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diff --git a/30691-8.txt b/30691-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc9edf6 --- /dev/null +++ b/30691-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10386 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Astounding Stories of Super-Science, +December 1930, by Various + +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: Astounding Stories of Super-Science, December 1930 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: December 17, 2009 [EBook #30691] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTOUNDING STORIES, DEC. 1930 *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Katherine Ward, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +ASTOUNDING STORIES OF SUPER-SCIENCE + + +_On Sale the First Thursday of Each Month_ + + W. M. CLAYTON, Publisher + HARRY BATES, Editor + DR. DOUGLAS M. DOLD, Consulting Editor + +The Clayton Standard on a Magazine Guarantees + +_That_ the stories therein are clean, interesting, vivid, by leading +writers of the day and purchased under conditions approved by the +Authors' League of America; + +_That_ such magazines are manufactured in Union shops by American +workmen; + +_That_ each newsdealer and agent is insured a fair profit; + +_That_ an intelligent censorship guards their advertising pages. + + +_The other Clayton magazines are_: + +ACE-HIGH MAGAZINE, RANCH ROMANCES, COWBOY STORIES, CLUES, FIVE NOVELS +MONTHLY, ALL STAR DETECTIVE STORIES, RANGELAND LOVE STORY MAGAZINE, +WESTERN ADVENTURES, and WESTERN LOVE STORIES. + +_More than Two Million Copies Required to Supply the Monthly Demand for +Clayton Magazines._ + + + VOL. IV, No. 3 CONTENTS DECEMBER, 1930 + + COVER DESIGN H. W. WESSOLOWSKI + + _Painted in Oils from a Scene in "The Ape-Men of Xlotli."_ + + SLAVES OF THE DUST SOPHIE WENZEL ELLIS 295 + + _Fate's Retribution Was Adequate. There Emerged a Rat with a + Man's Head and Face._ + + THE PIRATE PLANET CHARLES W. DIFFIN 310 + + _It is War. Interplanetary War. And on Far-Distant Venus Two + Fighting Earthlings Stand Up Against a Whole Planet Run Amuck._ + (Part Two of a Four-Part Novel.) + + THE SEA TERROR CAPTAIN S. P. MEEK 336 + + _The Trail of Mystery Gold Leads Carnes and Dr. Bird to a + Tremendous Monster of the Deep._ + + GRAY DENIM HARL VINCENT 354 + + _The Blood of the Van Dorn's Ran in Karl's Veins. He Rode + the Skies Like an Avenging God._ + + THE APE-MEN OF XLOTLI DAVID R. SPARKS 370 + + _A Beautiful Face in the Depths of a Geyser--and Kirby Plunges + into a Desperate Mid-Earth Conflict with the Dreadful + Feathered Serpent._ (A Complete Novelette.) + + THE READERS' CORNER ALL OF US 421 + + _A Meeting place for Readers of Astounding Stories._ + + * * * * * + + Single Copies, 20 Cents (In Canada, 25 Cents) + Yearly Subscription, $2.00 + +Issued monthly by Readers' Guild, Inc., 80 Lafayette St., New York, N.Y. +W. M. Clayton, President; Francis P. Pace, Secretary. Entered as +second-class matter December 7, 1929, at the Post Office at New York. +N.Y., under Act of March 3. 1879. Title registered as a Trade Mark in +the U.S. Patent Office. Member Newsstand Group--Men's List. For +advertising rates address E. R. Crow & Co., Inc., 25 Vanderbilt Ave., +New York; or 225 North Michigan Ave., Chicago. + + * * * * * + + + + +Slaves of the Dust + +_By Sophie Wenzel Ellis_ + + Fate's retribution was adequate. There emerged a rat with a man's + head and face. + + _It's a poor science that would hide from us the great, deep, + sacred infinitude of Nescience, whither we can never penetrate, on + which all science swims as mere superficial film._ + + --_Carlyle_. + +[Illustration: _Sir Basil showed his teeth in his ugly smile. "A creator +is never merciful."_] + + +The two _batalões_ turned from the open waters of the lower Tapajos +River into the _igarapé_, the lily-smothered shallows that often mark an +Indian settlement in the jungles of Brazil. One of the two half-breed +rubber-gatherers suddenly stopped his _batalõe_ by thrusting a paddle +against a giant clump of lilies. In a corruption of the Tupi dialect, he +called over to the white man occupying the other frail craft. + +"We dare go no farther, master. The country of the Ungapuks is +bewitched. It is too dangerous." + +Fearfully he stared over his shoulder toward a spot in the slimy water +where a dim bulk moved, which was only an alligator hunting for his +breakfast. + +Hale Oakham, as long and lanky and level-eyed as Charles Lindbergh, ran +despairing fingers through his damp hair and groaned. + +"But how can I find this jungle village without a guide?" + +The _caboclo_ shrugged. "The village will find you. It is bewitched, +master. But you will soon see the path through the _matto_." + +"Can't you stay by me until time to land? I don't like the looks of +these alligators." + +"It is better for a white man to face an alligator than for a _caboclo_ +to face an Ungapuk. Once they used to kill and eat us for our strength. +Now--" Again his shrug was eloquent. + +"Now?" Hale prompted impatiently. + +"The white god who put a spell on these one-time cannibals will bewitch +us and make us wash and rejoice when it is time to die." + + * * * * * + +He shuddered and spat at a cayman that was lumbering away from his +_batalõe._ + +Hale Oakham laughed, a hearty boyish laugh for a rather learned young +professor. + +"Is that all they do to you?" he asked. + +"No. All who enter this magic _matto_ die soon, rejoicing. Before the +last breath comes, it is said their bodies turn into a handful of silver +dust--poof!--like that." He snapped his dirty fingers. "Then the life +that leaves them goes into rocks that walk." + +Hale sighed resignedly. There wasn't any use to argue. + +"Unload your _batalõe_," he ordered testily, "and get your filthy +carcasses away." + +The half-breeds obeyed readily. As the departing _batalõe_ turned from +the _igarapé_ into the open water of the river, the young man repressed +a sudden lifting of his scalp. He was in for it now! + +His long body sprawled out in the _batalõe_, he paddled about aimlessly +for several minutes until he found an aisle through the jungle--the path +that led to the jungle village which he was visiting in the name of +science, and for a certain award. + +Before plunging into that waiting tangle where life and death carried on +a visible, unceasing struggle, he hesitated. Instinctively he shrank +from losing himself in that mad green world. + + * * * * * + +He had first heard of the Ungapuks at the convention of the Nescience +Club in New York, that body of scientists, near-scientists and +adventurers linked together for the purpose of awarding the yearly +Woolman prizes for the most spectacular addition of empiric facts to +various branches of science. One of the members of the club, an +explorer, had told a wild yarn about a tribe of Brazilian Indians, +headed by Sir Basil Addington, an English scientist, who was conducting +secret experiments in biochemistry in his jungle laboratory. The +explorer had said that the scientist, half-crazed by a powerful +narcotic, had seemingly discovered some secret of life which enabled him +to produce monsters in his laboratory and to change the physical +characteristics of the Ungapuk Indians, who, in five years, had been +transformed from cannibals into cultured men and women. + +And now Hale Oakham, hoping to win one of the Woolman prizes, was here +in the country of the Ungapuks, entering the jungle path that lead to +the unknown. + +Fifty feet from the _igarapé_, the path curved sharply away from a giant +tree. Hale approached the bend with his hand on his gun. Just before he +reached it, he stopped suddenly to listen. + +A woman's voice had suddenly broken forth in a wild, incredibly sweet +song. Hale stood entranced, drinking in the heady sounds that stirred +his emotions like _masata_, the jungle intoxicant. The singer +approached the bend in the path, while the young man waited eagerly. + +The first sight of her made him gasp. He had expected to see an Indian +girl. No sane traveler would imagine a white woman in the Amazon jungle, +with skin as amazingly pale as the great, fleshy victoria regia lilies +in the _igarapé_. + +When she saw Hale, she stopped instantly. With a quick, practiced twist, +she reached for the bow flung across her shoulders and fitted a barbed +arrow to the string. + + * * * * * + +She was a beautiful barbarian, standing quivering before him. In the +thick dull gold braids hanging over her bare shoulders flamed two +enormous scarlet flowers, no redder than her own lips pouted in alarm. +There was a savage brevity to her clothing, which consisted only of a +short skirt of rough native grass and breastplates of beaten gold, held +in place by strings of colored seeds. + +The girl held out an imperious hand and, in perfect English, said: + +"Go back!" + +Hale drew his long body up to its slim height, folded his arms, and gave +her his most winning smile. His insolence added to his wholesome good +looks. + +"Why?" he exclaimed. "I've come a couple of thousand miles to call on +you." + +He saw that the eyes which held his levelly were pure and limpid, and of +an astonishing orchid-blue. + +"Who are you?" Her throaty, vibrant voice was a thing of the flesh, +whipping Hale's senses to sudden madness. + +"I'm Hale Oakham," he said, a little tremulously, "a lone, would-be +scientist knocking about the jungle. Won't you tell me your name?" + +She nodded gravely. "I am Aña. I, too, am white." Her rich voice was +quietly proud. "Come; I'll see if Aimu will receive you." + +With surprising, childlike trust, she held out her little hand to him. +The gesture was so delightfully natural that Hale, grinning boyishly, +took her hand and held it as they walked down the jungle path. + +"Sing for me," he demanded abruptly. "Sing the song you sang just now." + +"That?" asked the girl, turning the virgin-blue fire of her eyes on him. +"That was my death-song that I practice each day. Perhaps soon I shall +be released from this." She passed her hands over her beautiful, +half-clothed body. + + * * * * * + +Hale's warm glance swept over her. "Do you want to die?" + +"Yes; don't you? But you do not, or you would not have retreated from my +poisoned arrow." + +"No, Aña; I want to live." + +"To live--and be a slave of _this_?" Again her hand went over her slim +body. "A slave of a pile of flesh that you must feed and protect from +the agonies that attack it on every side? Bah! But I am hoping that my +turn will come next." + +"Your turn for what, Aña?" + +"To enter the Room of Release. Perhaps, if Aimu approves of you, you, +too, may taste of death." Her gentle smile was beatific. + +"Do you speak of Sir Basil Addington?" + +"He was called that once, before he came to us. Now he has no name. We +can find none holy enough for him; and so we call him Aimu, which means +good friend." Her beautiful face was sweet with reverence. + +And now, in the distance, Hale saw that the path led into a large +clearing. He slowed his pace, for he wanted to know this lovely girl +better before he joined the Ungapuks. + +"Who are you, Aña?" he asked suddenly, bending closer to the crinkled, +dull-gold hair. + +"I am Aña, a white woman." She looked at him frankly. + +"But who are your parents, and how did you get among the Ungapuks?" + +Aña's red lips curved into a dewy smile. "I thought all white men were +wise, like Aimu. But you are stupid. How do you think a white woman +could appear in a tribe of Indians who live in the jungle, many weeks' +journey from what you call civilization?" + +Hale looked a little blank and more than a little disconcerted. + +"I suppose I am stupid," he said dryly. "But tell me, Aña, how did you +get here?" + +"Why," she exclaimed, "he made me!" + +"Made you? Good Lord! What do you mean?" + +"Just what I said, Hale Oakham. If he can take a few grains of dust and +make a shoot that will grow into a giant tree like yonder monster +itauba, don't you think he can create a small white girl like me?" Her +orchid-blue eyes glowed innocently into his. + + * * * * * + +The eager questions that he would have asked froze upon his lips, for a +party of Indians approached. + +The six nearly naked red men came close and surveyed him, toying +nervously with their primitive, feather-decorated weapons. + +A tall, handsome young fellow who possessed something of the picturesque +perfection of the North American plains' Indian stepped forward and, in +perfect English, said: + +"Good morning, white stranger. What is it you wish of the Ungapuks?" + +"I came to see your white _cacique_," said Hale. + +"Aimu? What is it you wish of Aimu? He is ours, white stranger." + +"Yes, he is yours. I come as a friend, perhaps to help him in his great +work." + +"Perhaps!" The young Indian folded his bronze, muscular arms over his +broad chest and continued his cool survey of Hale. "White men before you +have come: spies and thieves. Some we poisoned with curari. Others Aimu +took into the Room of Release." + +He turned to Aña, who was still standing by Hale, and his expression +softened. + +"What shall we do with him, Aña?" he asked the question, a fleeting look +of hunger swept his fine, flashing eyes. + +Aña flushed beautifully, and, moving closer to Hale, with an impulsive, +almost childish gesture, slipped her arm through his. + +"Let us take him to our village, Unani Assu!" she suggested. "I like +him." + +It was Hale's turn to flush, which he did like a schoolboy. + + * * * * * + +Unani Assu's brows drew together in a scowl. The hand holding his +blow-pipe jerked convulsively. + +"Aña! Come away!" he growled. "You mustn't touch a stranger!" + +Aña's blue eyes stretched with astonishment. "But I like to touch him, +Unani Assu!" + +The tall Indian, with a half comical gesture of despair, said: + +"Don't misunderstand her, stranger. She is young, very young, ah! And +she has known only the reborn men of the Ungapuks." + +He stepped firmly over to Aña, and, taking the girl by the arm, drew her +away. + +"Run ahead," he commanded, "and tell Aimu that we come." + +Aña, her feathered bamboo anklets clicking together, sped away. + +Unani Assu bowed courteously to Hale. + +"Come, stranger. If you are an enemy, it is you who must fear." He +motioned for him to proceed down the jungle path. + +The path ended at a clearing studded with _moloccas_, the Indian grass +huts made of plaited straw. Altogether the scene was peaceful and sane +and far removed from the strange tales that Hale had heard concerning +the Ungapuks. + +Hale was conducted to a long, low stone building, where, in the +doorway, stood a tall and emaciated white man. + +"Aimu!" said the Indians reverently, and bowed themselves. + +Over the bare, brown backs, the white man looked at Hale. + +"Sir Basil Addington?" asked the young man. + +"Yes. You are welcome. Come in." + +Hale entered the building. + + * * * * * + +He was in a book-filled study, furnished with hand-made chairs and a +desk. Sir Basil asked him to be seated. He offered the young man long, +brown native cigarettes and a very good drink made from yucca. + +After several minutes of conversation, Sir Basil suddenly changed his +manner. + +"And now," he shot out, eyeing the young man through narrowed lids, +"will you please state the purpose of this visit?" + +Hale looked squarely at his questioner. "Frankly, Sir Basil, I have +called on you because I am so intensely interested in your work among +the Ungapuks that I wish to offer my services." + +He gave in detail his family history, his education, and his experience +as a teacher and a scientist. + +Sir Basil tapped his teeth thoughtfully with a pencil. + +"But why do you think you can be of assistance to me?" + +"That, of course, is for you to decide." + +Hale thought that the scientist looked like a huge, starved crow in his +loose-fitting coat. He was so fleshless that, when the light fell +strongly on his face as it now did, the bones of his head and hands +showed through the skin with horrible clearness. + +Hale, under Sir Basil's scrutiny, decided instantly that he did not like +him. + +"I need a helper," the scientist went on, with the air of talking to +himself. "A white assistant who neither loves nor fears me. Unani Assu +is good enough in his way, but I need a helper who has had technical +training." Suddenly he wheeled on Hale and asked sharply, "How are your +nerves, young man?" + + * * * * * + +Hale started, but managed to answer calmly. "Excellent. My war record +isn't half bad, and that was surely backed with good nerves." + +"And you say you have no close relatives, no ties of any sort to +interfere with work that is dangerous--and something else?" + +"Not a soul would care if I passed out to-day, Sir Basil." + +"Good! And now tell me this: are you one of those scientists whose minds +are so mechanical, so mathematically made, as it were, that your entire +outlook on science is based on old, established beliefs, or do you +belong to that rare but modern type of trained thinker and dreamer who +refuse to permit yesterday's convictions to influence to-day's +visions?" + +Hale smiled quietly. "I recently lost my chair in a famous university +because of my so-called unscientific teachings regarding ether-drift." + +Expressing himself in purely scientific terms, he went into an +elaboration of his revolutionary theory. When he had finished, Sir Basil +reached out his clawlike hand to him. + +"Good!" he approved. "You have dared to think originally. Now listen to +my theory of mind-electrons which has grown into the established fact +that I have discovered the secret of life and death." + +The long, thin hands reached into a pocket for a box of pills. He +swallowed one greedily, and immediately his emaciated face seemed +charged with new virility. + +He spoke out suddenly. "Our world, you know, is made up of three powers: +matter, energy and what you call life. I might really say that there are +but two powers, for matter, in its last analysis, is a form of energy. +And what is life? You can't call it a form of energy, for every +inorganic atom has energy without having life. Life, Mr. Oakham, is +mind or consciousness." + +He began pacing the floor restlessly. "Everything that lives has this +consciousness, and I say this in defiance of some fixed scientific +views. The amoeba in a stagnant pool, a thallophyte on a bit of old +bread, any of the myriads of trees and plants that you see in the jungle +all have consciousness as well as you. And why?" + + * * * * * + +He brought his fist down upon the table. "Because they issue from the +same source as you and I, the almighty mind, eternal, indestructible, +which has permitted itself to be enslaved by matter. You are Hale +Oakham. I am Basil Addington, yet we are one and the same. Let me +illustrate." + +He seized a glass and poured it full of _masata_. "Look! Two portions of +_masata_. But I pour what is in the glass back into the bottle. The +molecules cohere and the two portions become one again. Some day you and +I--our individual consciousnesses--will flow back to the Whole. That +sounds mystical, but listen. + +"We scientists hold that the electron explains nearly all the physical +and chemical phenomena. I go further and say that it explains _all_. +Matter, electricity, light, heat, magnetism--all can be reduced to the +ultimate unit. So, Mr. Oakham, I am going to make clear to you how life +itself is electronic." + +His long finger touched Hale's arm. "You, I, yonder mosquito on your +sleeve, even one of the germs that is causing my malaria, all being +individual living things, are the ultimate units of what I shall +personify as the Mind. When I say _you_ I do not speak of that mound of +flesh in which you exist, and which can be reduced to the same familiar +basic elements and compounds as make up inorganic structures; I speak of +your mind, your consciousness--for that is the real you. Are you +following me?" + +"Perfectly, Sir Basil." Hale reached for another drink. "But do you +mean to say that you and I are no more than a mosquito, a malaria +protozoan, or even one of those trees in the jungle?" + +Sir Basil's dry skin slipped back into a long smile. "Startling, +isn't it? You, I, and all other living organisms are nothing but +matter, energy and consciousness. You and I have a larger share of +consciousness, because our organic structure permits the mind-electrons +greater freedom over the matter than composes our bodies. We are more +acutely aware of the universe about us, have a greater facility for +enjoyment and suffering, a more intricate brain and nervous system. +Yet when our bodies die and our consciousness is released, the +mind-electrons enslaved by our atoms go back to the elemental Whole. +This holds good for the protozoan, the tree, the man--for all things +that live." + + * * * * * + +Hale was drinking again. "You mean, Sir Basil, that there is a sort of +war waged against what you personify as the Mind by matter; that matter +is constantly seeking to enslave mind-electrons, so that it may become +an organism which, for awhile, may enjoy what we call life?" + +Sir Basil pushed back his tufted hair and looked happy. "Yes! And it's +Nature's supreme blunder! In the end, the Mind always conquers and gains +its release, yet the eternal chain of enslavement goes on and on, and +will continue to go on as long as there is a living organism in the +world to bind mind to matter." + +Hale was excited now, as much from the fiery intoxicant as from the +scientist's weird revelation. "I get you," he said, rather inelegantly +for a professor. "You mean that if every living thing in the world +should pass out, every man, every plant, every animal, even down to +microscopic infusoria, the Mind would collect all its electrons, and +through some more jealous law of, er, cohesion hold these electrons +inviolate from matter and energy?" + +"Right! And again, as in the beginning, the Mind would rule supreme. By +what I have proved, you and I and all other creatures that now have life +may, as separate unfleshed electrons, enjoy eternal consciousness as a +part of the Mind." A new passion leaped to his dark eyes. "When I have +finished my mission, no more need we be slaves of the dust, subject to +all the frightful sufferings of this dunghill of flesh." + +He brought his fist down upon his skinny leg with a resounding blow. + +"But you cannot reduce your theory to fact, Sir Basil!" + +"No?" Again came that frightful grin to his cadaverous face. "Can you +withstand shock?" + +"If you mean shock to the eye, let me remind you that I served two years +in the big fight." + +"Then come to my laboratory. Better take another drink." + +While Hale helped himself again from the _masata_ bottle, Sir Basil +swallowed another pellet. + +Then the two went into the adjoining apartment. + + * * * * * + +Sir Basil, his hand over the doorknob, paused. + +"Before we go in," he said, "I want you to remember that we call natural +that which is characteristic of the physical world. Everything alive in +this laboratory was produced by nature. I merely made available the +materials, or, rather, I made the conditions under which matter was able +to enslave mind-electrons." + +He opened the door, slipped his body through, and, with his ugly, +teeth-revealing grin, gestured for Hale to follow him. + +Hale steeled himself and looked around half fearfully. The first glance +took in a large and well-equipped laboratory, somewhat fetid with animal +odors. The second lingered here and there on cages, aquariums, +incubators, and other containers where creatures moved. + +Suddenly, as something scuttled across the floor and disappeared into a +hole in the wall, Hale cried out and covered his eyes with a hand. + +Sir Basil laughed aloud. "Why didn't you examine it closer?" + +Hale looked nauseated. "My God, Sir Basil! A rat with a man's head and +face!" + +Sir Basil's voice was sharp, decisive. "Before you leave this +laboratory, you're going to come out of your foolish belief that man is +a creature apart from other living organisms. You--the conscious you--is +no greater, no more important in the final balance than the spark of +consciousness in that rat. When your body and the rat's body give up +their atoms to nature's laboratory, the little enslaved mind-electron +that is you and the one that is the rat will be identical." + +Again Hale shivered and turned away from that cold, too-thin face. + +The scientist was speaking. "Step around to all those cages and pens. I +want you to see all my slaves of the dust." + + * * * * * + +But long before Hale had encircled the room, he was so disturbed at what +he saw that he could scarcely complete his frightful inspection. In +every enclosure he viewed a monstrosity that in some way resembled a +human. Every reptile, every insect, every queer, misshapen animal not +only looked human in some shocking manner, but also seemed to possess +human characteristics. It seemed as though some demented creator with a +perverted sense of humor had attempted to mock man by calling forth +monsters in his image. + +At last the young man cried out: "How did you breed these freaks?" + +"They are not freaks, and I did not breed them. They are nature's +parentless products whose basic elements were brought together in +this laboratory, and, by a scientific reproduction of the functions +of creation, endowed with the life principle, which is merely +mind-electrons." He smoothed his long tuft of hair nervously. "Would +you like to see how life springs from a wedding of matter, energy, +and consciousness?" + +"I suspect I can stand anything now," Hale admitted. + +"Then come and peep into a very remarkable group of apparatus I have +developed, where you can watch atoms building molecules and molecules +building living organisms." + +"You say I can see atoms?" + +"Not directly, of course. The light waves will forever prevent us from +actually seeing the atom. But I have perfected a system of photography +which magnifies particles smaller than light waves, and, separating +their images from the light waves, renders detail clear in the moving +pictures." + + * * * * * + +He went to a huge machine or series of machines which took up all the +center floor space of the laboratory, where he busied himself in an +intricate network of wires, mirrors, electrodes, ray projectors, and +traveling metal compartments. Presently he called out to Hale. + +"Let me remind you, Oakham, that while any scientist can break up any of +the various proteid molecules which are the basis of all living cells, +animal and vegetable, no scientist before me has been able to compound +the atoms and build them into a proteid molecule." + +He bared his teeth in the smile that Hale hated. + +"I am proud to tell you that the proteid molecule can be built up only +when the third element of nature's trinity is added--the mind-electron. +I have found a means of capturing the mind-electron and of bringing it +in contact with proteid elements. And now it is possible to bring forth +life in the laboratory. Come closer and watch proteid forming +protoplasm, protoplasm forming a cell, and the cell evolving into--well, +what do you want, an animal, plant, or an insect?" + +Hale had fallen under the scientist's spell. He did not feel foolish +when he said: + +"Let's have a rat!" + + * * * * * + +Hale became so absorbed in the wonders of the laboratory that when lunch +time came, Sir Basil had food brought to them. While they were eating a +very good vegetable stew, farina, and luscious tropical fruits, a +sudden, agonized scream rang out, followed by other screams and wails. + +Sir Basil opened the door and looked out. Aña came running forward. Her +blue eyes were flooded with tears. + +"Oh, Aimu!" she moaned. "A tree fell on Unani Assu." + +She buried her beautiful face in her hands and sobbed aloud. + +Sir Basil frowned heavily. + +"I can't lose Unani Assu yet," he declared. "He is a wonderful help +around the laboratory. Is he dead?" + +"No. We should rejoice if his time of release had come. But his legs, +Aimu! No one wants to suffer and be crippled." + +Even in her distress, the girl's voice was rich and vibrant, and every +tone moved Hale curiously. + +"Hurry!" cried the scientist. "Have them bring him here before he +dies." + +The girl leaped to her feet and sped away. + +"Come, Oakham," continued Sir Basil. "Here is a rare opportunity for you +to see how completely I have mastered the laws that govern organic +matter. Help me prepare." + + * * * * * + +For several minutes, Hale worked under the scientist's sharply spoken +directions. By the time the injured man was brought to the laboratory, +Sir Basil was ready for him. + +Unani Assu was still conscious, but his pale face indicated that he had +lost much blood. When the improvised stretcher was lowered to the floor, +Sir Basil sent all the Indians away. + +Unani Assu opened his eyes and called feebly, "Aña!" + +"Be still!" ordered Sir Basil. "Aña is not here." + +"Please!" gasped the dying man. "I want her--my Aña!" + +Sir Basil sucked in his breath sharply. "What's this? Have you been +making love to Aña again, after my warning to you?" + +The sufferer stirred uneasily. "No!" he panted. "But perhaps my hour of +release has come, and I want to look at her--once more." + +The scientist smiled unpleasantly as he eyed the magnificent body which +looked like a broken statue in bronze. + +"Some human characteristics are strange," he muttered. "In spite of +everything I do, this fellow continues to love Aña: Aña whom I intend +for myself." + +He stepped to the apparatus and swiftly changed one of the adjustments. + +"Perhaps," he resumed, with a gleam in his eyes that chilled Hale, "this +will forever cure him." + + * * * * * + +In another moment, the still, half-dead body was lifted and gently +slipped into a compartment. + +Before Hale's horrified gaze fastened on the eye-piece which revealed +moving pictures of every process that went on within, Unani Assu's body +was reduced almost instantly to a fine, silvery dust. + +"Good God!" he cried. "You have killed him." + +The scientist's teeth showed in his wide smile. "Think so? Does a woman +destroy a dress when she rips it up to make it over?" + +"Do you mean me to understand that you can reduce a living body to its +basic elements and then rebuild these elements into a remade man?" + +"Watch!" warned the scientist. + +Hale looked again and saw the silver dust that was once a living body +being whirled into a tiny, grublike thing. He saw the grub expand into +an embryo, and the embryo develop into a foetus. From now on the +development was slower, and he often stopped to talk with Sir Basil. + +Once he asked: "If this man had died naturally, could you have brought +him back to life?" + +Sir Basil shook his head. "No. When once the mind-electron is completely +freed from its enslavement by matter, it is forever beyond recall by the +body it has just vacated. Like atomic electrons, whose equilibrium +disturbed break away from their planetary system and go dashing off into +space, only to be drawn into another planetary system, the mind-electron +may be enslaved almost immediately by extraneous matter. Had Unani Assu +died, his liberated mind-electron might at once have been captured by a +jungle flower going to seed. Immediately a new seed would be started. +And now the former Unani Assu would be a seed of a jungle flower, later +to find new life as a plant." + +Suddenly the scientist threw up his hand and cried: "You see? The Mind +will be eternally enslaved as long as there is life! Oh, for the time of +deliverance!" He gazed fanatically into space, as though he dreamed +magnificently. + +Hale observed him thoughtfully. When that great brain weakened, the +consequences would be frightful. + + * * * * * + +Sir Basil, as though he had made a sudden decision, went over to that +part of his machine which he called the molecule-disintegrator. + +"Oakham!" he called out. "I have taken you partly into my confidence. +Now I want to show you something. Come here." + +Hale obeyed with misgivings. The scientist pointed out the window to a +group of Indians, anxious relatives of Unani Assu. + +"Watch!" he ordered. + +Turning one of the projectors on the machine toward the window, he +sighted carefully and pressed a button. + +Immediately one of the Indians fell to the ground and struggled. His +companions began dancing around him in evident joy. Faintly to the +laboratory came a familiar chant, which Hale recognized as Aña's death +song. + + Dust to dust + Mind to Mind-- + He will shed his body + As the green snake sheds his skin. + +As Hale watched, the struggling Indian's body seemed to shrink, and +then, instantly, it disappeared. + +"Watch them scatter the dust!" said the scientist. + +One of the Indians stooped and blew upon the grass. + +"What have you done!" Hale gasped. "You've killed this one. Oh, I see +now! These poor devils are totally ignorant that you are killing them +for practice. They worship you while you turn them to--silver dust!" He +turned angrily on the scientist as though he longed to strike him. + +"Keep cool, young man!" Sir Basil held up his fleshless hand. "There is +no death! Change, yes; but no permanent blotting out of consciousness. +Can't you see the horror of it as nature works? When your time for +release comes, as it inevitably will, your mind-electron might find new +enslavement in a worm!" + + * * * * * + +Hale's reply came hotly. "If that is true, why do you murder these poor +devils deliberately!" + +"My dear Oakham, perhaps you are not so brilliant as I had hoped! All +that I have done thus far is only child's play, in preparation for my +real work. Haven't you guessed by now what I am getting ready to do?" + +"No; I'm a poor guesser." + +The scientist made a gesture of mock despair. "Then let me tell you. The +molecule-disintegrator is active only on organic structures. When I +concentrate it so"--he reached out again, sighted the projector on some +point beyond the window and pressed a button--"one single living +organism passes out. See that jupati tree by the rock disappear?" + +Before Hale's eyes, the tall, slender tree melted into air. + +"But," continued Sir Basil, "if I should _broadcast_ my +molecule-disintegrator on electron magnetic waves, destruction would +pass out in all directions, following the curve of the earth's surface, +penetrating earth, air, water." He wet his lips carefully. "You +understand?" + +Hale stiffened suddenly. "I understand. No life could survive these +vibrations of destruction? Through every corner of the earth where life +lurks, they would reach?" + +"Yes!" cried Sir Basil. "There would be not a blade of grass, not a +living spore, not a hidden egg! Think of it, Oakham! No more would the +clean air and the sweet earth reek with life, and at last the ultimate +mind-electron would be released forever." + +He was breathing fast, and his emaciated face burned with two red +spots. + +Hale thought rapidly. He was convinced now that the fate of all life lay +within that diabolical network of chemical apparatus. + +At last he said: "And what of you and I, Sir Basil? Shall we, too, be +caught in this wholesale destruction?" + +"Not immediately," replied the scientist. "Of course, I want to +remain in the flesh long enough to be sure that my purpose has been +accomplished. I have provided a way for my own safety. If you desire, +you may remain with me." He smiled craftily. "I have planned to keep +Aña also, the woman whom I called into life and made as I wished." + + * * * * * + +His words pounded against Hale's tortured ears with almost physical +force. With a supreme effort, the young man controlled his rage and +despair. Aña needed him too much now for him to risk defeat by showing +his emotions. + +To Sir Basil he said: "But if all life disappears from the earth, what +shall we do for food--you, Aña, and I?" + +Sir Basil lifted his brows. "You don't think I overlooked that, do you? +What is food? Various combinations of the basic elements. I who have +conquered the atom need never worry about starving to death." + +All this time, the machinery had been humming, and now the humming +changed its note to a shrill whistle. Sir Basil went to the eye-piece +and looked into it. Opening a door in the machinery, he disappeared +inside. He came out soon, flushed and evidently elated. + +"Bring the stretcher, Oakham," he ordered. + +Hale brought the stretcher, placing it close to the machine. Then Sir +Basil opened a metal door and gently eased out a human body. + +It was Unani Assu, unconscious but alive and breathing. Hale, helping +the scientist to get the man on the stretcher, noticed that the crushed +legs were perfectly healed. Together they bore him to a long seat. The +Indian's eyes were still closed, but his even breathing indicated that +he was only sleeping. + +Suddenly Hale pointed a finger and cried out. "My God, Sir Basil, look +at his hands and feet!" + + * * * * * + +Unani Assu, still lying like a recumbent bronze statue sculptured by a +master, was perfect from shoulder to wrist, from thigh to ankle. But, +somewhere in that diabolical machine through which he had passed, his +hands and feet had undergone a hideous metamorphism which had +transformed them from the well-formed extremities of a splendid young +Indian into the hairy paws of a giant rat! + +Hale turned away his head, sick with disgust. + +Sir Basil cut the silence triumphantly: + +"Now he'll never again face Aña with love in his eyes!" + +"What!" broke in Hale. "Did you plan this monstrous thing?" + +"Of course! I told you I should forever cure him of his mad +infatuation." + +"But why didn't you kill him, as you killed the others? It would have +been the most merciful way." + +Sir Basil showed his teeth in his ugly smile. "A creator is never +merciful." + +A quiver passed through the Indian's body and presently, he sighed +deeply and opened his eyes. He seemed dazed, puzzled. He looked from +Hale to the scientist, and turned seeking eyes to other parts of the +laboratory. + +"Aña!" he called weakly. "Where is Aña?" + +He pulled himself a little unsteadily to his feet--to the spatulated, +hairy _rodent_ feet that had come out of the life-machine. Staggering, +he would have fallen, had he not thrown out his arm to steady himself. +Instinctively he tried to grasp something for support, and then, for the +first time, he discovered his deformity. + + * * * * * + +Hale was never to forget that expression of horror and disgust that +swept over the Indian's face as he spread open his revolting extremities +and stared at them. + +A sudden, wild roar of despair rang through the room. "Aimu! My hands!" + +The scientist smiled with evident amusement. "You are a grotesque sight, +Unani Assu. Do you want to see Aña now?" + +The fright and horror faded from the Indian's face, for now he glared +with hate into the mad, mocking eyes. + +"You did it!" the Indian ground out. "You've made me into a thing from +which Aña will run screaming." + +Through the quiet rage of the perfectly spoken English ran a thread of +sorrow. "Aimu, whom we considered too holy to name!" + +Choking, he hobbled away to the door, which he unbolted. As he passed +out into the open, Sir Basil went over to the machine and began sighting +the projector which cast forth the ray of destruction. + +"No!" cried Hale. "You've done enough murder for to-day." + +The scientist paused. "I was trying to be merciful. And then, I wonder +if it is safe to let him go, hating me? Oh, well!" He shrugged his +narrow shoulders. "I seldom leave the laboratory, and certainly nothing +can harm me here." He touched the death-projector significantly. + +Hale made a mental decision. "I must find out how the damned thing works +and put it out of commission." + + * * * * * + +With this determination uppermost in his mind, he assumed a more intense +interest in the strange laboratory. For the next two days, he assisted +Sir Basil so assiduously that he learned much about the operation of the +life-machine. And gradually he stopped being horrified as the +fascination of producing life in the laboratory grew upon him. + +After he had assisted the scientist in building living organisms from +basic elements, he ceased to cringe when he remembered that perhaps it +was true that Aña was created in the mysterious life-machine. + +Once the scientist declared, "She is untainted with inheritance. She is +the perfect mate that I called into life so that before I pass from the +flesh I may taste that one human emotion I've never experienced--love." + +That very night Hale kept a secret tryst with Aña after the village +slept. Sweet, virginal Aña, who knew less of the world than a civilized +child of twelve--what a sensation she would create in New York with her +beauty, her culture, her natural fascination! With her in his arms and +an orange tropical moon hanging low in the hot, black sky, he ceased to +care that she had no ancestors, for now his one passionate desire was to +save her from Sir Basil and to hold her forever for himself. + +He might have been content to go on like this for months, tampering with +creation in the day time, courting Aña in secret at night, had not Unani +Assu come back for revenge. + + * * * * * + +On the fourth night after Unani Assu had disappeared into the jungle, +Hale went to the _igarapé_ to meet Aña. He had gone only half the +distance when he encountered her, running frantically up the path toward +him. + +"Hale!" she gasped, falling into his opened arms, where she lay panting +and exhausted. + +Hale gently patted the long braids, shimmering in silver tangles under +the moonlight, and, crushing the soft little trembling body close, he +murmured: + +"What's the matter, darling?" + +She dug her face deeper into the bend of his arm. "Oh, Hale! I saw Unani +Assu a few minutes ago." For several moments she was unable to go on, +for sudden sobs cut off her breath. "It's terrible, Hale, what Aimu did +to his hands and feet, but what Unani's going to do to Aimu is still +more terrible." + +Hale placed his hand gently under her chin and tilted up her small, +pale, tear-drenched face. + +"Be calm, Aña, and tell me plainly." + +Still clinging to him, she went on. "He told me that Aimu is a devil, +Hale. He showed me his hands and asked me if I could ever get used to +them and be--his squaw." The round gold breastplates and the necklace of +painted seeds clinked together over her panting bosom. "I told him about +you, Hale. And then he seemed to go mad. He said he'd kill Aimu +to-night." + +"But, Aña! Why did he let you go, knowing that you would give the +alarm?" + +"He didn't let me go." Her petaled lips parted in a faint smile. "I +escaped. Unani Assu tied me to a tree by the _igarapé_. Because he +doesn't ... hate me, he could not bear to tie me too tightly." + +"Then he must be close to the laboratory now. If he breaks in upon +Aimu--oh, my God!" + +Hale remembered the death-projector. If Sir Basil were in danger of +attack, he would not hesitate to touch the waiting button that would +broadcast death throughout the world. + +He seized Aña's little hand and cried out: "Run, Aña! The only safe +place now is Aimu's laboratory. Run!" + + * * * * * + +As they dashed on madly, Hale opened wide his nostrils to scent the +heavy, flower-laden air of the jungle. Any moment all this sweet, rich +life might vanish instantly. He had a horrible vision of a world devoid +of life, a world of bare rocks, dry sand, odorless, dead waters. For it +was life that greened the landscape, roughened the stones with moss and +lichen, thickened the ocean with ooze, and turned the dry sand into +loam--life that swarmed underfoot, overhead, all around! + +And now, just as they reached the laboratory door, panting and frantic, +a hoarse shriek broke forth. Dragging Aña after him, Hale dashed +forward, conscious of two masculine voices raised in passion. + +The door to the room where the life-machine performed its vile work was +locked. Hale pounded against it and called out to Sir Basil, but only +curses and the sound of tumbling bodies came from beyond the door. +Although originally the door had been thick and strong, the destructive +forces of the tropics had pitted and rotted the wood. A few blows of +Hale's shoulder broke it down. + +Under the brilliant electric light, Sir Basil and Unani Assu were +fighting upon the blood-spattered floor. The struggle was uneven: the +scientist's emaciated body was no match for the splendid strength of the +young Indian. + +"Help Aimu!" cried Aña, pushing Hale forward. + +Aimu was being choked to death. + +Hale acted fantastically but efficiently. Catching up a bottle of +ammonia, he moistened a handkerchief and clapped it against Unani Assu's +nose. Instantly the Indian choked, released Sir Basil, and fell back, +gasping for breath. + +Hale thrust the handkerchief into his pocket. + +"Get out!" he ordered Unani Assu. "Quick!" He threatened him with the +ammonia bottle. + +But Unani Assu was not looking at the bottle. "Aimu!" he screamed, +pointing. + + * * * * * + +When Hale saw and understood, he leaped across the room to plant his +body in front of Aña; for Sir Basil was behind the life-machine, +reaching for the controls of the ray projector. + +Suddenly, from behind Hale, a silver streak shot across the room. Sir +Basil groaned and sank to the floor of the laboratory. + +A keen-bladed dissecting knife, thrown by Aña, stuck out from his left +breast. + +Aña ran forward, sobbing wildly. "Oh, Aimu! I'm sorry! I didn't mean for +it to strike you there. Only your hand, Aimu! I didn't want Hale to die, +Aimu. I didn't--oh!" + +She was on her knees by the scientist's side, his head held in her +slender arms. + +"He's breathing!" she rejoiced. "Some _masata_, Hale, quick!" + +Hale found a bottle of good brandy which he had contributed from his own +supplies. Soon Sir Basil gasped and opened his eyes. He stared about him +wildly, then gasped: + +"I'm dying, Hale Oakham! Quick, the life-machine, before my mind-electron +escapes." + +He tried to pull his body up, but fell back, weak and panting. + +Hale hesitated, looking doubtfully at Aña. + +"For God's sake, quick!" screamed Sir Basil. "I'm dying, I say! I must +have--rebirth. Lift me to the disintegrator. Hurry!..." His voice +trailed off faintly. + +"He is dying," snapped Hale. "We might as well try it." He jerked open +the door to the disintegrator. "Here, Unani Assu! Lend a hand!" + + * * * * * + +Instantly the Indian came forward, a peculiar, pleased expression on his +handsome face. In a moment, Sir Basil's body was inside, and the machine +began its weird humming, the humming that indicated the transformation +of a human body into dust. + +"Now!" cried Unani Assu exultingly, going behind the machine. "I have +helped him enough to understand that if one changes this--and this--and +this"--he made some rapid adjustments on the machine--"something that is +not pleasant will happen." + +"Stop!" cried Hale. "What did you change?" + +The Indian laughed mockingly. "Wouldn't you like to know? But, yet, you +should not worry. You have no cause to love him, have you?" + +"I can't be a traitor, Unani Assu! Arrange the machine as it was +originally, and I give you my word of honor than when Sir Basil comes +out, I'll wreck the damned thing beyond repair. See, Unani Assu? You and +I together will smash it." + +The Indian folded his arms so that the repulsive things that should have +been hands were hidden. + +"It's too late now," he admitted, shaking his head. "Yet I've done no +more to him than he did to me." + +Hale went to the eye-piece in the machine and started to look inside. +Unani Assu stepped forward, tapped him on the shoulder, and, fingering +significantly the dissecting knife which he had picked up, said: + +"I am operating the machine. Will you sit over there by Aña and wait? It +won't be long. And, white stranger, remember this: I am your friend. I +am turned against none but our common enemy." He pointed significantly +to the machine. + + * * * * * + +Two hours passed, long, silent hours for the watchers in the laboratory. +Aña fell asleep, in a sweet, childish bundle upon the piled cushions, +her golden hair, still decorated with the red flowers which she always +wore, crushed and withered now. Several times Hale caught Unani Assu +gazing at her sadly, and his own look saddened when it rested on the +Indian's strong, outraged body. + +The humming of the machine changed to a whistle. Placing his fingers on +his lips in a signal of quiet, Unani Assu whispered: + +"Let Aña sleep. She mustn't see this." + +Opening a door in the machine, his handsome face lighted with a grim +smile, he whispered exultingly: + +"Watch!" + +A scuttling sound issued forth and then, half drunkenly, an enormous rat +tumbled out--one of those horrible rats with the hairless, humanlike +faces that had so frequently come from the life-machine. + +Hale could not crush back the cry that issued from his throat. + +"Where is Sir Basil?" he gasped. + +"There!" cried the Indian, pointing to the kicking rat, which was fast +gaining strength. + + * * * * * + +Hale staggered back. "No! You don't mean it, do you?" + +Unani Assu turned the rat over with a contemptuous toe. "Yes, I mean it. +Behold Aimu, the man who thought himself creator and destroyer--the man +who said that a human being was no higher than a rat! Perhaps he was +right, for see this thing that was once a man!" + +Hale buried his face in his hands. "Kill it, Unani Assu! Kill it!" + +Unani Assu's low laugh was metallic. "You kill it." + +Hale uncovered his face. "Open the disintegrator." Gingerly he reached +for the rat's tail. + +But his hand never touched the animal. The hairless face turned for a +second, and the little, beady eyes blinked up at Hale with an expression +that his fevered imagination thought almost human. Then, like a dark +shadow, the rat dashed away. Once around the room it scampered, hunting +for an exit. Hale started in pursuit. He was almost upon the animal +again, when, leaping up from his grasp, it landed on a low shelf where +chemicals were stored. Several bottles fell, filling the room with +fumes. + +Another bottle fell, and, suddenly, amid a thunderous roar, the ceiling +and walls began falling. Some highly explosive chemical had been stored +in one of the bottles. + +Hale was thrown violently against the couch. His hand touched Aña's +body. One last shred of consciousness enabled him to pick her up and +drag her out. In the open, he fell, aware, before blackness descended, +that flames leaped high over the laboratory building and that Unani Assu +lay dead within. + + * * * * * + +Hale and Aña, leaning over the deck-rail of a small steam launch, gazed +into the dark waters of the Amazon. + +"We ought to reach Para by morning," said Hale, "and then, dearest, +we're off for New York!" + +Aña, wearing one of the first civilized dresses she had ever donned, and +looking as smart as any débutante, slipped her little hand into her +husband's. + +"Isn't it a shame, Hale," she moaned, "that the fire burned all the +animals and insects, the machinery, and even your notes?" Her beautiful +face saddened. "Just one or two specimens might have been proof enough +for your What-You-Call-It Club!" + +"The Nescience Club, darling. No, I can't expect to win the Woolman +prize, but I've won a prize worth far more." He squeezed her little hand +and looked devotedly into her blue eyes. "And, Aña, I've reasoned out +something concerning mind-electrons which even Sir Basil overlooked." + +"What is it, Hale?" + +"He maintained that matter seeks always to enslave mind-electrons, but I +am convinced that mind-electrons seek to enslave matter. Understand? +It's creation, Aña! Had Sir Basil succeeded in broadcasting death +throughout the world, the freed mind-electrons, as in the beginning, +would have started again to vitalize inorganic atoms. And, in a few +million years, which is no time to the Mind, the world would be humming +with a new civilization. Large thought, eh, sweetheart?" + + + + +A SIGNAL TO THE MOON + +The idea of a radio signal to the moon may sound fantastic, but is +easily within the range of possibility, says Dr. A. Hoyt Taylor, Chief +of the Radio Division of the United States Naval Research Laboratories +at Washington, who plans such an attempt in the near future. + +"We have reason to expect a good chance of getting the signal back in a +time interval of slightly less than three seconds," said Dr. Taylor. + +To be exact, a radio signal should be reflected back to earth in a time +interval of 2.8 seconds, this being the necessary elapsed time for it to +carry the 250,000 miles to the moon and return at its speed of 300,000 +kilometers, or 186,000 miles per second. + +The signal would be very weak, Dr. Taylor points out, but not impossible +of detection with the present refinement of receiving instruments, +provided no great absorption took place in interstellar space. + +A high frequency wave will be used, as such a wave penetrates readily +the earth's atmosphere and probably goes far beyond. The frequency of +the wave will range between 20,000 and 30,000 kilocycles. Twenty +kilowats of power will be used, enough to furnish current for about +forty flatirons. + +The value of a radio signal to the moon lies in the confirmation of +whether there is or not heavy absorption of waves in the upper levels of +our own atmosphere. If successful it would indicate a reasonably good +reflection coefficient at the surface of the moon--the power of the +moon's surface to act as a joint agent in the perfection of the signal. + +The signal might have some bearing also on whether the moon has an +atmosphere--something pretty much settled already by astronomical +observation. It would also lead to the possibility of fairly accurate +determination of wave velocity in free space, all of interest to +science, either confirming existing theories or establishing new ones. + + + + +The Pirate Planet + +PART TWO OF A FOUR-PART NOVEL + +_By Charles W. Diffin_ + + It is war. Interplanetary war. And on far distant Venus two + fighting Earthlings stand up against a whole planet run amuck. + + +WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE + +A flash of light on Venus!