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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32398-h.zip b/32398-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7515cb9 --- /dev/null +++ b/32398-h.zip diff --git a/32398-h/32398-h.htm b/32398-h/32398-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..35a6927 --- /dev/null +++ b/32398-h/32398-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7942 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Brood Of The Dark Moon, by Charles Willard Diffin. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.linenum { + position: absolute; + top: auto; + left: 4%; +} /* poetry number */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.sidenote { + width: 20%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; + margin-left: 1em; + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; + color: black; + background: #eeeeee; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Brood of the Dark Moon, by Charles Willard Diffin + +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: Brood of the Dark Moon + +Author: Charles Willard Diffin + +Release Date: May 16, 2010 [EBook #32398] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROOD OF THE DARK MOON *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/title.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<h1>Brood of the Dark Moon</h1> + +<h3>(<i>A Sequel to "Dark Moon"</i>)</h3> + +<h2><i>By Charles Willard Diffin</i></h2> + +<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Astounding Stories +August, September, October and November 1931. Extensive research did not +uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was +renewed.]</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. The Message</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. Into Space </a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. Out of Control</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. The Return to the Dark Moon</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. A Desperate Act</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. "Six to Four"</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. The Red Swarm</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. Doomed</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. A Premonition</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. A Mysterious Rescuer</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. The Sacrificial Altar</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. In the Shadow of the Pyramid</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. Happy Valley</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. A Bag of Green Gas</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. Terrors of the Jungle</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. Through Air and Water</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. Hunted Down</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. Besieged!</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. "One for Each of Us"</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. On to the Pyramid</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. The Monstrous Something</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. Sacrifice</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. The Might of the "Master"</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>List of Illustrations</h2> + + +<p><a href="#illus1"><i>He landed one blow on the nearest face.</i></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus2"><i>One, swifter than the rest, dashed upon him.</i></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus3"><i>The inky waters were ablaze with fire.</i></a></p> + +<p><a href="#illus4"><i>With the free hand he shot over a blow.</i></a></p> + + + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3><i>The Message</i></h3> + +<div class="sidenote">Once more Chet, Walt and Diane are united in a wild ride to +the Dark Moon—but this time they go as prisoners of their deadly enemy +Schwartzmann.</div> + + +<p>In a hospital in Vienna, in a room where sunlight flooded through +ultraviolet permeable crystal, the warm rays struck upon smooth walls +the color of which changed from hot reds to cool yellow or gray or to +soothing green, as the Directing Surgeon might order. An elusive +blending of tones now seemed pulsing with life; surely even a flickering +flame of vitality would be blown into warm livingness in such a place.</p> + +<p>Even the chart case in the wall glittered with the same clean, brilliant +hues from its glass and metal door. The usual revolving paper disks +showed white beyond the glass. They were moving; and the ink lines grew +to tell a story of temperature and respiration and of every heart-beat.</p> + +<p>On the identification-plate a name appeared and a date: "Chet +Bullard—23 years. Admitted: August 10, 1973." And below that the +ever-changing present ticked into the past in silent minutes: "August +15, 1973; World Standard Time: 10:38—10:39—10:40—"</p> + +<p>For five days the minutes had trickled into a rivulet of time that +flowed past a bandaged figure in the bed below—a silent figure and +unmoving, as one for whom time has ceased. But the surgeons of the +Allied Hospital at Vienna are clever.</p> + +<p>10:41—10:42—The bandaged figure stirred uneasily on a snow-white +bed....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>A nurse was beside him in an instant. Was her patient about to recover +consciousness? She examined the bandages that covered a ragged wound in +his side, where all seemed satisfactory. To all appearances the man who +had moved was unconscious still; the nurse could not know of the thought +impressions, blurred at first, then gradually clearing, that were +flashing through his mind.</p> + +<p>Flashing; yet, to the man who struggled to comprehend them, they passed +laggingly in review: one picture followed another with exasperating +slowness....</p> + +<p>Where was he? What had happened? He was hardly conscious of his own +identity....</p> + +<p>There was a ship ... he held the controls ... they were flying low.... +One hand reached fumblingly beneath the soft coverlet to search for a +triple star that should be upon his jacket. A triple star: the insignia +of a Master Pilot of the World!—and with the movement there came +clearly a realization of himself.</p> + +<p>Chet Bullard, Master Pilot; he was Chet Bullard ... and a wall of water +was sweeping under him from the ocean to wipe out the great Harkness +Terminal buildings.... It was Harkness—Walt Harkness—from whom he had +snatched the controls.... To fly to the Dark Moon, of course—</p> + +<p>What nonsense was that?... No, it was true: the Dark Moon had raised the +devil with things on Earth.... How slowly the thoughts came! Why +couldn't he remember?...</p> + +<p>Dark Moon!—and they were flying through space.... They had conquered +space; they were landing on the Dark Moon that was brilliantly alight. +Walt Harkness had set the ship down beautifully—</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Then, crowding upon one another in breath-taking haste, came clear +recollection of past adventures:</p> + +<p>They were upon the Dark Moon—and there was the girl, Diane. They must +save Diane. Harkness had gone for the ship. A savage, half-human shape +was raising a hairy arm to drive a spear toward Diane, and he, Chet, was +leaping before her. He felt again the lancet-pain of that blade....</p> + +<p>And now he was dying—yes, he remembered it now—dying in the night on a +great, sweeping surface of frozen lava.... It was only a moment before +that he had opened his eyes to see Harkness' strained face and the +agonized look of Diane as the two leaned above him.... But now he felt +stronger. He must see them again....</p> + +<p>He opened his eyes for another look at his companions—and, instead of +black, star-pricked night on a distant globe, there was dazzling +sunlight. No desolate lava-flow, this; no thousand fires that flared and +smoked from their fumeroles in the dark. And, instead of Harkness and +the girl, Diane, leaning over him there was a nurse who laid one cool +hand upon his blond head and who spoke soothingly to him of keeping +quiet. He was to take it easy—he would understand later—and everything +was all right.... And with this assurance Chet Bullard drifted again +into sleep....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The blurring memories had lost their distortions a week later, as he sat +before a broad window in his room and looked out over the housetops of +Vienna. Again he was himself, Chet Bullard, with a Master Pilot's +rating; and he let his eyes follow understandingly the moving picture of +the world outside. It was good to be part of a world whose every +movement he understood.</p> + +<p>Those cylinders with stubby wings that crossed and recrossed the sky; +their sterns showed a jet of thin vapor where a continuous explosion of +detonite threw them through the air. He knew them all: the pleasure +craft, the big, red-bellied freighters, the sleek liners, whose multiple +helicopters spun dazzlingly above as they sank down through the shaft of +pale-green light that marked a descending area.</p> + +<p>That one would be the China Mail. Her under-ports were open before the +hold-down clamps had gripped her; the mail would pour out in an +avalanche of pouches where smaller mailships waited to distribute the +cargo across the land.</p> + +<p>And the big fellow taking off, her hull banded with blue, was one of +Schwartzmann's liners. He wondered what had become of Schwartzmann, the +man who had tried to rob Harkness of his ship; who had brought the +patrol ships upon them in an effort to prevent their take-off on that +wild trip.</p> + +<p>For that matter, what had become of Harkness? Chet Bullard was seriously +disturbed at the absence of any word beyond the one message that had +been waiting for him when he regained consciousness. He drew that +message from a pocket of his dressing gown and read it again:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Chet, old fellow, lie low. S has vanished. Means mischief. Think +best not to see you or reveal your whereabouts until our position +firmly established. Have concealed ship. Remember, S will stop at +nothing. Trying to discredit us, but the gas I brought will fix all +that. Get yourself well. We are planning to go back, of course. +Walt."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Chet returned the folded message to his pocket. He arose and walked +about the room to test his returning strength: to remain idle was +becoming increasingly difficult. He wanted to see Walter Harkness, talk +with him, plan for their return to the wonder-world they had found.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Instead he dropped again into his chair and touched a knob on the +newscaster beside him. A voice, hushed to the requirements of these +hospital precincts spoke softly of market quotations in the far corners +of the earth. He turned the dial irritably and set it on "World +News—General." The name of Harkness came from the instrument to focus +Chet's attention.</p> + +<p>"Harkness makes broad claims," the voice was saying. "Vienna physicists +ridicule his pretensions.</p> + +<p>"Walter Harkness, formerly of New York, proprietor of Harkness +Terminals, whose great buildings near New York were destroyed in the +Dark Moon wave, claims to have reached and returned from the Dark Moon.</p> + +<p>"Nearly two months have passed since the new satellite crashed into the +gravitational field of Earth, its coming manifested by earth shocks and +a great tidal wave. The globe, as we know, was invisible. Although still +unseen, and only a black circle that blocks out distant stars, it is +visible in the telescopes of the astronomers; its distance and its +orbital motion have been determined.</p> + +<p>"And now this New Yorker claims to have penetrated space; to have landed +on the Dark Moon; and to have returned to Earth. Broad claims, indeed, +especially so in view of the fact that Harkness refuses to submit his +ship for examination by the Stratosphere Control Board. He has filed +notice of ownership, thus introducing some novel legal technicalities, +but, since space-travel is still a dream of the future, there will be +none to dispute his claims.</p> + +<p>"Of immediate interest is Harkness' claim to have discovered a gas that +is fatal to the serpents of space. The monsters that appeared when the +Dark Moon came and that attacked ships above the Repelling Area are +still there. All flying is confined to the lower levels; fast +world-routes are disorganized.</p> + +<p>"Whether or not this gas, of which Harkness has a sample, came from the +Dark Moon or from some laboratory on Earth is of no particular +importance. Will it destroy the space-serpents? If it does this, our +hats are off to Mr. Walter Harkness; almost will we be inclined to +believe the rest of his story—or to laugh with him over one of the +greatest hoaxes ever attempted."</p> + +<p>Chet had been too intent upon the newscast to heed an opening door at +his back....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"How about it, Chet?" a voice was asking. "Would you call it a hoax or +the real thing?" And a girl's voice chimed in with exclamations of +delight at sight of the patient, so evidently recovering.</p> + +<p>"Diane!" Chet exulted, "—and Walt!—you old son-of-a-gun!" He found +himself clinging to a girl's soft hand with one of his, while with the +other he reached for that of her companion. But Walt Harkness' arm went +about his shoulders instead.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to hammer you plenty," Harkness was saying, "and I don't even +dare give you a friendly slam on the back. How's the side where they got +you with the spear?—and how are you? How soon will you be ready to +start back? What about—"</p> + +<p>Diane Delacouer raised her one free hand to stop the flood of questions. +"My dear," she protested, "give Chet a chance. He must be dying for +information."