in coils, piled
+upon her head, with a knot low at the back of the neck. From her head in
+graceful folds hung a thin scarf of gold.
+
+She stood waiting in the window a moment for them to notice her; then
+she said quietly, "I am going for a time to the court." She hesitated an
+instant over the words. The Chemist inclined his head in agreement, and
+with a smile at her guests, and a little bow, she withdrew.
+
+The visitors looked inquiringly at their host.
+
+"I must tell you about our government," said the Chemist. "Lylda plays
+quite an important part in it." He smiled at their obvious surprise.
+
+"The head of the government is the king. In reality he is more like the
+president of a republic; he is chosen by the people to serve for a
+period of about twenty years. The present king is now in--well let us
+say about the fifteenth year of his service. This translation of time
+periods into English is confusing," he interjected somewhat
+apologetically. "We shall see the king to-morrow; you will find him a
+most intelligent, likeable man.
+
+"As a sort of congress, the king has one hundred and fifty advisers,
+half of them women, who meet about once a month. Lylda is one of these
+women. He also has an inner circle of closer, more intimate counselors
+consisting of four men and four women. One of these women is the queen;
+another is Lylda. I am one of the men.
+
+"The capital of the nation is Arite. Each of the other cities governs
+itself in so far as its own local problems are concerned according to a
+somewhat similar system, but all are under the central control of the
+Arite government."
+
+"How about the country in between, the--the rural population?" asked the
+Big Business Man.
+
+"It is all apportioned off to the nearest city," answered the Chemist.
+"Each city controls a certain amount of the land around it.
+
+"This congress of one hundred and fifty is the law-making body. The
+judiciary is composed of one court in each city. There is a leader of
+the court, or judge, and a jury of forty--twenty men and twenty women.
+The juries are chosen for continuous service for a period of five years.
+Lylda is at present serving in the Arite court. They meet very
+infrequently and irregularly, called as occasion demands. A two-thirds
+vote is necessary for a decision; there is no appeal."
+
+"Are there any lawyers?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"There is no one who makes that his profession, no. Generally the
+accused talks for himself or has some relative, or possibly some friend
+to plead his case."
+
+"You have police?" the Doctor asked.
+
+"A very efficient police force, both for the cities and in the country.
+Really they are more like detectives than police; they are the men I
+sent up into the forest to meet you. We also have an army, which at
+present consists almost entirely of this same police force. After the
+Malite war it was of course very much larger, but of late years it has
+been disbanded almost completely.
+
+"How about money?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.
+
+"There is none!" answered the Chemist with a smile.
+
+"Great Scott, how can you manage that?" ejaculated the Big Business Man.
+
+"Our industrial system undoubtedly is peculiar," the Chemist replied,
+"but I can only say again, it works. We have no money, and, so far, none
+apparently is needed. Everything is bought and sold as an exchange. For
+instance, suppose I wish to make a living as a farmer. I have my
+land----"
+
+"How did you get it?" interrupted the Very Young Man quickly.
+
+"All the land is divided up _pro rata_ and given by each city to its
+citizens. At the death of its owner it reverts to the government, and
+each citizen coming of age receives his share from the surplus always
+remaining."
+
+"What about women? Can they own land too?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"They have identical rights with men in everything," the Chemist
+answered.
+
+"But women surely cannot cultivate their own land?" the Doctor said.
+Evidently he was thinking of Lylda's fragile little body, and certainly
+if most of the Oroid women were like her, labour in the fields would be
+for them quite impossible.
+
+"A few women, by choice, do some of the lighter forms of manual
+labor--but they are very few. Nearly every woman marries within a few
+years after she receives her land; if it is to be cultivated, her
+husband then takes charge of it."
+
+"Is the cultivation of land compulsory?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"Only when in a city's district a shortage of food is threatened. Then
+the government decides the amount and kind of food needed, and the
+citizens, drawn by lot, are ordered to produce it. The government
+watches very carefully its food supply. In the case of overproduction,
+certain citizens, those less skillful, are ordered to work at something
+else.
+
+"This supervision over supply and demand is exercised by the government
+not only in the question of food but in manufactures, in fact, in all
+industrial activities. A very nice balance is obtained, so that
+practically no unnecessary work is done throughout the nation.
+
+"And gentlemen, do you know, as a matter of fact, I think that is the
+secret of a race of people being able to live without having to work
+most of its waking hours? If your civilization could eliminate all its
+unnecessary work, there would be far less work to do."
+
+"I wonder--isn't this balance of supply and demand very difficult to
+maintain?" asked the Big Business Man thoughtfully.
+
+"Not nearly so difficult as you would think," the Chemist answered. "In
+the case of land cultivation, the government has a large reserve, the
+cultivation of which it adjusts to maintain this balance. Thus, in some
+districts, the citizens do as they please and are never interfered with.
+
+"The same is true of manufactures. There is no organized business in the
+nation--not even so much as the smallest factory--except that conducted
+by the government. Each city has its own factories, whose production is
+carefully planned exactly to equal the demand."
+
+"Suppose a woman marries and her land is far away from her husband's?
+That would be sort of awkward, wouldn't it?" suggested the Very Young
+Man.
+
+"Each year at a stated time," the Chemist answered, "transfers of land
+are made. There are generally enough people who want to move to make
+satisfactory changes of location practical. And then of course, the
+government always stands ready to take up any two widely separate pieces
+of land, and give others in exchange out of its reserve."
+
+"Suppose you don't like the new land as well?" objected the Very Young
+Man.
+
+"Almost all land is of equal value," answered the Chemist. "And of
+course, its state of cultivation is always considered."
+
+"You were speaking about not having money," prompted the Very Young Man.
+
+"The idea is simply this: Suppose I wish to cultivate nothing except,
+let us say, certain vegetables. I register with the government my
+intention and the extent to which I propose to go. I receive the
+government's consent. I then take my crops as I harvest them and
+exchange them for every other article I need."
+
+"With whom do you exchange them?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"Any one I please--or with the government. Ninety per cent of everything
+produced is turned in to the government and other articles are taken
+from its stores."
+
+"How is the rate of exchange established?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"It is computed by the government. Private exchanges are supposed to be
+made at the same rate. It is against the law to cut under the government
+rate. But it is done, although apparently not with sufficient frequency
+to cause any trouble."
+
+"I should think it would be tremendously complicated and annoying to
+make all these exchanges," observed the Big Business Man.
+
+"Not at all," answered the Chemist, "because of the governmental system
+of credits. The financial standing of every individual is carefully kept
+on record."
+
+"Without any money? I don't get you," said the Very Young Man with a
+frown of bewilderment.
+
+The Chemist smiled. "Well, I don't blame you for that. But I think I can
+make myself clear. Let us take the case of Loto, for instance, as an
+individual. When he comes of age he will be allotted his section of
+land. We will assume him to be without family at that time, entirely
+dependent on his own resources."
+
+"Would he never have worked before coming of age?" the Very Young Man
+asked.
+
+"Children with parents generally devote their entire minority to getting
+an education, and to building their bodies properly. Without parents,
+they are supported by the government and live in public homes. Such
+children, during their adolescence, work for the government a small
+portion of their time.
+
+"Now when Loto comes of age and gets his land, located approximately
+where he desires it, he will make his choice as to his vocation. Suppose
+he wishes not to cultivate his land but to work for the government. He
+is given some congenial, suitable employment at which he works
+approximately five hours a day. No matter what he elects to do at the
+time he comes of age the government opens an account with him. He is
+credited with a certain standard unit for his work, which he takes from
+the government in supplies at his own convenience."
+
+"What is the unit?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"It is the average work produced by the average worker in one
+day--purely an arbitrary figure."
+
+"Like our word horse-power?" put in the Doctor.
+
+"Exactly. And all merchandise, food and labor is valued in terms of it.
+
+"Thus you see, every individual has his financial standing--all in
+relation to the government. He can let his balance pile up if he is
+able, or he can keep it low."
+
+"Suppose he goes into debt?" suggested the Very Young Man.
+
+"In the case of obvious, verified necessity, the government will allow
+him a limited credit. Persistent--shall I say willful--debt is a crime."
+
+"I thought at first," said the Big Business Man, "that everybody in this
+nation was on the same financial footing--that there was no premium put
+upon skill or industriousness. Now I see that one can accumulate, if not
+money, at least an inordinate amount of the world's goods."
+
+"Not such an inordinate amount," said the Chemist smiling. "Because
+there is no inheritance. A man and woman, combining their worldly
+wealth, may by industry acquire more than others, but they are welcome
+to enjoy it. And they cannot, in one lifetime, get such a preponderance
+of wealth as to cause much envy from those lacking it."
+
+"What happens to this house when you and Lylda die, if Loto cannot have
+it?" the Big Business Man asked.
+
+"It is kept in repair by the government and held until some one with a
+sufficiently large balance wants to buy it."
+
+"Are all workers paid at the same rate?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"No, but their wages are much nearer equal than in your world."
+
+"You have to hire people to work for you, how do you pay them?" the
+Doctor inquired.
+
+"The rate is determined by governmental standard. I pay them by having
+the amount deducted from my balance and added to theirs."
+
+"When you built this house, how did you go about doing it?" asked the
+Big Business Man.
+
+"I simply went to the government, and they built it for me according to
+my own ideas and wishes, deducting its cost from my balance."
+
+"What about the public work to be done?" asked the Big Business Man.
+"Caring for the city streets, the making of roads and all that. Do you
+have taxes?"
+
+"No," answered the Chemist smiling, "we do not have taxes. Quite the
+reverse, we sometimes have dividends.
+
+"The government, you must understand, not only conducts a business
+account with each of its citizens, but one with itself also. The value
+of articles produced is computed with a profit allowance, so that by a
+successful business administration, the government is enabled not only
+to meet its public obligations, but to acquire a surplus to its own
+credit in the form of accumulated merchandise. This surplus is divided
+among the people every five years--a sort of dividend."
+
+"I should think some cities might have much more than others," said the
+Big Business Man. "That would cause discontent, wouldn't it?"
+
+"It would probably cause a rush of people to the more successful cities.
+But it doesn't happen, because each city reports to the National
+government and the whole thing is averaged up. You see it is all quite
+simple," the Chemist finished. "And it makes life here very easy to
+live, and very worth the living."
+
+Unnoticed by the four interested men, a small compact-looking gray cloud
+had come sweeping down from the horizon above the lake and was scudding
+across the sky toward Arite. A sudden sharp crack of thunder interrupted
+their conversation.
+
+"Hello, a storm!" exclaimed the Chemist, looking out over the lake.
+"You've never seen one, have you? Come upstairs."
+
+They followed him into the house and upstairs to its flat roof. From
+this point of vantage they saw that the house was built with an interior
+courtyard or _patio_. Looking down into this courtyard from the roof
+they could see a little, splashing fountain in its center, with flower
+beds, a narrow gray path, and several small white benches.
+
+The roof, which was guarded with a breast-high parapet around both its
+inner and outer edges, was beautifully laid out with a variety of
+flowers and with trellised flower-bearing vines. In one corner were
+growing a number of small trees with great fan-shaped leaves of blue and
+bearing a large bell-shaped silver blossom.
+
+One end of the roof on the lake side was partially enclosed. Towards
+this roofed enclosure the Chemist led his friends. Within it a large
+fiber hammock hung between two stone posts. At one side a depression in
+the floor perhaps eight feet square was filled with what might have been
+blue pine needles, and a fluffy bluish moss. This rustic couch was
+covered at one end by a canopy of vines bearing a little white flower.
+
+As they entered the enclosure, it began to rain, and the Chemist slid
+forward several panels, closing them in completely. There were shuttered
+windows in these walls, through which they could look at the scene
+outside--a scene that with the coming storm was weird and beautiful
+beyond anything they had ever beheld.
+
+The cloud had spread sufficiently now to blot out the stars from nearly
+half of the sky. It was a thick cloud, absolutely opaque, and yet it
+caused no appreciable darkness, for the starlight it cut off was
+negligible and the silver radiation from the lake had more than doubled
+in intensity.
+
+Under the strong wind that had sprung up the lake assumed now an
+extraordinary aspect. Its surface was raised into long, sweeping waves
+that curved sharply and broke upon themselves. In their tops the silver
+phosphorescence glowed and whirled until the whole surface of the lake
+seemed filled with a dancing white fire, twisting, turning and seeming
+to leap out of the water high into the air.
+
+Several small sailboats, square, flat little catamarans, they looked,
+showed black against the water as they scudded for shore, trailing lines
+of silver out behind them.
+
+The wind increased in force. Below, on the beach, a huge rock lay in the
+water, against which the surf was breaking. Columns of water at times
+shot into the air before the face of the rock, and were blown away by
+the wind in great clouds of glistening silver. Occasionally it thundered
+with a very sharp intense crack accompanied by a jagged bolt of bluish
+lightning that zigzagged down from the low-hanging cloud.
+
+Then came the rain in earnest, a solid, heavy torrent, that bent down
+the wind and smoothed the surface of the lake. The rain fell almost
+vertically, as though it were a tremendous curtain of silver strings.
+And each of these strings broke apart into great shining pearls as the
+eye followed downward the course of the raindrops.
+
+For perhaps ten minutes the silver torrent poured down. Then suddenly it
+ceased. The wind had died away; in the air there was the fresh warm
+smell of wet and steaming earth. From the lake rolled up a shimmering
+translucent cloud of mist, like an enormous silver fire mounting into
+the sky. And then, as the gray cloud swept back behind them, beyond the
+city, and the stars gleamed overhead, they saw again that great trail of
+star-dust which the Chemist first had seen through his microscope,
+hanging in an ever broadening arc across the sky, and ending vaguely at
+their feet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE TRIAL
+
+
+In a few moments more the storm had passed completely; only the wet city
+streets, the mist over the lake, and the moist warmth of the air
+remained. For some time the three visitors to this extraordinary world
+stood silent at the latticed windows, awed by what they had seen. The
+noise of the panels as the Chemist slid them back brought them to
+themselves.
+
+"A curious land, gentlemen," he remarked quietly.
+
+"It's--it's weird," the Very Young Man ejaculated.
+
+The Chemist led them out across the roof to its other side facing the
+city. The street upon which the house stood sloped upwards over the hill
+behind. It was wet with the rain and gleamed like a sheet of burnished
+silver. And down its sides now ran two little streams of liquid silver
+fire.
+
+The street, deserted during the storm, was beginning to fill again with
+people returning to their tasks. At the intersection with the next road
+above, they could see a line of sleighs passing. Beneath them, before
+the wall of the garden a little group of men stood talking; on a
+roof-top nearby a woman appeared with a tiny naked infant which she sat
+down to nurse in a corner of her garden.
+
+"A city at work," said the Chemist with a wave of his hand. "Shall we go
+down and see it?"
+
+His three friends assented readily, the Very Young Man suggesting
+promptly that they first visit Lylda's father and Aura.
+
+"He is teaching Loto this morning," said the Chemist smiling.
+
+"Why not go to the court?" suggested the Big Business Man.
+
+"Is the public admitted?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"Nothing is secret here," the Chemist answered. "By all means, we will
+go to the court first, if you wish; Lylda should be through very
+shortly."
+
+The court of Arite stood about a mile away near the lake shore. As they
+left the house and passed through the city streets the respect accorded
+the Chemist became increasingly apparent. The three strangers with him
+attracted considerable attention, for, although they wore the
+conventional robes in which the more prominent citizens were generally
+attired, their short hair and the pallid whiteness of their skins made
+them objects of curiosity. No crowd gathered; those they passed stared a
+little, raised their hands to their foreheads and went their way, yet
+underneath these signs of respect there was with some an air of
+sullenness, of hostility, that the visitors could not fail to notice.
+
+The Oroid men, in street garb, were dressed generally in a short
+metallic-looking tunic of drab, with a brighter-colored girdle. The
+women, most of them, wore only a sort of skirt, reaching from waist to
+knees; a few had circular discs covering their breasts. There were
+hardly any children to be seen, except occasionally a little face
+staring at them from a window, or peering down from a roof-top. Once or
+twice they passed a woman with an infant slung across her back in a sort
+of hammock.
+
+The most common vehicle was the curious form of sleigh in which they had
+ridden down through the tunnels. They saw also a few little two-wheeled
+carts, with wheels that appeared to be a solid segment of tree-trunk.
+All the vehicles were drawn by meek-looking little gray animals like a
+small deer without horns.
+
+The court-house of Arite, though a larger building, from the outside was
+hardly different than most others in the city. It was distinct, however,
+in having on either side of the broad doorway that served as its main
+entrance, a large square stone column.
+
+As they entered, passing a guard who saluted them respectfully, the
+visitors turned from a hallway and ascended a flight of steps. At the
+top they found themselves on a balcony overlooking the one large room
+that occupied almost the entire building. The balcony ran around all
+three sides (the room was triangular in shape) and was railed with a low
+stone parapet. On it were perhaps fifty people, sitting quietly on stone
+benches that lay close up behind the parapet. An attendant stood at each
+of the corners of the balcony; the one nearest bowed low as the Chemist
+and his companions entered silently and took their seats.
+
+From the balcony the entire room below was in plain view. At the apex of
+its triangle sat the judge, on a raised dais of white stone with a
+golden canopy over it. He was a man about fifty--this leader of the
+court--garbed in a long loose robe of white. His hair, that fell on his
+shoulders, was snowy white, and around his forehead was a narrow white
+band. He held in his hand a sort of scepter of gold with a heavy golden
+triangle at its end.
+
+In six raised tiers of unequal length, like a triangular flight of
+stairs across the angle of the room, and directly in front of the judge,
+was the jury--twenty men and twenty women, seated in alternate rows. The
+men wore loose robes of gray; the women robes of blue. On a seat raised
+slightly above the others sat a man who evidently was speaker for the
+men of the jury. On a similar elevated seat was the woman speaker; this
+latter was Lylda.
+
+Near the center of the room, facing the judge and jury were two
+triangular spaces about twenty feet across, enclosed with a breast-high
+wall of stone. Within each of these enclosures were perhaps ten or
+twelve people seated on small stone benches. Directly facing the members
+of the jury and between them and the two enclosures, was a small
+platform raised about four feet above the floor, with several steps
+leading up to it from behind.
+
+A number of attendants dressed in the characteristic short tunics, with
+breastplates and a short sword hanging from the waist, stood near the
+enclosures, and along the sides of the room.
+
+The Chemist leaned over and whispered to his friends: "Those two
+enclosed places in the center are for the witnesses. Over there are
+those testifying for the accused; the others are witnesses for the
+government. The platform is where the accused stands when----"
+
+He broke off suddenly. An expectant hush seemed to run over the room. A
+door at the side opened, and preceded and followed by two attendants a
+man entered, who walked slowly across the floor and stood alone upon the
+raised platform facing the jury.
+
+He was a man of extraordinarily striking look and demeanor. He stood
+considerably over six feet in height, with a remarkably powerful yet
+lean body. He was naked except for a cloth breech clout girdled about
+his loins. His appearance was not that of an Oroid, for beside his
+greater height, and more muscular physique, his skin was distinctly of a
+more brownish hue. His hair was cut at the base of the neck in Oroid
+fashion; it was black, with streaks of silver running through it. His
+features were large and cast in a rugged mold. His mouth was cruel, and
+wore now a sardonic smile. He stood erect with head thrown back and arms
+folded across his breast, calmly facing the men and women who were to
+judge him.
+
+The Very Young Man gripped the Chemist by the arm. "Who is that?" he
+whispered.
+
+The Chemist's lips were pressed together; he seemed deeply affected. "I
+did not know they caught him," he answered softly. "It must have been
+just this morning."
+
+The Very Young Man looked at Lylda. Her face was placid, but her breast
+was rising and falling more rapidly than normal, and her hands in her
+lap were tightly clenched.
+
+The judge began speaking quietly, amid a deathlike silence. For over
+five minutes he spoke; once he was interrupted by a cheer, instantly
+stifled, and once by a murmur of dissent from several spectators on the
+balcony that called forth instant rebuke from the attendant stationed
+there.
+
+The judge finished his speech, and raised his golden scepter slowly
+before him. As his voice died away, Lylda rose to her feet and facing
+the judge bowed low, with hands to her forehead. Then she spoke a few
+words, evidently addressing the women before her. Each of them raised
+her hands and answered in a monosyllable, as though affirming an oath.
+This performance was repeated by the men.
+
+The accused still stood silent, smiling sardonically. Suddenly his voice
+rasped out with a short, ugly intonation and he threw his arms straight
+out before him. A murmur rose from the spectators, and several
+attendants leaned forward towards the platform. But the man only looked
+around at them contemptuously and again folded his arms.
+
+From one of the enclosures a woman came, and mounted the platform beside
+the man. The Chemist whispered, "His wife; she is going to speak for
+him." But with a muttered exclamation and wave of his arm, the man swept
+her back, and without a word she descended the steps and reentered the
+railed enclosure.
+
+Then the man turned and raising his arms spoke angrily to those seated
+in the enclosure. Then he appealed to the judge.
+
+The Chemist whispered in explanation: "He refuses any witnesses."
+
+At a sign from the judge the enclosure was opened and its occupants left
+the floor, most of them taking seats upon the balcony.
+
+"Who is he?" the Very Young Man wanted to know, but the Chemist ignored
+his question.
+
+For perhaps ten minutes the man spoke, obviously in his own defence. His
+voice was deep and powerful, yet he spoke now seemingly without anger;
+and without an air of pleading. In fact his whole attitude seemed one of
+irony and defiance. Abruptly he stopped speaking and silence again fell
+over the room. A man and a woman left the other enclosure and mounted
+the platform beside the accused. They seemed very small and fragile, as
+he towered over them, looking down at them sneeringly.
+
+The man and woman conferred a moment in whispers. Then the woman spoke.
+She talked only a few minutes, interrupted twice by the judge, once by a
+question from Lylda, and once by the accused himself.
+
+Then for perhaps ten minutes more her companion addressed the court. He
+was a man considerably over middle age, and evidently, from his dress
+and bearing, a man of prominence in the nation. At one point in his
+speech it became obvious that his meaning was not clearly understood by
+the jury. Several of the women whispered together, and one rose and
+spoke to Lylda. She interrupted the witness with a quiet question. Later
+the accused himself questioned the speaker until silenced by the judge.
+
+Following this witness came two others. Then the judge rose, and looking
+up to the balcony where the Chemist and his companions were sitting,
+motioned to the Chemist to descend to the floor below.
+
+The Very Young Man tried once again with his whispered question "What is
+it?" but the Chemist only smiled, and rising quietly left them.
+
+There was a stir in the court-room as the Chemist crossed the main
+floor. He did not ascend the platform with the prisoner, but stood
+beside it. He spoke to the jury quietly, yet with a suppressed power in
+his voice that must have been convincing. He spoke only a moment, more
+with the impartial attitude of one who gives advice than as a witness.
+When he finished, he bowed to the court and left the floor, returning at
+once to his friends upon the balcony.
+
+Following the Chemist, after a moment of silence, the judge briefly
+addressed the prisoner, who stolidly maintained his attitude of ironic
+defiance.
+
+"He is going to ask the jury to give its verdict now," said the Chemist
+in a low voice.
+
+Lylda and her companion leader rose and faced their subordinates, and
+with a verbal monosyllable from each member of the jury the verdict was
+unhesitatingly given. As the last juryman's voice died away, there came
+a cry from the back of the room, a woman tore herself loose from the
+attendants holding her, and running swiftly across the room leaped upon
+the platform. She was a slight little woman, almost a child in
+appearance beside the man's gigantic stature. She stood looking at him a
+moment with heaving breast and great sorrowful eyes from which the tears
+were welling out and flowing down her cheeks unheeded.
+
+The man's face softened. He put his hands gently upon the sides of her
+neck. Then, as she began sobbing, he folded her in his great arms. For
+an instant she clung to him. Then he pushed her away. Still crying
+softly, she descended from the platform, and walked slowly back across
+the room.
+
+Hardly had she disappeared when there arose from the street outside a
+faint, confused murmur, as of an angry crowd gathering. The judge had
+left his seat now and the jury was filing out of the room.
+
+The Chemist turned to his friends. "Shall we go?" he asked.
+
+"This trial--" began the Big Business Man. "You haven't told us its
+significance. This man--good God what a figure of power and hate and
+evil. Who is he?"
+
+"It must have been evident to you, gentlemen," the Chemist said quietly,
+"that you have been witnessing an event of the utmost importance to us
+all. I have to tell you of the crisis facing us; this trial is its
+latest development. That man--"
+
+The insistent murmur from the street grew louder. Shouts arose and then
+a loud pounding from the side of the building.
+
+The Chemist broke off abruptly and rose to his feet. "Come outside," he
+said.
+
+They followed him through a doorway on to a balcony, overlooking the
+street. Gathered before the court-house was a crowd of several hundred
+men and women. They surged up against its entrance angrily, and were
+held in check there by the armed attendants on guard. A smaller crowd
+was pounding violently upon a side door of the building. Several people
+ran shouting down the street, spreading the excitement through the city.
+
+The Chemist and his companions stood in the doorway of the balcony an
+instant, silently regarding this ominous scene. The Chemist was just
+about to step forward, when, upon another balcony, nearer the corner of
+the building a woman appeared. She stepped close to the edge of the
+parapet and raised her arms commandingly.
+
+It was Lylda. She had laid aside her court robe and stood now in her
+glistening silver tunic. Her hair was uncoiled, and fell in dark masses
+over her white shoulders, blowing out behind her in the wind.
+
+The crowd hesitated at the sight of her, and quieted a little. She stood
+rigid as a statue for a moment, holding her arms outstretched. Then,
+dropping them with a gesture of appeal she began to speak.
+
+At the sound of her voice, clear and vibrant, yet soft, gentle and
+womanly, there came silence from below, and after a moment every face
+was upturned to hers. Gradually her voice rose in pitch. Its gentle tone
+was gone now--it became forceful, commanding. Then again she flung out
+her arms with a dramatic gesture and stood rigid, every line of her body
+denoting power--almost imperious command. Abruptly she ceased speaking,
+and, as she stood motionless, slowly at first, the crowd silently
+dispersed.
+
+The street below was soon clear. Even those onlookers at a distance
+turned the corner and disappeared. Another moment passed, and then Lylda
+swayed and sank upon the floor of the balcony, with her head on her arms
+against its low stone railing--just a tired, gentle, frightened little
+woman.
+
+"She did it--how wonderfully she did it," the Very Young Man murmured in
+admiration.
+
+"We can handle them now," answered the Chemist. "But each time--it is
+harder. Let us get Lylda and go home, gentlemen. I want to tell you all
+about it." He turned to leave the balcony.
+
+"Who was the man? What was he tried for?" the Very Young Man demanded.
+
+"That trial was the first of its kind ever held," the Chemist answered.
+"The man was condemned to death. It was a new crime--the gravest we have
+ever had to face--the crime of treason."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+LYLDA'S PLAN
+
+
+Back home, comfortably seated upon the broad balcony overlooking the
+lake, the three men sat waiting to hear their host's explanation of the
+strange events they had witnessed. Lylda busied herself preparing a
+light noonday meal, which she served charmingly on the balcony while
+they talked.
+
+"My friends," the Chemist began. "I tried to give you this morning, a
+picture of this world and the life I have been leading here. I think you
+understand, although I did not specifically say so, that all I said
+related to the time when I first came here. That you would call this
+life Utopia, because of the way I outlined it, I do not doubt; or at
+least you would call it a state of affairs as near Utopian as any human
+beings can approach.
+
+"All that is true; it was Utopia. But gentlemen, it is so no longer.
+Things have been changing of recent years, until now--well you saw what
+happened this morning.
+
+"I cannot account for the first cause of this trouble. Perhaps the
+Malite war, with its disillusionment to our people--I do not know. Faith
+in human kindness was broken: the Oroids could no longer trust
+implicitly in each other. A gradual distrust arose--a growing unrest--a
+dissatisfaction, which made no demands at first, nor seemed indeed to
+have any definite grievances of any sort. From it there sprang leaders,
+who by their greater intelligence created desires that fed and nourished
+their dissatisfaction--gave it a seemingly tangible goal that made it
+far more dangerous than it ever had been before.
+
+"About a year ago there first came into prominence the man whom you saw
+this morning condemned to death. His name is Targo--he is a
+Malite--full-blooded I believe, although he says not. For twenty years
+or more he has lived in Orlog, a city some fifty miles from Arite. His
+wife is an Oroid.
+
+"Targo, by his eloquence, and the power and force of his personality,
+won a large following in Orlog, and to a lesser degree in many other
+cities. Twice, some months ago, he was arrested and reprimanded; the
+last time with a warning that a third offence would mean his death."
+
+"What is he after?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"The Targos, as they are called, demand principally a different division
+of the land. Under the present system, approximately one-third of all
+the land is in the hands of the government. Of that, generally more than
+half lies idle most of the time. The Targos wish to have this land
+divided among the citizens. They claim also that most of the city
+organizations do not produce as large a dividend as the Targos could
+show under their own management. They have many other grievances that
+there is no reason for me to detail."
+
+"Why not let them try out their theories in some city?" suggested the
+Big Business Man.
+
+"They are trying them," the Chemist answered. "There was a revolution in
+Orlog about six months ago. Several of its officials were
+assassinated--almost the first murders we have ever had. The Targos took
+possession of the government--a brother of this man you saw this morning
+became leader of the city. Orlog withdrew from the Oroid government and
+is now handling its affairs as a separate nation."
+
+"I wonder----" began the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "Well, why not
+let them run it that way, if they want to?"
+
+"No reason, if they were sincere. But they are not sincere nor honest
+fundamentally. Their leaders are for the most part Malites, or Oroids
+with Malite blood. And they are fooling the people. Their followers are
+all the more unintelligent, more gullible individuals, or those in whom
+there lies a latent criminal streak.
+
+"The thing doesn't work. Sexual license is growing in Orlog. Crimes
+against women are becoming more and more frequent. Offences committed by
+those prominent, or in authority, go unpunished. Women's testimony is
+discredited, often by concerted lying on the part of men witnesses.
+
+"Many families are leaving Orlog--leaving their land and their homes
+deserted. In other cities where the Targos threaten to gain control the
+same thing is happening. Most of these refugees come to Arite. We cannot
+take care of them; there is not enough land here."
+
+"Why not take your army and clean them up?" suggested the Very Young
+Man.
+
+They were seated around a little table, at which Lylda was serving
+lunch. At the question she stopped in the act of pouring a steaming
+liquid from a little metal kettle into their dainty golden drinking cups
+and looked at the Very Young Man gravely.
+
+"Very easy it would be to do that perhaps," she said quietly. "But these
+Targos, except a few--they are our own people. And they too are armed.
+We cannot fight them; we cannot kill them--our own people."
+
+"We may have to," said the Chemist. "But you see, I did not realize, I
+could not believe the extent to which this Targo could sway the people.
+Nor did I at first realize what evils would result if his ideas were
+carried out. He has many followers right here in Arite. You saw that
+this morning."
+
+"How did you catch him?" interrupted the Very Young Man.
+
+"Yesterday he came to Arite," said Lylda. "He came to speak. With him
+came fifty others. With them too came his wife to speak here, to our
+women. He thought we would do nothing; he defied us. There was a
+fight--this morning--and many were killed. And we brought him to the
+court--you saw."
+
+"It is a serious situation," said the Doctor. "I had no idea----"
+
+"We can handle it--we must handle it," said the Chemist. "But as Lylda
+says, we cannot kill our own people--only as a last desperate measure."
+
+"Suppose you wait too long," suggested the Big Business Man. "You say
+these Targos are gaining strength every day. You might have a very bad
+civil war."
+
+"That was the problem," answered the Chemist.
+
+"But now you come," said Lylda. "You change it all when you come down to
+us out of the great beyond. Our people, they call you genii of the
+Master, they----"
+
+"Oh gee, I never thought of that," murmured the Very Young Man. "What
+_do_ you think of us?"
+
+"They think you are supernatural beings of course," the Chemist said
+smiling. "Yet they accept you without fear and they look to you and to
+me for help."
+
+"This morning, there at the court," said Lylda, "I heard them say that
+Targo spoke against you. Devils, he said, from the Great Blue Star, come
+here with evil for us all. And they believe him, some of them. It was
+for that perhaps they acted as they did before the court. In Arite now,
+many believe in Targo. And it is bad, very bad."
+
+"The truth is," added the Chemist, "your coming, while it gives us
+unlimited possibilities for commanding the course of events, at the same
+time has precipitated the crisis. Naturally no one can understand who or
+what you are. And as Lylda says, the Targos undoubtedly are telling the
+people you come to ally yourself with me for evil. There will be
+thousands who will listen to them and fear and hate you--especially in
+some of the other cities."
+
+"What does the king say?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"We will see him to-morrow. He has been anxiously waiting for you. But
+you must not forget," the Chemist added with a smile, "the king has had
+little experience facing strife or evil-doing of any kind. It was almost
+unknown until recently. It is I, and you, gentlemen, who are facing the
+problem of saving this nation."
+
+The Very Young Man's face was flushed, and his eyes sparkled with
+excitement. "We can do anything we like," he said. "We have the power."
+
+"Ay, that is it," said Lylda. "The power we have. But my friend, we
+cannot use it. Not for strife, for death; we cannot."
+
+"The execution of Targo will cause more trouble," said the Chemist
+thoughtfully. "It is bound to make----"
+
+"When will you put him to death?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"To-morrow he dies," Lylda answered. "To-morrow, before the time of
+sleep."
+
+"There will be trouble," said the Chemist again. "We are in no personal
+danger of course, but, for the people who now believe in Targo, I am
+afraid----"
+
+"A plan I have made," said Lylda. She sat forward tensely in her chair,
+brushing her hair back from her face with a swift gesture. "A plan I
+have made. It is the only way--I now think--that may be there comes no
+harm to our people. It is that we want to do, if we can." She spoke
+eagerly, and without waiting for them to answer, went swiftly on.
+
+"This drug that you have brought, I shall take it. And I shall get big.
+Oh, not so very big, but big enough to be the height of a man it may be
+ten times. Then shall I talk to the people--I, Lylda--woman of the
+Master, and then shall I tell them that this power, this magic, is for
+good, not for evil, if only they will give up Targo and all who are with
+him."
+
+"I will take it with you," said the Chemist. "Together we----"
+
+"No, no, my husband. Alone I must do this. Ah, do you not know they say
+these stranger devils with their magic come for evil? And you too, must
+you not forget, once were a stranger just as they. That the people
+know--that they remember.
+
+"But I--I--Lylda--a woman of the Oroids I am--full-blooded Oroid, no
+stranger. And they will believe me--a woman--for they know I cannot lie.
+
+"I shall tell them I am for good, for kindness, for all we had, that
+time before the Malite war, when every one was happy. And if they will
+not believe, if as I say they will not do, then shall my power be indeed
+for evil, and all who will obey me not shall die. But they will
+believe--no need will there be to threaten.
+
+"To many cities I will go. And in them, all of those who want to live by
+Targo's law will I send to Orlog. And all in Orlog who believe him not,
+will I tell to leave, and to the other cities go to make their homes.
+Then Orlog shall be Targo's city. And to-morrow he will not die, but go
+there into Orlog and become their king. For I shall say it may be there
+are some who like his rule of evil. Or it may be he is good in different
+fashion, and in time can make us see that his law too, is just and kind.
+
+"Then shall live in Orlog all who wish to stay, and we shall watch their
+rule, but never shall we let them pass beyond their borders. For if they
+do, then shall we kill them.
+
+"All this I can do, my husband, if you but will let me try. For me they
+will believe, a woman, Oroid all of blood--for they know women do not
+lie." She stopped and the fire in her eyes changed to a look of gentle
+pleading. "If you will but let me try," she finished. "My
+husband--please."
+
+The Chemist glanced at his friends who sat astonished by this flow of
+eager, impassioned words. Then he turned again to Lylda's intent,
+pleading face, regarding her tenderly. "You are very fine, little mother
+of my son," he said gently, lapsing for a moment into her own style of
+speech. "It could do no harm," he added thoughtfully "and perhaps----"
+
+"Let her try it," said the Doctor. "No harm could come to her."
+
+"No harm to me could come," said Lylda quickly. "And I shall make them
+believe. I can, because I am a woman, and they will know I tell the
+truth. Ah, you will let me try, my husband--please?"
+
+The Chemist appealed to the others. "They will believe her, many of
+them," he said. "They will leave Orlog as she directs. But those in
+other cities will still hold to Targo, they will simply remain silent
+for a time. What their feelings will be or are we cannot tell. Some will
+leave and go to Orlog of course, for Lylda will offer freedom of their
+leader and to secure that they will seem to agree to anything.
+
+"But after all, they are nothing but children at heart, most of them.
+To-day, they might believe in Lylda; to-morrow Targo could win them
+again."
+
+"He won't get a chance," put in the Very Young Man quickly. "If she says
+we kill anybody who talks for Targo outside of Orlog, that goes. It's
+the only way, isn't it?"
+
+"And she might really convince them--or most of them," added the Doctor.
+
+"You will let me try?" asked Lylda softly. The Chemist nodded.
+
+Lylda sprang to her feet. Her frail little body was trembling with
+emotion; on her face was a look almost of exaltation.
+
+"You _will_ let me try," she cried. "Then I shall make them believe.
+Here, now, this very hour, I shall make them know the truth. And they,
+my own people, shall I save from sorrow, misery and death."
+
+She turned to the Chemist and spoke rapidly.
+
+"My husband, will you send Oteo now, up into the city. Him will you tell
+to have others spread the news. All who desire an end to Targo's rule,
+shall come here at once. And all too, who in him believe, and who for
+him want freedom, they shall come too. Let Oteo tell them magic shall be
+performed and Lylda will speak with them.
+
+"Make haste, my husband, for now I go to change my dress. Not as the
+Master's woman will I speak, but as Lylda--Oroid woman--woman of the
+people." And with a flashing glance, she turned and swiftly left the
+balcony.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+LYLDA ACTS
+
+
+"She'll do it," the Very Young Man murmured, staring at the doorway
+through which Lylda had disappeared. "She can do anything."
+
+The Chemist rose to his feet. "I'll send Oteo. Will you wait here
+gentlemen? And will you have some of the drugs ready for Lylda? You have
+them with you?" The men nodded.
+
+"How about Lylda carrying the drugs?" asked the Very Young Man. "And
+what about her clothes?"
+
+"I have already made a belt for Lylda and for myself--some time ago,"
+the Chemist answered. "During the first year I was here I made several
+experiments with the drugs. I found that almost anything within the
+immediate--shall I say influence of the body, will contract with it.
+Almost any garment, even a loose robe will change size. You found that
+to be so to some extent. Those belts you wore down--"
+
+"That's true," agreed the Doctor, "there seems to be considerable
+latitude----"
+
+"I decided," the Chemist went on, "that immediately after your arrival
+we should all wear the drugs constantly. You can use the armpit pouches
+if you wish; Lylda and I will wear these belts I have made."
+
+Oteo, the Chemist's personal servant, a slim youth with a bright,
+intelligent face, listened carefully to his master's directions and then
+left the house hurriedly, running up the street towards the center of
+the city. Once or twice he stopped and spoke to passers-by for a moment,
+gathering a crowd around him each time.
+
+The Chemist rejoined his friends on the balcony. "There will be a
+thousand people here in half an hour," he said quietly. "I have sent a
+message to the men in charge of the government workshops; they will have
+their people cease work to come here."
+
+Lylda appeared in a few moments more. She was dressed as the Chemist had
+seen her first through the microscope--in a short, grey skirt reaching
+from waist to knees. Only now she wore also two circular metal discs
+strapped over her breasts. Her hair was unbound and fell in masses
+forward over her shoulders. Around her waist was a broad girdle of
+golden cloth with small pouches for holding the chemicals. She took her
+place among the men quietly.
+
+"See, I am ready," she said with a smile. "Oteo, you have sent him?" The
+Chemist nodded.
+
+Lylda turned to the Doctor. "You will tell me, what is to do with the
+drugs?"
+
+They explained in a few words. By now a considerable crowd had gathered
+before the house, and up the street many others were hurrying down.
+Directly across from the entrance to Lylda's garden, back of the bluff
+at the lake front, was a large open space with a fringe of trees at its
+back. In this open space the crowd was collecting.
+
+The Chemist rose after a moment and from the roof-top spoke a few words
+to the people in the street below. They answered him with shouts of
+applause mingled with a hum of murmured anger underneath. The Chemist
+went back to his friends, his face set and serious.
+
+As he dropped in his chair Lylda knelt on the floor before him, laying
+her arms on his knees. "I go to do for our people the best I can," she
+said softly, looking up into his face. "Now I go, but to you I will come
+back soon." The Chemist tenderly put his hand upon the glossy smoothness
+of her hair.
+
+"I go--now," she repeated, and reached for one of the vials under her
+arm. Holding it in her hand, she stared at it a moment, silently, in
+awe. Then she shuddered like a frightened child and buried her face in
+the Chemist's lap, huddling her little body up close against his legs as
+if for protection.
+
+The Chemist did not move nor speak, but sat quiet with his hand gently
+stroking her hair. In a moment she again raised her face to his. Her
+long lashes were wet with tears, but her lips were smiling.
+
+"I am ready--now," she said gently. She brushed her tears from her eyes
+and rose to her feet. Drawing herself to her full height, she tossed
+back her head and flung out her arms before her.
+
+"No one can know I am afraid--but you," she said. "And I--shall forget."
+She dropped her arms and stood passive.
+
+"I go now to take the drug--there in the little garden behind, where no
+one can notice. You will come down?"
+
+The Big Business Man cleared his throat. When he spoke his voice was
+tremulous with emotion.
+
+"How long will you be gone--Lylda?" he asked.
+
+The woman turned to him with a smile. "Soon will I return, so I
+believe," she answered. "I go to Orlog, to Raito, and to Tele. But never
+shall I wait, nor speak long, and fast will I walk.... Before the time
+of sleep has descended upon us, I shall be here."
+
+In the little garden behind the house, out of sight of the crowd on the
+other side, Lylda prepared to take the drug. She was standing there,
+with the four men, when Loto burst upon them, throwing himself into his
+mother's arms.
+
+"Oh, _mamita_, _mamita_," he cried, clinging to her. "There in the
+street outside, they say such terrible things----of you _mamita_. 'The
+master's woman' I heard one say, 'She has the evil magic.' And another
+spoke of Targo. And they say he must not die, or there will be death for
+those who kill him."
+
+Lylda held the boy close as he poured out his breathless frightened
+words.
+
+"No matter, little son," she said tenderly. "To _mamita_ no harm can
+come--you shall see. Did my father teach you well to-day?"
+
+"But _mamita_, one man who saw me standing, called me an evil name and
+spoke of you, my mother Lylda. And a woman looked with a look I never
+saw before. I am afraid, _mamita_."
+
+With quivering lips that smiled, Lylda kissed the little boy tenderly
+and gently loosening his hold pushed him towards his father.
+
+"The Master's son, Loto, never can he be afraid," she said with gentle
+reproof. "That must you remember--always."
+
+The little group in the garden close up against the house stood silent
+as Lylda took a few grains of the drug. The noise and shouts of the
+crowd in front were now plainly audible. One voice was raised above the
+others, as though someone were making a speech.
+
+Loto stood beside his father, and the Chemist laid his arm across the
+boy's shoulder. As Lylda began visibly to increase in size, the boy
+uttered a startled cry. Meeting his mother's steady gaze he shut his
+lips tight, and stood rigid, watching her with wide, horrified eyes.
+
+Lylda had grown nearly twice her normal size before she spoke. Then,
+smiling down at the men, she said evenly, "From the roof, perhaps, you
+will watch."
+
+"You know what to do if you grow too large," the Doctor said huskily.
+
+"I know, my friend. I thank you all. And good-bye." She met the
+Chemist's glance an instant. Then abruptly she faced about and walking
+close to the house, stood at its further corner facing the lake.
+
+After a moment's hesitation the Chemist led his friends to the roof. As
+they appeared at the edge of the parapet a great shout rolled up from
+the crowd below. Nearly a thousand people had gathered. The street was
+crowded and in the open space beyond they stood in little groups. On a
+slight eminence near the lake bluff, a man stood haranguing those around
+him. He was a short, very thickset little man, with very long arms--a
+squat, apelike figure. He talked loudly and indignantly; around him
+perhaps a hundred people stood listening, applauding at intervals.
+
+When the Chemist appeared this man stopped with a final phrase of
+vituperation and a wave of his fist towards the house.
+
+The Chemist stood silent, looking out over the throng. "How large is she
+now?" he asked the Very Young Man softly. The Very Young Man ran across
+the roof to its farther corner and was back in an instant.
+
+"They'll see her soon--look there." His friends turned at his words. At
+the corner of the house they could just see the top of Lylda's head
+above the edge of the parapet. As they watched she grew still taller and
+in another moment her forehead appeared. She turned her head, and her
+great eyes smiled softly at them across the roof-top. In a few moments
+more (she had evidently stopped growing) with a farewell glance at her
+husband, she stepped around the corner of the house into full view of
+the crowd--a woman over sixty feet tall, standing quietly in the garden
+with one hand resting upon the roof of the house behind her.
+
+A cry of terror rose from the people as she appeared. Most of those in
+the street ran in fright back into the field behind. Then, seeing her
+standing motionless with a gentle smile on her face, they stopped,
+irresolute. A few held their ground, frankly curious and unafraid.
+Others stood sullen and defiant.
+
+When the people had quieted a little Lylda raised her arms in greeting
+and spoke, softly, yet with a voice that carried far away over the
+field. As she talked the people seemed to recover their composure
+rapidly. Her tremendous size no longer seemed to horrify them. Those who
+obviously at first were friendly appeared now quite at ease; the others,
+with their lessening terror, were visibly more hostile.
+
+Once Lylda mentioned the name of Targo. A scattered shout came up from
+the crowd; the apelike man shouted out something to those near him, and
+then, leaving his knoll disappeared.
+
+As Lylda continued, the hostile element in the crowd grew more
+insistent. They did not listen to her now but shouted back, in derision
+and defiance. Then suddenly a stone was thrown; it struck Lylda on the
+breast, hitting her metal breastplate with a thud and dropping at her
+feet.
+
+As though at a signal a hail of stones flew up from the crowd, most of
+them striking Lylda like tiny pebbles, a few of the larger ones bounding
+against the house, or landing on its roof.
+
+At this attack Lylda abruptly stopped speaking and took a step forward
+menacingly. The hail of stones continued. Then she turned towards the
+roof-top, where the men and the little boy stood behind the parapet,
+sheltering themselves from the flying stones.
+
+"Only one way there is," said Lylda sadly, in a soft whisper that they
+plainly heard above the noise of the crowd. "I am sorry, my husband--but
+I must."
+
+A stone struck her shoulder. She faced the crowd again; a gentle look of
+sorrow was in her eyes, but her mouth was stern. In the street below at
+the edge of the field the squat little man had reappeared. It was from
+here that most of the stones seemed to come.
+
+"That man there--by the road----" The Chemist pointed. "One of
+Targo's----"
+
+In three swift steps Lylda was across the garden, with one foot over the
+wall into the street. Reaching down she caught the man between her huge
+fingers, and held him high over her head an instant so that all might
+see.
+
+The big crowd was silent with terror; the man high in the air over their
+heads screamed horribly. Lylda hesitated only a moment more; then she
+threw back her arm and, with a great great sweep, flung her screaming
+victim far out into the lake.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+THE ESCAPE OF TARGO
+
+
+"I am very much afraid it was a wrong move," said the Chemist gravely.
+
+They were sitting in a corner of the roof, talking over the situation.
+Lylda had left the city; the last they had seen of her, she was striding
+rapidly away, over the country towards Orlog. The street and field
+before the house now was nearly deserted.
+
+"She had to do it, of course," the Chemist continued, "but to kill
+Targo's brother----"
+
+"I wonder," began the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "It seems to me
+this disturbance is becoming far more serious than we think. It isn't so
+much a political issue now between your government and the followers of
+Targo, as it is a struggle against those of us who have this magic, as
+they call it."
+
+"That's just the point," put in the Doctor quickly. "They are making the
+people believe that our power of changing size is a menace that----"
+
+"If I had only realized," said the Chemist. "I thought your coming would
+help. Apparently it was the very worst thing that could have happened."
+
+"Not for you personally," interjected the Very Young Man. "We're
+perfectly safe--and Lylda, and Loto." He put his arm affectionately
+around the boy who sat close beside him. "You are not afraid, are you,
+Loto?"
+
+"Now I am not," answered the boy seriously. "But this morning, when I
+left my grandfather, coming home----"
+
+"You were afraid for your mother. That was it, wasn't it?" finished the
+Very Young Man. "Does your grandfather teach you?"
+
+"Yes--he, and father, and mother."
+
+"I want you to see Lylda's father," said the Chemist. "There is nothing
+we can do now until Lylda returns. Shall we walk up there?" They all
+agreed readily.
+
+"I may go, too?" Loto asked, looking at his father.
+
+"You have your lessons," said the Chemist.
+
+"But, my father, it is so very lonely without mother," protested the
+boy.
+
+The Chemist smiled gently. "Afraid, little son, to stay with Oteo?"
+
+"He's not afraid," said the Very Young Man stoutly.
+
+The little boy looked from one to the other of them a moment silently.
+Then, calling Oteo's name, he ran across the roof and down into the
+house.
+
+"Five years ago," said the Chemist, as the child disappeared, "there was
+hardly such an emotion in this world as fear or hate or anger. Now the
+pendulum is swinging to the other extreme. I suppose that's natural,
+but----" He ended with a sigh, and, breaking his train of thought, rose
+to his feet. "Shall we start?"
+
+Lylda's father greeted them gravely, with a dignity, and yet obvious
+cordiality that was quite in accord with his appearance. He was a man
+over sixty. His still luxuriant white hair fell to his shoulders. His
+face was hairless, for in this land all men's faces were as devoid of
+hair as those of the women. He was dressed in a long, flowing robe
+similar to those his visitors were wearing.
+
+"Because--you come--I am glad," he said with a smile, as he shook hands
+in their own manner. He spoke slowly, with frequent pauses, as though
+carefully picking his words. "But--an old man--I know not the language
+of you."
+
+He led them into a room that evidently was his study, for in it they saw
+many strange instruments, and on a table a number of loosely bound
+sheets of parchment that were his books. They took the seats he offered
+and looked around them curiously.
+
+"There is the clock we spoke of," said the Chemist, indicating one of
+the larger instruments that stood on a pedestal in a corner of the room.
+"Reoh will explain it to you."
+
+Their host addressed the Chemist. "From Oteo I hear--the news to-day is
+bad?" he asked with evident concern.
+
+"I am afraid it is," the Chemist answered seriously.
+
+"And Lylda?"
+
+The Chemist recounted briefly the events of the day. "We can only wait
+until Lylda returns," he finished. "To-morrow we will talk with the
+king."
+
+"Bad it is," said the old man slowly; "very bad. But--we shall see----"
+
+The Very Young Man had risen to his feet and was standing beside the
+clock.
+
+"How does it work?" he asked. "What time is it now?"
+
+Reoh appealed to his son-in-law. "To tell of it--the words I know not."
+
+The Chemist smiled. "You are too modest, my father. But I will help you
+out, if you insist." He turned to the others, who were gathered around
+him, looking at the clock.
+
+"Our measurement of our time here," he began, "like yours, is based
+on----"
+
+"Excuse me," interrupted the Very Young Man. "I just want to know first
+what time it is now?"
+
+"It is in the fourth eclipse," said the Chemist with a twinkle.
+
+The Very Young Man was too surprised by this unexpected answer to
+question further, and the Chemist went on.
+
+"We measure time by the astronomical movements, just as you do in your
+world. One of the larger stars has a satellite which revolves around it
+with extreme rapidity. Here at Arite, this satellite passes nearly
+always directly behind its controlling star. In other words, it is
+eclipsed. Ten of these eclipses measure the passage of our day. We rise
+generally at the first eclipse or about that time. It is now the fourth
+eclipse; you would call it late afternoon. Do you see?"
+
+"How is the time gauged here?" asked the Big Business Man, indicating
+the clock.
+
+The instrument stood upon a low stone pedestal. It consisted of a
+transparent cylinder about twelve inches in diameter and some four feet
+high, surmounted by a large circular bowl. The cylinder was separated
+from the bowl by a broad disc of porous stone; a similar stone section
+divided the cylinder horizontally into halves. From the bowl a fluid was
+dropping in a tiny stream through the top stone segment into the upper
+compartment, which was now about half full. This in turn filtered
+through the second stone into the lower compartment. This lower section
+was marked in front with a large number of fine horizontal lines, an
+equal distance apart, but of unequal length. In it the fluid stood now
+just above one of the longer lines-the fourth from the bottom. On the
+top of this fluid floated a circular disc almost the size of the inside
+diameter of the cylinder.
+
+The Chemist explained. "It really is very much like the old hour-glass
+we used to have in your world. This filters liquid instead of sand. You
+will notice the water filters twice." He indicated the two compartments.
+"That is because it is necessary to have a liquid that is absolutely
+pure in order that the rate at which it filters through this other stone
+may remain constant. The clock is carefully tested, so that for each
+eclipse the water will rise in this lower part of the cylinder, just the
+distance from here to here."
+
+The Chemist put his fingers on two of the longer marks.
+
+"Very ingenious," remarked the Doctor. "Is it accurate?"
+
+"Not so accurate as your watches, of course," the Chemist answered. "But
+still, it serves the purpose. These ten longer lines, you see, mark the
+ten eclipses that constitute one of our days. The shorter lines between
+indicate halves and quarter intervals."
+
+"Then it is only good for one day?" asked the Very Young Man. "How do
+you set it?"
+
+"It resets automatically each day, at the beginning of the first
+eclipse. This disc," the Chemist pointed to the disc floating on the
+water in the lower compartment. "This disc rises with the water on which
+it is floating. When it reaches the top of it, it comes in contact with
+a simple mechanism--you'll see it up there--which opens a gate below and
+drains out the water in a moment. So that every morning it is emptied
+and starts filling up again. All that is needed is to keep this bowl
+full of water."
+
+"It certainly seems very practical," observed the Big Business Man. "Are
+there many in use?"
+
+"Quite a number, yes. This clock was invented by Reoh, some thirty years
+ago. He is the greatest scientist and scholar we have." The old man
+smiled deprecatingly at this compliment.
+
+"Are these books?" asked the Very Young Man; he had wandered over to the
+table and was fingering one of the bound sheets of parchment.
+
+"They are Reoh's chronicles," the Chemist answered. "The only ones of
+their kind in Arite."
+
+"What's this?" The Very Young Man pointed to another instrument.
+
+"That is an astronomical instrument, something like a sextant--also an
+invention of Reoh's. Here is a small telescope and----" The Chemist
+paused and went over to another table standing at the side of the room.
+
+"That reminds me, gentlemen," he continued; "I have something here in
+which you will be greatly interested."
+
+"What you--will see," said Reoh softly, as they gathered around the
+Chemist, "you only, of all people, can understand. Each day I look, and
+I wonder; but never can I quite believe."
+
+"I made this myself, nearly ten years ago," said the Chemist, lifting up
+the instrument; "a microscope. It is not very large, you see; nor is it
+very powerful. But I want you to look through it." With his
+cigar-lighter he ignited a short length of wire that burned slowly with
+a brilliant blue spot of light. In his hand he held a small piece of
+stone.
+
+"I made this microscope hoping that I might prove with it still more
+conclusively my original theory of the infinite smallness of human life.
+For many months I searched into various objects, but without success.
+Finally I came upon this bit of rock." The Chemist adjusted it carefully
+under the microscope with the light shining brilliantly upon it.
+
+"You see I have marked one place; I am going to let you look into it
+there."
+
+The Doctor stepped forward. As he looked they heard his quick intake of
+breath. After a moment he raised his head. On his face was an expression
+of awe too deep for words. He made place for the others, and stood
+silent.
+
+When the Very Young Man's turn came he looked into the eyepiece
+awkwardly. His heart was beating fast; for some reason he felt
+frightened.
+
+At first he saw nothing. "Keep the other eye open," said the Chemist.
+
+The Very Young Man did as he was directed. After a moment there appeared
+before him a vast stretch of open country. As from a great height he
+stared down at the scene spread out below him. Gradually it became
+clearer. He saw water, with the sunlight--his own kind of sunlight it
+seemed--shining upon it. He stared for a moment more, dazzled by the
+light. Then, nearer to him, he saw a grassy slope, that seemed to be on
+a mountain-side above the water. On this slope he saw animals grazing,
+and beside them a man, formed like himself.
+
+The Chemist's voice came to him from far away. "We are all of us here in
+a world that only occupies a portion of one little atom of the gold of a
+wedding-ring. Yet what you see there in that stone----"
+
+The Very Young Man raised his head. Before him stood the microscope,
+with its fragment of stone gleaming in the blue light of the burning
+wire. He wanted to say something to show them how he felt, but no words
+came. He looked up into the Chemist's smiling face, and smiled back a
+little foolishly.
+
+"Every day I look," said Reoh, breaking the silence. "And I
+see--wonderful things. But never really--can I believe."
+
+At this moment there came a violent rapping upon the outer door. As Reoh
+left the room to open it, the Very Young Man picked up the bit of stone
+that the Chemist had just taken from the microscope.
+
+"I wish--may I keep it?" he asked impulsively.
+
+The Chemist smiled and nodded, and the Very Young Man was about to slip
+it into the pocket of his robe when Reoh hastily reentered the room,
+followed by Oteo. The youth was breathing heavily, as though he had been
+running, and on his face was a frightened look.
+
+"Bad; very bad," said the old man, in a tone of deep concern, as they
+came through the doorway.
+
+"What is it, Oteo?" asked the Chemist quickly. The boy answered him with
+a flood of words in his native tongue.
+
+The Chemist listened quietly. Then he turned to his companions.
+
+"Targo has escaped," he said briefly. "They sent word to me at home, and
+Oteo ran here to tell me. A crowd broke into the court-house and
+released him. Oteo says they went away by water, and that no one is
+following them."
+
+The youth, who evidently understood English, added something else in his
+own language.
+
+"He says Targo vowed death to all who have the magic power. He spoke in
+the city just now, and promised them deliverance from the giants."
+
+"Good Lord," murmured the Very Young Man.
+
+"He has gone to Orlog probably," the Chemist continued. "We have nothing
+to fear for the moment. But that he could speak, in the centre of Arite,
+after this morning, and that the people would listen--"
+
+"It seems to me things are getting worse every minute," said the Big
+Business Man.
+
+Oteo spoke again. The Chemist translated. "The police did nothing. They
+simply stood and listened, but took no part."
+
+"Bad; very bad," repeated the old man, shaking his head.
+
+"What we should do I confess I cannot tell," said the Chemist soberly.
+"But that we should do something drastic is obvious."
+
+"We can't do anything until Lylda gets back," declared the Very Young
+Man. "We'll see what she has done. We might have had to let Targo go
+anyway."
+
+The Chemist started towards the door. "To-night, by the time of sleep,
+Reoh," he said to the old man, "I expect Lylda will have returned. You
+had better come to us then with Aura. I do not think you should stay
+here alone to sleep to-night."
+
+"In a moment--Aura comes," Reoh answered. "We shall be with you--very
+soon."
+
+The Chemist motioned to his companions, and with obvious reluctance on
+the part of the Very Young Man they left, followed by Oteo.
+
+On the way back the city seemed quiet--abnormally so. The streets were
+nearly deserted; what few pedestrians they met avoided them, or passed
+them sullenly. They were perhaps half-way back to the Chemist's house
+when the Very Young Man stopped short.
+
+"I forgot that piece of stone," he explained, looking at them queerly.
+"Go on. I'll be there by the time you are," and disregarding the
+Chemist's admonition that he might get lost he left them abruptly and
+walked swiftly back over the way they had come.
+
+Without difficulty, for they had made few turns, the Very Young Man
+located Reoh's house. As he approached he noticed the figure of a man
+lounging against a further corner of the building; the figure
+disappeared almost as soon as he saw it.
+
+It was a trivial incident, but, somehow, to the Very Young Man, it held
+something in it of impending danger. He did not knock on the outer door,
+but finding it partly open, he slowly pushed it wider and stepped
+quietly into the hallway beyond. He was hardly inside when there came
+from within the house a girl's scream--a cry of horror, abruptly
+stifled.
+
+For an instant, the Very Young Man stood hesitating. Then he dashed
+forward through an open doorway in the direction from which the cry had
+seemed to come.
+
+The room into which he burst was Reoh's study; the room he had left only
+a few moments before. On the floor, almost across his path, lay the old
+man, with the short blade of a sword buried to the hilt in his breast.
+In a corner of the room a young Oroid girl stood with her back against
+the wall. Her hands were pressed against her mouth; her eyes were wide
+with terror. Bending over the body on the floor with a hand at its
+armpit, knelt the huge, gray figure of a man. At the sound of the
+intruder's entrance he looked up quickly and sprang to his feet.
+
+The Very Young Man saw it was Targo!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE ABDUCTION
+
+
+When the Very Young Man left them so unceremoniously the Chemist and his
+companions continued on their way home, talking earnestly over the
+serious turn affairs had taken. Of the three, the Big Business Man
+appeared the most perturbed.
+
+"Lylda isn't going to accomplish anything," he said. "It won't work. The
+thing has gone too far. It isn't politics any longer; it's a struggle
+against us--a hatred and fear of our supernatural powers."
+
+"If we had never come----" began the Doctor.
+
+"It probably would have worked out all right," finished the Big Business
+Man. "But since we're here----"
+
+"We could leave," the Doctor suggested.
+
+"It has gone too far; I agree with you," the Chemist said. "Your going
+would not help. They would never believe I did not still possess the
+magic. And now, without the drugs I might not be able to cope with
+affairs. It is a very serious situation."
+
+"And getting worse all the time," added the Big Business Man.
+
+When they arrived at the Chemist's home Loto did not run out to meet
+them as the Chemist expected. They called his name, but there was no
+answer. Inside the house they perceived at once that something was
+wrong. The living-room was in disorder; some of the pieces of furniture
+had been overturned, and many of the smaller articles were scattered
+about the floor. Even the wall-hangings had been torn down.
+
+In sudden fear the Chemist ran through the building, calling to Loto.
+Everywhere he saw evidence of intruders, who had ransacked the rooms, as
+though making a hasty search. In one of the rooms, crouched on the
+floor, he came upon Eena, Lylda's little serving-maid. The girl was
+stricken dumb with terror. At the sight of her master she sobbed with
+relief, and after a few moments told him what had happened.
+
+When the Chemist rejoined his friends in the lower room his face was set
+and white. The girl followed him closely, evidently afraid to be left
+alone. The Chemist spoke quietly, controlling his emotion with obvious
+difficulty.
+
+"Loto has been stolen!" he said. "Targo and four of his men were here
+soon after we left. Eena saw them and hid. They searched the house----"
+
+"For the drugs," muttered the Doctor under his breath.
+
+"----and then left, taking Loto with them."
+
+"Which way did they go?" asked the Big Business Man. "Good God, what a
+thing!"
+
+"They went by water, in a large boat that was waiting for them here,"
+answered the Chemist.
+
+"How long ago?" asked the Doctor quickly. "We have not been gone very
+long."
+
+"An hour probably, not much more." Eena said something to her master and
+began to cry softly.
+
+"She says they left a little while ago. Three of the men took Loto away
+in the boat. She watched them from the window upstairs."
+
+"_Targo aliá_," said the girl.
+
+"One of the men was Targo," said the Chemist. He went to one of the
+windows overlooking the lake; the Doctor stood beside him. There was no
+boat in sight.
+
+"They cannot have got very far," said the Doctor. "Those islands
+there----"
+
+"They would take him to Orlog," said the Chemist. "About fifty miles."
+
+The Doctor turned back to the room. "We can get them. You forget--these
+drugs--the power they give us. Oh, Will." He called the Big Business Man
+over to them; he spoke hurriedly, with growing excitement. "What do you
+think, Will? That boat--they've got Loto--it can't be very far. We can
+make ourselves so large in half an hour we can wade all over the lake.
+We can get it. What do you think?"
+
+The Chemist dropped into a chair with his head in his hands. "Let me
+think--just a moment, Frank. I know the power we have; I know we can do
+almost anything. That little boy of mine--they've got him. Let me
+think--just a moment."
+
+He sat motionless. The Doctor continued talking in a lower tone to the
+Big Business Man by the window. In the doorway Oteo stood like a statue,
+motionless, except for his big, soft eyes that roved unceasingly over
+the scene before him. After a moment Eena ceased her sobbing and knelt
+beside the Chemist, looking up at him sorrowfully.
+
+"I cannot believe," said the Chemist finally, raising his head, "that
+the safest way to rescue Loto is by the plan you have suggested." He
+spoke with his usual calm, judicial manner, having regained control of
+himself completely. "I understand now, thoroughly, and for the first
+time, the situation we are facing. It is, as you say, a political issue
+no longer. Targo and his closest followers have convinced a very large
+proportion of our entire nation, I am certain, that myself, and my
+family, and you, the strangers, are possessed of a diabolical power that
+must be annihilated. Targo will never rest until he has the drugs. That
+is why he searched this house.
+
+"He has abducted Loto for the same purpose. He will--not hurt Loto--I am
+convinced of that. Probably he will send someone to-morrow to demand the
+drugs as the price of Loto's life. But don't you understand? Targo and
+his advisers, and even the most ignorant of the people, realize what
+power we have. Lylda showed them that when she flung Targo's brother out
+into the lake to-day. But we cannot use this power openly. For, while it
+makes us invincible, it makes them correspondingly desperate. They are a
+peculiar people. Throughout the whole history of the race they have been
+kindly, thoughtless children. Now they are aroused. The pendulum has
+swung to the other extreme. They care little for their lives. They are
+still children--children who will go to their death unreasoning,
+fighting against invincibility.
+
+"That is something we must never overlook, for it is a fact. We cannot
+run amuck as giants over this world and hope to conquer it. We could
+conquer it, yes; but only when the last of its inhabitants had been
+killed; stamped out like ants defending their hill from the attacks of
+an elephant. Don't you see I am right?"
+
+"Then Lylda----" began the Doctor, as the Chemist paused.
+
+"Lylda will fail. Her venture to-day will make matters immeasurably
+worse."
+
+"You're right," agreed the Big Business Man. "We should have realized."
+
+"So you see we cannot make ourselves large and recapture Loto by force.
+They would anticipate us and kill him."
+
+"Then what shall we do?" demanded the Doctor. "We must do something."
+
+"That we must decide carefully, for we must make no more mistakes. But
+we can do nothing at this moment. The lives of all of us are threatened.
+We must not allow ourselves to become separated. We must wait here for
+Lylda. Reoh and Aura must stay with us. Then we can decide how to rescue
+Loto and what to do after that. But we must keep together."
+
+"Jack ought to be here by now," said the Big Business Man. "I hope Reoh
+and Aura come with him."
+
+For over an hour they waited, and still the Very Young Man did not come.
+They had just decided to send Oteo to see what had become of him and to
+bring down Reoh and his daughter, when Lylda unexpectedly returned. It
+was Eena, standing at one of the side windows, who first saw her
+mistress. A cry from the girl brought them all to the window. Far away
+beyond the city they could see the gigantic figure of Lylda, towering
+several hundred feet in the air.
+
+As she came closer she seemed to stop, near the outskirts of the city,
+and then they saw her dwindling in size until she disappeared, hidden
+from their view by the houses near at hand.
+
+In perhaps half an hour more she reappeared, picking her way carefully
+down the deserted street towards them. She was at this time about forty
+feet tall. At the corner, a hundred yards away from them a little group
+of people ran out, and, with shouts of anger, threw something at her as
+she passed.
+
+She stooped down towards them, and immediately they scurried for safety
+out of her reach.
+
+Once inside of her own garden, where the Chemist and his companions were
+waiting, Lylda lost no time in becoming her normal size again. As she
+grew smaller, she sat down with her back against a little tree. Her face
+was white and drawn; her eyes were full of tears as she looked at her
+husband and his friends.
+
+When the drug had ceased to act, the Chemist sat beside her. She had
+started out only a few hours before a crusader, dominant, forceful; she
+came back now, a tired, discouraged little woman. The Chemist put his
+arm around her protectingly, drawing her drooping body towards him.
+"Very bad news, Lylda, we know," he said gently.
+
+"Oh, my husband," she cried brokenly. "So sorry I am--so very sorry. The
+best I knew I did. And it was all so very bad--so very bad----" she
+broke off abruptly, looking at him with her great, sorrowful eyes.
+
+"Tell us Lylda," he said softly.
+
+"To many cities I went," she answered. "And I told the people all I
+meant to say. Some of them believed. But they were not many, and of the
+others who did not believe, they were afraid, and so kept they silent.
+Then into Orlog I went, and in the public square I spoke--for very long,
+because, for some reason I know not, at first they listened.
+
+"But no one there believed. And then, my husband, at last I knew why I
+could not hope to gain my way. It is not because they want Targo's rule
+that they oppose us. It was, but it is so no longer. It is because they
+have been made to fear these drugs we have. For now, in Orlog, they are
+shouting death to all the giants. Forgotten are all their cries for
+land--the things that Targo promised, and we in Arite would not give. It
+is death to all the giants they are shouting now: death to you, to me,
+to us all, because we have these drugs."
+
+"Did they attack you?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"Many things they threw," Lylda answered. "But I was so big," she smiled
+a little sad, twisted smile. "What they could do was as nothing. And
+because of that they fear and hate us so; yet never have I seen such
+fearless things as those they did. Death to the giants was their only
+cry. And I could have killed them--hundreds, thousands--yet never could
+I have made them stop while yet they were alive.
+
+"I told them Targo I would free. And in Orlog they laughed. For they
+said that he would free himself before I had returned."
+
+"He did," muttered the Big Business Man.
+
+"Targo escaped this afternoon," the Chemist explained. "He went to Orlog
+by boat and took----" He stopped abruptly. "Come into the house, Lylda,"
+he added gently; "there are other things, my wife, of which we must
+speak." He rose to his feet, pulling her up with him.
+
+"Where is Jack," she asked, looking at the Big Business Man, who stood
+watching her gravely. "And where is Loto? Does he not want to see his
+mother who tried so----" She put her arms around the Chemist's neck. "So
+very hard I tried," she finished softly. "So very hard, because--I
+thought----"
+
+The Chemist led her gently into the house. The Doctor started to follow,
+but the Big Business Man held him back. "It is better not," he said in
+an undertone, "don't you think?" Oteo was standing near them, and the
+Big Business Man motioned to him. "Besides," he added, "I'm worried
+about Jack. I think we ought to go up after him. I don't think it ought
+to take us very long."
+
+"With Oteo--he knows the way," agreed the Doctor. "It's devilish strange
+what's keeping that boy."
+
+They found that although Oteo spoke only a few words of English, he
+understood nearly everything they said, and waiting only a moment more,
+they started up into the city towards Reoh's home.
+
+In the living-room of the house, the Chemist sat Lylda gently down on a
+cushion in front of the hearth. Sitting beside her, he laid his hand on
+hers that rested on her knee.
+
+"For twelve years, Lylda, we have lived together," he began slowly. "And
+no sorrow has come to us; no danger has threatened us or those we
+loved." He met his wife's questioning gaze unflinchingly and went on:
+
+"You have proved yourself a wonderful woman, my wife. You never
+knew--nor those before you--the conflict of human passions. No danger
+before has ever threatened you or those you loved." He saw her eyes grow
+wider.
+
+"Very strange you talk, my husband. There is something----"
+
+"There is something, Lylda. To-day you have seen strife, anger, hate
+and--and death. You have met them all calmly; you have fought them all
+justly, like a woman--a brave, honest Oroid woman, who can wrong no one.
+There is something now that I must tell you." He saw the growing fear in
+her eyes and hurried on.
+
+"Loto, to-day--this afternoon----"
+
+The woman gave a little, low cry of anguish, instantly repressed. Her
+hand gripped his tightly.
+
+"No, no, Lylda, not that," he said quickly, "but this afternoon while we
+were all away--Loto was here alone with Eena--Targo with his men came.
+They did not hurt Loto; they took him away in a boat to Orlog." He
+stopped abruptly. Lylda's eyes never left his face. Her breath came
+fast; she put a hand to her mouth and stifled the cry that rose to her
+lips.
+
+"They will not hurt him, Lylda; that I know. And soon we will have him
+back."
+
+For a moment more her searching eyes stared steadily into his. He heard
+the whispered words, "My little son--with Targo," come slowly from her
+lips; then with a low, sobbing cry she dropped senseless into his arms.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+AURA
+
+
+The Very Young Man involuntarily took a step backward as he met Targo's
+eyes, glaring at him across the old man's body. The girl in the corner
+gave another cry--a cry of fright and horror, yet with a note of relief.
+The Very Young Man found himself wondering who she was; then he knew.
+
+His first impulse was to leap across the room towards her. He thought of
+the chemicals and instinctively his hand went to his armpit. But he knew
+there was no time for that. He hesitated one brief instant. As he stood
+rigid Targo stooped swiftly and grasped the dagger in his victim's
+breast.
+
+The girl screamed again, louder this time, and like a mask the Very
+Young Man's indecision fell from him. He stood alert, clear-headed. Here
+was an enemy threatening him--an enemy he must fight and overcome.
+
+In the second that Targo bent down the Very Young Man bounded forward,
+and with a leap that his football days had taught him so well how to
+make, he landed squarely upon the bare, broad back of his antagonist.
+The impact of his weight forced Targo down upon the floor, and losing
+his balance he fell, with the Very Young Man on top of him. They hit the
+leg of the table as they rolled over, and something dropped from it to
+the floor, striking the stone surface with a thud.
+
+The knife still stuck in the dead man's body. The Very Young Man thought
+he could reach it, but his opponent's great arms were around him now and
+held him too tightly. He tried to pull himself loose, but could not.
+Then he rolled partly over again, and met Targo's eyes above, leering
+triumphantly down at him. He looked away and wrenched his right arm
+free. Across the room he could see the girl still crouching in the
+corner. His right hand sweeping along the floor struck something heavy
+lying there. His fingers closed over it; he raised it up, and hardly
+knowing what he did, crashed it against his enemy's head.
+
+He felt the tense muscles of the man relax, and then the weight of his
+inert body as it pressed down upon him. He wriggled free, and sprang to
+his feet. As he stood weak and trembling, looking down at the
+unconscious form of Targo lying upon the floor, the girl suddenly ran
+over and stood beside him. Her slim little body came only a little above
+his shoulder; instinctively he put his arm about her.
+
+A voice, calling from outside the room, made the girl look up into his
+face with new terror.
+
+"Others are coming," she whispered tensely and huddled up against him.
+
+The Very Young Man saw that the room had two doors--the one through
+which he had entered, and another in one of its other walls. There were
+no windows. He pulled the girl now towards the further door, but she
+held him back.
+
+"They come that way," she whispered.
+
+Another voice sounded behind him and the Very Young Man knew that a man
+was coming up along the passageway from the front entrance. Targo's men!
+He remembered now the skulking figure he had seen outside the house.
+There were more than two, for now he heard other voices, and some one
+calling Targo's name.
+
+He held the girl closer and stood motionless. Like rats in a trap, he
+thought. He felt the fingers of his right hand holding something heavy.
+It was a piece of stone--the stone he had looked at through the
+microscope--the stone with which he had struck Targo. He smiled to
+himself, and slipped it into his pocket.
+
+The girl had slowly pulled him over to the inner wall of the room. The
+footsteps came closer. They would be here in a moment. The Very Young
+Man wondered how he should fight them all; then he thought of the knife
+that was still in the murdered man's body. He thought he ought to get it
+now while there was still time. He heard a click and the wall against
+which he and the girl were leaning yielded with their weight. A door
+swung open--a door the Very Young Man had not seen before. The girl
+pulled him through the doorway, and swung the door softly closed behind
+them.
+
+The Very Young Man found himself now in a long, narrow room with a very
+high ceiling. It had, apparently, no other door, and no windows. It was
+evidently a storeroom--piled high with what looked like boxes, and with
+bales of silks and other fabrics.
+
+The Very Young Man looked around him hastily. Then he let go of the
+girl, and, since locks were unknown in this world, began piling as many
+heavy objects as possible against the door. The girl tried to help him,
+but he pushed her away. Once he put his ear to the door and listened. He
+heard voices outside in the strange Oroid tongue.
+
+The girl stood beside him. "They are lifting Targo up. He speaks; he is
+not dead," she whispered.
+
+For several minutes they stood there listening. The voices continued in
+a low murmur. "They'll know we are in here," said the Very Young Man
+finally, in an undertone. "Is there any other way out of this room?"
+
+The girl shook her head. The Very Young Man forgot the import of her
+answer, and suddenly found himself thinking she was the prettiest girl
+he had ever seen. She was hardly more than sixteen, with a slender, not
+yet matured, yet perfectly rounded little body. She wore, like Lylda, a
+short blue silk tunic, with a golden cord crossing her breast and
+encircling her waist. Her raven black hair hung in two twisted locks
+nearly to her knees. Her skin was very white and, even more than
+Lylda's, gleamed with iridescent color.
+
+"Only this one door," said the girl. The words brought the Very Young
+Man to himself with a start.
+
+No other way out of the room! He knew that Targo and his men would force
+their way in very soon. He could not prevent them. But it would take
+time. The Very Young Man remembered that now he had time to take the
+chemicals. He put his hand to his armpit and felt the pouch that held
+the drug. He wondered which to take. The ceiling was very high; but to
+fight in the narrow confines of such a room----
+
+He led the girl over to a pile of cushions and sat down beside her.
+
+"Listen," he said briefly. "We are going to take a medicine; it will
+make us very small. Then we will hide from Targo and his men till they
+are gone. This is not magic; it is science. Do you understand?"
+
+"I understand," the girl answered readily. "One of the strangers you
+are--my brother's friend."
+
+"You will not be afraid to take the drug?"
+
+"No." But though she spoke confidently, she drew closer to him and
+shivered a little.
+
+The Very Young Man handed her one of the tiny pellets. "Just touch it to
+the tip of your tongue as I do," he said warningly.
+
+They took the drug. When it had ceased to act, they found themselves
+standing on the rough uneven stone surface that was the floor of the
+room. Far overhead in the dim luminous blackness they could just make
+out the great arching ceiling, stretching away out of sight down the
+length of the room. Beside them stood a tremendous shaggy pile of
+coarsely woven objects that were the silk pillows on which they had been
+sitting a moment before--pillows that seemed forty or fifty feet square
+now and loomed high above their heads.
+
+The Very Young Man took the frightened girl by the hand and led her
+along the tremendous length of a pile of boxes, blocks long it seemed.
+These boxes, from their size, might have been rectangular, windowless
+houses, jammed closely together, and piled one upon the other up into
+the air almost out of sight.
+
+Finally they came to a broad passageway between the boxes--a mere crack
+it would have been before. They turned into it, and, a few feet beyond,
+came to a larger square space with a box making a roof over it some
+twenty feet above their heads.
+
+From this retreat they could see the lower part of the door leading into
+the other room and could hear from beyond it a muffled roar--the voices
+of Targo and his men. Hardly were they hidden when the door opened a
+little. It struck against the bales the Very Young Man had piled against
+it. For a moment it held, but with the united efforts of the men pushing
+from the other side, it slowly yielded and swung open.
+
+Targo stepped into the room. To the Very Young Man he seemed nearly a
+hundred feet high. Only his feet and ankles were visible at first, from
+where the Very Young Man was watching. Three other men came with him.
+They stamped back and forth for a time, moving some of the bales and
+boxes. Luckily they left undisturbed those nearest the fugitives; after
+a moment they left, leaving the door open.
+
+The Very Young Man breathed a long sigh of relief. "Gosh, I'm glad
+that's over." He spoke in a low tone, although the men in the other room
+seemed so far away they would hardly have heard him if he had shouted at
+the top of his voice.
+
+Alone with the girl now in this great silent room, the Very Young Man
+felt suddenly embarrassed. "I am one of your brother's friends," he
+said. "My name's Jack; is yours Aura?"
+
+"Lylda's sister I am," she answered quietly. "My father told me about
+you----" Then with a rush came the memory of her father's death, which
+the startling experiences of the past half-hour had made her forget. Her
+big, soft eyes filled with tears and her lips quivered. Involuntarily
+the Very Young Man put his arm about her again and held her close to
+him. She was so little and frail--so pathetic and so wholly adorable.
+For a long time they sat in silence; then the girl gently drew away.
+
+At the doorway they stood and listened; Targo and his followers were
+still in the adjoining room, talking earnestly. "Loto they have
+captured," Aura whispered suddenly. "Others of Targo's men have taken
+him--in a boat--to Orlog. To-morrow they send a messenger to my brother
+to demand he give up these drugs--or Loto they will kill."
+
+The Very Young Man waited, breathless. Suddenly he heard Targo laugh--a
+cruel, cynical laugh. Aura shuddered.
+
+"And when he has the drug, all of us will he kill. And all in the land
+too who will not do as he bids."
+
+The men were rising, evidently in preparation to leave. Aura continued:
+"They go--now--to Orlog--all but Targo. A little way from here, up the
+lake shore, a boat is waiting. It will take them there fast."
+
+With a last look around, Targo and his followers disappeared through the
+back door of the room. An outer door clanged noisily, and the Very Young
+Man and Aura were left alone in the house.
+
+Reoh murdered, Loto stolen! The Very Young Man thought of Lylda and
+wondered if anything could have happened to her. "Did they speak of your
+sister?" he asked.
+
+"Targo said--he--he would put her to death," Aura answered with a
+shudder. "He said--she killed his brother to-day." She turned to the
+Very Young Man impulsively, putting her little hands up on his
+shoulders. "Oh, my friend," she exclaimed. "You can do something to save
+my family? Targo is so strong, so cruel. My father----" She stopped, and
+choked back a sob.
+
+"Did they say where Lylda was now?"
+
+"They did not know. She grew very big and went away."
+
+"Where is your brother and my two friends?"
+
+"Targo said they were here when he--he took Loto. Now they have gone
+home. He was afraid of them--now--because they have the drugs."
+
+"To-morrow they are going to send a messenger from Orlog to demand the
+drugs?"
+
+"He said to-morrow. Oh, you will do something for us? You can save
+Loto?"
+
+The Very Young Man was beginning to formulate a plan. "And to-night," he
+asked, "from what they said--are you sure they will not hurt Loto?"
+
+"They said no. But he is so little--so----" The girl burst into tears,
+and at every sob the Very Young Man's heart leaped in his breast. He
+wanted to comfort her, but he could think of no word to say; he wanted
+to help her--to do the best thing in what he saw was a grave crisis.
+What he should have done was to have taken her back to the Chemist and
+his friends, and then with them planned the rescue of Loto. But with the
+girl's hands upon his shoulders, and her sorrowful little tear-stained
+face looking up to his, he did not think of that. He thought only of her
+and her pathetic appeal. "You will do something, my friend? You can save
+Loto?" He could save Loto! With the power of the drugs he could do
+anything!
+
+The Very Young Man made a sudden decision. "I don't know the way to
+Orlog; you do?" he asked abruptly.
+
+"Oh yes, I know it well."
+
+"We will go to Orlog, you and I--now, and rescue Loto. You will not be
+afraid?"
+
+The girl's eyes looked into his with a clear, steady gaze. The Very
+Young Man stared down into their depths with his heart pounding. "I
+shall not be afraid--with you," said the girl softly.
+
+The Very Young Man drew a long breath. He knew he must think it all out
+carefully. The drug would make them very large, and in a short time they
+could walk to Orlog. No harm could come to them. Once in Orlog they
+would find Loto--probably in Targo's palace--and bring him back with
+them. The Very Young Man pictured the surprise and gratification of the
+Chemist and his friends. Lylda would be back by then; no sooner would
+she have heard of Loto's loss than he would bring him back to her. Or
+perhaps they would meet Lylda and she would join them.
+
+The Very Young Man produced the drug and was about to give Aura one of
+the pellets when another thought occurred to him. Targo would not harm
+Loto now because he was valuable as a hostage. But suppose he saw these
+two giants coming to the rescue? The Very Young Man knew that probably
+the boy would be killed before he could save him. That way would not do.
+He would have to get to Orlog unseen--rescue Loto by a sudden rush,
+before they could harm him.
+
+But first it would be necessary for him and Aura to get out of Arite
+quietly without causing any excitement. Once in the open country they
+could grow larger and travel rapidly to Orlog. The Very Young Man
+thought it would be best to be normal size while leaving Arite. He
+explained his plan to Aura briefly.
+
+It took several successive tastes of the different drugs before this
+result was accomplished, but in perhaps half an hour they were ready to
+leave the house. To the Very Young Man this change of size was no longer
+even startling. Aura, this time, with him beside her, seemed quite
+unafraid.
+
+"Now we're ready," said the Very Young Man, in a matter-of-fact tone
+that was far from indicating his true feeling. "Take the way where we
+are least likely to be noticed--towards Orlog. When we get in the open
+country we can get bigger."
+
+He led the girl across Reoh's study. She kept her face averted as they
+passed the body lying on the floor, and in a moment they were outside
+the house. They walked rapidly, keeping close to the walls of the
+houses. The streets were nearly deserted and no one seemed to notice
+them.
+
+The Very Young Man was calculating the time. "Probably they are just
+getting to Orlog with Loto," he said. "Once we get out of Arite we'll
+travel fast; we'll have him back in two or three hours."
+
+Aura said nothing, but walked beside him. Once or twice she looked back
+over her shoulder.
+
+They were in the outskirts of the city, when suddenly the girl gripped
+her companion by the arm.
+
+"Some one--behind us," she whispered. The Very Young Man resisted an
+impulse to look around. They had come to a cross street; the Very Young
+Man abruptly turned the corner, and clutching Aura by the hand ran
+swiftly forward a short distance. When they had slowed down to a walk
+again the Very Young Man looked cautiously back over his shoulder. As he
+did so he caught a glimpse of three men who had just reached the corner,
+and who darted hastily back out of sight as he turned his head.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE ATTACK ON THE PALACE
+
+
+Oteo led the two men swiftly through the city towards Reoh's house.
+There were few pedestrians about and no one seemed particularly to
+notice them. Yet somehow, the Big Business Man thought, there hung about
+the city an ominous air of unrest. Perhaps it was the abnormal
+quiet--that solemn sinister look of deserted streets; or perhaps it was
+an occasional face peering at them from a window, or a figure lurking in
+a doorway disappearing at their approach. The Big Business Man found his
+heart beating fast. He suddenly felt very much alone. The realization
+came to him that he was in a strange world, surrounded by beings of
+another race, most of whom, he knew now, hated and feared him and those
+who had come with him.
+
+Then his thoughts took another turn. He looked up at the brilliant
+galaxy of stars overhead. New, unexplored worlds! Thousands, millions of
+them! In one tiny, little atom of a woman's wedding-ring! Then he
+thought of his friend the Banker. Perhaps the ring had not been moved
+from its place in the clubroom. Then--he looked at the sky again--then
+Broadway--only thirty feet away from him this moment! He smiled a little
+at this conception, and drew a long breath--awed by his thoughts.
+
+Oteo was plucking at his sleeve and pointing. Across the street stood
+Reoh's house. The Doctor knocked upon its partially open front door,
+and, receiving no answer, they entered silently, with the dread sense of
+impending evil hanging over them. The Doctor led the way into the old
+man's study. At the threshold he stopped, shocked into immobility. Upon
+the floor, with the knife still in it, lay Reoh's body. The Doctor made
+a hasty examination, although the presence of the knife obviously made
+it unnecessary.
+
+A hurried search of the house convinced them that Aura and the Very
+Young Man were not there. The two men, confused by this double disaster,
+were at a loss to know what to do.
+
+"They've got him," said the Big Business Man with conviction. "And the
+girl too, probably. He must have come back just as they were killing
+Reoh."
+
+"There wasn't much time," the Doctor said. "He was back here in ten
+minutes. But they've got him--you're right--or he would have been back
+with us before this."
+
+"They'll take him and the girl to Orlog. They won't hurt them because
+they----" The Big Business Man stopped abruptly; his face went white.
+"Good God, Frank, do you realize? They've got the drugs now!"
+
+Targo had the drugs! The Big Business Man shuddered with fear at the
+thought. Their situation would be desperate, indeed, if that were so.
+
+The Doctor reasoned it out more calmly. "I hadn't thought of that," he
+said slowly. "And it makes me think perhaps they have not captured Jack.
+If they had the drugs they would lose no time in using them. They
+haven't used them yet--that's evident."
+
+The Big Business Man was about to reply when there came a shouting from
+the street outside, and the sound of many feet rushing past the house.
+They hurried to the door. A mob swept by--a mob of nearly a thousand
+persons. Most of them were men. Some were armed with swords; others
+brandished huge stones or lengths of beaten gold implements, perhaps
+with which they had been working, and which now they held as weapons.
+
+The mob ran swiftly, with vainglorious shouts from its leaders. It
+turned a corner nearby and disappeared.
+
+From every house now people appeared, and soon the streets were full of
+scurrying pedestrians. Most of them followed the direction taken by the
+mob. The listeners in the doorway could hear now, from far away, the
+sound of shouts and cheering. And from all around them came the buzz and
+hum of busy streets. The city was thoroughly awake--alert and expectant.
+
+The Big Business Man flung the door wide. "I'm going to follow that
+crowd. See what's going on. We can't stay here in the midst of this."
+
+The Doctor and Oteo followed him out into the street, and they mingled
+with the hastening crowd. In their excitement they walked freely among
+the people. No one appeared to notice them, for the crowd was as excited
+as they, hurrying along, heedless of its immediate surroundings. As they
+advanced, the street became more congested.
+
+Down another street they saw fighting going on--a weaponless crowd
+swaying and struggling aimlessly. A number of armed men charged this
+crowd--men who by their breastplates and swords the Big Business Man
+recognized as the police. The crowd ceased struggling and dispersed,
+only to gather again in another place.
+
+The city was in a turmoil of excitement without apparent reason, or
+definite object. Yet there was a steady tide in the direction the first
+armed mob had gone, and with that tide went the Big Business Man and his
+two companions.
+
+After a time they came to an open park, beyond which, on a prominence,
+with the lake behind, stood a large building that the Chemist had
+already pointed out to them as the king's palace.
+
+Oteo led them swiftly into a side street to avoid the dense crowd around
+the park. Making a slight detour they came back to it again--much nearer
+the palace now--and approached from behind a house that fronted the open
+space near the palace.
+
+"Friend of the Master--his house!" Oteo explained as he knocked
+peremptorily at a side door.
+
+They waited a moment, but no one came. Oteo pushed the door and led them
+within. The house was deserted, and following Oteo, they went to the
+roof. Here they could see perfectly what was going on around the palace,
+and in the park below them.
+
+This park was nearly triangular in shape--a thousand feet possibly on
+each side. At the base of the triangle, on a bluff with the lake behind
+it, stood the palace. Its main entrance, two huge golden doors, stood at
+the top of a broad flight of stone steps. On these steps a fight was in
+progress. A mob surged up them, repulsed at the top by a score or more
+of men armed with swords, who were defending the doorway.
+
+The square was thronged with people watching the palace steps and
+shouting almost continuously. The fight before the palace evidently had
+been in progress for some time. Many dead were lying in the doorway and
+on the steps below it. The few defenders had so far resisted
+successfully against tremendous odds, for the invaders, pressed upward
+by those behind, could not retreat, and were being killed at the top
+from lack of space in which to fight.
+
+"Look there," cried the Big Business Man suddenly. Coming down a cross
+street, marching in orderly array with its commander in front, was a
+company of soldier police. It came to a halt almost directly beneath the
+watchers on the roof-tops, and its leader brandishing his sword after a
+moment of hesitation, ordered his men to charge the crowd. They did not
+move at the order, but stood sullenly in their places. Again he ordered
+them forward, and, as they refused to obey, made a threatening move
+towards them.
+
+In sudden frenzy, those nearest leaped upon him, and in an instant he
+lay dead upon the ground, with half a dozen swords run through his body.
+Then the men stood, in formation still, apathetically watching the
+events that were going on around them.
+
+Meanwhile the fight on the palace steps raged more furiously than ever.
+The defenders were reduced now to a mere handful.
+
+"A moment more--they'll be in," said the Doctor breathlessly. Hardly had
+he spoken when, with a sudden, irresistible rush, the last of the guards
+were swept away, and the invaders surged through the doorway into the
+palace.
+
+A great cry went up from the crowd in the park as the palace was
+taken--a cry of applause mingled with awe, for they were a little
+frightened at what they were seeing.
+
+Perhaps a hundred people crowded through the doorway into the palace;
+the others stood outside--on the steps and on the terrace
+below--waiting. Hardly more than five minutes went by when a man
+appeared on the palace roof. He advanced to the parapet with several
+others standing respectfully behind him.
+
+"Targo!" murmured Oteo.
+
+It was Targo--Targo triumphantly standing with uplifted arms before the
+people he was to rule. When the din that was raised at his appearance
+had subsided a little he spoke; one short sentence, and then he paused.
+There was a moment of indecision in the crowd before it broke into
+tumultuous cheers.
+
+"The king--he killed," Oteo said softly, looking at his master's friends
+with big, frightened eyes.
+
+The Big Business Man stared out over the waving, cheering throng, with
+the huge, dominant, triumphant figure of Targo above and muttered to
+himself, "The king is dead; long live the king."
+
+When he could make himself heard, Targo spoke again. The Doctor and the
+Big Business Man were leaning over the parapet watching the scene, when
+suddenly a stone flew up from the crowd beneath, and struck the railing
+within a few feet of where they were standing. They glanced down in
+surprise, and realized, from the faces that were upturned, that they
+were recognized. A murmur ran over the crowd directly below, and then
+someone raised a shout. Four words it seemed to be, repeated over and
+over. Gradually the shout spread--"Death to the Giants," the Big
+Business Man knew it was--"Death to the Giants," until the whole mass of
+people were calling it rhythmically--drowning out Targo's voice
+completely. A thousand faces now stared up at the men on the roof-top
+and a rain of stones began falling around them.
+
+The Doctor clutched his friend by the arm and pulled him back from the
+parapet. "They know us--good God, don't you see?" he said tensely. "Come
+on. We must get out of this. There'll be trouble." He started across the
+roof towards the opening that led down into the house.
+
+The Big Business Man jerked himself free from the grasp that held him.
+
+"I do see," he cried a little wildly. "I do see we've been damn fools.
+There'll be trouble. You're right--there will be trouble; but it won't
+be ours. I'm through--through with this miserable little atom and its
+swarm of insects." He gripped the Doctor by both shoulders. "My God,
+Frank, can't you understand? We're men, you and I--men! These
+creatures"--he waved his arm back towards the city--"nothing but
+insects--infinitesimal--smaller than the smallest thing we ever dreamed
+of. And we take them seriously. Don't you understand? Seriously! God,
+man, that's funny, not tragic."
+
+He fumbled at the neck of his robe, and tearing it away, brought out a
+vial of the drugs.
+
+"Here," he exclaimed, and offered one of the pellets.
+
+"Not too much," warned the Doctor vehemently, "only touch it to your
+tongue."
+
+Oteo, with pleading eyes, watched them taking the drug, and the Doctor
+handed him a pellet, showing him how to take it.
+
+As they stood together upon the roof-top, clinging to one another, the
+city dwindled away rapidly beneath them. By the time the drug had ceased
+to act there was hardly room for them to stand on the roof, and the
+house, had it not been built solidly of stone, would have been crushed
+under their weight. At first they felt a little dizzy, as though they
+were hanging in mid-air, or were in a balloon, looking down at the city.
+Then gradually, they seemed to be of normal size again, balancing
+themselves awkwardly upon a little toy-house whose top was hardly bigger
+than their feet.
+
+The park, only a step now beneath the house-top, swarmed with tiny
+figures less than two inches in height. Targo still stood upon the
+palace roof; they could have reached down and picked him up between
+thumb and forefinger. The whole city lay within a radius of a few
+hundred feet around them.
+
+When they had stopped increasing in size, they leaped in turn over the
+palace, landing upon the broad beach of the lake. Then they began
+walking along it. There was only room for one on the sand, and the other
+two, for they walked abreast, waded ankle-deep in the water. From the
+little city below them they could hear the hum of a myriad of tiny
+voices--thin, shrill and faint. Suddenly the Big Business Man laughed.
+There was no hysteria in his voice now--just amusement and relief.
+
+"And we took that seriously," he said. "Funny, isn't it?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+ON THE LAKE
+
+
+"You're right--we are being followed," the Very Young Man said soberly.
+He had pulled the girl over close against the wall of a house. "Did you
+see that?"
+
+"Three, they are," Aura answered. "I saw them before--in the street
+below--Targo's men."
+
+Evidently the three men had been watching the house from which they had
+come and had followed them from there. If they were Targo's men, as
+seemed very probable, the Very Young Man could not understand why they
+had not already attacked him. Perhaps they intended to as soon as he and
+Aura had reached a more secluded part of the city. They must know he had
+the drugs, and to gain possession of those certainly was what they were
+striving for. The Very Young Man realized he must take no chances; to
+lose the drugs would be fatal to them all.
+
+"Are we near the edge of the city?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, very near."
+
+"Then we shall get large here. If we make a run for it we will be in the
+country before we are big enough to attract too much attention.
+Understand, Aura?"
+
+"I understand."
+
+"We mustn't stir up the city if we can help it; with giants running
+around, the people would get worked up to a frenzy. You could see that
+with Lylda this afternoon. Not that you can blame them altogether, but
+we want to get Loto back before we start anything here in Arite." He
+took the pellets out as he spoke, and they each touched one of them to
+the tip of their tongues.
+
+"Now, then, come on--not too fast, we want to keep going," said the Very
+Young Man, taking the girl by the hand again.
+
+As they started off, running slowly down the street, the Very Young Man
+looked back. The three men were running after them--not fast, seeming
+content merely to keep their distance. The Very Young Man laughed. "Wait
+till they see us get big. Fine chance they've got."
+
+Aura, her lithe, young body in perfect condition, ran lightly and easily
+as a fawn. She made a pretty picture as she ran, with her long, black
+hair streaming out behind her, and the short silk tunic flapping about
+her lean, round thighs. She still held the Very Young Man by the hand,
+running just in advance of him, guiding him through the streets, which
+in this part of the city were more broken up and irregular.
+
+They had not gone more than a hundred yards when the pavement began to
+move unsteadily under them, as the deck of a plunging ship feels to one
+who runs its length, and the houses they were swiftly passing began
+visibly to decrease in size. The Very Young Man felt the girl falter in
+her stride. He dropped her hand and slipped his arm about her waist,
+holding her other hand against it. She smiled up into his eyes, and thus
+they ran on, side by side.
+
+A few moments more and they were in the open country, running on a road
+that wound through the hills, between cultivated fields dotted here and
+there with houses. The landscape dwindled beneath them steadily, until
+they seemed to be running along a narrow, curving path, bordered by
+little patches of different-colored ground, like a checkerboard. The
+houses they passed now hardly reached as high as their knees. Sometimes
+peasants stood in the doorways of these houses watching them in terror.
+Occasionally they passed a farmer ploughing his field, who stopped his
+work, stricken dumb, and stared at them as they went swiftly by.
+
+When they were well out into the country, perhaps a quarter of the way
+to Orlog--for to beings so huge as they the distance was not great--the
+Very Young Man slowed down to a walk.
+
+"How far have we gone?" he asked.
+
+Aura stopped abruptly and looked around her. They seemed now to be at
+the bottom of a huge, circular, shallow bowl. In every direction from
+where they stood the land curved upward towards the rim of the bowl that
+was the horizon--a line, not sharp and well defined, but dim and hazy,
+melting away into the blackness of the star-studded sky. Behind them,
+hardly more than a mile away, according to their present stature--they
+had stopped growing entirely now--lay the city of Arite. They could see
+completely across it and out into the country beyond.
+
+The lake, with whose shore they had been running parallel, was much
+closer to them. Ahead, up near the rim of the horizon, lay a black
+smudge. Aura pointed. "Orlog is there," she said. "You see it?"
+
+To the Very Young Man suddenly came the realization that already he was
+facing the problem of how to get into Orlog unheralded. If they remained
+in their present size they could easily walk there in an hour or less.
+But long before that they would be seen and recognized.
+
+The Very Young Man feared for Loto's safety if he allowed that to
+happen. He seemed to be able to make out the city of Orlog now. It was
+smaller than Arite, and lay partially behind a hill, with most of its
+houses strung along the lake shore. If only they were not so tall they
+could not be seen so readily. But if they became smaller it would take
+them much longer to get there. And eventually they would have to become
+normal Oroid size, or even smaller, in order to get into the city
+unnoticed. The Very Young Man thought of the lake. Perhaps that would be
+the best way.
+
+"Can you swim?" he asked. And Aura, with her ready smile, answered that
+she could. "If we are in the water," she added, seeming to have followed
+his thoughts, "they would not see us. I can swim very far--can you?"
+
+The Very Young Man nodded.
+
+"If we could get near to Orlog in the water," he said, "we might get a
+boat. And then when we were small, we could sail up. They wouldn't see
+us then."
+
+"There are many boats," answered the girl in agreement. "Look!"
+
+There were, indeed, on the lake, within sight of them now, several
+boats. "We must get the one nearest Orlog," the Very Young Man said. "Or
+else it will beat us in and carry the news."
+
+In a few minutes more they were at the lake shore. The Very Young Man
+wore, underneath his robe, a close-fitting knitted garment very much
+like a bathing-suit. He took off his robe now, and rolling it up, tied
+it across his back with the cord he had worn around his waist. Aura's
+tunic was too short to impede her swimming and when the Very Young Man
+was ready, they waded out into the water together. They found the lake
+no deeper than to Aura's shoulders, but as it was easier to swim than to
+wade, they began swimming--away from shore towards the farthest boat
+that evidently was headed for Orlog.
+
+The Very Young Man thought with satisfaction that, with only their heads
+visible, huge as they would appear, they could probably reach this boat
+without being seen by any one in Orlog. The boat was perhaps a quarter
+of a mile from them--a tiny little toy vessel, it seemed, that they
+never would have seen except for its sail.
+
+They came up to it rapidly, for they were swimming very much faster than
+it could sail, passing close to one of the others and nearly swamping it
+by the waves they made. As they neared the boat they were pursuing--it
+was different from any the Very Young Man had seen so far, a single,
+canoe-shaped hull, with out-riders on both sides--they could see it held
+but a single occupant, a man who sat in its stern--a figure about as
+long as one of the Very Young Man's fingers.
+
+The Very Young Man and Aura were swimming side by side, now. The water
+was perfect in temperature--neither too hot nor too cold; they had not
+been swimming fast, and were not winded.
+
+"We've got him, what'll we do with him," the Very Young Man wanted to
+know in dismay, as the thought occurred to him. He might have been more
+puzzled at how to take the drug to make them smaller while they were
+swimming, but Aura's answer solved both problems.
+
+"There is an island," she said flinging an arm up out of the water. "We
+can push the boat to it, and him we can leave there. Is that not the
+thing to do?"
+
+"You bet your life," the Very Young Man agreed, enthusiastically.
+"That's just the thing to do."
+
+As they came within reach of the boat the Very Young Man stopped
+swimming and found that the water was not much deeper than his waist.
+The man in the boat appeared now about to throw himself into the lake
+from fright.
+
+"Tell him, Aura," the Very Young Man said. "We won't hurt him."
+
+Wading through the water, they pushed the boat with its terrified
+occupant carefully in front of them towards the island, which was not
+more than two or three hundred yards away. The Very Young Man found this
+rather slow work; becoming impatient, he seized the boat in his hand,
+pinning the man against its seat with his forefinger so he would not
+fall out. Then raising the boat out of the water over his head he waded
+forward much more rapidly.
+
+The island, which they reached in a few moments more, was circular in
+shape, and about fifty feet in diameter. It had a beach entirely around
+it; a hill perhaps ten feet high rose near its center, and at one end it
+was heavily wooded. There were no houses to be seen.
+
+The Very Young Man set the boat back on the water, and they pushed it up
+on the beach. When it grounded the tiny man leaped out and ran swiftly
+along the sand. The Very Young Man and Aura laughed heartily as they
+stood ankle-deep in the water beside the boat, watching him. For nearly
+five minutes he ran; then suddenly he ducked inland and disappeared in
+the woods.
+
+When they were left alone they lost no time in becoming normal Oroid
+size. The boat now appeared about twenty-five feet long--a narrow,
+canoe-shaped hull hollowed out of a tree-trunk. They climbed into it,
+and with a long pole they found lying in its bottom, the Very Young Man
+shoved it off the beach.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+WORD MUSIC
+
+
+The boat had a mast stepped near the bow, and a triangular cloth sail.
+The Very Young Man sat in the stern, steering with a short, broad-bladed
+paddle; Aura lay on a pile of rushes in the bottom of the boat, looking
+up at him.
+
+For about half a mile the Very Young Man sailed along parallel with the
+beach, looking for the man they had marooned. He was nowhere in sight,
+and they finally headed out into the lake towards Orlog, which they
+could just see dimly on the further shore.
+
+The breeze was fresh, and they made good time. The boat steered easily,
+and the Very Young Man, reclining on one elbow, with Aura at his feet,
+felt at peace with himself and with the world. Again he thought this
+girl the prettiest he had ever seen. There was something, too, of a
+spiritual quality in the delicate smallness of her features--a sweetness
+of expression in her quick, understanding smile, and an honest clearness
+in her steady gaze that somehow he seemed never to have seen in a girl's
+face before.
+
+He felt again, now that he had time to think more of her, that same old
+diffidence that had come to him before when they were alone in the
+storeroom of her home. That she did not share this feeling was obvious
+from the frankness and ease of her manner.
+
+For some time after leaving the island neither spoke. The Very Young Man
+felt the girl's eyes fixed almost constantly upon him--a calm gaze that
+held in it a great curiosity and wonderment. He steered steadily onward
+towards Orlog. There was, for the moment, nothing to discuss concerning
+their adventure, and he wondered what he should say to this girl who
+stared at him so frankly. Then he met her eyes, and again she smiled
+with that perfect sense of comradeship he had so seldom felt with women
+of his own race.
+
+"You're very beautiful," said the Very Young Man abruptly.
+
+The girl's eyes widened a little, but she did not drop her lashes. "I
+want to be beautiful; if you think it is so, I am very glad."
+
+"I do. I think you're the prettiest girl I ever saw." He blurted out the
+words impetuously. He was very earnest, very sincere, and very young.
+
+A trace of coquetry came into the girl's manner. "Prettier than the
+girls of your world? Are they not pretty?"
+
+"Oh, yes--of course; but----"
+
+"What?" she asked when he paused.
+
+The Very Young Man considered a moment. "You're--you're different," he
+said finally. She waited. "You--you don't know how to flirt, for one
+thing."
+
+The girl turned her head away and looked at him a little sidewise
+through lowered lashes.
+
+"How do you know that?" she asked demurely; and the Very Young Man
+admitted to himself with a shock of surprise that he certainly was
+totally wrong in that deduction at least.
+
+"Tell me of the girls in your world," she went on after a moment's
+silence. "My sister's husband many times he has told me of the wonderful
+things up there in that great land. But more I would like to hear."
+
+He told her, with an eloquence and enthusiasm born of youth, about his
+own life and those of his people. She questioned eagerly and with an
+intelligence that surprised him, for she knew far more of the subject
+than he realized.
+
+"These girls of your country," she interrupted him once. "They, too, are
+very beautiful; they wear fine clothes--I know--my brother he has told
+me."
+
+"Yes," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"And are they very learned--very clever--do they work and govern, like
+the men?"
+
+"Some are very learned. And they are beginning to govern, like the men;
+but not so much as you do here."
+
+The girl's forehead wrinkled. "My brother he once told me," she said
+slowly, "that in your world many women are bad. Is that so?"
+
+"Some are, of course. And some men think that most are. But I don't; I
+think women are splendid."
+
+"If that is so, then better I can understand what I have heard," the
+girl answered thoughtfully. "If Oroid women were as I have heard my
+brother talk of some of yours, this world of ours would soon be full of
+evil."
+
+"You are different," the Very Young Man said quickly. "You--and Lylda."
+
+"The women here, they have kept the evil out of life," the girl went on.
+"It is their duty--their responsibility to their race. Your good
+women--they have not always governed as we have. Why is that?"
+
+"I do not know," the Very Young Man admitted. "Except because the men
+would not let them."
+
+"Why not, if they are just as learned as the men?" The girl was
+smiling--a little roguish, twisted smile.
+
+"There are very clever girls," the Very Young Man went on hastily; he
+found himself a little on the defensive, and he did not know just why.
+"They are able to do things in the world. But--many men do not like
+them."
+
+Aura was smiling openly now, and her eyes twinkled with mischief.
+"Perhaps it is the men are jealous. Could that not be so?"
+
+The Very Young Man did not answer, and the girl went on more seriously.
+"The women of my race, they are very just. Perhaps you know that, Jack.
+Often has my brother told us of his own great world and of its problems.
+And the many things he has told us--Lylda and I--we have often wondered.
+For every question has its other side, and we cannot judge--from him
+alone."
+
+The Very Young Man, surprised at the turn their conversation had taken,
+and confused a little by this calm logic from a girl--particularly from
+so young and pretty a girl--was at a loss how to go on.
+
+"You cannot understand, Aura," he finally said seriously. "Women may be
+all kinds; some are bad--some are good. Down here I know it is not that
+way. Sometimes when a girl is smart she thinks she is smarter than any
+living man. You would not like that sort of girl would you?"
+
+"My brother never said it just that way," she answered with equal
+seriousness. "No, that would be bad--very bad. In our land women are
+only different from men. They know they are not better or worse--only
+different."
+
+The Very Young Man was thinking of a girl he once knew. "I hate clever
+girls," he blurted out.
+
+Aura's eyes were teasing him again. "I am so sorry," she said sadly.
+
+The Very Young Man looked his surprise. "Why are you sorry?"
+
+"My sister, she once told me I was clever. My brother said it, too, and
+I believed them."
+
+The Very Young Man flushed.
+
+"You're different," he repeated.
+
+"How--different?" She was looking at him sidewise again.
+
+"I don't know; I've been trying to think--but you are. And I don't hate
+you--I like you--very, very much."
+
+"I like you, too," she answered frankly, and the Very Young Man thought
+of Loto as she said it. He was leaning down towards her, and their hands
+met for an instant.
+
+The Very Young Man had spread his robe out to dry when he first got into
+the boat, and now he put it on while Aura steered. Then he sat beside
+her on the seat, taking the paddle again.
+
+"Do you go often to the theater?" she asked after a time.
+
+"Oh, yes, often."
+
+"Nothing like that do we have here," she added, a little wistfully.
+"Only once, when we played a game in the field beyond my brother's home.
+Lylda was the queen and I her lady. And do you go to the opera, too? My
+brother he has told me of the opera. How wonderful must that be! So
+beautiful--more beautiful even it must be than Lylda's music. But never
+shall it be for me." She smiled sadly: "Never shall I be able to hear
+it."
+
+An eager contradiction sprang to the Very Young Man's lips, but the girl
+shook her head quietly.
+
+For several minutes they did not speak. The wind behind them blew the
+girl's long hair forward over her shoulders. A lock of it fell upon the
+Very Young Man's hand as it lay on the seat between them, and unseen he
+twisted it about his fingers. The wind against his neck felt warm and
+pleasant; the murmur of the water flowing past sounded low and sweet and
+soothing. Overhead the stars hung very big and bright. It was like
+sailing on a perfect night in his own world. He was very conscious of
+the girl's nearness now--conscious of the clinging softness of her hair
+about his fingers. And all at once he found himself softly quoting some
+half-forgotten lines:
+
+    "If I were king, ah, love! If I were king
+    What tributary nations I would bring
+    To bow before your scepter and to swear
+    Allegiance to your lips and eyes and hair."
+
+Aura's questioning glance of surprise brought him to himself. "That is
+so pretty--what is that?" she asked eagerly. "Never have I heard one
+speak like that before."
+
+"Why, that's poetry; haven't you ever heard any poetry?"
+
+The girl shook her head. "It's just like music--it sings. Do it again."
+
+The Very Young Man suddenly felt very self-conscious.
+
+"Do it again--please." She looked pleadingly up into his face and the
+Very Young Man went on:
+
+    "Beneath your feet what treasures I would fling!
+    The stars would be your pearls upon a string;
+    The world a ruby for your finger-ring;
+      And you could have the sun and moon to wear
+      If I were king."
+
+The girl clapped her hands artlessly. "Oh, that is so pretty. Never did
+I know that words could sound like that. Say it some more, please."
+
+And the Very Young Man, sitting under the stars beside this beautiful
+little creature of another world, searched into his memory and for her
+who never before had known that words could rhyme, opened up the realm
+of poetry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+THE PALACE OF ORLOG
+
+
+Engrossed with each other the Very Young Man and Aura sailed close up to
+the water-front of Orlog before they remembered their situation. It was
+the Very Young Man who first became aware of the danger. Without
+explanation he suddenly pulled Aura into the bottom of the boat, leaving
+it to flutter up into the wind unguided.
+
+"They might see us from here," he said hurriedly. "We must decide what
+is best for us to do now."
+
+They were then less than a quarter of a mile from the stone quay that
+marked the city's principal landing-place. Nearer to them was a broad,
+sandy beach behind which, in a long string along the lake shore, lay the
+city. Its houses were not unlike those of Arite, although most of them
+were rather smaller and less pretentious. On a rise of ground just
+beyond the beach, and nearly in front of them, stood an elaborate
+building that was Targo's palace.
+
+"We daren't go much closer," the Very Young Man said. "They'd recognize
+us."
+
+"You they would know for one of the strangers," said Aura. "But if I
+should steer and you were hidden no one would notice."
+
+The Very Young Man realized a difficulty. "We've got to be very small
+when we go into the city."
+
+"How small would you think?" asked Aura.
+
+The Very Young Man held his hands about a foot apart. "You see, the
+trouble is, we must be small enough to get around without too much
+danger of being seen; but if we get too small it would be a terrible
+walk up there to Targo's palace."
+
+"We cannot sail this boat if we are such a size," Aura declared. "Too
+large it would be for us to steer."
+
+"That's just it, but we can't go any closer this way."
+
+Aura thought a moment. "If you lie there," she indicated the bottom of
+the boat under a forward seat, "no one can see. And I will steer--there
+to the beach ahead; me they will not notice. Then at the beach we will
+take the drug."
+
+"We've got to take a chance," said the Very Young Man. "Some one may
+come along and see us getting small."
+
+They talked it over very carefully for some time. Finally they decided
+to follow Aura's plan and run the boat to the beach under her guidance;
+then to take the drug. There were few people around the lake front at
+this hour; the beach itself, as far as they could see, was entirely
+deserted, and the danger of discovery seemed slight. Aura pointed out,
+however, that once on shore, if their stature were so great as a foot
+they would be even more conspicuous than when of normal size even
+allowing for the strangeness of the Very Young Man's appearance. The
+Very Young Man made a calculation and reached the conclusion that with a
+height of six or seven inches they would have to walk about a mile from
+the landing-place to reach Targo's palace. They decided to become as
+near that size as they conveniently could.
+
+When both fully understood what they intended to do, the Very Young Man
+gave Aura one of the pellets of the drug and lay down in the bow of the
+boat. Without a word the girl took her seat in the stern and steered for
+the beach. When they were close inshore Aura signalled her companion and
+at the same moment both took the drug. Then she left her seat and lay
+down beside the Very Young Man. The boat, from the momentum it had
+gained, floated inshore and grounded gently on the beach.
+
+As they lay there, the Very Young Man could see the sides of the boat
+growing up steadily above their heads. The gunwale was nearly six feet
+above them before he realized a new danger. Scrambling to his feet he
+pulled the girl up with him; even when standing upright their heads came
+below the sides of the vessel.
+
+"We've got to get out right now," the Very Young Man said in an excited
+whisper. "We'd be too small." He led the girl hastily into the bow and
+with a running leap clambered up and sat astride the gunwale. Then,
+reaching down he pulled Aura up beside him.
+
+In a moment they had dropped overboard up to their shoulders in the
+water. High overhead loomed the hull of the boat--a large sailing vessel
+it seemed to them now. They started wading towards shore immediately,
+but, because they were so rapidly diminishing in size, it was nearly
+five minutes before they could get there.
+
+Once on shore they lay prone upon the sand, waiting for the drug to
+cease its action. When, by proper administering of both chemicals, they
+had reached approximately their predetermined stature, which, in itself,
+required considerable calculation on the Very Young Man's part, they
+stood up near the water's edge and looked about them.
+
+The beach to them now, with its coarse-grained sand, seemed nearly a
+quarter of a mile wide; in length it extended as far as they could see
+in both directions. Beyond the beach, directly in front of them on a
+hill perhaps a thousand feet above the lake level, and about a mile or
+more away, stood Targo's palace. To the Very Young Man it looked far
+larger than any building he had ever seen.
+
+The boat in which they had landed lay on the water with its bow on the
+beach beside them. It was now a vessel some two hundred and fifty feet
+in length, with sides twenty feet high and a mast towering over a
+hundred feet in the air.
+
+There was no one in sight from where they stood. "Come on, Aura," said
+the Very Young Man, and started off across the beach towards the hill.
+
+It was a long walk through the heavy sand to the foot of the hill. When
+they arrived they found themselves at the beginning of a broad stone
+roadway--only a path to those of normal Oroid size--that wound back and
+forth up the hill to the palace. They walked up this road, and as they
+progressed, saw that it was laid through a grassy lawn that covered the
+entire hillside--a lawn with gray-blue blades of grass half as high as
+their bodies.
+
+After walking about ten minutes they came to a short flight of steps.
+Each step was twice as high as their heads--impossible of ascent--so
+they made a detour through the grass.
+
+Suddenly Aura clutched the Very Young Man by the arm with a whispered
+exclamation, and they both dropped to the ground. A man was coming down
+the roadway; he was just above the steps when they first saw him--a man
+so tall that, standing beside him, they would have reached hardly above
+his ankles. The long grass in which they were lying hid them effectually
+from his sight and he passed them by unnoticed. When he was gone the
+Very Young Man drew a long breath. "We must watch that," he said
+apprehensively. "If any one sees us now it's all off. We must be
+extremely careful."
+
+It took the two adventurers over an hour to get safely up the hill and
+into the palace. Its main entrance, approached by a long flight of
+steps, was an impossible means of ingress, but Aura fortunately knew of
+a smaller door at the side which led into the basement of the building.
+This door they found slightly ajar. It was open so little, however, that
+they could not get past, and as they were not strong enough even with
+their combined efforts, to swing the door open, they were again brought
+to a halt.
+
+"We'd better get still smaller," the Very Young Man whispered somewhat
+nervously. "There's less danger that way."
+
+They reduced their size, perhaps one half, and when that was
+accomplished the crack in the door had widened sufficiently to let them
+in. Within the building they found themselves in a hallway several
+hundred feet wide and half a mile or more in length--its ceiling high as
+the roof of some great auditorium. The Very Young Man looked about in
+dismay. "Great Scott," he ejaculated, "this won't do at all."
+
+"Many times I have been here," said Aura. "It looks so very different
+now, but I think I know the way."
+
+"That may be," agreed the Very Young Man dubiously, "but we'd have to
+walk miles if we stay as small as this."
+
+A heavy tread sounded far away in the distance. The Very Young Man and
+Aura shrank back against the wall, close by the door. In a moment a
+man's feet and the lower part of his legs came into view. He stopped by
+the door, pulling it inward. The Very Young Man looked up into the air;
+a hundred and fifty feet, perhaps, above their heads he saw the man's
+face looking out through the doorway.
+
+In a moment another man joined him, coming from outside, and they spoke
+together for a time. Their roaring voices, coming down from this great
+height, were nevertheless distinctly audible.
+
+"In the audience room," Aura whispered, after listening an instant,
+"Targo's younger brother talks with his counsellors. Big things they are
+planning." The Very Young Man did not answer; the two men continued
+their brief conversation and parted.
+
+When the Very Young Man and Aura were left alone, he turned to the girl
+eagerly. "Did they mention Loto? Is he here?"
+
+"Of him they did not speak," Aura answered. "It is best that we go to
+the audience room, where they are talking. Then, perhaps, we will know."
+The Very Young Man agreed, and they started off.
+
+For nearly half an hour they trudged onward along this seemingly endless
+hallway. Then again they were confronted with a flight of steps--this
+time steps that were each more than three times their own height.
+
+"We've got to chance it," said the Very Young Man, and after listening
+carefully and hearing no one about, they again took the drug, making
+themselves sufficiently large to ascend these steps to the upper story
+of the building.
+
+It was nearly an hour before the two intruders, after several narrow
+escapes from discovery, and by alternating doses of both drugs,
+succeeded in getting into the room where Targo's brother and his
+advisers were in conference.
+
+They entered through the open door--a doorway so wide that a hundred
+like them could have marched through it abreast. A thousand feet away
+across the vastness of the room they could see Targo's brother and ten
+of his men--sitting on mats upon the floor, talking earnestly. Before
+them stood a stone bench on which were a number of golden goblets and
+plates of food.
+
+The adventurers ran swiftly down the length of the room, following its
+wall. It echoed with their footfalls, but they knew that this sound, so
+loud to their ears, would be inaudible to the huge figures they were
+approaching.
+
+"They won't see us," whispered the Very Young Man, "let's get up close."
+And in a few moments more they were standing beside one of the figures,
+sheltered from sight by a corner of the mat upon which the man was
+sitting. His foot, bent sidewise under him upon the floor, was almost
+within reach of the Very Young Man's hand. The fibre thong that fastened
+its sandal looked like a huge rope thick as the Very Young Man's ankle,
+and each of its toes were half as long as his entire body.
+
+Targo's brother, a younger man than those with him, appeared to be doing
+most of the talking. He it was beside whom Aura and the Very Young Man
+were standing.
+
+"You tell me if they mention Loto," whispered the Very Young Man. Aura
+nodded and they stood silent, listening. The men all appeared deeply
+engrossed with what their leader was saying. The Very Young Man,
+watching his companion's face, saw an expression of concern and fear
+upon it. She leaned towards him.
+
+"In Arite, to-night," she whispered, "Targo is organizing men to attack
+the palace of the king. Him will they kill--then Targo will be
+proclaimed leader of all the Oroid nation."
+
+"We must get back," the Very Young Man answered in an anxious whisper.
+"I wish we knew where Loto was; haven't they mentioned him--or any of
+us?"
+
+Aura did not reply, and the Very Young Man waited silent. Once one of
+the men laughed--a laugh that drifted out into the immense distances of
+the room in great waves of sound. Aura gripped her companion by the arm.
+
+"Then when Targo rules the land, they will send a messenger to my
+brother. Him they will tell that the drugs must be given to Targo, or
+Loto will be killed--wait--when they have the drugs," Aura translated in
+a swift, tense whisper, "then all of us they will kill." She shuddered.
+"And with the drugs they will rule as they desire--for evil."
+
+"They'll never get them," the Very Young Man muttered.
+
+Targo's brother leaned forward and raised a goblet from the table. The
+movement of his foot upon the floor made the two eavesdroppers jump
+aside to avoid being struck.
+
+Again Aura grasped her companion by the arm. "He is saying Loto is
+upstairs," she whispered after a moment. "I know where."
+
+"I knew it," said the Very Young Man exultingly. "You take us there.
+Come on--let's get out of here--we mustn't waste a minute."
+
+They started back towards the wall nearest them--some fifty feet
+away--and following along its edge, ran down towards the doorway through
+which they had entered the room. They were still perhaps a hundred yards
+away from it, running swiftly, when there appeared in the doorway the
+feet and legs of two men who were coming in. The Very Young Man and Aura
+stopped abruptly, shrinking up against the side of the wall. Then there
+came a heavy metallic clanging sound; the two men entered the room,
+closing the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+AN ANT-HILL OUTRAGED
+
+
+"We'll have to get smaller," said the Doctor.
+
+"There's Rogers' house."
+
+They had been walking along the beach from the king's palace hardly more
+than a hundred yards. The Doctor and the Big Business Man were in front,
+and Oteo, wide-eyed and solemn, was close behind them.
+
+The Doctor was pointing down at the ground a few feet ahead. There, at a
+height just above their ankles, stood the Chemist's house--a little
+building whose roof did not reach more than half-way to their knees,
+even though it stood on higher ground than the beach upon which they
+were walking. On the roof they could see two tiny figures--the Chemist
+and Lylda--waving their arms.
+
+The Big Business Man stopped short. "Now see here, Frank, let's
+understand this. We've been fooling with this thing too damned long.
+We've made a hell of a mess of it, you know that." He spoke
+determinedly, with a profanity unusual with him. The Doctor did not
+answer.
+
+"We got here--yesterday. We found a peaceful world. Dissatisfaction in
+it--yes. But certainly a more peaceful world than the one we left. We've
+been here one day--one day, Frank, and now look at things. This child,
+Loto--stolen. Jack disappeared--God knows what's happened to him. A
+revolution--the whole place in an uproar. All in one day, since we took
+our place in this world and tried to mix up in its affairs.
+
+"It's time to call a halt, Frank. If only we can get Jack back. That's
+the bad part--we've got to find Jack. And then get out; we don't belong
+here anyway. It's nothing to us--why, man, look at it." He waved his arm
+out over the city. In the street beside them they could see a number of
+little figures no bigger than their fingers, staring up into the air.
+"What is all that to us now, as we stand here. Nothing. Nothing but a
+kid's toy; with little animated mannikins for a child to play with."
+
+"We've got to find Jack," said the Doctor.
+
+"Certainly we have--and then get out. We're only hurting these little
+creatures, anyway, by being here."
+
+"But there's Rogers and Lylda," added the Doctor. "And Loto and Lylda's
+sister."
+
+"Take them with us. They'll have to go--they can't stay here now. But we
+must find Jack--that's the main thing."
+
+"Look," the Doctor said, moving forward. "They're shouting to us."
+
+They walked up and bent over the Chemist's house. Their friend was
+making a funnel of his hands and trying to attract their attention. The
+Big Business Man knelt upon the beach and put his head down beside the
+house. "Make yourselves smaller," he heard the Chemist shouting in a
+shrill little voice.
+
+"We think it best not to. You must come up to us. Serious things have
+happened. Take the drug now--then we'll tell you." The Big Business Man,
+with his knees upon the beach, had one hand on the sand and the other at
+the gate of Lylda's garden. His face was just above the roof-top.
+
+The two little figures consulted a moment; then the Chemist shouted up,
+"All right; wait," and he and Lylda disappeared into the house. A moment
+afterwards they reappeared in the garden; Eena was with them. They
+crossed the garden and turned into the street towards the flight of
+steps that led down to the lake.
+
+The Big Business Man had regained his feet and was standing ankle-deep
+in the water talking to the Doctor when Oteo suddenly plucked at his
+sleeve.
+
+"The Master--" he cried. The youth was staring down into the street,
+with a look of terror on his face. The Big Business Man followed the
+direction of his glance; at the head of the steps a number of men had
+rushed upon the Chemist and the two women, and were dragging them back
+up the hill. The Big Business Man hesitated only a moment; then he
+reached down and plucking a little figure from one of the struggling
+groups, flung it back over his shoulder into the lake.
+
+The other assailants did not run, as he had expected, so he gently pried
+them apart with his fingers from their captives, and, one by one, flung
+them into the air behind him. One who struck Lylda, he squashed upon the
+flagstones of the street with his thumb.
+
+Only one escaped. He had been holding Eena; when he saw he was the last,
+he suddenly dropped his captive and ran shrieking up the hill into the
+city.
+
+The Big Business Man laughed grimly, and got upon his feet a little
+unsteadily. His face was white.
+
+"You see, Frank," he said, and his voice trembled a little. "Good God,
+suppose we had been that size, too."
+
+In a few moments more the Chemist, Lylda and Eena had taken the drug and
+were as large as the others. All six stood in the water beside the
+Chemist's house. The Chemist had not spoken while he was growing; now he
+greeted his friends quietly. "A close call, gentlemen. I thank you." He
+smiled approvingly at the Big Business Man.
+
+Eena and Oteo stood apart from the others. The girl was obviously
+terror-stricken by the experiences she had undergone. Oteo put his arm
+across her shoulders, and spoke to her reassuringly.
+
+"Where is Jack?" Lylda asked anxiously. "And my father--and Aura?" The
+Big Business Man thought her face looked years older than when he had
+last seen it. Her expression was set and stern, but her eyes stared into
+his with a gentle, sorrowful gaze that belied the sternness of her lips.
+
+They told her, as gently as they could, of the death of her father and
+the disappearance of the Very Young Man, presumably with Aura. She bore
+up bravely under the news of her father's death, standing with her hand
+on her husband's arm, and her sorrowful eyes fixed upon the face of the
+Big Business Man who haltingly told what had befallen them. When he came
+to a description of the attack on the palace, the death of the king, and
+the triumph of Targo, the Chemist raised his hands with a hopeless
+gesture.
+
+The Doctor put in: "It's a serious situation--most serious."
+
+"There's only one thing we can do," the Big Business Man added quickly.
+"We must find Jack and your sister," he addressed Lylda, whose eyes had
+never left his face, "and then get out of this world as quickly as we
+can--before we do it any more harm."
+
+The Chemist began pacing up and down the strip of the beach. He had
+evidently reached the same conclusion--that it was hopeless to continue
+longer to cope with so desperate a situation. But he could not bring
+himself so easily to a realization that his life in this world, of which
+he had been so long virtually the leader, was at an end. He strode back
+and forth thinking deeply; the water that he kicked idly splashed up
+sometimes over the houses of the tiny city at his side.
+
+The Big Business Man went on, "It's the only way--the best way for all
+of us and for this little world, too."
+
+"The best way for you--and you." Lylda spoke softly and with a sweet,
+gentle sadness. "It is best for you, my friends. But for me----" She
+shook her head.
+
+The Big Business Man laid his hands gently on her shoulders. "Best for
+you, too, little woman. And for these people you love so well. Believe
+me--it is."
+
+The Chemist paused in his walk. "Probably Aura and Jack are together. No
+harm has come to them so far--that's certain. If his situation were
+desperate he would have made himself as large as we are and we would see
+him."
+
+"If he got the chance," the Doctor murmured.
+
+"Certainly he has not been killed or captured," the Chemist reasoned,
+"for we would have other giants to face immediately that happened."
+
+"Perhaps he took the girl with him and started off to Orlog to find
+Loto," suggested the Doctor. "That crazy boy might do anything."
+
+"He should be back by now, even if he had," said the Big Business Man.
+"I don't see how anything could happen to him--having those----" He
+stopped abruptly.
+
+While they had been talking a crowd of little people had gathered in the
+city beside them--a crowd that thronged the street before the Chemist's
+house, filled the open space across from it and overflowed down the
+steps leading to the beach. It was uncanny, standing there, to see these
+swarming little creatures, like ants whose hill had been desecrated by
+the foot of some stray passer-by. They were enraged, and with an ant's
+unreasoning, desperate courage they were ready to fight and to die,
+against an enemy irresistibly strong.
+
+"Good God, look at them," murmured the Big Business Man in awe.
+
+The steps leading to the beach were black with them now--a swaying,
+struggling mass of little human forms, men and women, hardly a finger's
+length in height, coming down in a steady stream and swarming out upon
+the beach. In a few moments the sand was black with them, and always
+more appeared in the city above to take their places.
+
+The Big Business Man felt a sharp sting in his foot above the sandal.
+One of the tiny figures was clinging to its string and sticking a sword
+into his flesh. Involuntarily he kicked; a hundred of the little
+creatures were swept aside, and when he put his foot back upon the sand
+he could feel them smash under his tread. Their faint, shrill, squeaking
+shrieks had a ghostly semblance to human voices, and he turned suddenly
+sick and faint.
+
+Then he glanced at Lylda's face; it bore an expression of sorrow and of
+horror that made him shudder. To him at first these had been savage,
+vicious little insects, annoying, but harmless enough if one kept upon
+one's feet; but to her, he knew, they were men and women--misguided,
+frenzied--but human, thinking beings like herself. And he found himself
+wondering, vaguely, what he should do to repel them.
+
+The attack was so unexpected, and came so quickly that the giants had
+stood motionless, watching it with awe. Before they realized their
+situation the sand was so crowded with the struggling little figures
+that none of them could stir without trampling upon scores.
+
+Oteo and Eena, standing ankle-deep in the water, were unattacked, and at
+a word from the Chemist the others joined them, leaving little heaps of
+mangled human forms upon the beach where they had trod.
+
+All except Lylda. She stood her ground--her face bloodless, her eyes
+filled with tears. Her feet were covered now; her ankles bleeding from a
+dozen tiny knives hacking at her flesh. The Chemist called her to him,
+but she only raised her arms with a gesture of appeal.
+
+"Oh, my husband," she cried. "Please, I must. Let me take the drug now
+and grow small--like them. Then will they see we mean them no harm. And
+I shall tell them we are their friends--and you, the Master, mean only
+good----"
+
+The Big Business Man started forward. "They'll kill her. God,
+that's----" But the Chemist held them back.
+
+"Not now, Lylda," he said gently. "Not now. Don't you see? There's
+nothing you can do; it's too late now." He met her gaze unyielding. For
+a moment she stared; then her figure swayed and with a low sob she
+dropped in a heap upon the sand.
+
+As Lylda fell, the Chemist leaped forward, the other three men at his
+side. A strident cry came up from the swarming multitude, and in an
+instant hundreds of them were upon her, climbing over her and thrusting
+their swords into her body.
+
+The Chemist and the Big Business Man picked her up and carried her into
+the water, brushing off the fighting little figures that still clung to
+her. There they laid her down, her head supported by Eena, who knelt in
+the water beside her mistress.
+
+The multitude on the sand crowded up to the water's edge; hundreds,
+forced forward by the pressure of those behind, plunged in, swam about,
+or sank and were rolled back by the surf, lifeless upon the shore. The
+beach crawled with their struggling forms, only the spot where Lylda had
+fallen was black and still.
+
+"She's all right," said the Doctor after a moment, bending over Lylda. A
+cry from Oteo made him straighten up quickly. Out over the horizon,
+towards Orlog, there appeared the dim shape of a gigantic human form,
+and behind it others, faint and blurred against the stars!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+THE RESCUE OF LOTO
+
+
+The Very Young Man heard the clang of the closing door with sinking
+heart. The two newcomers, passing close to him and Aura as they stood
+shrinking up against the wall, joined their friends at the table. The
+Very Young Man turned to Aura with a solemn face.
+
+"Are there any other doors?" he asked.
+
+The girl pointed. "One other, there--but see, it, too, is closed."
+
+Far across the room the Very Young Man could make out a heavy metal door
+similar to that through which they had entered. It was closed--he could
+see that plainly. And to open it--so huge a door that its great golden
+handle hung nearly a hundred feet above them--was an utter
+impossibility.
+
+The Very Young Man looked at the windows. There were four of them, all
+on one side of the room--enormous curtained apertures, two hundred feet
+in length and half as broad--but none came even within fifty feet of the
+floor. The Very Young Man realized with dismay that there was apparently
+no way of escape out of the room.
+
+"We can't get out, Aura," he said, and in spite of him his voice
+trembled. "There's no way."
+
+The girl had no answer but a quiet nod of agreement. Her face was
+serious, but there was on it no sign of panic. The Very Young Man
+hesitated a moment; then he started off down the room towards one of the
+doors, with Aura close at his side.
+
+They could not get out in their present size, he knew. Nor would they
+dare make themselves sufficiently large to open the door, or climb
+through one of the windows, even if the room had been nearer the ground
+than it actually was. Long before they could escape they would be
+discovered and seized.
+
+The Very Young Man tried to think it out clearly. He knew, except for a
+possible accident, or a miscalculation on his part, that they were in no
+real danger. But he did not want to make a false move, and now for the
+first time he realized his responsibility to Aura, and began to regret
+the rashness of his undertaking.
+
+They could wait, of course, until the conference was over, and then slip
+out unnoticed. But the Very Young Man felt that the chances of their
+rescuing Loto were greater now than they would be probably at any time
+in the future. They must get out now, he was convinced of that. But how?
+
+They were at the door in a moment more. Standing so close it seemed,
+now, a tremendous shaggy walling of shining metal. They walked its
+length, and then suddenly the Very Young Man had an idea. He threw
+himself face down upon the floor. Underneath the door's lower edge there
+was a tiny crack. To one of normal Oroid size it would have been
+unnoticeable--a space hardly so great as the thickness of a thin sheet
+of paper. But the Very Young Man could see it plainly; he gauged its
+size by slipping the edge of his robe into it.
+
+This crack was formed by the bottom of the door and the level surface of
+the floor; there was no sill. The door was perfectly hung, for the crack
+seemed to be of uniform size. The Very Young Man showed it to Aura.
+
+"There's the way out," he whispered. "Through there and then large again
+on the other side."
+
+He made his calculation of size carefully, and then, crushing one of the
+pills into powder, divided a portion of it between himself and the girl.
+Aura seemed tired and the drug made her very dizzy. They both sat upon
+the stone floor, close up to the door, and closed their eyes. When, by
+the feeling of the floor beneath them, they knew the action of the drug
+was over, they stood up unsteadily and looked around them.
+
+They now found themselves standing upon a great stone plain. The ground
+beneath their feet was rough, but as far away as they could see, out up
+to the horizon, it was mathematically level. This great expanse was
+empty except in one place; over to the right there appeared a huge,
+irregular, blurred mass that might have been, by its look, a range of
+mountains. But the mass moved as they stared at it, and the Very Young
+Man knew it was the nearest one of Targo's men, sitting beside the
+table.
+
+In the opposite direction, perhaps a hundred yards away from where they
+were standing, they could see the bottom of the door. It hung in the air
+some fifty feet above the surface of the ground. They walked over and
+stood underneath; like a great roof it spread over them--a flat, level
+surface parallel with the floor beneath.
+
+At this extraordinary change in their surroundings Aura seemed
+frightened, but seeing the matter-of-fact way in which her companion
+acted, she maintained her composure and soon was much interested in this
+new aspect of things. The Very Young Man took a last careful look around
+and then, holding Aura by the hand, started to cross under the door in a
+direction he judged to be at right angles to its length.
+
+They walked swiftly, trying to keep their sense of direction, but having
+no means of knowing whether they were doing so or not. For perhaps ten
+minutes they walked; then they emerged on the other side of the door and
+again faced a great level, empty expanse.
+
+"We're under," the Very Young Man remarked with relief. "Do you know
+where Loto is from here?"
+
+Aura had recovered her self-possession sufficiently to smile.
+
+"I might, perhaps," she answered, with a pretty little shrug. "But it's
+a long way, don't you think? A hundred miles, it may be?"
+
+"We get large here," said the Very Young Man, with an answering smile.
+He was greatly relieved to be outside the audience room; the way seemed
+easy before them now.
+
+They took the opposite drug, and after several successive changes of
+size, succeeded in locating the upper room in the palace in which Loto
+was held. At this time they were about the same relative size to their
+enemies as when they entered the audience chamber on the floor below.
+
+"That must be it," the Very Young Man whispered, as they cautiously
+turned a hallway corner. A short distance beyond, in front of a closed
+door, sat two guards.
+
+"That is the room of which they spoke," Aura answered. "Only one door
+there is, I think."
+
+"That's all right," said the Very Young Man confidently. "We'll do the
+same thing--go under the door."
+
+They went close up to the guards, who were sitting upon the floor
+playing some sort of a game with little golden balls. This door, like
+the other, had a space beneath it, rather wider than the other, and in
+ten minutes more the Very Young Man and Aura were beneath it, and inside
+the room.
+
+As they grew larger again the Very Young Man at first thought the room
+was empty. "There he is," cried Aura happily. The Very Young Man looked
+and could see across the still huge room, the figure of Loto, standing
+at a window opening.
+
+"Don't let him see us till we're his size," cautioned the Very Young
+Man. "It might frighten him. And if he made any noise----" He looked at
+the door behind them significantly.
+
+Aura nodded eagerly; her face was radiant. Steadily larger they grew.
+Loto did not turn round, but stood quiet, looking out of the window.
+
+They crept up close behind him, and when they were normal size Aura
+whispered his name softly. The boy turned in surprise and she faced him
+with a warning finger on her lips. He gave a low, happy little cry, and
+in another instant was in her arms, sobbing as she held him close to her
+breast.
+
+The Very Young Man's eyes grew moist as he watched them, and heard the
+soft Oroid words of endearment they whispered to each other. He put his
+arms around them, too, and all at once he felt very big and very strong
+beside these two delicate, graceful little creatures of whom he was
+protector.
+
+A noise in the hallway outside brought the Very Young Man to himself.
+
+"We must get out," he said swiftly. "There's no time to lose." He went
+to the window; it faced the city, fifty feet or more above the ground.
+
+The Very Young Man make a quick decision. "If we go out the way we came,
+it will take a very long time," he explained. "And we might be seen. I
+think we'd better take the quick way; get big here--get right out," he
+waved his hands towards the roof, "and make a run for it back to Arite."
+
+He made another calculation. The room in which they were was on the top
+floor of the palace; Aura had told him that. It was a room about fifty
+feet in length, triangular in shape, and some thirty feet from floor to
+ceiling. The Very Young Man estimated that when they had grown large
+enough to fill the room, they could burst through the palace roof and
+leap to the ground. Then in a short time they could run over the
+country, back to Arite. He measured out the drug carefully, and without
+hesitation his companions took what he gave them.
+
+As they all three started growing--it was Loto's first experience, and
+he gave an exclamation of fright at the sensation and threw his arms
+around Aura again--the Very Young Man made them sit upon the floor near
+the center of the room. He sat himself beside them, staring up at the
+ceiling that was steadily folding up and coming down towards them. For
+some time he stared, fascinated by its ceaseless movement.
+
+Then suddenly he realized with a start that it was almost down upon
+them. He put up his hand and touched it, and a thrill of fear ran over
+him. He looked around. Beside him sat Aura and Loto, huddled close
+together. The walls of the room had nearly closed in upon them now; its
+few pieces of furniture had been pushed aside, unnoticed, by the growth
+of their enormous bodies. It was as though they were crouching in a
+triangular box, almost entirely filling it.
+
+The Very Young Man laid his hand on Aura's arm, and she met his anxious
+glance with her fearless, trusting smile.
+
+"We'll have to break through the roof now," whispered the Very Young
+Man, and the girl answered calmly: "What you say to do, we will do."
+
+Their heads were bent down now by the ever-lowering ceiling; the Very
+Young Man pressed his shoulder against it and heaved upwards. He could
+feel the floor under him quiver and the roof give beneath his thrust,
+but he did not break through. In sudden horror he wondered if he could.
+If he did not, soon, they would be crushed to death by their own growth
+within the room.
+
+The Very Young Man knew there was still time to take the other drug. He
+shoved again, but with the same result. Their bodies were bent double
+now. The ceiling was pressing close upon them; the walls of the room
+were at their elbow. The Very Young Man crooked his arm through the
+little square orifice window that he found at his side, and, with a
+signal to his companions, all three in unison heaved upwards with all
+their strength. There came one agonizing instant of resistance; then
+with a wrenching of wood, the clatter of falling stones and a sudden
+crash, they burst through and straightened upright into the open air
+above.
+
+The Very Young Man sat still for a moment, breathing hard. Overhead
+stretched the canopy of stars; around lay the city, shrunken now and
+still steadily diminishing. Then he got unsteadily upon his feet,
+pulling his companions up with him and shaking the bits of stone and
+broken wood from him as he did so.
+
+In a moment more the palace roof was down to their knees, and they
+stepped out of the room. They heard a cry from below and saw the two
+guards, standing amidst the debris, looking up at them through the torn
+roof in fright and astonishment.
+
+There came other shouts from within the palace now, and the sound of the
+hurrying of many little feet. For some minutes more they grew larger, as
+they stood upon the palace roof, clinging to one another and listening
+to the spreading cries of excitement within the building and in the city
+streets below them.
+
+"Come on," said the Very Young Man finally, and he jumped off the roof
+into the street. A group of little figures scattered as he landed, and
+he narrowly escaped treading upon them.
+
+So large had they grown that it was hardly more than a step down from
+the roof; Aura and Loto were by the Very Young Man's side in a moment,
+and immediately they started off, picking their way single file out of
+the city. For a short time longer they continued growing; when they had
+stopped the city houses stood hardly above their ankles.
+
+It was difficult walking, for the street was narrow and the frightened
+people in it were often unable to avoid their tread, but fortunately the
+palace stood near the edge of the city, and soon they were past its last
+houses and out into the open country.
+
+"Well, we did it," said the Very Young Man, exulting. Then he patted
+Loto affectionately upon the shoulder, adding. "Well, little brother, we
+got you back, didn't we?"
+
+Aura stopped suddenly. "Look there--at Arite," she said, pointing up at
+the horizon ahead of them.
+
+Far in the distance, at the edge of the lake, and beside a dim smudge he
+knew to be the houses of Arite, the Very Young Man saw the giant figure
+of a man, huge as himself, towering up against the background of sky.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+THE DECISION
+
+
+"Giants!" exclaimed the Doctor, staring across the country towards
+Orlog. There was dismay in his voice.
+
+The Big Business Man, standing beside him, clutched at his robe. "How
+many do you make out; they look like three to me."
+
+The Doctor strained his eyes into the dim, luminous distance. "Three, I
+think--one taller than the others; it must be Jack." His voice was a
+little husky, and held none of the confidence his words were intended to
+convey.
+
+Lylda was upon her feet now, standing beside the Chemist. She stared
+towards Orlog searchingly, then turned to him and said quietly, "It must
+be Jack and Aura, with Loto." She stopped with quivering lips; then with
+an obvious effort went on confidently. "It cannot be that the God you
+believe in would let anything happen to them."
+
+"They're coming this way--fast," said the Big Business Man. "We'll know
+in a few moments."
+
+The figures, plainly visible now against the starry background, were out
+in the open country, half a mile perhaps from the lake, and were
+evidently rapidly approaching Arite.
+
+"If it should be Targo's men," the Big Business Man added, "we must take
+more of the drug. It is death then for them or for us."
+
+In silence the six of them stood ankle deep in the water waiting. The
+multitude of little people on the beach and in the nearby city streets
+were dispersing now. A steady stream was flowing up the steps from the
+beach, and back into the city. Five minutes more and only a fringe of
+those in whom frenzy still raged remained at the water's edge; a few of
+these, more daring, or more unreasoning than the others, plunged into
+the lake and swam about the giants' ankles unnoticed.
+
+Suddenly Lylda gave a sigh of relief. "Aura it is," she cried. "Can you
+not see, there at the left? Her short robe--you see--and her hair,
+flowing down so long; no man is that."
+
+"You're right," said the Big Business Man. "The smallest one on this
+side is Loto; I can see him. And Jack is leading. It's all right;
+they're safe. Thank God for that; they're safe, thank God!" The fervent
+relief in his voice showed what a strain he had been under.
+
+It was Jack; a moment more left no doubt of that. The Big Business Man
+turned to the Chemist and Lylda, where they stood close together, and
+laying a hand upon the shoulder of each said with deep feeling: "We have
+all come through it safely, my friends. And now the way lies clear
+before us. We must go back, out of this world, to which we have brought
+only trouble. It is the only way; you must see that."