--and at Maricopa Flying Field Lieutenant +McGuire and Captain Blake laugh at its possible meaning until the +radio's weird call and the sight of a giant ship in the night sky prove +their wildest thoughts are facts. "Big as an ocean liner," it hangs in +midair, then turns and shoots upward at incredible speed until it +disappears entirely, in space! + +McGuire goes to Mount Lawson observatory, and there he sees the flash on +Venus repeated. Professor Sykes, who had observed the first flash, +confirms it and sees still more. He sees the enveloping clouds of Venus +torn asunder, and beneath them an identifying mark, a continent shaped +like the letter "L." + +And then the great ship comes again. It hovers above the observatory and +settles slowly down. + +[Illustration: "Hold them off as long as you can!"] + +Back at Maricopa Field, Captain Blake has tested a new plane for +altitude, and is now prepared to interview the stranger in the higher +levels. McGuire's frantic phone call sends him out into the night with +the 91st Squadron of planes in support. It is their last flight, for all +but Blake. The invader smothers them in a great sphere of gas, but +Blake, with his oxygen flasks, flies through to crash beside the +observatory. Only Blake survives to see the enemy land, while strange +man-shapes loot the buildings and carry off McGuire and Sykes. + +A bombardment with giant shells dispels the last doubt of the earth +being under attack. The flashes from Venus at regular intervals spout +death and destruction upon the earth; a mammoth gun, sunk into the +planet itself, bears once upon the earth at every revolution, until the +changing position of the globes take the target out of range. + +In less than a year and a half the planets must meet again. It is war to +the death; a united world against an enemy unknown--an enemy who has +conquered space. And there is less than a year and a half in which to +prepare! + +Far out in the blackness of space McGuire and Sykes are captives in the +giant ship. Their stupor leaves them; they find themselves immersed in +clouds. The clouds part; their ship drops through; and below them is a +strange continent shaped like the letter "L." Captives of inhuman but +man-shaped things, they are landing upon a strange globe--upon the +planet Venus itself! + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Miles underneath the great ship, from which Lieutenant McGuire and +Professor Sykes were now watching through a floor-window of thick glass, +was a glittering expanse of water--a great ocean. The flickering gold +expanse that reflected back the color of the sunlit clouds passed to one +side as the ship took its station above the island, a continent in size, +that had shown by its shape like a sharply formed "L" an identifying +mark to the astronomer. + +They were high in the air; the thick clouds that surrounded this new +world were miles from its surface, and the things of the world that +awaited were tiny and blurred. + +Airships passed and repassed far below. Large, some of them--as bulky +as the transport they were on; others were small flashing cylinders, but +all went swiftly on their way. + +It must have come--some ethereal vibration to warn others from the +path--for layer after layer of craft were cleared for the descent. A +brilliant light flashed into view, a dazzling pin-point on the shore +below, and the great ship fell suddenly beneath them. Swiftly it dropped +down the pathway of light; on even keel it fell down and still down, +till McGuire, despite his experience in the air, was sick and giddy. + +The light blinked out at their approach. It was some minutes before the +watching eyes recovered from the brilliance to see what mysteries might +await, and then the surface was close and the range of vision small. + +A vast open space--a great court paved with blocks of black and white--a +landing field, perhaps, for about it in regular spacing other huge +cylinders were moored. Directly beneath in a clear space was a giant +cradle of curved arms; it was a mammoth structure, and the men knew at a +glance that this was the bed where their great ship would lie. + + * * * * * + +The smooth pavement seemed slowly rising to meet them as their ship +settled close. Now the cradle was below, its arms curved and waiting. +The ship entered their grasp, and the arms widened, then closed to draw +the monster to its rest. Their motion ceased. They were finally, beyond +the last faint doubt, at anchor on a distant world. + +A shrill cackle of sound recalled them from the thrill of this +adventure, and the attenuated and lanky figure, with its ashen, +blotchy face that glared at them from the doorway, reminded them that +this excursion into space was none of their desire. They were +prisoners--captives from a foreign land. + +A long hand moved its sinuous fingers to motion them to follow, and +McGuire regarded his companion with a hopeless look and a despondent +shrug of his shoulders. + +"No use putting up a fight," he said; "I guess we'd better be good." + +He followed where the figure was stepping through a doorway into a +corridor beyond. They moved, silent and depressed, along the dimly +lighted way; the touch of cold metal walls was as chilling to their +spirits as to their flesh. + +But the mood could not last: the first ray of light from the outside +world sent shivers of anticipation along their spines. They were +landing, in very fact, upon a new world; their feet were to walk where +never man had stood; their eyes would see what mortal eyes had never +visioned. + +Fears were forgotten, and the men clung to each other not for the human +touch but because of an ecstasy of intoxicating, soul-filling joy in the +sheer thrill of adventure. + +They were gripping each other's hand, round-eyed as a couple of +children, as they stepped forward into the light. + + * * * * * + +Before them was a scene whose blazing beauty of color struck them to +frozen silence; their exclamations of wonder died unspoken on their +lips. They were in a city of the stars, and to their eyes it seemed as +if all the brilliance of the heavens had been gathered for its +building. + +The spacious, open court itself stood high in the air among the masses +of masonry, and beyond were countless structures. Some towered skyward; +others were lower; and all were topped with bulbous towers and graceful +minarets that made a forest of gleaming opal light. Opalescence +everywhere!--it flashed in red and gold and delicate blues from every +wall and cornice and roof. + +"Quartz?" marveled Sykes after one long drawn breath. "Quartz or +glass?--what are they made of? It is fairyland!" + +A jewelled city! Garish, it might have been, and tawdry, in the full +light of the sun. But on these weirdly unreal structures the sun's rays +never shone; they were illumined only by the soft golden glow that +diffused across this world from the cloud masses far above. + +McGuire looked up at that uniform, glowing, golden mass that paled +toward the horizon and faded to the gray of banked clouds. His eyes came +slowly back to the ramp that led downward to the checkered black and +white of the court. Beyond an open portion the pavement was solidly +massed with people. + +"People!--we might as well call them that," McGuire had told Sykes; +"they are people of a sort, I suppose. We'll have to give them credit +for brains: they've beaten us a hundred years in their inventions." + +He was trying to see everything, understand everything, at once. There +was not time to single out the new impressions that were crowding upon +him. The air--it was warm to the point of discomfort; it explained the +loose, light garments of the people; it came to the two men laden with +strange scents and stranger sounds. + +McGuire's eyes held with hungry curiosity upon the dwellers in this +other world; he stared at the gaping throng from which came a bedlam of +shrill cries. Lean colorless hands gesticulated wildly and pointed with +long fingers at the two men. + + * * * * * + +The din ceased abruptly at a sharp, whistled order from their captor. He +stood aside with a guard that had followed from the ship, and he +motioned the two before him down the gangway. It was the same scarlet +one who had faced them before, the one whom McGuire had attacked in a +frenzy of furious fighting, only to go down to blackness and defeat +before the slim cylinder of steel and its hissing gas. And the slanting +eyes stared wickedly in cold triumph as he ordered them to go before +him in his march of victory. + +McGuire passed down toward the masses of color that were the ones who +waited. There were many in the dull red of the ship's crew; others in +sky-blue, in gold and pink and combinations of brilliance that blended +their loose garments to kaleidoscopic hues. But the figures were similar +in one unvarying respect: they were repulsive and ghastly, and their +faces showed bright blotches of blood vessels and blue markings of veins +through their parchment-gray skins. + +The crowd parted to a narrow, living lane, and lean fingers clutched +writhingly to touch them as they passed between the solid ranks. + +McGuire had only a vague impression of a great building beyond, of lower +stories decorated in barbaric colors, of towers above in strange forms +of the crystal, colorful beauty they had seen. He walked toward it +unseeing; his thoughts were only of the creatures round about. + +"What damned beasts!" he said. Then, like his companion, he set his +teeth to restrain all show of feeling as they made their way through the +lane of incredible living things. + + * * * * * + +They followed their captor through a doorway into an empty room--empty +save for one blue-clad individual who stood beside an instrument board +let into the wall. Beyond was a long wall, where circular openings +yawned huge and black. + +The one at the instrument panel received a curt order: the weird voice +of the man in red repeated a word that stood out above his curious, +wordless tone. "Torg," he said, and again McGuire heard him repeat the +syllable. + +The operator touched here and there among his instruments, and tiny +lights flashed; he threw a switch, and from one of the black openings +like a deep cave came a rushing roar of sound. It dropped to silence as +the end of a cylindrical car protruded into the room. A door in the +metal car opened, and their guard hustled them roughly inside. The one +in red followed while behind him the door clanged shut. + +Inside the car was light, a diffused radiance from no apparent source, +the whole air was glowing about them. And beneath their feet the car +moved slowly but with a constant acceleration that built up to +tremendous speed. Then that slackened, and Sykes and McGuire clung to +each other for support while the car that had been shot like a +projectile came to rest. + +"Whew!" breathed the lieutenant; "that was quick delivery." Sykes made +no reply, and McGuire, too, fell silent to study the tremendous room +into which they were led. Here, seemingly, was the stage for their next +experience. + +A vast open hall with a floor of glass that was like obsidion, empty but +for carved benches about the walls; there was room here for a mighty +concourse of people. The walls, like those they had seen, were decorated +crudely in glaring colors, and embellished with grotesque designs that +proclaimed loudly the inexpert touch of the draughtsman. Yet, above +them, the ceiling sprang lightly into vaulted, sweeping curves. +McGuire's training had held little of architecture, yet even he felt the +beauty of line and airy gracefulness of treatment in the structure +itself. + + * * * * * + +The contrast between the flaunting colors and the finished artistry that +lay beneath must have struck a discordant note to the scientist. He +leaned closer to whisper. + +"It is all wrong some way--the whole world! Beauty and refinement--then +crude vulgarity, as incongruous as the people themselves--they do not +belong here." + +"Neither do we," was McGuire's reply; "it looks like a tough spot that +we're in." + +He was watching toward a high, arched entrance across the room. A +platform before it was raised some six feet above the floor, and on +this were seats--ornate chairs, done in sweeping scrolls of scarlet and +gold. A massive seat in the center was like the fantastic throne of a +child's fairy tale. From the corridor beyond that entrance came a stir +and rustling that rivetted the man's attention. + +A trumpet peal, vibrant and peculiar, blared forth from the ceiling +overhead, and the red figures of the guards stood at rigid attention +with lean arms held stiffly before them. The one in scarlet took the +same attitude, then dropped his hands to motion the two men to give the +same salute. + +"You go to hell," said Lieutenant McGuire in his gentlest tones. And the +scarlet figure's thin lips were snarling as he turned to whip his arms +up to their position. The first of a procession of figures was entering +through the arch. + +Sykes, the scientist, was paying little attention. "It isn't true," he +was muttering aloud; "it can't be true. Venus! Twenty-six million miles +at inferior conjunction!" + +He seemed lost in silent communion with his own thoughts; then: "But +I said there was every probability of life; I pointed out the +similarities--" + +"Hush!" warned McGuire. The eyes of the scarlet man were sending wicked +looks in their direction. Tall forms were advancing through the arch. +They, too, were robed in scarlet, and behind them others followed. + + * * * * * + +The trumpet peal from the dome above held now on a long-drawn, single +note, while the scarlet men strode in silence across the dais and parted +to form two lines. An inverted "V" that faced the entrance--they were an +assembly of rigid, blazing statues whose arms were extended like those +on the floor below. + +The vibrant tone from on high changed to a crashing blare that shrieked +discordantly to send quivering protest through every nerve of the +waiting men. Those about them were shouting, and again the name of Torg +was heard, as, in the high arch, another character appeared to play his +part in a strange drama. + +Thin like his companions, yet even taller than them, he wore the same +brilliant robes and, an additional mark of distinction, a head-dress of +polished gold. He acknowledged the salute with a quick raising of his +own arms, then came swiftly forward and took his place upon the massive +throne. + +Not till he was seated did the others on the platform relax their rigid +pose and seat themselves in the semicircle of chairs. And not till then +did they so much as glance at the men waiting there before them--the two +Earth-men, standing in silent, impassive contemplation of the brilliant +scene and with their arms held quiet at their sides. Then every eye +turned full upon the captives, and if McGuire had seen deadly +malevolence in the face of their captor he found it a hundred-fold in +the inhuman faces that looked down upon them now. + +The inquiring mind of Professor Sykes did not fail to note the +character of their reception. "But why," he asked in whispers of his +fellow-prisoner, "--why this open hatred of us? What possible animus +can they have against the earth or its people?" + +The figure on the throne voiced a curt order; the one who had brought +them stepped forward. His voice was raised in the same discordant, +singing tone that leaped and wandered from note to note. It conveyed +ideas--that was apparent; it was a language that he spoke. And the +central figure above nodded a brief assent as he finished. + +Their captor took an arm of each in his long fingers and pushed them +roughly forward to stand alone before the battery of hard eyes. + + * * * * * + +Now the crowned figure addressed them directly. His voice quavered +sharply in what seemed an interrogation. The men looked blankly at each +other. + +Again the voice questioned them impatiently. Sykes and McGuire were +silent. Then the young flyer took an involuntary step forward and looked +squarely at the owner of the harsh voice. + +"We don't know what you are saying," he began, "and I suppose that our +lingo makes no sense to you--" He paused in helpless wonderment as to +what he could say. Then-- + +"But what the devil is it all about?" he demanded explosively. "Why all +the dirty looks? You've got us here as prisoners--now what do you expect +us to do? Whatever it is, you'll have to quit singing it and talk +something we can understand." + +He knew his words were useless, but this reception was getting on his +nerves--and his arm still tingled where the scarlet one had gripped +him. + +It seemed, though, that his meaning was not entirely lost. His words +meant nothing to them, but his tone must have carried its own message. +There were sharp exclamations from the seated circle. The one who had +brought them sprang forward with outstretched, clutching hands; his face +was a blood-red blotch. McGuire was waiting in crouching tenseness that +made the red one pause. + +"You touch me again," said the waiting man, "and I'll knock you into an +outside loop." + +The attacker's indecision was ended by a loud order from above. McGuire +turned as if he had been spoken to by the leader on the throne. The thin +figure was leaning far forward; his eye were boring into those of the +lieutenant, and he held the motionless pose for many minutes. To the +angry man, staring back and upward, there came a peculiar optical +illusion. + +The evil face was vanishing in a shifting cloud that dissolved and +reformed, as he watched, into pictures. He knew it was not there, the +thing he saw; he knew he was regarding something as intangible as +thought; but he got the significance of every detail. + +He saw himself and Professor Sykes; they were being crushed like ants +beneath a tremendous heel; he knew that the foot that could grind out +their lives was that of the one on the throne. + + * * * * * + +The cloud-stuff melted to new forms that grew clearer to show him the +earth. A distorted Earth--and he knew the distortion came from the mind +of the being before him who had never seen the earth at first hand; yet +he knew it for his own world. It was turning in space; he saw oceans and +continents; and before his mental gaze he saw the land swarming with +these creatures of Venus. The one before him was in command; he was +seated on an enormous throne; there were Earth people like Sykes and +himself who crept humbly before him, while fleets of great Venusian +ships hovered overhead. + +The message was plain--plain as if written in words of fire in the brain +of the man. McGuire knew that these creatures intended that the vision +should be true--they meant to conquer the earth. The slim, khaki-clad +figure of Lieutenant McGuire quivered with the strength of his refusal +to accept the truth of what he saw. He shook his head to clear it of +these thought wraiths. + +"Not--in--a--million--years!" he said, and he put behind his words all +the mental force at his command. "Try that, old top, and they'll give +you the fight of your life--" He checked his words as he saw plainly +that the thin cruel face that stared and stared was getting nothing from +his reply. + +"Now what do you think about that?" he demanded of Professor Sykes. "He +got an idea across to me--some form of telepathy. I saw his mind, or I +saw what he wanted me to see of it. It's taps, he says, for us, and then +they think they're going across and annex the world." + +He glanced upward again and laughed loudly for the benefit of those who +were watching him so closely. "Fine chance!" he said; "a fat chance!" +But in the deeper recesses of his mind he was shaken. + +For themselves there was no hope. Well, that was all in a lifetime. But +the other--the conquest of the earth--he had to try with all his power +of will to keep from his mind the pictures of destruction these beastly +things could bring about. + + * * * * * + +The chief of this strange council made a gesture of contempt with the +grotesque hands that were so translucent yet ashy-pale against his +scarlet robe, and the down-drawn thin lips reflected the thoughts that +prompted it. The open opposition of Lieutenant McGuire failed to impress +him, it seemed. At a word the one who had brought them sprang forward. + +He addressed himself to the circle of men, and he harangued them +mightily in harsh discordance. He pointed one lean hand at the two +captives, then beat it upon his own chest. "They are mine," he was +saying, as the men knew plainly. And they realized as if the weird talk +came like words to their ears that this monster was demanding that the +captives be given him. + +An exchange of dismayed glances, and "Not so good!" said McGuire under +his breath; "Simon Legree is asking for his slaves. Mean, ugly devil, +that boy!" + +The lean figures on the platform were bending forward, an expression of +mirth--distorted, animal smiles--upon their flabby lips. They +represented to the humans, so helpless before them, a race of thinking +things in whom no last vestige of kindness or decency remained. But was +there an exception? One of the circle was standing; the one beside them +was sullenly silent as the other on the platform addressed their ruler. + +He spoke at some length, not with the fire and vehemence of the one who +had claimed them, but more quietly and dispassionately, and his cold +eyes, when they rested on those of McGuire and Sykes, seemed more +crafty than actively ablaze with malevolent ill-will. Plainly it was the +councilor now, addressing his superior. His inhuman voice was silenced +by a reply from the one on the throne. + +He motioned--this gold-crowned figure of personified evil--toward the +two men, and his hand swept on toward the one who had spoken. He intoned +a command in harsh gutturals that ended in a sibilant shriek. And the +two standing silent and hopeless exchanged looks of despair. + +They were being delivered to this other--that much was plain--but that +it boded anything but captivity and torment they could not believe. That +last phrase was too eloquent of hissing hate. + + * * * * * + +The creature rose, tall and ungainly, from his throne; amid the +salutations of his followers he turned and vanished through the arch. +The others of his council followed, all but the one. He motioned to the +two men to come with him, and the sullen one who had demanded the men +for himself obeyed an order from this councilor who was his superior. + +He snapped an order, and four of his men ranged themselves about the +captives as a guard. Thin metal cords were whipped about the wrists of +each; their hands were tied. The wire cut like a knife-edge if they +strained against it. + +The new director of their destinies was vanishing through an exit at one +side of the great hall; their guard hustled them after. A corridor +opened before them to end in a gold-lit portal; it was daylight out +beyond where a street was filled with hurrying figures in many colors. +With quavering shrieks they scattered like frightened fowls as an +airship descended between the tall buildings that reflected its passing +in opalescent hues. + +It was a small craft compared with the one that had brought them, and +it swept down to settle lightly upon the street with no least regard +for those who might be crushed by its descent. Consideration for their +fellows did not appear as a marked characteristic of this strange +people, McGuire observed thoughtfully. They swarmed in endless droves, +these multicolored beings who made of the thoroughfare an ever-changing +kaleidoscope--and what was a life or two, more or less, among so many? +He found no comfort for themselves in the thought. + +Shoulder to shoulder, the two followed where the scarlet figure of the +councilor moved toward the waiting ship. Only the professor paid further +heed to their surroundings; he marveled aloud at the numbers of the +people. + +"Hundreds of them," he said; "thousands! They are swarming everywhere +like rats. Horrible!" His eyes passed on to the buildings in their glory +of delicate hues, as he added, "And the contrast they make with their +surroundings! It is all wrong some way; I wish I knew--" + +They were in the ship when McGuire replied. "I hope we live long enough +to satisfy your curiosity," he said grimly. + +The ship was rising beneath them; the opal and quartz of the city's +walls were flashing swiftly down. + + +CHAPTER IX + +They were in a cabin at the very nose of the ship, seated on metal +chairs, their hands unshackled and free. Their scarlet guardian reclined +at ease somewhat to one side, but despite his apparent disregard his +cold eyes seldom left the faces of the two men. + +Windows closed them in; windows on each side, in front, above them, and +even in the floor beneath. It was a room for observation whose +metal-latticed walls served only as a framework for the glass. And there +was much to be observed. + +The golden radiance of sunlit clouds was warm above. They rose toward +it, until, high over the buildings' tallest spires, there spread on +every hand the bewildering beauty of that forest of minarets and sloping +roofs and towers, whose many facets made glorious blendings of soft +color. Aircraft at many levels swept in uniform directions throughout +the sky. The ship they were in hung quiet for a time, then rose to a +higher level to join the current of transportation that flowed into the +south. + +"We will call it south," said Professor Sykes. "The sun-glow, you will +observe, is not directly overhead; the sun is sinking; it is past their +noon. What is the length of their day? Ah, this interesting--interesting!" +The certain fate they had foreseen was forgotten; it is not often given to +an astronomer to check at first hand his own indefinite observations. + +"Look!" McGuire exclaimed. "Open country! The city is ending!" + + * * * * * + +Ahead and below them the buildings were smaller and scattered. Their new +master was watching with closest scrutiny the excitement of the men; he +whispered an order into a nearby tube, and the ship slowly slanted +toward the ground. He was studying these new specimens, as McGuire +observed, but the lieutenant paid little attention; his eyes were too +thoroughly occupied in resolving into recognizable units the picture +that flowed past them so quickly. He was accustomed, this pilot of the +army air service, to reading clearly the map that spreads beneath a +plane, but now he was looking at an unfamiliar chart. + +"Fields," he said, and pointed to squared areas of pale reds and blues; +"though what it is, heaven knows. And the trees!--if that's what they +are." The ship went downward where an area of tropical denseness made a +tangled mass of color and shadow. + +"Trees!" Lieutenant McGuire had exclaimed, but these forests were of +tree-forms in weirdest shapes and hues. They grew to towering heights, +and their branches and leaves that swayed and dipped in the slow-moving +air were of delicate pastel shades. + +"No sunlight," said the Professor excitedly; "they have no direct rays +of the sun. The clouds act as a screen and filter out actinic rays." + +McGuire did not reply. He was watching the countless dots of color that +were people--people who swarmed here as they had in the city; people +working at these great groves, crouching lower in the fields as the ship +swept close; people everywhere in teeming thousands. And like the +vegetation about them, they, too, were tall and thin, attenuated of form +and with skin like blood-stained ash. + +"They need the sun," Sykes was repeating; "both vegetable and animal +life. The plants are deficient in chlorophyl--see the pale green of the +leaves!--and the people need vitamins. Yet they evidently have electric +power in abundance. I could tell them of lamps--" + + * * * * * + +His comments ceased as McGuire lurched heavily against him. The flyer +had taken note of the tense, attentive attitude of the one in scarlet; +the man was leaning forward, his eyes focused directly upon the +scientist's face; he seemed absorbing both words and emotions. + +How much could he comprehend? What power had he to vision the +idea-pictures in the other's mind? McGuire could not know. But "Sorry!" +he told Sykes; "that was clumsy of me." And he added in a whisper, "Keep +your thoughts to yourself; I think this bird is getting them." + +Buildings flashed under them, not massed solidly as in the city, yet +spaced close to one another as if every foot of ground not devoted to +their incredible agriculture were needed to house the inhabitants. The +ground about them was alive with an equally incredible humanity that +swarmed over all this world in appalling profusion. + +Their horrid flesh! Their hideous features! And their number! McGuire +had a sudden, sickening thought. They were larvae, these crawling +hordes--vile worm-things that infested a beautiful world--that bred here +in millions, their numbers limited only by the space for their bodies +and the food for their stomachs. And he, McGuire, a _man_--he and this +other man with his clear-thinking scientific brain were prisoners to +this horde; captives, to be used or butchered by those vile, crawling +things! + +And again it was this world of contrast that drove home the conviction +with its sickening certainty. A world of beauty, of delicate colors, of +sweeping oceans and gleaming shores and towering cities with their grace +and beauty and elfin splendor yet a world that shuddered beneath this +devouring plague of grublike men. + + * * * * * + +They swept past cities and towns and over many miles of open land before +their craft swung eastward toward the dark horizon. The master gave +another order into the speaking tube and their ship shot forward, faster +and yet faster, with a speed that pressed them heavily into their seats. +Behind them was the glory of the sunlit clouds; ahead the gloomy +gray-black masses that must make a stygian night sky over this lonely +world--a world cut off by that vaporous shell from all communion with +the stars. + +They were over the water; before them a dark ocean reached out in +forbidding emptiness to a darker horizon. Ahead, the only broken line in +the vast level expanse was a mountain rising abruptly from the sea. It +was a volcanic cone surmounting an island; the sunlight's glow reflected +from behind them against the sombre mass that lifted toward the clouds. +Their ship was high enough to clear it, but instead it swung, as McGuire +watched, toward the south. + +The island drifted past, and again they were on their course. But to +the flyer there were significant facts that could not pass unobserved. +Their own ship had swung in a great circle to avoid this mountain. And +all through the skies were others that did the same. The air above and +about the grim sentinel peak was devoid of flying shapes. + +McGuire caught the eyes of the councilor, their keeper. "What is that?" +he asked, though he knew the words were lost on the other. He nodded his +head toward the distant peak, and his question was plainly in regard to +the island. And for the first time since their coming to this wild +world, he saw, flashing across the features of one of these men, a trace +of emotion that could only be construed as fear. + +The slitted cat eyes lost their look of complacent superiority. They +widened involuntarily, and the face was drained of its blotched color. +There was fear, terror unmistakable, though it showed for but an +instant. He had control of his features almost at once, but the flyer +had read their story. + +Here was something that gave pause to this race of conquering vermin; a +place in the expanse of this vast sea that brought panic to their +hearts. And there came to him, as he stowed the remembrance away in his +mind, the first glow of hope. These things could fear a mountain; it +might be that they could be brought to fear a man. + + * * * * * + +The sky was clearing rapidly of traffic and the mountain of his +speculations was lost astern, when another island came slanting swiftly +up to meet them as their ship swept down from the heights. It was a tiny +speck in the ocean's expanse, a speck that resolved itself into the +squared fields of colored growth, orchards whose brilliant, strange +fruits glowed crimson in the last light of day, and enormous trees, +beyond which appeared a house. + +A palace, McGuire concluded, when he saw clearly the many-storied pile. +Like the buildings they had seen, this also constructed of opalescent +quartz. There were windows that glowed warmly in the dusk. A sudden wave +of loneliness, almost unbearable, swept over the man. + +Windows and gleaming lights, the good sounds of Earth; home!... And his +ears, as he stepped out into the cool air, were assailed with the +strange cackle and calling of weird folk; the air brought him scents, +from the open ground beyond, of fruits and vegetation like none he had +ever known; and the earth, the homeland of his vain imaginings, was +millions of empty miles away.... + +The leader stopped, and McGuire looked dispiritedly at the unfamiliar +landscape under dusky lowering skies. Trees towered high in the +air--trees grotesque and weird by all Earth standards--whose limbs were +pale green shadows in the last light of day. The foliage, too, seemed +bleached and drained of color, but among the leaves were flashes of +brilliance where night-blooming flowers burst open like star-shells to +fill the air with heavy scents. + +Between the men and the forest growth was a row of denser vegetation, +great ferns twenty feet and more in height, and among them at regular +intervals stood plants of another growth--each a tremendous pod held in +air on a thick stalk. Tendrils coiled themselves like giant springs +beside each pod, tendrils as thick as a man's wrist. The great pods were +ranged in a line that extended as far as McGuire could see in the dim +light. + + * * * * * + +His shoulders drooped as the guard herded him and his companion toward +the building beyond. He must not be cast down--he would not! Who knew +how much of such feeling was read by these keen-eyed observers? And the +only thought with which he could fill his mind, the one forlorn ghost of +a hope that he could cling to, was that of an island, a volcanic peak +that rose from dark waters to point upward toward the heights. + +The guard of four was clustered about; the figures were waiting now in +the gathering dark--waiting, while the one in scarlet listened and spoke +alternately into a jeweled instrument that hung by a slender chain about +his neck. He raised one lean hand to motion the stirring guards to +silence, listened again intently into the instrument, then pointed that +hand toward the cloud-filled sky, while he craned his thin neck to look +above him. + +The men's eyes followed the pointing hand to see only the sullen black +of unlit clouds. The last distant aircraft had vanished from the skies; +not a ship was in the air--only the enveloping blanket of high-flung +vapor that blocked out all traces of the heavens. And then!-- + +The cloud banks high in the skies flashed suddenly to dazzling, rolling +flame. The ground under their feet was shaken as by a distant +earthquake, while, above, the terrible fire spread, a swift, flashing +conflagration that ate up the masses of clouds. + +"What in thunder--" McGuire began; then stopped as he caught, in the +light from above, the reflection of fierce exultation in the eyes of the +scarlet one. The evil, gloating message of those eyes needed no words to +explain its meaning. That this cataclysm was self-made by these beings, +McGuire knew, and he knew that in some way it meant menace to him and +his. + +Yet he groped in thought for some definite meaning. No menace could this +be to himself personally, for he and Sykes stood there safe in the +company of the councilor himself. Then the threat of this flaming blast +must be directed toward the earth! + + * * * * * + +The fire vanished, and once more, as Professor Sykes had seen on that +night so long ago, the blanket of clouds was broken. McGuire followed +the gaze of the scientist whose keen eyes were probing in these brief +moments into the depths of star-lit space. + +"There--there!" Sykes exclaimed in awe-struck tones. His hand was +pointing outward through the space where flames had cleared the sky. A +star was shining in the heavens with a glory that surpassed all others. +It outshone all neighboring stars, and it sent its light down through +the vast empty reaches of space, a silent message to two humans, +despondent and heartsick, who stared with aching eyes. + +Lieutenant McGuire did not hear his friend's whispered words. No need to +name that distant world--it was Earth! Earth!... And it was calling to +its own.... + +There was a flying-field--so plain before his mental eyes; men in khaki +and leather who moved and talked and spoke of familiar things ... and +the thunder of motors ... and roaring planes.... + +Some far recess within his deeper self responded strangely. What now of +threats and these brute-things that threatened?--he was one with this +picture he had visioned. He was himself; he was a man of that distant +world of men; they would show these vile things how men could meet +menace--or death.... His shoulders were back and unconsciously he stood +erect. + +The scarlet figure was close beside them in the dusk, his voice vibrant +with a quality which should have struck fear to his captives' hearts as +he ordered them on. But the look in his crafty eyes changed to one of +puzzled wonder at sight of the men. + +Hands on each other's shoulders, they stood there in the gathering dark, +where grotesque trees arched twistingly overhead. Their moment of +depression had passed; Earth had called, and they had heard it, each +after his own fashion. But to each the call had been one of clear +courage. No longer cast off and forlorn, they were one with their own +world. + +"Down," said Professor Sykes with a whimsical smile; "down, but not +out!" And the lieutenant responded in kind. + +"Are we down-hearted?" he demanded loudly. And the two turned as one man +to grin at the scarlet one as they thundered. "N-o-o!" + + +CHAPTER X + +Two men grinned in derision at the horrible, man-shaped thing that held +their destinies in his lean, inhuman hands!--but they turned abruptly +away to look again above them where that bright star still shone through +an opening in the clouds. + +"The earth! Home!" It seemed as if they could never tear their eyes away +from the sight. + +Their captor whistled an order, and the guard of four tugged vainly at +the two, who resisted that they might gaze upon their own world until +the closing clouds should blot it from sight. A cry from one of the red +guards roused them. + +The dark was closing in fast, and their surroundings were dim. Vaguely, +McGuire felt more than saw one of the red figures whirled into the air. +He sensed a movement in the jungle darkness where were groves of weird +trees and the tangle of huge vegetable growths. What it was he could not +say, but he felt the guard who clutched at him quiver in terror. + +Their leader snatched at the instrument that hung about his neck and put +it to his lips; he whistled an order, sharp and shrill. Blazing light +that seemed to flame in the air was the response; the air was aglow with +an all-pervading brilliance like that in the car that had whirled them +from the landing field. The light was everywhere, and the building +before them was surrounded by a dazzling envelope of luminosity. + +Whatever of motion or menace there had been ceased abruptly. Their +guard, three now in number instead of four, seized them roughly and +hustled them toward an open door. No time, as they passed, for more than +fleeting impressions: a hall of warm, glowing light--a passage that +branched off--and, at the end, a room into which they were thrown, while +a metal door clanged behind them. + + * * * * * + +These were no gentle hands that hurled the men staggering through the +doorway, and Professor Sykes fell headlong upon the glassy floor. He +sprang to his feet, his face aflame with anger. "The miserable beasts!" +he shouted. + +"Take it easy," admonished the flyer. "We're in the hoose-gow; no use of +getting all fussed up if they don't behave like perfect gentlemen. + +"There's a bunk in the corner," he said, and pointed to a woven hammock +that was covered with soft cloths; "and here's another that I can sling. +Twin beds! What more do you want?" + +He opened a door and the splash of falling water came to them. A +fountain cascaded to the ceiling to fall splashing upon a floor of +inlaid, glassy tile. McGuire whistled. + +"Room and bath," he said. "And you complained of the service!" + +"I have an idea," he told the scientist, "that our scarlet friend who +owns this place intends to treat us decently, even though his helpers +are a bit rough. My hunch is that he wants to get some information out +of us. That old bird back there in the council chamber told me as plain +as day that they think they are going to conquer the earth. Maybe that's +why we are here--as exhibits A and B, for them to study and learn how to +lick us." + +"You are talking what I would have termed nonsense a month ago," +replied Sykes, "but now--well, I am afraid you are right. And," he said +slowly, "I fear that they are equally correct. They have conquered +space; they have ships propelled by some unknown power; they have gas +weapons, as you and I have reason to know. And they have all the +beastly ferocity to carry such a plan through to success. But I wonder +what that sky-splitting blast meant." + +"Bombardment," the flyer told him; "bombardment of the earth as sure as +you're alive." + +"More nonsense," said Sykes; "and probably correct.... Well, what are we +to do?--sit tight and give them as little information as we can? or--" +His question ended unfinished; the alternative, it seemed, was not plain +to him. + +"There's only one answer," said McGuire. "We must get away; escape +somehow." + + * * * * * + +Professor Sykes' eyes showed his appreciation of a spirit that could +still dare to hope, but he asked dejectedly: "Escape? Good idea. But +where to?" + +"I have an idea," the flyer said slowly. "An idea about an island." He +told the professor what he had observed--the fact that there was one +spot of land on this globe from which the traffic of these monsters of +Venus steered clear. This, he explained, must have some significance. + +"Whatever is there, God only knows," he admitted, "but it is something +these devils don't like a little bit. It might be interesting to learn +more. We'll make a break for it; find a boat. No, we probably can't do +it, but we can make a try. Now what is our first step, I wonder." + +"Our first step," said Professor Sykes, measuring his words as if he +might be working out some astronomical calculation, "is into the +inverted shower-bath, if you feel as hot as I do. And our next step, +when all is quiet for the night, is through the window I see beyond. I +can see the branches of one of those undernourished trees from here." + +"Last one in is a lop-eared Venusian!" said McGuire, throwing off his +jacket. And in that strange room in a strange world, under the shadow of +death and of tortures unknown, the two men stripped with all the +care-free abandon of a couple of schoolboys racing to be first in the +old swimming hole. + + * * * * * + +It was some time later when the door opened and a long red hand pushed a +tray of food into the room. The tray was of unbreakable crystal--he +rattled it heedlessly upon the floor--and it held crystal dishes of +unknown foods. + +They were sampling them all when Sykes remarked plaintively, "I would +like to know what under heaven I am eating." + +"I've wished to know that in lots of restaurants," McGuire replied. "I +remember a place down on--" He stopped abruptly, then chewed in silence +upon a fruit like a striped pepper that stung his mouth and tongue while +he scarcely felt it. References to Earth things plainly were to be +avoided: the visions they brought before one's eyes were unnerving. + +They made a pretence of sleeping in case they were being observed, and +it was some hours later when the two stood quietly beside the open +window. As Sykes had seen, there were branches of a pale, twisted +tree-growth close outside. McGuire tried his weight upon them, then +swung himself out, hand over hand, upon the branch that bent low beneath +him. Sykes was close behind when he clambered to the ground to stand for +some minutes, listening silently in the dark. + +"Too easy!" the lieutenant whispered. "They are too foxy to leave +a gateway like that--but here we are. The shore is off in this +direction." + +The dark of a night unrelieved by a single star was about them as they +moved noiselessly away. They followed open ground at first. The building +that had been their brief prison was upon their right; beyond and at the +left was where the ship landed--it was gone now--and beyond that the +wall of vegetation. + +And again, in the dark, McGuire had an uncanny sense of motion. Soft +bodies were slipping quietly one upon another; something that lived was +there beyond them in the night. No sound or sign of life came from the +house; no guard had been posted; and McGuire stopped again, before +plunging into the tangled growth, to whisper, "Too easy, Sykes! There's +something about this--" + + * * * * * + +He had pushed aside the fronds of a giant fern; a cautious step +beyond his hands touched a slippery, pliant vine. And his whisper +ended as he felt the thing turn and twist beneath his hand. It was +alive!--writhing!--cold as the body of a monster snake, and just as +vicious and savage in the way that it whipped down and about him in +the gloom of the starless night. + +The thing was alive! It threw its coils around his body in an embrace +that left him breathless; a slender tendril was tightening about his +neck; his hands and arms were bound. + +His ankle was grasped as he was whirled aloft--a human hand that gripped +him this time--and Sykes, forgetting discretion and the need for +silence, was shouting in the darkness that gave no clue to their +opponent. "Hang on!" he yelled. "I've got you, Mac!" + +His shouts were cut short by another serpent shape that thrashed him and +smashed the softer growing things to earth that it might wrap this man, +too, in its deadly coils. + +McGuire felt his companion's hold loosen as he was lifted from the +ground; there were other arms flailing about him--living, coiling things +that seemed to fight one with another for this prize. Abruptly, +blindingly, the scene was vividly etched before him: the strange trees, +the ferns, the writhing and darting serpent-arms! They were illumined in +a dazzling, white light! + +He was in the air, clutched strangely in constricting arms; an odor of +rotted flesh was in his nostrils, sickening, suffocating! Beyond and +almost beneath him a cauldron of green gaped open, and he saw within it +a pool of thick liquid that eddied and steamed to give off the stench +of putrescence. + +All this in an instant of vision--and in that instant he knew the death +they courted. It was a giant pod that held that pool--one of the growths +he had seen ranged out like a line of sentinels. But the terrible +tendrils that had been coiled and at rest were wrapped about him now, +drawing him to that reeking pool of death and the waiting thick lips +that would close above him. Sykes, too! The tendrils that had clutched +him were whisking his helpless body where another gaping mouth was +open-- + + * * * * * + +And then, in the blazing light that was more brilliant than any light of +day in this world, the hold about McGuire relaxed. He saw, as he fell, +the thick, green lips snap shut; and the arms that had held him pulled +back into harmless, tight-wound coils. + +Their bodies crashed to earth where a great fern bent beneath them to +cushion their fall. And the men lay silent and gasping for great choking +breaths, while from the building beyond came the cackle and shrieking of +man-things in manifest enjoyment of the frustrated plans. + +It was the laughter that determined McGuire. + +"Damn the plants!" he said between hoarse breaths. "Man-eating +plants--but they're--better--than--those devils! And there's only--one +line of them: I saw them here before. Shall we go on?--make a break for +it?" + +Sykes rolled to the shelter of an arching frond and, without a word, +went crawling away. McGuire was behind him, and the two, as they came to +open ground, sprang to their feet and ran on through the weird orchard +where tree trunks made dim, twisting lines. They ran blindly and +helplessly toward the outer dark that promised temporary shelter. + +A hopeless attempt: both men, knew the futility of it, while they +stumbled onward through the dark. Behind them the night was hideous +with noise as the great palace gave forth an eruption of shrieking, +inhuman forms that scattered with whistling and wailing calls in all +directions. + + * * * * * + +A mile or more of groping, hopeless flight, till a yellow gleam shone +among the trees to guide them. A building, beyond a clearing, gave a +bright illumination to the black night. + +"We've run in a circle," choked McGuire, his voice weak and uncertain +with exhaustion. "Like a couple of fools!--" + +He waited until the heavy breathing that shook his body might be +controlled, then corrected himself. "No--this is another--a new one--see +the towers! And listen--it's a radio station!" + +The slender frameworks that towered high in air glowed like flame--a +warning to the ships whose lights showed now and then far overhead. And, +clear and distinct, there came to the listening men the steady, +crackling hiss of an uninterrupted signal. + +Against the lighted building moving figures showed momentarily, and +McGuire pulled his friend into the safe concealment of a tangle of +growth, while the group of yelling things sped past. + +"Come on," he told Sykes; "we can't get away--not a chance! Let's have a +look at this place, and perhaps--well, I have an idea!" He slipped +silently, cautiously on, where a forest of jungle ferns gave promise of +safe passage. + + * * * * * + +Some warning had been sounded; the occupants of the building were +scattered to aid in the man-hunt. Only one was left in the room where +two Earth-men peeped in at the door. + +The figure was seated upon an insulated platform, and his long hands +manipulated keys and levers on a table before him. McGuire and Sykes +stared amazedly at this broadcasting station whose air was filled with a +pandemonium of crashing sound from some distant room, but McGuire was +concerned mainly with the motion of a lean, blood-red hand that swung +an object like a pointer in free-running sweeps above a dial on the +table. And he detected a variation in the din from beyond as the pointer +moved swiftly. + +Here was the control board for those messages he had heard; this was the +instrument that varied the sending mechanism to produce the wailing +wireless cries that made words in some far-distant ears. McGuire, as he +slipped into the room and crept within leaping distance of the grotesque +thing so like yet unlike a man, was as silent as the nameless, writhing +horror that had seized them in the dark. He sprang, and the two came +crashing to the floor. + +Lean arms came quickly about him to clutch and tear at his face, but the +flyer had an arm free, and one blow ended the battle. The man of Venus +relaxed to a huddle of purple and yellow cloth from which a ghastly face +protruded. McGuire leaped to his feet and sprang to the place where the +other had been. + +"Hold them off as long as you can!" he shouted to Sykes, and his hand +closed upon the pointer. + +Did this station send where he was hoping? Was this the station that had +communicated with the ship that had hovered above their flying field in +that far-off land? He did not know, but it was a powerful station, and +there was a chance-- + + * * * * * + +He moved the pointer frantically here and there, swung it to one side +and another; then found at last a point on the outside of the strange +design beneath his hand where the pointer could rest while the crashing +crackle of sound was stilled. + +And now he swung the pointer--upon the plate--anywhere!--and the noise +from beyond told instantly of the current's passage. He held it an +instant, then pushed it back to the silent spot--a dash! A quick return +that flashed back again to bring silence--a dot! More dashes and dots +... and McGuire thanked a kindly heaven that had permitted him to learn +the language of the air, while he cursed his slowness in sending. + +Would it reach? Would there be anyone to hear? No certainty; he could +only flash the wild Morse symbols out into the night. He must try to get +word to them--warn them! And "Blake," he called, and spelled out the +name of their field, "warning--Venus--" + +"Hold them!" he yelled to Sykes at the sound of rushing feet. "Keep them +off as long as you can!" + +"... Prepare--for invasion. Blake, this is McGuire...." Over and over, +he worked the swinging pointer into symbols that might in some way, by +some fortunate chance, help that helpless people to resist the horror +that lay ahead. + +And while heavy bodies crashed against the door that Sykes was holding, +there came from some deep-hidden well of memory an inspiration. There +was a man he had once met--a man who had confided wondrous things; and +now, with the knowledge of these others who had conquered space, he +could believe wholly what he had laughed and joked about before. That +man, too, had claimed to have travelled far from the earth; he had +invented a machine; his name-- + +The pointer was swinging in frenzied haste to spell over and over the +name of a man, and the name, too, of a forgotten place in the mountains +of Nevada. It was repeating the message; then finished in one long +crashing wail as a cloud of vapor shot about McGuire and his hand upon +the pointer went suddenly limp. + + +CHAPTER XI + +Captain Blake's game of solitaire had become an obsession. He drove +himself to the utmost in the line of duty, and, through the day, the +demands of the flying field filled his mind to forgetfulness. And for +the rest, he forced his mind to concentrate upon the turn of the cards. +He could not read--and he must not think!--so he sat through long +evenings trying vainly to forget. + +He looked up with an expressionless face as Colonel Boynton entered the +room. The colonel saw the cards and nodded. + +"Does that help?" he asked, and added without waiting for an answer, "I +don't like cards, but I find my mathematics works well.... My old +problems--I can concentrate on them, and stop this eternal, damnable +thinking, thinking--" + +There was something of the same look forming about the eyes of +both--that look that told of men who struggled gamely under the sentence +of death, refusing to think or to fear, and waiting, waiting, +impotently. Blake looked at the colonel with a carefully emotionless +gaze. "It's hell in the big towns, I hear." + +The Colonel nodded. "Can't blame them much, if that's what appeals to +them. A year and a half!--and they've got to forget it. Why not crowd +all the recklessness and excesses they can into the time that is +left?--poor devils! But for the most part the world is wagging along, +and people are going through the familiar motions." + +"Well," said Blake, "I used to wonder at times how a man might feel if +he were facing execution. Now we all know. Just going dumbly along, +feeling as little as we can, thinking of anything, everything--except +the one thing. They've turned to using dope, a lot of them, I hear. +Maybe it helps; nobody cares much. Only a year and a half." + + * * * * * + +He raised his face from which all expression was consciously erased. +"Any possible hope?" he asked. "Or do we take it when it comes and fight +with what we've got as long as we can? There was some talk in the papers +of an invention--Bureau of Standards cooperating with the big General +Committee to investigate. Anything come of it?" + +"A thousand of them," said the colonel, "all futile. No, we can't expect +much from those things. Though there's a whisper that came to me from +Washington. General Clinton--you may remember him; he was here when the +thing first broke--says that some scientist, a real one, not another of +these half-baked geniuses, has worked out a transformation of some kind. +It was too deep for me, but it is based upon changing hydrogen into +helium, I think. Liberates some perfectly tremendous amount of power. +The general had it all down pat--" + +He stopped speaking at the change in Captain Blake's face. The careful +repression of all emotions was gone; the face was suddenly alive-- + +"I know," he said sharply; "I remember something of the theory. There is +a difference in the atoms or their protons--the liberation of an +electron from each atom--matter actually transformed into energy; +theoretical, what I have read. But--but--Oh my God, Boynton, do you mean +that they've got it?