</p> + +<p>"I was dying for another reason the last time I saw you," Chet reminded +her, "—up on the Dark Moon. But it seems that you got me back here in +time for repairs. And now what?" His nurse came into the room with extra +chairs; Chet waited till she was gone before he repeated: "Now what? +When do we go back?"</p> + +<p>Harkness did not answer at once. Instead he crossed to the newscaster in +its compact, metal case. The voice was still speaking softly; at a touch +of a switch it ceased, and in the silence came the soft rush of sound +that meant the telautotype had taken up its work. Beneath a glass a +paper moved, and words came upon it from a hurricane of type-bars +underneath. The instrument was printing the news story as rapidly as any +voice could speak it.</p> + +<p>Harkness read the words for an instant, then let the paper pass on to +wind itself upon a spool. It had still been telling of the gigantic hoax +that this eccentric American had attempted and Harkness repeated the +words.</p> + +<p>"A hoax!" he exclaimed, and his eyes, for a moment, flashed angrily +beneath the dark hair that one hand had disarranged. "I would like to +take that facetious bird out about a thousand miles and let him play +around with the serpents we met. But, why get excited? This is all +Schwartzmann's doing. The tentacles of that man's influence reach out +like those of an octopus."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet ranged himself alongside. Tall and slim and blond, he contrasted +strongly with this other man, particularly in his own quiet self-control +as against Harkness' quick-flaring anger.</p> + +<p>"Take it easy, Walt," he advised. "We'll show them. But I judge that you +have been razzed a bit. It's a pretty big story for them to swallow +without proof. Why didn't you show them the ship? Or why didn't you let +Diane and me back up your yarn? And you haven't answered my other +questions: when do we go back?"</p> + +<p>Harkness took the queries in turn.</p> + +<p>"I didn't show the old boat," he explained, "because I'm not ready for +that yet. I want it kept dark—dark as the Dark Moon. I want to do my +preliminary work there before Schwartzmann and his experts see our ship. +He would duplicate it in a hurry and be on our trail.</p> + +<p>"And now for our plans. Well, our there in space the Dark Moon is +waiting. Have you realized, Chet, that we own that world—you and Diane +and I? Small—only half the size of our old moon—but what a place! And +it's ours!</p> + +<p>"Back in history—you remember?—an ambitious lad named Alexander sighed +for more worlds to conquer. Well, we're going Alexander one +better—we've found the world. We're the first ever to go out into space +and return again.</p> + +<p>"We'll go back there, the three of us. We will take no others along—not +yet. We will explore and make our plans for development; and we will +keep it to ourselves until we are ready to hold it against any +opposition.</p> + +<p>"And now, how soon can you go? Your injury—how soon will you be well +enough?"</p> + +<p>"Right now," Chet told him laconically; "today, if you say the word. +They've got me welded together so I'll hold, I reckon. But where's the +ship? What have you done—" He broke off abruptly to listen—</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>To all three came a muffled, booming roar. The windows beside them +shivered with the thud of the distant explosion; they had not ceased +their trembling before Harkness had switched on the news broadcast. And +it was a minute only until the news-gathering system was on the air.</p> + +<p>"Explosion at the Institute of Physical Science!" it stated. "This is +Vienna broadcasting. An explosion has just occurred. We are giving a +preliminary announcement only. The laboratories of the Scientific +Institute of this city are destroyed. A number of lives have been lost. +The cause has not been determined. It is reported that the laboratories +were beginning analytical work, on the so-called Harkness Dark Moon +gas—</p> + +<p>"Confirmation has just been radioed to this station. Dark Moon gas +exploded on contact with air. The American, Harkness, is either a +criminal or a madman; he will be apprehended at once. This confirmation +comes from Herr Schwartzmann of Vienna who left the Institute only a few +minutes before the explosion occurred—"</p> + +<p>And, in the quiet of a hospital room, Walter Harkness drew a long breath +and whispered; "Schwartzmann! His hand is everywhere.... And that sample +was all I had.... I must leave at once—go back to America."</p> + +<p>He was halfway to the door—he was almost carrying Diane Delacouer with +him—when Chet's quiet tones brought him up short.</p> + +<p>"I've never seen you afraid," said Chet; and his eyes were regarding the +other man curiously; "but you seem to have the wind up, as the old +flyers used to say, when it comes to Schwartzmann."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Harkness looked at the girl he held so tightly, then grinned boyishly at +Chet. "I've someone else to be afraid for now," he said.</p> + +<p>His smile faded and was replaced by a look of deep concern. "I haven't +told you about Schwartzmann," he said; "haven't had time. But he's +poison, Chet. And he's after our ship."</p> + +<p>"Where is the ship; where have you hidden it? Tell me—where?"</p> + +<p>Harkness looked about him before he whispered sharply: "Our old shop—up +north!"</p> + +<p>He seemed to feel that some explanation was due Chet. "In this day it +seems absurd to say such things," he added; "but this Schwartzmann is a +throw-back—a conscienceless scoundrel. He would put all three of us out +of the way in a minute if he could get the ship. <i>He</i> knows we have been +to the Dark Moon—no question about that—and he wants the wealth he can +imagine is there.</p> + +<p>"We'll all plan to leave; I'll radio you later. We'll go back to the +Dark Moon—" He broke off abruptly as the door opened to admit the +nurse. "You'll hear from me later," he repeated; and hurried Diane +Delacouer from the room.</p> + +<p>But he returned in a moment to stand again at the door—the nurse was +still in the room. "In case you feel like going for a hop," he told Chet +casually, "Diane's leaving her ship here for you. You'll find it up +above—private landing stage on the roof."</p> + +<p>Chet answered promptly, "Fine; that will go good one of these days." All +this for the benefit of listening ears. Yet even Chet would have been +astonished to know that he would be using that ship within an hour....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He was standing at the window, and his mind was filled, not with +thoughts of any complications that had developed for his friend +Harkness, but only of the adventures that lay ahead of them both. The +Dark Moon!—they had reached it, indeed; but they had barely scratched +the surface of that world of mystery and adventure. He was wild with +eagerness to return—to see again that new world, blazing brightly +beneath the sun; to see the valley of fires—and he had a score to +settle with the tribe of ape-men, unless Harkness had finished them off +while he, himself, lay unconscious.... Yes, there seemed little doubt of +that; Walt would have paid the score for all of them.... He seemed +actually back in that world to which his thoughts went winging across +the depths of space. The buzz of a telephone recalled him.</p> + +<p>It was the hospital office, he found, when he answered. There was a +message—would Mr. Bullard kindly receive it on the telautotype—lever +number four, and dial fifteen-point-two—thanks.... And Chet depressed a +key and adjusted the instrument that had been printing the newscast.</p> + +<p>The paper moved on beneath the glass, and the type-bars clicked more +slowly now. From some distant station that might be anywhere on or above +the earth, there was coming a message.</p> + +<p>The frequency of that sending current was changed at some central +office; it was stepped down to suit the instrument beside him. And the +type was spelling out words that made the watching man breathless and +intent—until he tore off the paper and leaped for the call signal that +would summon the nurse. Through her he would get his own clothes, his +uniform, the triple star that showed his rating and his authority in +every air-level of the world.</p> + +<p>That badge would have got him immediate attention on any landing field. +Now, on the flat roof, with steady, gray eyes and a voice whose very +quietness accentuated its imperative commands, Chet had the staff of the +hospital hangars as alert as if their alarm had sounded a general +ambulance call.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Straight into the sky a red beacon made a rigid column of light; a radio +sender was crackling a warning and a demand for "clear air." From the +forty level, a patrol ship that had caught the signal came corkscrewing +down the red shaft to stand by for emergency work.... Chet called her +commander from the cabin of Diane's ship. A word of thanks—Chet's +number—and a dismissal of the craft. Then the white lights signaled +"all clear" and the hold-down levers let go with a soft hiss—</p> + +<p>The feel of the controls was good to his hands; the ship roared into +life. A beautiful little cruiser, this ship of Diane's; her twin +helicopters lifted her gracefully into the air. The column of red light +had changed to blue, the mark of an ascending area; Chet touched a +switch. A muffled roar came from the stern and the blast drove him +straight out for a mile; then he swung and returned. He was nosing up as +he touched the blue—straight up—and he held the vertical climb till +the altimeter before him registered sixty thousand.</p> + +<p>Traffic is north-bound only on the sixty-level, and Chet set his ship on +a course for the frozen wastes of the Arctic; then he gave her the gun +and nodded in tight-lipped satisfaction at the mounting thunder that +answered from the stern.</p> + +<p>Only then did he read again the message on a torn fragment of +telautotype paper. "Harkness," was the signature; and above, a brief +warning and a call—"Danger—must leave at once. You get ship and stand +by. I will meet you there." And, for the first time, Chet found time to +wonder at this danger that had set the hard-headed, hard-hitting Walt +Harkness into a flutter of nerves.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>What danger could there be in this well-guarded world? A patrol-ship +passed below him as he asked himself the question. It was symbolic of a +world at peace; a world too busy with its own tremendous development to +find time for wars or makers of war. What trouble could this man +Schwartzmann threaten that a word to the Peace Enforcement Commission +would not quell? Where could he go to elude the inescapable patrols?</p> + +<p>And suddenly Chet saw the answer to that question—saw plainly where +Schwartzmann could go. Those vast reaches of black space! If +Schwartzmann had their ship he could go where they had gone—go out to +the Dark Moon.... And Harkness had warned Chet to get their ship and +stand by.</p> + +<p>Had Walt learned of some plan of Schwartzmann's? Chet could not answer +the question, but he moved the control rheostat over to the last notch.</p> + +<p>From the body of the craft came an unending roar of a generator where +nothing moved; where only the terrific, explosive impact of bursting +detonite drove out from the stern to throw them forward. "A good little +ship," Chet had said of this cruiser of Diane's; and he nodded approval +now of a ground-speed detector whose quivering needle had left the 500 +mark. It touched 600, crept on, and trembled at 700 miles an hour with +the top speed of the ship.</p> + +<p>There was a position-finder in the little control-room, and Chet's gaze +returned to it often to see the pinpoint of light that crept slowly +across the surface of a globe. It marked their ever-changing location, +and it moved unerringly toward a predetermined goal.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It was a place of ice and snow and bleak outcropping of half-covered +rocks where he descended. Lost from the world, a place where even the +high levels seldom echoed to the roar of passing ships, it had been a +perfect location for their "shop." Here he and Walt had assembled their +mystery ship.</p> + +<p>He had to search intently over the icy waste to find the exact location; +a dim red glow from a hidden sun shone like pale fire across distant +black hills. But the hills gave him a bearing, and he landed at last +beside a vaguely outlined structure, half hidden in drifting snow.</p> + +<p>The dual fans dropped him softly upon the snow ground and Chet, as he +walked toward the great locked doors, was trembling from other causes +than the cold. Would the ship be there? He was suddenly a-quiver with +excitement at the thought of what this ship meant—the adventure, the +exploration that lay ahead.</p> + +<p>The doors swung back. In the warm and lighted room was a cylinder of +silvery white. Its bow ended in a gaping port where a mighty exhaust +could roar forth to check the ship's forward speed; there were other +ports ranged about the gleaming body. Above the hull a control-room +projected flatly; its lookouts shone in the brilliance of the nitron +illuminator that flooded the room with light....</p> + +<p>Chet Bullard was breathless as he moved on and into the room. His wild +experiences that had seemed but a weird dream were real again. The Dark +Moon was real! And they would be going back to it!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The muffled beating of great helicopters was sounding in his ears; +outside, a ship was landing. This would be Harkness coming to join him; +yet, even as the thought flashed through his mind, it was countered by a +quick denial. To the experienced hearing of the Master Pilot this sound +of many fans meant no little craft. It was a big ship that was landing, +and it was coming down fast. The blue-striped monster looming large in +the glow of the midnight sun was not entirely a surprise to Chet's +staring eyes.