+
+Lylda avoided his eyes.
+
+"All through it safely," she murmured after him. "All safe
+except--except my father." Her arm around the Chemist tightened. "All
+safe--except those." She turned her big, sorrowful eyes towards the
+beach, where a thousand little mangled figures lay dead and dying. "All
+safe--except those."
+
+It was only a short time before the adventurers from Orlog arrived, and
+Loto was in his mother's arms. The Very Young Man, with mixed feelings
+of pride at his exploit and relief at being freed from so grave a
+responsibility, happily displayed Aura to his friends.
+
+"Gosh, I'm glad we're all together again; it had me scared, that's a
+fact." His eye fell upon the beach. "Great Scott, you've been having a
+fight, too? Look at that." The Big Business Man and the Doctor outlined
+briefly what had happened, and the Very Young Man answered in turn with
+an account of his adventures.
+
+Aura joined her sister and Loto. The Chemist after a moment stood apart
+from the others thinking deeply. He had said little during all the
+events of the afternoon and evening. Now he reached the inevitable
+decision that events had forced upon him. His face was very serious as
+he called his companions around him.
+
+"We must decide at once," he began, looking from one to the other, "what
+we are to do. Our situation here has become intolerable--desperate. I
+agree with you," his glance rested on the Big Business Man an instant;
+"by staying here we can only do harm to these misguided people."
+
+"Of course," the Big Business Man interjected under his breath.
+
+"If the drugs should ever get out of our possession down here,
+immeasurable harm would result to this world, as well as causing our own
+deaths. If we leave now, we save ourselves; although we leave the Oroids
+ruled by Targo. But without the power of the drugs, he can do only
+temporary harm. Eventually he will be overthrown. It is the best way, I
+think. And I am ready to leave."
+
+"It's the only way," the Big Business Man agreed. "Don't you think so?"
+The Doctor and the Very Young Man both assented.
+
+"The sooner the better," the Very Young Man added. He glanced at Aura,
+and the thought that flashed into his mind made his heart jump
+violently.
+
+The Chemist turned to Lylda. "To leave your people," he said gently, "I
+know how hard it is. But your way now lies with me--with us." He pulled
+Loto up against him as he spoke.
+
+Lylda bowed her head. "You speak true, my husband, my way does lie with
+you. I cannot help the feeling that we should stay. But with you my way
+does lie; whither you direct, we shall go--for ever."
+
+The Chemist kissed her tenderly. "My sister also?" he smiled gently at
+Aura.
+
+"My way lies with you, too," the girl answered simply. "For no man here
+has held my heart."
+
+The Very Young Man stepped forward. "Do we take them with us?" He
+indicated Oteo and Eena, who stood silently watching.
+
+"Ask them, Lylda," said the Chemist.
+
+Calling them to her, Lylda spoke to the youth and the girl in her native
+tongue. They listened quietly; Oteo with an almost expressionless
+stolidity of face, but with his soft, dog-like eyes fixed upon his
+mistress; Eena with heaving breast and trembling limbs. When Lylda
+paused they both fell upon their knees before her. She put her hands
+upon their heads and smiling wistfully, said in English:
+
+"So it shall be; with me you shall go, because that is what you wish."
+
+The Very Young Man looked around at them all with satisfaction. "Then
+it's all settled," he said, and again his glance fell on Aura. He
+wondered why his heart was pounding so, and why he was so thrilled with
+happiness; and he was glad he was able to speak in so matter-of-fact a
+tone.
+
+"I don't know how about you," he added, "but, Great Scott, I'm hungry."
+
+"Since we have decided to go," the Chemist said, "we had better start as
+soon as possible. Are there things in the house, Lylda, that you care to
+take?"
+
+Lylda shook her head. "Nothing can I take but memories of this world,
+and those would I rather leave." She smiled sadly. "There are some
+things I would wish to do--my father----"
+
+"It might be dangerous to wait," the Big Business Man put in hurriedly.
+"The sooner we start, the better. Another encounter would only mean more
+death." He looked significantly at the beach.
+
+"We've got to eat," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"If we handle the drugs right," the Chemist said, "we can make the trip
+out in a very short time. When we get above the forest and well on our
+way we can rest safely. Let us start at once."
+
+"We've got to eat," the Very Young Man insisted. "And we've got to have
+food with us."
+
+The Chemist smiled. "What you say is quite true, Jack, we have got to
+have food and water; those are the only things necessary to our trip."
+
+"We can make ourselves small now and have supper," suggested the Very
+Young Man. "Then we can fill up the bottles for our belts and take
+enough food for the trip."
+
+"No, we won't," interposed the Big Business Man positively. "We won't
+get small again. Something might happen. Once we get through the
+tunnels----" He stopped abruptly.
+
+"Great Scott! We never thought of that," ejaculated the Very Young Man,
+as the same thought occurred to him. "We'll have to get small to get
+through the tunnels. Suppose there's a mob there that won't let us in?"
+
+"Is there any other way up to the forest?" the Doctor asked.
+
+The Chemist shook his head. "There are a dozen different tunnels, all
+near here, and several at Orlog, that all lead to the upper surface. But
+I think that is the only way."
+
+"They might try to stop us," the Big Business Man suggested. "We
+certainly had better get through them as quickly as we possibly can."
+
+It was Aura who diffidently suggested the plan they finally adopted.
+They all reduced their size first to about the height of the Chemist's
+house. Then the Very Young Man prepared to make himself sufficiently
+small to get the food and water-bottles, and bring them up to the larger
+size.
+
+"Keep your eye on me," he warned. "Somebody might jump on me."
+
+They stood around the house, while the Very Young Man, in the garden,
+took the drug and dwindled in stature to Oroid size. There were none of
+the Oroids in sight, except some on the beach and others up the street
+silently watching. As he grew smaller the Very Young Man sat down
+wearily in the wreck of what once had been Lylda's beautiful garden. He
+felt very tired and hungry, and his head was ringing.
+
+When he was no longer changing size he stood up in the garden path. The
+house, nearly its proper dimensions once more, was close at hand, silent
+and deserted. Aura stood in the garden beside it, her shoulders pushing
+aside the great branches of an overhanging tree, her arm resting upon
+the roof-top. The Very Young Man waved up at her and shouted: "Be out in
+a minute," and then plunged into the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+GOOD-BY TO ARITE
+
+
+Once inside he went swiftly to the room where they had left their
+water-bottles and other paraphernalia. He found them without difficulty,
+and retraced his steps to the door he had entered. Depositing his load
+near it, he went back towards the room which Lylda had described to him,
+and in which the food was stored.
+
+Walking along this silent hallway, listening to the echoes of his own
+footsteps on its stone floor, the Very Young Man found himself oppressed
+by a feeling of impending danger. He looked back over his shoulder--once
+he stood quite still and listened. But he heard nothing; the house was
+quite silent, and smiling at his own fear he went on again.
+
+Selecting the food they needed for the trip took him but a moment. He
+left the storeroom, his arms loaded, and started back toward the garden
+door. Several doorways opened into the hall below, and all at once the
+Very Young Man found himself afraid as he passed them. He was within
+sight of the garden door, not more than twenty feet away, when he
+hesitated. Just ahead, at his right, an archway opened into a room
+beside the hall. The Very Young Man paused only an instant; then,
+ashamed of his fear, started slowly forward. He felt an impulse to run,
+but he did not. And then, from out of the silence, there came a low,
+growling cry that made his heart stand still, and the huge gray figure
+of a man leaped upon him and bore him to the ground.
+
+As he went down, with the packages of food flying in all directions, the
+Very Young Man gripped the naked body of his antagonist tightly. He
+twisted round as he fell and lay with his foe partly on top of him. He
+knew instinctively that his situation was desperate. The man's huge
+torso, with its powerful muscles that his arms encircled, told him that
+in a contest of strength such as this, inevitably he would find himself
+overcome.
+
+The man raised his fist to strike, and the Very Young Man caught him by
+the wrist. Over his foe's shoulder now he could see the open doorway
+leading into the garden, not more than six or eight feet away. Beyond it
+lay safety; that he knew. He gave a mighty lunge and succeeded in
+rolling over toward the doorway. But he could not stay above his
+opponent, for the man's greater strength lifted him up and over, and
+again pinned him to the floor.
+
+He was nearer the door now, and just beyond it he caught a glimpse of
+the white flesh of Aura's ankle as she stood beside the house. The man
+put a hand on the Very Young Man's throat. The Very Young Man caught it
+by the wrist, but he could feel the growing pressure of its fingers
+cutting off his breath. He tried to pull the hand back, but could not;
+he tried to twist his body free, but the weight of his foe held him
+tightly against the floor. A great roaring filled his ears; the hallway
+began fading from his sight. With a last despairing breath, he gave a
+choking cry: "Aura! Aura!"
+
+The man's fingers at his throat loosened a little; he drew another
+breath, and his head cleared. His eyes were fixed on the strip of garden
+he could see beyond the doorway. Suddenly Aura's enormous body came into
+view, as she stooped and then lay prone upon the ground. Her face was
+close to the door; she was looking in. The Very Young Man gave another
+cry, half stifled. And then into the hallway he saw come swiftly a huge
+hand, whose fingers gripped him and his antagonist and jerked them
+hurriedly down the hall and out into the garden.
+
+As they lay struggling on the ground outside, the Very Young Man felt
+himself held less closely. He wrenched himself free and sprang to his
+feet, standing close beside Aura's face. The man was up almost as
+quickly, preparing again to spring upon his victim. Something moved
+behind the Very Young Man, and he looked up into the air hurriedly. The
+Big Business Man stood behind him; the Very Young Man met his anxious
+glance.
+
+"I'm all right," he shouted. His antagonist leaped forward and at the
+same instant a huge, flat object, that was the Big Business Man's foot,
+swept through the air and mashed the man down into the dirt of the
+garden. The Very Young Man turned suddenly sick as he heard the agonized
+shriek and the crunching of the breaking bones. The Big Business Man
+lifted his foot, and the mangled figure lay still. The Very Young Man
+sat down suddenly in the garden path and covered his face with his
+hands.
+
+When he raised his head his friends were all standing round him,
+crowding the garden. The body of the man who had attacked him had
+disappeared. The Very Young Man looked up into Aura's face--she was on
+her feet now with the others and tried to smile.
+
+"I'm all right," he repeated. "I'll go get the food and things."
+
+In a few minutes more he had made himself as large as his companions,
+and had brought with him most of the food. There still remained in the
+smaller size the water-bottles, some of the food, the belts with which
+to carry it, and a few other articles they needed for the trip.
+
+"I'll get them," said the Big Business Man; "you sit down and rest."
+
+The Very Young Man was glad to do as he was told, and sat beside Aura in
+the garden, while the Big Business Man brought up to their size the
+remainder of the supplies.
+
+When they had divided the food, and all were equipped for the journey,
+they started at once for the tunnels. Lylda's eyes again filled with
+tears as she left so summarily, and probably for the last time, this
+home in which she had been so happy.
+
+As they passed the last houses of the city, heading towards the tunnel
+entrances that the Chemist had selected, the Big Business Man and the
+Chemist walked in front, the others following close behind them. A crowd
+of Oroids watched them leave, and many others were to be seen ahead; but
+these scattered as the giants approached. Occasionally a few stood their
+ground, and these the Big Business Man mercilessly trampled under foot.
+
+"It's the only way; I'm sorry," he said, half apologetically. "We cannot
+take any chances now; we must get out."
+
+"It's shorter through these tunnels I'm taking," the Chemist said after
+a moment.
+
+"My idea," said the Big Business man, "is that we should go through the
+tunnels that are the largest. They're not all the same size, are they?"
+
+"No," the Chemist answered; "some are a little larger."
+
+"You see," the Big Business Man continued, "I figure we are going to
+have a fight. They're following us. Look at that crowd over there.
+They'll never let us out if they can help it. When we get into the
+tunnels, naturally we'll have to be small enough to walk through them.
+The larger we are the better; so let's take the very biggest."
+
+"These are," the Chemist answered. "We can make it at about so high." He
+held his hand about the level of his waist.
+
+"That won't be so bad," the Big Business Man commented.
+
+Meanwhile the Very Young Man, walking with Aura behind the leaders, was
+talking to her earnestly. He was conscious of a curious sense of
+companionship with this quiet girl--a companionship unlike anything he
+had ever felt for a girl before. And now that he was taking her with
+him, back to his own world----
+
+"Climb out on to the surface of the ring," he was saying, "and then, in
+a few minutes more, we'll be there. Aura, you cannot realize how
+wonderful it will be."
+
+The girl smiled her quiet smile; her face was sad with the memory of
+what she was leaving, but full of youthful, eager anticipation of that
+which lay ahead.
+
+"So much has happened, and so quickly, I cannot realize it yet, I know,"
+she answered. "But that it will be very wonderful, up there above, I do
+believe. And I am glad that we are going, only----"
+
+The Very Young Man took her hand, holding it a moment. "Don't, Aura. You
+mustn't think of that." He spoke gently, with a tender note in his
+voice.
+
+"Don't think of the past, Aura," he went on earnestly. "Think only of
+the future--the great cities, the opera, the poetry I am going to teach
+you."
+
+The girl laid her hand on his arm. "You are so kind, my friend Jack. You
+will have much to teach me, will you not? Is it sure you will want to? I
+shall be like a little child up there in your great world."
+
+An answer sprang to the Very Young Man's lips--words the thinking of
+which made his heart leap into his throat. But before he could voice
+them Loto ran up to him from behind, crying. "I want to walk by you,
+Jack; _mamita_ talks of things I know not."
+
+The Very Young Man put his arm across the child's shoulders. "Well,
+little boy," he said laughing, "how do you like this adventure?"
+
+"Never have I been in the Great Forests," Loto answered, turning his
+big, serious eyes up to his friend's face. "I shall not be afraid--with
+my father, and _mamita_, and with you."
+
+"The Great Forests won't seem very big, Loto, after a little while," the
+Very Young Man said. "And of course you won't be afraid of anything.
+You're going to see many things, Loto--very many strange and wonderful
+things for such a little boy."
+
+They reached the entrance to the tunnel in a few moments more, and
+stopped before it. As they approached, a number of little figures darted
+into its luminous blackness and disappeared. There were none others in
+sight now, except far away towards Arite, where perhaps a thousand stood
+watching intently.
+
+The tunnel entrance, against the side of a hill, stood nearly breast
+high.
+
+"I'm wrong," said the Chemist, as the others came up. "It's not so high
+all the way through. We shall have to make ourselves much smaller than
+this."
+
+"This is a good time to eat," suggested the Very Young Man. The others
+agreed, and without making themselves any smaller--the Big Business Man
+objected to that procedure--they sat down before the mouth of the tunnel
+and ate a somewhat frugal meal.
+
+"Have you any plans for the trip up?" asked the Doctor of the Chemist
+while they were eating.
+
+"I have," interjected the Big Business Man, and the Chemist answered:
+
+"Yes, I am sure I can make it far easier than it was for me before. I'll
+tell you as we go up; the first thing is to get through the tunnels."
+
+"I don't anticipate much difficulty in that," the Doctor said. "Do you?"
+
+The Chemist shook his head. "No, I don't."
+
+"But we mustn't take any chances," put in the Big Business Man quickly.
+"How small do you suppose we should make ourselves?"
+
+The Chemist looked at the tunnel opening. "About half that," he replied.
+
+"Not at the start," said the Big Business Man. "Let's go in as large as
+possible; we can get smaller when we have to."
+
+It took them but a few minutes to finish the meal. They were all tired
+from the exciting events of the day, but the Big Business Man would not
+hear of their resting a moment more than was absolutely necessary.
+
+"It won't be much of a trip up to the forests," he argued. "Once we get
+well on our way and into one of the larger sizes, we can sleep safely.
+But not now; it's too dangerous."
+
+They were soon ready to start, and in a moment more all had made
+themselves small enough to walk into the tunnel opening. They were, at
+this time, perhaps six times the normal height of an adult Oroid. The
+city of Arite, apparently much farther away now, was still visible up
+against the distant horizon. As they were about to start, Lylda, with
+Aura close behind her, turned to face it.
+
+"Good-by to our own world now we must say, my sister," she said sadly.
+"The land that bore us--so beautiful a world, and once so kindly. We
+have been very happy here. And I cannot think it is right for me to
+leave."
+
+"Your way lies with your husband," Aura said gently. "You yourself have
+said it, and it is true."
+
+Lylda raised her arms up towards the far-away city with a gesture almost
+of benediction.
+
+"Good future to you, land that I love." Her voice trembled. "Good future
+to you, for ever and ever."
+
+The Very Young Man, standing behind them with Loto, was calling:
+"They're started; come on."
+
+With one last sorrowful glance Lylda turned slowly, and, walking with
+her arm about her sister, followed the others into the depths of the
+tunnel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+THE FIGHT IN THE TUNNELS
+
+
+For some time this strange party of refugees from an outraged world
+walked in silence. Because of their size, the tunnel appeared to them
+now not more than eight or nine feet in height, and in most places of
+nearly similar width. For perhaps ten minutes no one spoke except an
+occasional monosyllable. The Chemist and Big Business Man, walking
+abreast, were leading; Aura and Lylda with the Very Young man, and Loto
+close in front of them, brought up the rear.
+
+The tunnel they were traversing appeared quite deserted; only once, at
+the intersection of another smaller passageway, a few little
+figures--not more than a foot high--scurried past and hastily
+disappeared. Once the party stopped for half an hour to rest.
+
+"I don't think we'll have any trouble getting through," said the
+Chemist. "The tunnels are usually deserted at the time of sleep."
+
+The Big Business Man appeared not so sanguine, but said nothing. Finally
+they came to one of the large amphitheaters into which several of the
+tunnels opened. In size, it appeared to them now a hundred feet in
+length and with a roof some twelve feet high. The Chemist stopped to let
+the others come up.
+
+"I think our best route is there," he pointed.
+
+"It is not so high a tunnel; we shall have to get smaller. Beyond it
+they are larger again. It is not far--half an hour, perhaps, walking as
+we----"
+
+A cry from Aura interrupted him.
+
+"My brother, see, they come," she exclaimed.
+
+Before them, out of several of the smaller passageways, a crowd of
+little figures was pouring. There were no shouts; there was seemingly no
+confusion; just a steady, flowing stream of human forms, emptying from
+the tunnels into the amphitheater and spreading out over its open
+surface.
+
+The fugitives stared a moment in horror. "Good God! they've got us," the
+Doctor muttered, breaking the tenseness of the silence.
+
+The little people kept their distance at first, and then as the open
+space filled up, slowly they began coming closer, in little waves of
+movement, irresistible as an incoming tide.
+
+Aura turned towards the passageway through which they had entered. "We
+can go back," she said. And then. "No--see, they come there, too." A
+crowd of the little gray figures blocked that entrance also--a crowd
+that hesitated an instant and then came forward, spreading out fan-shape
+as it came.
+
+The Big Business Man doubled up his fists.
+
+"It's fight," he said grimly. "By God! we'll----" but Lylda, with a low
+cry, flung herself before him.
+
+"No, no," she said passionately. "Not that; it cannot be that now, just
+at the last----"
+
+Aura laid a hand upon her sister's shoulder.
+
+"Wait, my sister," she said gently. "There is no matter of justice
+here--for you, a woman--to decide. This is for men to deal with--a
+matter for men--our men. And what they say to do--that must be done."
+
+She turned to the Chemist and the Very Young Man, who were standing side
+by side.
+
+"A woman--cannot kill," she said slowly. "Unless--her man--says it so.
+Or if to save him----"
+
+Her eyes flashed fire; she held her slim little body erect and rigid--an
+Amazon ready to fight to the death for those she loved.
+
+The Chemist hesitated a moment. Before he could answer, a single shrill
+cry sounded from somewhere out in the silent, menacing throng. As though
+at a signal, a thousand little voices took it up, and with a great rush
+the crowd swept forward.
+
+In the first moment of surprise and indecision the group of fugitives
+stood motionless. As the wave of little, struggling human forms closed
+in around them, the Very Young Man came to himself with a start. He
+looked down. They were black around him now, swaying back and forth
+about his legs. Most of them were men, armed with the short,
+broad-bladed swords, or with smaller knives. Some brandished other
+improvised weapons; still others held rocks in their hands.
+
+A little pair of arms clutched the Very Young Man about his leg; he gave
+a violent kick, scattering a number of the struggling figures and
+clearing a space into which he leaped.
+
+"Back--Aura, Lylda," he shouted. "Take Loto and Eena. Get back behind
+us."
+
+The Big Business Man, kicking violently, and sometimes stooping down to
+sweep the ground with great swings of his arm, had cleared a space
+before them. Taking Loto, who looked on with frightened eyes, the three
+women stepped back against the side wall of the amphitheater.
+
+The Very Young Man swiftly discarded his robe, standing in the knitted
+under-suit in which he had swam the lake; the other men followed his
+example. For ten minutes or more in ceaseless waves, the little
+creatures threw themselves forward, and were beaten back. The confined
+space echoed with their shouts, and with the cries of the wounded. The
+five men fought silently. Once the Doctor stumbled and fell. Before his
+friends could get to him, his body was covered with his foes. When he
+got back upon his feet, knocking them off, he was bleeding profusely
+from an ugly-looking wound in his shoulder.
+
+"Good God!" he panted as the Chemist and the Big Business Man leaped
+over to him. "They'll get us--if we go down."
+
+"We can get larger," said the Big Business Man, pointing upwards to the
+roof overhead. "Larger--and then----" He swayed a trifle, breathing
+hard. His legs were covered with blood from a dozen wounds.
+
+Oteo, fighting back and forth before them, was holding the crowd in
+check; a heap of dead lay in a semicircle in front of him.
+
+"I'm going across," shouted the Very Young Man suddenly, and began
+striding forward into the struggling mass.
+
+The crowd, thus diverted, eased its attack for a moment. Slowly the Very
+Young Man waded into it. He was perhaps fifty feet out from the side
+wall when a stone struck him upon the temple. He went down, out of sight
+in the seething mass.
+
+"Come on," shouted the Big Business Man. But before he could move, Aura
+dashed past him, fighting her way out to where the Very Young Man lay.
+In a moment she was beside him. Her fragile body seemed hopelessly
+inadequate for such a struggle, but the spirit within her made her fight
+like a wild-cat.
+
+Catching one of the little figures by the legs she flung him about like
+a club, knocking a score of the others back and clearing a space about
+the Very Young Man. Then abruptly she dropped her victim and knelt down,
+plucking away the last of the attacking figures who was hacking at the
+Very Young Man's arm with his sword.
+
+The Chemist and Big Business Man were beside her now, and together they
+carried the Very Young Man back. He had recovered consciousness, and
+smiled up at them feebly. They laid him on the ground against the wall,
+and Aura sat beside him.
+
+"Gosh, I'm all right," he said, waving them away. "Be with you in a
+minute; give 'em hell!"
+
+The Doctor knelt beside the Very Young Man for a moment, and, finding he
+was not seriously hurt, left him and rejoined the Chemist and Big
+Business Man, who, with Oteo, had forced the struggling mass of little
+figures some distance away.
+
+"I'm going to get larger," shouted the Big Business Man a moment later.
+"Wipe them all out, damn it; I can do it. We can't keep on this way."
+
+The Doctor was by his side.
+
+"You can't do it--isn't room," he shouted in answer, pausing as he waved
+one of his assailants in the air above his head. "You might take too
+much."
+
+The Big Business Man was reaching with one hand under his robe. With his
+feet he kicked violently to keep the space about him clear. A tiny stone
+flew by his head; another struck him on the chest, and all at once he
+realized that he was bruised all over from where other stones had been
+hitting him. He looked across to the opposite wall of the amphitheater.
+Through the tunnel entrance there he saw that the stream of little
+people was flowing the other way now. They were trying to get out,
+instead of pouring in.
+
+The Big Business Man waved his arms. "They're running away--look," he
+shouted. "They're running--over there--come on." He dashed forward, and,
+followed by his companions, redoubled his efforts.
+
+The crowd wavered; the shouting grew less; those further away began
+running back.
+
+Then suddenly a shrill cry arose--just a single little voice it was at
+first. After a moment others took it up, and still others, until it
+sounded from every side--three Oroid words repeated over and over.
+
+The Chemist abruptly stopped fighting. "It's done," he shouted. "Thank
+God it's over."
+
+The cry continued. The little figures had ceased attacking now and were
+struggling in a frenzy to get through the tunnels.
+
+"No more," shouted the Chemist. "They're going. See them going? Stop."
+
+His companions stood by his side, panting and weak from loss of blood.
+The Chemist tried to smile. His face was livid; he swayed unsteadily on
+his feet. "No more," he repeated. "It's over. Thank God, it's over!"
+
+Meanwhile the Very Young Man, lying on the floor with Aura sitting
+beside him, revived a little. He tried to sit up after a few moments,
+but the girl pulled him down.
+
+"But I got to go--give 'em hell," he protested weakly. His head was
+still confused; he only knew he should be back, fighting beside his
+friends.
+
+"Not yet," Aura said gently. "There is no need--yet. When there is, you
+may trust me, Jack; I shall say it."
+
+The Very Young Man closed his eyes. The blurred, iridescent outlines of
+the rocks confused him; his head was ringing. The girl put an arm under
+his neck. He found one of her hands, and held it tightly. For a moment
+he lay silent. Then his head seemed to clear a little; he opened his
+eyes.
+
+"What are they doing now, Aura?" he asked.
+
+"It is no different," the girl answered softly. "So terrible a thing--so
+terrible----" she finished almost to herself.
+
+"I'll wait--just a minute more," he murmured and closed his eyes again.
+
+He held the girl's hand tighter. He seemed to be floating away, and her
+hand steadied him. The sounds of the fighting sounded very distant
+now--all blurred and confused and dreamlike. Only the girl's nearness
+seemed real--the touch of her little body against his as she sat beside
+him.
+
+"Aura," he whispered. "Aura."
+
+She put her face down to his. "Yes, Jack," she answered gently.
+
+"It's very bad--there--don't you think?"
+
+She did not answer.
+
+"I was just thinking," he went on; he spoke slowly, almost in a whisper.
+"Maybe--you know--we won't come through this." He paused; his thoughts
+somehow seemed too big to put into words. But he knew he was very happy.
+
+"I was just thinking, Aura, that if we shouldn't come through I just
+wanted you to know----" Again he stopped. From far away he heard the
+shrill, rhythmic cry of many voices shouting in unison. He listened, and
+then it all came back. The battle--his friends there fighting--they
+needed him. He let go of the girl's hand and sat up, brushing back his
+moist hair.
+
+"Listen, Aura. Hear them shouting; I mustn't stay here." He tried,
+weakly, to get upon his feet, but the girl's arm about his waist held
+him down.
+
+"Wait," she said. Surprised by the tenseness of her tone, he relaxed.
+
+The cry grew louder, rolling up from a thousand voices and echoing back
+and forth across the amphitheater. The Very Young Man wondered vaguely
+what it could mean. He looked into Aura's face. Her lips were smiling
+now.
+
+"What is it, Aura?" he whispered.
+
+The girl impulsively put her arms about him and held him close.
+
+"But we are coming through, my friend Jack. We are coming through." The
+Very Young Man looked wonderingly into her eyes. "Don't you hear? That
+cry--the cry of fear and despair. It means--life to us; and no more
+death--to them."
+
+The Chemist's voice came out of the distance shouting: "They're running
+away. It's over; thank God it's over!"
+
+Then the Very Young Man knew, and life opened up before him again.
+"Life," he whispered to himself. "Life and love and happiness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+A COMBAT OF TITANS
+
+
+In a few minutes the amphitheater was entirely clear, save for the dead
+and maimed little figures lying scattered about; but it was nearly an
+hour more before the fugitives were ready to resume their journey.
+
+The attack had come so suddenly, and had demanded such immediate and
+continuous action that none of the men, with the exception of the Very
+Young Man, had had time to realize how desperate was the situation in
+which they had fallen. With the almost equally abrupt cessation of the
+struggle there came the inevitable reaction; the men bleeding from a
+score of wounds, weak from loss of blood, and sick from the memory of
+the things they had been compelled to do, threw themselves upon the
+ground utterly exhausted.
+
+"We must get out of here," said the Doctor, after they had been lying
+quiet for a time, with the strident shrieks of hundreds of the dying
+little creatures sounding in their ears. "That was pretty near the end."
+
+"It isn't far," the Chemist answered, "when we get started."
+
+"We must get water," the Doctor went on. "These cuts----" They had used
+nearly all their drinking-water washing out their wounds, which Aura and
+Lylda had bound up with strips of cloth torn from their garments.
+
+The Chemist got upon his feet. "There's no water nearer than the Forest
+River," he said. "That tunnel over there comes out very near it."
+
+"What makes you think we won't have another scrap getting out?" the Very
+Young Man wanted to know. He had entirely recovered from the effects of
+the stone that had struck him on the temple, and was in better condition
+than any of the other men.
+
+"I'm sure," the Chemist said confidently, "they were through; they will
+not attack us again; for some time at least. The tunnels will be
+deserted."
+
+The Big Business Man stood up also.
+
+"We'd better get going while we have the chance," he said. "This getting
+smaller--I don't like it."
+
+They started soon after, and, true to the Chemist's prediction, met no
+further obstacle to their safe passage through the tunnels. When they
+had reached the forest above, none of the little people were in sight.
+
+The Big Business Man heaved a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we're
+here at last," he said. "I didn't realize how good these woods would
+look."
+
+In a few minutes more they were at the edge of the river, bathing their
+wounds in its cooling water, and replenishing their drinking-bottles.
+
+"How do we get across?" the Very Young Man asked.
+
+"We won't have to cross it," the Chemist answered with a smile. "The
+tunnel took us under."
+
+"Let's eat here," the Very Young Man suggested, "and take a sleep; we're
+about all in."
+
+"We ought to get larger first," protested the Big Business Man. They
+were at this time about four times Oroid size; the forest trees, so huge
+when last they had seen them, now seemed only rather large saplings.
+
+"Some one of us must stay awake," the Doctor said. "But there do not
+seem to be any Oroids up here."
+
+"What do they come up here for, anyway?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"There's some hunting," the Chemist answered. "But principally it's the
+mines beyond, in the deserts."
+
+They agreed finally to stop beside the river and eat another meal, and
+then, with one of them on guard, to sleep for a time before continuing
+their journey.
+
+The meal, at the Doctor's insistence, was frugal to the extreme, and was
+soon over. They selected Oteo to stand guard first. The youth, when he
+understood what was intended, pleaded so with his master that the
+Chemist agreed. Utterly worn out, the travelers lay down on a mossy bank
+at the river's edge, and in a few moments were all fast asleep.
+
+Oteo sat nearby with his back against a tree-trunk. Occasionally he got
+up and walked to and fro to fight off the drowsiness that came over him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+How long the Very Young Man slept he never knew. He slept dreamlessly
+for a considerable time. When he struggled back to consciousness it was
+with a curious feeling of detachment, as though his mind no longer was
+connected with his body. He thought first of Aura, with a calm peaceful
+sense of happiness. For a long time he lay, drifting along with his
+thoughts and wondering whether he were asleep or awake. Then all at once
+he knew he was not asleep. His eyes were open; before him stood the
+forest trees at the river's edge. And at the foot of one of the trees he
+could see the figure of Oteo, sitting hunched up with his head upon his
+hands, fast asleep.
+
+Remembrance came to the Very Young Man, and he sat up with a start.
+Beside him his friends lay motionless. He looked around, still a little
+confused. And then his heart leaped into his throat, for at the edge of
+the woods he saw a small, lean, gray figure--the little figure of a man
+who stood against a tree-trunk. The man's face was turned towards him;
+he met the glistening eyes looking down and saw the lips parted in a
+leering smile.
+
+A thrill of fear ran over the Very Young Man as he recognized the face
+of Targo. And then his heart seemed to stop beating. For as he stared,
+fascinated, into the man's mocking eyes, he saw that slowly, steadily he
+was growing larger. Mechanically the Very Young Man's hand went to his
+armpit, his fingers fumbling at the pouch strapped underneath. The vial
+of chemicals was not there!
+
+For an instant more the Very Young Man continued staring. Then, with an
+effort, he turned his eyes away from the gaze that seemed to hypnotize
+him. Beside him the Chemist lay sleeping. He looked back at Targo, and
+saw him larger--almost as large now as he was himself.
+
+Like a cloak discarded, the Very Young Man's bewilderment dropped from
+him. He recognized the danger, realized that in another moment this
+enemy would be irresistibly powerful--invincible. His mind was clear
+now, his nerves steady, his muscles tense. He knew the only thing he
+could do; he calculated the chances in a flash of thought.
+
+Still staring at the triumphant face of Targo, the Very Young Man jumped
+to his feet and swiftly bent over the sleeping form of the Chemist.
+Reaching through the neck of his robe he took out the vial of chemicals,
+and before his friend was fairly awake had swallowed one of the pills.
+
+As the Very Young Man sprang into action Targo turned and ran swiftly
+away, perhaps a hundred feet; then again he stopped and stood watching
+his intended victim with his sardonic smile.
+
+The Very Young Man met the Chemist's startled eyes.
+
+"Targo!" said the Very Young Man swiftly. "He's here; he stole the drug
+just now, while I was sleeping."
+
+The Chemist opened his mouth to reply, but the Very Young Man bounded
+away. He could feel the drug beginning to work; the ground under his
+feet swayed unsteadily.
+
+Swiftly he ran straight towards the figure of Targo, where he stood
+leaning against a tree. His enemy did not move to run away, but stood
+quietly awaiting him. The Very Young Man saw he was now nearly the same
+size that Targo was; if anything, the larger.
+
+A fallen tree separated them; the Very Young Man cleared it with a
+bound. Still Targo stood motionless, awaiting his onslaught. Then
+abruptly he stooped to the ground, and a rock whistled through the air,
+narrowly missing the Very Young Man's head. Before Targo could recover
+from the throw the Very Young Man was upon him, and they went down
+together.
+
+Back and forth over the soft ground they rolled, first one on top, then
+the other. The Very Young Man's hand found a stone on the ground beside
+them. His fingers clutched it; he raised it above him. But a blow upon
+his forearm knocked it away before he could strike; and a sudden twist
+of his antagonist's body rolled him over and pinned him upon his back.
+
+The Very Young Man thought of his encounter with Targo before, and again
+with sinking heart he realized he was the weaker of the two. He jerked
+one of his wrists free and, striking upwards with all his force, landed
+full on his enemy's jaw. The man's head snapped back, but he laughed--a
+grim, sardonic laugh that ended in a half growl, like a wild beast
+enraged. The Very Young Man's blood ran cold. A sudden frenzy seized
+him; he put all his strength into one desperate lunge and, wrenching
+himself free, sprang to his feet.
+
+Targo was up almost as quickly as he, and for an instant the two stood
+eyeing each other, breathing hard. At the Very Young Man's feet a little
+stream was flowing past. Vaguely he found himself thinking how peaceful
+it looked; how cool and soothing the water would be to his bruised and
+aching body. Beside the stream his eye caught a number of tiny human
+figures, standing close together, looking up at him--little forms that a
+single sweep of his foot would have scattered and killed. A shiver of
+fear ran across him as in a flash he realized this other danger. With a
+cry, he leaped sidewise, away from the water. Beside him stood a little
+tree whose bushy top hardly reached his waist. He clutched its trunk
+with both hands and jerking it from the ground swung it at his enemy's
+head, meeting him just as he sprang forward. The tree struck Targo a
+glancing blow upon the shoulder. With another laugh he grasped its roots
+and twisted it from the Very Young Man's hand. A second more and they
+came together again, and the Very Young Man felt his antagonist's
+powerful arms around his body, bending him backwards.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Big Business Man stood beside the others at the river's edge,
+watching the gigantic struggle, the outcome of which meant life or death
+to them all. The grappling figures were ten times his own height before
+he fairly realized the situation. At first he thought he should take
+some of the drug also, and grow larger with them. Then he knew that he
+could not overtake their growth in time to aid his friend. The Chemist
+and the Doctor must evidently have reached the same conclusion, for
+they, too, did nothing, only stood motionless, speechless, staring up at
+the battling giants.
+
+Loto, with his head buried upon his mother's shoulder, and her arms
+holding him close, whimpered a little in terror. Only Aura, of all the
+party, did not get upon her feet. She lay full length upon the ground, a
+hand under her chin, staring steadily upwards. Her face was
+expressionless, her eyes unblinking. But her lips moved a little, as
+though she were breathing a silent prayer, and the fingers of her hand
+against her face dug their nails into the flesh of her cheek.
+
+Taller far than the tree-tops, the two giants stood facing each other.
+Then the Very Young Man seized one of the trees, and with a mighty pull
+tore it up by the roots and swung it through the air. Aura drew a quick
+breath as in another instant they grappled and came crashing to the
+ground, falling head and shoulders in the river with a splash that
+drenched her with its spray. The Very Young Man was underneath, and she
+seemed to meet the glance of his great eyes when he fell. The trees
+growing on the river-bank snapped like rushes beneath the huge bodies of
+the giants, as, still growing larger, they struggled back and forth. The
+river, stirred into turmoil by the sweep of their great arms, rolled its
+waves up over the mossy banks, driving the watchers back into the edge
+of the woods, and even there covering them with its spray.
+
+A moment more and the giants were on their feet again, standing ankle
+deep, far out in the river. Up against the unbroken blackness of the
+starless sky their huge forms towered. For a second they stood
+motionless; then they came together again and Aura could see the Very
+Young Man sink on his knees, his hand trailing in the water. Then in an
+instant more he struggled up to his feet; and as his hand left the water
+Aura saw that it clutched an enormous dripping rock. She held her
+breath, watching the tremendous figures as they swayed, locked in each
+other's arms. A single step sidewise and they were back nearly at the
+river's bank; the water seethed white under their tread.
+
+The Very Young Man's right arm hung limp behind him; the boulder in his
+hand dangled a hundred feet or more in the air above the water. Slowly
+the greater strength of his antagonist bent him backwards. Aura's heart
+stood still as she saw Targo's fingers at the Very Young Man's throat.
+Then, in a great arc, the Very Young Man swept the hand holding the rock
+over his head, and brought it down full upon his enemy's skull. The
+boulder fell into the river with a thundering splash. For a brief
+instant the giant figures hung swaying; then the titanic hulk of Targo's
+body came crashing down. It fell full across the river, quivered
+convulsively and lay still.
+
+And the river, backing up before it a moment, turned aside in its
+course, and flung the muddy torrent of its water roaring down through
+the forest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+LOST IN SIZE
+
+
+The Very Young Man stood ankle deep in the turgid little rivulet, a
+tightness clutching at his chest, and with his head whirling. At his
+feet his antagonist lay motionless. He stepped out of the water, putting
+his foot into a tiny grove of trees that bent and crackled like twigs
+under his tread. He wondered if he would faint; he knew he must not.
+Away to the left he saw a line of tiny hills; beyond that a luminous
+obscurity into which his sight could not penetrate; behind him there was
+only darkness. He seemed to be standing in the midst of a great barren
+waste, with just a little toy river and forest at his feet--a child's
+plaything, set down in a man's great desert.
+
+The Very Young Man suddenly thought of his friends. He stepped into the
+middle of the river and out again on the other side. Then he bent down
+with his face close to the ground, just above the tops of the tiny
+little trees. He made the human figures out finally. Hardly larger than
+ants they seemed, and he shuddered as he saw them. The end of his thumb
+could have smashed them all, they were so small.
+
+One of the figures seemed to be waving something, and the Very Young Man
+thought he heard the squeak of its voice. He straightened upright,
+standing rigid, afraid to move his feet. He wondered what he should do,
+and in sudden fear felt for the vial of the diminishing drug. It was
+still in place, in the pouch under his armpit. The Very Young Man
+breathed a sigh of relief. He decided to take the drug and rejoin his
+friends. Then as a sudden thought struck him he bent down to the ground
+again, slowly, with infinite caution. The little figures were still
+there; and now he thought they were not quite as tiny as before. He
+watched them; slowly but unmistakably they were growing larger.
+
+The Very Young Man carefully took a step backwards, and then sat down
+heavily. The forest trees crackled under him. He pulled up his knees,
+and rested his head upon them. The little rivulet diverted from its
+course by the body of Targo, swept past through the woods almost at his
+side. The noise it made mingled with the ringing in his head. His body
+ached all over; he closed his eyes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"He's all right now," the Doctor's voice said. "He'll be all right in a
+moment."
+
+The Very Young Man opened his eyes. He was lying upon the ground, with
+Aura sitting beside him, and his friends--all his own size
+again--standing over him.
+
+He met Aura's tender, serious eyes, and smiled. "I'm all right," he
+said. "What a foolish thing to faint."
+
+Lylda stooped beside him, "You saved us all," she said. "There is
+nothing we can say--to mean what it should. But you will always know how
+we feel; how splendid you were."
+
+To the praise they gave him the Very Young Man had no answer save a
+smile of embarrassment. Aura said nothing, only met his smile with one
+of her own, and with a tender glance that made his heart beat faster.
+
+"I'm all right," he repeated after a moment of silence. "Let's get
+started."
+
+They sat down now beside the Very Young Man, and earnestly discussed the
+best plan for getting out of the ring.
+
+"You said you had calculated the best way," suggested the Doctor to the
+Chemist.
+
+"First of all," interrupted the Big Business Man. "Are we sure none of
+these Oroids is going to follow us? For Heaven's sake let's have done
+with these terrible struggles."
+
+The Very Young Man remembered. "He stole one of the vials," he said,
+pointing to Targo's body.
+
+"He was probably alone," the Chemist reasoned. "If any others had been
+with him they would have taken some of the drug also. Probably Targo
+took one of the pills and then dropped the vial to the ground."
+
+"My idea," pursued the Big Business Man, "is for us to get large just as
+quickly and continuously as possible. Probably you're right about Targo,
+but don't let's take any chances.
+
+"I've been thinking," he continued, seeing that they agreed with him.
+"You know this is a curious problem we have facing us. I've been
+thinking about it a lot. It seemed a frightful long trip down here, but
+in spite of that, I can't get it out of my mind that we're only a very
+little distance under the surface of the ring."
+
+"It's absolutely all in the viewpoint," the Chemist said with a smile.
+"That's what I meant about having an easier method of getting out. The
+distance depends absolutely on how you view it."
+
+"How far would it be out if we didn't get any larger?" the Very Young
+Man wanted to know.
+
+"Based on the size of a normal Oroid adult, and using the terrestrial
+standard of feet and inches as they would seem to us when Oroid size, I
+should say the distance from Arite to the surface of the ring would be
+about one hundred and fifty to a hundred and sixty thousand miles."
+
+"Holy mackerel!" exclaimed the Very Young Man.
+
+"Don't let's do much walking while we're small."
+
+"You have the idea exactly," smiled the Chemist.
+
+"Taking the other viewpoint," said the Doctor. "Just where do you figure
+this Oroid universe is located in the ring?"
+
+"It is contained within one of the atoms of gold," the Chemist answered.
+"And that golden atom, I estimate, is located probably within one
+one-hundredth of an inch, possibly even one one-thousandth of an inch
+away from the circular indentation I made in the bottom of the scratch.
+In actual distance I suppose Arite is possibly one-sixteenth of an inch
+below the surface of the ring."
+
+"Certainly makes a difference how you look at it," murmured the Very
+Young Man in awe.
+
+The Chemist went on. "It is obvious then, that although when coming down
+the distance must be covered to some extent by physical movement--by
+traveling geographically, so to speak--going back, that is not
+altogether the case. Most of the distance may be covered by bodily
+growth, rather than by a movement of the body from place to place."
+
+"We might get lost," objected the Very Young Man. "Suppose we got
+started in the wrong direction?"
+
+"Coming in, that is a grave danger," answered the Chemist, "because then
+distances are opening up and a single false step means many miles of
+error later on. But going out, just the reverse is true; distances are
+shortening. A mile in the wrong direction is corrected in an instant
+later on. Not coming to a realization of that when I made the trip
+before, led me to undertake many unnecessary hours of most arduous
+climbing. There is only one condition imperative; the body growing must
+have free space for its growth, or it will be crushed to death."
+
+"Have you planned exactly how we are to get out?" asked the Big Business
+Man.
+
+"Yes, I have," the Chemist answered. "In the size we are now, which you
+must remember is several thousand times Oroid height, it will be only a
+short distance to a point where as we grow we can move gradually to the
+centre of the circular pit. That huge inclined plane slides down out of
+it, you remember. Once in the pit, with its walls closing in upon us, we
+can at the proper moment get out of it about as I did before."
+
+"Then we'll be in the valley of the scratch," exclaimed the Very Young
+Man eagerly. "I'll certainly be glad to get back there again."
+
+"Getting out of the valley we'll use the same methods," the Chemist
+continued. "There we shall have to do some climbing, but not nearly so
+much as I did."
+
+The Very Young Man was thrilled at the prospect of so speedy a return to
+his own world. "Let's get going," he suggested quickly. "It sounds a
+cinch."
+
+They started away in a few minutes more, leaving the body of Targo lying
+where it had fallen across the river. In half an hour of walking they
+located without difficulty the huge incline down which the Chemist had
+fallen when first he came into the ring. Following along the bottom of
+the incline they reached his landing place--a mass of small rocks and
+pebbles of a different metallic-looking stone than the ground around
+marking it plainly. These were the rocks and boulders that had been
+brought down with him in his fall.
+
+"From here," said the Chemist, as they came to a halt, "we can go up
+into the valley by growth alone. It is several hours, but we need move
+very little from this position."
+
+"How about eating?" suggested the Very Young Man.
+
+They sat down at the base of the incline and ate another meal--rather a
+more lavish one this time, for the rest they had taken, and the prospect
+of a shorter journey ahead of them than they had anticipated made the
+Doctor less strict. Then, the meal over, they took the amount of the
+drug the Chemist specified. He measured it carefully--more than ten of
+the pills.
+
+"We have a long wait," the Chemist said, when the first sickness from
+this tremendous dose had left them.
+
+The time passed quickly. They spoke seldom, for the extraordinary
+rapidity with which the aspect of the landscape was changing, and the
+remarkable sensations they experienced, absorbed all their attention.
+
+In about two hours after taking the drug the curving, luminous line that
+was the upper edge of the incline came into view, faint and blurred, but
+still distinct against the blackness of the sky. The incline now was
+noticeably steeper; each moment they saw its top coming down towards
+them out of the heights above, and its surface smoothing out and
+becoming more nearly perpendicular.
+
+They were all standing up now. The ground beneath them seemed in rapid
+motion, coming towards them from all directions, and dwindling away
+beneath their feet. The incline too--now in form a vertical concave
+wall--kept shoving itself forward, and they had to step backwards
+continually to avoid its thrust.
+
+Within another hour a similar concave wall appeared behind them which
+they could follow with their eyes entirely around the circumference of
+the great pit in which they now found themselves. The sides of this pit
+soon became completely perpendicular--smooth and shining.
+
+Another hour and the action of the drug was beginning to slacken--the
+walls encircling them, although steadily closing in, no longer seemed to
+move with such rapidity. The pit as they saw it now was perhaps a
+thousand feet in diameter and twice as deep. Far overhead the blackness
+of the sky was beginning to be tinged with a faint gray-blue.
+
+At the Chemist's suggestion they walked over near the center of the
+circular enclosure. Slowly its walls closed in about them. An hour more
+and its diameter was scarcely fifty feet.
+
+The Chemist called his companions around him.
+
+"There is an obstacle here," he began, "that we can easily overcome; but
+we must all understand just what we are to do. In perhaps half an hour
+at the rate we are growing this enclosure will resemble a well twice as
+deep, approximately, as it is broad. We cannot climb up its sides,
+therefore we must wait until it is not more than six feet in depth in
+order to be able to get out. At that time its diameter will be scarcely
+three feet. There are nine of us here; you can realize there would not
+be room for us all.
+
+"What we must do is very simple. Since there is not room for us all at
+once, we must get large from now on only one at a time."
+
+"Quite so," said the Big Business Man in a perfectly matter-of-fact
+tone.
+
+"All of us but one will stop growing now; one will go on and get out of
+the pit. He will immediately stop his growth so that he can wait for the
+others and help them out. Each of us will follow the same method of
+procedure."
+
+The Chemist then went on to arrange the exact quantities of the drugs
+they were each to take at specified times, so that at the end they would
+all be nearly the same size again. When he had explained all this to
+Oteo and Eena in their native language, they were ready to proceed with
+the plan.
+
+"Who's first?" asked the Very Young Man. "Let me go with Loto."
+
+They selected the Chemist to go first, and all but him took a little of
+the other drug and checked their growth. The pit at this time was hardly
+more than fifteen feet across and about thirty feet deep.
+
+The Chemist stood in the centre of the enclosure, while his friends
+crowded over against its walls to make room for his growing body. It was
+nearly half an hour before his head was above its top. He waited only a
+moment more, then he sprang upwards, clambered out of the pit and
+disappeared beyond the rim. In a few moments they saw his huge head and
+shoulders hanging out over the side wall; his hand and arm reached down
+towards them and they heard his great voice roaring.
+
+"Come on--somebody else."
+
+The Very Young Man went next, with Loto. Nothing unusual marked their
+growth, and without difficulty, helped by the Chemist's hands reaching
+down to them, they climbed out of the pit.
+
+In an hour more the entire party was in the valley, standing beside the
+little circular opening out of which they had come.
+
+The Very Young Man found himself beside Aura, a little apart from the
+others, who gathered to discuss their plan for growing out of the
+valley.
+
+"It isn't much of a trip, is it, Aura?" the Very Young Man said. "Do you
+realize, we're nearly there?"
+
+The girl looked around her curiously. The valley of the scratch appeared
+to them now hardly more than a quarter of a mile in width. Aura stared
+upwards between its narrow walls to where, several thousand feet above,
+a narrow strip of gray-blue sky was visible.
+
+"That sky--is that the sky of your world?" she exclaimed. "How pretty it
+is!"
+
+The Very Young Man laughed.
+
+"No, Aura, that's not our sky. It's only the space in the room above the
+ring. When we get the size we are going to be finally, our heads will be
+right up in there. The real sky with its stars will be even then as far
+above us as your sky at Arite was above you."
+
+Aura breathed a long sigh. "It's too wonderful--really to understand,
+isn't it?" she said.
+
+The Very Young Man pulled her down on the ground beside him.
+
+"The most wonderful part, Aura, is going to be having you up there." He
+spoke gently; somehow whenever he thought of this fragile little
+girl-woman up in his strange bustling world, he felt himself very big
+and strong. He wanted to be her protector, and her teacher of all the
+new and curious things she must learn.
+
+The girl did not reply at once; she simply met his earnest gaze with her
+frank answering smile of understanding.
+
+The Chemist was calling to them.
+
+"Oh, you Jack. We're about ready to start."
+
+The Very Young Man got to his feet, holding down his hands to help Aura
+up.
+
+"You're going to make a fine woman, Aura, in this new world. You just
+wait and see if you don't," he said as they rejoined the others.
+
+The Chemist explained his plans to them. "This valley is several times
+deeper than its breadth; you can see that. We cannot grow large enough
+to jump out as we did out of the pit; we would be crushed by the walls
+before we were sufficiently tall to leap out.
+
+"But we're not going to do as I did, and climb all the way up. Instead
+we will stay here at the bottom until we are as large as we can
+conveniently get between the valley walls. Then we will stop growing and
+climb up the side; it will only be a short distance then."
+
+The Very Young Man nodded his comprehension. "Unless by that time the
+walls are too smooth to climb up," he remarked.
+
+"If we see them getting too smooth, we'll stop and begin climbing," the
+Chemist agreed. "We're all ready, aren't we?" He began measuring out the
+estimated quantities of the drug, handing it to each of them.
+
+"Say, I'm terrible sorry," began the Very Young Man, apologetically
+interrupting this procedure. "But you know if it wasn't for me, we'd all
+starve to death."
+
+It was several hours since they had eaten last, and all of them were
+hungry, although the excitement of their strange journey had kept them
+from realizing it. They ate--"the last meal in the ring" as the Big
+Business Man put it--and in half an hour more they were ready to start.
+
+When they had reached a size where it seemed desirable again to stop
+growing the valley resembled a narrow cañon--hardly more than a deep
+rift in the ground. They were still standing on its floor; above them,
+the parallel edges of the rift marked the surface of the ring. The side
+walls of the cañon were smooth, but there were still many places where
+they could climb out without much difficulty.
+
+They started up a narrow declivity along the cañon face. The Chemist led
+the way; the Very Young Man, with Aura just in front of him, was last.
+They had been walking only a moment when the Chemist called back over
+his shoulder.
+
+"It's getting very narrow. We'd better stop here and take the drug."
+
+The Chemist had reached a rocky shelf--a ledge some twenty feet square
+that jutted out from the cañon wall. They gathered upon it, and took
+enough of the diminishing drug to stop their growth. Then the Chemist
+again started forward; but, very soon after, a cry of alarm from Aura
+stopped him.
+
+The party turned in confusion and crowded back. Aura, pale and
+trembling, was standing on the very brink of the ledge looking down. The
+Very Young Man had disappeared.
+
+The Big Business Man ran to the brink. "Did he fall? Where is he? I
+don't see him."
+
+They gathered in confusion about the girl. "No," she said. "He--just a
+moment ago he was here."
+
+"He couldn't have fallen," the Doctor exclaimed. "It isn't far down
+there--we'd see him."
+
+The truth suddenly dawned on the Doctor. "Don't move!" he commanded
+sharply. "Don't any of you move! Don't take a step!"
+
+Uncomprehending, they stood motionless. The Doctor's gaze was at the
+rocky floor under his feet.
+
+"It's size," he added vehemently. "Don't you understand? He's taken too
+much of the diminishing drug."
+
+An exclamation from Oteo made them all move towards him, in spite of the
+Doctor's command. There, close by Oteo's feet, they saw the tiny figure
+of the Very Young Man, already no more than an inch in height, and
+rapidly growing smaller.
+
+The Doctor bent down, and the little figure waved its arms in terror.
+
+"Don't get smaller," called the Doctor. But even as he said it, he
+realized it was a futile command.
+
+The Very Young Man answered, in a voice so minute it seemed coming from
+an infinite distance.
+
+"I can't stop! I haven't any of the other drug!"
+
+They all remembered then. Targo had stolen the Very Young Man's vial of
+the enlarging drug. It had never been replaced. Instead the Very Young
+Man had been borrowing from the others as he went along.
+
+The Big Business Man was seized with sudden panic.
+
+"He'll get lost. We must get smaller with him." He turned sidewise, and
+stumbling over a rock almost crushed the Very Young Man with the step he
+took to recover his balance.
+
+Aura, with a cry, pushed several of the others back; Oteo and Eena,
+frightened, started down the declivity.
+
+"We must get smaller!" the Big Business Man reiterated.
+
+The panic was growing among them all. Above their excited cries the
+Doctor's voice rose.
+
+"Stand still--all of you. If we move--even a few steps--we can never get
+small and hope to find him."
+
+The Doctor--himself too confused to know whether he should take the
+diminishing drug at once or not--was bending over the ground. And as he
+watched, fascinated, the Very Young Man's figure dwindled beyond the
+vanishing point and was gone!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+A MODERN DINOSAUR
+
+
+The Very Young Man never knew quite how it happened. The Doctor had told
+them to check their growth: and he took the drug abstractedly, for his
+mind was on Aura and how she would feel, coming for the first time into
+this great outer world.
+
+What quantity he took, the Very Young Man afterward could never decide.
+But the next thing he knew, the figures of his companions had grown to
+gigantic size. The rocks about him were expanding enormously. Already he
+had lost the contour of the ledge. The cañon wall had drawn back almost
+out of sight in the haze of the distance. He turned around, bewildered.
+There was no precipice behind him. Instead, a great, rocky plain,
+tumbling with a mass of boulders, and broken by seams and rifts, spread
+out to his gaze. And even in that instant, as he regarded it in
+confusion, it opened up to greater distances.
+
+Near at hand--a hundred yards away, perhaps--a gigantic human figure
+towered five hundred feet into the air. Around it, further away, others
+equally large, were blurred into the haze of distance.
+
+The nearer figure stooped, and the Very Young Man, fearful that he might
+be crushed by its movement, waved his arms in terror. He started to run,
+leaping over the jagged ground beneath his feet. A great roaring voice
+from above came down to him--the Doctor's voice.
+
+"Don't get smaller!"
+
+The Very Young Man stopped running, more frightened than ever before
+with the realization that came to him. He shouted upward:
+
+"I can't stop! I haven't any of the other drug!"
+
+An enormous blurred object came swooping towards him, and went past with
+a rush of wind--the foot of the Big Business Man, though the Very Young
+Man did not know it. Above him now the air was filled with roaring--the
+excited voices of his friends.
+
+A few moments passed while the Very Young Man stood stock still, too
+frightened to move. The roaring above gradually ceased. The towering
+figures expanded--faded back into the distance--disappeared.
+
+The Very Young Man was alone in the silence and desolation of a jagged,
+broken landscape that was still expanding beneath him. For some time he
+stood there, bewildered. He came to himself suddenly with the thought
+that although he was too small to be seen by his friends, yet they must
+be there still within a few steps of him. They might take a step--might
+crush him to death without seeing him, or knowing that they had done it!
+There were rocky buttes and hills all about him now. Without stopping to
+reason what he was doing he began to run. He did not know or care
+where--anywhere away from those colossal figures who with a single step
+would crush the very hills and rocks about him and bury him beneath an
+avalanche of golden quartz.
+
+He ran, in panic, for an hour perhaps, scrambling over little ravines,
+falling into a crevice--climbing out and running again. At last, with
+his feet torn and bleeding, he threw himself to the ground, utterly
+exhausted.
+
+After a time, with returning strength, the Very Young Man began to think
+more calmly. He was lost--lost in size--the one thing that the Doctor,
+when they started down into the ring, had warned them against so
+earnestly. What a fool he had been to run! He was miles away from them
+now. He could not make himself large; and were they to get
+smaller--small enough to see him, they might wander in this barren
+wilderness for days and never chance to come upon him.
+
+The Very Young Man cursed himself for a fool. Why hadn't he kept some of
+the enlarging drug with him? And then abruptly, he realized something
+additionally terrifying. The dose of the diminishing drug which he had
+just taken so thoughtlessly, was the last that remained in that vial. He
+was utterly helpless. Thousands of miles of rocky country surrounded
+him--a wilderness devoid of vegetation, of water, and of life.
+
+Lying prone upon the ground, which at last had stopped expanding, the
+Very Young Man gave himself up to terrified reflection. So this was the
+end--all the dangers they had passed through--their conquests--and the
+journey out of the ring so near to a safe ending.... And then this!
+
+For a time the Very Young Man abandoned hope. There was nothing to do,
+of course. They could never find him--probably, with women and a child
+among them they would not dare even to try. They would go safely back to
+their own world--but he--Jack Bruce--would remain in the ring. He
+laughed with bitter cynicism at the thought. Even the habitable world of
+the ring itself, was denied him. Like a lost soul, poised between two
+worlds, he was abandoned, waiting helpless, until hunger and thirst
+would put an end to his sufferings.
+
+Then the Very Young Man thought of Aura; and with the thought came a new
+determination not to give up hope. He stood up and looked about him,
+steeling himself against the flood of despair that again was almost
+overwhelming. He must return as nearly as possible to the point where he
+had parted from his friends. It was the only chance he had remaining--to
+be close enough so if one, or all of them, had become small, they would
+be able to see him.
+
+There was little to choose of direction in the desolate waste around,
+but dimly the Very Young Man recalled having a low line of hills behind
+him when he was running. He faced that way now. He had come perhaps six
+or seven miles; he would return now as nearly as possible over the same
+route. He selected a gully that seemed to wind in that general
+direction, and climbing down into it, started off along its floor.
+
+The gully was some forty feet deep and seemed to average considerably
+wider. Its sides were smooth and precipitous in some places; in others
+they were broken. The Very Young Man had been walking some thirty
+minutes when, as he came abruptly around a sharp bend, he saw before him
+the most terrifying object he had ever beheld. He stood stock still,
+fascinated with horror. On the floor of the gully, directly in front of
+him, lay a gigantic lizard--a reptile hideous, grotesque in its
+enormity. It was lying motionless, with its jaw, longer than his own
+body, flat on the ground as though it were sunning itself. Its tail,
+motionless also, wound out behind it. It was a reptile that by its
+size--it seemed to the Very Young Man at least thirty feet long--might
+have been a dinosaur reincarnated out of the dark, mysterious ages of
+the earth's formation. And yet, even in that moment of horror, the Very
+Young Man recognized it for what it was--the tiny lizard the Chemist had
+sent into the valley of the scratch to test his drug!
+
+At sight of the Very Young Man the reptile raised its great head. Its
+tongue licked out hideously; its huge eyes stared unblinking. And then,
+slowly, hastelessly, it began coming forward, its great feet scratching
+on the rocks, its tail sliding around a boulder behind it.
+
+The Very Young Man waited no longer, but turning, ran back headlong the
+way he had come. Curiously enough, this new danger, though it terrified,
+did not confuse him. It was a situation demanding physical action, and
+with it he found his mind working clearly. He leaped over a rock, half
+stumbled, recovered himself and dashed onward.
+
+A glance over his shoulder showed him the reptile coming around the bend
+in the gully. It slid forward, crawling over the rocks without effort,
+still hastelessly, as though leisurely to pick up this prey which it
+knew could not escape it.
+
+The gully here chanced to have smooth, almost perpendicular sides. The
+Very Young Man saw that he could not climb out; and even if he could, he
+knew that the reptile would go up the sides as easily as along the
+floor. It had been over a hundred feet from him when he first saw it.
+Now it was less than half that distance and gaining rapidly.
+
+For an instant the Very Young Man slackened his flight. To run on would
+be futile. The reptile would overtake him any moment; even now he knew
+that with a sudden spring it could land upon him.
+
+A cross rift at right angles in the wall came into sight--a break in the
+rock as though it had been riven apart by some gigantic wedge. It was as
+deep as the gully itself and just wide enough to admit the passage of
+the Very Young Man's body. He darted into it; and heard behind him the
+spring of the reptile as it landed at the entrance to the rift into
+which its huge size barred it from advancing.
+
+The Very Young Man stopped--panting for breath. He could just turn about
+between the enclosing walls. Behind him, outside in the gully, the
+lizard lay baffled. And then, seemingly without further interest, it
+moved away.
+
+The Very Young Man rested. The danger was past. He could get out of the
+rift, doubtless, further ahead, without reentering the gully. And, if he
+kept well away from the reptile, probably it would not bother him.
+
+Exultation filled the Very Young Man. And then again he remembered his
+situation--lost in size, helpless, without the power to rejoin his
+friends. He had escaped death in one form only to confront it again in
+another--worse perhaps, since it was the more lingering.
+
+Ahead of him, the rift seemed ascending and opening up. He followed it,
+and in a few hundred yards was again on the broken plateau above, level
+now with the top of the gully.
+
+The winding gully itself, the Very Young Man could see plainly. Its
+nearest point to him was some six hundred feet away; and in its bottom
+he knew that hideous reptile lurked. He shuddered and turned away,
+instinctively walking quietly, fearing to make some noise that might
+again attract its attention to him.
+
+And then came a sound that drove the blood from his face and turned him
+cold all over. From the depths of the gully, in another of its bends
+nearby, the sound of an anxious girl's voice floated upward.
+
+"Jack! Oh Jack!" And again:
+
+"Jack--my friend Jack!"
+
+It was Aura, his own size perhaps, in the gully searching for him!
+
+With frantic, horrified haste, the Very Young Man ran towards the top of
+the gully. He shouted warningly, as he ran.
+
+Aura must have heard him, for her voice changed from anxiety to a glad
+cry of relief. He reached the top of the gully; at its bottom--forty
+feet below down its precipitous side--stood Aura, looking up, radiant,
+to greet him.
+
+"I took the drug," she cried. "I took it before they could forbid me.
+They are waiting--up there for us. There is no danger now, Jack."
+
+The Very Young Man tried to silence her. A noise down the gully made him
+turn. The gigantic reptile appeared round the nearby bend. It saw the
+girl and scuttled forward, rattling the loose bowlders beneath its feet
+as it came.
+
+Aura saw it the same instant. She looked up helplessly to the Very Young
+Man above her; then she turned and ran down the gully.
+
+The Very Young Man stood transfixed. It was a sheer drop of forty feet
+or more to the gully floor beneath him. There was seemingly nothing that
+he could do in those few terrible seconds, and yet with subconscious,
+instinctive reasoning, he did the one and only thing possible. A loose
+mass of the jagged, gold quartz hung over the gully wall. Frantically he
+tore at it--pried loose with feet and hands a bowlder that hung poised.
+As the lizard approached, the loosened rock slid forward, and dropped
+squarely upon the reptile's broad back.
+
+It was a bowlder nearly as large as the Very Young Man himself, but the
+gigantic reptile shook it off, writhing and twisting for an instant, and
+hurling the smaller loose rocks about the floor of the gully with its
+struggles.
+
+The Very Young Man cast about for another missile, but there were none
+at hand. Aura, at the confusion, had stopped about two hundred feet
+away.
+
+"Run!" shouted the Very Young Man. "Hide somewhere! Run!"
+
+The lizard, momentarily stunned, recovered swiftly. Again it started
+forward, seemingly now as alert as before. And then, without warning, in
+the air above his head the Very Young Man heard the rush of gigantic
+wings. A tremendous grey body swooped past him and into the gully--a
+bird larger in proportion than the lizard itself.... It was the little
+sparrow the Chemist had sent in from the outside world--maddened now by
+thirst and hunger, which to the reptile had been much more endurable.
+
+The Very Young Man, shouting again to Aura to run, stood awestruck,
+watching the titanic struggle that was raging below him. The great
+lizard rose high on its forelegs to meet this enemy. Its tremendous jaws
+opened--and snapped closed; but the bird avoided them. Its huge claws
+gripped the reptile's back; its flapping wings spread the sixty foot
+width of the gully as it strove to raise its prey into the air. The
+roaring of these enormous wings was deafening; the wind from them as
+they came up tore past the Very Young Man in violent gusts; and as they
+went down, the suction of air almost swept him over the brink of the
+precipice. He flung himself prone, clinging desperately to hold his
+position.
+
+The lizard threshed and squirmed. A swish of its enormous tail struck
+the gully wall and brought down an avalanche of loose, golden rock. But
+the giant bird held its grip; its bill--so large that the Very Young
+Man's body could easily have lain within it--pecked ferociously at the
+lizard's head.
+
+It was a struggle to the death--an unequal struggle, though it raged for
+many minutes with an uncanny fury. At last, dragging its adversary to
+where the gully was wider, the bird flapped its wings with freedom of
+movement and laboriously rose into the air.
+
+And a moment later the Very Young Man, looking upward, saw through the
+magic diminishing glass of distance, a little sparrow of his own world,
+with a tiny, helpless lizard struggling in its grasp.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Aura! Don't cry, Aura! Gosh, I don't want you to cry--everything's all
+right now."
+
+The Very Young Man sat awkwardly beside the frightened girl, who,
+overcome by the strain of what she had been through, was crying
+silently. It was strange to see Aura crying; she had always been such a
+Spartan, so different from any other girl he had ever known. It confused
+him.
+
+"Don't cry, Aura," he repeated. He tried clumsily to soothe her. He
+wanted to thank her for what she had done in risking her life to find
+him. He wanted to tell her a thousand tender things that sprang into his
+heart as he sat there beside her. But when she raised her tear-stained
+face and smiled at him bravely, all he said was:
+
+"Gosh, that was some fight, wasn't it? It was great of you to come down
+after me, Aura. Are they waiting for us up there?" And then when she
+nodded:
+
+"We'd better hurry, Aura. How can we ever find them? We must have come
+miles from where they are."
+
+She smiled at him quizzically through her tears.
+
+"You forget, Jack, how small we are. They are waiting on the little
+ledge for us--and all this country--" She spread her arms toward the
+vast wilderness that surrounded them--"this is all only a very small
+part of that same ledge on which they are standing."
+
+It was true; and the Very Young Man realized it at once.
+
+Aura had both drugs with her. They took the one to increase their size,
+and without mishap or moving from where they were, rejoined those on the
+little ledge who were so anxiously awaiting them.
+
+For half an hour the Very Young Man recounted his adventure, with
+praises of Aura that made the girl run to her sister to hide her
+confusion. Then once more the party started its short climb out of the
+valley of the scratch. In ten minutes they were all safely on the
+top--on the surface of the ring at last.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+THE ADVENTURERS' RETURN
+
+
+The Banker, lying huddled in his chair in the clubroom, awoke with a
+start. The ring lay at his feet--a shining, golden band gleaming
+brightly in the light as it lay upon the black silk handkerchief. The
+Banker shivered a little for the room was cold. Then he realized he had
+been asleep and looked at his watch. Three o'clock! They had been gone
+seven hours, and he had not taken the ring back to the Museum as they
+had told him to. He rose hastily to his feet; then as another thought
+struck him, he sat down again, staring at the ring.
+
+The honk of an automobile horn in the street outside aroused him from
+his reverie. He got to his feet and mechanically began straightening up
+the room, packing up the several suit-cases. Then with obvious awe, and
+a caution that was almost ludicrous, he fixed the ring in its frame
+within the valise prepared for it. He lighted the little light in the
+valise, and, every moment or two, went back to look searchingly down at
+the ring inside.
+
+When everything was packed the Banker left the room, returning in a
+moment with two of the club attendants. They carried the suit-cases
+outside, the Banker himself gingerly holding the bag containing the
+ring.
+
+"A taxi," he ordered when they were at the door. Then he went to the
+desk, explaining that his friends had left earlier in the evening and
+that they had finished with the room.
+
+To the taxi-driver he gave a number that was not the Museum address, but
+that of his own bachelor apartment on Park Avenue. It was still raining
+as he got into the taxi; he held the valise tightly on his lap, looking
+into it occasionally and gruffly ordering the chauffeur to drive slowly.
+
+In the sumptuous living-room of his apartment he spread the handkerchief
+on the floor under the center electrolier and laid the ring upon it.
+Dismissing the astonished and only half-awake butler with a growl, he
+sat down in an easy-chair facing the ring, and in a few minutes more was
+again fast asleep.
+
+In the morning when the maid entered he was still sleeping. Two hours
+later he rang for her, and gave tersely a variety of orders. These she
+and the butler obeyed with an air that plainly showed they thought their
+master had taken leave of his senses.
+
+They brought him his breakfast and a bath-robe and slippers. And the
+butler carried in a mattress and a pair of blankets, laying them with a
+sigh on the hardwood floor in a corner of the room.
+
+Then the Banker waved them away. He undressed, put on his bath-robe and
+slippers and sat down calmly to eat his breakfast. When he had finished
+he lighted a cigar and sat again in his easy-chair, staring at the ring,
+engrossed with his thoughts. Three days he would give them. Three days,
+to be sure they had made the trip successfully. Then he would take the
+ring to the Museum. And every Sunday he would visit it; until they came
+back--if they ever did.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Banker's living-room with its usually perfect appointments was in
+thorough disorder. His meals were still being served him there by his
+dismayed servants. The mattress still lay in the corner; on it the
+rumpled blankets showed where he had been sleeping. For the hundredth
+time during his long vigil the Banker, still wearing his dressing-gown
+and slippers and needing a shave badly, put his face down close to the
+ring. His heart leaped into his throat; his breath came fast; for along
+the edge of the ring a tiny little line of figures was slowly moving.
+
+He looked closer, careful lest his laboured breathing blow them away. He
+saw they were human forms--little upright figures, an eighth of an inch
+or less in height--moving slowly along one behind the other. He counted
+nine of them. Nine! he thought, with a shock of surprise. Why, only
+three had gone in! Then they had found Rogers, and were bringing him and
+others back with him!
+
+Relief from the strain of many hours surged over the Banker. His eyes
+filled with tears; he dashed them away--and thought how ridiculous a
+feeling it was that possessed him. Then suddenly his head felt queer; he
+was afraid he was going to faint. He rose unsteadily to his feet, and
+threw himself full-length upon the mattress in the corner of the room.
+Then his senses faded. He seemed hardly to faint, but rather to drift
+off into an involuntary but pleasant slumber.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With returning consciousness the Banker heard in the room a confusion of
+many voices. He opened his eyes; the Doctor was sitting on the mattress
+beside him. The Banker smiled and parted his lips to speak, but the
+Doctor interrupted him.
+
+"Well, old friend!" he cried heartily. "What happened to you? Here we
+are back all safely."
+
+The Banker shook his friend's hand with emotion; then after a moment he
+sat up and looked about him. The room seemed full of people--strange
+looking figures, in extraordinary costumes, dirty and torn. The Very
+Young Man crowded forward.
+
+"We got back, sir, didn't we?" he said.
+
+The Banker saw he was holding a young girl by the hand--the most
+remarkable-looking girl, the Banker thought, that he had ever beheld.
+Her single garment, hanging short of her bare knees, was ragged and
+dirty; her jet black hair fell in tangled masses over her shoulders.
+
+"This is Aura," said the Very Young Man. His voice was full of pride;
+his manner ingenuous as a child's.
+
+Without a trace of embarrassment the girl smiled and with a pretty
+little bending of her head, held down her hand to the astonished Banker,
+who sat speechless upon his mattress.
+
+Loto pushed forward. "That's _mamita_ over there," he said, pointing.
+"Her name is Lylda; she's Aura's sister."
+
+The Banker recovered his wits. "Well, and who are you, little man?" he
+asked with a smile.
+
+"My name is Loto," the little boy answered earnestly. "That's my
+father." And he pointed across the room to where the Chemist was coming
+forward to join them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+THE FIRST CHRISTMAS
+
+
+Christmas Eve in a little village of Northern New York--a white
+Christmas, clear and cold. In the dark, blue-black of the sky the
+glittering stars were spread thick; the brilliant moon poured down its
+silver light over the whiteness of the sloping roof-tops, and upon the
+ghostly white, silently drooping trees. A heaviness hung in the frosty
+air--a stillness broken only by the tinkling of sleigh-bells or
+sometimes by the merry laughter of the passers-by.
+
+At the outskirts of the village, a little back from the road, a
+farmhouse lay snuggled up between two huge apple-trees--an
+old-fashioned, rambling farmhouse with a steeply pitched roof, piled
+high now, with snow. It was brilliantly lighted this Christmas Eve, its
+lower windows sending forth broad yellow beams of light over the
+whiteness of the ground outside.
+
+In one of the lower rooms of the house, before a huge, blazing log-fire,
+a woman and four men sat talking. Across the room, at a table, a little
+boy was looking at a picture-book by the light of an oil-lamp.
+
+The woman made a striking picture as she sat back at ease before the
+fire. She was dressed in a simple black evening-dress such as a lady of
+the city would wear. It covered her shoulders, but left her throat bare.
+Her features, particularly her eyes, had a slight Oriental cast, which
+the mass of very black hair coiled on her head accentuated. Yet she did
+not look like an Oriental, nor indeed like a woman of any race of this
+earth. Her cheeks were red--the delicate diffused red of perfect health.
+But underneath the red there lay a curious mixture of other colours, not
+only on her cheeks but particularly noticeable on her neck and arms. Her
+skin was smooth as a pearl; in the mellow firelight it glowed, with the
+iridescence of a shell.
+
+The four men were dressed in the careless negligee of city men in the
+country. They were talking gaily now among themselves. The woman spoke
+seldom, staring dreamily into the fire.
+
+A clock in another room struck eight; the woman glanced over to where
+the child sat, absorbed with the pictures in his book. The page at which
+he was looking showed a sleigh loaded with toys, with a team of
+reindeers and a jolly, fat, white-bearded, red-jacketed old man driving
+the sleigh over the chimney tops.
+
+"Come Loto, little son," the woman said. "You hear--it is the time of
+sleep for you."
+
+The boy put down his book reluctantly and went over to the fireplace,
+standing beside his mother with an arm about her neck.
+
+"Oh, _mamita_ dear, will he surely come, this Santa Claus? He never knew
+about me before; will he surely come?"
+
+Lylda kissed him tenderly. "He will come, Loto, every Christmas Eve; to
+you and to all the other children of this great world, will he always
+come."
+
+"But you must be asleep when he comes, Loto," one of the men admonished.
+
+"Yes, my father, that I know," the boy answered gravely. "I will go
+now."
+
+"Come back Loto, when you have undressed," the Chemist called after him,
+as he left the room. "Remember you must hang your stocking."
+
+When they were left alone Lylda looked at her companions and smiled.
+
+"His first Christmas," she said. "How wonderful we are going to make it
+for him."
+
+"I can remember so well," the Big Business Man remarked thoughtfully,
+"when they first told me there was no Santa Claus. I cried, for I knew
+Christmas would never be the same to me."
+
+"Loto is nearly twelve years old," the Doctor said. "Just
+imagine--having his first Christmas."
+
+"We're going to make it a corker," said the Banker. "Where's the tree?
+We got one."
+
+"In the wood-shed," Lylda answered. "He has not seen it; I was so very
+careful."
+
+They were silent a moment. Then: "My room is chock full of toys," the
+Banker said reflectively. "But this is a rotten town for candy
+canes--they only had little ones." And they all laughed.
+
+"I have a present for you, Lylda," the Chemist said after a moment.
+
+"Oh, but you must not give it until to-morrow; you yourself have told me
+that."
+
+The Chemist rose. "I want to give it now," he said, and left the room.
+In a moment he returned, carrying a mahogany pedestal under one arm and
+a square parcel in the other. He set the pedestal upright on the floor
+in a corner of the room and began opening the package. It was a mahogany
+case, cubical in shape. He lifted its cover, disclosing a glass-bell set
+upon a flat, mahogany slab. Fastened to the center of this was a
+handsome black plush case, in which lay a gold wedding-ring.
+
+Lylda drew in her breath sharply and held it; the three other men stared
+at the ring in amazement. The Chemist was saying: "And I decided not to
+destroy it, Lylda, for your sake. There is no air under this glass
+cover; the ring is lying in a vacuum, so that nothing can come out of it
+and live. It is quite safe for us to keep it--this way. I thought of
+this plan, afterwards, and decided to keep the ring--for you." He set
+the glass bell on the pedestal.
+
+Lylda stood before it, bending down close over the glass.
+
+"You give me back--my world," she breathed; then she straightened up,
+holding out her arms toward the ring. "My birthplace--my people--they
+are safe." And then abruptly she sank to her knees and began softly
+sobbing.
+
+Loto called from upstairs and they heard him coming down. Lylda went
+back hastily to the fire; the Chemist pushed a large chair in front of
+the pedestal, hiding it from sight.
+
+The boy, in his night clothes, stood on the hearth beside his mother.
+
+"There is the stocking, _mamita_. Where shall I hang it?"
+
+"First the prayer, Loto. Can you remember?"
+
+The child knelt on the hearth, with his head in his mother's lap.
+
+"Now I lay me----" he began softly, halting over the unfamiliar words.
+Lylda's fingers stroked his brown curly head as it nestled against her
+knees; the firelight shone golden in his tousled curls.
+
+The Chemist was watching them with moist eyes. "His first Christmas," he
+murmured, and smiled a little tender smile. "His first Christmas."
+
+The child was finishing.
+
+"And God bless Aura, and Jack, and----"
+
+"And Grandfather Reoh," his mother prompted softly.
+
+"And Grandfather Reoh--and _mamita_, and----" The boy ended with a
+rush--"and me too. Amen. Now where do I hang the stocking, mother?"
+
+In a moment the little stocking dangled from a mantel over the
+fireplace.
+
+"You are sure he will come?" the child asked anxiously again.
+
+"It is certain, Loto--if you are asleep."
+
+Loto kissed his mother and shook hands solemnly with the men--a grave,
+dignified little figure.
+
+"Good night, Loto," said the Big Business Man.
+
+"Good night, sir. Good night, my father--good night, _mamita_; I shall
+be asleep very soon." And with a last look at the stocking he ran out of
+the room.
+
+"What a Christmas he will have," said the Banker, a little huskily.
+
+A girl stood in the doorway that led into the dining-room adjoining--a
+curious-looking girl in a gingham apron and cap. Lylda looked up.
+
+"Oh, Eena, please will you say to Oteo we want the tree from the
+wood-shed--in the dining-room."
+
+The little maid hesitated. Her mistress smiled and added a few words in
+foreign tongue. The girl disappeared.
+
+"Every window gets a holly wreath," the Doctor said. "They're in a box
+outside in the wood-shed."
+
+"Look what I've got," said the Big Business Man, and produced from his
+pocket a little folded object which he opened triumphantly into a long
+serpent of filigree red paper on a string with little red and green
+paper bells hanging from it. "Across the doorway," he added, waving his
+hand.
+
+A moment after there came a stamping of feet on the porch outside, and
+then the banging of an outer door. A young man and girl burst into the
+room, kicking the snow from their feet and laughing. The youth carried
+two pairs of ice-skates slung over his shoulder; as he entered the room
+he flung them clattering to the floor.
+
+The girl, even at first glance, was extraordinarily pretty. She was
+small and very slender of build. She wore stout high-laced tan shoes, a
+heavy woollen skirt that fell to her shoe-tops and a short, belted coat,
+with a high collar buttoned tight about her throat. She was covered now
+with snow. Her face and the locks of hair that strayed from under her
+knitted cap were soaking wet.
+
+"He threw me down," she appealed to the others.
+
+"I didn't--she fell."
+
+"You did; into the snow you threw me--off the road." She laughed. "But I
+am learning to skate."
+
+"She fell three times," said her companion accusingly.
+
+"Twice only, it was," the girl corrected. She pulled off her cap, and a
+great mass of black hair came tumbling down about her shoulders.
+
+Lylda, from her chair before the fire, smiled mischievously.
+
+"Aura, my sister," she said in a tone of gentle reproof. "So immodest it
+is to show all that hair."
+
+The girl in confusion began gathering it up.
+
+"Don't you let her tease you, Aura," said the Big Business Man. "It's
+very beautiful hair."
+
+"Where's Loto?" asked the Very Young Man, pulling off his hat and coat.
+
+"In bed--see his stocking there."
+
+A childish treble voice was calling from upstairs. "Good night,
+Aura--good night, my friend Jack."
+
+"Good night, old man--see you to-morrow," the Very Young Man called back
+in answer.
+
+"You mustn't make so much noise," the Doctor said reprovingly. "He'll
+never get to sleep."
+
+"No, you mustn't," the Big Business Man agreed. "To-morrow's a very very
+big day for him."
+
+"Some Christmas," commented the Very Young Man looking around. "Where's
+the holly and stuff?"
+
+"Oh, we've got it all right, don't you worry," said the Banker.
+
+"And mistletoe," said Lylda, twinkling. "For you, Jack."
+
+Eena again stood in the doorway and said something to her mistress. "The
+tree is ready," said Lylda.
+
+The Chemist rose to his feet. "Come on, everybody; let's go trim it."
+
+They crowded gaily into the dining-room, leaving the Very Young Man and
+Aura sitting alone by the fire. For some time they sat silent, listening
+to the laughter of the others trimming the tree.
+
+The Very Young Man looked at the girl beside him as she sat staring into
+the fire. She had taken off her heavy coat, and her figure seemed long
+and very slim in the clothes she was wearing now. She sat bending
+forward, with her hands clasped over her knees. The long line of her
+slender arm and shoulder, and the delicacy of her profile turned towards
+him, made the Very Young Man realize anew how fragile she was, and how
+beautiful.
+
+Her mass of hair was coiled in a great black pile on her head, with a
+big, loose knot low at the neck. The iridescence of her skin gleamed
+under the flaming red of her cheeks. Her lips, too, were red, with the
+smooth, rich red of coral. The Very Young Man thought with a shock of
+surprise that he had never noticed before that they were red; in the
+ring there had been no such color.
+
+In the room adjoining, his friends were proposing a toast over the
+Christmas punch bowl. The Chemist's voice floated in through the
+doorway.
+
+"To the Oroids--happiness to them." Then for an instant there was
+silence as they drank the toast.
+
+Aura met the Very Young Man's eyes and smiled a little wanly.
+"Happiness--to them! I wonder. We who are so happy to-night--I wonder,
+are they?"
+
+The Very Young Man leaned towards her. "You are happy, Aura?"
+
+The girl nodded, still staring wistfully into the fire.
+
+"I want you to be," the Very Young Man added simply, and fell silent.
+
+A blazing log in the fire twisted and rolled to one side; the crackling
+flames leaped higher, bathing the girl's drooping little figure in their
+golden light.
+
+The Very Young Man after a time found himself murmuring familiar lines
+of poetry. His memory leaped back. A boat sailing over a silent summer
+lake--underneath the stars--the warmth of a girl's soft little body
+touching his--her hair, twisted about his fingers--the thrill in his
+heart; he felt it now as his lips formed the words:
+
+    "The stars would be your pearls upon a string,
+    The world a ruby for your finger-ring,
+    And you could have the sun and moon to wear,
+    If I were king."
+
+"You remember, Aura, that night in the boat?"
+
+Again the girl nodded. "I shall learn to read it--some day," she said
+eagerly. "And all the others that you told me. I want to. They sing--so
+beautifully."
+
+A sleigh passed along the road outside; the jingle of its bells drifted
+in to them. The Very Young Man reached over and gently touched the
+girl's hand; her fingers closed over his with an answering pressure. His
+heart was beating fast.
+
+"Aura," he said earnestly. "I want to be King--for you--this first
+Christmas and always. I want to give you--all there is in this life, of
+happiness, that I can give--just for you."
+
+The girl met his gaze with eyes that were melting with tenderness.
+
+"I love you, Aura," he said softly.
+
+"I love you, too, Jack," she whispered, and held her lips up to his.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM***
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Girl in the Golden Atom, by Raymond King
+Cummings</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The Girl in the Golden Atom</p>
+<p>Author: Raymond King Cummings</p>
+<p>Release Date: April 15, 2007  [eBook #21094]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>E-text prepared by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan,<br />
+    and the Project Guenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="10" style="background-color: #ccccff;">
+  <tr>
+    <td>
+      Transcriber's note:<br />
+      <br />
+      No evidence was found to indicate the copyright on this
+      book was renewed.
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM</h1>
+
+<h2>BY RAY CUMMINGS</h2>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<h4>TO<br />
+MY FRIEND AND MENTOR<br />
+ROBERT H. DAVIS<br />
+WITH GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF<br />
+HIS ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRACTICAL<br />
+ASSISTANCE TO WHICH I OWE MY<br />
+INITIAL SUCCESS</h4>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
+<p>
+
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. <span class="smcap">A Universe in an Atom</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">Into the Ring</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">After Forty-eight Hours</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">Lylda</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">The World in the Ring</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">Strategy and Kisses</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">A Modern Gulliver</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">"I Must Go Back"</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">After Five Years</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">Testing the Drugs</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">The Escape of the Drug</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">The Start</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">Perilous Ways</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">Strange Experiences</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. <span class="smcap">The Valley of the Scratch</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. <span class="smcap">The Pit of Darkness</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">The Welcome of the Master</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">The Chemist and His Son</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. <span class="smcap">The City of Arite</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. <span class="smcap">The World of the Ring</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. <span class="smcap">A Life Worth Living</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. <span class="smcap">The Trial</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. <span class="smcap">Lylda's Plan</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV. <span class="smcap">Lylda Acts</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV. <span class="smcap">The Escape of Targo</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI. <span class="smcap">The Abduction</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII. <span class="smcap">Aura</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII. <span class="smcap">The Attack on the Palace</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX. <span class="smcap">On the Lake</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX. <span class="smcap">Word Music</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI. <span class="smcap">The Palace of Orlog</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII. <span class="smcap">An Ant-hill Outraged</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII. <span class="smcap">The Rescue of Loto</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV. <span class="smcap">The Decision</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV. <span class="smcap">Good-bye to Arite</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI. <span class="smcap">The Fight in the Tunnels</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII. <span class="smcap">A Combat of Titans</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII. <span class="smcap">Lost in Size</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX. <span class="smcap">A Modern Dinosaur</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL. <span class="smcap">The Adventurers' Return</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">CHAPTER XLI. <span class="smcap">The First Christmas</span></a><br />
+</p>
+<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>A UNIVERSE IN AN ATOM</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Then you mean to say there is no such thing as the <i>smallest</i> particle
+of matter?" asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"You can put it that way if you like," the Chemist replied. "In other
+words, what I believe is that things can be infinitely small just as
+well as they can be infinitely large. Astronomers tell us of the
+immensity of space. I have tried to imagine space as finite. It is
+impossible. How can you conceive the edge of space? Something must be
+beyond&mdash;something or nothing, and even that would be more space,
+wouldn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Gosh," said the Very Young Man, and lighted another cigarette.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist resumed, smiling a little. "Now, if it seems probable that
+there is no limit to the immensity of space, why should we make its
+smallness finite? How can you say that the atom cannot be divided? As a
+matter of fact, it already has been. The most powerful microscope will
+show you realms of smallness to which you can penetrate no other way.
+Multiply that power a thousand times, or ten thousand times, and who
+shall say what you will see?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist paused, and looked at the intent little group around him.</p>
+
+<p>He was a youngish man, with large features and horn-rimmed glasses, his
+rough English-cut clothes hanging loosely over his broad, spare frame.
+The Banker drained his glass and rang for the waiter.</p>
+
+<p>"Very interesting," he remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be an ass, George," said the Big Business Man. "Just because you
+don't understand, doesn't mean there is no sense to it."</p>
+
+<p>"What I don't get clearly"&mdash;began the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"None of it's clear to me," said the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor crossed under the light and took an easier chair. "You
+intimated you had discovered something unusual in these realms of the
+infinitely small," he suggested, sinking back luxuriously. "Will you
+tell us about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if you like," said the Chemist, turning from one to the other. A
+nod of assent followed his glance, as each settled himself more
+comfortably.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, gentlemen, when you say I have discovered something unusual in
+another world&mdash;in the world of the infinitely small&mdash;you are right in a
+way. I have seen something and lost it. You won't believe me probably,"
+he glanced at the Banker an instant, "but that is not important. I am
+going to tell you the facts, just as they happened."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man filled up the glasses all around, and the Chemist
+resumed:</p>
+
+<p>"It was in 1910, this problem first came to interest me. I had never
+gone in for microscopic work very much, but now I let it absorb all my
+attention. I secured larger, more powerful instruments&mdash;I spent most of
+my money," he smiled ruefully, "but never could I come to the end of the
+space into which I was looking. Something was always hidden
+beyond&mdash;something I could almost, but not quite, distinguish.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I realized that I was on the wrong track. My instrument was not
+merely of insufficient power, it was not one-thousandth the power I
+needed.</p>
+
+<p>"So I began to study the laws of optics and lenses. In 1913 I went
+abroad, and with one of the most famous lens-makers of Europe I produced
+a lens of an entirely different quality, a lens that I hoped would give
+me what I wanted. So I returned here and fitted up my microscope that I
+knew would prove vastly more powerful than any yet constructed.</p>
+
+<p>"It was finally completed and set up in my laboratory, and one night I
+went in alone to look through it for the first time. It was in the fall
+of 1914, I remember, just after the first declaration of war.</p>
+
+<p>"I can recall now my feelings at that moment. I was about to see into
+another world, to behold what no man had ever looked on before. What
+would I see? What new realms was I, first of all our human race, to
+enter? With furiously beating heart, I sat down before the huge
+instrument and adjusted the eyepiece.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I glanced around for some object to examine. On my finger I had a
+ring, my mother's wedding-ring, and I decided to use that. I have it
+here." He took a plain gold band from his little finger and laid it on
+the table.</p>
+
+<p>"You will see a slight mark on the outside. That is the place into which
+I looked."</p>
+
+<p>His friends crowded around the table and examined a scratch on one side
+of the band.</p>
+
+<p>"What did you see?" asked the Very Young Man eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," resumed the Chemist, "what I saw staggered even my own
+imagination. With trembling hands I put the ring in place, looking
+directly down into that scratch. For a moment I saw nothing. I was like
+a person coming suddenly out of the sunlight into a darkened room. I
+knew there was something visible in my view, but my eyes did not seem
+able to receive the impressions. I realize now they were not yet
+adjusted to the new form of light. Gradually, as I looked, objects of
+definite shape began to emerge from the blackness.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, I want to make clear to you now&mdash;as clear as I can&mdash;the
+peculiar aspect of everything that I saw under this microscope. I seemed
+to be inside an immense cave. One side, near at hand, I could now make
+out quite clearly. The walls were extraordinarily rough and indented,
+with a peculiar phosphorescent light on the projections and blackness in
+the hollows. I say phosphorescent light, for that is the nearest word I
+can find to describe it&mdash;a curious radiation, quite different from the
+reflected light to which we are accustomed.</p>
+
+<p>"I said that the hollows inside of the cave were blackness. But not
+blackness&mdash;the absence of light&mdash;as we know it. It was a blackness that
+seemed also to radiate light, if you can imagine such a condition; a
+blackness that seemed not empty, but merely withholding its contents
+just beyond my vision.</p>
+
+<p>"Except for a dim suggestion of roof over the cave, and its floor, I
+could distinguish nothing. After a moment this floor became clearer. It
+seemed to be&mdash;well, perhaps I might call it black marble&mdash;smooth,
+glossy, yet somewhat translucent. In the foreground the floor was
+apparently liquid. In no way did it differ in appearance from the solid
+part, except that its surface seemed to be in motion.</p>
+
+<p>"Another curious thing was the outlines of all the shapes in view. I
+noticed that no outline held steady when I looked at it directly; it
+seemed to quiver. You see something like it when looking at an object
+through water&mdash;only, of course, there was no distortion. It was also
+like looking at something with the radiation of heat between.</p>
+
+<p>"Of the back and other side of the cave, I could see nothing, except in
+one place, where a narrow effulgence of light drifted out into the
+immensity of the distance behind.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know how long I sat looking at this scene; it may have been
+several hours. Although I was obviously in a cave, I never felt shut
+in&mdash;never got the impression of being in a narrow, confined space.</p>
+
+<p>"On the contrary, after a time I seemed to feel the vast immensity of
+the blackness before me. I think perhaps it may have been that path of
+light stretching out into the distance. As I looked it seemed like the
+reversed tail of a comet, or the dim glow of the Milky Way, and
+penetrating to equally remote realms of space.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I fell asleep, or at least there was an interval of time during
+which I was so absorbed in my own thoughts I was hardly conscious of the
+scene before me.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I became aware of a dim shape in the foreground&mdash;a shape merged
+with the outlines surrounding it. And as I looked, it gradually assumed
+form, and I saw it was the figure of a young girl, sitting beside the
+liquid pool. Except for the same waviness of outline and phosphorescent
+glow, she had quite the normal aspect of a human being of our own world.
+She was beautiful, according to our own standards of beauty; her long
+braided hair a glowing black, her face, delicate of feature and winsome
+in expression. Her lips were a deep red, although I felt rather than saw
+the colour.</p>
+
+<p>"She was dressed only in a short tunic of a substance I might describe
+as gray opaque glass, and the pearly whiteness of her skin gleamed with
+iridescence.</p>
+
+<p>"She seemed to be singing, although I heard no sound. Once she bent over
+the pool and plunged her hand into it, laughing gaily.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, I cannot make you appreciate my emotions, when all at once I
+remembered I was looking through a microscope. I had forgotten entirely
+my situation, absorbed in the scene before me. And then, abruptly, a
+great realization came upon me&mdash;the realization that everything I saw
+was inside that ring. I was unnerved for the moment at the importance of
+my discovery.</p>
+
+<p>"When I looked again, after the few moments my eye took to become
+accustomed to the new form of light, the scene showed itself as before,
+except that the girl had gone.</p>
+
+<p>"For over a week, each night at the same time I watched that cave. The
+girl came always, and sat by the pool as I had first seen her. Once she
+danced with the wild grace of a wood nymph, whirling in and out the
+shadows, and falling at last in a little heap beside the pool.</p>
+
+<p>"It was on the tenth night after I had first seen her that the accident
+happened. I had been watching, I remember, an unusually long time before
+she appeared, gliding out of the shadows. She seemed in a different
+mood, pensive and sad, as she bent down over the pool, staring into it
+intently. Suddenly there was a tremendous cracking sound, sharp as an
+explosion, and I was thrown backward upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"When I recovered consciousness&mdash;I must have struck my head on
+something&mdash;I found the microscope in ruins. Upon examination I saw that
+its larger lens had exploded&mdash;flown into fragments scattered around the
+room. Why I was not killed I do not understand. The ring I picked up
+from the floor; it was unharmed and unchanged.</p>
+
+<p>"Can I make you understand how I felt at this loss? Because of the war
+in Europe I knew I could never replace my lens&mdash;for many years, at any
+rate. And then, gentlemen, came the most terrible feeling of all; I knew
+at last that the scientific achievement I had made and lost counted for
+little with me. It was the girl. I realized then that the only being I
+ever could care for was living out her life with her world, and, indeed,
+her whole universe, in an atom of that ring."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist stopped talking and looked from one to the other of the
+tense faces of his companions.</p>
+
+<p>"It's almost too big an idea to grasp," murmured the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"What caused the explosion?" asked the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know." The Chemist addressed his reply to the Doctor, as the
+most understanding of the group. "I can appreciate, though, that through
+that lens I was magnifying tremendously those peculiar light-radiations
+that I have described. I believe the molecules of the lens were
+shattered by them&mdash;I had exposed it longer to them that evening than any
+of the others."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor nodded his comprehension of this theory.</p>
+
+<p>Impressed in spite of himself, the Banker took another drink and leaned
+forward in his chair. "Then you really think that there is a girl now
+inside the gold of that ring?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"He didn't say that necessarily," interrupted the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he did."</p>
+
+<p>"As a matter of fact, I do believe that to be the case," said the
+Chemist earnestly. "I believe that every particle of matter in our
+universe contains within it an equally complex and complete a universe,
+which to its inhabitants seems as large as ours. I think, also that the
+whole realm of our interplanetary space, our solar system and all the
+remote stars of the heavens are contained within the atom of some other
+universe as gigantic to us as we are to the universe in that ring."</p>
+
+<p>"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't make one feel very important in the scheme of things, does
+it?" remarked the Big Business Man dryly.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled. "The existence of no individual, no nation, no
+world, nor any one universe is of the least importance."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it would be possible," said the Doctor, "for this gigantic
+universe that contains us in one of its atoms, to be itself contained
+within the atom of another universe, still more gigantic, and so on."</p>
+
+<p>"That is my theory," said the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>"And in each of the atoms of the rocks of that cave there may be other
+worlds proportionately minute?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can see no reason to doubt it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there is no proof, anyway," said the Banker. "We might as well
+believe it."</p>
+
+<p>"I intend to get proof," said the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you believe all these innumerable universes, both larger and smaller
+than ours, are inhabited?" asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think probably most of them are. The existence of life, I
+believe, is as fundamental as the existence of matter without life."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you suppose that girl got in there?" asked the Very Young Man,
+coming out of a brown study.</p>
+
+<p>"What puzzled me," resumed the Chemist, ignoring the question, "is why
+the girl should so resemble our own race. I have thought about it a good
+deal, and I have reached the conclusion that the inhabitants of any
+universe in the next smaller or larger plane to ours probably resemble
+us fairly closely. That ring, you see, is in the same&mdash;shall we
+say&mdash;environment as ourselves. The same forces control it that control
+us. Now, if the ring had been created on Mars, for instance, I believe
+that the universes within its atoms would be inhabited by beings like
+the Martians&mdash;if Mars has any inhabitants. Of course, in planes beyond
+those next to ours, either smaller or larger, changes would probably
+occur, becoming greater as you go in or out from our own universe."</p>
+
+<p>"Good Lord! It makes one dizzy to think of it," said the Big Business
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew how that girl got in there," sighed the Very Young Man,
+looking at the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"She probably didn't," retorted the Doctor. "Very likely she was created
+there, the same as you were here."</p>
+
+<p>"I think that is probably so," said the Chemist. "And yet, sometimes I
+am not at all sure. She was very human." The Very Young Man looked at
+him sympathetically.</p>
+
+<p>"How are you going to prove your theories?" asked the Banker, in his
+most irritatingly practical way.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist picked up the ring and put it on his finger. "Gentlemen," he
+said. "I have tried to tell you facts, not theories. What I saw through
+that ultramicroscope was not an unproven theory, but a fact. My theories
+you have brought out by your questions."</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite right," said the Doctor; "but you did mention yourself
+that you hoped to provide proof."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist hesitated a moment, then made his decision. "I will tell you
+the rest," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"After the destruction of the microscope, I was quite at a loss how to
+proceed. I thought about the problem for many weeks. Finally I decided
+to work along another altogether different line&mdash;a theory about which I
+am surprised you have not already questioned me."</p>
+
+<p>He paused, but no one spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"I am hardly ready with proof to-night," he resumed after a moment.
+"Will you all take dinner with me here at the club one week from
+to-night?" He read affirmation in the glance of each.</p>
+
+<p>"Good. That's settled," he said, rising. "At seven, then."</p>
+
+<p>"But what was the theory you expected us to question you about?" asked
+the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist leaned on the back of his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"The only solution I could see to the problem," he said slowly, "was to
+find some way of making myself sufficiently small to be able to enter
+that other universe. I have found such a way and one week from to-night,
+gentlemen, with your assistance, I am going to enter the surface of that
+ring at the point where it is scratched!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>INTO THE RING</h3>
+
+
+<p>The cigars were lighted and dinner over before the Doctor broached the
+subject uppermost in the minds of every member of the party.</p>
+
+<p>"A toast, gentlemen," he said, raising his glass. "To the greatest
+research chemist in the world. May he be successful in his adventure
+to-night."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist bowed his acknowledgment.</p>
+
+<p>"You have not heard me yet," he said smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"But we want to," said the Very Young Man impulsively.</p>
+
+<p>"And you shall." He settled himself more comfortably in his chair.
+"Gentlemen, I am going to tell you, first, as simply as possible, just
+what I have done in the past two years. You must draw your own
+conclusions from the evidence I give you.</p>
+
+<p>"You will remember that I told you last week of my dilemma after the
+destruction of the microscope. Its loss and the impossibility of
+replacing it, led me into still bolder plans than merely the visual
+examination of this minute world. I reasoned, as I have told you, that
+because of its physical proximity, its similar environment, so to speak,
+this outer world should be capable of supporting life identical with our
+own.</p>
+
+<p>"By no process of reasoning can I find adequate refutation of this
+theory. Then, again, I had the evidence of my own eyes to prove that a
+being I could not tell from one of my own kind was living there. That
+this girl, other than in size, differs radically from those of our race,
+I cannot believe.</p>
+
+<p>"I saw then but one obstacle standing between me and this other
+world&mdash;the discrepancy of size. The distance separating our world from
+this other is infinitely great or infinitely small, according to the
+viewpoint. In my present size it is only a few feet from here to the
+ring on that plate. But to an inhabitant of that other world, we are as
+remote as the faintest stars of the heavens, diminished a thousand
+times."</p>
+
+<p>He paused a moment, signing the waiter to leave the room.</p>
+
+<p>"This reduction of bodily size, great as it is, involves no deeper
+principle than does a light contraction of tissue, except that it must
+be carried further. The problem, then, was to find a chemical,
+sufficiently unharmful to life, that would so act upon the body cells as
+to cause a reduction in bulk, without changing their shape. I had to
+secure a uniform and also a proportionate rate of contraction of each
+cell, in order not to have the body shape altered.</p>
+
+<p>"After a comparatively small amount of research work, I encountered an
+apparently insurmountable obstacle. As you know, gentlemen, our living
+human bodies are held together by the power of the central intelligence
+we call the mind. Every instant during your lifetime your subconscious
+mind is commanding and directing the individual life of each cell that
+makes up your body. At death this power is withdrawn; each cell is
+thrown under its own individual command, and dissolution of the body
+takes place.</p>
+
+<p>"I found, therefore, that I could not act upon the cells separately, so
+long as they were under control of the mind. On the other hand, I could
+not withdraw this power of the subconscious mind without causing death.</p>
+
+<p>"I progressed no further than this for several months. Then came the
+solution. I reasoned that after death the body does not immediately
+disintegrate; far more time elapses than I expected to need for the
+cell-contraction. I devoted my time, then to finding a chemical that
+would temporarily withhold, during the period of cell-contraction, the
+power of the subconscious mind, just as the power of the conscious mind
+is withheld by hypnotism.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not going to weary you by trying to lead you through the maze of
+chemical experiments into which I plunged. Only one of you," he
+indicated the Doctor, "has the technical basis of knowledge to follow
+me. No one had been before me along the path I traversed. I pursued the
+method of pure theoretical deduction, drawing my conclusions from the
+practical results obtained.</p>
+
+<p>"I worked on rabbits almost exclusively. After a few weeks I succeeded
+in completely suspending animation in one of them for several hours.
+There was no life apparently existing during that period. It was not a
+trance or coma, but the complete simulation of death. No harmful results
+followed the revivifying of the animal. The contraction of the cells was
+far more difficult to accomplish; I finished my last experiment less
+than six months ago."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you really have been able to make an animal infinitely small?"
+asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled. "I sent four rabbits into the unknown last week," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"What did they look like going?" asked the Very Young Man. The Chemist
+signed him to be patient.</p>
+
+<p>"The quantity of diminution to be obtained bothered me considerably.
+Exactly how small that other universe is, I had no means of knowing,
+except by the computations I made of the magnifying power of my lens.
+These figures, I know, must necessarily be very inaccurate. Then, again,
+I have no means of judging by the visual rate of diminution of these
+rabbits, whether this contraction is at a uniform rate or accelerated.
+Nor can I tell how long it is prolonged, for the quantity of drug
+administered, as only a fraction of the diminution has taken place when
+the animal passes beyond the range of any microscope I now possess.</p>
+
+<p>"These questions were overshadowed, however, by a far more serious
+problem that encompassed them all.</p>
+
+<p>"As I was planning to project myself into this unknown universe and to
+reach the exact size proportionate to it, I soon realized such a result
+could not be obtained were I in an unconscious state. Only by successive
+doses of the drug, or its retardent about which I will tell you later,
+could I hope to reach the proper size. Another necessity is that I place
+myself on the exact spot on that ring where I wish to enter and to climb
+down among its atoms when I have become sufficiently small to do so.
+Obviously, this would be impossible to one not possessing all his
+faculties and physical strength."</p>
+
+<p>"And did you solve that problem, too?" asked the Banker.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to see it done," he added, reading his answer in the other's
+confident smile.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist produced two small paper packages from his wallet. "These
+drugs are the result of my research," he said. "One of them causes
+contraction, and the other expansion, by an exact reversal of the
+process. Taken together, they produce no effect, and a lesser amount of
+one retards the action of the other." He opened the papers, showing two
+small vials. "I have made them as you see, in the form of tiny pills,
+each containing a minute quantity of the drug. It is by taking them
+successively in unequal amounts that I expect to reach the desired
+size."</p>
+
+<p>"There's one point that you do not mention," said the Doctor. "Those
+vials and their contents will have to change size as you do. How are you
+going to manage that?"</p>
+
+<p>"By experimentation I have found," answered the Chemist, "that any
+object held in close physical contact with the living body being
+contracted is contracted itself at an equal rate. I believe that my
+clothes will be affected also. These vials I will carry strapped under
+my armpits."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose you should die, or be killed, would the contraction cease?"
+asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, almost immediately," replied the Chemist. "Apparently, though I am
+acting through the subconscious mind while its power is held in
+abeyance, when this power is permanently withdrawn by death, the drug no
+longer affects the individual cells. The contraction or expansion ceases
+almost at once."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist cleared a space before him on the table. "In a well-managed
+club like this," he said, "there should be no flies, but I see several
+around. Do you suppose we can catch one of them?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can," said the Very Young Man, and forthwith he did.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist moistened a lump of sugar and laid it on the table before
+him. Then, selecting one of the smallest of the pills, he ground it to
+powder with the back of a spoon and sprinkled this powder on the sugar.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you give me the fly, please?"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man gingerly did so. The Chemist held the insect by its
+wings over the sugar. "Will someone lend me one of his shoes?"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man hastily slipped off a dancing pump.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said the Chemist, placing it on the table with a quizzical
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the company rose from their chairs and gathered around,
+watching with interested faces what was about to happen.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope he is hungry," remarked the Chemist, and placed the fly gently
+down on the sugar, still holding it by the wings. The insect, after a
+moment, ate a little.</p>
+
+<p>Silence fell upon the group as each watched intently. For a few moments
+nothing happened. Then, almost imperceptibly at first, the fly became
+larger. In another minute it was the size of a large horse-fly,
+struggling to release its wings from the Chemist's grasp. A minute more
+and it was the size of a beetle. No one spoke. The Banker moistened his
+lips, drained his glass hurriedly and moved slightly farther away. Still
+the insect grew; now it was the size of a small chicken, the multiple
+lens of its eyes presenting a most terrifying aspect, while its
+ferocious droning reverberated through the room. Then suddenly the
+Chemist threw it upon the table, covered it with a napkin, and beat it
+violently with the slipper. When all movement had ceased he tossed its
+quivering body into a corner of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God!" ejaculated the Banker, as the white-faced men stared at each
+other. The quiet voice of the Chemist brought them back to themselves.
+"That, gentlemen, you must understand, was only a fraction of the very
+first stage of growth. As you may have noticed, it was constantly
+accelerated. This acceleration attains a speed of possibly fifty
+thousand times that you observed. Beyond that, it is my theory, the
+change is at a uniform rate." He looked at the body of the fly, lying
+inert on the floor. "You can appreciate now, gentlemen, the importance
+of having this growth cease after death."</p>
+
+<p>"Good Lord, I should say so!" murmured the Big Business Man, mopping his
+forehead. The Chemist took the lump of sugar and threw it into the open
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man, "suppose when we were not looking,
+another fly had&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Shut up!" growled the Banker.</p>
+
+<p>"Not so skeptical now, eh, George?" said the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you catch me another fly?" asked the Chemist. The Very Young Man
+hastened to do so. "The second demonstration, gentlemen," said the
+Chemist, "is less spectacular, but far more pertinent than the one you
+have just witnessed." He took the fly by the wings, and prepared another
+lump of sugar, sprinkling a crushed pill from the other vial upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"When he is small enough I am going to try to put him on the ring, if he
+will stay still," said the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor pulled the plate containing the ring forward until it was
+directly under the light, and every one crowded closer to watch; already
+the fly was almost too small to be held. The Chemist tried to set it on
+the ring, but could not; so with his other hand he brushed it lightly
+into the plate, where it lay, a tiny black speck against the gleaming
+whiteness of the china.</p>
+
+<p>"Watch it carefully, gentlemen," he said, as they bent closer.</p>
+
+<p>"It's gone," said the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I can still see it," said the Doctor. Then he raised the plate
+closer to his face. "Now it's gone," he said.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist sat down in his chair. "It's probably still there, only too
+small for you to see. In a few minutes, if it took a sufficient amount
+of the drug, it will be small enough to fall between the molecules of
+the plate."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose it will find another inhabited universe down there?"
+asked the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Who knows," smiled the Chemist. "Very possibly it will. But the one we
+are interested in is here," he added, touching the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it your intention to take this stuff yourself to-night?" asked the
+Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"If you will give me your help, I think so, yes. I have made all
+arrangements. The club has given us this room in absolute privacy for
+forty-eight hours. Your meals will be served here when you want them,
+and I am going to ask you, gentlemen, to take turns watching and
+guarding the ring during that time. Will you do it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should say we would," cried the Doctor, and the others nodded assent.</p>
+
+<p>"It is because I wanted you to be convinced of my entire sincerity that
+I have taken you so thoroughly into my confidence. Are those doors
+locked?" The Very Young Man locked them.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said the Chemist, starting to disrobe. In a moment he stood
+before them attired in a woolen bathing-suit of pure white. Over his
+shoulders was strapped tightly a narrow leather harness, supporting two
+silken pockets, one under each armpit. Into each of these he placed one
+of the vials, first laying four pills from one of them upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>At this point the Banker rose from his chair and selected another in the
+further corner of the room. He sank into it a crumpled heap and wiped
+the beads of perspiration from his face with a shaking hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I have every expectation," said the Chemist, "that this suit and
+harness will contract in size uniformly with me. If the harness should
+not, then I shall have to hold the vials in my hand."</p>
+
+<p>On the table, directly under the light, he spread a large silk
+handkerchief, upon which he placed the ring. He then produced a
+teaspoon, which he handed to the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Please listen carefully," he said, "for perhaps the whole success of my
+adventure, and my life itself, may depend upon your actions during the
+next few minutes. You will realize, of course, that when I am still
+large enough to be visible to you I shall be so small that my voice may
+be inaudible. Therefore, I want you to know, now, just what to expect.</p>
+
+<p>"When I am something under a foot high, I shall step upon that
+handkerchief, where you will see my white suit plainly against its black
+surface. When I become less than an inch high, I shall run over to the
+ring and stand beside it. When I have diminished to about a quarter of
+an inch, I shall climb upon it, and, as I get smaller, will follow its
+surface until I come to the scratch.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to watch me very closely. I may miscalculate the time and
+wait until I am too small to climb upon the ring. Or I may fall off. In
+either case, you will place that spoon beside me and I will climb into
+it. You will then do your best to help me get on the ring. Is all this
+quite clear?"</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor nodded assent.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, watch me as long as I remain visible. If I have an accident,
+I shall take the other drug and endeavor to return to you at once. This
+you must expect at any moment during the next forty-eight hours. Under
+all circumstances, if I am alive, I shall return at the expiration of
+that time.</p>
+
+<p>"And, gentlemen, let me caution you most solemnly, do not allow that
+ring to be touched until that length of time has expired. Can I depend
+on you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," they answered breathlessly.</p>
+
+<p>"After I have taken the pills," the Chemist continued, "I shall not
+speak unless it is absolutely necessary. I do not know what my
+sensations will be, and I want to follow them as closely as possible."
+He then turned out all the lights in the room with the exception of the
+center electrolier, that shone down directly on the handkerchief and
+ring.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist looked about him. "Good-by, gentlemen," he said, shaking
+hands all round. "Wish me luck," and without hesitation he placed the
+four pills in his mouth and washed them down with a swallow of water.</p>
+
+<p>Silence fell on the group as the Chemist seated himself and covered his
+face with his hands. For perhaps two minutes the tenseness of the
+silence was unbroken, save by the heavy breathing of the Banker as he
+lay huddled in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my God! He <i>is</i> growing smaller!" whispered the Big Business Man in
+a horrified tone to the Doctor. The Chemist raised his head and smiled
+at them. Then he stood up, steadying himself against a chair. He was
+less than four feet high. Steadily he grew smaller before their
+horrified eyes. Once he made, as if to speak, and the Doctor knelt down
+beside him. "It's all right, good-by," he said in a tiny voice.</p>
+
+<p>Then he stepped upon the handkerchief. The Doctor knelt on the floor
+beside it, the wooden spoon ready in his hand, while the others, except
+the Banker, stood behind him. The figure of the Chemist, standing
+motionless near the edge of the handkerchief, seemed now like a little
+white wooden toy, hardly more than an inch in height.</p>
+
+<p>Waving his hand and smiling, he suddenly started to walk and then ran
+swiftly over to the ring. By the time he reached it, somewhat out of
+breath, he was little more than twice as high as the width of its band.
+Without pausing, he leaped up, and sat astraddle, leaning over and
+holding to it tightly with his hands. In another moment he was on his
+feet, on the upper edge of the ring, walking carefully along its
+circumference towards the scratch.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man touched the Doctor on the shoulder and tried to
+smile. "He's making it," he whispered. As if in answer the little figure
+turned and waved its arms. They could just distinguish its white outline
+against the gold surface underneath.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see him," said the Very Young Man in a scared voice.</p>
+
+<p>"He's right near the scratch," answered the Doctor, bending closer.
+Then, after a moment, "He's gone." He rose to his feet. "Good Lord! Why
+haven't we a microscope!"</p>
+
+<p>"I never thought of that," said the Big Business Man, "we could have
+watched him for a long time yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he's gone now," returned the Doctor, "and there is nothing for us
+to do but wait."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope he finds that girl," sighed the Very Young Man, as he sat chin
+in hand beside the handkerchief.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>AFTER FORTY-EIGHT HOURS</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Banker snored stertorously from his mattress in a corner of the
+room. In an easy-chair near by, with his feet on the table, lay the Very
+Young Man, sleeping also.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor and the Big Business Man sat by the handkerchief conversing
+in low tones.</p>
+
+<p>"How long has it been now?" asked the latter.</p>
+
+<p>"Just forty hours," answered the Doctor; "and he said that forty-eight
+hours was the limit. He should come back at about ten to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if he <i>will</i> come back," questioned the Big Business Man
+nervously. "Lord, I wish <i>he</i> wouldn't snore so loud," he added
+irritably, nodding in the direction of the Banker.</p>
+
+<p>They were silent for a moment, and then he went on: "You'd better try to
+sleep a little while, Frank. You're worn out. I'll watch here."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I should," answered the Doctor wearily. "Wake up that kid,
+he's sleeping most of the time."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I'll watch," repeated the Big Business Man. "You lie down over
+there."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor did so while the other settled himself more comfortably on a
+cushion beside the handkerchief, and prepared for his lonely watching.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor apparently dropped off to sleep at once, for he did not speak
+again. The Big Business Man sat staring steadily at the ring, bending
+nearer to it occasionally. Every ten or fifteen minutes he looked at his
+watch.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps an hour passed in this way, when the Very Young Man suddenly sat
+up and yawned. "Haven't they come back yet?" he asked in a sleepy voice.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man answered in a much lower tone. "What do you
+mean&mdash;they?"</p>
+
+<p>"I dreamed that he brought the girl back with him," said the Very Young
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if he did, they have not arrived. You'd better go back to sleep.
+We've got six or seven hours yet&mdash;maybe more."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man rose and crossed the room. "No, I'll watch a while,"
+he said, seating himself on the floor. "What time is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quarter to three."</p>
+
+<p>"He said he'd be back by ten to-night. I'm crazy to see that girl."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man rose and went over to a dinner-tray, standing near
+the door. "Lord, I'm hungry. I must have forgotten to eat to-day." He
+lifted up one of the silver covers. What he saw evidently encouraged
+him, for he drew up a chair and began his lunch.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette. "It will be the tragedy of my
+life," he said, "if he never comes back."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man smiled. "How about <i>his</i> life?" he answered, but
+the Very Young Man had fallen into a reverie and did not reply.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man finished his lunch in silence and was just about to
+light a cigar when a sharp exclamation brought him hastily to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Come here, quick, I see something." The Very Young Man had his face
+close to the ring and was trembling violently.</p>
+
+<p>The other pushed him back. "Let me see. Where?"</p>
+
+<p>"There, by the scratch; he's lying there; I can see him."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man looked and then hurriedly woke the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"He's come back," he said briefly; "you can see him there." The Doctor
+bent down over the ring while the others woke up the Banker.</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't seem to be getting any bigger," said the Very Young Man;
+"he's just lying there. Maybe he's dead."</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we do?" asked the Big Business Man, and made as if to pick
+up the ring. The Doctor shoved him away. "Don't do that!" he said
+sharply. "Do you want to kill him?"</p>
+
+<p>"He's sitting up," cried the Very Young Man. "He's all right."</p>
+
+<p>"He must have fainted," said the Doctor. "Probably he's taking more of
+the drug now."</p>
+
+<p>"He's much larger," said the Very Young Man; "look at him!"</p>
+
+<p>The tiny figure was sitting sideways on the ring, with its feet hanging
+over the outer edge. It was growing perceptibly larger each instant, and
+in a moment it slipped down off the ring and sank in a heap on the
+handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p>"Good Heavens! Look at him!" cried the Big Business Man. "He's all
+covered with blood."</p>
+
+<p>The little figure presented a ghastly sight. As it steadily grew larger
+they could see and recognize the Chemist's haggard face, his cheek and
+neck stained with blood, and his white suit covered with dirt.</p>
+
+<p>"Look at his feet," whispered the Big Business Man. They were horribly
+cut and bruised and greatly swollen.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor bent over and whispered gently, "What can I do to help you?"
+The Chemist shook his head. His body, lying prone upon the handkerchief,
+had torn it apart in growing. When he was about twelve inches in length
+he raised his head. The Doctor bent closer. "Some brandy, please," said
+a wraith of the Chemist's voice. It was barely audible.</p>
+
+<p>"He wants some brandy," called the Doctor. The Very Young Man looked
+hastily around, then opened the door and dashed madly out of the room.
+When he returned, the Chemist had grown to nearly four feet. He was
+sitting on the floor with his back against the Doctor's knees. The Big
+Business Man was wiping the blood off his face with a damp napkin.</p>
+
+<p>"Here!" cried the Very Young Man, thrusting forth the brandy. The
+Chemist drank a little of it. Then he sat up, evidently somewhat
+revived.</p>
+
+<p>"I seem to have stopped growing," he said. "Let's finish it up now. God!
+how I want to be the right size again," he added fervently.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor helped him extract the vials from under his arm, and the
+Chemist touched one of the pills to his tongue. Then he sank back,
+closing his eyes. "I think that should be about enough," he murmured.</p>
+
+<p>No one spoke for nearly ten minutes. Gradually the Chemist's body grew,
+the Doctor shifting his position several times as it became larger. It
+seemed finally to have stopped growing, and was apparently nearly its
+former size.</p>
+
+<p>"Is he asleep?" whispered the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist opened his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"No," he answered. "I'm all right now, I think." He rose to his feet,
+the Doctor and the Big Business Man supporting him on either side.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down and tell us about it," said the Very Young Man. "Did you find
+the girl?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled wearily.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, I cannot talk now. Let me have a bath and some dinner. Then
+I will tell you all about it."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor rang for an attendant, and led the Chemist to the door,
+throwing a blanket around him as he did so. In the doorway the Chemist
+paused and looked back with a wan smile over the wreck of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me an hour," he said. "And eat something yourselves while I am
+gone." Then he left, closing the door after him.</p>
+
+<p>When he returned, fully dressed in clothes that were ludicrously large
+for him, the room had been straightened up, and his four friends were
+finishing their meal. He took his place among them quietly and lighted a
+cigar.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, gentlemen, I suppose that you are interested to hear what
+happened to me," he began. The Very Young Man asked his usual question.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him alone," said the Doctor. "You will hear it all soon enough."</p>
+
+<p>"Was it all as you expected?" asked the Banker. It was his first remark
+since the Chemist returned.</p>
+
+<p>"To a great extent, yes," answered the Chemist. "But I had better tell
+you just what happened." The Very Young Man nodded his eager agreement.</p>
+
+<p>"When I took those first four pills," began the Chemist in a quiet, even
+tone, "my immediate sensation was a sudden reeling of the senses,
+combined with an extreme nausea. This latter feeling passed after a
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>"You will remember that I seated myself upon the floor and closed my
+eyes. When I opened them my head had steadied itself somewhat, but I was
+oppressed by a curious feeling of drowsiness, impossible to shake off.</p>
+
+<p>"My first mental impression was one of wonderment when I saw you all
+begin to increase in size. I remember standing up beside that chair,
+which was then half again its normal size, and you"&mdash;indicating the
+Doctor&mdash;"towered beside me as a giant of nine or ten feet high.</p>
+
+<p>"Steadily upward, with a curious crawling motion, grew the room and all
+its contents. Except for the feeling of sleep that oppressed me, I felt
+quite my usual self. No change appeared happening to me, but everything
+else seemed growing to gigantic and terrifying proportions.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you imagine a human being a hundred feet high? That is how you
+looked to me as I stepped upon that huge expanse of black silk and
+shouted my last good-bye to you!</p>
+
+<p>"Over to my left lay the ring, apparently fifteen or twenty feet away. I
+started to walk towards it, but although it grew rapidly larger, the
+distance separating me from it seemed to increase rather than lessen.
+Then I ran, and by the time I arrived it stood higher than my waist&mdash;a
+beautiful, shaggy, golden pit.</p>
+
+<p>"I jumped upon its rim and clung to it tightly. I could feel it growing
+beneath me, as I sat. After a moment I climbed upon its top surface and
+started to walk towards the point where I knew the scratch to be.</p>
+
+<p>"I found myself now, as I looked about, walking upon a narrow, though
+ever broadening, curved path. The ground beneath my feet appeared to be
+a rough, yellowish quartz. This path grew rougher as I advanced. Below
+the bulging edges of the path, on both sides, lay a shining black plain,
+ridged and indented, and with a sunlike sheen on the higher portions of
+the ridges. On the one hand this black plain stretched in an unbroken
+expanse to the horizon. On the other, it appeared as a circular valley,
+enclosed by a shining yellow wall.</p>
+
+<p>"The way had now become extraordinarily rough. I bore to the left as I
+advanced, keeping close to the outer edge. The other edge of the path I
+could not see. I clambered along hastily, and after a few moments was
+confronted by a row of rocks and bowlders lying directly across my line
+of progress. I followed their course for a short distance, and finally
+found a space through which I could pass.</p>
+
+<p>"This transverse ridge was perhaps a hundred feet deep. Behind it and
+extending in a parallel direction lay a tremendous valley. I knew then I
+had reached my first objective.</p>
+
+<p>"I sat down upon the brink of the precipice and watched the cavern
+growing ever wider and deeper. Then I realized that I must begin my
+descent if ever I was to reach the bottom. For perhaps six hours I
+climbed steadily downwards. It was a fairly easy descent after the first
+little while, for the ground seemed to open up before me as I advanced,
+changing its contour so constantly that I was never at a loss for an
+easy downward path.</p>
+
+<p>"My feet suffered cruelly from the shaggy, metallic ground, and I soon
+had to stop and rig a sort of protection for the soles of them from a
+portion of the harness over my shoulder. According to the stature I was
+when I reached the bottom, I had descended perhaps twelve thousand feet
+during this time.</p>
+
+<p>"The latter part of the journey found me nearing the bottom of the
+ca&ntilde;on. Objects around me no longer seemed to increase in size, as had
+been constantly the case before, and I reasoned that probably my stature
+was remaining constant.</p>
+
+<p>"I noticed, too, as I advanced, a curious alteration in the form of
+light around me. The glare from above (the sky showed only as a narrow
+dull ribbon of blue) barely penetrated to the depths of the ca&ntilde;on's
+floor. But all about me there was a soft radiance, seeming to emanate
+from the rocks themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"The sides of the ca&ntilde;on were shaggy and rough, beyond anything I had
+ever seen. Huge bowlders, hundreds of feet in diameter, were embedded in
+them. The bottom also was strewn with similar gigantic rocks.</p>
+
+<p>"I surveyed this lonely waste for some time in dismay, not knowing in
+what direction lay my goal. I knew that I was at the bottom of the
+scratch, and by the comparison of its size I realized I was well started
+on my journey.</p>
+
+<p>"I have not told you, gentlemen, that at the time I marked the ring I
+made a deeper indentation in one portion of the scratch and focused the
+microscope upon that. This indentation I now searched for. Luckily I
+found it, less than half a mile away&mdash;an almost circular pit, perhaps
+five miles in diameter, with shining walls extending downwards into
+blackness. There seemed no possible way of descending into it, so I sat
+down near its edge to think out my plan of action.</p>
+
+<p>"I realized now that I was faint and hungry, and whatever I did must be
+done quickly. I could turn back to you, or I could go on. I decided to
+risk the latter course, and took twelve more of the pills&mdash;three times
+my original dose."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist paused for a moment, but his auditors were much too intent
+to question him. Then he resumed in his former matter-of-fact tone.</p>
+
+<p>"After my vertigo had passed somewhat&mdash;it was much more severe this
+time&mdash;I looked up and found my surroundings growing at a far more rapid
+rate than before. I staggered to the edge of the pit. It was opening up
+and widening out at an astounding rate. Already its sides were becoming
+rough and broken, and I saw many places where a descent would be
+possible.</p>
+
+<p>"The feeling of sleep that had formerly merely oppressed me, combined
+now with my physical fatigue and the larger dose of the drug I had
+taken, became almost intolerable. I yielded to it for a moment, lying
+down on a crag near the edge of the pit. I must have become almost
+immediately unconscious, and remained so for a considerable time. I can
+remember a horrible sensation of sliding headlong for what seemed like
+hours. I felt that I was sliding or falling downward. I tried to rouse
+but could not. Then came absolute oblivion.</p>
+
+<p>"When I recovered my senses I was lying partly covered by a mass of
+smooth, shining pebbles. I was bruised and battered from head to
+foot&mdash;in a far worse condition than you first saw me when I returned.</p>
+
+<p>"I sat up and looked around. Beside me, sloped upward at an apparently
+increasing angle a tremendous glossy plane. This extended, as far as I
+could see, both to the right and left and upward into the blackness of
+the sky overhead. It was this plane that had evidently broken my fall,
+and I had been sliding down it, bringing with me a considerable mass of
+rocks and bowlders.</p>
+
+<p>"As my senses became clearer I saw I was lying on a fairly level floor.
+I could see perhaps two miles in each direction. Beyond that there was
+only darkness. The sky overhead was unbroken by stars or light of any
+kind. I should have been in total darkness except, as I have told you
+before, that everything, even the blackness itself, seemed to be
+self-luminous.</p>
+
+<p>"The incline down which I had fallen was composed of some smooth
+substance suggesting black marble. The floor underfoot was quite
+different&mdash;more of a metallic quality with a curious corrugation. Before
+me, in the dim distance, I could just make out a tiny range of hills.</p>
+
+<p>"I rose, after a time, and started weakly to walk towards these hills.
+Though I was faint and dizzy from my fall and the lack of food, I walked
+for perhaps half an hour, following closely the edge of the incline. No
+change in my visual surroundings occurred, except that I seemed
+gradually to be approaching the line of hills. My situation at this
+time, as I turned it over in my mind, appeared hopelessly desperate, and
+I admit I neither expected to reach my destination nor to be able to
+return to my own world.</p>
+
+<p>"A sudden change in the feeling of the ground underfoot brought me to
+myself; I bent down and found I was treading on vegetation&mdash;a tiny
+forest extending for quite a distance in front and to the side of me. A
+few steps ahead a little silver ribbon threaded its way through the
+trees. This I judged to be water.</p>
+
+<p>"New hope possessed me at this discovery. I sat down at once and took a
+portion of another of the pills.</p>
+
+<p>"I must again have fallen asleep. When I awoke, somewhat refreshed, I
+found myself lying beside the huge trunk of a fallen tree. I was in what
+had evidently once been a deep forest, but which now was almost utterly
+desolated. Only here and there were the trees left standing. For the
+most part they were lying in a crushed and tangled mass, many of them
+partially embedded in the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot express adequately to you, gentlemen, what an evidence of
+tremendous superhuman power this scene presented. No storm, no
+lightning, nor any attack of the elements could have produced more than
+a fraction of the destruction I saw all around me.</p>
+
+<p>"I climbed cautiously upon the fallen tree-trunk, and from this
+elevation had a much better view of my surroundings. I appeared to be
+near one end of the desolated area, which extended in a path about half
+a mile wide and several miles deep. In front, a thousand feet away,
+perhaps, lay the unbroken forest.</p>
+
+<p>"Descending from the tree-trunk I walked in this direction, reaching the
+edge of the woods after possibly an hour of the most arduous traveling
+of my whole journey.</p>
+
+<p>"During this time almost my only thought was the necessity of obtaining
+food. I looked about me as I advanced, and on one of the fallen
+tree-trunks I found a sort of vine growing. This vine bore a profusion
+of small gray berries, much like our huckleberries. They proved similar
+in taste, and I sat down and ate a quantity.</p>
+
+<p>"When I reached the edge of the forest I felt somewhat stronger. I had
+seen up to this time no sign of animal life whatever. Now, as I stood
+silent, I could hear around me all the multitudinous tiny voices of the
+woods. Insect life stirred underfoot, and in the trees above an
+occasional bird flitted to and fro.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I am giving you a picture of our own world. I do not mean to do
+so. You must remember that above me there was no sky, just blackness.
+And yet so much light illuminated the scene that I could not believe it
+was other than what we would call daytime. Objects in the forest were as
+well lighted&mdash;better probably than they would be under similar
+circumstances in our own world.</p>
+
+<p>"The trees were of huge size compared to my present stature; straight,
+upstanding trunks, with no branches until very near the top. They were
+bluish-gray in color, and many of them well covered with the berry-vine
+I have mentioned. The leaves overhead seemed to be blue&mdash;in fact the
+predominating color of all the vegetation was blue, just as in our world
+it is green. The ground was covered with dead leaves, mould, and a sort
+of gray moss. Fungus of a similar color appeared, but of this I did not
+eat.</p>
+
+<p>"I had penetrated perhaps two miles into the forest when I came
+unexpectedly to the bank of a broad, smooth-flowing river, its silver
+surface seeming to radiate waves of the characteristic phosphorescent
+light. I found it cold, pure-tasting water, and I drank long and deeply.
+Then I remember lying down upon the mossy bank, and in a moment, utterly
+worn out, I again fell asleep."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>LYLDA</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I was awakened by the feel of soft hands upon my head and face. With a
+start I sat up abruptly; I rubbed my eyes confusedly for a moment, not
+knowing where I was. When I collected my wits I found myself staring
+into the face of a girl, who was kneeling on the ground before me. I
+recognized her at once&mdash;she was the girl of the microscope.</p>
+
+<p>"To say I was startled would be to put it mildly, but I read no fear in
+her expression, only wonderment at my springing so suddenly into life.
+She was dressed very much as I had seen her before. Her fragile beauty
+was the same, and at this closer view infinitely more appealing, but I
+was puzzled to account for her older, more mature look. She seemed to
+have aged several years since the last evening I had seen her through
+the microscope. Yet, undeniably, it was the same girl.</p>
+
+<p>"For some moments we sat looking at each other in wonderment. Then she
+smiled and held out her hand, palm up, speaking a few words as she did
+so. Her voice was soft and musical, and the words of a peculiar quality
+that we generally describe as liquid, for want of a better term. What
+she said was wholly unintelligible, but whether the words were strange
+or the intonation different from anything I had ever heard I could not
+determine.</p>
+
+<p>"Afterwards, during my stay in this other world, I found that the
+language of its people resembled English quite closely, so far as the
+words themselves went. But the intonation with which they were given,
+and the gestures accompanying them, differed so widely from our own that
+they conveyed no meaning.</p>
+
+<p>"The gap separating us, however, was very much less than you would
+imagine. Strangely enough, though, it was not I who learned to speak her
+tongue, but she who mastered mine."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man sighed contentedly.</p>
+
+<p>"We became quite friendly after this greeting," resumed the Chemist,
+"and it was apparent from her manner that she had already conceived her
+own idea of who and what I was.</p>
+
+<p>"For some time we sat and tried to communicate with each other. My words
+seemed almost as unintelligible to her as hers to me, except that
+occasionally she would divine my meaning, clapping her hands in childish
+delight. I made out that she lived at a considerable distance, and that
+her name was Lylda. Finally she pulled me by the hand and led me away
+with a proprietary air that amused and, I must admit, pleased me
+tremendously.</p>
+
+<p>"We had progressed through the woods in this way, hardly more than a few
+hundred yards, when suddenly I found that she was taking me into the
+mouth of a cave or passageway, sloping downward at an angle of perhaps
+twenty degrees. I noticed now, more graphically than ever before, a
+truth that had been gradually forcing itself upon me. Darkness was
+impossible in this new world. We were now shut in between narrow walls
+of crystalline rock, with a roof hardly more than fifty feet above.</p>
+
+<p>"No artificial light of any kind was in evidence, yet the scene was
+lighted quite brightly. This, I have explained, was caused by the
+phosphorescent radiation that apparently emanated from every particle of
+mineral matter in this universe.</p>
+
+<p>"As we advanced, many other tunnels crossed the one we were traveling.
+And now, occasionally, we passed other people, the men dressed similarly
+to Lylda, but wearing their hair chopped off just above the shoulder
+line.</p>
+
+<p>"Later, I found that the men were generally about five and a half feet
+in stature: lean, muscular, and with a grayer, harder look to their skin
+than the iridescent quality that characterized the women.</p>
+
+<p>"They were fine-looking chaps these we encountered. All of them stared
+curiously at me, and several times we were held up by chattering groups.
+The intense whiteness of my skin, for it looked in this light the color
+of chalk, seemed to both awe and amuse them. But they treated me with
+great deference and respect, which I afterwards learned was because of
+Lylda herself, and also what she told them about me.</p>
+
+<p>"At several of the intersections of the tunnels there were wide open
+spaces. One of these we now approached. It was a vast amphitheater, so
+broad its opposite wall was invisible, and it seemed crowded with
+people. At the side, on a rocky niche in the wall, a speaker harangued
+the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"We skirted the edge of this crowd and plunged into another passageway,
+sloping downward still more steeply. I was so much interested in the
+strange scenes opening before me that I remarked little of the distance
+we traveled. Nor did I question Lylda but seldom. I was absorbed in the
+complete similarity between this and my own world in its general
+characteristics, and yet its complete strangeness in details.</p>
+
+<p>"I felt not the slightest fear. Indeed the sincerity and kindliness of
+these people seemed absolutely genuine, and the friendly, na&iuml;ve, manner
+of my little guide put me wholly at my ease. Towards me Lylda's manner
+was one of childish delight at a new-found possession. Towards those of
+her own people with whom we talked, I found she preserved a dignity they
+profoundly respected.</p>
+
+<p>"We had hardly more than entered this last tunnel when I heard the sound
+of drums and a weird sort of piping music, followed by shouts and
+cheers. Figures from behind us scurried past, hastening towards the
+sound. Lylda's clasp on my hand tightened, and she pulled me forward
+eagerly. As we advanced the crowd became denser, pushing and shoving us
+about and paying little attention to me.</p>
+
+<p>"In close contact with these people I soon found I was stronger than
+they, and for a time I had no difficulty in shoving them aside and
+opening a path for us. They took my rough handling in all good part, in
+fact, never have I met a more even-tempered, good-natured people than
+these.</p>
+
+<p>"After a time the crowd became so dense we could advance no further. At
+this Lylda signed me to bear to the side. As we approached the wall of
+the cavern she suddenly clasped her hands high over her head and shouted
+something in a clear, commanding voice. Instantly the crowd fell back,
+and in a moment I found myself being pulled up a narrow flight of stone
+steps in the wall and out upon a level space some twenty feet above the
+heads of the people.</p>
+
+<p>"Several dignitaries occupied this platform. Lylda greeted them quietly,
+and they made place for us beside the parapet. I could see now that we
+were at the intersection of a transverse passageway, much broader than
+the one we had been traversing. And now I received the greatest surprise
+I had had in this new world, for down this latter tunnel was passing a
+broad line of men who obviously were soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>"The uniformly straight lines they held; the glint of light on the
+spears they carried upright before them; the weird, but rhythmic, music
+that passed at intervals, with which they kept step; and, above all, the
+cheering enthusiasm of the crowd, all seemed like an echo of my own
+great world above.</p>
+
+<p>"This martial ardor and what it implied came as a distinct shock. All I
+had seen before showed the gentle kindliness of a people whose life
+seemed far removed from the struggle for existence to which our race is
+subjected. I had come gradually to feel that this new world, at least,
+had attained the golden age of security, and that fear, hate, and
+wrongdoing had long since passed away, or had never been born.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet, here before my very eyes, made wholesome by the fires of
+patriotism, stalked the grim God of War. Knowing nothing yet of the
+motive that inspired these people, I could feel no enthusiasm, but only
+disillusionment at this discovery of the omnipotence of strife.</p>
+
+<p>"For some time I must have stood in silence. Lylda, too, seemed to
+divine my thoughts, for she did not applaud, but pensively watched the
+cheering throng below. All at once, with an impulsively appealing
+movement, she pulled me down towards her, and pressed her pretty cheek
+to mine. It seemed almost as if she was asking me to help.</p>
+
+<p>"The line of marching men seemed now to have passed, and the crowd
+surged over into the open space and began to disperse. As the men upon
+the platform with us prepared to leave, Lylda led me over to one of
+them. He was nearly as tall as I, and dressed in the characteristic
+tunic that seemed universally worn by both sexes. The upper part of his
+body was hung with beads, and across his chest was a thin, slightly
+convex stone plate.</p>
+
+<p>"After a few words of explanation from Lylda, he laid his hands on my
+shoulders near the base of the neck, smiling with his words of greeting.
+Then he held one hand before me, palm up, as Lylda had done, and I laid
+mine in it, which seemed the correct thing to do.</p>
+
+<p>"I repeated this performance with two others who joined us, and then
+Lylda pulled me away. We descended the steps and turned into the broader
+tunnel, finding near at hand a sort of sleigh, which Lylda signed me to
+enter. It was constructed evidently of wood, with a pile of leaves, or
+similar dead vegetation, for cushions. It was balanced upon a single
+runner of polished stone, about two feet broad, with a narrow, slightly
+shorter outrider on each side.</p>
+
+<p>"Harnessed to the shaft were two animals, more resembling our reindeers
+than anything else, except that they were gray in color and had no
+horns. An attendant greeted Lylda respectfully as we approached, and
+mounted a seat in front of us when we were comfortably settled.</p>
+
+<p>"We drove in this curious vehicle for over an hour. The floor of the
+tunnel was quite smooth, and we glided down its incline with little
+effort and at a good rate. Our driver preserved the balance of the
+sleigh by shifting his body from side to side so that only at rare
+intervals did the siderunners touch the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"Finally, we emerged into the open, and I found myself viewing a scene
+of almost normal, earthly aspect. We were near the shore of a smooth,
+shining lake. At the side a broad stretch of rolling country, dotted
+here and there with trees, was visible. Near at hand, on the lake shore,
+I saw a collection of houses, most of them low and flat, with one much
+larger on a promontory near the lake.</p>
+
+<p>"Overhead arched a gray-blue, cloudless sky, faintly star-studded, and
+reflected in the lake before me I saw that familiar gleaming trail of
+star-dust, hanging like a huge straightened rainbow overhead, and ending
+at my feet."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>THE WORLD IN THE RING</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Chemist paused and relighted his cigar. "Perhaps you have some
+questions," he suggested.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor shifted in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you have any theory at this time"&mdash;he wanted to know&mdash;"about the
+physical conformation of this world? What I mean is, when you came out
+of this tunnel were you on the inside or the outside of the world?"</p>
+
+<p>"Was it the same sky you saw overhead when you were in the forest?"
+asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"No, it was what he saw in the microscope, wasn't it?" said the Very
+Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"One at a time, gentlemen," laughed the Chemist. "No, I had no
+particular theory at this time&mdash;I had too many other things to think of.
+But I do remember noticing one thing which gave me the clew to a fairly
+complete understanding of this universe. From it I formed a definite
+explanation, which I found was the belief held by the people
+themselves."</p>
+
+<p>"What was that?" asked the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I noticed, as I stood looking over this broad expanse of country before
+me, one vital thing that made it different from any similar scene I had
+ever beheld. If you will stop and think a moment, gentlemen, you will
+realize that in our world here the horizon is caused by a curvature of
+the earth below the straight line of vision. We are on a convex surface.
+But as I gazed over this landscape, and even with no appreciable light
+from the sky I could see a distance of several miles, I saw at once that
+quite the reverse was true. I seemed to be standing in the center of a
+vast shallow bowl. The ground curved upward into the distance. There was
+no distant horizon line, only the gradual fading into shadow of the
+visual landscape. I was standing obviously on a concave surface, on the
+inside, not the outside of the world.</p>
+
+<p>"The situation, as I now understand it, was this: According to the
+smallest stature I reached, and calling my height at that time roughly
+six feet, I had descended into the ring at the time I met Lylda several
+thousand miles, at least. By the way, where is the ring?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here is it," said the Very Young Man, handing it to him. The Chemist
+replaced it on his finger. "It's pretty important to me now," he said,
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"You bet!" agreed the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"You can readily understand how I descended such a distance, if you
+consider the comparative immensity of my stature during the first few
+hours I was in the ring. It is my understanding that this country
+through which I passed is a barren waste&mdash;merely the atoms of the
+mineral we call gold.</p>
+
+<p>"Beyond that I entered the hitherto unexplored regions within the atom.
+The country at that point where I found the forest, I was told later, is
+habitable for several hundred miles. Around it on all sides lies a
+desert, across which no one has ever penetrated.</p>
+
+<p>"This surface is the outside of the Oroid world, for so they call their
+earth. At this point the shell between the outer and inner surface is
+only a few miles in thickness. The two surfaces do not parallel each
+other here, so that in descending these tunnels we turned hardly more
+than an eighth of a complete circle.</p>
+
+<p>"At the city of Arite, where Lylda first took me, and where I had my
+first view of the inner surface, the curvature is slightly greater than
+that of our own earth, although, as I have said, in the opposite
+direction."</p>
+
+<p>"And the space within this curvature&mdash;the heavens you have
+mentioned&mdash;how great do you estimate it to be?" asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Based on the curvature at Arite it would be about six thousand miles in
+diameter."</p>
+
+<p>"Has this entire inner surface been explored?" asked the Big Business
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>"No, only a small portion. The Oroids are not an adventurous people.