--that it will drive us through space?" + + * * * * * + +The colonel drove one fist into the palm of his other hand. "Fool! +Idiot!" he exclaimed, and it was evident that the epithets were intended +for himself. + +"I had forgotten that you had been trained along that line. The general +wants a man to work with them, somewhat as a liason officer to link the +army requirements closely with their developments; we are hoping to work +out a space ship, of course. You are just the man; I will radio him this +minute. Be ready to leave--" The slamming of the door marked a hurried +exit toward the radio room. + +And abruptly, stifflingly, Captain Blake dared to hope. "Scientists will +come through with something, some new method of propulsion. All the +world is looking to them!" His thoughts were leaping from one +possibility to another. "Some miracle of power that will drive a fleet +through space as they have done, to battle with the enemy on his own +ground--" + +Could he help? Was there one little thing that he could do to apply +their knowledge to practical ends? The thought thrilled him with +overpowering emotion an hour later as he felt the lift of the plane +beneath him. + +"Report to General Clinton," the colonel's reply had said. "Captain +Blake will be assigned to special duty." He opened the throttle to his +ship's best cruising speed, but his spirit was soaring ahead to urge on +the swift scout ship whose wings drove steadily into the gathering +dusk. + + * * * * * + +And then, after long hours, Washington! Brief words with many men--and +discouragement! The seat of government of the United States was a city +of despondent men, weary, hopeless, but fighting. There was a look of +strain on every face; the eyes told a story of sleepless nights and +futile thinking and planning. Blake's elation was short lived. + +He was sent to New York and on into the state, where the laboratories of +a great electrical company had turned their equipment from commercial +purposes to those of war. Here, surely, one might find fuel to feed the +dying embers of hope; the new development must give greater promise than +General Clinton had intimated. + +"Nothing you can do as yet," he was told, when he had stated his +mission. "It is still experimental, but we have worked out the +transformation on a small scale, and harnessed the power." + +Captain Blake was in no mood for temporizing; he was tired with being +put off. He stared belligerently at the chief of this department. + +"Power--hell!" he said. "We've got power now. How will you apply it? How +will we use it for travelling through space?" + +The great man of science was unmoved by the outburst. "That is +poppycock," he replied; "the unscientific twaddle of the sensational +press. We are practical men here; we are working to give you men who do +the fighting better ships and better arms. But you will use them right +here on Earth." + +The calm assurance of this man who spoke with a voice of such confidence +and authority left the flyer speechless. His brain sent a chaos of +profane and violent expletives to the lips that dared not frame them. +There was no adequate reply. + + * * * * * + +Blake jammed his hat upon his head and walked blindly from the room. +Heedless of the protests of those he jostled on the street he went +raging on, but some subconscious urge directed his steps. He found +himself at the railway. There was a station, and a grilled window where +he was asking for a ticket back to Washington. And on the following +day-- + +"There is nothing I can do," he told General Clinton. "It is hopeless. I +ask to be relieved." + +"Why?" The general snapped the question at him. What kind of man was +this that Boynton had sent him? + +"They are fools," said Blake bluntly, "pompous, well-meaning fools! They +are planning better motors, more power"--he laughed harshly--"and they +think that with them we can attack ships that are independent of the +air." + +"Still," asked General Clinton coldly, "for what purpose do you wish to +be relieved? What do you intend to do?" + +"Return to the field," said Captain Blake, "to work, and put my planes +and personnel in the best possible condition; then, when the time comes, +go up and fight like hell." + +An unusual phrasing of a request when one is addressing one's commander; +but the older man threw back his shoulders, that were bending under +responsibilities too great for one man to bear, and took a long breath +that relaxed his face and seemed to bring relief. + +"You've got the right idea,"--he spoke slowly and thoughtfully--"the +right philosophy. It is all we have left--to fight like hell when the +time comes. Give my regards to Colonel Boynton; he sent me a good man +after all." + + * * * * * + +Another long flight, westward this time, and, despite the failure of his +hopes and of his errand, Blake was flying with a mind at peace. "It is +all we have left," the general had said. Well, it was good to face +facts, to admit them--and that was that! There was no use of thinking or +worrying.... He lifted the ship to a higher level and glanced at his +compass. There were clouds up ahead, and he drove still higher into the +night, until he was above them. + +And again his peace of mind was not to last. + +It was night when he swung the ship over his home port and signalled for +a landing. A flood of light swept out across the field to guide him +down. He went directly to the colonel's quarters but found him gone. + +"In the radio room, I think," an orderly told him. + +Colonel Boynton was listening intently in the silent room; he scowled +with annoyance at the disturbance of Blake's coming; then, seeing who it +was, he motioned quickly for the captain to listen in. + +"Good Lord, Blake," he told the captain in an excited whisper; "I'm glad +you're here. Another ship had been sighted; she's been all over the +earth; just scouting and mapping, probably. And there have been signals +the same as before--the same until just now. Listen!--it's talking +Morse!--it's been calling for you!" + +He thrust a head set into Blake's hands, then reached for some papers. +"Poor reception, but there's what we've got," he said. + + * * * * * + +The paper held the merest fragments of messages that the operator had +deciphered. Blake examined them curiously while he listened at the +silent receiver. + +"Maricopa"--the message, whatever it was, was meant for them, but there +were only parts of words and disjointed phrases that the man had written +down--"Venus attacking Earth ... Captain Blake ... Sykes and...." + +At the name of Sykes, Blake dropped the paper. + +"What does this mean?" he demanded. "Sykes!--why Sykes was the +astronomer who was captured with McGuire!" + +"Listen! Listen!" The colonel's voice was almost shrill with excitement. + +The night was whispering faintly the merest echo of a signal from a +station far away, but it resolved itself into broken fragments of sound +that were long and short in duration, and the fragments joined to form +letters in the Morse code. + +"See Winslow," it told them, and repeated the message: "See Winslow at +Sierra...." Some distant storm crashed and rattled for breathless +minutes. "Blake see Winslow. This is McGuire, Blake. Winslow can +help--" + +The message ended abruptly. One long, wailing note; then again the night +was voiceless ... and in the radio room at Maricopa Flying Field two men +stood speechless, unbreathing, to stare at each other with incredulous +eyes, as might men who had seen a phantom--a ghost that spoke to them +and called them by name. + +"McGuire--is--alive!" stammered Blake. "They've taken him--there!" + + * * * * * + +Colonel Boynton was considering, weighing all the possibilities, and his +voice, when he answered, had the ring of conviction. + +"That was no hoax," he agreed; "that quavering tone could never be +faked. That message was sent from the same station we heard before. Yes, +McGuire is alive--or was up to the end of that sending.... But, who the +devil is Winslow?" + +Blake shook his head despairingly. "I don't know," he said. "And it +seems as if I should--" + +It was hours later, far into the night, when he sprang from out of a +half-conscious doze to find himself in the middle of the floor with the +voice of McGuire ringing clearly in his ears. A buried memory had +returned to the level of his conscious mind. He rushed over to the +colonel's quarters. + +"I've got it," he shouted to that officer whose head was projecting from +an upper window. "I remember! McGuire told me about this Winslow--some +hermit that he ran across. He has some invention--some machine--said he +had been to the moon. I always thought Mac half believed him. We'll go +over Mac's things and find the address." + +"Do you think--do you suppose--?" began Colonel Boynton doubtfully. + +"I don't dare to think," Blake responded. "God only knows if we dare +hope; but Mac--Mac's got a level head; he wouldn't send us unless he +knew! Good Lord, man!" he exclaimed, "Mac radioed us from Venus; is +there anything impossible after that?" + +"Wait there," said Colonel Boynton; "I'll be right down--" + + +CHAPTER XII + +Lieutenant McGuire awoke, as he had on other occasions, to the smell of +sickly-sweet fumes and the stifling pressure of a mask held over his +nose and mouth. He struggled to free himself, and the mask was removed. +Another of the man-creatures whom McGuire had not seen before helped him +to sit up. + +A group of the attenuated figures, with their blood-and-ashes faces, +regarded him curiously. The one who had helped him arise forced the +others to stand back, and he gave McGuire a drink of yellow fluid from a +crystal goblet. The dazed man gulped it down to feel a following surge +of warmth and life that pulsed through his paralyzed body. The figures +before him came sharply from the haze that had enveloped them. A window +high above admitted a golden light that meant another day, but it +brought no cheer or encouragement to the flyer. McGuire felt crushed and +hopeless in the knowledge that his life must still go on. + +If only that sleep could have continued--carried him out to the deeper +sleep of death! What hope for them here? Not a chance! And then he +remembered Sykes; he mustn't desert Sykes. He looked about him to see +the same prison room from which he and Sykes had escaped. The body of +the scientist was motionless on the hammock-bed across the room; an +occasional deep-drawn breath showed that the man still lived. + +No, he must not leave Sykes, even if he had the means of death. They +would fight it through together, and perhaps--perhaps--they might yet be +of service, might find some way to avert the catastrophe that threatened +their world. Hopeless? Beyond doubt. But he must hope--and fight! + +The leader had watched the light of understanding as it returned to the +flyer's eyes. He motioned now to the others, and McGuire was picked up +bodily by four of them and carried from the room. + + * * * * * + +McGuire's mind was alert once more; he was eager to learn what he could +of this place that was to be their prison, but he saw little. A glory of +blending colors beyond, where the golden light from without shone +through opal walls--then he found himself upon a narrow table where +straps of metal were thrown quickly about to bind him fast. He was tied +hand and foot to the table that moved forward on smooth rollers to a +waiting lift. + +What next? he questioned. Not death, for they had been too careful to +keep him alive, these repulsive things that stared at him with such cold +malevolence. Then what? And McGuire found himself with unpleasant +recollections of others he had seen strapped in similar fashion to an +operating table. + +The lift that he had thought would rise fell smoothly, instead, to stop +at some point far below ground where the table with its helpless burden +was rolled into a great room. + +He could move his head, and McGuire turned and twisted to look at the +maze of instruments that filled the room--a super-laboratory for +experiments of which he dared not think. + +"Whoever says I'm not scared to death is a liar," he whispered to +himself, but he continued to look and wonder as he was wheeled before a +gleaming machine of many coils and shining, metal parts. A smooth sheet +of metal stood vertically beyond him; painted a grayish-white, he saw; +but he could not imagine its use. A throng of people, seated in the +room, turned blood-red faces toward the bound man and the metal sheet. + +"Looks as if we were about to put on a show of some kind," he told +himself, "and I am cast for a leading role." He watched as best he could +from his bound position while a tall figure in robes of lustreless black +appeared to stand beside him. + +The newcomer regarded him with a face that was devoid of all emotion. +McGuire felt the lack of the customary expression of hatred; there was +not even that; and he knew he was nothing more than a strange animal, +bound, and helpless, ready for this weird creature's experiments. The +one in black held a pencil whose tip was a tiny, brilliant light. + + * * * * * + +Abruptly the room plunged to darkness, where the only visible thing was +this one point of light. Ceaselessly it waved back and forth before his +eyes; he followed it in a pattern of strange design; it approached and +receded. Again and again the motion was repeated, until McGuire felt +himself sinking--sinking--into a passive state of lethargy. His muscles +relaxed; his mind was at rest; there seemed nothing in the entire +universe of being but the single point of light that drew him on and on +... till something whispered from the far reaches of black space.... + +It came to him, an insistent call. It was asking about the earth--his +own world. _What of Earth's armies and their means of defense?_ Vaguely +he sensed the demand, and without conscious volition he responded. He +pictured the world he had known; how plainly he saw the wide field at +Maricopa, and the sweeping flight of a squadron of planes! _Yes--yes! +How high could they ascend?_ From one of the planes he saw the world +below; the ships were near their ceiling; this was the limit of their +climb. _And did they fight with gas? What of their deadliness?_ And +again he was seated in a plane, and he was firing tiny bullets from a +tiny gun. No. They did not use gas. _But on the ground below--what +fortifications? What means of defense?_ + +McGuire's mind was no longer his own; he could only respond to that +invisible questioner, that insistent demand from out of the depths where +he was floating. And yet there was something within him that protested, +that clamored at his mind and brain. + +Fortifications! They must know about fortifications--anti-aircraft +guns--means for combatting aerial attack. Yes, he knew, and he must +explain--and the thing within him pounded in the back of his brain to +draw him back to himself. + +He saw a battery of anti-aircraft guns in operation; the guns were +firing; shells were bursting in little plumes of smoke high in the air. +And that self within him was shouting now, hammering at him; "You are +seeing it," it told him; "it is there before you on the screen. Stop! +Stop!" + + * * * * * + +And for an instant McGuire had the strange experience of witnessing his +own thoughts. Memories, mental records of past experience, were flashing +through his mind; mock battles, and the batteries were firing! And, +before him, on the metal screen, there glowed a vivid picture of the +same thing. Men were serving the guns with sure swiftness; the bursts +were high in the air--in a flash of understanding Lieutenant McGuire +knew that he was giving his country's secrets to the enemy. And in that +same instant he felt himself swept upward from the depths of that +darkness where he had drifted. He was himself again, bound and helpless +before an infernal contrivance of these devil-creatures. They had read +his thoughts; the machine beside him had projected them upon the screen +for all to see; a steady clicking might mean their reproduction in +motion pictures for later study! He, Lieutenant McGuire, was a traitor +against his will! + +The screen was blank, and the lights of the room came on to show the +thin lips that smiled complacently in a cruel and evil face. + +McGuire glared back into that face, and he tried with all the mental +force that he could concentrate to get across to the exultant one the +fact that they had not wholly conquered him. This much they had got--but +no more! + +The thin-lipped one had an instrument in his hand, and McGuire felt the +prick of a needle plunged into his arm. He tried to move his head and +found himself powerless. And now, in the darkness of the room where all +lights were again extinguished, the helpless man was fighting the most +horrible of battles, and the battleground was within his own mind. He +was two selves, and he fought and struggled with all his consciousness +to keep those memories from flooding him. + +With one part of himself he knew what it meant: a sure knowledge given +these invaders of what they must prepare to meet; he was betraying his +country; the whole of humanity! And that raging, raving self was +powerless to check the flow of memory pictures that went endlessly +through his mind and out upon the screen beyond.... + +He had no sense of time; he was limp and exhausted with his fruitless +struggle when he felt himself released from the bondage of the metal +straps and placed again in the hammock in his room. And he could only +look wanly and hopelessly after the figure of Professor Sykes, carried +by barbarous figures to the same ordeal. + + * * * * * + +Sleep, through the long night, restored both McGuire and his companion +to normal strength. The flyer was seated with his head bowed low in his +cupped hands. His words seemed wrung from an agony of spirit. "So that's +what they brought us here for," he said harshly; "that's why they're +keeping us alive!" + +Professor Sykes walked back and forth in their bare room while he shook +his impotent fists in the air. + +"I told them everything," he exploded; "everything!" Their astronomical +knowledge must be limited; under this blanket of clouds they can see +nothing, and from their ships they could make approximations only. + +"And I have told them--the earth, and its days and seasons--its orbital +velocity and motion--its relation to the orbit of this accursed planet. +They had documents from the observatory and I explained them; I +corrected their time of firing their big gun on its equatorial position. +Oh, there is little I left untold--damn them!" + +"I wish to heaven," said the flyer savagely, "that we had known; we +would have jumped out of their beastly ship somehow ten thousand feet +up, and we would have taken our information with us." + +Sykes nodded agreement. "Well," he asked, "how about to-morrow, and the +next day, and the next? They will want more facts; they will pump the +last drop of information from us. Are we going to allow it?" + + * * * * * + +McGuire's tone was dry. "You know the answer to that as well as I do. We +have just two alternatives; either we get out of here--find some place +to hide in, then find some way to put a crimp in their plans; or we get +out of here for good. It's twenty feet, not twenty thousand, from that +window to the ground, but I think a head-first dive would do it." + +Sykes did not reply at once; he seemed to be weighing some problem in +his mind. + +"I would prefer the water," he said at last. "If we _can_ get away and +reach the shore, and if there is not a possibility of escape--which I +must admit I consider highly improbable--well, we can always swim out as +far as we can go, and the result will be certain. + +"This other is so messy." The man had stopped his ceaseless pacing, and +he even managed a cheerful smile at the lieutenant. "And, remember, it +might only cripple us and leave us helpless in their hands." + +"Sounds all right to me," McGuire agreed, and there was a tone of +finality in his voice as he added: "They've made us do that traitor act +for the last time, anyway." + + * * * * * + +Daylight comes slowly through cloud-filled skies; the window of the +room where the fountain sprayed ceaselessly was showing the first hint +of gold in the eastern sky. Above was the utter darkness of the +cloud-wrapped night as the two men swung noiselessly out into the +grotesque branches of a tree to make their way into the gloom below. +There, under the cover of great leaves, they crouched in silence, while +the darkness about them faded and a sound of subdued whistling noises +came to them from the night. + +A wheel creaked, and in the dim light two figures appeared tugging at a +cart upon which was a cage of woven wire. Beyond them, against the +darker background of denser growth, tentacles coiled and twisted above +the row of guardian plants that surrounded the house. + +One of the ghostly forms reached within the cage and brought forth a +struggling object that whimpered in fear. The low whine came distinctly +to the hidden men. They saw a vague black thing tossed through the air +and toward the deadly plants; they heard the swishing of pliant +tentacles and the yelping cry of a frightened animal. And the cry rose +to a shriek that ended with the gulping splash of thick liquid. + +The giant pod next in line was open--they could see it dimly--and its +tentacles were writhing convulsively, hungrily, across the ground. +Another animal was taken from the cage and thrown to the waiting, +serpent forms that closed about and whirled it high in air. Another--and +another! The yelps of terror grew faint in the distance as the monsters +passed on in their gruesome work. And the two men, palpitant with +memories of their own experience, were limp and sick with horror. + + * * * * * + +In the growing light they saw more plainly the fleshy, pliant arms that +whipped through the air or felt searchingly along the ground. No hope +there for bird or beast that passed by in the night; nor for men, as +they knew too well. But now, as the golden light increased, the arms +drew back to form again the tight-wound coils that flattened themselves +beside the monstrous pods whose lips were closing. Locked within them +were the pools of liquid that could dissolve a living body into food for +these vampires of the vegetable world. + +"Damnable!" breathed Sykes in a savage whisper. "Utterly damnable! And +this world is peopled with such monsters!" + +The last deadly arm was tightly coiled when the men stole off through +the lush growth that reached even above their heads. McGuire remembered +the outlines he had seen from the air and led the way where, if no +better concealment could be found, the ocean waited with promise of rest +and release from their inhuman captors. + +They counted on an hour's start--it would be that long before their +jailer would come with their morning meal and give the alarm--and now +they went swiftly and silently through the stillness of a strange world. +The air that flicked misty-wet across their faces was heavy and heady +with the perfume of night-blooming plants. Crimson blossoms flung wide +their odorous petals, and the first golden light was filtered through +tremendous tree-growths of pale lavenders and grays to show as unreal +colors in the vegetation close about them. + + * * * * * + +They found no guards; the isolation of this island made the land itself +their prison, and the men ran at full speed through every open space, +knowing as they ran that there was no refuge for them--only the ocean +waiting at the last. But their flight was not unobserved. + +A great bird rose screaming from a tangle of vines; its heavy, flapping +wings flashed red against the pale trees. A pandemonium of shrieking +cries echoed its alarm as other birds took flight; the forest about them +was in an uproar of harsh cries. And faintly, from far in the rear, came +a babel of shrill calls--weird, inhuman!--the voices of the men-things +of Venus. + +"It's all off," said McGuire sharply; "they'll be on our trail now!" He +plunged through where the trees were more open, and Sykes was beside him +as they ran with a burst of speed toward a hilltop beyond. + +They paused, panting, upon the crest. A wide expanse of foliage in +delicate shadings swept out before them to wave gently in a sea of color +under the morning breeze, and beyond was another sea that beckoned with +white breakers on a rocky shore. + +"The ocean!" gasped Sykes, and pointed a trembling hand toward their +goal. "But--I had no idea--that suicide--was--such hard work!" + +The tall figure of Lieutenant McGuire turned to the shorter, breathless +man, and he gripped hard at one of his hands. + +"Sykes," he said, "I'll never get another chance to say it--but you're +one good scout!... Come on!" + + * * * * * + +McGuire fought to force his way through jungle growth, while screaming +birds marked where they went. The sounds of their pursuers were close +behind them when the two tore their way through the last snarled tangle +of pale vine to stand on a sheer bluff, where, below, deep waters +crashed against a rocky wall. They staggered with weariness and gulped +sobbingly of the morning air. McGuire could have sworn he was exhausted +beyond any further effort, yet from somewhere he summoned energy to +spring savagely upon a tall, blood-red figure whose purpling face rose +suddenly to confront them. + +One hand closed upon the metal tube that the other hand raised, and, +with his final reserve of strength, the flyer wrapped an arm about the +tall body and rushed it stumblingly toward the cliff. To be balked +now!--to be brought back to that intolerable prison and the unthinkable +role of traitor! The khaki-clad figure wrenched furiously at the deadly +tube as they struggled and swayed on the edge of the cliff. + +He freed his arm quickly, and, regardless of the clawing thing that tore +at his face and eyes, he launched one long swing for the horrible face +above him. He saw the awkward fall of a lean body, and he swayed +helplessly out to follow when the grip of Sykes' hand pulled him back +and up to momentary safety. + +McGuire's mind held only the desire to kill, and he would have begun a +staggering rush toward the shrieking mob that broke from the cover +behind them, had not Sykes held him fast. At sight of the weapon, their +own gas projector, still clutched in the flyer's hand, the pursuers +halted. Their long arms pointed and their shrill calls joined in a +chorus that quavered and fell uncertainly. + + * * * * * + +One, braver than the rest, dashed forward and discharged his weapon. The +spurting gas failed to reach its intended victims; it blew gently back +toward the others who fled quickly to either side. Above the trees a +giant ship nosed swiftly down, and McGuire pointed to it grimly and in +silence. The men before them were massed now for a rush. + +"This is the end," said the flyer softly. "I wonder how this devilish +thing works; there's a trigger here. I will give them a shot with the +wind helping, then we'll jump for it." + +The ship was above them as the slim figure of Lieutenant McGuire threw +itself a score of paces toward the waiting group. From the metal tube +there shot a stream of pale vapor that swept downward upon the others +who ran in panic from its touch. + +Then back--and a grip of a hand!--and two Earth-men who threw themselves +out and downward from a sheer rock wall to the cool embrace of deep +water. + +They came to the top, battered from their fall, but able to dive under a +wave and emerge again near one another. + +"Swim!" urged Sykes. "Swim out! They may get us here--recover our +bodies--resuscitate us. And that wouldn't do!" + +Another wave, and the two men were swimming beyond it; swimming feebly +but steadily out from shore, while above them a great cylinder of +shining metal swept past in a circling flight. They kept on while their +eyes, from the wave tops, saw it turn and come slowly back in a long +smooth descent. + +It was a hundred feet above the water a short way out at sea, and the +two men made feeble motions with arms and legs, while their eyes +exchanged glances of dismay. + + * * * * * + +A door had opened in the round under-surface, and a figure, whose +gas-suit made it a bloated caricature of a man, was lowered from beneath +in a sling. From the stern of the ship gaseous vapor belched downward to +spread upon the surface of the water. The wind was bringing the misty +cloud toward them. "The gas!" said McGuire despairingly. "It will knock +us out, and then that devil will get us! They'll take us back! Our last +chance--gone!" + +"God help us!" said Sykes weakly. "We can't--even--die--" His feeble +strokes stopped, and he sank beneath the water. McGuire's last picture +as he too sank and the waters closed over his head, was the shining ship +hovering beyond. + +He wondered only vaguely at the sudden whirling of water around him. A +solid something was rising beneath his dragging feet; a firm, solid +support that raised him again to the surface. He realized dimly the air +about him, the sodden form of Professor Sykes some few feet distant. His +numbed brain was trying to comprehend what else the eyes beheld. + +A metal surface beneath them rose higher, shining wet, above the water; +a metal tube raised suddenly from its shield, to swing in quick aim upon +the enemy ship approaching from above. + +His eyes moved to the ship, and to the man-thing below in the sling. Its +clothes were a mass of flame, and the figure itself was falling headlong +through the air. Above the blazing body was the metal of the ship +itself, and it sagged and melted to a liquid fire that poured, splashing +and hissing, to the waters beneath. In the wild panic the great shape +threw itself into the air; it swept out and up in curving flight to +plunge headlong into the depths.... + +The gas was drifting close, as McGuire saw an opening in the structure +beside him. The voice of a man, human, kindly, befriending, said +something of "hurry" and "gas," and "lift them carefully but make +haste." The white faces of men were blurred and indistinct as McGuire +felt himself lowered into a cool room and laid, with the unconscious +form of Sykes, upon a floor. + +He tried to remember. He had gone down in the water--Sykes had drowned, +and he himself--he was tired--tired. "And this,"--the thought seemed a +certainty in his mind--"this is death. How--very--peculiar--" He was +trying to twist his lips to a weak laugh as the lighted ports in the +wall beside him changed from gold to green, then black--and a rushing of +torn waters was in his ears.... + +(_To be continued_) + + * * * * * + + ASTOUNDING STORIES + _Appears on Newsstands_ + THE FIRST THURSDAY IN EACH MONTH + + + + +The Sea Terror + +_By Captain S. P. Meek_ + + The trail of mystery gold leads Carnes and Dr. Bird to a + tremendous monster of the deep. + +[Illustration: "_The mass hung over the ship._"] + + +"I beg your pardon, sir. I'm looking for Dr. Bird." + +The famous Bureau of Standards scientist appraised the speaker rapidly. +Keen blue eyes stared questioningly at him from a mahogany brown face, +criss-crossed with a thousand tiny wrinkles. The tattooed anchor on his +hand and the ill-fitting blue serge suit smacked of the sea while the +squareness of his shoulders and the direct gaze of his eye spoke +eloquently of authority. + +"I'm Dr. Bird, Captain. What can I do for you?" + +"Thank you, Doctor, but I'm not a captain. My name is Mitchell and I am, +or was, the first mate of the _Arethusa_." + +"The _Arethusa_!" Operative Carnes of the United States Secret Service +sprang to his feet. "You said the _Arethusa_? There _were_ no +survivors!" + +"I believe that I am the only one." + +"Where have you been hiding and why haven't you reported the fact of +your rescue to the proper authorities? Tell the truth; I'm a federal +officer!" + +Carnes flashed the gold badge of the Secret Service and an expression of +anger crossed Mitchell's face. + +"If I had wished to talk to an officer I could have found plenty in New +York," he said shortly. "I came to Washington in order to tell my story +to Dr. Bird." + +The seaman and the detective glared at one another for a moment and then +Dr. Bird intervened. + +"Pipe down, Carnes," he said softly. "Mr. Mitchell undoubtedly has +reasons, excellent reasons, for his actions. Sit down, Mr. Mitchell, and +have a cigar." + + * * * * * + +Mitchell accepted the cigar which the doctor proferred and took a chair. +He lighted the weed and after another glance of hostility toward the +detective he pointedly ignored him and addressed his remarks to Dr. +Bird. + +"I have no objection to telling you why I haven't spoken earlier, +Doctor," he said. "When the _Arethusa_ sank, I must have hit my head on +something, for the next thing I knew, I was in the Marine Hospital in +New York. I had been picked up unconscious by a fishing boat and brought +in, and I lay there a week before I knew anything. When I knew what I +was doing I heard about the loss of my ship and was told that there were +no survivors, and I didn't know what to do. The story I had to tell was +so weird and improbable that I hesitated to speak to anyone about it. I +was not sure at first that it was not a trick of a disordered brain, but +since my head has cleared I am convinced of the truth of it ... and yet +I know that it _can't_ be so. I have read about you and some of the +things you have done, and so as soon as I was able to travel I came +here to tell you about it. You will be better able to judge than I, +whether what I tell you really happened or was only a vision." + +Dr. Bird leaned back in his chair and put the tips of his fingers +together. Long, tapering fingers they were, sensitive and well shaped, +though sadly marred by acid stains. It was in his hands alone that Dr. +Bird showed the genius in his make-up, the artistry which inspired him +to produce those miracles of experimentation which had made his name a +household word in the realm of science. Aside from those hands he more +resembled a pugilist than a scientist. A heavy shock of unruly black +hair surmounted a face with beetling black brows and a prognathous jaw. +His enormous head, with a breadth and height of forehead which were +amazing, rose from a pillar-like neck which sprang from a pair of +massive shoulders and the arching chest of the trained athlete. Dr. Bird +stood six feet two inches in his socks, and weighed over two hundred +stripped. As he leaned back a curious glitter, which Carnes had learned +to associate with keen interest, showed for an instant in his eyes. + +"I will be glad to hear your story, Mr. Mitchell," he said softly. "Tell +it in your own way and try not to omit any detail, no matter how trivial +it may be." + + * * * * * + +The seaman nodded and sat silent for a moment as though marshaling his +thoughts. + +"The story really starts the afternoon of May 12th," he said, "although +I didn't realize the importance of the first incident at the time. We +were steaming along at good speed, hoping to make New York before too +late for quarantine, when a hail came from the forward lookout. I was on +watch and I went forward to see what was the matter. The lookout was +Louis Green, an able bodied seaman and a good one, but a confirmed +drunkard. I asked him what the trouble was and he turned toward me a +face that was haggard with terror. + +"'I've seen a sea serpent, Mr. Mitchell,' he said. + +"'Nonsense!' I replied sharply. 'You've been drinking again.' + +"He swore that he hadn't and I asked him to describe what he had seen. +His teeth were chattering so that he could hardly speak, but he gasped +out a story about seeing a monstrous head, a half mile across, he said, +with a long snake body stretching out over the sea until the end of it +was lost on the horizon. I turned my glass in the direction he pointed +and of course there was nothing to be seen. The man's condition was such +as to make him worse than useless as a lookout, so I relieved him and +ordered him below. I took it for a touch of delirium tremens. + +"We were bucking a head wind, although not a very stiff one, and we +didn't make port until after dark, so we anchored at quarantine, just +off Staten Island, in forty fathoms of water, and Captain Murphy radioed +for a Coast Guard boat to come out and lay by us for the night. As you +have probably heard, we were carrying four millions in bar gold +consigned to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from the Bank of +England." + + * * * * * + +Dr. Bird and Carnes nodded. The inexplicable loss of the _Arethusa_ had +occupied much space in the papers ten days earlier. + +"The cutter came out, signalled, and dropped anchor about three hundred +yards away. So far, everything was exactly as it should be. I walked to +the stern of the boat and looked out across the Atlantic and then I +realized that Green wasn't the only one who could see things. The wind +had fallen and it was getting pretty dark, but not too dark to see +things a pretty good distance away. As I looked I saw, or thought I saw, +a huge black leathery mass come to the surface a mile or so away. There +were two things on it that looked like eyes, and I had a feeling as +though some malignant thing was staring at me. I rubbed my eyes and +looked again, but the vision persisted, and I went forward to get a +glass. When I came back the thing, whatever it was, had disappeared, but +the water where it had been was boiling as though there were a great +spring or something of the sort under the surface. + +"I trained my glass on the disturbed area, and I will take my oath +that I saw a huge body like a snake emerge from the water. It lay in +long undulations on the waves, and moved with them as though it were +floating. It was quite a bit nearer than the first thing had been and +I could see it plainly with the glass. I would judge it to be fifteen +or twenty feet thick, and it actually seemed to disappear in the +distance as Green had described it. The sight of the thing sent shivers +up and down my spine, and I gave a hoarse shout. The lookout hurried +to my side and asked me what the trouble was. I pointed and handed +him the glass. He looked through it and handed it back to me with a +curious expression. + +"'I can't see nothing, sir,' he said. + +"I took the glass from him and tried to level it but my hands were +trembling so that I was forced to rest it on the rail. The lookout was +right. There was absolutely nothing to be seen and the peculiar +appearance of the sea had subsided to normal. The lookout was staring at +me rather curiously and I knew that he was thinking the same thing about +me as I had thought about Green in the afternoon. I made some kind of an +excuse and went below to pull myself together. I caught a glimpse of +myself in the glass. I was as white as a sheet, and the sweat was +running off my face in drops. + + * * * * * + +"I shook myself together after a fashion and managed to persuade myself +that the whole thing was just a trick of my mind, inspired by Green's +vivid description of his delirious vision of the afternoon. Eight bells +struck, and when Mr. Fulton, the junior officer, relieved me, I laid +down and tried to quiet myself. I didn't have much luck. Just before I +took the deck again at midnight I slipped down to the forecastle to see +how Green was coming along. He was lying in his bunk, wide awake, with +staring eyes. + +"'How are you feeling now, Green?' I asked. + +"He looked up at me with an expression of a man who has looked death in +the face. + +"'Ain't there no chance of dockin' to-night, Mr. Mitchell?' he asked. + +"'Of course not,' I said rather sharply. 'What's the matter with you? +Are you afraid your sea serpent will get us?' + +"'He'll get us if we stay out here to-night, sir,' he replied with an +air of conviction. 'I saw the horrible mouth on him, large enough to +bite this ship in half; and it had a beak like a bird, like a bloody +parrot, sir. I saw its horrible body, too, with great black ulcers on +the under side of it where the sharks had been after it. For all the +shark takes a man now and then, he's the seaman's friend, sir, because +he kills off the sea serpents who would take ship and all.' + +"'Nonsense, Green!' I said sharply. 'Don't talk any more such +foolishness or I'll have you ironed. You've been drinking so much that +you are seeing things, and I won't have the crew disturbed by your crazy +talk.' + +"'You won't think it's talk when those big eyes stare into yours +to-night, Mr. Mitchell, and that body twists around you and squeezes the +life out of you. I don't care whether you iron me or not; I know that +I'm doomed and so is everyone else; but I won't talk about it, sir. The +crew might as well rest easy while they can, for there's no escape if we +have to stay out here to-night.' + +"'Well, be sure you keep a tight mouth then,' I said, and left rather +hurriedly. I was in a cold sweat, for his air of conviction, together +with what I had seen, had shaken me pretty badly. I heard the watch +changing up above, and knew there would be men in the forecastle in a +minute. I didn't want to face them right then. + + * * * * * + +"Mr. Fulton reported everything quiet when I went on deck to relieve +him, and although I surveyed the water through a night glass for as far +as I could see, there was nothing out of the way. The Coast Guard's +lights were shining less than a quarter of a mile away, and things +looked peaceful enough. The wind had gone down with the sun; the sea was +almost glassy, and there was a bright moon. + +"After going around the ship, I relieved all of the watch except two men +for lookouts, and sent them below to get a good night's sleep. If I +hadn't done that, some of them might be alive now. + +"I paced the deck for an hour trying to quiet my nerves, but really +getting more nervous every minute. Three bells struck and I walked +forward and leaned on the rail to watch the water. I saw a peculiar +swirl as though some large body were coming to the surface from below, +and then I saw--it. + +"Dr. Bird, I take a drink once in a while when I am on shore, but never +at sea and never in excess, and I know it wasn't a vision of drink +delirium. I felt perfectly normal aside from my nervousness, and I don't +think it was fever. Either I saw it or I am insane, for it is as vivid +to me as though I were standing on the _Arethusa's_ deck and that +monstrous horror was rising once more before my eyes." + +The seaman's face had become drawn and white as he talked, and drops of +sweat were trickling from his chin. Carnes sat forward absorbed in his +narrative while Dr. Bird sat back with a glitter in his black eyes and +an expression of great attention on his face. + +"Go on, Mr. Mitchell," the doctor said soothingly. "Tell me just what +you saw." + + * * * * * + +Mitchell shuddered and glanced quickly around the laboratory as though +to assure himself that he was safe within four walls. + +"From the surface of the sea," he went on, "rose a massive body, black, +and of the appearance of wet leather. It must have been a couple of +hundred yards across, although the size of objects is often magnified by +moonlight and my terror may have added to its size. In the midst of it +were two great discs, thirty feet across, which glowed red with the +reflected moonlight. It stared for a moment and then rose higher until +it towered above the ship; and then I saw, or thought I saw, a huge +gaping beak like a parrot's. It was as Green had described it, large +enough to bite the _Arethusa_ in half, and she was a ship of three +thousand tons. + +"I was frozen with horror and couldn't move or cry out. As I watched, I +saw the long snake-like body emerge from the water, and the estimate I +had made of the size in the afternoon seemed pitifully inadequate. +Presently a second and a third snake arose from the water, and then +more, until the whole sea and the air above it seemed a writhing mass of +huge snakes. I remember wondering why the watch of the Coast Guard +cutter didn't sound an alarm, and then I realized that the thing had +arisen on our port side and the cutter was on the starboard. + +"The mass of snakes writhed backward and forward, and then two of them +rose in the air and hung over the ship. I could see the under side and I +saw what Green had called the scars where the sharks had attacked. They +were great cup-shaped depressions with vile white edges, and they did +resemble huge sores or ulcers. They wavered over the ship for an +instant, and then both of them dropped down on the deck. + +"I found my voice and I think that I gave a yell, but even as I opened +my mouth, I realized the futility of it. The _Arethusa_ was sucked down +into the sea as though it had been a tiny chip. I saw the water rising +to the rail, and I think I cried out again. The ship tilted and I felt +myself falling. The next thing I knew was when I was in the hospital and +was told that I had been raving for a week. I was afraid to tell my +story for fear I would be put in an asylum, so I kept a tight tongue in +my head until I was discharged." + + * * * * * + +Dr. Bird mused for a moment as the seaman's voice stopped. + +"You cried out all right, Mr. Mitchell," he said. "You gave two distinct +shouts, both of which were heard by the watch on the _Wren_, the Coast +Guard cutter. They reported that at 1:30, the _Arethusa_ sank without +warning. As soon as he heard your shouts, the watch gave the alarm and +the crew piled on deck. The _Arethusa_ was gone completely and the +_Wren_ was tossing about like 'a chip in a whirlpool' as they +graphically described it. The _Wren_ had steam up and they fought the +waves and steamed over your anchoring ground looking for survivors, but +they found none. The sea gradually subsided and they did the only thing +they could do--dropped a buoy, to guide the salvage people, and radioed +for assistance. The _Robin_ came out and joined them, and both cutters +stood by until daylight, but nothing unusual was seen. The insurance +people are trying to salvage the wreck now, but so far they have made +little headway." + +"That brings me to the rest of the story, the part that made me decide +to come to you, Doctor," said the seaman. "Did you see what happened to +the divers yesterday?" + +Dr. Bird nodded. + +"I saw a brief account of it," he said. "It seems that two of them were +lost through their lines getting fouled and their air connections +severed in some way. I don't believe the bodies have been recovered +yet." + +"They never will be recovered, Doctor. I was discharged from the +hospital yesterday and the papers were just out with an account of it. I +went down to the dock where the _John MacLean_, the salvage ship, ties +up, and I talked to Captain Starley who commands it. I have known him +casually for some years, although not intimately, and he gave me a few +more details than the press got. He didn't connect me up at first with +the Mitchell who was reported lost on the _Arethusa_. + +"The first man to go down from the _MacLean_ was Charley Melrose, an +expert diver. He went down in a pressure outfit to the bottom and +started to work. Everything was going along fine until the telephone +suddenly rang and the man who answered it heard him say, 'Raise me, for +God's sake! Hurry!' The signal for raising was given, but they hadn't +got him more than thirty feet from the bottom before there came a tug on +the line and he was gone! The air line, the lifting cable and the +telephone cord floated free and were reeled in. Melrose had been plucked +off the end of that line as you or I would pluck off a grape." + + * * * * * + +Dr. Bird leaned forward with the curious glitter again in his eye. + +"Go on," he said tersely. + +"Blake, the other diver, donned a suit and insisted on being lowered at +once. Starley tried to dissuade him but he insisted on going down. They +lowered him over the side with a twelve-foot steel-shod pike in his +hand. He never got to the bottom. He had not been lowered more than a +hundred feet when a scream came over the telephone, and again there was +a jerk on the lines which threatened to wreck the reel--and the line +came aboard with no diver on the end of it. At the same time, Starley +told me, the sea boiled and churned as though the whole bottom were +coming up, and his ship was tossed about as though it were in a violent +storm, although it was calm enough for forty fathom salvage work and +that is pretty quiet, you know. Half the time his screws were out of +water and he had a hard time to keep from being capsized. He fought his +way out of the disturbed area, and as soon as he did, it started to +quiet down, and in ten minutes it was calm again. + +"Starley was pretty badly shaken and besides he had lost both of his +divers, so he came in and I saw him at the dock. When I heard his yarn, +I took him into my confidence and told him what I had seen and that I +proposed coming to you and asking your advice. I was afraid until I +heard his story that it was merely a vision that I had had, but it +certainly was no vision that plucked those two divers off their lines." + +"Has Captain Starley told that story to anyone else yet?" + +"No, Doctor, he hasn't. He promised not to talk until after I had seen +you. I'll vouch for him; he'll keep his word through anything; and he is +keeping his whole crew on board until he hears from me." + + * * * * * + +Dr. Bird sprang to his feet. + +"Mr. Mitchell," he said energetically, "you have shown excellent +judgment. Wire Captain Starley that you have seen me and that he is to +hold his crew on board and to talk to no one until I get there. Carnes, +telephone the Chief of Naval Operations and ask him to receive me in +conference at once. Have him get the Secretary of the Navy in, too, if +he is available. When you have finished that, telephone Bolton that you +will be away from Washington indefinitely." + +"I'll telephone Admiral Buck for you, Doctor, but I don't dare telephone +any such message to Bolton; he'd take my head off. He has been running +the whole service ragged lately, and this is my first afternoon off duty +in a fortnight." + +"What's the trouble, a flood of new counterfeits?" + +"No, the counterfeit division is getting along all right. In point of +fact, they have lent us a dozen men. The trouble is a sudden big +increase in Communist activity throughout the country, with the Young +Labor party behind it. Bolton has been pretty jumpy since that Stokowski +affair last August and he is afraid of another attempt of some sort on +the President." + +"The Young Labor party? I thought that gang was bankrupt and out of +business, since the Coast Guard broke up their alien smuggling scheme." + +"They were down and out for a while, but they are in funds again--and +how! They must have three or four millions at least." + +"Where did they get it?" + +"That's what we have been trying to find out. The leaders have presented +bars of gold to a dozen banks throughout the country and demanded +specie. The banks shipped the gold to the mint and it was good gold, +nine hundred and twenty-five fine. What we are trying to find out is how +that gold got into the United States." + +"A shipment of that size should be easy to trace." + +"It would seem so, but it hasn't been. We have accounted for every pound +of every shipment that has come in through a port of entry, and we have +checked almost that close on the output of every mine in the United +States. If the gold came from Russia, it would have had to cross Europe, +and we can't get any trace of it from abroad. It looks as though they +were _making_ it." + + * * * * * + +Dr. Bird rubbed his head thoughtfully. + +"Possible, but hardly probable," he said. "How much did you say they +had?" + +"Over three millions in thirty-pound bars. Each bar shows signs of +having a mint mark chiselled off, but that don't help much for they have +done too good a job. It has us pretty well bluffed." + +Again Dr. Bird rubbed his head. + +"Telephone Admiral Buck, and then phone Bolton and tell him exactly what +I told you to: that you will be away indefinitely. When he gets through +exploding, tell him that you are going with me and that possibly, just +barely possibly, we might be on the trail of that gold shipment." + +"On the trail of the gold!" gasped Carnes. "Surely, Doctor, you don't +think--" + +"Once in a while, old dear," replied the Doctor with a chuckle, "which +is more than anyone in the Secret Service does. You might tell Bolton +that I said that, but hang up quickly if you do. I don't want the wires +of my telephone melted off. No, Carnesy, I have no miraculous +inspiration as to where that gold is coming from; I just have a plain +old-fashioned hunch, and that hunch is that we are going to have lots of +fun and more than our share of danger before we see Washington again. +After you get through bearding Bolton in his den, you might call the +Chief of the Air Corps and ask him to have a bomber held at Langley +Field subject to my orders. If he squawks any, I'll talk to him." + +He turned to a telephone which stood on his desk and lifted the +receiver. + +"Get Mr. Lambertson on the wire," he said. "He is the chief technician +of the Pyrex Glass Works at Corning, New Jersey." + + * * * * * + +The _U.S.S. Minneconsin_ steamed out of New York harbor and headed down +toward the lower bay. On her forward deck rested a huge globe. The +bottom quarter of the sphere was made of some dark opaque substance but +the upper portion was transparent as crystal. Through the walls could be +seen a quantity of apparatus resting on the opaque bottom portion. Two +mechanics from the Bureau of Standards were making final adjustments of +one of the pieces of apparatus, which resembled a tank fitted with a +piston geared to an electric motor. From the tank, tubes ran to four +hollow pipes, an inch and a half in diameter, which ran through the skin +and extended thirty inches from the outer skin of the twenty-foot +sphere. Dr. Bird stood near talking with the executive officer of the +ship and from time to time giving a brief word of direction to the +mechanics. + +"It's safer than you might think, Commander," he said. "In the first +place, that globe is not made of ordinary glass; it is made of +vitrilene, a new semi-malleable glass which was developed at the Bureau +and which is being made on an experimental scale for us by the Pyrex +people. It is much stronger than ordinary glass, and is not sensitive to +shock. It is also perfectly transparent to ultra-violet light, being +superior even to rock crystal or fused quartz in that respect. The +walls, as you have noticed, are four inches thick, and I have calculated +that the ball will stand a uniform external pressure of thirty-five +hundred atmospheres, the pressure which would be encountered at a depth +of about twenty miles. I believe that it will stand a squeeze of six +thousand tons without buckling, and it is impossible to fracture it by +shock. It could be dropped from the top of the Woolworth Building, and +it would just bounce." + +"It seems incredible that it could stand such a pressure as you have +named." + +"My figures are conservative ones. Lambertson calculated them even +higher, but we allowed for the fact that this is the first large mass of +the material to be cast, and lowered them." + + * * * * * + +"But suppose your lifting cable should break?" objected the naval +officer. "The outfit weighs a good many tons." + +"You notice that the lower quarter is made of lead. The specific gravity +of the entire globe when sealed up tight with two men in it is only a +little more than unity. In the water its weight is so little that a +three-inch manilla hawser would raise it, let alone a steel cable. I +have another safety device. Granted that the cable should snap, I can +detach the lead from it and it would shoot to the surface like a +rocket." + +"How long can you remain under water in it?" + +"A week, if necessary. I have an oxygen tank and a carbon dioxide +removing apparatus which will keep the air in good condition. The globe +is electrically lighted, and can be heated if necessary. Should my +telephone line become fouled and broken, I have a radio set which will +enable me to communicate with you. I can't see that it is especially +dangerous; not nearly as much so as a submarine." + +"What is your object in going down, if I may ask?" + +"To take pictures and to explore the wreck if we can. The globe is +equipped with huge floodlights and excellent cameras. The salvage people +are having a little trouble and we are trying to help them out." + +"You mentioned exploring. Can you leave the globe while it is under +water?" + +"Yes. There is a locking device for doing so. A man in a diving suit can +enter the lock and fill it with water. Once the external pressure is +released he can open the outer door and step out. Coming back, he seals +the outer door and the man inside blows out the lock and compressed air +and then the inner door can be opened. It is the same principle as a +torpedo tube." + + * * * * * + +A jangle of bells interrupted them and the _Minneconsin_ slowed down. +Commander Lawrence stepped to the rail and gave a sharp order to the +navigating officer on the bridge. The bells jangled again and the ship's +engines stopped. + +"We are almost over the buoy, Doctor," he said. + +Dr. Bird nodded and spoke to the two mechanics. With a few final +touches to the apparatus they emerged from the globe and Dr. Bird +entered. + +"Come on, Carnes," he called. "No backing out at the last minute." + +Carnes stepped forward with a sickly smile and joined the Doctor in the +huge sphere. + +"All right, boys; close her up." + +The mechanics swung the outer door into place with a crane. Both the +edge of the door and the surface against which it fitted had been ground +flat and were in addition faced with soft rubber. Bolts were fastened in +the door which passed through holes in the main sphere, and Dr. Bird +spun nuts onto them and tightened them with a heavy wrench. He and +Carnes lifted the smaller inner door into place and bolted it tight. Dr. +Bird stepped to the telephone. + +"Lower away," he directed. + +From a boom attached to the _Minneconsin's_ forward fighting top, a huge +steel cable swung down, and the latch at the end of the cable was closed +over a vitrilene ring which was fastened to the top of the sphere. The +cable tightened and the globe with the two men in it was lifted over the +side of the battleship and lowered gently into the water. Carnes +involuntarily ducked and threw up his hand as the waters closed over +them. Dr. Bird laughed. + +"Look up, Carnes," he said. + +Carnes gasped as he looked up and saw the surface of the water above +him. Dr. Bird laughed again and turned to the telephone. + +"Lower away," he said. "Everything is tight." + + * * * * * + +The globe descended into the depths of the sea. Darker and darker it +grew until only a faint twilight glow filled the sphere. A dark bulk +loomed before them. Dr. Bird snapped on one of his huge floodlights and +pointed. + +"The _Arethusa_," he said. + +The ill-fated vessel lay on her side with a huge jagged hole torn in her +fabric amidships. + +"That's where her boilers burst," explained the Doctor. "Luckily we have +a hard bottom to deal with. Let's see if we can locate any of Mitchell's +sea serpents." + +He turned on other flood lights and swept the bottom of the sea with +them. The huge beams bored out into the water for a