</p> + +<p>But—blue-striped! The markings of the Schwartzmann line!—He had hardly +sensed the danger when it was upon him.</p> + +<p>A man, heavy and broad of frame, was giving orders. Only once had Chet +seen this Herr Schwartzmann, but there was no mistaking him now. And he +was sending a squad of rushing figures toward the man who struggled to +close a great door.</p> + +<p>Chet crouched to meet the attack. He was outnumbered; he could never win +out. But the knowledge of his own helplessness was nothing beside that +other conviction that flooded him with sickening certainty—</p> + +<p>A hoax!—that was what they had called Walt's story; Schwartzmann had so +named it, and now Schwartzmann had been the one to fool them; the +message was a fake—a bait to draw him out; and he, Chet, had taken the +bait. He had led Schwartzmann here; had delivered their ship into his +hands—</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a> +<img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>He landed one blow on the nearest face.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p>He landed one blow on the nearest face; he had one glimpse of a clubbed +weapon swinging above him—and the world went dark.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3><i>Into Space</i></h3> + + +<p>A pulsing pain that stabbed through his head was Chet's first conscious +impression. Then, as objects came slowly into focus before his eyes, he +knew that above him a ray of light was striking slantingly through the +thick glass of a control-room lookout.</p> + +<p>Other lookouts were black, the dead black of empty space. Through them, +sparkling points of fire showed here and there—suns, sending their +light across millions of years to strike at last on a speeding ship. +But, from the one port that caught the brighter light, came that +straight ray to illumine the room.</p> + +<p>"Space," thought Chet vaguely. "That is the sunlight of space!"</p> + +<p>He was trying to arrange his thoughts in some sensible sequence. His +head!—what had happened to his head?... And then he remembered. Again +he saw a clubbed weapon descending, while the face of Schwartzmann +stared at him through bulbous eyes....</p> + +<p>And this control-room where he lay—he knew in an instant where he was. +It was his own ship that was roaring and trembling beneath him—his and +Walt Harkness'—it was flying through space! And, with the sudden +realization of what this meant, he struggled to arise. Only then did he +see the figure at the controls.</p> + +<p>The man was leaning above an instrument board; he straightened to stare +from a rear port while he spoke to someone Chet could not see.</p> + +<p>"There's more of 'em coming!" he said in a choked voice. "<i>Mein Gott!</i> +Neffer can we get away!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He fumbled with shaking hands at instruments and controls; and now Chet +saw his chalk-white face and read plainly the terror that was written +there. But the cords that cut into his own wrists and ankles reminded +him that he was bound; he settled back upon the floor. Why struggle? If +this other pilot was having trouble let him get out of it by +himself—let him kill his own snakes!</p> + +<p>That the man was having trouble there was no doubt. He looked once more +behind him as if at something that pursued; then swung the ball-control +to throw the ship off her course.</p> + +<p>The craft answered sluggishly, and Chet Bullard grinned where he lay +helpless upon the floor; for he knew that his ship should have been +thrown crashingly aside with such a motion as that. The answer was +plain: the flask of super-detonite was exhausted; here was the last +feeble explosion of the final atoms of the terrible explosive that was +being admitted to the generator. And to cut in another flask meant the +opening of a hidden valve.</p> + +<p>Chet forgot the pain of his swelling hands to shake with suppressed +mirth. This was going to be good! He forgot it until, through a lookout, +he saw a writhing, circling fire that wrapped itself about the ship and +jarred them to a halt.</p> + +<p>The serpents!—those horrors from space that had come with the coming of +the Dark Moon! They had disrupted the high-level traffic of the world; +had seized great, liners; torn their way in; stripped them of every +living thing, and let the empty shells crash back to earth. Chet had +forgotten or he had failed to realize the height at which this new pilot +was flying. Only speed could save them; the monsters, with their snouts +that were great suction-cups, could wrench off a metal door—tear out +the glass from a port!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He saw the luminous mass crush itself against a forward lookout and felt +the jar of its body against their ship. Soft and vaporous, these +cloud-like serpents seemed as they drifted through space; yet the +impact, when they struck, proved that this new matter had mass.</p> + +<p>Chet saw the figure at the controls stagger back and cower in fear; the +man's bullet-shaped head was covered by his upraised arms: there was +some horror outside those windows that his eyes had no wish to see. +Beside him the towering figure of Schwartzmann appeared; he had sprung +into Chet's view, and he screamed orders at the fear-stricken pilot.</p> + +<p>"Fool! Swine!" Schwartzmann was shouting. "Do something! You said you +could fly this ship!" In desperation he leaped forward and reached for +the controls himself.</p> + +<p>Chet's blurred faculties snapped sharply to attention. That yellow glow +against the port—the jarring of their ship—it meant instant +destruction once that searching snout found some place where it could +secure a hold. If the air-pressure within the ship were released; if +even a crack were opened!—</p> + +<p>"Here, you!" he shouted to the frantic Schwartzmann who was jerking +frenziedly at the controls that no longer gave response. "Cut these +ropes!—leave those instruments alone, you fool!" He was suddenly +vibrant with hate as he realized what this man had done: he had struck +him, Chet, down as he would have felled an animal for butchery; he had +stolen their ship; and now he was losing it. Chet hardly thought of his +own desperate plight in his rage at this threat to their ship, and at +Schwartzmann's inability to help himself.</p> + +<p>"Cut these ropes!" he repeated. "Damn it all, turn me loose; I can fly +us out!" He added his frank opinion of Schwartzmann and all his men. And +Schwartzmann, though his dark face flushed angrily red for one instant, +leaped to Chet's side and slashed at the cords with a knife.</p> + +<p>The room swam before Chet's dizzy eyes as he came to his feet. He half +fell, half drew himself full length toward the valve that he alone knew. +Then again he was on his feet, and he gripped at the ball-control with +one hand while he opened a master throttle that cut in this new supply +of explosive.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The room had been silent with the silence of empty space, save only for +the scraping of a horrid body across the ship's outer shell. The silence +was shattered now as if by the thunder of many guns. There was no time +for easing themselves into gradual flight. Chet thrust forward on the +ball-control, and the blast from their stern threw the ship as if it had +been fired from a giant cannon.</p> + +<p>The self-compensating floor swung back and up; Chet's weight was almost +unbearable as the ship beneath him leaped out and on, and the terrific +blast that screamed and thundered urged this speeding shell to greater +and still greater speed. And then, with the facility that that speed +gave, Chet's careful hands moved a tiny metal ball within its magnetic +cage, and the great ship bellowed from many ports as it followed the +motion of that ball.</p> + +<p>Could an eye have seen the wild, twisting flight, it must have seemed as +if pilot and ship had gone suddenly mad. The craft corkscrewed and +whirled; it leaped upward and aside; and, as the glowing mass was thrown +clear of the lookout, Chet's hand moved again to that maximum forward +position, and again the titanic blast from astern drove them on and out.</p> + +<p>There were other shapes ahead, glowing lines of fire, luminous masses +like streamers of cloud that looped themselves into contorted forms and +writhed vividly until they straightened into sharp lines of speed that +bore down upon the fleeing craft and the human food that was escaping +these hungry snouts.</p> + +<p>Chet saw them dead ahead; he saw the outthrust heads, each ending in a +great suction-cup, the row of disks that were eyes blazing above, and +the gaping maw below. He altered their course not a hair's breadth as he +bore down upon them, while the monsters swelled prodigiously before his +eyes. And the thunderous roar from astern came with never a break, while +the ship itself ceased its trembling protest against the sudden blast +and drove smoothly on and into the waiting beasts.</p> + +<p>There was a hardly perceptible thudding jar. They were free! And the +forward lookouts showed only the brilliant fires of distant suns and one +more glorious than the rest that meant a planet.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet turned at last to face Schwartzmann and his pilot where they had +clung helplessly to a metal stanchion. Four or five others crept in from +the cabin aft; their blanched faces told of the fear that had gripped +them—fear of the serpents; fear, too, of the terrific plunges into +which the ship had been thrown. Chet Bullard drew the metal control-ball +back into neutral and permitted himself the luxury of a laugh.</p> + +<p>"You're a fine bunch of highwaymen," he told Schwartzmann; "you'll steal +a ship you can't fly; then come up here above the R. A. level and get +mixed up with those brutes. What's the idea? Did you think you would +just hop over to the Dark Moon? Some little plan like that in your +mind?"</p> + +<p>Again the dark, heavy face of Schwartzmann flushed deeply; but it was +his own men upon whom he turned.</p> + +<p>"You," he told the pilot—"you were so clever; you would knock this man +senseless! You would insist that you could fly the ship!"</p> + +<p>The pilot's eyes still bulged with the fear he had just experienced. +"But, Herr Schwartzmann, it was you who told me—"</p> + +<p>A barrage of unintelligible words cut his protest short. Schwartzmann +poured forth imprecations in an unknown tongue, then turned to the +others.</p> + +<p>"Back!" he ordered. "Bah!—such men! The danger it iss over—yess! This +pilot, he will take us back safely."</p> + +<p>He turned his attention now to the waiting Chet. "Herr Bullard, iss it +not—yess?"</p> + +<p>He launched into extended apologies—he had wanted a look at this so +marvelous ship—he had spied upon it; he admitted it. But this murderous +attack was none of his doing; his men had got out of hand; and then he +had thought it best to take Chet, unconscious as he was and return with +him where he could have care.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>And Chet Bullard kept his eyes steadily upon the protesting man and said +nothing, but he was thinking of a number of things. There was Walt's +warning, "this Schwartzmann means mischief," and the faked message that +had brought him from the hospital to get the ship from its hiding place; +no, it was too much to believe. But Chet's eyes were unchanging, and he +nodded shortly in agreement as the other concluded.</p> + +<p>"You will take us back?" Schwartzmann was asking. "I will repay you well +for what inconvenience we have caused. The ship, you will return it +safely to the place where it was?"</p> + +<p>And Chet, after making and discarding a score of plans, knew there was +nothing else he could do. He swung the little metal ball into a +sharply-banked turn. The straight ray of light from an impossibly +brilliant sun struck now on a forward lookout; it shone across the +shoulder of a great globe to make a white, shining crescent as of a +giant moon. It was Earth; and Chet brought the bow-sights to bear on +that far-off target, while again the thunderous blast was built up to +drive them back along the trackless path on which they had come. But he +wondered, as he pressed forward on the control, what the real plan of +this man, Schwartzmann, might be....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Less than half an hour brought them to the Repelling Area, and Chet felt +the upward surge as he approached it. Here, above this magnetic field +where gravitation's pull was nullified, had been the air-lanes for fast +liners. Empty lanes they were now; for the R. A., as the flying +fraternity knew it—the Heaviside Layer of an earlier day—marked the +danger line above which the mysterious serpents lay in wait. Only the +speed of Chet's ship saved them; more than one of the luminous monsters +was in sight as he plunged through the invisible R. A. and threw on +their bow-blast strongly to check their fall.</p> + +<p>Then, as he set a course that would take them to that section of the +Arctic waste where the ship had been, he pondered once more upon the +subject of this Schwartzmann of the shifty eyes and the glib tongue and +of his men who had "got out of hand" and had captured this ship.</p> + +<p>"Why in thunder are we back here?" Chet asked himself in perplexity. +"This big boy means to keep the ship; and, whatever his plans may have +been before, he will never stop short of the Dark Moon now that he has +seen the old boat perform. Then why didn't he keep on when he was +started? Had the serpents frightened him back?"</p> + +<p>He was still mentally proposing questions to which there seemed no +answer when he felt the pressure of a metal tube against his back. The +voice of Schwartzmann was in his ears.</p> + +<p>"This is a detonite pistol"—that voice was no longer unctuous and +self-deprecating—"one move and I'll plant a charge inside you that will +smash you to a jelly!