+There are only two nations, less than twelve million people all
+together, on a surface nearly as extensive as our own."</p>
+
+<p>"How about those stars?" suggested the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe they comprise a complete universe similar to our own solar
+system. There is a central sun-star, around which many of the others
+revolve. You must understand, though, that these other worlds are
+infinitely tiny compared to the Oroids, and, if inhabited, support
+beings nearly as much smaller than the Oroids, as they are smaller than
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Great Caesar!" ejaculated the Banker. "Don't let's go into that any
+deeper!"</p>
+
+<p>"Tell us more about Lylda," prompted the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"You are insatiable on that point," laughed the Chemist. "Well, when we
+left the sleigh, Lylda took me directly into the city of Arite. I found
+it an orderly collection of low houses, seemingly built of uniformly
+cut, highly polished gray blocks. As we passed through the streets, some
+of which were paved with similar blocks, I was reminded of nothing so
+much as the old jingles of Spotless Town. Everything was immaculately,
+inordinately clean. Indeed, the whole city seemed built of some curious
+form of opaque glass, newly scrubbed and polished.</p>
+
+<p>"Children crowded from the doorways as we advanced, but Lylda dispersed
+them with a gentle though firm, command. As we approached the sort of
+castle I have mentioned, the reason for Lylda's authoritative manner
+dawned upon me. She was, I soon learned, daughter of one of the most
+learned men of the nation and was&mdash;handmaiden, do you call it?&mdash;to the
+queen."</p>
+
+<p>"So it was a monarchy?" interrupted the Big Business Man. "I should
+never have thought that."</p>
+
+<p>"Lylda called their leader a king. In reality he was the president,
+chosen by the people, for a period of about what we would term twenty
+years; I learned something about this republic during my stay, but not
+as much as I would have liked. Politics was not Lylda's strong point,
+and I had to get it all from her, you know.</p>
+
+<p>"For several days I was housed royally in the castle. Food was served me
+by an attendant who evidently was assigned solely to look after my
+needs. At first I was terribly confused by the constant, uniform light,
+but when I found certain hours set aside for sleep, just as we have
+them, when I began to eat regularly, I soon fell into the routine of
+this new life.</p>
+
+<p>"The food was not greatly different from our own, although I found not a
+single article I could identify. It consisted principally of vegetables
+and fruits, the latter of an apparently inexhaustible variety.</p>
+
+<p>"Lylda visited me at intervals, and I learned I was awaiting an audience
+with the king. During these days she made rapid progress with my
+language&mdash;so rapid that I shortly gave up the idea of mastering hers.</p>
+
+<p>"And now, with the growing intimacy between us and our ability to
+communicate more readily, I learned the simple, tragic story of her
+race&mdash;new details, of course, but the old, old tale of might against
+right, and the tragedy of a trusting, kindly people, blindly thinking
+others as just as themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"For thousands of years, since the master life-giver had come from one
+of the stars to populate the world, the Oroid nation had dwelt in peace
+and security. These people cared nothing for adventure. No restless
+thirst for knowledge led them to explore deeply the limitless land
+surrounding them. Even from the earliest times no struggle for
+existence, no doctrine of the survival of the fittest, hung over them as
+with us. No wild animals harassed them; no savages menaced them. A
+fertile boundless land, a perfect climate, nurtured them tenderly.</p>
+
+<p>"Under such conditions they developed only the softer, gentler qualities
+of nature. Many laws among them were unnecessary, for life was so
+simple, so pleasant to live, and the attainment of all the commonly
+accepted standards of wealth so easy, that the incentive to wrongdoing
+was almost non-existent.</p>
+
+<p>"Strangely enough, and fortunately, too, no individuals rose among them
+with the desire for power. Those in command were respected and loved as
+true workers for the people, and they accepted their authority in the
+same spirit with which it was given. Indolence, in its highest sense the
+wonderful art of doing nothing gracefully, played the greatest part in
+their life.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, after centuries of ease and peaceful security, came the
+awakening. Almost without warning another nation had come out of the
+unknown to attack them.</p>
+
+<p>"With the hurt feeling that comes to a child unjustly treated, they all
+but succumbed to this first onslaught. The abduction of numbers of their
+women, for such seemed the principal purpose of the invaders, aroused
+them sufficiently to repel this first crude attack. Their manhood
+challenged, their anger as a nation awakened for the first time, they
+sprang as one man into the horror we call war.</p>
+
+<p>"With the defeat of the Malites came another period of ease and
+security. They had learned no lesson, but went their indolent way,
+playing through life like the kindly children they were. During this
+last period some intercourse between them and the Malites took place.
+The latter people, whose origin was probably nearly opposite them on the
+inner surface, had by degrees pushed their frontiers closer and closer
+to the Oroids. Trade between the two was carried on to some extent, but
+the character of the Malites, their instinctive desire for power, for
+its own sake, their consideration for themselves as superior beings,
+caused them to be distrusted and feared by their more simple-minded
+companion nation.</p>
+
+<p>"You can almost guess the rest, gentlemen. Lylda told me little about
+the Malites, but the loathing disgust of her manner, her hesitancy, even
+to bring herself to mention them, spoke more eloquently than words.</p>
+
+<p>"Four years ago, as they measure time, came the second attack, and now,
+in a huge arc, only a few hundred miles from Arite, hung the opposing
+armies."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist paused. "That's the condition I found, gentlemen," he said.
+"Not a strikingly original or unfamiliar situation, was it?"</p>
+
+<p>"By Jove!" remarked the Doctor thoughtfully, "what a curious thing that
+the environment of our earth should so affect that world inside the
+ring. It does make you stop and think, doesn't it, to realize how those
+infinitesimal creatures are actuated now by the identical motives that
+inspire us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yet it does seem very reasonable, I should say," the Big Business Man
+put in.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's have another round of drinks," suggested the Banker&mdash;"this is dry
+work!"</p>
+
+<p>"As a scientist you'd make a magnificent plumber, George!" retorted the
+Big Business Man. "You're about as helpful in this little gathering as
+an oyster!"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man rang for a waiter.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been thinking&mdash;&mdash;" began the Banker, and stopped at the smile of
+his companion. "Shut up!"&mdash;he finished&mdash;"that's cheap wit, you know!"</p>
+
+<p>"Go on, George," encouraged the other, "you've been thinking&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I've been tremendously interested in this extraordinary story"&mdash;he
+addressed himself to the Chemist&mdash;"but there's one point I don't get at
+all. How many days were you in that ring do you make out?"</p>
+
+<p>"I believe about seven, all told," returned the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>"But you were only away from us some forty hours. I ought to know, I've
+been right here." He looked at his crumpled clothes somewhat ruefully.</p>
+
+<p>"The change of time-progress was one of the surprises of my adventure,"
+said the Chemist. "It is easily explained in a general way, although I
+cannot even attempt a scientific theory of its cause. But I must confess
+that before I started the possibility of such a thing never even
+occurred to me."</p>
+
+<p>"To get a conception of this change you must analyze definitely what
+time is. We measure and mark it by years, months, and so forth, down to
+minutes and seconds, all based upon the movements of our earth around
+its sun. But that is the measurement of time, not time itself. How would
+you describe time?"</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man smiled. "Time," he said, "is what keeps everything
+from happening at once."</p>
+
+<p>"Very clever," laughed the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor leaned forward earnestly. "I should say," he began, "that
+time is the rate at which we live&mdash;the speed at which we successively
+pass through our existence from birth to death. It's very hard to put
+intelligibly, but I think I know what I mean," he finished somewhat
+lamely.</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly so. Time is a rate of life-progress, different for every
+individual and only made standard because we take the time-duration of
+the earth's revolution around the sun, which is constant, and
+arbitrarily say: 'That is thirty-one million five hundred thousand odd
+seconds.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Is time different for every individual?" asked the Banker
+argumentatively.</p>
+
+<p>"Think a moment," returned the Chemist. "Suppose your brain were to work
+twice as fast as mine. Suppose your heart beat twice as fast, and all
+the functions of your body were accelerated in a like manner. What we
+call a second would certainly seem to you twice as long. Further than
+that, it actually would be twice as long, so far as you were concerned.
+Your digestion, instead of taking perhaps four hours, would take two.
+You would eat twice as often. The desire for sleep would overtake you
+every twelve hours instead of twenty-four, and you would be satisfied
+with four hours of unconsciousness instead of eight. In short, you would
+soon be living a cycle of two days every twenty-four hours. Time then,
+as we measure it, for you at least would have doubled&mdash;you would be
+progressing through life at twice the rate that I am through mine."</p>
+
+<p>"That may be theoretically true," the Big Business Man put in.
+"Practically, though, it has never happened to any one."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not, to such a great degree as the instance I put. No one,
+except in disease, has ever doubled our average rate of life-progress,
+and lived it out as a balanced, otherwise normal existence. But there is
+no question that to some much smaller degree we all of us differ one
+from the other. The difference, however, is so comparatively slight,
+that we can each one reconcile it to the standard measurement of time.
+And so, outwardly, time is the same for all of us. But inwardly, why, we
+none of us conceive a minute or an hour to be the same! How do you know
+how long a minute is to me? More than that, time is not constant even in
+the same individual. How many hours are shorter to you than others? How
+many days have been almost interminable? No, instead of being constant,
+there is nothing more inconstant than time."</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't you confused two different issues?" suggested the Big Business
+Man. "Granted what you say about the slightly different rate at which
+different individuals live, isn't it quite another thing, how long time
+seems to you. A day when you have nothing to do seems long, or, on the
+other hand, if you are very busy it seems short. But mind, it only
+<i>seems</i> short or long, according to the preoccupation of your mind. That
+has nothing to do with the speed of your progress through life."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, but I think it has," cried the Chemist. "You forget that we none of
+us have all of the one thing to the exclusion of the other. Time seems
+short; it seems long, and in the end it all averages up, and makes our
+rate of progress what it is. Now if any of us were to go through life in
+a calm, deliberate way, making time seem as long as possible, he would
+live more years, as we measure them, than if he rushed headlong through
+the days, accomplishing always as much as possible. I mean in neither
+case to go to the extremes, but only so far as would be consistent with
+the maintenance of a normal standard of health. How about it?" He turned
+to the Doctor. "You ought to have an opinion on that."</p>
+
+<p>"I rather think you are right," said the latter thoughtfully, "although
+I doubt very much if the man who took it easy would do as much during
+his longer life as the other with his energy would accomplish in the
+lesser time allotted to him."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably he wouldn't," smiled the Chemist; "but that does not alter the
+point we are discussing."</p>
+
+<p>"How does this apply to the world in the ring?" ventured the Very Young
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe there is a very close relationship between the dimensions of
+length, breadth, and thickness, and time. Just what connection with them
+it has, I have no idea. Yet, when size changes, time-rate changes; you
+have only to look at our own universe to discover that."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you mean?" asked the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, all life on our earth, in a general way, illustrates the
+fundamental fact that the larger a thing is, the slower its
+time-progress is. An elephant, for example, lives more years than we
+humans. Yet how quickly a fly is born, matured, and aged! There are
+exceptions, of course; but in a majority of cases it is true.</p>
+
+<p>"So I believe that as I diminished in stature, my time-progress became
+faster and faster. I am seven days older than when I left you day before
+yesterday. I have lived those seven days, gentlemen, there is no getting
+around that fact."</p>
+
+<p>"This is all tremendously interesting," sighed the Big Business Man;
+"but not very comprehensible."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>STRATEGY AND KISSES</h3>
+
+
+<p>"It was the morning of my third day in the castle," began the Chemist
+again, "that I was taken by Lylda before the king. We found him seated
+alone in a little anteroom, overlooking a large courtyard, which we
+could see was crowded with an expectant, waiting throng. I must explain
+to you now, that I was considered by Lylda somewhat in the light of a
+Messiah, come to save her nation from the destruction that threatened
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"She believed me a supernatural being, which, indeed, if you come to
+think of it, gentlemen, is exactly what I was. I tried to tell her
+something of myself and the world I had come from, but the difficulties
+of language and her smiling insistence and faith in her own conception
+of me, soon caused me to desist. Thereafter I let her have her own way,
+and did not attempt any explanation again for some time.</p>
+
+<p>"For several weeks before Lylda found me sleeping by the river's edge,
+she had made almost a daily pilgrimage to that vicinity. A maidenly
+premonition, a feeling that had first come to her several years before,
+told her of my coming, and her father's knowledge and scientific beliefs
+had led her to the outer surface of the world as the direction in which
+to look. A curious circumstance, gentlemen, lies in the fact that Lylda
+clearly remembered the occasion when this first premonition came to her.
+And in the telling, she described graphically the scene in the cave,
+where I saw her through the microscope." The Chemist paused an instant
+and then resumed.</p>
+
+<p>"When we entered the presence of the king, he greeted me quietly, and
+made me sit by his side, while Lylda knelt on the floor at our feet. The
+king impressed me as a man about fifty years of age. He was
+smooth-shaven, with black, wavy hair, reaching his shoulders. He was
+dressed in the usual tunic, the upper part of his body covered by a
+quite similar garment, ornamented with a variety of metal objects. His
+feet were protected with a sort of buskin; at his side hung a
+crude-looking metal spear.</p>
+
+<p>"The conversation that followed my entrance, lasted perhaps fifteen
+minutes. Lylda interpreted for us as well as she could, though I must
+confess we were all three at times completely at a loss. But Lylda's
+bright, intelligent little face, and the resourcefulness of her
+gestures, always managed somehow to convey her meaning. The charm and
+grace of her manner, all during the talk, her winsomeness, and the
+almost spiritual kindness and tenderness that characterized her, made me
+feel that she embodied all those qualities with which we of this earth
+idealize our own womanhood.</p>
+
+<p>"I found myself falling steadily under the spell of her beauty,
+until&mdash;well, gentlemen, it's childish for me to enlarge upon this side
+of my adventure, you know; but&mdash;Lylda means everything to me now, and
+I'm going back for her just as soon as I possibly can."</p>
+
+<p>"Bully for you!" cried the Very Young Man. "Why didn't you bring her
+with you this time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Let him tell it his own way," remonstrated the Doctor. The Very Young
+Man subsided with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>"During our talk," resumed the Chemist, "I learned from the king that
+Lylda had promised him my assistance in overcoming the enemies that
+threatened his country. He smilingly told me that our charming little
+interpreter had assured him I would be able to do this. Lylda's blushing
+face, as she conveyed this meaning to me, was so thoroughly captivating,
+that before I knew it, and quite without meaning to, I pulled her up
+towards me and kissed her.</p>
+
+<p>"The king was more surprised by far than Lylda, at this extraordinary
+behavior. Obviously neither of them had understood what a kiss meant,
+although Lylda, by her manner evidently comprehended pretty thoroughly.</p>
+
+<p>"I told them then, as simply as possible to enable Lylda to get my
+meaning, that I could, and would gladly aid in their war. I explained
+then, that I had the power to change my stature, and could make myself
+grow very large or very small in a short space of time.</p>
+
+<p>"This, as Lylda evidently told it to him, seemed quite beyond the king's
+understanding. He comprehended finally, or at least he agreed to believe
+my statement.</p>
+
+<p>"This led to the consideration of practical questions of how I was to
+proceed in their war. I had not considered any details before, but now
+they appeared of the utmost simplicity. All I had to do was to make
+myself a hundred or two hundred feet high, walk out to the battle-lines,
+and scatter the opposing army like a set of small boys' playthings."</p>
+
+<p>"What a quaint idea!" said the Banker. "A modern 'Gulliver.'"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist did not heed this interruption.</p>
+
+<p>"Then like three children we plunged into a discussion of exactly how I
+was to perform these wonders, the king laughing heartily as we pictured
+the attack on my tiny enemies.</p>
+
+<p>"He then asked me how I expected to accomplish this change of size, and
+I very briefly told him of our larger world, and the manner in which I
+had come from it into his. Then I showed the drugs that I still carried
+carefully strapped to me. This seemed definitely to convince the king of
+my sincerity. He rose abruptly to his feet, and strode through a doorway
+on to a small balcony overlooking the courtyard below.</p>
+
+<p>"As he stepped out into the view of the people, a great cheer arose. He
+waited quietly for them to stop, and then raised his hand and began
+speaking. Lylda and I stood hand in hand in the shadow of the doorway,
+out of sight of the crowd, but with it and the entire courtyard plainly
+in our view.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a quadrangular enclosure, formed by the four sides of the
+palace, perhaps three hundred feet across, packed solidly now with
+people of both sexes, the gleaming whiteness of the upper parts of their
+bodies, and their upturned faces, making a striking picture.</p>
+
+<p>"For perhaps ten minutes the king spoke steadily, save when he was
+interrupted by applause. Then he stopped abruptly and, turning, pulled
+Lylda and me out upon the balcony. The enthusiasm of the crowd doubled
+at our appearance. I was pushed forward to the balcony rail, where I
+bowed to the cheering throng.</p>
+
+<p>"Just after I left the king's balcony, I met Lylda's father. He was a
+kindly-faced old gentleman, and took a great interest in me and my
+story. He it was who told me about the physical conformation of his
+world, and he seemed to comprehend my explanation of mine.</p>
+
+<p>"That night it rained&mdash;a heavy, torrential downpour, such as we have in
+the tropics. Lylda and I had been talking for some time, and, I must
+confess, I had been making love to her ardently. I broached now the
+principal object of my entrance into her world, and, with an eloquence I
+did not believe I possessed, I pictured the wonders of our own great
+earth above, begging her to come back with me and live out her life with
+mine.</p>
+
+<p>"Much of what I said, she probably did not understand, but the main
+facts were intelligible without question. She listened quietly. When I
+had finished, and waited for her decision, she reached slowly out and
+clutched my shoulders, awkwardly making as if to kiss me. In an instant
+she was in my arms, with a low, happy little cry."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>A MODERN GULLIVER</h3>
+
+
+<p>"The clattering fall of rain brought us to ourselves. Rising to her
+feet, Lylda pulled me over to the window-opening, and together we stood
+and looked out into the night. The scene before us was beautiful, with a
+weirdness almost impossible to describe. It was as bright as I had ever
+seen this world, for even though heavy clouds hung overhead, the light
+from the stars was never more than a negligible quantity.</p>
+
+<p>"We were facing the lake&mdash;a shining expanse of silver radiation, its
+surface shifting and crawling, as though a great undulating blanket of
+silver mist lay upon it. And coming down to meet it from the sky were
+innumerable lines of silver&mdash;a vast curtain of silver cords that broke
+apart into great strings of pearls when I followed their downward
+course.</p>
+
+<p>"And then, as I turned to Lylda, I was struck with the extraordinary
+weirdness of her beauty as never before. The reflected light from the
+rain had something the quality of our moonlight. Shining on Lylda's
+body, it tremendously enhanced the iridescence of her skin. And her
+face, upturned to mine, bore an expression of radiant happiness and
+peace such as I had never seen before on a woman's countenance."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist paused, his voice dying away into silence as he sat lost in
+thought. Then he pulled himself together with a start. "It was a sight,
+gentlemen, the memory of which I shall cherish all my life.</p>
+
+<p>"The next day was that set for my entrance into the war. Lylda and I had
+talked nearly all night, and had decided that she was to return with me
+to my world. By morning the rain had stopped, and we sat together in the
+window-opening, silenced with the thrill of the wonderful new joy that
+had come into our hearts.</p>
+
+<p>"The country before us, under the cloudless, starry sky, stretched
+gray-blue and beautiful into the quivering obscurity of the distance. At
+our feet lay the city, just awakening into life. Beyond, over the
+rolling meadows and fields, wound the road that led out to the
+battle-front, and coming back over it now, we could see an endless line
+of vehicles. These, as they passed through the street beneath our
+window, I found were loaded with soldiers, wounded and dying. I
+shuddered at the sight of one cart in particular, and Lylda pressed
+close to me, pleading with her eyes for my help for her stricken people.</p>
+
+<p>"My exit from the castle was made quite a ceremony. A band of music and
+a guard of several hundred soldiers ushered me forth, walking beside the
+king, with Lylda a few paces behind. As we passed through the streets of
+the city, heading for the open country beyond, we were cheered
+continually by the people who thronged the streets and crowded upon the
+housetops to watch us pass.</p>
+
+<p>"Outside Arite I was taken perhaps a mile, where a wide stretch of
+country gave me the necessary space for my growth. We were standing upon
+a slight hill, below which, in a vast semicircle, fully a hundred
+thousand people were watching.</p>
+
+<p>"And now, for the first time, fear overcame me. I realized my
+situation&mdash;saw myself in a detached sort of way&mdash;a stranger in this
+extraordinary world, and only the power of my drug to raise me out of
+it. This drug you must remember, I had not as yet taken. Suppose it were
+not to act? Or were to act wrongly?</p>
+
+<p>"I glanced around. The king stood before me, quietly waiting my
+pleasure. Then I turned to Lylda. One glance at her proud, happy little
+face, and my fear left me as suddenly as it had come. I took her in my
+arms and kissed her, there before that multitude. Then I set her down,
+and signified to the king I was ready.</p>
+
+<p>"I took a minute quantity of one of the drugs, and as I had done before,
+sat down with my eyes covered. My sensations were fairly similar to
+those I have already described. When I looked up after a moment, I found
+the landscape dwindling to tiny proportions in quite as astonishing a
+way as it had grown before. The king and Lylda stood now hardly above my
+ankle.</p>
+
+<p>"A great cry arose from the people&mdash;a cry wherein horror, fear, and
+applause seemed equally mixed. I looked down and saw thousands of them
+running away in terror.</p>
+
+<p>"Still smaller grew everything within my vision, and then, after a
+moment, the landscape seemed at rest. I kneeled now upon the ground,
+carefully, to avoid treading on any of the people around me. I located
+Lylda and the king after a moment; tiny little creatures less than an
+inch in height. I was then, I estimated, from their viewpoint, about
+four hundred feet tall.</p>
+
+<p>"I put my hand flat upon the ground near Lylda, and after a moment she
+climbed into it, two soldiers lifting her up the side of my thumb as it
+lay upon the ground. In the hollow of my palm, she lay quite securely,
+and very carefully I raised her up towards my face. Then, seeing that
+she was frightened, I set her down again.</p>
+
+<p>"At my feet, hardly more than a few steps away, lay the tiny city of
+Arite and the lake. I could see all around the latter now, and could
+make out clearly a line of hills on the other side. Off to the left the
+road wound up out of sight in the distance. As far as I could see, a
+line of soldiers was passing out along this road&mdash;marching four abreast,
+with carts at intervals, loaded evidently with supplies; only
+occasionally, now, vehicles passed in the other direction. Can I make it
+plain to you, gentlemen, my sensations in changing stature? I felt at
+first as though I were tremendously high in the air, looking down as
+from a balloon upon the familiar territory beneath me. That feeling
+passed after a few moments, and I found that my point of view had
+changed. I no longer felt that I was looking down from a balloon, but
+felt as a normal person feels. And again I conceived myself but six feet
+tall, standing above a dainty little toy world. It is all in the
+viewpoint, of course, and never, during all my changes, was I for more
+than a moment able to feel of a different stature than I am at this
+present instant. It was always everything else that changed.</p>
+
+<p>"According to the directions I had received from the king, I started now
+to follow the course of the road. I found it difficult walking, for the
+country was dotted with houses, trees, and cultivated fields, and each
+footstep was a separate problem.</p>
+
+<p>"I progressed in this manner perhaps two miles, covering what the day
+before I would have called about a hundred and thirty or forty miles.
+The country became wilder as I advanced, and now was in places crowded
+with separate collections of troops.</p>
+
+<p>"I have not mentioned the commotion I made in this walk over the
+country. My coming must have been told widely by couriers the night
+before, to soldiers and peasantry alike, or the sight of me would have
+caused utter demoralization. As it was, I must have been terrifying to a
+tremendous degree. I think the careful way in which I picked my course,
+stepping in the open as much as possible, helped to reassure the people.
+Behind me, whenever I turned, they seemed rather more curious than
+fearful, and once or twice when I stopped for a few moments they
+approached my feet closely. One athletic young soldier caught the loose
+end of the string of one of my buskins, as it hung over my instep close
+to the ground and pulled himself up hand over hand, amid the
+enthusiastic cheers of his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>"I had walked nearly another mile, when almost in front of me, and
+perhaps a hundred yards away, I saw a remarkable sight that I did not at
+first understand. The country here was crossed by a winding river
+running in a general way at right angles to my line of progress. At the
+right, near at hand, and on the nearer bank of the river, lay a little
+city, perhaps half the size of Arite, with its back up against a hill.</p>
+
+<p>"What first attracted my attention was that from a dark patch across the
+river which seemed to be woods, pebbles appeared to pop up at intervals,
+traversing a little arc perhaps as high as my knees, and falling into
+the city. I watched for a moment and then I understood. There was a
+siege in progress, and the catapults of the Malites were bombarding the
+city with rocks.</p>
+
+<p>"I went up a few steps closer, and the pebbles stopped coming. I stood
+now beside the city, and as I bent over it, I could see by the battered
+houses the havoc the bombardment had caused. Inert little figures lay in
+the streets, and I bent lower and inserted my thumb and forefinger
+between a row of houses and picked one up. It was the body of a woman,
+partly mashed. I set it down again hastily.</p>
+
+<p>"Then as I stood up, I felt a sting on my leg. A pebble had hit me on
+the shin and dropped at my feet. I picked it up. It was the size of a
+small walnut&mdash;a huge bowlder six feet or more in diameter it would have
+been in Lylda's eyes. At the thought of her I was struck with a sudden
+fit of anger. I flung the pebble violently down into the wooded patch
+and leaped over the river in one bound, landing squarely on both feet in
+the woods. It was like jumping into a patch of ferns.</p>
+
+<p>"I stamped about me for a moment until a large part of the woods was
+crushed down. Then I bent over and poked around with my finger.
+Underneath the tangled wreckage of tiny-tree trunks, lay numbers of the
+Malites. I must have trodden upon a thousand or more, as one would stamp
+upon insects.</p>
+
+<p>"The sight sickened me at first, for after all, I could not look upon
+them as other than men, even though they were only the length of my
+thumb-nail. I walked a few steps forward, and in all directions I could
+see swarms of the little creatures running. Then the memory of my coming
+departure from this world with Lylda, and my promise to the king to rid
+his land once for all from these people, made me feel again that they,
+like vermin, were to be destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>"Without looking directly down, I spent the next two hours stamping over
+this entire vicinity. Then I ran two or three miles directly toward the
+country of the Malites, and returning I stamped along the course of the
+river for a mile or so in both directions. Then I walked back to Arite,
+again picking my way carefully among crowds of Oroids, who now feared me
+so little that I had difficulty in moving without stepping upon them.</p>
+
+<p>"When I had regained my former size, which needed two successive doses
+of the drug, I found myself surrounded by a crowd of the Oroids, pushing
+and shoving each other in an effort to get closer to me. The news of my
+success over their enemy have been divined by them, evidently. Lord
+knows it must have been obvious enough what I was going to do, when they
+saw me stride away, a being four hundred feet tall.</p>
+
+<p>"Their enthusiasm and thankfulness now were so mixed with awe and
+reverent worship of me as a divine being, that when I advanced towards
+Arite they opened a path immediately. The king, accompanied by Lylda,
+met me at the edge of the city. The latter threw herself into my arms at
+once, crying with relief to find me the proper size once more.</p>
+
+<p>"I need not go into details of the ceremonies of rejoicing that took
+place this afternoon. These people seemed little given to pomp and
+public demonstration. The king made a speech from his balcony, telling
+them all I had done, and the city was given over to festivities and
+preparations to receive the returning soldiers."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist pushed his chair back from the table, and moistened his dry
+lips with a swallow of water. "I tell you, gentlemen," he continued, "I
+felt pretty happy that day. It's a wonderful feeling to find yourself
+the savior of a nation."</p>
+
+<p>At that the Doctor jumped to his feet, overturning his chair, and
+striking the table a blow with his fist that made the glasses dance.</p>
+
+<p>"By God!" he fairly shouted, "that's just what you can be here to us."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker looked startled, while the Very Young Man pulled the Chemist
+by the coat in his eagerness to be heard. "A few of those pills," he
+said in a voice that quivered with excitement, "when you are standing in
+France, and you can walk over to Berlin and kick the houses apart with
+the toe of your boot."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" said the Big Business Man, and silence fell on the group as
+they stared at each other, awed by the possibilities that opened up
+before them.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>"I MUST GO BACK"</h3>
+
+
+<p>The tremendous plan for the salvation of their own suffering world
+through the Chemist's discovery occupied the five friends for some time.
+Then laying aside this subject, that now had become of the most vital
+importance to them all, the Chemist resumed his narrative.</p>
+
+<p>"My last evening in the world of the ring, I spent with Lylda,
+discussing our future, and making plans for the journey. I must tell you
+now, gentlemen, that never for a moment during my stay in Arite was I
+once free from an awful dread of this return trip. I tried to conceive
+what it would be like, and the more I thought about it, the more
+hazardous it seemed.</p>
+
+<p>"You must realize, when I was growing smaller, coming in, I was able to
+climb down, or fall or slide down, into the spaces as they opened up.
+Going back, I could only imagine the world as closing in upon me,
+crushing me to death unless I could find a larger space immediately
+above into which I could climb.</p>
+
+<p>"And as I talked with Lylda about this and tried to make her understand
+what I hardly understood myself, I gradually was brought to realize the
+full gravity of the danger confronting us. If only I had made the trip
+out once before, I could have ventured it with her. But as I looked at
+her fragile little body, to expose it to the terrible possibilities of
+such a journey was unthinkable.</p>
+
+<p>"There was another question, too, that troubled me. I had been gone from
+you nearly a week, and you were only to wait for me two days. I believed
+firmly that I was living at a faster rate, and that probably my time
+with you had not expired. But I did not know. And suppose, when I had
+come out on to the surface of the ring, one of you had had it on his
+finger walking along the street? No, I did not want Lylda with me in
+that event.</p>
+
+<p>"And so I told her&mdash;made her understand&mdash;that she must stay behind, and
+that I would come back for her. She did not protest. She said
+nothing&mdash;just looked up into my face with wide, staring eyes and a
+little quiver of her lips. Then she clutched my hand and fell into a
+low, sobbing cry.</p>
+
+<p>"I held her in my arms for a few moments, so little, so delicate, so
+human in her sorrow, and yet almost superhuman in her radiant beauty.
+Soon she stopped crying and smiled up at me bravely.</p>
+
+<p>"Next morning I left. Lylda took me through the tunnels and back into
+the forest by the river's edge where I had first met her. There we
+parted. I can see, now, her pathetic, drooping little figure as she
+trudged back to the tunnel.</p>
+
+<p>"When she had disappeared, I sat down to plan out my journey. I resolved
+now to reverse as nearly as possible the steps I had taken coming in.
+Acting on this decision, I started back to that portion of the forest
+where I had trampled it down.</p>
+
+<p>"I found the place without difficulty, stopping once on the way to eat a
+few berries, and some of the food I carried with me. Then I took a small
+amount of one of the drugs, and in a few moments the forest trees had
+dwindled into tiny twigs beneath my feet.</p>
+
+<p>"I started now to find the huge incline down which I had fallen, and
+when I reached it, after some hours of wandering, I followed its bottom
+edge to where a pile of rocks and dirt marked my former landing-place.
+The rocks were much larger than I remembered them, and so I knew I was
+not so large, now, as when I was here before.</p>
+
+<p>"Remembering the amount of the drug I had taken coming down, I took now
+twelve of the pills. Then, in a sudden panic, I hastily took two of the
+others. The result made my head swim most horribly. I sat or lay down, I
+forget which. When I looked up I saw the hills beyond the river and
+forest coming towards me, yet dwindling away beneath my feet as they
+approached. The incline seemed folding up upon itself, like a telescope.
+As I watched, its upper edge came into view, a curved, luminous line
+against the blackness above. Every instant it crawled down closer, more
+sharply curved, and its inclined surface grew steeper.</p>
+
+<p>"All this time, as I stood still, the ground beneath my feet seemed to
+be moving. It was crawling towards me, and folding up underneath where I
+was standing. Frequently I had to move to avoid rocks that came at me
+and passed under my feet into nothingness.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, all at once, I realized that I had been stepping constantly
+backward, to avoid the inclined wall as it shoved itself towards me. I
+turned to see what was behind, and horror made my flesh creep at what I
+saw. A black, forbidding wall, much like the incline in front, entirely
+encircled me. It was hardly more than half a mile away, and towered four
+or five thousand feet overhead.</p>
+
+<p>"And as I stared in terror, I could see it closing in, the line of its
+upper edge coming steadily closer and lower. I looked wildly around with
+an overpowering impulse to run. In every direction towered this rocky
+wall, inexorably swaying in to crush me.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I fainted. When I came to myself the scene had not greatly
+changed. I was lying at the bottom and against one wall of a circular
+pit, now about a thousand feet in diameter and nearly twice as deep. The
+wall all around I could see was almost perpendicular, and it seemed
+impossible to ascend its smooth, shining sides. The action of the drug
+had evidently worn off, for everything was quite still.</p>
+
+<p>"My fear had now left me, for I remembered this circular pit quite well.
+I walked over to its center, and looking around and up to its top I
+estimated distances carefully. Then I took two more of the pills.</p>
+
+<p>"Immediately the familiar, sickening, crawling sensation began again. As
+the walls closed in upon me, I kept carefully in the center of the pit.
+Steadily they crept in. Now only a few hundred feet away! Now only a few
+paces&mdash;and then I reached out and touched both sides at once with my
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you, gentlemen, it was a terrifying sensation to stand in that
+well (as it now seemed), and feel its walls closing up with irresistible
+force. But now the upper edge was within reach of my fingers. I leaped
+upward and hung for a moment, then pulled myself up and scrabbled out,
+tumbling in a heap on the ground above. As I recovered myself, I looked
+again at the hole out of which I had escaped; it was hardly big enough
+to contain my fist.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew, now, I was at the bottom of the scratch. But how different it
+looked than before. It seemed this time a long, narrow ca&ntilde;on, hardly
+more than sixty feet across. I glanced up and saw the blue sky overhead,
+flooded with light, that I knew was the space of this room above the
+ring.</p>
+
+<p>"The problem now was quite a different one than getting out of the pit,
+for I saw that the scratch was so deep in proportion to its width that
+if I let myself get too big, I would be crushed by its walls before I
+could jump out. It would be necessary, therefore, to stay comparatively
+small and climb up its side.</p>
+
+<p>"I selected what appeared to be an especially rough section, and took a
+portion of another of the pills. Then I started to climb. After an hour
+the buskins on my feet were torn to fragments, and I was bruised and
+battered as you saw me. I see, now, how I could have made both the
+descent into the ring, and my journey back with comparatively little
+effort, but I did the best I knew at the time.</p>
+
+<p>"When the ca&ntilde;on was about ten feet in width, and I had been climbing
+arduously for several hours, I found myself hardly more than fifteen or
+twenty feet above its bottom. And I was still almost that far from the
+top. With the stature I had then attained, I could have climbed the
+remaining distance easily, but for the fact that the wall above had
+grown too smooth to afford a foothold. The effects of the drug had again
+worn off, and I sat down and prepared to take another dose. I did
+so&mdash;the smallest amount I could&mdash;and held ready in my hand a pill of the
+other kind in case of emergency. Steadily the walls closed in.</p>
+
+<p>"A terrible feeling of dizziness now came over me. I clutched the rock
+beside which I was sitting, and it seemed to melt like ice beneath my
+grasp. Then I remembered seeing the edge of the ca&ntilde;on within reach above
+my head, and with my last remaining strength, I pulled myself up, and
+fell upon the surface of the ring. You know the rest. I took another
+dose of the powder, and in a few minutes was back among you."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist stopped speaking, and looked at his friends. "Well," he
+said, "you've heard it all. What do you think of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a terrible thing to me," sighed the Very Young Man, "that you did
+not bring Llyda with you."</p>
+
+<p>"It would have been a terrible thing if I had brought her. But I am
+going back for her."</p>
+
+<p>"When do you plan to go back?" asked the Doctor after a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as I can&mdash;in a day or two," answered the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>"Before you do your work here? You must not," remonstrated the Big
+Business Man. "Our war here needs you, our nation, the whole cause of
+liberty and freedom needs you. You cannot go."</p>
+
+<p>"Lylda needs me, too," returned the Chemist. "I have an obligation
+towards her now, you know, quite apart from my own feelings. Understand
+me, gentlemen," he continued earnestly, "I do not place myself and mine
+before the great fight for democracy and justice being waged in this
+world. That would be absurd. But it is not quite that way, actually; I
+can go back for Lylda and return here in a week. That week will make
+little difference to the war. On the other hand, if I go to France
+first, it may take me a good many months to complete my task, and during
+that time Lylda will be using up her life several times faster than I.
+No, gentlemen, I am going to her first."</p>
+
+<p>"That week you propose to take," said the Banker slowly, "will cost this
+world thousands of lives that you could save. Have you thought of that?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist flushed. "I can recognize the salvation of a nation or a
+cause," he returned hotly, "but if I must choose between the lives of a
+thousand men who are not dependent on me, and the life or welfare of one
+woman who is, I shall choose the woman."</p>
+
+<p>"He's right, you know," said the Doctor, and the Very Young Man agreed
+with him fervently.</p>
+
+<p>Two days later the company met again in the privacy of the clubroom.
+When they had finished dinner, the Chemist began in his usual quiet way:</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to ask you this time, gentlemen, to give me a full week.
+There are four of you&mdash;six hours a day of watching for each. It need not
+be too great a hardship. You see," he continued, as they nodded in
+agreement, "I want to spend a longer period in the ring world this time.
+I may never go back, and I want to learn, in the interest of science, as
+much about it as I can. I was there such a short time before, and it was
+all so strange and remarkable, I confess I learned practically nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"I told you all I could of its history. But of its arts, its science,
+and all its sociological and economic questions, I got hardly more than
+a glimpse. It is a world and a people far less advanced than ours, yet
+with something we have not, and probably never will have&mdash;the
+universally distributed milk of human kindness. Yes, gentlemen, it is a
+world well worth studying."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker came out of a brown study. "How about your formulas for these
+drugs?" he asked abruptly; "where are they?" The Chemist tapped his
+forehead smilingly. "Well, hadn't you better leave them with us?" the
+Banker pursued. "The hazards of your trip&mdash;you can't tell&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't misunderstand me, gentlemen," broke in the Chemist. "I wouldn't
+give you those formulas if my life and even Lylda's depended on it.
+There again you do not differentiate between the individual and the
+race. I know you four very well. You are my friends, with all the bond
+that friendship implies. I believe in your integrity&mdash;each of you I
+trust implicitly. With these formulas you could crush Germany, or you
+could, any one of you, rule the world, with all its treasures for your
+own. These drugs are the most powerful thing for good in the world
+to-day. But they are equally as powerful for evil. I would stake my life
+on what you would do, but I will not stake the life of a nation."</p>
+
+<p>"I know what I'd do if I had the formulas," began the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but I don't know what you'd do," laughed the Chemist. "Don't you
+see I'm right?" They admitted they did, though the Banker acquiesced
+very grudgingly.</p>
+
+<p>"The time of my departure is at hand. Is there anything else, gentlemen,
+before I leave you?" asked the Chemist, beginning to disrobe.</p>
+
+<p>"Please tell Lylda I want very much to meet her," said the Very Young
+Man earnestly, and they all laughed.</p>
+
+<p>When the room was cleared, and the handkerchief and ring in place once
+more, the Chemist turned to them again. "Good-by, my friends," he said,
+holding out his hands. "One week from to-night, at most." Then he took
+the pills.</p>
+
+<p>No unusual incident marked his departure. The last they saw of him he
+was calmly sitting on the ring near the scratch.</p>
+
+<p>Then passed the slow days of watching, each taking his turn for the
+allotted six hours.</p>
+
+<p>By the fifth day, they began to hourly expect the Chemist, but it passed
+through its weary length, and he did not come. The sixth day dragged by,
+and then came the last&mdash;the day he had promised would end their
+watching. Still he did not come, and in the evening they gathered, and
+all four watched together, each unwilling to miss the return of the
+adventurer and his woman from another world.</p>
+
+<p>But the minutes lengthened into hours, and midnight found the
+white-faced little group, hopeful yet hopeless, with fear tugging at
+their hearts. A second week passed, and still they watched, explaining
+with an optimism they could none of them feel, the non-appearance of
+their friend. At the end of the second week they met again to talk the
+situation over, a dull feeling of fear and horror possessing them. The
+Doctor was the first to voice what now each of them was forced to
+believe. "I guess it's all useless," he said. "He's not coming back."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't hardly dare give him up," said the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Me, too," agreed the Very Young Man sadly.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor sat for some time in silence, thoughtfully regarding the
+ring. "My friends," he began finally, "this is too big a thing to deal
+with in any but the most careful way. I can't imagine what is going on
+inside that ring, but I do know what is happening in our world, and what
+our friend's return means to civilization here. Under the circumstances,
+therefore, I cannot, I will not give him up.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to put that ring in a museum and pay for having it watched
+indefinitely. Will you join me?" He turned to the Big Business Man as he
+spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Make it a threesome," said the Banker gruffly. "What do you take me
+for?" and the Very Young Man sighed with the tragedy of youth.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>AFTER FIVE YEARS</h3>
+
+
+<p>Four men sat in the clubroom, at their ease in the luxurious leather
+chairs, smoking and talking earnestly. Near the center of the room stood
+a huge mahogany table. On its top, directly in the glare of light from
+an electrolier overhead, was spread a large black silk handkerchief. In
+the center of this handkerchief lay a heavy gold band&mdash;a woman's
+wedding-ring.</p>
+
+<p>An old-fashioned valise stood near a corner of the table. Its sides were
+perforated with small brass-rimmed holes; near the top on one side was a
+small square aperture covered with a wire mesh through which one might
+look into the interior. Altogether, from the outside, the bag looked
+much like those used for carrying small animals.</p>
+
+<p>As it lay on the table now its top was partly open. The inside was
+brightly lighted by a small storage battery and electric globe, fastened
+to the side. Near the bottom of the bag was a tiny wire rack, held
+suspended about an inch from the bottom by transverse wires to the
+sides. The inside of the bag was lined with black plush.</p>
+
+<p>On an arm of the Doctor's chair lay two white tin boxes three or four
+inches square. In his hand he held an opened envelope and several letter
+pages.</p>
+
+<p>"A little more than five years ago to-night, my friends," he began
+slowly, "we sat in this room with that"&mdash;he indicated the ring&mdash;"under
+very different circumstances." After a moment, he went on:</p>
+
+<p>"I think I am right when I say that for five years the thought uppermost
+in our minds has always been that ring and what is going on within one
+of its atoms."</p>
+
+<p>"You bet," said the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"For five years now we have had the ring watched," continued the Doctor,
+"but Rogers has never returned."</p>
+
+<p>"You asked us here to-night because you had something special to tell
+us," began the Very Young Man, with a questioning look at the valise and
+the ring.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor smiled. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't mean to be
+aggravating."</p>
+
+<p>"Go ahead in your own way, Frank," the Big Business Man put in. "We'll
+wait if we have to."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor glanced at the papers in his hand; he had just taken them
+from the envelope. "You are consumed with curiosity, naturally, to know
+what I have to say&mdash;why I have brought the ring here to-night.
+Gentlemen, you have had to restrain that curiosity less than five
+minutes; I have had a far greater curiosity to endure&mdash;and restrain&mdash;for
+over five years.</p>
+
+<p>"When Rogers left us on his last journey into the ring, he gave into my
+keeping, unknown to you, this envelope." The Doctor held it up.</p>
+
+<p>"He made me swear I would keep its existence secret from every living
+being, until the date marked upon it, at which time, in the event of his
+not having returned, it was to be opened. Look at it." The Doctor laid
+the envelope on the table.</p>
+
+<p>"It is inscribed, as you see, 'To be opened by Dr. Frank Adams at 8 <span class="smcap">P.
+M.</span> on September 4th, 1923.' For five years, gentlemen, I kept that
+envelope, knowing nothing of its contents and waiting for the moment
+when I might, with honor, open it. The struggle has been a hard one.
+Many times I have almost been able to persuade myself, in justice to our
+friend's safety&mdash;his very life, probably&mdash;that it would be best to
+disregard his instructions. But I did not; I waited until the date set
+and then, a little more than a month ago, alone in my office, I opened
+the envelope."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor leaned forward in his chair and shuffled the papers he held
+in his hand. His three friends sat tense, waiting.</p>
+
+<p>"The envelope contained these papers. Among them is a letter in which I
+am directed to explain everything to you as soon as I succeed in doing
+certain other things. Those things I have now accomplished. So I have
+sent for you. I'll read you the letter first."</p>
+
+<p>No one spoke when the Doctor paused. The Banker drew a long breath. Then
+he bit the end off a fresh cigar and lit it with a shaking hand. The
+Doctor shifted his chair closer to the table under the light.</p>
+
+<p>"The letter is dated September 14th, 1918. It begins: 'This will be read
+at 8 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> on September 4th, 1923, by Dr. Frank Adams with no one else
+present. If the envelope has been opened by him previous to that date I
+request him to read no further. If it has fallen into other hands than
+his I can only hope that the reader will immediately destroy it
+unread.'" The Doctor paused an instant, then went on.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, we are approaching the most important events of our lives.
+An extraordinary duty&mdash;a tremendous responsibility, rests with us, of
+all the millions of people on this earth. I ask that you listen most
+carefully."</p>
+
+<p>His admonition was quite unnecessary, for no one could have been more
+intent than the three men silently facing him.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor continued reading: "'From Dr. Frank Adams, I exact the
+following oath, before he reads further. You, Dr. Adams, will divulge to
+no one, for a period of thirty days, the formulas set down in these
+papers; you will follow implicitly the directions given you; you will do
+nothing that is not expressly stated here. Should you be unable to carry
+out these directions, you will destroy this letter and the formulas, and
+tell no one of their ever having been in existence. I must have your
+oath, Dr. Adams, before you proceed further.'"</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor's voice died away, and he laid the papers on the table.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," he went on, "later on in the letter I am directed to
+consult with you three, setting before you this whole matter. But before
+I do so I must exact a similar oath from each of you. I must have your
+word of honor, gentlemen, that you will not attempt to transgress the
+instructions given us, and that you will never, by word or action, allow
+a suggestion of what passes between us here in this room to-night, to
+reach any other person. Have I your promise?"</p>
+
+<p>Each of his three hearers found voice to agree. The Banker's face was
+very red, and he mopped his forehead nervously with his handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor picked up the papers. "The letter goes on: 'I am about to
+venture back into the unknown world of the ring. What will befall me
+there I cannot foretell. If by September 4th, 1923, I have not returned,
+or no other mortal has come out of the ring, it is my desire that you
+and the three gentlemen with you at the time of my departure, use this
+discovery of mine for the benefit of humanity in your world, or the
+world in the ring, exactly as I myself would have used it were I there.</p>
+
+<p>"'Should the European war be in progress at that time, I direct that you
+four throw your power on the side of the United States for the defeat of
+the Central Powers. That you will be able to accomplish that defeat I
+cannot doubt.</p>
+
+<p>"'If, on September 4th, 1923, the United States is formally at peace
+with the powers of the world, you are forbidden to use these chemicals
+for any purpose other than joining me in the world of the ring. If any
+among you wish to make the venture, which I hope may be the case, I
+request that you do so.</p>
+
+<p>"'Among these pages you will find a list of fourteen chemicals to be
+used by Dr. Frank Adams during the month following September 4, 1923,
+for the compounding of my powders. Seven of these chemicals (marked A),
+are employed in the drug used to diminish bodily size. Those seven
+marked B are for the drug of opposite action.</p>
+
+<p>"'You will find here a separate description of each chemical. Nine are
+well known and fairly common. Dr. Adams will be able to purchase each of
+them separately without difficulty. Three others will have to be
+especially compounded and I have so stated in the directions for each of
+them. Dr. Adams can have them prepared by any large chemical
+manufacturer; I suggest that he have not more than one of them
+compounded by the same company.</p>
+
+<p>"'The two remaining chemicals must be prepared by Dr. Adams personally.
+Their preparation, while intricate, demands no complicated or extensive
+apparatus. I have tried to explain thoroughly the making of these two
+chemicals, and I believe no insurmountable obstacle will be met in
+completing them.</p>
+
+<p>"'When Dr. Adams has the specified quantities of each of these fourteen
+chemicals in his possession, he will proceed according to my further
+directions to compound the two drugs. If he is successful in making
+these drugs, I direct that he make known to the three other men referred
+to, the contents of this letter, after first exacting an oath from each
+that its provisions will be carried out.</p>
+
+<p>"'I think it probable that Dr. Adams will succeed in compounding these
+two drugs. It also seems probable that at that time the United States no
+longer will be at war. I make the additional assumption that one or more
+of you gentlemen will desire to join me in the ring. Therefore, you will
+find herewith memoranda of my first journey into the ring which I have
+already described to you; I give also the quantities of each drug to be
+taken at various stages of the trip. These notes will refresh your
+memory and will assist you in your journey.</p>
+
+<p>"'I intend to suggest to Dr. Adams to-day when I hand him this letter,
+that in the event of my failure to return within a week, he make some
+adequate provision for guarding the ring in safety. And I must caution
+you now, before starting to join me, if you conclude to do so, that you
+continue this provision, so as to make possible your safe return to your
+own world.</p>
+
+<p>"'If our country is at war at the time you read this, your duty is
+plain. I have no fears regarding your course of action. But if not, I do
+not care to influence unduly your decision about venturing into this
+unknown other world. The danger into which I personally may have fallen
+must count for little with you, in a decision to hazard your own lives.
+I may point out, however, that such a journey successfully accomplished
+cannot fail but be the greatest contribution to science that has ever
+been made. Nor can I doubt but that your coming may prove of tremendous
+benefit to the humanity of this other equally important, though, in our
+eyes, infinitesimal world.</p>
+
+<p>"'I therefore suggest, gentlemen, that you start your journey into the
+ring at 8 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> on the evening of November 4, 1923. You will do your
+best to find your way direct to the city of Arite, where, if I am alive,
+I will be awaiting you.'"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>TESTING THE DRUGS</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Doctor laid his papers on the table and looked up into the white
+faces of the three men facing him. "That's all, gentlemen," he said.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment no one spoke, and on the face of each was plainly written
+the evidence of an emotion too deep for words. The Doctor sorted out the
+papers in silence, glanced over them for a moment, and then reached for
+a large metal ash tray that stood near him on the table. Taking a match
+from his pocket he calmly lighted a corner of the papers and dropped
+them burning into the metal bowl. His friends watched him in awed
+silence; only the Very Young Man found words to protest.</p>
+
+<p>"Say now, wait," he began, "why&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor looked at him. "The letter requests me to do that," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"But I say, the formulas&mdash;&mdash;" persisted the Very Young Man, looking
+wildly at the burning papers.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor held up one of the white tin boxes lying on the arm of his
+chair.</p>
+
+<p>"In these tins," he said, "I have vials containing the specified
+quantity of each drug. It is ample for our purpose. I have done my best
+to memorize the formulas. But in any event, I was directed to burn them
+at the time of reading you the letter. I have done so."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man came out of a brown study.</p>
+
+<p>"Just three weeks from to-night," he murmured, "three weeks from
+to-night. It's too big to realize."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor put the two boxes on the table, turned his chair back toward
+the others, and lighted a cigar.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, let us go over this matter thoroughly," he began. "We have a
+momentous decision to make. Either we destroy those boxes and their
+contents, or three weeks from to-night some or all of us start our
+journey into the ring. I have had a month to think this matter over; I
+have made my decision.</p>
+
+<p>"I know there is much for you to consider, before you can each of you
+choose your course of action. It is not my desire or intention to
+influence you one way or the other. But we can, if you wish, discuss the
+matter here to-night; or we can wait, if you prefer, until each of you
+has had time to think it out for himself."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going," the Very Young Man burst out.</p>
+
+<p>His hands were gripping the arms of his chair tightly; his face was very
+pale, but his eyes sparkled.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor turned to him gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"Your life is at stake, my boy," he said, "this is not a matter for
+impulse."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going whether any one else does or not," persisted the Very Young
+Man. "You can't stop me, either," he added doggedly. "That letter
+said&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor smiled at the youth's earnestness. Then abruptly he held out
+his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no use my holding back my own decision. I am going to attempt
+the trip. And since, as you say, I cannot stop you from going," he added
+with a twinkle, "that makes two of us."</p>
+
+<p>They shook hands. The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette, and began
+pacing up and down the room, staring hard at the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"I can remember trying to imagine how I would feel," began the Big
+Business Man slowly, "if Rogers had asked me to go with him when he
+first went into the ring. It is not a new idea to me, for I have thought
+about it many times in the abstract, during the past five years. But now
+that I am face to face with it in reality, it sort of&mdash;&mdash;" He broke off,
+and smiled helplessly around at his companions.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man stopped in his walk. "Aw, come on in," he began,
+"the&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Shut up," growled the Banker, speaking for the first time in many
+minutes.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure we would all like to go," said the Doctor. "The point is,
+which of us are best fitted for the trip."</p>
+
+<p>"None of us are married," put in the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been thinking&mdash;&mdash;" began the Banker. "Suppose we get into the
+ring&mdash;how long would we be gone, do you suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who can say?" answered the Doctor smiling. "Perhaps a month&mdash;a
+year&mdash;many years possibly. That is one of the hazards of the venture."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker went on thoughtfully. "Do you remember that argument we had
+with Rogers about time? Time goes twice as fast, didn't he say, in that
+other world?"</p>
+
+<p>"Two and a half times faster, if I remember rightly, he estimated,"
+replied the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>The Banker looked at his skinny hands a moment. "I owned up to
+sixty-four once," he said quizzically. "Two years and a half in one
+year. No, I guess I'll let you young fellows tackle that; I'll stay here
+in this world where things don't move so fast."</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody's got to stay," said the Very Young Man. "By golly, you know
+if we're all going into that ring it would be pretty sad to have
+anything happen to it while we were gone."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so," said the Banker, looking relieved. "I never thought of
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"One of us should stay at least," said the Doctor. "We cannot take any
+outsider into our confidence. One of us must watch the others go, and
+then take the ring back to its place in the Museum. We will be gone too
+long a time for one person to watch it here."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man suddenly went to one of the doors and locked it.</p>
+
+<p>"We don't want any one coming in," he explained as he crossed the room
+and locked the others.</p>
+
+<p>"And another thing," he went on, coming back to the table. "When I saw
+the ring at the Biological Society the other day, I happened to think,
+suppose Rogers was to come out on the underneath side? It was lying
+flat, you know, just as it is now." He pointed to where the ring lay on
+the handkerchief before them. "I meant to speak to you about it," he
+added.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought of that," said the Doctor. "When I had that case built to
+bring the ring here, you notice I raised it above the bottom a little,
+holding it suspended in that wire frame."</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better fix up something like that at the Museum, too," said the
+Very Young Man, and went back to his walk.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man had been busily jotting down figures on the back of
+an envelope. "I can be in shape to go in three weeks," he said suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Bully for you," said the Very Young Man. "Then it's all settled." The
+Big Business Man went back to his notes.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew what your answer would be," said the Doctor. "My patients can go
+to the devil. This is too big a thing."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man picked up one of the tin boxes. "Tell us how you made
+the powders," he suggested.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor took the two boxes and opened them. Inside each were a number
+of tiny glass vials. Those in one box were of blue glass; those in the
+other were red.</p>
+
+<p>"These vials," said the Doctor, "contain tiny pellets of the completed
+drug. That for diminishing size I have put in the red vials; those of
+blue are the other drug.</p>
+
+<p>"I had rather a difficult time making them&mdash;that is, compared to what I
+anticipated. Most of the chemicals I bought without difficulty. But when
+I came to compound those two myself"&mdash;the Doctor smiled&mdash;"I used to
+think I was a fair chemist in my student days. But now&mdash;well, at least I
+got the results, but only because I have been working almost night and
+day for the past month. And I found myself with a remarkably complete
+experimental laboratory when I finished," he added. "That was yesterday;
+I spent nearly all last night destroying the apparatus, as soon as I
+found that the drugs had been properly made."</p>
+
+<p>"They do work?" said the Very Young Man anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"They work," answered the Doctor. "I tried them both very carefully."</p>
+
+<p>"On yourself?" said the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I didn't think that necessary. I used several insects."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's try them now," suggested the Very Young Man eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Not the big one," said the Banker. "Once was enough for that."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," the Doctor laughed. "We'll try the other if you like."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man looked around the room. "There's a few flies around
+here if we can catch one," he suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll bet there's a cockroach in the kitchen," said the Very Young Man,
+jumping up.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor took a brass check from his pocket. "I thought probably you'd
+want to try them out. Will you get that box from the check-room?" He
+handed the check to the Very Young Man, who hurried out of the room. He
+returned in a moment, gingerly carrying a cardboard box with holes
+perforated in the top. The Doctor took the box and lifted the lid
+carefully. Inside, the box was partitioned into two compartments. In one
+compartment were three little lizards about four inches long; in the
+other were two brown sparrows. The Doctor took out one of the sparrows
+and replaced the cover.</p>
+
+<p>"Fine," said the Very Young Man with enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor reached for the boxes of chemicals.</p>
+
+<p>"Not the big one," said the Banker again, apprehensively.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold him, will you," the Doctor said.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man took the sparrow in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," continued the Doctor, "what we need is a plate and a little
+water."</p>
+
+<p>"There's a tray," said the Very Young Man, pointing with his hands
+holding the sparrow.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor took a spoon from the tray and put a little water in it. Then
+he took one of the tiny pellets from a red vial and crushing it in his
+fingers, sprinkled a few grains into that water.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold that a moment, please." The Big Business Man took the proffered
+spoon.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Doctor produced from his pocket a magnifying glass and a tiny
+pair of silver callipers such as are used by jewelers for handling small
+objects.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the idea?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought I'd try and put him on the ring," explained the Doctor. "Now,
+then hold open his beak."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man did so, and the Doctor poured the water down the
+bird's throat. Most of it spilled; the sparrow twisted its head
+violently, but evidently some of the liquid had gone down the bird's
+throat.</p>
+
+<p>Silence followed, broken after a moment by the scared voice of the Very
+Young Man. "He's getting smaller, I can feel him. He's getting smaller."</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on to him," cautioned the Doctor. "Bring him over here." They went
+over to the table by the ring, the Banker and the Big Business Man
+standing close beside them.</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose he tries to fly when we let go of him," suggested the Very
+Young Man almost in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"He'll probably be too confused," answered the Doctor. "Have you got
+him?" The sparrow was hardly bigger than a large horse-fly now, and the
+Very Young Man was holding it between his thumb and forefinger.</p>
+
+<p>"Better give him to me," said the Doctor. "Set him down."</p>
+
+<p>"He might fly away," remonstrated the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"No, he won't."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man put the sparrow on the handkerchief beside the ring
+and the Doctor immediately picked it up with the callipers.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't squeeze him," cautioned the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>The sparrow grew steadily smaller, and in a moment the Doctor set it
+carefully on the rim of the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"Get him up by the scratch," whispered the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>The men bent closer over the table, as the Doctor looking through his
+magnifying glass shoved the sparrow slowly along the top of the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't see him," said the Banker.</p>
+
+<p>"I can," said the Very Young Man, "right by the scratch." Then after a
+moment, "he's gone."</p>
+
+<p>"I've got him right over the scratch," said the Doctor, leaning farther
+down. Then he raised his head and laid the magnifying glass and the
+callipers on the table. "He's gone now."</p>
+
+<p>"Gosh," said the Very Young Man, drawing a long breath.</p>
+
+<p>The Banker flung himself into a chair as though exhausted from a great
+physical effort.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it certainly does work," said the Big Business Man, "there's no
+question about that."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man was shaking the cardboard box in his hands and
+lifting its cover cautiously to see inside. "Let's try a lizard," he
+suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what's the use," the Banker protested wearily, "we know it works."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it can't hurt anything to try it, can it?" the Very Young Man
+urged. "Besides, the more we try it, the more sure we are it will work
+with us when the time comes. You don't want to try it on yourself, now,
+do you?" he added with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>"No, thank you," retorted the Banker with emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we might as well try it again," said the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man took one of the tiny lizards from the box, and in a
+moment they had dropped some water containing the drug down its throat.
+"Try to put him on the scratch, too," said the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>When the lizard was small enough the Doctor held it with the callipers
+and then laid it on the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"Look at him walk; look at him walk," whispered the Very Young Man
+excitedly. The lizard, hardly more than an eighth of an inch long now,
+but still plainly visible, was wriggling along the top of the ring.
+"Shove him up by the scratch," he added.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment more the reptile was too small for any but the Doctor with
+his glass to see. "I guess he got there," he said finally with a smile,
+as he straightened up. "He was going fast."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, <i>that's</i> all right," said the Very Young Man with a sigh of
+relief.</p>
+
+<p>The four men again seated themselves; the Big Business Man went back to
+his figures.</p>
+
+<p>"When do you start?" asked the Banker after a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"November 4th&mdash;8 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>," answered the Doctor. "Three weeks from
+to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"We've a lot to do," said the Banker.</p>
+
+<p>"What will this cost, do you figure?" asked the Big Business Man,
+looking up from his notes.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor considered a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"We can't take much with us, you know," he said slowly. Then he
+took a sheet of memoranda from his pockets. "I have already spent
+for apparatus and chemicals to prepare the drugs"&mdash;he consulted his
+figures&mdash;"seventeen hundred and forty dollars, total. What we have still
+to spend will be very little, I should think. I propose we divide it
+three ways as we have been doing with the Museum?"</p>
+
+<p>"Four ways," said the Very Young Man. "I'm no kid any more. I got a good
+job&mdash;that is," he added with a rueful air, "I had a good job. To-morrow
+I quit."</p>
+
+<p>"Four ways," the Doctor corrected himself gravely. "I guess we can
+manage that."</p>
+
+<p>"What can we take with us, do you think?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we should try strapping a belt around our waists, with pouches
+in it," said the Doctor. "I doubt if it would contract with our bodies,
+but still it might. If it didn't there would be no harm done; we could
+leave it behind."</p>
+
+<p>"You want food and water," said the Banker. "Remember that barren
+country you are going through."</p>
+
+<p>"And something on our feet," the Big Business Man put in.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to take a revolver, too," said the Very Young Man. "It might
+come in awful handy."</p>
+
+<p>"As I remember Rogers's description," said the Doctor thoughtfully, "the
+trip out is more difficult than going down. We mustn't overlook
+preparations for that; it is most imperative we should be careful."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, talking about getting back," burst out the Very Young Man. "I'd
+like to see that other drug work first. It would be pretty rotten to get
+in there and have it go back on us, wouldn't it? Oh, golly!" The Very
+Young Man sank back in his chair overcome by the picture he had conjured
+up.</p>
+
+<p>"I tried it," said the Doctor. "It works."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to see it again with something different," said the Big
+Business Man. "It can't do any harm." The Banker looked his protest, but
+said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we try, a lizard?" suggested the Very Young Man. The Doctor
+shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"What'll we kill it with? Oh, I know." The Very Young Man picked up a
+heavy metal paper-weight from the desk. "This'll do the trick, fine," he
+added.</p>
+
+<p>Then, laying the paper-weight carefully aside, he dipped up a spoonful
+of water and offered it to the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Not that water this time," said the Doctor, shaking his head with a
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked blank.</p>
+
+<p>"Organisms in it," the Doctor explained briefly. "All right for them to
+get small from the other chemical, but we don't want them to get large
+and come out at us, do we?"</p>
+
+<p>"Holy Smoke, I should say not," said the Very Young Man, gasping; and
+the Banker growled:</p>
+
+<p>"Something's going to happen to us, playing with fire like this."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor produced a little bottle. "I boiled this water," he said. "We
+can use this."</p>
+
+<p>It took but a moment to give the other drug to one of the remaining
+lizards, although they spilled more of the water than went down its
+throat.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't forget to hit him, and don't you wait very long," said the Banker
+warningly, moving nearer the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'll hit him all right, don't worry," said the Very Young Man,
+brandishing the paper-weight.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor knelt down, and held the reptile pinned to the floor; the
+Very Young Man knelt beside him. Slowly the lizard began to increase in
+size.</p>
+
+<p>"He's growing," said the Banker. "Hit him, boy, what's the use of
+waiting; he's growing."</p>
+
+<p>The lizard was nearly a foot long now, and struggling violently between
+the Doctor's fingers.</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better kill him," said the Doctor, "he might get away from me."
+The Very Young Man obediently brought his weapon down with a thump upon
+the reptile's head.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep on," said the Banker. "Be sure he's dead."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man pounded the quivering body for a moment. The Big
+Business Man handed him a napkin from the tray and the Very Young Man
+wrapped up the lizard and threw it into the waste-basket.</p>
+
+<p>Then he rose to his feet and tossed the paper-weight on to the desk with
+a crash.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, gentlemen," he said, turning back to them with flushed face,
+"those drugs sure do work. We're going into the ring all right, three
+weeks from to-night, and nothing on earth can stop us."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ESCAPE OF THE DRUG</h3>
+
+
+<p>For the next hour the four friends busily planned their preparations for
+the journey. When they began to discuss the details of the trip, and
+found themselves face to face with so hazardous an adventure, each
+discovered a hundred things in his private life that needed attention.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor's phrase, "My patients can go to the devil," seemed to
+relieve his mind of all further responsibility towards his personal
+affairs.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all very well for you," said the Big Business Man, "I've too
+many irons in the fire just to drop everything&mdash;there are too many other
+people concerned. And I've got to plan as though I were never coming
+back, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Your troubles are easy," said the Very Young Man. "I've got a girl. I
+wonder what she'll say. Oh, gosh, I can't tell her where I'm going, can
+I? I never thought of that." He scratched his head with a perplexed air.
+"That's tough on her. Well, I'm glad I'm an orphan, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>The actual necessities of the trip needed a little discussion, for what
+they could take with them amounted to practically nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"As I understand it," said the Banker, "all I have to do is watch you
+start, and then take the ring back to the Museum."</p>
+
+<p>"Take it carefully," continued the Very Young Man. "Remember what it's
+got in it."</p>
+
+<p>"You will give us about two hours to get well started down," said the
+Doctor. "After that it will be quite safe to move the ring. You can take
+it back to the Society in that case I brought it here in."</p>
+
+<p>"Be sure you take it yourself," put in the Very Young Man. "Don't trust
+it to anybody else. And how about having that wire rack fixed for it at
+the Museum," he added. "Don't forget that."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll have that done myself this week," said the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>They had been talking for perhaps an hour when the Banker got up from
+his chair to get a fresh cigar from a box that lay upon the desk. He
+happened to glance across the room and on the floor in the corner by the
+closed door he saw a long, flat object that had not been there before.
+It was out of the circle of light and being brown against the polished
+hardwood floor, he could not make it out clearly. But something about it
+frightened him.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that over there?" he asked, standing still and pointing.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man rose from his seat and took a few steps in the
+direction of the Banker's outstretched hand. Then with a muttered oath
+he jumped to the desk in a panic and picking up the heavy paper-weight
+flung it violently across the room. It struck the panelled wall with a
+crash and bounded back towards him. At the same instant there came a
+scuttling sound from the floor, and a brown shape slid down the edge of
+the room and stopped in the other corner.</p>
+
+<p>All four men were on their feet in an instant, white-faced and
+trembling.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God," said the Big Business Man huskily, "that thing over
+there&mdash;that&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Turn on the side lights&mdash;the side lights!" shouted the Doctor, running
+across the room.</p>
+
+<p>In the glare of the unshaded globes on the wall the room was brightly
+lighted. On the floor in the corner the horrified men saw a cockroach
+nearly eighteen inches in length, with its head facing the angle of
+wall, and scratching with its legs against the base board as though
+about to climb up. For a moment the men stood silent with surprise and
+terror. Then, as they stared they saw the cockroach was getting larger.
+The Big Business Man laid his hand on the Doctor's arm with a grip that
+made the Doctor wince.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God, man, look at it&mdash;it's growing," he said in a voice hardly
+above a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"It's growing," echoed the Very Young Man; "<i>it's growing</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>And then the truth dawned upon them, and brought with it confusion,
+almost panic. The cockroach, fully two feet long now, had raised the
+front end of its body a foot above the floor, and was reaching up the
+wall with its legs.</p>
+
+<p>The Banker made a dash for the opposite door. "Let's get out of here.
+Come on!" he shouted.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor stopped him. Of the four men, he was the only one who had
+retained his self-possession.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen to me," he said. His voice trembled a little in spite of his
+efforts to control it. "Listen to me. That&mdash;that&mdash;thing cannot harm us
+yet." He looked from one to the other of them and spoke swiftly. "It's
+gruesome and&mdash;and loathsome, but it is not dangerous&mdash;yet. But we cannot
+run from it. We must kill it&mdash;here, now, before it gets any larger."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker tore himself loose and started again towards the door.</p>
+
+<p>"You fool!" said the Doctor, with a withering look. "Don't you see, it's
+life or death later. That&mdash;that thing will be as big as this house in
+half an hour. Don't you know that? As big as this house. We've got to
+kill it now&mdash;now."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man ran towards the paper-weight. "I'll hit it with
+this," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't," said the Doctor, "you might miss. We haven't time. Look at
+it," he added.</p>
+
+<p>The cockroach was noticeably larger now&mdash;considerably over two feet; it
+had turned away from the wall to face them.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man had said nothing; only stood and stared with
+bloodless face and wide-open eyes. Then suddenly he stooped, and picking
+up a small rug from the floor&mdash;a rug some six feet long and half as
+wide&mdash;advanced slowly towards the cockroach.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the idea," encouraged the Doctor. "Get it under that. Here, give
+me part of it." He grasped a corner of the rug. "You two go up the other
+sides"&mdash;he pointed with his free hand&mdash;"and head it off if it runs."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the four men crept forward. The cockroach, three feet long now,
+was a hideous, horrible object as it stood backed into the corner of the
+room, the front part of its body swaying slowly from side to side.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better make a dash for it," whispered the Very Young Man; and
+jerking the rug loose from the Doctor's grasp, he leaped forward and
+flung himself headlong upon the floor, with the rug completely under
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got the damned thing. I've got it!" he shouted. "Help&mdash;you. Help!"</p>
+
+<p>The three men leaped with him upon the rug, holding it pinned to the
+floor. The Very Young Man, as he lay, could feel the curve of the great
+body underneath, and could hear the scratch of its many legs upon the
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold down the edges of the rug!" he cried. "Don't let it out. Don't let
+it get out. I'll smash it." He raised himself on his hands and knees,
+and came down heavily. The rug gave under his thrust as the insect
+flattened out; then they could hear again the muffled scratching of its
+legs upon the floor as it raised the rug up under the Very Young Man's
+weight.</p>
+
+<p>"We can't kill it," panted the Big Business Man. "Oh, we can't kill it.
+Good God, how big it is!"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man got to his feet and stood on the bulge of the rug.
+Then he jumped into the air and landed solidly on his heels. There was a
+sharp crack as the shell of the insect broke under the sharpness of his
+blow.</p>
+
+<p>"That did it; that'll do it!" he shouted. Then he leaped again.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me," said the Big Business Man. "I'm heavier"; and he, too, stamped
+upon the rug with his heels.</p>
+
+<p>They could hear the huge shell of the insect's back smash under his
+weight, and when he jumped again, the squash of its body as he mashed it
+down.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait," said the Doctor. "We've killed it."</p>
+
+<p>They eased upon the rug a little, but there was no movement from
+beneath.</p>
+
+<p>"Jump on it harder," said the Very Young Man. "Don't let's take a
+chance. Mash it good."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man continued stamping violently upon the rug; joined
+now by the Very Young Man. The Doctor sat on the floor beside it,
+breathing heavily; the Banker lay in a heap at its foot in utter
+collapse.</p>
+
+<p>As they stamped, the rug continued to flatten down; it sank under their
+tread with a horrible, sickening, squashing sound.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's look," suggested the Very Young Man. "It must be dead"; and he
+threw back a corner of the rug. The men turned sick and faint at what
+they saw.</p>
+
+<p>Underneath the rug, mashed against the floor, lay a great, noisome,
+semi-liquid mass of brown and white. It covered nearly the entire
+under-surface of the rug&mdash;a hundred pounds, perhaps, of loathsome pulp
+and shell, from which a stench arose that stopped their breathing.</p>
+
+<p>With a muttered imprecation the Doctor flung back the rug to cover it,
+and sprang to his feet, steadying himself against a chair.</p>
+
+<p>"We killed it in time, thank God," he murmured and dropped into the
+chair, burying his face in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>For a time silence fell upon the room, broken only by the labored
+breathing of the four men. Then the Big Business Man sat up suddenly.
+"Oh, my God, what an experience!" he groaned, and got unsteadily to his
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man helped the Banker up and led him to a seat by the
+window, which he opened, letting in the fresh, cool air of the night.</p>
+
+<p>"How did the drug get loose, do you suppose?" asked the Very Young Man,
+coming back to the center of the room. He had recovered his composure
+somewhat, though he was still very pale. He lighted a cigarette and sat
+down beside the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor raised his head wearily. "I suppose we must have spilled some
+of it on the floor," he said, "and the cockroach&mdash;&mdash;" He stopped
+abruptly and sprang to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God!" he cried. "Suppose another one&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>On the bare floor beside the table they came upon a few drops of water.</p>
+
+<p>"That must be it," said the Doctor. He pulled his handkerchief from his
+pocket; then he stopped in thought. "No, that won't do. What shall we do
+with it?" he added. "We must destroy it absolutely. Good Lord, if that
+drug ever gets loose upon the world&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man joined them.</p>
+
+<p>"We must destroy it absolutely," repeated the Doctor. "We can't just
+wipe it up."</p>
+
+<p>"Some acid," suggested the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose something else has got at it already," the Very Young Man said
+in a scared voice, and began hastily looking around the floor of the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>"You're right," agreed the Doctor. "We mustn't take any chance; we must
+look thoroughly."</p>
+
+<p>Joined by the Banker, the four men began carefully going over the room.</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better watch that nothing gets at it," the Very Young Man thought
+suddenly to say. The Banker obediently sat down by the little pool of
+water on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"And I'll close the window," added the Very Young Man; "something might
+get out."</p>
+
+<p>They searched the room thoroughly, carefully scanning its walls and
+ceiling, but could see nothing out of the ordinary.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll never be quite sure," said the Doctor finally, "but I guess we're
+safe. It's the best we can do now, at any rate."</p>
+
+<p>He joined the Banker by the table. "I'll get some nitric acid," he
+added. "I don't know what else&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have to get that out of here, too," said the Big Business Man,
+pointing to the rug. "God knows how we'll explain it."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor picked up one of the tin boxes of drugs and held it in his
+hand meditatively. Then he looked over towards the rug. From under one
+side a brownish liquid was oozing; the Doctor shuddered.</p>
+
+<p>"My friends," he said, holding up the box before them, "we can realize
+now something of the terrible power we have created and imprisoned here.
+We must guard it carefully, gentlemen, for if it escapes&mdash;it will
+destroy the world."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE START</h3>
+
+
+<p>On the evening of November 4th, 1923, the four friends again assembled
+at the Scientific Club for the start of their momentous adventure. The
+Doctor was the last to arrive, and found the other three anxiously
+awaiting him. He brought with him the valise containing the ring and a
+suitcase with the drugs and equipment necessary for the journey. He
+greeted his friends gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"The time has come, gentlemen," he said, putting the suitcase on the
+table.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man took out the ring and held it in his hand
+thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"The scene of our new life," he said with emotion. "What does it hold in
+store for us?"</p>
+
+<p>"What time is it?" asked the Very Young Man. "We've got to hurry. We
+want to get started on time&mdash;we mustn't be late."</p>
+
+<p>"Everything's ready, isn't it?" asked the Banker. "Who has the belts?"</p>
+
+<p>"They're in my suitcase," answered the Very Young Man. "There it is."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor laid the ring and handkerchief on the floor under the light
+and began unpacking from his bag the drugs and the few small articles
+they had decided to try and take with them. "You have the food and
+water," he said.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man produced three small flasks of water and six flat,
+square tins containing compressed food. The Very Young Man opened one of
+them. "Chocolate soldiers we are," he said, and laughed.</p>
+
+<p>The Banker was visibly nervous and just a little frightened. "Are you
+sure you haven't forgotten something?" he asked, quaveringly.</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't make a great deal of difference if we had," said the
+Doctor, with a smile. "The belts may not contract with us at all; we may
+have to leave them behind."</p>
+
+<p>"Rogers didn't take anything," put in the Very Young Man. "Come on;
+let's get undressed."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker locked the doors and sat down to watch the men make their
+last preparations. They spoke little while they were disrobing; the
+solemnity of what they were about to do both awed and frightened them.
+Only the Very Young Man seemed exhilarated by the excitement of the
+coming adventure.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments the three men were dressed in their white woolen
+bathing suits. The Very Young Man was the first to be fully equipped.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm ready," he announced. "All but the chemicals. Where are they?"</p>
+
+<p>Around his waist he had strapped a broad cloth belt, with a number of
+pockets fastened to it. On his feet were felt-lined cloth shoes, with
+hard rubber soles; he wore a wrist watch. Under each armpit was fastened
+the pouch for carrying the drugs.</p>
+
+<p>"Left arm for red vials," said the Doctor. "Be sure of that&mdash;we mustn't
+get them mixed. Take two of each color." He handed the Very Young Man
+the tin boxes.</p>
+
+<p>All the men were ready in a moment more.</p>
+
+<p>"Five minutes of eight," said the Very Young Man, looking at his watch.
+"We're right on time; let's get started."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker stood up among them. "Tell me what I've got to do," he said
+helplessly. "You're going all but me; I'll be left behind alone."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man laid his hand on the Banker's shoulder
+affectionately. "Don't look so sad, George," he said, with an attempt at
+levity. "We're not leaving you forever&mdash;we're coming back."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker pressed his friend's hand. His usual crusty manner was quite
+gone now; he seemed years older.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor produced the same spoon he had used when the Chemist made his
+departure into the ring. "I've kept it all this time," he said, smiling.
+"Perhaps it will bring us luck." He handed it to the Banker.</p>
+
+<p>"What you have to do is this," he continued seriously. "We shall all
+take an equal amount of the drug at the same instant. I hope it will act
+upon each of us at the same rate, so that we may diminish uniformly in
+size, and thus keep together."</p>
+
+<p>"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man. "I never thought of that. Suppose it
+doesn't?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then we shall have to adjust the difference by taking other smaller
+amounts of the drug. But I think probably it will.</p>
+
+<p>"You must be ready," he went on to the Banker, "to help us on to the
+ring if necessary."</p>
+
+<p>"Or put us back if we fall off," said the Very Young Man. "I'm going to
+sit still until I'm pretty small. Gracious, it's going to feel funny."</p>
+
+<p>"After we have disappeared," continued the Doctor, "you will wait, say,
+until eleven o'clock. Watch the ring carefully&mdash;some of us may have to
+come back before that time. At eleven o'clock pack up everything"&mdash;he
+looked around the littered room with a smile&mdash;"and take the ring back to
+the Biological Society."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep your eye on it on the way back," warned the Very Young Man.
+"Suppose we decide to come out some time later to-night&mdash;you can't
+tell."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll watch it all night to-night, here and at the Museum," said the
+Banker, mopping his forehead.</p>
+
+<p>"Good scheme," said the Very Young Man approvingly. "Anything might
+happen."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, gentlemen," said the Doctor, "I believe we're all ready. Come on,
+Will."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man was standing by the window, looking out intently.
+He evidently did not hear the remark addressed to him, for he paid no
+attention. The Doctor joined him.</p>
+
+<p>Through the window they could see the street below, crowded now with
+scurrying automobiles. The sidewalks were thronged with
+people&mdash;theater-goers, hurrying forward, seeking eagerly their evening's
+pleasure. It had been raining, and the wet pavements shone with long,
+blurred yellow glints from the thousands of lights above. Down the
+street they could see a huge blazing theater sign, with the name of a
+popular actress spelt in letters of fire.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man threw up the window sash and took a deep breath of
+the moist, cool air of the night.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by, old world," he murmured with emotion. "Shall I see you again,
+I wonder?" He stood a moment longer, silently staring at the scene
+before him. Then abruptly he closed the window, pulled down the shade,
+and turned back to the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on," said the Very Young Man impatiently. "It's five minutes after
+eight. Let's get started."</p>
+
+<p>"Just one thing before we start," said the Doctor, as they gathered in
+the center of the room. "We must understand, gentlemen, from the moment
+we first take the drug, until we reach our final smallest size, it is
+imperative, or at least highly desirable, that we keep together. We
+start by taking four of the pellets each, according to the memoranda
+Rogers left. By Jove!" he interrupted himself, "that's one thing
+important we did nearly forget."</p>
+
+<p>He went to his coat, and from his wallet took several typewritten sheets
+of paper.</p>
+
+<p>"I made three copies," he said, handing them to his companions. "Put
+them away carefully; the front pocket will be most convenient, probably.</p>
+
+<p>"It may not be hard for us to keep together," continued the Doctor. "On
+the other hand, we may find it extremely difficult, if not quite
+impossible. In the latter event we will meet at the city of Arite.</p>
+
+<p>"There are two things we must consider. First, we shall be constantly
+changing size with relation to our surroundings. In proportion to each
+other, we must remain normal in size if we can. Secondly we shall be
+traveling&mdash;changing position in our surroundings. So far as that aspect
+of the trip is concerned, it will not be more difficult for us to keep
+together, probably, than during any adventurous journey here in this
+world.</p>
+
+<p>"If through accident or any unforeseen circumstance we are separated in
+size, the one being smallest shall wait for the others. That can be
+accomplished by taking a very small quantity of the other drug&mdash;probably
+merely by touching one of the pellets to the tongue. Do I make myself
+clear?" His friends nodded assent.</p>
+
+<p>"If any great separation in relative size occurs," the Doctor went on,
+"a discrepancy sufficient to make the smallest of us invisible for a
+time to the others, then another problem presents itself. We must be
+very careful, in that event, not to change our position in space&mdash;not to
+keep on traveling, in other words&mdash;or else, when we become the same size
+once more, we will be out of sight of one another. Geographically
+separated, so to speak," the Doctor finished with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I am so explicit on this point of keeping together," he continued,
+"because&mdash;well, I personally do not want to undertake even part of this
+journey alone."</p>
+
+<p>"You're darn right&mdash;me neither," agreed the Very Young Man emphatically.
+"Let's get going."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess that's all," said the Doctor, with a last glance around, and
+finally facing the Banker. "Good-by, George."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker was quite overcome, and without a word he shook hands with
+each of his friends.</p>
+
+<p>The three men sat beside each other on the floor, close to the
+handkerchief and ring; the Banker sat in his chair on the other side,
+facing them, spoon in hand. In silence they each took four of the
+pellets. Then the Banker saw them close their eyes; he saw the Big
+Business Man put his hands suddenly on the floor as though to steady
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>The Banker gripped the arms of his chair firmly. He knew exactly what to
+expect, yet now when his friends began slowly to diminish in size he was
+filled with surprise and horror. For several minutes no one spoke. Then
+the Very Young Man opened his eyes, looked around dizzily for an
+instant, and began feeling with his hands the belt at his waist, his
+shoes, wrist-watch, and the pouches under his armpits.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all right," he said with an enthusiasm that contrasted strangely
+with the tremor in his voice. "The belt's getting smaller, too. We're
+going to be able to take everything with us."</p>
+
+<p>Again silence fell on the room, broken only by the sound of the three
+men on the floor continually shifting their positions as they grew
+smaller. In another moment the Doctor clambered unsteadily to his feet
+and, taking a step backward, leaned up against the cylindrical mahogany
+leg of the center-table, flinging his arms around it. His head did not
+reach the table-top.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man and the Big Business Man were on their feet now, too,
+standing at the edge of the handkerchief, and clinging to one another
+for support. The Banker looked down at them and tried to smile. The Very
+Young Man waved his hand, and the Banker found voice to say: "Good-by,
+my boy."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by, sir," echoed the Very Young Man. "We're making it."</p>
+
+<p>Steadily they grew smaller. By this time the Doctor had become far too
+small for his arms to encircle the leg of the table. The Banker looked
+down to the floor, and saw him standing beside the table leg, leaning
+one hand against it as one would lean against the great stone column of
+some huge building.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by, Frank," said the Banker. But the Doctor did not answer; he
+seemed lost in thought.</p>
+
+<p>Several minutes more passed in silence. The three men had diminished in
+size now until they were not more than three inches high. Suddenly the
+Very Young Man let go of the Big Business Man's arm and looked around to
+where the Doctor was still leaning pensively against the table leg. The
+Banker saw him speak swiftly to the Big Business Man, but in so small a
+voice he could not catch the words. Then both little figures turned
+towards the table, and the Banker saw the Very Young Man put his hands
+to his mouth and shout. And upward to him came the shrillest, tiniest
+little voice he had ever heard, yet a voice still embodying the
+characteristic intonation of the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey, Doctor!" came the words. "You'll never get here if you don't come
+now."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor looked up abruptly; he evidently heard the words and realized
+his situation. (He was by this time not more than an inch and a half in
+height.) He hesitated only a moment, and then, as the other two little
+figures waved their arms wildly, he began running towards them. For more
+than a minute he ran. The Very Young Man started towards him, but the
+Doctor waved him back, redoubling his efforts.</p>
+
+<p>When he arrived at the edge of the handkerchief, evidently he was nearly
+winded, for he stopped beside his friends, and stood breathing heavily.
+The Banker leaned forwards, and could see the three little figures (they
+were not as big as the joint of his little finger) talking earnestly;
+the Very Young Man was gesticulating wildly, pointing towards the ring.
+One of them made a start, but the others called him back.</p>
+
+<p>Then they began waving their arms, and all at once the Banker realized
+they were waving at him. He leaned down, and by their motions knew that
+something was wrong&mdash;that they wanted him to do something.</p>
+
+<p>Trembling with fright, the Banker left his chair and knelt upon the
+floor. The Very Young Man made a funnel of his hands and shouted up:
+"It's too far away. We can't make it&mdash;we're too small!"</p>
+
+<p>The Banker looked his bewilderment. Then he thought suddenly of the
+spoon that he still held in his hand, and he put it down towards them.
+The three little figures ducked and scattered as the spoon in the
+Banker's trembling fingers neared them.</p>
+
+<p>"Not that&mdash;the ring. Bring it closer. Hurry&mdash;Hurry!" shouted the Very
+Young Man. The Banker, leaning closer, could just hear the words.
+Comprehending at last, he picked up the ring and laid it near the edge
+of the handkerchief. Immediately the little figures ran over to it and
+began climbing up.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man was the first to reach it; the Banker could see him
+vault upwards and land astraddle upon its top. The Doctor was up in a
+moment more, and the two were reaching down their hands to help up the
+Big Business Man. The Banker slid the spoon carefully along the floor
+towards the ring, but the Big Business Man waved it away. The Banker
+laid the spoon aside, and when he looked at the ring again the Big
+Business Man was up beside his companions, standing upright with them
+upon the top of the ring.</p>
+
+<p>The Banker stared so long and intently, his vision blurred. He closed
+his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again the little figures
+on the top of the ring had disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>The Banker felt suddenly sick and faint in the closeness of the room.
+Rising to his feet, he hurried to a window and threw up the sash. A gust
+of rain and wind beat against his face as he stood leaning on the sill.
+He felt much better after a few moments; and remembering his friends, he
+closed the window and turned back towards the ring. At first he thought
+he could just make them out, but when he got down on the floor close
+beside the ring, he saw nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Almost unnerved, he sat down heavily upon the floor beside the
+handkerchief, leaning on one elbow. A corner of the handkerchief was
+turned back, and one side was ruffled where the wind from the opened
+window had blown it up. He smoothed out the handkerchief carefully.</p>
+
+<p>For some time the Banker sat quiet, reclining uncomfortably upon the
+hard floor. The room was very still&mdash;its silence oppressed him. He
+stared stolidly at the ring, his head in a turmoil. The ring looked
+oddly out of place, lying over near one edge of the handkerchief; he had
+always seen it in the center before. Abruptly he put out his hand and
+picked it up. Then remembrance of the Doctor's warning flooded over him.
+In sudden panic he put the ring down again, almost in the same place at
+the edge of the handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p>Trembling all over, he looked at his watch; it was a quarter to nine. He
+rose stiffly to his feet and sank into his chair. After a moment he
+lighted a cigar. The handkerchief lay at his feet; he could just see the
+ring over the edge of his knees. For a long time he sat staring.</p>
+
+<p>The striking of a church clock nearby roused him. He shook himself
+together and blinked at the empty room. In his hand he held an unlighted
+cigar; mechanically he raised it to his lips. The sound of the church
+bells died away; the silence of the room and the loneliness of it made
+him shiver. He looked at his watch again. Ten o'clock! Still another
+hour to wait and watch, and then he could take the ring back to the
+Museum. He glanced down at the ring; it was still lying by the edge of
+the handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p>Again the Banker fell into a stupor as he stared at the glistening gold
+band lying on the floor at his feet. How lonely he felt! Yet he was not
+alone, he told himself. His three friends were still there, hardly two
+feet from the toe of his shoe. He wondered how they were making out.
+Would they come back any moment? Would they ever come back?</p>
+
+<p>And then the Banker found himself worrying because the ring was not in
+the center of the handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p>He felt frightened, and he wondered why. Again he looked at his watch.
+They had been gone more than two hours now. Swiftly he stooped, and
+lifting the ring, gazed at it searchingly, holding it very close to his
+eyes. Then he carefully put it down in the center of the handkerchief,
+and lay back in his chair with a long sigh of relief. It was all right
+now; just a little while to wait, and then he could take it back to the
+Museum. In a moment his eyes blinked, closed, and soon he was fast
+asleep, lying sprawled out in the big leather chair and breathing
+heavily.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>PERILOUS WAYS</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Very Young Man sat on the floor, between his two friends at the edge
+of the handkerchief, and put the first pellets of the drug to his
+tongue. His heart was beating furiously; his forehead was damp with the
+sweat of excitement and of fear. The pellets tasted sweet, and yet a
+little acrid. He crushed them in his mouth and swallowed them hastily.</p>
+
+<p>In the silence of the room, the ticking of his watch suddenly sounded
+very loud. He raised his arm and looked at its face; it was just ten
+minutes past eight. He continued to stare at its dial, wondering why
+nothing was happening to him. Then all at once the figures on the watch
+became very sharp and vivid; he could see them with microscopic
+clearness. A buzzing sounded in his ears.</p>
+
+<p>He remembered having felt the same way just before he fainted. He drew a
+deep breath and looked around the room; it swam before his gaze. He
+closed his eyes and waited, wondering if he would faint. The buzzing in
+his head grew louder; a feeling of nausea possessed him.</p>
+
+<p>After a moment his head cleared; he felt better. Then all at once he
+realized that the floor upon which he sat was moving. It seemed to be
+shifting out from under him in all directions. He sat with his feet flat
+upon the floor, his knees drawn close against his chin. And the floor
+seemed to be carrying his feet farther out; he constantly had to be
+pulling them back against him. He put one hand down beside him, and
+could feel his fingers dragging very slowly as the polished surface
+moved past. The noise in his head was almost gone now. He opened his
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Before him, across the handkerchief the Banker sat in his chair. He had
+grown enormously in size, and as the Very Young Man looked he could see
+him and the chair growing steadily larger. He met the Banker's anxious
+glance, and smiled up at him. Then he looked at his two friends, sitting
+on the floor beside him. They alone, of everything within his range of
+vision, had grown no larger.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man thought of the belt around his waist. He put his hand
+to it, and found it tight as before. So, after all, they would not have
+to leave anything behind, he thought.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor rose to his feet and turned away, back under the huge table
+that loomed up behind him. The Very Young Man got up, too, and stood
+beside the Big Business Man, holding to him for support. His head felt
+strangely confused; his legs were weak and shaky.</p>
+
+<p>Steadily larger grew the room and everything in it. The Very Young Man
+turned his eyes up to the light high overhead. Its great electric bulbs
+dazzled him with their brilliancy; its powerful glare made objects
+around as bright as though in daylight. After a moment the Big Business
+Man's grip on his arm tightened.</p>
+
+<p>"God, it's weird!" he said in a tense whisper. "Look!"</p>
+
+<p>Before them spread a great, level, shining expanse of black, with the
+ring in its center&mdash;a huge golden circle. Beyond the farther edge of the
+black they could see the feet of the banker, and the lower part of his
+legs stretching into the air far above them.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked up still higher, and saw the Banker staring
+down at him, "Good-by, my boy," said the Banker. His voice came from far
+away in a great roar to the Very Young Man's ears.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by, sir," said the Very Young Man, and waved his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Several minutes passed, and still the Very Young Man stood holding to
+his companion, and watching the expanse of handkerchief widening out and
+the gleaming ring growing larger. Then he thought of the Doctor, and
+turned suddenly to look behind him. Across the wide, glistening surface
+of the floor stood the Doctor, leaning against the tremendous column
+that the Very Young Man knew was the leg of the center-table. And as the
+Very Young Man stood staring, he could see this distance between them
+growing steadily greater. A sudden fear possessed him, and he shouted to
+his friend.</p>
+
+<p>"Good Lord, suppose he can't make it!" said the Big Business Man
+fearfully.</p>
+
+<p>"He's coming," answered the Very Young Man. "He's got to make it."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor was running towards them now, and in a few moments he was
+beside them, breathing heavily.</p>
+
+<p>"Close call, Frank," said the Big Business Man, shaking his head. "You
+were the one said we must keep together." The Doctor was too much out of
+breath to answer.</p>
+
+<p>"This is worse," said the Very Young Man. "Look where the ring is."</p>
+
+<p>More than two hundred yards away across the black expanse of silk
+handkerchief lay the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"It's almost as high as our waist now, and look how far it is!" added
+the Very Young Man excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>"It's getting farther every minute," said the Big Business Man. "Come
+on," and he started to run towards the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't make it. It's too far!" shouted the Doctor after him.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man stopped short. "What'll we do?" he asked. "We've
+got to get there."</p>
+
+<p>"That ring will be a mile away in a few minutes, at the rate it's
+going," said the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have to get him to move it over here," decided the Doctor,
+looking up into the air, and pointing.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, I never thought of that!" said the Very Young Man. "Oh, great
+Scott, look at him!"</p>
+
+<p>Out across the broad expanse of handkerchief they could see the huge
+white face of their friend looming four or five hundred feet in the air
+above them. It was the most astounding sight their eyes had ever beheld;
+yet so confused were they by the flood of new impressions to which they
+were being subjected that this colossal figure added little to their
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"We must make him move the ring over here," repeated the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll never make him hear you," said the Big Business Man, as the Very
+Young Man began shouting at the top of his voice.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to," said the Very Young Man breathlessly. "Look at that
+ring. We can't get to it now. We're stranded here. Good Lord! What's the
+matter with him&mdash;can't he see us?" he added, and began shouting again.</p>
+
+<p>"He's getting up," said the Doctor. They could see the figure of the
+Banker towering in the air a thousand feet above the ring, and then with
+a swoop of his enormous face come down to them as he knelt upon the
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>With his hands to his mouth, the Very Young Man shouted up: "It's too
+far away. We can't make it&mdash;we're too small." They waited. Suddenly,
+without warning, a great wooden oval bowl fifteen or twenty feet across
+came at them with tremendous speed. They scattered hastily in terror.</p>
+
+<p>"Not that&mdash;the ring!" shouted the Very Young Man, as he realized it was
+the spoon in the Banker's hand that had frightened them.</p>
+
+<p>A moment more and the ring was before them, lying at the edge of the
+handkerchief&mdash;a circular pit of rough yellow rock breast high. They ran
+over to it and climbed upon its top.</p>
+
+<p>Another minute and the ring had grown until its top became a narrow
+curving path upon which they could stand. They got upon their feet and
+looked around curiously.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we're here," remarked the Very Young Man. "Everything's O.K. so
+far. Let's get right around after that scratch."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep together," cautioned the Doctor, and they started off along the
+path, following its inner edge.</p>
+
+<p>As they progressed, the top of the ring steadily became broader; the
+surface underfoot became rougher. The Big Business Man, walking nearest
+the edge, pulled his companion towards him. "Look there!" he said. They
+stood cautiously at the edge and looked down.</p>
+
+<p>Beneath them the ring bulged out. Over the bulge they could see the
+black of the handkerchief&mdash;a sheer hundred-feet drop. The ring curved
+sharply to the left; they could follow its wall all the way around; it
+formed a circular pit some two hundred and fifty feet in diameter.</p>
+
+<p>A gentle breeze fanned their faces as they walked. The Very Young Man
+looked up into the gray of the distance overhead. A little behind, over
+his shoulder he saw above him in the sky a great, gleaming light many
+times bigger than the sun. It cast on the ground before him an opaque
+shadow, blurred about the edges.</p>
+
+<p>"Pretty good day, at that," remarked the Very Young Man, throwing out
+his chest.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor laughed. "It's half-past eight at night," he said. "And if
+you'll remember half an hour ago, it's a very stormy night, too."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man stopped short in his walk. "Just think," he said
+pointing up into the gray of the sky, with a note of awe in his voice,
+"over there, not more than fifteen feet away, is a window, looking down
+towards the Gaiety Theater and Broadway."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young. Man looked bewildered. "That window's a hundred miles
+away," he said positively.</p>
+
+<p>"Fifteen feet," said the Big Business Man. "Just beyond the table."</p>
+
+<p>"It's all in the viewpoint" said the Doctor, and laughed again.</p>
+
+<p>They had recovered their spirits by now, the Very Young Man especially
+seeming imbued with the enthusiasm of adventure.</p>
+
+<p>The path became constantly rougher as they advanced.</p>
+
+<p>The ground underfoot&mdash;a shaggy, yellow, metallic ore&mdash;was strewn now
+with pebbles. These pebbles grew larger farther on, becoming huge rocks
+and bowlders that greatly impeded their progress.</p>
+
+<p>They soon found it difficult to follow the brink of the precipice. The
+path had broadened now so that its other edge was out of sight, for they
+could see only a short distance amid the bowlders that everywhere
+tumbled about, and after a time they found themselves wandering along,
+lost in the barren waste.</p>
+
+<p>"How far is the scratch, do you suppose?" the Very Young Man wanted to
+know.</p>
+
+<p>They stopped and consulted a moment; then the Very Young Man clambered
+up to the top of a rock. "There's a range of hills over there pretty
+close," he called down to them. "That must be the way."</p>
+
+<p>They had just started again in the direction of the hills when, almost
+without warning, and with a great whistle and roar, a gale of wind swept
+down upon them. They stood still and looked at each other with startled
+faces, bracing with their feet against its pressure.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, golly, what's this?" cried the Very Young Man, and sat down
+suddenly upon the ground to keep from being blown forward.</p>
+
+<p>The wind increased rapidly in violence until, in a moment, all three of
+the men were crouching upon the ground for shelter.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott, this is a tornado!" ejaculated the Big Business Man. His
+words were almost lost amid the howling of the blast as it swept across
+the barren waste of rocks.</p>
+
+<p>"Rogers never told us anything about this. It's getting worse every
+minute. I&mdash;&mdash;" A shower of pebbles and a great cloud of metallic dust
+swept past, leaving them choking and gasping for breath.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man got upon his hands and knees.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going over there," he panted. "It's better."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+
+<h3>STRANGE EXPERIENCES</h3>
+
+
+<p>Led by the Very Young Man, the three crawled a few yards to where a
+cluster of bowlders promised better shelter. Huddled behind this mass of
+rock, they found themselves protected in a measure from the violence of
+the storm. Lying there, they could see yellowish-gray clouds of sand go
+sweeping by, with occasionally a hail of tiny pebbles, blowing almost
+horizontal. Overhead, the sky was unchanged. Not a vestige of cloud was
+visible, only the gray-blue of an immense distance, with the huge
+gleaming light, like an enormous sun, hung in its center.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man put his hand on the Doctor's arm. "It's going down,"
+he said. Hardly were the words out of his mouth before, with even less
+warning than it began, the gale abruptly ceased. There remained only the
+pleasantly gentle breeze of a summer afternoon blowing against their
+faces. And this came from almost an opposite direction to the storm.</p>
+
+<p>The three men looked at one another in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll be&mdash;&mdash;" ejaculated the Very Young Man. "What next?"</p>
+
+<p>They waited for some time, afraid to venture out from the rocks among
+which they had taken refuge. Then, deciding that the storm, however
+unexplainable, was over for the time at least, they climbed to their
+feet and resumed their journey with bruised knees, but otherwise none
+the worse for the danger through which they had passed.</p>
+
+<p>After walking a short distance, they came up a little incline, and
+before them, hardly more than a quarter of a mile away, they could see a
+range of hills.</p>
+
+<p>"The scratch must be behind those hills," said the Very Young Man,
+pointing.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a long distance," said the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "We're
+still growing smaller&mdash;look."</p>
+
+<p>Their minds had been so occupied that for some time they had forgotten
+the effect of the drug upon their stature. As they looked about them now
+they could see the rocks around them still increasing steadily in size,
+and could feel the ground shifting under their feet when they stood
+still.</p>
+
+<p>"You're right; we're getting smaller," observed the Very Young Man. "How
+long before we'll stop, do you suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor drew the Chemist's memoranda from the pouch of his belt. "It
+says about five or six hours for the first four pellets," he read.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked at his watch. "Quarter to nine. We've been
+less than an hour yet. Come on, let's keep going," and he started
+walking rapidly forward.</p>
+
+<p>They walked for a time in silence. The line of hills before them grew
+visibly in size, and they seemed slowly to be nearing it.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been thinking," began the Doctor thoughtfully as he glanced up at
+the hills. "There's one theory of Rogers's that was a fallacy. You
+remember he was quite positive that this change of stature became
+steadily more rapid, until it reached its maximum rate and then remained
+constant. If that were so we should probably be diminishing in size more
+rapidly now than when we first climbed on to the ring. If we had so much
+trouble getting to the ring then"&mdash;he smiled at the remembrance of their
+difficulty&mdash;"I don't see how we could ever get to those hills now."</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, that's so," said the Very Young Man. "We'd never be able to get
+anywhere, would we?"</p>
+
+<p>"How do you figure it works?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor folded up the paper and replaced it in his belt. "I don't
+know," he answered. "I think probably it proceeds in cycles, like the
+normal rate of growth&mdash;times of rapid progress succeeded by periods of
+comparative inactivity."</p>
+
+<p>"I never knew people grew that way," observed the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"They do," said the Doctor. "And if these drugs produce the same effect
+we&mdash;&mdash;" He got no further, for suddenly the earth seemed to rise swiftly
+under them, and they were thrown violently to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man, as he lay prone, looked upward, and saw the sunlike
+light above fall swiftly down across the sky and disappear below the
+horizon, plunging the world about them into the gloom of a
+semi-twilight. A wind, fiercer than before, swept over them with a roar.</p>
+
+<p>"The end of the world," murmured the Very Young Man to himself. And he
+wondered why he was not frightened.</p>
+
+<p>Then came the feeling of an extraordinary lightness of body, as though
+the ground were dropping away from under him. The wind abruptly ceased
+blowing. He saw the ball of light rise swiftly from the horizon and
+mount upward in a great, gleaming arc to the zenith, where again it hung
+motionless.</p>
+
+<p>The three men lay quiet, their heads reeling. Then the Very Young Man
+sat up dizzily and began feeling himself all over. "There's nothing
+wrong with me," he said lugubriously, meeting the eyes of his friends
+who apparently were also more surprised than hurt. "But&mdash;oh, my gosh,
+the whole universe went nutty!" he added to himself in awe.</p>
+
+<p>"What did that?" asked the Big Business Man. He climbed unsteadily to
+his feet and sat upon a rock, holding his head in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor was up in a moment beside him. "We're not hurt," he said,
+looking at his companions. "Don't let's waste any more time&mdash;let's get
+into that valley." The Very Young Man could see by his manner that he
+knew or guessed what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>"But say; what&mdash;&mdash;" began the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on," interrupted the Doctor, and started walking ahead swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing for his two friends to do but to follow. They walked
+in silence, in single file, picking their way among the rocks. For a
+quarter of an hour or more they kept going, until finally they came to
+the ridge of hills, finding them enormous rocks, several hundred feet
+high, strewn closely together.</p>
+
+<p>"The valley must be right beyond," said the Doctor. "Come on."</p>
+
+<p>The spaces between these huge rocks were, some of them, fifty feet or
+more in width. Inside the hills the travelers found the ground even
+rougher than before, and it was nearly half an hour before they emerged
+on the other side.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of the shallow valley they expected to find, they came upon a
+precipice&mdash;a sheer drop into a tremendous ca&ntilde;on, half as wide possibly
+as it was deep. They could see down to its bottom from where they
+stood&mdash;the same rocky, barren waste as that through which they had been
+traveling. Across the ca&ntilde;on, on the farther side, lay another line of
+hills.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the scratch all right," said the Very Young Man, as they stopped
+near the brink of the precipice, "but, holy smoke! Isn't it big?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's two thousand feet down there," said the Big Business Man,
+stepping cautiously nearer to the edge. "Rogers didn't say it was so
+deep."</p>
+
+<p>"That's because we've been so much longer getting here," explained the
+Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"How are we going to get down?" asked the Very Young Man as he stood
+beside the Big Business Man within a few feet of the brink. "It's
+getting deeper every minute, don't forget that."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man knelt down and carefully approached to the very
+edge of the precipice. Then, as he looked over, he got upon his feet
+with a laugh of relief. "Come here," he said.</p>
+
+<p>They joined him at the edge and, looking over, could see that the jagged
+roughness of the wall made the descent, though difficult, not
+exceptionally hazardous. Below them, not more than twenty feet, a wide
+ledge jutted out, and beyond that they could see other similar ledges
+and crevices that would afford a foothold.</p>
+
+<p>"We can get down that," said the Very Young Man. "There's an easy
+place," and he pointed farther along the brink, to where a break in the
+edge seemed to offer a means of descent to the ledge just below.</p>
+
+<p>"It's going to be a mighty long climb down," said the Big Business Man.
+"Especially as we're getting smaller all the time. I wonder," he added
+thoughtfully, "how would it be if we made ourselves larger before we
+started. We could get big enough, you know, so that it would only be a
+few hundred feet down there. Then, after we got down, we could get small
+again."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a thought," said the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor sat down somewhat wearily, and again took the papers from his
+belt. "The idea is a good one," he said. "But there's one thing you
+overlook. The larger we get, the smoother the wall is going to be. Look,
+can't you see it changing every moment?"</p>
+
+<p>It was true. Even in the short time since they had first looked down,
+new crevices had opened up. The descent, though longer, was momentarily
+becoming less dangerous.</p>
+
+<p>"You see," continued the Doctor, "if the valley were only a few hundred
+feet deep, the precipice might then be so sheer we could not trust
+ourselves to it at all."</p>
+
+<p>"You're right," observed the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's not very hard to get down now," said the Very Young Man.
+"Let's get going before it gets any deeper. Say," he added, "how about
+stopping our size where it is? How would that work?"</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor was reading the papers he held in his hand. "I think," he
+said, "it would be our wisest course to follow as closely as possible
+what Rogers tells us to do. It may be harder, but I think we will avoid
+trouble in the end."</p>
+
+<p>"We could get lost in size just as easily as in space, couldn't we?" the
+Big Business Man put in. "That's a curious idea, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's true," agreed the Doctor. "It is something we must guard against
+very carefully."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, come on then, let's get going," said the Very Young Man, pulling
+the Doctor to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man glanced at his watch. "Twenty to ten," he said.
+Then he looked up into the sky. "One hour and a half ago," he added
+sentimentally, "we were up there. What will another hour bring&mdash;I
+wonder?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing at all," said the Very Young Man, "if we don't ever get
+started. Come on."</p>
+
+<p>He walked towards the place he had selected, followed by his companions.
+And thus the three adventurers began their descent into the ring.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE VALLEY OF THE SACRIFICE</h3>
+
+
+<p>For the first half-hour of their climb down into the valley of the
+scratch, the three friends were too preoccupied with their own safety to
+talk more than an occasional sentence. They came upon many places that
+at first glance appeared impassable, or at least sufficiently hazardous
+to cause them to hesitate, but in each instance the changing contour of
+the precipice offered some other means of descent.</p>
+
+<p>After thirty minutes of arduous effort, the Big Business Man sat down
+suddenly upon a rock and began to unlace his shoes.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got to rest a while," he groaned. "My feet are in terrible shape."</p>
+
+<p>His two companions were glad of the opportunity to sit with him for a
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Gosh, I'm all in, too!" said the Very Young Man with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>They were sitting upon a ledge about twenty feet wide, with the wall
+down which they had come at their back.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll swear that's as far down there as it ever was," said the Big
+Business Man, with a wave of his hand towards the valley below them.</p>
+
+<p>"Further," remarked the Very Young Man. "I've known that right along."</p>
+
+<p>"That's to be expected," said the Doctor. "But we're a third the way
+down, just the same; that's the main thing." He glanced up the rocky,
+precipitous wall behind them. "We've come down a thousand feet, at
+least. The valley must be three thousand feet deep or more now."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, how deep does it get before it stops?" inquired the Very Young
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor smiled at him quietly. "Rogers's note put it about twelve
+thousand," he answered. "It should reach that depth and stop about"&mdash;he
+hesitated a moment, calculating&mdash;"about two o'clock," he finished.</p>
+
+<p>"Some climb," commented the Very Young Man. "We could do this a lot
+better than we're doing it, I think."</p>
+
+<p>For some time they sat in silence. From where they sat the valley had
+all the appearance of a rocky, barren ca&ntilde;on of their own world above, as
+it might have looked on the late afternoon of a cloudless summer day. A
+gentle breeze was blowing, and in the sky overhead they could still see
+the huge light that for them was the sun.</p>
+
+<p>"The weather is certainly great down here anyway," observed the Very
+Young Man, "that's one consolation."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man had replaced his shoes, taken a swallow of water,
+and risen to his feet, preparing to start downward again, when suddenly
+they all noticed a curious swaying motion, as though the earth were
+moving under them.</p>
+
+<p>"Now what?" ejaculated the Very Young Man, standing up abruptly, with
+his feet spread wide apart.</p>
+
+<p>The ground seemed pressing against his feet as if he were weighted down
+with a heavy load. And he felt a little also as though in a moving train
+with a side thrust to guard against. The sun was no longer visible, and
+the valley was plunged in the semidarkness of twilight. A strong wind
+sprang up, sweeping down upon them from above.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man and the Big Business Man looked puzzled; the Doctor
+alone of the three seemed to understand what was happening.</p>
+
+<p>"He's moving the ring," he explained, with a note of apprehension in his
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," ejaculated the Big Business Man, comprehending at last, "so that's
+the&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man standing with his back to the wall and his legs
+spread wide looked hastily at his watch. "Moving the ring? Why, damn
+it&mdash;&mdash;" he began impetuously.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man interrupted him. "Look there, look!" he almost
+whispered, awestruck.</p>
+
+<p>The sky above the valley suddenly had become suffused with red. As they
+watched it seemed to take form, appearing no longer space, but filled
+with some enormous body of reddish color. In one place they could see it
+broken into a line of gray, and underneath the gray, two circular holes
+of light gleamed down at them.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor shuddered and closed his eyes; his two friends stared upward,
+fascinated into immobility.</p>
+
+<p>"What&mdash;is&mdash;that?" the Very Young Man whispered.</p>
+
+<p>Before he could be answered, the earth swayed under them more violently
+than before. The red faded back out of the sky, and the sun appeared
+sweeping up into the zenith, where it hung swaying a moment and then
+poised motionless. The valley was flooded again with light; the ground
+steadied under them and became quiet. The wind died rapidly away, and in
+another moment it was as though nothing unusual had occurred.</p>
+
+<p>For a time the three friends stood silent, too astonished for words at
+this extraordinary experience. The Doctor was the first to recover
+himself. "He moved the ring," he said hurriedly. "That's twice. We must
+hurry."</p>
+
+<p>"It's only quarter past ten. We told him not till eleven," protested the
+Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Even that is too soon for safety," said the Doctor back over his
+shoulder, for already he had started downward.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly twelve o'clock when they stopped again for rest. At this
+time the valley appeared about seven or eight thousand feet deep: they
+estimated themselves to be slightly more than half-way down. From eleven
+until twelve they had momentarily expected some disturbing phenomena
+attendant upon the removal of the ring by the Banker from the clubroom
+to its place in the Museum. But nothing unusual had occurred.</p>
+
+<p>"He probably decided to leave it alone for a while," commented the Big
+Business Man, as they were discussing the matter. "Glad he showed that
+much sense."</p>
+
+<p>"It would not bother us much now," the Doctor replied. "We're too far
+down. See how the light is changing."</p>
+
+<p>The sky showed now only as a narrow ribbon of blue between the edges of
+the ca&ntilde;on's walls. The sun was behind the wall down which they were
+climbing, out of sight, and throwing their side of the valley into
+shadow. And already they could begin to see a dim phosphorescence
+glowing from the rocks near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man, sitting beside the Doctor, suddenly gripped his
+friend by the arm. "A bird," he said, pointing down the valley. "See it
+there?"</p>
+
+<p>From far off they could see a bird coming up the center of the valley at
+a height apparently almost level with their own position, and flying
+towards them. They watched it in silence as it rapidly approached.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott, it's big!" muttered the Big Business Man in an undertone.</p>
+
+<p>As the bird came closer they saw it was fully fifty feet across the
+wings. It was flying straight down the valley at tremendous speed. When
+it was nearly opposite them they heard a familiar "cheep, cheep," come
+echoing across the valley.</p>
+
+<p>"The sparrow," whispered the Very Young Man. "Oh, my gosh, look how big
+it is!"</p>
+
+<p>In another moment it had passed them; they watched in silence until it
+disappeared in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the Very Young Man, "if that had ever seen us&mdash;&mdash;" He drew
+a long breath, leaving the rest to the imagination of his hearers.</p>
+
+<p>"What a wonderful thing!" said the Big Business Man, with a note of awe
+in his voice. "Just think&mdash;that sparrow when we last saw it was
+infinitesimally small."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor laughed. "It's far smaller now than it was then," he said.
+"Only since we last saw it we have changed size to a much greater extent
+than it has."</p>
+
+<p>"Foolish of us to have sent it in here," remarked the Big Business Man
+casually. "Suppose that&mdash;&mdash;" He stopped abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man started hastily to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, golly!" he exclaimed as the same thought occurred to him. "That
+lizard&mdash;&mdash;" He looked about him wildly.</p>
+
+<p>"It was foolish perhaps." The Doctor spoke quietly. "But we can't help
+it now. The sparrow has gone. That lizard may be right here at our
+feet"&mdash;The Very Young Man jumped involuntarily&mdash;"and so small we can't
+see it," the Doctor finished with a smile. "Or it may be a hundred miles
+away and big as a dinosaur." The Very Young Man shuddered.</p>
+
+<p>"It was senseless of us to let them get in here anyway," said the Big
+Business Man. "That sparrow evidently has stopped getting smaller. Do
+you realize how big it will be to us, after we've diminished a few
+hundred more times?"</p>
+
+<p>"We needn't worry over it," said the Doctor. "Even if we knew the lizard
+got into the valley the chances of our seeing it here are one in a
+million. But we don't even know that. If you'll remember it was still
+some distance away from the scratch when it became invisible; I doubt
+very much if it even got there. No, I think probably we'll never see it
+again."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope not," declared the Very Young Man emphatically.</p>
+
+<p>For another hour they climbed steadily downward, making more rapid
+progress than before, for the descent became constantly less difficult.
+During this time they spoke little, but it was evident that the Very
+Young Man, from the frequent glances he threw around, never for a moment
+forgot the possibility of encountering the lizard. The sparrow did not
+return, although for that, too, they were constantly on the look-out.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly half-past one when the Big Business Man threw himself upon
+the ground exhausted. The valley at this time had reached a depth of
+over ten thousand feet. It was still growing deeper, but the travelers
+had made good progress and were not more than fifteen hundred feet above
+its bottom.</p>
+
+<p>They had been under tremendous physical exertion for over five hours,
+too absorbed in their strange experiences to think of eating, and now
+all three agreed it was foolish to attempt to travel farther without
+food and rest.</p>
+
+<p>"We had better wait here an hour or two," the Doctor decided. "Our size
+will soon remain constant and it won't take us long to get down after
+we've rested."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm hungry," suggested the Very Young Man, "how about you?"</p>
+
+<p>They ate and drank sparingly of the little store they had brought with
+them. The Doctor would not let them have much, both because he wanted to
+conserve their supply, and because he knew in their exhausted condition
+it would be bad for them to eat heartily.</p>
+
+<p>It was about two o'clock when they noticed that objects around them no
+longer were increasing in size. They had finished their meal and felt
+greatly refreshed.</p>
+
+<p>"Things have stopped growing," observed the Very Young Man. "We've done
+four pills' worth of the journey anyway," he added facetiously. He rose
+to his feet, stretching. He felt sore and bruised all over, but with the
+meal and a little rest, not particularly tired.</p>
+
+<p>"I move we go on down now," he suggested, walking to the edge of the
+huge crevice in which they were sitting. "It's only a couple of thousand
+feet."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps we might as well," agreed the Doctor, rising also. "When we get
+to the floor of the valley, we can find a good spot and turn in for the
+night."</p>
+
+<p>The incongruity of his last words with the scene around made the Doctor
+smile. Overhead the sky still showed a narrow ribbon of blue. Across the
+valley the sunlight sparkled on the yellowish crags of the rocky wall.
+In the shadow, on the side down which they were climbing, the rocks now
+shone distinctly phosphorescent, with a peculiar waviness of outline.</p>
+
+<p>"Not much like either night or day, is it?" added the Doctor. "We'll
+have to get used to that."</p>
+
+<p>They started off again, and in another two hours found themselves going
+down a gentle rocky slope and out upon the floor of the valley.</p>
+
+<p>"We're here at last," said the Big Business Man wearily.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked up the great, jagged precipice down which they
+had come, to where, far above, its edge against the strip of blue marked
+the surface of the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"Some trip," he remarked. "I wouldn't want to tackle that every day."</p>
+
+<p>"Four o'clock," said the Doctor, "the light up there looks just the
+same. I wonder what's happened to George."</p>
+
+<p>Neither of his companions answered him. The Big Business Man lay
+stretched full length upon the ground near by, and the Very Young Man
+still stood looking up the precipice, lost in thought.</p>
+
+<p>"What a nice climb going back," he suddenly remarked.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor laughed. "Don't let's worry about that, Jack. If you remember
+how Rogers described it, getting back is easier than getting in. But the
+main point now," he added seriously, "is for us to make sure of getting
+down to Arite as speedily as possible."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man surveyed the barren waste around them in dismay. The
+floor of the valley was strewn with even larger rocks and bowlders than
+those on the surface above, and looked utterly pathless and desolate.
+"What do we do first?" he asked dubiously.</p>
+
+<p>"First," said the Doctor, smiling at the Big Business Man, who lay upon
+his back staring up into the sky and paying no attention to them
+whatever, "I think first we had better settle ourselves for a good long
+rest here."</p>
+
+<p>"If we stop at all, let's sleep a while," said the Very Young Man. "A
+little rest only gets you stiff. It's a pretty exposed place out here
+though, isn't it, to sleep?" he added, thinking of the sparrow and the
+lizard.</p>
+
+<p>"One of us will stay awake and watch," answered the Doctor.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE PIT OF DARKNESS</h3>
+
+
+<p>At the suggestion of the Very Young Man they located without much
+difficulty a sort of cave amid the rocks, which offered shelter for
+their rest. Taking turns watching, they passed eight hours in fair
+comfort, and by noon next day, after another frugal meal they felt
+thoroughly refreshed and eager to continue the journey.</p>
+
+<p>"We sure are doing this classy," observed the Very Young Man. "Think of
+Rogers&mdash;all he could do was fall asleep when he couldn't stay awake any
+more. Gosh, what chances he took!"</p>
+
+<p>"We're playing it safe," agreed the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"But we mustn't take it too easy," added the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man stretched himself luxuriously and buckled his belt on
+tighter. "Well, I'm ready for anything," he announced. "What's next?"</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor consulted his papers. "We find the circular pit Rogers made
+in the scratch and we descend into it. We take twelve more pills at the
+edge of the pit," he said.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man leaped to the top of a rock and looked out over the
+desolate waste helplessly. "How are we going to find the pit?" he asked
+dubiously. "It's not in sight, that's sure."</p>
+
+<p>"It's down there&mdash;about five miles," said the Doctor. "I saw it
+yesterday as we came down."</p>
+
+<p>"That's easy," said the Very Young Man, and he started off
+enthusiastically, followed by the others.</p>
+
+<p>In less than two hours they found themselves at the edge of the pit. It
+appeared almost circular in form, apparently about five miles across,
+and its smooth, shining walls extended almost perpendicularly down into
+blackness. Somewhat awed by the task confronting them in getting down
+into this abyss, the three friends sat down near its brink to discuss
+their plan of action.</p>
+
+<p>"We take twelve pills here," said the Doctor. "That ought to make us
+small enough to climb down into that."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think we need so many?" asked the Big Business Man thoughtfully.
+"You know, Frank, we're making an awful lot of work for ourselves,
+playing this thing so absolutely safe. Think of what a distance down
+that will be after we have got as small as twelve pills will make us. It
+might take us days to get to the bottom."</p>
+
+<p>"How did Rogers get down?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"He took the twelve pills here," the Doctor answered.</p>
+
+<p>"But as I understand it, he fell most of the way down while he was still
+big, and then got small afterwards at the bottom." This from the Big
+Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know how about you," said the Very Young Man drily, "but I'd
+much rather take three days to walk down than fall down in one day."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor smiled. "I still think," he said, "that we had better stick
+to the directions Rogers left us. Then at least there is no danger of
+our getting lost in size. But I agree with you, Jack. I'd rather not
+fall down, even if it takes longer to walk."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder&mdash;&mdash;" began the Big Business Man. "You know I've been
+thinking&mdash;it does seem an awful waste of energy for us to let ourselves
+get smaller than absolutely necessary in climbing down these places.
+Maybe you don't realize it."</p>
+
+<p>"I do," said the Very Young Man, looking sorrowfully at the ragged shoes
+on his feet and the cuts and bruises on his legs.</p>
+
+<p>"What I mean is&mdash;&mdash;" persisted the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"How far do you suppose we have actually traveled since we started last
+night?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's pretty hard to estimate," said the doctor. "We have walked
+perhaps fifteen miles altogether, besides the climb down. I suppose we
+actually came down five or six thousand feet."</p>
+
+<p>"And at the size we are now it would have been twelve thousand feet
+down, wouldn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," answered the Doctor, "it would."</p>
+
+<p>"And just think," went on the Big Business Man, "right now, based on the
+size we were when we began, we've only gone some six feet altogether
+from the place we started."</p>
+
+<p>"And a sixteenth of an inch or less since we left the surface of the
+ring," said the Doctor smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, that's a weird thought," the Very Young Man said, as he gazed in
+awe at the lofty heights about them.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been thinking," continued the Big Business Man. "You say we must
+be careful not to get lost in size. Well, suppose instead of taking
+twelve pills here, we only take six. That should be enough to get us
+started&mdash;possibly enough to get us all the way down. Then before we
+moved at all we could take the other six. That would keep it straight,
+wouldn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Great idea," said the Very Young Man. "I'm in favor of that."</p>
+
+<p>"It sounds feasible&mdash;certainly if we can get all the way down with six
+pills we will save a lot of climbing."</p>
+
+<p>"If six aren't enough, we can easily take more," added the Big Business
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>And so they decided to take only six pills of the drug and to get down
+to the bottom of the pit, if possible, without taking more. The pit, as
+they stood looking down into it now, seemed quite impossible of descent,
+for its almost perpendicular wall was smooth and shining as polished
+brass.</p>
+
+<p>They took the drug, standing close together at the edge of the pit.
+Immediately began again the same crawling sensation underfoot, much more
+rapid this time, while all around them the rocks began very rapidly
+increasing in size.</p>
+
+<p>The pit now seemed widening out at an astounding rate. In a few minutes
+it had broadened so that its opposite side could not be seen. The wall
+at the brink of which they stood had before curved in a great sweeping
+arc to enclose the circular hole; now it stretched in a nearly straight,
+unbroken line to the right and left as far as they could see. Beneath
+them lay only blackness; it was as though they were at the edge of the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God, what a place to go down into," gasped the Big Business Man,
+after they had been standing nearly half an hour in silence, appalled at
+the tremendous changes taking place around them.</p>
+
+<p>For some time past the wall before them had become sufficiently indented
+and broken to make possible their descent. It was the Doctor who first
+realized the time&mdash;or perhaps it should be said, the size&mdash;they were
+losing by their inactivity; and when with a few crisp words he brought
+them to themselves, they immediately started downward.</p>
+
+<p>For another six hours they traveled downward steadily, stopping only
+once to eat. The descent during this time was not unlike that down the
+side of the valley, although towards the last it began rapidly to grow
+less precipitous.</p>
+
+<p>They now found themselves confronted frequently with gentle slopes
+downward, half a mile or more in extent, and sometimes by almost level
+places, succeeded by another sharp descent.</p>
+
+<p>During this part of the trip they made more rapid progress than at any
+time since starting, the Very Young Man in his enthusiasm at times
+running forward and then sitting down to wait for the others to overtake
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The light overhead gradually faded into the characteristic luminous
+blackness the Chemist had described. As it did so, the phosphorescent
+quality of the rocks greatly increased, or at least became more
+noticeable, so that the light illuminating the landscape became hardly
+less in volume, although totally different in quality.</p>
+
+<p>The ground underfoot and the rocks themselves had been steadily
+changing. They had lost now almost entirely the yellowishness, metal
+look, and seemed to have more the quality of a gray opaque glass, or
+marble. They appeared rather smoother, too, than before, although the
+huge bowlders and loosely strewn rocks and pebbles still remained the
+characteristic feature of the landscape.</p>
+
+<p>The three men were still diminishing in size; in fact, at this time the
+last dose of the drug seemed to have attained its maximum power, for
+objects around them appeared to be growing larger at a dizzying rate.
+They were getting used to this effect, however, to a great extent, and
+were no longer confused by the change as they had been before.</p>
+
+<p>It was the Big Business Man who first showed signs of weakening, and at
+the end of six hours or more of steady&mdash;and, towards the end, extremely
+rapid&mdash;traveling he finally threw himself down and declared he could go
+no farther. At this point they rested again several hours, taking turns
+at watch, and each of them getting some measure of sleep. Of the three,
+the Very Young Man appeared in the best condition, although possibly it
+was his enthusiasm that kept him from admitting even to himself any
+serious physical distress.</p>
+
+<p>It was perhaps ten or twelve hours after they had taken the six pills
+that they were again ready to start downward. Before starting the three
+adventurers discussed earnestly the advisability of taking the other six
+pills. The action of the drug had ceased some time before. They decided
+not to, since apparently there was no difficulty facing them at this
+part of the journey, and decreasing their stature would only
+immeasurably lengthen the distance they had to go.</p>
+
+<p>They had been traveling downward, through a barren land that now showed
+little change of aspect, for hardly more than another hour, when
+suddenly, without warning, they came upon the tremendous glossy incline
+that they had been expecting to reach for some time. The rocks and
+bowlders stopped abruptly, and they found at their feet, sloping
+downward at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees, a great, smooth
+plane. It extended as far as they could see both to the right and left
+and downward, at a slightly lessening angle, into the luminous darkness
+that now bounded their entire range of vision in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>This plane seemed distinctly of a different substance than anything they
+had hitherto encountered. It was, as the Chemist had described it,
+apparently like a smooth black marble. Yet it was not so smooth to them
+now as he had pictured it, for its surface was sufficiently indented and
+ridged to afford foothold.</p>
+
+<p>They started down this plane gingerly, yet with an assumed boldness they
+were all of them far from feeling. It was slow work at first, and
+occasionally one or the other of them would slide headlong a score of
+feet, until a break in the smoothness brought him to a stop. Their
+rubber-soled shoes stood them in good stead here, for without the aid
+given by them this part of the journey would have been impossible.</p>
+
+<p>For several hours they continued this form of descent. The incline grew
+constantly less steep, until finally they were able to walk down it
+quite comfortably. They stopped again to eat, and after traveling what
+seemed to them some fifteen miles from the top of the incline they
+finally reached its bottom.</p>
+
+<p>They seemed now to be upon a level floor&mdash;a ground of somewhat metallic
+quality such as they had become familiar with above. Only now there were
+no rocks or bowlders, and the ground was smoother and with a peculiar
+corrugation. On one side lay the incline down which they had come. There
+was nothing but darkness to be seen in any other direction. Here they
+stopped again to rest and recuperate, and then they discussed earnestly
+their next movements.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor, seated wearily upon the ground, consulted his memoranda
+earnestly. The Very Young Man sat close beside him. As usual the Big
+Business Man lay prone upon his back nearby, waiting for their decision.</p>
+
+<p>"Rogers wasn't far from a forest when he got here," said the Very Young
+Man, looking sidewise at the papers in the Doctor's hand. "And he speaks
+of a tiny range of hills; but we can't see anything from here."</p>
+
+<p>"We may not be within many miles of where Rogers landed," answered the
+Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"No reason why we should be, at that, is there? Do you think we'll ever
+find Arite?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't overlook the fact we've got six more pills to take here," called
+the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"That's just what I was considering," said the Doctor thoughtfully.
+"There's no use our doing anything until we have attained the right
+size. Those hills and the forest and river we are looking for might be
+here right at our feet and we couldn't see them while we are as big as
+this."</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better take the pills and stay right here until their action wears
+off. I'm going to take a sleep," said the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we might as well all sleep," said the Doctor. "There could not
+possibly be anything here to harm us."</p>
+
+<p>They each took the six additional pills without further words.
+Physically exhausted as they were, and with the artificial drowsiness
+produced by the drug, they were all three in a few moments fast asleep.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE WELCOME OF THE MASTER</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was nearly twelve hours later, as their watches showed them, that the
+first of the weary adventurers awoke. The Very Young Man it was who
+first opened his eyes with a confused sense of feeling that he was in
+bed at home, and that this was the momentous day he was to start his
+journey into the ring. He sat up and rubbed his eyes vigorously to see
+more clearly his surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>Beside him lay his two friends, fast asleep. With returning
+consciousness came the memory of the events of the day and night before.
+The Very Young Man sprang to his feet and vigorously awoke his
+companions.</p>
+
+<p>The action of the drug again had ceased, and at first glance the scene
+seemed to have changed very little. The incline now was some distance
+away, although still visible, stretching up in a great arc and fading
+away into the blackness above. The ground beneath their feet still of
+its metallic quality, appeared far rougher than before. The Very Young
+Man bent down and put his hand upon it. There was some form of
+vegetation there, and, leaning closer, he could see what appeared to be
+the ruins of a tiny forest, bent and trampled, the tree-trunks no larger
+than slender twigs that he could have snapped asunder easily between his
+fingers.</p>
+
+<p>"Look at this," he exclaimed. "The woods&mdash;we're here."</p>
+
+<p>The others knelt down with him.</p>
+
+<p>"Be careful," cautioned the Doctor. "Don't move around. We must get
+smaller." He drew the papers from his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Rogers was in doubt about this quantity to take," he added. "We should
+be now somewhere at the edge or in the forest he mentions. Yet we may be
+very far from the point at which he reached the bottom of that incline.
+I think, too, that we are somewhat larger than he was. Probably the
+strength of our drug differs from his to some extent."</p>
+
+<p>"How much should we take next, I wonder?" said the Big Business Man as
+he looked at his companions.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor took a pill and crushed it in his hand. "Let us take so
+much," he said, indicating a small portion of the powder. The others
+each crushed one of the pills and endeavored to take as nearly as
+possible an equal amount.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm hungry," said the Very Young Man. "Can we eat right after the
+powder?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think that should make any difference," the Doctor answered,
+and so accustomed to the drug were they now that, quite nonchalantly,
+they sat down and ate.</p>
+
+<p>After a few moments it became evident that in spite of their care the
+amounts of the drug they had taken were far from equal.</p>
+
+<p>Before they had half finished eating, the Very Young Man was hardly more
+than a third the size of the Doctor, with the Big Business Man about
+half-way between. This predicament suddenly struck them as funny, and
+all three laughed heartily at the effect of the drug.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey, you, hurry up, or you'll never catch me," shouted the Very Young
+Man gleefully. "Gosh, but you're big!" He reached up and tried to touch
+the Doctor's shoulder. Then, seeing the huge piece of chocolate in his
+friend's hand and comparing it with the little one in his own, he added:
+"Trade you chocolate. That's a regular meal you got there."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a real idea," said the Big Business Man, ceasing his laughter
+abruptly. "Do you know, if we ever get really low on food, all we have
+to do is one of us stay big and his food would last the other two a
+month."</p>
+
+<p>"Fine; but how about the big one?" asked the Very Young Man, grinning.
+"He'd starve to death on that plan, wouldn't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then he could get much smaller than the other two, and they could
+feed him. It's rather involved, I'll admit, but you know what I mean,"
+the Big Business Man finished somewhat lamely.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got a much better scheme than that," said the Very Young Man. "You
+let the food stay large and you get small. How about that?" he added
+triumphantly. Then he laid carefully on the ground beside him a bit of
+chocolate and a few of the hard crackers they were eating. "Stay there,
+little friends, when you grow up, I'll take you back," he added in a
+gleeful tone of voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Strange that should never have occurred to us," said the Doctor. "It's
+a perfect way of replenishing our food supply," and quite seriously both
+he and the Big Business Man laid aside some of their food.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank me for that brilliant idea," said the Very Young Man. Then, as
+another thought occurred to him, he scratched his head lugubriously.
+"Wouldn't work very well if we were getting bigger, would it? Don't
+let's ever get separated from any food coming out."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor was gigantic now in proportion to the other two, and both he
+and the Big Business Man took a very small quantity more of the drug in
+an effort to equalize their rate of bodily reduction. They evidently hit
+it about right, for no further change in their relative size occurred.</p>
+
+<p>All this time the vegetation underneath them had been growing steadily
+larger. From tiny broken twigs it grew to sticks bigger than their
+fingers, then to the thickness of their arms. They moved slightly from
+time to time, letting it spread out from under them, or brushing it
+aside and clearing a space in which they could sit more comfortably.
+Still larger it grew until the tree-trunks, thick now almost as their
+bodies, were lying broken and twisted, all about them. Over to one side
+they could see, half a mile away, a place where the trees were still
+standing&mdash;slender saplings, they seemed, growing densely together.</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour more the Very Young Man announced he had stopped getting
+smaller. The action of the drug ceased in the others a few minutes
+later. They were still not quite in their relative sizes, but a few
+grains of the powder quickly adjusted that.</p>
+
+<p>They now found themselves near the edge of what once was a great forest.
+Huge trees, whose trunks measured six feet or more in diameter, lay
+scattered about upon the ground; not a single one was left standing. In
+the distance they could see, some miles away, where the untrodden forest
+began.</p>
+
+<p>They had replaced the food in their belts some time before, and now
+again they were ready to start. Suddenly the Very Young Man spied a
+huge, round, whitish-brown object lying beside a tree-trunk near by. He
+went over and stood beside it. Then he called his friends excitedly. It
+was irregularly spherical in shape and stood higher than his knees&mdash;a
+great jagged ball. The Very Young Man bent down, broke off a piece of
+the ball, and, stuffing it into his mouth, began chewing with
+enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, what do you think of that?" he remarked with a grin. "A cracker
+crumb I must have dropped when we first began lunch!"</p>
+
+<p>They decided now to make for the nearest part of the unbroken forest. It
+was two hours before they reached it, for among the tangled mass of
+broken, fallen trees their progress was extremely difficult and slow.
+Once inside, among the standing trees, they felt more lost than ever.
+They had followed implicitly the Chemist's directions, and in general
+had encountered the sort of country they expected. Nevertheless, they
+all three realized that it was probable the route they had followed
+coming in was quite different from that taken by the Chemist; and in
+what direction lay their destination, and how far, they had not even the
+vaguest idea, but they were determined to go on.</p>
+
+<p>"If ever we find this city of Arite, it'll be a miracle sure," the Very
+Young Man remarked as they were walking along in silence.</p>
+
+<p>They had gone only a short distance farther when the Big Business Man,
+who was walking in front, stopped abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" he asked in a startled undertone.</p>
+
+<p>They followed the direction of his hand, and saw, standing rigid against
+a tree-trunk ahead, the figure of a man little more than half as tall as
+themselves, his grayish body very nearly the color of the blue-gray tree
+behind him.</p>
+
+<p>The three adventurers stood motionless, staring in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>As the Big Business Man spoke, the little figure, which had evidently
+been watching them for some time, turned irresolutely as though about to
+run. Then with gathering courage it began walking slowly towards them,
+holding out its arms with the palm up.</p>
+
+<p>"He's friendly," whispered the Very Young Man; and they waited, silent,
+as the man approached.</p>
+
+<p>As he came closer, they could see he was hardly more than a boy, perhaps
+twenty years of age. His lean, gray body was nearly naked. Around his
+waist he wore a drab-colored tunic, of a substance they could not
+identify. His feet and legs were bare. On his chest were strapped a thin
+stone plate, slightly convex. His thick, wavy, black hair, cut at the
+base of his neck, hung close about his ears. His head was uncovered. His
+features were regular and pleasing; his smile showed an even row of very
+white teeth.</p>
+
+<p>The three men did not speak or move until, in a moment, more, he stood
+directly before them, still holding out his hands palm up. Then abruptly
+he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"The Master welcomes his friends," he said in a soft musical voice. He
+gave the words a most curious accent and inflexion, yet they were quite
+understandable to his listeners.</p>
+
+<p>"The Master welcomes his friends," he repeated, dropping his arms to his
+sides and smiling in a most friendly manner.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man caught his breath. "He's been sent to meet us; he's
+from Rogers. What do you think of that? We're all right now!" he
+exclaimed excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor held out his hand, and the Oroid, hesitating a moment in
+doubt, finally reached up and grasped it.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you from Rogers?" asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>The Oroid looked puzzled. Then he turned and flung out his arm in a
+sweeping gesture towards the deeper woods before them. "Rogers&mdash;Master,"
+he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You were waiting for us?" persisted the Doctor; but the other only
+shook his head and smiled his lack of comprehension.</p>
+
+<p>"He only knows the first words he said," the Big Business Man suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"He must be from Rogers," the Very Young Man put in. "See, he wants us
+to go with him."</p>
+
+<p>The Oroid was motioning them forward, holding out his hand as though to
+lead them.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man started forward, but the Big Business Man held him
+back.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a moment," he said. "I don't think we ought to go among these
+people as large as we are. Rogers is evidently alive and waiting for us.
+Why wouldn't it be better to be about his size, instead of ten-foot
+giants as we would look now?"</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know how big Rogers is?" asked the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I think that a good idea," agreed the Doctor. "Rogers described these
+Oroid men as being some six inches shorter than himself, on the
+average."</p>
+
+<p>"This one might be a pygmy, for all we know," said the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"We might chance it that he's of normal size," said the Doctor, smiling.
+"I think we should make ourselves smaller."</p>
+
+<p>The Oroid stood patiently by and watched them with interested eyes as
+each took a tiny pellet from a vial under his arm and touched it to his
+tongue. When they began to decrease in size his eyes widened with fright
+and his legs shook under him. But he stood his ground, evidently assured
+by their smiles and friendly gestures.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the action of the drug was over, and they found
+themselves not more than a head taller than the Oroid. In this size he
+seemed to like them better, or at least he stood in far less awe of
+them, for now he seized them by the arms and pulled them forward
+vigorously.</p>
+
+<p>They laughingly yielded, and, led by this strange being of another
+world, they turned from the open places they had been following and
+plunged into the depths of the forest.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CHEMIST AND HIS SON</h3>
+
+
+<p>For an hour or more the three adventurers followed their strange guide
+in silence through the dense, trackless woods. He walked very rapidly,
+looking neither to the right nor to the left, finding his way apparently
+by an intuitive sense of direction. Occasionally he glanced back over
+his shoulder and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>Walking through the woods here was not difficult, and the party made
+rapid progress. The huge, upstanding tree-trunks were devoid of limbs
+for a hundred feet or more above the ground. On some of them a luxuriant
+vine was growing&mdash;a vine that bore a profusion of little gray berries.
+In the branches high overhead a few birds flew to and fro, calling out
+at times with a soft, cooing note. The ground&mdash;a gray, finely powdered
+sandy loam&mdash;was carpeted with bluish fallen leaves, sometimes with a
+species of blue moss, and occasional ferns of a like color.</p>
+
+<p>The forest was dense, deep, and silent; the tree branches overhead
+locked together in a solid canopy, shutting out the black sky above. Yet
+even in this seclusion the scene remained as light as it had been
+outside the woods in the open. Darkness indeed was impossible in this
+land; under all circumstances the light seemed the same&mdash;neither too
+bright nor too dim&mdash;a comfortable, steady glow, restful, almost hypnotic
+in its sameness.</p>
+
+<p>They had traveled perhaps six miles from the point where they met their
+Oroid guide when suddenly the Very Young Man became aware that other
+Oroids were with them. Looking to one side, he saw two more of these
+strange gray men, silently stalking along, keeping pace with them.
+Turning, he made out still another, following a short distance behind.
+The Very Young Man was startled, and hurriedly pointed them out to his
+companions.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait," called the Doctor to their youthful guide, and abruptly the
+party came to a halt.</p>
+
+<p>By these signs they made their guide understand that they wanted these
+other men to come closer. The Oroid shouted to them in his own quaint
+tongue, words of a soft, liquid quality with a wistful sound&mdash;words
+wholly unintelligible to the adventurers.</p>
+
+<p>The men came forward diffidently, six of them, for three others appeared
+out of the shadows of the forest, and stood in a group, talking among
+themselves a little and smiling at their visitors. They were all dressed
+similarly to Lao&mdash;for such was the young Oroid's name&mdash;and all of them
+older than he, and of nearly the same height.</p>
+
+<p>"Do any of you speak English?" asked the Doctor, addressing them
+directly.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently they did not, for they answered only by shaking their heads
+and by more smiles.</p>
+
+<p>Then one of them spoke. "The Master welcomes his friends," he said. And
+all the others repeated it after him, like children in school repeating
+proudly a lesson newly learned.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor and his two friends laughed heartily, and, completely
+reassured by this exhibition of their friendliness, they signified to
+Lao that they were ready again to go forward.</p>
+
+<p>As they walked onward through the apparently endless and unchanging
+forest, surrounded by what the Very Young Man called their "guard of
+honor," they were joined from time to time by other Oroid men, all of
+whom seemed to know who they were and where they were going, and who
+fell silently into line with them. Within an hour their party numbered
+twenty or more.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing one of the natives stop a moment and snatch some berries from one
+of the vines with which many of the trees were encumbered, the Very
+Young Man did the same. He found the berries sweet and palatable, and he
+ate a quantity. Then discovering he was hungry, he took some crackers
+from his belt and ate them walking along. The Doctor and the Big
+Business Man ate also, for although they had not realized it, all three
+were actually famished.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after this the party came to a broad, smooth-flowing river, its
+banks lined with rushes, with here and there a little spot of gray,
+sandy beach. It was apparent from Lao's signs that they must wait at
+this point for a boat to take them across. This they were glad enough to
+do, for all three had gone nearly to the limit of their strength. They
+drank deep of the pure river water, laved their aching limbs in it
+gratefully, and lay down, caring not a bit how long they were forced to
+wait.</p>
+
+<p>In perhaps another hour the boat appeared. It came from down the river,
+propelled close inshore by two members of their own party who had gone
+to fetch it. At first the travelers thought it a long, oblong raft. Then
+as it came closer they could see it was constructed of three canoes,
+each about thirty feet long, hollowed out of tree-trunks. Over these was
+laid a platform of small trees hewn roughly into boards. The boat was
+propelled by long, slender poles in the hands of the two men, who, one
+on each side, dug them into the bed of the river and walked with them
+the length of the platform.</p>
+
+<p>On to this boat the entire party crowded and they were soon well out on
+the shallow river, headed for its opposite bank. The Very Young Man,
+seated at the front end of the platform with his legs dangling over and
+his feet only a few inches above the silver phosphorescence of the
+rippling water underneath, sighed luxuriously.</p>
+
+<p>"This beats anything we've done yet," he murmured. "Gee, it's nice
+here!"</p>
+
+<p>When they landed on the farther bank another group of natives was
+waiting for them. The party, thus strengthened to nearly forty, started
+off immediately into the forest, which on this side of the river
+appeared equally dense and trackless.</p>
+
+<p>They appeared now to be paralleling the course of the river a few
+hundred yards back from its bank. After half an hour of this traveling
+they came abruptly to what at first appeared to be the mouth of a large
+cave, but which afterwards proved to be a tunnel-like passageway. Into
+this opening the party unhesitatingly plunged.</p>
+
+<p>Within this tunnel, which sloped downward at a considerable angle, they
+made even more rapid progress than in the forest above. The tunnel walls
+here were perhaps twenty feet apart&mdash;walls of a glistening, radiant,
+crystalline rock. The roof of the passageway was fully twice as high as
+its width; its rocky floor was smooth and even.</p>
+
+<p>After a time this tunnel was crossed by another somewhat broader and
+higher, but in general of similar aspect. It, too, sloped downward, more
+abruptly from the intersection. Into this latter passageway the party
+turned, still taking the downward course.</p>
+
+<p>As they progressed, many other passageways were crossed, the
+intersections of which were wide at the open spaces. Occasionally the
+travelers encountered other natives, all of them men, most of whom
+turned and followed them.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man, after over an hour of this rapid walking downward,
+was again near the limit of his endurance, when the party, after
+crossing a broad, open square, came upon a sort of sleigh, with two
+animals harnessed to it. It was standing at the intersection of a still
+broader, evidently more traveled passageway, and in it was an attendant,
+apparently fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Into this sleigh climbed the three travelers with their guide Lao; and,
+driven by the attendant, they started down the broader tunnel at a rapid
+pace. The sleigh was balanced upon a broad single runner of polished
+stone, with a narrow, slightly shorter outrider on each side; it slid
+smoothly and easily on this runner over the equally smooth, metallic
+rock of the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The reindeer-like animals were harnessed by their heads to a single
+shaft. They were guided by a short, pointed pole in the hands of the
+driver, who, as occasion demanded, dug it vigorously into their flanks.</p>
+
+<p>In this manner the travelers rode perhaps half an hour more. The
+passageway sloped steeply downward, and they made good speed. Finally
+without warning, except by a sudden freshening of the air, they emerged
+into the open, and found themselves facing a broad, rolling stretch of
+country, dotted here and there with trees&mdash;the country of the Oroids at
+last.</p>
+
+<p>For the first time since leaving their own world the adventurers found
+themselves amid surroundings that at least held some semblance of an
+aspect of familiarity. The scene they faced now might have been one of
+their own land viewed on an abnormally bright though moonless evening.</p>
+
+<p>For some miles they could see a rolling, open country, curving slightly
+upward into the dimness of the distance. At their right, close by, lay a
+broad lake, its surface wrinkled under a gentle breeze and gleaming
+bright as a great sheet of polished silver.</p>
+
+<p>Overhead hung a gray-blue, cloudless sky, studded with a myriad of
+faint, twinkling, golden-silver stars. On the lake shore lay a
+collection of houses, close together, at the water's edge and spreading
+back thinly into the hills behind. This they knew to be Arite&mdash;the city
+of their destination.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the tunnel they left the sleigh, and, turning down the
+gentle sloping hillside, leisurely approached the city. They were part
+way across an open field separating them from the nearest houses, when
+they saw a group of figures coming across the field towards them. This
+group stopped when still a few hundred yards away, only two of the
+figures continuing to come forward. They came onward steadily, the tall
+figure of a man clothed in white, and by his side a slender, graceful
+boy.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment more Lao, walking in front of the Doctor and his two
+companions, stopped suddenly and, turning to face them, said quietly,
+"The Master."</p>
+
+<p>The three travelers, with their hearts pounding, paused an instant. Then
+with a shout the Very Young Man dashed forward, followed by his two
+companions.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Rogers&mdash;it's Rogers!" he called; and in a moment more the three
+men were beside the Chemist, shaking his hand and pouring at him
+excitedly their words of greeting.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist welcomed them heartily, but with a quiet, curious air of
+dignity that they did not remember he possessed before. He seemed to
+have aged considerably since they had last seen him. The lines in his
+face had deepened; the hair on his temples was white. He seemed also to
+be rather taller than they remembered him, and certainly he was stouter.</p>
+
+<p>He was dressed in a long, flowing robe of white cloth, gathered in at
+the waist by a girdle, from which hung a short sword, apparently of gold
+or of beaten brass. His legs were bare; on his feet he wore a form of
+sandal with leather thongs crossing his insteps. His hair grew long over
+his ears and was cut off at the shoulder line in the fashion of the
+natives.</p>
+
+<p>When the first words of greeting were over, the Chemist turned to the
+boy, who was standing apart, watching them with big, interested eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"My friends," he said quietly, yet with a little underlying note of
+pride in his voice, "this is my son."</p>
+
+<p>The boy approached deferentially. He was apparently about ten or eleven
+years of age, tall as his father's shoulder nearly, extremely slight of
+build, yet with a body perfectly proportioned. He was dressed in a white
+robe similar to his father's, only shorter, ending at his knees. His
+skin was of a curious, smooth, milky whiteness, lacking the gray, harder
+look of that of the native men, and with just a touch of the iridescent
+quality possessed by the women. His features were cast in a delicate
+mold, pretty enough almost to be called girlish, yet with a firm
+squareness of chin distinctly masculine.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes were blue; his thick, wavy hair, falling to his shoulders, was
+a chestnut brown. His demeanor was graceful and dignified, yet with a
+touch of ingenuousness that marked him for the care-free child he really
+was. He held out his hands palms up as he approached.</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Loto," he said in a sweet, soft voice, with perfect
+self-possession. "I'm glad to meet my father's friends." He spoke
+English with just a trace of the liquid quality that characterized his
+mother's tongue.</p>
+
+<p>"You are late getting here," remarked the Chemist with a smile, as the
+three travelers, completely surprised by this sudden introduction,
+gravely shook hands with the boy.</p>
+
+<p>During this time the young Oroid who had guided them down from the
+forest above the tunnels, had been standing respectfully behind them, a
+few feet away. A short distance farther on several small groups of
+natives were gathered, watching the strangers. With a few swift words
+Loto now dismissed their guide, who bowed low with his hands to his
+forehead and left them.</p>
+
+<p>Led by the Chemist, they continued on down into the city, talking
+earnestly, telling him the details of their trip. The natives followed
+them as they moved forward, and as they entered the city others looked
+at them curiously and, the Very Young Man thought, with a little
+hostility, yet always from a respectful distance. Evidently it was
+night, or at least the time of sleep at this hour, for the streets they
+passed through were nearly deserted.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CITY OF ARITE</h3>
+
+
+<p>The city of Arite, as it looked to them now, was strange beyond anything
+they had ever seen, but still by no means as extraordinary as they had
+expected it would be. The streets through which they walked were broad
+and straight, and were crossed by others at regular intervals of two or
+three hundred feet. These streets paralleled each other with
+mathematical regularity. The city thus was laid out most orderly, but
+with one peculiarity; the streets did not run in two directions crossing
+each other at right angles, but in three, each inclined to an equal
+degree with the others. The blocks of houses between them, therefore,
+were cut into diamond-shaped sections and into triangles, never into
+squares or oblongs.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the streets seemed paved with large, flat gray blocks of a
+substance resembling highly polished stone, or a form of opaque glass.