quarter of a mile, +but nothing unusual was to be seen. Dr. Bird turned his attention again +to the wreck. + +"Things look normal from this side," he said after a prolonged scrutiny. +"I'll have the _Minneconsin_ steam around it while we look it over." + +In response to his telephone orders the ship above them swung around the +wreck in a circle, and Carnes and the Doctor viewed each side in turn. +But nothing of a suspicious nature made its appearance. The sphere +stopped opposite the hole in the side and Dr. Bird turned to Carnes. + +"I'm going to put on a diving suit and explore that wreck," he said. "If +there ever was any danger, it isn't apparent now; and I can't find out +anything until I get inside." + +"Don't do it, Doctor!" cried Carnes. "Remember what happened to the +other divers!" + + * * * * * + +"We don't know what happened to them, Carnes. No matter what it was, +there is no danger apparent right now, and I've got to get into that +ship before I can get any real information. We could have lowered an +under-sea camera and learned as much as we have so far." + +"Let me go instead of you, Doctor." + +"I'm sorry to refuse you, old dear, but frankly, I wouldn't trust your +judgment as to what you had seen if you went alone; and we can't both +go." + +"Why not?" + +"If we both went, who would work the air to let us back in? No, this is +a one-man job and I'm the one to do it. While I am gone, keep a sharp +lookout, and if you see anything unusual call me at once." + +"How can I call you?" + +"On this small radio phone. A pair of receivers tuned to the right +wave-length are in my diving helmet, and I will be able to hear you +although I can't reply. I won't be gone long: I have only a small air +tank, large enough to keep me going for thirty minutes. Now help me into +my suit and keep a sharp watch. A timely warning may save my life if +anything happens." + +With Carnes' assistance, Dr. Bird donned a deep-sea diving outfit and +screwed down the helmet. He crawled through the inner door into the lock +and lifted the inner door into place. Carnes fastened the door with nuts +and the Doctor opened a pair of valves in the outer door and filled the +lock with water. He removed the outer door; and, taking in one hand a +steel-shod twelve-foot pike with a hook on the end, and in the other a +waterproof flashlight, he sallied forth. As he left the shell he paused +for a moment, and then returned and picked up the heavy wrench with +which he had removed the nuts holding the outer door into place. He +fastened the tool to the belt of his suit. Then, with a wave of his hand +toward the detective, he approached the hulk. + +The hole in the side was too high for him to reach, but he hooked the +end of his pike in one of the joints of the _Arethusa's_ plates and +climbed slowly and painfully up the side of the vessel. As he +disappeared into the hull, Carnes realized with a sudden start that he +had been watching his friend and neglecting the duty imposed on him of +keeping a sharp watch. He turned quickly to the floodlights and searched +the sea bottom. + + * * * * * + +Nothing appeared, and the minutes moved as slowly as hours should. +Carnes felt that he had been submerged alone for weeks, and his nerves +grew so tense that he felt that he would scream in another instant. A +sudden thought sobered him like a dash of cold water. If he screamed, +Dr. Bird would take it for an alarm signal and possibly be afraid to +emerge from the vessel. His watch showed him that the Doctor had been +gone for twenty-five minutes and he moved slowly to the radio +transmitter. + +"Dr. Bird," he said slowly and distinctly, "you have been gone nearly +thirty minutes. Nothing alarming has appeared but I will feel better +when I see you coming back." + +He glued his eyes on the opening in the ship's side and waited. Five +minutes passed, and then ten, with no signs of the Doctor. Carnes moved +again to the receiver. + +"It has been over half an hour. Doctor," he cried in a pleading voice. +"If you are all right, for God's sake show yourself. I am frantic with +worry." + +Another five minutes passed, and the sweat dripped in a steady stream +from the detective's chin. Suddenly he gave a sob of relief and sank +back against the side of the globe. A bulky figure showed at the edge of +the hole, and Dr. Bird climbed slowly and heavily out of the hold and +dropped to the sea bottom. He lay prone for a moment before he rose and +made his way with evident effort toward the sphere. He entered the +compartment and with a heroic effort lifted the outer door into place, +and feebly and with fumbling fingers placed nuts on the bolts. His hands +wandered uncertainly toward the valves and closed the upper one. He +waved his hand toward Carnes and sank in a heap on the floor of the +lock. + + * * * * * + +With trembling hands Carnes connected the air and opened the valve. Air +flowed into the lock and the water was gradually forced out. When the +lock was empty, he waited for Dr. Bird to close the outer valve but the +Doctor did not move. Carnes tore at the bolts which held the inner door +and threw his weight against it. It held against his assault, and he +thought frantically. An inspiration came to him, and he disconnected +the air valve. With a whistling rush, the air from the lock rushed into +the sphere and he forced open the inner door. A stream of sea water +drove against his feet through the open valve, and he reached for the +valve to close it. The force of the water held it open for a moment, but +he threw every ounce of his strength into the effort. The valve slowly +closed. + +It was beyond his strength to haul the heavy Doctor with his pressure +diving suit through the restricted confines of the inner door, so Carnes +wormed his way into the lock and with trembling fingers unscrewed the +helmet of the Doctor's diving suit. The helmet clanged to the floor and +Carnes scooped up his hands full of water and dashed it into the +Doctor's face. There was no response and he was at his wit's end. He +sprang for the radio to order the sphere hauled up when his glance fell +on the oxygen tank. It took him only a moment to connect a rubber hose +to the tank, and in a few seconds a blast of the life-giving gas was +blowing into the scientist's face. Dr. Bird gave a convulsive gasp or +two and opened his eyes. + +"Shut off the juice, Carnes," he said faintly. "Too much of that's +bad." + +Carnes shut off the oxygen and Dr. Bird struggled to a sitting position +and inhaled deep breaths. + +"That was a narrow squeak, old dear," he said faintly. "Give me a hand +and I'll climb in." + + * * * * * + +With the detective's aid he climbed into the sphere and Carnes fastened +the inner door. Slowly the Doctor rid himself of the diving suit and lay +prone on the floor, his breath still coming in gasps. + +"Thanks for your warning about the time, Carnes," he said. "I knew that +my air supply was running short but I was caught down there and couldn't +readily free myself. I thought for a while that my time had come, but it +wasn't so written. By the looks of things, I freed myself just in +time." + +"Did you find out anything?" asked the detective eagerly. + +"I did," replied Dr. Bird grimly. "For one thing, the gold is no longer +in the hold of the _Arethusa_." + +"It's gone?" + +"Clean as a whistle, every bar of it. A hole has been cut in the vault +around the combination, and the bars slid back and the door opened. The +gold has been stolen." + +"Might it not have been stolen before the vessel sank?" + +"The idea occurred to me of course, and I examined things pretty +carefully. I know that the theft occurred after the vessel sank." + +"How could you tell?" + +"For one thing, the hole was cut with an under-water cutting torch. For +the second, look here." + + * * * * * + +The Doctor rolled up his trousers and showed the detective his leg. +Carnes cried out as he saw huge purple welts on it. + +"What caused that?" he cried. + +"As I entered the vault, I stepped full into a steel bear trap which was +set there for the purpose of catching and holding anyone who entered. +Someone has visited the _Arethusa_, since she sank, and looted her, and +also arranged so that any diver who got as far as the vault would never +return to the surface to tell of it. Luckily for myself, I carried a +heavy wrench and was able to free myself. Most divers don't carry such a +thing." + +"But who could have done it?" + +"That's what we have got to find out, and we aren't going to do it down +here. Give the word to have us hauled up; and, Carnes, don't mention +anything about the looting of the vessel. Allow it to be understood that +I couldn't get into the hold. We'll head back for New York at once. I +want to have a few small changes made in this sphere before we use it +again. While I am doing that, I want you to get hold of the Coast Guard +or the Immigration Service or whoever it is that has the complete +records in that case of alien smuggling, by the Young Labor party. When +you get the information, report to me and we'll go over it. You might +also drop a hint to Captain Starley that will stop all further attempts +at salvage operations for a few days. Tell him that I'll arrange to have +a Coast Guard cutter guard the locality of the wreck." + +"Won't that be rather risky for the cutter?" + +"I think not. The gold is gone and there is no reason to apprehend any +further danger in that locality, at least for the present." + + * * * * * + +At nine o'clock next morning Carnes and Dr. Bird sat in the office of +Lieutenant Commander Minden of the United States Coast Guard, listening +intently to the history of the alien smuggling case. Commander Minden +was saying: + +"Their boats would load up and clear ostensibly for Rio de Janeiro or +some other South American port, but once they were in the Atlantic, they +would alter their course and head from the Massachusetts coast. Of +course, we had no right to interfere with them on the high seas, and +they never came closer than fifty miles of our coast line. When they got +that close, they would cruise slowly back and forth for a few days and +then steam away south to the port they had cleared for. When they got +there, of course there were no passengers on board. + +"We patrolled the coast carefully while they were around but we never +got any indication of any landing of aliens and yet we knew they were +being landed in some way. We drew lines so close that a cork couldn't +get by without being seen and we even had the air patrolled, but with no +results. Eventually the air patrol was the thing that gave them away. + +"They had been operating so successfully that they evidently got +careless and started a load off late in the night so they didn't reach +the coast by dawn. A Navy plane was flying along the coast-line about +twelve miles off when they spotted a submarine running parallel with the +coast, headed north. It didn't look like an American craft and they went +on and radioed Washington and found that we had no under-sea craft in +that neighborhood. They returned to their patrol and followed the sub +for a matter of thirty or forty miles up the coast, and then it turned +in right toward the shore. The shore line there is rocky, and, at the +point where the sub was heading, it falls sheer about two hundred +fathoms. The sub ran right at the cliff and disappeared from view." + + * * * * * + +Lieutenant Commander Minden paused impressively. Carnes and Dr. Bird set +forward in their chairs, for it was evident that the crux of the story +was at hand. + +"When the plane reported what they had seen, we knew how those aliens +were being landed. The point where the sub went in gave us a good idea +of the location of their base and we threw a cordon of men around and +searched. A Navy sub was sent to the scene and they reported that there +was a tunnel opening into the rock, about a hundred fathoms under water, +running for they had no idea how far under the land. They stayed to +guard the hole while we combed the land. It took us a week to locate the +place, but we traced some truck loads of food and finally found it. This +tunnel ran under the land for a mile and then ended in a large cave +underground. The Young Labor party had established a regular receiving +depot there, and took the aliens from the sub and kept them for a day or +two until they had a chance to load them into trucks and run them into +Boston or some other town in the night. + +"Once we had the place spotted, we sent a gang in and captured the whole +works without any trouble. The underground cavern had no natural opening +to the surface, but one had been made by blasting. We captured the +whole lot and then sealed the end of the hole with rock and concrete. +That was the end of the affair." + +"Thank you, Commander; you have given us a very graphic description of +it. I suppose you could find the entrance which was sealed up?" + + * * * * * + +"Easily. I led the raiding party. I forgot to mention one blunder we +made. Evidently some word of our plans leaked out, for the sub which was +guarding the outer end of the tunnel was called away by a radio message +supposed to be from the Navy Department. It had gone only a short +distance, however, when the commander smelled a rat and made his way +back. He was too late. He was just in time to see the sub emerge from +the hole and head into the open sea. He gave chase, but the other sub +was faster than the Navy boat and it got clear away. The leader of the +gang must have been on it, for we didn't get him." + +"Who was the leader?" + +"From some records we captured, his name was Ivan Saranoff. I never saw +him." + +"Saranoff?" said Dr. Bird thoughtfully. "The name seems familiar. Where +have I--Thunder! I know now. He was at one time a member of the faculty +of St. Petersburg. He was one of the leading biologists of his time. +Carnes, we've found our man." + +"If you are thinking of Saranoff, I am afraid you are mistaken, Doctor," +said Commander Minden. "Neither he nor his submarine have ever been +heard of since and it has been generally conceded that they were lost at +sea. We had some pretty rough weather just after that affair." + +"Rough weather doesn't mean much to a sub, Commander. I expect that he's +our man. At any rate, the place we want to go is the end of that +tunnel." + +"I'm at your service, Doctor." + +"Carnes, get the location of that tunnel entrance from Commander Minden +and order the _Minneconsin_ to proceed north along the coast to that +vicinity and stand by for radio orders. I am going to telephone Mitchell +Field and get a plane. We have no time to lose." + + * * * * * + +The plane from Mitchell Field roared down to a landing, and Carnes, Dr. +Bird and Commander Minden dismounted from the rear cockpit and looked +around. They had landed in a smooth field at the base of a rise almost +rugged enough to be called a mountain. A group of three men were +standing near them as they got out of the plane. One of the men +approached. + +"Dr. Bird?" asked the newcomer. "I am Tom Harron, United States Marshal. +These two men are deputies. I understand that I am to report to you for +orders." + +"I'm glad to know you, Mr. Harron. This is Operative Carnes of the +Secret Service and Commander Minden of the Coast Guard. We are going to +explore an underground cavern that is located in this vicinity." + +"Do you mean the one where they used to smuggle aliens? That is closed +up. I was in charge of that work and we closed it tight as a drum two +years ago." + +"Can you find the entrance?" + +"Sure. It isn't over a mile from here." + +"Lead the way, then. We want to take a look at it." + +The marshal led the way toward the eminence and took a path which led up +a gully in its side. He paused for a moment to take his bearings and +then turned sharply to his left and climbed part way up the side of the +ravine. + +"Here it is," he announced. An expression of astonishment crossed his +face and he examined the ground closely. "By Golly, Doc," he went on as +he straightened up, "this place has been opened since I left it!" + + * * * * * + +Dr. Bird hurried forward and joined him. The heavy stone and concrete +with which the entrance to the cavern had been sealed were undisturbed, +but in the side of the hill was set a steel door beside the concrete. +There was no sign of a keyhole or other means of entering it. + +"Was this steel door part of your work?" asked Carnes. + +"No, sir, it wasn't. We sealed it solid. That door has been put there +since." + +Dr. Bird closely examined the structure. He tapped it and went around +the edges and then straightened up and took a small pocket compass from +his pocket and opened the case. The needle swung crazily for a moment +and then pointed straight toward the door. + +"A magnetic lock," he exclaimed. "If we could find the power line it +would be easy to force, but finding that line might take us a week. At +any rate, we have found out what we were after. This is their base from +which they are operating. Mr. Harron, I want you to station a guard +armed with rifles at this door day and night until I personally relieve +you. Remember, until I relieve you, in person. Verbal or written orders +don't go. Capture or kill anyone who tries to enter or leave the cavern +through this entrance. Just now we'll find that cavern more vulnerable +from the sea end, and that is where I mean to attack. We'll force that +door and explore from this end later. Commander Minden, you may stay +here with Mr. Harron, if you like, or you may come with Carnes and me. +We are going on board the _Minneconsin_." + + * * * * * + +The Mitchell Field plane roared to a take-off and bore south along the +coast. Half an hour of flying brought them in view of the battleship +steaming at full speed up the coast. Dr. Bird radioed instructions to +the ship, and an hour later a launch picked them up from the beach and +took them out. As soon as they were on board they resumed their +progress, and in two hours the peak that Dr. Bird had marked as a +landmark was opposite. + +"Steam in as close to the shore as you can safely," he said, "and then +lower us. Once we are down, you will be guided by our telephoned +instructions. Come on, Carnes, let's go." + +The detective followed him into the sphere as the _Minneconsin_ edged up +toward the shore. The huge ball was lifted from the deck and lowered +gently into two hundred fathoms of water. It was pitch dark at that +depth, and Dr. Bird switched on one floodlight and studied the cliff +which rose a hundred yards from them. + +"We have missed the place, Carnes," he said. "We'll have them pull us up +a few hundred feet and then steam along the coast." + +He turned to the telephone and the sphere rose while the battleship +steamed slowly ahead, the vitrilene ball following in her wake. For a +quarter of a mile they continued on their way, and then Dr. Bird halted +the ship. + +"What depth are we?" he asked. "Eighty fathoms? All right, lower us, +please." + + * * * * * + +The ball sank until it rested on the sea bottom, and Dr. Bird turned on +two additional floodlights and studied the surroundings. The bed of the +ocean was literally covered with lobster and crab shell, with the bones +of fish scattered here and there among them. A few bones of land animals +were mixed with the debris and Carnes gave a gasp as Dr. Bird pointed +out to him a diving helmet. + +"We are on the right track," said the scientist grimly. He stepped to +the telephone and ordered the sphere raised to one hundred fathoms. The +ship moved forward along the coast until Dr. Bird again stepped to the +telephone and halted it. Before them yawned the entrance to the +underground tunnel. It was about two hundred feet high and three hundred +across, and their most powerful beams would not penetrate to the end of +it. A pile of debris could be seen on the floor of the tunnel and +Carnes fancied that he could see another diving helmet among the litter. +Dr. Bird pointed toward the side of the cavern. + +"See those floodlights fastened to the cliff so that their beams will +sweep across the mouth of the tunnel when they are lighted?" he said. +"Apparently the cave is used as a prison and the light beams are the +bars. The creature is not at home just now or the bars would be up. My +God! Look at that, Carnes!" + +Carnes stared and echoed the Doctor's cry of surprise. Clinging to a +shelf of rock which extended out from the wall of the cavern and half +hidden among the seaweed was a huge marine creature. It looked like a +huge black slug with rudimentary eyes and mouth. The thing was fifty +feet in length and fully fifteen feet in diameter. It hung there, moving +sluggishly as though breathing, and rudimentary tentacles projecting +from one end moved in the water. + +"What is it, Doctor?" asked Carnes in a voice of awe. + +"It is a typical trochosphere of the giant octopus, the devil fish of +Indian Ocean legend, multiplied a thousand times," he replied. "When the +octopus lays its eggs, they hatch out into the larval form. The free +swimming larva is known as a trochosphere, and I am positive that that +is what we see; but look at the size of the thing! Man alive, if that +ever developed, I can't conceive of its dimensions!" + + * * * * * + +"I have seen pictures of a huge octopus pulling down a ship," said +Carnes, "but I always fancied they were imaginary." + +"They are. This monstrosity before us is no product of nature. A dozen +of them would depopulate the seas in a year. It is a hideous parody of +nature conceived in the brain of a madman and produced by some glandular +disturbance. Saranoff spent years in glandular experimentation, and no +doubt he has managed to stimulate the thyroid of a normal octopus and +produce a giant. I fancy that the immediate parent of the thing before +us was of normal size, and so, probably, are its brothers and sisters. +The phenomenon of giantism of this nature occurs in alternate +generations and then only in rare instances. Its grandparent may not be +far away, however. I wish it was safe to use a submarine to explore that +cavern." + +"Why isn't it?" + +"Any creature powerful enough to pull the _Arethusa_ under water would +crush a frail submarine without effort. Anyway, a Navy sub isn't built +for under-water exploration like this ball is. The window space is quite +limited and they aren't equipped with powerful floodlights. I would like +to be able to reach that thing and destroy it, but it can wait until +later. The best thing we can do is to put out our lights and wait." + +His hand sought the light switch, and the globe became dark. Only a tiny +glimmer of light came down to them from the surface, a hundred fathoms +above. In the darkness they stared into the depths of the sea. + + * * * * * + +For an hour they waited and then Dr. Bird grasped Carnes by the +shoulder and pointed. Far in the distance could be seen a tiny point +of light. It wavered and winked and at times disappeared, but it was +gradually approaching them. Dr. Bird stepped to the telephone and the +_Minneconsin_ moved a hundred yards further from the shore. The light +disappeared again as though hidden by some opaque body. Their eyes +had become accustomed to the dim light and they could dimly see a long +snake-like body approach the globe and then suddenly withdraw. + +The light appeared again only a few hundred yards away. The water +swirled and the sphere swayed drunkenly as some gigantic body moved past +it with express train speed and entered the mouth of the cavern. The +light turned toward them and they could see the dim outlines of a small +submarine on which it was mounted. Another rush of water came as the +object which had entered the cave started to leave it, and the light +swung around. It bore on a huge black body, and was reflected with a red +glow from huge eyes, and the creature backed again into the cave. Back +and forth across the mouth of the cavern the light played, and the +watchers caught a glimpse of a huge parrot beak which could have +engulfed a freight car. From the cavern projected twisting tentacles of +gargantuan dimensions, and red eyes, thirty feet in diameter, glared +balefully at them. For several minutes the light of the submarine played +across the mouth of the cave, and then the floodlights on the cliff +sprang into full glow and bathed the ball and the mouth of the tunnel in +a flood of light. + +Before their horrified gaze was an octopus of a size to make them +disbelieve their eyes. The submarine had moved up to within a few feet +of them, and the light from it played full on the ball. The submarine +maneuvered in the vicinity, keeping the ball full in the beam of its +light, and then drew back. As it did so, the floodlights on the cliff +died out and the beam of the submarine's light was directed away from +them. Dr. Bird jumped to the telephone. + +"Head straight out to sea and full speed ahead!" he shouted. "Don't try +to pull us in; tow us!" + + * * * * * + +The ball swayed as the _Minneconsin's_ mighty engines responded to his +orders and the cliff wall disappeared. + +"As long as they know we're here, we might as well announce our presence +in good style," said the doctor grimly as he closed a switch and threw +all of the sphere's huge lights into action. He had turned on the lights +just in time, for even as he did so a mighty tentacle shot out of the +darkness and wrapped itself around the ball. For a moment it clung there +and then was withdrawn. + +"The thing can't stand light," remarked the doctor as he threw off the +switch. "That sub was herding it like a cow by the use of a light beam. +As long as we are lighted up we are safe from attack." + +"Then for God's sake turn on the lights!" cried Carnes. + +"I want it to attack us," replied the doctor calmly. "We have no +offensive weapons and only by meeting an attack can we harm the thing." + +As he spoke there came a soft whisper of sound from the vitrilene walls +and they were thrown from their feet by a sudden jerk. Dr. Bird stumbled +to the switch and closed it, and the ball was flooded with light. Two +arms were now on them but they were slowly withdrawn as the lights +glared forth. The huge outlines of the beast could be seen as it +followed them toward the surface. Its great eyes glared at them +hungrily. The submarine was visible only as a speck of light in the +distance. + + * * * * * + +The _Minneconsin's_ speed was picking up under the urge of her huge +steam turbines, and the ball was nearing the surface. The sea was light +enough now that they could see for quite a distance. The telephone bell +jangled and Dr. Bird picked the receiver from its hook. + +"Hello," he said. "What's that? You can? By all means, fire. Yes, +indeed, we're well out of danger; we must be thirty or forty feet down. +Watch the fun now," he went on to Carnes as he replaced the receiver. +"The beast is showing above the surface and they're going to shell it." + +They watched the surface and suddenly there came a flash of light +followed by a dull boom of sound. The huge octopus suddenly sank below +them, thrashing its arms about wildly. + +"A hit!" shouted Dr. Bird into the telephone. "Get it again if it shows +up. I want it to get good and mad." + +He turned off the lights in the ball and the octopus attacked again. The +shell had taught it caution and it kept well down, but three huge arms +came up from the depths of the sea and wrapped themselves about the +ball. The forward motion stopped for a moment, and then came a jerk that +threw them down. The ball started to sink. + +"Our cable has parted!" cried the doctor. "Turn on the lights!" + + * * * * * + +Carnes closed the switch. The ball was so covered with the huge +tentacles that they could see nothing, but the light had its usual +effect and they were released. The ball sank toward the bottom and they +could see the huge cephalopod lying below watching them. Blood was +flowing from a wound near one of its eyes where the _Minneconsin's_ +shell had found its mark. + +Toward the huge monster they sank until they lay on the bottom of the +ocean and a few yards from it. In an instant the sea became opaque and +they could see nothing. + +"He has shot his ink!" cried the doctor. "Here comes the real attack. +Strap yourself to the wall where you can reach one of the motor +switches." + +Through the darkness huge arms came out and wrapped themselves around +the ball. The heavy vitrilene groaned under the enormous pressure which +was applied, but it held. The ink was clearing slightly and they could +see that the sphere was covered by the arms. The mass moved and the huge +maw opened before them. The pipes projecting from the sides of the ball +were buried in the creature's flesh. + +"Good Lord, he's going to swallow us!" gasped the doctor. "Quick, +Carnes, the motor switch." + +He closed one of them as he spoke, and the powerful little electric +motors began to hum, forcing forward the piston attached to the tank +connected to the hollow rods. Steadily the little motors hummed, and the +tank emptied through the rods into the body of the giant cephalopod. + +"I hope the stuff works fast," groaned the doctor as they approached +closer to the giant maw. "I never tried giving an octopus a hypodermic +injection of prussic acid before, but it ought to do the business. +There's enough acid there to kill half New York City." + + * * * * * + +Carnes blanched as the ball approached the mouth. One by one the arms +unwound until only one was holding them and the jaws opened wider. They +were almost in them when the motion stopped. They could feel a shudder +run through the arm which held them. For a moment the arm alternately +expanded and contracted, almost releasing them only to clutch them +again. Another arm came from the depths and whipped about the ball, and +again the vitrilene groaned at the pressure which was applied. The arms +were suddenly withdrawn and the ball started to sink. + +"Drop the lead, Carnes!" cried the doctor. With the aid of the detective +he operated the electric catches which held the huge mass of lead to the +bottom, and the sphere shot up through the water like a rocket. It +leaped clear of the water and fell back with a splash. A half mile away +the _Minneconsin_ was swinging in a wide circle to head back toward +them. They turned their gaze toward the shore. + +As they looked a giant arm shot a hundred yards up into the air, +twisting and writhing frantically. It disappeared, and another, and then +half a dozen flashed into the air. The arms dipped below the surface. A +huge black body reared its bulk free from the water for a moment, and +the sea boiled as though in a violent storm. The body sank and again the +arms were thrown up, twisting and turning like a half dozen huge snakes. +The whole creature sank below the waves and the ball tossed back and +forth, often buried under tons of water and once tossed thirty feet into +the air by the huge waves. + + * * * * * + +A momentary lull came in the waves. Carnes gave a cry of astonishment +and pointed toward the shore. With an effort, Dr. Bird twisted himself +in his lashing and looked in that direction. The huge body had again +come to the surface, and three of the arms were towering into the air. +Grasped in them was a long, black, cigar-shaped object. As they watched +the object was torn into two parts and the fragments crushed by the +enormous power of the octopus. Again the arms writhed in torment, and +then they stiffened out. For a moment they towered in the air and then +slowly sank below the surface of the sea. + +"The cyanide has worked," cried the doctor, "and in its last agonies the +creature has turned on its creator and destroyed him. It is a shame, for +Saranoff was a brilliant although perverted genius, and besides, I would +have liked to have learned his method. However, I may find something +when we open the land end and raid the cave; and really, he was too +brilliant a man to hang for murder. Once we open the cave and I get any +data that is there, my connection with the case will end. Trailing down +the gold and recovering it is a routine matter for Bolton, and one in +which he won't need my help." + +"What about that creature we saw in the cave, Doctor? Won't it hatch +into another terror of the sea like the thing that destroyed the ship?" + +"The trochosphere? No, I'm not worried there. It won't try to leave the +cave for some days yet, and by that time we'll have the land end opened +and the floodlights turned on. They will keep it there and it will +starve to death. We could send down a sub to feed it a torpedo, but +there's no need. Nature will dispose of it. Meanwhile, I hope the +_Minneconsin_ rigs up a jury tackle pretty soon and takes us on board. +I'm getting seasick." + + * * * * * + +_IN THE NEXT ISSUE_ + + THE FIFTH-DIMENSION CATAPULT + + _A Novelette of an Extraordinary Interdimensional Rescue_ + _By_ Murray Leinster + + + THE GATE TO XORAN + + _A Thrilling Story of a Metal Man's Visit to Earth_ + _By_ Hal K. Wells + + + THE EYE OF ALLAH + + _A Story of the Tracking Down of a Mysterious Scientific Killer_ + _By_ C. D. Willard + + + THE PIRATE PLANET + + _Part Three of the Outstanding Current Novel_ + _By_ Charles W. Diffin + + + ----_AND OTHERS_! + + * * * * * + + + + +Gray Denim + +_By Harl Vincent_ + + The blood of the Van Dorn's ran in Karl's veins. He rode the skies + like an avenging god. + +[Illustration: _There came a stabbing pencil of light from over Karl's +shoulder._] + + +Beneath the huge central arch in Cooper Square a meeting was in +progress--a gathering of the gray-clad workers of the lower levels of +New York. Less than two hundred of their number were in evidence, and +these huddled in dejected groups around the pedestal from which a +fiery-tongued orator was addressing them. Lounging negligently at the +edge of the small crowd were a dozen of the red police. + +"I tell you, comrades," the speaker was shouting, "the time has come +when we must revolt. We must battle to the death with the wearers of the +purple. Why work out our lives down here so they can live in the lap of +luxury over our heads? Why labor day after day at the oxygen generators +to give them the fresh air they breathe?" + +The speaker paused uncertainly as a chorus of raucous laughter came to +his ears. He glared belligerently at a group of newcomers who stood +aloof from his own gathering. Seven or eight of them there were, and +they wore the gray with obvious discomfort. Slummers! Well, they'd hear +something they could carry back with them when they returned to their +homes! + +"Why," he continued in rising tones, "do we sit at the controls of the +pneumatic tubes which carry thousands of our fellows to tasks equally +irksome, while they of the purple ride their air yachts to the pleasure +cities of the sky lanes? Never in the history of mankind have the poor +been poorer and the rich richer!" + +"Yah!" shouted a disrespectful voice from among the newcomers. "You're +full o' bunk! Nothing but bunk!" + +An ominous murmur swelled from the crowd and the red police roused from +their lethargy. The mounting scream of a siren echoed in the vaulted +recesses above and re-echoed from the surrounding columns--the call for +reserves. + + * * * * * + +All was confusion in the Square. The little group of newcomers +immediately became the center of a mêlée of dangerous proportions. Some +of the more timid of the wearers of the gray struggled to get out of the +crowd and away. Others, not in sympathy with the speaker, rushed to the +support of the besieged visitors. The police were, for the moment, +overwhelmed. + +The orator, mad with resentment and injured pride, hurled himself into +the group. A knife flashed in his hand; rose and fell. A scream of agony +shrilled piercingly above the din of the fighting. + +Then came the reserves, and the wielder of the knife turned to escape. +He broke away from the milling combatants and made speedily for the +shadows that lay beyond the great pillars of the Square. But he never +reached them, for one of the red guards raised his riot pistol and +fired. There was a dull _plop_, and a rubbery something struck the +fleeing man and wrapped powerful tentacles around his body, binding him +hand and foot in their swift embrace. He fell crashing to the pavement. + +A lieutenant of the red police was shouting his orders and the din in +the Square was deafening. With their numbers greatly augmented, the +guards were now in control of the situation and their maces struck left +and right. Groans and curses came from the gray-clad workers, who now +fought desperately to escape. + +Then, with startling suddenness, the artificial sunlight of the +cavernous Square was gone, leaving the battle to continue in utter +darkness. + + * * * * * + +Cooper Square, in the year 2108, was the one gathering place in New York +City where the wearers of the gray denim were permitted to assemble and +discuss their grievances publicly. Deep in the maze of lower-level ways +seldom visited by wearers of the purple, the grottolike enclosure bore +the name of a philanthropist of the late nineteenth century and still +carried a musty air of certain of the traditions of that period. + +In Astor Way, on the lowest level of all, there was a tiny book shop. +Nestled between two of the great columns that provided foundation +support for the eighty levels above, it was safely hidden from the gaze +of curious passersby in the Square. Slumming parties from afar, their +purple temporarily discarded for the gray, occasionally passed within a +stone's throw of the little shop, never suspecting the existence of such +a retreat amidst the dark shadows of the pillars. But to the initiated +few amongst the wearers of the gray, and to certain of the red police, +it was well known. + +Rudolph Krassin, proprietor of the establishment, was a bent and +withered ancient. His jacket of gray denim hung loosely from his +spare frame and his hollow cough bespoke a deep-seated ailment. +Looking out from behind thick lenses set in his square-rimmed +spectacles, the watery eyes seemed vacant; uncomprehending. But old +Rudolph was a scholar--keen-witted--and a gentleman besides. To his +many friends of the gray-clad multitude he was an anomaly; they +could not understand his devotion to his well-thumbed volumes. But they +listened to his words of wisdom and, more frequently than they could +afford, parted with precious labor tickets in exchange for reading +matter that was usually of the lighter variety. + + * * * * * + +When the fighting started in the Square, Rudolph was watching and +listening from a point of vantage in the shadows near his shop. This +fellow Leontardo, who was the speaker, was an agitator of the worst +sort. His arguments always were calculated to arouse the passions of his +hearers; to inflame them against the wearers of the purple. He had +nothing constructive to offer. Always he spoke of destruction; war; +bloodshed. Rudolph marveled at the patience of the red police. To-day, +these newcomers, obviously a slumming party of youngsters bent on +whatever mischief they could find, were interfering with the speaker. +The old man chuckled at the first interruption. But at signs of real +trouble he scurried into the shadows and vanished in the blackness of +first-level passages known only to himself. He knew where to find the +automatic sub-station of the Power Syndicate. + +Returning to the darkness he had created in the Square, he was relieved +to find that the sounds of the fighting had subsided. Apparently most of +the wearers of the gray had escaped. He skirted the avenue of pillars +along Astor Way, feeling his way from one to another as he progressed +toward his little shop. Peering into the blackness of the square he saw +the feeble beams of several flash-lamps in the hands of the police. They +were searching for survivors of the fracas, maces and riot pistols held +ready for use. A sobbing gasp from close by set his pulses throbbing. He +crept stealthily in the direction from which the sound had come. + +"Steady now," came a whispered voice. "My uncle's shop is close by. +He'll take you in. Here--let me lift you." + + * * * * * + +There was a shuffling on the opposite side of the pillar at which +Rudolph had halted; another grunt of pain. + +"Karl!" hissed the old man. It was his nephew. + +"Uncle Rudolph?" came the guarded response. + +"Yes. Can I help you?" + +"Quick--yes--he's fainted." + +The old man was around the huge base of the column in an instant. He +groped in the darkness and his hands encountered human bodies. + +"Who is it?" he breathed. + +"One of the hecklers, Uncle. A young lad; and of the purple I think. +He's been knifed." + +Together they dragged the inert form into the shelter of the long line +of pillars. There was a trampling of many men in the square. That would +be a second detachment of reserves. A ray of light filtered through and +dancing shadows of the giant columns made grotesque outlines against the +walls of the Way. A portable searchlight had been brought to the scene. +They must hurry. + +Impeded by the dead weight of their burden, they made sorry progress and +several times found it necessary to halt in the shadow of a pillar while +the red police passed by in their search of the Square. It was with a +sigh of relief that Rudolph opened the door of his shop and with still +greater satisfaction closed and bolted it securely. His nephew +shouldered the limp form of the unconscious youth and carried it to his +own bed in one of the rear rooms. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed old Rudolph as he ripped open the young man's shirt, +"it's a nasty cut. Warm water, Karl." + +The gaping wound was washed and bound tightly. Rudolph's experienced +fingers told him the knife had not reached a vital spot. The youth would +recover. + +"But Karl," he objected, "he wears the purple. Under the gray. See! +It'll get us in trouble if we keep him." + +He was stripping the young man of his clothing to prepare him for bed. +Suddenly there was revealed on the white skin a triangular mark. Bright +scarlet it was and just over the right hip. He made a hasty attempt to +hide it from the watching eyes of Karl. + +"Uncle!" snapped his nephew, "--the mark you call cursed! He has it, +too!" + + * * * * * + +The tall young man in gray was on his knees, tearing the hands of the +old man away. He saw the mark clearly now. There was no further use of +attempting to conceal it. Rudolph rose and faced his angered nephew, his +watery eyes inscrutable. + +"You told me, Rudolph, that it was a brand that cursed me. I have seen +it on him, too. You have lied to me." + +The old man's eyes wavered. He trembled violently. + +"Why did you lie?" demanded Karl. "Am I not your nephew? Am I not really +cursed as you've maintained? Tell me--tell me!" + +He had the old man by the shoulders, shaking him cruelly. + +"Karl--Karl," begged the helpless ancient, "it was for your good. I +swear it. You were born to the purple. That's what that mark means--not +that you're degraded to the gray, as I said. But there's a reason. Let +me explain." + +"Bah! A reason! You've kept me in this misery and squalor for a reason! +Who's my father?" + +He flung Rudolph to the floor, where the old man crouched in apprehensive +misery. + +"Please Karl--don't! I can explain. Just give me time. It's a long +story." + +"Time! Time! For twenty-odd years you've lied to me; cheated me. My +birthright--where is it?" + +He menaced his supposed uncle; was about to strike him. Then suddenly he +was ashamed. He turned on his heel. + +"I'm leaving," he said shortly. + +"Karl--my boy," begged Rudolph Krassin, struggling to his feet. "You +can't! That lad in there--he--" + +But Karl was too angry to reason. + +"To hell with him!" he raged, "and to hell with you! I'm through!" + +He stamped from the room and out into the eery shadows of the Way. Karl +was done with his old life. He'd go to the upper levels and claim his +rights. Some day, too, he'd punish the man who'd stolen them away. God! +Born to the purple! To think he'd missed it all! Probably was kidnaped +by the old rascal he'd been calling uncle. But he'd find out. Rudolph +didn't have to explain. Fingerprint records would clear his name; +establish his rightful station in life. He dived into a passage that +would lead him to one of the express lifts. He'd soon be overhead. + + * * * * * + +A sergeant of the red police looked up startled from his desk as a tall +youth in the gray denim of forty levels below appeared before him. + +"Well?" he growled. The stalwart young worker had stared belligerently +and insolently, he thought. + +"I want to check my fingerprint record, Sergeant." + +"Hm. Pretty cocky, aren't you? The records for such as you are down +below, where you belong." + +"Not mine, I think." + +"So? And who the devil are you?" + +"That's what I'm here to find out. I've got a triangle branded on my +right hip." + +"A what?" + +"Triangle. Here--look!" + +The amazing youngster had raised his jacket and was pulling at his +shirt. The sergeant stared at what was revealed, his eyes bulging as he +looked. + +"Lord!" he gasped, "a Van Dorn--in the gray!" + +Quickly he turned to the radiovision and made rapid connection with +several persons in turn--important ones, by the appearance of the +features of each in the brilliant disc of the instrument. + +Karl was confused by the sudden turn of things. The sergeant talked so +rapidly he could not catch the sense of his words. And that name, Van +Dorn, eluded him. He knew he had heard it before, in the little shop +down there in Astor Way. But he could not place it. He wished fervently +that he had paid more attention to the desires of old Rudolph; had +studied more and read the books the old man had begged him to read. His +new surroundings confused him, too, and he knew that he was the center +of some great new excitement. + + * * * * * + +Then they were in the room; two individuals, one in the red uniform of a +captain of police, the other a pompous, whiskered man in purple. Others +followed and it seemed to Karl that the room was filled with them, +strangers all, and they stared at him and chattered incessantly. He +experienced an overwhelming impulse to run, but mastered it and faced +them boldly. + +A square of plate glass was placed under his outstretched fingers. It +was smeared with something sticky and he watched the whiskered man as he +held it up to the light and studied the impressions. Then there was more +confusion. Everyone talked at once and the pompous one in purple made +use of the radiovision, holding the square of glass near its disc for +observation by the person he had called. The identification number was +repeated aloud, a string of figures and letters that were a meaningless +jumble to Karl. The room became quiet while the police captain thumbed +the pages of a huge book he had taken from among many similar ones that +filled a rack behind the desk. + +Karl's blood froze in his veins at the rumbling swish of a car speeding +through the pneumatic tube beneath their feet. His nerves were on edge. +Then the captain of police looked up from the book and there was a +peculiar glint in his eyes as he spoke. + +"Peter Van Dorn. Missing since 2085. Wanted by Continental Government. +Ha!" + +The words came to Karl's ears through a growing sensation of unreality. +It seemed that the speaker was miles away and that his voice and +features were those of a radiovision likeness. Wanted by the great power +across the Atlantic! It was unthinkable. Why, he had been but an infant +in 2085! What possible crime could he have committed? But the red police +captain was speaking again, this time in a chill voice. And the room of +the police, thick with the smoke of a dozen cigars, became suddenly +stifling. + +"Where have you been these twenty-three years, Peter Van Dorn?" asked +the captain. "Who have you lived with, I mean?" + + * * * * * + +Something warned him to protect old Rudolph. And somehow he wished +he had not treated the old fellow as he did when he left. His +self-possession returned. A wave of hot resentment swept over him. + +"That's my affair," he said defiantly. + +The captain shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, well," he said, "you needn't +answer--now. We'll find out when it's necessary. In the meanwhile we'll +have to turn you over to the Continental Ambassador." + +Two of the red police advanced toward him and the rest drew back. + +"You mean I'm under arrest?" asked Karl incredulously. + +"Certainly. Of course you're not to be harmed." + +One of the guards had him by the arm and he saw the glint of handcuffs. +They couldn't do this! If it had been for rioting in the Square it +would be different. But this! It meant he was a prisoner of a foreign +government, for what reason he could not guess. He lost his head +completely. + +The captain cried out in amazement as one of his huskiest guards went +sprawling under a well-planted punch. This youngster must be as crazy as +was his father before him. But he was a whirlwind. Before he could be +stopped he had tackled the other guard and with a mighty heave flung him +halfway across the room where he fell with a thud that left him dazed +and gasping. The pompous little man in the purple crawled under the desk +as the sergeant leveled a slender tube at the young giant in gray. + +Karl ducked instinctively at sight of the weapon, but the spiteful +crackle of its mechanism was too quick for him. A faintly luminous ray +struck him full in the breast and stopped him in his tracks. A thrill of +intense cold chased up his spine and a thunderbolt crashed in his brain. +The captain caught his stiffened body as he fell. + + * * * * * + +Karl--refusing to think of himself as Peter Van Dorn--came to his senses +as from a troubled sleep. His head ached miserably and he turned it +slowly to view his surroundings. Then, in a flash, he remembered. The +paralyzing ray of the red police! They never used it in the lower +levels; but overhead--why, the swine! He sat suddenly erect and glared +into a pair of green eyes that regarded him curiously. + +A quick glance showed him that he was in a small padded compartment like +that of the pneumatic tube cars. At one end there was an amazing array +of machinery with glittering levers and handwheels--a control board on +which numberless tiny lights blinked and flickered in rapid succession. +At these controls squatted the twisted figure of a dwarf. A second of +the creatures sat at his side and stared with those horrible green +eyes. + +"Lord!" he muttered. "Am I still asleep?" + +"No," smiled the dwarf, "you're awake, Peter Van Dorn." The misshapen +creature did not seem unfriendly. + +"Then where am I, and who are you?" + +"You're in one of the Zar's rocket cars, speeding toward Dorn. We are +but two of the Zar's servants--Moon men." + +"Rocket car? Moon men?" Karl was aghast. He wanted to pinch himself. But +a hollow roar to the rear told him he was in a rapidly moving vessel of +some sort. Certainly, too, these dwarfs were not figments of his +imagination. + +"You've been kept completely ignorant?" asked the dwarf. + +"It--it seems so." Karl was bewildered. "You mean we are out in the +open--traveling in space--to the Moon perhaps?" + + * * * * * + +The dwarf laughed. "No, I wish we were," he replied. "But we are about +halfway to the capital of the Continental Empire, greatest of world +powers. We'll be there in an hour." + +"But I don't understand." + +"Stupid. Didn't you ever hear of the rocket ships that cross the ocean +like a projectile, mounting a thousand miles from the surface and making +the trip in two hours?" + +"No!" Karl was aghast. "Are we really in such a contraption?" he +faltered. + +"Say! Are you kidding me?" The dwarf was incredulous. "Do you mean to +tell me you know so little of your world as that? Have you never read +anything? The news broadcasts, the thought exchangers--don't you follow +them at all?" + +Karl shook his head in growing wonder. Truly Rudolph had kept him in +ignorance. Or was it his own fault? He had refused to dig into the +volumes old Krassin had begged him to read. The broadcasts and the +thought machines--well, only those of the purple had access to those. + +"Hey, Laro!" called the dwarf to his companion, "this mole is as dumb as +can be. Doesn't know he's alive hardly. And a Van Dorn!" + +The two laughed uproariously and Karl raged inwardly. Mole! So that's +what they called wearers of the gray! He clenched his fists and rose +unsteadily to his feet. + +"Sorry," apologized his tormentor. "Mustn't get sore now. It seems so +funny to us though. And listen, kid, you'll never have another chance to +hear it all. So, if you'll sit down and calm yourself a bit I'll give +you an earful." + + * * * * * + +Mollified, Karl listened. A marvelous tale it was, of a disgruntled +scientist of the Eastern Hemisphere who had conquered that portion of +the world with the aid of the inhabitants he had found on the outer side +of the Moon; of the scientist who still ruled the East--Zar of the +Continental Empire. A horrible war--in 2085, the year of his own +birth--depopulated the countries of Asia, Europe and Africa and reduced +them to subjection. There was no combatting the destructive rays and +chemical warfare of the Moon men. The United Americas, still weakened +from a civil war of their own, remained aloof and, for some strange +reason, the Zar left them in peace, contenting himself with his conquest +of practically all of the rest of the world. Now, it seemed, the two +major powers were as separate as if on different planets, there being no +traffic between them save by governmental sanction; and that was rarely +given. + +It grew uncomfortably warm in the compartment as the rocket car entered +the lower atmosphere but Karl listened spellbound to the astounding +revelations of the Moon man. There came a pause in the discourse of the +dwarf as a number of relays clicked furiously on the control board and +the vessel slackened its speed perceptibly. + +"But," said Karl, thinking aloud rather than meaning to interrupt, +"what has all this to do with me? Why does the government of this Zar +want me?" + +The dwarf bent close and eyed him cautiously. "Poor kid!" he whispered, +"it doesn't seem right that you should suffer for something that +happened when you were born; something you know nothing about. But the +Zar knows best. You--" + +There came a stabbing pencil of light from over Karl's shoulder and the +green eyes of the dwarf went wide with horrified surprise. He clutched +at his breast where the flame had contacted, then slowly collapsed in a +pitiful, distorted heap. Karl recoiled from the odor of putrefaction +that immediately filled the compartment. He whirled to face the new +danger but saw nothing but the padded walls. + +Then they were in darkness save for the blinking lights of the control +board. He was thrown forward violently and the piercing screech of +compressed air rushing past the vessel told him they had entered the +receiving tube at their destination and were being retarded in speed for +the landing. This much he had gathered from the explanations of the now +silenced dwarf. + +Laro, the other Moon man, remained mute at the controls. His companion +evidently had talked too much. + + * * * * * + +The vessel had stopped and a section of the padded rear wall of the +compartment moved back to reveal a second chamber. There were three +other occupants of the ship and Karl knew now at whose hands the +talkative Moon man had met his death. One of the three--all wearers of +the purple--still held the generator of the dazzling ray in his hands. +He decided wisely that resistance was useless and followed meekly when +he was led from the ship. + +Endlessly they rode upward in a high-speed lift, dismounting finally at +a pneumatic tube entrance. A special car whisked them roaring into the +blackness. Then they were shot forth into the open and Karl saw the +light of the sun for the first time in many years. They were on the +upper surface of a great city, Dorn, the capital of the Continental +Empire. + +The air was filled with darting ships of all sorts and sizes, most of +them being pleasure craft of the wearers of the purple. To Karl it was +the sudden realization of his dreams. He was one of them. He, too, +should be wearing the purple. Then his heart sank as one of his guards +prodded him into action. His dream already was shattered for they stood +at the entrance to a great crystal pyramid that rose from the flat +expanse of the roofs of Dorn. It was the palace of the Zar. + +It seemed then that fairyland had opened its gates to the young man in +gray denim. He immediately fell under its influence when they traversed +a long lane between rows of brightly colored growing things which filled +the air with sweet odors. Feathered creatures fluttered about and +twittered and caroled in the sheer joy of being alive. It was sweeter +music than he had ever believed possible or even imagined as existing. +Again he forgot the menace of the imperial edict which had brought him +from the other side of the world. + + * * * * * + +Then rudely, he was brought back to earth. He was in the presence of the +mighty Zar and his three escorts were bowing themselves from the huge +room in which the wizened monarch sat enthroned. They had finished their +duties. + +A shriveled face; beady eyes; trembling hands with abnormally large +knuckles; a cruel and determined mouth--these were the features that +most impressed Karl as he stared wordlessly at this Zar of the Eastern +Hemisphere. The magnificence of the royal robe was lost on the young +wearer of the gray. + +"Well, well, so this is Peter Van Dorn, my beloved nephew." The Zar was +speaking and the chilly sarcasm in which the words were uttered belied +the friendliness they otherwise might have implied. + +"That's what I'm told," replied Karl, "though I didn't know I'm supposed +to be the nephew of so great a figure as yourself." + +Not bad that, for an humble wearer of the gray. + +"Oh, yes, yes, indeed. Why else should I have sent for you?" + +"I have wondered why--and still wonder." + +"Oh, you wonder, eh?" The Zar inspected him carefully and then broke +into a cackle of horrible laughter. "A Van Dorn in gray denim!" he +chortled. "A mole of the Americas! And to think that even the Zar has +been unable to find him in all these years!" + +"Stop!" bellowed Karl. "I'll not have your ridicule. Come to the point +now and have it over with. Kill me if you will, but tell me the story!" +He had seen the slender tube in the Zar's hand. + + * * * * * + +An expression of surprise, almost of admiration, flickered in the beady +eyes of the Zar and was gone. He spoke coldly. + +"Very well, I shall explain. You, Peter, are actually my nephew. Your +father, Derek Van Dorn, was my brother; he a king of Belravia and I a +poor but experienced scientist. He scorned me and he paid, for I learned +of the ancient race of the other side of the Moon, the side we can not +see from the earth. I went to them and enlisted their aid in warring +upon my brother. When we returned to carry on this war I learned that I +had a son. So, too, did Derek. But my son was born in obscurity and +Derek's son--you, Peter--in the lap of luxury. The war was short and, to +me, sweet. Belravia was first to fall, and I had your father removed +from this life by the vibrating death." + +"You monster!" cried Karl. But the slender rod menaced him. + +"A moment, my hot-headed nephew. I vowed I'd have your life, Peter, but +your father had a few friends and one of these spirited you away. So +temporarily you escaped. But now I have you where I can keep that vow. +You, too, shall die. By the vibration. But first--ha! ha!