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There were hands that gripped Chet before he could turn; his arms were +wrenched backward; he was helpless in the grip of Schwartzmann's men. +The former pilot sprang forward.</p> + +<p>"Take control, Max!" Schwartzmann snapped; but he followed it with a +question while the pilot was reaching for the ball. "You can fly it for +sure, Max?"</p> + +<p>The man called Max answered confidently.</p> + +<p>"<i>Ja wohl!</i>" he said with eager assurance. "Up top there would have been +no trouble yet for that <i>verdammt, verloren</i> valve. That one +experimental trip is enough—I fly it!"</p> + +<p>Those who held Chet were binding his wrists. He was thrown to the floor +while his feet were tied, and, as a last precaution, a gag was forced +into his mouth. Schwartzmann left this work to his men. He paid no +attention to Chet; he was busy at the radio.</p> + +<p>He placed the sending-levers in strange positions that would effect a +blending of wave lengths which only one receiving instrument could pick +up. He spoke cryptic words into the microphone, then dropped into a +language that was unfamiliar to Chet. Yet, even then, it was plain that +he was giving instructions, and he repeated familiar words.</p> + +<p>"Harkness," Chet heard him say, and, "—Delacouer—<i>ja!</i>—Mam'selle +Delacouer!"</p> + +<p>Then, leaving the radio, he said, "Put my ship inside the hangar;" and +the pilot, Max, grounded their own ship to allow the men to leap out and +float into the big building the big aircraft in which Schwartzmann had +come.</p> + +<p>"Now close the doors!" their leader ordered. "Leave everything as it +was!" And to the pilot he gave added instructions: "There iss no air +traffic here. You will to forty thousand ascend, und you will wait over +this spot." Contemptuously he kicked aside the legs of the bound man +that he might walk back into the cabin.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The take-off was not as smooth as it would have been had Chet's slim +hands been on the controls; this burly one who handled them now was not +accustomed to such sensitivity. But Chet felt the ship lift and lurch, +then settle down to a swift, spiralling ascent. Now he lay still as he +tried to ponder the situation.</p> + +<p>"Now what dirty work are they up to?" he asked himself. He had seen a +sullen fury on the dark face of Herr Schwartzmann as he spoke the names +of Walt and Diane into the radio. Chet remembered the look now, and he +struggled vainly with the cords about his wrists. Even a detonite pistol +with its tiny grain of explosive in the end of each bullet would not +check him—not when Walt and Diane were endangered. And the expression +on that heavy, scowling face had told him all too clearly that some real +danger threatened.</p> + +<p>But the cords held fast on his swollen wrists. His head was still +throbbing; and even his side, not entirely healed, was adding to the +torment that beat upon him—beat and beat with his pulsing blood—until +the beating faded out into unconsciousness....</p> + +<p>Dimly he knew they were soaring still higher as their radio picked up +the warning of an approaching patrol ship; vaguely, he realized that +they descended again to a level of observation. Chet knew in some corner +of his brain that Schwartzmann was watching from an under lookout with a +powerful glass, and he heard his excited command:</p> + +<p>"Down—go slowly, down!... They are landing.... They have entered the +hangar. Now, down with it. Max! Down! down!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The plunging fall of the ship roused Chet from his stupor. He felt the +jolt of the clumsy landing despite the snow-cushioned ground; he heard +plainly the exclamations from beyond an open port—the startled oath in +Walter Harkness' voice, and the stinging scorn in the words of Diane +Delacouer.</p> + +<p>Herr Schwartzmann had been in the employ of Mademoiselle Delacouer, but +he was taking orders no longer. There was a sound of scuffling feet, and +once the thud of a blow.... Then Chet watched with heavy, hopeless eyes +as the familiar faces of Diane and Walt appeared in the doorway. Their +hands were bound; they, too, were threatened with a slim-barreled pistol +in the hands of the smirking, exultant Schwartzmann.</p> + +<p>A tall, thin-faced man whom Chet had not seen before followed them into +the room. The newcomer was motioned forward now, as Schwartzmann called +an order to the pilot:</p> + +<p>"All right; now we go. Max! Herr Doktor Kreiss will give you the +bearings; he knows his way among the stars."</p> + +<p>Herr Schwartzmann doubled over in laughing appreciation of his own +success before he straightened up and regarded his captives with cold +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Such a pleasure!" he mocked; "such charming passengers to take with me +on my first trip into space; this ship, it iss not so goot. I will build +better ships later on; I will let you see them when I shall come to +visit you."</p> + +<p>He laughed again at sight of the wondering looks in the eyes of the +three; stooping, he jerked the gag from Chet's mouth.</p> + +<p>"You do not understand," he exclaimed. "I should haff explained. You +see, <i>meine guten Freunde</i>, we go—ach!—you have guessed it already! We +go to the Dark Moon. I am pleased to take you with me on the trip out; +but coming back, I will have so much to bring—there will be no room for +passengers.</p> + +<p>"I could have killed you here," he said; and his mockery gave place for +a moment to a savage tone, "but the patrol ships, they are everywhere. +But I have influence here und there—I arranged that your flask of gas +should be charged with explosive, I discredited you, and yet I could not +so great a risk take as to kill you all.</p> + +<p>"So came inspiration! I called your foolish young friend here from the +hospital. I ordered him to go at once to the ship hidden where I could +not find, and I signed the name of Herr Harkness."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet caught the silent glances of his friends who could yet smile +hopefully through the other emotions that possessed them. He ground his +teeth as the smooth voice of Herr Schwartzmann went on:</p> + +<p>"He led me here: the young fool! Then I sent for you—und this time I +signed his name—und you came. So simple!</p> + +<p>"Und now we go in <i>my</i> ship to <i>my</i> new world. And," he added savagely, +"if one of you makes the least trouble, he will land on the Dark +Moon—yess!—but he will land hard, from ten thousand feet up!"</p> + +<p>The great generator was roaring. To Chet came the familiar lift of the +R. A. effect. They were beyond the R. A.; they were heading out and away +from Earth; and his friends were captives through his own unconscious +treachery, carried out into space in their own ship, with the hands of +an enemy gripping the controls....</p> + +<p>Chet's groan, as he turned his face away from the others who had tried +to smile cheerfully, had nothing to do with the pain of his body. It was +his mind that was torturing him.</p> + +<p>But he muttered broken words as he lay there, words that had reference +to one Schwartzmann. "I'll get him, damn him! I'll get him!" he was +promising himself.</p> + +<p>And Herr Schwartzmann, who was clever, would have proved his cleverness +still more by listening. For a Mister Pilot of the World does not get +his rating on vain boasts. He must know first his flying, his ships and +his air—but he is apt to make good in other ways as well.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3><i>Out of Control</i></h3> + + +<p>Walter Harkness had built this ship with Chet's help. They had designed +it for space-travel. It was the first ship to leave the Earth under its +own power, reach another heavenly body, and come back for a safe +landing. But they had not installed any luxuries for the passengers.</p> + +<p>In the room where the three were confined, there were no +self-compensating chairs such as the high-liners used. But the +acceleration of the speeding ship was constant, and the rear wall became +their floor where they sat or paced back and forth. Their bonds had been +removed, and one of Harkness' hands was gripping Diane's where they sat +side by side. Chet was briskly limbering his cramped muscles.</p> + +<p>He glanced at the two who sat silent nearby, and he knew what was in +their minds—knew that each was thinking of the other, forgetting their +own danger; and it was these two who had saved his life on their first +adventure out in space.</p> + +<p>Walt—one man who was never spoiled by his millions; and Diane—straight +and true as they make 'em! Some way, somehow, they must be saved—thus +ran his thoughts—but it looked bad for them all. Schwartzmann?—no use +kidding themselves about that lad; he was one bad hombre. The best they +could hope for was to be marooned on the Dark Moon—left there to live +or to die amid those savage surroundings; and the worst that might +happen—! But Chet refused to think of what alternatives might occur to +the ugly, distorted mind of the man who had them at his mercy.</p> + +<p>There was no echo of these thoughts when he spoke; the smile that +flashed across his lean face brought a brief response from the +despondent countenances of his companions.</p> + +<p>"Well," Chet observed, and ran his hand through a tangle of blond hair, +"I have heard that the Schwartzmann lines give service, and I reckon +I heard right. Here we were wanting to go back to the Dark Moon, +and,"—he paused to point toward a black portlight where occasional +lights flashed past—"I'll say we're going; going somewhere at least. +All I hope is that that Maxie boy doesn't find the Dark Moon at about +ten thousand per. He may be a great little skipper on a nice, slow, +five-hundred-maximum freighter, but not on this boat. I don't like his +landings."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Diane Delacouer raised her eyes to smile approvingly upon him. "You're +good, Chet," she said; "you are a darn good sport. They knock you down +out of control, and you nose right back up for a forty-thousand foot +zoom. And you try to carry us with you. Well, I guess it's time we got +over our gloom. Now what is going to happen?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you," said Walter Harkness, looking at his watch: "if that +fool pilot of Schwartzmann's doesn't cut his stern thrust and build up a +bow resistance, we'll overshoot our mark and go tearing on a few hundred +thousand miles in space."</p> + +<p>Diane was playing up to Chet's lead.</p> + +<p>"<i>Bien!</i>" she exclaimed. "A few million, perhaps! Then we may see some +of those Martians we've been speculating about. I hear they are +handsome, my Walter—much better looking than you. Maybe this is all for +the best after all!"</p> + +<p>"Say," Harkness protested, "if you two idiots don't know enough to worry +as you ought, I don't see any reason why I should do all the heavy +worrying for the whole crowd. I guess you've got the right idea at that: +take what comes when it gets here—or when we get there."</p> + +<p>Small wonder, thought Chet, that Herr Schwartzmann stared at them in +puzzled bewilderment when he flung open the door, and took one long +stride into the room. Stocky, heavy-muscled, he stood regarding them, a +frown of suspicion drawing his face into ugly lines. Plainly he was +disturbed by this laughing good-humor where he had expected misery and +hopelessness and tears. He moved the muzzle of a detonite pistol back +and forth.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"You haff been drinking!" he stated at last. "You are intoxicated—all +of you!" His eyes darted searching glances about the little room that +was too bare to hide any cause for inebriation.</p> + +<p>It was Mam'selle Diane who answered him with an emphatic shake of her +dark head; an engaging smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "<i>Mais +non!</i> my dear Herr Schwartzmann," she assured him; "it is joy—just +happiness at again approaching our Moon—and in such good company, too."</p> + +<p>"Fortunes of war, Schwartzmann," declared Harkness; "we know how to +accept them, and we don't hold it against you. We are down now, but your +turn will come."</p> + +<p>The man's reply was a sputtering of rage in words that neither Chet nor +Harkness could understand. The latter turned to the girl with a +question.</p> + +<p>"Did you get it, Diane? What did he say?"</p> + +<p>"I think I would not care to translate it literally," said Diane +Delacouer, twisting her soft mouth into an expression of distaste; "but, +speaking generally, he disagrees with you."</p> + +<p>Herr Schwartzmann was facing Harkness belligerently. "You think you know +something! What is it?" he demanded. "You are under my feet; I kick you +as I would <i>meinen Hund</i> and you can do nothing." He aimed a savage kick +into the air to illustrate his meaning, and Harkness' face flushed +suddenly scarlet.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Whatever retort was on Harkness' tongue was left unspoken; a sharp look +from Chet, who brought his fingers swiftly to his lips in a gesture of +silence, checked the reply. The action was almost unconscious on Chet's +part; it was as unpremeditated as the sudden thought that flashed +abruptly into his mind—</p> + +<p>They were helpless; they were in this brute's power beyond the slightest +doubt. Schwartzmann's words, "You know something. What is it?" had fired +a swift train of thought.</p> + +<p>The idea was nebulous as yet ... but if they could throw a scare into +this man—make him think there was danger ahead.... Yes, that was it: +make Schwartzmann think they knew of dangers that he could not avoid. +They had been there before: make this man afraid to kill them. The +dreadful alternative that Chet had feared to think of might be +averted....</p> + +<p>All this came in an instantaneous, flashing correlation of his conscious +thoughts.