+There were no sidewalks, but close up before the more pretentious of the
+houses, were small trees growing.</p>
+
+<p>The houses themselves were generally triangular or diamond-shaped,
+following the slope of the streets. They were, most of them, but two
+stories in height, with flat roofs on some of which flowers and
+trellised vines were growing. They were built principally of the same
+smooth, gray blocks with which the streets were paved. Their windows
+were large and numerous, without window-panes, but closed now, nearly
+all of them by shining, silvery curtains that looked as though they
+might have been woven from the metal itself. The doors were of heavy
+metal, suggesting brass or gold. On some of the houses tiny low-railed
+balconies hung from the upper windows out over the street.</p>
+
+<p>The party proceeded quietly through this now deserted city, crossing a
+large tree-lined square, or park, that by the confluence of many streets
+seemed to mark its center, and turned finally into another diagonal
+street that dropped swiftly down towards the lake front. At the edge of
+a promontory this street abruptly terminated in a broad flight of steps
+leading down to a little beach on the lake shore perhaps a hundred feet
+below.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist turned sharp to the right at the head of these steps, and,
+passing through the opened gateway of an arch in a low gray wall, led
+his friends into a garden in which were growing a profusion of flowers.
+These flowers, they noticed, were most of them blue or gray, or of a
+pale silvery whiteness, lending to the scene a peculiarly wan, wistful
+appearance, yet one of extraordinary, quite unearthly beauty.</p>
+
+<p>Through the garden a little gray-pebbled path wound back to where a
+house stood, nearly hidden in a grove of trees, upon a bluff directly
+overlooking the lake.</p>
+
+<p>"My home, gentlemen," said the Chemist, with a wave of his hand.</p>
+
+<p>As they approached the house they heard, coming from within, the mellow
+voice of a woman singing&mdash;an odd little minor theme, with a quaint,
+lilting rhythm, and words they could not distinguish. Accompanying the
+voice were the delicate tones of some stringed instrument suggesting a
+harp.</p>
+
+<p>"We are expected," remarked the Chemist with a smile. "Lylda is still
+up, waiting for us." The Very Young Man's heart gave a leap at the
+mention of the name.</p>
+
+<p>From the outside, the Chemist's house resembled many of the larger ones
+they had seen as they came through the city. It was considerably more
+pretentious than any they had yet noticed, diamond-shaped&mdash;that is to
+say, a flattened oblong&mdash;two stories in height and built of large blocks
+of the gray polished stone.</p>
+
+<p>Unlike the other houses, its sides were not bare, but were partly
+covered by a luxuriant growth of vines and trellised flowers. There were
+no balconies under its windows, except on the lake side. There, at the
+height of the second story, a covered balcony broad enough almost to be
+called a veranda, stretched the full width of the house.</p>
+
+<p>A broad door of brass, fronting the garden, stood partly open, and the
+Chemist pushed it wide and ushered in his friends. They found themselves
+now in a triangular hallway, or lobby, with an open arch in both its
+other sides giving passage into rooms beyond. Through one of these
+archways the Chemist led them, into what evidently was the main
+living-room of the dwelling.</p>
+
+<p>It was a high-ceilinged room nearly triangular in shape, thirty feet
+possibly at its greatest width. In one wall were set several
+silvery-curtained windows, opening out on to the lake. On the other side
+was a broad fireplace and hearth with another archway beside it leading
+farther into the house. The walls of the room were lined with small gray
+tiles; the floor also was tiled with gray and white, set in design.</p>
+
+<p>On the floor were spread several large rugs, apparently made of grass or
+fibre. The walls were bare, except between the windows, where two long,
+narrow, heavily embroidered strips of golden cloth were hanging.</p>
+
+<p>In the center of the room stood a circular stone table, its top a highly
+polished black slab of stone. This table was set now for a meal, with
+golden metal dishes, huge metal goblets of a like color, and beautifully
+wrought table utensils, also of gold. Around the table were several
+small chairs, made of wicker. In the seat of each lay a padded fiber
+cushion, and over the back was hung a small piece of embroidered cloth.</p>
+
+<p>With the exception of these chairs and table, the room was practically
+devoid of furniture. Against one wall was a smaller table of stone, with
+a few miscellaneous objects on its top, and under each window stood a
+small white stone bench.</p>
+
+<p>A fire glowed in the fireplace grate&mdash;a fire that burned without flame.
+On the hearth before it, reclining on large silvery cushions, was a
+woman holding in her hands a small stringed instrument like a tiny harp
+or lyre. When the men entered the room she laid her instrument aside and
+rose to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>As she stood there for an instant, expectant, with the light of welcome
+in her eyes, the three strangers beheld what to them seemed the most
+perfect vision of feminine loveliness they had ever seen.</p>
+
+<p>The woman's age was at first glance indeterminate. By her face, her
+long, slender, yet well-rounded neck, and the slim curves of her girlish
+figure, she might have been hardly more than twenty. Yet in her bearing
+there was that indefinable poise and dignity that bespoke the more
+mature, older woman.</p>
+
+<p>She was about five feet tall, with a slender, almost fragile, yet
+perfectly rounded body. Her dress consisted of a single flowing garment
+of light-blue silk, reaching from the shoulders to just above her knees.
+It was girdled at the waist by a thick golden cord that hung with golden
+tasseled pendants at her side.</p>
+
+<p>A narrower golden cord crossed her breast and shoulders. Her arms, legs,
+and shoulders were bare. Her skin was smooth as satin, milky white, and
+suffused with the delicate tints of many colors. Her hair was thick and
+very black; it was twisted into two tresses that fell forward over each
+shoulder nearly to her waist and ended with a little silver ribbon and
+tassel tied near the bottom.</p>
+
+<p>Her face was a delicate oval. Her lips were full and of a color for
+which in English there is no name. It would have been red doubtless by
+sunlight in the world above, but here in this silver light of
+phosphorescence, the color red, as we see it, was impossible.</p>
+
+<p>Her nose was small, of Grecian type. Her slate-gray eyes were rather
+large, very slightly upturned at the corners, giving just a touch of the
+look of our women of the Orient. Her lashes were long and very black. In
+conversation she lowered them at times with a charming combination of
+feminine humility and a touch of coquetry. Her gaze from under them had
+often a peculiar look of melting softness, yet always it was direct and
+honest.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the woman who quietly stood beside her hearth, waiting to
+welcome these strange guests from another world.</p>
+
+<p>As the men entered through the archway, the boy Loto pushed quickly past
+them in his eagerness to get ahead, and, rushing across the room, threw
+himself into the woman's arms crying happily, "<i>Mita, mita.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>The woman kissed him affectionately. Then, before she had time to speak,
+the boy pulled her forward, holding her tightly by one hand.</p>
+
+<p>"This is my mother," he said with a pretty little gesture. "Her name is
+Lylda."</p>
+
+<p>The woman loosened herself from his grasp with a smile of amusement,
+and, native fashion, bowed low with her hands to her forehead.</p>
+
+<p>"My husband's friends are welcome," she said simply. Her voice was soft
+and musical. She spoke English perfectly, with an intonation of which
+the most cultured woman might be proud, but with a foreign accent much
+more noticeable than that of her son.</p>
+
+<p>"A very long time we have been waiting for you," she added; and then, as
+an afterthought, she impulsively offered them her hand in their own
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist kissed his wife quietly. In spite of the presence of
+strangers, for a moment she dropped her reserve, her arms went up around
+his neck, and she clung to him an instant. Gently putting her down, the
+Chemist turned to his friends.</p>
+
+<p>"I think Lylda has supper waiting," he said. Then as he looked at their
+torn, woolen suits that once were white, and the ragged shoes upon their
+feet, he added with a smile, "But I think I can make you much more
+comfortable first."</p>
+
+<p>He led them up a broad, curving flight of stone steps to a room above,
+where they found a shallow pool of water, sunk below the level of the
+floor. Here he left them to bathe, getting them meanwhile robes similar
+to his own, with which to replace their own soiled garments. In a little
+while, much refreshed, they descended to the room below, where Lylda had
+supper ready upon the table waiting for them.</p>
+
+<p>"Only a little while ago my father and Aura left," said Lylda, as they
+sat down to eat.</p>
+
+<p>"Lylda's younger sister," the Chemist explained. "She lives with her
+father here in Arite."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man parted his lips to speak. Then, with heightened color
+in his cheeks, he closed them again.</p>
+
+<p>They were deftly served at supper by a little native girl who was
+dressed in a short tunic reaching from waist to knees, with circular
+discs of gold covering her breasts. There was cooked meat for the meal,
+a white starchy form of vegetable somewhat resembling a potato, a number
+of delicious fruits of unfamiliar variety, and for drink the juice of a
+fruit that tasted more like cider than anything they could name.</p>
+
+<p>At the table Loto perched himself beside the Very Young Man, for whom he
+seemed to have taken a sudden fancy.</p>
+
+<p>"I like you," he said suddenly, during a lull in the talk.</p>
+
+<p>"I like you, too," answered the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Aura is very beautiful; you'll like her."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure I will," the Very Young Man agreed soberly.</p>
+
+<p>"What's your name?" persisted the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"My name's Jack. And I'm glad you like me. I think we're friends, don't
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>And so they became firm friends, and, as far as circumstances would
+permit, inseparable companions.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda presided over the supper with the charming grace of a competent
+hostess. She spoke seldom, yet when the conversation turned to the great
+world above in which her husband was born, she questioned intelligently
+and with eager interest. Evidently she had a considerable knowledge of
+the subject, but with an almost childish insatiable curiosity she sought
+from her guests more intimate details of the world they lived in.</p>
+
+<p>When in lighter vein their talk ran into comments upon the social life
+of their own world, Lylda's ready wit, combined with her ingenuous
+simplicity, put to them many questions which made the giving of an
+understandable answer sometimes amusingly difficult.</p>
+
+<p>When the meal was over the three travelers found themselves very sleepy,
+and all of them were glad when the Chemist suggested that they retire
+almost immediately. He led them again to the upper story into the
+bedroom they were to occupy. There, on the low bedsteads, soft with many
+quilted coverings, they passed the remainder of the time of sleep in
+dreamless slumber, utterly worn out by their journey, nor guessing what
+the morning would bring forth.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+
+<h3>THE WORLD OF THE RING</h3>
+
+
+<p>Next morning after breakfast the four men sat upon the balcony
+overlooking the lake, and prepared to hear the Chemist's narrative of
+what had happened since he left them five years before. They had already
+told him of events in their world, the making of the chemicals and their
+journey down into the ring, and now they were ready to hear his story.</p>
+
+<p>At their ease here upon the balcony, reclining in long wicker chairs of
+the Chemist's own design, as he proudly admitted, they felt at peace
+with themselves and the world. Below them lay the shining lake, above
+spread a clear, star-studded sky. Against their faces blew the cool
+breath of a gentle summer's breeze.</p>
+
+<p>As they sat silent for a moment, enjoying almost with awe the beauties
+of the scene, and listening to the soft voice of Lylda singing to
+herself in the garden, the Very Young Man suddenly thought of the one
+thing lacking to make his enjoyment perfect.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I had a cigarette," he remarked wistfully.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist with a smile produced cigars of a leaf that proved a very
+good substitute for tobacco. They lighted them with a tiny metal lighter
+of the flint-and-steel variety, filled with a fluffy inflammable wick&mdash;a
+contrivance of the Chemist's own making&mdash;and then he started his
+narrative.</p>
+
+<p>"There is much to tell you, my friends," he began thoughtfully. "Much
+that will interest you, shall we say from a socialistic standpoint? I
+shall make it brief, for we have no time to sit idly talking.</p>
+
+<p>"I must tell you now, gentlemen, of what I think you have so far not
+even had a hint. You have found me living here," he hesitated and
+smiled, "well at least under pleasant and happy circumstances. Yet as a
+matter of fact, your coming was of vital importance, not only to me and
+my family, but probably to the future welfare of the entire Oroid
+nation.</p>
+
+<p>"We are approaching a crisis here with which I must confess I have felt
+myself unable to cope. With your help, more especially with the power of
+the chemicals you have brought with you, it may be possible for us to
+deal successfully with the conditions facing us."</p>
+
+<p>"What are they?" asked the Very Young Man eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it would be better for me to tell you chronologically the
+events as they have occurred. As you remember when I left you twelve
+years ago&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Five years," interrupted the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Five or twelve, as you please," said the Chemist smiling. "It was my
+intention then, as you know, to come back to you after a comparatively
+short stay here."</p>
+
+<p>"And bring Mrs.&mdash;er&mdash;Lylda, with you," put in the Very Young Man,
+hesitating in confusion over the Christian name.</p>
+
+<p>"And bring Lylda with me," finished the Chemist. "I got back here
+without much difficulty, and in a very much shorter time and with less
+effort than on my first trip. I tried an entirely different method; I
+stayed as large as possible while descending, and diminished my size
+materially only after I had reached the bottom."</p>
+
+<p>"I told you&mdash;&mdash;" said the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a dangerous method of procedure, but I made it successfully
+without mishap.</p>
+
+<p>"Lylda and I were married in native fashion shortly after I reached
+Arite."</p>
+
+<p>"How was that; what fashion?" the Very Young Man wanted to know, but the
+Chemist went on.</p>
+
+<p>"It was my intention to stay here only a few weeks and then return with
+Lylda. She was willing to follow me anywhere I might take her,
+because&mdash;well, perhaps you would hardly understand, but&mdash;women here are
+different in many ways than you know them.</p>
+
+<p>"I stayed several months, still planning to leave almost at any time. I
+found this world an intensely interesting study. Then, when&mdash;Loto was
+expected, I again postponed my departure.</p>
+
+<p>"I had been here over a year before I finally gave up my intention of
+ever returning to you. I have no close relatives above, you know, no one
+who cares much for me or for whom I care, and my life seemed thoroughly
+established here.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid gentlemen, I am offering excuses for myself&mdash;for my
+desertion of my own country in its time of need. I have no defense. As
+events turned out I could not have helped probably, very much, but
+still&mdash;that is no excuse. I can only say that your world up there seemed
+so very&mdash;very&mdash;far away. Events up there had become to me only vague
+memories as of a dream. And Lylda and my little son were so near, so
+real and vital to me. Well, at any rate I stayed, deciding definitely to
+make my home and to end my days here."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you do about the drugs?" asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"I kept them hidden carefully for nearly a year," the Chemist replied.
+"Then fearing lest they should in some way get loose, I destroyed them.
+They possess a diabolical power, gentlemen; I am afraid of it."</p>
+
+<p>"They called you the Master," suggested the Very Young Man, after a
+pause. "Why was that?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled. "They do call me the Master. That has been for
+several years. I suppose I am the most important individual in the
+nation to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think you would be," said the Very Young Man quickly. "What
+you did, and with the knowledge you have."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist went on. "Lylda and I lived with her father and Aura&mdash;her
+mother is dead you know&mdash;until after Loto was born. Then we had a house
+further up in the city. Later, about eight years ago, I built this house
+we now occupy and Lylda laid out its garden which she is tremendously
+proud of, and which I think is the finest in Arite.</p>
+
+<p>"Because of what I had done in the Malite war, I became naturally the
+King's adviser. Every one felt me the savior of the nation, which, in a
+way, I suppose I was. I never used the drugs again and, as only a very
+few of the people ever understood them, or in fact ever knew of them or
+believed in their existence, my extraordinary change in stature was
+ascribed to some supernatural power. I have always since been credited
+with being able to exert that power at will, although I never used it
+but that once."</p>
+
+<p>"You have it again now," said the Doctor smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have, thank God," answered the Chemist fervently, "though I hope
+I never shall have to use it."</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't you planning to go back with us," asked the Very Young Man,
+"even for a visit?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist shook his head. "My way lies here," he said quietly, yet
+with deep feeling.</p>
+
+<p>A silence followed; finally the Chemist roused himself from his reverie,
+and went on. "Although I never again changed my stature, there were a
+thousand different ways in which I continued to make myself&mdash;well,
+famous throughout the land. I have taught these people many things,
+gentlemen&mdash;like this for instance." He indicated his cigar, and the
+chair in which he was sitting. "You cannot imagine what a variety of
+things one knows beyond the knowledge of so primitive a race as this.</p>
+
+<p>"And so gradually, I became known as the Master. I have no official
+position, but everywhere I am known by that name. As a matter of fact,
+for the past year at least, it has been rather too descriptive a
+title&mdash;&mdash;" the Chemist smiled somewhat ruefully&mdash;"for I have had in
+reality, and have now, the destiny of the country on my shoulders."</p>
+
+<p>"You're not threatened with another war?" asked the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"No, not exactly that. But I had better go on with my story first. This
+is a very different world now, gentlemen, from that I first entered
+twelve years ago. I think first I should tell you about it as it was
+then."</p>
+
+<p>His three friends nodded their agreement and the Chemist continued.</p>
+
+<p>"I must make it clear to you gentlemen, the one great fundamental
+difference between this world and yours. In the evolution of this race
+there has been no cause for strife&mdash;the survival of the fittest always
+has been an unknown doctrine&mdash;a non-existent problem.</p>
+
+<p>"In extent this Inner Surface upon which we are now living is nearly as
+great as the surface of your own earth. From the earliest known times it
+has been endowed with a perfect climate&mdash;a climate such as you are now
+enjoying."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man expanded his chest and looked his appreciation.</p>
+
+<p>"The climate, the rainfall, everything is ideal for crops and for living
+conditions. In the matter of food, one needs in fact do practically
+nothing. Fruits of a variety ample to sustain life, grow wild in
+abundance. Vegetables planted are harvested seemingly without blight or
+hazard of any kind. No destructive insects have ever impeded
+agriculture; no wild animals have ever existed to harass humanity.
+Nature in fact, offers every help and no obstacle towards making a
+simple, primitive life easy to live.</p>
+
+<p>"Under such conditions the race developed only so far as was necessary
+to ensure a healthful pleasant existence. Civilization here is what you
+would call primitive: wants are few and easily supplied&mdash;too easily,
+probably, for without strife these people have become&mdash;well shall I say
+effeminate? They are not exactly that&mdash;it is not a good word."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think that such an unchanging, unrigorous climate would make a
+race deteriorate in physique rapidly," observed the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"How about disease down here?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a curious thing," replied the Chemist. "Cleanliness seems to be a
+trait inborn with every individual in this race. It is more than
+godliness; it is the one great cardinal virtue. You must have noticed
+it, just in coming through Arite. Personal cleanliness of the people,
+and cleanliness of houses, streets&mdash;of everything. It is truly
+extraordinary to what extent they go to make everything inordinately,
+immaculately clean. Possibly for that reason, and because there seems
+never to have been any serious disease germs existing here, sickness as
+you know it, does not exist."</p>
+
+<p>"Guess you better not go into business here," said the Very Young Man
+with a grin at the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"There is practically no illness worthy of the name," went on the
+Chemist. "The people live out their lives and, barring accident, die
+peacefully of old age."</p>
+
+<p>"How old do they live to be?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"About the same as with you," answered the Chemist. "Only of course as
+we measure time."</p>
+
+<p>"Say how about that?" the Very Young Man asked. "My watch is still
+going&mdash;is it ticking out the old time or the new time down here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should say probably&mdash;certainly&mdash;it was giving time of your own world,
+just as it always did," the Chemist replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there's no way of telling, is there?" said the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the exact difference in time?" the Doctor asked.</p>
+
+<p>"That is something I have had no means of determining. It was rather a
+curious thing; when I left that letter for you," the Chemist turned to
+the Doctor&mdash;"it never occurred to me that although I had told you to
+start down here on a certain day, I would be quite at a loss to
+calculate when that day had arrived. It was my estimation after my first
+trip here that time in this world passed at a rate about two and
+two-fifth times faster than it does in your world. That is as near as I
+ever came to it. We can calculate it more closely now, since we have
+only the interval of your journey down as an indeterminate quantity."</p>
+
+<p>"How near right did you hit it? When did you expect us?" asked the
+Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"About thirty days ago; I have been waiting since then. I sent nearly a
+hundred men through the tunnels into the forest to guide you in."</p>
+
+<p>"You taught them pretty good English," said the Very Young Man. "They
+were tickled to death that they knew it, too," he added with a
+reminiscent grin.</p>
+
+<p>"You say about thirty days; how do you measure time down here?" asked
+the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I call a day, one complete cycle of sleeping and eating," the Chemist
+replied. "I suppose that is the best translation of the Oroid word; we
+have a word that means about the same thing."</p>
+
+<p>"How long is a day?" inquired the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems in the living about the same as your twenty-four hours; it
+occupies probably about the interval of time of ten hours in your world.</p>
+
+<p>"You see," the Chemist went on, "we ordinarily eat twice between each
+time of sleep&mdash;once after rising&mdash;and once a few hours before bedtime.
+Workers at severe muscular labor sometimes eat a light meal in between,
+but the custom is not general. Time is generally spoken of as so many
+meals, rather than days."</p>
+
+<p>"But what is the arbitrary standard?" asked the Doctor. "Do you have an
+equivalent for weeks, or months or years?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," answered the Chemist, "based on astronomy the same as in your
+world. But I would rather not explain that now. I want to take you,
+later to-day, to see Lylda's father. You will like him. He is&mdash;well,
+what we might call a scientist. He talks English fairly well. We can
+discuss astronomy with him; you will find him very interesting."</p>
+
+<p>"How can you tell time?" the Very Young Man wanted to know. "There is no
+sun to go by. You have no clocks, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is one downstairs," answered the Chemist, "but you didn't notice
+it. Lylda's father has a very fine one; he will show it to you."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me," began the Doctor thoughtfully after a pause, reverting
+to their previous topic, "that without sickness, under such ideal living
+conditions as you say exist here, in a very short time this world would
+be over-populated."</p>
+
+<p>"Nature seems to have taken care of that," the Chemist answered, "and as
+a matter of fact quite the reverse is true. Women mature in life at an
+age you would call about sixteen. But early marriages are not the rule;
+seldom is a woman married before she is twenty&mdash;frequently she is much
+older. Her period of child-bearing, too, is comparatively
+short&mdash;frequently less than ten years. The result is few children, whose
+rate of mortality is exceedingly slow."</p>
+
+<p>"How about the marriages?" the Very Young Man suggested. "You were going
+to tell us."</p>
+
+<p>"Marriages are by mutual consent," answered the Chemist, "solemnized by
+a simple, social ceremony. They are for a stated period of time, and are
+renewed later if both parties desire. When a marriage is dissolved
+children are cared for by the mother generally, and her maintenance if
+necessary is provided for by the government. The state becomes the
+guardian also of all illegitimate children and children of unknown
+parentage. But of both these latter classes there are very few. They
+work for the government, as do many other people, until they are of age,
+when they become free to act as they please."</p>
+
+<p>"You spoke about women being different than we knew them; how are they
+different?" the Very Young Man asked. "If they're all like Lylda I think
+they're great," he added enthusiastically, flushing a little at his own
+temerity.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled his acknowledgment of the compliment. "The status of
+women&mdash;and their character&mdash;is I think one of the most remarkable things
+about this race. You will remember, when I returned from here the first
+time, that I was much impressed by the kindliness of these people.
+Because of their history and their government they seem to have become
+imbued with the milk of human kindness to a degree approaching the
+Utopian.</p>
+
+<p>"Crime here is practically non-existent; there is nothing over which
+contention can arise. What crimes are committed are punished with a
+severity seemingly out of all proportion to what you would call justice.
+A persistent offender even of fairly trivial wrongdoing is put to death
+without compunction. There is no imprisonment, except for those awaiting
+trial. Punishment is a reprimand with the threat of death if the offense
+is committed again, or death itself immediately. Probably this very
+severity and the swiftness with which punishment is meted out, to a
+large extent discourages wrongdoing. But, fundamentally, the capacity
+for doing wrong is lacking in these people.</p>
+
+<p>"I have said practically nothing exists over which contention can arise.
+That is not strictly true. No race of people can develop without some
+individual contention over the possession of their women. The passions
+of love, hate and jealousy, centering around sex and its problems, are
+as necessarily present in human beings as life itself.</p>
+
+<p>"Love here is deep, strong and generally lasting; it lacks fire,
+intensity&mdash;perhaps. I should say it is rather of a placid quality.
+Hatred seldom exists; jealousy is rare, because both sexes, in their
+actions towards the other, are guided by a spirit of honesty and
+fairness that is really extraordinary. This is true particularly of the
+women; they are absolutely honest&mdash;square, through and through.</p>
+
+<p>"Crimes against women are few, yet in general they are the most
+prevalent type we have. They are punishable by death&mdash;even those that
+you would characterize as comparatively slight offenses. It is
+significant too, that, in judging these crimes, but little evidence is
+required. A slight chain of proven circumstances and the word of the
+woman is all that is required.</p>
+
+<p>"This you will say, places a tremendous power in the hands of women. It
+does; yet they realize it thoroughly, and justify it. Although they know
+that almost at their word a man will be put to death, practically never,
+I am convinced, is this power abused. With extreme infrequency, a female
+is proven guilty of lying. The penalty is death, for there is no place
+here for such a woman!</p>
+
+<p>"The result is that women are accorded a freedom of movement far beyond
+anything possible in your world. They are safe from harm. Their morals
+are, according to the standard here, practically one hundred per cent
+perfect. With short-term marriages, dissolvable at will, there is no
+reason why they should be otherwise. Curiously enough too, marriages are
+renewed frequently&mdash;more than that, I should say, generally&mdash;for
+life-long periods. Polygamy with the consent of all parties is
+permitted, but seldom practiced. Polyandry is unlawful, and but few
+cases of it ever appear.</p>
+
+<p>"You may think all this a curious system, gentlemen, but it works."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the answer," muttered the Very Young Man. It was obvious he was
+still thinking of Lylda and her sister and with a heightened admiration
+and respect.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+
+<h3>A LIFE WORTH LIVING</h3>
+
+
+<p>The appearance of Lylda at one of the long windows of the balcony,
+interrupted the men for a moment. She was dressed in a tunic of silver,
+of curious texture, like flexible woven metal, reaching to her knees. On
+her feet were little fiber sandals. Her hair was twisted in coils, piled
+upon her head, with a knot low at the back of the neck. From her head in
+graceful folds hung a thin scarf of gold.</p>
+
+<p>She stood waiting in the window a moment for them to notice her; then
+she said quietly, "I am going for a time to the court." She hesitated an
+instant over the words. The Chemist inclined his head in agreement, and
+with a smile at her guests, and a little bow, she withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>The visitors looked inquiringly at their host.</p>
+
+<p>"I must tell you about our government," said the Chemist. "Lylda plays
+quite an important part in it." He smiled at their obvious surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"The head of the government is the king. In reality he is more like the
+president of a republic; he is chosen by the people to serve for a
+period of about twenty years. The present king is now in&mdash;well let us
+say about the fifteenth year of his service. This translation of time
+periods into English is confusing," he interjected somewhat
+apologetically. "We shall see the king to-morrow; you will find him a
+most intelligent, likeable man.</p>
+
+<p>"As a sort of congress, the king has one hundred and fifty advisers,
+half of them women, who meet about once a month. Lylda is one of these
+women. He also has an inner circle of closer, more intimate counselors
+consisting of four men and four women. One of these women is the queen;
+another is Lylda. I am one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>"The capital of the nation is Arite. Each of the other cities governs
+itself in so far as its own local problems are concerned according to a
+somewhat similar system, but all are under the central control of the
+Arite government."</p>
+
+<p>"How about the country in between, the&mdash;the rural population?" asked the
+Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all apportioned off to the nearest city," answered the Chemist.
+"Each city controls a certain amount of the land around it.</p>
+
+<p>"This congress of one hundred and fifty is the law-making body. The
+judiciary is composed of one court in each city. There is a leader of
+the court, or judge, and a jury of forty&mdash;twenty men and twenty women.
+The juries are chosen for continuous service for a period of five years.
+Lylda is at present serving in the Arite court. They meet very
+infrequently and irregularly, called as occasion demands. A two-thirds
+vote is necessary for a decision; there is no appeal."</p>
+
+<p>"Are there any lawyers?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no one who makes that his profession, no. Generally the
+accused talks for himself or has some relative, or possibly some friend
+to plead his case."</p>
+
+<p>"You have police?" the Doctor asked.</p>
+
+<p>"A very efficient police force, both for the cities and in the country.
+Really they are more like detectives than police; they are the men I
+sent up into the forest to meet you. We also have an army, which at
+present consists almost entirely of this same police force. After the
+Malite war it was of course very much larger, but of late years it has
+been disbanded almost completely.</p>
+
+<p>"How about money?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"There is none!" answered the Chemist with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott, how can you manage that?" ejaculated the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Our industrial system undoubtedly is peculiar," the Chemist replied,
+"but I can only say again, it works. We have no money, and, so far, none
+apparently is needed. Everything is bought and sold as an exchange. For
+instance, suppose I wish to make a living as a farmer. I have my
+land&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"How did you get it?" interrupted the Very Young Man quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"All the land is divided up <i>pro rata</i> and given by each city to its
+citizens. At the death of its owner it reverts to the government, and
+each citizen coming of age receives his share from the surplus always
+remaining."</p>
+
+<p>"What about women? Can they own land too?" asked the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"They have identical rights with men in everything," the Chemist
+answered.</p>
+
+<p>"But women surely cannot cultivate their own land?" the Doctor said.
+Evidently he was thinking of Lylda's fragile little body, and certainly
+if most of the Oroid women were like her, labour in the fields would be
+for them quite impossible.</p>
+
+<p>"A few women, by choice, do some of the lighter forms of manual
+labor&mdash;but they are very few. Nearly every woman marries within a few
+years after she receives her land; if it is to be cultivated, her
+husband then takes charge of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Is the cultivation of land compulsory?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Only when in a city's district a shortage of food is threatened. Then
+the government decides the amount and kind of food needed, and the
+citizens, drawn by lot, are ordered to produce it. The government
+watches very carefully its food supply. In the case of overproduction,
+certain citizens, those less skillful, are ordered to work at something
+else.</p>
+
+<p>"This supervision over supply and demand is exercised by the government
+not only in the question of food but in manufactures, in fact, in all
+industrial activities. A very nice balance is obtained, so that
+practically no unnecessary work is done throughout the nation.</p>
+
+<p>"And gentlemen, do you know, as a matter of fact, I think that is the
+secret of a race of people being able to live without having to work
+most of its waking hours? If your civilization could eliminate all its
+unnecessary work, there would be far less work to do."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder&mdash;isn't this balance of supply and demand very difficult to
+maintain?" asked the Big Business Man thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Not nearly so difficult as you would think," the Chemist answered. "In
+the case of land cultivation, the government has a large reserve, the
+cultivation of which it adjusts to maintain this balance. Thus, in some
+districts, the citizens do as they please and are never interfered with.</p>
+
+<p>"The same is true of manufactures. There is no organized business in the
+nation&mdash;not even so much as the smallest factory&mdash;except that conducted
+by the government. Each city has its own factories, whose production is
+carefully planned exactly to equal the demand."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose a woman marries and her land is far away from her husband's?
+That would be sort of awkward, wouldn't it?" suggested the Very Young
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Each year at a stated time," the Chemist answered, "transfers of land
+are made. There are generally enough people who want to move to make
+satisfactory changes of location practical. And then of course, the
+government always stands ready to take up any two widely separate pieces
+of land, and give others in exchange out of its reserve."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose you don't like the new land as well?" objected the Very Young
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Almost all land is of equal value," answered the Chemist. "And of
+course, its state of cultivation is always considered."</p>
+
+<p>"You were speaking about not having money," prompted the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"The idea is simply this: Suppose I wish to cultivate nothing except,
+let us say, certain vegetables. I register with the government my
+intention and the extent to which I propose to go. I receive the
+government's consent. I then take my crops as I harvest them and
+exchange them for every other article I need."</p>
+
+<p>"With whom do you exchange them?" asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Any one I please&mdash;or with the government. Ninety per cent of everything
+produced is turned in to the government and other articles are taken
+from its stores."</p>
+
+<p>"How is the rate of exchange established?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"It is computed by the government. Private exchanges are supposed to be
+made at the same rate. It is against the law to cut under the government
+rate. But it is done, although apparently not with sufficient frequency
+to cause any trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think it would be tremendously complicated and annoying to
+make all these exchanges," observed the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all," answered the Chemist, "because of the governmental system
+of credits. The financial standing of every individual is carefully kept
+on record."</p>
+
+<p>"Without any money? I don't get you," said the Very Young Man with a
+frown of bewilderment.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled. "Well, I don't blame you for that. But I think I can
+make myself clear. Let us take the case of Loto, for instance, as an
+individual. When he comes of age he will be allotted his section of
+land. We will assume him to be without family at that time, entirely
+dependent on his own resources."</p>
+
+<p>"Would he never have worked before coming of age?" the Very Young Man
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Children with parents generally devote their entire minority to getting
+an education, and to building their bodies properly. Without parents,
+they are supported by the government and live in public homes. Such
+children, during their adolescence, work for the government a small
+portion of their time.</p>
+
+<p>"Now when Loto comes of age and gets his land, located approximately
+where he desires it, he will make his choice as to his vocation. Suppose
+he wishes not to cultivate his land but to work for the government. He
+is given some congenial, suitable employment at which he works
+approximately five hours a day. No matter what he elects to do at the
+time he comes of age the government opens an account with him. He is
+credited with a certain standard unit for his work, which he takes from
+the government in supplies at his own convenience."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the unit?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the average work produced by the average worker in one
+day&mdash;purely an arbitrary figure."</p>
+
+<p>"Like our word horse-power?" put in the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly. And all merchandise, food and labor is valued in terms of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus you see, every individual has his financial standing&mdash;all in
+relation to the government. He can let his balance pile up if he is
+able, or he can keep it low."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose he goes into debt?" suggested the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"In the case of obvious, verified necessity, the government will allow
+him a limited credit. Persistent&mdash;shall I say willful&mdash;debt is a crime."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought at first," said the Big Business Man, "that everybody in this
+nation was on the same financial footing&mdash;that there was no premium put
+upon skill or industriousness. Now I see that one can accumulate, if not
+money, at least an inordinate amount of the world's goods."</p>
+
+<p>"Not such an inordinate amount," said the Chemist smiling. "Because
+there is no inheritance. A man and woman, combining their worldly
+wealth, may by industry acquire more than others, but they are welcome
+to enjoy it. And they cannot, in one lifetime, get such a preponderance
+of wealth as to cause much envy from those lacking it."</p>
+
+<p>"What happens to this house when you and Lylda die, if Loto cannot have
+it?" the Big Business Man asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It is kept in repair by the government and held until some one with a
+sufficiently large balance wants to buy it."</p>
+
+<p>"Are all workers paid at the same rate?" asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"No, but their wages are much nearer equal than in your world."</p>
+
+<p>"You have to hire people to work for you, how do you pay them?" the
+Doctor inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"The rate is determined by governmental standard. I pay them by having
+the amount deducted from my balance and added to theirs."</p>
+
+<p>"When you built this house, how did you go about doing it?" asked the
+Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"I simply went to the government, and they built it for me according to
+my own ideas and wishes, deducting its cost from my balance."</p>
+
+<p>"What about the public work to be done?" asked the Big Business Man.
+"Caring for the city streets, the making of roads and all that. Do you
+have taxes?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered the Chemist smiling, "we do not have taxes. Quite the
+reverse, we sometimes have dividends.</p>
+
+<p>"The government, you must understand, not only conducts a business
+account with each of its citizens, but one with itself also. The value
+of articles produced is computed with a profit allowance, so that by a
+successful business administration, the government is enabled not only
+to meet its public obligations, but to acquire a surplus to its own
+credit in the form of accumulated merchandise. This surplus is divided
+among the people every five years&mdash;a sort of dividend."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think some cities might have much more than others," said the
+Big Business Man. "That would cause discontent, wouldn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It would probably cause a rush of people to the more successful cities.
+But it doesn't happen, because each city reports to the National
+government and the whole thing is averaged up. You see it is all quite
+simple," the Chemist finished. "And it makes life here very easy to
+live, and very worth the living."</p>
+
+<p>Unnoticed by the four interested men, a small compact-looking gray cloud
+had come sweeping down from the horizon above the lake and was scudding
+across the sky toward Arite. A sudden sharp crack of thunder interrupted
+their conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, a storm!" exclaimed the Chemist, looking out over the lake.
+"You've never seen one, have you? Come upstairs."</p>
+
+<p>They followed him into the house and upstairs to its flat roof. From
+this point of vantage they saw that the house was built with an interior
+courtyard or <i>patio</i>. Looking down into this courtyard from the roof
+they could see a little, splashing fountain in its center, with flower
+beds, a narrow gray path, and several small white benches.</p>
+
+<p>The roof, which was guarded with a breast-high parapet around both its
+inner and outer edges, was beautifully laid out with a variety of
+flowers and with trellised flower-bearing vines. In one corner were
+growing a number of small trees with great fan-shaped leaves of blue and
+bearing a large bell-shaped silver blossom.</p>
+
+<p>One end of the roof on the lake side was partially enclosed. Towards
+this roofed enclosure the Chemist led his friends. Within it a large
+fiber hammock hung between two stone posts. At one side a depression in
+the floor perhaps eight feet square was filled with what might have been
+blue pine needles, and a fluffy bluish moss. This rustic couch was
+covered at one end by a canopy of vines bearing a little white flower.</p>
+
+<p>As they entered the enclosure, it began to rain, and the Chemist slid
+forward several panels, closing them in completely. There were shuttered
+windows in these walls, through which they could look at the scene
+outside&mdash;a scene that with the coming storm was weird and beautiful
+beyond anything they had ever beheld.</p>
+
+<p>The cloud had spread sufficiently now to blot out the stars from nearly
+half of the sky. It was a thick cloud, absolutely opaque, and yet it
+caused no appreciable darkness, for the starlight it cut off was
+negligible and the silver radiation from the lake had more than doubled
+in intensity.</p>
+
+<p>Under the strong wind that had sprung up the lake assumed now an
+extraordinary aspect. Its surface was raised into long, sweeping waves
+that curved sharply and broke upon themselves. In their tops the silver
+phosphorescence glowed and whirled until the whole surface of the lake
+seemed filled with a dancing white fire, twisting, turning and seeming
+to leap out of the water high into the air.</p>
+
+<p>Several small sailboats, square, flat little catamarans, they looked,
+showed black against the water as they scudded for shore, trailing lines
+of silver out behind them.</p>
+
+<p>The wind increased in force. Below, on the beach, a huge rock lay in the
+water, against which the surf was breaking. Columns of water at times
+shot into the air before the face of the rock, and were blown away by
+the wind in great clouds of glistening silver. Occasionally it thundered
+with a very sharp intense crack accompanied by a jagged bolt of bluish
+lightning that zigzagged down from the low-hanging cloud.</p>
+
+<p>Then came the rain in earnest, a solid, heavy torrent, that bent down
+the wind and smoothed the surface of the lake. The rain fell almost
+vertically, as though it were a tremendous curtain of silver strings.
+And each of these strings broke apart into great shining pearls as the
+eye followed downward the course of the raindrops.</p>
+
+<p>For perhaps ten minutes the silver torrent poured down. Then suddenly it
+ceased. The wind had died away; in the air there was the fresh warm
+smell of wet and steaming earth. From the lake rolled up a shimmering
+translucent cloud of mist, like an enormous silver fire mounting into
+the sky. And then, as the gray cloud swept back behind them, beyond the
+city, and the stars gleamed overhead, they saw again that great trail of
+star-dust which the Chemist first had seen through his microscope,
+hanging in an ever broadening arc across the sky, and ending vaguely at
+their feet.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE TRIAL</h3>
+
+
+<p>In a few moments more the storm had passed completely; only the wet city
+streets, the mist over the lake, and the moist warmth of the air
+remained. For some time the three visitors to this extraordinary world
+stood silent at the latticed windows, awed by what they had seen. The
+noise of the panels as the Chemist slid them back brought them to
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"A curious land, gentlemen," he remarked quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"It's&mdash;it's weird," the Very Young Man ejaculated.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist led them out across the roof to its other side facing the
+city. The street upon which the house stood sloped upwards over the hill
+behind. It was wet with the rain and gleamed like a sheet of burnished
+silver. And down its sides now ran two little streams of liquid silver
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>The street, deserted during the storm, was beginning to fill again with
+people returning to their tasks. At the intersection with the next road
+above, they could see a line of sleighs passing. Beneath them, before
+the wall of the garden a little group of men stood talking; on a
+roof-top nearby a woman appeared with a tiny naked infant which she sat
+down to nurse in a corner of her garden.</p>
+
+<p>"A city at work," said the Chemist with a wave of his hand. "Shall we go
+down and see it?"</p>
+
+<p>His three friends assented readily, the Very Young Man suggesting
+promptly that they first visit Lylda's father and Aura.</p>
+
+<p>"He is teaching Loto this morning," said the Chemist smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not go to the court?" suggested the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Is the public admitted?" asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing is secret here," the Chemist answered. "By all means, we will
+go to the court first, if you wish; Lylda should be through very
+shortly."</p>
+
+<p>The court of Arite stood about a mile away near the lake shore. As they
+left the house and passed through the city streets the respect accorded
+the Chemist became increasingly apparent. The three strangers with him
+attracted considerable attention, for, although they wore the
+conventional robes in which the more prominent citizens were generally
+attired, their short hair and the pallid whiteness of their skins made
+them objects of curiosity. No crowd gathered; those they passed stared a
+little, raised their hands to their foreheads and went their way, yet
+underneath these signs of respect there was with some an air of
+sullenness, of hostility, that the visitors could not fail to notice.</p>
+
+<p>The Oroid men, in street garb, were dressed generally in a short
+metallic-looking tunic of drab, with a brighter-colored girdle. The
+women, most of them, wore only a sort of skirt, reaching from waist to
+knees; a few had circular discs covering their breasts. There were
+hardly any children to be seen, except occasionally a little face
+staring at them from a window, or peering down from a roof-top. Once or
+twice they passed a woman with an infant slung across her back in a sort
+of hammock.</p>
+
+<p>The most common vehicle was the curious form of sleigh in which they had
+ridden down through the tunnels. They saw also a few little two-wheeled
+carts, with wheels that appeared to be a solid segment of tree-trunk.
+All the vehicles were drawn by meek-looking little gray animals like a
+small deer without horns.</p>
+
+<p>The court-house of Arite, though a larger building, from the outside was
+hardly different than most others in the city. It was distinct, however,
+in having on either side of the broad doorway that served as its main
+entrance, a large square stone column.</p>
+
+<p>As they entered, passing a guard who saluted them respectfully, the
+visitors turned from a hallway and ascended a flight of steps. At the
+top they found themselves on a balcony overlooking the one large room
+that occupied almost the entire building. The balcony ran around all
+three sides (the room was triangular in shape) and was railed with a low
+stone parapet. On it were perhaps fifty people, sitting quietly on stone
+benches that lay close up behind the parapet. An attendant stood at each
+of the corners of the balcony; the one nearest bowed low as the Chemist
+and his companions entered silently and took their seats.</p>
+
+<p>From the balcony the entire room below was in plain view. At the apex of
+its triangle sat the judge, on a raised dais of white stone with a
+golden canopy over it. He was a man about fifty&mdash;this leader of the
+court&mdash;garbed in a long loose robe of white. His hair, that fell on his
+shoulders, was snowy white, and around his forehead was a narrow white
+band. He held in his hand a sort of scepter of gold with a heavy golden
+triangle at its end.</p>
+
+<p>In six raised tiers of unequal length, like a triangular flight of
+stairs across the angle of the room, and directly in front of the judge,
+was the jury&mdash;twenty men and twenty women, seated in alternate rows. The
+men wore loose robes of gray; the women robes of blue. On a seat raised
+slightly above the others sat a man who evidently was speaker for the
+men of the jury. On a similar elevated seat was the woman speaker; this
+latter was Lylda.</p>
+
+<p>Near the center of the room, facing the judge and jury were two
+triangular spaces about twenty feet across, enclosed with a breast-high
+wall of stone. Within each of these enclosures were perhaps ten or
+twelve people seated on small stone benches. Directly facing the members
+of the jury and between them and the two enclosures, was a small
+platform raised about four feet above the floor, with several steps
+leading up to it from behind.</p>
+
+<p>A number of attendants dressed in the characteristic short tunics, with
+breastplates and a short sword hanging from the waist, stood near the
+enclosures, and along the sides of the room.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist leaned over and whispered to his friends: "Those two
+enclosed places in the center are for the witnesses. Over there are
+those testifying for the accused; the others are witnesses for the
+government. The platform is where the accused stands when&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He broke off suddenly. An expectant hush seemed to run over the room. A
+door at the side opened, and preceded and followed by two attendants a
+man entered, who walked slowly across the floor and stood alone upon the
+raised platform facing the jury.</p>
+
+<p>He was a man of extraordinarily striking look and demeanor. He stood
+considerably over six feet in height, with a remarkably powerful yet
+lean body. He was naked except for a cloth breech clout girdled about
+his loins. His appearance was not that of an Oroid, for beside his
+greater height, and more muscular physique, his skin was distinctly of a
+more brownish hue. His hair was cut at the base of the neck in Oroid
+fashion; it was black, with streaks of silver running through it. His
+features were large and cast in a rugged mold. His mouth was cruel, and
+wore now a sardonic smile. He stood erect with head thrown back and arms
+folded across his breast, calmly facing the men and women who were to
+judge him.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man gripped the Chemist by the arm. "Who is that?" he
+whispered.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist's lips were pressed together; he seemed deeply affected. "I
+did not know they caught him," he answered softly. "It must have been
+just this morning."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked at Lylda. Her face was placid, but her breast
+was rising and falling more rapidly than normal, and her hands in her
+lap were tightly clenched.</p>
+
+<p>The judge began speaking quietly, amid a deathlike silence. For over
+five minutes he spoke; once he was interrupted by a cheer, instantly
+stifled, and once by a murmur of dissent from several spectators on the
+balcony that called forth instant rebuke from the attendant stationed
+there.</p>
+
+<p>The judge finished his speech, and raised his golden scepter slowly
+before him. As his voice died away, Lylda rose to her feet and facing
+the judge bowed low, with hands to her forehead. Then she spoke a few
+words, evidently addressing the women before her. Each of them raised
+her hands and answered in a monosyllable, as though affirming an oath.
+This performance was repeated by the men.</p>
+
+<p>The accused still stood silent, smiling sardonically. Suddenly his voice
+rasped out with a short, ugly intonation and he threw his arms straight
+out before him. A murmur rose from the spectators, and several
+attendants leaned forward towards the platform. But the man only looked
+around at them contemptuously and again folded his arms.</p>
+
+<p>From one of the enclosures a woman came, and mounted the platform beside
+the man. The Chemist whispered, "His wife; she is going to speak for
+him." But with a muttered exclamation and wave of his arm, the man swept
+her back, and without a word she descended the steps and reentered the
+railed enclosure.</p>
+
+<p>Then the man turned and raising his arms spoke angrily to those seated
+in the enclosure. Then he appealed to the judge.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist whispered in explanation: "He refuses any witnesses."</p>
+
+<p>At a sign from the judge the enclosure was opened and its occupants left
+the floor, most of them taking seats upon the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is he?" the Very Young Man wanted to know, but the Chemist ignored
+his question.</p>
+
+<p>For perhaps ten minutes the man spoke, obviously in his own defence. His
+voice was deep and powerful, yet he spoke now seemingly without anger;
+and without an air of pleading. In fact his whole attitude seemed one of
+irony and defiance. Abruptly he stopped speaking and silence again fell
+over the room. A man and a woman left the other enclosure and mounted
+the platform beside the accused. They seemed very small and fragile, as
+he towered over them, looking down at them sneeringly.</p>
+
+<p>The man and woman conferred a moment in whispers. Then the woman spoke.
+She talked only a few minutes, interrupted twice by the judge, once by a
+question from Lylda, and once by the accused himself.</p>
+
+<p>Then for perhaps ten minutes more her companion addressed the court. He
+was a man considerably over middle age, and evidently, from his dress
+and bearing, a man of prominence in the nation. At one point in his
+speech it became obvious that his meaning was not clearly understood by
+the jury. Several of the women whispered together, and one rose and
+spoke to Lylda. She interrupted the witness with a quiet question. Later
+the accused himself questioned the speaker until silenced by the judge.</p>
+
+<p>Following this witness came two others. Then the judge rose, and looking
+up to the balcony where the Chemist and his companions were sitting,
+motioned to the Chemist to descend to the floor below.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man tried once again with his whispered question "What is
+it?" but the Chemist only smiled, and rising quietly left them.</p>
+
+<p>There was a stir in the court-room as the Chemist crossed the main
+floor. He did not ascend the platform with the prisoner, but stood
+beside it. He spoke to the jury quietly, yet with a suppressed power in
+his voice that must have been convincing. He spoke only a moment, more
+with the impartial attitude of one who gives advice than as a witness.
+When he finished, he bowed to the court and left the floor, returning at
+once to his friends upon the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>Following the Chemist, after a moment of silence, the judge briefly
+addressed the prisoner, who stolidly maintained his attitude of ironic
+defiance.</p>
+
+<p>"He is going to ask the jury to give its verdict now," said the Chemist
+in a low voice.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda and her companion leader rose and faced their subordinates, and
+with a verbal monosyllable from each member of the jury the verdict was
+unhesitatingly given. As the last juryman's voice died away, there came
+a cry from the back of the room, a woman tore herself loose from the
+attendants holding her, and running swiftly across the room leaped upon
+the platform. She was a slight little woman, almost a child in
+appearance beside the man's gigantic stature. She stood looking at him a
+moment with heaving breast and great sorrowful eyes from which the tears
+were welling out and flowing down her cheeks unheeded.</p>
+
+<p>The man's face softened. He put his hands gently upon the sides of her
+neck. Then, as she began sobbing, he folded her in his great arms. For
+an instant she clung to him. Then he pushed her away. Still crying
+softly, she descended from the platform, and walked slowly back across
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had she disappeared when there arose from the street outside a
+faint, confused murmur, as of an angry crowd gathering. The judge had
+left his seat now and the jury was filing out of the room.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist turned to his friends. "Shall we go?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"This trial&mdash;" began the Big Business Man. "You haven't told us its
+significance. This man&mdash;good God what a figure of power and hate and
+evil. Who is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"It must have been evident to you, gentlemen," the Chemist said quietly,
+"that you have been witnessing an event of the utmost importance to us
+all. I have to tell you of the crisis facing us; this trial is its
+latest development. That man&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The insistent murmur from the street grew louder. Shouts arose and then
+a loud pounding from the side of the building.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist broke off abruptly and rose to his feet. "Come outside," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>They followed him through a doorway on to a balcony, overlooking the
+street. Gathered before the court-house was a crowd of several hundred
+men and women. They surged up against its entrance angrily, and were
+held in check there by the armed attendants on guard. A smaller crowd
+was pounding violently upon a side door of the building. Several people
+ran shouting down the street, spreading the excitement through the city.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist and his companions stood in the doorway of the balcony an
+instant, silently regarding this ominous scene. The Chemist was just
+about to step forward, when, upon another balcony, nearer the corner of
+the building a woman appeared. She stepped close to the edge of the
+parapet and raised her arms commandingly.</p>
+
+<p>It was Lylda. She had laid aside her court robe and stood now in her
+glistening silver tunic. Her hair was uncoiled, and fell in dark masses
+over her white shoulders, blowing out behind her in the wind.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd hesitated at the sight of her, and quieted a little. She stood
+rigid as a statue for a moment, holding her arms outstretched. Then,
+dropping them with a gesture of appeal she began to speak.</p>
+
+<p>At the sound of her voice, clear and vibrant, yet soft, gentle and
+womanly, there came silence from below, and after a moment every face
+was upturned to hers. Gradually her voice rose in pitch. Its gentle tone
+was gone now&mdash;it became forceful, commanding. Then again she flung out
+her arms with a dramatic gesture and stood rigid, every line of her body
+denoting power&mdash;almost imperious command. Abruptly she ceased speaking,
+and, as she stood motionless, slowly at first, the crowd silently
+dispersed.</p>
+
+<p>The street below was soon clear. Even those onlookers at a distance
+turned the corner and disappeared. Another moment passed, and then Lylda
+swayed and sank upon the floor of the balcony, with her head on her arms
+against its low stone railing&mdash;just a tired, gentle, frightened little
+woman.</p>
+
+<p>"She did it&mdash;how wonderfully she did it," the Very Young Man murmured in
+admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"We can handle them now," answered the Chemist. "But each time&mdash;it is
+harder. Let us get Lylda and go home, gentlemen. I want to tell you all
+about it." He turned to leave the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>"Who was the man? What was he tried for?" the Very Young Man demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"That trial was the first of its kind ever held," the Chemist answered.
+"The man was condemned to death. It was a new crime&mdash;the gravest we have
+ever had to face&mdash;the crime of treason."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+
+<h3>LYLDA'S PLAN</h3>
+
+
+<p>Back home, comfortably seated upon the broad balcony overlooking the
+lake, the three men sat waiting to hear their host's explanation of the
+strange events they had witnessed. Lylda busied herself preparing a
+light noonday meal, which she served charmingly on the balcony while
+they talked.</p>
+
+<p>"My friends," the Chemist began. "I tried to give you this morning, a
+picture of this world and the life I have been leading here. I think you
+understand, although I did not specifically say so, that all I said
+related to the time when I first came here. That you would call this
+life Utopia, because of the way I outlined it, I do not doubt; or at
+least you would call it a state of affairs as near Utopian as any human
+beings can approach.</p>
+
+<p>"All that is true; it was Utopia. But gentlemen, it is so no longer.
+Things have been changing of recent years, until now&mdash;well you saw what
+happened this morning.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot account for the first cause of this trouble. Perhaps the
+Malite war, with its disillusionment to our people&mdash;I do not know. Faith
+in human kindness was broken: the Oroids could no longer trust
+implicitly in each other. A gradual distrust arose&mdash;a growing unrest&mdash;a
+dissatisfaction, which made no demands at first, nor seemed indeed to
+have any definite grievances of any sort. From it there sprang leaders,
+who by their greater intelligence created desires that fed and nourished
+their dissatisfaction&mdash;gave it a seemingly tangible goal that made it
+far more dangerous than it ever had been before.</p>
+
+<p>"About a year ago there first came into prominence the man whom you saw
+this morning condemned to death. His name is Targo&mdash;he is a
+Malite&mdash;full-blooded I believe, although he says not. For twenty years
+or more he has lived in Orlog, a city some fifty miles from Arite. His
+wife is an Oroid.</p>
+
+<p>"Targo, by his eloquence, and the power and force of his personality,
+won a large following in Orlog, and to a lesser degree in many other
+cities. Twice, some months ago, he was arrested and reprimanded; the
+last time with a warning that a third offence would mean his death."</p>
+
+<p>"What is he after?" asked the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"The Targos, as they are called, demand principally a different division
+of the land. Under the present system, approximately one-third of all
+the land is in the hands of the government. Of that, generally more than
+half lies idle most of the time. The Targos wish to have this land
+divided among the citizens. They claim also that most of the city
+organizations do not produce as large a dividend as the Targos could
+show under their own management. They have many other grievances that
+there is no reason for me to detail."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not let them try out their theories in some city?" suggested the
+Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"They are trying them," the Chemist answered. "There was a revolution in
+Orlog about six months ago. Several of its officials were
+assassinated&mdash;almost the first murders we have ever had. The Targos took
+possession of the government&mdash;a brother of this man you saw this morning
+became leader of the city. Orlog withdrew from the Oroid government and
+is now handling its affairs as a separate nation."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder&mdash;&mdash;" began the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "Well, why not
+let them run it that way, if they want to?"</p>
+
+<p>"No reason, if they were sincere. But they are not sincere nor honest
+fundamentally. Their leaders are for the most part Malites, or Oroids
+with Malite blood. And they are fooling the people. Their followers are
+all the more unintelligent, more gullible individuals, or those in whom
+there lies a latent criminal streak.</p>
+
+<p>"The thing doesn't work. Sexual license is growing in Orlog. Crimes
+against women are becoming more and more frequent. Offences committed by
+those prominent, or in authority, go unpunished. Women's testimony is
+discredited, often by concerted lying on the part of men witnesses.</p>
+
+<p>"Many families are leaving Orlog&mdash;leaving their land and their homes
+deserted. In other cities where the Targos threaten to gain control the
+same thing is happening. Most of these refugees come to Arite. We cannot
+take care of them; there is not enough land here."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not take your army and clean them up?" suggested the Very Young
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>They were seated around a little table, at which Lylda was serving
+lunch. At the question she stopped in the act of pouring a steaming
+liquid from a little metal kettle into their dainty golden drinking cups
+and looked at the Very Young Man gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"Very easy it would be to do that perhaps," she said quietly. "But these
+Targos, except a few&mdash;they are our own people. And they too are armed.
+We cannot fight them; we cannot kill them&mdash;our own people."</p>
+
+<p>"We may have to," said the Chemist. "But you see, I did not realize, I
+could not believe the extent to which this Targo could sway the people.
+Nor did I at first realize what evils would result if his ideas were
+carried out. He has many followers right here in Arite. You saw that
+this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"How did you catch him?" interrupted the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yesterday he came to Arite," said Lylda. "He came to speak. With him
+came fifty others. With them too came his wife to speak here, to our
+women. He thought we would do nothing; he defied us. There was a
+fight&mdash;this morning&mdash;and many were killed. And we brought him to the
+court&mdash;you saw."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a serious situation," said the Doctor. "I had no idea&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"We can handle it&mdash;we must handle it," said the Chemist. "But as Lylda
+says, we cannot kill our own people&mdash;only as a last desperate measure."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose you wait too long," suggested the Big Business Man. "You say
+these Targos are gaining strength every day. You might have a very bad
+civil war."</p>
+
+<p>"That was the problem," answered the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>"But now you come," said Lylda. "You change it all when you come down to
+us out of the great beyond. Our people, they call you genii of the
+Master, they&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh gee, I never thought of that," murmured the Very Young Man. "What
+<i>do</i> you think of us?"</p>
+
+<p>"They think you are supernatural beings of course," the Chemist said
+smiling. "Yet they accept you without fear and they look to you and to
+me for help."</p>
+
+<p>"This morning, there at the court," said Lylda, "I heard them say that
+Targo spoke against you. Devils, he said, from the Great Blue Star, come
+here with evil for us all. And they believe him, some of them. It was
+for that perhaps they acted as they did before the court. In Arite now,
+many believe in Targo. And it is bad, very bad."</p>
+
+<p>"The truth is," added the Chemist, "your coming, while it gives us
+unlimited possibilities for commanding the course of events, at the same
+time has precipitated the crisis. Naturally no one can understand who or
+what you are. And as Lylda says, the Targos undoubtedly are telling the
+people you come to ally yourself with me for evil. There will be
+thousands who will listen to them and fear and hate you&mdash;especially in
+some of the other cities."</p>
+
+<p>"What does the king say?" asked the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"We will see him to-morrow. He has been anxiously waiting for you. But
+you must not forget," the Chemist added with a smile, "the king has had
+little experience facing strife or evil-doing of any kind. It was almost
+unknown until recently. It is I, and you, gentlemen, who are facing the
+problem of saving this nation."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man's face was flushed, and his eyes sparkled with
+excitement. "We can do anything we like," he said. "We have the power."</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, that is it," said Lylda. "The power we have. But my friend, we
+cannot use it. Not for strife, for death; we cannot."</p>
+
+<p>"The execution of Targo will cause more trouble," said the Chemist
+thoughtfully. "It is bound to make&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"When will you put him to death?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow he dies," Lylda answered. "To-morrow, before the time of
+sleep."</p>
+
+<p>"There will be trouble," said the Chemist again. "We are in no personal
+danger of course, but, for the people who now believe in Targo, I am
+afraid&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"A plan I have made," said Lylda. She sat forward tensely in her chair,
+brushing her hair back from her face with a swift gesture. "A plan I
+have made. It is the only way&mdash;I now think&mdash;that may be there comes no
+harm to our people. It is that we want to do, if we can." She spoke
+eagerly, and without waiting for them to answer, went swiftly on.</p>
+
+<p>"This drug that you have brought, I shall take it. And I shall get big.
+Oh, not so very big, but big enough to be the height of a man it may be
+ten times. Then shall I talk to the people&mdash;I, Lylda&mdash;woman of the
+Master, and then shall I tell them that this power, this magic, is for
+good, not for evil, if only they will give up Targo and all who are with
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"I will take it with you," said the Chemist. "Together we&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, my husband. Alone I must do this. Ah, do you not know they say
+these stranger devils with their magic come for evil? And you too, must
+you not forget, once were a stranger just as they. That the people
+know&mdash;that they remember.</p>
+
+<p>"But I&mdash;I&mdash;Lylda&mdash;a woman of the Oroids I am&mdash;full-blooded Oroid, no
+stranger. And they will believe me&mdash;a woman&mdash;for they know I cannot lie.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall tell them I am for good, for kindness, for all we had, that
+time before the Malite war, when every one was happy. And if they will
+not believe, if as I say they will not do, then shall my power be indeed
+for evil, and all who will obey me not shall die. But they will
+believe&mdash;no need will there be to threaten.</p>
+
+<p>"To many cities I will go. And in them, all of those who want to live by
+Targo's law will I send to Orlog. And all in Orlog who believe him not,
+will I tell to leave, and to the other cities go to make their homes.
+Then Orlog shall be Targo's city. And to-morrow he will not die, but go
+there into Orlog and become their king. For I shall say it may be there
+are some who like his rule of evil. Or it may be he is good in different
+fashion, and in time can make us see that his law too, is just and kind.</p>
+
+<p>"Then shall live in Orlog all who wish to stay, and we shall watch their
+rule, but never shall we let them pass beyond their borders. For if they
+do, then shall we kill them.</p>
+
+<p>"All this I can do, my husband, if you but will let me try. For me they
+will believe, a woman, Oroid all of blood&mdash;for they know women do not
+lie." She stopped and the fire in her eyes changed to a look of gentle
+pleading. "If you will but let me try," she finished. "My
+husband&mdash;please."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist glanced at his friends who sat astonished by this flow of
+eager, impassioned words. Then he turned again to Lylda's intent,
+pleading face, regarding her tenderly. "You are very fine, little mother
+of my son," he said gently, lapsing for a moment into her own style of
+speech. "It could do no harm," he added thoughtfully "and perhaps&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Let her try it," said the Doctor. "No harm could come to her."</p>
+
+<p>"No harm to me could come," said Lylda quickly. "And I shall make them
+believe. I can, because I am a woman, and they will know I tell the
+truth. Ah, you will let me try, my husband&mdash;please?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist appealed to the others. "They will believe her, many of
+them," he said. "They will leave Orlog as she directs. But those in
+other cities will still hold to Targo, they will simply remain silent
+for a time. What their feelings will be or are we cannot tell. Some will
+leave and go to Orlog of course, for Lylda will offer freedom of their
+leader and to secure that they will seem to agree to anything.</p>
+
+<p>"But after all, they are nothing but children at heart, most of them.
+To-day, they might believe in Lylda; to-morrow Targo could win them
+again."</p>
+
+<p>"He won't get a chance," put in the Very Young Man quickly. "If she says
+we kill anybody who talks for Targo outside of Orlog, that goes. It's
+the only way, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"And she might really convince them&mdash;or most of them," added the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"You will let me try?" asked Lylda softly. The Chemist nodded.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda sprang to her feet. Her frail little body was trembling with
+emotion; on her face was a look almost of exaltation.</p>
+
+<p>"You <i>will</i> let me try," she cried. "Then I shall make them believe.
+Here, now, this very hour, I shall make them know the truth. And they,
+my own people, shall I save from sorrow, misery and death."</p>
+
+<p>She turned to the Chemist and spoke rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>"My husband, will you send Oteo now, up into the city. Him will you tell
+to have others spread the news. All who desire an end to Targo's rule,
+shall come here at once. And all too, who in him believe, and who for
+him want freedom, they shall come too. Let Oteo tell them magic shall be
+performed and Lylda will speak with them.</p>
+
+<p>"Make haste, my husband, for now I go to change my dress. Not as the
+Master's woman will I speak, but as Lylda&mdash;Oroid woman&mdash;woman of the
+people." And with a flashing glance, she turned and swiftly left the
+balcony.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+
+<h3>LYLDA ACTS</h3>
+
+
+<p>"She'll do it," the Very Young Man murmured, staring at the doorway
+through which Lylda had disappeared. "She can do anything."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist rose to his feet. "I'll send Oteo. Will you wait here
+gentlemen? And will you have some of the drugs ready for Lylda? You have
+them with you?" The men nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"How about Lylda carrying the drugs?" asked the Very Young Man. "And
+what about her clothes?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have already made a belt for Lylda and for myself&mdash;some time ago,"
+the Chemist answered. "During the first year I was here I made several
+experiments with the drugs. I found that almost anything within the
+immediate&mdash;shall I say influence of the body, will contract with it.
+Almost any garment, even a loose robe will change size. You found that
+to be so to some extent. Those belts you wore down&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"That's true," agreed the Doctor, "there seems to be considerable
+latitude&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I decided," the Chemist went on, "that immediately after your arrival
+we should all wear the drugs constantly. You can use the armpit pouches
+if you wish; Lylda and I will wear these belts I have made."</p>
+
+<p>Oteo, the Chemist's personal servant, a slim youth with a bright,
+intelligent face, listened carefully to his master's directions and then
+left the house hurriedly, running up the street towards the center of
+the city. Once or twice he stopped and spoke to passers-by for a moment,
+gathering a crowd around him each time.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist rejoined his friends on the balcony. "There will be a
+thousand people here in half an hour," he said quietly. "I have sent a
+message to the men in charge of the government workshops; they will have
+their people cease work to come here."</p>
+
+<p>Lylda appeared in a few moments more. She was dressed as the Chemist had
+seen her first through the microscope&mdash;in a short, grey skirt reaching
+from waist to knees. Only now she wore also two circular metal discs
+strapped over her breasts. Her hair was unbound and fell in masses
+forward over her shoulders. Around her waist was a broad girdle of
+golden cloth with small pouches for holding the chemicals. She took her
+place among the men quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"See, I am ready," she said with a smile. "Oteo, you have sent him?" The
+Chemist nodded.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda turned to the Doctor. "You will tell me, what is to do with the
+drugs?"</p>
+
+<p>They explained in a few words. By now a considerable crowd had gathered
+before the house, and up the street many others were hurrying down.
+Directly across from the entrance to Lylda's garden, back of the bluff
+at the lake front, was a large open space with a fringe of trees at its
+back. In this open space the crowd was collecting.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist rose after a moment and from the roof-top spoke a few words
+to the people in the street below. They answered him with shouts of
+applause mingled with a hum of murmured anger underneath. The Chemist
+went back to his friends, his face set and serious.</p>
+
+<p>As he dropped in his chair Lylda knelt on the floor before him, laying
+her arms on his knees. "I go to do for our people the best I can," she
+said softly, looking up into his face. "Now I go, but to you I will come
+back soon." The Chemist tenderly put his hand upon the glossy smoothness
+of her hair.</p>
+
+<p>"I go&mdash;now," she repeated, and reached for one of the vials under her
+arm. Holding it in her hand, she stared at it a moment, silently, in
+awe. Then she shuddered like a frightened child and buried her face in
+the Chemist's lap, huddling her little body up close against his legs as
+if for protection.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist did not move nor speak, but sat quiet with his hand gently
+stroking her hair. In a moment she again raised her face to his. Her
+long lashes were wet with tears, but her lips were smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"I am ready&mdash;now," she said gently. She brushed her tears from her eyes
+and rose to her feet. Drawing herself to her full height, she tossed
+back her head and flung out her arms before her.</p>
+
+<p>"No one can know I am afraid&mdash;but you," she said. "And I&mdash;shall forget."
+She dropped her arms and stood passive.</p>
+
+<p>"I go now to take the drug&mdash;there in the little garden behind, where no
+one can notice. You will come down?"</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man cleared his throat. When he spoke his voice was
+tremulous with emotion.</p>
+
+<p>"How long will you be gone&mdash;Lylda?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>The woman turned to him with a smile. "Soon will I return, so I
+believe," she answered. "I go to Orlog, to Raito, and to Tele. But never
+shall I wait, nor speak long, and fast will I walk.... Before the time
+of sleep has descended upon us, I shall be here."</p>
+
+<p>In the little garden behind the house, out of sight of the crowd on the
+other side, Lylda prepared to take the drug. She was standing there,
+with the four men, when Loto burst upon them, throwing himself into his
+mother's arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, <i>mamita</i>, <i>mamita</i>," he cried, clinging to her. "There in the
+street outside, they say such terrible things&mdash;&mdash;of you <i>mamita</i>. 'The
+master's woman' I heard one say, 'She has the evil magic.' And another
+spoke of Targo. And they say he must not die, or there will be death for
+those who kill him."</p>
+
+<p>Lylda held the boy close as he poured out his breathless frightened
+words.</p>
+
+<p>"No matter, little son," she said tenderly. "To <i>mamita</i> no harm can
+come&mdash;you shall see. Did my father teach you well to-day?"</p>
+
+<p>"But <i>mamita</i>, one man who saw me standing, called me an evil name and
+spoke of you, my mother Lylda. And a woman looked with a look I never
+saw before. I am afraid, <i>mamita</i>."</p>
+
+<p>With quivering lips that smiled, Lylda kissed the little boy tenderly
+and gently loosening his hold pushed him towards his father.</p>
+
+<p>"The Master's son, Loto, never can he be afraid," she said with gentle
+reproof. "That must you remember&mdash;always."</p>
+
+<p>The little group in the garden close up against the house stood silent
+as Lylda took a few grains of the drug. The noise and shouts of the
+crowd in front were now plainly audible. One voice was raised above the
+others, as though someone were making a speech.</p>
+
+<p>Loto stood beside his father, and the Chemist laid his arm across the
+boy's shoulder. As Lylda began visibly to increase in size, the boy
+uttered a startled cry. Meeting his mother's steady gaze he shut his
+lips tight, and stood rigid, watching her with wide, horrified eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda had grown nearly twice her normal size before she spoke. Then,
+smiling down at the men, she said evenly, "From the roof, perhaps, you
+will watch."</p>
+
+<p>"You know what to do if you grow too large," the Doctor said huskily.</p>
+
+<p>"I know, my friend. I thank you all. And good-bye." She met the
+Chemist's glance an instant. Then abruptly she faced about and walking
+close to the house, stood at its further corner facing the lake.</p>
+
+<p>After a moment's hesitation the Chemist led his friends to the roof. As
+they appeared at the edge of the parapet a great shout rolled up from
+the crowd below. Nearly a thousand people had gathered. The street was
+crowded and in the open space beyond they stood in little groups. On a
+slight eminence near the lake bluff, a man stood haranguing those around
+him. He was a short, very thickset little man, with very long arms&mdash;a
+squat, apelike figure. He talked loudly and indignantly; around him
+perhaps a hundred people stood listening, applauding at intervals.</p>
+
+<p>When the Chemist appeared this man stopped with a final phrase of
+vituperation and a wave of his fist towards the house.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist stood silent, looking out over the throng. "How large is she
+now?" he asked the Very Young Man softly. The Very Young Man ran across
+the roof to its farther corner and was back in an instant.</p>
+
+<p>"They'll see her soon&mdash;look there." His friends turned at his words. At
+the corner of the house they could just see the top of Lylda's head
+above the edge of the parapet. As they watched she grew still taller and
+in another moment her forehead appeared. She turned her head, and her
+great eyes smiled softly at them across the roof-top. In a few moments
+more (she had evidently stopped growing) with a farewell glance at her
+husband, she stepped around the corner of the house into full view of
+the crowd&mdash;a woman over sixty feet tall, standing quietly in the garden
+with one hand resting upon the roof of the house behind her.</p>
+
+<p>A cry of terror rose from the people as she appeared. Most of those in
+the street ran in fright back into the field behind. Then, seeing her
+standing motionless with a gentle smile on her face, they stopped,
+irresolute. A few held their ground, frankly curious and unafraid.
+Others stood sullen and defiant.</p>
+
+<p>When the people had quieted a little Lylda raised her arms in greeting
+and spoke, softly, yet with a voice that carried far away over the
+field. As she talked the people seemed to recover their composure
+rapidly. Her tremendous size no longer seemed to horrify them. Those who
+obviously at first were friendly appeared now quite at ease; the others,
+with their lessening terror, were visibly more hostile.</p>
+
+<p>Once Lylda mentioned the name of Targo. A scattered shout came up from
+the crowd; the apelike man shouted out something to those near him, and
+then, leaving his knoll disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>As Lylda continued, the hostile element in the crowd grew more
+insistent. They did not listen to her now but shouted back, in derision
+and defiance. Then suddenly a stone was thrown; it struck Lylda on the
+breast, hitting her metal breastplate with a thud and dropping at her
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>As though at a signal a hail of stones flew up from the crowd, most of
+them striking Lylda like tiny pebbles, a few of the larger ones bounding
+against the house, or landing on its roof.</p>
+
+<p>At this attack Lylda abruptly stopped speaking and took a step forward
+menacingly. The hail of stones continued. Then she turned towards the
+roof-top, where the men and the little boy stood behind the parapet,
+sheltering themselves from the flying stones.</p>
+
+<p>"Only one way there is," said Lylda sadly, in a soft whisper that they
+plainly heard above the noise of the crowd. "I am sorry, my husband&mdash;but
+I must."</p>
+
+<p>A stone struck her shoulder. She faced the crowd again; a gentle look of
+sorrow was in her eyes, but her mouth was stern. In the street below at
+the edge of the field the squat little man had reappeared. It was from
+here that most of the stones seemed to come.</p>
+
+<p>"That man there&mdash;by the road&mdash;&mdash;" The Chemist pointed. "One of
+Targo's&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>In three swift steps Lylda was across the garden, with one foot over the
+wall into the street. Reaching down she caught the man between her huge
+fingers, and held him high over her head an instant so that all might
+see.</p>
+
+<p>The big crowd was silent with terror; the man high in the air over their
+heads screamed horribly. Lylda hesitated only a moment more; then she
+threw back her arm and, with a great great sweep, flung her screaming
+victim far out into the lake.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ESCAPE OF TARGO</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I am very much afraid it was a wrong move," said the Chemist gravely.</p>
+
+<p>They were sitting in a corner of the roof, talking over the situation.
+Lylda had left the city; the last they had seen of her, she was striding
+rapidly away, over the country towards Orlog. The street and field
+before the house now was nearly deserted.</p>
+
+<p>"She had to do it, of course," the Chemist continued, "but to kill
+Targo's brother&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder," began the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "It seems to me
+this disturbance is becoming far more serious than we think. It isn't so
+much a political issue now between your government and the followers of
+Targo, as it is a struggle against those of us who have this magic, as
+they call it."</p>
+
+<p>"That's just the point," put in the Doctor quickly. "They are making the
+people believe that our power of changing size is a menace that&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"If I had only realized," said the Chemist. "I thought your coming would
+help. Apparently it was the very worst thing that could have happened."</p>
+
+<p>"Not for you personally," interjected the Very Young Man. "We're
+perfectly safe&mdash;and Lylda, and Loto." He put his arm affectionately
+around the boy who sat close beside him. "You are not afraid, are you,
+Loto?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now I am not," answered the boy seriously. "But this morning, when I
+left my grandfather, coming home&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You were afraid for your mother. That was it, wasn't it?" finished the
+Very Young Man. "Does your grandfather teach you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;he, and father, and mother."</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to see Lylda's father," said the Chemist. "There is nothing
+we can do now until Lylda returns. Shall we walk up there?" They all
+agreed readily.</p>
+
+<p>"I may go, too?" Loto asked, looking at his father.</p>
+
+<p>"You have your lessons," said the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>"But, my father, it is so very lonely without mother," protested the
+boy.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled gently. "Afraid, little son, to stay with Oteo?"</p>
+
+<p>"He's not afraid," said the Very Young Man stoutly.</p>
+
+<p>The little boy looked from one to the other of them a moment silently.
+Then, calling Oteo's name, he ran across the roof and down into the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>"Five years ago," said the Chemist, as the child disappeared, "there was
+hardly such an emotion in this world as fear or hate or anger. Now the
+pendulum is swinging to the other extreme. I suppose that's natural,
+but&mdash;&mdash;" He ended with a sigh, and, breaking his train of thought, rose
+to his feet. "Shall we start?"</p>
+
+<p>Lylda's father greeted them gravely, with a dignity, and yet obvious
+cordiality that was quite in accord with his appearance. He was a man
+over sixty. His still luxuriant white hair fell to his shoulders. His
+face was hairless, for in this land all men's faces were as devoid of
+hair as those of the women. He was dressed in a long, flowing robe
+similar to those his visitors were wearing.</p>
+
+<p>"Because&mdash;you come&mdash;I am glad," he said with a smile, as he shook hands
+in their own manner. He spoke slowly, with frequent pauses, as though
+carefully picking his words. "But&mdash;an old man&mdash;I know not the language
+of you."</p>
+
+<p>He led them into a room that evidently was his study, for in it they saw
+many strange instruments, and on a table a number of loosely bound
+sheets of parchment that were his books. They took the seats he offered
+and looked around them curiously.</p>
+
+<p>"There is the clock we spoke of," said the Chemist, indicating one of
+the larger instruments that stood on a pedestal in a corner of the room.
+"Reoh will explain it to you."</p>
+
+<p>Their host addressed the Chemist. "From Oteo I hear&mdash;the news to-day is
+bad?" he asked with evident concern.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid it is," the Chemist answered seriously.</p>
+
+<p>"And Lylda?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist recounted briefly the events of the day. "We can only wait
+until Lylda returns," he finished. "To-morrow we will talk with the
+king."</p>
+
+<p>"Bad it is," said the old man slowly; "very bad. But&mdash;we shall see&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man had risen to his feet and was standing beside the
+clock.</p>
+
+<p>"How does it work?" he asked. "What time is it now?"</p>
+
+<p>Reoh appealed to his son-in-law. "To tell of it&mdash;the words I know not."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled. "You are too modest, my father. But I will help you
+out, if you insist." He turned to the others, who were gathered around
+him, looking at the clock.</p>
+
+<p>"Our measurement of our time here," he began, "like yours, is based
+on&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse me," interrupted the Very Young Man. "I just want to know first
+what time it is now?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is in the fourth eclipse," said the Chemist with a twinkle.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man was too surprised by this unexpected answer to
+question further, and the Chemist went on.</p>
+
+<p>"We measure time by the astronomical movements, just as you do in your
+world. One of the larger stars has a satellite which revolves around it
+with extreme rapidity. Here at Arite, this satellite passes nearly
+always directly behind its controlling star. In other words, it is
+eclipsed. Ten of these eclipses measure the passage of our day. We rise
+generally at the first eclipse or about that time. It is now the fourth
+eclipse; you would call it late afternoon. Do you see?"</p>
+
+<p>"How is the time gauged here?" asked the Big Business Man, indicating
+the clock.</p>
+
+<p>The instrument stood upon a low stone pedestal. It consisted of a
+transparent cylinder about twelve inches in diameter and some four feet
+high, surmounted by a large circular bowl. The cylinder was separated
+from the bowl by a broad disc of porous stone; a similar stone section
+divided the cylinder horizontally into halves. From the bowl a fluid was
+dropping in a tiny stream through the top stone segment into the upper
+compartment, which was now about half full. This in turn filtered
+through the second stone into the lower compartment. This lower section
+was marked in front with a large number of fine horizontal lines, an
+equal distance apart, but of unequal length. In it the fluid stood now
+just above one of the longer lines-the fourth from the bottom. On the
+top of this fluid floated a circular disc almost the size of the inside
+diameter of the cylinder.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist explained. "It really is very much like the old hour-glass
+we used to have in your world. This filters liquid instead of sand. You
+will notice the water filters twice." He indicated the two compartments.
+"That is because it is necessary to have a liquid that is absolutely
+pure in order that the rate at which it filters through this other stone
+may remain constant. The clock is carefully tested, so that for each
+eclipse the water will rise in this lower part of the cylinder, just the
+distance from here to here."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist put his fingers on two of the longer marks.</p>
+
+<p>"Very ingenious," remarked the Doctor. "Is it accurate?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not so accurate as your watches, of course," the Chemist answered. "But
+still, it serves the purpose. These ten longer lines, you see, mark the
+ten eclipses that constitute one of our days. The shorter lines between
+indicate halves and quarter intervals."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is only good for one day?" asked the Very Young Man. "How do
+you set it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It resets automatically each day, at the beginning of the first
+eclipse. This disc," the Chemist pointed to the disc floating on the
+water in the lower compartment. "This disc rises with the water on which
+it is floating. When it reaches the top of it, it comes in contact with
+a simple mechanism&mdash;you'll see it up there&mdash;which opens a gate below and
+drains out the water in a moment. So that every morning it is emptied
+and starts filling up again. All that is needed is to keep this bowl
+full of water."</p>
+
+<p>"It certainly seems very practical," observed the Big Business Man. "Are
+there many in use?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite a number, yes. This clock was invented by Reoh, some thirty years
+ago. He is the greatest scientist and scholar we have." The old man
+smiled deprecatingly at this compliment.</p>
+
+<p>"Are these books?" asked the Very Young Man; he had wandered over to the
+table and was fingering one of the bound sheets of parchment.</p>
+
+<p>"They are Reoh's chronicles," the Chemist answered. "The only ones of
+their kind in Arite."</p>
+
+<p>"What's this?" The Very Young Man pointed to another instrument.</p>
+
+<p>"That is an astronomical instrument, something like a sextant&mdash;also an
+invention of Reoh's. Here is a small telescope and&mdash;&mdash;" The Chemist
+paused and went over to another table standing at the side of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"That reminds me, gentlemen," he continued; "I have something here in
+which you will be greatly interested."</p>
+
+<p>"What you&mdash;will see," said Reoh softly, as they gathered around the
+Chemist, "you only, of all people, can understand. Each day I look, and
+I wonder; but never can I quite believe."</p>
+
+<p>"I made this myself, nearly ten years ago," said the Chemist, lifting up
+the instrument; "a microscope. It is not very large, you see; nor is it
+very powerful. But I want you to look through it." With his
+cigar-lighter he ignited a short length of wire that burned slowly with
+a brilliant blue spot of light. In his hand he held a small piece of
+stone.</p>
+
+<p>"I made this microscope hoping that I might prove with it still more
+conclusively my original theory of the infinite smallness of human life.
+For many months I searched into various objects, but without success.
+Finally I came upon this bit of rock." The Chemist adjusted it carefully
+under the microscope with the light shining brilliantly upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"You see I have marked one place; I am going to let you look into it
+there."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor stepped forward. As he looked they heard his quick intake of
+breath. After a moment he raised his head. On his face was an expression
+of awe too deep for words. He made place for the others, and stood
+silent.</p>
+
+<p>When the Very Young Man's turn came he looked into the eyepiece
+awkwardly. His heart was beating fast; for some reason he felt
+frightened.</p>
+
+<p>At first he saw nothing. "Keep the other eye open," said the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man did as he was directed. After a moment there appeared
+before him a vast stretch of open country. As from a great height he
+stared down at the scene spread out below him. Gradually it became
+clearer. He saw water, with the sunlight&mdash;his own kind of sunlight it
+seemed&mdash;shining upon it. He stared for a moment more, dazzled by the
+light. Then, nearer to him, he saw a grassy slope, that seemed to be on
+a mountain-side above the water. On this slope he saw animals grazing,
+and beside them a man, formed like himself.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist's voice came to him from far away. "We are all of us here in
+a world that only occupies a portion of one little atom of the gold of a
+wedding-ring. Yet what you see there in that stone&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man raised his head. Before him stood the microscope,
+with its fragment of stone gleaming in the blue light of the burning
+wire. He wanted to say something to show them how he felt, but no words
+came. He looked up into the Chemist's smiling face, and smiled back a
+little foolishly.</p>
+
+<p>"Every day I look," said Reoh, breaking the silence. "And I
+see&mdash;wonderful things. But never really&mdash;can I believe."</p>
+
+<p>At this moment there came a violent rapping upon the outer door. As Reoh
+left the room to open it, the Very Young Man picked up the bit of stone
+that the Chemist had just taken from the microscope.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish&mdash;may I keep it?" he asked impulsively.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled and nodded, and the Very Young Man was about to slip
+it into the pocket of his robe when Reoh hastily reentered the room,
+followed by Oteo. The youth was breathing heavily, as though he had been
+running, and on his face was a frightened look.</p>
+
+<p>"Bad; very bad," said the old man, in a tone of deep concern, as they
+came through the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Oteo?" asked the Chemist quickly. The boy answered him with
+a flood of words in his native tongue.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist listened quietly. Then he turned to his companions.</p>
+
+<p>"Targo has escaped," he said briefly. "They sent word to me at home, and
+Oteo ran here to tell me. A crowd broke into the court-house and
+released him. Oteo says they went away by water, and that no one is
+following them."</p>
+
+<p>The youth, who evidently understood English, added something else in his
+own language.</p>
+
+<p>"He says Targo vowed death to all who have the magic power. He spoke in
+the city just now, and promised them deliverance from the giants."</p>
+
+<p>"Good Lord," murmured the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"He has gone to Orlog probably," the Chemist continued. "We have nothing
+to fear for the moment. But that he could speak, in the centre of Arite,
+after this morning, and that the people would listen&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me things are getting worse every minute," said the Big
+Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>Oteo spoke again. The Chemist translated. "The police did nothing. They
+simply stood and listened, but took no part."</p>
+
+<p>"Bad; very bad," repeated the old man, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>"What we should do I confess I cannot tell," said the Chemist soberly.
+"But that we should do something drastic is obvious."</p>
+
+<p>"We can't do anything until Lylda gets back," declared the Very Young
+Man. "We'll see what she has done. We might have had to let Targo go
+anyway."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist started towards the door. "To-night, by the time of sleep,
+Reoh," he said to the old man, "I expect Lylda will have returned. You
+had better come to us then with Aura. I do not think you should stay
+here alone to sleep to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"In a moment&mdash;Aura comes," Reoh answered. "We shall be with you&mdash;very
+soon."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist motioned to his companions, and with obvious reluctance on
+the part of the Very Young Man they left, followed by Oteo.</p>
+
+<p>On the way back the city seemed quiet&mdash;abnormally so. The streets were
+nearly deserted; what few pedestrians they met avoided them, or passed
+them sullenly. They were perhaps half-way back to the Chemist's house
+when the Very Young Man stopped short.</p>
+
+<p>"I forgot that piece of stone," he explained, looking at them queerly.
+"Go on. I'll be there by the time you are," and disregarding the
+Chemist's admonition that he might get lost he left them abruptly and
+walked swiftly back over the way they had come.</p>
+
+<p>Without difficulty, for they had made few turns, the Very Young Man
+located Reoh's house. As he approached he noticed the figure of a man
+lounging against a further corner of the building; the figure
+disappeared almost as soon as he saw it.</p>
+
+<p>It was a trivial incident, but, somehow, to the Very Young Man, it held
+something in it of impending danger. He did not knock on the outer door,
+but finding it partly open, he slowly pushed it wider and stepped
+quietly into the hallway beyond. He was hardly inside when there came
+from within the house a girl's scream&mdash;a cry of horror, abruptly
+stifled.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant, the Very Young Man stood hesitating. Then he dashed
+forward through an open doorway in the direction from which the cry had
+seemed to come.</p>
+
+<p>The room into which he burst was Reoh's study; the room he had left only
+a few moments before. On the floor, almost across his path, lay the old
+man, with the short blade of a sword buried to the hilt in his breast.
+In a corner of the room a young Oroid girl stood with her back against
+the wall. Her hands were pressed against her mouth; her eyes were wide
+with terror. Bending over the body on the floor with a hand at its
+armpit, knelt the huge, gray figure of a man. At the sound of the
+intruder's entrance he looked up quickly and sprang to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man saw it was Targo!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ABDUCTION</h3>
+
+
+<p>When the Very Young Man left them so unceremoniously the Chemist and his
+companions continued on their way home, talking earnestly over the
+serious turn affairs had taken. Of the three, the Big Business Man
+appeared the most perturbed.</p>
+
+<p>"Lylda isn't going to accomplish anything," he said. "It won't work. The
+thing has gone too far. It isn't politics any longer; it's a struggle
+against us&mdash;a hatred and fear of our supernatural powers."</p>
+
+<p>"If we had never come&mdash;&mdash;" began the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"It probably would have worked out all right," finished the Big Business
+Man. "But since we're here&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"We could leave," the Doctor suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"It has gone too far; I agree with you," the Chemist said. "Your going
+would not help. They would never believe I did not still possess the
+magic. And now, without the drugs I might not be able to cope with
+affairs. It is a very serious situation."</p>
+
+<p>"And getting worse all the time," added the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>When they arrived at the Chemist's home Loto did not run out to meet
+them as the Chemist expected. They called his name, but there was no
+answer. Inside the house they perceived at once that something was
+wrong. The living-room was in disorder; some of the pieces of furniture
+had been overturned, and many of the smaller articles were scattered
+about the floor. Even the wall-hangings had been torn down.</p>
+
+<p>In sudden fear the Chemist ran through the building, calling to Loto.
+Everywhere he saw evidence of intruders, who had ransacked the rooms, as
+though making a hasty search. In one of the rooms, crouched on the
+floor, he came upon Eena, Lylda's little serving-maid. The girl was
+stricken dumb with terror. At the sight of her master she sobbed with
+relief, and after a few moments told him what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>When the Chemist rejoined his friends in the lower room his face was set
+and white. The girl followed him closely, evidently afraid to be left
+alone. The Chemist spoke quietly, controlling his emotion with obvious
+difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>"Loto has been stolen!" he said. "Targo and four of his men were here
+soon after we left. Eena saw them and hid. They searched the house&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"For the drugs," muttered the Doctor under his breath.</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;&mdash;and then left, taking Loto with them."</p>
+
+<p>"Which way did they go?" asked the Big Business Man. "Good God, what a
+thing!"</p>
+
+<p>"They went by water, in a large boat that was waiting for them here,"
+answered the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>"How long ago?" asked the Doctor quickly. "We have not been gone very
+long."</p>
+
+<p>"An hour probably, not much more." Eena said something to her master and
+began to cry softly.</p>
+
+<p>"She says they left a little while ago. Three of the men took Loto away
+in the boat. She watched them from the window upstairs."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Targo ali&aacute;</i>," said the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"One of the men was Targo," said the Chemist. He went to one of the
+windows overlooking the lake; the Doctor stood beside him. There was no
+boat in sight.</p>
+
+<p>"They cannot have got very far," said the Doctor. "Those islands
+there&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"They would take him to Orlog," said the Chemist. "About fifty miles."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor turned back to the room. "We can get them. You forget&mdash;these
+drugs&mdash;the power they give us. Oh, Will." He called the Big Business Man
+over to them; he spoke hurriedly, with growing excitement. "What do you
+think, Will? That boat&mdash;they've got Loto&mdash;it can't be very far. We can
+make ourselves so large in half an hour we can wade all over the lake.
+We can get it. What do you think?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist dropped into a chair with his head in his hands. "Let me
+think&mdash;just a moment, Frank. I know the power we have; I know we can do
+almost anything. That little boy of mine&mdash;they've got him. Let me
+think&mdash;just a moment."</p>
+
+<p>He sat motionless. The Doctor continued talking in a lower tone to the
+Big Business Man by the window. In the doorway Oteo stood like a statue,
+motionless, except for his big, soft eyes that roved unceasingly over
+the scene before him. After a moment Eena ceased her sobbing and knelt
+beside the Chemist, looking up at him sorrowfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot believe," said the Chemist finally, raising his head, "that
+the safest way to rescue Loto is by the plan you have suggested." He
+spoke with his usual calm, judicial manner, having regained control of
+himself completely. "I understand now, thoroughly, and for the first
+time, the situation we are facing. It is, as you say, a political issue
+no longer. Targo and his closest followers have convinced a very large
+proportion of our entire nation, I am certain, that myself, and my
+family, and you, the strangers, are possessed of a diabolical power that
+must be annihilated. Targo will never rest until he has the drugs. That
+is why he searched this house.</p>
+
+<p>"He has abducted Loto for the same purpose. He will&mdash;not hurt Loto&mdash;I am
+convinced of that. Probably he will send someone to-morrow to demand the
+drugs as the price of Loto's life. But don't you understand? Targo and
+his advisers, and even the most ignorant of the people, realize what
+power we have. Lylda showed them that when she flung Targo's brother out
+into the lake to-day. But we cannot use this power openly. For, while it
+makes us invincible, it makes them correspondingly desperate. They are a
+peculiar people. Throughout the whole history of the race they have been
+kindly, thoughtless children. Now they are aroused. The pendulum has
+swung to the other extreme. They care little for their lives. They are
+still children&mdash;children who will go to their death unreasoning,
+fighting against invincibility.</p>
+
+<p>"That is something we must never overlook, for it is a fact. We cannot
+run amuck as giants over this world and hope to conquer it. We could
+conquer it, yes; but only when the last of its inhabitants had been
+killed; stamped out like ants defending their hill from the attacks of
+an elephant. Don't you see I am right?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then Lylda&mdash;&mdash;" began the Doctor, as the Chemist paused.</p>
+
+<p>"Lylda will fail. Her venture to-day will make matters immeasurably
+worse."</p>
+
+<p>"You're right," agreed the Big Business Man. "We should have realized."</p>
+
+<p>"So you see we cannot make ourselves large and recapture Loto by force.
+They would anticipate us and kill him."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what shall we do?" demanded the Doctor. "We must do something."</p>
+
+<p>"That we must decide carefully, for we must make no more mistakes. But
+we can do nothing at this moment. The lives of all of us are threatened.
+We must not allow ourselves to become separated. We must wait here for
+Lylda. Reoh and Aura must stay with us. Then we can decide how to rescue
+Loto and what to do after that. But we must keep together."</p>
+
+<p>"Jack ought to be here by now," said the Big Business Man. "I hope Reoh
+and Aura come with him."</p>
+
+<p>For over an hour they waited, and still the Very Young Man did not come.
+They had just decided to send Oteo to see what had become of him and to
+bring down Reoh and his daughter, when Lylda unexpectedly returned. It
+was Eena, standing at one of the side windows, who first saw her
+mistress. A cry from the girl brought them all to the window. Far away
+beyond the city they could see the gigantic figure of Lylda, towering
+several hundred feet in the air.</p>
+
+<p>As she came closer she seemed to stop, near the outskirts of the city,
+and then they saw her dwindling in size until she disappeared, hidden
+from their view by the houses near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>In perhaps half an hour more she reappeared, picking her way carefully
+down the deserted street towards them. She was at this time about forty
+feet tall. At the corner, a hundred yards away from them a little group
+of people ran out, and, with shouts of anger, threw something at her as
+she passed.</p>
+
+<p>She stooped down towards them, and immediately they scurried for safety
+out of her reach.</p>
+
+<p>Once inside of her own garden, where the Chemist and his companions were
+waiting, Lylda lost no time in becoming her normal size again. As she
+grew smaller, she sat down with her back against a little tree. Her face
+was white and drawn; her eyes were full of tears as she looked at her
+husband and his friends.</p>
+
+<p>When the drug had ceased to act, the Chemist sat beside her. She had
+started out only a few hours before a crusader, dominant, forceful; she
+came back now, a tired, discouraged little woman. The Chemist put his
+arm around her protectingly, drawing her drooping body towards him.
+"Very bad news, Lylda, we know," he said gently.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my husband," she cried brokenly. "So sorry I am&mdash;so very sorry. The
+best I knew I did. And it was all so very bad&mdash;so very bad&mdash;&mdash;" she
+broke off abruptly, looking at him with her great, sorrowful eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell us Lylda," he said softly.</p>
+
+<p>"To many cities I went," she answered. "And I told the people all I
+meant to say. Some of them believed. But they were not many, and of the
+others who did not believe, they were afraid, and so kept they silent.
+Then into Orlog I went, and in the public square I spoke&mdash;for very long,
+because, for some reason I know not, at first they listened.</p>
+
+<p>"But no one there believed. And then, my husband, at last I knew why I
+could not hope to gain my way. It is not because they want Targo's rule
+that they oppose us. It was, but it is so no longer. It is because they
+have been made to fear these drugs we have. For now, in Orlog, they are
+shouting death to all the giants. Forgotten are all their cries for
+land&mdash;the things that Targo promised, and we in Arite would not give. It
+is death to all the giants they are shouting now: death to you, to me,
+to us all, because we have these drugs."</p>
+
+<p>"Did they attack you?" asked the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Many things they threw," Lylda answered. "But I was so big," she smiled
+a little sad, twisted smile. "What they could do was as nothing. And
+because of that they fear and hate us so; yet never have I seen such
+fearless things as those they did. Death to the giants was their only
+cry. And I could have killed them&mdash;hundreds, thousands&mdash;yet never could
+I have made them stop while yet they were alive.</p>
+
+<p>"I told them Targo I would free. And in Orlog they laughed. For they
+said that he would free himself before I had returned."</p>
+
+<p>"He did," muttered the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Targo escaped this afternoon," the Chemist explained. "He went to Orlog
+by boat and took&mdash;&mdash;" He stopped abruptly. "Come into the house, Lylda,"
+he added gently; "there are other things, my wife, of which we must
+speak." He rose to his feet, pulling her up with him.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Jack," she asked, looking at the Big Business Man, who stood
+watching her gravely. "And where is Loto? Does he not want to see his
+mother who tried so&mdash;&mdash;" She put her arms around the Chemist's neck. "So
+very hard I tried," she finished softly. "So very hard, because&mdash;I
+thought&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist led her gently into the house. The Doctor started to follow,
+but the Big Business Man held him back. "It is better not," he said in
+an undertone, "don't you think?" Oteo was standing near them, and the
+Big Business Man motioned to him. "Besides," he added, "I'm worried
+about Jack. I think we ought to go up after him. I don't think it ought
+to take us very long."</p>
+
+<p>"With Oteo&mdash;he knows the way," agreed the Doctor. "It's devilish strange
+what's keeping that boy."</p>
+
+<p>They found that although Oteo spoke only a few words of English, he
+understood nearly everything they said, and waiting only a moment more,
+they started up into the city towards Reoh's home.</p>
+
+<p>In the living-room of the house, the Chemist sat Lylda gently down on a
+cushion in front of the hearth. Sitting beside her, he laid his hand on
+hers that rested on her knee.</p>
+
+<p>"For twelve years, Lylda, we have lived together," he began slowly. "And
+no sorrow has come to us; no danger has threatened us or those we
+loved." He met his wife's questioning gaze unflinchingly and went on:</p>
+
+<p>"You have proved yourself a wonderful woman, my wife. You never
+knew&mdash;nor those before you&mdash;the conflict of human passions. No danger
+before has ever threatened you or those you loved." He saw her eyes grow
+wider.</p>
+
+<p>"Very strange you talk, my husband. There is something&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"There is something, Lylda. To-day you have seen strife, anger, hate
+and&mdash;and death. You have met them all calmly; you have fought them all
+justly, like a woman&mdash;a brave, honest Oroid woman, who can wrong no one.
+There is something now that I must tell you." He saw the growing fear in
+her eyes and hurried on.</p>
+
+<p>"Loto, to-day&mdash;this afternoon&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The woman gave a little, low cry of anguish, instantly repressed. Her
+hand gripped his tightly.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, Lylda, not that," he said quickly, "but this afternoon while we
+were all away&mdash;Loto was here alone with Eena&mdash;Targo with his men came.
+They did not hurt Loto; they took him away in a boat to Orlog." He
+stopped abruptly. Lylda's eyes never left his face. Her breath came
+fast; she put a hand to her mouth and stifled the cry that rose to her
+lips.</p>
+
+<p>"They will not hurt him, Lylda; that I know. And soon we will have him
+back."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment more her searching eyes stared steadily into his. He heard
+the whispered words, "My little son&mdash;with Targo," come slowly from her
+lips; then with a low, sobbing cry she dropped senseless into his arms.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII</h2>
+
+<h3>AURA</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Very Young Man involuntarily took a step backward as he met Targo's
+eyes, glaring at him across the old man's body. The girl in the corner
+gave another cry&mdash;a cry of fright and horror, yet with a note of relief.
+The Very Young Man found himself wondering who she was; then he knew.</p>
+
+<p>His first impulse was to leap across the room towards her. He thought of
+the chemicals and instinctively his hand went to his armpit. But he knew
+there was no time for that. He hesitated one brief instant. As he stood
+rigid Targo stooped swiftly and grasped the dagger in his victim's
+breast.</p>
+
+<p>The girl screamed again, louder this time, and like a mask the Very
+Young Man's indecision fell from him. He stood alert, clear-headed. Here
+was an enemy threatening him&mdash;an enemy he must fight and overcome.</p>
+
+<p>In the second that Targo bent down the Very Young Man bounded forward,
+and with a leap that his football days had taught him so well how to
+make, he landed squarely upon the bare, broad back of his antagonist.
+The impact of his weight forced Targo down upon the floor, and losing
+his balance he fell, with the Very Young Man on top of him. They hit the
+leg of the table as they rolled over, and something dropped from it to
+the floor, striking the stone surface with a thud.</p>
+
+<p>The knife still stuck in the dead man's body. The Very Young Man thought
+he could reach it, but his opponent's great arms were around him now and
+held him too tightly. He tried to pull himself loose, but could not.
+Then he rolled partly over again, and met Targo's eyes above, leering
+triumphantly down at him. He looked away and wrenched his right arm
+free. Across the room he could see the girl still crouching in the
+corner. His right hand sweeping along the floor struck something heavy
+lying there. His fingers closed over it; he raised it up, and hardly
+knowing what he did, crashed it against his enemy's head.</p>
+
+<p>He felt the tense muscles of the man relax, and then the weight of his
+inert body as it pressed down upon him. He wriggled free, and sprang to
+his feet. As he stood weak and trembling, looking down at the
+unconscious form of Targo lying upon the floor, the girl suddenly ran
+over and stood beside him. Her slim little body came only a little above
+his shoulder; instinctively he put his arm about her.</p>
+
+<p>A voice, calling from outside the room, made the girl look up into his
+face with new terror.</p>
+
+<p>"Others are coming," she whispered tensely and huddled up against him.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man saw that the room had two doors&mdash;the one through
+which he had entered, and another in one of its other walls. There were
+no windows. He pulled the girl now towards the further door, but she
+held him back.</p>
+
+<p>"They come that way," she whispered.</p>
+
+<p>Another voice sounded behind him and the Very Young Man knew that a man
+was coming up along the passageway from the front entrance. Targo's men!
+He remembered now the skulking figure he had seen outside the house.
+There were more than two, for now he heard other voices, and some one
+calling Targo's name.</p>
+
+<p>He held the girl closer and stood motionless. Like rats in a trap, he
+thought. He felt the fingers of his right hand holding something heavy.
+It was a piece of stone&mdash;the stone he had looked at through the
+microscope&mdash;the stone with which he had struck Targo. He smiled to
+himself, and slipped it into his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>The girl had slowly pulled him over to the inner wall of the room. The
+footsteps came closer. They would be here in a moment. The Very Young
+Man wondered how he should fight them all; then he thought of the knife
+that was still in the murdered man's body. He thought he ought to get it
+now while there was still time. He heard a click and the wall against
+which he and the girl were leaning yielded with their weight. A door
+swung open&mdash;a door the Very Young Man had not seen before. The girl
+pulled him through the doorway, and swung the door softly closed behind
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man found himself now in a long, narrow room with a very
+high ceiling. It had, apparently, no other door, and no windows. It was
+evidently a storeroom&mdash;piled high with what looked like boxes, and with
+bales of silks and other fabrics.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked around him hastily. Then he let go of the
+girl, and, since locks were unknown in this world, began piling as many
+heavy objects as possible against the door. The girl tried to help him,
+but he pushed her away. Once he put his ear to the door and listened. He
+heard voices outside in the strange Oroid tongue.</p>
+
+<p>The girl stood beside him. "They are lifting Targo up. He speaks; he is
+not dead," she whispered.</p>
+
+<p>For several minutes they stood there listening. The voices continued in
+a low murmur. "They'll know we are in here," said the Very Young Man
+finally, in an undertone. "Is there any other way out of this room?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl shook her head. The Very Young Man forgot the import of her
+answer, and suddenly found himself thinking she was the prettiest girl
+he had ever seen. She was hardly more than sixteen, with a slender, not
+yet matured, yet perfectly rounded little body. She wore, like Lylda, a
+short blue silk tunic, with a golden cord crossing her breast and
+encircling her waist. Her raven black hair hung in two twisted locks
+nearly to her knees. Her skin was very white and, even more than
+Lylda's, gleamed with iridescent color.</p>
+
+<p>"Only this one door," said the girl. The words brought the Very Young
+Man to himself with a start.</p>
+
+<p>No other way out of the room! He knew that Targo and his men would force
+their way in very soon. He could not prevent them. But it would take
+time. The Very Young Man remembered that now he had time to take the
+chemicals. He put his hand to his armpit and felt the pouch that held
+the drug. He wondered which to take. The ceiling was very high; but to
+fight in the narrow confines of such a room&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>He led the girl over to a pile of cushions and sat down beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen," he said briefly. "We are going to take a medicine; it will
+make us very small. Then we will hide from Targo and his men till they
+are gone. This is not magic; it is science. Do you understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"I understand," the girl answered readily. "One of the strangers you
+are&mdash;my brother's friend."</p>
+
+<p>"You will not be afraid to take the drug?"</p>
+
+<p>"No." But though she spoke confidently, she drew closer to him and
+shivered a little.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man handed her one of the tiny pellets. "Just touch it to
+the tip of your tongue as I do," he said warningly.</p>
+
+<p>They took the drug. When it had ceased to act, they found themselves
+standing on the rough uneven stone surface that was the floor of the
+room. Far overhead in the dim luminous blackness they could just make
+out the great arching ceiling, stretching away out of sight down the
+length of the room. Beside them stood a tremendous shaggy pile of
+coarsely woven objects that were the silk pillows on which they had been
+sitting a moment before&mdash;pillows that seemed forty or fifty feet square
+now and loomed high above their heads.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man took the frightened girl by the hand and led her
+along the tremendous length of a pile of boxes, blocks long it seemed.
+These boxes, from their size, might have been rectangular, windowless
+houses, jammed closely together, and piled one upon the other up into
+the air almost out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>Finally they came to a broad passageway between the boxes&mdash;a mere crack
+it would have been before. They turned into it, and, a few feet beyond,
+came to a larger square space with a box making a roof over it some
+twenty feet above their heads.</p>
+
+<p>From this retreat they could see the lower part of the door leading into
+the other room and could hear from beyond it a muffled roar&mdash;the voices
+of Targo and his men. Hardly were they hidden when the door opened a
+little. It struck against the bales the Very Young Man had piled against
+it. For a moment it held, but with the united efforts of the men pushing
+from the other side, it slowly yielded and swung open.</p>
+
+<p>Targo stepped into the room. To the Very Young Man he seemed nearly a
+hundred feet high. Only his feet and ankles were visible at first, from
+where the Very Young Man was watching. Three other men came with him.
+They stamped back and forth for a time, moving some of the bales and
+boxes. Luckily they left undisturbed those nearest the fugitives; after
+a moment they left, leaving the door open.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man breathed a long sigh of relief. "Gosh, I'm glad
+that's over." He spoke in a low tone, although the men in the other room
+seemed so far away they would hardly have heard him if he had shouted at
+the top of his voice.</p>
+
+<p>Alone with the girl now in this great silent room, the Very Young Man
+felt suddenly embarrassed. "I am one of your brother's friends," he
+said. "My name's Jack; is yours Aura?"</p>
+
+<p>"Lylda's sister I am," she answered quietly. "My father told me about
+you&mdash;&mdash;" Then with a rush came the memory of her father's death, which
+the startling experiences of the past half-hour had made her forget. Her
+big, soft eyes filled with tears and her lips quivered. Involuntarily
+the Very Young Man put his arm about her again and held her close to
+him. She was so little and frail&mdash;so pathetic and so wholly adorable.
+For a long time they sat in silence; then the girl gently drew away.</p>
+
+<p>At the doorway they stood and listened; Targo and his followers were
+still in the adjoining room, talking earnestly. "Loto they have
+captured," Aura whispered suddenly. "Others of Targo's men have taken
+him&mdash;in a boat&mdash;to Orlog. To-morrow they send a messenger to my brother
+to demand he give up these drugs&mdash;or Loto they will kill."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man waited, breathless. Suddenly he heard Targo laugh&mdash;a
+cruel, cynical laugh. Aura shuddered.</p>
+
+<p>"And when he has the drug, all of us will he kill. And all in the land
+too who will not do as he bids."</p>
+
+<p>The men were rising, evidently in preparation to leave. Aura continued:
+"They go&mdash;now&mdash;to Orlog&mdash;all but Targo. A little way from here, up the
+lake shore, a boat is waiting. It will take them there fast."</p>
+
+<p>With a last look around, Targo and his followers disappeared through the
+back door of the room. An outer door clanged noisily, and the Very Young
+Man and Aura were left alone in the house.</p>
+
+<p>Reoh murdered, Loto stolen! The Very Young Man thought of Lylda and
+wondered if anything could have happened to her. "Did they speak of your
+sister?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Targo said&mdash;he&mdash;he would put her to death," Aura answered with a
+shudder. "He said&mdash;she killed his brother to-day." She turned to the
+Very Young Man impulsively, putting her little hands up on his
+shoulders. "Oh, my friend," she exclaimed. "You can do something to save
+my family? Targo is so strong, so cruel. My father&mdash;&mdash;" She stopped, and
+choked back a sob.</p>
+
+<p>"Did they say where Lylda was now?"</p>
+
+<p>"They did not know. She grew very big and went away."</p>
+
+<p>"Where is your brother and my two friends?"</p>
+
+<p>"Targo said they were here when he&mdash;he took Loto. Now they have gone
+home. He was afraid of them&mdash;now&mdash;because they have the drugs."</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow they are going to send a messenger from Orlog to demand the
+drugs?"</p>
+
+<p>"He said to-morrow. Oh, you will do something for us? You can save
+Loto?"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man was beginning to formulate a plan. "And to-night," he
+asked, "from what they said&mdash;are you sure they will not hurt Loto?"</p>
+
+<p>"They said no. But he is so little&mdash;so&mdash;&mdash;" The girl burst into tears,
+and at every sob the Very Young Man's heart leaped in his breast. He
+wanted to comfort her, but he could think of no word to say; he wanted
+to help her&mdash;to do the best thing in what he saw was a grave crisis.
+What he should have done was to have taken her back to the Chemist and
+his friends, and then with them planned the rescue of Loto. But with the
+girl's hands upon his shoulders, and her sorrowful little tear-stained
+face looking up to his, he did not think of that. He thought only of her
+and her pathetic appeal. "You will do something, my friend? You can save
+Loto?" He could save Loto! With the power of the drugs he could do
+anything!</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man made a sudden decision. "I don't know the way to
+Orlog; you do?" he asked abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, I know it well."</p>
+
+<p>"We will go to Orlog, you and I&mdash;now, and rescue Loto. You will not be
+afraid?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl's eyes looked into his with a clear, steady gaze. The Very
+Young Man stared down into their depths with his heart pounding. "I
+shall not be afraid&mdash;with you," said the girl softly.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man drew a long breath. He knew he must think it all out
+carefully. The drug would make them very large, and in a short time they
+could walk to Orlog. No harm could come to them. Once in Orlog they
+would find Loto&mdash;probably in Targo's palace&mdash;and bring him back with
+them. The Very Young Man pictured the surprise and gratification of the
+Chemist and his friends. Lylda would be back by then; no sooner would
+she have heard of Loto's loss than he would bring him back to her. Or
+perhaps they would meet Lylda and she would join them.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man produced the drug and was about to give Aura one of
+the pellets when another thought occurred to him. Targo would not harm
+Loto now because he was valuable as a hostage. But suppose he saw these
+two giants coming to the rescue? The Very Young Man knew that probably
+the boy would be killed before he could save him. That way would not do.
+He would have to get to Orlog unseen&mdash;rescue Loto by a sudden rush,
+before they could harm him.</p>
+
+<p>But first it would be necessary for him and Aura to get out of Arite
+quietly without causing any excitement. Once in the open country they
+could grow larger and travel rapidly to Orlog. The Very Young Man
+thought it would be best to be normal size while leaving Arite. He
+explained his plan to Aura briefly.</p>
+
+<p>It took several successive tastes of the different drugs before this
+result was accomplished, but in perhaps half an hour they were ready to
+leave the house. To the Very Young Man this change of size was no longer
+even startling. Aura, this time, with him beside her, seemed quite
+unafraid.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we're ready," said the Very Young Man, in a matter-of-fact tone
+that was far from indicating his true feeling. "Take the way where we
+are least likely to be noticed&mdash;towards Orlog. When we get in the open
+country we can get bigger."</p>
+
+<p>He led the girl across Reoh's study. She kept her face averted as they
+passed the body lying on the floor, and in a moment they were outside
+the house. They walked rapidly, keeping close to the walls of the
+houses. The streets were nearly deserted and no one seemed to notice
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man was calculating the time. "Probably they are just
+getting to Orlog with Loto," he said. "Once we get out of Arite we'll
+travel fast; we'll have him back in two or three hours."</p>
+
+<p>Aura said nothing, but walked beside him. Once or twice she looked back
+over her shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>They were in the outskirts of the city, when suddenly the girl gripped
+her companion by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Some one&mdash;behind us," she whispered. The Very Young Man resisted an
+impulse to look around. They had come to a cross street; the Very Young
+Man abruptly turned the corner, and clutching Aura by the hand ran
+swiftly forward a short distance. When they had slowed down to a walk
+again the Very Young Man looked cautiously back over his shoulder. As he
+did so he caught a glimpse of three men who had just reached the corner,
+and who darted hastily back out of sight as he turned his head.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ATTACK ON THE PALACE</h3>
+
+
+<p>Oteo led the two men swiftly through the city towards Reoh's house.
+There were few pedestrians about and no one seemed particularly to
+notice them. Yet somehow, the Big Business Man thought, there hung about
+the city an ominous air of unrest. Perhaps it was the abnormal
+quiet&mdash;that solemn sinister look of deserted streets; or perhaps it was
+an occasional face peering at them from a window, or a figure lurking in
+a doorway disappearing at their approach. The Big Business Man found his
+heart beating fast. He suddenly felt very much alone. The realization
+came to him that he was in a strange world, surrounded by beings of
+another race, most of whom, he knew now, hated and feared him and those
+who had come with him.</p>
+
+<p>Then his thoughts took another turn. He looked up at the brilliant
+galaxy of stars overhead. New, unexplored worlds! Thousands, millions of
+them! In one tiny, little atom of a woman's wedding-ring! Then he
+thought of his friend the Banker. Perhaps the ring had not been moved
+from its place in the clubroom. Then&mdash;he looked at the sky again&mdash;then
+Broadway&mdash;only thirty feet away from him this moment! He smiled a little
+at this conception, and drew a long breath&mdash;awed by his thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>Oteo was plucking at his sleeve and pointing. Across the street stood
+Reoh's house. The Doctor knocked upon its partially open front door,
+and, receiving no answer, they entered silently, with the dread sense of
+impending evil hanging over them. The Doctor led the way into the old
+man's study. At the threshold he stopped, shocked into immobility. Upon
+the floor, with the knife still in it, lay Reoh's body. The Doctor made
+a hasty examination, although the presence of the knife obviously made
+it unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p>A hurried search of the house convinced them that Aura and the Very
+Young Man were not there. The two men, confused by this double disaster,
+were at a loss to know what to do.</p>
+
+<p>"They've got him," said the Big Business Man with conviction. "And the
+girl too, probably. He must have come back just as they were killing
+Reoh."</p>
+
+<p>"There wasn't much time," the Doctor said. "He was back here in ten
+minutes. But they've got him&mdash;you're right&mdash;or he would have been back
+with us before this."</p>
+
+<p>"They'll take him and the girl to Orlog. They won't hurt them because
+they&mdash;&mdash;" The Big Business Man stopped abruptly; his face went white.
+"Good God, Frank, do you realize? They've got the drugs now!"</p>
+
+<p>Targo had the drugs! The Big Business Man shuddered with fear at the
+thought. Their situation would be desperate, indeed, if that were so.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor reasoned it out more calmly. "I hadn't thought of that," he
+said slowly. "And it makes me think perhaps they have not captured Jack.
+If they had the drugs they would lose no time in using them. They
+haven't used them yet&mdash;that's evident."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man was about to reply when there came a shouting from
+the street outside, and the sound of many feet rushing past the house.
+They hurried to the door. A mob swept by&mdash;a mob of nearly a thousand
+persons. Most of them were men. Some were armed with swords; others
+brandished huge stones or lengths of beaten gold implements, perhaps
+with which they had been working, and which now they held as weapons.</p>
+
+<p>The mob ran swiftly, with vainglorious shouts from its leaders. It
+turned a corner nearby and disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>From every house now people appeared, and soon the streets were full of
+scurrying pedestrians. Most of them followed the direction taken by the
+mob. The listeners in the doorway could hear now, from far away, the
+sound of shouts and cheering. And from all around them came the buzz and
+hum of busy streets. The city was thoroughly awake&mdash;alert and expectant.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man flung the door wide. "I'm going to follow that
+crowd. See what's going on. We can't stay here in the midst of this."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor and Oteo followed him out into the street, and they mingled
+with the hastening crowd. In their excitement they walked freely among
+the people. No one appeared to notice them, for the crowd was as excited
+as they, hurrying along, heedless of its immediate surroundings. As they
+advanced, the street became more congested.</p>
+
+<p>Down another street they saw fighting going on&mdash;a weaponless crowd
+swaying and struggling aimlessly. A number of armed men charged this
+crowd&mdash;men who by their breastplates and swords the Big Business Man
+recognized as the police. The crowd ceased struggling and dispersed,
+only to gather again in another place.</p>
+
+<p>The city was in a turmoil of excitement without apparent reason, or
+definite object. Yet there was a steady tide in the direction the first
+armed mob had gone, and with that tide went the Big Business Man and his
+two companions.</p>
+
+<p>After a time they came to an open park, beyond which, on a prominence,
+with the lake behind, stood a large building that the Chemist had
+already pointed out to them as the king's palace.</p>
+
+<p>Oteo led them swiftly into a side street to avoid the dense crowd around
+the park. Making a slight detour they came back to it again&mdash;much nearer
+the palace now&mdash;and approached from behind a house that fronted the open
+space near the palace.</p>
+
+<p>"Friend of the Master&mdash;his house!" Oteo explained as he knocked
+peremptorily at a side door.</p>
+
+<p>They waited a moment, but no one came. Oteo pushed the door and led them
+within. The house was deserted, and following Oteo, they went to the
+roof. Here they could see perfectly what was going on around the palace,
+and in the park below them.</p>
+
+<p>This park was nearly triangular in shape&mdash;a thousand feet possibly on
+each side. At the base of the triangle, on a bluff with the lake behind
+it, stood the palace. Its main entrance, two huge golden doors, stood at
+the top of a broad flight of stone steps. On these steps a fight was in
+progress. A mob surged up them, repulsed at the top by a score or more
+of men armed with swords, who were defending the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>The square was thronged with people watching the palace steps and
+shouting almost continuously. The fight before the palace evidently had
+been in progress for some time. Many dead were lying in the doorway and
+on the steps below it. The few defenders had so far resisted
+successfully against tremendous odds, for the invaders, pressed upward
+by those behind, could not retreat, and were being killed at the top
+from lack of space in which to fight.</p>
+
+<p>"Look there," cried the Big Business Man suddenly. Coming down a cross
+street, marching in orderly array with its commander in front, was a
+company of soldier police. It came to a halt almost directly beneath the
+watchers on the roof-tops, and its leader brandishing his sword after a
+moment of hesitation, ordered his men to charge the crowd. They did not
+move at the order, but stood sullenly in their places. Again he ordered
+them forward, and, as they refused to obey, made a threatening move
+towards them.</p>
+
+<p>In sudden frenzy, those nearest leaped upon him, and in an instant he
+lay dead upon the ground, with half a dozen swords run through his body.
+Then the men stood, in formation still, apathetically watching the
+events that were going on around them.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the fight on the palace steps raged more furiously than ever.
+The defenders were reduced now to a mere handful.</p>
+
+<p>"A moment more&mdash;they'll be in," said the Doctor breathlessly. Hardly had
+he spoken when, with a sudden, irresistible rush, the last of the guards
+were swept away, and the invaders surged through the doorway into the
+palace.</p>
+
+<p>A great cry went up from the crowd in the park as the palace was
+taken&mdash;a cry of applause mingled with awe, for they were a little
+frightened at what they were seeing.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps a hundred people crowded through the doorway into the palace;
+the others stood outside&mdash;on the steps and on the terrace
+below&mdash;waiting. Hardly more than five minutes went by when a man
+appeared on the palace roof. He advanced to the parapet with several
+others standing respectfully behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"Targo!" murmured Oteo.</p>
+
+<p>It was Targo&mdash;Targo triumphantly standing with uplifted arms before the
+people he was to rule. When the din that was raised at his appearance
+had subsided a little he spoke; one short sentence, and then he paused.
+There was a moment of indecision in the crowd before it broke into
+tumultuous cheers.</p>
+
+<p>"The king&mdash;he killed," Oteo said softly, looking at his master's friends
+with big, frightened eyes.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man stared out over the waving, cheering throng, with
+the huge, dominant, triumphant figure of Targo above and muttered to
+himself, "The king is dead; long live the king."</p>
+
+<p>When he could make himself heard, Targo spoke again. The Doctor and the
+Big Business Man were leaning over the parapet watching the scene, when
+suddenly a stone flew up from the crowd beneath, and struck the railing
+within a few feet of where they were standing. They glanced down in
+surprise, and realized, from the faces that were upturned, that they
+were recognized. A murmur ran over the crowd directly below, and then
+someone raised a shout. Four words it seemed to be, repeated over and
+over. Gradually the shout spread&mdash;"Death to the Giants," the Big
+Business Man knew it was&mdash;"Death to the Giants," until the whole mass of
+people were calling it rhythmically&mdash;drowning out Targo's voice
+completely. A thousand faces now stared up at the men on the roof-top
+and a rain of stones began falling around them.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor clutched his friend by the arm and pulled him back from the
+parapet. "They know us&mdash;good God, don't you see?" he said tensely. "Come
+on. We must get out of this. There'll be trouble." He started across the
+roof towards the opening that led down into the house.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man jerked himself free from the grasp that held him.</p>
+
+<p>"I do see," he cried a little wildly. "I do see we've been damn fools.
+There'll be trouble. You're right&mdash;there will be trouble; but it won't
+be ours. I'm through&mdash;through with this miserable little atom and its
+swarm of insects." He gripped the Doctor by both shoulders. "My God,
+Frank, can't you understand? We're men, you and I&mdash;men! These
+creatures"&mdash;he waved his arm back towards the city&mdash;"nothing but
+insects&mdash;infinitesimal&mdash;smaller than the smallest thing we ever dreamed
+of. And we take them seriously. Don't you understand? Seriously! God,
+man, that's funny, not tragic."</p>
+
+<p>He fumbled at the neck of his robe, and tearing it away, brought out a
+vial of the drugs.</p>
+
+<p>"Here," he exclaimed, and offered one of the pellets.</p>
+
+<p>"Not too much," warned the Doctor vehemently, "only touch it to your
+tongue."</p>
+
+<p>Oteo, with pleading eyes, watched them taking the drug, and the Doctor
+handed him a pellet, showing him how to take it.</p>
+
+<p>As they stood together upon the roof-top, clinging to one another, the
+city dwindled away rapidly beneath them. By the time the drug had ceased
+to act there was hardly room for them to stand on the roof, and the
+house, had it not been built solidly of stone, would have been crushed
+under their weight. At first they felt a little dizzy, as though they
+were hanging in mid-air, or were in a balloon, looking down at the city.
+Then gradually, they seemed to be of normal size again, balancing
+themselves awkwardly upon a little toy-house whose top was hardly bigger
+than their feet.</p>
+
+<p>The park, only a step now beneath the house-top, swarmed with tiny
+figures less than two inches in height. Targo still stood upon the
+palace roof; they could have reached down and picked him up between
+thumb and forefinger. The whole city lay within a radius of a few
+hundred feet around them.</p>
+
+<p>When they had stopped increasing in size, they leaped in turn over the
+palace, landing upon the broad beach of the lake. Then they began
+walking along it. There was only room for one on the sand, and the other
+two, for they walked abreast, waded ankle-deep in the water. From the
+little city below them they could hear the hum of a myriad of tiny
+voices&mdash;thin, shrill and faint. Suddenly the Big Business Man laughed.
+There was no hysteria in his voice now&mdash;just amusement and relief.</p>
+
+<p>"And we took that seriously," he said. "Funny, isn't it?"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX</h2>
+
+<h3>ON THE LAKE</h3>
+
+
+<p>"You're right&mdash;we are being followed," the Very Young Man said soberly.
+He had pulled the girl over close against the wall of a house. "Did you
+see that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Three, they are," Aura answered. "I saw them before&mdash;in the street
+below&mdash;Targo's men."</p>
+
+<p>Evidently the three men had been watching the house from which they had
+come and had followed them from there. If they were Targo's men, as
+seemed very probable, the Very Young Man could not understand why they
+had not already attacked him. Perhaps they intended to as soon as he and
+Aura had reached a more secluded part of the city. They must know he had
+the drugs, and to gain possession of those certainly was what they were
+striving for. The Very Young Man realized he must take no chances; to
+lose the drugs would be fatal to them all.</p>
+
+<p>"Are we near the edge of the city?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, very near."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we shall get large here. If we make a run for it we will be in the
+country before we are big enough to attract too much attention.
+Understand, Aura?"</p>
+
+<p>"I understand."</p>
+
+<p>"We mustn't stir up the city if we can help it; with giants running
+around, the people would get worked up to a frenzy. You could see that
+with Lylda this afternoon. Not that you can blame them altogether, but
+we want to get Loto back before we start anything here in Arite." He
+took the pellets out as he spoke, and they each touched one of them to
+the tip of their tongues.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, come on&mdash;not too fast, we want to keep going," said the Very
+Young Man, taking the girl by the hand again.</p>
+
+<p>As they started off, running slowly down the street, the Very Young Man
+looked back. The three men were running after them&mdash;not fast, seeming
+content merely to keep their distance. The Very Young Man laughed. "Wait
+till they see us get big. Fine chance they've got."</p>
+
+<p>Aura, her lithe, young body in perfect condition, ran lightly and easily
+as a fawn. She made a pretty picture as she ran, with her long, black
+hair streaming out behind her, and the short silk tunic flapping about
+her lean, round thighs. She still held the Very Young Man by the hand,
+running just in advance of him, guiding him through the streets, which
+in this part of the city were more broken up and irregular.</p>
+
+<p>They had not gone more than a hundred yards when the pavement began to
+move unsteadily under them, as the deck of a plunging ship feels to one
+who runs its length, and the houses they were swiftly passing began
+visibly to decrease in size. The Very Young Man felt the girl falter in
+her stride. He dropped her hand and slipped his arm about her waist,
+holding her other hand against it. She smiled up into his eyes, and thus
+they ran on, side by side.</p>
+
+<p>A few moments more and they were in the open country, running on a road
+that wound through the hills, between cultivated fields dotted here and
+there with houses. The landscape dwindled beneath them steadily, until
+they seemed to be running along a narrow, curving path, bordered by
+little patches of different-colored ground, like a checkerboard. The
+houses they passed now hardly reached as high as their knees. Sometimes
+peasants stood in the doorways of these houses watching them in terror.
+Occasionally they passed a farmer ploughing his field, who stopped his
+work, stricken dumb, and stared at them as they went swiftly by.</p>
+
+<p>When they were well out into the country, perhaps a quarter of the way
+to Orlog&mdash;for to beings so huge as they the distance was not great&mdash;the
+Very Young Man slowed down to a walk.</p>
+
+<p>"How far have we gone?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Aura stopped abruptly and looked around her. They seemed now to be at
+the bottom of a huge, circular, shallow bowl. In every direction from
+where they stood the land curved upward towards the rim of the bowl that
+was the horizon&mdash;a line, not sharp and well defined, but dim and hazy,
+melting away into the blackness of the star-studded sky. Behind them,
+hardly more than a mile away, according to their present stature&mdash;they
+had stopped growing entirely now&mdash;lay the city of Arite. They could see
+completely across it and out into the country beyond.</p>
+
+<p>The lake, with whose shore they had been running parallel, was much
+closer to them. Ahead, up near the rim of the horizon, lay a black
+smudge. Aura pointed. "Orlog is there," she said. "You see it?"</p>
+
+<p>To the Very Young Man suddenly came the realization that already he was
+facing the problem of how to get into Orlog unheralded. If they remained
+in their present size they could easily walk there in an hour or less.
+But long before that they would be seen and recognized.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man feared for Loto's safety if he allowed that to
+happen. He seemed to be able to make out the city of Orlog now. It was
+smaller than Arite, and lay partially behind a hill, with most of its
+houses strung along the lake shore. If only they were not so tall they
+could not be seen so readily. But if they became smaller it would take
+them much longer to get there. And eventually they would have to become
+normal Oroid size, or even smaller, in order to get into the city
+unnoticed. The Very Young Man thought of the lake. Perhaps that would be
+the best way.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you swim?" he asked. And Aura, with her ready smile, answered that
+she could. "If we are in the water," she added, seeming to have followed
+his thoughts, "they would not see us. I can swim very far&mdash;can you?"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"If we could get near to Orlog in the water," he said, "we might get a
+boat. And then when we were small, we could sail up. They wouldn't see
+us then."</p>
+
+<p>"There are many boats," answered the girl in agreement. "Look!"</p>
+
+<p>There were, indeed, on the lake, within sight of them now, several
+boats. "We must get the one nearest Orlog," the Very Young Man said. "Or
+else it will beat us in and carry the news."</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes more they were at the lake shore. The Very Young Man
+wore, underneath his robe, a close-fitting knitted garment very much
+like a bathing-suit. He took off his robe now, and rolling it up, tied
+it across his back with the cord he had worn around his waist. Aura's
+tunic was too short to impede her swimming and when the Very Young Man
+was ready, they waded out into the water together. They found the lake
+no deeper than to Aura's shoulders, but as it was easier to swim than to
+wade, they began swimming&mdash;away from shore towards the farthest boat
+that evidently was headed for Orlog.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man thought with satisfaction that, with only their heads
+visible, huge as they would appear, they could probably reach this boat
+without being seen by any one in Orlog. The boat was perhaps a quarter
+of a mile from them&mdash;a tiny little toy vessel, it seemed, that they
+never would have seen except for its sail.</p>
+
+<p>They came up to it rapidly, for they were swimming very much faster than
+it could sail, passing close to one of the others and nearly swamping it
+by the waves they made. As they neared the boat they were pursuing&mdash;it
+was different from any the Very Young Man had seen so far, a single,
+canoe-shaped hull, with out-riders on both sides&mdash;they could see it held
+but a single occupant, a man who sat in its stern&mdash;a figure about as
+long as one of the Very Young Man's fingers.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man and Aura were swimming side by side, now. The water
+was perfect in temperature&mdash;neither too hot nor too cold; they had not
+been swimming fast, and were not winded.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got him, what'll we do with him," the Very Young Man wanted to
+know in dismay, as the thought occurred to him. He might have been more
+puzzled at how to take the drug to make them smaller while they were
+swimming, but Aura's answer solved both problems.</p>
+
+<p>"There is an island," she said flinging an arm up out of the water. "We
+can push the boat to it, and him we can leave there. Is that not the
+thing to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"You bet your life," the Very Young Man agreed, enthusiastically.
+"That's just the thing to do."</p>
+
+<p>As they came within reach of the boat the Very Young Man stopped
+swimming and found that the water was not much deeper than his waist.
+The man in the boat appeared now about to throw himself into the lake
+from fright.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell him, Aura," the Very Young Man said. "We won't hurt him."</p>
+
+<p>Wading through the water, they pushed the boat with its terrified
+occupant carefully in front of them towards the island, which was not
+more than two or three hundred yards away. The Very Young Man found this
+rather slow work; becoming impatient, he seized the boat in his hand,
+pinning the man against its seat with his forefinger so he would not
+fall out. Then raising the boat out of the water over his head he waded
+forward much more rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>The island, which they reached in a few moments more, was circular in
+shape, and about fifty feet in diameter. It had a beach entirely around
+it; a hill perhaps ten feet high rose near its center, and at one end it
+was heavily wooded. There were no houses to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man set the boat back on the water, and they pushed it up
+on the beach. When it grounded the tiny man leaped out and ran swiftly
+along the sand. The Very Young Man and Aura laughed heartily as they
+stood ankle-deep in the water beside the boat, watching him. For nearly
+five minutes he ran; then suddenly he ducked inland and disappeared in
+the woods.</p>
+
+<p>When they were left alone they lost no time in becoming normal Oroid
+size. The boat now appeared about twenty-five feet long&mdash;a narrow,
+canoe-shaped hull hollowed out of a tree-trunk. They climbed into it,
+and with a long pole they found lying in its bottom, the Very Young Man
+shoved it off the beach.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX</h2>
+
+<h3>WORD MUSIC</h3>
+
+
+<p>The boat had a mast stepped near the bow, and a triangular cloth sail.
+The Very Young Man sat in the stern, steering with a short, broad-bladed
+paddle; Aura lay on a pile of rushes in the bottom of the boat, looking
+up at him.</p>
+
+<p>For about half a mile the Very Young Man sailed along parallel with the
+beach, looking for the man they had marooned. He was nowhere in sight,
+and they finally headed out into the lake towards Orlog, which they
+could just see dimly on the further shore.</p>
+
+<p>The breeze was fresh, and they made good time. The boat steered easily,
+and the Very Young Man, reclining on one elbow, with Aura at his feet,
+felt at peace with himself and with the world. Again he thought this
+girl the prettiest he had ever seen. There was something, too, of a
+spiritual quality in the delicate smallness of her features&mdash;a sweetness
+of expression in her quick, understanding smile, and an honest clearness
+in her steady gaze that somehow he seemed never to have seen in a girl's
+face before.</p>
+
+<p>He felt again, now that he had time to think more of her, that same old
+diffidence that had come to him before when they were alone in the
+storeroom of her home. That she did not share this feeling was obvious
+from the frankness and ease of her manner.</p>
+
+<p>For some time after leaving the island neither spoke. The Very Young Man
+felt the girl's eyes fixed almost constantly upon him&mdash;a calm gaze that
+held in it a great curiosity and wonderment. He steered steadily onward
+towards Orlog. There was, for the moment, nothing to discuss concerning
+their adventure, and he wondered what he should say to this girl who
+stared at him so frankly. Then he met her eyes, and again she smiled
+with that perfect sense of comradeship he had so seldom felt with women
+of his own race.</p>
+
+<p>"You're very beautiful," said the Very Young Man abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>The girl's eyes widened a little, but she did not drop her lashes. "I
+want to be beautiful; if you think it is so, I am very glad."</p>
+
+<p>"I do. I think you're the prettiest girl I ever saw." He blurted out the
+words impetuously. He was very earnest, very sincere, and very young.</p>
+
+<p>A trace of coquetry came into the girl's manner. "Prettier than the
+girls of your world? Are they not pretty?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes&mdash;of course; but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What?" she asked when he paused.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man considered a moment. "You're&mdash;you're different," he
+said finally. She waited. "You&mdash;you don't know how to flirt, for one
+thing."</p>
+
+<p>The girl turned her head away and looked at him a little sidewise
+through lowered lashes.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know that?" she asked demurely; and the Very Young Man
+admitted to himself with a shock of surprise that he certainly was
+totally wrong in that deduction at least.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me of the girls in your world," she went on after a moment's
+silence. "My sister's husband many times he has told me of the wonderful
+things up there in that great land. But more I would like to hear."</p>
+
+<p>He told her, with an eloquence and enthusiasm born of youth, about his
+own life and those of his people. She questioned eagerly and with an
+intelligence that surprised him, for she knew far more of the subject
+than he realized.</p>
+
+<p>"These girls of your country," she interrupted him once. "They, too, are
+very beautiful; they wear fine clothes&mdash;I know&mdash;my brother he has told
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"And are they very learned&mdash;very clever&mdash;do they work and govern, like
+the men?"</p>
+
+<p>"Some are very learned. And they are beginning to govern, like the men;
+but not so much as you do here."</p>
+
+<p>The girl's forehead wrinkled. "My brother he once told me," she said
+slowly, "that in your world many women are bad. Is that so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Some are, of course. And some men think that most are. But I don't; I
+think women are splendid."</p>
+
+<p>"If that is so, then better I can understand what I have heard," the
+girl answered thoughtfully. "If Oroid women were as I have heard my
+brother talk of some of yours, this world of ours would soon be full of
+evil."</p>
+
+<p>"You are different," the Very Young Man said quickly. "You&mdash;and Lylda."</p>
+
+<p>"The women here, they have kept the evil out of life," the girl went on.
+"It is their duty&mdash;their responsibility to their race. Your good
+women&mdash;they have not always governed as we have. Why is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know," the Very Young Man admitted. "Except because the men
+would not let them."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not, if they are just as learned as the men?" The girl was
+smiling&mdash;a little roguish, twisted smile.</p>
+
+<p>"There are very clever girls," the Very Young Man went on hastily; he
+found himself a little on the defensive, and he did not know just why.
+"They are able to do things in the world. But&mdash;many men do not like
+them."</p>
+
+<p>Aura was smiling openly now, and her eyes twinkled with mischief.
+"Perhaps it is the men are jealous. Could that not be so?"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man did not answer, and the girl went on more seriously.
+"The women of my race, they are very just. Perhaps you know that, Jack.
+Often has my brother told us of his own great world and of its problems.
+And the many things he has told us&mdash;Lylda and I&mdash;we have often wondered.
+For every question has its other side, and we cannot judge&mdash;from him
+alone."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man, surprised at the turn their conversation had taken,
+and confused a little by this calm logic from a girl&mdash;particularly from
+so young and pretty a girl&mdash;was at a loss how to go on.</p>
+
+<p>"You cannot understand, Aura," he finally said seriously. "Women may be
+all kinds; some are bad&mdash;some are good. Down here I know it is not that
+way. Sometimes when a girl is smart she thinks she is smarter than any
+living man. You would not like that sort of girl would you?"</p>
+
+<p>"My brother never said it just that way," she answered with equal
+seriousness. "No, that would be bad&mdash;very bad. In our land women are
+only different from men. They know they are not better or worse&mdash;only
+different."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man was thinking of a girl he once knew. "I hate clever
+girls," he blurted out.</p>
+
+<p>Aura's eyes were teasing him again. "I am so sorry," she said sadly.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked his surprise. "Why are you sorry?"</p>
+
+<p>"My sister, she once told me I was clever. My brother said it, too, and
+I believed them."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man flushed.</p>
+
+<p>"You're different," he repeated.</p>
+
+<p>"How&mdash;different?" She was looking at him sidewise again.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know; I've been trying to think&mdash;but you are. And I don't hate
+you&mdash;I like you&mdash;very, very much."</p>
+
+<p>"I like you, too," she answered frankly, and the Very Young Man thought
+of Loto as she said it. He was leaning down towards her, and their hands
+met for an instant.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man had spread his robe out to dry when he first got into
+the boat, and now he put it on while Aura steered. Then he sat beside
+her on the seat, taking the paddle again.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you go often to the theater?" she asked after a time.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, often."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing like that do we have here," she added, a little wistfully.
+"Only once, when we played a game in the field beyond my brother's home.
+Lylda was the queen and I her lady. And do you go to the opera, too? My
+brother he has told me of the opera. How wonderful must that be! So
+beautiful&mdash;more beautiful even it must be than Lylda's music. But never
+shall it be for me." She smiled sadly: "Never shall I be able to hear
+it."</p>
+
+<p>An eager contradiction sprang to the Very Young Man's lips, but the girl
+shook her head quietly.</p>
+
+<p>For several minutes they did not speak. The wind behind them blew the
+girl's long hair forward over her shoulders. A lock of it fell upon the
+Very Young Man's hand as it lay on the seat between them, and unseen he
+twisted it about his fingers. The wind against his neck felt warm and
+pleasant; the murmur of the water flowing past sounded low and sweet and
+soothing. Overhead the stars hung very big and bright. It was like
+sailing on a perfect night in his own world. He was very conscious of
+the girl's nearness now&mdash;conscious of the clinging softness of her hair
+about his fingers. And all at once he found himself softly quoting some
+half-forgotten lines:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"If I were king, ah, love! If I were king<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What tributary nations I would bring<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To bow before your scepter and to swear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Allegiance to your lips and eyes and hair."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Aura's questioning glance of surprise brought him to himself. "That is
+so pretty&mdash;what is that?" she asked eagerly. "Never have I heard one
+speak like that before."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, that's poetry; haven't you ever heard any poetry?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl shook her head. "It's just like music&mdash;it sings. Do it again."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man suddenly felt very self-conscious.</p>
+
+<p>"Do it again&mdash;please." She looked pleadingly up into his face and the
+Very Young Man went on:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Beneath your feet what treasures I would fling!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The stars would be your pearls upon a string;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The world a ruby for your finger-ring;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And you could have the sun and moon to wear<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">If I were king."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The girl clapped her hands artlessly. "Oh, that is so pretty. Never did
+I know that words could sound like that. Say it some more, please."</p>
+
+<p>And the Very Young Man, sitting under the stars beside this beautiful
+little creature of another world, searched into his memory and for her
+who never before had known that words could rhyme, opened up the realm
+of poetry.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE PALACE OF ORLOG</h3>
+
+
+<p>Engrossed with each other the Very Young Man and Aura sailed close up to
+the water-front of Orlog before they remembered their situation. It was
+the Very Young Man who first became aware of the danger. Without
+explanation he suddenly pulled Aura into the bottom of the boat, leaving
+it to flutter up into the wind unguided.</p>
+
+<p>"They might see us from here," he said hurriedly. "We must decide what
+is best for us to do now."</p>
+
+<p>They were then less than a quarter of a mile from the stone quay that
+marked the city's principal landing-place. Nearer to them was a broad,
+sandy beach behind which, in a long string along the lake shore, lay the
+city. Its houses were not unlike those of Arite, although most of them
+were rather smaller and less pretentious. On a rise of ground just
+beyond the beach, and nearly in front of them, stood an elaborate
+building that was Targo's palace.</p>
+
+<p>"We daren't go much closer," the Very Young Man said. "They'd recognize
+us."</p>
+
+<p>"You they would know for one of the strangers," said Aura. "But if I
+should steer and you were hidden no one would notice."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man realized a difficulty. "We've got to be very small
+when we go into the city."</p>
+
+<p>"How small would you think?" asked Aura.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man held his hands about a foot apart. "You see, the
+trouble is, we must be small enough to get around without too much
+danger of being seen; but if we get too small it would be a terrible
+walk up there to Targo's palace."</p>
+
+<p>"We cannot sail this boat if we are such a size," Aura declared. "Too
+large it would be for us to steer."</p>
+
+<p>"That's just it, but we can't go any closer this way."</p>
+
+<p>Aura thought a moment. "If you lie there," she indicated the bottom of
+the boat under a forward seat, "no one can see. And I will steer&mdash;there
+to the beach ahead; me they will not notice. Then at the beach we will
+take the drug."</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to take a chance," said the Very Young Man. "Some one may
+come along and see us getting small."</p>
+
+<p>They talked it over very carefully for some time. Finally they decided
+to follow Aura's plan and run the boat to the beach under her guidance;
+then to take the drug. There were few people around the lake front at
+this hour; the beach itself, as far as they could see, was entirely
+deserted, and the danger of discovery seemed slight. Aura pointed out,
+however, that once on shore, if their stature were so great as a foot
+they would be even more conspicuous than when of normal size even
+allowing for the strangeness of the Very Young Man's appearance. The
+Very Young Man made a calculation and reached the conclusion that with a
+height of six or seven inches they would have to walk about a mile from
+the landing-place to reach Targo's palace. They decided to become as
+near that size as they conveniently could.</p>
+
+<p>When both fully understood what they intended to do, the Very Young Man
+gave Aura one of the pellets of the drug and lay down in the bow of the
+boat. Without a word the girl took her seat in the stern and steered for
+the beach. When they were close inshore Aura signalled her companion and
+at the same moment both took the drug. Then she left her seat and lay
+down beside the Very Young Man. The boat, from the momentum it had
+gained, floated inshore and grounded gently on the beach.</p>
+
+<p>As they lay there, the Very Young Man could see the sides of the boat
+growing up steadily above their heads. The gunwale was nearly six feet
+above them before he realized a new danger. Scrambling to his feet he
+pulled the girl up with him; even when standing upright their heads came
+below the sides of the vessel.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to get out right now," the Very Young Man said in an excited
+whisper. "We'd be too small." He led the girl hastily into the bow and
+with a running leap clambered up and sat astride the gunwale. Then,
+reaching down he pulled Aura up beside him.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment they had dropped overboard up to their shoulders in the
+water. High overhead loomed the hull of the boat&mdash;a large sailing vessel
+it seemed to them now. They started wading towards shore immediately,
+but, because they were so rapidly diminishing in size, it was nearly
+five minutes before they could get there.</p>
+
+<p>Once on shore they lay prone upon the sand, waiting for the drug to
+cease its action. When, by proper administering of both chemicals, they
+had reached approximately their predetermined stature, which, in itself,
+required considerable calculation on the Very Young Man's part, they
+stood up near the water's edge and looked about them.</p>
+
+<p>The beach to them now, with its coarse-grained sand, seemed nearly a
+quarter of a mile wide; in length it extended as far as they could see
+in both directions. Beyond the beach, directly in front of them on a
+hill perhaps a thousand feet above the lake level, and about a mile or
+more away, stood Targo's palace. To the Very Young Man it looked far
+larger than any building he had ever seen.</p>
+
+<p>The boat in which they had landed lay on the water with its bow on the
+beach beside them. It was now a vessel some two hundred and fifty feet
+in length, with sides twenty feet high and a mast towering over a
+hundred feet in the air.</p>
+
+<p>There was no one in sight from where they stood. "Come on, Aura," said
+the Very Young Man, and started off across the beach towards the hill.</p>
+
+<p>It was a long walk through the heavy sand to the foot of the hill. When
+they arrived they found themselves at the beginning of a broad stone
+roadway&mdash;only a path to those of normal Oroid size&mdash;that wound back and
+forth up the hill to the palace. They walked up this road, and as they
+progressed, saw that it was laid through a grassy lawn that covered the
+entire hillside&mdash;a lawn with gray-blue blades of grass half as high as
+their bodies.</p>
+
+<p>After walking about ten minutes they came to a short flight of steps.