--I'll give you +a taste of the purple. Just so the going will be harder." + +Karl kept his temper as best he could. He thought, conscience-stricken, +of old Rudolph, that good friend of his father. Then he thought of that +youth he had taken from the Square. + +"Your son?" he asked gently. "Has he the triangular brand?" + +The Zar was taken aback. "He has, yes. Why?" he asked. + +"I have seen him in the Americas. He now lies wounded and in peril of +his life. What do you think of that?" + +Karl was triumphant as the Zar paled. + +"You lie, Peter Van Dorn!" + + * * * * * + +But the beady eyes saw that the young man was truthful. Sudden fury +assailed the monarch of the East. A bell pealed its mellow summons and +three Moon men entered the Presence. + +"Quick, Taru--the radiovision! Our ambassador in the Americas!" The Zar +was on his feet, his hard features terrible in fear and anger. "By God!" +he vowed, "I'll lay waste the Americas if harm has come to my son. And +you"--turning to Karl--"I'll reserve for you an even more terrible fate +than the vibrating death!" + +The radiovision was wheeled in and in operation. A frightened face +appeared in its disc: the Zar's ambassador across the sea. + +"Moreau--my son!" snapped the Zar. "Where is he?" + +"Majesty! Have mercy!" gasped Moreau. "Paul has eluded us. He was +skylarking--in the lower levels of New York. But our secret agents are +combing the passages. We'll have him in twenty-four hours. I promise!" + +The rage of the Zar was terrible to see. Karl expected momentarily that +the white flame would lay him low, for the anger of the mad ruler was +directed first at Moreau, then at himself. But a quick, evil calm +succeeded the storm. + +"You, Peter," he stated, in tones suddenly silky, "shall have that +twenty-four hours--no more. If Moreau has not produced my son in that +time you shall be dismembered slowly. A finger; an ear; your tongue; a +hand--until you reveal the whereabouts of the heir to my throne!" + +"Never! You scum!" Karl was on the dais in a single bound. He had the +Zar by the throat, his fingers twisting in the flabby flesh. Might as +well have it over at once. "Fratricide--murderer of my father, I'll take +you with me!" + + * * * * * + +But it was not to be. The throne room was filled with retainers of the +mad emperor. Strong hands tore him away and he was borne, struggling and +fighting, to the floor. A sharp pain in his forearm. A deadening of the +muscles. He was powerless, save for the painful ability to crawl to his +knees, swaying drunkenly. A delicious languor overcame him. Nothing +mattered now. He saw that a tall man in the purple had withdrawn the +needle of the hypodermic and was replacing the instrument in its case. +Ever so slowly, it seemed. + +The Zar was laughing. That horrible cackle. But Karl didn't care. They'd +have their sport with him. Let 'em! Then it'd be over. Lord! If only he +had been a little quicker. He'd have torn the old Zar's windpipe from +its place! + +"My word," laughed the Zar. "The sacred word of a Van Dorn. I gave it. +He'll wear the purple for a day. Take him from my sight!" + +Karl was walking, quite willingly now. The effects of the drug were +altering. His muscular strength returned but his mental state underwent +a complete change. Always he'd wanted a taste of the purple. For years +he'd listened to the orators of the Square, to the conflicting +statements of old Krassin. But now he'd see. He'd know the joys of the +upper levels; the pleasure cities, perhaps. For one day. But what did it +matter? He found himself laughing and joking with his companion, a +heavy-set wearer of the purple. They were in a luxurious apartment. +Servants! Moon men all of them, but so efficient. They stripped him of +his gray denim; discarded it contemptuously. Karl kicked the heap into a +corner and laughed delightedly. His bath was waiting. + + * * * * * + +Much can happen in a day. Clothed in the purple, Karl--Peter Van Dorn, +he was, now--expanded. Turgid emotions surged through his new being. He +was a new man. In his rightful place. He was delighted with the +companionship of his new friend of the purple, Leon Lemaire. An +euphonious name! A fine fellow! Fool that the Zar must be, to leave him +in the care of so amiable a man. Why, Leon couldn't hold him! None of +them could. He'd escape them all--if he wished. Twenty-four hours, +indeed! + +They were in the midst of a gay company. Wine flowed freely, and Leon +had attached to their party a pair of beautiful damsels, young, and easy +to know. There was music and dancing. Lights of marvelous color played +over the assemblage in the huge hall, swaying their senses at the will +of some expert manipulator. Peter was a different person now. He was +exhilarated to the point of intoxication, but not by the wine. Somehow +he couldn't bear the taste of the amber fluid the others were imbibing +with such gusto. The effects of the drug had left a coppery taste in his +mouth. But no matter! Rhoda, his lovely companion at the table leaned +close. Her breath was hot at his throat. He swept her into his arms. +Leon and the other girl laughed approvingly. + +There were many such places in the upper levels of Dorn and they +traveled from one to another. Now their party was larger, it having +been augmented by the appearance of other of Leon's friends. Fine +companions, these men of the purple, and the women were incomparable. +Especially Rhoda. They understood one another perfectly now. It was all +as he had pictured it. + +Someone proposed that they visit the intermediate levels. It would be +such a lark to watch the mechanicals. They made the drop in a lift. A +laughing, riotous party. And Peter was one of them! He felt that he had +known them for years. Rhoda clung to his arm, and the languorous glances +from under her long lashes set the blood racing madly in his veins. + + * * * * * + +In the levels of the mechanicals they romped boisterously. To them the +strange robots--creatures of steel and glass and copper--were objects of +ridicule. Poor, senseless mechanisms that performed the tasks that made +the wearers of the purple independent of labor. Here they saw the +preparation of their synthetic food, untouched by human hands. In one +chamber a group of mechanicals, soulless and brainless, engaged in the +delicate chemical compounding of raw materials that went into the making +of their clothing. Here was a nursery, where tiny tots born to the +purple were reared to adolescence by unfeeling but efficient mechanical +nurses. The mothers of the purple could not be bothered with their +offspring until they had reached the age of reason. The whirring +machinery of a huge power plant provided much amusement for the feminine +members of the party. It was all so massive; throbbing with energy. But +dirty! Ugh! Lucky the attendants could be mechanicals. + +"We have visited the lower levels," whispered Rhoda in his ear, "but not +often. It isn't pleasant. Ignorant fools in the gray denim--too many of +them. I don't know why we permit their existence. Fools who will not +learn. Education made us as we are, and they won't take it. Sullen +looks and evil leers are all that they have for us. Hope nobody suggests +going down there now." + +"Me, too," said Peter. He had forgotten that once he was Karl Krassin, a +wearer of the despised gray. + +Someone in the party was becoming restless. They must move on. + +"Where to?" asked Peter. + +"Sans Dolor, sweet boy. A pleasure city within a hundred kilometers of +Dorn. You'll love it, Peter." + +A pleasure city! Fondest dream of the wearers of the gray! In the dim +past, when he was Karl, he had dreamed it often. Now he was to visit +one! + + * * * * * + +They were atop the city now and the crystal palace of the Zar shimmered +in the sunlight off there across the flat upper surface of Dorn. But it +seemed so far away that Peter did not give it a second thought. He was +living in the present. + +A swift aero took them into the skies and they roared out above the +wilderness that was everywhere between the great cities of earth. Funny +nobody thought of leaving the cities and exploring the jungles of the +outside. But, of course, it wasn't necessary. They had everything they +needed within the cities. All of their wants were supplied by the +mechanicals and by the few toilers in the gray who still persisted in +ignorance and in some perverse ideas that they must work in order to +live. Besides, the jungle was dangerous. + +Sans Dolor loomed into view, a great island floating in the air a +thousand meters above the tossing waters of the ocean. Peter gave not a +thought to the forces that kept it suspended. Dimly he recalled certain +words of old Rudolph, words regarding the artificial emanations that had +been discovered as capable of counteracting the force of gravity. But +his mind was intent on the pleasures to come. + +They were over the city. Carefully tended foliage lined its streets and +a smooth lagoon glistened in its center. Its towers and spires were +decorated with gay colors. The streets were filled with wearers of the +purple and the nude bodies of bathers in the lagoon gleamed white in the +strong sunlight. + +He sensed anew the nearness of Rhoda. Her soft warm hand nestled in his +and she responded instantly to his sudden embrace. + +There came a shock and the party was stilled in dismay. The aero +careened violently and the pilot struggled with controls that were dead. +Sans Dolor dropped rapidly away beneath them. They were shooting +skyward, drawn by some inexplicable and invisible energy from above. + + * * * * * + +Rhoda screamed and held him close, trembling violently. All of the women +screamed and the men cursed. Leon arose to his feet and stared at Peter. +The friendliness was gone from his features and he spat forth an +accusation. A glistening mechanism appeared in his hand as if by magic. +A ray generator! He had been appointed by the Zar to guard this upstart +and, whatever happened, he'd not let him escape with his life. The girl +shuddered at sight of the weapon and extricated herself from his arms. +Her affection too had been a pose. + +Peter's mind was clearing from the effects of the drug. He had not the +slightest idea of what might have caused the quick change in the +situation but he resolved he would die fighting, if die he must. Leon +fumbled with the catch of the generator. It refused to operate. The +force that was drawing them upward had paralyzed all mechanisms aboard +the little aero. Flinging it from him in disgust he sprang for Peter. + +Their minds befuddled, the rest of the men watched dully. The women +huddled together in a corner, whimpering. They were a sorry lot after +all, thought Karl. He was no longer Peter Van Dorn, and he thrilled to +the joy of battle. + + * * * * * + +Leon Lemaire was no mean antagonist. His flailing arms were everywhere +and a huge fist caught Karl on the side of his head and sent him +reeling. But this only served to clear his mind further and to fill him +with a cold rage. He bored in unmercifully and Lemaire soon was on the +defensive. A blow to his midsection had him puffing and Karl hammered in +rights and lefts to the now sinister face that rocked his opponent to +his heels. But the minion of the Zar was crafty. He slid to the floor as +if groggy, then with catlike agility, dove for Karl's knees, bringing +him down with a crash. + +The air whistled by them as the ship was drawn upward with ever-increasing +speed. The other passengers cowered in fright as the two men rolled over +and over on the floor, banging at each other indiscriminately. Both +were hurt. Karl's lip was split, and bleeding profusely. One eye was +closing. But now he was on top and he pummeled his opponent to a pulp. +Long after he ceased resisting them, the blows continued until the +features of Leon Lemaire were unrecognizable. The infuriated Karl did not +see that one of the members of the party was creeping up on him from +behind. Neither was he aware that the upward motion of the aero had +ceased and that they now hung motionless in space. A terrific blow at +the base of his skull sent him sprawling. Must have been struck by a +rocket, one of those funny ships that crossed the ocean so quickly. A +million lights danced before his aching eyeballs. + +Lying prone across the inert body of his foe, dimly conscious and +fingers clutching weakly, he knew that the cabin was filled with people. +Alien voices bellowed commands. There was the screaming of women; the +sound of blows; curses ... then all was silence and darkness. + + * * * * * + +It was a far cry to the little book shop off Cooper Square, but Karl was +calling for Rudolph when he next awoke to the realization that he was +still in the land of the living. His head was bandaged and his tongue +furry. A terrible hangover. Then he heard voices and they were +discussing Peter Van Dorn. He opened one eye as an experiment. The other +refused to open. But it might have been worse. At least he was alive; he +could see well enough with the one good optic. + +"Sh-h!" whispered one of the voices. "He's recovering!" + +He looked solemnly into the eyes of an old man; a pair of wise and +gentle eyes that reminded him somehow of Rudolph's. + +"Quiet now, Peter," said the old man. "You'll be all right in a few +minutes. Banged up a bit, you are, but nothing serious." + +"Don't call me Peter," objected Karl. He loathed the sound of the name; +loathed himself for his recent thoughts and actions. "I am Karl +Krassin," he continued, "and as such will remain until I die." + +There were others in the room and he saw glances of satisfaction pass +between them. This was a strange situation. These men were not of the +purple. Neither were they of the gray. Their garments shone with the +whiteness of pure silver. And that's what they were; of finely woven +metallic cloth. Was he in another world? + +"Very well, Karl." The kind old man was speaking once more. "I merely +want you to know that you are among friends--your father's friends." + + * * * * * + +Surprised into complete wakefulness, Karl struggled to a seated position +and surveyed the group that faced him. They were a fine looking lot, +mostly older men, but there was a refreshing wholesomeness about them. + +"My father?" he faltered. "He's not alive." + +"No, my poor boy. Derek Van Dorn left this life at the hands of your +uncle, Zar Boris. But we, his friends, are here to avenge him and to +restore to you his throne." + +"But--but--I still do not understand." + +"Of course not, because we've kept ourselves hidden from the world for +more than twenty-two years, waiting for this very moment. There are +forty-one of us, including Rudolph, my brother. We have lived in the +jungle since Boris conquered the Eastern Hemisphere. But amongst our +numbers were several scientists, two greater than was Boris, even in his +heyday. They have done wonderful things and we are now prepared to take +back what was taken from Derek--and more. His life we can not +restore--Heaven rest him--but his kingdom we can. And to his son it +shall be returned. + +"You were given into Rudolph's care when little more than a babe in arms +and he has cared for you well. We've watched, you know, in the +detectoscopes--long range radiovision mechanisms that can penetrate +solid walls, the earth itself, to bring to us the images and voices of +persons who may be on the other side of the world. We've followed your +every move, my boy, and the first time we feared for you was yesterday +when the drug of the Zar's physician stole away your sense of right and +wrong. But we were in time to save you, and now we are ready to kneel at +your feet and proclaim you our king. First there is the Zar to be dealt +with and then we shall set up the new regime. Are you with us?" + + * * * * * + +Karl gazed at the speaker in wonder. He a king? Always to live amongst +the wearers of the purple? To be responsible for the welfare of half the +world? It was unthinkable! But Zar Boris, the murderer of his own +father--he must be punished, and at the hands of the son! + +"I'll do it," he said simply. "That is, I'll do whatever you have +planned in the way of exterminating the Zar. Then we'll talk of the new +empire. But how is the Zar to be overcome? I thought he was invincible, +with his Moon men and terrible weapons." + +"Ah! That, my boy, is where our scientists have triumphed. True, his +rays were terrible. They could not be combatted when he first returned. +The strange chemicals and gases of the Moon men defied analysis or +duplication. His citadel atop the city of Dorn is proof against them +all; proof against explosives and rays of all kinds known to him. The +disintegration and decomposition rays have no effect on the crystal of +its walls. It is hermetically sealed from the outer air so can not be +gassed. The vibration impulses have no effect upon its reinforced +structure. But there is a ray, a powerful destructive agent, against +which it is not proof. And our scientists have developed this agency. +You shall have the privilege of pressing the release of the energy that +destroys the arch-fiend in his lair. His dominance over, the empire will +fall. We shall take it--for you." + +A strange exaltation shone from the faces of those in the room, and Karl +found that it was contagious. His bosom swelled and he itched to handle +the controls of this wonderful ray. + +"This ray," continued the brother of old Rudolph, "carries the longest +vibrations ever measured, the vibrations of infra-red, the heat-ray. We +have succeeded in concentrating a terrific amount of power in its +production, and with it are able to produce temperatures in excess of +that of the interior of the earth, where all substances are molten or +gaseous. The Zar's crystal palace cannot withstand it for a second. He +cannot escape!" + +"How'll you know he's there at the time?" Karl was greatly excited, but +he was curious too. + +"Come with me, my boy. I'll show you." The old man led him from the room +and the others followed respectfully. + + * * * * * + +They stopped at a circular port and Karl saw that they were high above +the earth in a vessel that hovered motionless, quivering with what +seemed like human eagerness to be off. + +"This vessel?" he asked. + +"It's a huge sphere; the base of our operations. To it we drew the aero +on which you were fighting. A magnetic force discovered by our +scientists and differing only slightly from that used in counteracting +gravity. We let the rest of them go; foolishly I think. But it's done +now and we have no fear. From this larger vessel we shall send forth +smaller ones, armed with the heat-ray. The flagship of the fleet is to +be yours and you'll lead the attack on Dorn. Here--I'll show you the +Zar." + +They had reached the room of the detectoscopes--a mass of mechanisms +that reminded Karl of nothing so much as the vitals of the intermediate +levels which he had visited with Leon--and Rhoda. He knew that he +flushed when he thought of her. What a fool he had been! + +A disc glowed as one of the silver-robed strangers manipulated the +controls. The upper surface of Dorn swung into view. Rapidly the image +drew nearer and they were looking at the crystal pyramid that was the +Zar's palace. Down, down to its very tip they passed. Karl recoiled from +the image as it seemed they were falling to its glistening sides. The +sensation passed. They were through, penetrating solid crystal, masonry, +steel and duralumin girders. Room after room was opened to their view. +It was magic--the magic of the upper levels. + + * * * * * + +Now they were in the throne room. A group of purple-clad men and women +stood before the dais. Leon, Rhoda--all of his wild companions were +there, facing the dais. The Zar was raging and the words of his speech +came raucously to their ears through the sound-producing mechanism. + +"You've failed miserably, all of you," he screamed. "He's gotten away +and you know the penalty. Taru--the vibrating ray!" + +The Moon man already was fussing with a gleaming machine, a machine with +bristling appendages having metallic spheres on their ends, a machine in +which dozens of vacuum tubes glowed suddenly. + +Rhoda screamed. It was a familiar sound to Karl. He noted with +satisfaction that Leon could hardly stand on his feet and that his face +was covered with plasters. Then, startled, he saw that Leon was +shivering as with the ague. His outline on the screen grew dim and +indistinct as the rate of vibration increased. Then the body bloated and +became misty. He could see through it. The vibrating death! His father +had gone the same way! + +Karl groaned at the thought. The whine of the distant machine rose in +pitch until it passed the limit of audibility. Tiny pin-points of +incandescence glowed here and there from the Zar's victims as periods of +vibration were reached that coincided with the natural periods of +certain of the molecules of their structure. They were no longer +recognizable as human beings. Shimmering auras surrounded them. Suddenly +they were torches of cold fire, weaving, oscillating with inconceivable +rapidity. Then they were gone; vanished utterly. + +The Zar laughed--that horrible cackle again. + +"Great God!" exclaimed Karl, "let's go! The fiend must not live a moment +longer than necessary. Are you ready?" + +Rudolph's brother smiled. "We're ready Karl," he said. + + * * * * * + +The great vessel hummed with activity. The five torpedo-shaped aeros of +the battle fleet were ready to take off from the cavities in the hull. +In the flagship Karl was stationed at the control of the heat-ray. His +instructions in its operation had been simple. A telescopic sight with +crosshairs for the centering of the object to be attacked; a small +lever. That was all. He burned with impatience. + +Then they were dropping; falling clear of the mother ship. The pilot +pressed a button and the electronic motors started. A burst of roaring +energy streamed from the tapered stern of their vessel and the earth +lurched violently to meet them. Down, down they dived until the rocking +surface of Dorn was just beneath them. Then they flattened out and +circled the vast upper surface. From the corner of his eye Karl saw that +the other four vessels of his fleet were just behind. There was a flurry +among the wasplike clouds of pleasure craft over the city. They scurried +for cover. Something was amiss! + +"Hurry!" shouted Karl. "The warning is out! There is no time to lose!" + +He pressed his face to the eye-piece of his sight, his finger on the +release lever of the ray. The crystal pyramid crossed his view and was +gone. Again it crossed, more slowly this time. And now his sight was +dead on it, the gleaming wall rushing toward him. Pressure on the tiny +button. They'd crash into the palace in another second! But no, a +brilliant flash obscured his vision, a blinding light that made the sun +seem dark by comparison. They roared on and upward. He took his eye from +the telescope and stared ahead, down. The city was dropping away, and, +where the crystal palace had stood, there was a spreading blob of molten +material from which searing vapors were drifting. The roofs of the city +were sagging all around and great streams of the sparkling, sputtering +liquid dripped into the openings that suddenly appeared. Derek Van Dorn +was avenged. + +"Destroy! Destroy!" yelled Karl madly. A microphone hung before him and +his words rang through every vessel of his convoy. + + * * * * * + +The lust of battle was upon him. A fleet of the Zar's aeros had risen +from below; twenty of them at least. These would be manned by Moon +creatures, he knew, and would carry all of the dreadful weapons which +had originated on that strange body. But he did not know that his own +ships were insulated against most of the rays used by the Zar's forces. +He knew only that he must fight; fight and kill; exterminate every last +one of the Zar's adherents or be exterminated in the attempt. + +Kill! Kill! The madness was contagious. His pilot was a marvel and drove +his ship straight for the massed ships of the foe. The air was vivid +with light-streamers. A ray from an enemy vessel struck the thick glass +of the port through which he looked and the outer surface was shattered +and pock-marked. But a cloud of vapor and a dripping stream of fiery +liquid told him his own ray had taken effect on a vessel of the enemy. +One! They wheeled about and spiraled, coming up under another of the +Zar's aeros. It vanished in a puff of steam and they narrowly missed +being covered by the falling remnants of incandescent liquid. Two! +Karl's aim was good and he gloated in the fact. Three! They climbed and +turned over, dropping again into the fray. Four! + +The air grew stifling, for the expended energy of the enemies' rays must +needs be absorbed. It could not disintegrate them nor decompose their +bodies, but the contacts were many and the liberation of heat enormous. +They were suffocating! But Karl would not desist. They drove on, now +beneath, now above an enemy ship. He lost count. + +One of his own vessels was in trouble. The report came to him from the +little speaker at his ear. He looked around in alarm. A glowing object +reeled uncertainly over there between two of the aeros of the Zar. The +concentration of beams of vibrations was too much for the sturdy craft. +It was red hot and its occupants burned alive where they sat. Suddenly +it slipped into a spin and went slithering down into the city, leaving a +gaping opening where it fell. This sobered him somewhat, but he went +into the battle with renewed fury. + + * * * * * + +How many had they brought down? Fifteen? Sixteen? He tore his purple +jacket from his body. The perspiration rolled from his pores. His own +ship would be next. But what did it matter? Kill! Kill! He shouted once +more into the microphone, then dived into battle. Another and another! +In Heaven's name, how many were there? It was maddening. If only he +could breathe. His lungs were seared; his eyes smarting from the heat. +And then it was over. + +Three of the Zar's aeros remained, and these turned tail to run for it. +No! They were falling, nose down, under full power; diving into the city +from which they had come. Suicide? Yes. They couldn't face the +recriminations that must come to them. And anything was better than +facing that burning death from the strange little fighters which had +come from out the skies. Dorn was a mass of wreckage. + +Karl tore at the fastenings of the ports, searing his fingers on the +heated metal. His pilot had collapsed, the little aero heading madly +skyward with no guiding hand. Air! They must have air! He loosened the +pilot's jacket; slapped frantically at his wrists in the effort to bring +him to consciousness. Then he was at the controls of the vessel, tugging +on first one, then the other. The aero circled and spun, executing the +most dangerous of sideslips and dives. A little voice was speaking to +him--the voice of the radio--instructing him. In a daze he followed +instructions as best he could. The whirlings of the earth stabilized +after a time and he found he was flying the vessel; climbing rapidly. + + * * * * * + +A sense of power came to him as the little voice of the radio continued +to instruct. Here were the controls of the electronic motor; there the +gravity-energy. He was proceeding in the wrong direction. But what did +it matter? He learned the meaning of the tiny figures of the altimeter; +the difference between the points of the compass. Still he drove on. + +"East! Turn East!" begged the little voice from the radio. "You're +heading west. Your speed--a thousand kilometers an hour--it's too fast. +Turn back, Zar Peter!" + +He tore the loud speaker of the radio from its fastenings. West! He +wanted to go west! On and on he sped, becoming more and more familiar +with the workings of the little vessel as he progressed. A cooling +breeze whistled from the opened ports, a breeze that smelled of the sea. +His heart sang with the wonder of it all. He could fly. And fly he did. +Zar Peter? Never! He knew now where he belonged; knew what he wanted. +He'd find the coast of North America. Follow it until he located New +York. A landing would be easy, for had not the voice instructed him in +the use of the gravity-energy? He'd make his way to the lower levels, to +the little book shop of Rudolph Krassin. A suit of gray denim awaited +him there and he'd never discard it. + + * * * * * + +Onward he sped into the night, which was falling fast. He held to his +westward course like a veteran of the air lanes. The pilot had ceased to +breathe and Karl was sorry. Game little devil, that pilot. Have to shove +his body overboard. Too bad. + +Rudolph's brother would understand. He'd be watching in the detectoscope. +And the others--those who had wished to seat him on a throne--they'd +understand, too. They'd have to! + +Rudolph would forgive him, he knew. Paul Van Dorn--his own cousin--the +secret agents of the Zar would never locate him! Too many friends of +Rudolph's were of the red police. + +He gave himself over to happy thoughts as the little aero sped on in the +darkness. Home! He was going home! Back to the gray denim, where he +belonged and where now he would remain content. + + + + +The Ape-Men of Xlotli + +_By David R. Sparks_ + + A beautiful face in the depths of a geyser--and Kirby plunges into + a desperate mid-Earth conflict with the dreadful Feathered + Serpent. + +CHAPTER I + + +Kirby did not know what mountains they were. He did know that the +Mannlicher bullets of eleven bad Mexicans were whining over his head and +whizzing past the hoofs of his galloping, stolen horse. The shots were +mingled with yelps which pretty well curdled his spine. In the +circumstances, the unknown range of snow mountains towering blue and +white beyond the arid, windy plateau, offering he could not tell what +dangers, seemed a paradise. Looking at them, Kirby laughed harshly to +himself. + +As he dug the heels of his aviator's boots into the stallion's flanks, +the animal galloped even faster than before, and Kirby took hope. Then +more bullets and more yelps made him think that his advantage might +prove only temporary. Nevertheless, he laughed again, and as he became +accustomed to the feel of a stallion under him, he even essayed a few +pistol shots back at the pack of frantic, swarthy devils he had fooled. + +[Illustration: _His head wavered back and forth and his hiss filled the +night._] + +Three hours ago he had been eating a peaceful breakfast with his friend +and commandant, Colonel Miguel de Castanar, in the sunlit patio of the +commandant's hacienda. Castanar, chief of the air patrol for the +district, had waxed enthusiastic over the suppression of last spring's +revolutionists and the cowed state of up-country bandits. Captain +Freddie Kirby, American instructor of flying to Mexican pilots in the +making, had agreed with him and asked for one of the Wasps and three +days' leave with which to go visiting in Laredo. The simple matter of a +broken fuel line, a forced landing two hundred kilometres from nowhere, +and the unlucky proximity of the not-so-cowed horsemen, were the things +which had changed the day from what it had been to what it was. + +The one piece of good fortune which had befallen him since the bandits +had surrounded the wrecked Wasp, looted it, and taken its lone pilot +prisoner, was the break he was getting now. During the squadron's first +halt to feed, he had knocked down his guards and made a bolt for the +grazing stallion. So far, the attempt was proving worth while. + + * * * * * + +On and on the stallion lunged toward the white mountains. Kirby's eyes +became red rimmed now from fatigue and the glare of the sun and the dust +of the pitilessly bare plateau. A negligible scalp wound under his mop +of straw-colored hair, slight as it was, did not add to his comfort. But +still he would not give up, for the horse, as if it sensed what its +rider needed most, was making directly for a narrow ravine which +debouched on the plateau from the nearest mountain flank. + +It was the promise of cover afforded by the jagged rocks and jungle +growth of that ravine which kept hope alive in Kirby's throbbing brain. + +The stallion was blown and staggering. Foam from the heavily bitted +mouth flashed back in great yellow flakes against Kirby's dust-caked +aviator's tunic. But just the same, the five mile gallop had carried +both horse and rider beyond range of any but the most expert rifle shot. +And Kirby knew that if his own splendid mount was almost ready to crash, +the horses of his pursuers must be in worse shape still. So for the +third time since the fight had begun, he laughed. This time there was no +harshness, but only relief, in the sound which came from his dry lips. + +Ten minutes later, he flung himself out of his saddle. Like the caress +of a vast, soothing hand, the shadowed coolness of the ravine lay upon +him. As his feet struck ground, they splashed in the water overflowing +from a spring at the base of an immense rock. At once Kirby dropped the +reins on the stallion's neck, giving him his freedom, and as the horse +lowered his head to drink, Kirby stooped also. + +There was cover everywhere. Kirby's first move after pulling both +himself and the horse away from the spring, was to glance up the long, +deeply shaded canyon which he had entered--a gash hacked into the breast +of the steep mountain as by a titanic ax. Then, reassured as to the +possibilities for a defensive retreat, he glanced back toward the +dazzling, bare plateau. + + * * * * * + +It was what he saw taking place amongst the sombreroed bandits out there +which made the grin of satisfaction fade from his broad mouth. His last +glance backward, before bolting into the canyon mouth, had showed him a +ragged squadron of men left far behind, yet galloping after him still. +But now-- + +Presently a puzzled frown made wrinkles in Freddie Kirby's wide +sunburned forehead. He relaxed his grip upon the heavy Luger, which, in +his big hands, looked like a cap pistol, and rubbed his eyes. + +But he was not mistaken. The horsemen had halted! Out there on the +glaring, alkali-arid plateau, they were standing as still as so many +statues. Looking toward the canyon mouth which had swallowed their +quarry, they certainly were, but they were halted as completely as men +struck dead. + +"Huh," Kirby grunted, and scratched behind his ear. + +The next second he swung around to look at his horse, uncertain what he +was going to do next, but aware of the fact that right now, with a lot +of unknown country between himself and Castanar's sunlit patio, the +stallion was going to be a friend in need. + +As he turned, however, prepared to take up the loose reins, something +else happened. The stallion let out a neigh as shrill as a trumpet +blast. As Kirby jumped, grabbed for the bridle, his fingers found empty +air. Like a crazy animal the stallion leaped past him, barely missing +him. Out toward the plain the horse jumped, out and away from the shaded +canyon mouth, out toward the spot where other horses waited. And despite +the animal's blown condition, the speed he put into his retreat left +Kirby dazed. + + * * * * * + +After a helpless, profanity-filled second, Kirby scratched behind his +ear again. As certain as the fact that almost his sole hope of getting +back to civilization depended upon the stallion, was the fact that the +brute did not intend to stop running until he dropped. + +"Now what in the hell ever got into his crazy head?" Kirby muttered +grimly. + +Then he turned around to glance up the shadow-filled slash of a canyon, +and sniffed. + +"Huh!" + +Faintly in the air had risen an odor the like of which he had never +encountered in his life. A combination, it was, of the unforgetable +stench which hangs over a battlefield when the dead are long unburied, +and of a fragrance more rare, more heady, more poignantly sweet than any +essence ever concocted by Parisian perfumer. + +With the drifting scent came a sound. Faint, carrying from a distance, +the rumble which Kirby heard was almost certainly that of a geyser. + +There was no telling what had brought the troop of horsemen to a halt, +but after a time Kirby knew that the cause of his horse's sudden +departure must have been a whiff of the strange perfume. + + * * * * * + +For a long time he stood still, watching the crazy stallion dwindle in +size, watching the line of unexpectedly timid bandits. Then, when it +became apparent that the horsemen were going to stay put either until he +came out, or showed that he never was coming out, he shrugged, and swung +on his heel so that he faced up the canyon. + +The odor was dying away now, and the geyser rumble was gone. In Kirby's +heart came a mingled feeling of tense uneasiness and fascinated +curiosity. Momentarily he was almost glad that his horse _had_ bolted, +and that his pursuers _were_ blocking any lane of retreat except that +offered by the canyon. If things had been different, the queer behavior +of the Mexicans, the unaccountable actions of his horse and the equally +strange growth of his own uneasiness might have made him uncertain +whether he would go up the canyon or not. Now it was the only thing to +do, and Kirby was glad because, fear or no fear, he wanted to go on. + +"I wonder," he said out loud as he started, "just what the denizens of +First Street in Kansas would say to a layout like this!" + + +CHAPTER II + +At the end of an hour he was still wondering. + +At midday the canyon was chill and dank, lit only by a half light which +at times dwindled to a deep dusk as the rock walls beetled together +hundreds of feet above his head. Always when he stumbled through one of +the darkest passages, he heard and half saw immense gray bats flapping +above him. In the half-lit reaches, he hardly took a step without seeing +great rats with gray coats, yellow teeth, and evil pink eyes. But rats +and bats combined were not as bad as the snakes. They were almost white, +and nowhere had he seen rattlers of such size. If his caution relaxed +for a second, they struck at him with fangs as long and sharp as +needles. + +The tortured, twisted cedars, the paloverdi, occatilla, cholla, opunti, +through which he edged his laborious way, all offered an almost animate, +armed hostility. + +Altogether this journey was the least sweet he had taken anywhere. Yet +he went on. + +Why had eleven Mexican bandits refused to advance even to within decent +rifle range of the canyon's mouth? What was there about the putrid yet +gorgeous perfume that had made the stallion go off his nut, so to +speak? + +After a time, Kirby veered away from a fourteen-foot rattler which +flashed in a loathsome coil on his left hand. Hungry, weakened by all he +had been through since breakfast time, he plodded doggedly on. + +But a moment later he stumbled past a twisted cedar, and then stopped, +forgetting even the snakes. + +At his feet lay the bleached skeleton of a man. + + * * * * * + +Beside the right hand, in a position which indicated that only the final +relaxation of death had loosened his grip upon a precious object, lay a +cylinder, carefully carved, of rich, yellow gold. + +Of the science of anthropology Kirby knew enough to make him sure that +the dolicocephalic skull and characteristically shaped pelvic and thigh +bones of the skeleton had belonged to a white man. + +As for the cylinder--But he was not so sure what that was. + +Regardless of the dry swish of a rattler's body on the rocks behind +him, he lifted the object from the spot in which it had lain for no man +knew how long. Of much the size and shape of an old-time cylindrical wax +phonograph record, the softly gleaming thing weighed, he judged, almost +two pounds. + +Two pounds of soft, virgin gold of a quality as fine as any he had seen +amongst all the treasures brought out of Mexico, Yucatan, and Peru +combined! + +But the gold was not the only thing. If Kirby was human enough to think +in terms of treasure, he was also enough of an amateur anthropologist to +hold his breath over the carvings on the yellow surface. + +First he recognized the ancient symbols of Sun and Moon. And then a +representation, semi-realistic, semi-conventionalized, of Quetzalcoatl, +the Feathered Serpent, known in all the annals of primitive Mexican +religions. + +Good enough. + +But the mere symbols by no means told the whole story of the cylinder. +The workmanship was archaic, older than any Aztec art Kirby knew, older +than Toltec, older far, he ventured to guess, than even earliest archaic +Mayan carvings. + +God, what a find! + + * * * * * + +For a moment it seemed almost impossible that he, Freddie Kirby, native +of Kansas, unromantic aviator, should have been the one to discover this +relic of an unknown, lost race. Yet the cylinder of gold was there, in +his hand. + +After a long minute Kirby looked around him, then listened. + +From up the canyon came the provocative rumble of the geyser. It was +closer now, and Kirby, glancing at his watch which had been spared to +him in the Wasp's crash, noted that just forty-four minutes had passed +since the last eruption. There was nothing to be done about the bleached +skeleton. So, tucking the precious cylinder into his tunic, Kirby +headed on up the gash of a canyon. + +Far away indeed seemed the neat, maple-shaded asphalt street, the rows +of parked cars and farm wagons, the telephone office and drug store and +bank, of the Kansas town where he had grown up. + +Time passed until again he heard the geyser, and again was dizzied by +the perfume. As the fragrance--close and powerful now--died away, he +flailed with one arm at a two-foot bat which flapped close to his head. + +And then he trudged his dogged way around a deeply shadowed bend, and +found the chasm not only almost wholly dark, but narrower than it had +been at any previous point. + +"Holy mackerel," Kirby groaned. "Phew! If this keeps up, I--" + +He stopped. His jaw dropped. + +"Oh, hell!" + +The beetling walls narrowed in until the gash was scarcely fifteen feet +wide. Further progress was barred by a smooth wall which rose sheer in +front of him. + + * * * * * + +Kirby did not know how many seconds passed before he made out through +the gloom that the wall was man-made and carved with the same symbols of +Sun, Moon, and Feathered Serpent, which ornamented the cylinder of gold. +But when he did realize at last, the shout with which he expressed his +feeling was anything but a groan. + +It simply meant that the skeleton which once had been a man, had almost +surely found the golden cylinder beyond the wall and not in the canyon. +And if the dead man had passed that smooth, carved barrier, another man +could do it! + +Kirby jumped forward, began to search in the darkness for some hidden +entrance. + +Minute after minute passed. He gave another cry. He saw a long, upright +crack in the stone surface, and a quick push of his hands made the +stones in front of him give almost an inch. + +All at once his shoulder was planted, and behind that square shoulder +was straining all the muscle of his two hundred pound body. The result +was all that he desired. When he ceased pushing, a slab of rock gaped +wide before him, giving entrance to a pitch dark tunnel. + +For a moment he held the portal back, then, releasing his pressure, he +stepped into the dark passage. By the time a ponderous grating of rocks +assured him that the door had swung shut of its own weight, he had +produced matches and struck a light. + + * * * * * + +The puny flame showed him a curving passage hewn smoothly through the +heart of bedrock. Before the flare died he walked twenty feet, and as +another match burned to his fingers, he found the right hand curve of +the passage giving way to a left hand twist. After that he dared use no +more of his precious matches. But just when the darkness was beginning +to wear badly on his nerves, he uttered a low cry. + +As he increased his rapid walk to a run, the faint light he had suddenly +seen ahead of him grew until it became a circular flare of daylight +which marked the tunnel's end. + +Out of the passage Kirby strode with shoulders square and head up, his +cool, level, practical blue eyes wide with wonder. Out of the tunnel he +strode into the valley of the perfumed geyser. + +"God above!" + +The words were vibrant with hoarse reverence. He saw the sunlight of a +cliff-surrounded diminutive Garden of Eden. He saw a vale of flowering +grass, of palms and live oaks, saw patches of lilies so huge as to +transcend belief, and dizzying clumps of tree cactus almost as tall as +the palms themselves. + +What was more, he saw in the center of this upland, cliff-guarded +valley, a gaping black orifice which every faculty of judgment told him +was the mouth of the geyser of perfume. And beside it, outstretched on a +smooth sheet of rock which glistened as though coated with a layer of +clear, sparkling glass, he saw-- + + * * * * * + +Kirby blinked his eyes rapidly, hardly believing what he saw. + +On the glistening rock lay the perfectly preserved figure of a Spanish +Conquistadore in full armor. Morion and breast-plate were in place, and +glistened as though they had been burnished this morning. And the +Spaniard's dark, handsome, bearded face! Kirby saw instantly that no +decay had touched it, that even the hairs of the beard were perfect. The +whole armor-clad corpse gleamed softly with a covering of the same +glassy substance which covered the rock. + +Kirby glanced at his watch, saw that twelve minutes must elapse before +the geyser spouted again. Then his eyes narrowed. He remained standing +where he was, hard by the mouth of the tunnel, knowing that a wise man +would conduct cautiously his exploration of this valley of wonders. + +Arsenic! Silicon! + +The two words stood out sharply in his thought. In Africa existed plenty +of springs whose waters contained enough arsenic to bring death to those +who drank. Might not the Spaniard's presence here be explained, then, by +assuming that the geyser water was charged with a strong arsenic +content, and, in addition, with some sort of silicon solution which, +left to dry in the air, hardened to glass? + +Lord, what a discovery to take back with him to Kansas! Almost it made +the discovery of the golden cylinder pale by comparison. Why, the +commercial uses to which this silicon water might be put were almost +without limit, and the owner of the concession might confidently expect +to make millions! + +It was while Kirby stood there, breathless and jubilant, waiting for +the geyser to spout, that he began to feel that _he was being watched_. + +Suddenly, with a start, he shot a sweeping glance over the whole grove. +But that did no good. He saw nothing save sunlight and waving green +leaves. + +Eleven days were to pass before he discovered all that was to be +involved in that sensation of being gazed at by unseen eyes. + + +CHAPTER III + +At the beginning of the eleventh morning in the valley, Kirby had again +posted himself close to the mouth of the black tunnel, and again felt +that hidden eyes were observing him. + +But this morning differed from the first morning, because now, for the +first time, he was ready to do something about the watcher or watchers. +Exploration of the whole valley had not helped. Therefore, there lay at +his feet a considerable coil of rope, the manufacture of which from +plaited strands of the tough grass in his Eden had taken him whole days. +With what patience he could find, he was waiting for the gigantic spout +of milky-colored, perfumed water which would mean that the geyser had +gone off and would erupt no more for exactly forty-four minutes. + +Eleven days in the valley! + +While he waited, Kirby considered them. Who had made the beautiful +footprints beside him, when he had slept at last after his arrival here? +Why had so many of the queer, fuzzy topped shrubs with immense +yam-shaped roots, which grew here been taken away during that first +sleep, and during all his other periods of sleep? Who had taken them? +Early in his stay, he had learned that the tuberlike roots were good to +eat and would sustain life, and he supposed that the unseen people of +the valley took them for food. But who were these people of the valley? + +Who had laid beside him during his first sleep the immense lily with +perfume like that which came with the milky geyser spray--that spray of +death and delight mingled? Why had someone scratched a line in the earth +from him directly to the distant orifice of the geyser? Was this, as he +believed, a signal to come not only to the edge of the orifice, _but to +lower himself down into its depths_? And if the line were intended as a +signal, did the persons who came to the valley while he slept, always +eluding him, wish him well or mean to do him harm? + +Last question of all: had the beautiful girl's face he believed he had +seen just once, been real or an hallucination? It had been while he was +kneeling at the very edge of the geyser cone, staring down its many +colored throat, that the vision had appeared. Misty white amidst the +green gloom, the face had been turned up to him, smiling, its lips +forming a kiss, and its great eyes beckoning. Had the face been real or +a dream? + +Eleven days in the valley! Now, with his braided rope ready at last, he +was going to do something which might help to answer his questions. + + * * * * * + +Kirby reached out and began to run his grass rope, yard by yard, through +his hands, searching carefully for any flaw. A canyon wren made the air +sweet above him, while the morning sun began to wink and blink against +the shadows which still lay against the face of the guardian cliffs. +Kirby glanced at his watch and got up. + +Crossing beyond the mouth of the geyser, he grinned good morning at his +friend the Conquistadore, and marched on into the shade of the live oak +which grew nearest the geyser. Here he made one end of his rope fast to +the gnarled trunk, inspected his pistol, patted his tunic to make sure +that the cylinder of gold was safe, then stood by to await the geyser. + +With the passing of three minutes there came from the still empty +orifice a sonorous rumbling. Kirby grinned. + +From deep in the earth issued a sound of fizzing and bubbling, and +then, to the accompaniment of subterranean thunder, burst loose the +milky, upward column which had never ceased to awe the man who watched +so eagerly this morning. As the titanic jet leaped skyward now, the +slanting rays of the sun caught it, and turned the water, fanning out, +into a fire opal, into a sheet of living color. + +Kirby, hard headed to the last, drew from the supply in one pocket of +his tunic, a strip of one of the tuberlike roots, and munched it. + +The thunder ceased. The waters receded. + +After that Kirby hesitated not a second. Promptly he moved forward, +flung his coil of line down into the geyser tunnel, and swung on to the +line. By the time he had swallowed the last bite of his breakfast, the +world he knew had been left behind, and he was climbing down to a new. + + * * * * * + +It became at once apparent that the gorgeously colored, glassy-smooth +throat glowed with tints which were unfamiliar to him. He could perceive +these new shades of color, yet had no name for them. + +As he stopped after fifty feet to breathe, the color phenomenon made him +wonder if the tuber roots he had been eating had affected his vision; +then decided they had not. In addition to food value, the roots had some +power to stimulate courage and a slight mental exhilaration. But the +drug had proved non-habit forming, and Kirby knew that his powers of +perception were not now, and never had been, affected. + +He swung down further. + +Just a moment after he began that progress was when things began to +happen to him. First he heard what seemed to be the low titter of a +human voice laughing sweetly. Next came a far off, unutterably lovely +strumming of music. And then he realized that, at a depth of about a +hundred feet, he was hanging level with a hole which marked the mouth +of another tunnel. + +This new tunnel sloped down into the earth on his right hand. The floor +and walls were glassy smooth, and the angle of descent was steep, but by +no means as steep as the drop of the vertical geyser shaft in which he +now hung. + +Laughter, music, the new tunnel suddenly aroused an excitement which +made him quiver. + +"When I saw _her_," he gasped, "she was standing here, in the mouth of +this tunnel, looking up at me!" + +Violently, Freddie Kirby forgot the maple-shaded street of his Kansas +town, forgot everything but desire to reach the mouth of the new tunnel, +where the girl of the exquisite face and beckoning lips had stood. +Tightening his grip on the rope, he began to swing himself back and +forth like a pendulum. + +It seemed probable that when the geyser water shot up past the +horizontal tunnel, its force was so great that no water at all entered. +He redoubled his efforts to widen his swing. + + * * * * * + +Then his feet scraped on the floor, and in a second he had alighted +there. He still hung stoutly to his line, however, for the tunnel sloped +down sharply enough, and was slippery enough, to prohibit the +maintenance of footing unaided. + +The music which issued from the depths of that stunningly mysterious +passage swelled to a crescendo--and stopped. Kirby clung there to his +precarious perch, his feet slipping on the glass under them with every +move he made, and feelings stirred in his heart which had never been +there before. + +Then, as silence reigned where the music had been, something prompted +him to look up. The next instant he stifled a cry. + +With widening eyes he saw the flash of a white arm and the gleam of a +knife hovering over the spot where his taut rope passed out of the +geyser opening into the sunshine of the outer world. Again he stifled a +cry. For crying out would do no good. While the suppressed sound was +still on his lips, the knife flickered. + +Then Kirby was shooting downward, the severed line whipping out after +him. The first plunge flung him off his feet. A long swoop which he took +on his back dizzied him. But as the fall continued, he was able to slow +it a little by bracing arms and legs against the tunnel walls. + +"Holy Jeehosophat!" he gurgled. + +But there seemed to be no particular danger. The slide was as smooth as +most of the chutes he had ever encountered at summer swimming pools. If +ever the confounded spiral passage came to an end, he might find that he +was still all right. As seconds passed and he fell and fell, it seemed +that he was bound for the center of the earth. It seemed that-- + + * * * * * + +He swished around a multiple bend, and eyes which had been accustomed to +darkness were blinded by light. + +It was light which radiated in all colors--blue, yellow, browns, +purples, reds, pinks, and then all the new colors for which he had no +name. Somehow Kirby knew that he had shot out of the tunnel, which +emerged high up in the face of a cliff, and that he was dropping through +perfumed, brilliant air resonant with the sound of birds and insects and +human cries. The funny thing was that the pull of gravity was not right, +somehow, and he was dropping fairly slowly. From far below, a body of +what looked like water was sweeping up to meet him. Kirby closed his +eyes. + +When he opened them again, his whole body was stinging with the slap of +his impact, and he found that it was water which he had struck. The +proof of it lay in the fact that he was swimming, and was approaching a +shore. + +But such water! It was milky white and perfumed as the geyser flow had +been, and it seemed luminous as with a radium fire. Had he not realized +presently that the fluid probably contained enough arsenic to finish a +thousand like him, he would have thought of himself as bathing in the +waters of Paradise. + +But then he began to forget about the poison which might already be at +work upon him. + +Ahead of him, stretched out in the gorgeous, colored light, ran a beach +which was backed by heavy jungle. And on the beach stood the lovely +creatures, all clad in shimmering, glistening garments, whose flutelike +cries had come to him as he fell. + + * * * * * + +Kirby looked, and became almost powerless to continue his swim. The +beauty of those frail women was like the reputed beauty of bright +angels. That paralyzing effect of wonder, however, did not last long. + +The girls moved forward to the water's edge, and, laughing amongst +themselves, beckoned to him with lovely slender hands whose every motion +was a caress. + +"Be not afraid," called one in a curious patois dialect, about +five-sixths of which seemed made up of Spanish words, distorted but +recognizable. + +"The water would kill you," called another, "as it killed the Spaniard +in armor. But we are here to save you. I will give you a draught to +drink which will defeat the poison. Come on to us!" + +Kirby's heart was almost literally in his mouth now, because the girl +who promised him salvation was she whose lips had formed a kiss at him +from the green-gloomy throat of the geyser. + +His feet struck a shale bottom. Panting, he stood up and was conscious +of the fact that despite his forlornly dripping and dishevelled +condition, he was tall and straight and big, and that for some reason +all of the girls on the gleaming sand, and one girl in particular, were +anxious to receive him here. + +The one girl had drawn a small, gleaming flask of gold from the misty +bodice of her gown, and was holding it out while she laughed with red +lips and great, dazzling dark eyes. + +"_Pronto!