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what we mean," he told Schwartzmann. He even leaned +forward to shake an impressive finger before the other's startled face. +"I'll tell you first of all that it doesn't make a damn bit of +difference who is on top—or it won't in a few hours more. We'll all be +washed out together.</p> + +<p>"I've landed once on the Dark Moon; I know what will happen. And do you +know how fast we are going? Do you know the Moon's speed as it +approaches? Had you thought what you will look like when that fool pilot +rams into it head on?</p> + +<p>"And that isn't all!" He grinned derisively into Schwartzmann's flushed +face, disregarding the half-raised pistol; it was as if some secret +thought had filled him with overpowering amusement. His broad grin grew +into a laugh. "That isn't all, big boy. What will you do if you do land? +What will you do when you open the ports and the—" He cut his words +short, and the smile, with all other expression, was carefully erased +from his young face.</p> + +<p>"No, I reckon I won't spoil the surprise. We got through it all right; +maybe you will, too—maybe!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>And again it was Diane who played up to Chet's lead without a moment's +hesitation.</p> + +<p>"Chet," she demanded, "aren't you going to warn him? You would not allow +him and his men to be—"</p> + +<p>She stopped in apparent horror of the unsaid words; Chet gave her an +approving glance.</p> + +<p>"We'll see about that when we get there, Diane."</p> + +<p>He turned abruptly back to Schwartzmann, "I'll forget what a rotten +winner you have been; I'll help you out: I'll take the controls if you +like. Of course, your man, Max, may set us down without damage; then +again—"</p> + +<p>"Take them!" Schwartzmann ungraciously made an order of his acceptance. +"Take the controls, Herr Bullard! But if you make a single false move!" +The menacing pistol completed the threat.</p> + +<p>But "Herr Bullard" merely turned to his companion with a level, +understanding look. "Come on," he said; "you can both help in working +out our location."</p> + +<p>He stepped before the burly man that Diane might precede them through +the door. And he felt the hand of Walt Harkness on his arm in a pressure +that told what could not be said aloud.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There were pallid-faced men in the cabin through which they passed; men +who stared and stared from the window-ports into the black immensity of +space. Chet, too, stopped to look; there had been no port-holes in that +inner room where they had been confined.</p> + +<p>He knew what to expect; he knew how awe-inspiring would be the sight of +strange, luminous bodies—great islands of light—masses of +animalculae—that glowed suddenly, then melted again into velvet black. +A whirl of violet grew almost golden in sudden motion; Chet knew it for +an invisible monster of space. Glowingly luminous as it threw itself +upon a subtle mass of shimmering light, it faded like a flickering flame +and went dark as its motion ceased.</p> + +<p>Life!—life, everywhere in this ocean of space! And on every hand was +death. "Not surprising," Chet realized, "that these other Earthmen are +awed and trembling!"</p> + +<p>The sun was above them; its light struck squarely down through the upper +ports. This was polarized light—there was nothing outside to reflect or +refract it—and, coming as a straight beam from above, it made a +brilliant circle upon the floor from which it was diffused throughout +the room. It was as if the floor itself was the illuminating agent.</p> + +<p>No eye could bear to look into the glare from above; nor was there need, +for the other ports drew the eyes with their black depths of unplumbed +space.</p> + +<p>Black!—so velvet as to seem almost tangible! Could one have reached out +a hand, that blackness, it seemed, must be a curtain that the hand could +draw aside, where unflickering points of light pricked through the dark +to give promise of some radiant glory beyond.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They had seen it before, these three, yet Chet caught the eyes of +Harkness and Diane and knew that his own eyes must share something of +the look he saw in theirs—something of reverent wonder and a strange +humility before this evidence of transcendent greatness.</p> + +<p>Their own immediate problem seemed gone. The tyranny of this glowering +human and his men—the efforts of the whole world and its struggling +millions—how absurdly unimportant it all was! How it faded to +insignificance! And yet....</p> + +<p>Chet came from the reverie that held him. There was one man by whom this +beauty was unseen. Herr Schwartzmann was angrily ordering them on, and, +surprisingly, Chet laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>This problem, he realized, was <i>his</i> problem—his to solve with the help +of the other two. And it was not insignificant; he knew with some sudden +wordless knowledge that there was nothing in all the great scheme but +that it had its importance. This vastness that was beyond the power of +human mind to grasp ceased to be formidable—he was part of it. He felt +buoyed up; and he led the way confidently toward the control-room door +where Schwartzmann stood.</p> + +<p>The scientist, whom Schwartzmann had called Herr Doktor Kreiss, was +beside the pilot. He was leaning forward to search the stars in the +blackness ahead, but the pilot turned often to stare through the rear +lookouts as if drawn in fearful fascination by what was there. Chet took +the controls at Schwartzmann's order; the pilot saluted with a trembling +hand and vanished into the cabin at the rear.</p> + +<p>"Ready for flying orders, Doctor," the new pilot told Herr Kreiss. "I'll +put her where you say—within reason."</p> + +<p>Behind him he heard the choked voice of Mademoiselle Diane: "<i>Regardez! +Ah, mon Dieu</i>, the beauty of it! This loveliness—it hurts!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>One hand was pressed to her throat; her face was turned as the pilot's +had been that she might stare and stare at a quite impossible moon—a +great half-disk of light in the velvet dark.</p> + +<p>"This loveliness—it hurts!" Chet looked, too, and knew what Diane was +feeling. There was a catch of emotion in his own throat—a feeling that +was almost fear.</p> + +<p>A giant half-moon!—and he knew it was the Earth. Golden Earth-light +came to them in a flooding glory; the blazing sun struck on it from +above to bring out half the globe in brilliant gold that melted to +softest, iridescent, rainbow tints about its edge. Below, hung +motionless in the night, was another sphere. Like a reflection of Earth +in the depths of some Stygian lake, the old moon shone, too, in a +half-circle of light.</p> + +<p>Small wonder that these celestial glories brought a gasp of delight from +Diane, or drew into lines of fear the face of that other pilot who saw +only his own world slipping away. But Chet Bullard, Master Pilot of the +World, swung back to scan a star-chart that the scientist was holding, +then to search out a similar grouping in the black depths into which +they were plunging, and to bring the cross-hairs of a rigidly mounted +telescope upon that distant target.</p> + +<p>"How far?" he asked himself in a half-spoken thought, "—how far have we +come?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There was an instrument that ticked off the seconds in this seemingly +timeless void. He pressed a small lever beside it, and, beneath a glass +that magnified the readings, there passed the time-tape. Each hour and +minute was there; each movement of the controls was indicated; each +trifling variation in the power of the generator's blast. Chet made some +careful computations and passed the paper to Harkness, who tilted the +time-tape recorder that he might see the record.</p> + +<p>"Check this, will you, Walt?" Chet was asking. "It is based on the time +of our other trip, acceleration assumed as one thousand miles per hour +per hour out of air—"</p> + +<p>The scientist interrupted; he spoke in English that was carefully +precise.</p> + +<p>"It should lie directly ahead—the Dark Moon. I have calculated with +exactness."</p> + +<p>Walter Harkness had snatched up a pair of binoculars. He swung sharply +from lookout to lookout while he searched the heavens.</p> + +<p>"It's damned lucky for us that you made a slight error," Chet was +telling the other.</p> + +<p>"Error?" Kreiss challenged. "Impossible!"</p> + +<p>"Then you and I are dead right this minute," Chet told him. "We are +crossing the orbit of the Dark Moon—crossing at twenty thousand miles +per hour relative to Earth, slightly in excess of that figure relative +to the Dark Moon. If it had been here—!" He had been watching Harkness +anxiously; he bit off his words as the binoculars were thrust into his +hand.</p> + +<p>"There she comes," Harkness told him quietly; "it's up to you!"</p> + +<p>But Chet did not need the glasses. With his unaided eyes he could see a +faint circle of violet light. It lay ahead and slightly above, and it +grew visibly larger as he watched. A ring of nothingness, whose outline +was the faintest shimmering halo; more of the distant stars winked out +swiftly behind that ghostly circle; it was the Dark Moon!—and it was +rushing upon them!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet swung an instrument upon it. He picked out a jet of violet light +that could be distinguished, and he followed it with the cross-hairs +while he twirled a micrometer screw; then he swiftly copied the reading +that the instrument had inscribed. The invisible disk with its ghostly +edges of violet was perceptibly larger as he slammed over the +control-ball to up-end them in air.</p> + +<p>Under the control-room's nitron illuminator the cheeks of Herr Doktor +Kreiss were pale and bloodless as if his heart had ceased to function. +Harkness had moved quietly back to the side of Diane Delacouer and was +holding her two hands firmly in his.</p> + +<p>The very air seemed charged with the quick tenseness of emotions. +Schwartzmann must have sensed it even before he saw the onrushing death. +Then he leaped to a lookout, and, an instant later, sprang at Chet +calmly fingering the control.</p> + +<p>"Fool!" he screamed, "you would kill us all? Turn away from it! Away +from it!"</p> + +<p>He threw himself in a frenzy upon the pilot. The detonite pistol was +still in his hand. "Quick!" he shouted. "Turn us!"</p> + +<p>Harkness moved swiftly, but the scientist, Kreiss, was nearer; it was he +who smashed the gun-hand down with a quick blow and snatched at the +weapon.</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann was beside himself with rage. "You, too?" he demanded. +"Giff it me—traitor!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>But the tall man stood uncompromisingly erect. "Never," he said, "have I +seen a ship large enough to hold two commanding pilots. I take your +orders in all things, Herr Schwartzmann—all but this. If we die—we +die."</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann sputtered: "We should haff turned away. Even yet we might. +It will—it will—"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," agreed Kreiss, still in that precise, class-room voice, +"perhaps it will. But this I know: with an acceleration of one thousand +m.p.h. per hour as this young man with the badge of a Master Pilot says, +we cannot hope, in the time remaining, to overcome our present velocity; +we can never check our speed and build up a relatively opposite motion +before that globe would overwhelm us. If he has figured correctly, this +young man—if he has found the true resultant of our two motions of +approach—and if he has swung us that we may drive out on a line +perpendicular to the resultant—"</p> + +<p>"I think I have," said Chet quietly. "If I haven't, in just a few +minutes it won't matter to any of us; it won't matter at all." He met +the gaze of Herr Doktor Kreiss who regarded him curiously.</p> + +<p>"If we escape," the scientist told him, "you will understand that I am +under Herr Schwartzmann's command; I will be compelled to shoot you if +he so orders. But, Herr Bullard, at this moment I would be very proud to +shake your hand."</p> + +<p>And Chet, as he extended his hand, managed a grin that was meant also +for the tense, white-faced Harkness and Diane. "I like to see 'em dealt +that way," he said, "—right off the top of the deck."</p> + +<p>But the smile was erased as he turned back to the lookout. He had to +lean close to see all of the disk, so swiftly was the approaching globe +bearing down.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It came now from the side; it swelled larger and larger before his eyes. +Their own ship seemed unmoving; only the unending thunder of the +generator told of the frantic efforts to escape. They seemed hung in +space; their own terrific speed seemed gone—added to and fused with the +orbital motion of the Dark Moon to bring swiftly closer that messenger +of death. The circle expanded silently; became menacingly huge.</p> + +<p>Chet was whispering softly to himself: "If I'd got hold of her an hour +sooner—thirty minutes—or even ten.... We're doing over twenty thousand +an hour combined speed, and we'll never really hit it.... We'll never +reach the ground."</p> + +<p>He turned this over in his mind, and he nodded gravely in confirmation +of his own conclusions. It seemed somehow of tremendous importance that +he get this clearly thought out—this experience that was close ahead.</p> + +<p>"Skin friction!" he added. "It will burn us up!"</p> + +<p>He has a sudden vision of a flaming star blazing a hot trail through the +atmosphere of this globe; there would be only savage eyes to follow +it—to see the line of fire curving swiftly across the heavens.... He, +himself, was seeing that blazing meteor so plainly....</p> + +<p>His eyes found the lookout; the globe was gone. They were close—close! +Only for the enveloping gas that made of this a dark moon, they would be +seeing the surface, the outlines of continents.