+Each step was twice as high as their heads&mdash;impossible of ascent&mdash;so
+they made a detour through the grass.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Aura clutched the Very Young Man by the arm with a whispered
+exclamation, and they both dropped to the ground. A man was coming down
+the roadway; he was just above the steps when they first saw him&mdash;a man
+so tall that, standing beside him, they would have reached hardly above
+his ankles. The long grass in which they were lying hid them effectually
+from his sight and he passed them by unnoticed. When he was gone the
+Very Young Man drew a long breath. "We must watch that," he said
+apprehensively. "If any one sees us now it's all off. We must be
+extremely careful."</p>
+
+<p>It took the two adventurers over an hour to get safely up the hill and
+into the palace. Its main entrance, approached by a long flight of
+steps, was an impossible means of ingress, but Aura fortunately knew of
+a smaller door at the side which led into the basement of the building.
+This door they found slightly ajar. It was open so little, however, that
+they could not get past, and as they were not strong enough even with
+their combined efforts, to swing the door open, they were again brought
+to a halt.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better get still smaller," the Very Young Man whispered somewhat
+nervously. "There's less danger that way."</p>
+
+<p>They reduced their size, perhaps one half, and when that was
+accomplished the crack in the door had widened sufficiently to let them
+in. Within the building they found themselves in a hallway several
+hundred feet wide and half a mile or more in length&mdash;its ceiling high as
+the roof of some great auditorium. The Very Young Man looked about in
+dismay. "Great Scott," he ejaculated, "this won't do at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Many times I have been here," said Aura. "It looks so very different
+now, but I think I know the way."</p>
+
+<p>"That may be," agreed the Very Young Man dubiously, "but we'd have to
+walk miles if we stay as small as this."</p>
+
+<p>A heavy tread sounded far away in the distance. The Very Young Man and
+Aura shrank back against the wall, close by the door. In a moment a
+man's feet and the lower part of his legs came into view. He stopped by
+the door, pulling it inward. The Very Young Man looked up into the air;
+a hundred and fifty feet, perhaps, above their heads he saw the man's
+face looking out through the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment another man joined him, coming from outside, and they spoke
+together for a time. Their roaring voices, coming down from this great
+height, were nevertheless distinctly audible.</p>
+
+<p>"In the audience room," Aura whispered, after listening an instant,
+"Targo's younger brother talks with his counsellors. Big things they are
+planning." The Very Young Man did not answer; the two men continued
+their brief conversation and parted.</p>
+
+<p>When the Very Young Man and Aura were left alone, he turned to the girl
+eagerly. "Did they mention Loto? Is he here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of him they did not speak," Aura answered. "It is best that we go to
+the audience room, where they are talking. Then, perhaps, we will know."
+The Very Young Man agreed, and they started off.</p>
+
+<p>For nearly half an hour they trudged onward along this seemingly endless
+hallway. Then again they were confronted with a flight of steps&mdash;this
+time steps that were each more than three times their own height.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to chance it," said the Very Young Man, and after listening
+carefully and hearing no one about, they again took the drug, making
+themselves sufficiently large to ascend these steps to the upper story
+of the building.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly an hour before the two intruders, after several narrow
+escapes from discovery, and by alternating doses of both drugs,
+succeeded in getting into the room where Targo's brother and his
+advisers were in conference.</p>
+
+<p>They entered through the open door&mdash;a doorway so wide that a hundred
+like them could have marched through it abreast. A thousand feet away
+across the vastness of the room they could see Targo's brother and ten
+of his men&mdash;sitting on mats upon the floor, talking earnestly. Before
+them stood a stone bench on which were a number of golden goblets and
+plates of food.</p>
+
+<p>The adventurers ran swiftly down the length of the room, following its
+wall. It echoed with their footfalls, but they knew that this sound, so
+loud to their ears, would be inaudible to the huge figures they were
+approaching.</p>
+
+<p>"They won't see us," whispered the Very Young Man, "let's get up close."
+And in a few moments more they were standing beside one of the figures,
+sheltered from sight by a corner of the mat upon which the man was
+sitting. His foot, bent sidewise under him upon the floor, was almost
+within reach of the Very Young Man's hand. The fibre thong that fastened
+its sandal looked like a huge rope thick as the Very Young Man's ankle,
+and each of its toes were half as long as his entire body.</p>
+
+<p>Targo's brother, a younger man than those with him, appeared to be doing
+most of the talking. He it was beside whom Aura and the Very Young Man
+were standing.</p>
+
+<p>"You tell me if they mention Loto," whispered the Very Young Man. Aura
+nodded and they stood silent, listening. The men all appeared deeply
+engrossed with what their leader was saying. The Very Young Man,
+watching his companion's face, saw an expression of concern and fear
+upon it. She leaned towards him.</p>
+
+<p>"In Arite, to-night," she whispered, "Targo is organizing men to attack
+the palace of the king. Him will they kill&mdash;then Targo will be
+proclaimed leader of all the Oroid nation."</p>
+
+<p>"We must get back," the Very Young Man answered in an anxious whisper.
+"I wish we knew where Loto was; haven't they mentioned him&mdash;or any of
+us?"</p>
+
+<p>Aura did not reply, and the Very Young Man waited silent. Once one of
+the men laughed&mdash;a laugh that drifted out into the immense distances of
+the room in great waves of sound. Aura gripped her companion by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Then when Targo rules the land, they will send a messenger to my
+brother. Him they will tell that the drugs must be given to Targo, or
+Loto will be killed&mdash;wait&mdash;when they have the drugs," Aura translated in
+a swift, tense whisper, "then all of us they will kill." She shuddered.
+"And with the drugs they will rule as they desire&mdash;for evil."</p>
+
+<p>"They'll never get them," the Very Young Man muttered.</p>
+
+<p>Targo's brother leaned forward and raised a goblet from the table. The
+movement of his foot upon the floor made the two eavesdroppers jump
+aside to avoid being struck.</p>
+
+<p>Again Aura grasped her companion by the arm. "He is saying Loto is
+upstairs," she whispered after a moment. "I know where."</p>
+
+<p>"I knew it," said the Very Young Man exultingly. "You take us there.
+Come on&mdash;let's get out of here&mdash;we mustn't waste a minute."</p>
+
+<p>They started back towards the wall nearest them&mdash;some fifty feet
+away&mdash;and following along its edge, ran down towards the doorway through
+which they had entered the room. They were still perhaps a hundred yards
+away from it, running swiftly, when there appeared in the doorway the
+feet and legs of two men who were coming in. The Very Young Man and Aura
+stopped abruptly, shrinking up against the side of the wall. Then there
+came a heavy metallic clanging sound; the two men entered the room,
+closing the door.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII</h2>
+
+<h3>AN ANT-HILL OUTRAGED</h3>
+
+
+<p>"We'll have to get smaller," said the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"There's Rogers' house."</p>
+
+<p>They had been walking along the beach from the king's palace hardly more
+than a hundred yards. The Doctor and the Big Business Man were in front,
+and Oteo, wide-eyed and solemn, was close behind them.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor was pointing down at the ground a few feet ahead. There, at a
+height just above their ankles, stood the Chemist's house&mdash;a little
+building whose roof did not reach more than half-way to their knees,
+even though it stood on higher ground than the beach upon which they
+were walking. On the roof they could see two tiny figures&mdash;the Chemist
+and Lylda&mdash;waving their arms.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man stopped short. "Now see here, Frank, let's
+understand this. We've been fooling with this thing too damned long.
+We've made a hell of a mess of it, you know that." He spoke
+determinedly, with a profanity unusual with him. The Doctor did not
+answer.</p>
+
+<p>"We got here&mdash;yesterday. We found a peaceful world. Dissatisfaction in
+it&mdash;yes. But certainly a more peaceful world than the one we left. We've
+been here one day&mdash;one day, Frank, and now look at things. This child,
+Loto&mdash;stolen. Jack disappeared&mdash;God knows what's happened to him. A
+revolution&mdash;the whole place in an uproar. All in one day, since we took
+our place in this world and tried to mix up in its affairs.</p>
+
+<p>"It's time to call a halt, Frank. If only we can get Jack back. That's
+the bad part&mdash;we've got to find Jack. And then get out; we don't belong
+here anyway. It's nothing to us&mdash;why, man, look at it." He waved his arm
+out over the city. In the street beside them they could see a number of
+little figures no bigger than their fingers, staring up into the air.
+"What is all that to us now, as we stand here. Nothing. Nothing but a
+kid's toy; with little animated mannikins for a child to play with."</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to find Jack," said the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly we have&mdash;and then get out. We're only hurting these little
+creatures, anyway, by being here."</p>
+
+<p>"But there's Rogers and Lylda," added the Doctor. "And Loto and Lylda's
+sister."</p>
+
+<p>"Take them with us. They'll have to go&mdash;they can't stay here now. But we
+must find Jack&mdash;that's the main thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Look," the Doctor said, moving forward. "They're shouting to us."</p>
+
+<p>They walked up and bent over the Chemist's house. Their friend was
+making a funnel of his hands and trying to attract their attention. The
+Big Business Man knelt upon the beach and put his head down beside the
+house. "Make yourselves smaller," he heard the Chemist shouting in a
+shrill little voice.</p>
+
+<p>"We think it best not to. You must come up to us. Serious things have
+happened. Take the drug now&mdash;then we'll tell you." The Big Business Man,
+with his knees upon the beach, had one hand on the sand and the other at
+the gate of Lylda's garden. His face was just above the roof-top.</p>
+
+<p>The two little figures consulted a moment; then the Chemist shouted up,
+"All right; wait," and he and Lylda disappeared into the house. A moment
+afterwards they reappeared in the garden; Eena was with them. They
+crossed the garden and turned into the street towards the flight of
+steps that led down to the lake.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man had regained his feet and was standing ankle-deep
+in the water talking to the Doctor when Oteo suddenly plucked at his
+sleeve.</p>
+
+<p>"The Master&mdash;" he cried. The youth was staring down into the street,
+with a look of terror on his face. The Big Business Man followed the
+direction of his glance; at the head of the steps a number of men had
+rushed upon the Chemist and the two women, and were dragging them back
+up the hill. The Big Business Man hesitated only a moment; then he
+reached down and plucking a little figure from one of the struggling
+groups, flung it back over his shoulder into the lake.</p>
+
+<p>The other assailants did not run, as he had expected, so he gently pried
+them apart with his fingers from their captives, and, one by one, flung
+them into the air behind him. One who struck Lylda, he squashed upon the
+flagstones of the street with his thumb.</p>
+
+<p>Only one escaped. He had been holding Eena; when he saw he was the last,
+he suddenly dropped his captive and ran shrieking up the hill into the
+city.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man laughed grimly, and got upon his feet a little
+unsteadily. His face was white.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, Frank," he said, and his voice trembled a little. "Good God,
+suppose we had been that size, too."</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments more the Chemist, Lylda and Eena had taken the drug and
+were as large as the others. All six stood in the water beside the
+Chemist's house. The Chemist had not spoken while he was growing; now he
+greeted his friends quietly. "A close call, gentlemen. I thank you." He
+smiled approvingly at the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>Eena and Oteo stood apart from the others. The girl was obviously
+terror-stricken by the experiences she had undergone. Oteo put his arm
+across her shoulders, and spoke to her reassuringly.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Jack?" Lylda asked anxiously. "And my father&mdash;and Aura?" The
+Big Business Man thought her face looked years older than when he had
+last seen it. Her expression was set and stern, but her eyes stared into
+his with a gentle, sorrowful gaze that belied the sternness of her lips.</p>
+
+<p>They told her, as gently as they could, of the death of her father and
+the disappearance of the Very Young Man, presumably with Aura. She bore
+up bravely under the news of her father's death, standing with her hand
+on her husband's arm, and her sorrowful eyes fixed upon the face of the
+Big Business Man who haltingly told what had befallen them. When he came
+to a description of the attack on the palace, the death of the king, and
+the triumph of Targo, the Chemist raised his hands with a hopeless
+gesture.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor put in: "It's a serious situation&mdash;most serious."</p>
+
+<p>"There's only one thing we can do," the Big Business Man added quickly.
+"We must find Jack and your sister," he addressed Lylda, whose eyes had
+never left his face, "and then get out of this world as quickly as we
+can&mdash;before we do it any more harm."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist began pacing up and down the strip of the beach. He had
+evidently reached the same conclusion&mdash;that it was hopeless to continue
+longer to cope with so desperate a situation. But he could not bring
+himself so easily to a realization that his life in this world, of which
+he had been so long virtually the leader, was at an end. He strode back
+and forth thinking deeply; the water that he kicked idly splashed up
+sometimes over the houses of the tiny city at his side.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man went on, "It's the only way&mdash;the best way for all
+of us and for this little world, too."</p>
+
+<p>"The best way for you&mdash;and you." Lylda spoke softly and with a sweet,
+gentle sadness. "It is best for you, my friends. But for me&mdash;&mdash;" She
+shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man laid his hands gently on her shoulders. "Best for
+you, too, little woman. And for these people you love so well. Believe
+me&mdash;it is."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist paused in his walk. "Probably Aura and Jack are together. No
+harm has come to them so far&mdash;that's certain. If his situation were
+desperate he would have made himself as large as we are and we would see
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"If he got the chance," the Doctor murmured.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly he has not been killed or captured," the Chemist reasoned,
+"for we would have other giants to face immediately that happened."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he took the girl with him and started off to Orlog to find
+Loto," suggested the Doctor. "That crazy boy might do anything."</p>
+
+<p>"He should be back by now, even if he had," said the Big Business Man.
+"I don't see how anything could happen to him&mdash;having those&mdash;&mdash;" He
+stopped abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>While they had been talking a crowd of little people had gathered in the
+city beside them&mdash;a crowd that thronged the street before the Chemist's
+house, filled the open space across from it and overflowed down the
+steps leading to the beach. It was uncanny, standing there, to see these
+swarming little creatures, like ants whose hill had been desecrated by
+the foot of some stray passer-by. They were enraged, and with an ant's
+unreasoning, desperate courage they were ready to fight and to die,
+against an enemy irresistibly strong.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God, look at them," murmured the Big Business Man in awe.</p>
+
+<p>The steps leading to the beach were black with them now&mdash;a swaying,
+struggling mass of little human forms, men and women, hardly a finger's
+length in height, coming down in a steady stream and swarming out upon
+the beach. In a few moments the sand was black with them, and always
+more appeared in the city above to take their places.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man felt a sharp sting in his foot above the sandal.
+One of the tiny figures was clinging to its string and sticking a sword
+into his flesh. Involuntarily he kicked; a hundred of the little
+creatures were swept aside, and when he put his foot back upon the sand
+he could feel them smash under his tread. Their faint, shrill, squeaking
+shrieks had a ghostly semblance to human voices, and he turned suddenly
+sick and faint.</p>
+
+<p>Then he glanced at Lylda's face; it bore an expression of sorrow and of
+horror that made him shudder. To him at first these had been savage,
+vicious little insects, annoying, but harmless enough if one kept upon
+one's feet; but to her, he knew, they were men and women&mdash;misguided,
+frenzied&mdash;but human, thinking beings like herself. And he found himself
+wondering, vaguely, what he should do to repel them.</p>
+
+<p>The attack was so unexpected, and came so quickly that the giants had
+stood motionless, watching it with awe. Before they realized their
+situation the sand was so crowded with the struggling little figures
+that none of them could stir without trampling upon scores.</p>
+
+<p>Oteo and Eena, standing ankle-deep in the water, were unattacked, and at
+a word from the Chemist the others joined them, leaving little heaps of
+mangled human forms upon the beach where they had trod.</p>
+
+<p>All except Lylda. She stood her ground&mdash;her face bloodless, her eyes
+filled with tears. Her feet were covered now; her ankles bleeding from a
+dozen tiny knives hacking at her flesh. The Chemist called her to him,
+but she only raised her arms with a gesture of appeal.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my husband," she cried. "Please, I must. Let me take the drug now
+and grow small&mdash;like them. Then will they see we mean them no harm. And
+I shall tell them we are their friends&mdash;and you, the Master, mean only
+good&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man started forward. "They'll kill her. God,
+that's&mdash;&mdash;" But the Chemist held them back.</p>
+
+<p>"Not now, Lylda," he said gently. "Not now. Don't you see? There's
+nothing you can do; it's too late now." He met her gaze unyielding. For
+a moment she stared; then her figure swayed and with a low sob she
+dropped in a heap upon the sand.</p>
+
+<p>As Lylda fell, the Chemist leaped forward, the other three men at his
+side. A strident cry came up from the swarming multitude, and in an
+instant hundreds of them were upon her, climbing over her and thrusting
+their swords into her body.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist and the Big Business Man picked her up and carried her into
+the water, brushing off the fighting little figures that still clung to
+her. There they laid her down, her head supported by Eena, who knelt in
+the water beside her mistress.</p>
+
+<p>The multitude on the sand crowded up to the water's edge; hundreds,
+forced forward by the pressure of those behind, plunged in, swam about,
+or sank and were rolled back by the surf, lifeless upon the shore. The
+beach crawled with their struggling forms, only the spot where Lylda had
+fallen was black and still.</p>
+
+<p>"She's all right," said the Doctor after a moment, bending over Lylda. A
+cry from Oteo made him straighten up quickly. Out over the horizon,
+towards Orlog, there appeared the dim shape of a gigantic human form,
+and behind it others, faint and blurred against the stars!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RESCUE OF LOTO</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Very Young Man heard the clang of the closing door with sinking
+heart. The two newcomers, passing close to him and Aura as they stood
+shrinking up against the wall, joined their friends at the table. The
+Very Young Man turned to Aura with a solemn face.</p>
+
+<p>"Are there any other doors?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>The girl pointed. "One other, there&mdash;but see, it, too, is closed."</p>
+
+<p>Far across the room the Very Young Man could make out a heavy metal door
+similar to that through which they had entered. It was closed&mdash;he could
+see that plainly. And to open it&mdash;so huge a door that its great golden
+handle hung nearly a hundred feet above them&mdash;was an utter
+impossibility.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked at the windows. There were four of them, all
+on one side of the room&mdash;enormous curtained apertures, two hundred feet
+in length and half as broad&mdash;but none came even within fifty feet of the
+floor. The Very Young Man realized with dismay that there was apparently
+no way of escape out of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"We can't get out, Aura," he said, and in spite of him his voice
+trembled. "There's no way."</p>
+
+<p>The girl had no answer but a quiet nod of agreement. Her face was
+serious, but there was on it no sign of panic. The Very Young Man
+hesitated a moment; then he started off down the room towards one of the
+doors, with Aura close at his side.</p>
+
+<p>They could not get out in their present size, he knew. Nor would they
+dare make themselves sufficiently large to open the door, or climb
+through one of the windows, even if the room had been nearer the ground
+than it actually was. Long before they could escape they would be
+discovered and seized.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man tried to think it out clearly. He knew, except for a
+possible accident, or a miscalculation on his part, that they were in no
+real danger. But he did not want to make a false move, and now for the
+first time he realized his responsibility to Aura, and began to regret
+the rashness of his undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>They could wait, of course, until the conference was over, and then slip
+out unnoticed. But the Very Young Man felt that the chances of their
+rescuing Loto were greater now than they would be probably at any time
+in the future. They must get out now, he was convinced of that. But how?</p>
+
+<p>They were at the door in a moment more. Standing so close it seemed,
+now, a tremendous shaggy walling of shining metal. They walked its
+length, and then suddenly the Very Young Man had an idea. He threw
+himself face down upon the floor. Underneath the door's lower edge there
+was a tiny crack. To one of normal Oroid size it would have been
+unnoticeable&mdash;a space hardly so great as the thickness of a thin sheet
+of paper. But the Very Young Man could see it plainly; he gauged its
+size by slipping the edge of his robe into it.</p>
+
+<p>This crack was formed by the bottom of the door and the level surface of
+the floor; there was no sill. The door was perfectly hung, for the crack
+seemed to be of uniform size. The Very Young Man showed it to Aura.</p>
+
+<p>"There's the way out," he whispered. "Through there and then large again
+on the other side."</p>
+
+<p>He made his calculation of size carefully, and then, crushing one of the
+pills into powder, divided a portion of it between himself and the girl.
+Aura seemed tired and the drug made her very dizzy. They both sat upon
+the stone floor, close up to the door, and closed their eyes. When, by
+the feeling of the floor beneath them, they knew the action of the drug
+was over, they stood up unsteadily and looked around them.</p>
+
+<p>They now found themselves standing upon a great stone plain. The ground
+beneath their feet was rough, but as far away as they could see, out up
+to the horizon, it was mathematically level. This great expanse was
+empty except in one place; over to the right there appeared a huge,
+irregular, blurred mass that might have been, by its look, a range of
+mountains. But the mass moved as they stared at it, and the Very Young
+Man knew it was the nearest one of Targo's men, sitting beside the
+table.</p>
+
+<p>In the opposite direction, perhaps a hundred yards away from where they
+were standing, they could see the bottom of the door. It hung in the air
+some fifty feet above the surface of the ground. They walked over and
+stood underneath; like a great roof it spread over them&mdash;a flat, level
+surface parallel with the floor beneath.</p>
+
+<p>At this extraordinary change in their surroundings Aura seemed
+frightened, but seeing the matter-of-fact way in which her companion
+acted, she maintained her composure and soon was much interested in this
+new aspect of things. The Very Young Man took a last careful look around
+and then, holding Aura by the hand, started to cross under the door in a
+direction he judged to be at right angles to its length.</p>
+
+<p>They walked swiftly, trying to keep their sense of direction, but having
+no means of knowing whether they were doing so or not. For perhaps ten
+minutes they walked; then they emerged on the other side of the door and
+again faced a great level, empty expanse.</p>
+
+<p>"We're under," the Very Young Man remarked with relief. "Do you know
+where Loto is from here?"</p>
+
+<p>Aura had recovered her self-possession sufficiently to smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I might, perhaps," she answered, with a pretty little shrug. "But it's
+a long way, don't you think? A hundred miles, it may be?"</p>
+
+<p>"We get large here," said the Very Young Man, with an answering smile.
+He was greatly relieved to be outside the audience room; the way seemed
+easy before them now.</p>
+
+<p>They took the opposite drug, and after several successive changes of
+size, succeeded in locating the upper room in the palace in which Loto
+was held. At this time they were about the same relative size to their
+enemies as when they entered the audience chamber on the floor below.</p>
+
+<p>"That must be it," the Very Young Man whispered, as they cautiously
+turned a hallway corner. A short distance beyond, in front of a closed
+door, sat two guards.</p>
+
+<p>"That is the room of which they spoke," Aura answered. "Only one door
+there is, I think."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right," said the Very Young Man confidently. "We'll do the
+same thing&mdash;go under the door."</p>
+
+<p>They went close up to the guards, who were sitting upon the floor
+playing some sort of a game with little golden balls. This door, like
+the other, had a space beneath it, rather wider than the other, and in
+ten minutes more the Very Young Man and Aura were beneath it, and inside
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>As they grew larger again the Very Young Man at first thought the room
+was empty. "There he is," cried Aura happily. The Very Young Man looked
+and could see across the still huge room, the figure of Loto, standing
+at a window opening.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let him see us till we're his size," cautioned the Very Young
+Man. "It might frighten him. And if he made any noise&mdash;&mdash;" He looked at
+the door behind them significantly.</p>
+
+<p>Aura nodded eagerly; her face was radiant. Steadily larger they grew.
+Loto did not turn round, but stood quiet, looking out of the window.</p>
+
+<p>They crept up close behind him, and when they were normal size Aura
+whispered his name softly. The boy turned in surprise and she faced him
+with a warning finger on her lips. He gave a low, happy little cry, and
+in another instant was in her arms, sobbing as she held him close to her
+breast.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man's eyes grew moist as he watched them, and heard the
+soft Oroid words of endearment they whispered to each other. He put his
+arms around them, too, and all at once he felt very big and very strong
+beside these two delicate, graceful little creatures of whom he was
+protector.</p>
+
+<p>A noise in the hallway outside brought the Very Young Man to himself.</p>
+
+<p>"We must get out," he said swiftly. "There's no time to lose." He went
+to the window; it faced the city, fifty feet or more above the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man make a quick decision. "If we go out the way we came,
+it will take a very long time," he explained. "And we might be seen. I
+think we'd better take the quick way; get big here&mdash;get right out," he
+waved his hands towards the roof, "and make a run for it back to Arite."</p>
+
+<p>He made another calculation. The room in which they were was on the top
+floor of the palace; Aura had told him that. It was a room about fifty
+feet in length, triangular in shape, and some thirty feet from floor to
+ceiling. The Very Young Man estimated that when they had grown large
+enough to fill the room, they could burst through the palace roof and
+leap to the ground. Then in a short time they could run over the
+country, back to Arite. He measured out the drug carefully, and without
+hesitation his companions took what he gave them.</p>
+
+<p>As they all three started growing&mdash;it was Loto's first experience, and
+he gave an exclamation of fright at the sensation and threw his arms
+around Aura again&mdash;the Very Young Man made them sit upon the floor near
+the center of the room. He sat himself beside them, staring up at the
+ceiling that was steadily folding up and coming down towards them. For
+some time he stared, fascinated by its ceaseless movement.</p>
+
+<p>Then suddenly he realized with a start that it was almost down upon
+them. He put up his hand and touched it, and a thrill of fear ran over
+him. He looked around. Beside him sat Aura and Loto, huddled close
+together. The walls of the room had nearly closed in upon them now; its
+few pieces of furniture had been pushed aside, unnoticed, by the growth
+of their enormous bodies. It was as though they were crouching in a
+triangular box, almost entirely filling it.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man laid his hand on Aura's arm, and she met his anxious
+glance with her fearless, trusting smile.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have to break through the roof now," whispered the Very Young
+Man, and the girl answered calmly: "What you say to do, we will do."</p>
+
+<p>Their heads were bent down now by the ever-lowering ceiling; the Very
+Young Man pressed his shoulder against it and heaved upwards. He could
+feel the floor under him quiver and the roof give beneath his thrust,
+but he did not break through. In sudden horror he wondered if he could.
+If he did not, soon, they would be crushed to death by their own growth
+within the room.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man knew there was still time to take the other drug. He
+shoved again, but with the same result. Their bodies were bent double
+now. The ceiling was pressing close upon them; the walls of the room
+were at their elbow. The Very Young Man crooked his arm through the
+little square orifice window that he found at his side, and, with a
+signal to his companions, all three in unison heaved upwards with all
+their strength. There came one agonizing instant of resistance; then
+with a wrenching of wood, the clatter of falling stones and a sudden
+crash, they burst through and straightened upright into the open air
+above.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man sat still for a moment, breathing hard. Overhead
+stretched the canopy of stars; around lay the city, shrunken now and
+still steadily diminishing. Then he got unsteadily upon his feet,
+pulling his companions up with him and shaking the bits of stone and
+broken wood from him as he did so.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment more the palace roof was down to their knees, and they
+stepped out of the room. They heard a cry from below and saw the two
+guards, standing amidst the debris, looking up at them through the torn
+roof in fright and astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>There came other shouts from within the palace now, and the sound of the
+hurrying of many little feet. For some minutes more they grew larger, as
+they stood upon the palace roof, clinging to one another and listening
+to the spreading cries of excitement within the building and in the city
+streets below them.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on," said the Very Young Man finally, and he jumped off the roof
+into the street. A group of little figures scattered as he landed, and
+he narrowly escaped treading upon them.</p>
+
+<p>So large had they grown that it was hardly more than a step down from
+the roof; Aura and Loto were by the Very Young Man's side in a moment,
+and immediately they started off, picking their way single file out of
+the city. For a short time longer they continued growing; when they had
+stopped the city houses stood hardly above their ankles.</p>
+
+<p>It was difficult walking, for the street was narrow and the frightened
+people in it were often unable to avoid their tread, but fortunately the
+palace stood near the edge of the city, and soon they were past its last
+houses and out into the open country.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we did it," said the Very Young Man, exulting. Then he patted
+Loto affectionately upon the shoulder, adding. "Well, little brother, we
+got you back, didn't we?"</p>
+
+<p>Aura stopped suddenly. "Look there&mdash;at Arite," she said, pointing up at
+the horizon ahead of them.</p>
+
+<p>Far in the distance, at the edge of the lake, and beside a dim smudge he
+knew to be the houses of Arite, the Very Young Man saw the giant figure
+of a man, huge as himself, towering up against the background of sky.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE DECISION</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Giants!" exclaimed the Doctor, staring across the country towards
+Orlog. There was dismay in his voice.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man, standing beside him, clutched at his robe. "How
+many do you make out; they look like three to me."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor strained his eyes into the dim, luminous distance. "Three, I
+think&mdash;one taller than the others; it must be Jack." His voice was a
+little husky, and held none of the confidence his words were intended to
+convey.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda was upon her feet now, standing beside the Chemist. She stared
+towards Orlog searchingly, then turned to him and said quietly, "It must
+be Jack and Aura, with Loto." She stopped with quivering lips; then with
+an obvious effort went on confidently. "It cannot be that the God you
+believe in would let anything happen to them."</p>
+
+<p>"They're coming this way&mdash;fast," said the Big Business Man. "We'll know
+in a few moments."</p>
+
+<p>The figures, plainly visible now against the starry background, were out
+in the open country, half a mile perhaps from the lake, and were
+evidently rapidly approaching Arite.</p>
+
+<p>"If it should be Targo's men," the Big Business Man added, "we must take
+more of the drug. It is death then for them or for us."</p>
+
+<p>In silence the six of them stood ankle deep in the water waiting. The
+multitude of little people on the beach and in the nearby city streets
+were dispersing now. A steady stream was flowing up the steps from the
+beach, and back into the city. Five minutes more and only a fringe of
+those in whom frenzy still raged remained at the water's edge; a few of
+these, more daring, or more unreasoning than the others, plunged into
+the lake and swam about the giants' ankles unnoticed.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Lylda gave a sigh of relief. "Aura it is," she cried. "Can you
+not see, there at the left? Her short robe&mdash;you see&mdash;and her hair,
+flowing down so long; no man is that."</p>
+
+<p>"You're right," said the Big Business Man. "The smallest one on this
+side is Loto; I can see him. And Jack is leading. It's all right;
+they're safe. Thank God for that; they're safe, thank God!" The fervent
+relief in his voice showed what a strain he had been under.</p>
+
+<p>It was Jack; a moment more left no doubt of that. The Big Business Man
+turned to the Chemist and Lylda, where they stood close together, and
+laying a hand upon the shoulder of each said with deep feeling: "We have
+all come through it safely, my friends. And now the way lies clear
+before us. We must go back, out of this world, to which we have brought
+only trouble. It is the only way; you must see that."</p>
+
+<p>Lylda avoided his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"All through it safely," she murmured after him. "All safe
+except&mdash;except my father." Her arm around the Chemist tightened. "All
+safe&mdash;except those." She turned her big, sorrowful eyes towards the
+beach, where a thousand little mangled figures lay dead and dying. "All
+safe&mdash;except those."</p>
+
+<p>It was only a short time before the adventurers from Orlog arrived, and
+Loto was in his mother's arms. The Very Young Man, with mixed feelings
+of pride at his exploit and relief at being freed from so grave a
+responsibility, happily displayed Aura to his friends.</p>
+
+<p>"Gosh, I'm glad we're all together again; it had me scared, that's a
+fact." His eye fell upon the beach. "Great Scott, you've been having a
+fight, too? Look at that." The Big Business Man and the Doctor outlined
+briefly what had happened, and the Very Young Man answered in turn with
+an account of his adventures.</p>
+
+<p>Aura joined her sister and Loto. The Chemist after a moment stood apart
+from the others thinking deeply. He had said little during all the
+events of the afternoon and evening. Now he reached the inevitable
+decision that events had forced upon him. His face was very serious as
+he called his companions around him.</p>
+
+<p>"We must decide at once," he began, looking from one to the other, "what
+we are to do. Our situation here has become intolerable&mdash;desperate. I
+agree with you," his glance rested on the Big Business Man an instant;
+"by staying here we can only do harm to these misguided people."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," the Big Business Man interjected under his breath.</p>
+
+<p>"If the drugs should ever get out of our possession down here,
+immeasurable harm would result to this world, as well as causing our own
+deaths. If we leave now, we save ourselves; although we leave the Oroids
+ruled by Targo. But without the power of the drugs, he can do only
+temporary harm. Eventually he will be overthrown. It is the best way, I
+think. And I am ready to leave."</p>
+
+<p>"It's the only way," the Big Business Man agreed. "Don't you think so?"
+The Doctor and the Very Young Man both assented.</p>
+
+<p>"The sooner the better," the Very Young Man added. He glanced at Aura,
+and the thought that flashed into his mind made his heart jump
+violently.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist turned to Lylda. "To leave your people," he said gently, "I
+know how hard it is. But your way now lies with me&mdash;with us." He pulled
+Loto up against him as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda bowed her head. "You speak true, my husband, my way does lie with
+you. I cannot help the feeling that we should stay. But with you my way
+does lie; whither you direct, we shall go&mdash;for ever."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist kissed her tenderly. "My sister also?" he smiled gently at
+Aura.</p>
+
+<p>"My way lies with you, too," the girl answered simply. "For no man here
+has held my heart."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man stepped forward. "Do we take them with us?" He
+indicated Oteo and Eena, who stood silently watching.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask them, Lylda," said the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>Calling them to her, Lylda spoke to the youth and the girl in her native
+tongue. They listened quietly; Oteo with an almost expressionless
+stolidity of face, but with his soft, dog-like eyes fixed upon his
+mistress; Eena with heaving breast and trembling limbs. When Lylda
+paused they both fell upon their knees before her. She put her hands
+upon their heads and smiling wistfully, said in English:</p>
+
+<p>"So it shall be; with me you shall go, because that is what you wish."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked around at them all with satisfaction. "Then
+it's all settled," he said, and again his glance fell on Aura. He
+wondered why his heart was pounding so, and why he was so thrilled with
+happiness; and he was glad he was able to speak in so matter-of-fact a
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know how about you," he added, "but, Great Scott, I'm hungry."</p>
+
+<p>"Since we have decided to go," the Chemist said, "we had better start as
+soon as possible. Are there things in the house, Lylda, that you care to
+take?"</p>
+
+<p>Lylda shook her head. "Nothing can I take but memories of this world,
+and those would I rather leave." She smiled sadly. "There are some
+things I would wish to do&mdash;my father&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"It might be dangerous to wait," the Big Business Man put in hurriedly.
+"The sooner we start, the better. Another encounter would only mean more
+death." He looked significantly at the beach.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to eat," said the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"If we handle the drugs right," the Chemist said, "we can make the trip
+out in a very short time. When we get above the forest and well on our
+way we can rest safely. Let us start at once."</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to eat," the Very Young Man insisted. "And we've got to have
+food with us."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist smiled. "What you say is quite true, Jack, we have got to
+have food and water; those are the only things necessary to our trip."</p>
+
+<p>"We can make ourselves small now and have supper," suggested the Very
+Young Man. "Then we can fill up the bottles for our belts and take
+enough food for the trip."</p>
+
+<p>"No, we won't," interposed the Big Business Man positively. "We won't
+get small again. Something might happen. Once we get through the
+tunnels&mdash;&mdash;" He stopped abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Scott! We never thought of that," ejaculated the Very Young Man,
+as the same thought occurred to him. "We'll have to get small to get
+through the tunnels. Suppose there's a mob there that won't let us in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is there any other way up to the forest?" the Doctor asked.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist shook his head. "There are a dozen different tunnels, all
+near here, and several at Orlog, that all lead to the upper surface. But
+I think that is the only way."</p>
+
+<p>"They might try to stop us," the Big Business Man suggested. "We
+certainly had better get through them as quickly as we possibly can."</p>
+
+<p>It was Aura who diffidently suggested the plan they finally adopted.
+They all reduced their size first to about the height of the Chemist's
+house. Then the Very Young Man prepared to make himself sufficiently
+small to get the food and water-bottles, and bring them up to the larger
+size.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep your eye on me," he warned. "Somebody might jump on me."</p>
+
+<p>They stood around the house, while the Very Young Man, in the garden,
+took the drug and dwindled in stature to Oroid size. There were none of
+the Oroids in sight, except some on the beach and others up the street
+silently watching. As he grew smaller the Very Young Man sat down
+wearily in the wreck of what once had been Lylda's beautiful garden. He
+felt very tired and hungry, and his head was ringing.</p>
+
+<p>When he was no longer changing size he stood up in the garden path. The
+house, nearly its proper dimensions once more, was close at hand, silent
+and deserted. Aura stood in the garden beside it, her shoulders pushing
+aside the great branches of an overhanging tree, her arm resting upon
+the roof-top. The Very Young Man waved up at her and shouted: "Be out in
+a minute," and then plunged into the house.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV</h2>
+
+<h3>GOOD-BY TO ARITE</h3>
+
+
+<p>Once inside he went swiftly to the room where they had left their
+water-bottles and other paraphernalia. He found them without difficulty,
+and retraced his steps to the door he had entered. Depositing his load
+near it, he went back towards the room which Lylda had described to him,
+and in which the food was stored.</p>
+
+<p>Walking along this silent hallway, listening to the echoes of his own
+footsteps on its stone floor, the Very Young Man found himself oppressed
+by a feeling of impending danger. He looked back over his shoulder&mdash;once
+he stood quite still and listened. But he heard nothing; the house was
+quite silent, and smiling at his own fear he went on again.</p>
+
+<p>Selecting the food they needed for the trip took him but a moment. He
+left the storeroom, his arms loaded, and started back toward the garden
+door. Several doorways opened into the hall below, and all at once the
+Very Young Man found himself afraid as he passed them. He was within
+sight of the garden door, not more than twenty feet away, when he
+hesitated. Just ahead, at his right, an archway opened into a room
+beside the hall. The Very Young Man paused only an instant; then,
+ashamed of his fear, started slowly forward. He felt an impulse to run,
+but he did not. And then, from out of the silence, there came a low,
+growling cry that made his heart stand still, and the huge gray figure
+of a man leaped upon him and bore him to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>As he went down, with the packages of food flying in all directions, the
+Very Young Man gripped the naked body of his antagonist tightly. He
+twisted round as he fell and lay with his foe partly on top of him. He
+knew instinctively that his situation was desperate. The man's huge
+torso, with its powerful muscles that his arms encircled, told him that
+in a contest of strength such as this, inevitably he would find himself
+overcome.</p>
+
+<p>The man raised his fist to strike, and the Very Young Man caught him by
+the wrist. Over his foe's shoulder now he could see the open doorway
+leading into the garden, not more than six or eight feet away. Beyond it
+lay safety; that he knew. He gave a mighty lunge and succeeded in
+rolling over toward the doorway. But he could not stay above his
+opponent, for the man's greater strength lifted him up and over, and
+again pinned him to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>He was nearer the door now, and just beyond it he caught a glimpse of
+the white flesh of Aura's ankle as she stood beside the house. The man
+put a hand on the Very Young Man's throat. The Very Young Man caught it
+by the wrist, but he could feel the growing pressure of its fingers
+cutting off his breath. He tried to pull the hand back, but could not;
+he tried to twist his body free, but the weight of his foe held him
+tightly against the floor. A great roaring filled his ears; the hallway
+began fading from his sight. With a last despairing breath, he gave a
+choking cry: "Aura! Aura!"</p>
+
+<p>The man's fingers at his throat loosened a little; he drew another
+breath, and his head cleared. His eyes were fixed on the strip of garden
+he could see beyond the doorway. Suddenly Aura's enormous body came into
+view, as she stooped and then lay prone upon the ground. Her face was
+close to the door; she was looking in. The Very Young Man gave another
+cry, half stifled. And then into the hallway he saw come swiftly a huge
+hand, whose fingers gripped him and his antagonist and jerked them
+hurriedly down the hall and out into the garden.</p>
+
+<p>As they lay struggling on the ground outside, the Very Young Man felt
+himself held less closely. He wrenched himself free and sprang to his
+feet, standing close beside Aura's face. The man was up almost as
+quickly, preparing again to spring upon his victim. Something moved
+behind the Very Young Man, and he looked up into the air hurriedly. The
+Big Business Man stood behind him; the Very Young Man met his anxious
+glance.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm all right," he shouted. His antagonist leaped forward and at the
+same instant a huge, flat object, that was the Big Business Man's foot,
+swept through the air and mashed the man down into the dirt of the
+garden. The Very Young Man turned suddenly sick as he heard the agonized
+shriek and the crunching of the breaking bones. The Big Business Man
+lifted his foot, and the mangled figure lay still. The Very Young Man
+sat down suddenly in the garden path and covered his face with his
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>When he raised his head his friends were all standing round him,
+crowding the garden. The body of the man who had attacked him had
+disappeared. The Very Young Man looked up into Aura's face&mdash;she was on
+her feet now with the others and tried to smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm all right," he repeated. "I'll go get the food and things."</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes more he had made himself as large as his companions,
+and had brought with him most of the food. There still remained in the
+smaller size the water-bottles, some of the food, the belts with which
+to carry it, and a few other articles they needed for the trip.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll get them," said the Big Business Man; "you sit down and rest."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man was glad to do as he was told, and sat beside Aura in
+the garden, while the Big Business Man brought up to their size the
+remainder of the supplies.</p>
+
+<p>When they had divided the food, and all were equipped for the journey,
+they started at once for the tunnels. Lylda's eyes again filled with
+tears as she left so summarily, and probably for the last time, this
+home in which she had been so happy.</p>
+
+<p>As they passed the last houses of the city, heading towards the tunnel
+entrances that the Chemist had selected, the Big Business Man and the
+Chemist walked in front, the others following close behind them. A crowd
+of Oroids watched them leave, and many others were to be seen ahead; but
+these scattered as the giants approached. Occasionally a few stood their
+ground, and these the Big Business Man mercilessly trampled under foot.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the only way; I'm sorry," he said, half apologetically. "We cannot
+take any chances now; we must get out."</p>
+
+<p>"It's shorter through these tunnels I'm taking," the Chemist said after
+a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"My idea," said the Big Business man, "is that we should go through the
+tunnels that are the largest. They're not all the same size, are they?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," the Chemist answered; "some are a little larger."</p>
+
+<p>"You see," the Big Business Man continued, "I figure we are going to
+have a fight. They're following us. Look at that crowd over there.
+They'll never let us out if they can help it. When we get into the
+tunnels, naturally we'll have to be small enough to walk through them.
+The larger we are the better; so let's take the very biggest."</p>
+
+<p>"These are," the Chemist answered. "We can make it at about so high." He
+held his hand about the level of his waist.</p>
+
+<p>"That won't be so bad," the Big Business Man commented.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the Very Young Man, walking with Aura behind the leaders, was
+talking to her earnestly. He was conscious of a curious sense of
+companionship with this quiet girl&mdash;a companionship unlike anything he
+had ever felt for a girl before. And now that he was taking her with
+him, back to his own world&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Climb out on to the surface of the ring," he was saying, "and then, in
+a few minutes more, we'll be there. Aura, you cannot realize how
+wonderful it will be."</p>
+
+<p>The girl smiled her quiet smile; her face was sad with the memory of
+what she was leaving, but full of youthful, eager anticipation of that
+which lay ahead.</p>
+
+<p>"So much has happened, and so quickly, I cannot realize it yet, I know,"
+she answered. "But that it will be very wonderful, up there above, I do
+believe. And I am glad that we are going, only&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man took her hand, holding it a moment. "Don't, Aura. You
+mustn't think of that." He spoke gently, with a tender note in his
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't think of the past, Aura," he went on earnestly. "Think only of
+the future&mdash;the great cities, the opera, the poetry I am going to teach
+you."</p>
+
+<p>The girl laid her hand on his arm. "You are so kind, my friend Jack. You
+will have much to teach me, will you not? Is it sure you will want to? I
+shall be like a little child up there in your great world."</p>
+
+<p>An answer sprang to the Very Young Man's lips&mdash;words the thinking of
+which made his heart leap into his throat. But before he could voice
+them Loto ran up to him from behind, crying. "I want to walk by you,
+Jack; <i>mamita</i> talks of things I know not."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man put his arm across the child's shoulders. "Well,
+little boy," he said laughing, "how do you like this adventure?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never have I been in the Great Forests," Loto answered, turning his
+big, serious eyes up to his friend's face. "I shall not be afraid&mdash;with
+my father, and <i>mamita</i>, and with you."</p>
+
+<p>"The Great Forests won't seem very big, Loto, after a little while," the
+Very Young Man said. "And of course you won't be afraid of anything.
+You're going to see many things, Loto&mdash;very many strange and wonderful
+things for such a little boy."</p>
+
+<p>They reached the entrance to the tunnel in a few moments more, and
+stopped before it. As they approached, a number of little figures darted
+into its luminous blackness and disappeared. There were none others in
+sight now, except far away towards Arite, where perhaps a thousand stood
+watching intently.</p>
+
+<p>The tunnel entrance, against the side of a hill, stood nearly breast
+high.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm wrong," said the Chemist, as the others came up. "It's not so high
+all the way through. We shall have to make ourselves much smaller than
+this."</p>
+
+<p>"This is a good time to eat," suggested the Very Young Man. The others
+agreed, and without making themselves any smaller&mdash;the Big Business Man
+objected to that procedure&mdash;they sat down before the mouth of the tunnel
+and ate a somewhat frugal meal.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any plans for the trip up?" asked the Doctor of the Chemist
+while they were eating.</p>
+
+<p>"I have," interjected the Big Business Man, and the Chemist answered:</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I am sure I can make it far easier than it was for me before. I'll
+tell you as we go up; the first thing is to get through the tunnels."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't anticipate much difficulty in that," the Doctor said. "Do you?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist shook his head. "No, I don't."</p>
+
+<p>"But we mustn't take any chances," put in the Big Business Man quickly.
+"How small do you suppose we should make ourselves?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist looked at the tunnel opening. "About half that," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at the start," said the Big Business Man. "Let's go in as large as
+possible; we can get smaller when we have to."</p>
+
+<p>It took them but a few minutes to finish the meal. They were all tired
+from the exciting events of the day, but the Big Business Man would not
+hear of their resting a moment more than was absolutely necessary.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't be much of a trip up to the forests," he argued. "Once we get
+well on our way and into one of the larger sizes, we can sleep safely.
+But not now; it's too dangerous."</p>
+
+<p>They were soon ready to start, and in a moment more all had made
+themselves small enough to walk into the tunnel opening. They were, at
+this time, perhaps six times the normal height of an adult Oroid. The
+city of Arite, apparently much farther away now, was still visible up
+against the distant horizon. As they were about to start, Lylda, with
+Aura close behind her, turned to face it.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by to our own world now we must say, my sister," she said sadly.
+"The land that bore us&mdash;so beautiful a world, and once so kindly. We
+have been very happy here. And I cannot think it is right for me to
+leave."</p>
+
+<p>"Your way lies with your husband," Aura said gently. "You yourself have
+said it, and it is true."</p>
+
+<p>Lylda raised her arms up towards the far-away city with a gesture almost
+of benediction.</p>
+
+<p>"Good future to you, land that I love." Her voice trembled. "Good future
+to you, for ever and ever."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man, standing behind them with Loto, was calling:
+"They're started; come on."</p>
+
+<p>With one last sorrowful glance Lylda turned slowly, and, walking with
+her arm about her sister, followed the others into the depths of the
+tunnel.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE FIGHT IN THE TUNNELS</h3>
+
+
+<p>For some time this strange party of refugees from an outraged world
+walked in silence. Because of their size, the tunnel appeared to them
+now not more than eight or nine feet in height, and in most places of
+nearly similar width. For perhaps ten minutes no one spoke except an
+occasional monosyllable. The Chemist and Big Business Man, walking
+abreast, were leading; Aura and Lylda with the Very Young man, and Loto
+close in front of them, brought up the rear.</p>
+
+<p>The tunnel they were traversing appeared quite deserted; only once, at
+the intersection of another smaller passageway, a few little
+figures&mdash;not more than a foot high&mdash;scurried past and hastily
+disappeared. Once the party stopped for half an hour to rest.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think we'll have any trouble getting through," said the
+Chemist. "The tunnels are usually deserted at the time of sleep."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man appeared not so sanguine, but said nothing. Finally
+they came to one of the large amphitheaters into which several of the
+tunnels opened. In size, it appeared to them now a hundred feet in
+length and with a roof some twelve feet high. The Chemist stopped to let
+the others come up.</p>
+
+<p>"I think our best route is there," he pointed.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not so high a tunnel; we shall have to get smaller. Beyond it
+they are larger again. It is not far&mdash;half an hour, perhaps, walking as
+we&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>A cry from Aura interrupted him.</p>
+
+<p>"My brother, see, they come," she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Before them, out of several of the smaller passageways, a crowd of
+little figures was pouring. There were no shouts; there was seemingly no
+confusion; just a steady, flowing stream of human forms, emptying from
+the tunnels into the amphitheater and spreading out over its open
+surface.</p>
+
+<p>The fugitives stared a moment in horror. "Good God! they've got us," the
+Doctor muttered, breaking the tenseness of the silence.</p>
+
+<p>The little people kept their distance at first, and then as the open
+space filled up, slowly they began coming closer, in little waves of
+movement, irresistible as an incoming tide.</p>
+
+<p>Aura turned towards the passageway through which they had entered. "We
+can go back," she said. And then. "No&mdash;see, they come there, too." A
+crowd of the little gray figures blocked that entrance also&mdash;a crowd
+that hesitated an instant and then came forward, spreading out fan-shape
+as it came.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man doubled up his fists.</p>
+
+<p>"It's fight," he said grimly. "By God! we'll&mdash;&mdash;" but Lylda, with a low
+cry, flung herself before him.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no," she said passionately. "Not that; it cannot be that now, just
+at the last&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Aura laid a hand upon her sister's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait, my sister," she said gently. "There is no matter of justice
+here&mdash;for you, a woman&mdash;to decide. This is for men to deal with&mdash;a
+matter for men&mdash;our men. And what they say to do&mdash;that must be done."</p>
+
+<p>She turned to the Chemist and the Very Young Man, who were standing side
+by side.</p>
+
+<p>"A woman&mdash;cannot kill," she said slowly. "Unless&mdash;her man&mdash;says it so.
+Or if to save him&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes flashed fire; she held her slim little body erect and rigid&mdash;an
+Amazon ready to fight to the death for those she loved.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist hesitated a moment. Before he could answer, a single shrill
+cry sounded from somewhere out in the silent, menacing throng. As though
+at a signal, a thousand little voices took it up, and with a great rush
+the crowd swept forward.</p>
+
+<p>In the first moment of surprise and indecision the group of fugitives
+stood motionless. As the wave of little, struggling human forms closed
+in around them, the Very Young Man came to himself with a start. He
+looked down. They were black around him now, swaying back and forth
+about his legs. Most of them were men, armed with the short,
+broad-bladed swords, or with smaller knives. Some brandished other
+improvised weapons; still others held rocks in their hands.</p>
+
+<p>A little pair of arms clutched the Very Young Man about his leg; he gave
+a violent kick, scattering a number of the struggling figures and
+clearing a space into which he leaped.</p>
+
+<p>"Back&mdash;Aura, Lylda," he shouted. "Take Loto and Eena. Get back behind
+us."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man, kicking violently, and sometimes stooping down to
+sweep the ground with great swings of his arm, had cleared a space
+before them. Taking Loto, who looked on with frightened eyes, the three
+women stepped back against the side wall of the amphitheater.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man swiftly discarded his robe, standing in the knitted
+under-suit in which he had swam the lake; the other men followed his
+example. For ten minutes or more in ceaseless waves, the little
+creatures threw themselves forward, and were beaten back. The confined
+space echoed with their shouts, and with the cries of the wounded. The
+five men fought silently. Once the Doctor stumbled and fell. Before his
+friends could get to him, his body was covered with his foes. When he
+got back upon his feet, knocking them off, he was bleeding profusely
+from an ugly-looking wound in his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God!" he panted as the Chemist and the Big Business Man leaped
+over to him. "They'll get us&mdash;if we go down."</p>
+
+<p>"We can get larger," said the Big Business Man, pointing upwards to the
+roof overhead. "Larger&mdash;and then&mdash;&mdash;" He swayed a trifle, breathing
+hard. His legs were covered with blood from a dozen wounds.</p>
+
+<p>Oteo, fighting back and forth before them, was holding the crowd in
+check; a heap of dead lay in a semicircle in front of him.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going across," shouted the Very Young Man suddenly, and began
+striding forward into the struggling mass.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd, thus diverted, eased its attack for a moment. Slowly the Very
+Young Man waded into it. He was perhaps fifty feet out from the side
+wall when a stone struck him upon the temple. He went down, out of sight
+in the seething mass.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on," shouted the Big Business Man. But before he could move, Aura
+dashed past him, fighting her way out to where the Very Young Man lay.
+In a moment she was beside him. Her fragile body seemed hopelessly
+inadequate for such a struggle, but the spirit within her made her fight
+like a wild-cat.</p>
+
+<p>Catching one of the little figures by the legs she flung him about like
+a club, knocking a score of the others back and clearing a space about
+the Very Young Man. Then abruptly she dropped her victim and knelt down,
+plucking away the last of the attacking figures who was hacking at the
+Very Young Man's arm with his sword.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist and Big Business Man were beside her now, and together they
+carried the Very Young Man back. He had recovered consciousness, and
+smiled up at them feebly. They laid him on the ground against the wall,
+and Aura sat beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"Gosh, I'm all right," he said, waving them away. "Be with you in a
+minute; give 'em hell!"</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor knelt beside the Very Young Man for a moment, and, finding he
+was not seriously hurt, left him and rejoined the Chemist and Big
+Business Man, who, with Oteo, had forced the struggling mass of little
+figures some distance away.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to get larger," shouted the Big Business Man a moment later.
+"Wipe them all out, damn it; I can do it. We can't keep on this way."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor was by his side.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't do it&mdash;isn't room," he shouted in answer, pausing as he waved
+one of his assailants in the air above his head. "You might take too
+much."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man was reaching with one hand under his robe. With his
+feet he kicked violently to keep the space about him clear. A tiny stone
+flew by his head; another struck him on the chest, and all at once he
+realized that he was bruised all over from where other stones had been
+hitting him. He looked across to the opposite wall of the amphitheater.
+Through the tunnel entrance there he saw that the stream of little
+people was flowing the other way now. They were trying to get out,
+instead of pouring in.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man waved his arms. "They're running away&mdash;look," he
+shouted. "They're running&mdash;over there&mdash;come on." He dashed forward, and,
+followed by his companions, redoubled his efforts.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd wavered; the shouting grew less; those further away began
+running back.</p>
+
+<p>Then suddenly a shrill cry arose&mdash;just a single little voice it was at
+first. After a moment others took it up, and still others, until it
+sounded from every side&mdash;three Oroid words repeated over and over.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist abruptly stopped fighting. "It's done," he shouted. "Thank
+God it's over."</p>
+
+<p>The cry continued. The little figures had ceased attacking now and were
+struggling in a frenzy to get through the tunnels.</p>
+
+<p>"No more," shouted the Chemist. "They're going. See them going? Stop."</p>
+
+<p>His companions stood by his side, panting and weak from loss of blood.
+The Chemist tried to smile. His face was livid; he swayed unsteadily on
+his feet. "No more," he repeated. "It's over. Thank God, it's over!"</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the Very Young Man, lying on the floor with Aura sitting
+beside him, revived a little. He tried to sit up after a few moments,
+but the girl pulled him down.</p>
+
+<p>"But I got to go&mdash;give 'em hell," he protested weakly. His head was
+still confused; he only knew he should be back, fighting beside his
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet," Aura said gently. "There is no need&mdash;yet. When there is, you
+may trust me, Jack; I shall say it."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man closed his eyes. The blurred, iridescent outlines of
+the rocks confused him; his head was ringing. The girl put an arm under
+his neck. He found one of her hands, and held it tightly. For a moment
+he lay silent. Then his head seemed to clear a little; he opened his
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"What are they doing now, Aura?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It is no different," the girl answered softly. "So terrible a thing&mdash;so
+terrible&mdash;&mdash;" she finished almost to herself.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll wait&mdash;just a minute more," he murmured and closed his eyes again.</p>
+
+<p>He held the girl's hand tighter. He seemed to be floating away, and her
+hand steadied him. The sounds of the fighting sounded very distant
+now&mdash;all blurred and confused and dreamlike. Only the girl's nearness
+seemed real&mdash;the touch of her little body against his as she sat beside
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Aura," he whispered. "Aura."</p>
+
+<p>She put her face down to his. "Yes, Jack," she answered gently.</p>
+
+<p>"It's very bad&mdash;there&mdash;don't you think?"</p>
+
+<p>She did not answer.</p>
+
+<p>"I was just thinking," he went on; he spoke slowly, almost in a whisper.
+"Maybe&mdash;you know&mdash;we won't come through this." He paused; his thoughts
+somehow seemed too big to put into words. But he knew he was very happy.</p>
+
+<p>"I was just thinking, Aura, that if we shouldn't come through I just
+wanted you to know&mdash;&mdash;" Again he stopped. From far away he heard the
+shrill, rhythmic cry of many voices shouting in unison. He listened, and
+then it all came back. The battle&mdash;his friends there fighting&mdash;they
+needed him. He let go of the girl's hand and sat up, brushing back his
+moist hair.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, Aura. Hear them shouting; I mustn't stay here." He tried,
+weakly, to get upon his feet, but the girl's arm about his waist held
+him down.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait," she said. Surprised by the tenseness of her tone, he relaxed.</p>
+
+<p>The cry grew louder, rolling up from a thousand voices and echoing back
+and forth across the amphitheater. The Very Young Man wondered vaguely
+what it could mean. He looked into Aura's face. Her lips were smiling
+now.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Aura?" he whispered.</p>
+
+<p>The girl impulsively put her arms about him and held him close.</p>
+
+<p>"But we are coming through, my friend Jack. We are coming through." The
+Very Young Man looked wonderingly into her eyes. "Don't you hear? That
+cry&mdash;the cry of fear and despair. It means&mdash;life to us; and no more
+death&mdash;to them."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist's voice came out of the distance shouting: "They're running
+away. It's over; thank God it's over!"</p>
+
+<p>Then the Very Young Man knew, and life opened up before him again.
+"Life," he whispered to himself. "Life and love and happiness."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII</h2>
+
+<h3>A COMBAT OF TITANS</h3>
+
+
+<p>In a few minutes the amphitheater was entirely clear, save for the dead
+and maimed little figures lying scattered about; but it was nearly an
+hour more before the fugitives were ready to resume their journey.</p>
+
+<p>The attack had come so suddenly, and had demanded such immediate and
+continuous action that none of the men, with the exception of the Very
+Young Man, had had time to realize how desperate was the situation in
+which they had fallen. With the almost equally abrupt cessation of the
+struggle there came the inevitable reaction; the men bleeding from a
+score of wounds, weak from loss of blood, and sick from the memory of
+the things they had been compelled to do, threw themselves upon the
+ground utterly exhausted.</p>
+
+<p>"We must get out of here," said the Doctor, after they had been lying
+quiet for a time, with the strident shrieks of hundreds of the dying
+little creatures sounding in their ears. "That was pretty near the end."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't far," the Chemist answered, "when we get started."</p>
+
+<p>"We must get water," the Doctor went on. "These cuts&mdash;&mdash;" They had used
+nearly all their drinking-water washing out their wounds, which Aura and
+Lylda had bound up with strips of cloth torn from their garments.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist got upon his feet. "There's no water nearer than the Forest
+River," he said. "That tunnel over there comes out very near it."</p>
+
+<p>"What makes you think we won't have another scrap getting out?" the Very
+Young Man wanted to know. He had entirely recovered from the effects of
+the stone that had struck him on the temple, and was in better condition
+than any of the other men.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure," the Chemist said confidently, "they were through; they will
+not attack us again; for some time at least. The tunnels will be
+deserted."</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man stood up also.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better get going while we have the chance," he said. "This getting
+smaller&mdash;I don't like it."</p>
+
+<p>They started soon after, and, true to the Chemist's prediction, met no
+further obstacle to their safe passage through the tunnels. When they
+had reached the forest above, none of the little people were in sight.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man heaved a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we're
+here at last," he said. "I didn't realize how good these woods would
+look."</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes more they were at the edge of the river, bathing their
+wounds in its cooling water, and replenishing their drinking-bottles.</p>
+
+<p>"How do we get across?" the Very Young Man asked.</p>
+
+<p>"We won't have to cross it," the Chemist answered with a smile. "The
+tunnel took us under."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's eat here," the Very Young Man suggested, "and take a sleep; we're
+about all in."</p>
+
+<p>"We ought to get larger first," protested the Big Business Man. They
+were at this time about four times Oroid size; the forest trees, so huge
+when last they had seen them, now seemed only rather large saplings.</p>
+
+<p>"Some one of us must stay awake," the Doctor said. "But there do not
+seem to be any Oroids up here."</p>
+
+<p>"What do they come up here for, anyway?" asked the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"There's some hunting," the Chemist answered. "But principally it's the
+mines beyond, in the deserts."</p>
+
+<p>They agreed finally to stop beside the river and eat another meal, and
+then, with one of them on guard, to sleep for a time before continuing
+their journey.</p>
+
+<p>The meal, at the Doctor's insistence, was frugal to the extreme, and was
+soon over. They selected Oteo to stand guard first. The youth, when he
+understood what was intended, pleaded so with his master that the
+Chemist agreed. Utterly worn out, the travelers lay down on a mossy bank
+at the river's edge, and in a few moments were all fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Oteo sat nearby with his back against a tree-trunk. Occasionally he got
+up and walked to and fro to fight off the drowsiness that came over him.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>How long the Very Young Man slept he never knew. He slept dreamlessly
+for a considerable time. When he struggled back to consciousness it was
+with a curious feeling of detachment, as though his mind no longer was
+connected with his body. He thought first of Aura, with a calm peaceful
+sense of happiness. For a long time he lay, drifting along with his
+thoughts and wondering whether he were asleep or awake. Then all at once
+he knew he was not asleep. His eyes were open; before him stood the
+forest trees at the river's edge. And at the foot of one of the trees he
+could see the figure of Oteo, sitting hunched up with his head upon his
+hands, fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Remembrance came to the Very Young Man, and he sat up with a start.
+Beside him his friends lay motionless. He looked around, still a little
+confused. And then his heart leaped into his throat, for at the edge of
+the woods he saw a small, lean, gray figure&mdash;the little figure of a man
+who stood against a tree-trunk. The man's face was turned towards him;
+he met the glistening eyes looking down and saw the lips parted in a
+leering smile.</p>
+
+<p>A thrill of fear ran over the Very Young Man as he recognized the face
+of Targo. And then his heart seemed to stop beating. For as he stared,
+fascinated, into the man's mocking eyes, he saw that slowly, steadily he
+was growing larger. Mechanically the Very Young Man's hand went to his
+armpit, his fingers fumbling at the pouch strapped underneath. The vial
+of chemicals was not there!</p>
+
+<p>For an instant more the Very Young Man continued staring. Then, with an
+effort, he turned his eyes away from the gaze that seemed to hypnotize
+him. Beside him the Chemist lay sleeping. He looked back at Targo, and
+saw him larger&mdash;almost as large now as he was himself.</p>
+
+<p>Like a cloak discarded, the Very Young Man's bewilderment dropped from
+him. He recognized the danger, realized that in another moment this
+enemy would be irresistibly powerful&mdash;invincible. His mind was clear
+now, his nerves steady, his muscles tense. He knew the only thing he
+could do; he calculated the chances in a flash of thought.</p>
+
+<p>Still staring at the triumphant face of Targo, the Very Young Man jumped
+to his feet and swiftly bent over the sleeping form of the Chemist.
+Reaching through the neck of his robe he took out the vial of chemicals,
+and before his friend was fairly awake had swallowed one of the pills.</p>
+
+<p>As the Very Young Man sprang into action Targo turned and ran swiftly
+away, perhaps a hundred feet; then again he stopped and stood watching
+his intended victim with his sardonic smile.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man met the Chemist's startled eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Targo!" said the Very Young Man swiftly. "He's here; he stole the drug
+just now, while I was sleeping."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist opened his mouth to reply, but the Very Young Man bounded
+away. He could feel the drug beginning to work; the ground under his
+feet swayed unsteadily.</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly he ran straight towards the figure of Targo, where he stood
+leaning against a tree. His enemy did not move to run away, but stood
+quietly awaiting him. The Very Young Man saw he was now nearly the same
+size that Targo was; if anything, the larger.</p>
+
+<p>A fallen tree separated them; the Very Young Man cleared it with a
+bound. Still Targo stood motionless, awaiting his onslaught. Then
+abruptly he stooped to the ground, and a rock whistled through the air,
+narrowly missing the Very Young Man's head. Before Targo could recover
+from the throw the Very Young Man was upon him, and they went down
+together.</p>
+
+<p>Back and forth over the soft ground they rolled, first one on top, then
+the other. The Very Young Man's hand found a stone on the ground beside
+them. His fingers clutched it; he raised it above him. But a blow upon
+his forearm knocked it away before he could strike; and a sudden twist
+of his antagonist's body rolled him over and pinned him upon his back.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man thought of his encounter with Targo before, and again
+with sinking heart he realized he was the weaker of the two. He jerked
+one of his wrists free and, striking upwards with all his force, landed
+full on his enemy's jaw. The man's head snapped back, but he laughed&mdash;a
+grim, sardonic laugh that ended in a half growl, like a wild beast
+enraged. The Very Young Man's blood ran cold. A sudden frenzy seized
+him; he put all his strength into one desperate lunge and, wrenching
+himself free, sprang to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>Targo was up almost as quickly as he, and for an instant the two stood
+eyeing each other, breathing hard. At the Very Young Man's feet a little
+stream was flowing past. Vaguely he found himself thinking how peaceful
+it looked; how cool and soothing the water would be to his bruised and
+aching body. Beside the stream his eye caught a number of tiny human
+figures, standing close together, looking up at him&mdash;little forms that a
+single sweep of his foot would have scattered and killed. A shiver of
+fear ran across him as in a flash he realized this other danger. With a
+cry, he leaped sidewise, away from the water. Beside him stood a little
+tree whose bushy top hardly reached his waist. He clutched its trunk
+with both hands and jerking it from the ground swung it at his enemy's
+head, meeting him just as he sprang forward. The tree struck Targo a
+glancing blow upon the shoulder. With another laugh he grasped its roots
+and twisted it from the Very Young Man's hand. A second more and they
+came together again, and the Very Young Man felt his antagonist's
+powerful arms around his body, bending him backwards.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The Big Business Man stood beside the others at the river's edge,
+watching the gigantic struggle, the outcome of which meant life or death
+to them all. The grappling figures were ten times his own height before
+he fairly realized the situation. At first he thought he should take
+some of the drug also, and grow larger with them. Then he knew that he
+could not overtake their growth in time to aid his friend. The Chemist
+and the Doctor must evidently have reached the same conclusion, for
+they, too, did nothing, only stood motionless, speechless, staring up at
+the battling giants.</p>
+
+<p>Loto, with his head buried upon his mother's shoulder, and her arms
+holding him close, whimpered a little in terror. Only Aura, of all the
+party, did not get upon her feet. She lay full length upon the ground, a
+hand under her chin, staring steadily upwards. Her face was
+expressionless, her eyes unblinking. But her lips moved a little, as
+though she were breathing a silent prayer, and the fingers of her hand
+against her face dug their nails into the flesh of her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>Taller far than the tree-tops, the two giants stood facing each other.
+Then the Very Young Man seized one of the trees, and with a mighty pull
+tore it up by the roots and swung it through the air. Aura drew a quick
+breath as in another instant they grappled and came crashing to the
+ground, falling head and shoulders in the river with a splash that
+drenched her with its spray. The Very Young Man was underneath, and she
+seemed to meet the glance of his great eyes when he fell. The trees
+growing on the river-bank snapped like rushes beneath the huge bodies of
+the giants, as, still growing larger, they struggled back and forth. The
+river, stirred into turmoil by the sweep of their great arms, rolled its
+waves up over the mossy banks, driving the watchers back into the edge
+of the woods, and even there covering them with its spray.</p>
+
+<p>A moment more and the giants were on their feet again, standing ankle
+deep, far out in the river. Up against the unbroken blackness of the
+starless sky their huge forms towered. For a second they stood
+motionless; then they came together again and Aura could see the Very
+Young Man sink on his knees, his hand trailing in the water. Then in an
+instant more he struggled up to his feet; and as his hand left the water
+Aura saw that it clutched an enormous dripping rock. She held her
+breath, watching the tremendous figures as they swayed, locked in each
+other's arms. A single step sidewise and they were back nearly at the
+river's bank; the water seethed white under their tread.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man's right arm hung limp behind him; the boulder in his
+hand dangled a hundred feet or more in the air above the water. Slowly
+the greater strength of his antagonist bent him backwards. Aura's heart
+stood still as she saw Targo's fingers at the Very Young Man's throat.
+Then, in a great arc, the Very Young Man swept the hand holding the rock
+over his head, and brought it down full upon his enemy's skull. The
+boulder fell into the river with a thundering splash. For a brief
+instant the giant figures hung swaying; then the titanic hulk of Targo's
+body came crashing down. It fell full across the river, quivered
+convulsively and lay still.</p>
+
+<p>And the river, backing up before it a moment, turned aside in its
+course, and flung the muddy torrent of its water roaring down through
+the forest.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>LOST IN SIZE</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Very Young Man stood ankle deep in the turgid little rivulet, a
+tightness clutching at his chest, and with his head whirling. At his
+feet his antagonist lay motionless. He stepped out of the water, putting
+his foot into a tiny grove of trees that bent and crackled like twigs
+under his tread. He wondered if he would faint; he knew he must not.
+Away to the left he saw a line of tiny hills; beyond that a luminous
+obscurity into which his sight could not penetrate; behind him there was
+only darkness. He seemed to be standing in the midst of a great barren
+waste, with just a little toy river and forest at his feet&mdash;a child's
+plaything, set down in a man's great desert.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man suddenly thought of his friends. He stepped into the
+middle of the river and out again on the other side. Then he bent down
+with his face close to the ground, just above the tops of the tiny
+little trees. He made the human figures out finally. Hardly larger than
+ants they seemed, and he shuddered as he saw them. The end of his thumb
+could have smashed them all, they were so small.</p>
+
+<p>One of the figures seemed to be waving something, and the Very Young Man
+thought he heard the squeak of its voice. He straightened upright,
+standing rigid, afraid to move his feet. He wondered what he should do,
+and in sudden fear felt for the vial of the diminishing drug. It was
+still in place, in the pouch under his armpit. The Very Young Man
+breathed a sigh of relief. He decided to take the drug and rejoin his
+friends. Then as a sudden thought struck him he bent down to the ground
+again, slowly, with infinite caution. The little figures were still
+there; and now he thought they were not quite as tiny as before. He
+watched them; slowly but unmistakably they were growing larger.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man carefully took a step backwards, and then sat down
+heavily. The forest trees crackled under him. He pulled up his knees,
+and rested his head upon them. The little rivulet diverted from its
+course by the body of Targo, swept past through the woods almost at his
+side. The noise it made mingled with the ringing in his head. His body
+ached all over; he closed his eyes.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"He's all right now," the Doctor's voice said. "He'll be all right in a
+moment."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man opened his eyes. He was lying upon the ground, with
+Aura sitting beside him, and his friends&mdash;all his own size
+again&mdash;standing over him.</p>
+
+<p>He met Aura's tender, serious eyes, and smiled. "I'm all right," he
+said. "What a foolish thing to faint."</p>
+
+<p>Lylda stooped beside him, "You saved us all," she said. "There is
+nothing we can say&mdash;to mean what it should. But you will always know how
+we feel; how splendid you were."</p>
+
+<p>To the praise they gave him the Very Young Man had no answer save a
+smile of embarrassment. Aura said nothing, only met his smile with one
+of her own, and with a tender glance that made his heart beat faster.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm all right," he repeated after a moment of silence. "Let's get
+started."</p>
+
+<p>They sat down now beside the Very Young Man, and earnestly discussed the
+best plan for getting out of the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"You said you had calculated the best way," suggested the Doctor to the
+Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>"First of all," interrupted the Big Business Man. "Are we sure none of
+these Oroids is going to follow us? For Heaven's sake let's have done
+with these terrible struggles."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man remembered. "He stole one of the vials," he said,
+pointing to Targo's body.</p>
+
+<p>"He was probably alone," the Chemist reasoned. "If any others had been
+with him they would have taken some of the drug also. Probably Targo
+took one of the pills and then dropped the vial to the ground."</p>
+
+<p>"My idea," pursued the Big Business Man, "is for us to get large just as
+quickly and continuously as possible. Probably you're right about Targo,
+but don't let's take any chances.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been thinking," he continued, seeing that they agreed with him.
+"You know this is a curious problem we have facing us. I've been
+thinking about it a lot. It seemed a frightful long trip down here, but
+in spite of that, I can't get it out of my mind that we're only a very
+little distance under the surface of the ring."</p>
+
+<p>"It's absolutely all in the viewpoint," the Chemist said with a smile.
+"That's what I meant about having an easier method of getting out. The
+distance depends absolutely on how you view it."</p>
+
+<p>"How far would it be out if we didn't get any larger?" the Very Young
+Man wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"Based on the size of a normal Oroid adult, and using the terrestrial
+standard of feet and inches as they would seem to us when Oroid size, I
+should say the distance from Arite to the surface of the ring would be
+about one hundred and fifty to a hundred and sixty thousand miles."</p>
+
+<p>"Holy mackerel!" exclaimed the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let's do much walking while we're small."</p>
+
+<p>"You have the idea exactly," smiled the Chemist.</p>
+
+<p>"Taking the other viewpoint," said the Doctor. "Just where do you figure
+this Oroid universe is located in the ring?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is contained within one of the atoms of gold," the Chemist answered.
+"And that golden atom, I estimate, is located probably within one
+one-hundredth of an inch, possibly even one one-thousandth of an inch
+away from the circular indentation I made in the bottom of the scratch.
+In actual distance I suppose Arite is possibly one-sixteenth of an inch
+below the surface of the ring."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly makes a difference how you look at it," murmured the Very
+Young Man in awe.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist went on. "It is obvious then, that although when coming down
+the distance must be covered to some extent by physical movement&mdash;by
+traveling geographically, so to speak&mdash;going back, that is not
+altogether the case. Most of the distance may be covered by bodily
+growth, rather than by a movement of the body from place to place."</p>
+
+<p>"We might get lost," objected the Very Young Man. "Suppose we got
+started in the wrong direction?"</p>
+
+<p>"Coming in, that is a grave danger," answered the Chemist, "because then
+distances are opening up and a single false step means many miles of
+error later on. But going out, just the reverse is true; distances are
+shortening. A mile in the wrong direction is corrected in an instant
+later on. Not coming to a realization of that when I made the trip
+before, led me to undertake many unnecessary hours of most arduous
+climbing. There is only one condition imperative; the body growing must
+have free space for its growth, or it will be crushed to death."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you planned exactly how we are to get out?" asked the Big Business
+Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have," the Chemist answered. "In the size we are now, which you
+must remember is several thousand times Oroid height, it will be only a
+short distance to a point where as we grow we can move gradually to the
+centre of the circular pit. That huge inclined plane slides down out of
+it, you remember. Once in the pit, with its walls closing in upon us, we
+can at the proper moment get out of it about as I did before."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we'll be in the valley of the scratch," exclaimed the Very Young
+Man eagerly. "I'll certainly be glad to get back there again."</p>
+
+<p>"Getting out of the valley we'll use the same methods," the Chemist
+continued. "There we shall have to do some climbing, but not nearly so
+much as I did."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man was thrilled at the prospect of so speedy a return to
+his own world. "Let's get going," he suggested quickly. "It sounds a
+cinch."</p>
+
+<p>They started away in a few minutes more, leaving the body of Targo lying
+where it had fallen across the river. In half an hour of walking they
+located without difficulty the huge incline down which the Chemist had
+fallen when first he came into the ring. Following along the bottom of
+the incline they reached his landing place&mdash;a mass of small rocks and
+pebbles of a different metallic-looking stone than the ground around
+marking it plainly. These were the rocks and boulders that had been
+brought down with him in his fall.</p>
+
+<p>"From here," said the Chemist, as they came to a halt, "we can go up
+into the valley by growth alone. It is several hours, but we need move
+very little from this position."</p>
+
+<p>"How about eating?" suggested the Very Young Man.</p>
+
+<p>They sat down at the base of the incline and ate another meal&mdash;rather a
+more lavish one this time, for the rest they had taken, and the prospect
+of a shorter journey ahead of them than they had anticipated made the
+Doctor less strict. Then, the meal over, they took the amount of the
+drug the Chemist specified. He measured it carefully&mdash;more than ten of
+the pills.</p>
+
+<p>"We have a long wait," the Chemist said, when the first sickness from
+this tremendous dose had left them.</p>
+
+<p>The time passed quickly. They spoke seldom, for the extraordinary
+rapidity with which the aspect of the landscape was changing, and the
+remarkable sensations they experienced, absorbed all their attention.</p>
+
+<p>In about two hours after taking the drug the curving, luminous line that
+was the upper edge of the incline came into view, faint and blurred, but
+still distinct against the blackness of the sky. The incline now was
+noticeably steeper; each moment they saw its top coming down towards
+them out of the heights above, and its surface smoothing out and
+becoming more nearly perpendicular.</p>
+
+<p>They were all standing up now. The ground beneath them seemed in rapid
+motion, coming towards them from all directions, and dwindling away
+beneath their feet. The incline too&mdash;now in form a vertical concave
+wall&mdash;kept shoving itself forward, and they had to step backwards
+continually to avoid its thrust.</p>
+
+<p>Within another hour a similar concave wall appeared behind them which
+they could follow with their eyes entirely around the circumference of
+the great pit in which they now found themselves. The sides of this pit
+soon became completely perpendicular&mdash;smooth and shining.</p>
+
+<p>Another hour and the action of the drug was beginning to slacken&mdash;the
+walls encircling them, although steadily closing in, no longer seemed to
+move with such rapidity. The pit as they saw it now was perhaps a
+thousand feet in diameter and twice as deep. Far overhead the blackness
+of the sky was beginning to be tinged with a faint gray-blue.</p>
+
+<p>At the Chemist's suggestion they walked over near the center of the
+circular enclosure. Slowly its walls closed in about them. An hour more
+and its diameter was scarcely fifty feet.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist called his companions around him.</p>
+
+<p>"There is an obstacle here," he began, "that we can easily overcome; but
+we must all understand just what we are to do. In perhaps half an hour
+at the rate we are growing this enclosure will resemble a well twice as
+deep, approximately, as it is broad. We cannot climb up its sides,
+therefore we must wait until it is not more than six feet in depth in
+order to be able to get out. At that time its diameter will be scarcely
+three feet. There are nine of us here; you can realize there would not
+be room for us all.</p>
+
+<p>"What we must do is very simple. Since there is not room for us all at
+once, we must get large from now on only one at a time."</p>
+
+<p>"Quite so," said the Big Business Man in a perfectly matter-of-fact
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>"All of us but one will stop growing now; one will go on and get out of
+the pit. He will immediately stop his growth so that he can wait for the
+others and help them out. Each of us will follow the same method of
+procedure."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist then went on to arrange the exact quantities of the drugs
+they were each to take at specified times, so that at the end they would
+all be nearly the same size again. When he had explained all this to
+Oteo and Eena in their native language, they were ready to proceed with
+the plan.</p>
+
+<p>"Who's first?" asked the Very Young Man. "Let me go with Loto."</p>
+
+<p>They selected the Chemist to go first, and all but him took a little of
+the other drug and checked their growth. The pit at this time was hardly
+more than fifteen feet across and about thirty feet deep.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist stood in the centre of the enclosure, while his friends
+crowded over against its walls to make room for his growing body. It was
+nearly half an hour before his head was above its top. He waited only a
+moment more, then he sprang upwards, clambered out of the pit and
+disappeared beyond the rim. In a few moments they saw his huge head and
+shoulders hanging out over the side wall; his hand and arm reached down
+towards them and they heard his great voice roaring.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on&mdash;somebody else."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man went next, with Loto. Nothing unusual marked their
+growth, and without difficulty, helped by the Chemist's hands reaching
+down to them, they climbed out of the pit.</p>
+
+<p>In an hour more the entire party was in the valley, standing beside the
+little circular opening out of which they had come.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man found himself beside Aura, a little apart from the
+others, who gathered to discuss their plan for growing out of the
+valley.</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't much of a trip, is it, Aura?" the Very Young Man said. "Do you
+realize, we're nearly there?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked around her curiously. The valley of the scratch appeared
+to them now hardly more than a quarter of a mile in width. Aura stared
+upwards between its narrow walls to where, several thousand feet above,
+a narrow strip of gray-blue sky was visible.</p>
+
+<p>"That sky&mdash;is that the sky of your world?" she exclaimed. "How pretty it
+is!"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Aura, that's not our sky. It's only the space in the room above the
+ring. When we get the size we are going to be finally, our heads will be
+right up in there. The real sky with its stars will be even then as far
+above us as your sky at Arite was above you."</p>
+
+<p>Aura breathed a long sigh. "It's too wonderful&mdash;really to understand,
+isn't it?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man pulled her down on the ground beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"The most wonderful part, Aura, is going to be having you up there." He
+spoke gently; somehow whenever he thought of this fragile little
+girl-woman up in his strange bustling world, he felt himself very big
+and strong. He wanted to be her protector, and her teacher of all the
+new and curious things she must learn.</p>
+
+<p>The girl did not reply at once; she simply met his earnest gaze with her
+frank answering smile of understanding.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist was calling to them.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you Jack. We're about ready to start."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man got to his feet, holding down his hands to help Aura
+up.</p>
+
+<p>"You're going to make a fine woman, Aura, in this new world. You just
+wait and see if you don't," he said as they rejoined the others.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist explained his plans to them. "This valley is several times
+deeper than its breadth; you can see that. We cannot grow large enough
+to jump out as we did out of the pit; we would be crushed by the walls
+before we were sufficiently tall to leap out.</p>
+
+<p>"But we're not going to do as I did, and climb all the way up. Instead
+we will stay here at the bottom until we are as large as we can
+conveniently get between the valley walls. Then we will stop growing and
+climb up the side; it will only be a short distance then."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man nodded his comprehension. "Unless by that time the
+walls are too smooth to climb up," he remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"If we see them getting too smooth, we'll stop and begin climbing," the
+Chemist agreed. "We're all ready, aren't we?" He began measuring out the
+estimated quantities of the drug, handing it to each of them.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, I'm terrible sorry," began the Very Young Man, apologetically
+interrupting this procedure. "But you know if it wasn't for me, we'd all
+starve to death."</p>
+
+<p>It was several hours since they had eaten last, and all of them were
+hungry, although the excitement of their strange journey had kept them
+from realizing it. They ate&mdash;"the last meal in the ring" as the Big
+Business Man put it&mdash;and in half an hour more they were ready to start.</p>
+
+<p>When they had reached a size where it seemed desirable again to stop
+growing the valley resembled a narrow ca&ntilde;on&mdash;hardly more than a deep
+rift in the ground. They were still standing on its floor; above them,
+the parallel edges of the rift marked the surface of the ring. The side
+walls of the ca&ntilde;on were smooth, but there were still many places where
+they could climb out without much difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>They started up a narrow declivity along the ca&ntilde;on face. The Chemist led
+the way; the Very Young Man, with Aura just in front of him, was last.
+They had been walking only a moment when the Chemist called back over
+his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"It's getting very narrow. We'd better stop here and take the drug."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist had reached a rocky shelf&mdash;a ledge some twenty feet square
+that jutted out from the ca&ntilde;on wall. They gathered upon it, and took
+enough of the diminishing drug to stop their growth. Then the Chemist
+again started forward; but, very soon after, a cry of alarm from Aura
+stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>The party turned in confusion and crowded back. Aura, pale and
+trembling, was standing on the very brink of the ledge looking down. The
+Very Young Man had disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man ran to the brink. "Did he fall? Where is he? I
+don't see him."</p>
+
+<p>They gathered in confusion about the girl. "No," she said. "He&mdash;just a
+moment ago he was here."</p>
+
+<p>"He couldn't have fallen," the Doctor exclaimed. "It isn't far down
+there&mdash;we'd see him."</p>
+
+<p>The truth suddenly dawned on the Doctor. "Don't move!" he commanded
+sharply. "Don't any of you move! Don't take a step!"</p>
+
+<p>Uncomprehending, they stood motionless. The Doctor's gaze was at the
+rocky floor under his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"It's size," he added vehemently. "Don't you understand? He's taken too
+much of the diminishing drug."</p>
+
+<p>An exclamation from Oteo made them all move towards him, in spite of the
+Doctor's command. There, close by Oteo's feet, they saw the tiny figure
+of the Very Young Man, already no more than an inch in height, and
+rapidly growing smaller.</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor bent down, and the little figure waved its arms in terror.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't get smaller," called the Doctor. But even as he said it, he
+realized it was a futile command.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man answered, in a voice so minute it seemed coming from
+an infinite distance.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't stop! I haven't any of the other drug!"</p>
+
+<p>They all remembered then. Targo had stolen the Very Young Man's vial of
+the enlarging drug. It had never been replaced. Instead the Very Young
+Man had been borrowing from the others as he went along.</p>
+
+<p>The Big Business Man was seized with sudden panic.</p>
+
+<p>"He'll get lost. We must get smaller with him." He turned sidewise, and
+stumbling over a rock almost crushed the Very Young Man with the step he
+took to recover his balance.</p>
+
+<p>Aura, with a cry, pushed several of the others back; Oteo and Eena,
+frightened, started down the declivity.</p>
+
+<p>"We must get smaller!" the Big Business Man reiterated.</p>
+
+<p>The panic was growing among them all. Above their excited cries the
+Doctor's voice rose.</p>
+
+<p>"Stand still&mdash;all of you. If we move&mdash;even a few steps&mdash;we can never get
+small and hope to find him."</p>
+
+<p>The Doctor&mdash;himself too confused to know whether he should take the
+diminishing drug at once or not&mdash;was bending over the ground. And as he
+watched, fascinated, the Very Young Man's figure dwindled beyond the
+vanishing point and was gone!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXXIX</h2>
+
+<h3>A MODERN DINOSAUR</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Very Young Man never knew quite how it happened. The Doctor had told
+them to check their growth: and he took the drug abstractedly, for his
+mind was on Aura and how she would feel, coming for the first time into
+this great outer world.</p>
+
+<p>What quantity he took, the Very Young Man afterward could never decide.
+But the next thing he knew, the figures of his companions had grown to
+gigantic size. The rocks about him were expanding enormously. Already he
+had lost the contour of the ledge. The ca&ntilde;on wall had drawn back almost
+out of sight in the haze of the distance. He turned around, bewildered.
+There was no precipice behind him. Instead, a great, rocky plain,
+tumbling with a mass of boulders, and broken by seams and rifts, spread
+out to his gaze. And even in that instant, as he regarded it in
+confusion, it opened up to greater distances.</p>
+
+<p>Near at hand&mdash;a hundred yards away, perhaps&mdash;a gigantic human figure
+towered five hundred feet into the air. Around it, further away, others
+equally large, were blurred into the haze of distance.</p>
+
+<p>The nearer figure stooped, and the Very Young Man, fearful that he might
+be crushed by its movement, waved his arms in terror. He started to run,
+leaping over the jagged ground beneath his feet. A great roaring voice
+from above came down to him&mdash;the Doctor's voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't get smaller!"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man stopped running, more frightened than ever before
+with the realization that came to him. He shouted upward:</p>
+
+<p>"I can't stop! I haven't any of the other drug!"</p>
+
+<p>An enormous blurred object came swooping towards him, and went past with
+a rush of wind&mdash;the foot of the Big Business Man, though the Very Young
+Man did not know it. Above him now the air was filled with roaring&mdash;the
+excited voices of his friends.</p>
+
+<p>A few moments passed while the Very Young Man stood stock still, too
+frightened to move. The roaring above gradually ceased. The towering
+figures expanded&mdash;faded back into the distance&mdash;disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man was alone in the silence and desolation of a jagged,
+broken landscape that was still expanding beneath him. For some time he
+stood there, bewildered. He came to himself suddenly with the thought
+that although he was too small to be seen by his friends, yet they must
+be there still within a few steps of him. They might take a step&mdash;might
+crush him to death without seeing him, or knowing that they had done it!
+There were rocky buttes and hills all about him now. Without stopping to
+reason what he was doing he began to run. He did not know or care
+where&mdash;anywhere away from those colossal figures who with a single step
+would crush the very hills and rocks about him and bury him beneath an
+avalanche of golden quartz.</p>
+
+<p>He ran, in panic, for an hour perhaps, scrambling over little ravines,
+falling into a crevice&mdash;climbing out and running again. At last, with
+his feet torn and bleeding, he threw himself to the ground, utterly
+exhausted.</p>
+
+<p>After a time, with returning strength, the Very Young Man began to think
+more calmly. He was lost&mdash;lost in size&mdash;the one thing that the Doctor,
+when they started down into the ring, had warned them against so
+earnestly. What a fool he had been to run! He was miles away from them
+now. He could not make himself large; and were they to get
+smaller&mdash;small enough to see him, they might wander in this barren
+wilderness for days and never chance to come upon him.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man cursed himself for a fool. Why hadn't he kept some of
+the enlarging drug with him? And then abruptly, he realized something
+additionally terrifying. The dose of the diminishing drug which he had
+just taken so thoughtlessly, was the last that remained in that vial. He
+was utterly helpless. Thousands of miles of rocky country surrounded
+him&mdash;a wilderness devoid of vegetation, of water, and of life.</p>
+
+<p>Lying prone upon the ground, which at last had stopped expanding, the
+Very Young Man gave himself up to terrified reflection. So this was the
+end&mdash;all the dangers they had passed through&mdash;their conquests&mdash;and the
+journey out of the ring so near to a safe ending.... And then this!</p>
+
+<p>For a time the Very Young Man abandoned hope. There was nothing to do,
+of course. They could never find him&mdash;probably, with women and a child
+among them they would not dare even to try. They would go safely back to
+their own world&mdash;but he&mdash;Jack Bruce&mdash;would remain in the ring. He
+laughed with bitter cynicism at the thought. Even the habitable world of
+the ring itself, was denied him. Like a lost soul, poised between two
+worlds, he was abandoned, waiting helpless, until hunger and thirst
+would put an end to his sufferings.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Very Young Man thought of Aura; and with the thought came a new
+determination not to give up hope. He stood up and looked about him,
+steeling himself against the flood of despair that again was almost
+overwhelming. He must return as nearly as possible to the point where he
+had parted from his friends. It was the only chance he had remaining&mdash;to
+be close enough so if one, or all of them, had become small, they would
+be able to see him.</p>
+
+<p>There was little to choose of direction in the desolate waste around,
+but dimly the Very Young Man recalled having a low line of hills behind
+him when he was running. He faced that way now. He had come perhaps six
+or seven miles; he would return now as nearly as possible over the same
+route. He selected a gully that seemed to wind in that general
+direction, and climbing down into it, started off along its floor.</p>
+
+<p>The gully was some forty feet deep and seemed to average considerably
+wider. Its sides were smooth and precipitous in some places; in others
+they were broken. The Very Young Man had been walking some thirty
+minutes when, as he came abruptly around a sharp bend, he saw before him
+the most terrifying object he had ever beheld. He stood stock still,
+fascinated with horror. On the floor of the gully, directly in front of
+him, lay a gigantic lizard&mdash;a reptile hideous, grotesque in its
+enormity. It was lying motionless, with its jaw, longer than his own
+body, flat on the ground as though it were sunning itself. Its tail,
+motionless also, wound out behind it. It was a reptile that by its
+size&mdash;it seemed to the Very Young Man at least thirty feet long&mdash;might
+have been a dinosaur reincarnated out of the dark, mysterious ages of
+the earth's formation. And yet, even in that moment of horror, the Very
+Young Man recognized it for what it was&mdash;the tiny lizard the Chemist had
+sent into the valley of the scratch to test his drug!</p>
+
+<p>At sight of the Very Young Man the reptile raised its great head. Its
+tongue licked out hideously; its huge eyes stared unblinking. And then,
+slowly, hastelessly, it began coming forward, its great feet scratching
+on the rocks, its tail sliding around a boulder behind it.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man waited no longer, but turning, ran back headlong the
+way he had come. Curiously enough, this new danger, though it terrified,
+did not confuse him. It was a situation demanding physical action, and
+with it he found his mind working clearly. He leaped over a rock, half
+stumbled, recovered himself and dashed onward.</p>
+
+<p>A glance over his shoulder showed him the reptile coming around the bend
+in the gully. It slid forward, crawling over the rocks without effort,
+still hastelessly, as though leisurely to pick up this prey which it
+knew could not escape it.</p>
+
+<p>The gully here chanced to have smooth, almost perpendicular sides. The
+Very Young Man saw that he could not climb out; and even if he could, he
+knew that the reptile would go up the sides as easily as along the
+floor. It had been over a hundred feet from him when he first saw it.
+Now it was less than half that distance and gaining rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant the Very Young Man slackened his flight. To run on would
+be futile. The reptile would overtake him any moment; even now he knew
+that with a sudden spring it could land upon him.</p>
+
+<p>A cross rift at right angles in the wall came into sight&mdash;a break in the
+rock as though it had been riven apart by some gigantic wedge. It was as
+deep as the gully itself and just wide enough to admit the passage of
+the Very Young Man's body. He darted into it; and heard behind him the
+spring of the reptile as it landed at the entrance to the rift into
+which its huge size barred it from advancing.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man stopped&mdash;panting for breath. He could just turn about
+between the enclosing walls. Behind him, outside in the gully, the
+lizard lay baffled. And then, seemingly without further interest, it
+moved away.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man rested. The danger was past. He could get out of the
+rift, doubtless, further ahead, without reentering the gully. And, if he
+kept well away from the reptile, probably it would not bother him.</p>
+
+<p>Exultation filled the Very Young Man. And then again he remembered his
+situation&mdash;lost in size, helpless, without the power to rejoin his
+friends. He had escaped death in one form only to confront it again in
+another&mdash;worse perhaps, since it was the more lingering.</p>
+
+<p>Ahead of him, the rift seemed ascending and opening up. He followed it,
+and in a few hundred yards was again on the broken plateau above, level
+now with the top of the gully.</p>
+
+<p>The winding gully itself, the Very Young Man could see plainly. Its
+nearest point to him was some six hundred feet away; and in its bottom
+he knew that hideous reptile lurked. He shuddered and turned away,
+instinctively walking quietly, fearing to make some noise that might
+again attract its attention to him.</p>
+
+<p>And then came a sound that drove the blood from his face and turned him
+cold all over. From the depths of the gully, in another of its bends
+nearby, the sound of an anxious girl's voice floated upward.</p>
+
+<p>"Jack! Oh Jack!" And again:</p>
+
+<p>"Jack&mdash;my friend Jack!"</p>
+
+<p>It was Aura, his own size perhaps, in the gully searching for him!</p>
+
+<p>With frantic, horrified haste, the Very Young Man ran towards the top of
+the gully. He shouted warningly, as he ran.</p>
+
+<p>Aura must have heard him, for her voice changed from anxiety to a glad
+cry of relief. He reached the top of the gully; at its bottom&mdash;forty
+feet below down its precipitous side&mdash;stood Aura, looking up, radiant,
+to greet him.</p>
+
+<p>"I took the drug," she cried. "I took it before they could forbid me.
+They are waiting&mdash;up there for us. There is no danger now, Jack."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man tried to silence her. A noise down the gully made him
+turn. The gigantic reptile appeared round the nearby bend. It saw the
+girl and scuttled forward, rattling the loose bowlders beneath its feet
+as it came.</p>
+
+<p>Aura saw it the same instant. She looked up helplessly to the Very Young
+Man above her; then she turned and ran down the gully.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man stood transfixed. It was a sheer drop of forty feet
+or more to the gully floor beneath him. There was seemingly nothing that
+he could do in those few terrible seconds, and yet with subconscious,
+instinctive reasoning, he did the one and only thing possible. A loose
+mass of the jagged, gold quartz hung over the gully wall. Frantically he
+tore at it&mdash;pried loose with feet and hands a bowlder that hung poised.
+As the lizard approached, the loosened rock slid forward, and dropped
+squarely upon the reptile's broad back.</p>
+
+<p>It was a bowlder nearly as large as the Very Young Man himself, but the
+gigantic reptile shook it off, writhing and twisting for an instant, and
+hurling the smaller loose rocks about the floor of the gully with its
+struggles.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man cast about for another missile, but there were none
+at hand. Aura, at the confusion, had stopped about two hundred feet
+away.</p>
+
+<p>"Run!" shouted the Very Young Man. "Hide somewhere! Run!"</p>
+
+<p>The lizard, momentarily stunned, recovered swiftly. Again it started
+forward, seemingly now as alert as before. And then, without warning, in
+the air above his head the Very Young Man heard the rush of gigantic
+wings. A tremendous grey body swooped past him and into the gully&mdash;a
+bird larger in proportion than the lizard itself.... It was the little
+sparrow the Chemist had sent in from the outside world&mdash;maddened now by
+thirst and hunger, which to the reptile had been much more endurable.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man, shouting again to Aura to run, stood awestruck,
+watching the titanic struggle that was raging below him. The great
+lizard rose high on its forelegs to meet this enemy. Its tremendous jaws
+opened&mdash;and snapped closed; but the bird avoided them. Its huge claws
+gripped the reptile's back; its flapping wings spread the sixty foot
+width of the gully as it strove to raise its prey into the air. The
+roaring of these enormous wings was deafening; the wind from them as
+they came up tore past the Very Young Man in violent gusts; and as they
+went down, the suction of air almost swept him over the brink of the
+precipice. He flung himself prone, clinging desperately to hold his
+position.</p>
+
+<p>The lizard threshed and squirmed. A swish of its enormous tail struck
+the gully wall and brought down an avalanche of loose, golden rock. But
+the giant bird held its grip; its bill&mdash;so large that the Very Young
+Man's body could easily have lain within it&mdash;pecked ferociously at the
+lizard's head.</p>
+
+<p>It was a struggle to the death&mdash;an unequal struggle, though it raged for
+many minutes with an uncanny fury. At last, dragging its adversary to
+where the gully was wider, the bird flapped its wings with freedom of
+movement and laboriously rose into the air.</p>
+
+<p>And a moment later the Very Young Man, looking upward, saw through the
+magic diminishing glass of distance, a little sparrow of his own world,
+with a tiny, helpless lizard struggling in its grasp.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Aura! Don't cry, Aura! Gosh, I don't want you to cry&mdash;everything's all
+right now."</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man sat awkwardly beside the frightened girl, who,
+overcome by the strain of what she had been through, was crying
+silently. It was strange to see Aura crying; she had always been such a
+Spartan, so different from any other girl he had ever known. It confused
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't cry, Aura," he repeated. He tried clumsily to soothe her. He
+wanted to thank her for what she had done in risking her life to find
+him. He wanted to tell her a thousand tender things that sprang into his
+heart as he sat there beside her. But when she raised her tear-stained
+face and smiled at him bravely, all he said was:</p>
+
+<p>"Gosh, that was some fight, wasn't it? It was great of you to come down
+after me, Aura. Are they waiting for us up there?" And then when she
+nodded:</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better hurry, Aura. How can we ever find them? We must have come
+miles from where they are."</p>
+
+<p>She smiled at him quizzically through her tears.</p>
+
+<p>"You forget, Jack, how small we are. They are waiting on the little
+ledge for us&mdash;and all this country&mdash;" She spread her arms toward the
+vast wilderness that surrounded them&mdash;"this is all only a very small
+part of that same ledge on which they are standing."</p>
+
+<p>It was true; and the Very Young Man realized it at once.</p>
+
+<p>Aura had both drugs with her. They took the one to increase their size,
+and without mishap or moving from where they were, rejoined those on the
+little ledge who were so anxiously awaiting them.</p>
+
+<p>For half an hour the Very Young Man recounted his adventure, with
+praises of Aura that made the girl run to her sister to hide her
+confusion. Then once more the party started its short climb out of the
+valley of the scratch. In ten minutes they were all safely on the
+top&mdash;on the surface of the ring at last.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL"></a>CHAPTER XL</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ADVENTURERS' RETURN</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Banker, lying huddled in his chair in the clubroom, awoke with a
+start. The ring lay at his feet&mdash;a shining, golden band gleaming
+brightly in the light as it lay upon the black silk handkerchief. The
+Banker shivered a little for the room was cold. Then he realized he had
+been asleep and looked at his watch. Three o'clock! They had been gone
+seven hours, and he had not taken the ring back to the Museum as they
+had told him to. He rose hastily to his feet; then as another thought
+struck him, he sat down again, staring at the ring.</p>
+
+<p>The honk of an automobile horn in the street outside aroused him from
+his reverie. He got to his feet and mechanically began straightening up
+the room, packing up the several suit-cases. Then with obvious awe, and
+a caution that was almost ludicrous, he fixed the ring in its frame
+within the valise prepared for it. He lighted the little light in the
+valise, and, every moment or two, went back to look searchingly down at
+the ring inside.</p>
+
+<p>When everything was packed the Banker left the room, returning in a
+moment with two of the club attendants. They carried the suit-cases
+outside, the Banker himself gingerly holding the bag containing the
+ring.</p>
+
+<p>"A taxi," he ordered when they were at the door. Then he went to the
+desk, explaining that his friends had left earlier in the evening and
+that they had finished with the room.</p>
+
+<p>To the taxi-driver he gave a number that was not the Museum address, but
+that of his own bachelor apartment on Park Avenue. It was still raining
+as he got into the taxi; he held the valise tightly on his lap, looking
+into it occasionally and gruffly ordering the chauffeur to drive slowly.</p>
+
+<p>In the sumptuous living-room of his apartment he spread the handkerchief
+on the floor under the center electrolier and laid the ring upon it.
+Dismissing the astonished and only half-awake butler with a growl, he
+sat down in an easy-chair facing the ring, and in a few minutes more was
+again fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning when the maid entered he was still sleeping. Two hours
+later he rang for her, and gave tersely a variety of orders. These she
+and the butler obeyed with an air that plainly showed they thought their
+master had taken leave of his senses.</p>
+
+<p>They brought him his breakfast and a bath-robe and slippers. And the
+butler carried in a mattress and a pair of blankets, laying them with a
+sigh on the hardwood floor in a corner of the room.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Banker waved them away. He undressed, put on his bath-robe and
+slippers and sat down calmly to eat his breakfast. When he had finished
+he lighted a cigar and sat again in his easy-chair, staring at the ring,
+engrossed with his thoughts. Three days he would give them. Three days,
+to be sure they had made the trip successfully. Then he would take the
+ring to the Museum. And every Sunday he would visit it; until they came
+back&mdash;if they ever did.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The Banker's living-room with its usually perfect appointments was in
+thorough disorder. His meals were still being served him there by his
+dismayed servants. The mattress still lay in the corner; on it the
+rumpled blankets showed where he had been sleeping. For the hundredth
+time during his long vigil the Banker, still wearing his dressing-gown
+and slippers and needing a shave badly, put his face down close to the
+ring. His heart leaped into his throat; his breath came fast; for along
+the edge of the ring a tiny little line of figures was slowly moving.</p>
+
+<p>He looked closer, careful lest his laboured breathing blow them away. He
+saw they were human forms&mdash;little upright figures, an eighth of an inch
+or less in height&mdash;moving slowly along one behind the other. He counted
+nine of them. Nine! he thought, with a shock of surprise. Why, only
+three had gone in! Then they had found Rogers, and were bringing him and
+others back with him!</p>
+
+<p>Relief from the strain of many hours surged over the Banker. His eyes
+filled with tears; he dashed them away&mdash;and thought how ridiculous a
+feeling it was that possessed him. Then suddenly his head felt queer; he
+was afraid he was going to faint. He rose unsteadily to his feet, and
+threw himself full-length upon the mattress in the corner of the room.
+Then his senses faded. He seemed hardly to faint, but rather to drift
+off into an involuntary but pleasant slumber.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>With returning consciousness the Banker heard in the room a confusion of
+many voices. He opened his eyes; the Doctor was sitting on the mattress
+beside him. The Banker smiled and parted his lips to speak, but the
+Doctor interrupted him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, old friend!" he cried heartily. "What happened to you? Here we
+are back all safely."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker shook his friend's hand with emotion; then after a moment he
+sat up and looked about him. The room seemed full of people&mdash;strange
+looking figures, in extraordinary costumes, dirty and torn. The Very
+Young Man crowded forward.</p>
+
+<p>"We got back, sir, didn't we?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>The Banker saw he was holding a young girl by the hand&mdash;the most
+remarkable-looking girl, the Banker thought, that he had ever beheld.
+Her single garment, hanging short of her bare knees, was ragged and
+dirty; her jet black hair fell in tangled masses over her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"This is Aura," said the Very Young Man. His voice was full of pride;
+his manner ingenuous as a child's.</p>
+
+<p>Without a trace of embarrassment the girl smiled and with a pretty
+little bending of her head, held down her hand to the astonished Banker,
+who sat speechless upon his mattress.</p>
+
+<p>Loto pushed forward. "That's <i>mamita</i> over there," he said, pointing.
+"Her name is Lylda; she's Aura's sister."</p>
+
+<p>The Banker recovered his wits. "Well, and who are you, little man?" he
+asked with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Loto," the little boy answered earnestly. "That's my
+father." And he pointed across the room to where the Chemist was coming
+forward to join them.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLI" id="CHAPTER_XLI"></a>CHAPTER XLI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE FIRST CHRISTMAS</h3>
+
+
+<p>Christmas Eve in a little village of Northern New York&mdash;a white
+Christmas, clear and cold. In the dark, blue-black of the sky the
+glittering stars were spread thick; the brilliant moon poured down its
+silver light over the whiteness of the sloping roof-tops, and upon the
+ghostly white, silently drooping trees. A heaviness hung in the frosty
+air&mdash;a stillness broken only by the tinkling of sleigh-bells or
+sometimes by the merry laughter of the passers-by.</p>
+
+<p>At the outskirts of the village, a little back from the road, a
+farmhouse lay snuggled up between two huge apple-trees&mdash;an
+old-fashioned, rambling farmhouse with a steeply pitched roof, piled
+high now, with snow. It was brilliantly lighted this Christmas Eve, its
+lower windows sending forth broad yellow beams of light over the
+whiteness of the ground outside.</p>
+
+<p>In one of the lower rooms of the house, before a huge, blazing log-fire,
+a woman and four men sat talking. Across the room, at a table, a little
+boy was looking at a picture-book by the light of an oil-lamp.</p>
+
+<p>The woman made a striking picture as she sat back at ease before the
+fire. She was dressed in a simple black evening-dress such as a lady of
+the city would wear. It covered her shoulders, but left her throat bare.
+Her features, particularly her eyes, had a slight Oriental cast, which
+the mass of very black hair coiled on her head accentuated. Yet she did
+not look like an Oriental, nor indeed like a woman of any race of this
+earth. Her cheeks were red&mdash;the delicate diffused red of perfect health.
+But underneath the red there lay a curious mixture of other colours, not
+only on her cheeks but particularly noticeable on her neck and arms. Her
+skin was smooth as a pearl; in the mellow firelight it glowed, with the
+iridescence of a shell.</p>
+
+<p>The four men were dressed in the careless negligee of city men in the
+country. They were talking gaily now among themselves. The woman spoke
+seldom, staring dreamily into the fire.</p>
+
+<p>A clock in another room struck eight; the woman glanced over to where
+the child sat, absorbed with the pictures in his book. The page at which
+he was looking showed a sleigh loaded with toys, with a team of
+reindeers and a jolly, fat, white-bearded, red-jacketed old man driving
+the sleigh over the chimney tops.</p>
+
+<p>"Come Loto, little son," the woman said. "You hear&mdash;it is the time of
+sleep for you."</p>
+
+<p>The boy put down his book reluctantly and went over to the fireplace,
+standing beside his mother with an arm about her neck.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, <i>mamita</i> dear, will he surely come, this Santa Claus? He never knew
+about me before; will he surely come?"</p>
+
+<p>Lylda kissed him tenderly. "He will come, Loto, every Christmas Eve; to
+you and to all the other children of this great world, will he always
+come."</p>
+
+<p>"But you must be asleep when he comes, Loto," one of the men admonished.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my father, that I know," the boy answered gravely. "I will go
+now."</p>
+
+<p>"Come back Loto, when you have undressed," the Chemist called after him,
+as he left the room. "Remember you must hang your stocking."</p>
+
+<p>When they were left alone Lylda looked at her companions and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"His first Christmas," she said. "How wonderful we are going to make it
+for him."</p>
+
+<p>"I can remember so well," the Big Business Man remarked thoughtfully,
+"when they first told me there was no Santa Claus. I cried, for I knew
+Christmas would never be the same to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Loto is nearly twelve years old," the Doctor said. "Just
+imagine&mdash;having his first Christmas."</p>
+
+<p>"We're going to make it a corker," said the Banker. "Where's the tree?
+We got one."</p>
+
+<p>"In the wood-shed," Lylda answered. "He has not seen it; I was so very
+careful."</p>
+
+<p>They were silent a moment. Then: "My room is chock full of toys," the
+Banker said reflectively. "But this is a rotten town for candy
+canes&mdash;they only had little ones." And they all laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a present for you, Lylda," the Chemist said after a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, but you must not give it until to-morrow; you yourself have told me
+that."</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist rose. "I want to give it now," he said, and left the room.
+In a moment he returned, carrying a mahogany pedestal under one arm and
+a square parcel in the other. He set the pedestal upright on the floor
+in a corner of the room and began opening the package. It was a mahogany
+case, cubical in shape. He lifted its cover, disclosing a glass-bell set
+upon a flat, mahogany slab. Fastened to the center of this was a
+handsome black plush case, in which lay a gold wedding-ring.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda drew in her breath sharply and held it; the three other men stared
+at the ring in amazement. The Chemist was saying: "And I decided not to
+destroy it, Lylda, for your sake. There is no air under this glass
+cover; the ring is lying in a vacuum, so that nothing can come out of it
+and live. It is quite safe for us to keep it&mdash;this way. I thought of
+this plan, afterwards, and decided to keep the ring&mdash;for you." He set
+the glass bell on the pedestal.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda stood before it, bending down close over the glass.</p>
+
+<p>"You give me back&mdash;my world," she breathed; then she straightened up,
+holding out her arms toward the ring. "My birthplace&mdash;my people&mdash;they
+are safe." And then abruptly she sank to her knees and began softly
+sobbing.</p>
+
+<p>Loto called from upstairs and they heard him coming down. Lylda went
+back hastily to the fire; the Chemist pushed a large chair in front of
+the pedestal, hiding it from sight.</p>
+
+<p>The boy, in his night clothes, stood on the hearth beside his mother.</p>
+
+<p>"There is the stocking, <i>mamita</i>. Where shall I hang it?"</p>
+
+<p>"First the prayer, Loto. Can you remember?"</p>
+
+<p>The child knelt on the hearth, with his head in his mother's lap.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I lay me&mdash;&mdash;" he began softly, halting over the unfamiliar words.
+Lylda's fingers stroked his brown curly head as it nestled against her
+knees; the firelight shone golden in his tousled curls.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist was watching them with moist eyes. "His first Christmas," he
+murmured, and smiled a little tender smile. "His first Christmas."</p>
+
+<p>The child was finishing.</p>
+
+<p>"And God bless Aura, and Jack, and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And Grandfather Reoh," his mother prompted softly.</p>
+
+<p>"And Grandfather Reoh&mdash;and <i>mamita</i>, and&mdash;&mdash;" The boy ended with a
+rush&mdash;"and me too. Amen. Now where do I hang the stocking, mother?"</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the little stocking dangled from a mantel over the
+fireplace.</p>
+
+<p>"You are sure he will come?" the child asked anxiously again.</p>
+
+<p>"It is certain, Loto&mdash;if you are asleep."</p>
+
+<p>Loto kissed his mother and shook hands solemnly with the men&mdash;a grave,
+dignified little figure.</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, Loto," said the Big Business Man.</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, sir. Good night, my father&mdash;good night, <i>mamita</i>; I shall
+be asleep very soon." And with a last look at the stocking he ran out of
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>"What a Christmas he will have," said the Banker, a little huskily.</p>
+
+<p>A girl stood in the doorway that led into the dining-room adjoining&mdash;a
+curious-looking girl in a gingham apron and cap. Lylda looked up.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Eena, please will you say to Oteo we want the tree from the
+wood-shed&mdash;in the dining-room."</p>
+
+<p>The little maid hesitated. Her mistress smiled and added a few words in
+foreign tongue. The girl disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"Every window gets a holly wreath," the Doctor said. "They're in a box
+outside in the wood-shed."</p>
+
+<p>"Look what I've got," said the Big Business Man, and produced from his
+pocket a little folded object which he opened triumphantly into a long
+serpent of filigree red paper on a string with little red and green
+paper bells hanging from it. "Across the doorway," he added, waving his
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>A moment after there came a stamping of feet on the porch outside, and
+then the banging of an outer door. A young man and girl burst into the
+room, kicking the snow from their feet and laughing. The youth carried
+two pairs of ice-skates slung over his shoulder; as he entered the room
+he flung them clattering to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>The girl, even at first glance, was extraordinarily pretty. She was
+small and very slender of build. She wore stout high-laced tan shoes, a
+heavy woollen skirt that fell to her shoe-tops and a short, belted coat,
+with a high collar buttoned tight about her throat. She was covered now
+with snow. Her face and the locks of hair that strayed from under her
+knitted cap were soaking wet.</p>
+
+<p>"He threw me down," she appealed to the others.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't&mdash;she fell."</p>
+
+<p>"You did; into the snow you threw me&mdash;off the road." She laughed. "But I
+am learning to skate."</p>
+
+<p>"She fell three times," said her companion accusingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Twice only, it was," the girl corrected. She pulled off her cap, and a
+great mass of black hair came tumbling down about her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>Lylda, from her chair before the fire, smiled mischievously.</p>
+
+<p>"Aura, my sister," she said in a tone of gentle reproof. "So immodest it
+is to show all that hair."</p>
+
+<p>The girl in confusion began gathering it up.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you let her tease you, Aura," said the Big Business Man. "It's
+very beautiful hair."</p>
+
+<p>"Where's Loto?" asked the Very Young Man, pulling off his hat and coat.</p>
+
+<p>"In bed&mdash;see his stocking there."</p>
+
+<p>A childish treble voice was calling from upstairs. "Good night,
+Aura&mdash;good night, my friend Jack."</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, old man&mdash;see you to-morrow," the Very Young Man called back
+in answer.</p>
+
+<p>"You mustn't make so much noise," the Doctor said reprovingly. "He'll
+never get to sleep."</p>
+
+<p>"No, you mustn't," the Big Business Man agreed. "To-morrow's a very very
+big day for him."</p>
+
+<p>"Some Christmas," commented the Very Young Man looking around. "Where's
+the holly and stuff?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we've got it all right, don't you worry," said the Banker.</p>
+
+<p>"And mistletoe," said Lylda, twinkling. "For you, Jack."</p>
+
+<p>Eena again stood in the doorway and said something to her mistress. "The
+tree is ready," said Lylda.</p>
+
+<p>The Chemist rose to his feet. "Come on, everybody; let's go trim it."</p>
+
+<p>They crowded gaily into the dining-room, leaving the Very Young Man and
+Aura sitting alone by the fire. For some time they sat silent, listening
+to the laughter of the others trimming the tree.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man looked at the girl beside him as she sat staring into
+the fire. She had taken off her heavy coat, and her figure seemed long
+and very slim in the clothes she was wearing now. She sat bending
+forward, with her hands clasped over her knees. The long line of her
+slender arm and shoulder, and the delicacy of her profile turned towards
+him, made the Very Young Man realize anew how fragile she was, and how
+beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>Her mass of hair was coiled in a great black pile on her head, with a
+big, loose knot low at the neck. The iridescence of her skin gleamed
+under the flaming red of her cheeks. Her lips, too, were red, with the
+smooth, rich red of coral. The Very Young Man thought with a shock of
+surprise that he had never noticed before that they were red; in the
+ring there had been no such color.</p>
+
+<p>In the room adjoining, his friends were proposing a toast over the
+Christmas punch bowl. The Chemist's voice floated in through the
+doorway.</p>
+
+<p>"To the Oroids&mdash;happiness to them." Then for an instant there was
+silence as they drank the toast.</p>
+
+<p>Aura met the Very Young Man's eyes and smiled a little wanly.
+"Happiness&mdash;to them! I wonder. We who are so happy to-night&mdash;I wonder,
+are they?"</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man leaned towards her. "You are happy, Aura?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl nodded, still staring wistfully into the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to be," the Very Young Man added simply, and fell silent.</p>
+
+<p>A blazing log in the fire twisted and rolled to one side; the crackling
+flames leaped higher, bathing the girl's drooping little figure in their
+golden light.</p>
+
+<p>The Very Young Man after a time found himself murmuring familiar lines
+of poetry. His memory leaped back. A boat sailing over a silent summer
+lake&mdash;underneath the stars&mdash;the warmth of a girl's soft little body
+touching his&mdash;her hair, twisted about his fingers&mdash;the thrill in his
+heart; he felt it now as his lips formed the words:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The stars would be your pearls upon a string,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The world a ruby for your finger-ring,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And you could have the sun and moon to wear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If I were king."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"You remember, Aura, that night in the boat?"</p>
+
+<p>Again the girl nodded. "I shall learn to read it&mdash;some day," she said
+eagerly. "And all the others that you told me. I want to. They sing&mdash;so
+beautifully."</p>
+
+<p>A sleigh passed along the road outside; the jingle of its bells drifted
+in to them. The Very Young Man reached over and gently touched the
+girl's hand; her fingers closed over his with an answering pressure. His
+heart was beating fast.</p>
+
+<p>"Aura," he said earnestly. "I want to be King&mdash;for you&mdash;this first
+Christmas and always. I want to give you&mdash;all there is in this life, of
+happiness, that I can give&mdash;just for you."</p>
+
+<p>The girl met his gaze with eyes that were melting with tenderness.</p>
+
+<p>"I love you, Aura," he said softly.</p>
+
+<p>"I love you, too, Jack," she whispered, and held her lips up to his.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM***</p>
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@@ -0,0 +1,12032 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Girl in the Golden Atom, by Raymond King
+Cummings
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Girl in the Golden Atom
+
+
+Author: Raymond King Cummings
+
+
+
+Release Date: April 15, 2007  [eBook #21094]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan, and the Project Guenberg
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+   No evidence was found to indicate the copyright on this
+   book was renewed.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM
+
+by
+
+RAY CUMMINGS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO
+MY FRIEND AND MENTOR
+ROBERT H. DAVIS
+WITH GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF
+HIS ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRACTICAL
+ASSISTANCE TO WHICH I OWE MY
+INITIAL SUCCESS
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+       I. A Universe in an Atom
+
+      II. Into the Ring
+
+     III. After Forty-eight Hours
+
+      IV. Lylda
+
+       V. The World in the Ring
+
+      VI. Strategy and Kisses
+
+     VII. A Modern Gulliver
+
+    VIII. "I Must Go Back"
+
+      IX. After Five Years
+
+       X. Testing the Drugs
+
+      XI. The Escape of the Drug
+
+     XII. The Start
+
+    XIII. Perilous Ways
+
+     XIV. Strange Experiences
+
+      XV. The Valley of the Scratch
+
+     XVI. The Pit of Darkness
+
+    XVII. The Welcome of the Master
+
+   XVIII. The Chemist and His Son
+
+     XIX. The City of Arite
+
+      XX. The World of the Ring
+
+     XXI. A Life Worth Living
+
+    XXII. The Trial
+
+   XXIII. Lylda's Plan
+
+    XXIV. Lylda Acts
+
+     XXV. The Escape of Targo
+
+    XXVI. The Abduction
+
+   XXVII. Aura
+
+  XXVIII. The Attack on the Palace
+
+    XXIX. On the Lake
+
+     XXX. Word Music
+
+    XXXI. The Palace of Orlog
+
+   XXXII. An Ant-hill Outraged
+
+  XXXIII. The Rescue of Loto
+
+   XXXIV. The Decision
+
+    XXXV. Good-bye to Arite
+
+   XXXVI. The Fight in the Tunnels
+
+  XXXVII. A Combat of Titans
+
+ XXXVIII. Lost in Size
+
+   XXXIX. A Modern Dinosaur
+
+      XL. The Adventurers' Return
+
+     XLI. The First Christmas
+
+
+
+
+THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A UNIVERSE IN AN ATOM
+
+
+"Then you mean to say there is no such thing as the _smallest_ particle
+of matter?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"You can put it that way if you like," the Chemist replied. "In other
+words, what I believe is that things can be infinitely small just as
+well as they can be infinitely large. Astronomers tell us of the
+immensity of space. I have tried to imagine space as finite. It is
+impossible. How can you conceive the edge of space? Something must be
+beyond--something or nothing, and even that would be more space,
+wouldn't it?"
+
+"Gosh," said the Very Young Man, and lighted another cigarette.
+
+The Chemist resumed, smiling a little. "Now, if it seems probable that
+there is no limit to the immensity of space, why should we make its
+smallness finite? How can you say that the atom cannot be divided? As a
+matter of fact, it already has been. The most powerful microscope will
+show you realms of smallness to which you can penetrate no other way.
+Multiply that power a thousand times, or ten thousand times, and who
+shall say what you will see?"
+
+The Chemist paused, and looked at the intent little group around him.
+
+He was a youngish man, with large features and horn-rimmed glasses, his
+rough English-cut clothes hanging loosely over his broad, spare frame.
+The Banker drained his glass and rang for the waiter.
+
+"Very interesting," he remarked.
+
+"Don't be an ass, George," said the Big Business Man. "Just because you
+don't understand, doesn't mean there is no sense to it."
+
+"What I don't get clearly"--began the Doctor.
+
+"None of it's clear to me," said the Very Young Man.
+
+The Doctor crossed under the light and took an easier chair. "You
+intimated you had discovered something unusual in these realms of the
+infinitely small," he suggested, sinking back luxuriously. "Will you
+tell us about it?"
+
+"Yes, if you like," said the Chemist, turning from one to the other. A
+nod of assent followed his glance, as each settled himself more
+comfortably.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, when you say I have discovered something unusual in
+another world--in the world of the infinitely small--you are right in a
+way. I have seen something and lost it. You won't believe me probably,"
+he glanced at the Banker an instant, "but that is not important. I am
+going to tell you the facts, just as they happened."
+
+The Big Business Man filled up the glasses all around, and the Chemist
+resumed:
+
+"It was in 1910, this problem first came to interest me. I had never
+gone in for microscopic work very much, but now I let it absorb all my
+attention. I secured larger, more powerful instruments--I spent most of
+my money," he smiled ruefully, "but never could I come to the end of the
+space into which I was looking. Something was always hidden
+beyond--something I could almost, but not quite, distinguish.
+
+"Then I realized that I was on the wrong track. My instrument was not
+merely of insufficient power, it was not one-thousandth the power I
+needed.
+
+"So I began to study the laws of optics and lenses. In 1913 I went
+abroad, and with one of the most famous lens-makers of Europe I produced
+a lens of an entirely different quality, a lens that I hoped would give
+me what I wanted. So I returned here and fitted up my microscope that I
+knew would prove vastly more powerful than any yet constructed.
+
+"It was finally completed and set up in my laboratory, and one night I
+went in alone to look through it for the first time. It was in the fall
+of 1914, I remember, just after the first declaration of war.
+
+"I can recall now my feelings at that moment. I was about to see into
+another world, to behold what no man had ever looked on before. What
+would I see? What new realms was I, first of all our human race, to
+enter? With furiously beating heart, I sat down before the huge
+instrument and adjusted the eyepiece.
+
+"Then I glanced around for some object to examine. On my finger I had a
+ring, my mother's wedding-ring, and I decided to use that. I have it
+here." He took a plain gold band from his little finger and laid it on
+the table.
+
+"You will see a slight mark on the outside. That is the place into which
+I looked."
+
+His friends crowded around the table and examined a scratch on one side
+of the band.
+
+"What did you see?" asked the Very Young Man eagerly.
+
+"Gentlemen," resumed the Chemist, "what I saw staggered even my own
+imagination. With trembling hands I put the ring in place, looking
+directly down into that scratch. For a moment I saw nothing. I was like
+a person coming suddenly out of the sunlight into a darkened room. I
+knew there was something visible in my view, but my eyes did not seem
+able to receive the impressions. I realize now they were not yet
+adjusted to the new form of light. Gradually, as I looked, objects of
+definite shape began to emerge from the blackness.
+
+"Gentlemen, I want to make clear to you now--as clear as I can--the
+peculiar aspect of everything that I saw under this microscope. I seemed
+to be inside an immense cave. One side, near at hand, I could now make
+out quite clearly. The walls were extraordinarily rough and indented,
+with a peculiar phosphorescent light on the projections and blackness in
+the hollows. I say phosphorescent light, for that is the nearest word I
+can find to describe it--a curious radiation, quite different from the
+reflected light to which we are accustomed.
+
+"I said that the hollows inside of the cave were blackness. But not
+blackness--the absence of light--as we know it. It was a blackness that
+seemed also to radiate light, if you can imagine such a condition; a
+blackness that seemed not empty, but merely withholding its contents
+just beyond my vision.
+
+"Except for a dim suggestion of roof over the cave, and its floor, I
+could distinguish nothing. After a moment this floor became clearer. It
+seemed to be--well, perhaps I might call it black marble--smooth,
+glossy, yet somewhat translucent. In the foreground the floor was
+apparently liquid. In no way did it differ in appearance from the solid
+part, except that its surface seemed to be in motion.
+
+"Another curious thing was the outlines of all the shapes in view. I
+noticed that no outline held steady when I looked at it directly; it
+seemed to quiver. You see something like it when looking at an object
+through water--only, of course, there was no distortion. It was also
+like looking at something with the radiation of heat between.
+
+"Of the back and other side of the cave, I could see nothing, except in
+one place, where a narrow effulgence of light drifted out into the
+immensity of the distance behind.
+
+"I do not know how long I sat looking at this scene; it may have been
+several hours. Although I was obviously in a cave, I never felt shut
+in--never got the impression of being in a narrow, confined space.
+
+"On the contrary, after a time I seemed to feel the vast immensity of
+the blackness before me. I think perhaps it may have been that path of
+light stretching out into the distance. As I looked it seemed like the
+reversed tail of a comet, or the dim glow of the Milky Way, and
+penetrating to equally remote realms of space.
+
+"Perhaps I fell asleep, or at least there was an interval of time during
+which I was so absorbed in my own thoughts I was hardly conscious of the
+scene before me.
+
+"Then I became aware of a dim shape in the foreground--a shape merged
+with the outlines surrounding it. And as I looked, it gradually assumed
+form, and I saw it was the figure of a young girl, sitting beside the
+liquid pool. Except for the same waviness of outline and phosphorescent
+glow, she had quite the normal aspect of a human being of our own world.
+She was beautiful, according to our own standards of beauty; her long
+braided hair a glowing black, her face, delicate of feature and winsome
+in expression. Her lips were a deep red, although I felt rather than saw
+the colour.
+
+"She was dressed only in a short tunic of a substance I might describe
+as gray opaque glass, and the pearly whiteness of her skin gleamed with
+iridescence.
+
+"She seemed to be singing, although I heard no sound. Once she bent over
+the pool and plunged her hand into it, laughing gaily.
+
+"Gentlemen, I cannot make you appreciate my emotions, when all at once I
+remembered I was looking through a microscope. I had forgotten entirely
+my situation, absorbed in the scene before me. And then, abruptly, a
+great realization came upon me--the realization that everything I saw
+was inside that ring. I was unnerved for the moment at the importance of
+my discovery.
+
+"When I looked again, after the few moments my eye took to become
+accustomed to the new form of light, the scene showed itself as before,
+except that the girl had gone.
+
+"For over a week, each night at the same time I watched that cave. The
+girl came always, and sat by the pool as I had first seen her. Once she
+danced with the wild grace of a wood nymph, whirling in and out the
+shadows, and falling at last in a little heap beside the pool.
+
+"It was on the tenth night after I had first seen her that the accident
+happened. I had been watching, I remember, an unusually long time before
+she appeared, gliding out of the shadows. She seemed in a different
+mood, pensive and sad, as she bent down over the pool, staring into it
+intently. Suddenly there was a tremendous cracking sound, sharp as an
+explosion, and I was thrown backward upon the floor.
+
+"When I recovered consciousness--I must have struck my head on
+something--I found the microscope in ruins. Upon examination I saw that
+its larger lens had exploded--flown into fragments scattered around the
+room. Why I was not killed I do not understand. The ring I picked up
+from the floor; it was unharmed and unchanged.
+
+"Can I make you understand how I felt at this loss? Because of the war
+in Europe I knew I could never replace my lens--for many years, at any
+rate. And then, gentlemen, came the most terrible feeling of all; I knew
+at last that the scientific achievement I had made and lost counted for
+little with me. It was the girl. I realized then that the only being I
+ever could care for was living out her life with her world, and, indeed,
+her whole universe, in an atom of that ring."
+
+The Chemist stopped talking and looked from one to the other of the
+tense faces of his companions.
+
+"It's almost too big an idea to grasp," murmured the Doctor.
+
+"What caused the explosion?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"I do not know." The Chemist addressed his reply to the Doctor, as the
+most understanding of the group. "I can appreciate, though, that through
+that lens I was magnifying tremendously those peculiar light-radiations
+that I have described. I believe the molecules of the lens were
+shattered by them--I had exposed it longer to them that evening than any
+of the others."
+
+The Doctor nodded his comprehension of this theory.
+
+Impressed in spite of himself, the Banker took another drink and leaned
+forward in his chair. "Then you really think that there is a girl now
+inside the gold of that ring?" he asked.
+
+"He didn't say that necessarily," interrupted the Big Business Man.
+
+"Yes, he did."
+
+"As a matter of fact, I do believe that to be the case," said the
+Chemist earnestly. "I believe that every particle of matter in our
+universe contains within it an equally complex and complete a universe,
+which to its inhabitants seems as large as ours. I think, also that the
+whole realm of our interplanetary space, our solar system and all the
+remote stars of the heavens are contained within the atom of some other
+universe as gigantic to us as we are to the universe in that ring."
+
+"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man.
+
+"It doesn't make one feel very important in the scheme of things, does
+it?" remarked the Big Business Man dryly.
+
+The Chemist smiled. "The existence of no individual, no nation, no
+world, nor any one universe is of the least importance."
+
+"Then it would be possible," said the Doctor, "for this gigantic
+universe that contains us in one of its atoms, to be itself contained
+within the atom of another universe, still more gigantic, and so on."
+
+"That is my theory," said the Chemist.
+
+"And in each of the atoms of the rocks of that cave there may be other
+worlds proportionately minute?"
+
+"I can see no reason to doubt it."
+
+"Well, there is no proof, anyway," said the Banker. "We might as well
+believe it."
+
+"I intend to get proof," said the Chemist.
+
+"Do you believe all these innumerable universes, both larger and smaller
+than ours, are inhabited?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"I should think probably most of them are. The existence of life, I
+believe, is as fundamental as the existence of matter without life."
+
+"How do you suppose that girl got in there?" asked the Very Young Man,
+coming out of a brown study.
+
+"What puzzled me," resumed the Chemist, ignoring the question, "is why
+the girl should so resemble our own race. I have thought about it a good
+deal, and I have reached the conclusion that the inhabitants of any
+universe in the next smaller or larger plane to ours probably resemble
+us fairly closely. That ring, you see, is in the same--shall we
+say--environment as ourselves. The same forces control it that control
+us. Now, if the ring had been created on Mars, for instance, I believe
+that the universes within its atoms would be inhabited by beings like
+the Martians--if Mars has any inhabitants. Of course, in planes beyond
+those next to ours, either smaller or larger, changes would probably
+occur, becoming greater as you go in or out from our own universe."
+
+"Good Lord! It makes one dizzy to think of it," said the Big Business
+Man.
+
+"I wish I knew how that girl got in there," sighed the Very Young Man,
+looking at the ring.
+
+"She probably didn't," retorted the Doctor. "Very likely she was created
+there, the same as you were here."
+
+"I think that is probably so," said the Chemist. "And yet, sometimes I
+am not at all sure. She was very human." The Very Young Man looked at
+him sympathetically.
+
+"How are you going to prove your theories?" asked the Banker, in his
+most irritatingly practical way.
+
+The Chemist picked up the ring and put it on his finger. "Gentlemen," he
+said. "I have tried to tell you facts, not theories. What I saw through
+that ultramicroscope was not an unproven theory, but a fact. My theories
+you have brought out by your questions."
+
+"You are quite right," said the Doctor; "but you did mention yourself
+that you hoped to provide proof."
+
+The Chemist hesitated a moment, then made his decision. "I will tell you
+the rest," he said.
+
+"After the destruction of the microscope, I was quite at a loss how to
+proceed. I thought about the problem for many weeks. Finally I decided
+to work along another altogether different line--a theory about which I
+am surprised you have not already questioned me."
+
+He paused, but no one spoke.
+
+"I am hardly ready with proof to-night," he resumed after a moment.
+"Will you all take dinner with me here at the club one week from
+to-night?" He read affirmation in the glance of each.
+
+"Good. That's settled," he said, rising. "At seven, then."
+
+"But what was the theory you expected us to question you about?" asked
+the Very Young Man.
+
+The Chemist leaned on the back of his chair.
+
+"The only solution I could see to the problem," he said slowly, "was to
+find some way of making myself sufficiently small to be able to enter
+that other universe. I have found such a way and one week from to-night,
+gentlemen, with your assistance, I am going to enter the surface of that
+ring at the point where it is scratched!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+INTO THE RING
+
+
+The cigars were lighted and dinner over before the Doctor broached the
+subject uppermost in the minds of every member of the party.
+
+"A toast, gentlemen," he said, raising his glass. "To the greatest
+research chemist in the world. May he be successful in his adventure
+to-night."
+
+The Chemist bowed his acknowledgment.
+
+"You have not heard me yet," he said smiling.
+
+"But we want to," said the Very Young Man impulsively.
+
+"And you shall." He settled himself more comfortably in his chair.
+"Gentlemen, I am going to tell you, first, as simply as possible, just
+what I have done in the past two years. You must draw your own
+conclusions from the evidence I give you.
+
+"You will remember that I told you last week of my dilemma after the
+destruction of the microscope. Its loss and the impossibility of
+replacing it, led me into still bolder plans than merely the visual
+examination of this minute world. I reasoned, as I have told you, that
+because of its physical proximity, its similar environment, so to speak,
+this outer world should be capable of supporting life identical with our
+own.
+
+"By no process of reasoning can I find adequate refutation of this
+theory. Then, again, I had the evidence of my own eyes to prove that a
+being I could not tell from one of my own kind was living there. That
+this girl, other than in size, differs radically from those of our race,
+I cannot believe.
+
+"I saw then but one obstacle standing between me and this other
+world--the discrepancy of size. The distance separating our world from
+this other is infinitely great or infinitely small, according to the
+viewpoint. In my present size it is only a few feet from here to the
+ring on that plate. But to an inhabitant of that other world, we are as
+remote as the faintest stars of the heavens, diminished a thousand
+times."
+
+He paused a moment, signing the waiter to leave the room.
+
+"This reduction of bodily size, great as it is, involves no deeper
+principle than does a light contraction of tissue, except that it must
+be carried further. The problem, then, was to find a chemical,
+sufficiently unharmful to life, that would so act upon the body cells as
+to cause a reduction in bulk, without changing their shape. I had to
+secure a uniform and also a proportionate rate of contraction of each
+cell, in order not to have the body shape altered.
+
+"After a comparatively small amount of research work, I encountered an
+apparently insurmountable obstacle. As you know, gentlemen, our living
+human bodies are held together by the power of the central intelligence
+we call the mind. Every instant during your lifetime your subconscious
+mind is commanding and directing the individual life of each cell that
+makes up your body. At death this power is withdrawn; each cell is
+thrown under its own individual command, and dissolution of the body
+takes place.
+
+"I found, therefore, that I could not act upon the cells separately, so
+long as they were under control of the mind. On the other hand, I could
+not withdraw this power of the subconscious mind without causing death.
+
+"I progressed no further than this for several months. Then came the
+solution. I reasoned that after death the body does not immediately
+disintegrate; far more time elapses than I expected to need for the
+cell-contraction. I devoted my time, then to finding a chemical that
+would temporarily withhold, during the period of cell-contraction, the
+power of the subconscious mind, just as the power of the conscious mind
+is withheld by hypnotism.
+
+"I am not going to weary you by trying to lead you through the maze of
+chemical experiments into which I plunged. Only one of you," he
+indicated the Doctor, "has the technical basis of knowledge to follow
+me. No one had been before me along the path I traversed. I pursued the
+method of pure theoretical deduction, drawing my conclusions from the
+practical results obtained.
+
+"I worked on rabbits almost exclusively. After a few weeks I succeeded
+in completely suspending animation in one of them for several hours.
+There was no life apparently existing during that period. It was not a
+trance or coma, but the complete simulation of death. No harmful results
+followed the revivifying of the animal. The contraction of the cells was
+far more difficult to accomplish; I finished my last experiment less
+than six months ago."
+
+"Then you really have been able to make an animal infinitely small?"
+asked the Big Business Man.
+
+The Chemist smiled. "I sent four rabbits into the unknown last week," he
+said.
+
+"What did they look like going?" asked the Very Young Man. The Chemist
+signed him to be patient.
+
+"The quantity of diminution to be obtained bothered me considerably.
+Exactly how small that other universe is, I had no means of knowing,
+except by the computations I made of the magnifying power of my lens.
+These figures, I know, must necessarily be very inaccurate. Then, again,
+I have no means of judging by the visual rate of diminution of these
+rabbits, whether this contraction is at a uniform rate or accelerated.
+Nor can I tell how long it is prolonged, for the quantity of drug
+administered, as only a fraction of the diminution has taken place when
+the animal passes beyond the range of any microscope I now possess.
+
+"These questions were overshadowed, however, by a far more serious
+problem that encompassed them all.
+
+"As I was planning to project myself into this unknown universe and to
+reach the exact size proportionate to it, I soon realized such a result
+could not be obtained were I in an unconscious state. Only by successive
+doses of the drug, or its retardent about which I will tell you later,
+could I hope to reach the proper size. Another necessity is that I place
+myself on the exact spot on that ring where I wish to enter and to climb
+down among its atoms when I have become sufficiently small to do so.
+Obviously, this would be impossible to one not possessing all his
+faculties and physical strength."
+
+"And did you solve that problem, too?" asked the Banker.
+
+"I'd like to see it done," he added, reading his answer in the other's
+confident smile.
+
+The Chemist produced two small paper packages from his wallet. "These
+drugs are the result of my research," he said. "One of them causes
+contraction, and the other expansion, by an exact reversal of the
+process. Taken together, they produce no effect, and a lesser amount of
+one retards the action of the other." He opened the papers, showing two
+small vials. "I have made them as you see, in the form of tiny pills,
+each containing a minute quantity of the drug. It is by taking them
+successively in unequal amounts that I expect to reach the desired
+size."
+
+"There's one point that you do not mention," said the Doctor. "Those
+vials and their contents will have to change size as you do. How are you
+going to manage that?"
+
+"By experimentation I have found," answered the Chemist, "that any
+object held in close physical contact with the living body being
+contracted is contracted itself at an equal rate. I believe that my
+clothes will be affected also. These vials I will carry strapped under
+my armpits."
+
+"Suppose you should die, or be killed, would the contraction cease?"
+asked the Doctor.
+
+"Yes, almost immediately," replied the Chemist. "Apparently, though I am
+acting through the subconscious mind while its power is held in
+abeyance, when this power is permanently withdrawn by death, the drug no
+longer affects the individual cells. The contraction or expansion ceases
+almost at once."
+
+The Chemist cleared a space before him on the table. "In a well-managed
+club like this," he said, "there should be no flies, but I see several
+around. Do you suppose we can catch one of them?"
+
+"I can," said the Very Young Man, and forthwith he did.
+
+The Chemist moistened a lump of sugar and laid it on the table before
+him. Then, selecting one of the smallest of the pills, he ground it to
+powder with the back of a spoon and sprinkled this powder on the sugar.
+
+"Will you give me the fly, please?"
+
+The Very Young Man gingerly did so. The Chemist held the insect by its
+wings over the sugar. "Will someone lend me one of his shoes?"
+
+The Very Young Man hastily slipped off a dancing pump.
+
+"Thank you," said the Chemist, placing it on the table with a quizzical
+smile.
+
+The rest of the company rose from their chairs and gathered around,
+watching with interested faces what was about to happen.
+
+"I hope he is hungry," remarked the Chemist, and placed the fly gently
+down on the sugar, still holding it by the wings. The insect, after a
+moment, ate a little.
+
+Silence fell upon the group as each watched intently. For a few moments
+nothing happened. Then, almost imperceptibly at first, the fly became
+larger. In another minute it was the size of a large horse-fly,
+struggling to release its wings from the Chemist's grasp. A minute more
+and it was the size of a beetle. No one spoke. The Banker moistened his
+lips, drained his glass hurriedly and moved slightly farther away. Still
+the insect grew; now it was the size of a small chicken, the multiple
+lens of its eyes presenting a most terrifying aspect, while its
+ferocious droning reverberated through the room. Then suddenly the
+Chemist threw it upon the table, covered it with a napkin, and beat it
+violently with the slipper. When all movement had ceased he tossed its
+quivering body into a corner of the room.
+
+"Good God!" ejaculated the Banker, as the white-faced men stared at each
+other. The quiet voice of the Chemist brought them back to themselves.
+"That, gentlemen, you must understand, was only a fraction of the very
+first stage of growth. As you may have noticed, it was constantly
+accelerated. This acceleration attains a speed of possibly fifty
+thousand times that you observed. Beyond that, it is my theory, the
+change is at a uniform rate." He looked at the body of the fly, lying
+inert on the floor. "You can appreciate now, gentlemen, the importance
+of having this growth cease after death."
+
+"Good Lord, I should say so!" murmured the Big Business Man, mopping his
+forehead. The Chemist took the lump of sugar and threw it into the open
+fire.
+
+"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man, "suppose when we were not looking,
+another fly had----"
+
+"Shut up!" growled the Banker.
+
+"Not so skeptical now, eh, George?" said the Big Business Man.
+
+"Can you catch me another fly?" asked the Chemist. The Very Young Man
+hastened to do so. "The second demonstration, gentlemen," said the
+Chemist, "is less spectacular, but far more pertinent than the one you
+have just witnessed." He took the fly by the wings, and prepared another
+lump of sugar, sprinkling a crushed pill from the other vial upon it.
+
+"When he is small enough I am going to try to put him on the ring, if he
+will stay still," said the Chemist.
+
+The Doctor pulled the plate containing the ring forward until it was
+directly under the light, and every one crowded closer to watch; already
+the fly was almost too small to be held. The Chemist tried to set it on
+the ring, but could not; so with his other hand he brushed it lightly
+into the plate, where it lay, a tiny black speck against the gleaming
+whiteness of the china.
+
+"Watch it carefully, gentlemen," he said, as they bent closer.
+
+"It's gone," said the Big Business Man.
+
+"No, I can still see it," said the Doctor. Then he raised the plate
+closer to his face. "Now it's gone," he said.
+
+The Chemist sat down in his chair. "It's probably still there, only too
+small for you to see. In a few minutes, if it took a sufficient amount
+of the drug, it will be small enough to fall between the molecules of
+the plate."
+
+"Do you suppose it will find another inhabited universe down there?"
+asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"Who knows," smiled the Chemist. "Very possibly it will. But the one we
+are interested in is here," he added, touching the ring.
+
+"Is it your intention to take this stuff yourself to-night?" asked the
+Big Business Man.
+
+"If you will give me your help, I think so, yes. I have made all
+arrangements. The club has given us this room in absolute privacy for
+forty-eight hours. Your meals will be served here when you want them,
+and I am going to ask you, gentlemen, to take turns watching and
+guarding the ring during that time. Will you do it?"
+
+"I should say we would," cried the Doctor, and the others nodded assent.
+
+"It is because I wanted you to be convinced of my entire sincerity that
+I have taken you so thoroughly into my confidence. Are those doors
+locked?" The Very Young Man locked them.