_" she called in pure Spanish, and other girls echoed the word. +"Oh," went on the bright owner of the flask, "we thought you would +_never_ have done with your work on the rope. It took you so long!" + + * * * * * + +Kirby left the smooth lake behind him and stood dripping on the sand. +The moment the air touched his clothes, he felt that they were +stiffening slightly. Yet the sensation brought no terror. He could not +feel terror as he faced the girls. + +"Give him the flask, Naida!" someone exclaimed. + +"Ah, but the Gods _have_ been kind to us!" echoed another. + +The girl with the flask made a gesture for silence. + +"Is it Naida you are called?" Kirby put in quickly, and as he spoke the +Spanish words, the roll of them on his tongue did much to make him know +that he was sane and awake, and not dreaming, that this was still the +Twentieth Century, and that he was Freddie Kirby. + +Answering his question, Naida nodded, and gave him the flask. + +"A single draught will act as antidote to the poison," she said. + +"I drink," said Kirby as he raised the flask, "to the many of you who +have been so gracious as to save me!" + +A flashing smile, a blush was his answer. And then he had wetted his +lips with, and was swallowing, a limpid liquid which tasted of some +drug. + +"Enough!" Naida ordered in a second. + +As she reached for the flask, her companions closed in as though a +ceremony of some sort had been completed. + +"Is it time to tell him yet, Naida?" piped one of the girls, younger +than the rest, whom someone had called Elana. + +"Oh, _do_ begin, Naida," chorused two more. "We can't wait _much_ longer +to find out if he is going to help us!" + +Kirby turned to Naida, while a soothing sensation crept through him from +the draught he had taken. + +"Pray tell me what it is that I am to be permitted to do for you. I +can promise you that the whole of my life and strength, and such +intelligence as I possess, is yours to command." + + * * * * * + +Excited small cries and a clapping of hands answered him. As for Naida, +her face lighted with glowing joy. + +"Oh, one who could say that, _must_ be the friend and protector of whom +we have stood in such bitter need!" + +"What," asked Kirby, "is this need which made one of you cut my rope, so +that I should come here?" + +A momentary silence was broken only by the hum of insects in the +perfumed air, and by the golden thrilling of a bird back in the jungle. +Then Kirby beheld Naida bowing to him. + +"So be it," she said in a voice low and flutelike. "I will speak now +since you request it. Already you have seen that you are here in our +world because we conspired amongst ourselves to bring you here. Our +reason--" + +She paused, looked deep into his eyes. + +"Amigo," she continued slowly, "we whom you see here are the People of +the Temple. For more centuries than even our sages can tell, our +progenitors have dwelt here, where you find us, knowing always of your +outer world, but remaining always unknown by it. But now the time has +come when those of us who are left amongst our race need the help of one +from the outer races we have shunned. Dangers of various orders confront +us who have waited here for your coming. When we first discovered you in +the Valley of the Geyser, the idea came to me that we must make you +understand our troubles, and ask of you--" + +But then she stopped. + +As Kirby stared at her, the gentleness of her expression was replaced by +a swift strength which made her majestic. + +The next moment bedlam reigned upon the beach. + +"_They are after us!_" gasped one of the girls in terror. "Quick, Naida! +Quick! Quick!" + + * * * * * + +Whatever it was that threatened, Naida did not need to be told that the +need for action was pressing. She shouted at her companions some order +which Kirby did not understand. From a pouch at her side, she snatched +out a greyish, spherical vegetable substance which looked almost like a +tennis ball. Then she braced herself as if to withstand an assault. + +"Stand back!" she cried to Kirby. + +He had long ago ceased to wonder at anything that might happen here. +Disappointed that Naida's story had been interrupted, wondering what was +wrong, he obeyed Naida's order to keep clear. + +As he fell back and stood motionless, there came from behind a dense +screen of shrubs which would have resembled aloe and prickly pear +bushes, save that they were as big as oak trees, a ghastly howling. The +next second, hopped and hurtled across the beach toward the girls, a +group of hair-covered, shaggy creatures which were neither apes nor men. +The faces, contorted with lust, were hideously leathery and brown, the +foreheads small and beetling, and the mouths enormous, with immense +yellow teeth. + +Helpless, Kirby realized that Naida and all the others had clapped over +their faces curious masks which seemed to be made of some crystalline +substance, and that now others had armed themselves with the tennis +balls. And that was the last observation he made before the battle +opened furiously. + +With a cry muffled behind her mask, Naida leaped out in front of her +squadron and cut loose her queer vegetable ball with whizzing aim and +force. + +Full into the snarling face of one of the ape-men the thing smashed, +filling the air all about the creature with a yellow, mistlike powder. +Kirby was half deafened by the yells of rage and terror which went up +from the entire attacking band. The creature who had been hit fell to +his knees the while he made agonized tearing movements at his face and +uttered shrill, jabbering yelps. + +Other balls flashed instantly from Naida's ranks, and each brought about +the same ghastly result as the first. But then Kirby saw that the whole +jungle seethed with the hairy, awful men. + +"Keep back!" Naida shrieked at him through her mask. "We have no mask +for you. If the powder from our fungi touches you, it will be the end!" + + * * * * * + +With gaps in the advancing line filled as soon as each screeching ape +went down, the attackers leaped on until Kirby knew they would be upon +the girls in a matter of seconds. A sweat broke out on his neck. + +But then an idea gripped him, and suddenly, without even a last glance +at Naida, he leaped away even as she had commanded. + +A great boulder lay on the shore fifty yards away. Toward it Kirby +streaked as though he had become coward. But he had not turned coward. + +By the time he reached the shelter which would protect him from the +fungus mist, a turning point had come in the battle. The ape-men had +closed in on the girls, were swarming about them, and the mist balls had +almost ceased to fly. But the thing which gave Kirby hope was that the +apes were not attempting to harm the girls. They seemed victors, but +they were not committing atrocities. + +It was the sharp intuition that something like this might happen which +had sent Kirby fleeing from the fight. He believed he might yet prove +useful. + +The thickest group of attackers were jostling about Naida. As the +screams and sobs of the girls quivered out, mingled with the guttural +roaring of the men, Naida was shut off by a solid wall of aggressors. + +Then Kirby saw her again. But now two of the most powerful of the +ape-men had caught her up and was carrying her. Her kicking and writhing +and biting accomplished nothing. The apes were headed directly back to +the jungle. + + * * * * * + +Now, however, most of the yellow mist had disappeared, and that was all +Kirby had been waiting for. With a growling shout, he tore out from +behind his boulder, his Luger ready. Naida's captors were in full +retreat, and other pairs of men were snatching up other girls and +hopping after them. Toward Naida Kirby ran madly but not blindly. + +"Naida! Naida!" he bellowed. + +He got in two strides for every one the apes made. + +"Naida!" he shouted, and at last saw her look at him. + +Her face was pallid with loathing and terror. As her glimmering dark +eyes met his, they flashed a plea which made his heart thrash against +his lungs. + +With a final roar of encouragement Kirby closed in on the hair-covered +men, and fired instantly a shot which caught one full in the heart. The +creature wavered on its legs, looked at the unexpected enemy with +dismayed, swinish little red eyes, and relaxing his hold upon Naida, +dropped without making a sound. + +After that-- + +But suddenly Kirby found himself unable to comprehend fully the other +terrific results of his intervention. Before the echoes of his shot +died, there came to him the rumble of what seemed to be tons of falling +rock. In the bright air a slight mist was precipitated. To all of which +was added the effect upon the ape-men of fear of a weapon and a type of +fighter utterly new to them. + +Kirby had fired believing that he would have to fight other ape-men +when the first fell. But not so. Instead of that-- + + * * * * * + +He blinked rapidly as he took in the scene. + +Naida had been released. Lying on the sand beside the dead ape-man, she +was looking up at him in stupefied wonder. And her other captor, instead +of remaining to fight, had clapped shaggy hands over his ears, and was +leaping headlong for the protection of the jungle! + +Moreover, the soprano cries of the girls and the deep howls of the men +were rising everywhere, and everywhere the ape-men were dropping their +captives and plunging away after their leader. + +"Huh," Kirby muttered aloud, and wondered what the citizens of Kansas +would have to say about _this_. + +Naida looked at the dead and bleeding ape-man and shuddered, and then at +the score or so of others brought down by the puff balls. Then she +looked up at Kirby, raised her arms for his support, and smiled up into +his brown face. + +Kirby forgot Kansas, lifted her, warm and alive, radiantly beautiful, in +his arms. + +"Our friends the enemies," she whispered as she remained for a second in +his embrace and then drew away, "will attack no more this day--thanks to +you." + +There was no possible need for another shot, Kirby saw. In terrified +silence, the first of the apes had already floundered behind the prickly +pear and aloe bushes, and the last stragglers were using all the power +in their legs to catch up. On the beach, Naida's followers were picking +themselves up, and already a few of them had burst into ringing +laughter. + +"Come on, all of you," Naida said to them, and, including Kirby in her +glance, added, "We may as well go to the caciques now, and have it over +with." + + +CHAPTER IV + +It was with Naida at his side and the other girls grouped about them, +that they started their journey to the "caciques," whoever they might +be, "to have it over with," whatever that might mean. As they strode +along in silence, Kirby did what he could to straighten out in his mind +the many curious things which had happened since he sat testing his rope +in the upper world this morning. + +In final analysis, it seemed to him that, extraordinary as his +experience had been, there was nothing so much out of the way about it, +after all. The only unusual thing was the existence of this inhabited +pocket in the earth. For the rest, the strange colors to which he could +not put a name, were simply some manifestation of infra-reds and +ultra-violets. And then the startling effect of his single shot at the +ape-men--that was simply the old story of savage creatures running from +a new weapon and a new enemy; naturally the shot had sounded loud in +this enclosed cavern. Lastly, the pull of gravity down here seemed upset +somehow. But why should it not seem so, at this distance within the +earth? The American was no scientist; the conclusions he reached seemed +very reasonable to him. + +All told, the last thing Kirby found he needed to do was pinch himself +to see if he was awake. + +A place of indefinite extent, the cavern seemed to be exactly what he +had already judged it--a giant pocket within the earth. The ceiling, or +the sky, was of some kind of natural glass--no doubt the same kind which +was crackling on his clothes now--and from it emanated the brilliant, +many colored glow which lighted the cavern. Radium? Perhaps it was that. +Perhaps the rays were cast off from some other element even less +understood than mysterious radium. As for the plant and animal life with +which the cavern teemed, it was amazing. + + * * * * * + +But Kirby did not give himself up to silent observation any longer. + +"Will you finish telling me," he asked of Naida, "about the task I am to +perform for you here?" + +Naida, walking with lithe strides along a path jungle-hemmed on both +sides, smiled at him. + +"You are to be our leader." + +"Yes?" + +Now both Naida and the other girls became sober. + +"You will lead us in a revolt." + +"Ah!" Kirby whistled softly. + +"In a revolt against the caciques--the wise men--whose kind have +governed the People of the Temple since the beginning." + +Her statement was received with acclaim by the whole troop, who crowded +close around, the while they smiled at Kirby. + +"You mean I am to lead a revolt," he asked, "against these same caciques +whom we are going now to face?" + +Naida nodded emphatically. + +"Yes, if revolt proves necessary. And it probably will." + +"Hum." Kirby scratched behind his ear. "You'd better tell me what you +can about it." + + * * * * * + +Then, as they hurried on, Naida spoke rapidly. + +The situation before the People of the Temple was that for a long time +now, the only children to be born had been girls. Worse still, not even +a girl had been born during a period equal to sixteen upper-world years. +The only remaining members of a race which had flourished in this +underground land for countless thousands of years, consisted of the +caciques, a handful of aged people, and the thirty-four girls, including +Naida, who accompanied Kirby now. + +On one hand was promised extinction through lack of reproduction. On the +other, even swifter and more terrible extinction at the hands of the +ape-men, whom Naida called the Worshippers of Xlotli, the Rabbit God, +the God of all bestiality and drunkenness. + +It was the menace of the ape-men, rather than the less appalling one of +lack of reproduction, which was making the most trouble now. Ages ago, +when the People of the Temple had flourished as a race, they had been +untroubled by the Worshippers of Xlotli. But now the ape-men were by far +the stronger; and they desired the girls who had been born as the last +generation of an ancient race. The battle of this morning had been only +one of many. + +Dissension between the caciques, who ruled the People of the Temple, and +their girl subjects, had arisen on the subject of the best way of +dealing with the ape-man menace. + + * * * * * + +Some time ago, Naida, heading a council of all the girls, had proposed +to the caciques that support be sought amongst the people of the upper +world. This would be done judiciously, by bringing to the lower realm a +few men who were wise and strong, men who would make good husbands, and +who could fight the ape-men. + +This proposal the priests had promptly quashed. They would never +receive, they said, any members of the teeming outer races from whom the +People of the Temple had so long been hidden. Those few who had +blundered into the Valley of the Geyser during the centuries, and who +had never escaped, were enough. Better, said the caciques, that a +compromise be arranged with the subjects of the Rabbit God. + +Flatly then, the priests had proposed that some of the girls, the number +to be specified later, should be given to the ape-men, and peace won. +During the time of reprieve which would thus be afforded, prayers and +sacrifices could be offered the Lords of the Sun and Moon, and to +Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent. In answer to these prayers, the +Gods would surely send the aged people who alone were left as +prospective parents, a generation of sons. + +Once the priests' program of giving up some of the girls to the ape-men +had been made definite, it had not taken Naida and the others long to +decide that they would never submit. And then, while matters were at an +acute stage, a tall, blond white man had come to the Valley of the +Geyser--Kirby. + + * * * * * + +As Naida had finished her story, Kirby mustered a smile despite the +soberness which had come upon him. + +"So the white man came," he repeated after her, "and all of you decided +forthwith to stage your revolt." + +"Why not?" Naida answered. "We observed you until we were sure you +possessed the qualities of leadership we wanted. After that, we did what +we could to coax you to come here." + +Kirby grinned at that. + +"Now," Naida ended simply, "we will go to the caciques. If they accept +you, and grant our requests to them, there will be peace. If they rage, +it will be war." + +Suddenly she drew closer to Kirby as they swung along, and slipped her +hand into his, looking up at him in silent entreaty. + +"How much farther," he asked in a voice which became sharp, "until we +reach the headquarters of these caciques?" + +"They live in a castle which our ancestors built ages ago on a protected +plateau," Naida answered tensely. "It is a good distance still, but we +will cover it soon enough." + +They crossed now one edge of a shadow-filled forest composed principally +of immense, pallid palmlike trees. Farther on, the path wound through a +belt of swampy land covered by gigantic reeds which rustled above their +heads with a glassy sound, and by things which looked like the cat-tails +of the upper world, but were a hundred times larger. Everywhere hovered +odd little creatures like birds, but with teeth in their long snouts and +small frondlike growths on each side of their tails. About some swamp +plants with very large blooms resembling passion flowers, flitted dragon +flies of jeweled hues and enormous size, and under the flowers hopped +strange toadlike creatures equipped with two pair of gauzy wings. + + * * * * * + +Finally, through a tunnel composed of ferns a hundred feet high, they +emerged to a still densely overgrown but higher country which Naida said +was a part of the Rorroh forest. + +In the forest, Kirby gained a hazy impression of bronzy, immense cycads +and what appeared to be tree chrysophilums with gorgeous blossoms. Then +he received a much clearer impression of other trees with blossoms of +bright orange yellow and very thick petals, each tipped with a glassy +sharp point. The disconcerting thing about the tree was that, as they +approached, the scaly limbs began to tremble and wave, and suddenly +lashed out as though making a human effort to snatch at the bright +travelers. + +Naida and all the others hurried along without offering comment, and +Kirby asked no questions. + +Once he thought he saw a group of gorilla creatures parallelling their +course back amongst the forest growth, but if Naida observed the +animals, she paid no attention. The one thing which had any effect upon +the company was the appearance, presently, of two vast, birdlike +creatures. As these things approached, Naida signaled to all to crouch +beneath the shelter of a tall rock beside the path. + +Enormous, the birds had bat wings, and carried with them, as they +approached, the stink of putrid flesh. The long beaks were overfull of +sharp teeth. The heads, set upon bodies of glistening white-grey, were +black. Reddish grey eyes searched the jungle as the creatures flapped +along. But, the Pterodactyls--if they were that--passed above Naida's +band without offering attack, and presently Naida gave the command to +advance again. + + * * * * * + +In time, they came to a chasmlike gorge across which was suspended +a slender long thread of a bridge. Not far above the bridge, a +considerable river emptied itself into the gorge in a mirrorlike +ribbon. Kirby could not hear the torrent fall--or rather could not +hear it strike any solid bottom. But from somewhere in the unlighted, +unfathomed depths of the abyss rose strange bubbling and whistling +sounds. + +At the bridge, Naida paused and pointed to the land across the river. +And as Kirby looked in the direction indicated, he beheld a rocky +eminence rising for several hundred feet straight up from the expanse of +a level, tree and grass covered plain. Atop of the plateau, glimmered +the complex towers and turrets, the crenellated walls of a castle which, +in its grey antiquity, seemed as old as the race of men. + +"It is behind those walls that the caciques dwell," Naida said quickly. +"It is behind the castle, in a series of separate houses, that the older +members of the race dwell. We shall go and look upon them presently. But +first we will force an interview with the caciques." + +In silence Kirby took her hand, and, with the others following, they +moved out upon the swaying, perilous causeway which hung above the +chasm. After that, the trip across the plain to the foot of the plateau +cliffs was quickly accomplished. + +Here, however, Kirby thought they must face trouble, for he found that +the great walls, of a sparkling, almost glassy smoothness, shot up to a +height of at least three hundred feet, and that no path of any sort was +visible. + +"We're here," he said, "but how can we get up?" + + * * * * * + +But understanding began to dawn as Naida laughed, and produced from the +pouch at the side of her gauzy dress four pliable discs of a substance +which resembled rubber. + +"You are very strong, are you not?" she asked. + +"Yes." + +"Then you will have no trouble in following us up the cliff. Our Serpent +God, Quetzalcoatl, taught us how to climb long ago." + +With that she handed Kirby the set of vacuum discs, and producing +another for herself, moistened them in a pool of water close at hand. +Then, as all of the girls followed her action, she strapped them to her +hands and feet, and in a moment they had begun the ascent. + +"Why," Kirby said presently, "with these things you could hang by your +feet and walk on a smooth ceiling!" + +Naida laughed, and they worked their way upward. + +When the climb was accomplished and the discs were put away, Kirby found +himself standing on the outer edge of a mediaeval paradise, of a +magnificent plateau partly fortified by nature, partly by the hand of +man. + +"Ah!" he cried in deep admiration, then followed Naida. + +The building--the castle--in the near distance, resembled a castle of +Spain, save that there was greater beauty and subtlety of architecture. +Turreted on all four corners, constructed of material which looked like +blocks of natural glass, the fairylike structure was crowned by a +gigantic tower of something which resembled obsidian. Up and up this +tower soared until its gleaming black tip seemed almost to touch the +glassy-radiant sky of the cavern. + +No people showed themselves, and Kirby saw that the bronze-studded +portals set in the front of the castle were closed. + +Admiringly, he glanced at the surrounding land laid out in checkerboard +patches of gardens and orchards where grew a bewildering variety of +unknown fruits and blooms. Butterflies drifted past, and the air was +freighted with the scent of flowers. Inside a walled enclosure, Kirby +saw a good-sized plot heavily grown with the plant on which he had been +subsisting. As they passed this ground, each of the girls, Naida +leading, made a strange little bowing, gliding genuflection, and Kirby +wondered. + + * * * * * + +Now, however, new sights distracted him as they crossed a port +drawbridge above a deep moat which was a fairyland of aquatic plants. +Although not a sound had come from the castle, the great entrance doors +were swinging back. + +"Be ready," Naida whispered, "for almost anything. The doors are being +opened by some of the palace guard. I have little doubt that word was +long ago rushed to the caciques that we are come to them with an +upper-world man!" + +Kirby answered with a nod. Then they passed the outer doors, passed +inside, and Kirby blinked at what he saw. + +In a long hall decorated bewilderingly with a carven frieze in which +appeared all of the symbols common to early Mexican religions, and many +new ones, stood a row of bright suits of armor of the Sixteenth Century. +From each suit peered the glassy face and shovel beard of a dead +Conquistadore. + +So this was what happened to intruders from the upper world! The +Conquistadore who kept his long watch beside the geyser was not the only +one! Kirby felt an involuntary chill prickle up his back. But he was not +given long to think before Naida, ignoring the gruesome array, clasped +his arm. + +"Look! Behold!" + +And Kirby saw that with almost magical silence the whole wall at the end +of the corridor was sliding back to reveal an enormous amphitheatre in +the center of which stood a vast circular table. Ranged in a semicircle +about that table, stood fifteen incredibly ancient men clad in long, +glistening grey robes. Blanched beards trailed down the front of the +garments until they all but touched the floor. + +The caciques! + +Kirby, on the threshold of the amphitheatre, squared his shoulders and +held his head high. Then with Naida on his right, his own eyes boring +unyieldingly into the smouldering, narrowed eyes which stared at him, he +advanced. + +But in front of him the priests moved suddenly. From Naida burst a +shriek. In the radiant glare of the council room flashed the long, thin, +cruel blade of a sacrificial knife. + +The cacique who had whipped it from his robe flew at Kirby with a condor +swoop, talon-hands outstretched, his wrinkled, bearded face contorted +with fury. + + +CHAPTER V + +Before Kirby was more than half set to fight, the priest was clawing at +his throat, and a gnarled old fist was poised to drive the knife in a +death stroke. + +Kirby did the only thing he could do quickly--sprang to one side. The +move saved him. The knife whipped past his shoulder, and the cacique +nearly fell. But it had been a close enough squeak for all that. + +Nor was it over. After Kirby the priest sprang with unexpected agility, +and before Kirby could snatch at his pistol the talon-hands were lunging +at his throat once more. + +With the gasps of the girls ringing in his ears, Kirby bunched himself +for another side leap only to find the cacique all over him like an +octopus. Momentarily the knife hung above his chest, and Kirby, dismayed +at the powers of his opponent, almost felt that the thing must plunge +before he could break the octopus hold. + +But he had no intention of being defeated, and now he was getting used +to the fight. The priest's left arm swiftly clenched about his neck and +shoulders, and the right arm, with the knife, attempted a drive through +to the heart. Suddenly, however, Kirby lurched sideways and backward, +and as the octopus grip slackened for a flash, he himself got a +wrestler's grip that left him ready to do business. As the priest broke +free, he slid around in an attempt to fasten himself on Kirby's back. +Quickly, tensely Kirby doubled, and knew that he had done enough. The +cacique shot over his shoulders, described a somersault in midair, and +landed with a sharp crack of head and shoulders against unyielding +stone. + + * * * * * + +From the semicircle of other priests went up a gasp. From Naida came a +strangled cry of joy. Kirby made one leap for the knife which had fallen +from the cacique's hand as he slumped into unconsciousness, and then he +straightened up with the weapon safe in his possession. + +"There, you old billygoat," he croaked in English, "maybe you won't try +any more fast ones for awhile." + +A second later he stepped over the sprawled body to stand beside Naida. + +Upon the wrinkled countenances of the remaining caciques was stamped a +look of dismay and hatred which boded no good. It was plain to Kirby +that in battering up the man detailed to kill him, he had committed a +desecration of first order. + +"Is there anyone else who cares to fight?" he flung at them in Spanish, +showing a contempt as great as their rage. + +The response he got was instant. From one old gullet, then from others, +came choking, snarling sounds which presently became words. By those +words Kirby heard himself cursed with a vituperation which made him, +even in his temporary triumph, feel grave. + +But he did not let that soberness trouble him long. For the main point +now was that no one made a move to fight further, which was what he had +expected. He had flung them the challenge, knowing that he was possessed +of their knife, and suspecting that it was their only weapon. The belief +that no one would care to try a barehanded conflict, no matter what +insult was waiting to be avenged, seemed justified as none of the +caciques advanced, and as even the cursing presently ceased. + +"No?" Kirby asked. "There is to be no more fighting?" + + * * * * * + +One of the caciques now came forward a few steps. + +"No," he answered with a lameness which was not to be denied. "But you, +a criminal interloper in our realm, have been marked as a victim for +sacrifice, and from this there is no power in the universe which can +save you." + +Kirby, after a reassuring glance at Naida, looked at the floored priest +who was sitting up now, looking stupidly about, and feeling himself all +over, and Kirby suppressed a grin. + +"Ah, I am to be sacrificed, eh? But what happens until that time comes? +Listen my Wise Ones--" + +He stabbed a finger at them, and his eyes flashed. + +"Listen! What you mean to say is that I have defeated you, and you must +lay off me until you can launch another attack. But I have a few things +to say to that. One is that I am not going to permit myself to _be_ +sacrificed. Another is that I demand, right here and now, that you begin +to discuss with me certain agreements which are going to regulate the +future conduct of affairs in this world to which I have come." + +A low exclamation answered that, but it came from no priest. They +remained sullen and staggered. It was Naida who murmured, and there was +excitement and pleasure in her voice. Suddenly she placed her lips +against Kirby's ear. + +"You must not treat with them," she said. "Tell them you want to see the +Duca, and will destroy them all unless he comes!" + +Understanding burst over Kirby. The Duca! Then these men were only the +representatives of a High Priest, the Duca! + +"Yes," he repeated resolutely to the assembled greybeards, "a meeting is +going to be held in this chamber of council at once. But I will not +deal with you! Do you understand me? I must see the Duca. I leave it to +you to decide whether you will summon him, or force me to fight my way +through to wherever he is staying." + +"The Duca!" + + * * * * * + +The words burst in dismay from the gimlet-eyed cacique who had said +there would be no more fighting. He looked at Naida, well aware of the +fact that it was her interference which had made Kirby extend his +demand. And his look was black. + +Kirby slid between Naida and the cacique. + +"Yes," he spat out, "the Duca! Will you summon him, or--" + +He did not repeat what he would do as an alternative. A second passed in +silence. It seemed as if the cacique who had been speaking was ready to +burst. + +"Answer me!" Kirby thundered. + +And then the priest obeyed. + +"Very well," he growled in a voice which quaked with rage. "I obey. But +you will wish you had never made the demand!" + +The next second he swung on his heel, and leaving his company behind as +a guard, headed toward a stair which led upward from one side of the +amphitheatre, and which was protected by a door of heavy, grilled metal +work. The stairway seemed to be spiral, and was all enclosed. Kirby +realized that it must lead into the tall and beautiful tower of obsidion +which he had seen outside. + +"Oh," Naida whispered as looks and smiles of approval came from all of +the girls, "you have been magnificent! Mark now, what we must do. You +must be the one to state our terms, because you have already won a +victory for us. Tell the Duca that we will not submit to any compromise +with the ape-men, and least of all will we let any of our number go to +the ape-men." + +A deep flush crept into Kirby's cheeks at thought of what he would like +to do to the man who had proposed that sacrifice. + +"Then tell him," Naida continued, "that we want men brought to our world +from the world above. And finally tell him we will live under his +dictatorship no longer, and hereafter demand a voice in all councils +affecting temporal affairs." + +"All right," Kirby spoke grimly. "I'll tell him. Naida, is this high +priest we're waiting for, the one who proposed sacrifice of some of you +to the apes?" + +Naida nodded. + + * * * * * + +Next moment, she, Kirby, and all the others, including the row of +glowering caciques, became silent. At sounds from above, all looked +toward the grilled doorway to the tower. Then Kirby realized that all of +the girls, as well as the caciques, were dropping to their knees. + +"No!" he commanded quickly. "Get up! You must not abase--" + +He had not finished, and Naida had scarcely risen, when the heavy door +swung on noiseless hinges. + +The light in the amphitheatre seemed to become more intense. Then, +against the great glow, Kirby beheld majesty, beheld one who represented +the apotheosis of priestly rank and power. + +Clad in robes of filmy material which glimmered white beside the gray +robes of his underlings, the Duca wore about his waist the living flame +of a girdle composed of alternate cut diamonds and blood red rubies each +larger than a golf ball. And Kirby, searching for comparisons, realized +that the Duca's face, upheld to others, would be as remarkable as his +jewels must be when compared to ordinary gems. It was a chiseled face, +seamed by a thousand wrinkles, which a god might have carved from ivory +before endowing it with the flush and glow of life. A mane of snow white +hair cascaded back from a tremendous forehead to fall about thin but +square shoulders and mingle with the downward sweep of pure white +beard. The eyes, black as polished jet, flamed now with the glare of +baleful fires. + +As Naida, stealing close to Kirby, trembled, and even the abased +caciques trembled, Kirby himself felt as if icy water was trickling over +him. + +He fought the sensation off. For suddenly he knew that in spite of first +impressions which made the man seem a living god, the old Duca was +human. And what was more, he was in the wrong. All of which being true, +the thing to do was keep a level head and fight. + + * * * * * + +All at once Kirby spoke across the silence in the great room. + +"I have sent for you," he said, weighing words carefully. + +"And I,"--the Duca's voice was mellow and deep--"have come. But I am not +here because you summoned me." + +"Oh!" Kirby let sarcasm edge his words. "Well, I won't quibble about +your motives for coming. Did my messenger tell you why we are here and +demand your presence?" + +"Your messenger," the old man said calmly, "told me." + +"Very well. Do you consent to listen to Naida's and my terms? If you +_will_ listen--" + +"But wait a moment," the Duca interrupted, still calmly, but with a look +in his eyes which Kirby did not like. "Are you asking _me_, to my face, +whether I will listen to terms which you offer as self-styled victor of +a battle with my caciques?" + +Kirby nodded. His apprehension increased. + +"Ah," said the Duca softly. And then, amazingly, a smile deepened every +wrinkle of his parchment face. "But do you not remember that I said I +had _not_ come here because you summoned me?" + +"Yes," Kirby said solidly. "I remember very well." + +"The thing which brought me here was the failure of my followers to +accomplish an assignment which I had given them--namely, that of ending +your life." + +"Hum." Kirby scratched behind his ear. "You are _not_ interested in +arranging terms of peace, then." + +"I am here,"--suddenly the Duca's voice filled the room--"to do that +which my priests were unable to do. And the moment has come when the +Gods will no longer trifle with you. You dog! You thieving intruder! +You--" + +Swiftly the Duca plunged one withered but still powerful hand into the +folds of his robe above the flaming girdle. Then his hand flashed out, +and in it he held-- + + * * * * * + +But Kirby did not get to see. + +A strangled cry of terror smote his ears. Naida leaped toward him from +one side, while Elana, the lovely youngest girl, sprang from another +direction, hurled Naida aside, and stopped in front of Kirby. + +Through the glaring room flickered a tiny red serpentine creature which +the Duca hurled from a crystalline tube in his hand. As the minute snake +struck Elana's breast, she gave a choked cough, and then, as she half +turned to smile at both Naida and Kirby over her shoulder, her eyes went +blank, and she collapsed gently to the polished stones of the +floor--dead. + +A second later came squirming out from under her the ghastly, glimmering +little snake which had struck. + +Slowly, while every mortal in the room stood paralyzed, Kirby stepped +forward and set his heel upon the writhing thing. When he raised his +boot, the snake was only a blotch on the floor. + +The Duca was standing as still as girls and caciques. The laughter with +which he had started to greet what he had thought would be Kirby's +extermination had faded to a look of wonder--and fear. He was an easy +mark. + +Up to him Kirby rolled, and with all the force of soul and muscular +body, drove his fist into the Duca's face. + +"By God," he roared, "you want war, and you shall have it!" + +The Duca was simply out--not dead. Since Kirby did not want him dead, he +did not strike again, but swung back from the sprawled body, faced +Naida, and pointed to the tower door. + +"Up there!" he snapped. "Seize the tower. I have a reason!" + +At the Duca's crashing downfall, had come to the caciques a tension +which made Kirby know they would not be dummy figures much longer. His +eyes never left them. + +"Quick, Naida!" he snapped again. "We must hold the tower!" + +Naida, all of the girls, were staring dazedly at Elana, dead. + +"The tower!" she choked. "But we cannot go there. It is the Duca's!" + +"Because it is the Duca's," Kirby said firmly, "is exactly why we must +hold it. Come, Naida, please--" + + * * * * * + +And then he saw comprehension begin to dawn at last. + +He also saw two of the caciques glide from the wooden line, and slink +toward him past the unconscious Duca, stealthily. + +As Naida suddenly cried out to her companions, pushed at two of them, +and then darted like a rainbow nymph toward the silent and forbidding +upward spiral of steps, Kirby faced the gliding caciques. + +One he clutched with viselike hands, and lifted him. As the other +shrieked and sprang, he was mowed down by the hurtling body of his +fellow priest which Kirby flung forward mightily. + +The rest of the caciques were howling. While Naida waited beside the +tower door, the other girls flashed up the steps. The Duca still lay +where he had fallen, a thread of blood oozing from his mouth. Kirby, +after his last look over all, solemnly stooped and gathered in his arms +the limp, radiant little body of the girl who had given her life that +her friends might be left with a leader. + +A moment later, he was standing on the steps. Naida, unopposed by the +still stupefied caciques, swung shut the tower door and shot a double +bolt. + +"Naida--" Kirby whispered as he held Elana closer to him, "oh, I am so +sorry that we could have won only at such a price." + +As Naida stooped to kiss the pale little forehead with its halo of +golden hair, sobs came. But then she raised her eyes, and they were, for +Kirby, alight with the message that she could and would accept Elana's +sacrifice, because she would gladly have made it herself. + +"We will not forget," she whispered. "Carry her tenderly, and come." + +For better, for worse, the Duca's tower was theirs. + + +CHAPTER VI + +At the end of an hour, Kirby was taking a turn of guard duty at the foot +of the steps, while the others remained with Elana in a chamber above. +To Kirby, with things thus far along, it seemed that the seizure of the +tower had proved a shrewd stroke. + +It seemed that the tower was to the Duca what hair was to Sampson. From +Naida had come the information that the Duca lived hidden within the +great shaft of obsidion, and appeared but seldom even before his +caciques. Apparently a large part of his hold upon his subjects was +maintained by the mystery with which he kept himself surrounded. And now +his retreat was lost to him! Such had been the moral effect of the loss +upon both Duca and caciques, that his whole first hour had gone by +without their doing anything. + +Kirby, standing just around the first turn of the winding stairway, +presently cocked his ears to listen to the conclave being held in the +amphitheatre. + +"Why not starve them out, O Holy One?" he heard one of the caciques ask +of the Duca, only to be answered by a growl of negation. + +The Duca, Kirby had gathered before this, wanted to fight. + +"But there is no food in the tower, is there?" the cacique still pressed +on, and this time he was supported by other voices. + +"No," the Duca rumbled back. "But am I to be deprived of my retreat, +left here like a common dog amongst other dogs, while these accursed +fiends starve slowly to death? No! I tell you, you must fight for me!" + + * * * * * + +But he had told them so several times before and nothing had happened. +Kirby grinned at the thought of the caste the Duca was losing by being +driven to this belittling parley. + +"Holy One," exclaimed a new priest in answer to the urge to fight, "what +can we do against the golden haired fiend? The stairs are so narrow that +he could defend them alone. And then there are the gates of bronze. If +we could shatter the first, at the foot of the steps, we should only +encounter others. The Duca must remember that his tower was built to +withstand attack." + +"Even so," the Duca snapped back, "it must be attacked! I--" + +But then he fell silent, having been made so by the sounds of dissension +which arose amongst his caciques. Kirby, laughing to himself, turned +away from his listening post, and tip-toed up the steps. + +After he had closed and bolted behind him three of the bronze portals so +feared by the caciques, he turned to the entrance of the chamber in +which he had left Naida and the others. Here all was silent, and he +found his friends grouped about a couch on which lay Elana. Feeling the +solemnity of the moment, he would have taken his place quietly amongst +the mourners. + +Naida, however, came to him at once, and in a low voice asked for news +from the amphitheatre, and when Kirby answered that the caciques were +unanimously in favor of leaving them alone until they starved, she +exclaimed: + +"Oh, then it is good news!" + +After that, however, a shadow of doubt flickered in her great eyes. + +"And yet, is it? It means temporary immunity, of coarse. +But--starvation!" + +Kirby assured her with a grin. + +"If we had to starve we might worry. But there is more food here than +the Duca thinks. Look!" + + * * * * * + +From a bulging pocket of his tunic he fished a strip of the roots on +which he had subsisted so comfortably. Naida's eyes widened, and several +of the girls gave low cries. + +"Yes," Naida exclaimed, "but such food! Why--why, do you know what you +are offering us? Why, this is the sacred Peyote! Only the Duca eats it, +and, at rare intervals, his priests." + +Kirby was really startled now. + +"But surely you and the others have taken quantities of the stuff away +from the Valley of the Geyser. Do you mean--" + +"Because we gathered the Peyote does not mean that we have ever tasted +it. We gather it for the Duca. To taste would be complete, utter +sacrilege. Have _you_ been eating it?" + +Inwardly Kirby was chuckling at this added proof of the buncumbe with +which the Duca--and other Ducas--had fooled all. + +"Of course I've been eating the Peyote." + +"And--and nothing has happened to you?" Naida asked. + +"Hardly. I certainly haven't been blasted by the Lords of the Sun and +Moon, or the Serpent either!" + +Naida and all the others were silent. The conflict between their +reverence for the food and their clear desire to eat it, now that it was +become the food of their leader, was pathetic. + +Kirby put one of the strips in Naida's hand. + +"Why not?" he asked. "We have bested the Duca in fair fight. We have +seized his tower. Why not eat his food?" + +As he had hoped it would, the suggestion at last settled the matter. A +moment later, as Naida nibbled her first bite, she smiled. + +"Why, it--it's good!" + +With the question of provisions settled at least for a time, Kirby's +next thought was of the tower. The present lull of peace seemed made for +exploration. + +"Come along," he said to Naida, "we've plenty to do," and then, when he +explained, they set out, accompanied by Nini, a cousin of Naida's, and +Ivana, a younger sister. + +All of the others remained with little Elana. + + * * * * * + +While they climbed spiral stairs, Naida explained that the chamber they +had just left was used by the Duca as a place in which he prayed before +and after contacts with caciques or subjects. A sort of halfway station +between earth and heaven, as it were, where the Duca might be purged of +any sullying influence gained from human relationships. + +At thought of the rank, egotistical hypocrisy implied by the story, +Kirby smiled grimly. Then they came to a new door, heavier than that +which barricaded the prayer chamber. Unlocked, the thing swung +ponderously at Kirby's push, and with the three girls pressing close +beside him, he entered--and stopped. + +"Naida!" he gasped. + +"Oh, _oh_!" she cried, and while Nini and Ivana gasped, she clapped her +hands in an instinctive, feminine reaction of joy. "But there are things +here which I believe none but the Ducas of our race have ever seen! Oh! +Why, the sacred girdle is as nothing compared to this display!" + +By "display" she meant a treasure which took Kirby's breath away, which +made his heart act queerly. + +The walls of the chamber were fashioned of polished blocks of obsidion +on which stood out in heavy bas-relief a maze of decorative figures +fashioned of pure, beaten gold--the same kind of gold which had gone +into the making of the cylinder of gold. With his first glance at the +gorgeously wrought motifs of Feathered Serpent and Sun and Moon symbols, +Kirby knew to a certainty whence the golden cylinder had come +originally. + +But even the gold--literally tons of it there must have been--was +nothing compared to the gems. + + * * * * * + +They were spread out in blinding array upon a great table in the center +of the room. There were pearls as big as turkey eggs and whiter, softer +than the light of a June morning growing in the East. There were rubies. +One amongst the many was the size of a baseball and glowed like the +heart of a red star. The least of the two or three hundred gems would +have outclassed the greatest treasures of the Crown jewels of England +and Russia combined. + +Most overwhelming of all, however, was the jewel which rested against a +square of black cloth all its own in the center of the table. While his +heart still acted queerly, while Naida, Nini, and Ivana hung back, +delighted, but still too bewildered to move, Kirby advanced and took +gingerly in his hands a single white diamond about eighteen inches long, +and almost as wide and deep as it was long. + +The thing was carved with exquisite cunning to a likeness of the living +head of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent. + +Kirby dared not guess how many pounds the carven hunk of flashing, +blue-white carbon weighed. He knew only that like it there was no other +diamond in the world, and that the thing was real. Naida and the two +girls were silent now, and suddenly Kirby realized that to their awe of +the gem was added awe of deepest religious nature. Slowly he put the +diamond head of the Serpent back upon its square of cloth. + +"We--we had heard that this thing existed," Naida said presently, voice +hushed, "but no one except the holy men of our race has ever beheld +it." + +"But, what is it?" Kirby asked. "Whence came it?" + +However, when Naida would have answered, he interrupted. + +"But wait! Tell me as we go. We could stay here for the rest of our +lives without much trouble, but we've got to cover the rest of the tower +and get back to the others." + + * * * * * + +It was after they had closed the door to the treasure room that Naida +told him the story. + +"There is not so much to tell," she began. "The diamond itself is so +gorgeous that it is hard to talk about. But here is the story. A great +many ages ago one of the Ducas of our race found the diamond, decided to +carve it into a perfect likeness of the head of the Serpent God. All of +the craftsmen of the race helped him and when they were done, they took +their image to Quetzalcoatl himself, and showed him what they had done. + +"Quetzalcoatl was pleased. So pleased, that he promised all of the wise +men that he would cease to prey upon them as he had in the past, and +henceforward would take his toll of sacrifice from the ape-men alone. +Them he hated and would continue to hate because they worshipped not him +but Xlotli. + +"And so it came about," Naida went on slowly, looking up at Kirby as +they still mounted wide steps to the upper reaches of the tower, "that +our people gained immunity from a God which had always before harmed and +destroyed them. Our race presently began to build this castle here on +the high plateau, and Quetzalcoatl kept his compact with them. He still +comes out of his chasm at intervals and preys upon the ape-men, but no +one of our race has seen him for thousands of years, and he has always +let us alone. And there is the whole myth and explanation of why the +great diamond is revered among us as a holy of holies." + + * * * * * + +They had mounted to a new door which Kirby guessed might give entrance +to the Duca's living quarters. But he was in no mood to open it at +once. + +"Wait a minute," he said as they all paused. "You say that, although +none of your race has seen Quetzalcoatl since the diamond head was +carved, he still comes out of his chasm and makes trouble for the +ape-men. Just what does that mean?" + +"Why--" Naida looked at him wonderingly. "I mean what I have said. The +Serpent comes out of his chasm and--" + +"What chasm?" Kirby asked sharply. + +"Why, the one we crossed this morning. It extends to the far reaches of +our country, beyond the Rorroh forest, where the ape-men dwell but which +our people never visit. It is in that distant part of the chasm that the +Serpent dwells." + +"But--but--Oh, good Lord!" Kirby whistled softly. "Naida, do you mean to +tell me that Quetzalcoatl was not simply a mythical monster, but an +actual, living serpent which is alive _now_?" + +Naida and the others shrugged. + +"Why not?" she answered. "Sometimes we have captured a few ape-men, and +they tell us stories of how Quetzalcoatl kills them. _They_ say he is +very much alive." + +"But," Kirby mumbled in increasing wonder, "is this living creature the +same which your ancestors worshipped first as long ago, perhaps, as a +million years?" + +"That," Naida answered unhesitatingly, "I'm not sure of. Our caciques +believe that the Serpent, although it lives longer than any other +sentient thing, finally dies and is succeeded by a new Serpent which is +reproduced by itself, within its own body." + +So overwhelming did Kirby find this unexpected sequel to their discovery +of the great diamond head, so staggered was he by the fact that +Quetzalcoatl, of Aztecan myth, might exist as a sentient creature here +in this cavern world, that he had little heart left for exploring other +wonders. + + * * * * * + +Nevertheless, he presently pushed open the new door before which they +had paused, and behind it found, as he had expected, the Duca's living +quarters. + +These were as severe as the jewel chamber had been gorgeous. A thin +pallet spread upon a frame of wood formed the bed, and beside it stood a +single stiff chair. That was all. The walls of glistening obsidion were +bare. + +There was, however, a door in one circular wall, and as Kirby flung this +open, his previous disappointment changed to delight. For shelves along +the walls of the small chamber held roll after roll of parchment covered +with script. And in one corner lay six undamaged, almost new Mannlichers +and several hundred rounds of ammunition! + +"Naida," he exclaimed, "do you know what those are?" + +"I suppose that they are weapons of the sort you used against the +ape-men this morning?" + +Kirby grinned. + +"They are the same kind I used, and then some. With these weapons we can +do what we never could with the smaller one. How did they get here?" + +"They came when I was much younger," Naida answered with a shade of +sadness in her voice. "The men who had them penetrated the Valley of the +Geyser, coming by a different route from the one you followed. When the +Duca learned they were there, he sent such men of the race as were still +able to fight to kill them. That order of the Duca's was one of the +first things to turn me against him. The men were not harming us, and +they should have been permitted to go away. But the Duca insisted that +they be killed, and in the fight were lost eight of our youngest and +strongest men." + + * * * * * + +Kirby stooped to inspect the rifles. + +"Has no one learned to use these weapons?" + +"No," Naida answered. "The Duca kept them for himself." + +"We think," put in Ivana, "that he hoped to learn to use them, and was +afraid for us to have the knowledge." + +Kirby filled one of the magazines, and felt the heft of the gun with +pleasure. + +"Very well," he said. "It looks to me as though your time to learn the +art of shooting has come at last. Come, I think we had better be getting +back downstairs." + +Kirby took three guns himself, and with the others lugging the rest, +they started back. The parchment rolls, he decided, must be left for +examination later on. + +They were all elated when they rejoined the girls in the prayer chamber, +and high spirits were still further increased by the report, promptly +given, that all had remained quiet in the amphitheatre. Save only for +the presence of Elana, radiant and calm in death, the give and take of +questions would have been accompanied by actual gaiety. + +But the time of peace did not last much longer. While Naida was in the +midst of answering incessant questions about the wonders of the jewel +chamber, Kirby heard a sound from below, and suddenly went over to the +downward-winding steps. + +"Listen," he called sharply back to the others. + +He had not been mistaken. Many footsteps echoed from the amphitheatre, +and he made out that the caciques were coming toward the bolted gate at +the foot of the steps. While he listened, and Naida came eagerly to his +side, silence fell. + +But then clear words came up to them. + +"Let the upper-world man come to the foot of the steps," called the +Duca. "I have an offer to make him!" + + +CHAPTER VII + +To himself Kirby chuckled. Such real entreaty filled the Duca's voice +that there seemed no danger of further treachery from him at the +moment. + +With a grin, Kirby took Naida's hand and led her down the steps, +unbolting each bronze gate but the last. + +"What do you want?" he asked in a cool voice a moment later, when he +stopped on the final step and faced the Duca from behind the protection +of the final gate. + +Clearly the parley was going to be a blunt one. + +"I want you to leave our world," the Duca rumbled promptly. + +He was drawn up in a posture intended to display dignity. But his left +cheek, where Kirby had hammered him, was pulpy and discolored, and +somehow he seemed to Kirby more than ever merely human. + +"Under what conditions am I to leave?" + +"If you will vacate my tower at once," the Duca said with a flush of +eagerness which he could not conceal, "I will permit Naida and one of my +caciques to escort you back to the Valley of the Geyser. I will also +give you directions by which you may travel in safety from there to the +outer world." + +Kirby, wanting more details, made himself seem thoughtful. + +"And what will happen to me, and to the girls, if I decline?" + +Encouraged, the Duca made an impressive gesture. + +"You will be left in the tower to die of starvation. Mine is not a +complicated offer. It should require no complicated decision. What is +your answer?" + +Kirby dropped his carefully assumed mask of thought. + +"My answer is this," he lashed out. "I will not leave! The tower is +ours, and we will hold it until you have accepted Naida's peace terms on +your priestly oath!" + +"But if you stay in the tower you will starve!" thundered the Duca. + +"No, we won't starve! We won't starve because we eat the food of +Ducas!" + + * * * * * + +In silence, Kirby took from his pocket a strip of the sacred Peyote and +bit off one end of it. Suddenly the hush in the amphitheatre became +complete. As he watched Kirby chewing, the Duca gasped and choked. + +"Moreover," Kirby announced with slow emphasis, "I have taken possession +of the weapons which you took from men of the upper world, and which +have already sent men of your race to their death. I have no wish to +kill either you or your caciques, but if you do not presently discuss +peace with me, you will certainly find yourself embroiled in a struggle +more bitter than the mild one of this morning." + +With that said, he swung on his heel, and taking Naida's hand again, +started with her up the steps. + +"I have nothing more to say," he called over his shoulder to a Duca +whose white haired majesty had been stripped from him. + +"We're getting on," he whispered to Naida a moment later. "The best +thing for us is just to sit still now, and wait." + +With the questions he wanted to ask Naida about her world becoming +insistent, he found himself, as a matter of fact, glad for the prospect +of further respite. As both of them rejoined the girls in the Duca's +prayer chamber, the first thing he did was to take from his tunic the +cylinder of gold which he had found in the canyon. + +"What is this, Naida?" he asked, hoping to start talk that would make +all of them forget the Duca and politics, and at the same time help him +to learn much that he wished to know. + +But a queer thing happened. Naida's reaction to the carven gold was as +unexpected as it was marked. + +"_Oh!