</p> + +<p>Chet strained his eyes—to see nothing! It was horrible. It had been +fearful enough to watch that expanding globe.... He was abruptly aware +that the outer rim of the lookout was red!</p> + +<p>For Chet Bullard, time ceased to have meaning; what were seconds—or +centuries—as he stared at that glowing rim? He could not have told. The +outer shell of their ship—it was radiant—shining red-hot in the night. +And above the roar of the generator came a nerve-ripping shriek. A wind +like a blast from hell was battering and tearing at their ship.</p> + +<p>"Good-by!" He has tried to call; the demoniac shrieking from without +smothered his voice. One arm was across his eyes in an unconscious +motion. The air of the little room was stifling. He forced his arm down; +he would meet death face to face.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The lookout was ringed with fire; it was white with the terrible white +of burning steel!—it was golden!—then cherry red! It was dying, as the +fire dies from glowing metal plunged in its tempering bath—or thrown +into the cold reaches of space!</p> + +<p>In Chet's ears was the roar of a detonite motor. He tried to realize +that the lookouts were rimmed with black—cold, fireless black! An +incredible black! There were stars there like pinpoints of flame! But +conviction came only when he saw from a lookout in another wall a circle +of violet that shrank and dwindled as he watched....</p> + +<p>A hand was gripping his shoulder; he heard the voice of Walter Harkness +speaking, while Walt's hand crept to raise the triple star that was +pinned to his blouse.</p> + +<p>"Master Pilot of the World!" Harkness was saying. "That doesn't cover +enough territory, old man. It's another rating that you're entitled to, +but I'm damned if I know what it is."</p> + +<p>And, for once, Chet's ready smile refused to form. He stared dumbly at +his friend; his eyes passed to the white face of Mademoiselle Diane; +then back to the controls, where his hand, without conscious volition, +was reaching to move a metal ball.</p> + +<p>"Missed it!" he assured himself. "Hit the fringe of the air—just the +very outside. If we'd been twenty thousand feet nearer!... He was moving +the ball: their bow was swinging. He steadied it and set the ship on an +approximate course.</p> + +<p>"A stern chase!" he said aloud. "All our momentum to be overcome—but +it's easy sailing now!"</p> + +<p>He pushed the ball forward to the limit, and the explosion-motor gave +thunderous response.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3><i>The Return to the Dark Moon</i></h3> + + +<p>No man faces death in so shocking a form without feeling the effects. +Death had flicked them with a finger of flame and had passed them by. +Chet Bullard found his hands trembling uncontrollably as he fumbled for +a book and opened it. The tables of figures printed there were blurred +at first to his eyes, but he forced himself to forget the threat that +was past, for there was another menace to consider now.</p> + +<p>And uppermost in his mind, when his thoughts came back into some +approximate order, was condemnation of himself for an opportunity that +was gone.</p> + +<p>"I could have jumped him," he told himself with bitter self-reproach; "I +could have grabbed the pistol from Kreiss—the man was petrified." And +then Chet had to admit a fact there was no use of denying: "I was as +paralyzed as he was," he said, and only knew he had spoken aloud when he +saw the puzzled look that crossed Harkness' face.</p> + +<p>Harkness and Diane had drawn near. In a far corner of the little room +Schwartzmann had motioned to Kreiss to join him; they were as far away +from the others as could be managed. Schwartzmann, Chet judged, needed +some scientific explanation of these disturbing events; also he needed +to take the detonite pistol from Kreiss' hand and jam it into his own +hand. His eyes, at Chet's unconscious exclamation, had come with instant +suspicion toward the two men.</p> + +<p>"Forty-seven hours, Walt," the pilot said, and repeated it loudly for +Schwartzmann's benefit; "—forty-seven hours before we return to this +spot. We are driving out into space; we've crossed the orbit of the Dark +Moon, and we're doing twenty thousand miles an hour.</p> + +<p>"Now we must decelerate. It will take twenty hours to check us to zero +speed; then twenty-seven more to shoot us back to this same point in +space, allowing, of course, for a second deceleration. The same figuring +with only slight variation will cover a return to the Dark Moon. As we +sweep out I can allow for the moon-motion, and we'll hit it at a safe +landing speed on the return trip this time."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet was paying little attention to his companion as he spoke. His eyes, +instead, were covertly watching the bulky figure of Schwartzmann. As he +finished, their captor shot a volley of questions at the scientist +beside him; he was checking up on the pilot's remarks.</p> + +<p>Chet was leaning forward to stare intently from a lookout, his head was +close to that of Harkness.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Walt," he whispered; "the Moon's out of sight; it's easy to +lose. Maybe I can't find it again, anyway—it's going to take some nice +navigating—but I'll miss it by ten thousand miles if you say so, and +even the Herr Doktor can't check me on it."</p> + +<p>Chet saw the eyes of Schwartzmann grow intent. He reached ostentatiously +for another book of tables, and he seated himself that he might figure +in comfort.</p> + +<p>"Just check me on this," he told Harkness.</p> + +<p>He put down meaningless figures, while the man beside him remained +silent. Over and over he wrote them—would Harkness never reach a +decision?—over and over, until—</p> + +<p>"I don't agree with that," Harkness told him and reached for the stylus +in Chet's hand. And, while he appeared to make his own swift +computations, there were words instead of figures that flowed from his +pen.</p> + +<p>"Only alternative: return to Earth," he wrote. "Then S will hold off; +wait in upper levels. Kreiss will give him new bearings. We'll shoot out +again and do it better next time. Kreiss is nobody's fool. S means to +maroon us on Moon—kill us perhaps. He'll get us there, sure. We might +as well go now."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet had seen a movement across the room. "Let's start all over again," +he broke in abruptly. He covered the writing with a clean sheet of paper +where he set down more figures. He was well under way when +Schwartzmann's quick strides brought him towering above them. Again the +detonite pistol was in evidence; its small black muzzle moved steadily +from Harkness to Chet.</p> + +<p>"For your life—such as is left of it—you may thank Herr Doktor +Kreiss," he told Chet. "I thought at first you would have attempted to +kill us." His smile, as he regarded them, seemed to Chet to be entirely +evil. "You were near death twice, my dear Herr Bullard; and the danger +is not entirely removed.</p> + +<p>"'Forty-seven hours' you have said; in forty-seven hours you will land +us on the Dark Moon. If you do not,"—he raised the pistol +suggestively—"remember that the pilot, Max, can always take us back to +Earth. You are not indispensable."</p> + +<p>Chet looked at the dark face and its determined and ominous scowl. +"You're a cheerful sort of soul, aren't you?" he demanded. "Do you have +any faint idea of what a job this is? Do you know we will shoot another +two hundred thousand miles straight out before I can check this ship? +Then we come back; and meanwhile the Dark Moon has gone on its way. Had +you thought that there's a lot of room to get lost in out here?"</p> + +<p>"Forty-seven hours!" said Schwartzmann. "I would advise that you do not +lose your way."</p> + +<p>Chet shot one quizzical glance at Harkness.</p> + +<p>"That," he said, "makes it practically unanimous."</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann, with an elaborate show of courtesy, escorted Diane +Delacouer to a cabin where she might rest. At a questioning look between +Diane and Harkness, their captor reassured them.</p> + +<p>"Mam'selle shall be entirely safe," he said. "She may join you here +whenever she wishes. As for you,"—he was speaking to Harkness—"I will +permit you to stay here. I could tie you up but this iss not necessary."</p> + +<p>And Harkness must have agreed that it was indeed unnecessary, for either +Kreiss or Max, or some other of Schwartzmann's men, was at his side +continuously from that moment on.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet would have liked a chance for a quiet talk and an exchange of +ideas. It seemed that somewhere, somehow, he should be able to find an +answer to their problem. He stared moodily out into the blackness ahead, +where a distant star was seemingly their goal. Harkness stood at his +side or paced back and forth in the little room, until he threw himself, +at last, upon a cot.</p> + +<p>And always the great stern-blast roared; muffled by the insulated walls, +its unceasing thunder came at last to be unheard. To the pilot there was +neither sound nor motion. His directional sights were unswervingly upon +that distant star ahead. Seemingly they were suspended, helpless and +inert, in a black void. But for the occasional glowing masses of strange +living substance that flashed past in this ocean of space, he must +almost have believed they were motionless—a dead ship in a dead, black +night.</p> + +<p>But the luminous things flashed and were gone—and their coming, +strangely, was from astern; they flicked past and vanished up ahead. +And, by this, Chet knew that their tremendous momentum was unchecked. +Though he was using the great stern blast to slow the ship, it was +driving stern-first into outer space. Nor, for twenty hours, was there a +change, more than a slackening of the breathless speed with which the +lights went past.</p> + +<p>Twenty hours—and then Chet knew that they were in all truth hung +motionless, and he prayed that his figures that told him this were +correct.... More timeless minutes, an agony of waiting—and a +dimly-glowing mass that was ahead approached their bow, swung off and +vanished far astern. And, with its going, Chet knew that the return trip +was begun.</p> + +<p>He gave Harkness the celestial bearing marks and relinquished the helm. +"Full speed ahead as you are," he ordered; "then at nineteen-forty on +W.S. time, we'll cut it and ease on bow repulsion to the limit."</p> + +<p>And, despite the strangeness of their surroundings, the ceaseless, +murmuring roar of the exhaust, the weird world outside, where endless +space was waiting for man's exploration—despite the deadly menace that +threatened, Chet dropped his head upon his outflung arms and slept.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>To his sleep-drugged brain it was scarcely a moment until a hand was +dragging at his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Forty-seven hours!" the voice of Schwartzmann was saying.</p> + +<p>And: "Some navigating!" Harkness was exclaiming in flattering amazement. +"Wake up, Chet! Wake up! The Dark Moon's in sight. You've hit it on the +nose, old man: she isn't three points off the sights!"</p> + +<p>The bow-blast was roaring full on. Ahead of them Chet's sleepy eyes +found a circle of violet; and he rubbed his eyes savagely that he might +take his bearings on Sun and Earth.</p> + +<p>As it had been before, the Earth was a giant half-moon; like a +mirror-sphere it shot to them across the vast distance the reflected +glory of the sun. But the globe ahead was a ghostly world. Its black +disk was lost in the utter blackness of space. It was a circle, marked +only by the absence of star-points and by the halo of violet glow that +edged it about.</p> + +<p>Chet cut down the repelling blast. He let the circle enlarge, then swung +the ship end for end in mid-space that the more powerful stern exhaust +might be ready to counteract the gravitational pull of the new world.</p> + +<p>Again those impalpable clouds surrounded them. Here was the enveloping +gas that made this a dark moon—the gas, if Harkness' theory was +correct, that let the sun's rays pass unaltered; that took the light +through freely to illumine this globe, but that barred its return +passage as reflected light.</p> + +<p>Black—dead black was the void into which they were plunging, until the +darkness gave way before a gentle glow that enfolded their ship. The +golden light enveloped them in growing splendor. Through every lookout +it was flooding the cabin with brilliant rays, until, from below them, +directly astern of the ship, where the thundering blast checked their +speed of descent, emerged a world.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>And, to Chet Bullard, softly fingering the controls of the first ship of +space—to Chet Bullard, whose uncanny skill had brought the tiny speck +that was their ship safely back from the dark recesses of the +unknown—there came a thrill that transcended any joy of the first +exploration.</p> + +<p>Here was water in great seas of unreal hue—and those seas were his! +Vast continents, ripe for adventure and heavy with treasure—and they, +too, were his! His own world—his and Diane's and Walt's! Who was this +man, Schwartzmann, that dared dream of violating their possessions?</p> + +<p>A slender tube pressed firmly, uncompromisingly, into his back to give +the answer to his question. "Almost I wish you had missed it!" Herr +Schwartzmann was saying. "But now you will land; you will set us down in +some place that you know. No tricks, Herr Bullard! You are clever, but +not clever enough for that. We will land, yess, where you know it is +safe."</p> + +<p>From the lookout, the man stared for a moment with greedy eyes; then +brought his gaze back to the three. His men, beside Harkness and Diane, +were alert; the scientist, Kreiss, stood close to Chet.</p> + +<p>"A nice little world," Schwartzmann told them. "Herr Harkness, you have +filed claims on it; who am I to dispute with the great Herr Harkness? +Without question it iss yours!"