+
+"Thank you," said the Chemist, starting to disrobe. In a moment he stood
+before them attired in a woolen bathing-suit of pure white. Over his
+shoulders was strapped tightly a narrow leather harness, supporting two
+silken pockets, one under each armpit. Into each of these he placed one
+of the vials, first laying four pills from one of them upon the table.
+
+At this point the Banker rose from his chair and selected another in the
+further corner of the room. He sank into it a crumpled heap and wiped
+the beads of perspiration from his face with a shaking hand.
+
+"I have every expectation," said the Chemist, "that this suit and
+harness will contract in size uniformly with me. If the harness should
+not, then I shall have to hold the vials in my hand."
+
+On the table, directly under the light, he spread a large silk
+handkerchief, upon which he placed the ring. He then produced a
+teaspoon, which he handed to the Doctor.
+
+"Please listen carefully," he said, "for perhaps the whole success of my
+adventure, and my life itself, may depend upon your actions during the
+next few minutes. You will realize, of course, that when I am still
+large enough to be visible to you I shall be so small that my voice may
+be inaudible. Therefore, I want you to know, now, just what to expect.
+
+"When I am something under a foot high, I shall step upon that
+handkerchief, where you will see my white suit plainly against its black
+surface. When I become less than an inch high, I shall run over to the
+ring and stand beside it. When I have diminished to about a quarter of
+an inch, I shall climb upon it, and, as I get smaller, will follow its
+surface until I come to the scratch.
+
+"I want you to watch me very closely. I may miscalculate the time and
+wait until I am too small to climb upon the ring. Or I may fall off. In
+either case, you will place that spoon beside me and I will climb into
+it. You will then do your best to help me get on the ring. Is all this
+quite clear?"
+
+The Doctor nodded assent.
+
+"Very well, watch me as long as I remain visible. If I have an accident,
+I shall take the other drug and endeavor to return to you at once. This
+you must expect at any moment during the next forty-eight hours. Under
+all circumstances, if I am alive, I shall return at the expiration of
+that time.
+
+"And, gentlemen, let me caution you most solemnly, do not allow that
+ring to be touched until that length of time has expired. Can I depend
+on you?"
+
+"Yes," they answered breathlessly.
+
+"After I have taken the pills," the Chemist continued, "I shall not
+speak unless it is absolutely necessary. I do not know what my
+sensations will be, and I want to follow them as closely as possible."
+He then turned out all the lights in the room with the exception of the
+center electrolier, that shone down directly on the handkerchief and
+ring.
+
+The Chemist looked about him. "Good-by, gentlemen," he said, shaking
+hands all round. "Wish me luck," and without hesitation he placed the
+four pills in his mouth and washed them down with a swallow of water.
+
+Silence fell on the group as the Chemist seated himself and covered his
+face with his hands. For perhaps two minutes the tenseness of the
+silence was unbroken, save by the heavy breathing of the Banker as he
+lay huddled in his chair.
+
+"Oh, my God! He _is_ growing smaller!" whispered the Big Business Man in
+a horrified tone to the Doctor. The Chemist raised his head and smiled
+at them. Then he stood up, steadying himself against a chair. He was
+less than four feet high. Steadily he grew smaller before their
+horrified eyes. Once he made, as if to speak, and the Doctor knelt down
+beside him. "It's all right, good-by," he said in a tiny voice.
+
+Then he stepped upon the handkerchief. The Doctor knelt on the floor
+beside it, the wooden spoon ready in his hand, while the others, except
+the Banker, stood behind him. The figure of the Chemist, standing
+motionless near the edge of the handkerchief, seemed now like a little
+white wooden toy, hardly more than an inch in height.
+
+Waving his hand and smiling, he suddenly started to walk and then ran
+swiftly over to the ring. By the time he reached it, somewhat out of
+breath, he was little more than twice as high as the width of its band.
+Without pausing, he leaped up, and sat astraddle, leaning over and
+holding to it tightly with his hands. In another moment he was on his
+feet, on the upper edge of the ring, walking carefully along its
+circumference towards the scratch.
+
+The Big Business Man touched the Doctor on the shoulder and tried to
+smile. "He's making it," he whispered. As if in answer the little figure
+turned and waved its arms. They could just distinguish its white outline
+against the gold surface underneath.
+
+"I don't see him," said the Very Young Man in a scared voice.
+
+"He's right near the scratch," answered the Doctor, bending closer.
+Then, after a moment, "He's gone." He rose to his feet. "Good Lord! Why
+haven't we a microscope!"
+
+"I never thought of that," said the Big Business Man, "we could have
+watched him for a long time yet."
+
+"Well, he's gone now," returned the Doctor, "and there is nothing for us
+to do but wait."
+
+"I hope he finds that girl," sighed the Very Young Man, as he sat chin
+in hand beside the handkerchief.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+AFTER FORTY-EIGHT HOURS
+
+
+The Banker snored stertorously from his mattress in a corner of the
+room. In an easy-chair near by, with his feet on the table, lay the Very
+Young Man, sleeping also.
+
+The Doctor and the Big Business Man sat by the handkerchief conversing
+in low tones.
+
+"How long has it been now?" asked the latter.
+
+"Just forty hours," answered the Doctor; "and he said that forty-eight
+hours was the limit. He should come back at about ten to-night."
+
+"I wonder if he _will_ come back," questioned the Big Business Man
+nervously. "Lord, I wish _he_ wouldn't snore so loud," he added
+irritably, nodding in the direction of the Banker.
+
+They were silent for a moment, and then he went on: "You'd better try to
+sleep a little while, Frank. You're worn out. I'll watch here."
+
+"I suppose I should," answered the Doctor wearily. "Wake up that kid,
+he's sleeping most of the time."
+
+"No, I'll watch," repeated the Big Business Man. "You lie down over
+there."
+
+The Doctor did so while the other settled himself more comfortably on a
+cushion beside the handkerchief, and prepared for his lonely watching.
+
+The Doctor apparently dropped off to sleep at once, for he did not speak
+again. The Big Business Man sat staring steadily at the ring, bending
+nearer to it occasionally. Every ten or fifteen minutes he looked at his
+watch.
+
+Perhaps an hour passed in this way, when the Very Young Man suddenly sat
+up and yawned. "Haven't they come back yet?" he asked in a sleepy voice.
+
+The Big Business Man answered in a much lower tone. "What do you
+mean--they?"
+
+"I dreamed that he brought the girl back with him," said the Very Young
+Man.
+
+"Well, if he did, they have not arrived. You'd better go back to sleep.
+We've got six or seven hours yet--maybe more."
+
+The Very Young Man rose and crossed the room. "No, I'll watch a while,"
+he said, seating himself on the floor. "What time is it?"
+
+"Quarter to three."
+
+"He said he'd be back by ten to-night. I'm crazy to see that girl."
+
+The Big Business Man rose and went over to a dinner-tray, standing near
+the door. "Lord, I'm hungry. I must have forgotten to eat to-day." He
+lifted up one of the silver covers. What he saw evidently encouraged
+him, for he drew up a chair and began his lunch.
+
+The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette. "It will be the tragedy of my
+life," he said, "if he never comes back."
+
+The Big Business Man smiled. "How about _his_ life?" he answered, but
+the Very Young Man had fallen into a reverie and did not reply.
+
+The Big Business Man finished his lunch in silence and was just about to
+light a cigar when a sharp exclamation brought him hastily to his feet.
+
+"Come here, quick, I see something." The Very Young Man had his face
+close to the ring and was trembling violently.
+
+The other pushed him back. "Let me see. Where?"
+
+"There, by the scratch; he's lying there; I can see him."
+
+The Big Business Man looked and then hurriedly woke the Doctor.
+
+"He's come back," he said briefly; "you can see him there." The Doctor
+bent down over the ring while the others woke up the Banker.
+
+"He doesn't seem to be getting any bigger," said the Very Young Man;
+"he's just lying there. Maybe he's dead."
+
+"What shall we do?" asked the Big Business Man, and made as if to pick
+up the ring. The Doctor shoved him away. "Don't do that!" he said
+sharply. "Do you want to kill him?"
+
+"He's sitting up," cried the Very Young Man. "He's all right."
+
+"He must have fainted," said the Doctor. "Probably he's taking more of
+the drug now."
+
+"He's much larger," said the Very Young Man; "look at him!"
+
+The tiny figure was sitting sideways on the ring, with its feet hanging
+over the outer edge. It was growing perceptibly larger each instant, and
+in a moment it slipped down off the ring and sank in a heap on the
+handkerchief.
+
+"Good Heavens! Look at him!" cried the Big Business Man. "He's all
+covered with blood."
+
+The little figure presented a ghastly sight. As it steadily grew larger
+they could see and recognize the Chemist's haggard face, his cheek and
+neck stained with blood, and his white suit covered with dirt.
+
+"Look at his feet," whispered the Big Business Man. They were horribly
+cut and bruised and greatly swollen.
+
+The Doctor bent over and whispered gently, "What can I do to help you?"
+The Chemist shook his head. His body, lying prone upon the handkerchief,
+had torn it apart in growing. When he was about twelve inches in length
+he raised his head. The Doctor bent closer. "Some brandy, please," said
+a wraith of the Chemist's voice. It was barely audible.
+
+"He wants some brandy," called the Doctor. The Very Young Man looked
+hastily around, then opened the door and dashed madly out of the room.
+When he returned, the Chemist had grown to nearly four feet. He was
+sitting on the floor with his back against the Doctor's knees. The Big
+Business Man was wiping the blood off his face with a damp napkin.
+
+"Here!" cried the Very Young Man, thrusting forth the brandy. The
+Chemist drank a little of it. Then he sat up, evidently somewhat
+revived.
+
+"I seem to have stopped growing," he said. "Let's finish it up now. God!
+how I want to be the right size again," he added fervently.
+
+The Doctor helped him extract the vials from under his arm, and the
+Chemist touched one of the pills to his tongue. Then he sank back,
+closing his eyes. "I think that should be about enough," he murmured.
+
+No one spoke for nearly ten minutes. Gradually the Chemist's body grew,
+the Doctor shifting his position several times as it became larger. It
+seemed finally to have stopped growing, and was apparently nearly its
+former size.
+
+"Is he asleep?" whispered the Very Young Man.
+
+The Chemist opened his eyes.
+
+"No," he answered. "I'm all right now, I think." He rose to his feet,
+the Doctor and the Big Business Man supporting him on either side.
+
+"Sit down and tell us about it," said the Very Young Man. "Did you find
+the girl?"
+
+The Chemist smiled wearily.
+
+"Gentlemen, I cannot talk now. Let me have a bath and some dinner. Then
+I will tell you all about it."
+
+The Doctor rang for an attendant, and led the Chemist to the door,
+throwing a blanket around him as he did so. In the doorway the Chemist
+paused and looked back with a wan smile over the wreck of the room.
+
+"Give me an hour," he said. "And eat something yourselves while I am
+gone." Then he left, closing the door after him.
+
+When he returned, fully dressed in clothes that were ludicrously large
+for him, the room had been straightened up, and his four friends were
+finishing their meal. He took his place among them quietly and lighted a
+cigar.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, I suppose that you are interested to hear what
+happened to me," he began. The Very Young Man asked his usual question.
+
+"Let him alone," said the Doctor. "You will hear it all soon enough."
+
+"Was it all as you expected?" asked the Banker. It was his first remark
+since the Chemist returned.
+
+"To a great extent, yes," answered the Chemist. "But I had better tell
+you just what happened." The Very Young Man nodded his eager agreement.
+
+"When I took those first four pills," began the Chemist in a quiet, even
+tone, "my immediate sensation was a sudden reeling of the senses,
+combined with an extreme nausea. This latter feeling passed after a
+moment.
+
+"You will remember that I seated myself upon the floor and closed my
+eyes. When I opened them my head had steadied itself somewhat, but I was
+oppressed by a curious feeling of drowsiness, impossible to shake off.
+
+"My first mental impression was one of wonderment when I saw you all
+begin to increase in size. I remember standing up beside that chair,
+which was then half again its normal size, and you"--indicating the
+Doctor--"towered beside me as a giant of nine or ten feet high.
+
+"Steadily upward, with a curious crawling motion, grew the room and all
+its contents. Except for the feeling of sleep that oppressed me, I felt
+quite my usual self. No change appeared happening to me, but everything
+else seemed growing to gigantic and terrifying proportions.
+
+"Can you imagine a human being a hundred feet high? That is how you
+looked to me as I stepped upon that huge expanse of black silk and
+shouted my last good-bye to you!
+
+"Over to my left lay the ring, apparently fifteen or twenty feet away. I
+started to walk towards it, but although it grew rapidly larger, the
+distance separating me from it seemed to increase rather than lessen.
+Then I ran, and by the time I arrived it stood higher than my waist--a
+beautiful, shaggy, golden pit.
+
+"I jumped upon its rim and clung to it tightly. I could feel it growing
+beneath me, as I sat. After a moment I climbed upon its top surface and
+started to walk towards the point where I knew the scratch to be.
+
+"I found myself now, as I looked about, walking upon a narrow, though
+ever broadening, curved path. The ground beneath my feet appeared to be
+a rough, yellowish quartz. This path grew rougher as I advanced. Below
+the bulging edges of the path, on both sides, lay a shining black plain,
+ridged and indented, and with a sunlike sheen on the higher portions of
+the ridges. On the one hand this black plain stretched in an unbroken
+expanse to the horizon. On the other, it appeared as a circular valley,
+enclosed by a shining yellow wall.
+
+"The way had now become extraordinarily rough. I bore to the left as I
+advanced, keeping close to the outer edge. The other edge of the path I
+could not see. I clambered along hastily, and after a few moments was
+confronted by a row of rocks and bowlders lying directly across my line
+of progress. I followed their course for a short distance, and finally
+found a space through which I could pass.
+
+"This transverse ridge was perhaps a hundred feet deep. Behind it and
+extending in a parallel direction lay a tremendous valley. I knew then I
+had reached my first objective.
+
+"I sat down upon the brink of the precipice and watched the cavern
+growing ever wider and deeper. Then I realized that I must begin my
+descent if ever I was to reach the bottom. For perhaps six hours I
+climbed steadily downwards. It was a fairly easy descent after the first
+little while, for the ground seemed to open up before me as I advanced,
+changing its contour so constantly that I was never at a loss for an
+easy downward path.
+
+"My feet suffered cruelly from the shaggy, metallic ground, and I soon
+had to stop and rig a sort of protection for the soles of them from a
+portion of the harness over my shoulder. According to the stature I was
+when I reached the bottom, I had descended perhaps twelve thousand feet
+during this time.
+
+"The latter part of the journey found me nearing the bottom of the
+canon. Objects around me no longer seemed to increase in size, as had
+been constantly the case before, and I reasoned that probably my stature
+was remaining constant.
+
+"I noticed, too, as I advanced, a curious alteration in the form of
+light around me. The glare from above (the sky showed only as a narrow
+dull ribbon of blue) barely penetrated to the depths of the canon's
+floor. But all about me there was a soft radiance, seeming to emanate
+from the rocks themselves.
+
+"The sides of the canon were shaggy and rough, beyond anything I had
+ever seen. Huge bowlders, hundreds of feet in diameter, were embedded in
+them. The bottom also was strewn with similar gigantic rocks.
+
+"I surveyed this lonely waste for some time in dismay, not knowing in
+what direction lay my goal. I knew that I was at the bottom of the
+scratch, and by the comparison of its size I realized I was well started
+on my journey.
+
+"I have not told you, gentlemen, that at the time I marked the ring I
+made a deeper indentation in one portion of the scratch and focused the
+microscope upon that. This indentation I now searched for. Luckily I
+found it, less than half a mile away--an almost circular pit, perhaps
+five miles in diameter, with shining walls extending downwards into
+blackness. There seemed no possible way of descending into it, so I sat
+down near its edge to think out my plan of action.
+
+"I realized now that I was faint and hungry, and whatever I did must be
+done quickly. I could turn back to you, or I could go on. I decided to
+risk the latter course, and took twelve more of the pills--three times
+my original dose."
+
+The Chemist paused for a moment, but his auditors were much too intent
+to question him. Then he resumed in his former matter-of-fact tone.
+
+"After my vertigo had passed somewhat--it was much more severe this
+time--I looked up and found my surroundings growing at a far more rapid
+rate than before. I staggered to the edge of the pit. It was opening up
+and widening out at an astounding rate. Already its sides were becoming
+rough and broken, and I saw many places where a descent would be
+possible.
+
+"The feeling of sleep that had formerly merely oppressed me, combined
+now with my physical fatigue and the larger dose of the drug I had
+taken, became almost intolerable. I yielded to it for a moment, lying
+down on a crag near the edge of the pit. I must have become almost
+immediately unconscious, and remained so for a considerable time. I can
+remember a horrible sensation of sliding headlong for what seemed like
+hours. I felt that I was sliding or falling downward. I tried to rouse
+but could not. Then came absolute oblivion.
+
+"When I recovered my senses I was lying partly covered by a mass of
+smooth, shining pebbles. I was bruised and battered from head to
+foot--in a far worse condition than you first saw me when I returned.
+
+"I sat up and looked around. Beside me, sloped upward at an apparently
+increasing angle a tremendous glossy plane. This extended, as far as I
+could see, both to the right and left and upward into the blackness of
+the sky overhead. It was this plane that had evidently broken my fall,
+and I had been sliding down it, bringing with me a considerable mass of
+rocks and bowlders.
+
+"As my senses became clearer I saw I was lying on a fairly level floor.
+I could see perhaps two miles in each direction. Beyond that there was
+only darkness. The sky overhead was unbroken by stars or light of any
+kind. I should have been in total darkness except, as I have told you
+before, that everything, even the blackness itself, seemed to be
+self-luminous.
+
+"The incline down which I had fallen was composed of some smooth
+substance suggesting black marble. The floor underfoot was quite
+different--more of a metallic quality with a curious corrugation. Before
+me, in the dim distance, I could just make out a tiny range of hills.
+
+"I rose, after a time, and started weakly to walk towards these hills.
+Though I was faint and dizzy from my fall and the lack of food, I walked
+for perhaps half an hour, following closely the edge of the incline. No
+change in my visual surroundings occurred, except that I seemed
+gradually to be approaching the line of hills. My situation at this
+time, as I turned it over in my mind, appeared hopelessly desperate, and
+I admit I neither expected to reach my destination nor to be able to
+return to my own world.
+
+"A sudden change in the feeling of the ground underfoot brought me to
+myself; I bent down and found I was treading on vegetation--a tiny
+forest extending for quite a distance in front and to the side of me. A
+few steps ahead a little silver ribbon threaded its way through the
+trees. This I judged to be water.
+
+"New hope possessed me at this discovery. I sat down at once and took a
+portion of another of the pills.
+
+"I must again have fallen asleep. When I awoke, somewhat refreshed, I
+found myself lying beside the huge trunk of a fallen tree. I was in what
+had evidently once been a deep forest, but which now was almost utterly
+desolated. Only here and there were the trees left standing. For the
+most part they were lying in a crushed and tangled mass, many of them
+partially embedded in the ground.
+
+"I cannot express adequately to you, gentlemen, what an evidence of
+tremendous superhuman power this scene presented. No storm, no
+lightning, nor any attack of the elements could have produced more than
+a fraction of the destruction I saw all around me.
+
+"I climbed cautiously upon the fallen tree-trunk, and from this
+elevation had a much better view of my surroundings. I appeared to be
+near one end of the desolated area, which extended in a path about half
+a mile wide and several miles deep. In front, a thousand feet away,
+perhaps, lay the unbroken forest.
+
+"Descending from the tree-trunk I walked in this direction, reaching the
+edge of the woods after possibly an hour of the most arduous traveling
+of my whole journey.
+
+"During this time almost my only thought was the necessity of obtaining
+food. I looked about me as I advanced, and on one of the fallen
+tree-trunks I found a sort of vine growing. This vine bore a profusion
+of small gray berries, much like our huckleberries. They proved similar
+in taste, and I sat down and ate a quantity.
+
+"When I reached the edge of the forest I felt somewhat stronger. I had
+seen up to this time no sign of animal life whatever. Now, as I stood
+silent, I could hear around me all the multitudinous tiny voices of the
+woods. Insect life stirred underfoot, and in the trees above an
+occasional bird flitted to and fro.
+
+"Perhaps I am giving you a picture of our own world. I do not mean to do
+so. You must remember that above me there was no sky, just blackness.
+And yet so much light illuminated the scene that I could not believe it
+was other than what we would call daytime. Objects in the forest were as
+well lighted--better probably than they would be under similar
+circumstances in our own world.
+
+"The trees were of huge size compared to my present stature; straight,
+upstanding trunks, with no branches until very near the top. They were
+bluish-gray in color, and many of them well covered with the berry-vine
+I have mentioned. The leaves overhead seemed to be blue--in fact the
+predominating color of all the vegetation was blue, just as in our world
+it is green. The ground was covered with dead leaves, mould, and a sort
+of gray moss. Fungus of a similar color appeared, but of this I did not
+eat.
+
+"I had penetrated perhaps two miles into the forest when I came
+unexpectedly to the bank of a broad, smooth-flowing river, its silver
+surface seeming to radiate waves of the characteristic phosphorescent
+light. I found it cold, pure-tasting water, and I drank long and deeply.
+Then I remember lying down upon the mossy bank, and in a moment, utterly
+worn out, I again fell asleep."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+LYLDA
+
+
+"I was awakened by the feel of soft hands upon my head and face. With a
+start I sat up abruptly; I rubbed my eyes confusedly for a moment, not
+knowing where I was. When I collected my wits I found myself staring
+into the face of a girl, who was kneeling on the ground before me. I
+recognized her at once--she was the girl of the microscope.
+
+"To say I was startled would be to put it mildly, but I read no fear in
+her expression, only wonderment at my springing so suddenly into life.
+She was dressed very much as I had seen her before. Her fragile beauty
+was the same, and at this closer view infinitely more appealing, but I
+was puzzled to account for her older, more mature look. She seemed to
+have aged several years since the last evening I had seen her through
+the microscope. Yet, undeniably, it was the same girl.
+
+"For some moments we sat looking at each other in wonderment. Then she
+smiled and held out her hand, palm up, speaking a few words as she did
+so. Her voice was soft and musical, and the words of a peculiar quality
+that we generally describe as liquid, for want of a better term. What
+she said was wholly unintelligible, but whether the words were strange
+or the intonation different from anything I had ever heard I could not
+determine.
+
+"Afterwards, during my stay in this other world, I found that the
+language of its people resembled English quite closely, so far as the
+words themselves went. But the intonation with which they were given,
+and the gestures accompanying them, differed so widely from our own that
+they conveyed no meaning.
+
+"The gap separating us, however, was very much less than you would
+imagine. Strangely enough, though, it was not I who learned to speak her
+tongue, but she who mastered mine."
+
+The Very Young Man sighed contentedly.
+
+"We became quite friendly after this greeting," resumed the Chemist,
+"and it was apparent from her manner that she had already conceived her
+own idea of who and what I was.
+
+"For some time we sat and tried to communicate with each other. My words
+seemed almost as unintelligible to her as hers to me, except that
+occasionally she would divine my meaning, clapping her hands in childish
+delight. I made out that she lived at a considerable distance, and that
+her name was Lylda. Finally she pulled me by the hand and led me away
+with a proprietary air that amused and, I must admit, pleased me
+tremendously.
+
+"We had progressed through the woods in this way, hardly more than a few
+hundred yards, when suddenly I found that she was taking me into the
+mouth of a cave or passageway, sloping downward at an angle of perhaps
+twenty degrees. I noticed now, more graphically than ever before, a
+truth that had been gradually forcing itself upon me. Darkness was
+impossible in this new world. We were now shut in between narrow walls
+of crystalline rock, with a roof hardly more than fifty feet above.
+
+"No artificial light of any kind was in evidence, yet the scene was
+lighted quite brightly. This, I have explained, was caused by the
+phosphorescent radiation that apparently emanated from every particle of
+mineral matter in this universe.
+
+"As we advanced, many other tunnels crossed the one we were traveling.
+And now, occasionally, we passed other people, the men dressed similarly
+to Lylda, but wearing their hair chopped off just above the shoulder
+line.
+
+"Later, I found that the men were generally about five and a half feet
+in stature: lean, muscular, and with a grayer, harder look to their skin
+than the iridescent quality that characterized the women.
+
+"They were fine-looking chaps these we encountered. All of them stared
+curiously at me, and several times we were held up by chattering groups.
+The intense whiteness of my skin, for it looked in this light the color
+of chalk, seemed to both awe and amuse them. But they treated me with
+great deference and respect, which I afterwards learned was because of
+Lylda herself, and also what she told them about me.
+
+"At several of the intersections of the tunnels there were wide open
+spaces. One of these we now approached. It was a vast amphitheater, so
+broad its opposite wall was invisible, and it seemed crowded with
+people. At the side, on a rocky niche in the wall, a speaker harangued
+the crowd.
+
+"We skirted the edge of this crowd and plunged into another passageway,
+sloping downward still more steeply. I was so much interested in the
+strange scenes opening before me that I remarked little of the distance
+we traveled. Nor did I question Lylda but seldom. I was absorbed in the
+complete similarity between this and my own world in its general
+characteristics, and yet its complete strangeness in details.
+
+"I felt not the slightest fear. Indeed the sincerity and kindliness of
+these people seemed absolutely genuine, and the friendly, naive, manner
+of my little guide put me wholly at my ease. Towards me Lylda's manner
+was one of childish delight at a new-found possession. Towards those of
+her own people with whom we talked, I found she preserved a dignity they
+profoundly respected.
+
+"We had hardly more than entered this last tunnel when I heard the sound
+of drums and a weird sort of piping music, followed by shouts and
+cheers. Figures from behind us scurried past, hastening towards the
+sound. Lylda's clasp on my hand tightened, and she pulled me forward
+eagerly. As we advanced the crowd became denser, pushing and shoving us
+about and paying little attention to me.
+
+"In close contact with these people I soon found I was stronger than
+they, and for a time I had no difficulty in shoving them aside and
+opening a path for us. They took my rough handling in all good part, in
+fact, never have I met a more even-tempered, good-natured people than
+these.
+
+"After a time the crowd became so dense we could advance no further. At
+this Lylda signed me to bear to the side. As we approached the wall of
+the cavern she suddenly clasped her hands high over her head and shouted
+something in a clear, commanding voice. Instantly the crowd fell back,
+and in a moment I found myself being pulled up a narrow flight of stone
+steps in the wall and out upon a level space some twenty feet above the
+heads of the people.
+
+"Several dignitaries occupied this platform. Lylda greeted them quietly,
+and they made place for us beside the parapet. I could see now that we
+were at the intersection of a transverse passageway, much broader than
+the one we had been traversing. And now I received the greatest surprise
+I had had in this new world, for down this latter tunnel was passing a
+broad line of men who obviously were soldiers.
+
+"The uniformly straight lines they held; the glint of light on the
+spears they carried upright before them; the weird, but rhythmic, music
+that passed at intervals, with which they kept step; and, above all, the
+cheering enthusiasm of the crowd, all seemed like an echo of my own
+great world above.
+
+"This martial ardor and what it implied came as a distinct shock. All I
+had seen before showed the gentle kindliness of a people whose life
+seemed far removed from the struggle for existence to which our race is
+subjected. I had come gradually to feel that this new world, at least,
+had attained the golden age of security, and that fear, hate, and
+wrongdoing had long since passed away, or had never been born.
+
+"Yet, here before my very eyes, made wholesome by the fires of
+patriotism, stalked the grim God of War. Knowing nothing yet of the
+motive that inspired these people, I could feel no enthusiasm, but only
+disillusionment at this discovery of the omnipotence of strife.
+
+"For some time I must have stood in silence. Lylda, too, seemed to
+divine my thoughts, for she did not applaud, but pensively watched the
+cheering throng below. All at once, with an impulsively appealing
+movement, she pulled me down towards her, and pressed her pretty cheek
+to mine. It seemed almost as if she was asking me to help.
+
+"The line of marching men seemed now to have passed, and the crowd
+surged over into the open space and began to disperse. As the men upon
+the platform with us prepared to leave, Lylda led me over to one of
+them. He was nearly as tall as I, and dressed in the characteristic
+tunic that seemed universally worn by both sexes. The upper part of his
+body was hung with beads, and across his chest was a thin, slightly
+convex stone plate.
+
+"After a few words of explanation from Lylda, he laid his hands on my
+shoulders near the base of the neck, smiling with his words of greeting.
+Then he held one hand before me, palm up, as Lylda had done, and I laid
+mine in it, which seemed the correct thing to do.
+
+"I repeated this performance with two others who joined us, and then
+Lylda pulled me away. We descended the steps and turned into the broader
+tunnel, finding near at hand a sort of sleigh, which Lylda signed me to
+enter. It was constructed evidently of wood, with a pile of leaves, or
+similar dead vegetation, for cushions. It was balanced upon a single
+runner of polished stone, about two feet broad, with a narrow, slightly
+shorter outrider on each side.
+
+"Harnessed to the shaft were two animals, more resembling our reindeers
+than anything else, except that they were gray in color and had no
+horns. An attendant greeted Lylda respectfully as we approached, and
+mounted a seat in front of us when we were comfortably settled.
+
+"We drove in this curious vehicle for over an hour. The floor of the
+tunnel was quite smooth, and we glided down its incline with little
+effort and at a good rate. Our driver preserved the balance of the
+sleigh by shifting his body from side to side so that only at rare
+intervals did the siderunners touch the ground.
+
+"Finally, we emerged into the open, and I found myself viewing a scene
+of almost normal, earthly aspect. We were near the shore of a smooth,
+shining lake. At the side a broad stretch of rolling country, dotted
+here and there with trees, was visible. Near at hand, on the lake shore,
+I saw a collection of houses, most of them low and flat, with one much
+larger on a promontory near the lake.
+
+"Overhead arched a gray-blue, cloudless sky, faintly star-studded, and
+reflected in the lake before me I saw that familiar gleaming trail of
+star-dust, hanging like a huge straightened rainbow overhead, and ending
+at my feet."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE WORLD IN THE RING
+
+
+The Chemist paused and relighted his cigar. "Perhaps you have some
+questions," he suggested.
+
+The Doctor shifted in his chair.
+
+"Did you have any theory at this time"--he wanted to know--"about the
+physical conformation of this world? What I mean is, when you came out
+of this tunnel were you on the inside or the outside of the world?"
+
+"Was it the same sky you saw overhead when you were in the forest?"
+asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"No, it was what he saw in the microscope, wasn't it?" said the Very
+Young Man.
+
+"One at a time, gentlemen," laughed the Chemist. "No, I had no
+particular theory at this time--I had too many other things to think of.
+But I do remember noticing one thing which gave me the clew to a fairly
+complete understanding of this universe. From it I formed a definite
+explanation, which I found was the belief held by the people
+themselves."
+
+"What was that?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"I noticed, as I stood looking over this broad expanse of country before
+me, one vital thing that made it different from any similar scene I had
+ever beheld. If you will stop and think a moment, gentlemen, you will
+realize that in our world here the horizon is caused by a curvature of
+the earth below the straight line of vision. We are on a convex surface.
+But as I gazed over this landscape, and even with no appreciable light
+from the sky I could see a distance of several miles, I saw at once that
+quite the reverse was true. I seemed to be standing in the center of a
+vast shallow bowl. The ground curved upward into the distance. There was
+no distant horizon line, only the gradual fading into shadow of the
+visual landscape. I was standing obviously on a concave surface, on the
+inside, not the outside of the world.
+
+"The situation, as I now understand it, was this: According to the
+smallest stature I reached, and calling my height at that time roughly
+six feet, I had descended into the ring at the time I met Lylda several
+thousand miles, at least. By the way, where is the ring?"
+
+"Here is it," said the Very Young Man, handing it to him. The Chemist
+replaced it on his finger. "It's pretty important to me now," he said,
+smiling.
+
+"You bet!" agreed the Very Young Man.
+
+"You can readily understand how I descended such a distance, if you
+consider the comparative immensity of my stature during the first few
+hours I was in the ring. It is my understanding that this country
+through which I passed is a barren waste--merely the atoms of the
+mineral we call gold.
+
+"Beyond that I entered the hitherto unexplored regions within the atom.
+The country at that point where I found the forest, I was told later, is
+habitable for several hundred miles. Around it on all sides lies a
+desert, across which no one has ever penetrated.
+
+"This surface is the outside of the Oroid world, for so they call their
+earth. At this point the shell between the outer and inner surface is
+only a few miles in thickness. The two surfaces do not parallel each
+other here, so that in descending these tunnels we turned hardly more
+than an eighth of a complete circle.
+
+"At the city of Arite, where Lylda first took me, and where I had my
+first view of the inner surface, the curvature is slightly greater than
+that of our own earth, although, as I have said, in the opposite
+direction."
+
+"And the space within this curvature--the heavens you have
+mentioned--how great do you estimate it to be?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"Based on the curvature at Arite it would be about six thousand miles in
+diameter."
+
+"Has this entire inner surface been explored?" asked the Big Business
+Man.
+
+"No, only a small portion. The Oroids are not an adventurous people.
+There are only two nations, less than twelve million people all
+together, on a surface nearly as extensive as our own."
+
+"How about those stars?" suggested the Very Young Man.
+
+"I believe they comprise a complete universe similar to our own solar
+system. There is a central sun-star, around which many of the others
+revolve. You must understand, though, that these other worlds are
+infinitely tiny compared to the Oroids, and, if inhabited, support
+beings nearly as much smaller than the Oroids, as they are smaller than
+you."
+
+"Great Caesar!" ejaculated the Banker. "Don't let's go into that any
+deeper!"
+
+"Tell us more about Lylda," prompted the Very Young Man.
+
+"You are insatiable on that point," laughed the Chemist. "Well, when we
+left the sleigh, Lylda took me directly into the city of Arite. I found
+it an orderly collection of low houses, seemingly built of uniformly
+cut, highly polished gray blocks. As we passed through the streets, some
+of which were paved with similar blocks, I was reminded of nothing so
+much as the old jingles of Spotless Town. Everything was immaculately,
+inordinately clean. Indeed, the whole city seemed built of some curious
+form of opaque glass, newly scrubbed and polished.
+
+"Children crowded from the doorways as we advanced, but Lylda dispersed
+them with a gentle though firm, command. As we approached the sort of
+castle I have mentioned, the reason for Lylda's authoritative manner
+dawned upon me. She was, I soon learned, daughter of one of the most
+learned men of the nation and was--handmaiden, do you call it?--to the
+queen."
+
+"So it was a monarchy?" interrupted the Big Business Man. "I should
+never have thought that."
+
+"Lylda called their leader a king. In reality he was the president,
+chosen by the people, for a period of about what we would term twenty
+years; I learned something about this republic during my stay, but not
+as much as I would have liked. Politics was not Lylda's strong point,
+and I had to get it all from her, you know.
+
+"For several days I was housed royally in the castle. Food was served me
+by an attendant who evidently was assigned solely to look after my
+needs. At first I was terribly confused by the constant, uniform light,
+but when I found certain hours set aside for sleep, just as we have
+them, when I began to eat regularly, I soon fell into the routine of
+this new life.
+
+"The food was not greatly different from our own, although I found not a
+single article I could identify. It consisted principally of vegetables
+and fruits, the latter of an apparently inexhaustible variety.
+
+"Lylda visited me at intervals, and I learned I was awaiting an audience
+with the king. During these days she made rapid progress with my
+language--so rapid that I shortly gave up the idea of mastering hers.
+
+"And now, with the growing intimacy between us and our ability to
+communicate more readily, I learned the simple, tragic story of her
+race--new details, of course, but the old, old tale of might against
+right, and the tragedy of a trusting, kindly people, blindly thinking
+others as just as themselves.
+
+"For thousands of years, since the master life-giver had come from one
+of the stars to populate the world, the Oroid nation had dwelt in peace
+and security. These people cared nothing for adventure. No restless
+thirst for knowledge led them to explore deeply the limitless land
+surrounding them. Even from the earliest times no struggle for
+existence, no doctrine of the survival of the fittest, hung over them as
+with us. No wild animals harassed them; no savages menaced them. A
+fertile boundless land, a perfect climate, nurtured them tenderly.
+
+"Under such conditions they developed only the softer, gentler qualities
+of nature. Many laws among them were unnecessary, for life was so
+simple, so pleasant to live, and the attainment of all the commonly
+accepted standards of wealth so easy, that the incentive to wrongdoing
+was almost non-existent.
+
+"Strangely enough, and fortunately, too, no individuals rose among them
+with the desire for power. Those in command were respected and loved as
+true workers for the people, and they accepted their authority in the
+same spirit with which it was given. Indolence, in its highest sense the
+wonderful art of doing nothing gracefully, played the greatest part in
+their life.
+
+"Then, after centuries of ease and peaceful security, came the
+awakening. Almost without warning another nation had come out of the
+unknown to attack them.
+
+"With the hurt feeling that comes to a child unjustly treated, they all
+but succumbed to this first onslaught. The abduction of numbers of their
+women, for such seemed the principal purpose of the invaders, aroused
+them sufficiently to repel this first crude attack. Their manhood
+challenged, their anger as a nation awakened for the first time, they
+sprang as one man into the horror we call war.
+
+"With the defeat of the Malites came another period of ease and
+security. They had learned no lesson, but went their indolent way,
+playing through life like the kindly children they were. During this
+last period some intercourse between them and the Malites took place.
+The latter people, whose origin was probably nearly opposite them on the
+inner surface, had by degrees pushed their frontiers closer and closer
+to the Oroids. Trade between the two was carried on to some extent, but
+the character of the Malites, their instinctive desire for power, for
+its own sake, their consideration for themselves as superior beings,
+caused them to be distrusted and feared by their more simple-minded
+companion nation.
+
+"You can almost guess the rest, gentlemen. Lylda told me little about
+the Malites, but the loathing disgust of her manner, her hesitancy, even
+to bring herself to mention them, spoke more eloquently than words.
+
+"Four years ago, as they measure time, came the second attack, and now,
+in a huge arc, only a few hundred miles from Arite, hung the opposing
+armies."
+
+The Chemist paused. "That's the condition I found, gentlemen," he said.
+"Not a strikingly original or unfamiliar situation, was it?"
+
+"By Jove!" remarked the Doctor thoughtfully, "what a curious thing that
+the environment of our earth should so affect that world inside the
+ring. It does make you stop and think, doesn't it, to realize how those
+infinitesimal creatures are actuated now by the identical motives that
+inspire us?"
+
+"Yet it does seem very reasonable, I should say," the Big Business Man
+put in.
+
+"Let's have another round of drinks," suggested the Banker--"this is dry
+work!"
+
+"As a scientist you'd make a magnificent plumber, George!" retorted the
+Big Business Man. "You're about as helpful in this little gathering as
+an oyster!"
+
+The Very Young Man rang for a waiter.
+
+"I've been thinking----" began the Banker, and stopped at the smile of
+his companion. "Shut up!"--he finished--"that's cheap wit, you know!"
+
+"Go on, George," encouraged the other, "you've been thinking----"
+
+"I've been tremendously interested in this extraordinary story"--he
+addressed himself to the Chemist--"but there's one point I don't get at
+all. How many days were you in that ring do you make out?"
+
+"I believe about seven, all told," returned the Chemist.
+
+"But you were only away from us some forty hours. I ought to know, I've
+been right here." He looked at his crumpled clothes somewhat ruefully.
+
+"The change of time-progress was one of the surprises of my adventure,"
+said the Chemist. "It is easily explained in a general way, although I
+cannot even attempt a scientific theory of its cause. But I must confess
+that before I started the possibility of such a thing never even
+occurred to me."
+
+"To get a conception of this change you must analyze definitely what
+time is. We measure and mark it by years, months, and so forth, down to
+minutes and seconds, all based upon the movements of our earth around
+its sun. But that is the measurement of time, not time itself. How would
+you describe time?"
+
+The Big Business Man smiled. "Time," he said, "is what keeps everything
+from happening at once."
+
+"Very clever," laughed the Chemist.
+
+The Doctor leaned forward earnestly. "I should say," he began, "that
+time is the rate at which we live--the speed at which we successively
+pass through our existence from birth to death. It's very hard to put
+intelligibly, but I think I know what I mean," he finished somewhat
+lamely.
+
+"Exactly so. Time is a rate of life-progress, different for every
+individual and only made standard because we take the time-duration of
+the earth's revolution around the sun, which is constant, and
+arbitrarily say: 'That is thirty-one million five hundred thousand odd
+seconds.'"
+
+"Is time different for every individual?" asked the Banker
+argumentatively.
+
+"Think a moment," returned the Chemist. "Suppose your brain were to work
+twice as fast as mine. Suppose your heart beat twice as fast, and all
+the functions of your body were accelerated in a like manner. What we
+call a second would certainly seem to you twice as long. Further than
+that, it actually would be twice as long, so far as you were concerned.
+Your digestion, instead of taking perhaps four hours, would take two.
+You would eat twice as often. The desire for sleep would overtake you
+every twelve hours instead of twenty-four, and you would be satisfied
+with four hours of unconsciousness instead of eight. In short, you would
+soon be living a cycle of two days every twenty-four hours. Time then,
+as we measure it, for you at least would have doubled--you would be
+progressing through life at twice the rate that I am through mine."
+
+"That may be theoretically true," the Big Business Man put in.
+"Practically, though, it has never happened to any one."
+
+"Of course not, to such a great degree as the instance I put. No one,
+except in disease, has ever doubled our average rate of life-progress,
+and lived it out as a balanced, otherwise normal existence. But there is
+no question that to some much smaller degree we all of us differ one
+from the other. The difference, however, is so comparatively slight,
+that we can each one reconcile it to the standard measurement of time.
+And so, outwardly, time is the same for all of us. But inwardly, why, we
+none of us conceive a minute or an hour to be the same! How do you know
+how long a minute is to me? More than that, time is not constant even in
+the same individual. How many hours are shorter to you than others? How
+many days have been almost interminable? No, instead of being constant,
+there is nothing more inconstant than time."
+
+"Haven't you confused two different issues?" suggested the Big Business
+Man. "Granted what you say about the slightly different rate at which
+different individuals live, isn't it quite another thing, how long time
+seems to you. A day when you have nothing to do seems long, or, on the
+other hand, if you are very busy it seems short. But mind, it only
+_seems_ short or long, according to the preoccupation of your mind. That
+has nothing to do with the speed of your progress through life."
+
+"Ah, but I think it has," cried the Chemist. "You forget that we none of
+us have all of the one thing to the exclusion of the other. Time seems
+short; it seems long, and in the end it all averages up, and makes our
+rate of progress what it is. Now if any of us were to go through life in
+a calm, deliberate way, making time seem as long as possible, he would
+live more years, as we measure them, than if he rushed headlong through
+the days, accomplishing always as much as possible. I mean in neither
+case to go to the extremes, but only so far as would be consistent with
+the maintenance of a normal standard of health. How about it?" He turned
+to the Doctor. "You ought to have an opinion on that."
+
+"I rather think you are right," said the latter thoughtfully, "although
+I doubt very much if the man who took it easy would do as much during
+his longer life as the other with his energy would accomplish in the
+lesser time allotted to him."
+
+"Probably he wouldn't," smiled the Chemist; "but that does not alter the
+point we are discussing."
+
+"How does this apply to the world in the ring?" ventured the Very Young
+Man.
+
+"I believe there is a very close relationship between the dimensions of
+length, breadth, and thickness, and time. Just what connection with them
+it has, I have no idea. Yet, when size changes, time-rate changes; you
+have only to look at our own universe to discover that."
+
+"How do you mean?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"Why, all life on our earth, in a general way, illustrates the
+fundamental fact that the larger a thing is, the slower its
+time-progress is. An elephant, for example, lives more years than we
+humans. Yet how quickly a fly is born, matured, and aged! There are
+exceptions, of course; but in a majority of cases it is true.
+
+"So I believe that as I diminished in stature, my time-progress became
+faster and faster. I am seven days older than when I left you day before
+yesterday. I have lived those seven days, gentlemen, there is no getting
+around that fact."
+
+"This is all tremendously interesting," sighed the Big Business Man;
+"but not very comprehensible."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+STRATEGY AND KISSES
+
+
+"It was the morning of my third day in the castle," began the Chemist
+again, "that I was taken by Lylda before the king. We found him seated
+alone in a little anteroom, overlooking a large courtyard, which we
+could see was crowded with an expectant, waiting throng. I must explain
+to you now, that I was considered by Lylda somewhat in the light of a
+Messiah, come to save her nation from the destruction that threatened
+it.
+
+"She believed me a supernatural being, which, indeed, if you come to
+think of it, gentlemen, is exactly what I was. I tried to tell her
+something of myself and the world I had come from, but the difficulties
+of language and her smiling insistence and faith in her own conception
+of me, soon caused me to desist. Thereafter I let her have her own way,
+and did not attempt any explanation again for some time.
+
+"For several weeks before Lylda found me sleeping by the river's edge,
+she had made almost a daily pilgrimage to that vicinity. A maidenly
+premonition, a feeling that had first come to her several years before,
+told her of my coming, and her father's knowledge and scientific beliefs
+had led her to the outer surface of the world as the direction in which
+to look. A curious circumstance, gentlemen, lies in the fact that Lylda
+clearly remembered the occasion when this first premonition came to her.
+And in the telling, she described graphically the scene in the cave,
+where I saw her through the microscope." The Chemist paused an instant
+and then resumed.
+
+"When we entered the presence of the king, he greeted me quietly, and
+made me sit by his side, while Lylda knelt on the floor at our feet. The
+king impressed me as a man about fifty years of age. He was
+smooth-shaven, with black, wavy hair, reaching his shoulders. He was
+dressed in the usual tunic, the upper part of his body covered by a
+quite similar garment, ornamented with a variety of metal objects. His
+feet were protected with a sort of buskin; at his side hung a
+crude-looking metal spear.
+
+"The conversation that followed my entrance, lasted perhaps fifteen
+minutes. Lylda interpreted for us as well as she could, though I must
+confess we were all three at times completely at a loss. But Lylda's
+bright, intelligent little face, and the resourcefulness of her
+gestures, always managed somehow to convey her meaning. The charm and
+grace of her manner, all during the talk, her winsomeness, and the
+almost spiritual kindness and tenderness that characterized her, made me
+feel that she embodied all those qualities with which we of this earth
+idealize our own womanhood.
+
+"I found myself falling steadily under the spell of her beauty,
+until--well, gentlemen, it's childish for me to enlarge upon this side
+of my adventure, you know; but--Lylda means everything to me now, and
+I'm going back for her just as soon as I possibly can."
+
+"Bully for you!" cried the Very Young Man. "Why didn't you bring her
+with you this time?"
+
+"Let him tell it his own way," remonstrated the Doctor. The Very Young
+Man subsided with a sigh.
+
+"During our talk," resumed the Chemist, "I learned from the king that
+Lylda had promised him my assistance in overcoming the enemies that
+threatened his country. He smilingly told me that our charming little
+interpreter had assured him I would be able to do this. Lylda's blushing
+face, as she conveyed this meaning to me, was so thoroughly captivating,
+that before I knew it, and quite without meaning to, I pulled her up
+towards me and kissed her.
+
+"The king was more surprised by far than Lylda, at this extraordinary
+behavior. Obviously neither of them had understood what a kiss meant,
+although Lylda, by her manner evidently comprehended pretty thoroughly.
+
+"I told them then, as simply as possible to enable Lylda to get my
+meaning, that I could, and would gladly aid in their war. I explained
+then, that I had the power to change my stature, and could make myself
+grow very large or very small in a short space of time.
+
+"This, as Lylda evidently told it to him, seemed quite beyond the king's
+understanding. He comprehended finally, or at least he agreed to believe
+my statement.
+
+"This led to the consideration of practical questions of how I was to
+proceed in their war. I had not considered any details before, but now
+they appeared of the utmost simplicity. All I had to do was to make
+myself a hundred or two hundred feet high, walk out to the battle-lines,
+and scatter the opposing army like a set of small boys' playthings."
+
+"What a quaint idea!" said the Banker. "A modern 'Gulliver.'"
+
+The Chemist did not heed this interruption.
+
+"Then like three children we plunged into a discussion of exactly how I
+was to perform these wonders, the king laughing heartily as we pictured
+the attack on my tiny enemies.
+
+"He then asked me how I expected to accomplish this change of size, and
+I very briefly told him of our larger world, and the manner in which I
+had come from it into his. Then I showed the drugs that I still carried
+carefully strapped to me. This seemed definitely to convince the king of
+my sincerity. He rose abruptly to his feet, and strode through a doorway
+on to a small balcony overlooking the courtyard below.
+
+"As he stepped out into the view of the people, a great cheer arose. He
+waited quietly for them to stop, and then raised his hand and began
+speaking. Lylda and I stood hand in hand in the shadow of the doorway,
+out of sight of the crowd, but with it and the entire courtyard plainly
+in our view.
+
+"It was a quadrangular enclosure, formed by the four sides of the
+palace, perhaps three hundred feet across, packed solidly now with
+people of both sexes, the gleaming whiteness of the upper parts of their
+bodies, and their upturned faces, making a striking picture.
+
+"For perhaps ten minutes the king spoke steadily, save when he was
+interrupted by applause. Then he stopped abruptly and, turning, pulled
+Lylda and me out upon the balcony. The enthusiasm of the crowd doubled
+at our appearance. I was pushed forward to the balcony rail, where I
+bowed to the cheering throng.
+
+"Just after I left the king's balcony, I met Lylda's father. He was a
+kindly-faced old gentleman, and took a great interest in me and my
+story. He it was who told me about the physical conformation of his
+world, and he seemed to comprehend my explanation of mine.
+
+"That night it rained--a heavy, torrential downpour, such as we have in
+the tropics. Lylda and I had been talking for some time, and, I must
+confess, I had been making love to her ardently. I broached now the
+principal object of my entrance into her world, and, with an eloquence I
+did not believe I possessed, I pictured the wonders of our own great
+earth above, begging her to come back with me and live out her life with
+mine.
+
+"Much of what I said, she probably did not understand, but the main
+facts were intelligible without question. She listened quietly. When I
+had finished, and waited for her decision, she reached slowly out and
+clutched my shoulders, awkwardly making as if to kiss me. In an instant
+she was in my arms, with a low, happy little cry."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A MODERN GULLIVER
+
+
+"The clattering fall of rain brought us to ourselves. Rising to her
+feet, Lylda pulled me over to the window-opening, and together we stood
+and looked out into the night. The scene before us was beautiful, with a
+weirdness almost impossible to describe. It was as bright as I had ever
+seen this world, for even though heavy clouds hung overhead, the light
+from the stars was never more than a negligible quantity.
+
+"We were facing the lake--a shining expanse of silver radiation, its
+surface shifting and crawling, as though a great undulating blanket of
+silver mist lay upon it. And coming down to meet it from the sky were
+innumerable lines of silver--a vast curtain of silver cords that broke
+apart into great strings of pearls when I followed their downward
+course.
+
+"And then, as I turned to Lylda, I was struck with the extraordinary
+weirdness of her beauty as never before. The reflected light from the
+rain had something the quality of our moonlight. Shining on Lylda's
+body, it tremendously enhanced the iridescence of her skin. And her
+face, upturned to mine, bore an expression of radiant happiness and
+peace such as I had never seen before on a woman's countenance."
+
+The Chemist paused, his voice dying away into silence as he sat lost in
+thought. Then he pulled himself together with a start. "It was a sight,
+gentlemen, the memory of which I shall cherish all my life.
+
+"The next day was that set for my entrance into the war. Lylda and I had
+talked nearly all night, and had decided that she was to return with me
+to my world. By morning the rain had stopped, and we sat together in the
+window-opening, silenced with the thrill of the wonderful new joy that
+had come into our hearts.
+
+"The country before us, under the cloudless, starry sky, stretched
+gray-blue and beautiful into the quivering obscurity of the distance. At
+our feet lay the city, just awakening into life. Beyond, over the
+rolling meadows and fields, wound the road that led out to the
+battle-front, and coming back over it now, we could see an endless line
+of vehicles. These, as they passed through the street beneath our
+window, I found were loaded with soldiers, wounded and dying. I
+shuddered at the sight of one cart in particular, and Lylda pressed
+close to me, pleading with her eyes for my help for her stricken people.
+
+"My exit from the castle was made quite a ceremony. A band of music and
+a guard of several hundred soldiers ushered me forth, walking beside the
+king, with Lylda a few paces behind. As we passed through the streets of
+the city, heading for the open country beyond, we were cheered
+continually by the people who thronged the streets and crowded upon the
+housetops to watch us pass.
+
+"Outside Arite I was taken perhaps a mile, where a wide stretch of
+country gave me the necessary space for my growth. We were standing upon
+a slight hill, below which, in a vast semicircle, fully a hundred
+thousand people were watching.
+
+"And now, for the first time, fear overcame me. I realized my
+situation--saw myself in a detached sort of way--a stranger in this
+extraordinary world, and only the power of my drug to raise me out of
+it. This drug you must remember, I had not as yet taken. Suppose it were
+not to act? Or were to act wrongly?
+
+"I glanced around. The king stood before me, quietly waiting my
+pleasure. Then I turned to Lylda. One glance at her proud, happy little
+face, and my fear left me as suddenly as it had come. I took her in my
+arms and kissed her, there before that multitude. Then I set her down,
+and signified to the king I was ready.
+
+"I took a minute quantity of one of the drugs, and as I had done before,
+sat down with my eyes covered. My sensations were fairly similar to
+those I have already described. When I looked up after a moment, I found
+the landscape dwindling to tiny proportions in quite as astonishing a
+way as it had grown before. The king and Lylda stood now hardly above my
+ankle.
+
+"A great cry arose from the people--a cry wherein horror, fear, and
+applause seemed equally mixed. I looked down and saw thousands of them
+running away in terror.
+
+"Still smaller grew everything within my vision, and then, after a
+moment, the landscape seemed at rest. I kneeled now upon the ground,
+carefully, to avoid treading on any of the people around me. I located
+Lylda and the king after a moment; tiny little creatures less than an
+inch in height. I was then, I estimated, from their viewpoint, about
+four hundred feet tall.
+
+"I put my hand flat upon the ground near Lylda, and after a moment she
+climbed into it, two soldiers lifting her up the side of my thumb as it
+lay upon the ground. In the hollow of my palm, she lay quite securely,
+and very carefully I raised her up towards my face. Then, seeing that
+she was frightened, I set her down again.
+
+"At my feet, hardly more than a few steps away, lay the tiny city of
+Arite and the lake. I could see all around the latter now, and could
+make out clearly a line of hills on the other side. Off to the left the
+road wound up out of sight in the distance. As far as I could see, a
+line of soldiers was passing out along this road--marching four abreast,
+with carts at intervals, loaded evidently with supplies; only
+occasionally, now, vehicles passed in the other direction. Can I make it
+plain to you, gentlemen, my sensations in changing stature? I felt at
+first as though I were tremendously high in the air, looking down as
+from a balloon upon the familiar territory beneath me. That feeling
+passed after a few moments, and I found that my point of view had
+changed. I no longer felt that I was looking down from a balloon, but
+felt as a normal person feels. And again I conceived myself but six feet
+tall, standing above a dainty little toy world. It is all in the
+viewpoint, of course, and never, during all my changes, was I for more
+than a moment able to feel of a different stature than I am at this
+present instant. It was always everything else that changed.
+
+"According to the directions I had received from the king, I started now
+to follow the course of the road. I found it difficult walking, for the
+country was dotted with houses, trees, and cultivated fields, and each
+footstep was a separate problem.
+
+"I progressed in this manner perhaps two miles, covering what the day
+before I would have called about a hundred and thirty or forty miles.
+The country became wilder as I advanced, and now was in places crowded
+with separate collections of troops.
+
+"I have not mentioned the commotion I made in this walk over the
+country. My coming must have been told widely by couriers the night
+before, to soldiers and peasantry alike, or the sight of me would have
+caused utter demoralization. As it was, I must have been terrifying to a
+tremendous degree. I think the careful way in which I picked my course,
+stepping in the open as much as possible, helped to reassure the people.
+Behind me, whenever I turned, they seemed rather more curious than
+fearful, and once or twice when I stopped for a few moments they
+approached my feet closely. One athletic young soldier caught the loose
+end of the string of one of my buskins, as it hung over my instep close
+to the ground and pulled himself up hand over hand, amid the
+enthusiastic cheers of his comrades.
+
+"I had walked nearly another mile, when almost in front of me, and
+perhaps a hundred yards away, I saw a remarkable sight that I did not at
+first understand. The country here was crossed by a winding river
+running in a general way at right angles to my line of progress. At the
+right, near at hand, and on the nearer bank of the river, lay a little
+city, perhaps half the size of Arite, with its back up against a hill.
+
+"What first attracted my attention was that from a dark patch across the
+river which seemed to be woods, pebbles appeared to pop up at intervals,
+traversing a little arc perhaps as high as my knees, and falling into
+the city. I watched for a moment and then I understood. There was a
+siege in progress, and the catapults of the Malites were bombarding the
+city with rocks.
+
+"I went up a few steps closer, and the pebbles stopped coming. I stood
+now beside the city, and as I bent over it, I could see by the battered
+houses the havoc the bombardment had caused. Inert little figures lay in
+the streets, and I bent lower and inserted my thumb and forefinger
+between a row of houses and picked one up. It was the body of a woman,
+partly mashed. I set it down again hastily.
+
+"Then as I stood up, I felt a sting on my leg. A pebble had hit me on
+the shin and dropped at my feet. I picked it up. It was the size of a
+small walnut--a huge bowlder six feet or more in diameter it would have
+been in Lylda's eyes. At the thought of her I was struck with a sudden
+fit of anger. I flung the pebble violently down into the wooded patch
+and leaped over the river in one bound, landing squarely on both feet in
+the woods. It was like jumping into a patch of ferns.
+
+"I stamped about me for a moment until a large part of the woods was
+crushed down. Then I bent over and poked around with my finger.
+Underneath the tangled wreckage of tiny-tree trunks, lay numbers of the
+Malites. I must have trodden upon a thousand or more, as one would stamp
+upon insects.
+
+"The sight sickened me at first, for after all, I could not look upon
+them as other than men, even though they were only the length of my
+thumb-nail. I walked a few steps forward, and in all directions I could
+see swarms of the little creatures running. Then the memory of my coming
+departure from this world with Lylda, and my promise to the king to rid
+his land once for all from these people, made me feel again that they,
+like vermin, were to be destroyed.
+
+"Without looking directly down, I spent the next two hours stamping over
+this entire vicinity. Then I ran two or three miles directly toward the
+country of the Malites, and returning I stamped along the course of the
+river for a mile or so in both directions. Then I walked back to Arite,
+again picking my way carefully among crowds of Oroids, who now feared me
+so little that I had difficulty in moving without stepping upon them.
+
+"When I had regained my former size, which needed two successive doses
+of the drug, I found myself surrounded by a crowd of the Oroids, pushing
+and shoving each other in an effort to get closer to me. The news of my
+success over their enemy have been divined by them, evidently. Lord
+knows it must have been obvious enough what I was going to do, when they
+saw me stride away, a being four hundred feet tall.
+
+"Their enthusiasm and thankfulness now were so mixed with awe and
+reverent worship of me as a divine being, that when I advanced towards
+Arite they opened a path immediately. The king, accompanied by Lylda,
+met me at the edge of the city. The latter threw herself into my arms at
+once, crying with relief to find me the proper size once more.
+
+"I need not go into details of the ceremonies of rejoicing that took
+place this afternoon. These people seemed little given to pomp and
+public demonstration. The king made a speech from his balcony, telling
+them all I had done, and the city was given over to festivities and
+preparations to receive the returning soldiers."
+
+The Chemist pushed his chair back from the table, and moistened his dry
+lips with a swallow of water. "I tell you, gentlemen," he continued, "I
+felt pretty happy that day. It's a wonderful feeling to find yourself
+the savior of a nation."
+
+At that the Doctor jumped to his feet, overturning his chair, and
+striking the table a blow with his fist that made the glasses dance.
+
+"By God!" he fairly shouted, "that's just what you can be here to us."
+
+The Banker looked startled, while the Very Young Man pulled the Chemist
+by the coat in his eagerness to be heard. "A few of those pills," he
+said in a voice that quivered with excitement, "when you are standing in
+France, and you can walk over to Berlin and kick the houses apart with
+the toe of your boot."
+
+"Why not?" said the Big Business Man, and silence fell on the group as
+they stared at each other, awed by the possibilities that opened up
+before them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+"I MUST GO BACK"
+
+
+The tremendous plan for the salvation of their own suffering world
+through the Chemist's discovery occupied the five friends for some time.
+Then laying aside this subject, that now had become of the most vital
+importance to them all, the Chemist resumed his narrative.
+
+"My last evening in the world of the ring, I spent with Lylda,
+discussing our future, and making plans for the journey. I must tell you
+now, gentlemen, that never for a moment during my stay in Arite was I
+once free from an awful dread of this return trip. I tried to conceive
+what it would be like, and the more I thought about it, the more
+hazardous it seemed.
+
+"You must realize, when I was growing smaller, coming in, I was able to
+climb down, or fall or slide down, into the spaces as they opened up.
+Going back, I could only imagine the world as closing in upon me,
+crushing me to death unless I could find a larger space immediately
+above into which I could climb.
+
+"And as I talked with Lylda about this and tried to make her understand
+what I hardly understood myself, I gradually was brought to realize the
+full gravity of the danger confronting us. If only I had made the trip
+out once before, I could have ventured it with her. But as I looked at
+her fragile little body, to expose it to the terrible possibilities of
+such a journey was unthinkable.
+
+"There was another question, too, that troubled me. I had been gone from
+you nearly a week, and you were only to wait for me two days. I believed
+firmly that I was living at a faster rate, and that probably my time
+with you had not expired. But I did not know. And suppose, when I had
+come out on to the surface of the ring, one of you had had it on his
+finger walking along the street? No, I did not want Lylda with me in
+that event.
+
+"And so I told her--made her understand--that she must stay behind, and
+that I would come back for her. She did not protest. She said
+nothing--just looked up into my face with wide, staring eyes and a
+little quiver of her lips. Then she clutched my hand and fell into a
+low, sobbing cry.
+
+"I held her in my arms for a few moments, so little, so delicate, so
+human in her sorrow, and yet almost superhuman in her radiant beauty.
+Soon she stopped crying and smiled up at me bravely.
+
+"Next morning I left. Lylda took me through the tunnels and back into
+the forest by the river's edge where I had first met her. There we
+parted. I can see, now, her pathetic, drooping little figure as she
+trudged back to the tunnel.
+
+"When she had disappeared, I sat down to plan out my journey. I resolved
+now to reverse as nearly as possible the steps I had taken coming in.
+Acting on this decision, I started back to that portion of the forest
+where I had trampled it down.
+
+"I found the place without difficulty, stopping once on the way to eat a
+few berries, and some of the food I carried with me. Then I took a small
+amount of one of the drugs, and in a few moments the forest trees had
+dwindled into tiny twigs beneath my feet.
+
+"I started now to find the huge incline down which I had fallen, and
+when I reached it, after some hours of wandering, I followed its bottom
+edge to where a pile of rocks and dirt marked my former landing-place.
+The rocks were much larger than I remembered them, and so I knew I was
+not so large, now, as when I was here before.
+
+"Remembering the amount of the drug I had taken coming down, I took now
+twelve of the pills. Then, in a sudden panic, I hastily took two of the
+others. The result made my head swim most horribly. I sat or lay down, I
+forget which. When I looked up I saw the hills beyond the river and
+forest coming towards me, yet dwindling away beneath my feet as they
+approached. The incline seemed folding up upon itself, like a telescope.
+As I watched, its upper edge came into view, a curved, luminous line
+against the blackness above. Every instant it crawled down closer, more
+sharply curved, and its inclined surface grew steeper.
+
+"All this time, as I stood still, the ground beneath my feet seemed to
+be moving. It was crawling towards me, and folding up underneath where I
+was standing. Frequently I had to move to avoid rocks that came at me
+and passed under my feet into nothingness.
+
+"Then, all at once, I realized that I had been stepping constantly
+backward, to avoid the inclined wall as it shoved itself towards me. I
+turned to see what was behind, and horror made my flesh creep at what I
+saw. A black, forbidding wall, much like the incline in front, entirely
+encircled me. It was hardly more than half a mile away, and towered four
+or five thousand feet overhead.
+
+"And as I stared in terror, I could see it closing in, the line of its
+upper edge coming steadily closer and lower. I looked wildly around with
+an overpowering impulse to run. In every direction towered this rocky
+wall, inexorably swaying in to crush me.
+
+"I think I fainted. When I came to myself the scene had not greatly
+changed. I was lying at the bottom and against one wall of a circular
+pit, now about a thousand feet in diameter and nearly twice as deep. The
+wall all around I could see was almost perpendicular, and it seemed
+impossible to ascend its smooth, shining sides. The action of the drug
+had evidently worn off, for everything was quite still.
+
+"My fear had now left me, for I remembered this circular pit quite well.
+I walked over to its center, and looking around and up to its top I
+estimated distances carefully. Then I took two more of the pills.
+
+"Immediately the familiar, sickening, crawling sensation began again. As
+the walls closed in upon me, I kept carefully in the center of the pit.
+Steadily they crept in. Now only a few hundred feet away! Now only a few
+paces--and then I reached out and touched both sides at once with my
+hands.
+
+"I tell you, gentlemen, it was a terrifying sensation to stand in that
+well (as it now seemed), and feel its walls closing up with irresistible
+force. But now the upper edge was within reach of my fingers. I leaped
+upward and hung for a moment, then pulled myself up and scrabbled out,
+tumbling in a heap on the ground above. As I recovered myself, I looked
+again at the hole out of which I had escaped; it was hardly big enough
+to contain my fist.
+
+"I knew, now, I was at the bottom of the scratch. But how different it
+looked than before. It seemed this time a long, narrow canon, hardly
+more than sixty feet across. I glanced up and saw the blue sky overhead,
+flooded with light, that I knew was the space of this room above the
+ring.
+
+"The problem now was quite a different one than getting out of the pit,
+for I saw that the scratch was so deep in proportion to its width that
+if I let myself get too big, I would be crushed by its walls before I
+could jump out. It would be necessary, therefore, to stay comparatively
+small and climb up its side.
+
+"I selected what appeared to be an especially rough section, and took a
+portion of another of the pills. Then I started to climb. After an hour
+the buskins on my feet were torn to fragments, and I was bruised and
+battered as you saw me. I see, now, how I could have made both the
+descent into the ring, and my journey back with comparatively little
+effort, but I did the best I knew at the time.
+
+"When the canon was about ten feet in width, and I had been climbing
+arduously for several hours, I found myself hardly more than fifteen or
+twenty feet above its bottom. And I was still almost that far from the
+top. With the stature I had then attained, I could have climbed the
+remaining distance easily, but for the fact that the wall above had
+grown too smooth to afford a foothold. The effects of the drug had again
+worn off, and I sat down and prepared to take another dose. I did
+so--the smallest amount I could--and held ready in my hand a pill of the
+other kind in case of emergency. Steadily the walls closed in.
+
+"A terrible feeling of dizziness now came over me. I clutched the rock
+beside which I was sitting, and it seemed to melt like ice beneath my
+grasp. Then I remembered seeing the edge of the canon within reach above
+my head, and with my last remaining strength, I pulled myself up, and
+fell upon the surface of the ring. You know the rest. I took another
+dose of the powder, and in a few minutes was back among you."
+
+The Chemist stopped speaking, and looked at his friends. "Well," he
+said, "you've heard it all. What do you think of it?"
+
+"It is a terrible thing to me," sighed the Very Young Man, "that you did
+not bring Llyda with you."
+
+"It would have been a terrible thing if I had brought her. But I am
+going back for her."
+
+"When do you plan to go back?" asked the Doctor after a moment.
+
+"As soon as I can--in a day or two," answered the Chemist.
+
+"Before you do your work here? You must not," remonstrated the Big
+Business Man. "Our war here needs you, our nation, the whole cause of
+liberty and freedom needs you. You cannot go."
+
+"Lylda needs me, too," returned the Chemist. "I have an obligation
+towards her now, you know, quite apart from my own feelings. Understand
+me, gentlemen," he continued earnestly, "I do not place myself and mine
+before the great fight for democracy and justice being waged in this
+world. That would be absurd. But it is not quite that way, actually; I
+can go back for Lylda and return here in a week. That week will make
+little difference to the war. On the other hand, if I go to France
+first, it may take me a good many months to complete my task, and during
+that time Lylda will be using up her life several times faster than I.
+No, gentlemen, I am going to her first."
+
+"That week you propose to take," said the Banker slowly, "will cost this
+world thousands of lives that you could save. Have you thought of that?"
+
+The Chemist flushed. "I can recognize the salvation of a nation or a
+cause," he returned hotly, "but if I must choose between the lives of a
+thousand men who are not dependent on me, and the life or welfare of one
+woman who is, I shall choose the woman."
+
+"He's right, you know," said the Doctor, and the Very Young Man agreed
+with him fervently.
+
+Two days later the company met again in the privacy of the clubroom.
+When they had finished dinner, the Chemist began in his usual quiet way:
+
+"I am going to ask you this time, gentlemen, to give me a full week.
+There are four of you--six hours a day of watching for each. It need not
+be too great a hardship. You see," he continued, as they nodded in
+agreement, "I want to spend a longer period in the ring world this time.
+I may never go back, and I want to learn, in the interest of science, as
+much about it as I can. I was there such a short time before, and it was
+all so strange and remarkable, I confess I learned practically nothing.
+
+"I told you all I could of its history. But of its arts, its science,
+and all its sociological and economic questions, I got hardly more than
+a glimpse. It is a world and a people far less advanced than ours, yet
+with something we have not, and probably never will have--the
+universally distributed milk of human kindness. Yes, gentlemen, it is a
+world well worth studying."
+
+The Banker came out of a brown study. "How about your formulas for these
+drugs?" he asked abruptly; "where are they?" The Chemist tapped his
+forehead smilingly. "Well, hadn't you better leave them with us?" the
+Banker pursued. "The hazards of your trip--you can't tell----"
+
+"Don't misunderstand me, gentlemen," broke in the Chemist. "I wouldn't
+give you those formulas if my life and even Lylda's depended on it.
+There again you do not differentiate between the individual and the
+race. I know you four very well. You are my friends, with all the bond
+that friendship implies. I believe in your integrity--each of you I
+trust implicitly. With these formulas you could crush Germany, or you
+could, any one of you, rule the world, with all its treasures for your
+own. These drugs are the most powerful thing for good in the world
+to-day. But they are equally as powerful for evil. I would stake my life
+on what you would do, but I will not stake the life of a nation."
+
+"I know what I'd do if I had the formulas," began the Very Young Man.
+
+"Yes, but I don't know what you'd do," laughed the Chemist. "Don't you
+see I'm right?" They admitted they did, though the Banker acquiesced
+very grudgingly.
+
+"The time of my departure is at hand. Is there anything else, gentlemen,
+before I leave you?" asked the Chemist, beginning to disrobe.
+
+"Please tell Lylda I want very much to meet her," said the Very Young
+Man earnestly, and they all laughed.
+
+When the room was cleared, and the handkerchief and ring in place once
+more, the Chemist turned to them again. "Good-by, my friends," he said,
+holding out his hands. "One week from to-night, at most." Then he took
+the pills.
+
+No unusual incident marked his departure. The last they saw of him he
+was calmly sitting on the ring near the scratch.
+
+Then passed the slow days of watching, each taking his turn for the
+allotted six hours.
+
+By the fifth day, they began to hourly expect the Chemist, but it passed
+through its weary length, and he did not come. The sixth day dragged by,
+and then came the last--the day he had promised would end their
+watching. Still he did not come, and in the evening they gathered, and
+all four watched together, each unwilling to miss the return of the
+adventurer and his woman from another world.
+
+But the minutes lengthened into hours, and midnight found the
+white-faced little group, hopeful yet hopeless, with fear tugging at
+their hearts. A second week passed, and still they watched, explaining
+with an optimism they could none of them feel, the non-appearance of
+their friend. At the end of the second week they met again to talk the
+situation over, a dull feeling of fear and horror possessing them. The
+Doctor was the first to voice what now each of them was forced to
+believe. "I guess it's all useless," he said. "He's not coming back."
+
+"I don't hardly dare give him up," said the Big Business Man.
+
+"Me, too," agreed the Very Young Man sadly.
+
+The Doctor sat for some time in silence, thoughtfully regarding the
+ring. "My friends," he began finally, "this is too big a thing to deal
+with in any but the most careful way. I can't imagine what is going on
+inside that ring, but I do know what is happening in our world, and what
+our friend's return means to civilization here. Under the circumstances,
+therefore, I cannot, I will not give him up.
+
+"I am going to put that ring in a museum and pay for having it watched
+indefinitely. Will you join me?" He turned to the Big Business Man as he
+spoke.
+
+"Make it a threesome," said the Banker gruffly. "What do you take me
+for?" and the Very Young Man sighed with the tragedy of youth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+AFTER FIVE YEARS
+
+
+Four men sat in the clubroom, at their ease in the luxurious leather
+chairs, smoking and talking earnestly. Near the center of the room stood
+a huge mahogany table. On its top, directly in the glare of light from
+an electrolier overhead, was spread a large black silk handkerchief. In
+the center of this handkerchief lay a heavy gold band--a woman's
+wedding-ring.
+
+An old-fashioned valise stood near a corner of the table. Its sides were
+perforated with small brass-rimmed holes; near the top on one side was a
+small square aperture covered with a wire mesh through which one might
+look into the interior. Altogether, from the outside, the bag looked
+much like those used for carrying small animals.
+
+As it lay on the table now its top was partly open. The inside was
+brightly lighted by a small storage battery and electric globe, fastened
+to the side. Near the bottom of the bag was a tiny wire rack, held
+suspended about an inch from the bottom by transverse wires to the
+sides. The inside of the bag was lined with black plush.
+
+On an arm of the Doctor's chair lay two white tin boxes three or four
+inches square. In his hand he held an opened envelope and several letter
+pages.
+
+"A little more than five years ago to-night, my friends," he began
+slowly, "we sat in this room with that"--he indicated the ring--"under
+very different circumstances." After a moment, he went on:
+
+"I think I am right when I say that for five years the thought uppermost
+in our minds has always been that ring and what is going on within one
+of its atoms."
+
+"You bet," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"For five years now we have had the ring watched," continued the Doctor,
+"but Rogers has never returned."
+
+"You asked us here to-night because you had something special to tell
+us," began the Very Young Man, with a questioning look at the valise and
+the ring.
+
+The Doctor smiled. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't mean to be
+aggravating."
+
+"Go ahead in your own way, Frank," the Big Business Man put in. "We'll
+wait if we have to."
+
+The Doctor glanced at the papers in his hand; he had just taken them
+from the envelope. "You are consumed with curiosity, naturally, to know
+what I have to say--why I have brought the ring here to-night.
+Gentlemen, you have had to restrain that curiosity less than five
+minutes; I have had a far greater curiosity to endure--and restrain--for
+over five years.
+
+"When Rogers left us on his last journey into the ring, he gave into my
+keeping, unknown to you, this envelope." The Doctor held it up.
+
+"He made me swear I would keep its existence secret from every living
+being, until the date marked upon it, at which time, in the event of his
+not having returned, it was to be opened. Look at it." The Doctor laid
+the envelope on the table.
+
+"It is inscribed, as you see, 'To be opened by Dr. Frank Adams at
+8 P. M. on September 4th, 1923.' For five years, gentlemen, I kept that
+envelope, knowing nothing of its contents and waiting for the moment
+when I might, with honor, open it. The struggle has been a hard one.
+Many times I have almost been able to persuade myself, in justice to our
+friend's safety--his very life, probably--that it would be best to
+disregard his instructions. But I did not; I waited until the date set
+and then, a little more than a month ago, alone in my office, I opened
+the envelope."
+
+The Doctor leaned forward in his chair and shuffled the papers he held
+in his hand. His three friends sat tense, waiting.
+
+"The envelope contained these papers. Among them is a letter in which I
+am directed to explain everything to you as soon as I succeed in doing
+certain other things. Those things I have now accomplished. So I have
+sent for you. I'll read you the letter first."
+
+No one spoke when the Doctor paused. The Banker drew a long breath. Then
+he bit the end off a fresh cigar and lit it with a shaking hand. The
+Doctor shifted his chair closer to the table under the light.
+
+"The letter is dated September 14th, 1918. It begins: 'This will be read
+at 8 P. M. on September 4th, 1923, by Dr. Frank Adams with no one else
+present. If the envelope has been opened by him previous to that date I
+request him to read no further. If it has fallen into other hands than
+his I can only hope that the reader will immediately destroy it
+unread.'" The Doctor paused an instant, then went on.
+
+"Gentlemen, we are approaching the most important events of our lives.
+An extraordinary duty--a tremendous responsibility, rests with us, of
+all the millions of people on this earth. I ask that you listen most
+carefully."
+
+His admonition was quite unnecessary, for no one could have been more
+intent than the three men silently facing him.
+
+The Doctor continued reading: "'From Dr. Frank Adams, I exact the
+following oath, before he reads further. You, Dr. Adams, will divulge to
+no one, for a period of thirty days, the formulas set down in these
+papers; you will follow implicitly the directions given you; you will do
+nothing that is not expressly stated here. Should you be unable to carry
+out these directions, you will destroy this letter and the formulas, and
+tell no one of their ever having been in existence. I must have your
+oath, Dr. Adams, before you proceed further.'"
+
+The Doctor's voice died away, and he laid the papers on the table.
+
+"Gentlemen," he went on, "later on in the letter I am directed to
+consult with you three, setting before you this whole matter. But before
+I do so I must exact a similar oath from each of you. I must have your
+word of honor, gentlemen, that you will not attempt to transgress the
+instructions given us, and that you will never, by word or action, allow
+a suggestion of what passes between us here in this room to-night, to
+reach any other person. Have I your promise?"
+
+Each of his three hearers found voice to agree. The Banker's face was
+very red, and he mopped his forehead nervously with his handkerchief.
+
+The Doctor picked up the papers. "The letter goes on: 'I am about to
+venture back into the unknown world of the ring. What will befall me
+there I cannot foretell. If by September 4th, 1923, I have not returned,
+or no other mortal has come out of the ring, it is my desire that you
+and the three gentlemen with you at the time of my departure, use this
+discovery of mine for the benefit of humanity in your world, or the
+world in the ring, exactly as I myself would have used it were I there.
+
+"'Should the European war be in progress at that time, I direct that you
+four throw your power on the side of the United States for the defeat of
+the Central Powers. That you will be able to accomplish that defeat I
+cannot doubt.
+
+"'If, on September 4th, 1923, the United States is formally at peace
+with the powers of the world, you are forbidden to use these chemicals
+for any purpose other than joining me in the world of the ring. If any
+among you wish to make the venture, which I hope may be the case, I
+request that you do so.
+
+"'Among these pages you will find a list of fourteen chemicals to be
+used by Dr. Frank Adams during the month following September 4, 1923,
+for the compounding of my powders. Seven of these chemicals (marked A),
+are employed in the drug used to diminish bodily size. Those seven
+marked B are for the drug of opposite action.
+
+"'You will find here a separate description of each chemical. Nine are
+well known and fairly common. Dr. Adams will be able to purchase each of
+them separately without difficulty. Three others will have to be
+especially compounded and I have so stated in the directions for each of
+them. Dr. Adams can have them prepared by any large chemical
+manufacturer; I suggest that he have not more than one of them
+compounded by the same company.
+
+"'The two remaining chemicals must be prepared by Dr. Adams personally.
+Their preparation, while intricate, demands no complicated or extensive
+apparatus. I have tried to explain thoroughly the making of these two
+chemicals, and I believe no insurmountable obstacle will be met in
+completing them.
+
+"'When Dr. Adams has the specified quantities of each of these fourteen
+chemicals in his possession, he will proceed according to my further
+directions to compound the two drugs. If he is successful in making
+these drugs, I direct that he make known to the three other men referred
+to, the contents of this letter, after first exacting an oath from each
+that its provisions will be carried out.
+
+"'I think it probable that Dr. Adams will succeed in compounding these
+two drugs. It also seems probable that at that time the United States no
+longer will be at war. I make the additional assumption that one or more
+of you gentlemen will desire to join me in the ring. Therefore, you will
+find herewith memoranda of my first journey into the ring which I have
+already described to you; I give also the quantities of each drug to be
+taken at various stages of the trip. These notes will refresh your
+memory and will assist you in your journey.
+
+"'I intend to suggest to Dr. Adams to-day when I hand him this letter,
+that in the event of my failure to return within a week, he make some
+adequate provision for guarding the ring in safety. And I must caution
+you now, before starting to join me, if you conclude to do so, that you
+continue this provision, so as to make possible your safe return to your
+own world.
+
+"'If our country is at war at the time you read this, your duty is
+plain. I have no fears regarding your course of action. But if not, I do
+not care to influence unduly your decision about venturing into this
+unknown other world. The danger into which I personally may have fallen
+must count for little with you, in a decision to hazard your own lives.
+I may point out, however, that such a journey successfully accomplished
+cannot fail but be the greatest contribution to science that has ever
+been made. Nor can I doubt but that your coming may prove of tremendous
+benefit to the humanity of this other equally important, though, in our
+eyes, infinitesimal world.
+
+"'I therefore suggest, gentlemen, that you start your journey into the
+ring at 8 P. M. on the evening of November 4, 1923. You will do your
+best to find your way direct to the city of Arite, where, if I am alive,
+I will be awaiting you.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+TESTING THE DRUGS
+
+
+The Doctor laid his papers on the table and looked up into the white
+faces of the three men facing him. "That's all, gentlemen," he said.
+
+For a moment no one spoke, and on the face of each was plainly written
+the evidence of an emotion too deep for words. The Doctor sorted out the
+papers in silence, glanced over them for a moment, and then reached for
+a large metal ash tray that stood near him on the table. Taking a match
+from his pocket he calmly lighted a corner of the papers and dropped
+them burning into the metal bowl. His friends watched him in awed
+silence; only the Very Young Man found words to protest.
+
+"Say now, wait," he began, "why----"
+
+The Doctor looked at him. "The letter requests me to do that," he said.
+
+"But I say, the formulas----" persisted the Very Young Man, looking
+wildly at the burning papers.
+
+The Doctor held up one of the white tin boxes lying on the arm of his
+chair.
+
+"In these tins," he said, "I have vials containing the specified
+quantity of each drug. It is ample for our purpose. I have done my best
+to memorize the formulas. But in any event, I was directed to burn them
+at the time of reading you the letter. I have done so."
+
+The Big Business Man came out of a brown study.
+
+"Just three weeks from to-night," he murmured, "three weeks from
+to-night. It's too big to realize."
+
+The Doctor put the two boxes on the table, turned his chair back toward
+the others, and lighted a cigar.
+
+"Gentlemen, let us go over this matter thoroughly," he began. "We have a
+momentous decision to make. Either we destroy those boxes and their
+contents, or three weeks from to-night some or all of us start our
+journey into the ring. I have had a month to think this matter over; I
+have made my decision.
+
+"I know there is much for you to consider, before you can each of you
+choose your course of action. It is not my desire or intention to
+influence you one way or the other. But we can, if you wish, discuss the
+matter here to-night; or we can wait, if you prefer, until each of you
+has had time to think it out for himself."
+
+"I'm going," the Very Young Man burst out.
+
+His hands were gripping the arms of his chair tightly; his face was very
+pale, but his eyes sparkled.
+
+The Doctor turned to him gravely.
+
+"Your life is at stake, my boy," he said, "this is not a matter for
+impulse."
+
+"I'm going whether any one else does or not," persisted the Very Young
+Man. "You can't stop me, either," he added doggedly. "That letter
+said----"
+
+The Doctor smiled at the youth's earnestness. Then abruptly he held out
+his hand.
+
+"There is no use my holding back my own decision. I am going to attempt
+the trip. And since, as you say, I cannot stop you from going," he added
+with a twinkle, "that makes two of us."
+
+They shook hands. The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette, and began
+pacing up and down the room, staring hard at the floor.
+
+"I can remember trying to imagine how I would feel," began the Big
+Business Man slowly, "if Rogers had asked me to go with him when he
+first went into the ring. It is not a new idea to me, for I have thought
+about it many times in the abstract, during the past five years. But now
+that I am face to face with it in reality, it sort of----" He broke off,
+and smiled helplessly around at his companions.
+
+The Very Young Man stopped in his walk. "Aw, come on in," he began,
+"the----"
+
+"Shut up," growled the Banker, speaking for the first time in many
+minutes.
+
+"I'm sure we would all like to go," said the Doctor. "The point is,
+which of us are best fitted for the trip."
+
+"None of us are married," put in the Very Young Man.
+
+"I've been thinking----" began the Banker. "Suppose we get into the
+ring--how long would we be gone, do you suppose?"
+
+"Who can say?" answered the Doctor smiling. "Perhaps a month--a
+year--many years possibly. That is one of the hazards of the venture."
+
+The Banker went on thoughtfully. "Do you remember that argument we had
+with Rogers about time? Time goes twice as fast, didn't he say, in that
+other world?"
+
+"Two and a half times faster, if I remember rightly, he estimated,"
+replied the Doctor.
+
+The Banker looked at his skinny hands a moment. "I owned up to
+sixty-four once," he said quizzically. "Two years and a half in one
+year. No, I guess I'll let you young fellows tackle that; I'll stay here
+in this world where things don't move so fast."
+
+"Somebody's got to stay," said the Very Young Man. "By golly, you know
+if we're all going into that ring it would be pretty sad to have
+anything happen to it while we were gone."
+
+"That's so," said the Banker, looking relieved. "I never thought of
+that."
+
+"One of us should stay at least," said the Doctor. "We cannot take any
+outsider into our confidence. One of us must watch the others go, and
+then take the ring back to its place in the Museum. We will be gone too
+long a time for one person to watch it here."
+
+The Very Young Man suddenly went to one of the doors and locked it.
+
+"We don't want any one coming in," he explained as he crossed the room
+and locked the others.
+
+"And another thing," he went on, coming back to the table. "When I saw
+the ring at the Biological Society the other day, I happened to think,
+suppose Rogers was to come out on the underneath side? It was lying
+flat, you know, just as it is now." He pointed to where the ring lay on
+the handkerchief before them. "I meant to speak to you about it," he
+added.
+
+"I thought of that," said the Doctor. "When I had that case built to
+bring the ring here, you notice I raised it above the bottom a little,
+holding it suspended in that wire frame."
+
+"We'd better fix up something like that at the Museum, too," said the
+Very Young Man, and went back to his walk.
+
+The Big Business Man had been busily jotting down figures on the back of
+an envelope. "I can be in shape to go in three weeks," he said suddenly.
+
+"Bully for you," said the Very Young Man. "Then it's all settled." The
+Big Business Man went back to his notes.
+
+"I knew what your answer would be," said the Doctor. "My patients can go
+to the devil. This is too big a thing."
+
+The Very Young Man picked up one of the tin boxes. "Tell us how you made
+the powders," he suggested.
+
+The Doctor took the two boxes and opened them. Inside each were a number
+of tiny glass vials. Those in one box were of blue glass; those in the
+other were red.
+
+"These vials," said the Doctor, "contain tiny pellets of the completed
+drug. That for diminishing size I have put in the red vials; those of
+blue are the other drug.
+
+"I had rather a difficult time making them--that is, compared to what I
+anticipated. Most of the chemicals I bought without difficulty. But when
+I came to compound those two myself"--the Doctor smiled--"I used to
+think I was a fair chemist in my student days. But now--well, at least I
+got the results, but only because I have been working almost night and
+day for the past month. And I found myself with a remarkably complete
+experimental laboratory when I finished," he added. "That was yesterday;
+I spent nearly all last night destroying the apparatus, as soon as I
+found that the drugs had been properly made."
+
+"They do work?" said the Very Young Man anxiously.
+
+"They work," answered the Doctor. "I tried them both very carefully."
+
+"On yourself?" said the Big Business Man.
+
+"No, I didn't think that necessary. I used several insects."
+
+"Let's try them now," suggested the Very Young Man eagerly.
+
+"Not the big one," said the Banker. "Once was enough for that."
+
+"All right," the Doctor laughed. "We'll try the other if you like."
+
+The Big Business Man looked around the room. "There's a few flies around
+here if we can catch one," he suggested.
+
+"I'll bet there's a cockroach in the kitchen," said the Very Young Man,
+jumping up.
+
+The Doctor took a brass check from his pocket. "I thought probably you'd
+want to try them out. Will you get that box from the check-room?" He
+handed the check to the Very Young Man, who hurried out of the room. He
+returned in a moment, gingerly carrying a cardboard box with holes
+perforated in the top. The Doctor took the box and lifted the lid
+carefully. Inside, the box was partitioned into two compartments. In one
+compartment were three little lizards about four inches long; in the
+other were two brown sparrows. The Doctor took out one of the sparrows
+and replaced the cover.
+
+"Fine," said the Very Young Man with enthusiasm.
+
+The Doctor reached for the boxes of chemicals.
+
+"Not the big one," said the Banker again, apprehensively.
+
+"Hold him, will you," the Doctor said.
+
+The Very Young Man took the sparrow in his hands.
+
+"Now," continued the Doctor, "what we need is a plate and a little
+water."
+
+"There's a tray," said the Very Young Man, pointing with his hands
+holding the sparrow.
+
+The Doctor took a spoon from the tray and put a little water in it. Then
+he took one of the tiny pellets from a red vial and crushing it in his
+fingers, sprinkled a few grains into that water.
+
+"Hold that a moment, please." The Big Business Man took the proffered
+spoon.
+
+Then the Doctor produced from his pocket a magnifying glass and a tiny
+pair of silver callipers such as are used by jewelers for handling small
+objects.
+
+"What's the idea?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.
+
+"I thought I'd try and put him on the ring," explained the Doctor. "Now,
+then hold open his beak."
+
+The Very Young Man did so, and the Doctor poured the water down the
+bird's throat. Most of it spilled; the sparrow twisted its head
+violently, but evidently some of the liquid had gone down the bird's
+throat.
+
+Silence followed, broken after a moment by the scared voice of the Very
+Young Man. "He's getting smaller, I can feel him. He's getting smaller."
+
+"Hold on to him," cautioned the Doctor. "Bring him over here." They went
+over to the table by the ring, the Banker and the Big Business Man
+standing close beside them.
+
+"Suppose he tries to fly when we let go of him," suggested the Very
+Young Man almost in a whisper.
+
+"He'll probably be too confused," answered the Doctor. "Have you got
+him?" The sparrow was hardly bigger than a large horse-fly now, and the
+Very Young Man was holding it between his thumb and forefinger.
+
+"Better give him to me," said the Doctor. "Set him down."
+
+"He might fly away," remonstrated the Very Young Man.
+
+"No, he won't."
+
+The Very Young Man put the sparrow on the handkerchief beside the ring
+and the Doctor immediately picked it up with the callipers.
+
+"Don't squeeze him," cautioned the Very Young Man.
+
+The sparrow grew steadily smaller, and in a moment the Doctor set it
+carefully on the rim of the ring.
+
+"Get him up by the scratch," whispered the Very Young Man.
+
+The men bent closer over the table, as the Doctor looking through his
+magnifying glass shoved the sparrow slowly along the top of the ring.
+
+"I can't see him," said the Banker.
+
+"I can," said the Very Young Man, "right by the scratch." Then after a
+moment, "he's gone."
+
+"I've got him right over the scratch," said the Doctor, leaning farther
+down. Then he raised his head and laid the magnifying glass and the
+callipers on the table. "He's gone now."
+
+"Gosh," said the Very Young Man, drawing a long breath.
+
+The Banker flung himself into a chair as though exhausted from a great
+physical effort.
+
+"Well, it certainly does work," said the Big Business Man, "there's no
+question about that."
+
+The Very Young Man was shaking the cardboard box in his hands and
+lifting its cover cautiously to see inside. "Let's try a lizard," he
+suggested.
+
+"Oh, what's the use," the Banker protested wearily, "we know it works."
+
+"Well, it can't hurt anything to try it, can it?" the Very Young Man
+urged. "Besides, the more we try it, the more sure we are it will work
+with us when the time comes. You don't want to try it on yourself, now,
+do you?" he added with a grin.
+
+"No, thank you," retorted the Banker with emphasis.
+
+"I think we might as well try it again," said the Big Business Man.
+
+The Very Young Man took one of the tiny lizards from the box, and in a
+moment they had dropped some water containing the drug down its throat.
+"Try to put him on the scratch, too," said the Very Young Man.
+
+When the lizard was small enough the Doctor held it with the callipers
+and then laid it on the ring.
+
+"Look at him walk; look at him walk," whispered the Very Young Man
+excitedly. The lizard, hardly more than an eighth of an inch long now,
+but still plainly visible, was wriggling along the top of the ring.
+"Shove him up by the scratch," he added.
+
+In a moment more the reptile was too small for any but the Doctor with
+his glass to see. "I guess he got there," he said finally with a smile,
+as he straightened up. "He was going fast."
+
+"Well, _that's_ all right," said the Very Young Man with a sigh of
+relief.
+
+The four men again seated themselves; the Big Business Man went back to
+his figures.
+
+"When do you start?" asked the Banker after a moment.
+
+"November 4th--8 P. M.," answered the Doctor. "Three weeks from
+to-night."
+
+"We've a lot to do," said the Banker.
+
+"What will this cost, do you figure?" asked the Big Business Man,
+looking up from his notes.
+
+The Doctor considered a moment.
+
+"We can't take much with us, you know," he said slowly. Then he
+took a sheet of memoranda from his pockets. "I have already spent
+for apparatus and chemicals to prepare the drugs"--he consulted his
+figures--"seventeen hundred and forty dollars, total. What we have still
+to spend will be very little, I should think. I propose we divide it
+three ways as we have been doing with the Museum?"
+
+"Four ways," said the Very Young Man. "I'm no kid any more. I got a good
+job--that is," he added with a rueful air, "I had a good job. To-morrow
+I quit."
+
+"Four ways," the Doctor corrected himself gravely. "I guess we can
+manage that."
+
+"What can we take with us, do you think?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"I think we should try strapping a belt around our waists, with pouches
+in it," said the Doctor. "I doubt if it would contract with our bodies,
+but still it might. If it didn't there would be no harm done; we could
+leave it behind."
+
+"You want food and water," said the Banker. "Remember that barren
+country you are going through."
+
+"And something on our feet," the Big Business Man put in.
+
+"I'd like to take a revolver, too," said the Very Young Man. "It might
+come in awful handy."
+
+"As I remember Rogers's description," said the Doctor thoughtfully, "the
+trip out is more difficult than going down. We mustn't overlook
+preparations for that; it is most imperative we should be careful."
+
+"Say, talking about getting back," burst out the Very Young Man. "I'd
+like to see that other drug work first. It would be pretty rotten to get
+in there and have it go back on us, wouldn't it? Oh, golly!" The Very
+Young Man sank back in his chair overcome by the picture he had conjured
+up.
+
+"I tried it," said the Doctor. "It works."
+
+"I'd like to see it again with something different," said the Big
+Business Man. "It can't do any harm." The Banker looked his protest, but
+said nothing.
+
+"What shall we try, a lizard?" suggested the Very Young Man. The Doctor
+shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"What'll we kill it with? Oh, I know." The Very Young Man picked up a
+heavy metal paper-weight from the desk. "This'll do the trick, fine," he
+added.
+
+Then, laying the paper-weight carefully aside, he dipped up a spoonful
+of water and offered it to the Doctor.
+
+"Not that water this time," said the Doctor, shaking his head with a
+smile.
+
+The Very Young Man looked blank.
+
+"Organisms in it," the Doctor explained briefly. "All right for them to
+get small from the other chemical, but we don't want them to get large
+and come out at us, do we?"
+
+"Holy Smoke, I should say not," said the Very Young Man, gasping; and
+the Banker growled:
+
+"Something's going to happen to us, playing with fire like this."
+
+The Doctor produced a little bottle. "I boiled this water," he said. "We
+can use this."
+
+It took but a moment to give the other drug to one of the remaining
+lizards, although they spilled more of the water than went down its
+throat.
+
+"Don't forget to hit him, and don't you wait very long," said the Banker
+warningly, moving nearer the door.
+
+"Oh, I'll hit him all right, don't worry," said the Very Young Man,
+brandishing the paper-weight.
+
+The Doctor knelt down, and held the reptile pinned to the floor; the
+Very Young Man knelt beside him. Slowly the lizard began to increase in
+size.
+
+"He's growing," said the Banker. "Hit him, boy, what's the use of
+waiting; he's growing."
+
+The lizard was nearly a foot long now, and struggling violently between
+the Doctor's fingers.
+
+"You'd better kill him," said the Doctor, "he might get away from me."
+The Very Young Man obediently brought his weapon down with a thump upon
+the reptile's head.
+
+"Keep on," said the Banker. "Be sure he's dead."
+
+The Very Young Man pounded the quivering body for a moment. The Big
+Business Man handed him a napkin from the tray and the Very Young Man
+wrapped up the lizard and threw it into the waste-basket.
+
+Then he rose to his feet and tossed the paper-weight on to the desk with
+a crash.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he said, turning back to them with flushed face,
+"those drugs sure do work. We're going into the ring all right, three
+weeks from to-night, and nothing on earth can stop us."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE ESCAPE OF THE DRUG
+
+
+For the next hour the four friends busily planned their preparations for
+the journey. When they began to discuss the details of the trip, and
+found themselves face to face with so hazardous an adventure, each
+discovered a hundred things in his private life that needed attention.
+
+The Doctor's phrase, "My patients can go to the devil," seemed to
+relieve his mind of all further responsibility towards his personal
+affairs.
+
+"That's all very well for you," said the Big Business Man, "I've too
+many irons in the fire just to drop everything--there are too many other
+people concerned. And I've got to plan as though I were never coming
+back, you know."
+
+"Your troubles are easy," said the Very Young Man. "I've got a girl. I
+wonder what she'll say. Oh, gosh, I can't tell her where I'm going, can
+I? I never thought of that." He scratched his head with a perplexed air.
+"That's tough on her. Well, I'm glad I'm an orphan, anyway."
+
+The actual necessities of the trip needed a little discussion, for what
+they could take with them amounted to practically nothing.
+
+"As I understand it," said the Banker, "all I have to do is watch you
+start, and then take the ring back to the Museum."
+
+"Take it carefully," continued the Very Young Man. "Remember what it's
+got in it."
+
+"You will give us about two hours to get well started down," said the
+Doctor. "After that it will be quite safe to move the ring. You can take
+it back to the Society in that case I brought it here in."
+
+"Be sure you take it yourself," put in the Very Young Man. "Don't trust
+it to anybody else. And how about having that wire rack fixed for it at
+the Museum," he added. "Don't forget that."
+
+"I'll have that done myself this week," said the Doctor.
+
+They had been talking for perhaps an hour when the Banker got up from
+his chair to get a fresh cigar from a box that lay upon the desk. He
+happened to glance across the room and on the floor in the corner by the
+closed door he saw a long, flat object that had not been there before.
+It was out of the circle of light and being brown against the polished
+hardwood floor, he could not make it out clearly. But something about it
+frightened him.
+
+"What's that over there?" he asked, standing still and pointing.
+
+The Big Business Man rose from his seat and took a few steps in the
+direction of the Banker's outstretched hand. Then with a muttered oath
+he jumped to the desk in a panic and picking up the heavy paper-weight
+flung it violently across the room. It struck the panelled wall with a
+crash and bounded back towards him. At the same instant there came a
+scuttling sound from the floor, and a brown shape slid down the edge of
+the room and stopped in the other corner.
+
+All four men were on their feet in an instant, white-faced and
+trembling.
+
+"Good God," said the Big Business Man huskily, "that thing over
+there--that----"
+
+"Turn on the side lights--the side lights!" shouted the Doctor, running
+across the room.
+
+In the glare of the unshaded globes on the wall the room was brightly
+lighted. On the floor in the corner the horrified men saw a cockroach
+nearly eighteen inches in length, with its head facing the angle of
+wall, and scratching with its legs against the base board as though
+about to climb up. For a moment the men stood silent with surprise and
+terror. Then, as they stared they saw the cockroach was getting larger.
+The Big Business Man laid his hand on the Doctor's arm with a grip that
+made the Doctor wince.
+
+"Good God, man, look at it--it's growing," he said in a voice hardly
+above a whisper.
+
+"It's growing," echoed the Very Young Man; "_it's growing_!"
+
+And then the truth dawned upon them, and brought with it confusion,
+almost panic. The cockroach, fully two feet long now, had raised the
+front end of its body a foot above the floor, and was reaching up the
+wall with its legs.
+
+The Banker made a dash for the opposite door. "Let's get out of here.
+Come on!" he shouted.
+
+The Doctor stopped him. Of the four men, he was the only one who had
+retained his self-possession.
+
+"Listen to me," he said. His voice trembled a little in spite of his
+efforts to control it. "Listen to me. That--that--thing cannot harm us
+yet." He looked from one to the other of them and spoke swiftly. "It's
+gruesome and--and loathsome, but it is not dangerous--yet. But we cannot
+run from it. We must kill it--here, now, before it gets any larger."
+
+The Banker tore himself loose and started again towards the door.
+
+"You fool!" said the Doctor, with a withering look. "Don't you see, it's
+life or death later. That--that thing will be as big as this house in
+half an hour. Don't you know that? As big as this house. We've got to
+kill it now--now."
+
+The Big Business Man ran towards the paper-weight. "I'll hit it with
+this," he said.
+
+"You can't," said the Doctor, "you might miss. We haven't time. Look at
+it," he added.
+
+The cockroach was noticeably larger now--considerably over two feet; it
+had turned away from the wall to face them.
+
+The Very Young Man had said nothing; only stood and stared with
+bloodless face and wide-open eyes. Then suddenly he stooped, and picking
+up a small rug from the floor--a rug some six feet long and half as
+wide--advanced slowly towards the cockroach.
+
+"That's the idea," encouraged the Doctor. "Get it under that. Here, give
+me part of it." He grasped a corner of the rug. "You two go up the other
+sides"--he pointed with his free hand--"and head it off if it runs."
+
+Slowly the four men crept forward. The cockroach, three feet long now,
+was a hideous, horrible object as it stood backed into the corner of the
+room, the front part of its body swaying slowly from side to side.
+
+"We'd better make a dash for it," whispered the Very Young Man; and
+jerking the rug loose from the Doctor's grasp, he leaped forward and
+flung himself headlong upon the floor, with the rug completely under
+him.
+
+"I've got the damned thing. I've got it!" he shouted. "Help--you. Help!"
+
+The three men leaped with him upon the rug, holding it pinned to the
+floor. The Very Young Man, as he lay, could feel the curve of the great
+body underneath, and could hear the scratch of its many legs upon the
+floor.
+
+"Hold down the edges of the rug!" he cried. "Don't let it out. Don't let
+it get out. I'll smash it." He raised himself on his hands and knees,
+and came down heavily. The rug gave under his thrust as the insect
+flattened out; then they could hear again the muffled scratching of its
+legs upon the floor as it raised the rug up under the Very Young Man's
+weight.
+
+"We can't kill it," panted the Big Business Man. "Oh, we can't kill it.
+Good God, how big it is!"
+
+The Very Young Man got to his feet and stood on the bulge of the rug.
+Then he jumped into the air and landed solidly on his heels. There was a
+sharp crack as the shell of the insect broke under the sharpness of his
+blow.
+
+"That did it; that'll do it!" he shouted. Then he leaped again.
+
+"Let me," said the Big Business Man. "I'm heavier"; and he, too, stamped
+upon the rug with his heels.
+
+They could hear the huge shell of the insect's back smash under his
+weight, and when he jumped again, the squash of its body as he mashed it
+down.
+
+"Wait," said the Doctor. "We've killed it."
+
+They eased upon the rug a little, but there was no movement from
+beneath.
+
+"Jump on it harder," said the Very Young Man. "Don't let's take a
+chance. Mash it good."
+
+The Big Business Man continued stamping violently upon the rug; joined
+now by the Very Young Man. The Doctor sat on the floor beside it,
+breathing heavily; the Banker lay in a heap at its foot in utter
+collapse.
+
+As they stamped, the rug continued to flatten down; it sank under their
+tread with a horrible, sickening, squashing sound.
+
+"Let's look," suggested the Very Young Man. "It must be dead"; and he
+threw back a corner of the rug. The men turned sick and faint at what
+they saw.
+
+Underneath the rug, mashed against the floor, lay a great, noisome,
+semi-liquid mass of brown and white. It covered nearly the entire
+under-surface of the rug--a hundred pounds, perhaps, of loathsome pulp
+and shell, from which a stench arose that stopped their breathing.
+
+With a muttered imprecation the Doctor flung back the rug to cover it,
+and sprang to his feet, steadying himself against a chair.
+
+"We killed it in time, thank God," he murmured and dropped into the
+chair, burying his face in his hands.
+
+For a time silence fell upon the room, broken only by the labored
+breathing of the four men. Then the Big Business Man sat up suddenly.
+"Oh, my God, what an experience!" he groaned, and got unsteadily to his
+feet.
+
+The Very Young Man helped the Banker up and led him to a seat by the
+window, which he opened, letting in the fresh, cool air of the night.
+
+"How did the drug get loose, do you suppose?" asked the Very Young Man,
+coming back to the center of the room. He had recovered his composure
+somewhat, though he was still very pale. He lighted a cigarette and sat
+down beside the Doctor.
+
+The Doctor raised his head wearily. "I suppose we must have spilled some
+of it on the floor," he said, "and the cockroach----" He stopped
+abruptly and sprang to his feet.
+
+"Good God!" he cried. "Suppose another one----"
+
+On the bare floor beside the table they came upon a few drops of water.
+
+"That must be it," said the Doctor. He pulled his handkerchief from his
+pocket; then he stopped in thought. "No, that won't do. What shall we do
+with it?" he added. "We must destroy it absolutely. Good Lord, if that
+drug ever gets loose upon the world----"
+
+The Big Business Man joined them.
+
+"We must destroy it absolutely," repeated the Doctor. "We can't just
+wipe it up."
+
+"Some acid," suggested the Big Business Man.
+
+"Suppose something else has got at it already," the Very Young Man said
+in a scared voice, and began hastily looking around the floor of the
+room.
+
+"You're right," agreed the Doctor. "We mustn't take any chance; we must
+look thoroughly."
+
+Joined by the Banker, the four men began carefully going over the room.
+
+"You'd better watch that nothing gets at it," the Very Young Man thought
+suddenly to say. The Banker obediently sat down by the little pool of
+water on the floor.
+
+"And I'll close the window," added the Very Young Man; "something might
+get out."
+
+They searched the room thoroughly, carefully scanning its walls and
+ceiling, but could see nothing out of the ordinary.
+
+"We'll never be quite sure," said the Doctor finally, "but I guess we're
+safe. It's the best we can do now, at any rate."
+
+He joined the Banker by the table. "I'll get some nitric acid," he
+added. "I don't know what else----"
+
+"We'll have to get that out of here, too," said the Big Business Man,
+pointing to the rug. "God knows how we'll explain it."
+
+The Doctor picked up one of the tin boxes of drugs and held it in his
+hand meditatively. Then he looked over towards the rug. From under one
+side a brownish liquid was oozing; the Doctor shuddered.
+
+"My friends," he said, holding up the box before them, "we can realize
+now something of the terrible power we have created and imprisoned here.
+We must guard it carefully, gentlemen, for if it escapes--it will
+destroy the world."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE START
+
+
+On the evening of November 4th, 1923, the four friends again assembled
+at the Scientific Club for the start of their momentous adventure. The
+Doctor was the last to arrive, and found the other three anxiously
+awaiting him. He brought with him the valise containing the ring and a
+suitcase with the drugs and equipment necessary for the journey. He
+greeted his friends gravely.
+
+"The time has come, gentlemen," he said, putting the suitcase on the
+table.
+
+The Big Business Man took out the ring and held it in his hand
+thoughtfully.
+
+"The scene of our new life," he said with emotion. "What does it hold in
+store for us?"
+
+"What time is it?" asked the Very Young Man. "We've got to hurry. We
+want to get started on time--we mustn't be late."
+
+"Everything's ready, isn't it?" asked the Banker. "Who has the belts?"
+
+"They're in my suitcase," answered the Very Young Man. "There it is."
+
+The Doctor laid the ring and handkerchief on the floor under the light
+and began unpacking from his bag the drugs and the few small articles
+they had decided to try and take with them. "You have the food and
+water," he said.
+
+The Big Business Man produced three small flasks of water and six flat,
+square tins containing compressed food. The Very Young Man opened one of
+them. "Chocolate soldiers we are," he said, and laughed.
+
+The Banker was visibly nervous and just a little frightened. "Are you
+sure you haven't forgotten something?" he asked, quaveringly.
+
+"It wouldn't make a great deal of difference if we had," said the
+Doctor, with a smile. "The belts may not contract with us at all; we may
+have to leave them behind."
+
+"Rogers didn't take anything," put in the Very Young Man. "Come on;
+let's get undressed."
+
+The Banker locked the doors and sat down to watch the men make their
+last preparations. They spoke little while they were disrobing; the
+solemnity of what they were about to do both awed and frightened them.
+Only the Very Young Man seemed exhilarated by the excitement of the
+coming adventure.
+
+In a few moments the three men were dressed in their white woolen
+bathing suits. The Very Young Man was the first to be fully equipped.
+
+"I'm ready," he announced. "All but the chemicals. Where are they?"
+
+Around his waist he had strapped a broad cloth belt, with a number of
+pockets fastened to it. On his feet were felt-lined cloth shoes, with
+hard rubber soles; he wore a wrist watch. Under each armpit was fastened
+the pouch for carrying the drugs.
+
+"Left arm for red vials," said the Doctor. "Be sure of that--we mustn't
+get them mixed. Take two of each color." He handed the Very Young Man
+the tin boxes.
+
+All the men were ready in a moment more.
+
+"Five minutes of eight," said the Very Young Man, looking at his watch.
+"We're right on time; let's get started."
+
+The Banker stood up among them. "Tell me what I've got to do," he said
+helplessly. "You're going all but me; I'll be left behind alone."
+
+The Big Business Man laid his hand on the Banker's shoulder
+affectionately. "Don't look so sad, George," he said, with an attempt at
+levity. "We're not leaving you forever--we're coming back."
+
+The Banker pressed his friend's hand. His usual crusty manner was quite
+gone now; he seemed years older.
+
+The Doctor produced the same spoon he had used when the Chemist made his
+departure into the ring. "I've kept it all this time," he said, smiling.
+"Perhaps it will bring us luck." He handed it to the Banker.
+
+"What you have to do is this," he continued seriously. "We shall all
+take an equal amount of the drug at the same instant. I hope it will act
+upon each of us at the same rate, so that we may diminish uniformly in
+size, and thus keep together."
+
+"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man. "I never thought of that. Suppose it
+doesn't?"
+
+"Then we shall have to adjust the difference by taking other smaller
+amounts of the drug. But I think probably it will.
+
+"You must be ready," he went on to the Banker, "to help us on to the
+ring if necessary."
+
+"Or put us back if we fall off," said the Very Young Man. "I'm going to
+sit still until I'm pretty small. Gracious, it's going to feel funny."
+
+"After we have disappeared," continued the Doctor, "you will wait, say,
+until eleven o'clock. Watch the ring carefully--some of us may have to
+come back before that time. At eleven o'clock pack up everything"--he
+looked around the littered room with a smile--"and take the ring back to
+the Biological Society."
+
+"Keep your eye on it on the way back," warned the Very Young Man.
+"Suppose we decide to come out some time later to-night--you can't
+tell."
+
+"I'll watch it all night to-night, here and at the Museum," said the
+Banker, mopping his forehead.
+
+"Good scheme," said the Very Young Man approvingly. "Anything might
+happen."
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said the Doctor, "I believe we're all ready. Come on,
+Will."
+
+The Big Business Man was standing by the window, looking out intently.
+He evidently did not hear the remark addressed to him, for he paid no
+attention. The Doctor joined him.
+
+Through the window they could see the street below, crowded now with
+scurrying automobiles. The sidewalks were thronged with
+people--theater-goers, hurrying forward, seeking eagerly their evening's
+pleasure. It had been raining, and the wet pavements shone with long,
+blurred yellow glints from the thousands of lights above. Down the
+street they could see a huge blazing theater sign, with the name of a
+popular actress spelt in letters of fire.
+
+The Big Business Man threw up the window sash and took a deep breath of
+the moist, cool air of the night.
+
+"Good-by, old world," he murmured with emotion. "Shall I see you again,
+I wonder?" He stood a moment longer, silently staring at the scene
+before him. Then abruptly he closed the window, pulled down the shade,
+and turned back to the room.
+
+"Come on," said the Very Young Man impatiently. "It's five minutes after
+eight. Let's get started."
+
+"Just one thing before we start," said the Doctor, as they gathered in
+the center of the room. "We must understand, gentlemen, from the moment
+we first take the drug, until we reach our final smallest size, it is
+imperative, or at least highly desirable, that we keep together. We
+start by taking four of the pellets each, according to the memoranda
+Rogers left. By Jove!" he interrupted himself, "that's one thing
+important we did nearly forget."
+
+He went to his coat, and from his wallet took several typewritten sheets
+of paper.
+
+"I made three copies," he said, handing them to his companions. "Put
+them away carefully; the front pocket will be most convenient, probably.
+
+"It may not be hard for us to keep together," continued the Doctor. "On
+the other hand, we may find it extremely difficult, if not quite
+impossible. In the latter event we will meet at the city of Arite.
+
+"There are two things we must consider. First, we shall be constantly
+changing size with relation to our surroundings. In proportion to each
+other, we must remain normal in size if we can. Secondly we shall be
+traveling--changing position in our surroundings. So far as that aspect
+of the trip is concerned, it will not be more difficult for us to keep
+together, probably, than during any adventurous journey here in this
+world.
+
+"If through accident or any unforeseen circumstance we are separated in
+size, the one being smallest shall wait for the others. That can be
+accomplished by taking a very small quantity of the other drug--probably
+merely by touching one of the pellets to the tongue. Do I make myself
+clear?" His friends nodded assent.
+
+"If any great separation in relative size occurs," the Doctor went on,
+"a discrepancy sufficient to make the smallest of us invisible for a
+time to the others, then another problem presents itself. We must be
+very careful, in that event, not to change our position in space--not to
+keep on traveling, in other words--or else, when we become the same size
+once more, we will be out of sight of one another. Geographically
+separated, so to speak," the Doctor finished with a smile.
+
+"I am so explicit on this point of keeping together," he continued,
+"because--well, I personally do not want to undertake even part of this
+journey alone."
+
+"You're darn right--me neither," agreed the Very Young Man emphatically.
+"Let's get going."
+
+"I guess that's all," said the Doctor, with a last glance around, and
+finally facing the Banker. "Good-by, George."
+
+The Banker was quite overcome, and without a word he shook hands with
+each of his friends.
+
+The three men sat beside each other on the floor, close to the
+handkerchief and ring; the Banker sat in his chair on the other side,
+facing them, spoon in hand. In silence they each took four of the
+pellets. Then the Banker saw them close their eyes; he saw the Big
+Business Man put his hands suddenly on the floor as though to steady
+himself.
+
+The Banker gripped the arms of his chair firmly. He knew exactly what to
+expect, yet now when his friends began slowly to diminish in size he was
+filled with surprise and horror. For several minutes no one spoke. Then
+the Very Young Man opened his eyes, looked around dizzily for an
+instant, and began feeling with his hands the belt at his waist, his
+shoes, wrist-watch, and the pouches under his armpits.
+
+"It's all right," he said with an enthusiasm that contrasted strangely
+with the tremor in his voice. "The belt's getting smaller, too. We're
+going to be able to take everything with us."
+
+Again silence fell on the room, broken only by the sound of the three
+men on the floor continually shifting their positions as they grew
+smaller. In another moment the Doctor clambered unsteadily to his feet
+and, taking a step backward, leaned up against the cylindrical mahogany
+leg of the center-table, flinging his arms around it. His head did not
+reach the table-top.
+
+The Very Young Man and the Big Business Man were on their feet now, too,
+standing at the edge of the handkerchief, and clinging to one another
+for support. The Banker looked down at them and tried to smile. The Very
+Young Man waved his hand, and the Banker found voice to say: "Good-by,
+my boy."
+
+"Good-by, sir," echoed the Very Young Man. "We're making it."
+
+Steadily they grew smaller. By this time the Doctor had become far too
+small for his arms to encircle the leg of the table. The Banker looked
+down to the floor, and saw him standing beside the table leg, leaning
+one hand against it as one would lean against the great stone column of
+some huge building.
+
+"Good-by, Frank," said the Banker. But the Doctor did not answer; he
+seemed lost in thought.
+
+Several minutes more passed in silence. The three men had diminished in
+size now until they were not more than three inches high. Suddenly the
+Very Young Man let go of the Big Business Man's arm and looked around to
+where the Doctor was still leaning pensively against the table leg. The
+Banker saw him speak swiftly to the Big Business Man, but in so small a
+voice he could not catch the words. Then both little figures turned
+towards the table, and the Banker saw the Very Young Man put his hands
+to his mouth and shout. And upward to him came the shrillest, tiniest
+little voice he had ever heard, yet a voice still embodying the
+characteristic intonation of the Very Young Man.
+
+"Hey, Doctor!" came the words. "You'll never get here if you don't come
+now."
+
+The Doctor looked up abruptly; he evidently heard the words and realized
+his situation. (He was by this time not more than an inch and a half in
+height.) He hesitated only a moment, and then, as the other two little
+figures waved their arms wildly, he began running towards them. For more
+than a minute he ran. The Very Young Man started towards him, but the
+Doctor waved him back, redoubling his efforts.
+
+When he arrived at the edge of the handkerchief, evidently he was nearly
+winded, for he stopped beside his friends, and stood breathing heavily.
+The Banker leaned forwards, and could see the three little figures (they
+were not as big as the joint of his little finger) talking earnestly;
+the Very Young Man was gesticulating wildly, pointing towards the ring.
+One of them made a start, but the others called him back.
+
+Then they began waving their arms, and all at once the Banker realized
+they were waving at him. He leaned down, and by their motions knew that
+something was wrong--that they wanted him to do something.
+
+Trembling with fright, the Banker left his chair and knelt upon the
+floor. The Very Young Man made a funnel of his hands and shouted up:
+"It's too far away. We can't make it--we're too small!"
+
+The Banker looked his bewilderment. Then he thought suddenly of the
+spoon that he still held in his hand, and he put it down towards them.
+The three little figures ducked and scattered as the spoon in the
+Banker's trembling fingers neared them.
+
+"Not that--the ring. Bring it closer. Hurry--Hurry!" shouted the Very
+Young Man. The Banker, leaning closer, could just hear the words.
+Comprehending at last, he picked up the ring and laid it near the edge
+of the handkerchief. Immediately the little figures ran over to it and
+began climbing up.
+
+The Very Young Man was the first to reach it; the Banker could see him
+vault upwards and land astraddle upon its top. The Doctor was up in a
+moment more, and the two were reaching down their hands to help up the
+Big Business Man. The Banker slid the spoon carefully along the floor
+towards the ring, but the Big Business Man waved it away. The Banker
+laid the spoon aside, and when he looked at the ring again the Big
+Business Man was up beside his companions, standing upright with them
+upon the top of the ring.
+
+The Banker stared so long and intently, his vision blurred. He closed
+his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again the little figures
+on the top of the ring had disappeared.
+
+The Banker felt suddenly sick and faint in the closeness of the room.
+Rising to his feet, he hurried to a window and threw up the sash. A gust
+of rain and wind beat against his face as he stood leaning on the sill.
+He felt much better after a few moments; and remembering his friends, he
+closed the window and turned back towards the ring. At first he thought
+he could just make them out, but when he got down on the floor close
+beside the ring, he saw nothing.
+
+Almost unnerved, he sat down heavily upon the floor beside the
+handkerchief, leaning on one elbow. A corner of the handkerchief was
+turned back, and one side was ruffled where the wind from the opened
+window had blown it up. He smoothed out the handkerchief carefully.
+
+For some time the Banker sat quiet, reclining uncomfortably upon the
+hard floor. The room was very still--its silence oppressed him. He
+stared stolidly at the ring, his head in a turmoil. The ring looked
+oddly out of place, lying over near one edge of the handkerchief; he had
+always seen it in the center before. Abruptly he put out his hand and
+picked it up. Then remembrance of the Doctor's warning flooded over him.
+In sudden panic he put the ring down again, almost in the same place at
+the edge of the handkerchief.
+
+Trembling all over, he looked at his watch; it was a quarter to nine. He
+rose stiffly to his feet and sank into his chair. After a moment he
+lighted a cigar. The handkerchief lay at his feet; he could just see the
+ring over the edge of his knees. For a long time he sat staring.
+
+The striking of a church clock nearby roused him. He shook himself
+together and blinked at the empty room. In his hand he held an unlighted
+cigar; mechanically he raised it to his lips. The sound of the church
+bells died away; the silence of the room and the loneliness of it made
+him shiver. He looked at his watch again. Ten o'clock! Still another
+hour to wait and watch, and then he could take the ring back to the
+Museum. He glanced down at the ring; it was still lying by the edge of
+the handkerchief.
+
+Again the Banker fell into a stupor as he stared at the glistening gold
+band lying on the floor at his feet. How lonely he felt! Yet he was not
+alone, he told himself. His three friends were still there, hardly two
+feet from the toe of his shoe. He wondered how they were making out.
+Would they come back any moment? Would they ever come back?
+
+And then the Banker found himself worrying because the ring was not in
+the center of the handkerchief.
+
+He felt frightened, and he wondered why. Again he looked at his watch.
+They had been gone more than two hours now. Swiftly he stooped, and
+lifting the ring, gazed at it searchingly, holding it very close to his
+eyes. Then he carefully put it down in the center of the handkerchief,
+and lay back in his chair with a long sigh of relief. It was all right
+now; just a little while to wait, and then he could take it back to the
+Museum. In a moment his eyes blinked, closed, and soon he was fast
+asleep, lying sprawled out in the big leather chair and breathing
+heavily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+PERILOUS WAYS
+
+
+The Very Young Man sat on the floor, between his two friends at the edge
+of the handkerchief, and put the first pellets of the drug to his
+tongue. His heart was beating furiously; his forehead was damp with the
+sweat of excitement and of fear. The pellets tasted sweet, and yet a
+little acrid. He crushed them in his mouth and swallowed them hastily.
+
+In the silence of the room, the ticking of his watch suddenly sounded
+very loud. He raised his arm and looked at its face; it was just ten
+minutes past eight. He continued to stare at its dial, wondering why
+nothing was happening to him. Then all at once the figures on the watch
+became very sharp and vivid; he could see them with microscopic
+clearness. A buzzing sounded in his ears.
+
+He remembered having felt the same way just before he fainted. He drew a
+deep breath and looked around the room; it swam before his gaze. He
+closed his eyes and waited, wondering if he would faint. The buzzing in
+his head grew louder; a feeling of nausea possessed him.
+
+After a moment his head cleared; he felt better. Then all at once he
+realized that the floor upon which he sat was moving. It seemed to be
+shifting out from under him in all directions. He sat with his feet flat
+upon the floor, his knees drawn close against his chin. And the floor
+seemed to be carrying his feet farther out; he constantly had to be
+pulling them back against him. He put one hand down beside him, and
+could feel his fingers dragging very slowly as the polished surface
+moved past. The noise in his head was almost gone now. He opened his
+eyes.
+
+Before him, across the handkerchief the Banker sat in his chair. He had
+grown enormously in size, and as the Very Young Man looked he could see
+him and the chair growing steadily larger. He met the Banker's anxious
+glance, and smiled up at him. Then he looked at his two friends, sitting
+on the floor beside him. They alone, of everything within his range of
+vision, had grown no larger.
+
+The Very Young Man thought of the belt around his waist. He put his hand
+to it, and found it tight as before. So, after all, they would not have
+to leave anything behind, he thought.
+
+The Doctor rose to his feet and turned away, back under the huge table
+that loomed up behind him. The Very Young Man got up, too, and stood
+beside the Big Business Man, holding to him for support. His head felt
+strangely confused; his legs were weak and shaky.
+
+Steadily larger grew the room and everything in it. The Very Young Man
+turned his eyes up to the light high overhead. Its great electric bulbs
+dazzled him with their brilliancy; its powerful glare made objects
+around as bright as though in daylight. After a moment the Big Business
+Man's grip on his arm tightened.
+
+"God, it's weird!" he said in a tense whisper. "Look!"
+
+Before them spread a great, level, shining expanse of black, with the
+ring in its center--a huge golden circle. Beyond the farther edge of the
+black they could see the feet of the banker, and the lower part of his
+legs stretching into the air far above them.
+
+The Very Young Man looked up still higher, and saw the Banker staring
+down at him, "Good-by, my boy," said the Banker. His voice came from far
+away in a great roar to the Very Young Man's ears.
+
+"Good-by, sir," said the Very Young Man, and waved his hand.
+
+Several minutes passed, and still the Very Young Man stood holding to
+his companion, and watching the expanse of handkerchief widening out and
+the gleaming ring growing larger. Then he thought of the Doctor, and
+turned suddenly to look behind him. Across the wide, glistening surface
+of the floor stood the Doctor, leaning against the tremendous column
+that the Very Young Man knew was the leg of the center-table. And as the
+Very Young Man stood staring, he could see this distance between them
+growing steadily greater. A sudden fear possessed him, and he shouted to
+his friend.
+
+"Good Lord, suppose he can't make it!" said the Big Business Man
+fearfully.
+
+"He's coming," answered the Very Young Man. "He's got to make it."
+
+The Doctor was running towards them now, and in a few moments he was
+beside them, breathing heavily.
+
+"Close call, Frank," said the Big Business Man, shaking his head. "You
+were the one said we must keep together." The Doctor was too much out of
+breath to answer.
+
+"This is worse," said the Very Young Man. "Look where the ring is."
+
+More than two hundred yards away across the black expanse of silk
+handkerchief lay the ring.
+
+"It's almost as high as our waist now, and look how far it is!" added
+the Very Young Man excitedly.
+
+"It's getting farther every minute," said the Big Business Man. "Come
+on," and he started to run towards the ring.
+
+"I can't make it. It's too far!" shouted the Doctor after him.
+
+The Big Business Man stopped short. "What'll we do?" he asked. "We've
+got to get there."
+
+"That ring will be a mile away in a few minutes, at the rate it's
+going," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"We'll have to get him to move it over here," decided the Doctor,
+looking up into the air, and pointing.
+
+"Gee, I never thought of that!" said the Very Young Man. "Oh, great
+Scott, look at him!"
+
+Out across the broad expanse of handkerchief they could see the huge
+white face of their friend looming four or five hundred feet in the air
+above them. It was the most astounding sight their eyes had ever beheld;
+yet so confused were they by the flood of new impressions to which they
+were being subjected that this colossal figure added little to their
+surprise.
+
+"We must make him move the ring over here," repeated the Doctor.
+
+"You'll never make him hear you," said the Big Business Man, as the Very
+Young Man began shouting at the top of his voice.
+
+"We've got to," said the Very Young Man breathlessly. "Look at that
+ring. We can't get to it now. We're stranded here. Good Lord! What's the
+matter with him--can't he see us?" he added, and began shouting again.
+
+"He's getting up," said the Doctor. They could see the figure of the
+Banker towering in the air a thousand feet above the ring, and then with
+a swoop of his enormous face come down to them as he knelt upon the
+floor.
+
+With his hands to his mouth, the Very Young Man shouted up: "It's too
+far away. We can't make it--we're too small." They waited. Suddenly,
+without warning, a great wooden oval bowl fifteen or twenty feet across
+came at them with tremendous speed. They scattered hastily in terror.
+
+"Not that--the ring!" shouted the Very Young Man, as he realized it was
+the spoon in the Banker's hand that had frightened them.
+
+A moment more and the ring was before them, lying at the edge of the
+handkerchief--a circular pit of rough yellow rock breast high. They ran
+over to it and climbed upon its top.
+
+Another minute and the ring had grown until its top became a narrow
+curving path upon which they could stand. They got upon their feet and
+looked around curiously.
+
+"Well, we're here," remarked the Very Young Man. "Everything's O.K. so
+far. Let's get right around after that scratch."
+
+"Keep together," cautioned the Doctor, and they started off along the
+path, following its inner edge.
+
+As they progressed, the top of the ring steadily became broader; the
+surface underfoot became rougher. The Big Business Man, walking nearest
+the edge, pulled his companion towards him. "Look there!" he said. They
+stood cautiously at the edge and looked down.
+
+Beneath them the ring bulged out. Over the bulge they could see the
+black of the handkerchief--a sheer hundred-feet drop. The ring curved
+sharply to the left; they could follow its wall all the way around; it
+formed a circular pit some two hundred and fifty feet in diameter.
+
+A gentle breeze fanned their faces as they walked. The Very Young Man
+looked up into the gray of the distance overhead. A little behind, over
+his shoulder he saw above him in the sky a great, gleaming light many
+times bigger than the sun. It cast on the ground before him an opaque
+shadow, blurred about the edges.
+
+"Pretty good day, at that," remarked the Very Young Man, throwing out
+his chest.
+
+The Doctor laughed. "It's half-past eight at night," he said. "And if
+you'll remember half an hour ago, it's a very stormy night, too."
+
+The Big Business Man stopped short in his walk. "Just think," he said
+pointing up into the gray of the sky, with a note of awe in his voice,
+"over there, not more than fifteen feet away, is a window, looking down
+towards the Gaiety Theater and Broadway."
+
+The Very Young. Man looked bewildered. "That window's a hundred miles
+away," he said positively.
+
+"Fifteen feet," said the Big Business Man. "Just beyond the table."
+
+"It's all in the viewpoint" said the Doctor, and laughed again.
+
+They had recovered their spirits by now, the Very Young Man especially
+seeming imbued with the enthusiasm of adventure.
+
+The path became constantly rougher as they advanced.
+
+The ground underfoot--a shaggy, yellow, metallic ore--was strewn now
+with pebbles. These pebbles grew larger farther on, becoming huge rocks
+and bowlders that greatly impeded their progress.
+
+They soon found it difficult to follow the brink of the precipice. The
+path had broadened now so that its other edge was out of sight, for they
+could see only a short distance amid the bowlders that everywhere
+tumbled about, and after a time they found themselves wandering along,
+lost in the barren waste.
+
+"How far is the scratch, do you suppose?" the Very Young Man wanted to
+know.
+
+They stopped and consulted a moment; then the Very Young Man clambered
+up to the top of a rock. "There's a range of hills over there pretty
+close," he called down to them. "That must be the way."
+
+They had just started again in the direction of the hills when, almost
+without warning, and with a great whistle and roar, a gale of wind swept
+down upon them. They stood still and looked at each other with startled
+faces, bracing with their feet against its pressure.
+
+"Oh, golly, what's this?" cried the Very Young Man, and sat down
+suddenly upon the ground to keep from being blown forward.
+
+The wind increased rapidly in violence until, in a moment, all three of
+the men were crouching upon the ground for shelter.
+
+"Great Scott, this is a tornado!" ejaculated the Big Business Man. His
+words were almost lost amid the howling of the blast as it swept across
+the barren waste of rocks.
+
+"Rogers never told us anything about this. It's getting worse every
+minute. I----" A shower of pebbles and a great cloud of metallic dust
+swept past, leaving them choking and gasping for breath.
+
+The Very Young Man got upon his hands and knees.
+
+"I'm going over there," he panted. "It's better."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+STRANGE EXPERIENCES
+
+
+Led by the Very Young Man, the three crawled a few yards to where a
+cluster of bowlders promised better shelter. Huddled behind this mass of
+rock, they found themselves protected in a measure from the violence of
+the storm. Lying there, they could see yellowish-gray clouds of sand go
+sweeping by, with occasionally a hail of tiny pebbles, blowing almost
+horizontal. Overhead, the sky was unchanged. Not a vestige of cloud was
+visible, only the gray-blue of an immense distance, with the huge
+gleaming light, like an enormous sun, hung in its center.
+
+The Very Young Man put his hand on the Doctor's arm. "It's going down,"
+he said. Hardly were the words out of his mouth before, with even less
+warning than it began, the gale abruptly ceased. There remained only the
+pleasantly gentle breeze of a summer afternoon blowing against their
+faces. And this came from almost an opposite direction to the storm.
+
+The three men looked at one another in amazement.
+
+"Well, I'll be----" ejaculated the Very Young Man. "What next?"
+
+They waited for some time, afraid to venture out from the rocks among
+which they had taken refuge. Then, deciding that the storm, however
+unexplainable, was over for the time at least, they climbed to their
+feet and resumed their journey with bruised knees, but otherwise none
+the worse for the danger through which they had passed.
+
+After walking a short distance, they came up a little incline, and
+before them, hardly more than a quarter of a mile away, they could see a
+range of hills.
+
+"The scratch must be behind those hills," said the Very Young Man,
+pointing.
+
+"It's a long distance," said the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "We're
+still growing smaller--look."
+
+Their minds had been so occupied that for some time they had forgotten
+the effect of the drug upon their stature. As they looked about them now
+they could see the rocks around them still increasing steadily in size,
+and could feel the ground shifting under their feet when they stood
+still.
+
+"You're right; we're getting smaller," observed the Very Young Man. "How
+long before we'll stop, do you suppose?"
+
+The Doctor drew the Chemist's memoranda from the pouch of his belt. "It
+says about five or six hours for the first four pellets," he read.
+
+The Very Young Man looked at his watch. "Quarter to nine. We've been
+less than an hour yet. Come on, let's keep going," and he started
+walking rapidly forward.
+
+They walked for a time in silence. The line of hills before them grew
+visibly in size, and they seemed slowly to be nearing it.
+
+"I've been thinking," began the Doctor thoughtfully as he glanced up at
+the hills. "There's one theory of Rogers's that was a fallacy. You
+remember he was quite positive that this change of stature became
+steadily more rapid, until it reached its maximum rate and then remained
+constant. If that were so we should probably be diminishing in size more
+rapidly now than when we first climbed on to the ring. If we had so much
+trouble getting to the ring then"--he smiled at the remembrance of their
+difficulty--"I don't see how we could ever get to those hills now."
+
+"Gee, that's so," said the Very Young Man. "We'd never be able to get
+anywhere, would we?"
+
+"How do you figure it works?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+The Doctor folded up the paper and replaced it in his belt. "I don't
+know," he answered. "I think probably it proceeds in cycles, like the
+normal rate of growth--times of rapid progress succeeded by periods of
+comparative inactivity."
+
+"I never knew people grew that way," observed the Very Young Man.
+
+"They do," said the Doctor. "And if these drugs produce the same effect
+we----" He got no further, for suddenly the earth seemed to rise swiftly
+under them, and they were thrown violently to the ground.
+
+The Very Young Man, as he lay prone, looked upward, and saw the sunlike
+light above fall swiftly down across the sky and disappear below the
+horizon, plunging the world about them into the gloom of a
+semi-twilight. A wind, fiercer than before, swept over them with a roar.
+
+"The end of the world," murmured the Very Young Man to himself. And he
+wondered why he was not frightened.
+
+Then came the feeling of an extraordinary lightness of body, as though
+the ground were dropping away from under him. The wind abruptly ceased
+blowing. He saw the ball of light rise swiftly from the horizon and
+mount upward in a great, gleaming arc to the zenith, where again it hung
+motionless.
+
+The three men lay quiet, their heads reeling. Then the Very Young Man
+sat up dizzily and began feeling himself all over. "There's nothing
+wrong with me," he said lugubriously, meeting the eyes of his friends
+who apparently were also more surprised than hurt. "But--oh, my gosh,
+the whole universe went nutty!" he added to himself in awe.
+
+"What did that?" asked the Big Business Man. He climbed unsteadily to
+his feet and sat upon a rock, holding his head in his hands.
+
+The Doctor was up in a moment beside him. "We're not hurt," he said,
+looking at his companions. "Don't let's waste any more time--let's get
+into that valley." The Very Young Man could see by his manner that he
+knew or guessed what had happened.
+
+"But say; what----" began the Very Young Man.
+
+"Come on," interrupted the Doctor, and started walking ahead swiftly.
+
+There was nothing for his two friends to do but to follow. They walked
+in silence, in single file, picking their way among the rocks. For a
+quarter of an hour or more they kept going, until finally they came to
+the ridge of hills, finding them enormous rocks, several hundred feet
+high, strewn closely together.
+
+"The valley must be right beyond," said the Doctor. "Come on."
+
+The spaces between these huge rocks were, some of them, fifty feet or
+more in width. Inside the hills the travelers found the ground even
+rougher than before, and it was nearly half an hour before they emerged
+on the other side.
+
+Instead of the shallow valley they expected to find, they came upon a
+precipice--a sheer drop into a tremendous canon, half as wide possibly
+as it was deep. They could see down to its bottom from where they
+stood--the same rocky, barren waste as that through which they had been
+traveling. Across the canon, on the farther side, lay another line of
+hills.
+
+"It's the scratch all right," said the Very Young Man, as they stopped
+near the brink of the precipice, "but, holy smoke! Isn't it big?"
+
+"That's two thousand feet down there," said the Big Business Man,
+stepping cautiously nearer to the edge. "Rogers didn't say it was so
+deep."
+
+"That's because we've been so much longer getting here," explained the
+Doctor.
+
+"How are we going to get down?" asked the Very Young Man as he stood
+beside the Big Business Man within a few feet of the brink. "It's
+getting deeper every minute, don't forget that."
+
+The Big Business Man knelt down and carefully approached to the very
+edge of the precipice. Then, as he looked over, he got upon his feet
+with a laugh of relief. "Come here," he said.
+
+They joined him at the edge and, looking over, could see that the jagged
+roughness of the wall made the descent, though difficult, not
+exceptionally hazardous. Below them, not more than twenty feet, a wide
+ledge jutted out, and beyond that they could see other similar ledges
+and crevices that would afford a foothold.
+
+"We can get down that," said the Very Young Man. "There's an easy
+place," and he pointed farther along the brink, to where a break in the
+edge seemed to offer a means of descent to the ledge just below.
+
+"It's going to be a mighty long climb down," said the Big Business Man.
+"Especially as we're getting smaller all the time. I wonder," he added
+thoughtfully, "how would it be if we made ourselves larger before we
+started. We could get big enough, you know, so that it would only be a
+few hundred feet down there. Then, after we got down, we could get small
+again."
+
+"That's a thought," said the Very Young Man.
+
+The Doctor sat down somewhat wearily, and again took the papers from his
+belt. "The idea is a good one," he said. "But there's one thing you
+overlook. The larger we get, the smoother the wall is going to be. Look,
+can't you see it changing every moment?"
+
+It was true. Even in the short time since they had first looked down,
+new crevices had opened up. The descent, though longer, was momentarily
+becoming less dangerous.
+
+"You see," continued the Doctor, "if the valley were only a few hundred
+feet deep, the precipice might then be so sheer we could not trust
+ourselves to it at all."
+
+"You're right," observed the Big Business Man.
+
+"Well, it's not very hard to get down now," said the Very Young Man.
+"Let's get going before it gets any deeper. Say," he added, "how about
+stopping our size where it is? How would that work?"
+
+The Doctor was reading the papers he held in his hand. "I think," he
+said, "it would be our wisest course to follow as closely as possible
+what Rogers tells us to do. It may be harder, but I think we will avoid
+trouble in the end."
+
+"We could get lost in size just as easily as in space, couldn't we?" the
+Big Business Man put in. "That's a curious idea, isn't it?"
+
+"It's true," agreed the Doctor. "It is something we must guard against
+very carefully."
+
+"Well, come on then, let's get going," said the Very Young Man, pulling
+the Doctor to his feet.
+
+The Big Business Man glanced at his watch. "Twenty to ten," he said.
+Then he looked up into the sky. "One hour and a half ago," he added
+sentimentally, "we were up there. What will another hour bring--I
+wonder?"
+
+"Nothing at all," said the Very Young Man, "if we don't ever get
+started. Come on."
+
+He walked towards the place he had selected, followed by his companions.
+And thus the three adventurers began their descent into the ring.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE VALLEY OF THE SACRIFICE
+
+
+For the first half-hour of their climb down into the valley of the
+scratch, the three friends were too preoccupied with their own safety to
+talk more than an occasional sentence. They came upon many places that
+at first glance appeared impassable, or at least sufficiently hazardous
+to cause them to hesitate, but in each instance the changing contour of
+the precipice offered some other means of descent.
+
+After thirty minutes of arduous effort, the Big Business Man sat down
+suddenly upon a rock and began to unlace his shoes.
+
+"I've got to rest a while," he groaned. "My feet are in terrible shape."
+
+His two companions were glad of the opportunity to sit with him for a
+moment.
+
+"Gosh, I'm all in, too!" said the Very Young Man with a sigh.
+
+They were sitting upon a ledge about twenty feet wide, with the wall
+down which they had come at their back.
+
+"I'll swear that's as far down there as it ever was," said the Big
+Business Man, with a wave of his hand towards the valley below them.
+
+"Further," remarked the Very Young Man. "I've known that right along."
+
+"That's to be expected," said the Doctor. "But we're a third the way
+down, just the same; that's the main thing." He glanced up the rocky,
+precipitous wall behind them. "We've come down a thousand feet, at
+least. The valley must be three thousand feet deep or more now."
+
+"Say, how deep does it get before it stops?" inquired the Very Young
+Man.
+
+The Doctor smiled at him quietly. "Rogers's note put it about twelve
+thousand," he answered. "It should reach that depth and stop about"--he
+hesitated a moment, calculating--"about two o'clock," he finished.
+
+"Some climb," commented the Very Young Man. "We could do this a lot
+better than we're doing it, I think."
+
+For some time they sat in silence. From where they sat the valley had
+all the appearance of a rocky, barren canon of their own world above, as
+it might have looked on the late afternoon of a cloudless summer day. A
+gentle breeze was blowing, and in the sky overhead they could still see
+the huge light that for them was the sun.
+
+"The weather is certainly great down here anyway," observed the Very
+Young Man, "that's one consolation."
+
+The Big Business Man had replaced his shoes, taken a swallow of water,
+and risen to his feet, preparing to start downward again, when suddenly
+they all noticed a curious swaying motion, as though the earth were
+moving under them.
+
+"Now what?" ejaculated the Very Young Man, standing up abruptly, with
+his feet spread wide apart.
+
+The ground seemed pressing against his feet as if he were weighted down
+with a heavy load. And he felt a little also as though in a moving train
+with a side thrust to guard against. The sun was no longer visible, and
+the valley was plunged in the semidarkness of twilight. A strong wind
+sprang up, sweeping down upon them from above.
+
+The Very Young Man and the Big Business Man looked puzzled; the Doctor
+alone of the three seemed to understand what was happening.
+
+"He's moving the ring," he explained, with a note of apprehension in his
+voice.
+
+"Oh," ejaculated the Big Business Man, comprehending at last, "so that's
+the----"
+
+The Very Young Man standing with his back to the wall and his legs
+spread wide looked hastily at his watch. "Moving the ring? Why, damn
+it----" he began impetuously.
+
+The Big Business Man interrupted him. "Look there, look!" he almost
+whispered, awestruck.
+
+The sky above the valley suddenly had become suffused with red. As they
+watched it seemed to take form, appearing no longer space, but filled
+with some enormous body of reddish color. In one place they could see it
+broken into a line of gray, and underneath the gray, two circular holes
+of light gleamed down at them.
+
+The Doctor shuddered and closed his eyes; his two friends stared upward,
+fascinated into immobility.
+
+"What--is--that?" the Very Young Man whispered.
+
+Before he could be answered, the earth swayed under them more violently
+than before. The red faded back out of the sky, and the sun appeared
+sweeping up into the zenith, where it hung swaying a moment and then
+poised motionless. The valley was flooded again with light; the ground
+steadied under them and became quiet. The wind died rapidly away, and in
+another moment it was as though nothing unusual had occurred.
+
+For a time the three friends stood silent, too astonished for words at
+this extraordinary experience. The Doctor was the first to recover
+himself. "He moved the ring," he said hurriedly. "That's twice. We must
+hurry."
+
+"It's only quarter past ten. We told him not till eleven," protested the
+Very Young Man.
+
+"Even that is too soon for safety," said the Doctor back over his
+shoulder, for already he had started downward.
+
+It was nearly twelve o'clock when they stopped again for rest. At this
+time the valley appeared about seven or eight thousand feet deep: they
+estimated themselves to be slightly more than half-way down. From eleven
+until twelve they had momentarily expected some disturbing phenomena
+attendant upon the removal of the ring by the Banker from the clubroom
+to its place in the Museum. But nothing unusual had occurred.
+
+"He probably decided to leave it alone for a while," commented the Big
+Business Man, as they were discussing the matter. "Glad he showed that
+much sense."
+
+"It would not bother us much now," the Doctor replied. "We're too far
+down. See how the light is changing."
+
+The sky showed now only as a narrow ribbon of blue between the edges of
+the canon's walls. The sun was behind the wall down which they were
+climbing, out of sight, and throwing their side of the valley into
+shadow. And already they could begin to see a dim phosphorescence
+glowing from the rocks near at hand.
+
+The Very Young Man, sitting beside the Doctor, suddenly gripped his
+friend by the arm. "A bird," he said, pointing down the valley. "See it
+there?"
+
+From far off they could see a bird coming up the center of the valley at
+a height apparently almost level with their own position, and flying
+towards them. They watched it in silence as it rapidly approached.
+
+"Great Scott, it's big!" muttered the Big Business Man in an undertone.
+
+As the bird came closer they saw it was fully fifty feet across the
+wings. It was flying straight down the valley at tremendous speed. When
+it was nearly opposite them they heard a familiar "cheep, cheep," come
+echoing across the valley.
+
+"The sparrow," whispered the Very Young Man. "Oh, my gosh, look how big
+it is!"
+
+In another moment it had passed them; they watched in silence until it
+disappeared in the distance.
+
+"Well," said the Very Young Man, "if that had ever seen us----" He drew
+a long breath, leaving the rest to the imagination of his hearers.
+
+"What a wonderful thing!" said the Big Business Man, with a note of awe
+in his voice. "Just think--that sparrow when we last saw it was
+infinitesimally small."
+
+The Doctor laughed. "It's far smaller now than it was then," he said.
+"Only since we last saw it we have changed size to a much greater extent
+than it has."
+
+"Foolish of us to have sent it in here," remarked the Big Business Man
+casually. "Suppose that----" He stopped abruptly.
+
+The Very Young Man started hastily to his feet.
+
+"Oh, golly!" he exclaimed as the same thought occurred to him. "That
+lizard----" He looked about him wildly.
+
+"It was foolish perhaps." The Doctor spoke quietly. "But we can't help
+it now. The sparrow has gone. That lizard may be right here at our
+feet"--The Very Young Man jumped involuntarily--"and so small we can't
+see it," the Doctor finished with a smile. "Or it may be a hundred miles
+away and big as a dinosaur." The Very Young Man shuddered.