_" she cried in a voice which suddenly trembled with surprise, with +blank dismay. Somehow, the cylinder of gold brought to her face things +which not even the Serpent's head of the diamond had evoked. + + * * * * * + +The prospect of a long session of talk began to fade out in Kirby's +mind. + +"But Naida, whatever is there about this fragment of gold to startle you +as it does?" + +By this time all of the thirty-odd other girls had come flocking about +them, and all were staring at the cylinder as fascinatedly as Naida. + +"Do you see what he has there?" Naida finally asked, ignoring Kirby in +her continued excitement. + +"Do we _see_?" answered the girl she had addressed. "Naida, surely it is +the carving which was lost!" + +Naida was quivering with feeling now. + +"Do you realize what it means to our cause that it should have been +returned to us in this way?" + +The girl to whom she had spoken, and the others, simply looked at her, +but in one face after another presently dawned awe and joy. + +Kirby stood still, puzzled and interested, until at last Naida was +recovered enough to speak to him. + +"Where did you get this thing which you call 'a fragment of gold'?" she +asked in a hushed voice. + +"I found it," Kirby answered, "lying beside the skeleton of an +upper-world man, while I was ascending the canyon which brought me to +the Valley of the Geyser." + +"And you do not know what the cylinder is? But no, of course you could +not." + +"_What_ is it, Naida?" + + * * * * * + +Naida glanced at her friends, then laid her hand on Kirby's. + +"Next to the great diamond, it is the most cherished possession of our +race. In some respects it is even more holy than the Serpent's head. The +cylinder happens to be the first work in gold which was ever produced by +our people. It was made when the race was new. It was because our first +wise men had found they could create things of beauty like this +cylinder, that they decided to attempt the creation of the Serpent's +head, which is supposed to have brought all of our blessings upon us." + +Kirby thought he was beginning to understand the excitement which his +introduction of the cylinder had created. He also thought he could see +what Naida had meant by implying that the cylinder could be made to aid +their cause. + +"Tell me," he asked in a mood approaching reverence, "how the cylinder +came to be lying beside a dead man's bones." + +"It was stolen," Naida answered in the breathless silence which the +others were keeping. "When I was very young, an upper-world man found +his way here, and the Duca captured and meant to sacrifice him. But +while they were leading him to the temple where such special ceremonies +are held--the building stands on another plateau, beyond this--the man +broke away. Some of the priests in the procession were carrying the +cylinder, for it was an occasion of great importance. The prisoner +knocked them down, got the cylinder away from them, and finally escaped +by the same route over which you came." + +"And he escaped," said Kirby wonderingly, "only to be killed by a +rattlesnake before he ever reached the civilized world. But do you mean +that you never knew your sacred cylinder was so close to you all these +years?" + +Naida shook her head. + +"We never got to the canyon of which you speak, for a special reason +which I shall explain some day. And besides that, I think the Duca was +afraid of this man who fought so bravely. So he counted the cylinder as +lost. And that is one of the reasons why he killed the men with the +rifles, who appeared in the Valley a few years later." + + * * * * * + +Kirby looked at her thoughtfully. The mood for discussing all the +wonders of this lower world, which had made him bring out the cylinder +originally, had quite vanished. + +"I suppose," he said, "that anyone who was responsible for the return of +the cylinder to its rightful owners, would be held in some respect?" + +Naida nodded vigorously, while little lightnings of excitement flickered +in her eyes. + +"He might be held in more than respect." + +"What, then, do you suggest that we do next?" + +Again the small lightnings darted, and Naida reached for the cylinder. + +"Do you mind if I take it for a moment?" + +"Of course not." + +Promptly then she faced around. + +"Wait here, everyone," she ordered. + +And with that she waved the cylinder in a flashing little arc before +their eyes, and darted to the door. + +It was all so unexpected that she was gone before Kirby could speak. +Slowly, with all of the suddenly gay company of girls following after +him, he went to the doorway, and stood on the steps leading to the +amphitheatre. + + * * * * * + +A minute passed. He heard voices downstairs. He heard Naida's voice +ringing clearly, though he could not distinguish her words. He heard a +great cry from a score of male throats. More minutes passed. Words that +were low and tense poured out in a rumbling volume. Above the rumble, +Naida's voice presently sounded again, clear and sweet, but incisive. +Then, when no more than five or six minutes had gone, Kirby heard the +clang of the bronze gate at the foot of the steps, heard light, swift +footsteps ascending. + +"Naida!" he called softly. + +She flashed upward toward him around the last curve in the stairway. +Straight to his outstretched arms she went. + +"It is done! It is done!" she whispered. + +"Tell us!" cried first one girl and then others. + +Naida drew away from Kirby at last. + +"I told the Duca," she said to all of them, "that our leader would keep +the cylinder for a period of time equal to one upper-world year. If the +Duca grants all the terms of peace which we will ask of him, and if he +accepts the upper-world man as our temporal ruler, and all goes well for +a year, then we will consider replacing the cylinder where it belongs." + +"And what," Kirby asked exultantly, "does the Duca say?" + +Suddenly, without warning, Naida dropped before him on one knee, and +from that position gazed up at him laughing. + +"He says he will make you our King, to govern all temporal affairs +within our realm! He is waiting for you to come and hold a conclave +now." + +"_What?_" + +Still kneeling half in fun, half in sincere reverence, Naida held out +the precious, potent cylinder of gold. + +"Guard it carefully!" she exclaimed. "So long as you keep it away from +the Duca, making him hope to win it back, he will consent to almost +anything. Yes, he is waiting with the caciques in the amphitheatre now; +waiting to draw up terms of peace." + + +CHAPTER VIII + +To be King amongst these people! A queer sensation tugged at Kirby's +heart as he descended the steps with Naida at his right, and all of +her--and his--dainty and gracious friends following after. Yet, intense +as his emotion was, never for a second was he able to doubt the evidence +of his senses which told him that all of this was real. As they +descended the black steps of the tower, Naida's sweetness, her grace, +the warm humanity of her, made him humble with gratitude for the +extraordinary fortune which had come to him, an unromantic aviator born +in Kansas. + +Then they were standing in the brilliant light of the amphitheatre, and +the Duca, surrounded by his caciques, was advancing to meet them. + +It was not a long conference which followed. Kirby saw from the start +that the Duca was indeed ready to come to terms. So treasured an object, +it seemed, was the cylinder of gold, that the mere fact that Kirby +possessed it made the Duca respect the possessor, whether he would or +no. With this initial advantage, it did not take long to make demands +and win acceptance. + +It was agreed that some systematic campaign of extermination should be +planned and carried out against the ape-men. Further, the project for +eventually bringing other upper-world men to the realm was accepted. +Most notable of all, it was agreed that while the Duca should retain a +voice in the regulation of temporal affairs, Kirby should possess an +absolute veto over his word. + +Naida said there must be some formal ceremony to celebrate Kirby's +ascendency to power. To this the Duca consented, and established the +date as a fortnight hence, and the place as the temple on the plateau +beyond the plateau of the castle, where the Ducas had been invested with +their robes of state from time immemorial. At the end, it was decided +that little Elana should be left in the prayer chamber until a burial +ceremony could be held on the morrow. + + * * * * * + +In less than an hour, Kirby, Naida, and the others withdrew from the +amphitheatre to return to the regular dwelling places of the girls. Deep +in his mind, Kirby did not know how sincere the Duca was, and fear +lingered, somehow, but he put it aside for the present. + +As they came out of the castle, proceeding in a gay procession across +the drawbridge above the moat of beautiful aquatic plants, Kirby saw +that the light from the glass sky was fading to a glow like that of +spring twilight in the upper world. Naida answered his question about +the phenomenon by saying that day and night in the cavern corresponded +to the same period above. What quality of the glass sky gave out light, +she did not know, but it seemed definite that the element was sensitive +to the presence of light in the upper world, and when the sun sank +there, the glow faded here. + +A flower embroidered path led them around the castle to a group of +little crystalline houses all overgrown with bougainvillea vines and +honeysuckle. In front of the first, Naida paused, and while the others +went on to the other houses, she looked at Kirby. + +"It is Elana's dwelling," she said simply, "and it will be vacant now. +Elana would want you to take it. Will you, please?" + +The twilight was deepening swiftly. Kirby nodded reverently, then drew +close to Naida. + +"Naida?" + +"Yes?" + +He took her hand. + +"I can stay here, I can consent to become, after a fashion, a King, only +if you will reign with me as Queen. Will you, Naida? Will you love me as +I have learned to love you during this single day in Paradise?" + +She did not answer. But presently Kirby's mind went blank for sheer joy. +For then Naida raised her face, and he kissed her lips. + +It made no difference then that, despite the day's victory, Kirby could +see trouble ahead, and feared, rather than rejoiced at, the Duca's too +easy acceptance of terms. The future could take care of itself. This +moment in the dusk belonged to him and Naida. + + * * * * * + +The two weeks which passed for Kirby after that particular twilight sped +quickly. During the first morning, all attended the ceremony which was +held for Elana's burial in the plot of gardened ground where lay her +ancestors. Ensuing mornings were devoted to conferences in the +amphitheatre with Duca and caciques. + +After the fourth day Kirby, at Naida's insistence, moved into splendid +quarters in the castle--a suite of chambers across the amphitheatre from +those in which the caciques dwelt. In practically forcing the move on +Kirby, Naida won his consent finally by agreeing to have their wedding +ceremony performed on the day of his coronation; then she would come to +the castle with him. + +The afternoons of that first fortnight before the wedding and coronation +were spent in hunting and fishing. Also Kirby and Naida visited often +the aged people of the race, who dwelt in crystalline, vine covered +houses like those of the girls, but removed from them. Naida's relatives +were dead, but she had relatives there, and to all these aged ones, who +sat living in the past, she did what she could to explain present +developments in the affairs of the younger generation. + +Last but not least, Kirby set aside certain hours each afternoon which +he devoted to the formation of a rifle squad amongst the girls. Six +rifles he had, and in turn he trained each of the girls in their use, +having set up a range at the foot of the plateau cliffs. The results he +gained made him feel that the day would come soon enough when he would +dare launch an offensive against the ape-people; and especially pleasing +was the sense of power over the Duca which he gained. The Duca showed no +sign of treachery. Yet Kirby did not trust him. Never did he quite +forget the misgivings which had lingered in his mind after the first +conclave. + + * * * * * + +As for his relationship with Naida, that grew with every moment they +could steal to spend with each other. And side by side with their +growing knowledge of each other grew, for Kirby, an increasing store of +knowledge of the realm. + +He learned, amongst other things, what seemed the origin of the worship +of the Serpent, Quetzalcoatl, amongst primitive Mexican races. The time +had been when the People of the Temple had mingled freely with the races +above them; and, that they might have ready means of egress to the +world, they had built the tunnel through which Kirby had entered the +Valley of the Geyser. Thus, going and coming as they did, they had +spread their cult of the worship of Quetzalcoatl; and when, eventually, +strife arose between the peoples of upper world and lower, and the +People of the Temple withdrew to their realm, they left behind them the +Serpent myth which was to live through countless centuries. + +The tunnel, Naida said, had been abandoned when her people left the +upper world once and for all, and its use for any reason prohibited. +This, Naida gave as the reason why none of them went near the tunnel +now, and why the cylinder of gold had lain in the canyon undiscovered. +It was the explanation she had promised on the day in the tower, when +first she saw the cylinder. + +So the days passed, until the day set aside for wedding and coronation +dawned. On that morning, Kirby, having concluded a long conference with +the Duca, was walking with Naida in the gardens outside the castle. + +"Tell me," he said to her: "do you yourself believe that this Serpent +has the powers of a God?" + +Naida looked at him quickly, a sudden fright in her eyes. + +"I believe the Serpent exists to-day, somewhere in the distant reaches +of the chasm, beyond the Rorroh forest." + +"Yes, but do you believe the Serpent is God?" + + * * * * * + +Actually frightened now, she looked swiftly about. But when she saw that +they were alone, confidence returned. + +"No!" she exclaimed. "I do not believe Quetzalcoatl is a god. I believe +he is the most terrible creature anywhere in our realm, and that men +first worshipped him through fear. I believe our race would be better a +hundred times if they had never made him their God." + +Kirby whistled. + +"Then you do _not_ believe that the Ducas of past ages talked with him. +You do not believe it was Quetzalcoatl's pleasure over the great diamond +which made him cease preying on your people?" + +"No! Long habit makes me show respect for these myths, and adhere to the +customs of our cult, but I do not believe. I think our race gained +immunity for the Serpent's ravages, not through a compact with +Quetzalcoatl, but because our builders were intelligent enough to erect +the castle up here on the plateau, where Quetzalcoatl could not reach +them. To tell the truth, I think the whole cult is false and wrong, and +I wish Quetzalcoatl were dead and gone from the world!" + +Kirby smiled. In spite of Naida's reverence for certain features of the +cult, he had long suspected that her true feelings were those she had +just expressed. And he was glad for this new bond of understanding +between them. He glanced at her with understanding and perfect trust. + +"Naida, since we have talked so frankly, there is one more thing which I +must bring out." + +She looked up at him. + +"What is it?" + +"The Duca." + + * * * * * + +She drew closer, her perfumed body brushing his, her great eyes +caressing him. + +"Naida, I am afraid of the man." + +"And so am I!" she confessed suddenly. + +"It has all been too easy," Kirby said in a slow voice. "There is no +doubt whatever that our possession of the cylinder of gold has had great +influence on the Duca, and yet--" + +He paused, taking her hand. + +"And yet," she went on for him, "you do not believe he would have +conceded what he has, unless he intends to make trouble?" + +Kirby nodded twice, emphatically. + +"Well, you have trained all of us to use the rifles." + +He smiled gravely at her understanding. + +"Yes, I have. And your skill, and that of the others, with the rifles, +will always help us. Yet even so--" + +Closer still she drew now, and there was sadness in her eyes. + +"I think I see," she said in a voice which choked. "When do you think he +will make a move to start trouble?" + +Kirby hesitated, then drew a long breath. + +"To-day!" + +"On--on the day of our union?" Naida echoed in dismay. "Can you tell +where or how he will strike at us?" + +Kirby shook his head. + +"There are a hundred things he could do. Naida, I--I--Well, somehow I am +afraid of the ceremony this afternoon--the wedding ceremony!" + + * * * * * + +He felt a little shiver go through her, and would have taken her in his +arms, save that a gay cry rang in the garden then. + +"Naida, Naida!" It was her cousin, Nini, a bronze-haired youngster as +elfin and Pucklike as her name. "I thought we should never find you! Do +you realize this is your _wedding_ day, and that you're acting as if +there was nothing to be done?" + +Nini darted a mocking glance at Kirby, who grinned. + +"Do come, Naida!" cried another girl. "Your gown is ready, and we want +you to ourselves for awhile." + +Other girls joined them, some singing and some carrying an obligato on +the sweet, flutelike instruments which Kirby had first heard as he hung +in the throat of the geyser. In front of them all, Kirby laughed and +kissed Naida on the forehead. But as he took leave of her thus, he +whispered: + +"We must not let our guard relax for a second this afternoon. And I +think there is a more definite precaution which I will take, besides." + + +CHAPTER IX + +Some hours later, Kirby smiled with tight-lipped satisfaction at thought +of that precaution which he had taken. What it was only he, Nini, Ivana, +and three other girls knew, which secrecy pleased him as much as the +precautionary measure itself. + +Seated alone in a dimly-lighted, thick-walled cell of the ancient temple +in which the dual ceremony of wedding and coronation would take place, +he was waiting for the moment when the festivities would begin. Thus far +the Duca had done nothing. Yet Kirby's uneasiness would not leave him, +and he continued to be thankful that, if trouble should start, the Duca +might not find as many trumps in his hand as he expected. + +A couple of hours after Kirby had left Naida and the other girls in the +garden, all had begun the two-mile journey from the castle to the small +plateau on which stood this temple, where the ceremony would be held. +Now, while Kirby waited alone, the Duca and his caciques had gone to +another wing of the temple. Naida, attended by her bridesmaids, had been +assigned to a cell of their own, and the rest of the girls were waiting +in the nave of the temple. Unable to attend the walk from their plateau +to this, the old people of the race had remained in their crystal +houses. + +With ten minutes more to wait, Kirby rose from a bench on which he had +been seated, and began to pace his cell. It was this archaic pile of +stone, he finally decided, which was causing his depression. Unlike the +bright and cheerful castle, this place, older than any other building in +the realm, was squat, thick-walled, and gloomy. Here, in the dusky cells +which lined labyrinthine corridors, the early generations of the race +had found protection from outside dangers. All of which was all right, +Kirby thought, but just the same he wished he had insisted upon being +wedded in the brilliant and cheerful amphitheatre. + + * * * * * + +But presently he stopped pacing and faced the door of his cell. Then he +breathed a sigh of relief. + +From down the twisting corridors which wound out to the central nave, +stole the high sweetness of soprano voices, the whisper of flutes, and +the mellow resonance of little gongs of jade and gold. It was the signal +for which he had waited. + +It had been the Duca's instructions that he should come out into the +temple when the music began, and meet Naida there. Both would advance to +the altar, and when they were in place, the Duca would come to them. +Kirby, therefore, after a glance at the blue trousers and tunic of +tanager scarlet which the girls had made for him, opened the door of his +cell, and stepped out. + +In a moment he traversed the windings of the corridor, and halted under +a flat arch at one side of the temple nave. + +As he paused so, to await the appearance of Naida and her bridesmaids +under a similar arch directly across the temple, he held his breath. Not +even nymphs could be as graceful as were the twenty-six girls who were +performing the dance of Life Immortal, which tradition decreed should be +given before the ceremony by which, in this realm, two souls were +wedded. The flash of rainbow gowns was like the swirling of light in a +sky at dawning. The music of voices, flutes, and the little gongs of +jade, would have stirred the souls of the dead. + +If only the confounded sense of approaching disaster would leave him, +Kirby thought grimly, this would be a magnificent moment. As it was, he +turned his eyes away from the girls, and began to examine the temple. + +Just as Naida had told him the case would be, he found both sides of the +nave surrounded by arches similar to the one under which he was +standing. Everywhere, dim and tortuous corridors led to cells like the +one he had just left. Then, in one end of the nave, loomed a closed door +from behind which the Duca and caciques would appear when the couple to +be wedded were in place, before the altar. + +The altar itself, a rectangular mass of some jadelike stone, stood at a +distance of perhaps twenty paces in front of the closed door. On top of +the greenish stones, resting on a cushion of some crimson material, +flashed the crown which would be used at the coronation. Kirby's eyes +widened as he beheld a single rose-cut diamond two inches in diameter, +mounted in an exquisitely simple bandeau of wrought gold. But, a moment +later, even the crown which would be his--if nothing happened--seemed +only a bauble compared to the other prize which he had won in this world +beneath the world. + +Naida! + + * * * * * + +He realized that the dance was ended, the music stilled, and that the +rainbow garbed girls had formed a double line in the center of the +temple. Suddenly his heart beat fast, and for just a moment, as he dared +look full and deeply at Naida, and she smiled back at him across the +distance, he even forgot to be depressed. + +But even as he advanced to meet her, his uneasiness returned. + +Now the girls were singing again, their voices raised in a triumphant +chorale as beautiful as Naida's face with its warm red lips and smiling +eyes, as beautiful as her wedding gown that might have been woven, in +its filminess, of mist from the sea. The bridesmaids, silent, their +lovely faces alight, paused. But Naida came on. + +From her floated to Kirby a fragrance more overwhelming than even the +perfume of the geyser. Presently he felt her hand on his arm, and at +last they stood side by side. Now again, his premonition of evil left +him for a flash; but again it returned. + +"I love you," he whispered. + +"I love _you_." + +"But I am still afraid." + +Naida's smile faded. + +"And I too. Oh, I've been terribly afraid! We will keep our guard!" + +"Yes." + + * * * * * + +In front of them, on the altar, the crown diamond winked and shimmered +in a dim light. The swelling chorus of triumph, in which the bridesmaids +had joined now, made the whole temple ring. Slowly, while Naida moved +easily beside him, Kirby began to march to the altar. + +Then it was done, and they were halted. After both of them had given a +lingering glance at the crown whose diamond shimmered now within their +reach, they raised their eyes to the closed door behind the altar. + +The thing was swinging open. An inch it moved, two inches. + +Kirby waited, never taking his eyes away from the widening crack. With a +crashing final volume of sound, the chorus swept magnificently to its +climax. Then the door was flung wide. + +Still Kirby stood stiffly before the altar, with Naida drawn up +splendidly beside him. After two seconds, however, he moved. + +Duca and caciques were not standing in the corridor. + +In the semi-darkness, the only figures visible there were squatting, +grotesque things whose bodies were covered with whitish hair and whose +leathery faces were disfigured by gashes of mouths filled with enormous +teeth. + +A feeling of standing face to face with final disaster, turned Kirby +sick. As he jerked back from the altar, sweeping a paralyzed Naida with +him, the ape-men let out gibbering howls, half-human. With gigantic, +hopping strides, the foremost rank of the creatures swung forward, +straight into the temple. + + +CHAPTER X + +Kirby, already falling back toward the other girls, caught Naida up in +his arms, and ran. + +"Nini!" he bellowed. "Ivana! Get the rifles!" + +While the two whom he had ordered sprang to a corridor, and four others +followed, Kirby fell in with the others and dropped Naida on her feet. +Sick as he was, there was still a ray of hope, because the hard-headed +precaution he had taken against treachery this morning was to have Nini +and Ivana bring the rifles here and hide them. + +The first of the ape-men, snarling, laughing, had hopped beyond the +altar, and the yellow foam of madness was slavering from his jaws. Over +his shoulder he howled some jargon which made his hairy legion struggle +to catch up with him. + +"Have you got any puff balls?" Kirby snapped at Naida. + +She shook her head numbly, just as Nini and Ivana swung forward with the +Mannlichers. + +"No. But you had sense enough to bring the rifles! Oh, what does it +mean?" + +"The Duca has sold himself out to the ape-man! He was helpless against +us, and has brought them to destroy us for him. Here, Ivana, give me a +rifle! Everyone for herself!" + +The next moment he had a Mannlicher at his shoulder. + + * * * * * + +As the thing kicked, an ape who would have reached him in two more jumps +crashed over with his heart torn out, the temple echoed with sound which +threatened to rip its solid walls apart, and bright flashes at Kirby's +right and left told him that other rifles were getting under way. + +He fired again, twice more, slaughtering an ape with each shot. The five +other rifles were creating havoc. + +Blocked by a dozen torn and bleeding bodies on the floor, the +reenforcements which still poured from the corridor, began to mill +around amongst themselves, and the forward charge slowed down. All the +panic which had sent the ape-men scuttling from the beach at their first +experience of gunfire, seemed ready to break loose again now. + +Kirby felt it was good enough for the work of a minute. + +"Get into line as I showed you how!" he shouted. "Rifles in the front +rank, the others behind them. We're all right now! Keep firing!" + +"Keep behind me!" he ordered Naida, still unarmed. + +Then he placed a shell in the chest of one brute who was broader and +heavier than the others--a leader--and saw that he had increased the +demoralization; and from the hastily-formed front rank a volley leaped +hot and jagged. + +Then the rout which had threatened broke loose. As eight ape-men slumped +into blubbering, bleeding heaps, the milling remainder of the horde +turned, and in a fighting, scrambling frenzy attempted to get back to +the corridor. + +Kirby let his triumph take the form of thoughts about what he would do +to the Duca when that personage could be rounded up. + +"Follow after them!" he ordered. "Don't stop until we have located the +Duca. He is the one we must settle--" + + * * * * * + +But he never finished. + +As he himself, holding fire for a second, prepared to follow up the +retreat, he found himself confronted by the utterly unexpected. + +A voice unquestionably the Duca's began to shout orders at the ape-men +from somewhere down the corridor! And, riot or no riot, the tones of +that voice seemed to inspire the creatures with more fear than the rifle +fire. + +So suddenly the change came, that by the time Kirby flung his rifle +again to his shoulder, the crazy retreat had been halted, and as he +fired again, the ape-men swung in their tracks and began to charge! + +There was no time to guess by what power the Duca had turned the tables. +There was not even time for orders. Kirby fired twice, knowing that the +ape-men had been infused with some spirit which would bring them on in +spite of rifle fire. + +Naida, unarmed, cried out behind him, and he shoved his gun at her. + +"Take it!" + +He had just inserted a new clip. He handed her others. + +"Fire for your lives!" he shouted to the girls. + +"But you!" Naida gasped. "You are unarmed!" + +"I'll be all right." + +On the floor lay a jagged, hand-chipped knife of obsidion which had +fallen as some ape died. Kirby grabbed it. + + * * * * * + +In another second the flood of ape-men had burst in all its fury over +him. Crashing, thundering shots were dinning in his ears, animal death +screams and the Valkyrie battle cries of the girls filled the temple. He +could not tell how many of the apes were fighting him. As a cave-man's +club whizzed past his head, he drove his knife once, and yanked it +dripping from hairy, yielding flesh to plunge it again. A sudden +side-step carried him away from another assailant. He dropped the knife +to snatch the gigantic club of one of the creatures he had killed. + +Quicker in every movement than the ape-men, he laid on, right and left, +with such power that blood spurted in a dozen places, and heads were +split open on every side. And because of his speed, the frantic, clumsy +blows and knife thrusts which were directed at him proved harmless. + +A terrific drive which smashed a snarling face into pulp, left Kirby +free for a second, and he emerged from the first round of battle ready +to cut in and help the girls. But then he saw that he had gotten +separated from the main body. + +"Naida!" he called. "Naida!" + +A series of shots answered him, and as several apes fell, a gap was +opened through which he saw her conducting a well ordered retreat of all +the girls toward the dark corridors surrounding the temple. Again Kirby +fell to with his club, swinging, hacking, fighting with his whole +strength to catch up. He made headway, and hope began to come again. The +ape-men would not kill, or even harm, the girls. What they wanted was to +carry them off. If he and Naida together could get their party rounded +up in the corridors, the chances were good. + +"Naida!" he shouted again. "Coming!" + +Battering down an ape in front of him, he jumped up on the corpse, and +saw that already the vanguard of girls had reached the first sheltering +corridor. Naida had been cut off from the others by eight or ten apes. +But even so her fire made her mistress of the situation, and she seemed +all right. + +It was just as Kirby started to jump down from the corpse that he saw +something which put another complexion on the matter, and left him +frozen where he was. + + * * * * * + +Behind Naida, directly in the path in which her slavering aggressors +were slowly forcing her, a huge stone slab in the temple floor had begun +to tilt up as if it were a trapdoor raised by an invisible hand. Within +the yawning opening, Kirby caught a glimpse of stone steps winding down +into blackness. + +In a flash he saw that it was Naida, and her alone, that the ape-men +were after. The Duca's determination was to capture her, and it was the +presence of this trapdoor, making capture possible, which had brought on +the second charge of the apes. + +A scream, high and wild, from Naida released Kirby from his trance of +horror. He leaped off the corpse, and smashed a suddenly presented skull +like an egg shell. Momentarily he saw Naida, too terrified to fire, +staring at the open trapdoor. Kirby felled two apes and felt their blood +on his arms. + +"Ivana!" he yelled. "Help Naida, for God's sake!" + +An answering shout, not from Ivana alone but from many girls, encouraged +him, and he swung his club with a speed and force which would let +nothing stand before him. But then another scream from Naida rang in his +ears. + +"Naida!" he shouted. "It's all right! We're coming!" + +He knew, though, that it _wasn't_ all right. Fighting like a maniac, he +opened another lane down which he glimpsed her. Fighting still, in a +last terrific effort to force his way down the lane to her side, he saw +the black opening gape at her feet; and, as Naida screamed again, a +dozen hairy arms reached it at once, twisted the empty rifle out of her +hands, and lifted her shining body as if it had been a feather. + +Shouts and murderous fire were coming from the other girls, and Kirby +swung his club as never before. But even as he fell upon the last two or +three apes which kept him away from Naida, those who had snatched her, +bolted down the steps. + +Kirby was left with the memory of Naida's great eyes fixed upon his, +fear-filled, beseeching his protection. In a second, the ponderous +trapdoor crashed into place, and she was gone. + + +CHAPTER XI + +Dazed and grief-stricken, Kirby stood in the bloody, corpse-filled nave +of the temple, surrounded by thirty-two girls whose faces were blanched +and most of whose eyes were tear-bright. The fight was over, and they +were assembled to decide what must be done, but for a time no one +spoke. + +Gaining the trapdoor just as it was pinioned from beneath, Kirby had +torn at it with bare hands. But that had been hopeless. Then he had +begun to fight again. But that had been hopeless also. With howls and +screams they started to retreat, and it had not taken Kirby long to find +out that every part of their raid had been carefully planned, even to +this retreat under fire. Straight into the damp black tunnel which led +away from the corridor behind the altar, the ape-men had leaped. And +Kirby, in hot pursuit, had heard the Duca's voice driving them on. Too +much the soldier to follow in that darkness where the Duca knew every +foot of the way, and he knew nothing, Kirby had seen that he must go +back to the girls and take stock. + +Now he looked at the strewn ape corpses, smelled the corrosive reek of +burned powder, and tried to put aside his grief. + +"The Duca," he said at last, "must have been planning this with the apes +ever since the first morning in the castle." + +Ivana, Naida's sister, nodded. + +"The Duca brought the ape-people here, kept them in the tunnel, and then +herded them back when their work was done. I suppose it was one of the +caciques who opened the door when the time was right." + +"Does anyone think we ought to try the tunnels now?" Kirby asked. + + * * * * * + +Several girls shook their heads. He knew that already they felt he had +been wise in giving up the pursuit. Ivana spoke. + +"If the Duca and his horde stay underground, we shouldn't have a chance +against them. And if they don't, we're better here." + +Kirby shot a searching glance at her, somehow sure that her thoughts +were running parallel with his. + +"You don't think they're going to stay here, do you?" + +"No, and you don't either," Ivana answered. + +"It seems to me that they will retreat into the Rorroh as fast as they +can," Kirby then observed. + +"And do you think the Duca and all the caciques will go with the apes?" +This time it was Nini who spoke, and with the council so well launched, +Kirby began to feel better. + +"I think," he answered Nini, "that the Duca has gone over to Xlotli +altogether. We fooled him to-day. Instead of killing or capturing us +all, he--he only got Naida. But he won't give up. I think he is taking +the apes off to some place from which he can launch a new attack. And +we've got to stop him before he is ready to deliver another blow." + +"What do you mean?" Ivana now asked. + +"Do you know where the villages of the ape-people are?" + +"Yes. None of us has been very far into the Rorroh, but I could guess +where some of the villages may stand." + + * * * * * + +Silence fell after that, but Kirby knew from the glint in Ivana's eyes, +and the quick breaths which other girls drew, that they understood. + +"Ivana," he said suddenly, "will you go with me into the Rorroh jungle, +and stay with me, facing down every danger it may conceal, until we have +found Naida and brought her back?" + +A flush of life crept into Ivana's pallid cheeks. + +"Yes!" + +Kirby faced the other girls, all of them keyed up now. + +"Nini, will you go?" + +Nini, bronze-haired, dainty nymph of a girl, who had yet the stamina of +a man, looked at him with brave eyes. Then her hands tightened on her +rifle, and she stepped forward. + +"When will you have us start?" Ivana asked in a low voice. + +"Now!" Kirby answered, and, taking up the rifle which lay beside +him--the same with which Naida had fought--he looked at the other +girls. + +"There is not one of you," he said slowly, "who would not go willingly +on this quest. But the pursuit party must be small and mobile. And +there is another duty. To all of you I leave the care of the castle and +the plateau. Take the three rifles I shall leave behind, do what you can +to reassure the old people, and hold the plateau safe until we return." + +A murmur of girls' voices sounded in the temple. Kirby motioned to Nini +and Ivana, and followed by a low cheer, they moved off together. + + * * * * * + +The night was on them, where they crouched in a cave above a swiftly +flowing river. Kirby, rifle across his knees, sat peering out across the +black, invisible stretches of the forest. His nostrils quivered to this +mingled smells of fresh growth and fetid decay of the grotesque land. In +his ears shrilled the creaking and scraping of insects, the flap of +unseen wings, the distant bellowing grunt of some unseen, unknown +animal. + +"I cannot sleep," Ivana said presently, from back in the cave. + +"Hush," he whispered, "you will wake Nini." + +"But I am already awake!" came her answer. "I--I cannot forget the white +snakes which slid from that tree when you tried to cut firewood." + +"Hush," Kirby murmured again. "Presently the moon will rise on the earth +above, and light will come here. Even if the jungle is terrible, were +you not born with courage? Go to sleep now, both of you, because you +must relieve me soon." + +As silence fell again, he knew that the real thing behind their +nervousness was their ghastly doubt about what the night was bringing to +Naida. But none of them spoke of Naida. So sickening were the +possibilities that Kirby would not permit conjecture to occupy even his +mind when, at length, the sound of even breathing told him that Nini and +Ivana slept. + +After dreary passing of an hour, a faint light grew over the jungle, +silver and clear, and Kirby let his mind run back to the two deserted +ape-men communities which they had found and searched before dusk sent +them to the cave. From the signs of hasty departure, it looked as though +a far-reaching order had taken the brutes away from their dwellings, and +sent them--somewhere. + +That somewhere seemed likely to be the great central community which +Ivana said was rumored to exist in the far reaches of the Rorroh. The +problem was how to locate the community through the hideous country. But +Kirby presently drove the question from his head. To-morrow's evils +could best be faced when morrow dawned. + + * * * * * + +Enough light had grown now so that the swirling bosom of the river, and +a strip of sand directly below the cliff in which their cave was set, +were visible. As Kirby let his eyes wander to the lush growth beyond the +sand, he heard something which made him stir uneasily. Some creature +which suggested power and hugeness immeasurable was moving there. + +The brush parted, and he saw plainly an animal with the bulk of a +two-story house. On two feet the nightmare thing stood, as lightly as a +cat, and then came down on all four feet as it ambled out on the sand +and extended into the lapping river a tremendous beak studded with +teeth. A smell of crushed weeds and the musty odor like that of a lion +house filled the night. The tyranosaur--it was more like a tyranosaur +than anything else--breathed heavily and guzzled in great mouthfuls of +water. + +Kirby sat perfectly still. He hoped the thing would go away. But the +tyranosaur did not go away. All at once it hissed loudly and stood up, +its eyes glowing green and baleful, and Kirby leaned forward. + +From the water was slithering another creature with a gigantic, +quivering, jelly body. Kirby saw to his horror that, in addition to four +short legs with webbed, claw-tipped feet, there sprouted from the body a +number of octopus tentacles. From the scabrous mottle of the head, +cruel, unintelligent, bestial eyes glared at the rearing tyranosaur. + + * * * * * + +One of the serpentine tentacles whipped out, slapped against the +tyranosaur's fore-shoulder to call forth a hiss and a short bellow. Then +other tentacles waved in the moonlight, and in a flash the tyranosaur +was enmeshed as by a score of slimy cables. He was not altogether +helpless. Suddenly the steam shovel of a beak buried itself in the jelly +body of the water animal, and there spurted out a flood of inky liquid. +The water animal emitted a sickening gurgle. But the tyranosaur's +advantage was only temporary. Closer and closer drew the ugly, scabrous +tentacles. The tyranosaur never had a chance. Its green eyes flared, the +shovel beak plunged and slashed, but never for a second did the +tentacles relax. As Kirby stared, he saw the water animal begin to back +up, dragging its gigantic enemy with it. For a second the whole night +was hideous with the sound of hisses, gurgles, dashing water. Then the +river boiled once and for all, and both animals sank in its depths. + +Kirby chafed cold hands together and shivered a little, then turned to +see if Nini and Ivana had heard the struggle. + +Fortunately, however, they still slept. And as if this peace which was +upon them were an omen of good, the jungle continued quiet for the next +hour. Kirby wakened them at last, and after a snatched nap, was in turn +awakened. + +The three of them started again when the first glimmerings of dawn came +to the forest. Of food there was plenty--fruits which grew in profusion, +and some roots which Nini grubbed out of the earth. Having started along +the first trail which they encountered beside the river bank, they ate +as they walked. + + * * * * * + +Kirby judged they had kept their steady gait for more than two hours +before a slight widening of the trail roused him from the preoccupation +into which he had fallen. + +"See there," he exclaimed to both girls, and pointed at a grove of trees +with fanlike leaves which towered up to the right of the trail. "What +are those big bundles fastened to the lower limbs?" + +Ivana glanced at Nini, who nodded as if in answer to a question. + +"This must be one of the places where the ape-people leave their dead," +Nini answered. "The bundles--But come over to them." + +Kirby forced his way ahead until he stood beneath a huge, unsavory +bundle wrapped in roughly woven brown fibre, and wedged in a fork +between two limbs. Judging from the ugly odor which overhung the grove, +there could be no question about what the bundle contained. Nini and +Ivana, glancing at the scores of similar bundles which burdened the +trees of the whole grove, made wry faces. Kirby slung his rifle in the +crook of his arm, and nodded toward the trail. + +"There must be a village somewhere near," he said. + +A mile farther on they found what they were seeking, a colony of seventy +or eighty conical dwellings of mud and thatch, which were ranged in a +double circle about a central common of bare, well-trodden earth. It +took no long reconnaissance to discover that the town was deserted +completely of all inhabitants. + +Ivana beckoned and darted to one of the nearest huts, and Kirby, +following her, found lying on the uneven earth floor within, a +half-skinned animal which resembled a small antelope. An obsidion knife +beside the carcass, the disordered condition of a couch of grass, the +sour odor of recent animal occupancy, all told their story. + +"The owner left in a hurry," Kirby observed aloud. + +Nini, who had gone beyond, to a larger hut which might have belonged to +a king ape, called out excitedly to them. + +"A great number of apes have eaten a hurried meal here!" + + * * * * * + +Kirby entered the shadowed, foul-smelling interior of the central hut to +find her statement true. Broken meats, some raw, some cooked, lay on the +dirt floor, and scattered bits of fruit were mingled with them. The +ashes of a burned out fire at the hut entrance were cold, but had not +been for long. + +"Do you think--" Ivana began. + +"I think the whole of the Duca's horde came this way, fed, and went on, +taking everyone with them," Kirby finished. + +"But which direction did they take?" asked Nini, who was standing at the +door of the big hut and had already begun to examine the crowding, +green, inscrutable walls of jungle which foamed up to the clearing on +all sides. + +No less than seven trails wound away into the dark country beyond, and +Kirby saw that the question would not be an easy one. + +Having hastily circled the clearing and peered down one trail after +another without finding a clue, he knew that it was the Duca's +intelligence which had made the ape-people depart without leaving even +tracks behind them. He did not like the situation. + +"Well," he rumbled to his companions, "we may as well take our choice. +One chance in seven of coming out right!" + +But the words were hardly out of his mouth before he pulled himself up +with a jerk, and cursed himself for having given in. + +"Ivana! Nini!" Sharpness, a sudden ring of hope edged his voice. "Am I +seeing things, or is that--" + + * * * * * + +As he pointed to a huge aloe bush down one of the trails to their left, +they started to run. Then Kirby knew that he was not seeing things. What +his first inspection of the trails had failed to show, he saw plainly +now. + +Tied loosely to one branch of the aloe bush, almost concealed amidst the +deep green of foliage, was a bit of white cloth! In a second Kirby was +holding out to his companions a tiny strip of Naida's wedding gown. + +"She knew we would come!" He stared down the trail with narrowed, keen +eyes. + +How Naida had contrived to leave her signal was more than they knew. The +fact that she _had_ done so, sent all three of them down the trail at +driving speed. + +An hour passed, then another, and the morning which had been barely born +when they first took the trail, wore on to the sultriness and vast, +colored light of a tropical noon. Twice the main trail forked, and twice +they found an unobtrusive bit of cloth to guide them beyond the works. +When the hands of Kirby's still useful watch pointed to twelve, they +paused to eat and rest. Then they pushed on. + +Meanwhile, the country through which they passed left Kirby with a clear +understanding of why Naida and her people had shunned the Rorroh forest +down the centuries of time. + +Just one thing which stuck in his head was the sight of a small creature +like a marmoset, sticking an inquisitive nose into the heart of a +sickly-sweet plant which resembled a terrestrial nepenthe. No sooner had +the little pink snout touched the green and maroon splotched petals, +than the plant writhed, closed its leaves, and swallowed the monkey +whole. Little squeaks of agony and terror sounded for a moment, and +ceased. + + * * * * * + +At midafternoon they paused in a spot where a forest of trees with +whorled tops were slowly being strangled to death by immense orchids of +every conceivable shape and color, and by a kind of creeping mistletoe +which grew almost as they watched. Here also, the ground was covered +with fluffy, grey-green moss which seethed constantly as if it were a +carpet of maggots. Both Ivana and Nini warned Kirby on his life not to +touch or go near the moss, and a moment later he knew why. + +From the forest came the flash of a small, five-toed horse being pursued +by some animal with a hyena head that barked. At the edge of the mossy +glade the hyena swerved aside, but the terrified horse plunged straight +out on the carpet of moss. Instantly the air was filled with the sound +of animal screams, and a series of tiny, muffled explosions. A cloud of +greenish-red mist swirled about the horse. Quivering, still screaming, +the animal went down on its knees, and as the reddish green smoke fell +on him and settled, it became a mass of growing moss spores. + +Before Kirby's eyes, the pitiful animal was covered by a shroud of green +that spread over him and cloaked him, licking over all with tiny sounds +like far off muffled drums as fresh spore cases developed and burst. The +screams died. Even as Kirby drew the girls to him and they passed on, +the horse's nostrils, eyes, mouth were filled with choking green moss; +and he lay still. + + * * * * * + +On and on, deeper into the jungle Kirby pushed, and never for a moment +did his companions falter. But the way was not so easy now, for nerves +were jaded, muscles sore, and no human will could have been powerful +enough to cast aside the growing fear for Naida. + +Fear came finally to a head when, toward dusk, Kirby sighted a fork +ahead of them, approached it confidently to look for Naida's sign, and +found nothing. + +"Oh Lord!" he muttered, and realized that it was the first time any of +them had spoken for long. + +"There must be something to guide us!" Ivana exclaimed as she searched +with questing eyes through the swiftly deepening gloom of evening. + +Nini, making an effort to keep up hope in spite of the paleness which +came to her lovely face, darted down both paths, glancing as she went at +every bush and shrub. But she returned in a moment, and as she shook +her head, her great eyes were somber. + +Kirby grunted, scratched behind his ear. Then, however, he stifled an +exclamation, and clutched at the hands of both girls. + +On one of the two trails appeared suddenly in the dusk an ape-creature. +Kirby saw at once that the thing was small--a female undoubtedly--and +that it had spied them and was moving toward them with all speed. And +borne in upon him most certainly was the fact that the ape-woman was +making signals of peace. In her outstretched hand flickered through the +gloom a strip of cloth that was gauzy and white. + +Again--a strip of Naida's gown. + +"If you know any words of her tongue, call to her," Kirby said sharply. + + * * * * * + +Ivana obeyed. All three of them started forward. The ape-woman, after +returning the hail in creaking gutturals, came up to them, and with an +unexpected look of pathos and entreaty in her face, began to address the +girls with a flood of talk. + +Word after creaking word she poured out while Nini and Ivana listened in +silence. Finally Kirby could stand the suspense no longer. + +"What is it, Ivana? What does she say? Your eyes are lighting up with +hope! Tell me--" + +Ivana smiled and turned toward him, while the ape-woman still looked her +entreaty. + +"She says," Ivana announced bluntly, "that she and the other women +amongst their people, do not want any of the girls of our race to be +taken by their males. Already the men are quarreling about Naida. They +will not look at their own women. Naida told this woman that we would be +following, and sent her to lead us to the place where the ape-people are +assembling!" + +Kirby