</p> + +<p>He laughed loudly, while his eyes narrowed between creasing wrinkles of +flesh. "You shall enjoy it," he told them; "—all your life."</p> + +<p>And Chet, as he caught the gaze of Harkness and Diane, wondered how long +this enjoyment would last. "All your life!" But this was rather +indefinite as a measure of time.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3><i>A Desperate Act</i></h3> + + +<p>The ship that Chet Bullard and Harkness had designed had none of the +instruments for space navigation that the ensuing years were to bring. +Chet's accuracy was more the result of that flyer's sixth sense—that +same uncanny power that had served aviators so well in an earlier day. +But Chet was glad to see his instruments registering once more as he +approached a new world.</p> + +<p>Even the sonoflector was recording; its invisible rays were darting +downward to be reflected back again from the surface below. That +absolute altitude recording was a joy to read; it meant a definite +relationship with the world.</p> + +<p>"I'll hold her at fifty thousand," he told Harkness. "Watch for some +outline that you can remember from last time."</p> + +<p>There was an irregular area of continental size; only when they had +crossed it did Harkness point toward an outflung projection of land. +"That peninsula," he exclaimed; "we saw that before! Swing south and +inland.... Now down forty, and east of south.... This ought to be the +spot."</p> + +<p>Perhaps Harkness, too, had the flyer's indefinable power of orientation. +He guided Chet in the downward flight, and his pointing finger aimed at +last at a cluster of shadows where a setting sun brought mountain ranges +into strong relief. Chet held the ship steady, hung high in the air, +while the quick-spreading mantle of night swept across the world below. +And, at last, when the little world was deep-buried in shadow, they saw +the red glow of fires from a hidden valley in the south.</p> + +<p>"Fire Valley!" said Chet, "Don't say anything about me being a +navigator. Wait, you've brought us home, sure enough."</p> + +<p>"Home!" He could not overcome this strange excitement of a homecoming to +their own world. Even the man who stood, pistol in hand, behind him was, +for the moment, forgotten.</p> + +<p>Valley of a thousand fires!—scene of his former adventures! Each +fumerole was adding its smoky red to the fiery glow that illumined the +place. There were ragged mountains hemming it in; Chet's gaze passed on +to the valley's end.</p> + +<p>Down there, where the fires ceased, there would be water; he would land +there! And the ship from Earth slipped down in a long slanting line to +cushion against its under exhausts, whose soft thunder echoed back from +a bare expanse of frozen lava. Then its roaring faded. The silvery shape +sank softly to its rocky bed as Chet cut the motor that had sung its +song of power since the moment when Schwartzmann had carried him +off—taken him from that frozen, forgotten corner of an incredibly +distant Earth.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Iss there air?" Schwartzmann demanded. Chet came to himself again with +a start: he saw the man peering from the lookout to right and to left as +if he would see all that there was in the last light of day.</p> + +<p>"Strange!" he was grumbling to himself. "A strange place! But those +hills—I saw their markings—there will be metals there. I will explore; +later I return: I will mine them. Many ships I must build to establish a +line. The first transportation line of space. Me, Jacob Schwartzmann—I +will do it. I will haff more than anyone else on Earth; I will make them +all come to me crawling on their bellies!"</p> + +<p>Chet saw the hard shine of the narrowed eyes. For an instant only, he +dared to consider the chance of leaping upon the big, gloating figure. +One blow and a quick snatch for the pistol!... Then he knew the folly of +such a plan: Schwartzmann's men were armed; he would be downed in +another second, his body a shattered, jellied mass.</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann's thoughts had come back to the matter of air; he motioned +Chet and Harkness toward the port.</p> + +<p>Diane Delacouer had joined them and she thrust herself quickly between +the two men. And, though Schwartzmann made a movement as if he would +snatch her back, he thought better of it and motioned for the portal to +be swung. Chet felt him close behind as he followed the others out into +the gathering dark.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The air was heavy with the fragrance of night-blooming trees. They were +close to the edge of the lava flow. The rock was black in the light of a +starry sky; it dropped away abruptly to a lower glade. A stream made +silvery sparklings in the night, while beyond it were waving shadows of +strange trees whose trunks were ghostly white.</p> + +<p>It was all so familiar.... Chet smiled understandingly as he saw Walt +Harkness' arm go about the trim figure of Diane Delacouer. No mannish +attire could disguise Diane's charms; nor could nerve and cold courage +that any man might envy detract from her femininity. Her dark, curling +hair was blowing back from her upraised face as the scented breezes +played about her; and the soft beauty of that face was enhanced by the +very starlight that revealed it.</p> + +<p>It was here that Walt and Diane had learned to love; what wonder that +the fragrant night brought only remembrance, and forgetfulness of their +present plight. But Chet Bullard, while he saw them and smiled in +sympathy, knew suddenly that other eyes were watching, too; he felt the +bulky figure of Herr Schwartzmann beside him grow tense and rigid.</p> + +<p>But Schwartzmann's voice, when he spoke, was controlled. "All right," he +called toward the ship; "all iss safe."</p> + +<p>Yet Chet wondered at that sudden tensing, and an uneasy presentiment +found entrance to his thoughts. He must keep an eye on Schwartzmann, +even more than he had supposed.</p> + +<p>Their captor had threatened to maroon them on the Dark Moon. Chet did +not question his intent. Schwartzmann would have nothing to gain by +killing them now. It would be better to leave them here, for he might +find them useful later on. But did he plan to leave them all or only +two? Behind the steady, expressionless eyes of the Master Pilot, strange +thoughts were passing....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There were orders, at length, to return to the ship. "It is dark +already," Schwartzmann concluded; "nothing can be accomplished at night.</p> + +<p>"How long are the days and nights?" he asked Harkness.</p> + +<p>"Six hours." Harkness told him; "our little world spins fast."</p> + +<p>"Then for six hours we sleep," was the order. And again Herr +Schwartzmann conducted Mademoiselle Delacouer to her cabin, while Chet +Bullard watched until he saw the man depart and heard the click of the +lock on the door of Diane's room.</p> + +<p>Then for six hours he listened to the sounds of sleeping men who were +sprawled about him on the floor; for six hours he saw the one man who +sat on guard beside a light that made any thought of attack absurd. And +he cursed himself for a fool, as he lay wakeful and vainly planning—a +poor, futile fool who was unable to cope with this man who had bested +him.</p> + +<p>Nineteen seventy-three!—and here were Harkness and Diane and himself, +captured by a man who was mentally and morally a misfit in a modern +world. A throw-back—that was Schwartzmann: Harkness had said it. He +belonged back in nineteen fourteen.</p> + +<p>Harkness was beyond the watching guard; from where he lay came sounds of +restless movement. Chet knew that he was not alone in this mood of +hopeless dejection. There was no opportunity for talk; only with the +coming of day did the two find a chance to exchange a few quick words.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The guard roused the others at the first sight of sunlight beyond the +ports. Harkness sauntered slowly to where Chet was staring from a +lookout. He, too, leaned to see the world outside, and he spoke +cautiously in a half-whisper:</p> + +<p>"Not a chance, Chet. No use trying to bluff this big crook any more. +He's here, and he's safe; and he knows it as well as we do. We'll let +him ditch us—you and Diane and me. Then, when we're on our own, we'll +watch our chance. He will go crazy with what he finds—may get +careless—then we'll seize the ship—" His words ended abruptly. As +Schwartzmann came behind them, he was casually calling Chet's attention +to a fumerole from which a jet of vapor had appeared. Yellowish, it was; +and the wind was blowing it.</p> + +<p>Chet turned away; he hardly saw Schwartzmann or heard Harkness' words. +He was thinking of what Walt had said. Yes, it was all they could do; +there was no chance of a fight with them now. But later!</p> + +<p>Diane Delacouer came into the control-room at the instant; her dark eyes +were still lovely with sleep, but they brightened to flash an +encouraging smile toward the two men. There were five of Schwartzmann's +men in the ship besides the pilot and the scientist, Kreiss. They all +crowded in after Diane.</p> + +<p>They must have had their orders in advance; Schwartzmann merely nodded, +and they sprang upon Harkness and Chet. The two were caught off their +guard; their arms were twisted behind them before resistance could be +thought of. Diane gave a cry, started forward, and was brushed back by a +sweep of Schwartzmann's arm. The man himself stood staring at them, +unmoving, wordless. Only the flesh about his eyes gathered into creases +to squeeze the eyes to malignant slits. There was no mistaking the +menace in that look.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"I think we do not need you any more," he said at last. "I think, Herr +Harkness, this is the end of our little argument—and, Herr Harkness, +you lose. Now, I will tell you how it iss that you pay.</p> + +<p>"You haff thought, perhaps, I would kill you. But you were wrong, as you +many times have been. You haff not appreciated my kindness; you haff not +understood that mine iss a heart of gold.</p> + +<p>"Even I was not sure before we came what it iss best to do. But now I +know. I saw oceans and many lands on this world. I saw islands in those +oceans.</p> + +<p>"You so clever are—such a great thinker iss Herr Harkness—and on one +of those islands you will haff plenty of time to think—yess! You can +think of your goot friend, Schwartzmann, and of his kindness to you."</p> + +<p>"You are going to maroon us on an island?" asked Walt Harkness hoarsely. +Plainly his plans for seizing the ship were going awry. "You are going +to put the three of us off in some lost corner of this world?"</p> + +<p>Chet Bullard was silent until he saw the figure of Harkness struggling +to throw off his two guards. "Walt," he called loudly, "take it easy! +For God's sake, Walt, keep your head!"</p> + +<p>This, Chet sensed, was no time for resistance. Let Schwartzmann go ahead +with his plans; let him think them complacent and unresisting; let Max +pilot the ship; then watch for an opening when they could land a blow +that would count! He heard Schwartzmann laughing now, laughing as if he +were enjoying something more pleasing than the struggles of Walt.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet was standing by the controls. The metal instrument-table was beside +him; above it was the control itself, a metal ball that hung suspended +in air within a cage of curved bars.</p> + +<p>It was pure magic, this ball-control, where magnetic fields crossed and +recrossed; it was as if the one who held it were a genie who could throw +the ship itself where he willed. Glass almost enclosed the cage of bars, +and the whole instrument swung with the self-compensating platform that +adjusted itself to the "gravitation" of accelerated speed. The pilot, +Max, had moved across to the instrument-table, ready for the take-off.</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann's laughter died to a gurgling chuckle. He wiped his eyes +before he replied to Harkness' question.</p> + +<p>"Leave you," he said, "in one place? <i>Nein!</i> One here, the other there. +A thousand miles apart, it might be. And not all three of you. That +would be so unkind—"</p> + +<p>He interrupted himself to call to Kreiss who was opening the port.</p> + +<p>"No," he ordered: "keep it closed. We are not going outside; we are +going up."</p> + +<p>But Kreiss had the port open. "I want a man to get some fresh water," he +said; "he will only be a minute."</p> + +<p>He shoved at a waiting man to hurry him through the doorway. It was only +a gentle push: Chet wondered as he saw the man stagger and grasp at his +throat. He was coughing—choking horribly for an instant outside the +open port—then fell to the ground, while his legs jerked awkwardly, +spasmodically.</p> + +<p>Chet saw Kreiss follow. The scientist would have leaped to the side of +the stricken man, whose body was so still now on the sunlit rock; but +he, too, crumpled, then staggered back into the room. He pushed feebly +at the port and swung it shut. His face, as he turned, was drawn into +fearful lines.</p> + +<p>"Acid!" He choked out the words between strangled breaths. +"Acid—sulfuric—fumes!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet turned quickly to the spectro-analyzer: the lines of oxygen and +nitrogen were merged with others, and that meant an atmosphere unfit for +human lungs! There had been a fumerole where yellowish vapor was +spouting: he remembered it now.</p> + +<p>"So!" boomed Schwartzmann, and now his squinting eyes were full on Chet. +"You—you <i>schwein</i>! You said when we opened the ports there would be a +surprise! Und this iss it! You thought to see us kill ourselves!</p> + +<p>"Open that port!" he shouted. The men who held Chet released him and +sprang forward to obey. The pilot, Max, took their place. He put one +hand on Chet's shoulder, while his other hand brought up a threatening +metal bar.