+
+"It was senseless of us to let them get in here anyway," said the Big
+Business Man. "That sparrow evidently has stopped getting smaller. Do
+you realize how big it will be to us, after we've diminished a few
+hundred more times?"
+
+"We needn't worry over it," said the Doctor. "Even if we knew the lizard
+got into the valley the chances of our seeing it here are one in a
+million. But we don't even know that. If you'll remember it was still
+some distance away from the scratch when it became invisible; I doubt
+very much if it even got there. No, I think probably we'll never see it
+again."
+
+"I hope not," declared the Very Young Man emphatically.
+
+For another hour they climbed steadily downward, making more rapid
+progress than before, for the descent became constantly less difficult.
+During this time they spoke little, but it was evident that the Very
+Young Man, from the frequent glances he threw around, never for a moment
+forgot the possibility of encountering the lizard. The sparrow did not
+return, although for that, too, they were constantly on the look-out.
+
+It was nearly half-past one when the Big Business Man threw himself upon
+the ground exhausted. The valley at this time had reached a depth of
+over ten thousand feet. It was still growing deeper, but the travelers
+had made good progress and were not more than fifteen hundred feet above
+its bottom.
+
+They had been under tremendous physical exertion for over five hours,
+too absorbed in their strange experiences to think of eating, and now
+all three agreed it was foolish to attempt to travel farther without
+food and rest.
+
+"We had better wait here an hour or two," the Doctor decided. "Our size
+will soon remain constant and it won't take us long to get down after
+we've rested."
+
+"I'm hungry," suggested the Very Young Man, "how about you?"
+
+They ate and drank sparingly of the little store they had brought with
+them. The Doctor would not let them have much, both because he wanted to
+conserve their supply, and because he knew in their exhausted condition
+it would be bad for them to eat heartily.
+
+It was about two o'clock when they noticed that objects around them no
+longer were increasing in size. They had finished their meal and felt
+greatly refreshed.
+
+"Things have stopped growing," observed the Very Young Man. "We've done
+four pills' worth of the journey anyway," he added facetiously. He rose
+to his feet, stretching. He felt sore and bruised all over, but with the
+meal and a little rest, not particularly tired.
+
+"I move we go on down now," he suggested, walking to the edge of the
+huge crevice in which they were sitting. "It's only a couple of thousand
+feet."
+
+"Perhaps we might as well," agreed the Doctor, rising also. "When we get
+to the floor of the valley, we can find a good spot and turn in for the
+night."
+
+The incongruity of his last words with the scene around made the Doctor
+smile. Overhead the sky still showed a narrow ribbon of blue. Across the
+valley the sunlight sparkled on the yellowish crags of the rocky wall.
+In the shadow, on the side down which they were climbing, the rocks now
+shone distinctly phosphorescent, with a peculiar waviness of outline.
+
+"Not much like either night or day, is it?" added the Doctor. "We'll
+have to get used to that."
+
+They started off again, and in another two hours found themselves going
+down a gentle rocky slope and out upon the floor of the valley.
+
+"We're here at last," said the Big Business Man wearily.
+
+The Very Young Man looked up the great, jagged precipice down which they
+had come, to where, far above, its edge against the strip of blue marked
+the surface of the ring.
+
+"Some trip," he remarked. "I wouldn't want to tackle that every day."
+
+"Four o'clock," said the Doctor, "the light up there looks just the
+same. I wonder what's happened to George."
+
+Neither of his companions answered him. The Big Business Man lay
+stretched full length upon the ground near by, and the Very Young Man
+still stood looking up the precipice, lost in thought.
+
+"What a nice climb going back," he suddenly remarked.
+
+The Doctor laughed. "Don't let's worry about that, Jack. If you remember
+how Rogers described it, getting back is easier than getting in. But the
+main point now," he added seriously, "is for us to make sure of getting
+down to Arite as speedily as possible."
+
+The Very Young Man surveyed the barren waste around them in dismay. The
+floor of the valley was strewn with even larger rocks and bowlders than
+those on the surface above, and looked utterly pathless and desolate.
+"What do we do first?" he asked dubiously.
+
+"First," said the Doctor, smiling at the Big Business Man, who lay upon
+his back staring up into the sky and paying no attention to them
+whatever, "I think first we had better settle ourselves for a good long
+rest here."
+
+"If we stop at all, let's sleep a while," said the Very Young Man. "A
+little rest only gets you stiff. It's a pretty exposed place out here
+though, isn't it, to sleep?" he added, thinking of the sparrow and the
+lizard.
+
+"One of us will stay awake and watch," answered the Doctor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE PIT OF DARKNESS
+
+
+At the suggestion of the Very Young Man they located without much
+difficulty a sort of cave amid the rocks, which offered shelter for
+their rest. Taking turns watching, they passed eight hours in fair
+comfort, and by noon next day, after another frugal meal they felt
+thoroughly refreshed and eager to continue the journey.
+
+"We sure are doing this classy," observed the Very Young Man. "Think of
+Rogers--all he could do was fall asleep when he couldn't stay awake any
+more. Gosh, what chances he took!"
+
+"We're playing it safe," agreed the Big Business Man.
+
+"But we mustn't take it too easy," added the Doctor.
+
+The Very Young Man stretched himself luxuriously and buckled his belt on
+tighter. "Well, I'm ready for anything," he announced. "What's next?"
+
+The Doctor consulted his papers. "We find the circular pit Rogers made
+in the scratch and we descend into it. We take twelve more pills at the
+edge of the pit," he said.
+
+The Very Young Man leaped to the top of a rock and looked out over the
+desolate waste helplessly. "How are we going to find the pit?" he asked
+dubiously. "It's not in sight, that's sure."
+
+"It's down there--about five miles," said the Doctor. "I saw it
+yesterday as we came down."
+
+"That's easy," said the Very Young Man, and he started off
+enthusiastically, followed by the others.
+
+In less than two hours they found themselves at the edge of the pit. It
+appeared almost circular in form, apparently about five miles across,
+and its smooth, shining walls extended almost perpendicularly down into
+blackness. Somewhat awed by the task confronting them in getting down
+into this abyss, the three friends sat down near its brink to discuss
+their plan of action.
+
+"We take twelve pills here," said the Doctor. "That ought to make us
+small enough to climb down into that."
+
+"Do you think we need so many?" asked the Big Business Man thoughtfully.
+"You know, Frank, we're making an awful lot of work for ourselves,
+playing this thing so absolutely safe. Think of what a distance down
+that will be after we have got as small as twelve pills will make us. It
+might take us days to get to the bottom."
+
+"How did Rogers get down?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.
+
+"He took the twelve pills here," the Doctor answered.
+
+"But as I understand it, he fell most of the way down while he was still
+big, and then got small afterwards at the bottom." This from the Big
+Business Man.
+
+"I don't know how about you," said the Very Young Man drily, "but I'd
+much rather take three days to walk down than fall down in one day."
+
+The Doctor smiled. "I still think," he said, "that we had better stick
+to the directions Rogers left us. Then at least there is no danger of
+our getting lost in size. But I agree with you, Jack. I'd rather not
+fall down, even if it takes longer to walk."
+
+"I wonder----" began the Big Business Man. "You know I've been
+thinking--it does seem an awful waste of energy for us to let ourselves
+get smaller than absolutely necessary in climbing down these places.
+Maybe you don't realize it."
+
+"I do," said the Very Young Man, looking sorrowfully at the ragged shoes
+on his feet and the cuts and bruises on his legs.
+
+"What I mean is----" persisted the Big Business Man.
+
+"How far do you suppose we have actually traveled since we started last
+night?"
+
+"That's pretty hard to estimate," said the doctor. "We have walked
+perhaps fifteen miles altogether, besides the climb down. I suppose we
+actually came down five or six thousand feet."
+
+"And at the size we are now it would have been twelve thousand feet
+down, wouldn't it?"
+
+"Yes," answered the Doctor, "it would."
+
+"And just think," went on the Big Business Man, "right now, based on the
+size we were when we began, we've only gone some six feet altogether
+from the place we started."
+
+"And a sixteenth of an inch or less since we left the surface of the
+ring," said the Doctor smiling.
+
+"Gee, that's a weird thought," the Very Young Man said, as he gazed in
+awe at the lofty heights about them.
+
+"I've been thinking," continued the Big Business Man. "You say we must
+be careful not to get lost in size. Well, suppose instead of taking
+twelve pills here, we only take six. That should be enough to get us
+started--possibly enough to get us all the way down. Then before we
+moved at all we could take the other six. That would keep it straight,
+wouldn't it?"
+
+"Great idea," said the Very Young Man. "I'm in favor of that."
+
+"It sounds feasible--certainly if we can get all the way down with six
+pills we will save a lot of climbing."
+
+"If six aren't enough, we can easily take more," added the Big Business
+Man.
+
+And so they decided to take only six pills of the drug and to get down
+to the bottom of the pit, if possible, without taking more. The pit, as
+they stood looking down into it now, seemed quite impossible of descent,
+for its almost perpendicular wall was smooth and shining as polished
+brass.
+
+They took the drug, standing close together at the edge of the pit.
+Immediately began again the same crawling sensation underfoot, much more
+rapid this time, while all around them the rocks began very rapidly
+increasing in size.
+
+The pit now seemed widening out at an astounding rate. In a few minutes
+it had broadened so that its opposite side could not be seen. The wall
+at the brink of which they stood had before curved in a great sweeping
+arc to enclose the circular hole; now it stretched in a nearly straight,
+unbroken line to the right and left as far as they could see. Beneath
+them lay only blackness; it was as though they were at the edge of the
+world.
+
+"Good God, what a place to go down into," gasped the Big Business Man,
+after they had been standing nearly half an hour in silence, appalled at
+the tremendous changes taking place around them.
+
+For some time past the wall before them had become sufficiently indented
+and broken to make possible their descent. It was the Doctor who first
+realized the time--or perhaps it should be said, the size--they were
+losing by their inactivity; and when with a few crisp words he brought
+them to themselves, they immediately started downward.
+
+For another six hours they traveled downward steadily, stopping only
+once to eat. The descent during this time was not unlike that down the
+side of the valley, although towards the last it began rapidly to grow
+less precipitous.
+
+They now found themselves confronted frequently with gentle slopes
+downward, half a mile or more in extent, and sometimes by almost level
+places, succeeded by another sharp descent.
+
+During this part of the trip they made more rapid progress than at any
+time since starting, the Very Young Man in his enthusiasm at times
+running forward and then sitting down to wait for the others to overtake
+him.
+
+The light overhead gradually faded into the characteristic luminous
+blackness the Chemist had described. As it did so, the phosphorescent
+quality of the rocks greatly increased, or at least became more
+noticeable, so that the light illuminating the landscape became hardly
+less in volume, although totally different in quality.
+
+The ground underfoot and the rocks themselves had been steadily
+changing. They had lost now almost entirely the yellowishness, metal
+look, and seemed to have more the quality of a gray opaque glass, or
+marble. They appeared rather smoother, too, than before, although the
+huge bowlders and loosely strewn rocks and pebbles still remained the
+characteristic feature of the landscape.
+
+The three men were still diminishing in size; in fact, at this time the
+last dose of the drug seemed to have attained its maximum power, for
+objects around them appeared to be growing larger at a dizzying rate.
+They were getting used to this effect, however, to a great extent, and
+were no longer confused by the change as they had been before.
+
+It was the Big Business Man who first showed signs of weakening, and at
+the end of six hours or more of steady--and, towards the end, extremely
+rapid--traveling he finally threw himself down and declared he could go
+no farther. At this point they rested again several hours, taking turns
+at watch, and each of them getting some measure of sleep. Of the three,
+the Very Young Man appeared in the best condition, although possibly it
+was his enthusiasm that kept him from admitting even to himself any
+serious physical distress.
+
+It was perhaps ten or twelve hours after they had taken the six pills
+that they were again ready to start downward. Before starting the three
+adventurers discussed earnestly the advisability of taking the other six
+pills. The action of the drug had ceased some time before. They decided
+not to, since apparently there was no difficulty facing them at this
+part of the journey, and decreasing their stature would only
+immeasurably lengthen the distance they had to go.
+
+They had been traveling downward, through a barren land that now showed
+little change of aspect, for hardly more than another hour, when
+suddenly, without warning, they came upon the tremendous glossy incline
+that they had been expecting to reach for some time. The rocks and
+bowlders stopped abruptly, and they found at their feet, sloping
+downward at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees, a great, smooth
+plane. It extended as far as they could see both to the right and left
+and downward, at a slightly lessening angle, into the luminous darkness
+that now bounded their entire range of vision in every direction.
+
+This plane seemed distinctly of a different substance than anything they
+had hitherto encountered. It was, as the Chemist had described it,
+apparently like a smooth black marble. Yet it was not so smooth to them
+now as he had pictured it, for its surface was sufficiently indented and
+ridged to afford foothold.
+
+They started down this plane gingerly, yet with an assumed boldness they
+were all of them far from feeling. It was slow work at first, and
+occasionally one or the other of them would slide headlong a score of
+feet, until a break in the smoothness brought him to a stop. Their
+rubber-soled shoes stood them in good stead here, for without the aid
+given by them this part of the journey would have been impossible.
+
+For several hours they continued this form of descent. The incline grew
+constantly less steep, until finally they were able to walk down it
+quite comfortably. They stopped again to eat, and after traveling what
+seemed to them some fifteen miles from the top of the incline they
+finally reached its bottom.
+
+They seemed now to be upon a level floor--a ground of somewhat metallic
+quality such as they had become familiar with above. Only now there were
+no rocks or bowlders, and the ground was smoother and with a peculiar
+corrugation. On one side lay the incline down which they had come. There
+was nothing but darkness to be seen in any other direction. Here they
+stopped again to rest and recuperate, and then they discussed earnestly
+their next movements.
+
+The Doctor, seated wearily upon the ground, consulted his memoranda
+earnestly. The Very Young Man sat close beside him. As usual the Big
+Business Man lay prone upon his back nearby, waiting for their decision.
+
+"Rogers wasn't far from a forest when he got here," said the Very Young
+Man, looking sidewise at the papers in the Doctor's hand. "And he speaks
+of a tiny range of hills; but we can't see anything from here."
+
+"We may not be within many miles of where Rogers landed," answered the
+Doctor.
+
+"No reason why we should be, at that, is there? Do you think we'll ever
+find Arite?"
+
+"Don't overlook the fact we've got six more pills to take here," called
+the Big Business Man.
+
+"That's just what I was considering," said the Doctor thoughtfully.
+"There's no use our doing anything until we have attained the right
+size. Those hills and the forest and river we are looking for might be
+here right at our feet and we couldn't see them while we are as big as
+this."
+
+"We'd better take the pills and stay right here until their action wears
+off. I'm going to take a sleep," said the Big Business Man.
+
+"I think we might as well all sleep," said the Doctor. "There could not
+possibly be anything here to harm us."
+
+They each took the six additional pills without further words.
+Physically exhausted as they were, and with the artificial drowsiness
+produced by the drug, they were all three in a few moments fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE WELCOME OF THE MASTER
+
+
+It was nearly twelve hours later, as their watches showed them, that the
+first of the weary adventurers awoke. The Very Young Man it was who
+first opened his eyes with a confused sense of feeling that he was in
+bed at home, and that this was the momentous day he was to start his
+journey into the ring. He sat up and rubbed his eyes vigorously to see
+more clearly his surroundings.
+
+Beside him lay his two friends, fast asleep. With returning
+consciousness came the memory of the events of the day and night before.
+The Very Young Man sprang to his feet and vigorously awoke his
+companions.
+
+The action of the drug again had ceased, and at first glance the scene
+seemed to have changed very little. The incline now was some distance
+away, although still visible, stretching up in a great arc and fading
+away into the blackness above. The ground beneath their feet still of
+its metallic quality, appeared far rougher than before. The Very Young
+Man bent down and put his hand upon it. There was some form of
+vegetation there, and, leaning closer, he could see what appeared to be
+the ruins of a tiny forest, bent and trampled, the tree-trunks no larger
+than slender twigs that he could have snapped asunder easily between his
+fingers.
+
+"Look at this," he exclaimed. "The woods--we're here."
+
+The others knelt down with him.
+
+"Be careful," cautioned the Doctor. "Don't move around. We must get
+smaller." He drew the papers from his pocket.
+
+"Rogers was in doubt about this quantity to take," he added. "We should
+be now somewhere at the edge or in the forest he mentions. Yet we may be
+very far from the point at which he reached the bottom of that incline.
+I think, too, that we are somewhat larger than he was. Probably the
+strength of our drug differs from his to some extent."
+
+"How much should we take next, I wonder?" said the Big Business Man as
+he looked at his companions.
+
+The Doctor took a pill and crushed it in his hand. "Let us take so
+much," he said, indicating a small portion of the powder. The others
+each crushed one of the pills and endeavored to take as nearly as
+possible an equal amount.
+
+"I'm hungry," said the Very Young Man. "Can we eat right after the
+powder?"
+
+"I don't think that should make any difference," the Doctor answered,
+and so accustomed to the drug were they now that, quite nonchalantly,
+they sat down and ate.
+
+After a few moments it became evident that in spite of their care the
+amounts of the drug they had taken were far from equal.
+
+Before they had half finished eating, the Very Young Man was hardly more
+than a third the size of the Doctor, with the Big Business Man about
+half-way between. This predicament suddenly struck them as funny, and
+all three laughed heartily at the effect of the drug.
+
+"Hey, you, hurry up, or you'll never catch me," shouted the Very Young
+Man gleefully. "Gosh, but you're big!" He reached up and tried to touch
+the Doctor's shoulder. Then, seeing the huge piece of chocolate in his
+friend's hand and comparing it with the little one in his own, he added:
+"Trade you chocolate. That's a regular meal you got there."
+
+"That's a real idea," said the Big Business Man, ceasing his laughter
+abruptly. "Do you know, if we ever get really low on food, all we have
+to do is one of us stay big and his food would last the other two a
+month."
+
+"Fine; but how about the big one?" asked the Very Young Man, grinning.
+"He'd starve to death on that plan, wouldn't he?"
+
+"Well, then he could get much smaller than the other two, and they could
+feed him. It's rather involved, I'll admit, but you know what I mean,"
+the Big Business Man finished somewhat lamely.
+
+"I've got a much better scheme than that," said the Very Young Man. "You
+let the food stay large and you get small. How about that?" he added
+triumphantly. Then he laid carefully on the ground beside him a bit of
+chocolate and a few of the hard crackers they were eating. "Stay there,
+little friends, when you grow up, I'll take you back," he added in a
+gleeful tone of voice.
+
+"Strange that should never have occurred to us," said the Doctor. "It's
+a perfect way of replenishing our food supply," and quite seriously both
+he and the Big Business Man laid aside some of their food.
+
+"Thank me for that brilliant idea," said the Very Young Man. Then, as
+another thought occurred to him, he scratched his head lugubriously.
+"Wouldn't work very well if we were getting bigger, would it? Don't
+let's ever get separated from any food coming out."
+
+The Doctor was gigantic now in proportion to the other two, and both he
+and the Big Business Man took a very small quantity more of the drug in
+an effort to equalize their rate of bodily reduction. They evidently hit
+it about right, for no further change in their relative size occurred.
+
+All this time the vegetation underneath them had been growing steadily
+larger. From tiny broken twigs it grew to sticks bigger than their
+fingers, then to the thickness of their arms. They moved slightly from
+time to time, letting it spread out from under them, or brushing it
+aside and clearing a space in which they could sit more comfortably.
+Still larger it grew until the tree-trunks, thick now almost as their
+bodies, were lying broken and twisted, all about them. Over to one side
+they could see, half a mile away, a place where the trees were still
+standing--slender saplings, they seemed, growing densely together.
+
+In half an hour more the Very Young Man announced he had stopped getting
+smaller. The action of the drug ceased in the others a few minutes
+later. They were still not quite in their relative sizes, but a few
+grains of the powder quickly adjusted that.
+
+They now found themselves near the edge of what once was a great forest.
+Huge trees, whose trunks measured six feet or more in diameter, lay
+scattered about upon the ground; not a single one was left standing. In
+the distance they could see, some miles away, where the untrodden forest
+began.
+
+They had replaced the food in their belts some time before, and now
+again they were ready to start. Suddenly the Very Young Man spied a
+huge, round, whitish-brown object lying beside a tree-trunk near by. He
+went over and stood beside it. Then he called his friends excitedly. It
+was irregularly spherical in shape and stood higher than his knees--a
+great jagged ball. The Very Young Man bent down, broke off a piece of
+the ball, and, stuffing it into his mouth, began chewing with
+enthusiasm.
+
+"Now, what do you think of that?" he remarked with a grin. "A cracker
+crumb I must have dropped when we first began lunch!"
+
+They decided now to make for the nearest part of the unbroken forest. It
+was two hours before they reached it, for among the tangled mass of
+broken, fallen trees their progress was extremely difficult and slow.
+Once inside, among the standing trees, they felt more lost than ever.
+They had followed implicitly the Chemist's directions, and in general
+had encountered the sort of country they expected. Nevertheless, they
+all three realized that it was probable the route they had followed
+coming in was quite different from that taken by the Chemist; and in
+what direction lay their destination, and how far, they had not even the
+vaguest idea, but they were determined to go on.
+
+"If ever we find this city of Arite, it'll be a miracle sure," the Very
+Young Man remarked as they were walking along in silence.
+
+They had gone only a short distance farther when the Big Business Man,
+who was walking in front, stopped abruptly.
+
+"What's that?" he asked in a startled undertone.
+
+They followed the direction of his hand, and saw, standing rigid against
+a tree-trunk ahead, the figure of a man little more than half as tall as
+themselves, his grayish body very nearly the color of the blue-gray tree
+behind him.
+
+The three adventurers stood motionless, staring in amazement.
+
+As the Big Business Man spoke, the little figure, which had evidently
+been watching them for some time, turned irresolutely as though about to
+run. Then with gathering courage it began walking slowly towards them,
+holding out its arms with the palm up.
+
+"He's friendly," whispered the Very Young Man; and they waited, silent,
+as the man approached.
+
+As he came closer, they could see he was hardly more than a boy, perhaps
+twenty years of age. His lean, gray body was nearly naked. Around his
+waist he wore a drab-colored tunic, of a substance they could not
+identify. His feet and legs were bare. On his chest were strapped a thin
+stone plate, slightly convex. His thick, wavy, black hair, cut at the
+base of his neck, hung close about his ears. His head was uncovered. His
+features were regular and pleasing; his smile showed an even row of very
+white teeth.
+
+The three men did not speak or move until, in a moment, more, he stood
+directly before them, still holding out his hands palm up. Then abruptly
+he spoke.
+
+"The Master welcomes his friends," he said in a soft musical voice. He
+gave the words a most curious accent and inflexion, yet they were quite
+understandable to his listeners.
+
+"The Master welcomes his friends," he repeated, dropping his arms to his
+sides and smiling in a most friendly manner.
+
+The Very Young Man caught his breath. "He's been sent to meet us; he's
+from Rogers. What do you think of that? We're all right now!" he
+exclaimed excitedly.
+
+The Doctor held out his hand, and the Oroid, hesitating a moment in
+doubt, finally reached up and grasped it.
+
+"Are you from Rogers?" asked the Doctor.
+
+The Oroid looked puzzled. Then he turned and flung out his arm in a
+sweeping gesture towards the deeper woods before them. "Rogers--Master,"
+he said.
+
+"You were waiting for us?" persisted the Doctor; but the other only
+shook his head and smiled his lack of comprehension.
+
+"He only knows the first words he said," the Big Business Man suggested.
+
+"He must be from Rogers," the Very Young Man put in. "See, he wants us
+to go with him."
+
+The Oroid was motioning them forward, holding out his hand as though to
+lead them.
+
+The Very Young Man started forward, but the Big Business Man held him
+back.
+
+"Wait a moment," he said. "I don't think we ought to go among these
+people as large as we are. Rogers is evidently alive and waiting for us.
+Why wouldn't it be better to be about his size, instead of ten-foot
+giants as we would look now?"
+
+"How do you know how big Rogers is?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"I think that a good idea," agreed the Doctor. "Rogers described these
+Oroid men as being some six inches shorter than himself, on the
+average."
+
+"This one might be a pygmy, for all we know," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"We might chance it that he's of normal size," said the Doctor, smiling.
+"I think we should make ourselves smaller."
+
+The Oroid stood patiently by and watched them with interested eyes as
+each took a tiny pellet from a vial under his arm and touched it to his
+tongue. When they began to decrease in size his eyes widened with fright
+and his legs shook under him. But he stood his ground, evidently assured
+by their smiles and friendly gestures.
+
+In a few minutes the action of the drug was over, and they found
+themselves not more than a head taller than the Oroid. In this size he
+seemed to like them better, or at least he stood in far less awe of
+them, for now he seized them by the arms and pulled them forward
+vigorously.
+
+They laughingly yielded, and, led by this strange being of another
+world, they turned from the open places they had been following and
+plunged into the depths of the forest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE CHEMIST AND HIS SON
+
+
+For an hour or more the three adventurers followed their strange guide
+in silence through the dense, trackless woods. He walked very rapidly,
+looking neither to the right nor to the left, finding his way apparently
+by an intuitive sense of direction. Occasionally he glanced back over
+his shoulder and smiled.
+
+Walking through the woods here was not difficult, and the party made
+rapid progress. The huge, upstanding tree-trunks were devoid of limbs
+for a hundred feet or more above the ground. On some of them a luxuriant
+vine was growing--a vine that bore a profusion of little gray berries.
+In the branches high overhead a few birds flew to and fro, calling out
+at times with a soft, cooing note. The ground--a gray, finely powdered
+sandy loam--was carpeted with bluish fallen leaves, sometimes with a
+species of blue moss, and occasional ferns of a like color.
+
+The forest was dense, deep, and silent; the tree branches overhead
+locked together in a solid canopy, shutting out the black sky above. Yet
+even in this seclusion the scene remained as light as it had been
+outside the woods in the open. Darkness indeed was impossible in this
+land; under all circumstances the light seemed the same--neither too
+bright nor too dim--a comfortable, steady glow, restful, almost hypnotic
+in its sameness.
+
+They had traveled perhaps six miles from the point where they met their
+Oroid guide when suddenly the Very Young Man became aware that other
+Oroids were with them. Looking to one side, he saw two more of these
+strange gray men, silently stalking along, keeping pace with them.
+Turning, he made out still another, following a short distance behind.
+The Very Young Man was startled, and hurriedly pointed them out to his
+companions.
+
+"Wait," called the Doctor to their youthful guide, and abruptly the
+party came to a halt.
+
+By these signs they made their guide understand that they wanted these
+other men to come closer. The Oroid shouted to them in his own quaint
+tongue, words of a soft, liquid quality with a wistful sound--words
+wholly unintelligible to the adventurers.
+
+The men came forward diffidently, six of them, for three others appeared
+out of the shadows of the forest, and stood in a group, talking among
+themselves a little and smiling at their visitors. They were all dressed
+similarly to Lao--for such was the young Oroid's name--and all of them
+older than he, and of nearly the same height.
+
+"Do any of you speak English?" asked the Doctor, addressing them
+directly.
+
+Evidently they did not, for they answered only by shaking their heads
+and by more smiles.
+
+Then one of them spoke. "The Master welcomes his friends," he said. And
+all the others repeated it after him, like children in school repeating
+proudly a lesson newly learned.
+
+The Doctor and his two friends laughed heartily, and, completely
+reassured by this exhibition of their friendliness, they signified to
+Lao that they were ready again to go forward.
+
+As they walked onward through the apparently endless and unchanging
+forest, surrounded by what the Very Young Man called their "guard of
+honor," they were joined from time to time by other Oroid men, all of
+whom seemed to know who they were and where they were going, and who
+fell silently into line with them. Within an hour their party numbered
+twenty or more.
+
+Seeing one of the natives stop a moment and snatch some berries from one
+of the vines with which many of the trees were encumbered, the Very
+Young Man did the same. He found the berries sweet and palatable, and he
+ate a quantity. Then discovering he was hungry, he took some crackers
+from his belt and ate them walking along. The Doctor and the Big
+Business Man ate also, for although they had not realized it, all three
+were actually famished.
+
+Shortly after this the party came to a broad, smooth-flowing river, its
+banks lined with rushes, with here and there a little spot of gray,
+sandy beach. It was apparent from Lao's signs that they must wait at
+this point for a boat to take them across. This they were glad enough to
+do, for all three had gone nearly to the limit of their strength. They
+drank deep of the pure river water, laved their aching limbs in it
+gratefully, and lay down, caring not a bit how long they were forced to
+wait.
+
+In perhaps another hour the boat appeared. It came from down the river,
+propelled close inshore by two members of their own party who had gone
+to fetch it. At first the travelers thought it a long, oblong raft. Then
+as it came closer they could see it was constructed of three canoes,
+each about thirty feet long, hollowed out of tree-trunks. Over these was
+laid a platform of small trees hewn roughly into boards. The boat was
+propelled by long, slender poles in the hands of the two men, who, one
+on each side, dug them into the bed of the river and walked with them
+the length of the platform.
+
+On to this boat the entire party crowded and they were soon well out on
+the shallow river, headed for its opposite bank. The Very Young Man,
+seated at the front end of the platform with his legs dangling over and
+his feet only a few inches above the silver phosphorescence of the
+rippling water underneath, sighed luxuriously.
+
+"This beats anything we've done yet," he murmured. "Gee, it's nice
+here!"
+
+When they landed on the farther bank another group of natives was
+waiting for them. The party, thus strengthened to nearly forty, started
+off immediately into the forest, which on this side of the river
+appeared equally dense and trackless.
+
+They appeared now to be paralleling the course of the river a few
+hundred yards back from its bank. After half an hour of this traveling
+they came abruptly to what at first appeared to be the mouth of a large
+cave, but which afterwards proved to be a tunnel-like passageway. Into
+this opening the party unhesitatingly plunged.
+
+Within this tunnel, which sloped downward at a considerable angle, they
+made even more rapid progress than in the forest above. The tunnel walls
+here were perhaps twenty feet apart--walls of a glistening, radiant,
+crystalline rock. The roof of the passageway was fully twice as high as
+its width; its rocky floor was smooth and even.
+
+After a time this tunnel was crossed by another somewhat broader and
+higher, but in general of similar aspect. It, too, sloped downward, more
+abruptly from the intersection. Into this latter passageway the party
+turned, still taking the downward course.
+
+As they progressed, many other passageways were crossed, the
+intersections of which were wide at the open spaces. Occasionally the
+travelers encountered other natives, all of them men, most of whom
+turned and followed them.
+
+The Big Business Man, after over an hour of this rapid walking downward,
+was again near the limit of his endurance, when the party, after
+crossing a broad, open square, came upon a sort of sleigh, with two
+animals harnessed to it. It was standing at the intersection of a still
+broader, evidently more traveled passageway, and in it was an attendant,
+apparently fast asleep.
+
+Into this sleigh climbed the three travelers with their guide Lao; and,
+driven by the attendant, they started down the broader tunnel at a rapid
+pace. The sleigh was balanced upon a broad single runner of polished
+stone, with a narrow, slightly shorter outrider on each side; it slid
+smoothly and easily on this runner over the equally smooth, metallic
+rock of the ground.
+
+The reindeer-like animals were harnessed by their heads to a single
+shaft. They were guided by a short, pointed pole in the hands of the
+driver, who, as occasion demanded, dug it vigorously into their flanks.
+
+In this manner the travelers rode perhaps half an hour more. The
+passageway sloped steeply downward, and they made good speed. Finally
+without warning, except by a sudden freshening of the air, they emerged
+into the open, and found themselves facing a broad, rolling stretch of
+country, dotted here and there with trees--the country of the Oroids at
+last.
+
+For the first time since leaving their own world the adventurers found
+themselves amid surroundings that at least held some semblance of an
+aspect of familiarity. The scene they faced now might have been one of
+their own land viewed on an abnormally bright though moonless evening.
+
+For some miles they could see a rolling, open country, curving slightly
+upward into the dimness of the distance. At their right, close by, lay a
+broad lake, its surface wrinkled under a gentle breeze and gleaming
+bright as a great sheet of polished silver.
+
+Overhead hung a gray-blue, cloudless sky, studded with a myriad of
+faint, twinkling, golden-silver stars. On the lake shore lay a
+collection of houses, close together, at the water's edge and spreading
+back thinly into the hills behind. This they knew to be Arite--the city
+of their destination.
+
+At the end of the tunnel they left the sleigh, and, turning down the
+gentle sloping hillside, leisurely approached the city. They were part
+way across an open field separating them from the nearest houses, when
+they saw a group of figures coming across the field towards them. This
+group stopped when still a few hundred yards away, only two of the
+figures continuing to come forward. They came onward steadily, the tall
+figure of a man clothed in white, and by his side a slender, graceful
+boy.
+
+In a moment more Lao, walking in front of the Doctor and his two
+companions, stopped suddenly and, turning to face them, said quietly,
+"The Master."
+
+The three travelers, with their hearts pounding, paused an instant. Then
+with a shout the Very Young Man dashed forward, followed by his two
+companions.
+
+"It's Rogers--it's Rogers!" he called; and in a moment more the three
+men were beside the Chemist, shaking his hand and pouring at him
+excitedly their words of greeting.
+
+The Chemist welcomed them heartily, but with a quiet, curious air of
+dignity that they did not remember he possessed before. He seemed to
+have aged considerably since they had last seen him. The lines in his
+face had deepened; the hair on his temples was white. He seemed also to
+be rather taller than they remembered him, and certainly he was stouter.
+
+He was dressed in a long, flowing robe of white cloth, gathered in at
+the waist by a girdle, from which hung a short sword, apparently of gold
+or of beaten brass. His legs were bare; on his feet he wore a form of
+sandal with leather thongs crossing his insteps. His hair grew long over
+his ears and was cut off at the shoulder line in the fashion of the
+natives.
+
+When the first words of greeting were over, the Chemist turned to the
+boy, who was standing apart, watching them with big, interested eyes.
+
+"My friends," he said quietly, yet with a little underlying note of
+pride in his voice, "this is my son."
+
+The boy approached deferentially. He was apparently about ten or eleven
+years of age, tall as his father's shoulder nearly, extremely slight of
+build, yet with a body perfectly proportioned. He was dressed in a white
+robe similar to his father's, only shorter, ending at his knees. His
+skin was of a curious, smooth, milky whiteness, lacking the gray, harder
+look of that of the native men, and with just a touch of the iridescent
+quality possessed by the women. His features were cast in a delicate
+mold, pretty enough almost to be called girlish, yet with a firm
+squareness of chin distinctly masculine.
+
+His eyes were blue; his thick, wavy hair, falling to his shoulders, was
+a chestnut brown. His demeanor was graceful and dignified, yet with a
+touch of ingenuousness that marked him for the care-free child he really
+was. He held out his hands palms up as he approached.
+
+"My name is Loto," he said in a sweet, soft voice, with perfect
+self-possession. "I'm glad to meet my father's friends." He spoke
+English with just a trace of the liquid quality that characterized his
+mother's tongue.
+
+"You are late getting here," remarked the Chemist with a smile, as the
+three travelers, completely surprised by this sudden introduction,
+gravely shook hands with the boy.
+
+During this time the young Oroid who had guided them down from the
+forest above the tunnels, had been standing respectfully behind them, a
+few feet away. A short distance farther on several small groups of
+natives were gathered, watching the strangers. With a few swift words
+Loto now dismissed their guide, who bowed low with his hands to his
+forehead and left them.
+
+Led by the Chemist, they continued on down into the city, talking
+earnestly, telling him the details of their trip. The natives followed
+them as they moved forward, and as they entered the city others looked
+at them curiously and, the Very Young Man thought, with a little
+hostility, yet always from a respectful distance. Evidently it was
+night, or at least the time of sleep at this hour, for the streets they
+passed through were nearly deserted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE CITY OF ARITE
+
+
+The city of Arite, as it looked to them now, was strange beyond anything
+they had ever seen, but still by no means as extraordinary as they had
+expected it would be. The streets through which they walked were broad
+and straight, and were crossed by others at regular intervals of two or
+three hundred feet. These streets paralleled each other with
+mathematical regularity. The city thus was laid out most orderly, but
+with one peculiarity; the streets did not run in two directions crossing
+each other at right angles, but in three, each inclined to an equal
+degree with the others. The blocks of houses between them, therefore,
+were cut into diamond-shaped sections and into triangles, never into
+squares or oblongs.
+
+Most of the streets seemed paved with large, flat gray blocks of a
+substance resembling highly polished stone, or a form of opaque glass.
+There were no sidewalks, but close up before the more pretentious of the
+houses, were small trees growing.
+
+The houses themselves were generally triangular or diamond-shaped,
+following the slope of the streets. They were, most of them, but two
+stories in height, with flat roofs on some of which flowers and
+trellised vines were growing. They were built principally of the same
+smooth, gray blocks with which the streets were paved. Their windows
+were large and numerous, without window-panes, but closed now, nearly
+all of them by shining, silvery curtains that looked as though they
+might have been woven from the metal itself. The doors were of heavy
+metal, suggesting brass or gold. On some of the houses tiny low-railed
+balconies hung from the upper windows out over the street.
+
+The party proceeded quietly through this now deserted city, crossing a
+large tree-lined square, or park, that by the confluence of many streets
+seemed to mark its center, and turned finally into another diagonal
+street that dropped swiftly down towards the lake front. At the edge of
+a promontory this street abruptly terminated in a broad flight of steps
+leading down to a little beach on the lake shore perhaps a hundred feet
+below.
+
+The Chemist turned sharp to the right at the head of these steps, and,
+passing through the opened gateway of an arch in a low gray wall, led
+his friends into a garden in which were growing a profusion of flowers.
+These flowers, they noticed, were most of them blue or gray, or of a
+pale silvery whiteness, lending to the scene a peculiarly wan, wistful
+appearance, yet one of extraordinary, quite unearthly beauty.
+
+Through the garden a little gray-pebbled path wound back to where a
+house stood, nearly hidden in a grove of trees, upon a bluff directly
+overlooking the lake.
+
+"My home, gentlemen," said the Chemist, with a wave of his hand.
+
+As they approached the house they heard, coming from within, the mellow
+voice of a woman singing--an odd little minor theme, with a quaint,
+lilting rhythm, and words they could not distinguish. Accompanying the
+voice were the delicate tones of some stringed instrument suggesting a
+harp.
+
+"We are expected," remarked the Chemist with a smile. "Lylda is still
+up, waiting for us." The Very Young Man's heart gave a leap at the
+mention of the name.
+
+From the outside, the Chemist's house resembled many of the larger ones
+they had seen as they came through the city. It was considerably more
+pretentious than any they had yet noticed, diamond-shaped--that is to
+say, a flattened oblong--two stories in height and built of large blocks
+of the gray polished stone.
+
+Unlike the other houses, its sides were not bare, but were partly
+covered by a luxuriant growth of vines and trellised flowers. There were
+no balconies under its windows, except on the lake side. There, at the
+height of the second story, a covered balcony broad enough almost to be
+called a veranda, stretched the full width of the house.
+
+A broad door of brass, fronting the garden, stood partly open, and the
+Chemist pushed it wide and ushered in his friends. They found themselves
+now in a triangular hallway, or lobby, with an open arch in both its
+other sides giving passage into rooms beyond. Through one of these
+archways the Chemist led them, into what evidently was the main
+living-room of the dwelling.
+
+It was a high-ceilinged room nearly triangular in shape, thirty feet
+possibly at its greatest width. In one wall were set several
+silvery-curtained windows, opening out on to the lake. On the other side
+was a broad fireplace and hearth with another archway beside it leading
+farther into the house. The walls of the room were lined with small gray
+tiles; the floor also was tiled with gray and white, set in design.
+
+On the floor were spread several large rugs, apparently made of grass or
+fibre. The walls were bare, except between the windows, where two long,
+narrow, heavily embroidered strips of golden cloth were hanging.
+
+In the center of the room stood a circular stone table, its top a highly
+polished black slab of stone. This table was set now for a meal, with
+golden metal dishes, huge metal goblets of a like color, and beautifully
+wrought table utensils, also of gold. Around the table were several
+small chairs, made of wicker. In the seat of each lay a padded fiber
+cushion, and over the back was hung a small piece of embroidered cloth.
+
+With the exception of these chairs and table, the room was practically
+devoid of furniture. Against one wall was a smaller table of stone, with
+a few miscellaneous objects on its top, and under each window stood a
+small white stone bench.
+
+A fire glowed in the fireplace grate--a fire that burned without flame.
+On the hearth before it, reclining on large silvery cushions, was a
+woman holding in her hands a small stringed instrument like a tiny harp
+or lyre. When the men entered the room she laid her instrument aside and
+rose to her feet.
+
+As she stood there for an instant, expectant, with the light of welcome
+in her eyes, the three strangers beheld what to them seemed the most
+perfect vision of feminine loveliness they had ever seen.
+
+The woman's age was at first glance indeterminate. By her face, her
+long, slender, yet well-rounded neck, and the slim curves of her girlish
+figure, she might have been hardly more than twenty. Yet in her bearing
+there was that indefinable poise and dignity that bespoke the more
+mature, older woman.
+
+She was about five feet tall, with a slender, almost fragile, yet
+perfectly rounded body. Her dress consisted of a single flowing garment
+of light-blue silk, reaching from the shoulders to just above her knees.
+It was girdled at the waist by a thick golden cord that hung with golden
+tasseled pendants at her side.
+
+A narrower golden cord crossed her breast and shoulders. Her arms, legs,
+and shoulders were bare. Her skin was smooth as satin, milky white, and
+suffused with the delicate tints of many colors. Her hair was thick and
+very black; it was twisted into two tresses that fell forward over each
+shoulder nearly to her waist and ended with a little silver ribbon and
+tassel tied near the bottom.
+
+Her face was a delicate oval. Her lips were full and of a color for
+which in English there is no name. It would have been red doubtless by
+sunlight in the world above, but here in this silver light of
+phosphorescence, the color red, as we see it, was impossible.
+
+Her nose was small, of Grecian type. Her slate-gray eyes were rather
+large, very slightly upturned at the corners, giving just a touch of the
+look of our women of the Orient. Her lashes were long and very black. In
+conversation she lowered them at times with a charming combination of
+feminine humility and a touch of coquetry. Her gaze from under them had
+often a peculiar look of melting softness, yet always it was direct and
+honest.
+
+Such was the woman who quietly stood beside her hearth, waiting to
+welcome these strange guests from another world.
+
+As the men entered through the archway, the boy Loto pushed quickly past
+them in his eagerness to get ahead, and, rushing across the room, threw
+himself into the woman's arms crying happily, "_Mita, mita._"
+
+The woman kissed him affectionately. Then, before she had time to speak,
+the boy pulled her forward, holding her tightly by one hand.
+
+"This is my mother," he said with a pretty little gesture. "Her name is
+Lylda."
+
+The woman loosened herself from his grasp with a smile of amusement,
+and, native fashion, bowed low with her hands to her forehead.
+
+"My husband's friends are welcome," she said simply. Her voice was soft
+and musical. She spoke English perfectly, with an intonation of which
+the most cultured woman might be proud, but with a foreign accent much
+more noticeable than that of her son.
+
+"A very long time we have been waiting for you," she added; and then, as
+an afterthought, she impulsively offered them her hand in their own
+manner.
+
+The Chemist kissed his wife quietly. In spite of the presence of
+strangers, for a moment she dropped her reserve, her arms went up around
+his neck, and she clung to him an instant. Gently putting her down, the
+Chemist turned to his friends.
+
+"I think Lylda has supper waiting," he said. Then as he looked at their
+torn, woolen suits that once were white, and the ragged shoes upon their
+feet, he added with a smile, "But I think I can make you much more
+comfortable first."
+
+He led them up a broad, curving flight of stone steps to a room above,
+where they found a shallow pool of water, sunk below the level of the
+floor. Here he left them to bathe, getting them meanwhile robes similar
+to his own, with which to replace their own soiled garments. In a little
+while, much refreshed, they descended to the room below, where Lylda had
+supper ready upon the table waiting for them.
+
+"Only a little while ago my father and Aura left," said Lylda, as they
+sat down to eat.
+
+"Lylda's younger sister," the Chemist explained. "She lives with her
+father here in Arite."
+
+The Very Young Man parted his lips to speak. Then, with heightened color
+in his cheeks, he closed them again.
+
+They were deftly served at supper by a little native girl who was
+dressed in a short tunic reaching from waist to knees, with circular
+discs of gold covering her breasts. There was cooked meat for the meal,
+a white starchy form of vegetable somewhat resembling a potato, a number
+of delicious fruits of unfamiliar variety, and for drink the juice of a
+fruit that tasted more like cider than anything they could name.
+
+At the table Loto perched himself beside the Very Young Man, for whom he
+seemed to have taken a sudden fancy.
+
+"I like you," he said suddenly, during a lull in the talk.
+
+"I like you, too," answered the Very Young Man.
+
+"Aura is very beautiful; you'll like her."
+
+"I'm sure I will," the Very Young Man agreed soberly.
+
+"What's your name?" persisted the boy.
+
+"My name's Jack. And I'm glad you like me. I think we're friends, don't
+you?"
+
+And so they became firm friends, and, as far as circumstances would
+permit, inseparable companions.
+
+Lylda presided over the supper with the charming grace of a competent
+hostess. She spoke seldom, yet when the conversation turned to the great
+world above in which her husband was born, she questioned intelligently
+and with eager interest. Evidently she had a considerable knowledge of
+the subject, but with an almost childish insatiable curiosity she sought
+from her guests more intimate details of the world they lived in.
+
+When in lighter vein their talk ran into comments upon the social life
+of their own world, Lylda's ready wit, combined with her ingenuous
+simplicity, put to them many questions which made the giving of an
+understandable answer sometimes amusingly difficult.
+
+When the meal was over the three travelers found themselves very sleepy,
+and all of them were glad when the Chemist suggested that they retire
+almost immediately. He led them again to the upper story into the
+bedroom they were to occupy. There, on the low bedsteads, soft with many
+quilted coverings, they passed the remainder of the time of sleep in
+dreamless slumber, utterly worn out by their journey, nor guessing what
+the morning would bring forth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE WORLD OF THE RING
+
+
+Next morning after breakfast the four men sat upon the balcony
+overlooking the lake, and prepared to hear the Chemist's narrative of
+what had happened since he left them five years before. They had already
+told him of events in their world, the making of the chemicals and their
+journey down into the ring, and now they were ready to hear his story.
+
+At their ease here upon the balcony, reclining in long wicker chairs of
+the Chemist's own design, as he proudly admitted, they felt at peace
+with themselves and the world. Below them lay the shining lake, above
+spread a clear, star-studded sky. Against their faces blew the cool
+breath of a gentle summer's breeze.
+
+As they sat silent for a moment, enjoying almost with awe the beauties
+of the scene, and listening to the soft voice of Lylda singing to
+herself in the garden, the Very Young Man suddenly thought of the one
+thing lacking to make his enjoyment perfect.
+
+"I wish I had a cigarette," he remarked wistfully.
+
+The Chemist with a smile produced cigars of a leaf that proved a very
+good substitute for tobacco. They lighted them with a tiny metal lighter
+of the flint-and-steel variety, filled with a fluffy inflammable wick--a
+contrivance of the Chemist's own making--and then he started his
+narrative.
+
+"There is much to tell you, my friends," he began thoughtfully. "Much
+that will interest you, shall we say from a socialistic standpoint? I
+shall make it brief, for we have no time to sit idly talking.
+
+"I must tell you now, gentlemen, of what I think you have so far not
+even had a hint. You have found me living here," he hesitated and
+smiled, "well at least under pleasant and happy circumstances. Yet as a
+matter of fact, your coming was of vital importance, not only to me and
+my family, but probably to the future welfare of the entire Oroid
+nation.
+
+"We are approaching a crisis here with which I must confess I have felt
+myself unable to cope. With your help, more especially with the power of
+the chemicals you have brought with you, it may be possible for us to
+deal successfully with the conditions facing us."
+
+"What are they?" asked the Very Young Man eagerly.
+
+"Perhaps it would be better for me to tell you chronologically the
+events as they have occurred. As you remember when I left you twelve
+years ago----"
+
+"Five years," interrupted the Very Young Man.
+
+"Five or twelve, as you please," said the Chemist smiling. "It was my
+intention then, as you know, to come back to you after a comparatively
+short stay here."
+
+"And bring Mrs.--er--Lylda, with you," put in the Very Young Man,
+hesitating in confusion over the Christian name.
+
+"And bring Lylda with me," finished the Chemist. "I got back here
+without much difficulty, and in a very much shorter time and with less
+effort than on my first trip. I tried an entirely different method; I
+stayed as large as possible while descending, and diminished my size
+materially only after I had reached the bottom."
+
+"I told you----" said the Big Business Man.
+
+"It was a dangerous method of procedure, but I made it successfully
+without mishap.
+
+"Lylda and I were married in native fashion shortly after I reached
+Arite."
+
+"How was that; what fashion?" the Very Young Man wanted to know, but the
+Chemist went on.
+
+"It was my intention to stay here only a few weeks and then return with
+Lylda. She was willing to follow me anywhere I might take her,
+because--well, perhaps you would hardly understand, but--women here are
+different in many ways than you know them.
+
+"I stayed several months, still planning to leave almost at any time. I
+found this world an intensely interesting study. Then, when--Loto was
+expected, I again postponed my departure.
+
+"I had been here over a year before I finally gave up my intention of
+ever returning to you. I have no close relatives above, you know, no one
+who cares much for me or for whom I care, and my life seemed thoroughly
+established here.
+
+"I am afraid gentlemen, I am offering excuses for myself--for my
+desertion of my own country in its time of need. I have no defense. As
+events turned out I could not have helped probably, very much, but
+still--that is no excuse. I can only say that your world up there seemed
+so very--very--far away. Events up there had become to me only vague
+memories as of a dream. And Lylda and my little son were so near, so
+real and vital to me. Well, at any rate I stayed, deciding definitely to
+make my home and to end my days here."
+
+"What did you do about the drugs?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"I kept them hidden carefully for nearly a year," the Chemist replied.
+"Then fearing lest they should in some way get loose, I destroyed them.
+They possess a diabolical power, gentlemen; I am afraid of it."
+
+"They called you the Master," suggested the Very Young Man, after a
+pause. "Why was that?"
+
+The Chemist smiled. "They do call me the Master. That has been for
+several years. I suppose I am the most important individual in the
+nation to-day."
+
+"I should think you would be," said the Very Young Man quickly. "What
+you did, and with the knowledge you have."
+
+The Chemist went on. "Lylda and I lived with her father and Aura--her
+mother is dead you know--until after Loto was born. Then we had a house
+further up in the city. Later, about eight years ago, I built this house
+we now occupy and Lylda laid out its garden which she is tremendously
+proud of, and which I think is the finest in Arite.
+
+"Because of what I had done in the Malite war, I became naturally the
+King's adviser. Every one felt me the savior of the nation, which, in a
+way, I suppose I was. I never used the drugs again and, as only a very
+few of the people ever understood them, or in fact ever knew of them or
+believed in their existence, my extraordinary change in stature was
+ascribed to some supernatural power. I have always since been credited
+with being able to exert that power at will, although I never used it
+but that once."
+
+"You have it again now," said the Doctor smiling.
+
+"Yes, I have, thank God," answered the Chemist fervently, "though I hope
+I never shall have to use it."
+
+"Aren't you planning to go back with us," asked the Very Young Man,
+"even for a visit?"
+
+The Chemist shook his head. "My way lies here," he said quietly, yet
+with deep feeling.
+
+A silence followed; finally the Chemist roused himself from his reverie,
+and went on. "Although I never again changed my stature, there were a
+thousand different ways in which I continued to make myself--well,
+famous throughout the land. I have taught these people many things,
+gentlemen--like this for instance." He indicated his cigar, and the
+chair in which he was sitting. "You cannot imagine what a variety of
+things one knows beyond the knowledge of so primitive a race as this.
+
+"And so gradually, I became known as the Master. I have no official
+position, but everywhere I am known by that name. As a matter of fact,
+for the past year at least, it has been rather too descriptive a
+title----" the Chemist smiled somewhat ruefully--"for I have had in
+reality, and have now, the destiny of the country on my shoulders."
+
+"You're not threatened with another war?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"No, not exactly that. But I had better go on with my story first. This
+is a very different world now, gentlemen, from that I first entered
+twelve years ago. I think first I should tell you about it as it was
+then."
+
+His three friends nodded their agreement and the Chemist continued.
+
+"I must make it clear to you gentlemen, the one great fundamental
+difference between this world and yours. In the evolution of this race
+there has been no cause for strife--the survival of the fittest always
+has been an unknown doctrine--a non-existent problem.
+
+"In extent this Inner Surface upon which we are now living is nearly as
+great as the surface of your own earth. From the earliest known times it
+has been endowed with a perfect climate--a climate such as you are now
+enjoying."
+
+The Very Young Man expanded his chest and looked his appreciation.
+
+"The climate, the rainfall, everything is ideal for crops and for living
+conditions. In the matter of food, one needs in fact do practically
+nothing. Fruits of a variety ample to sustain life, grow wild in
+abundance. Vegetables planted are harvested seemingly without blight or
+hazard of any kind. No destructive insects have ever impeded
+agriculture; no wild animals have ever existed to harass humanity.
+Nature in fact, offers every help and no obstacle towards making a
+simple, primitive life easy to live.
+
+"Under such conditions the race developed only so far as was necessary
+to ensure a healthful pleasant existence. Civilization here is what you
+would call primitive: wants are few and easily supplied--too easily,
+probably, for without strife these people have become--well shall I say
+effeminate? They are not exactly that--it is not a good word."
+
+"I should think that such an unchanging, unrigorous climate would make a
+race deteriorate in physique rapidly," observed the Doctor.
+
+"How about disease down here?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"It is a curious thing," replied the Chemist. "Cleanliness seems to be a
+trait inborn with every individual in this race. It is more than
+godliness; it is the one great cardinal virtue. You must have noticed
+it, just in coming through Arite. Personal cleanliness of the people,
+and cleanliness of houses, streets--of everything. It is truly
+extraordinary to what extent they go to make everything inordinately,
+immaculately clean. Possibly for that reason, and because there seems
+never to have been any serious disease germs existing here, sickness as
+you know it, does not exist."
+
+"Guess you better not go into business here," said the Very Young Man
+with a grin at the Doctor.
+
+"There is practically no illness worthy of the name," went on the
+Chemist. "The people live out their lives and, barring accident, die
+peacefully of old age."
+
+"How old do they live to be?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"About the same as with you," answered the Chemist. "Only of course as
+we measure time."
+
+"Say how about that?" the Very Young Man asked. "My watch is still
+going--is it ticking out the old time or the new time down here?"
+
+"I should say probably--certainly--it was giving time of your own world,
+just as it always did," the Chemist replied.
+
+"Well, there's no way of telling, is there?" said the Big Business Man.
+
+"What is the exact difference in time?" the Doctor asked.
+
+"That is something I have had no means of determining. It was rather a
+curious thing; when I left that letter for you," the Chemist turned to
+the Doctor--"it never occurred to me that although I had told you to
+start down here on a certain day, I would be quite at a loss to
+calculate when that day had arrived. It was my estimation after my first
+trip here that time in this world passed at a rate about two and
+two-fifth times faster than it does in your world. That is as near as I
+ever came to it. We can calculate it more closely now, since we have
+only the interval of your journey down as an indeterminate quantity."
+
+"How near right did you hit it? When did you expect us?" asked the
+Doctor.
+
+"About thirty days ago; I have been waiting since then. I sent nearly a
+hundred men through the tunnels into the forest to guide you in."
+
+"You taught them pretty good English," said the Very Young Man. "They
+were tickled to death that they knew it, too," he added with a
+reminiscent grin.
+
+"You say about thirty days; how do you measure time down here?" asked
+the Big Business Man.
+
+"I call a day, one complete cycle of sleeping and eating," the Chemist
+replied. "I suppose that is the best translation of the Oroid word; we
+have a word that means about the same thing."
+
+"How long is a day?" inquired the Very Young Man.
+
+"It seems in the living about the same as your twenty-four hours; it
+occupies probably about the interval of time of ten hours in your world.
+
+"You see," the Chemist went on, "we ordinarily eat twice between each
+time of sleep--once after rising--and once a few hours before bedtime.
+Workers at severe muscular labor sometimes eat a light meal in between,
+but the custom is not general. Time is generally spoken of as so many
+meals, rather than days."
+
+"But what is the arbitrary standard?" asked the Doctor. "Do you have an
+equivalent for weeks, or months or years?"
+
+"Yes," answered the Chemist, "based on astronomy the same as in your
+world. But I would rather not explain that now. I want to take you,
+later to-day, to see Lylda's father. You will like him. He is--well,
+what we might call a scientist. He talks English fairly well. We can
+discuss astronomy with him; you will find him very interesting."
+
+"How can you tell time?" the Very Young Man wanted to know. "There is no
+sun to go by. You have no clocks, have you?"
+
+"There is one downstairs," answered the Chemist, "but you didn't notice
+it. Lylda's father has a very fine one; he will show it to you."
+
+"It seems to me," began the Doctor thoughtfully after a pause, reverting
+to their previous topic, "that without sickness, under such ideal living
+conditions as you say exist here, in a very short time this world would
+be over-populated."
+
+"Nature seems to have taken care of that," the Chemist answered, "and as
+a matter of fact quite the reverse is true. Women mature in life at an
+age you would call about sixteen. But early marriages are not the rule;
+seldom is a woman married before she is twenty--frequently she is much
+older. Her period of child-bearing, too, is comparatively
+short--frequently less than ten years. The result is few children, whose
+rate of mortality is exceedingly slow."
+
+"How about the marriages?" the Very Young Man suggested. "You were going
+to tell us."
+
+"Marriages are by mutual consent," answered the Chemist, "solemnized by
+a simple, social ceremony. They are for a stated period of time, and are
+renewed later if both parties desire. When a marriage is dissolved
+children are cared for by the mother generally, and her maintenance if
+necessary is provided for by the government. The state becomes the
+guardian also of all illegitimate children and children of unknown
+parentage. But of both these latter classes there are very few. They
+work for the government, as do many other people, until they are of age,
+when they become free to act as they please."
+
+"You spoke about women being different than we knew them; how are they
+different?" the Very Young Man asked. "If they're all like Lylda I think
+they're great," he added enthusiastically, flushing a little at his own
+temerity.
+
+The Chemist smiled his acknowledgment of the compliment. "The status of
+women--and their character--is I think one of the most remarkable things
+about this race. You will remember, when I returned from here the first
+time, that I was much impressed by the kindliness of these people.
+Because of their history and their government they seem to have become
+imbued with the milk of human kindness to a degree approaching the
+Utopian.
+
+"Crime here is practically non-existent; there is nothing over which
+contention can arise. What crimes are committed are punished with a
+severity seemingly out of all proportion to what you would call justice.
+A persistent offender even of fairly trivial wrongdoing is put to death
+without compunction. There is no imprisonment, except for those awaiting
+trial. Punishment is a reprimand with the threat of death if the offense
+is committed again, or death itself immediately. Probably this very
+severity and the swiftness with which punishment is meted out, to a
+large extent discourages wrongdoing. But, fundamentally, the capacity
+for doing wrong is lacking in these people.
+
+"I have said practically nothing exists over which contention can arise.
+That is not strictly true. No race of people can develop without some
+individual contention over the possession of their women. The passions
+of love, hate and jealousy, centering around sex and its problems, are
+as necessarily present in human beings as life itself.
+
+"Love here is deep, strong and generally lasting; it lacks fire,
+intensity--perhaps. I should say it is rather of a placid quality.
+Hatred seldom exists; jealousy is rare, because both sexes, in their
+actions towards the other, are guided by a spirit of honesty and
+fairness that is really extraordinary. This is true particularly of the
+women; they are absolutely honest--square, through and through.
+
+"Crimes against women are few, yet in general they are the most
+prevalent type we have. They are punishable by death--even those that
+you would characterize as comparatively slight offenses. It is
+significant too, that, in judging these crimes, but little evidence is
+required. A slight chain of proven circumstances and the word of the
+woman is all that is required.
+
+"This you will say, places a tremendous power in the hands of women. It
+does; yet they realize it thoroughly, and justify it. Although they know
+that almost at their word a man will be put to death, practically never,
+I am convinced, is this power abused. With extreme infrequency, a female
+is proven guilty of lying. The penalty is death, for there is no place
+here for such a woman!
+
+"The result is that women are accorded a freedom of movement far beyond
+anything possible in your world. They are safe from harm. Their morals
+are, according to the standard here, practically one hundred per cent
+perfect. With short-term marriages, dissolvable at will, there is no
+reason why they should be otherwise. Curiously enough too, marriages are
+renewed frequently--more than that, I should say, generally--for
+life-long periods. Polygamy with the consent of all parties is
+permitted, but seldom practiced. Polyandry is unlawful, and but few
+cases of it ever appear.
+
+"You may think all this a curious system, gentlemen, but it works."
+
+"That's the answer," muttered the Very Young Man. It was obvious he was
+still thinking of Lylda and her sister and with a heightened admiration
+and respect.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+A LIFE WORTH LIVING
+
+
+The appearance of Lylda at one of the long windows of the balcony,
+interrupted the men for a moment. She was dressed in a tunic of silver,
+of curious texture, like flexible woven metal, reaching to her knees. On
+her feet were little fiber sandals. Her hair was twisted in coils, piled
+upon her head, with a knot low at the back of the neck. From her head in
+graceful folds hung a thin scarf of gold.
+
+She stood waiting in the window a moment for them to notice her; then
+she said quietly, "I am going for a time to the court." She hesitated an
+instant over the words. The Chemist inclined his head in agreement, and
+with a smile at her guests, and a little bow, she withdrew.
+
+The visitors looked inquiringly at their host.
+
+"I must tell you about our government," said the Chemist. "Lylda plays
+quite an important part in it." He smiled at their obvious surprise.
+
+"The head of the government is the king. In reality he is more like the
+president of a republic; he is chosen by the people to serve for a
+period of about twenty years. The present king is now in--well let us
+say about the fifteenth year of his service. This translation of time
+periods into English is confusing," he interjected somewhat
+apologetically. "We shall see the king to-morrow; you will find him a
+most intelligent, likeable man.
+
+"As a sort of congress, the king has one hundred and fifty advisers,
+half of them women, who meet about once a month. Lylda is one of these
+women. He also has an inner circle of closer, more intimate counselors
+consisting of four men and four women. One of these women is the queen;
+another is Lylda. I am one of the men.
+
+"The capital of the nation is Arite. Each of the other cities governs
+itself in so far as its own local problems are concerned according to a
+somewhat similar system, but all are under the central control of the
+Arite government."
+
+"How about the country in between, the--the rural population?" asked the
+Big Business Man.
+
+"It is all apportioned off to the nearest city," answered the Chemist.
+"Each city controls a certain amount of the land around it.
+
+"This congress of one hundred and fifty is the law-making body. The
+judiciary is composed of one court in each city. There is a leader of
+the court, or judge, and a jury of forty--twenty men and twenty women.
+The juries are chosen for continuous service for a period of five years.
+Lylda is at present serving in the Arite court. They meet very
+infrequently and irregularly, called as occasion demands. A two-thirds
+vote is necessary for a decision; there is no appeal."
+
+"Are there any lawyers?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"There is no one who makes that his profession, no. Generally the
+accused talks for himself or has some relative, or possibly some friend
+to plead his case."
+
+"You have police?" the Doctor asked.
+
+"A very efficient police force, both for the cities and in the country.
+Really they are more like detectives than police; they are the men I
+sent up into the forest to meet you. We also have an army, which at
+present consists almost entirely of this same police force. After the
+Malite war it was of course very much larger, but of late years it has
+been disbanded almost completely.
+
+"How about money?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.
+
+"There is none!" answered the Chemist with a smile.
+
+"Great Scott, how can you manage that?" ejaculated the Big Business Man.
+
+"Our industrial system undoubtedly is peculiar," the Chemist replied,
+"but I can only say again, it works. We have no money, and, so far, none
+apparently is needed. Everything is bought and sold as an exchange. For
+instance, suppose I wish to make a living as a farmer. I have my
+land----"
+
+"How did you get it?" interrupted the Very Young Man quickly.
+
+"All the land is divided up _pro rata_ and given by each city to its
+citizens. At the death of its owner it reverts to the government, and
+each citizen coming of age receives his share from the surplus always
+remaining."
+
+"What about women? Can they own land too?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"They have identical rights with men in everything," the Chemist
+answered.
+
+"But women surely cannot cultivate their own land?" the Doctor said.
+Evidently he was thinking of Lylda's fragile little body, and certainly
+if most of the Oroid women were like her, labour in the fields would be
+for them quite impossible.
+
+"A few women, by choice, do some of the lighter forms of manual
+labor--but they are very few. Nearly every woman marries within a few
+years after she receives her land; if it is to be cultivated, her
+husband then takes charge of it."
+
+"Is the cultivation of land compulsory?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"Only when in a city's district a shortage of food is threatened. Then
+the government decides the amount and kind of food needed, and the
+citizens, drawn by lot, are ordered to produce it. The government
+watches very carefully its food supply. In the case of overproduction,
+certain citizens, those less skillful, are ordered to work at something
+else.
+
+"This supervision over supply and demand is exercised by the government
+not only in the question of food but in manufactures, in fact, in all
+industrial activities. A very nice balance is obtained, so that
+practically no unnecessary work is done throughout the nation.
+
+"And gentlemen, do you know, as a matter of fact, I think that is the
+secret of a race of people being able to live without having to work
+most of its waking hours? If your civilization could eliminate all its
+unnecessary work, there would be far less work to do."
+
+"I wonder--isn't this balance of supply and demand very difficult to
+maintain?" asked the Big Business Man thoughtfully.
+
+"Not nearly so difficult as you would think," the Chemist answered. "In
+the case of land cultivation, the government has a large reserve, the
+cultivation of which it adjusts to maintain this balance. Thus, in some
+districts, the citizens do as they please and are never interfered with.
+
+"The same is true of manufactures. There is no organized business in the
+nation--not even so much as the smallest factory--except that conducted
+by the government. Each city has its own factories, whose production is
+carefully planned exactly to equal the demand."
+
+"Suppose a woman marries and her land is far away from her husband's?
+That would be sort of awkward, wouldn't it?" suggested the Very Young
+Man.
+
+"Each year at a stated time," the Chemist answered, "transfers of land
+are made. There are generally enough people who want to move to make
+satisfactory changes of location practical. And then of course, the
+government always stands ready to take up any two widely separate pieces
+of land, and give others in exchange out of its reserve."
+
+"Suppose you don't like the new land as well?" objected the Very Young
+Man.
+
+"Almost all land is of equal value," answered the Chemist. "And of
+course, its state of cultivation is always considered."
+
+"You were speaking about not having money," prompted the Very Young Man.
+
+"The idea is simply this: Suppose I wish to cultivate nothing except,
+let us say, certain vegetables. I register with the government my
+intention and the extent to which I propose to go. I receive the
+government's consent. I then take my crops as I harvest them and
+exchange them for every other article I need."
+
+"With whom do you exchange them?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"Any one I please--or with the government. Ninety per cent of everything
+produced is turned in to the government and other articles are taken
+from its stores."
+
+"How is the rate of exchange established?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"It is computed by the government. Private exchanges are supposed to be
+made at the same rate. It is against the law to cut under the government
+rate. But it is done, although apparently not with sufficient frequency
+to cause any trouble."
+
+"I should think it would be tremendously complicated and annoying to
+make all these exchanges," observed the Big Business Man.
+
+"Not at all," answered the Chemist, "because of the governmental system
+of credits. The financial standing of every individual is carefully kept
+on record."
+
+"Without any money? I don't get you," said the Very Young Man with a
+frown of bewilderment.
+
+The Chemist smiled. "Well, I don't blame you for that. But I think I can
+make myself clear. Let us take the case of Loto, for instance, as an
+individual. When he comes of age he will be allotted his section of
+land. We will assume him to be without family at that time, entirely
+dependent on his own resources."
+
+"Would he never have worked before coming of age?" the Very Young Man
+asked.
+
+"Children with parents generally devote their entire minority to getting
+an education, and to building their bodies properly. Without parents,
+they are supported by the government and live in public homes. Such
+children, during their adolescence, work for the government a small
+portion of their time.
+
+"Now when Loto comes of age and gets his land, located approximately
+where he desires it, he will make his choice as to his vocation. Suppose
+he wishes not to cultivate his land but to work for the government. He
+is given some congenial, suitable employment at which he works
+approximately five hours a day. No matter what he elects to do at the
+time he comes of age the government opens an account with him. He is
+credited with a certain standard unit for his work, which he takes from
+the government in supplies at his own convenience."
+
+"What is the unit?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"It is the average work produced by the average worker in one
+day--purely an arbitrary figure."
+
+"Like our word horse-power?" put in the Doctor.
+
+"Exactly. And all merchandise, food and labor is valued in terms of it.
+
+"Thus you see, every individual has his financial standing--all in
+relation to the government. He can let his balance pile up if he is
+able, or he can keep it low."
+
+"Suppose he goes into debt?" suggested the Very Young Man.
+
+"In the case of obvious, verified necessity, the government will allow
+him a limited credit. Persistent--shall I say willful--debt is a crime."
+
+"I thought at first," said the Big Business Man, "that everybody in this
+nation was on the same financial footing--that there was no premium put
+upon skill or industriousness. Now I see that one can accumulate, if not
+money, at least an inordinate amount of the world's goods."
+
+"Not such an inordinate amount," said the Chemist smiling. "Because
+there is no inheritance. A man and woman, combining their worldly
+wealth, may by industry acquire more than others, but they are welcome
+to enjoy it. And they cannot, in one lifetime, get such a preponderance
+of wealth as to cause much envy from those lacking it."
+
+"What happens to this house when you and Lylda die, if Loto cannot have
+it?" the Big Business Man asked.
+
+"It is kept in repair by the government and held until some one with a
+sufficiently large balance wants to buy it."
+
+"Are all workers paid at the same rate?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"No, but their wages are much nearer equal than in your world."
+
+"You have to hire people to work for you, how do you pay them?" the
+Doctor inquired.
+
+"The rate is determined by governmental standard. I pay them by having
+the amount deducted from my balance and added to theirs."
+
+"When you built this house, how did you go about doing it?" asked the
+Big Business Man.
+
+"I simply went to the government, and they built it for me according to
+my own ideas and wishes, deducting its cost from my balance."
+
+"What about the public work to be done?" asked the Big Business Man.
+"Caring for the city streets, the making of roads and all that. Do you
+have taxes?"
+
+"No," answered the Chemist smiling, "we do not have taxes. Quite the
+reverse, we sometimes have dividends.
+
+"The government, you must understand, not only conducts a business
+account with each of its citizens, but one with itself also. The value
+of articles produced is computed with a profit allowance, so that by a
+successful business administration, the government is enabled not only
+to meet its public obligations, but to acquire a surplus to its own
+credit in the form of accumulated merchandise. This surplus is divided
+among the people every five years--a sort of dividend."
+
+"I should think some cities might have much more than others," said the
+Big Business Man. "That would cause discontent, wouldn't it?"
+
+"It would probably cause a rush of people to the more successful cities.
+But it doesn't happen, because each city reports to the National
+government and the whole thing is averaged up. You see it is all quite
+simple," the Chemist finished. "And it makes life here very easy to
+live, and very worth the living."
+
+Unnoticed by the four interested men, a small compact-looking gray cloud
+had come sweeping down from the horizon above the lake and was scudding
+across the sky toward Arite. A sudden sharp crack of thunder interrupted
+their conversation.
+
+"Hello, a storm!" exclaimed the Chemist, looking out over the lake.
+"You've never seen one, have you? Come upstairs."
+
+They followed him into the house and upstairs to its flat roof. From
+this point of vantage they saw that the house was built with an interior
+courtyard or _patio_. Looking down into this courtyard from the roof
+they could see a little, splashing fountain in its center, with flower
+beds, a narrow gray path, and several small white benches.
+
+The roof, which was guarded with a breast-high parapet around both its
+inner and outer edges, was beautifully laid out with a variety of
+flowers and with trellised flower-bearing vines. In one corner were
+growing a number of small trees with great fan-shaped leaves of blue and
+bearing a large bell-shaped silver blossom.
+
+One end of the roof on the lake side was partially enclosed. Towards
+this roofed enclosure the Chemist led his friends. Within it a large
+fiber hammock hung between two stone posts. At one side a depression in
+the floor perhaps eight feet square was filled with what might have been
+blue pine needles, and a fluffy bluish moss. This rustic couch was
+covered at one end by a canopy of vines bearing a little white flower.
+
+As they entered the enclosure, it began to rain, and the Chemist slid
+forward several panels, closing them in completely. There were shuttered
+windows in these walls, through which they could look at the scene
+outside--a scene that with the coming storm was weird and beautiful
+beyond anything they had ever beheld.
+
+The cloud had spread sufficiently now to blot out the stars from nearly
+half of the sky. It was a thick cloud, absolutely opaque, and yet it
+caused no appreciable darkness, for the starlight it cut off was
+negligible and the silver radiation from the lake had more than doubled
+in intensity.
+
+Under the strong wind that had sprung up the lake assumed now an
+extraordinary aspect. Its surface was raised into long, sweeping waves
+that curved sharply and broke upon themselves. In their tops the silver
+phosphorescence glowed and whirled until the whole surface of the lake
+seemed filled with a dancing white fire, twisting, turning and seeming
+to leap out of the water high into the air.
+
+Several small sailboats, square, flat little catamarans, they looked,
+showed black against the water as they scudded for shore, trailing lines
+of silver out behind them.
+
+The wind increased in force. Below, on the beach, a huge rock lay in the
+water, against which the surf was breaking. Columns of water at times
+shot into the air before the face of the rock, and were blown away by
+the wind in great clouds of glistening silver. Occasionally it thundered
+with a very sharp intense crack accompanied by a jagged bolt of bluish
+lightning that zigzagged down from the low-hanging cloud.
+
+Then came the rain in earnest, a solid, heavy torrent, that bent down
+the wind and smoothed the surface of the lake. The rain fell almost
+vertically, as though it were a tremendous curtain of silver strings.
+And each of these strings broke apart into great shining pearls as the
+eye followed downward the course of the raindrops.
+
+For perhaps ten minutes the silver torrent poured down. Then suddenly it
+ceased. The wind had died away; in the air there was the fresh warm
+smell of wet and steaming earth. From the lake rolled up a shimmering
+translucent cloud of mist, like an enormous silver fire mounting into
+the sky. And then, as the gray cloud swept back behind them, beyond the
+city, and the stars gleamed overhead, they saw again that great trail of
+star-dust which the Chemist first had seen through his microscope,
+hanging in an ever broadening arc across the sky, and ending vaguely at
+their feet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE TRIAL
+
+
+In a few moments more the storm had passed completely; only the wet city
+streets, the mist over the lake, and the moist warmth of the air
+remained. For some time the three visitors to this extraordinary world
+stood silent at the latticed windows, awed by what they had seen. The
+noise of the panels as the Chemist slid them back brought them to
+themselves.
+
+"A curious land, gentlemen," he remarked quietly.
+
+"It's--it's weird," the Very Young Man ejaculated.
+
+The Chemist led them out across the roof to its other side facing the
+city. The street upon which the house stood sloped upwards over the hill
+behind. It was wet with the rain and gleamed like a sheet of burnished
+silver. And down its sides now ran two little streams of liquid silver
+fire.
+
+The street, deserted during the storm, was beginning to fill again with
+people returning to their tasks. At the intersection with the next road
+above, they could see a line of sleighs passing. Beneath them, before
+the wall of the garden a little group of men stood talking; on a
+roof-top nearby a woman appeared with a tiny naked infant which she sat
+down to nurse in a corner of her garden.
+
+"A city at work," said the Chemist with a wave of his hand. "Shall we go
+down and see it?"
+
+His three friends assented readily, the Very Young Man suggesting
+promptly that they first visit Lylda's father and Aura.
+
+"He is teaching Loto this morning," said the Chemist smiling.
+
+"Why not go to the court?" suggested the Big Business Man.
+
+"Is the public admitted?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"Nothing is secret here," the Chemist answered. "By all means, we will
+go to the court first, if you wish; Lylda should be through very
+shortly."
+
+The court of Arite stood about a mile away near the lake shore. As they
+left the house and passed through the city streets the respect accorded
+the Chemist became increasingly apparent. The three strangers with him
+attracted considerable attention, for, although they wore the
+conventional robes in which the more prominent citizens were generally
+attired, their short hair and the pallid whiteness of their skins made
+them objects of curiosity. No crowd gathered; those they passed stared a
+little, raised their hands to their foreheads and went their way, yet
+underneath these signs of respect there was with some an air of
+sullenness, of hostility, that the visitors could not fail to notice.
+
+The Oroid men, in street garb, were dressed generally in a short
+metallic-looking tunic of drab, with a brighter-colored girdle. The
+women, most of them, wore only a sort of skirt, reaching from waist to
+knees; a few had circular discs covering their breasts. There were
+hardly any children to be seen, except occasionally a little face
+staring at them from a window, or peering down from a roof-top. Once or
+twice they passed a woman with an infant slung across her back in a sort
+of hammock.
+
+The most common vehicle was the curious form of sleigh in which they had
+ridden down through the tunnels. They saw also a few little two-wheeled
+carts, with wheels that appeared to be a solid segment of tree-trunk.
+All the vehicles were drawn by meek-looking little gray animals like a
+small deer without horns.
+
+The court-house of Arite, though a larger building, from the outside was
+hardly different than most others in the city. It was distinct, however,
+in having on either side of the broad doorway that served as its main
+entrance, a large square stone column.
+
+As they entered, passing a guard who saluted them respectfully, the
+visitors turned from a hallway and ascended a flight of steps. At the
+top they found themselves on a balcony overlooking the one large room
+that occupied almost the entire building. The balcony ran around all
+three sides (the room was triangular in shape) and was railed with a low
+stone parapet. On it were perhaps fifty people, sitting quietly on stone
+benches that lay close up behind the parapet. An attendant stood at each
+of the corners of the balcony; the one nearest bowed low as the Chemist
+and his companions entered silently and took their seats.
+
+From the balcony the entire room below was in plain view. At the apex of
+its triangle sat the judge, on a raised dais of white stone with a
+golden canopy over it. He was a man about fifty--this leader of the
+court--garbed in a long loose robe of white. His hair, that fell on his
+shoulders, was snowy white, and around his forehead was a narrow white
+band. He held in his hand a sort of scepter of gold with a heavy golden
+triangle at its end.
+
+In six raised tiers of unequal length, like a triangular flight of
+stairs across the angle of the room, and directly in front of the judge,
+was the jury--twenty men and twenty women, seated in alternate rows. The
+men wore loose robes of gray; the women robes of blue. On a seat raised
+slightly above the others sat a man who evidently was speaker for the
+men of the jury. On a similar elevated seat was the woman speaker; this
+latter was Lylda.
+
+Near the center of the room, facing the judge and jury were two
+triangular spaces about twenty feet across, enclosed with a breast-high
+wall of stone. Within each of these enclosures were perhaps ten or
+twelve people seated on small stone benches. Directly facing the members
+of the jury and between them and the two enclosures, was a small
+platform raised about four feet above the floor, with several steps
+leading up to it from behind.
+
+A number of attendants dressed in the characteristic short tunics, with
+breastplates and a short sword hanging from the waist, stood near the
+enclosures, and along the sides of the room.
+
+The Chemist leaned over and whispered to his friends: "Those two
+enclosed places in the center are for the witnesses. Over there are
+those testifying for the accused; the others are witnesses for the
+government. The platform is where the accused stands when----"
+
+He broke off suddenly. An expectant hush seemed to run over the room. A
+door at the side opened, and preceded and followed by two attendants a
+man entered, who walked slowly across the floor and stood alone upon the
+raised platform facing the jury.
+
+He was a man of extraordinarily striking look and demeanor. He stood
+considerably over six feet in height, with a remarkably powerful yet
+lean body. He was naked except for a cloth breech clout girdled about
+his loins. His appearance was not that of an Oroid, for beside his
+greater height, and more muscular physique, his skin was distinctly of a
+more brownish hue. His hair was cut at the base of the neck in Oroid
+fashion; it was black, with streaks of silver running through it. His
+features were large and cast in a rugged mold. His mouth was cruel, and
+wore now a sardonic smile. He stood erect with head thrown back and arms
+folded across his breast, calmly facing the men and women who were to
+judge him.
+
+The Very Young Man gripped the Chemist by the arm. "Who is that?" he
+whispered.
+
+The Chemist's lips were pressed together; he seemed deeply affected. "I
+did not know they caught him," he answered softly. "It must have been
+just this morning."
+
+The Very Young Man looked at Lylda. Her face was placid, but her breast
+was rising and falling more rapidly than normal, and her hands in her
+lap were tightly clenched.
+
+The judge began speaking quietly, amid a deathlike silence. For over
+five minutes he spoke; once he was interrupted by a cheer, instantly
+stifled, and once by a murmur of dissent from several spectators on the
+balcony that called forth instant rebuke from the attendant stationed
+there.
+
+The judge finished his speech, and raised his golden scepter slowly
+before him. As his voice died away, Lylda rose to her feet and facing
+the judge bowed low, with hands to her forehead. Then she spoke a few
+words, evidently addressing the women before her. Each of them raised
+her hands and answered in a monosyllable, as though affirming an oath.
+This performance was repeated by the men.
+
+The accused still stood silent, smiling sardonically. Suddenly his voice
+rasped out with a short, ugly intonation and he threw his arms straight
+out before him. A murmur rose from the spectators, and several
+attendants leaned forward towards the platform. But the man only looked
+around at them contemptuously and again folded his arms.
+
+From one of the enclosures a woman came, and mounted the platform beside
+the man. The Chemist whispered, "His wife; she is going to speak for
+him." But with a muttered exclamation and wave of his arm, the man swept
+her back, and without a word she descended the steps and reentered the
+railed enclosure.
+
+Then the man turned and raising his arms spoke angrily to those seated
+in the enclosure. Then he appealed to the judge.
+
+The Chemist whispered in explanation: "He refuses any witnesses."
+
+At a sign from the judge the enclosure was opened and its occupants left
+the floor, most of them taking seats upon the balcony.
+
+"Who is he?" the Very Young Man wanted to know, but the Chemist ignored
+his question.
+
+For perhaps ten minutes the man spoke, obviously in his own defence. His
+voice was deep and powerful, yet he spoke now seemingly without anger;
+and without an air of pleading. In fact his whole attitude seemed one of
+irony and defiance. Abruptly he stopped speaking and silence again fell
+over the room. A man and a woman left the other enclosure and mounted
+the platform beside the accused. They seemed very small and fragile, as
+he towered over them, looking down at them sneeringly.
+
+The man and woman conferred a moment in whispers. Then the woman spoke.
+She talked only a few minutes, interrupted twice by the judge, once by a
+question from Lylda, and once by the accused himself.
+
+Then for perhaps ten minutes more her companion addressed the court. He
+was a man considerably over middle age, and evidently, from his dress
+and bearing, a man of prominence in the nation. At one point in his
+speech it became obvious that his meaning was not clearly understood by
+the jury. Several of the women whispered together, and one rose and
+spoke to Lylda. She interrupted the witness with a quiet question. Later
+the accused himself questioned the speaker until silenced by the judge.
+
+Following this witness came two others. Then the judge rose, and looking
+up to the balcony where the Chemist and his companions were sitting,
+motioned to the Chemist to descend to the floor below.
+
+The Very Young Man tried once again with his whispered question "What is
+it?" but the Chemist only smiled, and rising quietly left them.
+
+There was a stir in the court-room as the Chemist crossed the main
+floor. He did not ascend the platform with the prisoner, but stood
+beside it. He spoke to the jury quietly, yet with a suppressed power in
+his voice that must have been convincing. He spoke only a moment, more
+with the impartial attitude of one who gives advice than as a witness.
+When he finished, he bowed to the court and left the floor, returning at
+once to his friends upon the balcony.
+
+Following the Chemist, after a moment of silence, the judge briefly
+addressed the prisoner, who stolidly maintained his attitude of ironic
+defiance.
+
+"He is going to ask the jury to give its verdict now," said the Chemist
+in a low voice.
+
+Lylda and her companion leader rose and faced their subordinates, and
+with a verbal monosyllable from each member of the jury the verdict was
+unhesitatingly given. As the last juryman's voice died away, there came
+a cry from the back of the room, a woman tore herself loose from the
+attendants holding her, and running swiftly across the room leaped upon
+the platform. She was a slight little woman, almost a child in
+appearance beside the man's gigantic stature. She stood looking at him a
+moment with heaving breast and great sorrowful eyes from which the tears
+were welling out and flowing down her cheeks unheeded.
+
+The man's face softened. He put his hands gently upon the sides of her
+neck. Then, as she began sobbing, he folded her in his great arms. For
+an instant she clung to him. Then he pushed her away. Still crying
+softly, she descended from the platform, and walked slowly back across
+the room.
+
+Hardly had she disappeared when there arose from the street outside a
+faint, confused murmur, as of an angry crowd gathering. The judge had
+left his seat now and the jury was filing out of the room.
+
+The Chemist turned to his friends. "Shall we go?" he asked.
+
+"This trial--" began the Big Business Man. "You haven't told us its
+significance. This man--good God what a figure of power and hate and
+evil. Who is he?"
+
+"It must have been evident to you, gentlemen," the Chemist said quietly,
+"that you have been witnessing an event of the utmost importance to us
+all. I have to tell you of the crisis facing us; this trial is its
+latest development. That man--"
+
+The insistent murmur from the street grew louder. Shouts arose and then
+a loud pounding from the side of the building.
+
+The Chemist broke off abruptly and rose to his feet. "Come outside," he
+said.
+
+They followed him through a doorway on to a balcony, overlooking the
+street. Gathered before the court-house was a crowd of several hundred
+men and women. They surged up against its entrance angrily, and were
+held in check there by the armed attendants on guard. A smaller crowd
+was pounding violently upon a side door of the building. Several people
+ran shouting down the street, spreading the excitement through the city.
+
+The Chemist and his companions stood in the doorway of the balcony an
+instant, silently regarding this ominous scene. The Chemist was just
+about to step forward, when, upon another balcony, nearer the corner of
+the building a woman appeared. She stepped close to the edge of the
+parapet and raised her arms commandingly.
+
+It was Lylda. She had laid aside her court robe and stood now in her
+glistening silver tunic. Her hair was uncoiled, and fell in dark masses
+over her white shoulders, blowing out behind her in the wind.
+
+The crowd hesitated at the sight of her, and quieted a little. She stood
+rigid as a statue for a moment, holding her arms outstretched. Then,
+dropping them with a gesture of appeal she began to speak.
+
+At the sound of her voice, clear and vibrant, yet soft, gentle and
+womanly, there came silence from below, and after a moment every face
+was upturned to hers. Gradually her voice rose in pitch. Its gentle tone
+was gone now--it became forceful, commanding. Then again she flung out
+her arms with a dramatic gesture and stood rigid, every line of her body
+denoting power--almost imperious command. Abruptly she ceased speaking,
+and, as she stood motionless, slowly at first, the crowd silently
+dispersed.
+
+The street below was soon clear. Even those onlookers at a distance
+turned the corner and disappeared. Another moment passed, and then Lylda
+swayed and sank upon the floor of the balcony, with her head on her arms
+against its low stone railing--just a tired, gentle, frightened little
+woman.
+
+"She did it--how wonderfully she did it," the Very Young Man murmured in
+admiration.
+
+"We can handle them now," answered the Chemist. "But each time--it is
+harder. Let us get Lylda and go home, gentlemen. I want to tell you all
+about it." He turned to leave the balcony.
+
+"Who was the man? What was he tried for?" the Very Young Man demanded.
+
+"That trial was the first of its kind ever held," the Chemist answered.
+"The man was condemned to death. It was a new crime--the gravest we have
+ever had to face--the crime of treason."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+LYLDA'S PLAN
+
+
+Back home, comfortably seated upon the broad balcony overlooking the
+lake, the three men sat waiting to hear their host's explanation of the
+strange events they had witnessed. Lylda busied herself preparing a
+light noonday meal, which she served charmingly on the balcony while
+they talked.
+
+"My friends," the Chemist began. "I tried to give you this morning, a
+picture of this world and the life I have been leading here. I think you
+understand, although I did not specifically say so, that all I said
+related to the time when I first came here. That you would call this
+life Utopia, because of the way I outlined it, I do not doubt; or at
+least you would call it a state of affairs as near Utopian as any human
+beings can approach.
+
+"All that is true; it was Utopia. But gentlemen, it is so no longer.
+Things have been changing of recent years, until now--well you saw what
+happened this morning.
+
+"I cannot account for the first cause of this trouble. Perhaps the
+Malite war, with its disillusionment to our people--I do not know. Faith
+in human kindness was broken: the Oroids could no longer trust
+implicitly in each other. A gradual distrust arose--a growing unrest--a
+dissatisfaction, which made no demands at first, nor seemed indeed to
+have any definite grievances of any sort. From it there sprang leaders,
+who by their greater intelligence created desires that fed and nourished
+their dissatisfaction--gave it a seemingly tangible goal that made it
+far more dangerous than it ever had been before.
+
+"About a year ago there first came into prominence the man whom you saw
+this morning condemned to death. His name is Targo--he is a
+Malite--full-blooded I believe, although he says not. For twenty years
+or more he has lived in Orlog, a city some fifty miles from Arite. His
+wife is an Oroid.
+
+"Targo, by his eloquence, and the power and force of his personality,
+won a large following in Orlog, and to a lesser degree in many other
+cities. Twice, some months ago, he was arrested and reprimanded; the
+last time with a warning that a third offence would mean his death."
+
+"What is he after?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"The Targos, as they are called, demand principally a different division
+of the land. Under the present system, approximately one-third of all
+the land is in the hands of the government. Of that, generally more than
+half lies idle most of the time. The Targos wish to have this land
+divided among the citizens. They claim also that most of the city
+organizations do not produce as large a dividend as the Targos could
+show under their own management. They have many other grievances that
+there is no reason for me to detail."
+
+"Why not let them try out their theories in some city?" suggested the
+Big Business Man.
+
+"They are trying them," the Chemist answered. "There was a revolution in
+Orlog about six months ago. Several of its officials were
+assassinated--almost the first murders we have ever had. The Targos took
+possession of the government--a brother of this man you saw this morning
+became leader of the city. Orlog withdrew from the Oroid government and
+is now handling its affairs as a separate nation."
+
+"I wonder----" began the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "Well, why not
+let them run it that way, if they want to?"
+
+"No reason, if they were sincere. But they are not sincere nor honest
+fundamentally. Their leaders are for the most part Malites, or Oroids
+with Malite blood. And they are fooling the people. Their followers are
+all the more unintelligent, more gullible individuals, or those in whom
+there lies a latent criminal streak.
+
+"The thing doesn't work. Sexual license is growing in Orlog. Crimes
+against women are becoming more and more frequent. Offences committed by
+those prominent, or in authority, go unpunished. Women's testimony is
+discredited, often by concerted lying on the part of men witnesses.
+
+"Many families are leaving Orlog--leaving their land and their homes
+deserted. In other cities where the Targos threaten to gain control the
+same thing is happening. Most of these refugees come to Arite. We cannot
+take care of them; there is not enough land here."
+
+"Why not take your army and clean them up?" suggested the Very Young
+Man.
+
+They were seated around a little table, at which Lylda was serving
+lunch. At the question she stopped in the act of pouring a steaming
+liquid from a little metal kettle into their dainty golden drinking cups
+and looked at the Very Young Man gravely.
+
+"Very easy it would be to do that perhaps," she said quietly. "But these
+Targos, except a few--they are our own people. And they too are armed.
+We cannot fight them; we cannot kill them--our own people."
+
+"We may have to," said the Chemist. "But you see, I did not realize, I
+could not believe the extent to which this Targo could sway the people.
+Nor did I at first realize what evils would result if his ideas were
+carried out. He has many followers right here in Arite. You saw that
+this morning."
+
+"How did you catch him?" interrupted the Very Young Man.
+
+"Yesterday he came to Arite," said Lylda. "He came to speak. With him
+came fifty others. With them too came his wife to speak here, to our
+women. He thought we would do nothing; he defied us. There was a
+fight--this morning--and many were killed. And we brought him to the
+court--you saw."
+
+"It is a serious situation," said the Doctor. "I had no idea----"
+
+"We can handle it--we must handle it," said the Chemist. "But as Lylda
+says, we cannot kill our own people--only as a last desperate measure."
+
+"Suppose you wait too long," suggested the Big Business Man. "You say
+these Targos are gaining strength every day. You might have a very bad
+civil war."
+
+"That was the problem," answered the Chemist.
+
+"But now you come," said Lylda. "You change it all when you come down to
+us out of the great beyond. Our people, they call you genii of the
+Master, they----"
+
+"Oh gee, I never thought of that," murmured the Very Young Man. "What
+_do_ you think of us?"
+
+"They think you are supernatural beings of course," the Chemist said
+smiling. "Yet they accept you without fear and they look to you and to
+me for help."
+
+"This morning, there at the court," said Lylda, "I heard them say that
+Targo spoke against you. Devils, he said, from the Great Blue Star, come
+here with evil for us all. And they believe him, some of them. It was
+for that perhaps they acted as they did before the court. In Arite now,
+many believe in Targo. And it is bad, very bad."
+
+"The truth is," added the Chemist, "your coming, while it gives us
+unlimited possibilities for commanding the course of events, at the same
+time has precipitated the crisis. Naturally no one can understand who or
+what you are. And as Lylda says, the Targos undoubtedly are telling the
+people you come to ally yourself with me for evil. There will be
+thousands who will listen to them and fear and hate you--especially in
+some of the other cities."
+
+"What does the king say?" asked the Doctor.
+
+"We will see him to-morrow. He has been anxiously waiting for you. But
+you must not forget," the Chemist added with a smile, "the king has had
+little experience facing strife or evil-doing of any kind. It was almost
+unknown until recently. It is I, and you, gentlemen, who are facing the
+problem of saving this nation."
+
+The Very Young Man's face was flushed, and his eyes sparkled with
+excitement. "We can do anything we like," he said. "We have the power."
+
+"Ay, that is it," said Lylda. "The power we have. But my friend, we
+cannot use it. Not for strife, for death; we cannot."
+
+"The execution of Targo will cause more trouble," said the Chemist
+thoughtfully. "It is bound to make----"
+
+"When will you put him to death?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"To-morrow he dies," Lylda answered. "To-morrow, before the time of
+sleep."
+
+"There will be trouble," said the Chemist again. "We are in no personal
+danger of course, but, for the people who now believe in Targo, I am
+afraid----"
+
+"A plan I have made," said Lylda. She sat forward tensely in her chair,
+brushing her hair back from her face with a swift gesture. "A plan I
+have made. It is the only way--I now think--that may be there comes no
+harm to our people. It is that we want to do, if we can." She spoke
+eagerly, and without waiting for them to answer, went swiftly on.
+
+"This drug that you have brought, I shall take it. And I shall get big.
+Oh, not so very big, but big enough to be the height of a man it may be
+ten times. Then shall I talk to the people--I, Lylda--woman of the
+Master, and then shall I tell them that this power, this magic, is for
+good, not for evil, if only they will give up Targo and all who are with
+him."
+
+"I will take it with you," said the Chemist. "Together we----"
+
+"No, no, my husband. Alone I must do this. Ah, do you not know they say
+these stranger devils with their magic come for evil? And you too, must
+you not forget, once were a stranger just as they. That the people
+know--that they remember.
+
+"But I--I--Lylda--a woman of the Oroids I am--full-blooded Oroid, no
+stranger. And they will believe me--a woman--for they know I cannot lie.
+
+"I shall tell them I am for good, for kindness, for all we had, that
+time before the Malite war, when every one was happy. And if they will
+not believe, if as I say they will not do, then shall my power be indeed
+for evil, and all who will obey me not shall die. But they will
+believe--no need will there be to threaten.
+
+"To many cities I will go. And in them, all of those who want to live by
+Targo's law will I send to Orlog. And all in Orlog who believe him not,
+will I tell to leave, and to the other cities go to make their homes.
+Then Orlog shall be Targo's city. And to-morrow he will not die, but go
+there into Orlog and become their king. For I shall say it may be there
+are some who like his rule of evil. Or it may be he is good in different
+fashion, and in time can make us see that his law too, is just and kind.
+
+"Then shall live in Orlog all who wish to stay, and we shall watch their
+rule, but never shall we let them pass beyond their borders. For if they
+do, then shall we kill them.
+
+"All this I can do, my husband, if you but will let me try. For me they
+will believe, a woman, Oroid all of blood--for they know women do not
+lie." She stopped and the fire in her eyes changed to a look of gentle
+pleading. "If you will but let me try," she finished. "My
+husband--please."
+
+The Chemist glanced at his friends who sat astonished by this flow of
+eager, impassioned words. Then he turned again to Lylda's intent,
+pleading face, regarding her tenderly. "You are very fine, little mother
+of my son," he said gently, lapsing for a moment into her own style of
+speech. "It could do no harm," he added thoughtfully "and perhaps----"
+
+"Let her try it," said the Doctor. "No harm could come to her."
+
+"No harm to me could come," said Lylda quickly. "And I shall make them
+believe. I can, because I am a woman, and they will know I tell the
+truth. Ah, you will let me try, my husband--please?"
+
+The Chemist appealed to the others. "They will believe her, many of
+them," he said. "They will leave Orlog as she directs. But those in
+other cities will still hold to Targo, they will simply remain silent
+for a time. What their feelings will be or are we cannot tell. Some will
+leave and go to Orlog of course, for Lylda will offer freedom of their
+leader and to secure that they will seem to agree to anything.
+
+"But after all, they are nothing but children at heart, most of them.
+To-day, they might believe in Lylda; to-morrow Targo could win them
+again."
+
+"He won't get a chance," put in the Very Young Man quickly. "If she says
+we kill anybody who talks for Targo outside of Orlog, that goes. It's
+the only way, isn't it?"
+
+"And she might really convince them--or most of them," added the Doctor.
+
+"You will let me try?" asked Lylda softly. The Chemist nodded.
+
+Lylda sprang to her feet. Her frail little body was trembling with
+emotion; on her face was a look almost of exaltation.
+
+"You _will_ let me try," she cried. "Then I shall make them believe.
+Here, now, this very hour, I shall make them know the truth. And they,
+my own people, shall I save from sorrow, misery and death."
+
+She turned to the Chemist and spoke rapidly.
+
+"My husband, will you send Oteo now, up into the city. Him will you tell
+to have others spread the news. All who desire an end to Targo's rule,
+shall come here at once. And all too, who in him believe, and who for
+him want freedom, they shall come too. Let Oteo tell them magic shall be
+performed and Lylda will speak with them.
+
+"Make haste, my husband, for now I go to change my dress. Not as the
+Master's woman will I speak, but as Lylda--Oroid woman--woman of the
+people." And with a flashing glance, she turned and swiftly left the
+balcony.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+LYLDA ACTS
+
+
+"She'll do it," the Very Young Man murmured, staring at the doorway
+through which Lylda had disappeared. "She can do anything."
+
+The Chemist rose to his feet. "I'll send Oteo. Will you wait here
+gentlemen? And will you have some of the drugs ready for Lylda? You have
+them with you?" The men nodded.
+
+"How about Lylda carrying the drugs?" asked the Very Young Man. "And
+what about her clothes?"
+
+"I have already made a belt for Lylda and for myself--some time ago,"
+the Chemist answered. "During the first year I was here I made several
+experiments with the drugs. I found that almost anything within the
+immediate--shall I say influence of the body, will contract with it.
+Almost any garment, even a loose robe will change size. You found that
+to be so to some extent. Those belts you wore down--"
+
+"That's true," agreed the Doctor, "there seems to be considerable
+latitude----"
+
+"I decided," the Chemist went on, "that immediately after your arrival
+we should all wear the drugs constantly. You can use the armpit pouches
+if you wish; Lylda and I will wear these belts I have made."
+
+Oteo, the Chemist's personal servant, a slim youth with a bright,
+intelligent face, listened carefully to his master's directions and then
+left the house hurriedly, running up the street towards the center of
+the city. Once or twice he stopped and spoke to passers-by for a moment,
+gathering a crowd around him each time.
+
+The Chemist rejoined his friends on the balcony. "There will be a
+thousand people here in half an hour," he said quietly. "I have sent a
+message to the men in charge of the government workshops; they will have
+their people cease work to come here."
+
+Lylda appeared in a few moments more. She was dressed as the Chemist had
+seen her first through the microscope--in a short, grey skirt reaching
+from waist to knees. Only now she wore also two circular metal discs
+strapped over her breasts. Her hair was unbound and fell in masses
+forward over her shoulders. Around her waist was a broad girdle of
+golden cloth with small pouches for holding the chemicals. She took her
+place among the men quietly.
+
+"See, I am ready," she said with a smile. "Oteo, you have sent him?" The
+Chemist nodded.
+
+Lylda turned to the Doctor. "You will tell me, what is to do with the
+drugs?"
+
+They explained in a few words. By now a considerable crowd had gathered
+before the house, and up the street many others were hurrying down.
+Directly across from the entrance to Lylda's garden, back of the bluff
+at the lake front, was a large open space with a fringe of trees at its
+back. In this open space the crowd was collecting.
+
+The Chemist rose after a moment and from the roof-top spoke a few words
+to the people in the street below. They answered him with shouts of
+applause mingled with a hum of murmured anger underneath. The Chemist
+went back to his friends, his face set and serious.
+
+As he dropped in his chair Lylda knelt on the floor before him, laying
+her arms on his knees. "I go to do for our people the best I can," she
+said softly, looking up into his face. "Now I go, but to you I will come
+back soon." The Chemist tenderly put his hand upon the glossy smoothness
+of her hair.
+
+"I go--now," she repeated, and reached for one of the vials under her
+arm. Holding it in her hand, she stared at it a moment, silently, in
+awe. Then she shuddered like a frightened child and buried her face in
+the Chemist's lap, huddling her little body up close against his legs as
+if for protection.
+
+The Chemist did not move nor speak, but sat quiet with his hand gently
+stroking her hair. In a moment she again raised her face to his. Her
+long lashes were wet with tears, but her lips were smiling.
+
+"I am ready--now," she said gently. She brushed her tears from her eyes
+and rose to her feet. Drawing herself to her full height, she tossed
+back her head and flung out her arms before her.
+
+"No one can know I am afraid--but you," she said. "And I--shall forget."
+She dropped her arms and stood passive.
+
+"I go now to take the drug--there in the little garden behind, where no
+one can notice. You will come down?"
+
+The Big Business Man cleared his throat. When he spoke his voice was
+tremulous with emotion.
+
+"How long will you be gone--Lylda?" he asked.
+
+The woman turned to him with a smile. "Soon will I return, so I
+believe," she answered. "I go to Orlog, to Raito, and to Tele. But never
+shall I wait, nor speak long, and fast will I walk.... Before the time
+of sleep has descended upon us, I shall be here."
+
+In the little garden behind the house, out of sight of the crowd on the
+other side, Lylda prepared to take the drug. She was standing there,
+with the four men, when Loto burst upon them, throwing himself into his
+mother's arms.
+
+"Oh, _mamita_, _mamita_," he cried, clinging to her. "There in the
+street outside, they say such terrible things----of you _mamita_. 'The
+master's woman' I heard one say, 'She has the evil magic.' And another
+spoke of Targo. And they say he must not die, or there will be death for
+those who kill him."
+
+Lylda held the boy close as he poured out his breathless frightened
+words.
+
+"No matter, little son," she said tenderly. "To _mamita_ no harm can
+come--you shall see. Did my father teach you well to-day?"
+
+"But _mamita_, one man who saw me standing, called me an evil name and
+spoke of you, my mother Lylda. And a woman looked with a look I never
+saw before. I am afraid, _mamita_."
+
+With quivering lips that smiled, Lylda kissed the little boy tenderly
+and gently loosening his hold pushed him towards his father.
+
+"The Master's son, Loto, never can he be afraid," she said with gentle
+reproof. "That must you remember--always."
+
+The little group in the garden close up against the house stood silent
+as Lylda took a few grains of the drug. The noise and shouts of the
+crowd in front were now plainly audible. One voice was raised above the
+others, as though someone were making a speech.
+
+Loto stood beside his father, and the Chemist laid his arm across the
+boy's shoulder. As Lylda began visibly to increase in size, the boy
+uttered a startled cry. Meeting his mother's steady gaze he shut his
+lips tight, and stood rigid, watching her with wide, horrified eyes.
+
+Lylda had grown nearly twice her normal size before she spoke. Then,
+smiling down at the men, she said evenly, "From the roof, perhaps, you
+will watch."
+
+"You know what to do if you grow too large," the Doctor said huskily.
+
+"I know, my friend. I thank you all. And good-bye." She met the
+Chemist's glance an instant. Then abruptly she faced about and walking
+close to the house, stood at its further corner facing the lake.
+
+After a moment's hesitation the Chemist led his friends to the roof. As
+they appeared at the edge of the parapet a great shout rolled up from
+the crowd below. Nearly a thousand people had gathered. The street was
+crowded and in the open space beyond they stood in little groups. On a
+slight eminence near the lake bluff, a man stood haranguing those around
+him. He was a short, very thickset little man, with very long arms--a
+squat, apelike figure. He talked loudly and indignantly; around him
+perhaps a hundred people stood listening, applauding at intervals.
+
+When the Chemist appeared this man stopped with a final phrase of
+vituperation and a wave of his fist towards the house.
+
+The Chemist stood silent, looking out over the throng. "How large is she
+now?" he asked the Very Young Man softly. The Very Young Man ran across
+the roof to its farther corner and was back in an instant.
+
+"They'll see her soon--look there." His friends turned at his words. At
+the corner of the house they could just see the top of Lylda's head
+above the edge of the parapet. As they watched she grew still taller and
+in another moment her forehead appeared. She turned her head, and her
+great eyes smiled softly at them across the roof-top. In a few moments
+more (she had evidently stopped growing) with a farewell glance at her
+husband, she stepped around the corner of the house into full view of
+the crowd--a woman over sixty feet tall, standing quietly in the garden
+with one hand resting upon the roof of the house behind her.
+
+A cry of terror rose from the people as she appeared. Most of those in
+the street ran in fright back into the field behind. Then, seeing her
+standing motionless with a gentle smile on her face, they stopped,
+irresolute. A few held their ground, frankly curious and unafraid.
+Others stood sullen and defiant.
+
+When the people had quieted a little Lylda raised her arms in greeting
+and spoke, softly, yet with a voice that carried far away over the
+field. As she talked the people seemed to recover their composure
+rapidly. Her tremendous size no longer seemed to horrify them. Those who
+obviously at first were friendly appeared now quite at ease; the others,
+with their lessening terror, were visibly more hostile.
+
+Once Lylda mentioned the name of Targo. A scattered shout came up from
+the crowd; the apelike man shouted out something to those near him, and
+then, leaving his knoll disappeared.
+
+As Lylda continued, the hostile element in the crowd grew more
+insistent. They did not listen to her now but shouted back, in derision
+and defiance. Then suddenly a stone was thrown; it struck Lylda on the
+breast, hitting her metal breastplate with a thud and dropping at her
+feet.
+
+As though at a signal a hail of stones flew up from the crowd, most of
+them striking Lylda like tiny pebbles, a few of the larger ones bounding
+against the house, or landing on its roof.
+
+At this attack Lylda abruptly stopped speaking and took a step forward
+menacingly. The hail of stones continued. Then she turned towards the
+roof-top, where the men and the little boy stood behind the parapet,
+sheltering themselves from the flying stones.
+
+"Only one way there is," said Lylda sadly, in a soft whisper that they
+plainly heard above the noise of the crowd. "I am sorry, my husband--but
+I must."
+
+A stone struck her shoulder. She faced the crowd again; a gentle look of
+sorrow was in her eyes, but her mouth was stern. In the street below at
+the edge of the field the squat little man had reappeared. It was from
+here that most of the stones seemed to come.
+
+"That man there--by the road----" The Chemist pointed. "One of
+Targo's----"
+
+In three swift steps Lylda was across the garden, with one foot over the
+wall into the street. Reaching down she caught the man between her huge
+fingers, and held him high over her head an instant so that all might
+see.
+
+The big crowd was silent with terror; the man high in the air over their
+heads screamed horribly. Lylda hesitated only a moment more; then she
+threw back her arm and, with a great great sweep, flung her screaming
+victim far out into the lake.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+THE ESCAPE OF TARGO
+
+
+"I am very much afraid it was a wrong move," said the Chemist gravely.
+
+They were sitting in a corner of the roof, talking over the situation.
+Lylda had left the city; the last they had seen of her, she was striding
+rapidly away, over the country towards Orlog. The street and field
+before the house now was nearly deserted.
+
+"She had to do it, of course," the Chemist continued, "but to kill
+Targo's brother----"
+
+"I wonder," began the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "It seems to me
+this disturbance is becoming far more serious than we think. It isn't so
+much a political issue now between your government and the followers of
+Targo, as it is a struggle against those of us who have this magic, as
+they call it."
+
+"That's just the point," put in the Doctor quickly. "They are making the
+people believe that our power of changing size is a menace that----"
+
+"If I had only realized," said the Chemist. "I thought your coming would
+help. Apparently it was the very worst thing that could have happened."
+
+"Not for you personally," interjected the Very Young Man. "We're
+perfectly safe--and Lylda, and Loto." He put his arm affectionately
+around the boy who sat close beside him. "You are not afraid, are you,
+Loto?"
+
+"Now I am not," answered the boy seriously. "But this morning, when I
+left my grandfather, coming home----"
+
+"You were afraid for your mother. That was it, wasn't it?" finished the
+Very Young Man. "Does your grandfather teach you?"
+
+"Yes--he, and father, and mother."
+
+"I want you to see Lylda's father," said the Chemist. "There is nothing
+we can do now until Lylda returns. Shall we walk up there?" They all
+agreed readily.
+
+"I may go, too?" Loto asked, looking at his father.
+
+"You have your lessons," said the Chemist.
+
+"But, my father, it is so very lonely without mother," protested the
+boy.
+
+The Chemist smiled gently. "Afraid, little son, to stay with Oteo?"
+
+"He's not afraid," said the Very Young Man stoutly.
+
+The little boy looked from one to the other of them a moment silently.
+Then, calling Oteo's name, he ran across the roof and down into the
+house.
+
+"Five years ago," said the Chemist, as the child disappeared, "there was
+hardly such an emotion in this world as fear or hate or anger. Now the
+pendulum is swinging to the other extreme. I suppose that's natural,
+but----" He ended with a sigh, and, breaking his train of thought, rose
+to his feet. "Shall we start?"
+
+Lylda's father greeted them gravely, with a dignity, and yet obvious
+cordiality that was quite in accord with his appearance. He was a man
+over sixty. His still luxuriant white hair fell to his shoulders. His
+face was hairless, for in this land all men's faces were as devoid of
+hair as those of the women. He was dressed in a long, flowing robe
+similar to those his visitors were wearing.
+
+"Because--you come--I am glad," he said with a smile, as he shook hands
+in their own manner. He spoke slowly, with frequent pauses, as though
+carefully picking his words. "But--an old man--I know not the language
+of you."
+
+He led them into a room that evidently was his study, for in it they saw
+many strange instruments, and on a table a number of loosely bound
+sheets of parchment that were his books. They took the seats he offered
+and looked around them curiously.
+
+"There is the clock we spoke of," said the Chemist, indicating one of
+the larger instruments that stood on a pedestal in a corner of the room.
+"Reoh will explain it to you."
+
+Their host addressed the Chemist. "From Oteo I hear--the news to-day is
+bad?" he asked with evident concern.
+
+"I am afraid it is," the Chemist answered seriously.
+
+"And Lylda?"
+
+The Chemist recounted briefly the events of the day. "We can only wait
+until Lylda returns," he finished. "To-morrow we will talk with the
+king."
+
+"Bad it is," said the old man slowly; "very bad. But--we shall see----"
+
+The Very Young Man had risen to his feet and was standing beside the
+clock.
+
+"How does it work?" he asked. "What time is it now?"
+
+Reoh appealed to his son-in-law. "To tell of it--the words I know not."
+
+The Chemist smiled. "You are too modest, my father. But I will help you
+out, if you insist." He turned to the others, who were gathered around
+him, looking at the clock.
+
+"Our measurement of our time here," he began, "like yours, is based
+on----"
+
+"Excuse me," interrupted the Very Young Man. "I just want to know first
+what time it is now?"
+
+"It is in the fourth eclipse," said the Chemist with a twinkle.
+
+The Very Young Man was too surprised by this unexpected answer to
+question further, and the Chemist went on.
+
+"We measure time by the astronomical movements, just as you do in your
+world. One of the larger stars has a satellite which revolves around it
+with extreme rapidity. Here at Arite, this satellite passes nearly
+always directly behind its controlling star. In other words, it is
+eclipsed. Ten of these eclipses measure the passage of our day. We rise
+generally at the first eclipse or about that time. It is now the fourth
+eclipse; you would call it late afternoon. Do you see?"
+
+"How is the time gauged here?" asked the Big Business Man, indicating
+the clock.
+
+The instrument stood upon a low stone pedestal. It consisted of a
+transparent cylinder about twelve inches in diameter and some four feet
+high, surmounted by a large circular bowl. The cylinder was separated
+from the bowl by a broad disc of porous stone; a similar stone section
+divided the cylinder horizontally into halves. From the bowl a fluid was
+dropping in a tiny stream through the top stone segment into the upper
+compartment, which was now about half full. This in turn filtered
+through the second stone into the lower compartment. This lower section
+was marked in front with a large number of fine horizontal lines, an
+equal distance apart, but of unequal length. In it the fluid stood now
+just above one of the longer lines-the fourth from the bottom. On the
+top of this fluid floated a circular disc almost the size of the inside
+diameter of the cylinder.
+
+The Chemist explained. "It really is very much like the old hour-glass
+we used to have in your world. This filters liquid instead of sand. You
+will notice the water filters twice." He indicated the two compartments.
+"That is because it is necessary to have a liquid that is absolutely
+pure in order that the rate at which it filters through this other stone
+may remain constant. The clock is carefully tested, so that for each
+eclipse the water will rise in this lower part of the cylinder, just the
+distance from here to here."
+
+The Chemist put his fingers on two of the longer marks.
+
+"Very ingenious," remarked the Doctor. "Is it accurate?"
+
+"Not so accurate as your watches, of course," the Chemist answered. "But
+still, it serves the purpose. These ten longer lines, you see, mark the
+ten eclipses that constitute one of our days. The shorter lines between
+indicate halves and quarter intervals."
+
+"Then it is only good for one day?" asked the Very Young Man. "How do
+you set it?"
+
+"It resets automatically each day, at the beginning of the first
+eclipse. This disc," the Chemist pointed to the disc floating on the
+water in the lower compartment. "This disc rises with the water on which
+it is floating. When it reaches the top of it, it comes in contact with
+a simple mechanism--you'll see it up there--which opens a gate below and
+drains out the water in a moment. So that every morning it is emptied
+and starts filling up again. All that is needed is to keep this bowl
+full of water."
+
+"It certainly seems very practical," observed the Big Business Man. "Are
+there many in use?"
+
+"Quite a number, yes. This clock was invented by Reoh, some thirty years
+ago. He is the greatest scientist and scholar we have." The old man
+smiled deprecatingly at this compliment.
+
+"Are these books?" asked the Very Young Man; he had wandered over to the
+table and was fingering one of the bound sheets of parchment.
+
+"They are Reoh's chronicles," the Chemist answered. "The only ones of
+their kind in Arite."
+
+"What's this?" The Very Young Man pointed to another instrument.
+
+"That is an astronomical instrument, something like a sextant--also an
+invention of Reoh's. Here is a small telescope and----" The Chemist
+paused and went over to another table standing at the side of the room.
+
+"That reminds me, gentlemen," he continued; "I have something here in
+which you will be greatly interested."
+
+"What you--will see," said Reoh softly, as they gathered around the
+Chemist, "you only, of all people, can understand. Each day I look, and
+I wonder; but never can I quite believe."
+
+"I made this myself, nearly ten years ago," said the Chemist, lifting up
+the instrument; "a microscope. It is not very large, you see; nor is it
+very powerful. But I want you to look through it." With his
+cigar-lighter he ignited a short length of wire that burned slowly with
+a brilliant blue spot of light. In his hand he held a small piece of
+stone.
+
+"I made this microscope hoping that I might prove with it still more
+conclusively my original theory of the infinite smallness of human life.
+For many months I searched into various objects, but without success.
+Finally I came upon this bit of rock." The Chemist adjusted it carefully
+under the microscope with the light shining brilliantly upon it.
+
+"You see I have marked one place; I am going to let you look into it
+there."
+
+The Doctor stepped forward. As he looked they heard his quick intake of
+breath. After a moment he raised his head. On his face was an expression
+of awe too deep for words. He made place for the others, and stood
+silent.
+
+When the Very Young Man's turn came he looked into the eyepiece
+awkwardly. His heart was beating fast; for some reason he felt
+frightened.
+
+At first he saw nothing. "Keep the other eye open," said the Chemist.
+
+The Very Young Man did as he was directed. After a moment there appeared
+before him a vast stretch of open country. As from a great height he
+stared down at the scene spread out below him. Gradually it became
+clearer. He saw water, with the sunlight--his own kind of sunlight it
+seemed--shining upon it. He stared for a moment more, dazzled by the
+light. Then, nearer to him, he saw a grassy slope, that seemed to be on
+a mountain-side above the water. On this slope he saw animals grazing,
+and beside them a man, formed like himself.
+
+The Chemist's voice came to him from far away. "We are all of us here in
+a world that only occupies a portion of one little atom of the gold of a
+wedding-ring. Yet what you see there in that stone----"
+
+The Very Young Man raised his head. Before him stood the microscope,
+with its fragment of stone gleaming in the blue light of the burning
+wire. He wanted to say something to show them how he felt, but no words
+came. He looked up into the Chemist's smiling face, and smiled back a
+little foolishly.
+
+"Every day I look," said Reoh, breaking the silence. "And I
+see--wonderful things. But never really--can I believe."
+
+At this moment there came a violent rapping upon the outer door. As Reoh
+left the room to open it, the Very Young Man picked up the bit of stone
+that the Chemist had just taken from the microscope.
+
+"I wish--may I keep it?" he asked impulsively.
+
+The Chemist smiled and nodded, and the Very Young Man was about to slip
+it into the pocket of his robe when Reoh hastily reentered the room,
+followed by Oteo. The youth was breathing heavily, as though he had been
+running, and on his face was a frightened look.
+
+"Bad; very bad," said the old man, in a tone of deep concern, as they
+came through the doorway.
+
+"What is it, Oteo?" asked the Chemist quickly. The boy answered him with
+a flood of words in his native tongue.
+
+The Chemist listened quietly. Then he turned to his companions.
+
+"Targo has escaped," he said briefly. "They sent word to me at home, and
+Oteo ran here to tell me. A crowd broke into the court-house and
+released him. Oteo says they went away by water, and that no one is
+following them."
+
+The youth, who evidently understood English, added something else in his
+own language.
+
+"He says Targo vowed death to all who have the magic power. He spoke in
+the city just now, and promised them deliverance from the giants."
+
+"Good Lord," murmured the Very Young Man.
+
+"He has gone to Orlog probably," the Chemist continued. "We have nothing
+to fear for the moment. But that he could speak, in the centre of Arite,
+after this morning, and that the people would listen--"
+
+"It seems to me things are getting worse every minute," said the Big
+Business Man.
+
+Oteo spoke again. The Chemist translated. "The police did nothing. They
+simply stood and listened, but took no part."
+
+"Bad; very bad," repeated the old man, shaking his head.
+
+"What we should do I confess I cannot tell," said the Chemist soberly.
+"But that we should do something drastic is obvious."
+
+"We can't do anything until Lylda gets back," declared the Very Young
+Man. "We'll see what she has done. We might have had to let Targo go
+anyway."
+
+The Chemist started towards the door. "To-night, by the time of sleep,
+Reoh," he said to the old man, "I expect Lylda will have returned. You
+had better come to us then with Aura. I do not think you should stay
+here alone to sleep to-night."
+
+"In a moment--Aura comes," Reoh answered. "We shall be with you--very
+soon."
+
+The Chemist motioned to his companions, and with obvious reluctance on
+the part of the Very Young Man they left, followed by Oteo.
+
+On the way back the city seemed quiet--abnormally so. The streets were
+nearly deserted; what few pedestrians they met avoided them, or passed
+them sullenly. They were perhaps half-way back to the Chemist's house
+when the Very Young Man stopped short.
+
+"I forgot that piece of stone," he explained, looking at them queerly.
+"Go on. I'll be there by the time you are," and disregarding the
+Chemist's admonition that he might get lost he left them abruptly and
+walked swiftly back over the way they had come.
+
+Without difficulty, for they had made few turns, the Very Young Man
+located Reoh's house. As he approached he noticed the figure of a man
+lounging against a further corner of the building; the figure
+disappeared almost as soon as he saw it.
+
+It was a trivial incident, but, somehow, to the Very Young Man, it held
+something in it of impending danger. He did not knock on the outer door,
+but finding it partly open, he slowly pushed it wider and stepped
+quietly into the hallway beyond. He was hardly inside when there came
+from within the house a girl's scream--a cry of horror, abruptly
+stifled.
+
+For an instant, the Very Young Man stood hesitating. Then he dashed
+forward through an open doorway in the direction from which the cry had
+seemed to come.
+
+The room into which he burst was Reoh's study; the room he had left only
+a few moments before. On the floor, almost across his path, lay the old
+man, with the short blade of a sword buried to the hilt in his breast.
+In a corner of the room a young Oroid girl stood with her back against
+the wall. Her hands were pressed against her mouth; her eyes were wide
+with terror. Bending over the body on the floor with a hand at its
+armpit, knelt the huge, gray figure of a man. At the sound of the
+intruder's entrance he looked up quickly and sprang to his feet.
+
+The Very Young Man saw it was Targo!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE ABDUCTION
+
+
+When the Very Young Man left them so unceremoniously the Chemist and his
+companions continued on their way home, talking earnestly over the
+serious turn affairs had taken. Of the three, the Big Business Man
+appeared the most perturbed.
+
+"Lylda isn't going to accomplish anything," he said. "It won't work. The
+thing has gone too far. It isn't politics any longer; it's a struggle
+against us--a hatred and fear of our supernatural powers."
+
+"If we had never come----" began the Doctor.
+
+"It probably would have worked out all right," finished the Big Business
+Man. "But since we're here----"
+
+"We could leave," the Doctor suggested.
+
+"It has gone too far; I agree with you," the Chemist said. "Your going
+would not help. They would never believe I did not still possess the
+magic. And now, without the drugs I might not be able to cope with
+affairs. It is a very serious situation."
+
+"And getting worse all the time," added the Big Business Man.
+
+When they arrived at the Chemist's home Loto did not run out to meet
+them as the Chemist expected. They called his name, but there was no
+answer. Inside the house they perceived at once that something was
+wrong. The living-room was in disorder; some of the pieces of furniture
+had been overturned, and many of the smaller articles were scattered
+about the floor. Even the wall-hangings had been torn down.
+
+In sudden fear the Chemist ran through the building, calling to Loto.
+Everywhere he saw evidence of intruders, who had ransacked the rooms, as
+though making a hasty search. In one of the rooms, crouched on the
+floor, he came upon Eena, Lylda's little serving-maid. The girl was
+stricken dumb with terror. At the sight of her master she sobbed with
+relief, and after a few moments told him what had happened.
+
+When the Chemist rejoined his friends in the lower room his face was set
+and white. The girl followed him closely, evidently afraid to be left
+alone. The Chemist spoke quietly, controlling his emotion with obvious
+difficulty.
+
+"Loto has been stolen!" he said. "Targo and four of his men were here
+soon after we left. Eena saw them and hid. They searched the house----"
+
+"For the drugs," muttered the Doctor under his breath.
+
+"----and then left, taking Loto with them."
+
+"Which way did they go?" asked the Big Business Man. "Good God, what a
+thing!"
+
+"They went by water, in a large boat that was waiting for them here,"
+answered the Chemist.
+
+"How long ago?" asked the Doctor quickly. "We have not been gone very
+long."
+
+"An hour probably, not much more." Eena said something to her master and
+began to cry softly.
+
+"She says they left a little while ago. Three of the men took Loto away
+in the boat. She watched them from the window upstairs."
+
+"_Targo alia_," said the girl.
+
+"One of the men was Targo," said the Chemist. He went to one of the
+windows overlooking the lake; the Doctor stood beside him. There was no
+boat in sight.
+
+"They cannot have got very far," said the Doctor. "Those islands
+there----"
+
+"They would take him to Orlog," said the Chemist. "About fifty miles."
+
+The Doctor turned back to the room. "We can get them. You forget--these
+drugs--the power they give us. Oh, Will." He called the Big Business Man
+over to them; he spoke hurriedly, with growing excitement. "What do you
+think, Will? That boat--they've got Loto--it can't be very far. We can
+make ourselves so large in half an hour we can wade all over the lake.
+We can get it. What do you think?"
+
+The Chemist dropped into a chair with his head in his hands. "Let me
+think--just a moment, Frank. I know the power we have; I know we can do
+almost anything. That little boy of mine--they've got him. Let me
+think--just a moment."
+
+He sat motionless. The Doctor continued talking in a lower tone to the
+Big Business Man by the window. In the doorway Oteo stood like a statue,
+motionless, except for his big, soft eyes that roved unceasingly over
+the scene before him. After a moment Eena ceased her sobbing and knelt
+beside the Chemist, looking up at him sorrowfully.
+
+"I cannot believe," said the Chemist finally, raising his head, "that
+the safest way to rescue Loto is by the plan you have suggested." He
+spoke with his usual calm, judicial manner, having regained control of
+himself completely. "I understand now, thoroughly, and for the first
+time, the situation we are facing. It is, as you say, a political issue
+no longer. Targo and his closest followers have convinced a very large
+proportion of our entire nation, I am certain, that myself, and my
+family, and you, the strangers, are possessed of a diabolical power that
+must be annihilated. Targo will never rest until he has the drugs. That
+is why he searched this house.
+
+"He has abducted Loto for the same purpose. He will--not hurt Loto--I am
+convinced of that. Probably he will send someone to-morrow to demand the
+drugs as the price of Loto's life. But don't you understand? Targo and
+his advisers, and even the most ignorant of the people, realize what
+power we have. Lylda showed them that when she flung Targo's brother out
+into the lake to-day. But we cannot use this power openly. For, while it
+makes us invincible, it makes them correspondingly desperate. They are a
+peculiar people. Throughout the whole history of the race they have been
+kindly, thoughtless children. Now they are aroused. The pendulum has
+swung to the other extreme. They care little for their lives. They are
+still children--children who will go to their death unreasoning,
+fighting against invincibility.
+
+"That is something we must never overlook, for it is a fact. We cannot
+run amuck as giants over this world and hope to conquer it. We could
+conquer it, yes; but only when the last of its inhabitants had been
+killed; stamped out like ants defending their hill from the attacks of
+an elephant. Don't you see I am right?"
+
+"Then Lylda----" began the Doctor, as the Chemist paused.
+
+"Lylda will fail. Her venture to-day will make matters immeasurably
+worse."
+
+"You're right," agreed the Big Business Man. "We should have realized."
+
+"So you see we cannot make ourselves large and recapture Loto by force.
+They would anticipate us and kill him."
+
+"Then what shall we do?" demanded the Doctor. "We must do something."
+
+"That we must decide carefully, for we must make no more mistakes. But
+we can do nothing at this moment. The lives of all of us are threatened.
+We must not allow ourselves to become separated. We must wait here for
+Lylda. Reoh and Aura must stay with us. Then we can decide how to rescue
+Loto and what to do after that. But we must keep together."
+
+"Jack ought to be here by now," said the Big Business Man. "I hope Reoh
+and Aura come with him."
+
+For over an hour they waited, and still the Very Young Man did not come.
+They had just decided to send Oteo to see what had become of him and to
+bring down Reoh and his daughter, when Lylda unexpectedly returned. It
+was Eena, standing at one of the side windows, who first saw her
+mistress. A cry from the girl brought them all to the window. Far away
+beyond the city they could see the gigantic figure of Lylda, towering
+several hundred feet in the air.
+
+As she came closer she seemed to stop, near the outskirts of the city,
+and then they saw her dwindling in size until she disappeared, hidden
+from their view by the houses near at hand.
+
+In perhaps half an hour more she reappeared, picking her way carefully
+down the deserted street towards them. She was at this time about forty
+feet tall. At the corner, a hundred yards away from them a little group
+of people ran out, and, with shouts of anger, threw something at her as
+she passed.
+
+She stooped down towards them, and immediately they scurried for safety
+out of her reach.
+
+Once inside of her own garden, where the Chemist and his companions were
+waiting, Lylda lost no time in becoming her normal size again. As she
+grew smaller, she sat down with her back against a little tree. Her face
+was white and drawn; her eyes were full of tears as she looked at her
+husband and his friends.
+
+When the drug had ceased to act, the Chemist sat beside her. She had
+started out only a few hours before a crusader, dominant, forceful; she
+came back now, a tired, discouraged little woman. The Chemist put his
+arm around her protectingly, drawing her drooping body towards him.
+"Very bad news, Lylda, we know," he said gently.
+
+"Oh, my husband," she cried brokenly. "So sorry I am--so very sorry. The
+best I knew I did. And it was all so very bad--so very bad----" she
+broke off abruptly, looking at him with her great, sorrowful eyes.
+
+"Tell us Lylda," he said softly.
+
+"To many cities I went," she answered. "And I told the people all I
+meant to say. Some of them believed. But they were not many, and of the
+others who did not believe, they were afraid, and so kept they silent.
+Then into Orlog I went, and in the public square I spoke--for very long,
+because, for some reason I know not, at first they listened.
+
+"But no one there believed. And then, my husband, at last I knew why I
+could not hope to gain my way. It is not because they want Targo's rule
+that they oppose us. It was, but it is so no longer. It is because they
+have been made to fear these drugs we have. For now, in Orlog, they are
+shouting death to all the giants. Forgotten are all their cries for
+land--the things that Targo promised, and we in Arite would not give. It
+is death to all the giants they are shouting now: death to you, to me,
+to us all, because we have these drugs."
+
+"Did they attack you?" asked the Big Business Man.
+
+"Many things they threw," Lylda answered. "But I was so big," she smiled
+a little sad, twisted smile. "What they could do was as nothing. And
+because of that they fear and hate us so; yet never have I seen such
+fearless things as those they did. Death to the giants was their only
+cry. And I could have killed them--hundreds, thousands--yet never could
+I have made them stop while yet they were alive.
+
+"I told them Targo I would free. And in Orlog they laughed. For they
+said that he would free himself before I had returned."
+
+"He did," muttered the Big Business Man.
+
+"Targo escaped this afternoon," the Chemist explained. "He went to Orlog
+by boat and took----" He stopped abruptly. "Come into the house, Lylda,"
+he added gently; "there are other things, my wife, of which we must
+speak." He rose to his feet, pulling her up with him.
+
+"Where is Jack," she asked, looking at the Big Business Man, who stood
+watching her gravely. "And where is Loto? Does he not want to see his
+mother who tried so----" She put her arms around the Chemist's neck. "So
+very hard I tried," she finished softly. "So very hard, because--I
+thought----"
+
+The Chemist led her gently into the house. The Doctor started to follow,
+but the Big Business Man held him back. "It is better not," he said in
+an undertone, "don't you think?" Oteo was standing near them, and the
+Big Business Man motioned to him. "Besides," he added, "I'm worried
+about Jack. I think we ought to go up after him. I don't think it ought
+to take us very long."
+
+"With Oteo--he knows the way," agreed the Doctor. "It's devilish strange
+what's keeping that boy."
+
+They found that although Oteo spoke only a few words of English, he
+understood nearly everything they said, and waiting only a moment more,
+they started up into the city towards Reoh's home.
+
+In the living-room of the house, the Chemist sat Lylda gently down on a
+cushion in front of the hearth. Sitting beside her, he laid his hand on
+hers that rested on her knee.
+
+"For twelve years, Lylda, we have lived together," he began slowly. "And
+no sorrow has come to us; no danger has threatened us or those we
+loved." He met his wife's questioning gaze unflinchingly and went on:
+
+"You have proved yourself a wonderful woman, my wife. You never
+knew--nor those before you--the conflict of human passions. No danger
+before has ever threatened you or those you loved." He saw her eyes grow
+wider.
+
+"Very strange you talk, my husband. There is something----"
+
+"There is something, Lylda. To-day you have seen strife, anger, hate
+and--and death. You have met them all calmly; you have fought them all
+justly, like a woman--a brave, honest Oroid woman, who can wrong no one.
+There is something now that I must tell you." He saw the growing fear in
+her eyes and hurried on.
+
+"Loto, to-day--this afternoon----"
+
+The woman gave a little, low cry of anguish, instantly repressed. Her
+hand gripped his tightly.
+
+"No, no, Lylda, not that," he said quickly, "but this afternoon while we
+were all away--Loto was here alone with Eena--Targo with his men came.
+They did not hurt Loto; they took him away in a boat to Orlog." He
+stopped abruptly. Lylda's eyes never left his face. Her breath came
+fast; she put a hand to her mouth and stifled the cry that rose to her
+lips.
+
+"They will not hurt him, Lylda; that I know. And soon we will have him
+back."
+
+For a moment more her searching eyes stared steadily into his. He heard
+the whispered words, "My little son--with Targo," come slowly from her
+lips; then with a low, sobbing cry she dropped senseless into his arms.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+AURA
+
+
+The Very Young Man involuntarily took a step backward as he met Targo's
+eyes, glaring at him across the old man's body. The girl in the corner
+gave another cry--a cry of fright and horror, yet with a note of relief.
+The Very Young Man found himself wondering who she was; then he knew.
+
+His first impulse was to leap across the room towards her. He thought of
+the chemicals and instinctively his hand went to his armpit. But he knew
+there was no time for that. He hesitated one brief instant. As he stood
+rigid Targo stooped swiftly and grasped the dagger in his victim's
+breast.
+
+The girl screamed again, louder this time, and like a mask the Very
+Young Man's indecision fell from him. He stood alert, clear-headed. Here
+was an enemy threatening him--an enemy he must fight and overcome.
+
+In the second that Targo bent down the Very Young Man bounded forward,
+and with a leap that his football days had taught him so well how to
+make, he landed squarely upon the bare, broad back of his antagonist.
+The impact of his weight forced Targo down upon the floor, and losing
+his balance he fell, with the Very Young Man on top of him. They hit the
+leg of the table as they rolled over, and something dropped from it to
+the floor, striking the stone surface with a thud.
+
+The knife still stuck in the dead man's body. The Very Young Man thought
+he could reach it, but his opponent's great arms were around him now and
+held him too tightly. He tried to pull himself loose, but could not.
+Then he rolled partly over again, and met Targo's eyes above, leering
+triumphantly down at him. He looked away and wrenched his right arm
+free. Across the room he could see the girl still crouching in the
+corner. His right hand sweeping along the floor struck something heavy
+lying there. His fingers closed over it; he raised it up, and hardly
+knowing what he did, crashed it against his enemy's head.
+
+He felt the tense muscles of the man relax, and then the weight of his
+inert body as it pressed down upon him. He wriggled free, and sprang to
+his feet. As he stood weak and trembling, looking down at the
+unconscious form of Targo lying upon the floor, the girl suddenly ran
+over and stood beside him. Her slim little body came only a little above
+his shoulder; instinctively he put his arm about her.
+
+A voice, calling from outside the room, made the girl look up into his
+face with new terror.
+
+"Others are coming," she whispered tensely and huddled up against him.
+
+The Very Young Man saw that the room had two doors--the one through
+which he had entered, and another in one of its other walls. There were
+no windows. He pulled the girl now towards the further door, but she
+held him back.
+
+"They come that way," she whispered.
+
+Another voice sounded behind him and the Very Young Man knew that a man
+was coming up along the passageway from the front entrance. Targo's men!
+He remembered now the skulking figure he had seen outside the house.
+There were more than two, for now he heard other voices, and some one
+calling Targo's name.
+
+He held the girl closer and stood motionless. Like rats in a trap, he
+thought. He felt the fingers of his right hand holding something heavy.
+It was a piece of stone--the stone he had looked at through the
+microscope--the stone with which he had struck Targo. He smiled to
+himself, and slipped it into his pocket.
+
+The girl had slowly pulled him over to the inner wall of the room. The
+footsteps came closer. They would be here in a moment. The Very Young
+Man wondered how he should fight them all; then he thought of the knife
+that was still in the murdered man's body. He thought he ought to get it
+now while there was still time. He heard a click and the wall against
+which he and the girl were leaning yielded with their weight. A door
+swung open--a door the Very Young Man had not seen before. The girl
+pulled him through the doorway, and swung the door softly closed behind
+them.
+
+The Very Young Man found himself now in a long, narrow room with a very
+high ceiling. It had, apparently, no other door, and no windows. It was
+evidently a storeroom--piled high with what looked like boxes, and with
+bales of silks and other fabrics.
+
+The Very Young Man looked around him hastily. Then he let go of the
+girl, and, since locks were unknown in this world, began piling as many
+heavy objects as possible against the door. The girl tried to help him,
+but he pushed her away. Once he put his ear to the door and listened. He
+heard voices outside in the strange Oroid tongue.
+
+The girl stood beside him. "They are lifting Targo up. He speaks; he is
+not dead," she whispered.
+
+For several minutes they stood there listening. The voices continued in
+a low murmur. "They'll know we are in here," said the Very Young Man
+finally, in an undertone. "Is there any other way out of this room?"
+
+The girl shook her head. The Very Young Man forgot the import of her
+answer, and suddenly found himself thinking she was the prettiest girl
+he had ever seen. She was hardly more than sixteen, with a slender, not
+yet matured, yet perfectly rounded little body. She wore, like Lylda, a
+short blue silk tunic, with a golden cord crossing her breast and
+encircling her waist. Her raven black hair hung in two twisted locks
+nearly to her knees. Her skin was very white and, even more than
+Lylda's, gleamed with iridescent color.
+
+"Only this one door," said the girl. The words brought the Very Young
+Man to himself with a start.
+
+No other way out of the room! He knew that Targo and his men would force
+their way in very soon. He could not prevent them. But it would take
+time. The Very Young Man remembered that now he had time to take the
+chemicals. He put his hand to his armpit and felt the pouch that held
+the drug. He wondered which to take. The ceiling was very high; but to
+fight in the narrow confines of such a room----
+
+He led the girl over to a pile of cushions and sat down beside her.
+
+"Listen," he said briefly. "We are going to take a medicine; it will
+make us very small. Then we will hide from Targo and his men till they
+are gone. This is not magic; it is science. Do you understand?"
+
+"I understand," the girl answered readily. "One of the strangers you
+are--my brother's friend."
+
+"You will not be afraid to take the drug?"
+
+"No." But though she spoke confidently, she drew closer to him and
+shivered a little.
+
+The Very Young Man handed her one of the tiny pellets. "Just touch it to
+the tip of your tongue as I do," he said warningly.
+
+They took the drug. When it had ceased to act, they found themselves
+standing on the rough uneven stone surface that was the floor of the
+room. Far overhead in the dim luminous blackness they could just make
+out the great arching ceiling, stretching away out of sight down the
+length of the room. Beside them stood a tremendous shaggy pile of
+coarsely woven objects that were the silk pillows on which they had been
+sitting a moment before--pillows that seemed forty or fifty feet square
+now and loomed high above their heads.
+
+The Very Young Man took the frightened girl by the hand and led her
+along the tremendous length of a pile of boxes, blocks long it seemed.
+These boxes, from their size, might have been rectangular, windowless
+houses, jammed closely together, and piled one upon the other up into
+the air almost out of sight.
+
+Finally they came to a broad passageway between the boxes--a mere crack
+it would have been before. They turned into it, and, a few feet beyond,
+came to a larger square space with a box making a roof over it some
+twenty feet above their heads.
+
+From this retreat they could see the lower part of the door leading into
+the other room and could hear from beyond it a muffled roar--the voices
+of Targo and his men. Hardly were they hidden when the door opened a
+little. It struck against the bales the Very Young Man had piled against
+it. For a moment it held, but with the united efforts of the men pushing
+from the other side, it slowly yielded and swung open.
+
+Targo stepped into the room. To the Very Young Man he seemed nearly a
+hundred feet high. Only his feet and ankles were visible at first, from
+where the Very Young Man was watching. Three other men came with him.
+They stamped back and forth for a time, moving some of the bales and
+boxes. Luckily they left undisturbed those nearest the fugitives; after
+a moment they left, leaving the door open.
+
+The Very Young Man breathed a long sigh of relief. "Gosh, I'm glad
+that's over." He spoke in a low tone, although the men in the other room
+seemed so far away they would hardly have heard him if he had shouted at
+the top of his voice.
+
+Alone with the girl now in this great silent room, the Very Young Man
+felt suddenly embarrassed. "I am one of your brother's friends," he
+said. "My name's Jack; is yours Aura?"
+
+"Lylda's sister I am," she answered quietly. "My father told me about
+you----" Then with a rush came the memory of her father's death, which
+the startling experiences of the past half-hour had made her forget. Her
+big, soft eyes filled with tears and her lips quivered. Involuntarily
+the Very Young Man put his arm about her again and held her close to
+him. She was so little and frail--so pathetic and so wholly adorable.
+For a long time they sat in silence; then the girl gently drew away.
+
+At the doorway they stood and listened; Targo and his followers were
+still in the adjoining room, talking earnestly. "Loto they have
+captured," Aura whispered suddenly. "Others of Targo's men have taken
+him--in a boat--to Orlog. To-morrow they send a messenger to my brother
+to demand he give up these drugs--or Loto they will kill."
+
+The Very Young Man waited, breathless. Suddenly he heard Targo laugh--a
+cruel, cynical laugh. Aura shuddered.
+
+"And when he has the drug, all of us will he kill. And all in the land
+too who will not do as he bids."
+
+The men were rising, evidently in preparation to leave. Aura continued:
+"They go--now--to Orlog--all but Targo. A little way from here, up the
+lake shore, a boat is waiting. It will take them there fast."
+
+With a last look around, Targo and his followers disappeared through the
+back door of the room. An outer door clanged noisily, and the Very Young
+Man and Aura were left alone in the house.
+
+Reoh murdered, Loto stolen! The Very Young Man thought of Lylda and
+wondered if anything could have happened to her. "Did they speak of your
+sister?" he asked.
+
+"Targo said--he--he would put her to death," Aura answered with a
+shudder. "He said--she killed his brother to-day." She turned to the
+Very Young Man impulsively, putting her little hands up on his
+shoulders. "Oh, my friend," she exclaimed. "You can do something to save
+my family? Targo is so strong, so cruel. My father----" She stopped, and
+choked back a sob.
+
+"Did they say where Lylda was now?"
+
+"They did not know. She grew very big and went away."
+
+"Where is your brother and my two friends?"
+
+"Targo said they were here when he--he took Loto. Now they have gone
+home. He was afraid of them--now--because they have the drugs."
+
+"To-morrow they are going to send a messenger from Orlog to demand the
+drugs?"
+
+"He said to-morrow. Oh, you will do something for us? You can save
+Loto?"
+
+The Very Young Man was beginning to formulate a plan. "And to-night," he
+asked, "from what they said--are you sure they will not hurt Loto?"
+
+"They said no. But he is so little--so----" The girl burst into tears,
+and at every sob the Very Young Man's heart leaped in his breast. He
+wanted to comfort her, but he could think of no word to say; he wanted
+to help her--to do the best thing in what he saw was a grave crisis.
+What he should have done was to have taken her back to the Chemist and
+his friends, and then with them planned the rescue of Loto. But with the
+girl's hands upon his shoulders, and her sorrowful little tear-stained
+face looking up to his, he did not think of that. He thought only of her
+and her pathetic appeal. "You will do something, my friend? You can save
+Loto?" He could save Loto! With the power of the drugs he could do
+anything!
+
+The Very Young Man made a sudden decision. "I don't know the way to
+Orlog; you do?" he asked abruptly.
+
+"Oh yes, I know it well."
+
+"We will go to Orlog, you and I--now, and rescue Loto. You will not be
+afraid?"
+
+The girl's eyes looked into his with a clear, steady gaze. The Very
+Young Man stared down into their depths with his heart pounding. "I
+shall not be afraid--with you," said the girl softly.
+
+The Very Young Man drew a long breath. He knew he must think it all out
+carefully. The drug would make them very large, and in a short time they
+could walk to Orlog. No harm could come to them. Once in Orlog they
+would find Loto--probably in Targo's palace--and bring him back with
+them. The Very Young Man pictured the surprise and gratification of the
+Chemist and his friends. Lylda would be back by then; no sooner would
+she have heard of Loto's loss than he would bring him back to her. Or
+perhaps they would meet Lylda and she would join them.
+
+The Very Young Man produced the drug and was about to give Aura one of
+the pellets when another thought occurred to him. Targo would not harm
+Loto now because he was valuable as a hostage. But suppose he saw these
+two giants coming to the rescue? The Very Young Man knew that probably
+the boy would be killed before he could save him. That way would not do.
+He would have to get to Orlog unseen--rescue Loto by a sudden rush,
+before they could harm him.
+
+But first it would be necessary for him and Aura to get out of Arite
+quietly without causing any excitement. Once in the open country they
+could grow larger and travel rapidly to Orlog. The Very Young Man
+thought it would be best to be normal size while leaving Arite. He
+explained his plan to Aura briefly.
+
+It took several successive tastes of the different drugs before this
+result was accomplished, but in perhaps half an hour they were ready to
+leave the house. To the Very Young Man this change of size was no longer
+even startling. Aura, this time, with him beside her, seemed quite
+unafraid.
+
+"Now we're ready," said the Very Young Man, in a matter-of-fact tone
+that was far from indicating his true feeling. "Take the way where we
+are least likely to be noticed--towards Orlog. When we get in the open
+country we can get bigger."
+
+He led the girl across Reoh's study. She kept her face averted as they
+passed the body lying on the floor, and in a moment they were outside
+the house. They walked rapidly, keeping close to the walls of the
+houses. The streets were nearly deserted and no one seemed to notice
+them.
+
+The Very Young Man was calculating the time. "Probably they are just
+getting to Orlog with Loto," he said. "Once we get out of Arite we'll
+travel fast; we'll have him back in two or three hours."
+
+Aura said nothing, but walked beside him. Once or twice she looked back
+over her shoulder.
+
+They were in the outskirts of the city, when suddenly the girl gripped
+her companion by the arm.