felt his lips tightening in a grim smile at the thought that +jealousy was not unknown even to the semi-human creatures of this +neither world. He looked at Nini and Ivana during a stretched out +second. Then he moved. + +"Good," he snapped. "We go on at once." + +That was his only recognition of what was surely one of the important +happenings of a lifetime. But for all that, his tired brain, which so +lately had felt the chill of black depression, was suddenly set on fire +with triumph and thanksgiving. + + +CHAPTER XII + +As they marched rapidly, the ape-woman, who called herself Gori, +succeeded in making them understand that most of the ape-tribes, +commanded by the Duca and his caciques, were assembled in the central +community toward which they were heading, that grave danger of some sort +threatened Naida, and that the need for haste was great. But what the +danger was, the two girls could not understand. + +"We can't make out what is going to happen--what they plan to do +to-night," Ivana whispered at last to Kirby. "All Gori says is that we +must rescue Naida and take her away, and must take the Duca away so that +he cannot influence the men any more. And she keeps repeating that we +must hurry." + +"And you can't find out what we must rescue Naida _from_?" + +Ivana shook her head. + +"I'm afraid we're facing something of an appalling nature, as dangerous +to ourselves as to Naida. But I know nothing more." + +By the time the silver glow which corresponded to moonlight flooded the +jungle, Gori had left the open trail, and was leading them across +country which humans could not have negotiated without the guidance she +offered. Advancing cautiously always, she stopped for long seconds at a +time to reconnoitre, shifting her huge ears about and changing their +shape, twitching her nostrils, and glancing hither and thither with +bright little eyes. Sometimes they passed immense spike-tipped flowers +ten feet in diameter, with fleshy yellow leaves which gave out a +nauseating stench. Vines with long, recurved thorns and blossoms of deep +scarlet, laced the undergrowth together and made passing dangerous. +Fire-flies drifted past, and all above and about them flapped moths as +big as bats. + +Kirby, his clothes almost torn from his body, sweat pouring from every +pore, heard the labored breathing of the girls, and wondered how they +could hang on. But they did, and after a long time, Gori, halting in the +midst of a slight clearing, held up a warning hand. + + * * * * * + +A queer sensation came over Kirby. As he stared and listened, he +realized that the twinkles he saw far ahead were not fire-flies, as he +had thought, but lights. In the frosted moon glow, Nini and Ivana drew +close, and Kirby clasped their hands and pressed them for a second. Too +tired to exult further he was, even though they seemed close to their +goal of goals. + +Gori swung her hairy arm in a signal, and with rifles clasped carefully, +they began to advance. When, five minutes later, they stood in the heart +of a rank glade beyond which they could see nothing, Gori spoke to the +two girls in her creaking whisper, and Nini laid a restraining hand on +Kirby's. + +"We have gone as far as Gori dares! She says we must climb a tree here, +and watch what will go on in a clearing just beyond this thicket." + +"And we still don't know what we're getting into," Kirby muttered. + +But at any rate they had reached the end of their march. + +Exultation did come to Kirby now, but still he was too completely +fagged, as were both girls, to give much sign. Gori pointed to a tree +some fifty feet away, which shot up to a great, foliage-crowned height. +They moved toward it, and in a moment were climbing, Gori first, the +girls after her, and Kirby last. + +"Here we are," Ivana presently whispered, at the same time drawing +herself out on a limb just beneath one on which Gori and Nini had +crawled. + +Kirby found himself hedged in by tasselated leaves through which he +could not see. The foliage thinned, however, and soon Ivana halted, +perched herself in a comfortable position. Kirby, making himself at ease +beside her, and seeing that Nini and Gori were in place, turned his eyes +slowly, expectantly downward. + + * * * * * + +At first, all that he saw from his bird's-eye perch, was a circular +clearing two hundred yards across, which was surrounded on all sides by +lowering jungle. In the exact center of the circle, like a splotch of +ink on gray paper, there gaped a deep hole which might have measured six +feet in diameter. Around this hole, eight poles as tall and stout as +telephone poles stood up in bristling array. The moonlight showed that +the whitish earth of the clearing was tamped smooth as though thousands +of creatures had danced or walked about there for centuries. But not a +living form was visible. + +A grunt of disappointment escaped Kirby after that one look. When he +looked beyond the clearing, however, a change came to his feelings. + +A quarter of a mile away, lights were twinkling--the same ones which had +been visible on the last stretch of the journey. And the moonlight +touched the little conical roofs of fully two hundred huts of the +ape-people. No sound was audible save the soughing of night wind in the +trees, the shrilling of insects. Nevertheless, there stole over Kirby +all at once a feeling that the great ape-village was crowded to +overflowing. What was more, he felt himself touched by an eery +sensation--familiar these days--of evil to come. + +Ivana, seated with her rifle across her knees, stirred on the limb +beside him. + +"Oh," she whispered suddenly, "I am afraid of this place!" + +Kirby took her hand. + +"I know. Maybe it is the sensation of all the legions of the apes herded +together so silently in their village. I wish we knew what to expect +from them. I wish--" + + * * * * * + +But he broke off, and called softly to Nini on the limb above. She +looked down with a drawn expression about her mouth. + +"Are you all right?" Kirby whispered. + +"Yes. But--Well, are both of _you_ all right? Gori says we have reached +here in time, but I--" A gasp of uneasiness escaped her, and Kirby heard +Ivana echo it. "There is something about that black, silent hole out +there in the clearing, and about those poles sticking up like fangs, +that makes me terribly, terribly afraid. Oh, what are they planning? +Where is Naida? What are they going to do to her?" + +Kirby whistled in a low key. He had not thought about the black hole in +the clearing. + +"Hum," he muttered, "that's interesting. Ivana, Nini, what do you +suppose--" + +But he got no answer. Gori's twitching lips grimaced them to silence. + +The next instant, the stillness of the night was hurled aside by a +howling, gurgling shout from a hundred, a thousand hysterically +distended ape throats. With the sickening sound came from the village +the sullen roaring of drums. + + * * * * * + +Ten minutes later, a Kirby who was cold with apprehension and wonder +looked down from his leaf-crowned height at such a spectacle as he knew +human eyes had never before seen. The shouting had died away, the drums +were silenced. Crammed into the clearing, their foul, hairy bodies +packed close together, the silver light glinting against rolling red +eyes and grinning white teeth, stood fully a thousand apes! + +Once the first tumult of shouting in the village had died, they had come +on in silence, and in orderly procession. Those who bore the +drums--huge gourds with heads of stretched skin--had formed a line +entirely around the outer diameter of the circular clearing. Then +others, lugging vats of a dark, heady-smelling liquor, had deposited +their burden beside the drums, and formed a second circle. The balance +of the thousand had crowded itself together as best it might, leaving +bare the center of the clearing with its black hole and fangs of poles. +Kirby, looking down at these legions, did not wonder that cold sweat +wetted his back. + +Capable of thinking about only one thing--Naida--he was trying with all +his strength not to think. Ivana, her face blanched in the light which +filtered their camouflage of leaves, sat rigid, her hands locked about +her cold rifle. On the branch above, Nini and Gori were as still as +mummies. No one had spoken since the vanguard of apes had appeared. + +But at last Nini leaned close to Kirby. + +"Have you any idea of what all this means?" + +A draught of hot night air carried up a stench of drunkenness, and the +goaty odor of massed animal bodies. + +"No," Kirby whispered. "I suppose, from Gori's having brought us here, +that Naida is going to appear somehow. We've simply got to trust that +Gori knows what she is about." + +"But listen--" Ivana suppressed a shudder. "Suppose they should bring +Naida here presently to force her to take part in some ceremony at which +we can only guess. Gori, who thinks we can work miracles, supposes we +can rescue Naida. But I--I'm not so certain. Is there _anything_ we can +do?" + + * * * * * + +It was exactly that question which had made Kirby fight to keep himself +from thinking. His face turned gray before he answered. But answer he +did, finally. + +"Yes, there is one thing we can do, Ivana. We've got to be frank with +each other, and so far, this is the _only_ thing I've been able to +figure out. If Naida is brought here, and they make any move to harm her +or torture her, we can, and we will, shoot her quickly, before harm or +pain comes." + +A grim silence settled once more. During the last miles of march in the +jungle, there had persisted in Kirby's heart the hope that there would +be at least _something_ favorable in whatever situation they might +encounter. His spirits were so low now that he dared not speak again. + +Amongst the noiseless sea of ape-men below them came, every now and +again, a little ripple of motion as some anthropoid shadow fell out of +his place, approached the liquor vats, and swilled down the black brew, +a quart at a gulp. But mostly there was little commotion. Ivana drew a +sibilant breath and said that she wished something would happen. + +"I wish," Kirby answered tensely, "that we knew _what_ is going to +happen." + +But the nightmare waiting was not to go on forever. Kirby leaned forward +and pointed. + +It was only instinct that had made him know action must come. For a +second, no change in the expression of the ape-men, no movement in their +crammed ranks, was visible. Then, however, a queer, subdued grunting +rumbled deep down in many throats, and those who had faced the +hundred-foot space in the center of the clearing squatted down on their +hams. + +In the back of the crowd necks were craned. The stronger shoved the +weaker in an effort to get a better view of the cleared stage, and a few +ape-men who had been drinking hurried on unsteady legs to their places. + +"The drums!" Kirby whispered then. + + * * * * * + +With almost military precision, the scores of leather-faced creatures +who had led the procession into the clearing, clasped the skin-headed +gourds to their shaggy bellies, and stood with free arm raised as +though awaiting a signal. Nini moved in her position, and Kirby felt +Ivana shiver and edge close to him. + +From the front rank of the crowd, there sprang up a great male creature +with the face of a gargoyle and the body of a jungle giant. Just once he +reeled on his feet, as though black alcohol had befuddled him, then he +steadied himself, flung both arms above his head, and rolled out a +command which burst upon Kirby's ears like thunder. + +It was as if the whole cavern of the lower world, and the whole of the +round earth itself, had been rocked uneasily, dreadfully by the +bellowing, crashing explosion of the drums. Maddened by the turmoil he +had let loose, the gargoyle-faced giant ape-man leered about him with +blood-shot, drunken eyes, and beat on his cicatrized chest with massive +fists. Suddenly he let out a bellow. Straight up into the air he sprang +in a wild leap. When he came down, he was dancing, and the portentious, +the sickeningly mysterious ceremony for which such solemn preparation +had been made, was begun. + +Kirby drew a rasping breath. Knowing that there must be some definite +reason for the dance having begun just when and as it had, he looked +beyond the solitary dancing giant, on beyond the crowded legions of the +apes, toward the village. There, where the main trail from the community +approached the clearing, he saw precisely the thing which he had both +hoped desperately and dreaded terribly to find. + + * * * * * + +Headed directly toward the clearing, moving down the trail with slow, +majestic pace, came a procession headed by a bodyguard of ape-men and +augmented by other men whose nakedness was covered by unmistakable, +unforgetable priestly robes of gray. + +All at once the ape-people in the clearing began to scuffle apart, +opening a lane down which the procession might pass to the central +stage with its dancer, its ink spot orifice, and its fangs of tall +poles. Kirby, watching the congregation, watching the majestic approach +of gray robes through the night, wiped away from his forehead a sweat of +fear. + +"I think," Nini called in a voice pitched high to outsound the drums, +"that the--the Duca is with them!" + +"Yes." Kirby pointed jerkily. "In the middle of the procession, there, +surrounded by his caciques!" + +The Duca! + +Yet his approach did not hold Kirby. Directly behind the priests were +emerging now from the jungle a new company of ape-men. Squinting his +eyes, Kirby saw that two of them were lugging on a pole across their +shoulders a curious burden--a sort of monstrous bird cage of barked +withes. Crouched on the floor of the cage in a little motionless, white +heap-- + +But Kirby closed his eyes. Ivana, cowering against him, gulped as though +she were going to be sick. Nini leaned down from above and looked at +them with dilated eyes. Although none of them spoke, all knew that they +had found Naida at last. + +Kirby was the first to pull himself up. Opening his eyes, he stared long +at the white gowned, motionless shape within the cage. Next summing up +the whole situation--the cage surrounded by an armed band, the clearing +crammed with a thousand ape-men--he shook his head. Afterward, he made a +quick movement with his hands. + +Ivana, seeing that movement, seeing the expression on his face, started +out of her daze. + +"No! No! Oh, there must be some other way out for her! There must--" + + * * * * * + +Her cry, half a shriek, did not change Kirby's look. What he had done +with his hands was to throw a shell into the chamber of his rifle. Now +he held the rifle grimly, ready to carry it to his shoulder. + +The procession with the bodyguard of ape-men at its head, the renegade +Duca and his caciques following next, and the cage bringing up the rear, +advanced relentlessly down the lane to the central stage. The +gargoyle-faced ape-man who held the stage alone danced with increasing +wildness, writhing, twisting, with weird suppleness. Upon the dancing +giant the procession bore down, and before him it finally halted. + +The halt left the Duca and the king ape facing each other, and the ape +ended his dance. After each had given a salute made by raising their +arms, both Duca and the king ape turned to face the creatures who were +standing with the cage slung across their shoulders. Whereupon the +bearers of the cage advanced with it until they stood between two of the +tall poles. There, facing the ominous hole in the center of the +clearing, with a pole on either side of them, the ape-men lowered the +cage to the ground. + +Kirby felt his last hope and courage ebbing. Now he noticed that each +pole was equipped with a rope which passed through a hole near its top, +like a thread through the eye of a needle. And while he stared at the +dangling ropes, the ape-men made one end of each fast to a ring in the +top of the cage. The next instant they leaped back, and began to heave +at the other end of the lines. + +From the drums came a quicker pounding, a more head-splitting volume of +thunder. Over all the ape-people who watched the show, passed a shiver +of what seemed to be whole-souled, ecstatic satisfaction. Slowly, as the +two ape-men heaved hard, the cage swung off the ground, and slowly rose +higher and higher into the moonlit air. + + * * * * * + +When finally the thing hung high above the heads of the multitude, +swaying midway between its tall supports, the ape-men who had done the +hoisting fastened their lines to cleats on the poles. Then they turned +to the Duca and the giant king who stood behind them, executed a queer, +lumbering bow, and fell back to the rear. + +The next moment it seemed as though every creature in the clearing--men +and those who were only half men--had gone crazy. The king flung himself +into the air as if he were a mass of bounding rubber. Following his +lead, the whole assembly let out howls that drowned even the drums, and +then began to sway, to squirm, to leap, even as their king was doing +before them. + +The caciques and the Duca joined in the madness of foul dancing as +heartily as any there. Their eyes were flaming, their long robes +flapping, their beards streaming. + +On his perch in the tree Kirby muttered an oath which was lost, swept +away like a breath, in the shrieking turmoil of sound. Then he turned to +Ivana. + +"They've brought Naida here to sacrifice her." + +"But _why_?" Ivana's sweet face was frozen in lines of horror. "I've +been able to guess what was going to happen to her. But--_sacrifice_. +Why will it be that?" + +"Don't you see?" Looking up to include Nini, Kirby found his hands +quivering against his rifle. "It is easy to understand. In the temple +yesterday, what the Duca hoped to do was to kidnap most, or all, of the +girls for the ape-people. But he was able to get only Naida. The first +result was that the ape-men started to quarrel over the one girl. From +what Gori says, trouble started on all sides at once. It became +inadvisable to let Naida live. So the Duca, in his shrewdness, planned a +sacrifice. By sacrificing Naida, he rids himself of a source of +contention amongst the ape-men. He also hopes his act will win favor +from his Gods, and make them help him when he is ready to launch a new +attempt to capture _all_ the girls." + + * * * * * + +Ivana and Nini looked at each other, then at Kirby, and horror was +etched deeper into their faces. + +"I think," gulped Ivana, "that you--are right. I--begin to understand." + +Nini leaned close to them. + +"Tell us, then, _how_ this sacrifice is to be made." + +Silent at that, Kirby presently made a heavy gesture toward the +maelstrom of howling, leaping animals below them. + +"I couldn't guess at first. Now I think I can. They have placed her in +that cage and swung it high above the black hole you were afraid of. +What can that mean except that she is to be offered to--to--" + +It was a monstrous theory which had stunned his hope and courage, and to +voice the thing in words was too gruesome. + +His bare suggestion, however, made Ivana pass a hand limply over her +forehead and look at him with blank, stricken eyes. Nini tottered so +uncertainly that Gori, who had remained motionless and silent +throughout, had to steady her with muscular arms. If it was impossible +for Kirby to utter his fears aloud, he had no need to speak to make them +understood. + +"And--and we can do nothing?" Nini choked at last. + +"You can see for yourself how she is surrounded. If we had been able to +get here sooner, we might have done something. Now--" + +Kirby's voice trailed off, and he gave an agonized look at his rifle. + + * * * * * + +The terrific dance in the clearing was going forward with madness which +increased second by second. It had been a general debauch at first, with +the whole thousand of the apes bellowing and squirming. Now a change was +becoming apparent. Red eyes which had caught the glare of ultimate +madness, focused upon the caciques, the Duca, and the great king, all of +whom were swaying together on the central stage. As they looked, the +horde of ape-men broke loose with a heightened frenzy of noise and +movement too overwhelming for Kirby to follow. He leaned forward, making +an effort to see what actions of Duca and king could be so influencing +the congregation. And then he saw. + +Both of those central figures, the one with hair-covered giant's body +and evilly grimacing face, the other with white robes and whipping +silver hair, were definitely emulating the motions of a serpent! + +It was as if the angles and joints had disappeared from their bodies. +They were become gliding lengths of muscle as swift, as loathsome in +their supple dartings and coilings as any snake lashing across the +expanses of primeval jungle. Lost in what they did, unconscious of the +nightmare, demoniac legion before which they danced, they had eyes only +for the empty, ominous hole beneath Naida's cage. As they circled the +hole, drawing ever and ever closer to it, they opened and closed their +arms with the motion of great serpent jaws biting and striking. + +"God in Heaven!" Kirby cried in a voice which shrilled with horror and +then broke. + +It was not alone the Duca's dance which had wrung the shout from him. As +Nina and Ivana shrieked and cowered, as Gori twitched, gasped, buried +her head in trembling arms, Kirby knew that Naida was fully aware of +what was going on--had been, perhaps, from the beginning. + +Slowly, numbly she raised herself from her huddled position, rose to her +knees, and clutching with despairing hands at the sides of her cage, +looked out from between the bars. + + * * * * * + +The king and Duca edged closer to the hole until they were dancing upon +its very brink. From that position, they stared down into the depths, +their faces tense and strained. And then their look became radiant, +exalted, joyous. Suddenly the Duca leaped back. He shrieked something +at the gargoyle ape, and they flung their arms high in a commanding, +mighty signal which was directed across the nightmare legion of ape-men, +to the drums. + +As Kirby winced in expectancy, the drums ceased to roar. Over the night +smashed a hideous concussion of silence, deafening, absolute. And the +ape-men--all of them--and the Duca, his caciques, and the king, ceased +to dance. As if a whirlwind had hurled them, the caciques scattered in +all directions. The Duca, having already leaped back from the gaping +orifice, suddenly turned and ran with blurred speed over to the +slobbering, deadly still front rank of the congregation. An instant +later the king crouched down beside him, and the whole stage was left +bare and deserted. + +Kirby gave one look at Naida, found her staring down, deeper and deeper +down, into the hole which yawned beneath her so blackly. Then Kirby +lowered his eyes until he, too, stared at the opening. + +Amidst the pressing silence there stole from the earth an uneasy sound +as of some immense thing waking and stirring. Came a hissing note as of +escaping steam. The tribes of the ape-men waited in silent rapture. +Kirby saw Naida still looking down, and felt Ivana crouch against him, +fainting. He held his rifle tighter, and continued to stare. + +Something red, like two small flames, licked up above the edge of the +pit. Then Kirby gasped and all but went limp. Up and out into the +moonlight slid a glistening white lump that moved from side to side and +licked at the night with flickering black and red tipped forked tongue. + +The glistening white lump was the head of Quetzalcoatl, buried God of +the People of the Temple. It was wider and bigger than an elephant's, +and the round snake body could not have been encircled by a man's two +arms. Kirby guessed at the probable length of the Serpent in terms of +hundreds of feet. + + * * * * * + +Sick, numb, he glanced at Naida, who was still staring silently, and +hitched his rifle half up to his shoulder. But he did not look down the +sights yet. Although it was time, and more than time, that he fired, he +would not do it until the last possible second, when nothing else +remained. + +Slowly from the hole slid a fifteen or twenty-foot column of the body, +and Quetzalcoatl, thus reared, looked about him with a pair of eyes +immense and not like snake's eyes, but heavily lidded and lashed; eyes +that stared in a wise, evil way; eyes glittering and round and black as +ink. After a time the mouth opened in a silent snarl, showing great +white fangs and recurved simitars of teeth. The head was snow white, +leperous in its scabby, scaly roughness, with here and there a patch of +what looked like greenish fungus. From the rounded body trailed a short, +unnatural, sickening growth of--feathers. Old and evil and very wise the +Feathered Serpent seemed as his forked tongue flickered in and out and +he stared at the ape horde, who stared back silently. + +He seemed in no hurry to devote his attention to the cage set forth for +his delectation. The black eyes rolled beneath their lashes, staring now +at the Duca in his robes, and again at the huddled ape-people. But after +ghastly seconds, Quetzalcoatl at last had seen enough. + +Again the moonlight glinted against simitar teeth as the great, white, +puffy mouth yawned in its silent snarl. Quetzalcoatl reared his head a +little higher, slid further from his hole, and then looked up at the +dangling cage of barked withes. + +In Kirby's mind stirred cloudily a remembrance of moments in the past: +the feel of Naida's first kiss, her look as they advanced to the altar +in the temple. Then he saw things as they were now, with Naida +surrounded by all the tribes of the apes, and with Quetzalcoatl staring +from beneath heavily lidded lashes at the whiteness of her. + +Suddenly Kirby stirred to free his shoulder of Ivana's supine weight +against it, and he made himself look down his rifle. He let the breath +half out of his lungs, and nursed the trigger. + + * * * * * + +But he did not fire. + +All at once he started so violently that he almost hurtled from the +tree. Suddenly, trembling, he lowered his rifle. + +"Oh, thank God!" he yelped in the silence of the night. + +The idea which had transformed him was perhaps the conception of a +lunatic. But it was still an idea, and offered a chance. + +Again Kirby peered down his rifle. But he no longer aimed at Naida. As +Quetzalcoatl lifted white fangs, Kirby aimed deliberately at him, and +turned loose his fire. + +With the first shot, the Serpent lurched back from the cage, snapped his +jaws, and closed evil, black eyes. From one lidded socket squirted dark +blood. As a second and third shot crashed into the cavernous fanged +mouth, and others ripped into the flat skull, Quetzalcoatl seemed dazed. +His head wavered back and forth and his hiss filled the night, but he +did nothing. + +But all at once Kirby felt that he was _going_ to do something in a +second, and a great calm came upon him. He quickly jammed home a fresh +clip of shells. + +"Nini! Ivana! Fire at the Serpent. Give him everything you've got! Do +you understand? Fire! He thinks that the ape-people have hurt him, and +he will be after them in a second. If we have any luck, he will do to +them what we never could have done, and maybe destroy himself at the +same time! Me, I'm going down there and get Naida now!" + + +CHAPTER XIII + +No sooner did Kirby see comprehension in the girls' faces than he swung +around and let go of his perch. As he crashed, caught the next limb +below him, and let go to crash to another, he had all he could do to +suppress a yelp of joy. For all at once every voice in the ape +congregation was raised in howls and screams of devastated terror. + +He did not care how he got down from the tree. Seconds and half seconds +were what counted. From the last limb above the ground he swung into +space, and a split second later staggered to his feet, clutched his +rifle, and started for the clearing. His lungs seemed collapsed and both +ankles shattered. He did not care. Not when the ape screams were growing +louder with every step he took. Not when he heard Nini and Ivana pouring +down from their tree a continuation of the scorching fire he had +started. + +Panting, his breath only half regained, but steeled to make the fight of +his life, he tore from the jungle into the clearing just in time to see +a twisting, pain-convulsed seventy-foot coil of white muscle lash up and +strike Naida's cage a blow which knocked it like a ball in the air. +Naida screamed and hung to the bars. + +But she was all right. It was not against her that Quetzalcoatl was +venting his wrath: the blow had been blind accident. As Kirby stood at +the clearing's edge, he knew to a certainty that Quetzalcoatl's reaction +to sudden pain had been all he had dared hope. + +In front of him forty or fifty ape-bodies lay in a crushed heap. While +yard after yard of the Serpent's bleached length streamed out of the +hole, the hundreds of feet of coils already in the clearing suddenly +whipped about a whole squadron of ape-men, and with a few constrictions +annihilated them as if they had been ants. Across the clearing, the +leperous head reared up as high as the trees and swooped down, fangs +gleaming. The howls of the ape-men trying to flee, the screams of those +who had been caught, rose until they became all one scream. + + * * * * * + +But Kirby had not left the safety of the tree merely to get a ringside +view of carnage. He faced his next, his final task unhesitatingly. +Straight out he leaped from the shadows of the jungle into the clearing, +out into the presence of the beleagured, screaming ape-men. Well enough +he knew that those creatures, despite their frenzy, might sight him and +fall upon him at any second; well enough he knew that a single flick of +the white coils all over the clearing could crush him instantly. But the +time to worry about those hazards would be when they beset him. With a +yell as piercing as any in the whole bedlam, Kirby rushed forward. + +High up in the moonlit vault of the night, swaying between the two poles +which supported it, hung the white cage which was Naida's prison. By the +time Kirby had sprinted fifty yards, he knew that his yells had reached +Naida. For she staggered to her knees and looked straight at him. A +second later, though, he realized that the almost inevitable recognition +of him by ape-men had come to pass. + +Eight or ten of the creatures, left unmolested for a second by the +Serpent, halted in the mad run they were making for the sheltering +jungle, and while one pointed with hairy arm, the others let out +shrieks. Kirby gritted his teeth in something like despair. Then he +realized that the worst danger--Quetzalcoatl's blurred coils--was not +threatening him so far. And he went on, straight toward the ape-men. + +He did not look where, how, or at whom he struck. All he knew was that +his rifle blazed, and as he clubbed at soft flesh with the butt, blood +spurted, and new screams filled the night. He felt and half saw big, +stinking bodies going down, and clawed his way forward, around them, +over them. Then he felt no more bodies, and knew that he was through. A +little farther he ran over the trampled earth, and stopped and looked +up. + +The howls of the living, the shrieks of the dying deafened him. Renewed +shots from the rifles in the tree, made the Serpent lash about in a +dazzling white blur, smashing trees, apes, everything in its path. But +Kirby, finding himself still safe, scarcely heard or saw. His eyes, +turned upward, saw one thing only. + +"Naida!" + + * * * * * + +She had snapped two of the withes of the cage and was leaning forward +through the opening. Her face was livid with horror and exhaustion, but +she was able to look at him with eyes that glowed. + +"You--you came!" she gasped. "You came to me!" + +In a flash Kirby jumped over to the poles and began to cast off one of +the lines which held the cage aloft. + +"Get ready for a bump!" he shouted, as he lowered away, arms straining. + +Paying out the one line left the cage suspended from the second, but let +it sweep from its position between the poles, down toward one pole. As +the thing struck the tall support, Kirby bounded over to stand beneath +it, only too sharply aware of the death waiting for him on every side, +but ignoring it. Naida still hung suspended a good twenty feet above +him, but there was no time to let go the other line. He braced himself +and held up his arms. + +"Jump!" he yelled. + +Then he saw the white gown sweeping down toward him, felt the crash of a +soft body against his, and staggered back. Recovered in a tenth of a +second, he drew a deep breath, and looked at Naida beside him, tall and +brave, unhurt. + +"Are you able to run?" he snapped, and then, the moment she nodded, +motioned toward the jungle. + +Behind them, in front, on all sides, rose screams so horrible that he +wondered even then if he would ever forget. As he started to run, he +realized that when Naida had finally landed in his arms, the nearest +squirming loop of the Serpent had been no more than four yards away, and +that, right now, if their luck failed, a single unfortunate twist of the +incredible hundreds of feet of white muscle could still end things for +them. + + * * * * * + +But luck was not going to fail. Somehow Kirby knew it as they sprinted +side by side, and the sheltering jungle loomed closer every second. And +a moment later, something beside his own inner faith made him know it, +too. + +"Look, Naida! Look!" he screeched all at once. + +At the upper end of the clearing, where an unthinkable slaughter was +going on, there leaped out from amongst a surging mass of apes, leaped +out from almost directly beneath a downward smashing blur of white snake +folds, a figure which Kirby had not seen or thought about for many +seconds. + +The Duca's robe hung in tatters from his body. Blood had smeared his +white hair. His eyes were those of a man gone mad from fear. And as he +escaped the tons of muscle which so nearly had engulfed him, he began to +run even as Kirby felt himself running. + +Straight toward him and Naida, Kirby saw the man spurt, but whether the +mad eyes recognized them or not, he could not tell, nor did he care. All +at once his feeling that they would escape the clearing, became +conviction. + +For suddenly the same single twitch of Quetzalcoatl's vast folds which +might have finished them, if luck had not held, put an end to the Duca's +retreat. At one moment the man's path was clear. The next-- + +Kirby, running for dear life, gasped, and heard Naida cry out beside +him. + +The great loops flashed, twisted, and where had been an open way for +the Duca, loomed a wall of scaly white flesh. The living wall twitched, +closed in; and as the Duca dodged and leaped to no avail, a cry shrilled +across the night--a cry that cut like a knife. + + * * * * * + +Kirby saw no more. But it was likely that most, if not all, of the +caciques had gone with the Duca. + +Somehow, anyhow, in but a few seconds more, Kirby dove into the spot +from which he had left the jungle to enter the clearing. As Naida +pressed against him, winded but still strong, he found his best hopes +for immediate retreat realized, for Gori, Nini, and Ivana, down from +their tree, ran toward them. + +"She is all right," he said with a gesture which cut short the outbursts +ready to come. "But we've got to keep going. Ivana, tell Gori that her +people are gone, wiped out, but that if she will cast her lot with us, +we will not forget what she has done. Come on!" + +With Gori leading them they ran, stumbling, recovering themselves, +stumbling again. To breathe became an agony. But not until many minutes +later, when they plowed into the cover of a fern belt whose blackness +not even the moonlight had pierced, did Kirby call a halt. + +Here he swept a final glance behind him, listened long for sounds of +pursuit, and relaxed a little only when none came to disturb the night +stillness. However, that relaxation, now that he permitted it at last, +meant something. + +The complete silence gave him final conviction that what he had said +about the whole ape-people being destroyed was true. As for the +Serpent--well, perhaps he was destroyed even as they were. Perhaps not. +In any case the grip which Quetzalcoatl held upon the imagination of the +People of the Temple had been destroyed by this night's work, and that +was what counted most. The Serpent would be worshipped no longer. + + * * * * * + +Kirby reached out in the darkness and found Naida's hand. + +"Come along," he said to all of the party. "I think the past is--the +past. And with Gori to guide us out of the jungle, and our own brains to +guide us through the jungle of self-government after that, I think the +future ought to be bright enough." + +Ivana and Nini both chuckled as they moved again, and Gori, hearing her +name spoken in a kindly voice, twitched her ears appreciatively. Naida +drew very close to Kirby. + +"What are you thinking about?" she asked presently. + +"The--temple," he answered. + +"About the crown which probably is still lying on the altar there?" + +Kirby looked up in surprise. + +"Why, I had forgotten about that!" + +"What was it, then?" + +"But what could I have been thinking about except how you looked when we +came together in that gloomy place, and walked forward, side by side? +_Now_ have I told you enough?" + +Naida laughed. + +"There is so much to be done!" Kirby exclaimed then. "As soon as +possible, we must climb to the Valley of the Geyser, go on into the +outer world, and there seek carefully for men who are willing, and fit, +to come here. And that is only one task. Others come crowding to me +every second. But first--" + +"What?" Naida asked softly. + +"The temple. Naida, we will reach the plateau sometime to-morrow. All of +the girls who kept watch there will be waiting for us, and it will be a +time of happiness. May we not, then, go to the temple? There will be no +priests. But we will make our pledges without them. Tell me, may I hope +that it will be so--to-morrow?" + +Naida did not answer at once. She did not even nod. But presently her +shoulder, still fragrant with faint perfume, brushed his. She clasped +his hand then, and as they walked on in silence, Kirby knew. + + + + +The Reader's Corner + +[Illustration: The Readers' Corner + +A Meeting Place for Readers of +Astounding Stories] + + +"Literature" + +Dear Editor: + +After comparison with various other magazines which specialize in the +publication of Science Fiction, we--The Scientific Fiction Library +Ass'n, of 1457 First Ave., New York City--have found that your magazine, +Amazing Stories, publishes stories to which the term "literature" may be +applied in its real sense. A fine example of this is the story "Murder +Madness," by Murray Leinster. Others of the finer novels are: "The +Beetle Horde," by Victor Rousseau, and, up to the present installment, +"Earth, the Marauder," by Arthur J. Burks. "Brigands of the Moon," by +Ray Cummings, was interesting and well-written, but it was not +literature (not a story which you will remember and read over again). Of +the shorter stories, the novelettes, the best are: "Spawn of the Stars," +by Charles W. Diffin, "Monsters of Moyen," by Arthur J. Burks, and "The +Atom Smasher," by Victor Rousseau. + +Since the magazine started, there are only three stories that did not +belong in the magazine, and were not even interesting. These are: "The +Corpse on the Grating," by Hugh B. Cave; "The Stolen Mind," by M. +Staley, and the last (I wonder that the editors who used such good sense +in picking the other finer stories, let it pass), "Vampires of Venus," +by Anthony Pelcher. May you keep up the high standard of fiction you are +publishing at present.--Nathan Greenfeld, 873 Whitlock Ave., New York +City. + + +You See--It Didn't! + +Dear Editor: + +Firstly, let me say that I am sending a year's subscription to +Astounding Stories, which will tell you that they are good. + +On the average, the stories are of good literary merit and plot. +However, there is one thing that seems to be getting rather pushed +into the background and that is the second part of your title, +"Super-Science." If this is to be a Science Fiction magazine let us have +it so. I am kicking against stories like "Murder Madness" and the like. +They are really excellent in every way but just need that tincture of +a little scientific background to make them super-excellent. "Brigands +of the Moon" and "The Moon Master" seem to me more the type of story +"our mag" should publish, from its name. + +No doubt this criticism will leave you cold and this effusion find its +way into the nearest waste paper basket, but I find that a number of +your readers in Australia think somewhat the same as I do. + +More brickbats--I hope not! and more bouquets--I hope so! the next time +I write.--N.W. Alcock, 5 Gaza Rd., Naremburn, N.S.W., Australia. + + +Not in de Head!! + +Dear Editor: + +I shall be glad to take advantage of your cordial invitation to come +over to "The Readers' Corner." In the first place, I find your magazine +the best of its kind on the market, and you are to be congratulated on +having such excellent authors as Ray Cummings, Murray Leinster and +Captain S. P. Meek. Nevertheless, there are so many things to be +criticized that I hardly know where to begin. + +Let's start of with stories of future warfare. Although this class is +potentially one of the most interesting, it is at the same time one of +the most abused. Ray Cummings can write classics in this field, but the +efforts of most the others are atrocities. I'll wager that their +favorite childhood sport was mowing down whole regiments of lead +soldiers with oxy-acetylene torches. It shows in their writings. Why +can't they think of something original? Why can't they make their +stories logical? The merits of a story are not dependent on the number +of people wiped out by one blast of a death ray! But they all stick to +the same old plot. A merciless but well-meaning scientist, or hordes +from a foreign planet, wipe out thousands of American citizens at one +blow. Hundreds of airplanes are disintegrated before they discover that +the enemy is invulnerable. An ultimatum in domineering tones gives the +terror-stricken populace forty-eight hours in which to surrender. But, +all unknown to the dastardly villains, an obscure young scientist labors +to save his country and the girl he loves. Fifteen minutes before the +time set in the ultimatum he perfects a new weapon that soon sends the +invaders to their well merited fate. + +Surely you realize how ridiculous the whole affair is. It is only +slightly less nauseating than the plot used in the stories of advanced +civilizations where the hero is conducted on a sight-seeing tour by the +individual in whose path he popped upon entering this new world. I can't +believe that more than a handful of my fellow beings are of such low +intelligence that they can find enjoyment in such trash. You will notice +that although every reader has a different list of favorite authors, Ray +Cummings has his name in practically every list. He is easily your +favorite author. Ray Cummings does not wipe out whole cities at one +time. His heroes do not save the world by inventing a new weapon at a +moment's notice. His wars are not of forty-eight hours' duration. His +conquerors do not attempt to win the war by one great attack on New York +City. Do try to have your authors write logical stories. + +I would now like to criticize the love element in your stories. I do not +claim that there should be none whatever from cover to cover of your +magazine, but I do claim that there should be none unless it really +helps the plot. Most of your authors seem to think that a girl is +necessary in every plot and so they bring her in, disregarding the fact +that they do not know how to handle such material. The way it stands +now, the heroine is introduced in a lame, routine fashion; is rescued +once or twice; and accepts the hero as a husband in an altogether lame +fashion. + +There are many other points but they can wait. Logical war stories, no +Utopias or sight-seeing tours, sensible love element, plus your present +policy will make a corking magazine.--Philip Waite, 3400 Wayne Ave., New +York, N.Y. + + +No Present Plans + +Dear Editor: + +Thanks for the new color cover. It certainly is a big improvement. The +picture on the front of "our" magazine was just as astounding as the +story by R. F. Starzl from which it was drawn. Let's have more stories +from the pen of Mr. Starzl. + +In my opinion "Beyond the Heaviside Layer" is the best story I have read +in Astounding Stories to date. I am very pleased that you intend to +print a sequel to it. + +Now I would like to ask you a question. Do you intend to print an Annual +or Quarterly, or do think you will ever enlarge the size of this +magazine? I don't care so much whether you enlarge the magazine or not, +but I certainly would like to read an Annual or Quarterly. + +Even though this letter meets the fate of thousands of other such +letters and sees the inside of your wastebasket, I will at least have +had the pleasure of writing to you and wishing "our" magazine success to +the nth degree.--Forrest J. Ackerman, 236-½ N. New Hampshire, Los +Angeles, Calif. + + +"Excellent" to "So-So" + +Dear Editor: + +I notice a large number of subscribers are giving their opinions of +Astounding Stories. I hate to be with the crowd, but I have to side with +the majority in this case and say it's just about right. + +My favorite writers are R. F. Starzl (that "Planet of Dread" was a +peach). Chas. W. Diffin, A. Merritt, Ralph Milne Farley, Murray Leinster +and Ray Cummings. + +Now as to the August issue, here is how I rate them: + +"Planet of Dread"--more than 20c. worth at the first crack. A real +story. + +"Lord of Space"--excellent. I meant to include Victor Rousseau in my +list of favorites above. + +"The Second Satellite"--so-so. + +"Silver Dome"--so. + +"Earth the Marauder"--too deep for me. And that Beryl stuff is sheer +bunk. + +"Murder Madness"--a real story. Get more like this. + +"The Flying City"--too much explanation and description and not enough +action. + +Perhaps it looks like I'm sort of critical after all, but I didn't mean +it just that way. What I'm driving at is that Astounding Stories is by +far superior to its competitors, and I'm telling you so because it might +make you feel better to know it. If you want to print this testimonial, +go to it. To tell the truth, I'll be looking for it.--Leslie P. Mann, +1227 Ogden Ave., Chicago, Illinois. + + +"Too Many Serials" + +Dear Editor: + +I have just finished the August issue, and I would like to tell you my +opinion of it and the magazine as a whole. + +The stories in order of merit were: + +1--"The Second Satellite"; 2--"The Flying City"; 3--"Silver Dome"; +4--"The Lord of Space"; 5--"The Planet of Dread." + +I won't pass judgment upon the serials, as I have not read all the +parts. + +In "The Flying City" there are a number of points I am hazy about. How +could Cor speak English? However, this could be cleared up by saying +that Cor sent out men to get the language, etc. + +As a whole, Astounding Stories is a good magazine. There are too many +serials, however, but since other readers like them I won't complain. + +You have a fine array of Science Fiction authors. With such writers as +Vincent, Meek, Hamilton, Starzl and Ernst, your magazine can't be +anything but a success. + +The September layouts look good to me. I hope it is.--E. Anderson, 1765 +Southern Blvd., New York, N.Y. + + +Thanks, Mr. Glasser + +Dear Editor: + +Somewhat belatedly I am writing to commend you most heartily on the +August issue of Astounding Stories, which I consider by far the finest +number since the inception of the magazine last January. The authors +whose work appeared in this issue are among the greatest modern writers +of fantasy and scientific fiction. Leinster, Burks, Hamilton, +Rousseau--what a brilliant galaxy! And Starzl, Vincent, Rich; all +writers of note. If ever a magazine merited the designation "all-star +number," your August issue filled the bill. + +However, I am confident that even this superb achievement will be +surpassed by some future edition of Astounding Stories, for each +succeeding number to date has improved on the one before. And with a new +Cummings novel in the offing, it seems the August issue, despite its +excellence, will speedily be eclipsed.--Allen Glasser, 1510 University +Ave., New York, N.Y. + + +Are Our Covers Too "Gaudy"? + +Dear Editor: + +This is the first time that I have ventured to air my views to any +magazine, but as yours interests me greatly I hereby shed my reticence. + +I believe, of all magazine of your type, you have come nearest +perfection. But there are just a few things that bother me, and, no +doubt, others like me. In the first place, must you make your covers as +lurid and as contradictory to good design as they are? Really, I blush +when my newsdealer hands me the gaudy thing. People interested in +science do not usually succumb to circus poster advertising. + +Then there are the stories. I realize that you must cater to all tastes, +but some of them are very childish, slightly camouflaged fairy tales. +Science Fiction can be written very convincingly, as is testified by the +stories of H. G. Wells, Ray Cummings, Jules Verne, and others. These +writers attain their effects by the proper use of the English language, +without silly and obviously tacked-on romance, the use of known +scientific facts elaborated sensibly and by not trying to make a novel +out of a short story. + +The stimulation of the imagination from Science Fiction is most +enjoyable and I shall continue to read your magazine even though my +fault finding is not considered, for, as I said before, you certainly +have come nearer my ideal than any of the others.--Hector D. Spear, 867 +W. 181st St., The Tri-Sigma Fraternity, New York City. + + +Nossir--Our Astronomy Is O. K. + +Dear Editor: + +I am taking advantage of your invitation to write to you. Since +Astounding Stories is available you have given me a lot of pleasure, and +I hope you may get a little pleasure out of reading this. + +First, I want to say that you're hitting the ball as far as I'm +concerned. I could hardly suggest an improvement. + +In the August issue I liked "Planet of Dread," by R. F. Starzl, best. +When that thing in the "pipe" grabbed me, I mean Gunga, wow! And it gave +me a lot of satisfaction to see the Master in "Murder Madness," by +Murray Leinster, get it in the neck. "Lord of Space" was good, too. In +fact all the stories were good. I have only read two or three I really +did not like since you started. + +Say, I never heard of a planet named Inra. Don't you think your author +ought to brush up on his astronomy? I also noticed some other authors +are a little weak on astronomy; not that I'm complaining. The stories +are O. K. with me.--Harry Johnson, 237 E. 128th St., New York City. + + +Mr. Yetter Checks Up on Us + +Dear Editor: + +As I am a constant reader of Astounding Stories I wish to say that +though S. P. Meek is one of my favorite authors his story, "Cold Light," +was a little wrong when he called the "Silver Range" by the name of +"Stillwater Range." I also think it would have been better if he had had +a car take Dr. Bird and Carnes out to the hills, became even in Fallon a +burro is a strange sight. + +But Meek, Cummings, Burks and all the rest of our famous authors' +stories should be in the magazine often. If Verrill, Wells, Nathenson +and Hamilton would also write, the magazine would be perfect. + +I like all the stories, though some seem to be copies, and others lack +science. + +Here is for a long life for Astounding Stories!--Frank Yetter, 369 +Railroad Ave., Fallon, Nevada. + + +"Charm All Its Own" + +Dear Editor: + +Let me congratulate you. I have just read "The Planet of Dread," by R. +F. Starzl, in your August issue of Astounding Stories. + +Real science, you know, is pretty rigidly limited, but super-science of +the kind you seem to run has a freshness and charm all its own. + +I came upon your magazine quite by accident, and from now on no doubt +will look for it as I stand before the racks of magazines, trying to +decide upon something to read--Anton J. Sartori, 1330 W. 6th St., Los +Angeles, Calif. + + +Inra Could Exist + +Dear Editor: + +You will have to excuse this old telegraph office typewriter. It is all +I have to express my appreciation to you for the tremendously +interesting magazine you put out. I have only read the last three +issues, but those are enough to convince me that Astounding Stories +fills a long-felt want. I read all the others too, but from now on I'm +going to look over their offerings at the stand before I buy. They have +to go some to come up to the standard set by you, especially in the +August copy. + +That story, "The Planet of Dread," was the most weird, exciting, +thrilling, satisfying--in short, the most "astounding" story I have ever +read. Nothing has seemed so real since I first read Wells' stories. I +liked the characters. Poor Gunga. I could just see him, trying to +sacrifice the man he obviously worshipped to stop that horrible noise. +The picture of Gunga on the cover was just exactly what I would expect +the Martian to look like. You have a good artist. I liked Mark +Forepaugh, too. He didn't lose his nerve for one minute--not Mark. Who +says civilization is going down, when the future holds men like that? + +Next to "The Planet of Dread" I liked "The Lord of Space." That was a +vivid and well-drawn story, too. Those two, I think, were the +outstanding stories for August. But I must not forget "Murder Madness," +the serial; it was thrilling and convincing. That's the only kick I +have: so many stories sound thin. I don't believe them when I read them. +I also want to mention "The Forgotten Planet" and "From An Amber Block." +Good, exciting, and you can believe them without too much strain. + +Oh, by the way, the author of "The Planet of Dread" made a mistake when +he chose a mythical planet for his terrific adventures. Why not Venus or +Mercury? If they have water the conditions on them would be similar to +what he described for Inra. There ain't no such planet. But why expect +perfection! I'm satisfied. + +I wish you success. That's a late wish. You're a success already.--Tom +P. Fitzgerald, Newcastle, Nebraska. + + +Thus Ended the Quest + +Dear Editor: + +This is my first letter to your magazine, and right away I'm asking for +a pair of sequels. One of these is to "The Moon Master," by Charles W. +Diffin. These sad endings depress me greatly, but if I looked at the +ending first to see whether or not it was sad it would ruin the story; +and besides sad endings usually have good stories in front of them. The +other sequel I want is to "From The Ocean's Depths," by Sewell P. +Wright, and its sequel "Into The Ocean's Depths." + +In looking over my back copies of the magazine I find that I have not +disliked a single story. Thus endeth my quest for a brickbat. + +Are you going to put out a quarterly? Both the other Science Fiction +magazines that I get do so, and I observe that it gives opportunity for +a story of full novel length all in one piece. Not that I object to +serials, but I like once in a while to sit down to a long story without +having to dig out three or four magazines. However, please continue the +long serials, for what is life without the element of suspense?--Hugh M. +Gilmore, 920 N. Vista St., Hollywood, Cal. + + +"The Readers' Corner" + +All Readers are extended a sincere and cordial invitation to "come over +in 'The Readers' Corner'" and join in our monthly discussion of stories, +authors, scientific principles and possibilities--everything that's of +common interest in connection with our Astounding Stories. + +Although from time to time the Editor may make a comment or so, this is +a department primarily for _Readers_, and we want you to make full use +of it. Likes, dislikes, criticisms, explanations, roses, brickbats, +suggestions--everything's welcome here; so "come over in 'The Readers' +Corner'" and discuss it with all of us! + +_The Editor._ + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber Notes + +Typographical and hyphenation inconsistencies have been standardized. + +Otherwise, archaic and variable spelling is preserved, including +'obsidion' and 'tyranosaur'. + +Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Astounding Stories of Super-Science, +December 1930, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTOUNDING STORIES, DEC. 1930 *** + +***** This file should be named 30691-8.txt or 30691-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/6/9/30691/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Katherine Ward, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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