+
+"Some one--behind us," she whispered. The Very Young Man resisted an
+impulse to look around. They had come to a cross street; the Very Young
+Man abruptly turned the corner, and clutching Aura by the hand ran
+swiftly forward a short distance. When they had slowed down to a walk
+again the Very Young Man looked cautiously back over his shoulder. As he
+did so he caught a glimpse of three men who had just reached the corner,
+and who darted hastily back out of sight as he turned his head.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE ATTACK ON THE PALACE
+
+
+Oteo led the two men swiftly through the city towards Reoh's house.
+There were few pedestrians about and no one seemed particularly to
+notice them. Yet somehow, the Big Business Man thought, there hung about
+the city an ominous air of unrest. Perhaps it was the abnormal
+quiet--that solemn sinister look of deserted streets; or perhaps it was
+an occasional face peering at them from a window, or a figure lurking in
+a doorway disappearing at their approach. The Big Business Man found his
+heart beating fast. He suddenly felt very much alone. The realization
+came to him that he was in a strange world, surrounded by beings of
+another race, most of whom, he knew now, hated and feared him and those
+who had come with him.
+
+Then his thoughts took another turn. He looked up at the brilliant
+galaxy of stars overhead. New, unexplored worlds! Thousands, millions of
+them! In one tiny, little atom of a woman's wedding-ring! Then he
+thought of his friend the Banker. Perhaps the ring had not been moved
+from its place in the clubroom. Then--he looked at the sky again--then
+Broadway--only thirty feet away from him this moment! He smiled a little
+at this conception, and drew a long breath--awed by his thoughts.
+
+Oteo was plucking at his sleeve and pointing. Across the street stood
+Reoh's house. The Doctor knocked upon its partially open front door,
+and, receiving no answer, they entered silently, with the dread sense of
+impending evil hanging over them. The Doctor led the way into the old
+man's study. At the threshold he stopped, shocked into immobility. Upon
+the floor, with the knife still in it, lay Reoh's body. The Doctor made
+a hasty examination, although the presence of the knife obviously made
+it unnecessary.
+
+A hurried search of the house convinced them that Aura and the Very
+Young Man were not there. The two men, confused by this double disaster,
+were at a loss to know what to do.
+
+"They've got him," said the Big Business Man with conviction. "And the
+girl too, probably. He must have come back just as they were killing
+Reoh."
+
+"There wasn't much time," the Doctor said. "He was back here in ten
+minutes. But they've got him--you're right--or he would have been back
+with us before this."
+
+"They'll take him and the girl to Orlog. They won't hurt them because
+they----" The Big Business Man stopped abruptly; his face went white.
+"Good God, Frank, do you realize? They've got the drugs now!"
+
+Targo had the drugs! The Big Business Man shuddered with fear at the
+thought. Their situation would be desperate, indeed, if that were so.
+
+The Doctor reasoned it out more calmly. "I hadn't thought of that," he
+said slowly. "And it makes me think perhaps they have not captured Jack.
+If they had the drugs they would lose no time in using them. They
+haven't used them yet--that's evident."
+
+The Big Business Man was about to reply when there came a shouting from
+the street outside, and the sound of many feet rushing past the house.
+They hurried to the door. A mob swept by--a mob of nearly a thousand
+persons. Most of them were men. Some were armed with swords; others
+brandished huge stones or lengths of beaten gold implements, perhaps
+with which they had been working, and which now they held as weapons.
+
+The mob ran swiftly, with vainglorious shouts from its leaders. It
+turned a corner nearby and disappeared.
+
+From every house now people appeared, and soon the streets were full of
+scurrying pedestrians. Most of them followed the direction taken by the
+mob. The listeners in the doorway could hear now, from far away, the
+sound of shouts and cheering. And from all around them came the buzz and
+hum of busy streets. The city was thoroughly awake--alert and expectant.
+
+The Big Business Man flung the door wide. "I'm going to follow that
+crowd. See what's going on. We can't stay here in the midst of this."
+
+The Doctor and Oteo followed him out into the street, and they mingled
+with the hastening crowd. In their excitement they walked freely among
+the people. No one appeared to notice them, for the crowd was as excited
+as they, hurrying along, heedless of its immediate surroundings. As they
+advanced, the street became more congested.
+
+Down another street they saw fighting going on--a weaponless crowd
+swaying and struggling aimlessly. A number of armed men charged this
+crowd--men who by their breastplates and swords the Big Business Man
+recognized as the police. The crowd ceased struggling and dispersed,
+only to gather again in another place.
+
+The city was in a turmoil of excitement without apparent reason, or
+definite object. Yet there was a steady tide in the direction the first
+armed mob had gone, and with that tide went the Big Business Man and his
+two companions.
+
+After a time they came to an open park, beyond which, on a prominence,
+with the lake behind, stood a large building that the Chemist had
+already pointed out to them as the king's palace.
+
+Oteo led them swiftly into a side street to avoid the dense crowd around
+the park. Making a slight detour they came back to it again--much nearer
+the palace now--and approached from behind a house that fronted the open
+space near the palace.
+
+"Friend of the Master--his house!" Oteo explained as he knocked
+peremptorily at a side door.
+
+They waited a moment, but no one came. Oteo pushed the door and led them
+within. The house was deserted, and following Oteo, they went to the
+roof. Here they could see perfectly what was going on around the palace,
+and in the park below them.
+
+This park was nearly triangular in shape--a thousand feet possibly on
+each side. At the base of the triangle, on a bluff with the lake behind
+it, stood the palace. Its main entrance, two huge golden doors, stood at
+the top of a broad flight of stone steps. On these steps a fight was in
+progress. A mob surged up them, repulsed at the top by a score or more
+of men armed with swords, who were defending the doorway.
+
+The square was thronged with people watching the palace steps and
+shouting almost continuously. The fight before the palace evidently had
+been in progress for some time. Many dead were lying in the doorway and
+on the steps below it. The few defenders had so far resisted
+successfully against tremendous odds, for the invaders, pressed upward
+by those behind, could not retreat, and were being killed at the top
+from lack of space in which to fight.
+
+"Look there," cried the Big Business Man suddenly. Coming down a cross
+street, marching in orderly array with its commander in front, was a
+company of soldier police. It came to a halt almost directly beneath the
+watchers on the roof-tops, and its leader brandishing his sword after a
+moment of hesitation, ordered his men to charge the crowd. They did not
+move at the order, but stood sullenly in their places. Again he ordered
+them forward, and, as they refused to obey, made a threatening move
+towards them.
+
+In sudden frenzy, those nearest leaped upon him, and in an instant he
+lay dead upon the ground, with half a dozen swords run through his body.
+Then the men stood, in formation still, apathetically watching the
+events that were going on around them.
+
+Meanwhile the fight on the palace steps raged more furiously than ever.
+The defenders were reduced now to a mere handful.
+
+"A moment more--they'll be in," said the Doctor breathlessly. Hardly had
+he spoken when, with a sudden, irresistible rush, the last of the guards
+were swept away, and the invaders surged through the doorway into the
+palace.
+
+A great cry went up from the crowd in the park as the palace was
+taken--a cry of applause mingled with awe, for they were a little
+frightened at what they were seeing.
+
+Perhaps a hundred people crowded through the doorway into the palace;
+the others stood outside--on the steps and on the terrace
+below--waiting. Hardly more than five minutes went by when a man
+appeared on the palace roof. He advanced to the parapet with several
+others standing respectfully behind him.
+
+"Targo!" murmured Oteo.
+
+It was Targo--Targo triumphantly standing with uplifted arms before the
+people he was to rule. When the din that was raised at his appearance
+had subsided a little he spoke; one short sentence, and then he paused.
+There was a moment of indecision in the crowd before it broke into
+tumultuous cheers.
+
+"The king--he killed," Oteo said softly, looking at his master's friends
+with big, frightened eyes.
+
+The Big Business Man stared out over the waving, cheering throng, with
+the huge, dominant, triumphant figure of Targo above and muttered to
+himself, "The king is dead; long live the king."
+
+When he could make himself heard, Targo spoke again. The Doctor and the
+Big Business Man were leaning over the parapet watching the scene, when
+suddenly a stone flew up from the crowd beneath, and struck the railing
+within a few feet of where they were standing. They glanced down in
+surprise, and realized, from the faces that were upturned, that they
+were recognized. A murmur ran over the crowd directly below, and then
+someone raised a shout. Four words it seemed to be, repeated over and
+over. Gradually the shout spread--"Death to the Giants," the Big
+Business Man knew it was--"Death to the Giants," until the whole mass of
+people were calling it rhythmically--drowning out Targo's voice
+completely. A thousand faces now stared up at the men on the roof-top
+and a rain of stones began falling around them.
+
+The Doctor clutched his friend by the arm and pulled him back from the
+parapet. "They know us--good God, don't you see?" he said tensely. "Come
+on. We must get out of this. There'll be trouble." He started across the
+roof towards the opening that led down into the house.
+
+The Big Business Man jerked himself free from the grasp that held him.
+
+"I do see," he cried a little wildly. "I do see we've been damn fools.
+There'll be trouble. You're right--there will be trouble; but it won't
+be ours. I'm through--through with this miserable little atom and its
+swarm of insects." He gripped the Doctor by both shoulders. "My God,
+Frank, can't you understand? We're men, you and I--men! These
+creatures"--he waved his arm back towards the city--"nothing but
+insects--infinitesimal--smaller than the smallest thing we ever dreamed
+of. And we take them seriously. Don't you understand? Seriously! God,
+man, that's funny, not tragic."
+
+He fumbled at the neck of his robe, and tearing it away, brought out a
+vial of the drugs.
+
+"Here," he exclaimed, and offered one of the pellets.
+
+"Not too much," warned the Doctor vehemently, "only touch it to your
+tongue."
+
+Oteo, with pleading eyes, watched them taking the drug, and the Doctor
+handed him a pellet, showing him how to take it.
+
+As they stood together upon the roof-top, clinging to one another, the
+city dwindled away rapidly beneath them. By the time the drug had ceased
+to act there was hardly room for them to stand on the roof, and the
+house, had it not been built solidly of stone, would have been crushed
+under their weight. At first they felt a little dizzy, as though they
+were hanging in mid-air, or were in a balloon, looking down at the city.
+Then gradually, they seemed to be of normal size again, balancing
+themselves awkwardly upon a little toy-house whose top was hardly bigger
+than their feet.
+
+The park, only a step now beneath the house-top, swarmed with tiny
+figures less than two inches in height. Targo still stood upon the
+palace roof; they could have reached down and picked him up between
+thumb and forefinger. The whole city lay within a radius of a few
+hundred feet around them.
+
+When they had stopped increasing in size, they leaped in turn over the
+palace, landing upon the broad beach of the lake. Then they began
+walking along it. There was only room for one on the sand, and the other
+two, for they walked abreast, waded ankle-deep in the water. From the
+little city below them they could hear the hum of a myriad of tiny
+voices--thin, shrill and faint. Suddenly the Big Business Man laughed.
+There was no hysteria in his voice now--just amusement and relief.
+
+"And we took that seriously," he said. "Funny, isn't it?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+ON THE LAKE
+
+
+"You're right--we are being followed," the Very Young Man said soberly.
+He had pulled the girl over close against the wall of a house. "Did you
+see that?"
+
+"Three, they are," Aura answered. "I saw them before--in the street
+below--Targo's men."
+
+Evidently the three men had been watching the house from which they had
+come and had followed them from there. If they were Targo's men, as
+seemed very probable, the Very Young Man could not understand why they
+had not already attacked him. Perhaps they intended to as soon as he and
+Aura had reached a more secluded part of the city. They must know he had
+the drugs, and to gain possession of those certainly was what they were
+striving for. The Very Young Man realized he must take no chances; to
+lose the drugs would be fatal to them all.
+
+"Are we near the edge of the city?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, very near."
+
+"Then we shall get large here. If we make a run for it we will be in the
+country before we are big enough to attract too much attention.
+Understand, Aura?"
+
+"I understand."
+
+"We mustn't stir up the city if we can help it; with giants running
+around, the people would get worked up to a frenzy. You could see that
+with Lylda this afternoon. Not that you can blame them altogether, but
+we want to get Loto back before we start anything here in Arite." He
+took the pellets out as he spoke, and they each touched one of them to
+the tip of their tongues.
+
+"Now, then, come on--not too fast, we want to keep going," said the Very
+Young Man, taking the girl by the hand again.
+
+As they started off, running slowly down the street, the Very Young Man
+looked back. The three men were running after them--not fast, seeming
+content merely to keep their distance. The Very Young Man laughed. "Wait
+till they see us get big. Fine chance they've got."
+
+Aura, her lithe, young body in perfect condition, ran lightly and easily
+as a fawn. She made a pretty picture as she ran, with her long, black
+hair streaming out behind her, and the short silk tunic flapping about
+her lean, round thighs. She still held the Very Young Man by the hand,
+running just in advance of him, guiding him through the streets, which
+in this part of the city were more broken up and irregular.
+
+They had not gone more than a hundred yards when the pavement began to
+move unsteadily under them, as the deck of a plunging ship feels to one
+who runs its length, and the houses they were swiftly passing began
+visibly to decrease in size. The Very Young Man felt the girl falter in
+her stride. He dropped her hand and slipped his arm about her waist,
+holding her other hand against it. She smiled up into his eyes, and thus
+they ran on, side by side.
+
+A few moments more and they were in the open country, running on a road
+that wound through the hills, between cultivated fields dotted here and
+there with houses. The landscape dwindled beneath them steadily, until
+they seemed to be running along a narrow, curving path, bordered by
+little patches of different-colored ground, like a checkerboard. The
+houses they passed now hardly reached as high as their knees. Sometimes
+peasants stood in the doorways of these houses watching them in terror.
+Occasionally they passed a farmer ploughing his field, who stopped his
+work, stricken dumb, and stared at them as they went swiftly by.
+
+When they were well out into the country, perhaps a quarter of the way
+to Orlog--for to beings so huge as they the distance was not great--the
+Very Young Man slowed down to a walk.
+
+"How far have we gone?" he asked.
+
+Aura stopped abruptly and looked around her. They seemed now to be at
+the bottom of a huge, circular, shallow bowl. In every direction from
+where they stood the land curved upward towards the rim of the bowl that
+was the horizon--a line, not sharp and well defined, but dim and hazy,
+melting away into the blackness of the star-studded sky. Behind them,
+hardly more than a mile away, according to their present stature--they
+had stopped growing entirely now--lay the city of Arite. They could see
+completely across it and out into the country beyond.
+
+The lake, with whose shore they had been running parallel, was much
+closer to them. Ahead, up near the rim of the horizon, lay a black
+smudge. Aura pointed. "Orlog is there," she said. "You see it?"
+
+To the Very Young Man suddenly came the realization that already he was
+facing the problem of how to get into Orlog unheralded. If they remained
+in their present size they could easily walk there in an hour or less.
+But long before that they would be seen and recognized.
+
+The Very Young Man feared for Loto's safety if he allowed that to
+happen. He seemed to be able to make out the city of Orlog now. It was
+smaller than Arite, and lay partially behind a hill, with most of its
+houses strung along the lake shore. If only they were not so tall they
+could not be seen so readily. But if they became smaller it would take
+them much longer to get there. And eventually they would have to become
+normal Oroid size, or even smaller, in order to get into the city
+unnoticed. The Very Young Man thought of the lake. Perhaps that would be
+the best way.
+
+"Can you swim?" he asked. And Aura, with her ready smile, answered that
+she could. "If we are in the water," she added, seeming to have followed
+his thoughts, "they would not see us. I can swim very far--can you?"
+
+The Very Young Man nodded.
+
+"If we could get near to Orlog in the water," he said, "we might get a
+boat. And then when we were small, we could sail up. They wouldn't see
+us then."
+
+"There are many boats," answered the girl in agreement. "Look!"
+
+There were, indeed, on the lake, within sight of them now, several
+boats. "We must get the one nearest Orlog," the Very Young Man said. "Or
+else it will beat us in and carry the news."
+
+In a few minutes more they were at the lake shore. The Very Young Man
+wore, underneath his robe, a close-fitting knitted garment very much
+like a bathing-suit. He took off his robe now, and rolling it up, tied
+it across his back with the cord he had worn around his waist. Aura's
+tunic was too short to impede her swimming and when the Very Young Man
+was ready, they waded out into the water together. They found the lake
+no deeper than to Aura's shoulders, but as it was easier to swim than to
+wade, they began swimming--away from shore towards the farthest boat
+that evidently was headed for Orlog.
+
+The Very Young Man thought with satisfaction that, with only their heads
+visible, huge as they would appear, they could probably reach this boat
+without being seen by any one in Orlog. The boat was perhaps a quarter
+of a mile from them--a tiny little toy vessel, it seemed, that they
+never would have seen except for its sail.
+
+They came up to it rapidly, for they were swimming very much faster than
+it could sail, passing close to one of the others and nearly swamping it
+by the waves they made. As they neared the boat they were pursuing--it
+was different from any the Very Young Man had seen so far, a single,
+canoe-shaped hull, with out-riders on both sides--they could see it held
+but a single occupant, a man who sat in its stern--a figure about as
+long as one of the Very Young Man's fingers.
+
+The Very Young Man and Aura were swimming side by side, now. The water
+was perfect in temperature--neither too hot nor too cold; they had not
+been swimming fast, and were not winded.
+
+"We've got him, what'll we do with him," the Very Young Man wanted to
+know in dismay, as the thought occurred to him. He might have been more
+puzzled at how to take the drug to make them smaller while they were
+swimming, but Aura's answer solved both problems.
+
+"There is an island," she said flinging an arm up out of the water. "We
+can push the boat to it, and him we can leave there. Is that not the
+thing to do?"
+
+"You bet your life," the Very Young Man agreed, enthusiastically.
+"That's just the thing to do."
+
+As they came within reach of the boat the Very Young Man stopped
+swimming and found that the water was not much deeper than his waist.
+The man in the boat appeared now about to throw himself into the lake
+from fright.
+
+"Tell him, Aura," the Very Young Man said. "We won't hurt him."
+
+Wading through the water, they pushed the boat with its terrified
+occupant carefully in front of them towards the island, which was not
+more than two or three hundred yards away. The Very Young Man found this
+rather slow work; becoming impatient, he seized the boat in his hand,
+pinning the man against its seat with his forefinger so he would not
+fall out. Then raising the boat out of the water over his head he waded
+forward much more rapidly.
+
+The island, which they reached in a few moments more, was circular in
+shape, and about fifty feet in diameter. It had a beach entirely around
+it; a hill perhaps ten feet high rose near its center, and at one end it
+was heavily wooded. There were no houses to be seen.
+
+The Very Young Man set the boat back on the water, and they pushed it up
+on the beach. When it grounded the tiny man leaped out and ran swiftly
+along the sand. The Very Young Man and Aura laughed heartily as they
+stood ankle-deep in the water beside the boat, watching him. For nearly
+five minutes he ran; then suddenly he ducked inland and disappeared in
+the woods.
+
+When they were left alone they lost no time in becoming normal Oroid
+size. The boat now appeared about twenty-five feet long--a narrow,
+canoe-shaped hull hollowed out of a tree-trunk. They climbed into it,
+and with a long pole they found lying in its bottom, the Very Young Man
+shoved it off the beach.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+WORD MUSIC
+
+
+The boat had a mast stepped near the bow, and a triangular cloth sail.
+The Very Young Man sat in the stern, steering with a short, broad-bladed
+paddle; Aura lay on a pile of rushes in the bottom of the boat, looking
+up at him.
+
+For about half a mile the Very Young Man sailed along parallel with the
+beach, looking for the man they had marooned. He was nowhere in sight,
+and they finally headed out into the lake towards Orlog, which they
+could just see dimly on the further shore.
+
+The breeze was fresh, and they made good time. The boat steered easily,
+and the Very Young Man, reclining on one elbow, with Aura at his feet,
+felt at peace with himself and with the world. Again he thought this
+girl the prettiest he had ever seen. There was something, too, of a
+spiritual quality in the delicate smallness of her features--a sweetness
+of expression in her quick, understanding smile, and an honest clearness
+in her steady gaze that somehow he seemed never to have seen in a girl's
+face before.
+
+He felt again, now that he had time to think more of her, that same old
+diffidence that had come to him before when they were alone in the
+storeroom of her home. That she did not share this feeling was obvious
+from the frankness and ease of her manner.
+
+For some time after leaving the island neither spoke. The Very Young Man
+felt the girl's eyes fixed almost constantly upon him--a calm gaze that
+held in it a great curiosity and wonderment. He steered steadily onward
+towards Orlog. There was, for the moment, nothing to discuss concerning
+their adventure, and he wondered what he should say to this girl who
+stared at him so frankly. Then he met her eyes, and again she smiled
+with that perfect sense of comradeship he had so seldom felt with women
+of his own race.
+
+"You're very beautiful," said the Very Young Man abruptly.
+
+The girl's eyes widened a little, but she did not drop her lashes. "I
+want to be beautiful; if you think it is so, I am very glad."
+
+"I do. I think you're the prettiest girl I ever saw." He blurted out the
+words impetuously. He was very earnest, very sincere, and very young.
+
+A trace of coquetry came into the girl's manner. "Prettier than the
+girls of your world? Are they not pretty?"
+
+"Oh, yes--of course; but----"
+
+"What?" she asked when he paused.
+
+The Very Young Man considered a moment. "You're--you're different," he
+said finally. She waited. "You--you don't know how to flirt, for one
+thing."
+
+The girl turned her head away and looked at him a little sidewise
+through lowered lashes.
+
+"How do you know that?" she asked demurely; and the Very Young Man
+admitted to himself with a shock of surprise that he certainly was
+totally wrong in that deduction at least.
+
+"Tell me of the girls in your world," she went on after a moment's
+silence. "My sister's husband many times he has told me of the wonderful
+things up there in that great land. But more I would like to hear."
+
+He told her, with an eloquence and enthusiasm born of youth, about his
+own life and those of his people. She questioned eagerly and with an
+intelligence that surprised him, for she knew far more of the subject
+than he realized.
+
+"These girls of your country," she interrupted him once. "They, too, are
+very beautiful; they wear fine clothes--I know--my brother he has told
+me."
+
+"Yes," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"And are they very learned--very clever--do they work and govern, like
+the men?"
+
+"Some are very learned. And they are beginning to govern, like the men;
+but not so much as you do here."
+
+The girl's forehead wrinkled. "My brother he once told me," she said
+slowly, "that in your world many women are bad. Is that so?"
+
+"Some are, of course. And some men think that most are. But I don't; I
+think women are splendid."
+
+"If that is so, then better I can understand what I have heard," the
+girl answered thoughtfully. "If Oroid women were as I have heard my
+brother talk of some of yours, this world of ours would soon be full of
+evil."
+
+"You are different," the Very Young Man said quickly. "You--and Lylda."
+
+"The women here, they have kept the evil out of life," the girl went on.
+"It is their duty--their responsibility to their race. Your good
+women--they have not always governed as we have. Why is that?"
+
+"I do not know," the Very Young Man admitted. "Except because the men
+would not let them."
+
+"Why not, if they are just as learned as the men?" The girl was
+smiling--a little roguish, twisted smile.
+
+"There are very clever girls," the Very Young Man went on hastily; he
+found himself a little on the defensive, and he did not know just why.
+"They are able to do things in the world. But--many men do not like
+them."
+
+Aura was smiling openly now, and her eyes twinkled with mischief.
+"Perhaps it is the men are jealous. Could that not be so?"
+
+The Very Young Man did not answer, and the girl went on more seriously.
+"The women of my race, they are very just. Perhaps you know that, Jack.
+Often has my brother told us of his own great world and of its problems.
+And the many things he has told us--Lylda and I--we have often wondered.
+For every question has its other side, and we cannot judge--from him
+alone."
+
+The Very Young Man, surprised at the turn their conversation had taken,
+and confused a little by this calm logic from a girl--particularly from
+so young and pretty a girl--was at a loss how to go on.
+
+"You cannot understand, Aura," he finally said seriously. "Women may be
+all kinds; some are bad--some are good. Down here I know it is not that
+way. Sometimes when a girl is smart she thinks she is smarter than any
+living man. You would not like that sort of girl would you?"
+
+"My brother never said it just that way," she answered with equal
+seriousness. "No, that would be bad--very bad. In our land women are
+only different from men. They know they are not better or worse--only
+different."
+
+The Very Young Man was thinking of a girl he once knew. "I hate clever
+girls," he blurted out.
+
+Aura's eyes were teasing him again. "I am so sorry," she said sadly.
+
+The Very Young Man looked his surprise. "Why are you sorry?"
+
+"My sister, she once told me I was clever. My brother said it, too, and
+I believed them."
+
+The Very Young Man flushed.
+
+"You're different," he repeated.
+
+"How--different?" She was looking at him sidewise again.
+
+"I don't know; I've been trying to think--but you are. And I don't hate
+you--I like you--very, very much."
+
+"I like you, too," she answered frankly, and the Very Young Man thought
+of Loto as she said it. He was leaning down towards her, and their hands
+met for an instant.
+
+The Very Young Man had spread his robe out to dry when he first got into
+the boat, and now he put it on while Aura steered. Then he sat beside
+her on the seat, taking the paddle again.
+
+"Do you go often to the theater?" she asked after a time.
+
+"Oh, yes, often."
+
+"Nothing like that do we have here," she added, a little wistfully.
+"Only once, when we played a game in the field beyond my brother's home.
+Lylda was the queen and I her lady. And do you go to the opera, too? My
+brother he has told me of the opera. How wonderful must that be! So
+beautiful--more beautiful even it must be than Lylda's music. But never
+shall it be for me." She smiled sadly: "Never shall I be able to hear
+it."
+
+An eager contradiction sprang to the Very Young Man's lips, but the girl
+shook her head quietly.
+
+For several minutes they did not speak. The wind behind them blew the
+girl's long hair forward over her shoulders. A lock of it fell upon the
+Very Young Man's hand as it lay on the seat between them, and unseen he
+twisted it about his fingers. The wind against his neck felt warm and
+pleasant; the murmur of the water flowing past sounded low and sweet and
+soothing. Overhead the stars hung very big and bright. It was like
+sailing on a perfect night in his own world. He was very conscious of
+the girl's nearness now--conscious of the clinging softness of her hair
+about his fingers. And all at once he found himself softly quoting some
+half-forgotten lines:
+
+    "If I were king, ah, love! If I were king
+    What tributary nations I would bring
+    To bow before your scepter and to swear
+    Allegiance to your lips and eyes and hair."
+
+Aura's questioning glance of surprise brought him to himself. "That is
+so pretty--what is that?" she asked eagerly. "Never have I heard one
+speak like that before."
+
+"Why, that's poetry; haven't you ever heard any poetry?"
+
+The girl shook her head. "It's just like music--it sings. Do it again."
+
+The Very Young Man suddenly felt very self-conscious.
+
+"Do it again--please." She looked pleadingly up into his face and the
+Very Young Man went on:
+
+    "Beneath your feet what treasures I would fling!
+    The stars would be your pearls upon a string;
+    The world a ruby for your finger-ring;
+      And you could have the sun and moon to wear
+      If I were king."
+
+The girl clapped her hands artlessly. "Oh, that is so pretty. Never did
+I know that words could sound like that. Say it some more, please."
+
+And the Very Young Man, sitting under the stars beside this beautiful
+little creature of another world, searched into his memory and for her
+who never before had known that words could rhyme, opened up the realm
+of poetry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+THE PALACE OF ORLOG
+
+
+Engrossed with each other the Very Young Man and Aura sailed close up to
+the water-front of Orlog before they remembered their situation. It was
+the Very Young Man who first became aware of the danger. Without
+explanation he suddenly pulled Aura into the bottom of the boat, leaving
+it to flutter up into the wind unguided.
+
+"They might see us from here," he said hurriedly. "We must decide what
+is best for us to do now."
+
+They were then less than a quarter of a mile from the stone quay that
+marked the city's principal landing-place. Nearer to them was a broad,
+sandy beach behind which, in a long string along the lake shore, lay the
+city. Its houses were not unlike those of Arite, although most of them
+were rather smaller and less pretentious. On a rise of ground just
+beyond the beach, and nearly in front of them, stood an elaborate
+building that was Targo's palace.
+
+"We daren't go much closer," the Very Young Man said. "They'd recognize
+us."
+
+"You they would know for one of the strangers," said Aura. "But if I
+should steer and you were hidden no one would notice."
+
+The Very Young Man realized a difficulty. "We've got to be very small
+when we go into the city."
+
+"How small would you think?" asked Aura.
+
+The Very Young Man held his hands about a foot apart. "You see, the
+trouble is, we must be small enough to get around without too much
+danger of being seen; but if we get too small it would be a terrible
+walk up there to Targo's palace."
+
+"We cannot sail this boat if we are such a size," Aura declared. "Too
+large it would be for us to steer."
+
+"That's just it, but we can't go any closer this way."
+
+Aura thought a moment. "If you lie there," she indicated the bottom of
+the boat under a forward seat, "no one can see. And I will steer--there
+to the beach ahead; me they will not notice. Then at the beach we will
+take the drug."
+
+"We've got to take a chance," said the Very Young Man. "Some one may
+come along and see us getting small."
+
+They talked it over very carefully for some time. Finally they decided
+to follow Aura's plan and run the boat to the beach under her guidance;
+then to take the drug. There were few people around the lake front at
+this hour; the beach itself, as far as they could see, was entirely
+deserted, and the danger of discovery seemed slight. Aura pointed out,
+however, that once on shore, if their stature were so great as a foot
+they would be even more conspicuous than when of normal size even
+allowing for the strangeness of the Very Young Man's appearance. The
+Very Young Man made a calculation and reached the conclusion that with a
+height of six or seven inches they would have to walk about a mile from
+the landing-place to reach Targo's palace. They decided to become as
+near that size as they conveniently could.
+
+When both fully understood what they intended to do, the Very Young Man
+gave Aura one of the pellets of the drug and lay down in the bow of the
+boat. Without a word the girl took her seat in the stern and steered for
+the beach. When they were close inshore Aura signalled her companion and
+at the same moment both took the drug. Then she left her seat and lay
+down beside the Very Young Man. The boat, from the momentum it had
+gained, floated inshore and grounded gently on the beach.
+
+As they lay there, the Very Young Man could see the sides of the boat
+growing up steadily above their heads. The gunwale was nearly six feet
+above them before he realized a new danger. Scrambling to his feet he
+pulled the girl up with him; even when standing upright their heads came
+below the sides of the vessel.
+
+"We've got to get out right now," the Very Young Man said in an excited
+whisper. "We'd be too small." He led the girl hastily into the bow and
+with a running leap clambered up and sat astride the gunwale. Then,
+reaching down he pulled Aura up beside him.
+
+In a moment they had dropped overboard up to their shoulders in the
+water. High overhead loomed the hull of the boat--a large sailing vessel
+it seemed to them now. They started wading towards shore immediately,
+but, because they were so rapidly diminishing in size, it was nearly
+five minutes before they could get there.
+
+Once on shore they lay prone upon the sand, waiting for the drug to
+cease its action. When, by proper administering of both chemicals, they
+had reached approximately their predetermined stature, which, in itself,
+required considerable calculation on the Very Young Man's part, they
+stood up near the water's edge and looked about them.
+
+The beach to them now, with its coarse-grained sand, seemed nearly a
+quarter of a mile wide; in length it extended as far as they could see
+in both directions. Beyond the beach, directly in front of them on a
+hill perhaps a thousand feet above the lake level, and about a mile or
+more away, stood Targo's palace. To the Very Young Man it looked far
+larger than any building he had ever seen.
+
+The boat in which they had landed lay on the water with its bow on the
+beach beside them. It was now a vessel some two hundred and fifty feet
+in length, with sides twenty feet high and a mast towering over a
+hundred feet in the air.
+
+There was no one in sight from where they stood. "Come on, Aura," said
+the Very Young Man, and started off across the beach towards the hill.
+
+It was a long walk through the heavy sand to the foot of the hill. When
+they arrived they found themselves at the beginning of a broad stone
+roadway--only a path to those of normal Oroid size--that wound back and
+forth up the hill to the palace. They walked up this road, and as they
+progressed, saw that it was laid through a grassy lawn that covered the
+entire hillside--a lawn with gray-blue blades of grass half as high as
+their bodies.
+
+After walking about ten minutes they came to a short flight of steps.
+Each step was twice as high as their heads--impossible of ascent--so
+they made a detour through the grass.
+
+Suddenly Aura clutched the Very Young Man by the arm with a whispered
+exclamation, and they both dropped to the ground. A man was coming down
+the roadway; he was just above the steps when they first saw him--a man
+so tall that, standing beside him, they would have reached hardly above
+his ankles. The long grass in which they were lying hid them effectually
+from his sight and he passed them by unnoticed. When he was gone the
+Very Young Man drew a long breath. "We must watch that," he said
+apprehensively. "If any one sees us now it's all off. We must be
+extremely careful."
+
+It took the two adventurers over an hour to get safely up the hill and
+into the palace. Its main entrance, approached by a long flight of
+steps, was an impossible means of ingress, but Aura fortunately knew of
+a smaller door at the side which led into the basement of the building.
+This door they found slightly ajar. It was open so little, however, that
+they could not get past, and as they were not strong enough even with
+their combined efforts, to swing the door open, they were again brought
+to a halt.
+
+"We'd better get still smaller," the Very Young Man whispered somewhat
+nervously. "There's less danger that way."
+
+They reduced their size, perhaps one half, and when that was
+accomplished the crack in the door had widened sufficiently to let them
+in. Within the building they found themselves in a hallway several
+hundred feet wide and half a mile or more in length--its ceiling high as
+the roof of some great auditorium. The Very Young Man looked about in
+dismay. "Great Scott," he ejaculated, "this won't do at all."
+
+"Many times I have been here," said Aura. "It looks so very different
+now, but I think I know the way."
+
+"That may be," agreed the Very Young Man dubiously, "but we'd have to
+walk miles if we stay as small as this."
+
+A heavy tread sounded far away in the distance. The Very Young Man and
+Aura shrank back against the wall, close by the door. In a moment a
+man's feet and the lower part of his legs came into view. He stopped by
+the door, pulling it inward. The Very Young Man looked up into the air;
+a hundred and fifty feet, perhaps, above their heads he saw the man's
+face looking out through the doorway.
+
+In a moment another man joined him, coming from outside, and they spoke
+together for a time. Their roaring voices, coming down from this great
+height, were nevertheless distinctly audible.
+
+"In the audience room," Aura whispered, after listening an instant,
+"Targo's younger brother talks with his counsellors. Big things they are
+planning." The Very Young Man did not answer; the two men continued
+their brief conversation and parted.
+
+When the Very Young Man and Aura were left alone, he turned to the girl
+eagerly. "Did they mention Loto? Is he here?"
+
+"Of him they did not speak," Aura answered. "It is best that we go to
+the audience room, where they are talking. Then, perhaps, we will know."
+The Very Young Man agreed, and they started off.
+
+For nearly half an hour they trudged onward along this seemingly endless
+hallway. Then again they were confronted with a flight of steps--this
+time steps that were each more than three times their own height.
+
+"We've got to chance it," said the Very Young Man, and after listening
+carefully and hearing no one about, they again took the drug, making
+themselves sufficiently large to ascend these steps to the upper story
+of the building.
+
+It was nearly an hour before the two intruders, after several narrow
+escapes from discovery, and by alternating doses of both drugs,
+succeeded in getting into the room where Targo's brother and his
+advisers were in conference.
+
+They entered through the open door--a doorway so wide that a hundred
+like them could have marched through it abreast. A thousand feet away
+across the vastness of the room they could see Targo's brother and ten
+of his men--sitting on mats upon the floor, talking earnestly. Before
+them stood a stone bench on which were a number of golden goblets and
+plates of food.
+
+The adventurers ran swiftly down the length of the room, following its
+wall. It echoed with their footfalls, but they knew that this sound, so
+loud to their ears, would be inaudible to the huge figures they were
+approaching.
+
+"They won't see us," whispered the Very Young Man, "let's get up close."
+And in a few moments more they were standing beside one of the figures,
+sheltered from sight by a corner of the mat upon which the man was
+sitting. His foot, bent sidewise under him upon the floor, was almost
+within reach of the Very Young Man's hand. The fibre thong that fastened
+its sandal looked like a huge rope thick as the Very Young Man's ankle,
+and each of its toes were half as long as his entire body.
+
+Targo's brother, a younger man than those with him, appeared to be doing
+most of the talking. He it was beside whom Aura and the Very Young Man
+were standing.
+
+"You tell me if they mention Loto," whispered the Very Young Man. Aura
+nodded and they stood silent, listening. The men all appeared deeply
+engrossed with what their leader was saying. The Very Young Man,
+watching his companion's face, saw an expression of concern and fear
+upon it. She leaned towards him.
+
+"In Arite, to-night," she whispered, "Targo is organizing men to attack
+the palace of the king. Him will they kill--then Targo will be
+proclaimed leader of all the Oroid nation."
+
+"We must get back," the Very Young Man answered in an anxious whisper.
+"I wish we knew where Loto was; haven't they mentioned him--or any of
+us?"
+
+Aura did not reply, and the Very Young Man waited silent. Once one of
+the men laughed--a laugh that drifted out into the immense distances of
+the room in great waves of sound. Aura gripped her companion by the arm.
+
+"Then when Targo rules the land, they will send a messenger to my
+brother. Him they will tell that the drugs must be given to Targo, or
+Loto will be killed--wait--when they have the drugs," Aura translated in
+a swift, tense whisper, "then all of us they will kill." She shuddered.
+"And with the drugs they will rule as they desire--for evil."
+
+"They'll never get them," the Very Young Man muttered.
+
+Targo's brother leaned forward and raised a goblet from the table. The
+movement of his foot upon the floor made the two eavesdroppers jump
+aside to avoid being struck.
+
+Again Aura grasped her companion by the arm. "He is saying Loto is
+upstairs," she whispered after a moment. "I know where."
+
+"I knew it," said the Very Young Man exultingly. "You take us there.
+Come on--let's get out of here--we mustn't waste a minute."
+
+They started back towards the wall nearest them--some fifty feet
+away--and following along its edge, ran down towards the doorway through
+which they had entered the room. They were still perhaps a hundred yards
+away from it, running swiftly, when there appeared in the doorway the
+feet and legs of two men who were coming in. The Very Young Man and Aura
+stopped abruptly, shrinking up against the side of the wall. Then there
+came a heavy metallic clanging sound; the two men entered the room,
+closing the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+AN ANT-HILL OUTRAGED
+
+
+"We'll have to get smaller," said the Doctor.
+
+"There's Rogers' house."
+
+They had been walking along the beach from the king's palace hardly more
+than a hundred yards. The Doctor and the Big Business Man were in front,
+and Oteo, wide-eyed and solemn, was close behind them.
+
+The Doctor was pointing down at the ground a few feet ahead. There, at a
+height just above their ankles, stood the Chemist's house--a little
+building whose roof did not reach more than half-way to their knees,
+even though it stood on higher ground than the beach upon which they
+were walking. On the roof they could see two tiny figures--the Chemist
+and Lylda--waving their arms.
+
+The Big Business Man stopped short. "Now see here, Frank, let's
+understand this. We've been fooling with this thing too damned long.
+We've made a hell of a mess of it, you know that." He spoke
+determinedly, with a profanity unusual with him. The Doctor did not
+answer.
+
+"We got here--yesterday. We found a peaceful world. Dissatisfaction in
+it--yes. But certainly a more peaceful world than the one we left. We've
+been here one day--one day, Frank, and now look at things. This child,
+Loto--stolen. Jack disappeared--God knows what's happened to him. A
+revolution--the whole place in an uproar. All in one day, since we took
+our place in this world and tried to mix up in its affairs.
+
+"It's time to call a halt, Frank. If only we can get Jack back. That's
+the bad part--we've got to find Jack. And then get out; we don't belong
+here anyway. It's nothing to us--why, man, look at it." He waved his arm
+out over the city. In the street beside them they could see a number of
+little figures no bigger than their fingers, staring up into the air.
+"What is all that to us now, as we stand here. Nothing. Nothing but a
+kid's toy; with little animated mannikins for a child to play with."
+
+"We've got to find Jack," said the Doctor.
+
+"Certainly we have--and then get out. We're only hurting these little
+creatures, anyway, by being here."
+
+"But there's Rogers and Lylda," added the Doctor. "And Loto and Lylda's
+sister."
+
+"Take them with us. They'll have to go--they can't stay here now. But we
+must find Jack--that's the main thing."
+
+"Look," the Doctor said, moving forward. "They're shouting to us."
+
+They walked up and bent over the Chemist's house. Their friend was
+making a funnel of his hands and trying to attract their attention. The
+Big Business Man knelt upon the beach and put his head down beside the
+house. "Make yourselves smaller," he heard the Chemist shouting in a
+shrill little voice.
+
+"We think it best not to. You must come up to us. Serious things have
+happened. Take the drug now--then we'll tell you." The Big Business Man,
+with his knees upon the beach, had one hand on the sand and the other at
+the gate of Lylda's garden. His face was just above the roof-top.
+
+The two little figures consulted a moment; then the Chemist shouted up,
+"All right; wait," and he and Lylda disappeared into the house. A moment
+afterwards they reappeared in the garden; Eena was with them. They
+crossed the garden and turned into the street towards the flight of
+steps that led down to the lake.
+
+The Big Business Man had regained his feet and was standing ankle-deep
+in the water talking to the Doctor when Oteo suddenly plucked at his
+sleeve.
+
+"The Master--" he cried. The youth was staring down into the street,
+with a look of terror on his face. The Big Business Man followed the
+direction of his glance; at the head of the steps a number of men had
+rushed upon the Chemist and the two women, and were dragging them back
+up the hill. The Big Business Man hesitated only a moment; then he
+reached down and plucking a little figure from one of the struggling
+groups, flung it back over his shoulder into the lake.
+
+The other assailants did not run, as he had expected, so he gently pried
+them apart with his fingers from their captives, and, one by one, flung
+them into the air behind him. One who struck Lylda, he squashed upon the
+flagstones of the street with his thumb.
+
+Only one escaped. He had been holding Eena; when he saw he was the last,
+he suddenly dropped his captive and ran shrieking up the hill into the
+city.
+
+The Big Business Man laughed grimly, and got upon his feet a little
+unsteadily. His face was white.
+
+"You see, Frank," he said, and his voice trembled a little. "Good God,
+suppose we had been that size, too."
+
+In a few moments more the Chemist, Lylda and Eena had taken the drug and
+were as large as the others. All six stood in the water beside the
+Chemist's house. The Chemist had not spoken while he was growing; now he
+greeted his friends quietly. "A close call, gentlemen. I thank you." He
+smiled approvingly at the Big Business Man.
+
+Eena and Oteo stood apart from the others. The girl was obviously
+terror-stricken by the experiences she had undergone. Oteo put his arm
+across her shoulders, and spoke to her reassuringly.
+
+"Where is Jack?" Lylda asked anxiously. "And my father--and Aura?" The
+Big Business Man thought her face looked years older than when he had
+last seen it. Her expression was set and stern, but her eyes stared into
+his with a gentle, sorrowful gaze that belied the sternness of her lips.
+
+They told her, as gently as they could, of the death of her father and
+the disappearance of the Very Young Man, presumably with Aura. She bore
+up bravely under the news of her father's death, standing with her hand
+on her husband's arm, and her sorrowful eyes fixed upon the face of the
+Big Business Man who haltingly told what had befallen them. When he came
+to a description of the attack on the palace, the death of the king, and
+the triumph of Targo, the Chemist raised his hands with a hopeless
+gesture.
+
+The Doctor put in: "It's a serious situation--most serious."
+
+"There's only one thing we can do," the Big Business Man added quickly.
+"We must find Jack and your sister," he addressed Lylda, whose eyes had
+never left his face, "and then get out of this world as quickly as we
+can--before we do it any more harm."
+
+The Chemist began pacing up and down the strip of the beach. He had
+evidently reached the same conclusion--that it was hopeless to continue
+longer to cope with so desperate a situation. But he could not bring
+himself so easily to a realization that his life in this world, of which
+he had been so long virtually the leader, was at an end. He strode back
+and forth thinking deeply; the water that he kicked idly splashed up
+sometimes over the houses of the tiny city at his side.
+
+The Big Business Man went on, "It's the only way--the best way for all
+of us and for this little world, too."
+
+"The best way for you--and you." Lylda spoke softly and with a sweet,
+gentle sadness. "It is best for you, my friends. But for me----" She
+shook her head.
+
+The Big Business Man laid his hands gently on her shoulders. "Best for
+you, too, little woman. And for these people you love so well. Believe
+me--it is."
+
+The Chemist paused in his walk. "Probably Aura and Jack are together. No
+harm has come to them so far--that's certain. If his situation were
+desperate he would have made himself as large as we are and we would see
+him."
+
+"If he got the chance," the Doctor murmured.
+
+"Certainly he has not been killed or captured," the Chemist reasoned,
+"for we would have other giants to face immediately that happened."
+
+"Perhaps he took the girl with him and started off to Orlog to find
+Loto," suggested the Doctor. "That crazy boy might do anything."
+
+"He should be back by now, even if he had," said the Big Business Man.
+"I don't see how anything could happen to him--having those----" He
+stopped abruptly.
+
+While they had been talking a crowd of little people had gathered in the
+city beside them--a crowd that thronged the street before the Chemist's
+house, filled the open space across from it and overflowed down the
+steps leading to the beach. It was uncanny, standing there, to see these
+swarming little creatures, like ants whose hill had been desecrated by
+the foot of some stray passer-by. They were enraged, and with an ant's
+unreasoning, desperate courage they were ready to fight and to die,
+against an enemy irresistibly strong.
+
+"Good God, look at them," murmured the Big Business Man in awe.
+
+The steps leading to the beach were black with them now--a swaying,
+struggling mass of little human forms, men and women, hardly a finger's
+length in height, coming down in a steady stream and swarming out upon
+the beach. In a few moments the sand was black with them, and always
+more appeared in the city above to take their places.
+
+The Big Business Man felt a sharp sting in his foot above the sandal.
+One of the tiny figures was clinging to its string and sticking a sword
+into his flesh. Involuntarily he kicked; a hundred of the little
+creatures were swept aside, and when he put his foot back upon the sand
+he could feel them smash under his tread. Their faint, shrill, squeaking
+shrieks had a ghostly semblance to human voices, and he turned suddenly
+sick and faint.
+
+Then he glanced at Lylda's face; it bore an expression of sorrow and of
+horror that made him shudder. To him at first these had been savage,
+vicious little insects, annoying, but harmless enough if one kept upon
+one's feet; but to her, he knew, they were men and women--misguided,
+frenzied--but human, thinking beings like herself. And he found himself
+wondering, vaguely, what he should do to repel them.
+
+The attack was so unexpected, and came so quickly that the giants had
+stood motionless, watching it with awe. Before they realized their
+situation the sand was so crowded with the struggling little figures
+that none of them could stir without trampling upon scores.
+
+Oteo and Eena, standing ankle-deep in the water, were unattacked, and at
+a word from the Chemist the others joined them, leaving little heaps of
+mangled human forms upon the beach where they had trod.
+
+All except Lylda. She stood her ground--her face bloodless, her eyes
+filled with tears. Her feet were covered now; her ankles bleeding from a
+dozen tiny knives hacking at her flesh. The Chemist called her to him,
+but she only raised her arms with a gesture of appeal.
+
+"Oh, my husband," she cried. "Please, I must. Let me take the drug now
+and grow small--like them. Then will they see we mean them no harm. And
+I shall tell them we are their friends--and you, the Master, mean only
+good----"
+
+The Big Business Man started forward. "They'll kill her. God,
+that's----" But the Chemist held them back.
+
+"Not now, Lylda," he said gently. "Not now. Don't you see? There's
+nothing you can do; it's too late now." He met her gaze unyielding. For
+a moment she stared; then her figure swayed and with a low sob she
+dropped in a heap upon the sand.
+
+As Lylda fell, the Chemist leaped forward, the other three men at his
+side. A strident cry came up from the swarming multitude, and in an
+instant hundreds of them were upon her, climbing over her and thrusting
+their swords into her body.
+
+The Chemist and the Big Business Man picked her up and carried her into
+the water, brushing off the fighting little figures that still clung to
+her. There they laid her down, her head supported by Eena, who knelt in
+the water beside her mistress.
+
+The multitude on the sand crowded up to the water's edge; hundreds,
+forced forward by the pressure of those behind, plunged in, swam about,
+or sank and were rolled back by the surf, lifeless upon the shore. The
+beach crawled with their struggling forms, only the spot where Lylda had
+fallen was black and still.
+
+"She's all right," said the Doctor after a moment, bending over Lylda. A
+cry from Oteo made him straighten up quickly. Out over the horizon,
+towards Orlog, there appeared the dim shape of a gigantic human form,
+and behind it others, faint and blurred against the stars!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+THE RESCUE OF LOTO
+
+
+The Very Young Man heard the clang of the closing door with sinking
+heart. The two newcomers, passing close to him and Aura as they stood
+shrinking up against the wall, joined their friends at the table. The
+Very Young Man turned to Aura with a solemn face.
+
+"Are there any other doors?" he asked.
+
+The girl pointed. "One other, there--but see, it, too, is closed."
+
+Far across the room the Very Young Man could make out a heavy metal door
+similar to that through which they had entered. It was closed--he could
+see that plainly. And to open it--so huge a door that its great golden
+handle hung nearly a hundred feet above them--was an utter
+impossibility.
+
+The Very Young Man looked at the windows. There were four of them, all
+on one side of the room--enormous curtained apertures, two hundred feet
+in length and half as broad--but none came even within fifty feet of the
+floor. The Very Young Man realized with dismay that there was apparently
+no way of escape out of the room.
+
+"We can't get out, Aura," he said, and in spite of him his voice
+trembled. "There's no way."
+
+The girl had no answer but a quiet nod of agreement. Her face was
+serious, but there was on it no sign of panic. The Very Young Man
+hesitated a moment; then he started off down the room towards one of the
+doors, with Aura close at his side.
+
+They could not get out in their present size, he knew. Nor would they
+dare make themselves sufficiently large to open the door, or climb
+through one of the windows, even if the room had been nearer the ground
+than it actually was. Long before they could escape they would be
+discovered and seized.
+
+The Very Young Man tried to think it out clearly. He knew, except for a
+possible accident, or a miscalculation on his part, that they were in no
+real danger. But he did not want to make a false move, and now for the
+first time he realized his responsibility to Aura, and began to regret
+the rashness of his undertaking.
+
+They could wait, of course, until the conference was over, and then slip
+out unnoticed. But the Very Young Man felt that the chances of their
+rescuing Loto were greater now than they would be probably at any time
+in the future. They must get out now, he was convinced of that. But how?
+
+They were at the door in a moment more. Standing so close it seemed,
+now, a tremendous shaggy walling of shining metal. They walked its
+length, and then suddenly the Very Young Man had an idea. He threw
+himself face down upon the floor. Underneath the door's lower edge there
+was a tiny crack. To one of normal Oroid size it would have been
+unnoticeable--a space hardly so great as the thickness of a thin sheet
+of paper. But the Very Young Man could see it plainly; he gauged its
+size by slipping the edge of his robe into it.
+
+This crack was formed by the bottom of the door and the level surface of
+the floor; there was no sill. The door was perfectly hung, for the crack
+seemed to be of uniform size. The Very Young Man showed it to Aura.
+
+"There's the way out," he whispered. "Through there and then large again
+on the other side."
+
+He made his calculation of size carefully, and then, crushing one of the
+pills into powder, divided a portion of it between himself and the girl.
+Aura seemed tired and the drug made her very dizzy. They both sat upon
+the stone floor, close up to the door, and closed their eyes. When, by
+the feeling of the floor beneath them, they knew the action of the drug
+was over, they stood up unsteadily and looked around them.
+
+They now found themselves standing upon a great stone plain. The ground
+beneath their feet was rough, but as far away as they could see, out up
+to the horizon, it was mathematically level. This great expanse was
+empty except in one place; over to the right there appeared a huge,
+irregular, blurred mass that might have been, by its look, a range of
+mountains. But the mass moved as they stared at it, and the Very Young
+Man knew it was the nearest one of Targo's men, sitting beside the
+table.
+
+In the opposite direction, perhaps a hundred yards away from where they
+were standing, they could see the bottom of the door. It hung in the air
+some fifty feet above the surface of the ground. They walked over and
+stood underneath; like a great roof it spread over them--a flat, level
+surface parallel with the floor beneath.
+
+At this extraordinary change in their surroundings Aura seemed
+frightened, but seeing the matter-of-fact way in which her companion
+acted, she maintained her composure and soon was much interested in this
+new aspect of things. The Very Young Man took a last careful look around
+and then, holding Aura by the hand, started to cross under the door in a
+direction he judged to be at right angles to its length.
+
+They walked swiftly, trying to keep their sense of direction, but having
+no means of knowing whether they were doing so or not. For perhaps ten
+minutes they walked; then they emerged on the other side of the door and
+again faced a great level, empty expanse.
+
+"We're under," the Very Young Man remarked with relief. "Do you know
+where Loto is from here?"
+
+Aura had recovered her self-possession sufficiently to smile.
+
+"I might, perhaps," she answered, with a pretty little shrug. "But it's
+a long way, don't you think? A hundred miles, it may be?"
+
+"We get large here," said the Very Young Man, with an answering smile.
+He was greatly relieved to be outside the audience room; the way seemed
+easy before them now.
+
+They took the opposite drug, and after several successive changes of
+size, succeeded in locating the upper room in the palace in which Loto
+was held. At this time they were about the same relative size to their
+enemies as when they entered the audience chamber on the floor below.
+
+"That must be it," the Very Young Man whispered, as they cautiously
+turned a hallway corner. A short distance beyond, in front of a closed
+door, sat two guards.
+
+"That is the room of which they spoke," Aura answered. "Only one door
+there is, I think."
+
+"That's all right," said the Very Young Man confidently. "We'll do the
+same thing--go under the door."
+
+They went close up to the guards, who were sitting upon the floor
+playing some sort of a game with little golden balls. This door, like
+the other, had a space beneath it, rather wider than the other, and in
+ten minutes more the Very Young Man and Aura were beneath it, and inside
+the room.
+
+As they grew larger again the Very Young Man at first thought the room
+was empty. "There he is," cried Aura happily. The Very Young Man looked
+and could see across the still huge room, the figure of Loto, standing
+at a window opening.
+
+"Don't let him see us till we're his size," cautioned the Very Young
+Man. "It might frighten him. And if he made any noise----" He looked at
+the door behind them significantly.
+
+Aura nodded eagerly; her face was radiant. Steadily larger they grew.
+Loto did not turn round, but stood quiet, looking out of the window.
+
+They crept up close behind him, and when they were normal size Aura
+whispered his name softly. The boy turned in surprise and she faced him
+with a warning finger on her lips. He gave a low, happy little cry, and
+in another instant was in her arms, sobbing as she held him close to her
+breast.
+
+The Very Young Man's eyes grew moist as he watched them, and heard the
+soft Oroid words of endearment they whispered to each other. He put his
+arms around them, too, and all at once he felt very big and very strong
+beside these two delicate, graceful little creatures of whom he was
+protector.
+
+A noise in the hallway outside brought the Very Young Man to himself.
+
+"We must get out," he said swiftly. "There's no time to lose." He went
+to the window; it faced the city, fifty feet or more above the ground.
+
+The Very Young Man make a quick decision. "If we go out the way we came,
+it will take a very long time," he explained. "And we might be seen. I
+think we'd better take the quick way; get big here--get right out," he
+waved his hands towards the roof, "and make a run for it back to Arite."
+
+He made another calculation. The room in which they were was on the top
+floor of the palace; Aura had told him that. It was a room about fifty
+feet in length, triangular in shape, and some thirty feet from floor to
+ceiling. The Very Young Man estimated that when they had grown large
+enough to fill the room, they could burst through the palace roof and
+leap to the ground. Then in a short time they could run over the
+country, back to Arite. He measured out the drug carefully, and without
+hesitation his companions took what he gave them.
+
+As they all three started growing--it was Loto's first experience, and
+he gave an exclamation of fright at the sensation and threw his arms
+around Aura again--the Very Young Man made them sit upon the floor near
+the center of the room. He sat himself beside them, staring up at the
+ceiling that was steadily folding up and coming down towards them. For
+some time he stared, fascinated by its ceaseless movement.
+
+Then suddenly he realized with a start that it was almost down upon
+them. He put up his hand and touched it, and a thrill of fear ran over
+him. He looked around. Beside him sat Aura and Loto, huddled close
+together. The walls of the room had nearly closed in upon them now; its
+few pieces of furniture had been pushed aside, unnoticed, by the growth
+of their enormous bodies. It was as though they were crouching in a
+triangular box, almost entirely filling it.
+
+The Very Young Man laid his hand on Aura's arm, and she met his anxious
+glance with her fearless, trusting smile.
+
+"We'll have to break through the roof now," whispered the Very Young
+Man, and the girl answered calmly: "What you say to do, we will do."
+
+Their heads were bent down now by the ever-lowering ceiling; the Very
+Young Man pressed his shoulder against it and heaved upwards. He could
+feel the floor under him quiver and the roof give beneath his thrust,
+but he did not break through. In sudden horror he wondered if he could.
+If he did not, soon, they would be crushed to death by their own growth
+within the room.
+
+The Very Young Man knew there was still time to take the other drug. He
+shoved again, but with the same result. Their bodies were bent double
+now. The ceiling was pressing close upon them; the walls of the room
+were at their elbow. The Very Young Man crooked his arm through the
+little square orifice window that he found at his side, and, with a
+signal to his companions, all three in unison heaved upwards with all
+their strength. There came one agonizing instant of resistance; then
+with a wrenching of wood, the clatter of falling stones and a sudden
+crash, they burst through and straightened upright into the open air
+above.
+
+The Very Young Man sat still for a moment, breathing hard. Overhead
+stretched the canopy of stars; around lay the city, shrunken now and
+still steadily diminishing. Then he got unsteadily upon his feet,
+pulling his companions up with him and shaking the bits of stone and
+broken wood from him as he did so.
+
+In a moment more the palace roof was down to their knees, and they
+stepped out of the room. They heard a cry from below and saw the two
+guards, standing amidst the debris, looking up at them through the torn
+roof in fright and astonishment.
+
+There came other shouts from within the palace now, and the sound of the
+hurrying of many little feet. For some minutes more they grew larger, as
+they stood upon the palace roof, clinging to one another and listening
+to the spreading cries of excitement within the building and in the city
+streets below them.
+
+"Come on," said the Very Young Man finally, and he jumped off the roof
+into the street. A group of little figures scattered as he landed, and
+he narrowly escaped treading upon them.
+
+So large had they grown that it was hardly more than a step down from
+the roof; Aura and Loto were by the Very Young Man's side in a moment,
+and immediately they started off, picking their way single file out of
+the city. For a short time longer they continued growing; when they had
+stopped the city houses stood hardly above their ankles.
+
+It was difficult walking, for the street was narrow and the frightened
+people in it were often unable to avoid their tread, but fortunately the
+palace stood near the edge of the city, and soon they were past its last
+houses and out into the open country.
+
+"Well, we did it," said the Very Young Man, exulting. Then he patted
+Loto affectionately upon the shoulder, adding. "Well, little brother, we
+got you back, didn't we?"
+
+Aura stopped suddenly. "Look there--at Arite," she said, pointing up at
+the horizon ahead of them.
+
+Far in the distance, at the edge of the lake, and beside a dim smudge he
+knew to be the houses of Arite, the Very Young Man saw the giant figure
+of a man, huge as himself, towering up against the background of sky.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+THE DECISION
+
+
+"Giants!" exclaimed the Doctor, staring across the country towards
+Orlog. There was dismay in his voice.
+
+The Big Business Man, standing beside him, clutched at his robe. "How
+many do you make out; they look like three to me."
+
+The Doctor strained his eyes into the dim, luminous distance. "Three, I
+think--one taller than the others; it must be Jack." His voice was a
+little husky, and held none of the confidence his words were intended to
+convey.
+
+Lylda was upon her feet now, standing beside the Chemist. She stared
+towards Orlog searchingly, then turned to him and said quietly, "It must
+be Jack and Aura, with Loto." She stopped with quivering lips; then with
+an obvious effort went on confidently. "It cannot be that the God you
+believe in would let anything happen to them."
+
+"They're coming this way--fast," said the Big Business Man. "We'll know
+in a few moments."
+
+The figures, plainly visible now against the starry background, were out
+in the open country, half a mile perhaps from the lake, and were
+evidently rapidly approaching Arite.
+
+"If it should be Targo's men," the Big Business Man added, "we must take
+more of the drug. It is death then for them or for us."
+
+In silence the six of them stood ankle deep in the water waiting. The
+multitude of little people on the beach and in the nearby city streets
+were dispersing now. A steady stream was flowing up the steps from the
+beach, and back into the city. Five minutes more and only a fringe of
+those in whom frenzy still raged remained at the water's edge; a few of
+these, more daring, or more unreasoning than the others, plunged into
+the lake and swam about the giants' ankles unnoticed.
+
+Suddenly Lylda gave a sigh of relief. "Aura it is," she cried. "Can you
+not see, there at the left? Her short robe--you see--and her hair,
+flowing down so long; no man is that."
+
+"You're right," said the Big Business Man. "The smallest one on this
+side is Loto; I can see him. And Jack is leading. It's all right;
+they're safe. Thank God for that; they're safe, thank God!" The fervent
+relief in his voice showed what a strain he had been under.
+
+It was Jack; a moment more left no doubt of that. The Big Business Man
+turned to the Chemist and Lylda, where they stood close together, and
+laying a hand upon the shoulder of each said with deep feeling: "We have
+all come through it safely, my friends. And now the way lies clear
+before us. We must go back, out of this world, to which we have brought
+only trouble. It is the only way; you must see that."
+
+Lylda avoided his eyes.
+
+"All through it safely," she murmured after him. "All safe
+except--except my father." Her arm around the Chemist tightened. "All
+safe--except those." She turned her big, sorrowful eyes towards the
+beach, where a thousand little mangled figures lay dead and dying. "All
+safe--except those."
+
+It was only a short time before the adventurers from Orlog arrived, and
+Loto was in his mother's arms. The Very Young Man, with mixed feelings
+of pride at his exploit and relief at being freed from so grave a
+responsibility, happily displayed Aura to his friends.
+
+"Gosh, I'm glad we're all together again; it had me scared, that's a
+fact." His eye fell upon the beach. "Great Scott, you've been having a
+fight, too? Look at that." The Big Business Man and the Doctor outlined
+briefly what had happened, and the Very Young Man answered in turn with
+an account of his adventures.
+
+Aura joined her sister and Loto. The Chemist after a moment stood apart
+from the others thinking deeply. He had said little during all the
+events of the afternoon and evening. Now he reached the inevitable
+decision that events had forced upon him. His face was very serious as
+he called his companions around him.
+
+"We must decide at once," he began, looking from one to the other, "what
+we are to do. Our situation here has become intolerable--desperate. I
+agree with you," his glance rested on the Big Business Man an instant;
+"by staying here we can only do harm to these misguided people."
+
+"Of course," the Big Business Man interjected under his breath.
+
+"If the drugs should ever get out of our possession down here,
+immeasurable harm would result to this world, as well as causing our own
+deaths. If we leave now, we save ourselves; although we leave the Oroids
+ruled by Targo. But without the power of the drugs, he can do only
+temporary harm. Eventually he will be overthrown. It is the best way, I
+think. And I am ready to leave."
+
+"It's the only way," the Big Business Man agreed. "Don't you think so?"
+The Doctor and the Very Young Man both assented.
+
+"The sooner the better," the Very Young Man added. He glanced at Aura,
+and the thought that flashed into his mind made his heart jump
+violently.
+
+The Chemist turned to Lylda. "To leave your people," he said gently, "I
+know how hard it is. But your way now lies with me--with us." He pulled
+Loto up against him as he spoke.
+
+Lylda bowed her head. "You speak true, my husband, my way does lie with
+you. I cannot help the feeling that we should stay. But with you my way
+does lie; whither you direct, we shall go--for ever."
+
+The Chemist kissed her tenderly. "My sister also?" he smiled gently at
+Aura.
+
+"My way lies with you, too," the girl answered simply. "For no man here
+has held my heart."
+
+The Very Young Man stepped forward. "Do we take them with us?" He
+indicated Oteo and Eena, who stood silently watching.
+
+"Ask them, Lylda," said the Chemist.
+
+Calling them to her, Lylda spoke to the youth and the girl in her native
+tongue. They listened quietly; Oteo with an almost expressionless
+stolidity of face, but with his soft, dog-like eyes fixed upon his
+mistress; Eena with heaving breast and trembling limbs. When Lylda
+paused they both fell upon their knees before her. She put her hands
+upon their heads and smiling wistfully, said in English:
+
+"So it shall be; with me you shall go, because that is what you wish."
+
+The Very Young Man looked around at them all with satisfaction. "Then
+it's all settled," he said, and again his glance fell on Aura. He
+wondered why his heart was pounding so, and why he was so thrilled with
+happiness; and he was glad he was able to speak in so matter-of-fact a
+tone.
+
+"I don't know how about you," he added, "but, Great Scott, I'm hungry."
+
+"Since we have decided to go," the Chemist said, "we had better start as
+soon as possible. Are there things in the house, Lylda, that you care to
+take?"
+
+Lylda shook her head. "Nothing can I take but memories of this world,
+and those would I rather leave." She smiled sadly. "There are some
+things I would wish to do--my father----"
+
+"It might be dangerous to wait," the Big Business Man put in hurriedly.
+"The sooner we start, the better. Another encounter would only mean more
+death." He looked significantly at the beach.
+
+"We've got to eat," said the Very Young Man.
+
+"If we handle the drugs right," the Chemist said, "we can make the trip
+out in a very short time. When we get above the forest and well on our
+way we can rest safely. Let us start at once."
+
+"We've got to eat," the Very Young Man insisted. "And we've got to have
+food with us."
+
+The Chemist smiled. "What you say is quite true, Jack, we have got to
+have food and water; those are the only things necessary to our trip."
+
+"We can make ourselves small now and have supper," suggested the Very
+Young Man. "Then we can fill up the bottles for our belts and take
+enough food for the trip."
+
+"No, we won't," interposed the Big Business Man positively. "We won't
+get small again. Something might happen. Once we get through the
+tunnels----" He stopped abruptly.
+
+"Great Scott! We never thought of that," ejaculated the Very Young Man,
+as the same thought occurred to him. "We'll have to get small to get
+through the tunnels. Suppose there's a mob there that won't let us in?"
+
+"Is there any other way up to the forest?" the Doctor asked.
+
+The Chemist shook his head. "There are a dozen different tunnels, all
+near here, and several at Orlog, that all lead to the upper surface. But
+I think that is the only way."
+
+"They might try to stop us," the Big Business Man suggested. "We
+certainly had better get through them as quickly as we possibly can."
+
+It was Aura who diffidently suggested the plan they finally adopted.
+They all reduced their size first to about the height of the Chemist's
+house. Then the Very Young Man prepared to make himself sufficiently
+small to get the food and water-bottles, and bring them up to the larger
+size.
+
+"Keep your eye on me," he warned. "Somebody might jump on me."
+
+They stood around the house, while the Very Young Man, in the garden,
+took the drug and dwindled in stature to Oroid size. There were none of
+the Oroids in sight, except some on the beach and others up the street
+silently watching. As he grew smaller the Very Young Man sat down
+wearily in the wreck of what once had been Lylda's beautiful garden. He
+felt very tired and hungry, and his head was ringing.
+
+When he was no longer changing size he stood up in the garden path. The
+house, nearly its proper dimensions once more, was close at hand, silent
+and deserted. Aura stood in the garden beside it, her shoulders pushing
+aside the great branches of an overhanging tree, her arm resting upon
+the roof-top. The Very Young Man waved up at her and shouted: "Be out in
+a minute," and then plunged into the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+GOOD-BY TO ARITE
+
+
+Once inside he went swiftly to the room where they had left their
+water-bottles and other paraphernalia. He found them without difficulty,
+and retraced his steps to the door he had entered. Depositing his load
+near it, he went back towards the room which Lylda had described to him,
+and in which the food was stored.
+
+Walking along this silent hallway, listening to the echoes of his own
+footsteps on its stone floor, the Very Young Man found himself oppressed
+by a feeling of impending danger. He looked back over his shoulder--once
+he stood quite still and listened. But he heard nothing; the house was
+quite silent, and smiling at his own fear he went on again.
+
+Selecting the food they needed for the trip took him but a moment. He
+left the storeroom, his arms loaded, and started back toward the garden
+door. Several doorways opened into the hall below, and all at once the
+Very Young Man found himself afraid as he passed them. He was within
+sight of the garden door, not more than twenty feet away, when he
+hesitated. Just ahead, at his right, an archway opened into a room
+beside the hall. The Very Young Man paused only an instant; then,
+ashamed of his fear, started slowly forward. He felt an impulse to run,
+but he did not. And then, from out of the silence, there came a low,
+growling cry that made his heart stand still, and the huge gray figure
+of a man leaped upon him and bore him to the ground.
+
+As he went down, with the packages of food flying in all directions, the
+Very Young Man gripped the naked body of his antagonist tightly. He
+twisted round as he fell and lay with his foe partly on top of him. He
+knew instinctively that his situation was desperate. The man's huge
+torso, with its powerful muscles that his arms encircled, told him that
+in a contest of strength such as this, inevitably he would find himself
+overcome.
+
+The man raised his fist to strike, and the Very Young Man caught him by
+the wrist. Over his foe's shoulder now he could see the open doorway
+leading into the garden, not more than six or eight feet away. Beyond it
+lay safety; that he knew. He gave a mighty lunge and succeeded in
+rolling over toward the doorway. But he could not stay above his
+opponent, for the man's greater strength lifted him up and over, and
+again pinned him to the floor.
+
+He was nearer the door now, and just beyond it he caught a glimpse of
+the white flesh of Aura's ankle as she stood beside the house. The man
+put a hand on the Very Young Man's throat. The Very Young Man caught it
+by the wrist, but he could feel the growing pressure of its fingers
+cutting off his breath. He tried to pull the hand back, but could not;
+he tried to twist his body free, but the weight of his foe held him
+tightly against the floor. A great roaring filled his ears; the hallway
+began fading from his sight. With a last despairing breath, he gave a
+choking cry: "Aura! Aura!"
+
+The man's fingers at his throat loosened a little; he drew another
+breath, and his head cleared. His eyes were fixed on the strip of garden
+he could see beyond the doorway. Suddenly Aura's enormous body came into
+view, as she stooped and then lay prone upon the ground. Her face was
+close to the door; she was looking in. The Very Young Man gave another
+cry, half stifled. And then into the hallway he saw come swiftly a huge
+hand, whose fingers gripped him and his antagonist and jerked them
+hurriedly down the hall and out into the garden.
+
+As they lay struggling on the ground outside, the Very Young Man felt
+himself held less closely. He wrenched himself free and sprang to his
+feet, standing close beside Aura's face. The man was up almost as
+quickly, preparing again to spring upon his victim. Something moved
+behind the Very Young Man, and he looked up into the air hurriedly. The
+Big Business Man stood behind him; the Very Young Man met his anxious
+glance.
+
+"I'm all right," he shouted. His antagonist leaped forward and at the
+same instant a huge, flat object, that was the Big Business Man's foot,
+swept through the air and mashed the man down into the dirt of the
+garden. The Very Young Man turned suddenly sick as he heard the agonized
+shriek and the crunching of the breaking bones. The Big Business Man
+lifted his foot, and the mangled figure lay still. The Very Young Man
+sat down suddenly in the garden path and covered his face with his
+hands.
+
+When he raised his head his friends were all standing round him,
+crowding the garden. The body of the man who had attacked him had
+disappeared. The Very Young Man looked up into Aura's face--she was on
+her feet now with the others and tried to smile.
+
+"I'm all right," he repeated. "I'll go get the food and things."
+
+In a few minutes more he had made himself as large as his companions,
+and had brought with him most of the food. There still remained in the
+smaller size the water-bottles, some of the food, the belts with which
+to carry it, and a few other articles they needed for the trip.
+
+"I'll get them," said the Big Business Man; "you sit down and rest."
+
+The Very Young Man was glad to do as he was told, and sat beside Aura in
+the garden, while the Big Business Man brought up to their size the
+remainder of the supplies.
+
+When they had divided the food, and all were equipped for the journey,
+they started at once for the tunnels. Lylda's eyes again filled with
+tears as she left so summarily, and probably for the last time, this
+home in which she had been so happy.
+
+As they passed the last houses of the city, heading towards the tunnel
+entrances that the Chemist had selected, the Big Business Man and the
+Chemist walked in front, the others following close behind them. A crowd
+of Oroids watched them leave, and many others were to be seen ahead; but
+these scattered as the giants approached. Occasionally a few stood their
+ground, and these the Big Business Man mercilessly trampled under foot.
+
+"It's the only way; I'm sorry," he said, half apologetically. "We cannot
+take any chances now; we must get out."
+
+"It's shorter through these tunnels I'm taking," the Chemist said after
+a moment.
+
+"My idea," said the Big Business man, "is that we should go through the
+tunnels that are the largest. They're not all the same size, are they?"
+
+"No," the Chemist answered; "some are a little larger."
+
+"You see," the Big Business Man continued, "I figure we are going to
+have a fight. They're following us. Look at that crowd over there.
+They'll never let us out if they can help it. When we get into the
+tunnels, naturally we'll have to be small enough to walk through them.
+The larger we are the better; so let's take the very biggest."
+
+"These are," the Chemist answered. "We can make it at about so high." He
+held his hand about the level of his waist.
+
+"That won't be so bad," the Big Business Man commented.
+
+Meanwhile the Very Young Man, walking with Aura behind the leaders, was
+talking to her earnestly. He was conscious of a curious sense of
+companionship with this quiet girl--a companionship unlike anything he
+had ever felt for a girl before. And now that he was taking her with
+him, back to his own world----
+
+"Climb out on to the surface of the ring," he was saying, "and then, in
+a few minutes more, we'll be there. Aura, you cannot realize how
+wonderful it will be."
+
+The girl smiled her quiet smile; her face was sad with the memory of
+what she was leaving, but full of youthful, eager anticipation of that
+which lay ahead.
+
+"So much has happened, and so quickly, I cannot realize it yet, I know,"
+she answered. "But that it will be very wonderful, up there above, I do
+believe. And I am glad that we are going, only----"
+
+The Very Young Man took her hand, holding it a moment. "Don't, Aura. You
+mustn't think of that." He spoke gently, with a tender note in his
+voice.
+
+"Don't think of the past, Aura," he went on earnestly. "Think only of
+the future--the great cities, the opera, the poetry I am going to teach
+you."
+
+The girl laid her hand on his arm. "You are so kind, my friend Jack. You
+will have much to teach me, will you not? Is it sure you will want to? I
+shall be like a little child up there in your great world."
+
+An answer sprang to the Very Young Man's lips--words the thinking of
+which made his heart leap into his throat. But before he could voice
+them Loto ran up to him from behind, crying. "I want to walk by you,
+Jack; _mamita_ talks of things I know not."
+
+The Very Young Man put his arm across the child's shoulders. "Well,
+little boy," he said laughing, "how do you like this adventure?"
+
+"Never have I been in the Great Forests," Loto answered, turning his
+big, serious eyes up to his friend's face. "I shall not be afraid--with
+my father, and _mamita_, and with you."
+
+"The Great Forests won't seem very big, Loto, after a little while," the
+Very Young Man said. "And of course you won't be afraid of anything.
+You're going to see many things, Loto--very many strange and wonderful
+things for such a little boy."
+
+They reached the entrance to the tunnel in a few moments more, and
+stopped before it. As they approached, a number of little figures darted
+into its luminous blackness and disappeared. There were none others in
+sight now, except far away towards Arite, where perhaps a thousand stood
+watching intently.
+
+The tunnel entrance, against the side of a hill, stood nearly breast
+high.
+
+"I'm wrong," said the Chemist, as the others came up. "It's not so high
+all the way through. We shall have to make ourselves much smaller than
+this."
+
+"This is a good time to eat," suggested the Very Young Man. The others
+agreed, and without making themselves any smaller--the Big Business Man
+objected to that procedure--they sat down before the mouth of the tunnel
+and ate a somewhat frugal meal.
+
+"Have you any plans for the trip up?" asked the Doctor of the Chemist
+while they were eating.
+
+"I have," interjected the Big Business Man, and the Chemist answered:
+
+"Yes, I am sure I can make it far easier than it was for me before. I'll
+tell you as we go up; the first thing is to get through the tunnels."
+
+"I don't anticipate much difficulty in that," the Doctor said. "Do you?"
+
+The Chemist shook his head. "No, I don't."
+
+"But we mustn't take any chances," put in the Big Business Man quickly.
+"How small do you suppose we should make ourselves?"
+
+The Chemist looked at the tunnel opening. "About half that," he replied.
+
+"Not at the start," said the Big Business Man. "Let's go in as large as
+possible; we can get smaller when we have to."
+
+It took them but a few minutes to finish the meal. They were all tired
+from the exciting events of the day, but the Big Business Man would not
+hear of their resting a moment more than was absolutely necessary.
+
+"It won't be much of a trip up to the forests," he argued. "Once we get
+well on our way and into one of the larger sizes, we can sleep safely.
+But not now; it's too dangerous."
+
+They were soon ready to start, and in a moment more all had made
+themselves small enough to walk into the tunnel opening. They were, at
+this time, perhaps six times the normal height of an adult Oroid. The
+city of Arite, apparently much farther away now, was still visible up
+against the distant horizon. As they were about to start, Lylda, with
+Aura close behind her, turned to face it.
+
+"Good-by to our own world now we must say, my sister," she said sadly.
+"The land that bore us--so beautiful a world, and once so kindly. We
+have been very happy here. And I cannot think it is right for me to
+leave."
+
+"Your way lies with your husband," Aura said gently. "You yourself have
+said it, and it is true."
+
+Lylda raised her arms up towards the far-away city with a gesture almost
+of benediction.
+
+"Good future to you, land that I love." Her voice trembled. "Good future
+to you, for ever and ever."
+
+The Very Young Man, standing behind them with Loto, was calling:
+"They're started; come on."
+
+With one last sorrowful glance Lylda turned slowly, and, walking with
+her arm about her sister, followed the others into the depths of the
+tunnel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+THE FIGHT IN THE TUNNELS
+
+
+For some time this strange party of refugees from an outraged world
+walked in silence. Because of their size, the tunnel appeared to them
+now not more than eight or nine feet in height, and in most places of
+nearly similar width. For perhaps ten minutes no one spoke except an
+occasional monosyllable. The Chemist and Big Business Man, walking
+abreast, were leading; Aura and Lylda with the Very Young man, and Loto
+close in front of them, brought up the rear.
+
+The tunnel they were traversing appeared quite deserted; only once, at
+the intersection of another smaller passageway, a few little
+figures--not more than a foot high--scurried past and hastily
+disappeared. Once the party stopped for half an hour to rest.
+
+"I don't think we'll have any trouble getting through," said the
+Chemist. "The tunnels are usually deserted at the time of sleep."
+
+The Big Business Man appeared not so sanguine, but said nothing. Finally
+they came to one of the large amphitheaters into which several of the
+tunnels opened. In size, it appeared to them now a hundred feet in
+length and with a roof some twelve feet high. The Chemist stopped to let
+the others come up.
+
+"I think our best route is there," he pointed.
+
+"It is not so high a tunnel; we shall have to get smaller. Beyond it
+they are larger again. It is not far--half an hour, perhaps, walking as
+we----"
+
+A cry from Aura interrupted him.
+
+"My brother, see, they come," she exclaimed.
+
+Before them, out of several of the smaller passageways, a crowd of
+little figures was pouring. There were no shouts; there was seemingly no
+confusion; just a steady, flowing stream of human forms, emptying from
+the tunnels into the amphitheater and spreading out over its open
+surface.
+
+The fugitives stared a moment in horror. "Good God! they've got us," the
+Doctor muttered, breaking the tenseness of the silence.
+
+The little people kept their distance at first, and then as the open
+space filled up, slowly they began coming closer, in little waves of
+movement, irresistible as an incoming tide.
+
+Aura turned towards the passageway through which they had entered. "We
+can go back," she said. And then. "No--see, they come there, too." A
+crowd of the little gray figures blocked that entrance also--a crowd
+that hesitated an instant and then came forward, spreading out fan-shape
+as it came.
+
+The Big Business Man doubled up his fists.
+
+"It's fight," he said grimly. "By God! we'll----" but Lylda, with a low
+cry, flung herself before him.
+
+"No, no," she said passionately. "Not that; it cannot be that now, just
+at the last----"
+
+Aura laid a hand upon her sister's shoulder.
+
+"Wait, my sister," she said gently. "There is no matter of justice
+here--for you, a woman--to decide. This is for men to deal with--a
+matter for men--our men. And what they say to do--that must be done."
+
+She turned to the Chemist and the Very Young Man, who were standing side
+by side.
+
+"A woman--cannot kill," she said slowly. "Unless--her man--says it so.
+Or if to save him----"
+
+Her eyes flashed fire; she held her slim little body erect and rigid--an
+Amazon ready to fight to the death for those she loved.
+
+The Chemist hesitated a moment. Before he could answer, a single shrill
+cry sounded from somewhere out in the silent, menacing throng. As though
+at a signal, a thousand little voices took it up, and with a great rush
+the crowd swept forward.
+
+In the first moment of surprise and indecision the group of fugitives
+stood motionless. As the wave of little, struggling human forms closed
+in around them, the Very Young Man came to himself with a start. He
+looked down. They were black around him now, swaying back and forth
+about his legs. Most of them were men, armed with the short,
+broad-bladed swords, or with smaller knives. Some brandished other
+improvised weapons; still others held rocks in their hands.
+
+A little pair of arms clutched the Very Young Man about his leg; he gave
+a violent kick, scattering a number of the struggling figures and
+clearing a space into which he leaped.
+
+"Back--Aura, Lylda," he shouted. "Take Loto and Eena. Get back behind
+us."
+
+The Big Business Man, kicking violently, and sometimes stooping down to
+sweep the ground with great swings of his arm, had cleared a space
+before them. Taking Loto, who looked on with frightened eyes, the three
+women stepped back against the side wall of the amphitheater.
+
+The Very Young Man swiftly discarded his robe, standing in the knitted
+under-suit in which he had swam the lake; the other men followed his
+example. For ten minutes or more in ceaseless waves, the little
+creatures threw themselves forward, and were beaten back. The confined
+space echoed with their shouts, and with the cries of the wounded. The
+five men fought silently. Once the Doctor stumbled and fell. Before his
+friends could get to him, his body was covered with his foes. When he
+got back upon his feet, knocking them off, he was bleeding profusely
+from an ugly-looking wound in his shoulder.
+
+"Good God!" he panted as the Chemist and the Big Business Man leaped
+over to him. "They'll get us--if we go down."
+
+"We can get larger," said the Big Business Man, pointing upwards to the
+roof overhead. "Larger--and then----" He swayed a trifle, breathing
+hard. His legs were covered with blood from a dozen wounds.
+
+Oteo, fighting back and forth before them, was holding the crowd in
+check; a heap of dead lay in a semicircle in front of him.
+
+"I'm going across," shouted the Very Young Man suddenly, and began
+striding forward into the struggling mass.
+
+The crowd, thus diverted, eased its attack for a moment. Slowly the Very
+Young Man waded into it. He was perhaps fifty feet out from the side
+wall when a stone struck him upon the temple. He went down, out of sight
+in the seething mass.
+
+"Come on," shouted the Big Business Man. But before he could move, Aura
+dashed past him, fighting her way out to where the Very Young Man lay.
+In a moment she was beside him. Her fragile body seemed hopelessly
+inadequate for such a struggle, but the spirit within her made her fight
+like a wild-cat.
+
+Catching one of the little figures by the legs she flung him about like
+a club, knocking a score of the others back and clearing a space about
+the Very Young Man. Then abruptly she dropped her victim and knelt down,
+plucking away the last of the attacking figures who was hacking at the
+Very Young Man's arm with his sword.
+
+The Chemist and Big Business Man were beside her now, and together they
+carried the Very Young Man back. He had recovered consciousness, and
+smiled up at them feebly. They laid him on the ground against the wall,
+and Aura sat beside him.
+
+"Gosh, I'm all right," he said, waving them away. "Be with you in a
+minute; give 'em hell!"
+
+The Doctor knelt beside the Very Young Man for a moment, and, finding he
+was not seriously hurt, left him and rejoined the Chemist and Big
+Business Man, who, with Oteo, had forced the struggling mass of little
+figures some distance away.
+
+"I'm going to get larger," shouted the Big Business Man a moment later.
+"Wipe them all out, damn it; I can do it. We can't keep on this way."
+
+The Doctor was by his side.
+
+"You can't do it--isn't room," he shouted in answer, pausing as he waved
+one of his assailants in the air above his head. "You might take too
+much."
+
+The Big Business Man was reaching with one hand under his robe. With his
+feet he kicked violently to keep the space about him clear. A tiny stone
+flew by his head; another struck him on the chest, and all at once he
+realized that he was bruised all over from where other stones had been
+hitting him. He looked across to the opposite wall of the amphitheater.
+Through the tunnel entrance there he saw that the stream of little
+people was flowing the other way now. They were trying to get out,
+instead of pouring in.
+
+The Big Business Man waved his arms. "They're running away--look," he
+shouted. "They're running--over there--come on." He dashed forward, and,
+followed by his companions, redoubled his efforts.
+
+The crowd wavered; the shouting grew less; those further away began
+running back.
+
+Then suddenly a shrill cry arose--just a single little voice it was at
+first. After a moment others took it up, and still others, until it
+sounded from every side--three Oroid words repeated over and over.
+
+The Chemist abruptly stopped fighting. "It's done," he shouted. "Thank
+God it's over."
+
+The cry continued. The little figures had ceased attacking now and were
+struggling in a frenzy to get through the tunnels.
+
+"No more," shouted the Chemist. "They're going. See them going? Stop."
+
+His companions stood by his side, panting and weak from loss of blood.
+The Chemist tried to smile. His face was livid; he swayed unsteadily on
+his feet. "No more," he repeated. "It's over. Thank God, it's over!"
+
+Meanwhile the Very Young Man, lying on the floor with Aura sitting
+beside him, revived a little. He tried to sit up after a few moments,
+but the girl pulled him down.
+
+"But I got to go--give 'em hell," he protested weakly. His head was
+still confused; he only knew he should be back, fighting beside his
+friends.
+
+"Not yet," Aura said gently. "There is no need--yet. When there is, you
+may trust me, Jack; I shall say it."
+
+The Very Young Man closed his eyes. The blurred, iridescent outlines of
+the rocks confused him; his head was ringing. The girl put an arm under
+his neck. He found one of her hands, and held it tightly. For a moment
+he lay silent. Then his head seemed to clear a little; he opened his
+eyes.
+
+"What are they doing now, Aura?" he asked.
+
+"It is no different," the girl answered softly. "So terrible a thing--so
+terrible----" she finished almost to herself.
+
+"I'll wait--just a minute more," he murmured and closed his eyes again.
+
+He held the girl's hand tighter. He seemed to be floating away, and her
+hand steadied him. The sounds of the fighting sounded very distant
+now--all blurred and confused and dreamlike. Only the girl's nearness
+seemed real--the touch of her little body against his as she sat beside
+him.
+
+"Aura," he whispered. "Aura."
+
+She put her face down to his. "Yes, Jack," she answered gently.
+
+"It's very bad--there--don't you think?"
+
+She did not answer.
+
+"I was just thinking," he went on; he spoke slowly, almost in a whisper.
+"Maybe--you know--we won't come through this." He paused; his thoughts
+somehow seemed too big to put into words. But he knew he was very happy.
+
+"I was just thinking, Aura, that if we shouldn't come through I just
+wanted you to know----" Again he stopped. From far away he heard the
+shrill, rhythmic cry of many voices shouting in unison. He listened, and
+then it all came back. The battle--his friends there fighting--they
+needed him. He let go of the girl's hand and sat up, brushing back his
+moist hair.
+
+"Listen, Aura. Hear them shouting; I mustn't stay here." He tried,
+weakly, to get upon his feet, but the girl's arm about his waist held
+him down.
+
+"Wait," she said. Surprised by the tenseness of her tone, he relaxed.
+
+The cry grew louder, rolling up from a thousand voices and echoing back
+and forth across the amphitheater. The Very Young Man wondered vaguely
+what it could mean. He looked into Aura's face. Her lips were smiling
+now.
+
+"What is it, Aura?" he whispered.
+
+The girl impulsively put her arms about him and held him close.
+
+"But we are coming through, my friend Jack. We are coming through." The
+Very Young Man looked wonderingly into her eyes. "Don't you hear? That
+cry--the cry of fear and despair. It means--life to us; and no more
+death--to them."
+
+The Chemist's voice came out of the distance shouting: "They're running
+away. It's over; thank God it's over!"
+
+Then the Very Young Man knew, and life opened up before him again.
+"Life," he whispered to himself. "Life and love and happiness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+A COMBAT OF TITANS
+
+
+In a few minutes the amphitheater was entirely clear, save for the dead
+and maimed little figures lying scattered about; but it was nearly an
+hour more before the fugitives were ready to resume their journey.
+
+The attack had come so suddenly, and had demanded such immediate and
+continuous action that none of the men, with the exception of the Very
+Young Man, had had time to realize how desperate was the situation in
+which they had fallen. With the almost equally abrupt cessation of the
+struggle there came the inevitable reaction; the men bleeding from a
+score of wounds, weak from loss of blood, and sick from the memory of
+the things they had been compelled to do, threw themselves upon the
+ground utterly exhausted.
+
+"We must get out of here," said the Doctor, after they had been lying
+quiet for a time, with the strident shrieks of hundreds of the dying
+little creatures sounding in their ears. "That was pretty near the end."
+
+"It isn't far," the Chemist answered, "when we get started."
+
+"We must get water," the Doctor went on. "These cuts----" They had used
+nearly all their drinking-water washing out their wounds, which Aura and
+Lylda had bound up with strips of cloth torn from their garments.
+
+The Chemist got upon his feet. "There's no water nearer than the Forest
+River," he said. "That tunnel over there comes out very near it."
+
+"What makes you think we won't have another scrap getting out?" the Very
+Young Man wanted to know. He had entirely recovered from the effects of
+the stone that had struck him on the temple, and was in better condition
+than any of the other men.
+
+"I'm sure," the Chemist said confidently, "they were through; they will
+not attack us again; for some time at least. The tunnels will be
+deserted."
+
+The Big Business Man stood up also.
+
+"We'd better get going while we have the chance," he said. "This getting
+smaller--I don't like it."
+
+They started soon after, and, true to the Chemist's prediction, met no
+further obstacle to their safe passage through the tunnels. When they
+had reached the forest above, none of the little people were in sight.
+
+The Big Business Man heaved a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we're
+here at last," he said. "I didn't realize how good these woods would
+look."
+
+In a few minutes more they were at the edge of the river, bathing their
+wounds in its cooling water, and replenishing their drinking-bottles.
+
+"How do we get across?" the Very Young Man asked.
+
+"We won't have to cross it," the Chemist answered with a smile. "The
+tunnel took us under."
+
+"Let's eat here," the Very Young Man suggested, "and take a sleep; we're
+about all in."
+
+"We ought to get larger first," protested the Big Business Man. They
+were at this time about four times Oroid size; the forest trees, so huge
+when last they had seen them, now seemed only rather large saplings.
+
+"Some one of us must stay awake," the Doctor said. "But there do not
+seem to be any Oroids up here."
+
+"What do they come up here for, anyway?" asked the Very Young Man.
+
+"There's some hunting," the Chemist answered. "But principally it's the
+mines beyond, in the deserts."
+
+They agreed finally to stop beside the river and eat another meal, and
+then, with one of them on guard, to sleep for a time before continuing
+their journey.
+
+The meal, at the Doctor's insistence, was frugal to the extreme, and was
+soon over. They selected Oteo to stand guard first. The youth, when he
+understood what was intended, pleaded so with his master that the
+Chemist agreed. Utterly worn out, the travelers lay down on a mossy bank
+at the river's edge, and in a few moments were all fast asleep.
+
+Oteo sat nearby with his back against a tree-trunk. Occasionally he got
+up and walked to and fro to fight off the drowsiness that came over him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+How long the Very Young Man slept he never knew. He slept dreamlessly
+for a considerable time. When he struggled back to consciousness it was
+with a curious feeling of detachment, as though his mind no longer was
+connected with his body. He thought first of Aura, with a calm peaceful
+sense of happiness. For a long time he lay, drifting along with his
+thoughts and wondering whether he were asleep or awake. Then all at once
+he knew he was not asleep. His eyes were open; before him stood the
+forest trees at the river's edge. And at the foot of one of the trees he
+could see the figure of Oteo, sitting hunched up with his head upon his
+hands, fast asleep.
+
+Remembrance came to the Very Young Man, and he sat up with a start.
+Beside him his friends lay motionless. He looked around, still a little
+confused. And then his heart leaped into his throat, for at the edge of
+the woods he saw a small, lean, gray figure--the little figure of a man
+who stood against a tree-trunk. The man's face was turned towards him;
+he met the glistening eyes looking down and saw the lips parted in a
+leering smile.
+
+A thrill of fear ran over the Very Young Man as he recognized the face
+of Targo. And then his heart seemed to stop beating. For as he stared,
+fascinated, into the man's mocking eyes, he saw that slowly, steadily he
+was growing larger. Mechanically the Very Young Man's hand went to his
+armpit, his fingers fumbling at the pouch strapped underneath. The vial
+of chemicals was not there!
+
+For an instant more the Very Young Man continued staring. Then, with an
+effort, he turned his eyes away from the gaze that seemed to hypnotize
+him. Beside him the Chemist lay sleeping. He looked back at Targo, and
+saw him larger--almost as large now as he was himself.
+
+Like a cloak discarded, the Very Young Man's bewilderment dropped from
+him. He recognized the danger, realized that in another moment this
+enemy would be irresistibly powerful--invincible. His mind was clear
+now, his nerves steady, his muscles tense. He knew the only thing he
+could do; he calculated the chances in a flash of thought.
+
+Still staring at the triumphant face of Targo, the Very Young Man jumped
+to his feet and swiftly bent over the sleeping form of the Chemist.
+Reaching through the neck of his robe he took out the vial of chemicals,
+and before his friend was fairly awake had swallowed one of the pills.
+
+As the Very Young Man sprang into action Targo turned and ran swiftly
+away, perhaps a hundred feet; then again he stopped and stood watching
+his intended victim with his sardonic smile.
+
+The Very Young Man met the Chemist's startled eyes.
+
+"Targo!" said the Very Young Man swiftly. "He's here; he stole the drug
+just now, while I was sleeping."
+
+The Chemist opened his mouth to reply, but the Very Young Man bounded
+away. He could feel the drug beginning to work; the ground under his
+feet swayed unsteadily.
+
+Swiftly he ran straight towards the figure of Targo, where he stood
+leaning against a tree. His enemy did not move to run away, but stood
+quietly awaiting him. The Very Young Man saw he was now nearly the same
+size that Targo was; if anything, the larger.
+
+A fallen tree separated them; the Very Young Man cleared it with a
+bound. Still Targo stood motionless, awaiting his onslaught. Then
+abruptly he stooped to the ground, and a rock whistled through the air,
+narrowly missing the Very Young Man's head. Before Targo could recover
+from the throw the Very Young Man was upon him, and they went down
+together.
+
+Back and forth over the soft ground they rolled, first one on top, then
+the other. The Very Young Man's hand found a stone on the ground beside
+them. His fingers clutched it; he raised it above him. But a blow upon
+his forearm knocked it away before he could strike; and a sudden twist
+of his antagonist's body rolled him over and pinned him upon his back.
+
+The Very Young Man thought of his encounter with Targo before, and again
+with sinking heart he realized he was the weaker of the two. He jerked
+one of his wrists free and, striking upwards with all his force, landed
+full on his enemy's jaw. The man's head snapped back, but he laughed--a
+grim, sardonic laugh that ended in a half growl, like a wild beast
+enraged. The Very Young Man's blood ran cold. A sudden frenzy seized
+him; he put all his strength into one desperate lunge and, wrenching
+himself free, sprang to his feet.
+
+Targo was up almost as quickly as he, and for an instant the two stood
+eyeing each other, breathing hard. At the Very Young Man's feet a little
+stream was flowing past. Vaguely he found himself thinking how peaceful
+it looked; how cool and soothing the water would be to his bruised and
+aching body. Beside the stream his eye caught a number of tiny human
+figures, standing close together, looking up at him--little forms that a
+single sweep of his foot would have scattered and killed. A shiver of
+fear ran across him as in a flash he realized this other danger. With a
+cry, he leaped sidewise, away from the water. Beside him stood a little
+tree whose bushy top hardly reached his waist. He clutched its trunk
+with both hands and jerking it from the ground swung it at his enemy's
+head, meeting him just as he sprang forward. The tree struck Targo a
+glancing blow upon the shoulder. With another laugh he grasped its roots
+and twisted it from the Very Young Man's hand. A second more and they
+came together again, and the Very Young Man felt his antagonist's
+powerful arms around his body, bending him backwards.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Big Business Man stood beside the others at the river's edge,
+watching the gigantic struggle, the outcome of which meant life or death
+to them all. The grappling figures were ten times his own height before
+he fairly realized the situation. At first he thought he should take
+some of the drug also, and grow larger with them. Then he knew that he
+could not overtake their growth in time to aid his friend. The Chemist
+and the Doctor must evidently have reached the same conclusion, for
+they, too, did nothing, only stood motionless, speechless, staring up at
+the battling giants.
+
+Loto, with his head buried upon his mother's shoulder, and her arms
+holding him close, whimpered a little in terror. Only Aura, of all the
+party, did not get upon her feet. She lay full length upon the ground, a
+hand under her chin, staring steadily upwards. Her face was
+expressionless, her eyes unblinking. But her lips moved a little, as
+though she were breathing a silent prayer, and the fingers of her hand
+against her face dug their nails into the flesh of her cheek.
+
+Taller far than the tree-tops, the two giants stood facing each other.
+Then the Very Young Man seized one of the trees, and with a mighty pull
+tore it up by the roots and swung it through the air. Aura drew a quick
+breath as in another instant they grappled and came crashing to the
+ground, falling head and shoulders in the river with a splash that
+drenched her with its spray. The Very Young Man was underneath, and she
+seemed to meet the glance of his great eyes when he fell. The trees
+growing on the river-bank snapped like rushes beneath the huge bodies of
+the giants, as, still growing larger, they struggled back and forth. The
+river, stirred into turmoil by the sweep of their great arms, rolled its
+waves up over the mossy banks, driving the watchers back into the edge
+of the woods, and even there covering them with its spray.
+
+A moment more and the giants were on their feet again, standing ankle
+deep, far out in the river. Up against the unbroken blackness of the
+starless sky their huge forms towered. For a second they stood
+motionless; then they came together again and Aura could see the Very
+Young Man sink on his knees, his hand trailing in the water. Then in an
+instant more he struggled up to his feet; and as his hand left the water
+Aura saw that it clutched an enormous dripping rock. She held her
+breath, watching the tremendous figures as they swayed, locked in each
+other's arms. A single step sidewise and they were back nearly at the
+river's bank; the water seethed white under their tread.
+
+The Very Young Man's right arm hung limp behind him; the boulder in his
+hand dangled a hundred feet or more in the air above the water. Slowly
+the greater strength of his antagonist bent him backwards. Aura's heart
+stood still as she saw Targo's fingers at the Very Young Man's throat.
+Then, in a great arc, the Very Young Man swept the hand holding the rock
+over his head, and brought it down full upon his enemy's skull. The
+boulder fell into the river with a thundering splash. For a brief
+instant the giant figures hung swaying; then the titanic hulk of Targo's
+body came crashing down. It fell full across the river, quivered
+convulsively and lay still.
+
+And the river, backing up before it a moment, turned aside in its
+course, and flung the muddy torrent of its water roaring down through
+the forest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+LOST IN SIZE
+
+
+The Very Young Man stood ankle deep in the turgid little rivulet, a
+tightness clutching at his chest, and with his head whirling. At his
+feet his antagonist lay motionless. He stepped out of the water, putting
+his foot into a tiny grove of trees that bent and crackled like twigs
+under his tread. He wondered if he would faint; he knew he must not.
+Away to the left he saw a line of tiny hills; beyond that a luminous
+obscurity into which his sight could not penetrate; behind him there was
+only darkness. He seemed to be standing in the midst of a great barren
+waste, with just a little toy river and forest at his feet--a child's
+plaything, set down in a man's great desert.
+
+The Very Young Man suddenly thought of his friends. He stepped into the
+middle of the river and out again on the other side. Then he bent down
+with his face close to the ground, just above the tops of the tiny
+little trees. He made the human figures out finally. Hardly larger than
+ants they seemed, and he shuddered as he saw them. The end of his thumb
+could have smashed them all, they were so small.
+
+One of the figures seemed to be waving something, and the Very Young Man
+thought he heard the squeak of its voice. He straightened upright,
+standing rigid, afraid to move his feet. He wondered what he should do,
+and in sudden fear felt for the vial of the diminishing drug. It was
+still in place, in the pouch under his armpit. The Very Young Man
+breathed a sigh of relief. He decided to take the drug and rejoin his
+friends. Then as a sudden thought struck him he bent down to the ground
+again, slowly, with infinite caution. The little figures were still
+there; and now he thought they were not quite as tiny as before. He
+watched them; slowly but unmistakably they were growing larger.
+
+The Very Young Man carefully took a step backwards, and then sat down
+heavily. The forest trees crackled under him. He pulled up his knees,
+and rested his head upon them. The little rivulet diverted from its
+course by the body of Targo, swept past through the woods almost at his
+side. The noise it made mingled with the ringing in his head. His body
+ached all over; he closed his eyes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"He's all right now," the Doctor's voice said. "He'll be all right in a
+moment."
+
+The Very Young Man opened his eyes. He was lying upon the ground, with
+Aura sitting beside him, and his friends--all his own size
+again--standing over him.
+
+He met Aura's tender, serious eyes, and smiled. "I'm all right," he
+said. "What a foolish thing to faint."
+
+Lylda stooped beside him, "You saved us all," she said. "There is
+nothing we can say--to mean what it should. But you will always know how
+we feel; how splendid you were."
+
+To the praise they gave him the Very Young Man had no answer save a
+smile of embarrassment. Aura said nothing, only met his smile with one
+of her own, and with a tender glance that made his heart beat faster.
+
+"I'm all right," he repeated after a moment of silence. "Let's get
+started."
+
+They sat down now beside the Very Young Man, and earnestly discussed the
+best plan for getting out of the ring.
+
+"You said you had calculated the best way," suggested the Doctor to the
+Chemist.
+
+"First of all," interrupted the Big Business Man. "Are we sure none of
+these Oroids is going to follow us? For Heaven's sake let's have done
+with these terrible struggles."
+
+The Very Young Man remembered. "He stole one of the vials," he said,
+pointing to Targo's body.
+
+"He was probably alone," the Chemist reasoned. "If any others had been
+with him they would have taken some of the drug also. Probably Targo
+took one of the pills and then dropped the vial to the ground."
+
+"My idea," pursued the Big Business Man, "is for us to get large just as
+quickly and continuously as possible. Probably you're right about Targo,
+but don't let's take any chances.
+
+"I've been thinking," he continued, seeing that they agreed with him.
+"You know this is a curious problem we have facing us. I've been
+thinking about it a lot. It seemed a frightful long trip down here, but
+in spite of that, I can't get it out of my mind that we're only a very
+little distance under the surface of the ring."
+
+"It's absolutely all in the viewpoint," the Chemist said with a smile.
+"That's what I meant about having an easier method of getting out. The
+distance depends absolutely on how you view it."
+
+"How far would it be out if we didn't get any larger?" the Very Young
+Man wanted to know.
+
+"Based on the size of a normal Oroid adult, and using the terrestrial
+standard of feet and inches as they would seem to us when Oroid size, I
+should say the distance from Arite to the surface of the ring would be
+about one hundred and fifty to a hundred and sixty thousand miles."
+
+"Holy mackerel!" exclaimed the Very Young Man.
+
+"Don't let's do much walking while we're small."
+
+"You have the idea exactly," smiled the Chemist.
+
+"Taking the other viewpoint," said the Doctor. "Just where do you figure
+this Oroid universe is located in the ring?"
+
+"It is contained within one of the atoms of gold," the Chemist answered.
+"And that golden atom, I estimate, is located probably within one
+one-hundredth of an inch, possibly even one one-thousandth of an inch
+away from the circular indentation I made in the bottom of the scratch.
+In actual distance I suppose Arite is possibly one-sixteenth of an inch
+below the surface of the ring."
+
+"Certainly makes a difference how you look at it," murmured the Very
+Young Man in awe.
+
+The Chemist went on. "It is obvious then, that although when coming down
+the distance must be covered to some extent by physical movement--by
+traveling geographically, so to speak--going back, that is not
+altogether the case. Most of the distance may be covered by bodily
+growth, rather than by a movement of the body from place to place."
+
+"We might get lost," objected the Very Young Man. "Suppose we got
+started in the wrong direction?"
+
+"Coming in, that is a grave danger," answered the Chemist, "because then
+distances are opening up and a single false step means many miles of
+error later on. But going out, just the reverse is true; distances are
+shortening. A mile in the wrong direction is corrected in an instant
+later on. Not coming to a realization of that when I made the trip
+before, led me to undertake many unnecessary hours of most arduous
+climbing. There is only one condition imperative; the body growing must
+have free space for its growth, or it will be crushed to death."
+
+"Have you planned exactly how we are to get out?" asked the Big Business
+Man.
+
+"Yes, I have," the Chemist answered. "In the size we are now, which you
+must remember is several thousand times Oroid height, it will be only a
+short distance to a point where as we grow we can move gradually to the
+centre of the circular pit. That huge inclined plane slides down out of
+it, you remember. Once in the pit, with its walls closing in upon us, we
+can at the proper moment get out of it about as I did before."
+
+"Then we'll be in the valley of the scratch," exclaimed the Very Young
+Man eagerly. "I'll certainly be glad to get back there again."
+
+"Getting out of the valley we'll use the same methods," the Chemist
+continued. "There we shall have to do some climbing, but not nearly so
+much as I did."
+
+The Very Young Man was thrilled at the prospect of so speedy a return to
+his own world. "Let's get going," he suggested quickly. "It sounds a
+cinch."
+
+They started away in a few minutes more, leaving the body of Targo lying
+where it had fallen across the river. In half an hour of walking they
+located without difficulty the huge incline down which the Chemist had
+fallen when first he came into the ring. Following along the bottom of
+the incline they reached his landing place--a mass of small rocks and
+pebbles of a different metallic-looking stone than the ground around
+marking it plainly. These were the rocks and boulders that had been
+brought down with him in his fall.
+
+"From here," said the Chemist, as they came to a halt, "we can go up
+into the valley by growth alone. It is several hours, but we need move
+very little from this position."
+
+"How about eating?" suggested the Very Young Man.
+
+They sat down at the base of the incline and ate another meal--rather a
+more lavish one this time, for the rest they had taken, and the prospect
+of a shorter journey ahead of them than they had anticipated made the
+Doctor less strict. Then, the meal over, they took the amount of the
+drug the Chemist specified. He measured it carefully--more than ten of
+the pills.
+
+"We have a long wait," the Chemist said, when the first sickness from
+this tremendous dose had left them.
+
+The time passed quickly. They spoke seldom, for the extraordinary
+rapidity with which the aspect of the landscape was changing, and the
+remarkable sensations they experienced, absorbed all their attention.
+
+In about two hours after taking the drug the curving, luminous line that
+was the upper edge of the incline came into view, faint and blurred, but
+still distinct against the blackness of the sky. The incline now was
+noticeably steeper; each moment they saw its top coming down towards
+them out of the heights above, and its surface smoothing out and
+becoming more nearly perpendicular.
+
+They were all standing up now. The ground beneath them seemed in rapid
+motion, coming towards them from all directions, and dwindling away
+beneath their feet. The incline too--now in form a vertical concave
+wall--kept shoving itself forward, and they had to step backwards
+continually to avoid its thrust.
+
+Within another hour a similar concave wall appeared behind them which
+they could follow with their eyes entirely around the circumference of
+the great pit in which they now found themselves. The sides of this pit
+soon became completely perpendicular--smooth and shining.
+
+Another hour and the action of the drug was beginning to slacken--the
+walls encircling them, although steadily closing in, no longer seemed to
+move with such rapidity. The pit as they saw it now was perhaps a
+thousand feet in diameter and twice as deep. Far overhead the blackness
+of the sky was beginning to be tinged with a faint gray-blue.
+
+At the Chemist's suggestion they walked over near the center of the
+circular enclosure. Slowly its walls closed in about them. An hour more
+and its diameter was scarcely fifty feet.
+
+The Chemist called his companions around him.
+
+"There is an obstacle here," he began, "that we can easily overcome; but
+we must all understand just what we are to do. In perhaps half an hour
+at the rate we are growing this enclosure will resemble a well twice as
+deep, approximately, as it is broad. We cannot climb up its sides,
+therefore we must wait until it is not more than six feet in depth in
+order to be able to get out. At that time its diameter will be scarcely
+three feet. There are nine of us here; you can realize there would not
+be room for us all.
+
+"What we must do is very simple. Since there is not room for us all at
+once, we must get large from now on only one at a time."
+
+"Quite so," said the Big Business Man in a perfectly matter-of-fact
+tone.
+
+"All of us but one will stop growing now; one will go on and get out of
+the pit. He will immediately stop his growth so that he can wait for the
+others and help them out. Each of us will follow the same method of
+procedure."
+
+The Chemist then went on to arrange the exact quantities of the drugs
+they were each to take at specified times, so that at the end they would
+all be nearly the same size again. When he had explained all this to
+Oteo and Eena in their native language, they were ready to proceed with
+the plan.
+
+"Who's first?" asked the Very Young Man. "Let me go with Loto."
+
+They selected the Chemist to go first, and all but him took a little of
+the other drug and checked their growth. The pit at this time was hardly
+more than fifteen feet across and about thirty feet deep.
+
+The Chemist stood in the centre of the enclosure, while his friends
+crowded over against its walls to make room for his growing body. It was
+nearly half an hour before his head was above its top. He waited only a
+moment more, then he sprang upwards, clambered out of the pit and
+disappeared beyond the rim. In a few moments they saw his huge head and
+shoulders hanging out over the side wall; his hand and arm reached down
+towards them and they heard his great voice roaring.
+
+"Come on--somebody else."
+
+The Very Young Man went next, with Loto. Nothing unusual marked their
+growth, and without difficulty, helped by the Chemist's hands reaching
+down to them, they climbed out of the pit.
+
+In an hour more the entire party was in the valley, standing beside the
+little circular opening out of which they had come.
+
+The Very Young Man found himself beside Aura, a little apart from the
+others, who gathered to discuss their plan for growing out of the
+valley.
+
+"It isn't much of a trip, is it, Aura?" the Very Young Man said. "Do you
+realize, we're nearly there?"
+
+The girl looked around her curiously. The valley of the scratch appeared
+to them now hardly more than a quarter of a mile in width. Aura stared
+upwards between its narrow walls to where, several thousand feet above,
+a narrow strip of gray-blue sky was visible.
+
+"That sky--is that the sky of your world?" she exclaimed. "How pretty it
+is!"
+
+The Very Young Man laughed.
+
+"No, Aura, that's not our sky. It's only the space in the room above the
+ring. When we get the size we are going to be finally, our heads will be
+right up in there. The real sky with its stars will be even then as far
+above us as your sky at Arite was above you."
+
+Aura breathed a long sigh. "It's too wonderful--really to understand,
+isn't it?" she said.
+
+The Very Young Man pulled her down on the ground beside him.
+
+"The most wonderful part, Aura, is going to be having you up there." He
+spoke gently; somehow whenever he thought of this fragile little
+girl-woman up in his strange bustling world, he felt himself very big
+and strong. He wanted to be her protector, and her teacher of all the
+new and curious things she must learn.
+
+The girl did not reply at once; she simply met his earnest gaze with her
+frank answering smile of understanding.
+
+The Chemist was calling to them.
+
+"Oh, you Jack. We're about ready to start."
+
+The Very Young Man got to his feet, holding down his hands to help Aura
+up.
+
+"You're going to make a fine woman, Aura, in this new world. You just
+wait and see if you don't," he said as they rejoined the others.
+
+The Chemist explained his plans to them. "This valley is several times
+deeper than its breadth; you can see that. We cannot grow large enough
+to jump out as we did out of the pit; we would be crushed by the walls
+before we were sufficiently tall to leap out.
+
+"But we're not going to do as I did, and climb all the way up. Instead
+we will stay here at the bottom until we are as large as we can
+conveniently get between the valley walls. Then we will stop growing and
+climb up the side; it will only be a short distance then."
+
+The Very Young Man nodded his comprehension. "Unless by that time the
+walls are too smooth to climb up," he remarked.
+
+"If we see them getting too smooth, we'll stop and begin climbing," the
+Chemist agreed. "We're all ready, aren't we?" He began measuring out the
+estimated quantities of the drug, handing it to each of them.
+
+"Say, I'm terrible sorry," began the Very Young Man, apologetically
+interrupting this procedure. "But you know if it wasn't for me, we'd all
+starve to death."
+
+It was several hours since they had eaten last, and all of them were
+hungry, although the excitement of their strange journey had kept them
+from realizing it. They ate--"the last meal in the ring" as the Big
+Business Man put it--and in half an hour more they were ready to start.
+
+When they had reached a size where it seemed desirable again to stop
+growing the valley resembled a narrow canon--hardly more than a deep
+rift in the ground. They were still standing on its floor; above them,
+the parallel edges of the rift marked the surface of the ring. The side
+walls of the canon were smooth, but there were still many places where
+they could climb out without much difficulty.
+
+They started up a narrow declivity along the canon face. The Chemist led
+the way; the Very Young Man, with Aura just in front of him, was last.
+They had been walking only a moment when the Chemist called back over
+his shoulder.
+
+"It's getting very narrow. We'd better stop here and take the drug."
+
+The Chemist had reached a rocky shelf--a ledge some twenty feet square
+that jutted out from the canon wall. They gathered upon it, and took
+enough of the diminishing drug to stop their growth. Then the Chemist
+again started forward; but, very soon after, a cry of alarm from Aura
+stopped him.
+
+The party turned in confusion and crowded back. Aura, pale and
+trembling, was standing on the very brink of the ledge looking down. The
+Very Young Man had disappeared.
+
+The Big Business Man ran to the brink. "Did he fall? Where is he? I
+don't see him."
+
+They gathered in confusion about the girl. "No," she said. "He--just a
+moment ago he was here."
+
+"He couldn't have fallen," the Doctor exclaimed. "It isn't far down
+there--we'd see him."
+
+The truth suddenly dawned on the Doctor. "Don't move!" he commanded
+sharply. "Don't any of you move! Don't take a step!"
+
+Uncomprehending, they stood motionless. The Doctor's gaze was at the
+rocky floor under his feet.
+
+"It's size," he added vehemently. "Don't you understand? He's taken too
+much of the diminishing drug."
+
+An exclamation from Oteo made them all move towards him, in spite of the
+Doctor's command. There, close by Oteo's feet, they saw the tiny figure
+of the Very Young Man, already no more than an inch in height, and
+rapidly growing smaller.
+
+The Doctor bent down, and the little figure waved its arms in terror.
+
+"Don't get smaller," called the Doctor. But even as he said it, he
+realized it was a futile command.
+
+The Very Young Man answered, in a voice so minute it seemed coming from
+an infinite distance.
+
+"I can't stop! I haven't any of the other drug!"
+
+They all remembered then. Targo had stolen the Very Young Man's vial of
+the enlarging drug. It had never been replaced. Instead the Very Young
+Man had been borrowing from the others as he went along.
+
+The Big Business Man was seized with sudden panic.
+
+"He'll get lost. We must get smaller with him." He turned sidewise, and
+stumbling over a rock almost crushed the Very Young Man with the step he
+took to recover his balance.
+
+Aura, with a cry, pushed several of the others back; Oteo and Eena,
+frightened, started down the declivity.
+
+"We must get smaller!" the Big Business Man reiterated.
+
+The panic was growing among them all. Above their excited cries the
+Doctor's voice rose.
+
+"Stand still--all of you. If we move--even a few steps--we can never get
+small and hope to find him."
+
+The Doctor--himself too confused to know whether he should take the
+diminishing drug at once or not--was bending over the ground. And as he
+watched, fascinated, the Very Young Man's figure dwindled beyond the
+vanishing point and was gone!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+A MODERN DINOSAUR
+
+
+The Very Young Man never knew quite how it happened. The Doctor had told
+them to check their growth: and he took the drug abstractedly, for his
+mind was on Aura and how she would feel, coming for the first time into
+this great outer world.
+
+What quantity he took, the Very Young Man afterward could never decide.
+But the next thing he knew, the figures of his companions had grown to
+gigantic size. The rocks about him were expanding enormously. Already he
+had lost the contour of the ledge. The canon wall had drawn back almost
+out of sight in the haze of the distance. He turned around, bewildered.
+There was no precipice behind him. Instead, a great, rocky plain,
+tumbling with a mass of boulders, and broken by seams and rifts, spread
+out to his gaze. And even in that instant, as he regarded it in
+confusion, it opened up to greater distances.
+
+Near at hand--a hundred yards away, perhaps--a gigantic human figure
+towered five hundred feet into the air. Around it, further away, others
+equally large, were blurred into the haze of distance.
+
+The nearer figure stooped, and the Very Young Man, fearful that he might
+be crushed by its movement, waved his arms in terror. He started to run,
+leaping over the jagged ground beneath his feet. A great roaring voice
+from above came down to him--the Doctor's voice.
+
+"Don't get smaller!"
+
+The Very Young Man stopped running, more frightened than ever before
+with the realization that came to him. He shouted upward:
+
+"I can't stop! I haven't any of the other drug!"
+
+An enormous blurred object came swooping towards him, and went past with
+a rush of wind--the foot of the Big Business Man, though the Very Young
+Man did not know it. Above him now the air was filled with roaring--the
+excited voices of his friends.
+
+A few moments passed while the Very Young Man stood stock still, too
+frightened to move. The roaring above gradually ceased. The towering
+figures expanded--faded back into the distance--disappeared.
+
+The Very Young Man was alone in the silence and desolation of a jagged,
+broken landscape that was still expanding beneath him. For some time he
+stood there, bewildered. He came to himself suddenly with the thought
+that although he was too small to be seen by his friends, yet they must
+be there still within a few steps of him. They might take a step--might
+crush him to death without seeing him, or knowing that they had done it!
+There were rocky buttes and hills all about him now. Without stopping to
+reason what he was doing he began to run. He did not know or care
+where--anywhere away from those colossal figures who with a single step
+would crush the very hills and rocks about him and bury him beneath an
+avalanche of golden quartz.
+
+He ran, in panic, for an hour perhaps, scrambling over little ravines,
+falling into a crevice--climbing out and running again. At last, with
+his feet torn and bleeding, he threw himself to the ground, utterly
+exhausted.
+
+After a time, with returning strength, the Very Young Man began to think
+more calmly. He was lost--lost in size--the one thing that the Doctor,
+when they started down into the ring, had warned them against so
+earnestly. What a fool he had been to run! He was miles away from them
+now. He could not make himself large; and were they to get
+smaller--small enough to see him, they might wander in this barren
+wilderness for days and never chance to come upon him.
+
+The Very Young Man cursed himself for a fool. Why hadn't he kept some of
+the enlarging drug with him? And then abruptly, he realized something
+additionally terrifying. The dose of the diminishing drug which he had
+just taken so thoughtlessly, was the last that remained in that vial. He
+was utterly helpless. Thousands of miles of rocky country surrounded
+him--a wilderness devoid of vegetation, of water, and of life.
+
+Lying prone upon the ground, which at last had stopped expanding, the
+Very Young Man gave himself up to terrified reflection. So this was the
+end--all the dangers they had passed through--their conquests--and the
+journey out of the ring so near to a safe ending.... And then this!
+
+For a time the Very Young Man abandoned hope. There was nothing to do,
+of course. They could never find him--probably, with women and a child
+among them they would not dare even to try. They would go safely back to
+their own world--but he--Jack Bruce--would remain in the ring. He
+laughed with bitter cynicism at the thought. Even the habitable world of
+the ring itself, was denied him. Like a lost soul, poised between two
+worlds, he was abandoned, waiting helpless, until hunger and thirst
+would put an end to his sufferings.
+
+Then the Very Young Man thought of Aura; and with the thought came a new
+determination not to give up hope. He stood up and looked about him,
+steeling himself against the flood of despair that again was almost
+overwhelming. He must return as nearly as possible to the point where he
+had parted from his friends. It was the only chance he had remaining--to
+be close enough so if one, or all of them, had become small, they would
+be able to see him.
+
+There was little to choose of direction in the desolate waste around,
+but dimly the Very Young Man recalled having a low line of hills behind
+him when he was running. He faced that way now. He had come perhaps six
+or seven miles; he would return now as nearly as possible over the same
+route. He selected a gully that seemed to wind in that general
+direction, and climbing down into it, started off along its floor.
+
+The gully was some forty feet deep and seemed to average considerably
+wider. Its sides were smooth and precipitous in some places; in others
+they were broken. The Very Young Man had been walking some thirty
+minutes when, as he came abruptly around a sharp bend, he saw before him
+the most terrifying object he had ever beheld. He stood stock still,
+fascinated with horror. On the floor of the gully, directly in front of
+him, lay a gigantic lizard--a reptile hideous, grotesque in its
+enormity. It was lying motionless, with its jaw, longer than his own
+body, flat on the ground as though it were sunning itself. Its tail,
+motionless also, wound out behind it. It was a reptile that by its
+size--it seemed to the Very Young Man at least thirty feet long--might
+have been a dinosaur reincarnated out of the dark, mysterious ages of
+the earth's formation. And yet, even in that moment of horror, the Very
+Young Man recognized it for what it was--the tiny lizard the Chemist had
+sent into the valley of the scratch to test his drug!
+
+At sight of the Very Young Man the reptile raised its great head. Its
+tongue licked out hideously; its huge eyes stared unblinking. And then,
+slowly, hastelessly, it began coming forward, its great feet scratching
+on the rocks, its tail sliding around a boulder behind it.
+
+The Very Young Man waited no longer, but turning, ran back headlong the
+way he had come. Curiously enough, this new danger, though it terrified,
+did not confuse him. It was a situation demanding physical action, and
+with it he found his mind working clearly. He leaped over a rock, half
+stumbled, recovered himself and dashed onward.
+
+A glance over his shoulder showed him the reptile coming around the bend
+in the gully. It slid forward, crawling over the rocks without effort,
+still hastelessly, as though leisurely to pick up this prey which it
+knew could not escape it.
+
+The gully here chanced to have smooth, almost perpendicular sides. The
+Very Young Man saw that he could not climb out; and even if he could, he
+knew that the reptile would go up the sides as easily as along the
+floor. It had been over a hundred feet from him when he first saw it.
+Now it was less than half that distance and gaining rapidly.
+
+For an instant the Very Young Man slackened his flight. To run on would
+be futile. The reptile would overtake him any moment; even now he knew
+that with a sudden spring it could land upon him.
+
+A cross rift at right angles in the wall came into sight--a break in the
+rock as though it had been riven apart by some gigantic wedge. It was as
+deep as the gully itself and just wide enough to admit the passage of
+the Very Young Man's body. He darted into it; and heard behind him the
+spring of the reptile as it landed at the entrance to the rift into
+which its huge size barred it from advancing.
+
+The Very Young Man stopped--panting for breath. He could just turn about
+between the enclosing walls. Behind him, outside in the gully, the
+lizard lay baffled. And then, seemingly without further interest, it
+moved away.
+
+The Very Young Man rested. The danger was past. He could get out of the
+rift, doubtless, further ahead, without reentering the gully. And, if he
+kept well away from the reptile, probably it would not bother him.
+
+Exultation filled the Very Young Man. And then again he remembered his
+situation--lost in size, helpless, without the power to rejoin his
+friends. He had escaped death in one form only to confront it again in
+another--worse perhaps, since it was the more lingering.
+
+Ahead of him, the rift seemed ascending and opening up. He followed it,
+and in a few hundred yards was again on the broken plateau above, level
+now with the top of the gully.
+
+The winding gully itself, the Very Young Man could see plainly. Its
+nearest point to him was some six hundred feet away; and in its bottom
+he knew that hideous reptile lurked. He shuddered and turned away,
+instinctively walking quietly, fearing to make some noise that might
+again attract its attention to him.
+
+And then came a sound that drove the blood from his face and turned him
+cold all over. From the depths of the gully, in another of its bends
+nearby, the sound of an anxious girl's voice floated upward.
+
+"Jack! Oh Jack!" And again:
+
+"Jack--my friend Jack!"
+
+It was Aura, his own size perhaps, in the gully searching for him!
+
+With frantic, horrified haste, the Very Young Man ran towards the top of
+the gully. He shouted warningly, as he ran.
+
+Aura must have heard him, for her voice changed from anxiety to a glad
+cry of relief. He reached the top of the gully; at its bottom--forty
+feet below down its precipitous side--stood Aura, looking up, radiant,
+to greet him.
+
+"I took the drug," she cried. "I took it before they could forbid me.
+They are waiting--up there for us. There is no danger now, Jack."
+
+The Very Young Man tried to silence her. A noise down the gully made him
+turn. The gigantic reptile appeared round the nearby bend. It saw the
+girl and scuttled forward, rattling the loose bowlders beneath its feet
+as it came.
+
+Aura saw it the same instant. She looked up helplessly to the Very Young
+Man above her; then she turned and ran down the gully.
+
+The Very Young Man stood transfixed. It was a sheer drop of forty feet
+or more to the gully floor beneath him. There was seemingly nothing that
+he could do in those few terrible seconds, and yet with subconscious,
+instinctive reasoning, he did the one and only thing possible. A loose
+mass of the jagged, gold quartz hung over the gully wall. Frantically he
+tore at it--pried loose with feet and hands a bowlder that hung poised.
+As the lizard approached, the loosened rock slid forward, and dropped
+squarely upon the reptile's broad back.
+
+It was a bowlder nearly as large as the Very Young Man himself, but the
+gigantic reptile shook it off, writhing and twisting for an instant, and
+hurling the smaller loose rocks about the floor of the gully with its
+struggles.
+
+The Very Young Man cast about for another missile, but there were none
+at hand. Aura, at the confusion, had stopped about two hundred feet
+away.
+
+"Run!" shouted the Very Young Man. "Hide somewhere! Run!"
+
+The lizard, momentarily stunned, recovered swiftly. Again it started
+forward, seemingly now as alert as before. And then, without warning, in
+the air above his head the Very Young Man heard the rush of gigantic
+wings. A tremendous grey body swooped past him and into the gully--a
+bird larger in proportion than the lizard itself.... It was the little
+sparrow the Chemist had sent in from the outside world--maddened now by
+thirst and hunger, which to the reptile had been much more endurable.
+
+The Very Young Man, shouting again to Aura to run, stood awestruck,
+watching the titanic struggle that was raging below him. The great
+lizard rose high on its forelegs to meet this enemy. Its tremendous jaws
+opened--and snapped closed; but the bird avoided them. Its huge claws
+gripped the reptile's back; its flapping wings spread the sixty foot
+width of the gully as it strove to raise its prey into the air. The
+roaring of these enormous wings was deafening; the wind from them as
+they came up tore past the Very Young Man in violent gusts; and as they
+went down, the suction of air almost swept him over the brink of the
+precipice. He flung himself prone, clinging desperately to hold his
+position.
+
+The lizard threshed and squirmed. A swish of its enormous tail struck
+the gully wall and brought down an avalanche of loose, golden rock. But
+the giant bird held its grip; its bill--so large that the Very Young
+Man's body could easily have lain within it--pecked ferociously at the
+lizard's head.
+
+It was a struggle to the death--an unequal struggle, though it raged for
+many minutes with an uncanny fury. At last, dragging its adversary to
+where the gully was wider, the bird flapped its wings with freedom of
+movement and laboriously rose into the air.
+
+And a moment later the Very Young Man, looking upward, saw through the
+magic diminishing glass of distance, a little sparrow of his own world,
+with a tiny, helpless lizard struggling in its grasp.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Aura! Don't cry, Aura! Gosh, I don't want you to cry--everything's all
+right now."
+
+The Very Young Man sat awkwardly beside the frightened girl, who,
+overcome by the strain of what she had been through, was crying
+silently. It was strange to see Aura crying; she had always been such a
+Spartan, so different from any other girl he had ever known. It confused
+him.
+
+"Don't cry, Aura," he repeated. He tried clumsily to soothe her. He
+wanted to thank her for what she had done in risking her life to find
+him. He wanted to tell her a thousand tender things that sprang into his
+heart as he sat there beside her. But when she raised her tear-stained
+face and smiled at him bravely, all he said was:
+
+"Gosh, that was some fight, wasn't it? It was great of you to come down
+after me, Aura. Are they waiting for us up there?" And then when she
+nodded:
+
+"We'd better hurry, Aura. How can we ever find them? We must have come
+miles from where they are."
+
+She smiled at him quizzically through her tears.
+
+"You forget, Jack, how small we are. They are waiting on the little
+ledge for us--and all this country--" She spread her arms toward the
+vast wilderness that surrounded them--"this is all only a very small
+part of that same ledge on which they are standing."
+
+It was true; and the Very Young Man realized it at once.
+
+Aura had both drugs with her. They took the one to increase their size,
+and without mishap or moving from where they were, rejoined those on the
+little ledge who were so anxiously awaiting them.
+
+For half an hour the Very Young Man recounted his adventure, with
+praises of Aura that made the girl run to her sister to hide her
+confusion. Then once more the party started its short climb out of the
+valley of the scratch. In ten minutes they were all safely on the
+top--on the surface of the ring at last.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+THE ADVENTURERS' RETURN
+
+
+The Banker, lying huddled in his chair in the clubroom, awoke with a
+start. The ring lay at his feet--a shining, golden band gleaming
+brightly in the light as it lay upon the black silk handkerchief. The
+Banker shivered a little for the room was cold. Then he realized he had
+been asleep and looked at his watch. Three o'clock! They had been gone
+seven hours, and he had not taken the ring back to the Museum as they
+had told him to. He rose hastily to his feet; then as another thought
+struck him, he sat down again, staring at the ring.
+
+The honk of an automobile horn in the street outside aroused him from
+his reverie. He got to his feet and mechanically began straightening up
+the room, packing up the several suit-cases. Then with obvious awe, and
+a caution that was almost ludicrous, he fixed the ring in its frame
+within the valise prepared for it. He lighted the little light in the
+valise, and, every moment or two, went back to look searchingly down at
+the ring inside.
+
+When everything was packed the Banker left the room, returning in a
+moment with two of the club attendants. They carried the suit-cases
+outside, the Banker himself gingerly holding the bag containing the
+ring.
+
+"A taxi," he ordered when they were at the door. Then he went to the
+desk, explaining that his friends had left earlier in the evening and
+that they had finished with the room.
+
+To the taxi-driver he gave a number that was not the Museum address, but
+that of his own bachelor apartment on Park Avenue. It was still raining
+as he got into the taxi; he held the valise tightly on his lap, looking
+into it occasionally and gruffly ordering the chauffeur to drive slowly.
+
+In the sumptuous living-room of his apartment he spread the handkerchief
+on the floor under the center electrolier and laid the ring upon it.
+Dismissing the astonished and only half-awake butler with a growl, he
+sat down in an easy-chair facing the ring, and in a few minutes more was
+again fast asleep.
+
+In the morning when the maid entered he was still sleeping. Two hours
+later he rang for her, and gave tersely a variety of orders. These she
+and the butler obeyed with an air that plainly showed they thought their
+master had taken leave of his senses.
+
+They brought him his breakfast and a bath-robe and slippers. And the
+butler carried in a mattress and a pair of blankets, laying them with a
+sigh on the hardwood floor in a corner of the room.
+
+Then the Banker waved them away. He undressed, put on his bath-robe and
+slippers and sat down calmly to eat his breakfast. When he had finished
+he lighted a cigar and sat again in his easy-chair, staring at the ring,
+engrossed with his thoughts. Three days he would give them. Three days,
+to be sure they had made the trip successfully. Then he would take the
+ring to the Museum. And every Sunday he would visit it; until they came
+back--if they ever did.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Banker's living-room with its usually perfect appointments was in
+thorough disorder. His meals were still being served him there by his
+dismayed servants. The mattress still lay in the corner; on it the
+rumpled blankets showed where he had been sleeping. For the hundredth
+time during his long vigil the Banker, still wearing his dressing-gown
+and slippers and needing a shave badly, put his face down close to the
+ring. His heart leaped into his throat; his breath came fast; for along
+the edge of the ring a tiny little line of figures was slowly moving.
+
+He looked closer, careful lest his laboured breathing blow them away. He
+saw they were human forms--little upright figures, an eighth of an inch
+or less in height--moving slowly along one behind the other. He counted
+nine of them. Nine! he thought, with a shock of surprise. Why, only
+three had gone in! Then they had found Rogers, and were bringing him and
+others back with him!
+
+Relief from the strain of many hours surged over the Banker. His eyes
+filled with tears; he dashed them away--and thought how ridiculous a
+feeling it was that possessed him. Then suddenly his head felt queer; he
+was afraid he was going to faint. He rose unsteadily to his feet, and
+threw himself full-length upon the mattress in the corner of the room.
+Then his senses faded. He seemed hardly to faint, but rather to drift
+off into an involuntary but pleasant slumber.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With returning consciousness the Banker heard in the room a confusion of
+many voices. He opened his eyes; the Doctor was sitting on the mattress
+beside him. The Banker smiled and parted his lips to speak, but the
+Doctor interrupted him.
+
+"Well, old friend!" he cried heartily. "What happened to you? Here we
+are back all safely."
+
+The Banker shook his friend's hand with emotion; then after a moment he
+sat up and looked about him. The room seemed full of people--strange
+looking figures, in extraordinary costumes, dirty and torn. The Very
+Young Man crowded forward.
+
+"We got back, sir, didn't we?" he said.
+
+The Banker saw he was holding a young girl by the hand--the most
+remarkable-looking girl, the Banker thought, that he had ever beheld.
+Her single garment, hanging short of her bare knees, was ragged and
+dirty; her jet black hair fell in tangled masses over her shoulders.
+
+"This is Aura," said the Very Young Man. His voice was full of pride;
+his manner ingenuous as a child's.
+
+Without a trace of embarrassment the girl smiled and with a pretty
+little bending of her head, held down her hand to the astonished Banker,
+who sat speechless upon his mattress.
+
+Loto pushed forward. "That's _mamita_ over there," he said, pointing.
+"Her name is Lylda; she's Aura's sister."
+
+The Banker recovered his wits. "Well, and who are you, little man?" he
+asked with a smile.
+
+"My name is Loto," the little boy answered earnestly. "That's my
+father." And he pointed across the room to where the Chemist was coming
+forward to join them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+THE FIRST CHRISTMAS
+
+
+Christmas Eve in a little village of Northern New York--a white
+Christmas, clear and cold. In the dark, blue-black of the sky the
+glittering stars were spread thick; the brilliant moon poured down its
+silver light over the whiteness of the sloping roof-tops, and upon the
+ghostly white, silently drooping trees. A heaviness hung in the frosty
+air--a stillness broken only by the tinkling of sleigh-bells or
+sometimes by the merry laughter of the passers-by.
+
+At the outskirts of the village, a little back from the road, a
+farmhouse lay snuggled up between two huge apple-trees--an
+old-fashioned, rambling farmhouse with a steeply pitched roof, piled
+high now, with snow. It was brilliantly lighted this Christmas Eve, its
+lower windows sending forth broad yellow beams of light over the
+whiteness of the ground outside.
+
+In one of the lower rooms of the house, before a huge, blazing log-fire,
+a woman and four men sat talking. Across the room, at a table, a little
+boy was looking at a picture-book by the light of an oil-lamp.
+
+The woman made a striking picture as she sat back at ease before the
+fire. She was dressed in a simple black evening-dress such as a lady of
+the city would wear. It covered her shoulders, but left her throat bare.
+Her features, particularly her eyes, had a slight Oriental cast, which
+the mass of very black hair coiled on her head accentuated. Yet she did
+not look like an Oriental, nor indeed like a woman of any race of this
+earth. Her cheeks were red--the delicate diffused red of perfect health.
+But underneath the red there lay a curious mixture of other colours, not
+only on her cheeks but particularly noticeable on her neck and arms. Her
+skin was smooth as a pearl; in the mellow firelight it glowed, with the
+iridescence of a shell.
+
+The four men were dressed in the careless negligee of city men in the
+country. They were talking gaily now among themselves. The woman spoke
+seldom, staring dreamily into the fire.
+
+A clock in another room struck eight; the woman glanced over to where
+the child sat, absorbed with the pictures in his book. The page at which
+he was looking showed a sleigh loaded with toys, with a team of
+reindeers and a jolly, fat, white-bearded, red-jacketed old man driving
+the sleigh over the chimney tops.
+
+"Come Loto, little son," the woman said. "You hear--it is the time of
+sleep for you."
+
+The boy put down his book reluctantly and went over to the fireplace,
+standing beside his mother with an arm about her neck.
+
+"Oh, _mamita_ dear, will he surely come, this Santa Claus? He never knew
+about me before; will he surely come?"
+
+Lylda kissed him tenderly. "He will come, Loto, every Christmas Eve; to
+you and to all the other children of this great world, will he always
+come."
+
+"But you must be asleep when he comes, Loto," one of the men admonished.
+
+"Yes, my father, that I know," the boy answered gravely. "I will go
+now."
+
+"Come back Loto, when you have undressed," the Chemist called after him,
+as he left the room. "Remember you must hang your stocking."
+
+When they were left alone Lylda looked at her companions and smiled.
+
+"His first Christmas," she said. "How wonderful we are going to make it
+for him."
+
+"I can remember so well," the Big Business Man remarked thoughtfully,
+"when they first told me there was no Santa Claus. I cried, for I knew
+Christmas would never be the same to me."
+
+"Loto is nearly twelve years old," the Doctor said. "Just
+imagine--having his first Christmas."
+
+"We're going to make it a corker," said the Banker. "Where's the tree?
+We got one."
+
+"In the wood-shed," Lylda answered. "He has not seen it; I was so very
+careful."
+
+They were silent a moment. Then: "My room is chock full of toys," the
+Banker said reflectively. "But this is a rotten town for candy
+canes--they only had little ones." And they all laughed.
+
+"I have a present for you, Lylda," the Chemist said after a moment.
+
+"Oh, but you must not give it until to-morrow; you yourself have told me
+that."
+
+The Chemist rose. "I want to give it now," he said, and left the room.
+In a moment he returned, carrying a mahogany pedestal under one arm and
+a square parcel in the other. He set the pedestal upright on the floor
+in a corner of the room and began opening the package. It was a mahogany
+case, cubical in shape. He lifted its cover, disclosing a glass-bell set
+upon a flat, mahogany slab. Fastened to the center of this was a
+handsome black plush case, in which lay a gold wedding-ring.
+
+Lylda drew in her breath sharply and held it; the three other men stared
+at the ring in amazement. The Chemist was saying: "And I decided not to
+destroy it, Lylda, for your sake. There is no air under this glass
+cover; the ring is lying in a vacuum, so that nothing can come out of it
+and live. It is quite safe for us to keep it--this way. I thought of
+this plan, afterwards, and decided to keep the ring--for you." He set
+the glass bell on the pedestal.
+
+Lylda stood before it, bending down close over the glass.
+
+"You give me back--my world," she breathed; then she straightened up,
+holding out her arms toward the ring. "My birthplace--my people--they
+are safe." And then abruptly she sank to her knees and began softly
+sobbing.
+
+Loto called from upstairs and they heard him coming down. Lylda went
+back hastily to the fire; the Chemist pushed a large chair in front of
+the pedestal, hiding it from sight.
+
+The boy, in his night clothes, stood on the hearth beside his mother.
+
+"There is the stocking, _mamita_. Where shall I hang it?"
+
+"First the prayer, Loto. Can you remember?"
+
+The child knelt on the hearth, with his head in his mother's lap.
+
+"Now I lay me----" he began softly, halting over the unfamiliar words.
+Lylda's fingers stroked his brown curly head as it nestled against her
+knees; the firelight shone golden in his tousled curls.
+
+The Chemist was watching them with moist eyes. "His first Christmas," he
+murmured, and smiled a little tender smile. "His first Christmas."
+
+The child was finishing.
+
+"And God bless Aura, and Jack, and----"
+
+"And Grandfather Reoh," his mother prompted softly.
+
+"And Grandfather Reoh--and _mamita_, and----" The boy ended with a
+rush--"and me too. Amen. Now where do I hang the stocking, mother?"
+
+In a moment the little stocking dangled from a mantel over the
+fireplace.
+
+"You are sure he will come?" the child asked anxiously again.
+
+"It is certain, Loto--if you are asleep."
+
+Loto kissed his mother and shook hands solemnly with the men--a grave,
+dignified little figure.
+
+"Good night, Loto," said the Big Business Man.
+
+"Good night, sir. Good night, my father--good night, _mamita_; I shall
+be asleep very soon." And with a last look at the stocking he ran out of
+the room.
+
+"What a Christmas he will have," said the Banker, a little huskily.
+
+A girl stood in the doorway that led into the dining-room adjoining--a
+curious-looking girl in a gingham apron and cap. Lylda looked up.
+
+"Oh, Eena, please will you say to Oteo we want the tree from the
+wood-shed--in the dining-room."
+
+The little maid hesitated. Her mistress smiled and added a few words in
+foreign tongue. The girl disappeared.
+
+"Every window gets a holly wreath," the Doctor said. "They're in a box
+outside in the wood-shed."
+
+"Look what I've got," said the Big Business Man, and produced from his
+pocket a little folded object which he opened triumphantly into a long
+serpent of filigree red paper on a string with little red and green
+paper bells hanging from it. "Across the doorway," he added, waving his
+hand.
+
+A moment after there came a stamping of feet on the porch outside, and
+then the banging of an outer door. A young man and girl burst into the
+room, kicking the snow from their feet and laughing. The youth carried
+two pairs of ice-skates slung over his shoulder; as he entered the room
+he flung them clattering to the floor.
+
+The girl, even at first glance, was extraordinarily pretty. She was
+small and very slender of build. She wore stout high-laced tan shoes, a
+heavy woollen skirt that fell to her shoe-tops and a short, belted coat,
+with a high collar buttoned tight about her throat. She was covered now
+with snow. Her face and the locks of hair that strayed from under her
+knitted cap were soaking wet.
+
+"He threw me down," she appealed to the others.
+
+"I didn't--she fell."
+
+"You did; into the snow you threw me--off the road." She laughed. "But I
+am learning to skate."
+
+"She fell three times," said her companion accusingly.
+
+"Twice only, it was," the girl corrected. She pulled off her cap, and a
+great mass of black hair came tumbling down about her shoulders.
+
+Lylda, from her chair before the fire, smiled mischievously.
+
+"Aura, my sister," she said in a tone of gentle reproof. "So immodest it
+is to show all that hair."
+
+The girl in confusion began gathering it up.
+
+"Don't you let her tease you, Aura," said the Big Business Man. "It's
+very beautiful hair."
+
+"Where's Loto?" asked the Very Young Man, pulling off his hat and coat.
+
+"In bed--see his stocking there."
+
+A childish treble voice was calling from upstairs. "Good night,
+Aura--good night, my friend Jack."
+
+"Good night, old man--see you to-morrow," the Very Young Man called back
+in answer.
+
+"You mustn't make so much noise," the Doctor said reprovingly. "He'll
+never get to sleep."
+
+"No, you mustn't," the Big Business Man agreed. "To-morrow's a very very
+big day for him."
+
+"Some Christmas," commented the Very Young Man looking around. "Where's
+the holly and stuff?"
+
+"Oh, we've got it all right, don't you worry," said the Banker.
+
+"And mistletoe," said Lylda, twinkling. "For you, Jack."
+
+Eena again stood in the doorway and said something to her mistress. "The
+tree is ready," said Lylda.
+
+The Chemist rose to his feet. "Come on, everybody; let's go trim it."
+
+They crowded gaily into the dining-room, leaving the Very Young Man and
+Aura sitting alone by the fire. For some time they sat silent, listening
+to the laughter of the others trimming the tree.
+
+The Very Young Man looked at the girl beside him as she sat staring into
+the fire. She had taken off her heavy coat, and her figure seemed long
+and very slim in the clothes she was wearing now. She sat bending
+forward, with her hands clasped over her knees. The long line of her
+slender arm and shoulder, and the delicacy of her profile turned towards
+him, made the Very Young Man realize anew how fragile she was, and how
+beautiful.
+
+Her mass of hair was coiled in a great black pile on her head, with a
+big, loose knot low at the neck. The iridescence of her skin gleamed
+under the flaming red of her cheeks. Her lips, too, were red, with the
+smooth, rich red of coral. The Very Young Man thought with a shock of
+surprise that he had never noticed before that they were red; in the
+ring there had been no such color.
+
+In the room adjoining, his friends were proposing a toast over the
+Christmas punch bowl. The Chemist's voice floated in through the
+doorway.
+
+"To the Oroids--happiness to them." Then for an instant there was
+silence as they drank the toast.
+
+Aura met the Very Young Man's eyes and smiled a little wanly.
+"Happiness--to them! I wonder. We who are so happy to-night--I wonder,
+are they?"
+
+The Very Young Man leaned towards her. "You are happy, Aura?"
+
+The girl nodded, still staring wistfully into the fire.
+
+"I want you to be," the Very Young Man added simply, and fell silent.
+
+A blazing log in the fire twisted and rolled to one side; the crackling
+flames leaped higher, bathing the girl's drooping little figure in their
+golden light.
+
+The Very Young Man after a time found himself murmuring familiar lines
+of poetry. His memory leaped back. A boat sailing over a silent summer
+lake--underneath the stars--the warmth of a girl's soft little body
+touching his--her hair, twisted about his fingers--the thrill in his
+heart; he felt it now as his lips formed the words:
+
+    "The stars would be your pearls upon a string,
+    The world a ruby for your finger-ring,
+    And you could have the sun and moon to wear,
+    If I were king."
+
+"You remember, Aura, that night in the boat?"
+
+Again the girl nodded. "I shall learn to read it--some day," she said
+eagerly. "And all the others that you told me. I want to. They sing--so
+beautifully."
+
+A sleigh passed along the road outside; the jingle of its bells drifted
+in to them. The Very Young Man reached over and gently touched the
+girl's hand; her fingers closed over his with an answering pressure. His
+heart was beating fast.
+
+"Aura," he said earnestly. "I want to be King--for you--this first
+Christmas and always. I want to give you--all there is in this life, of
+happiness, that I can give--just for you."
+
+The girl met his gaze with eyes that were melting with tenderness.
+
+"I love you, Aura," he said softly.
+
+"I love you, too, Jack," she whispered, and held her lips up to his.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM***
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