</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann's heavy face had lost its stolid look; it was alive with +rage. He thrust his head forward to glare at the men, while he stood +firmly, his feet far apart, two heavy fists on his hips. He whirled +abruptly and caught Diane by one arm. He pulled her roughly to him and +encircled the girl's trim figure with one huge arm.</p> + +<p>"Put you <i>all</i> on one island?" he shouted. "Did you think I would put +you <i>all</i> out of the ship? You"—he pointed at Harkness—"and you"—this +time it was Chet—"go out now. You can die in your damned gas that you +expected would kill me! But, you fools, you imbeciles—Mam'selle, she +stays with me!" The struggling girl was helpless in the great arm that +drew her close.</p> + +<p>Harkness' mad rage gave place to a dead stillness. From bloodless lips +in a chalk-white face he spat out one sentence:</p> + +<p>"Take your filthy hands off her—now—or I'll—"</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann's one free hand still held the pistol. He raised it with +deadly deliberation; it came level with Harkness' unflinching eyes.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" said Schwartzmann, "You will do—what?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet saw the deadly tableau. He knew with a conviction that gripped his +heart that here was the end. Walt would die and he would be next. Diane +would be left defenseless.... The flashing thought that followed came to +him as sharply as the crack of any pistol. It seemed to burst inside his +brain, to lift him with some dynamic power of its own and project him +into action.</p> + +<p>He threw himself sideways from under the pilot's hand, out from beneath +the heavy metal bar—and he whirled, as he leaped, to face the man. One +lean, brown hand clenched to a fist that started a long swing from +somewhere near his knees; it shot upward to crash beneath the pilot's +outthrust jaw and lift him from the floor. Max had aimed the bar in a +downward sweep where Chet's head had been the moment before; and now man +and bar went down together. In the same instant Chet threw himself upon +the weapon and leaped backward to his feet.</p> + +<p>One frozen second, while, to Chet, the figures seemed as motionless as +if carved from stone—two men beside the half-opened port—Harkness in +convulsive writhing between two others—the figure of Diane, strained, +tense and helpless in Schwartzmann's grasp—and Schwartzmann, whose aim +had been disturbed, steadying the pistol deliberately upon Harkness—</p> + +<p>"Wait!" Chet's voice tore through the confusion. He knew he must grip +Schwartzmann's attention—hold that trigger finger that was tensed to +send a detonite bullet on its way. "Wait, damn you! I'll answer your +question. I'll tell you what we'll do!"</p> + +<p>In that second he had swung the metal bar high; now he brought it +crashing down in front of him. Schwartzmann flinched, half turned as if +to fire at Chet, and saw the blow was not for him.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>With a splintering crash, the bar went through an obstruction. There was +sound of glass that slivered to a million mangled bits—the sharp tang +of metal broken off—a crash and clatter—then silence, save for one bit +of glass that fell belatedly to the floor, its tiny jingling crash +ringing loud in the deathly stillness of the room....</p> + +<p>It had been the control-room, this place of metal walls and of shining, +polished instruments, and it could be called that no longer. For, +battered to useless wreckage, there lay on a metal table a cage that had +once been formed of curving bars. Among the fragments a metal ball that +had guided the great ship still rocked idly from its fall, until it, +too, was still.</p> + +<p>It was a room where nothing moved—where no person so much as +breathed....</p> + +<p>Then came the Master Pilot's voice, and it was speaking with quiet +finality.</p> + +<p>"And that," he said, "is your answer. Our ship has made its last +flight."</p> + +<p>His eyes held steadily upon the blanched face of Herr Schwartzmann, +whose limp arms released the body of Diane; the pistol hung weakly at +the man's side. And the pilot's voice went on, so quiet, so hushed—so +curiously toneless in that silent room.</p> + +<p>"What was it that you said?—that Harkness and I would be staying here? +Well, you were right when you said that, Schwartzmann: but it's a hard +sentence, that—imprisonment for life."</p> + +<p>Chet paused now, to smile deliberately, grimly at the dark face so +bleached and bloodless, before he repeated:</p> + +<p>"Imprisonment for life!—and you didn't know that you were sentencing +yourself. For you're staying too, Schwartzmann, you contemptible, +thieving dog! You're staying with us—here—on the Dark Moon!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>"<i>Six to Four</i>"</h3> + + +<p>Perhaps to every person in that control room there came, as Chet's +quiet, emotionless tones died away, the same mental picture; for there +was the same dazed look on the countenances of all.</p> + +<p>They were seeing an ocean of space, an endless void of empty black. And +across that etheric sea was a whirling globe. They had seen it from +afar; they had seen its diminutive continents and its snow-clad +poles.... They would never see it again....</p> + +<p>Earth!—their own world!—home! And now for them it was only a moon, a +tremendous, glorious moon, whose apparent nearness would be taunting and +calling them each day and night of their lives....</p> + +<p>It was Diane Delacouer who dared to break the hard silence that bound +them all. From wide eyes she stared at Walt Harkness; then her lips +formed a trembling smile in which Chet, too, was included.</p> + +<p>"You saved us," she whispered; "you saved us, Chet ... but now it looks +as if we all were exiles."</p> + +<p>She crossed slowly, walking like one in a dream, to stand close to Walt +Harkness. And Chet Bullard also roused himself; but it was toward the +stupefied, hulking figure of Schwartzmann that he moved.</p> + +<p>He reached for the detonite pistol, and this man who had been their +captor was too stunned to make any resistance. Chet jammed the weapon +under his belt.</p> + +<p>"Close that port!" he ordered the two men who had half-opened it at +Schwartzmann's command. "Keep that poison gas out."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There was a flash of color that swept by the open port—some flying +creature of vivid crimson: Chet had no time to see what manner of bird +or beast it was. But it was alive! He crossed to examine the +spectro-analyzer, and the two men disregarded his order and slipped into +the rear cabin.</p> + +<p>"Seems all clear to me, Walt," he said; and Harkness confirmed his +findings with a quick glance.</p> + +<p>"O.K.!" he assured Chet; "that air is all right to breathe."</p> + +<p>He glanced from a lookout port. "The air's moving now," he said. "That +gas—whatever it was—is gone; it must have settled down here in the +night. Some new vent that has opened since we were here before.</p> + +<p>"But suppose we forget that and settle matters in here," he suggested; +and Chet nodded assent.</p> + +<p>"Call your men!" Harkness ordered Schwartzmann.</p> + +<p>The man had recovered his composure; again his heavy face was flushed +beneath a stubble of beard. He made no move to comply with Harkness' +demand.</p> + +<p>But there was no need: from the cabin at the rear came the scientist, +Kreiss. His face was pale and drawn, and he stared long and searchingly +at Chet Bullard. His breath still whistled in his throat; the poison gas +had nearly done for him.</p> + +<p>At his heels were the two who had been working at the port. Two others, +who had held Harkness, were drawn off at one side, where they mumbled +one to another and shot ugly glances toward Chet.</p> + +<p>This, Chet knew, accounted for all. Even the pilot, Max, had roused from +the sleep that a blow on the chin had induced and was again on his feet. +For him no explanation was needed; the shattered cage of the +ball-control told its own story.</p> + +<p>Harkness seated Mademoiselle Delacouer on a bench at the pilot's post. +"You will want to be in on this," he told her, "but I'll put you here in +case they get rough. But don't worry," he added; "we'll be ready for +them now."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Then he turned to Schwartzmann: "Now, you! Oh, there are plenty of +things I could call you! And you would understand them perfectly, though +they are all words that no gentleman would use."</p> + +<p>At Schwartzmann's outburst of profane rejoinder, Harkness broke in with +no uncertain tones.</p> + +<p>"Shut up, Schwartzmann, and stay that way; I'm giving the orders now. +And we'll just cut out all the pleasantries; they won't get us anywhere. +We must face the situation, all of us; see what we're up against and +make some plans."</p> + +<p>But Herr Schwartzmann was not to be put down so easily. He crossed over +to where Chet stood. Chet's hand dropped to the pistol that was hooked +in his own belt, but Schwartzmann made no move toward it. Instead he +planted himself before the pilot and jammed his fists into his hips +while he tried to draw his stocky form to equal Chet's slim height.</p> + +<p>"Fool!" he said. "Dolt! For a minute I believed you; I thought you had +cut us off from the Earth. Now I know better. Max, he understands ships; +and the Herr Doktor Kreiss iss a man of science: together they the +repairs will make."</p> + +<p>The Master Pilot smiled grimly. "Try to do it," he said, and turned +toward the two whom Schwartzmann had named. "You, Max, and you, too, +Doctor Kreiss—do you want to take on the job? If you do, I will help +you."</p> + +<p>But the two looked at the shattered controls and shook their heads at +their employer.</p> + +<p>"Impossible!" the pilot exclaimed. "Without new parts it can never be +done."</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann seemed about to vent his fury upon the man who dared give +such a report, but Doctor Kreiss raised a restraining hand.</p> + +<p>"Check!" he said. "I check that report. Repairs are out of the +question."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet caught Harkness' eye upon him. "I'll be back," Harkness told him +and went quickly toward the rear of the ship. Their stores were back +there; would Walt think to get a detonite pistol? He came back into the +room while the thought was still in Chet's mind. A gun was in each hand; +he passed one of the weapons to Diane.</p> + +<p>Unconsciously, Schwartzmann felt for his own gun that was in Chet's +belt. He laughed mirthlessly. "Two men," he said scornfully; "two men +and a girl!"</p> + +<p>Harkness paid no attention. "Now we will get right down to cases," he +remarked. "Two men and a girl is right—plus what is left of one ship. +And please don't forget that the ship is ours and all the supplies that +are in it. Now, you listen to me; I've a few things to tell you."</p> + +<p>He faced squarely toward Schwartzmann, and Chet had to repress a grin at +the steely glint in his companion's eyes. Nice chap, Harkness—nice, +easy-going sort—up to a certain point. Chet had seen him in action +before.</p> + +<p>"First of all," Harkness was saying, "don't think that we have any +illusions about you. You're a killer, and, like all such, you're a +coward. If you had the upper hand, you would never give us a chance for +our lives. In fact you were ready to throw us out to be gassed when Chet +raised your little bet.</p> + +<p>"But it looks as if Chet and Mademoiselle Delacouer and I will have to +be living on this world for some time. We don't want to start that life +by killing off even such as you—not in cold blood. We will give you a +chance; we will split our provisions with you—give you half of what we +have; you will have to shift for yourselves when that is gone. We will +all have to learn to do that."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Again the heavy, glowering face of Schwartzmann broke into a laugh that +was half sneer.</p> + +<p>"You're damned kind," he told Harkness, "and, as usual, a fool. Two men +and a girl!" He half turned to count his own forces.</p> + +<p>"There are seven of us," he challenged; "seven! And all of them +armed—all but me!"</p> + +<p>He spoke a curt order in his own tongue, and each man whipped a pistol +from his clothes.</p> + +<p>"Seven to two," he said, and laughed again; "maybe it iss that Herr +Harkness would like to count them.</p> + +<p>"<i>Your</i> ship and <i>your</i> supplies!" he exclaimed scornfully. "And you +would be so kind as to giff us food.</p> + +<p>"<i>Gott im Himmel!</i>" he shouted; "I show you! I am talking now! We stay +here—<i>ja</i>—because this <i>Dummkopf</i> has the controls <i>gebrochen</i>! But it +iss we who stay; und you? You go, because I say so. It iss I who rule, +und I prove it—seven to two!"</p> + +<p>"Three!" a firm voice spoke from between Chet and Harkness; "seven to +three! Our odds are improving, Herr Schwartzmann."</p> + +<p>And Chet saw from the corner of his eye that the gun in the small hand +of Mademoiselle Diane was entirely unwavering. But he spoke to her +sharply, and his voice merged with that of Harkness who was saying +somewhat the same words:</p> + +<p>"Back—go back, Diane! We can handle this. For God's sake, keep out; we +don't want any shooting."</p> + +<p>Neither of the men had drawn his gun. Their hands were ready, but each +had hoped to end this weird conference without firing a shot. Here was +no place for gun-play and for wounded men.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Their attention was on Diane for the moment. A growled word from their +enemy brought their minds back to him; they turned to find black pistol +muzzles staring each of them in the eyes. Herr Schwartzmann, in the +language of an earlier day, had got the drop.</p> + +<p>"Seven to three," Schwartzmann said; "let it go that way; no difference +does it make. If I say one word, you die."</p> + +<p>Chet's arm ached to snap his hand toward his gun. It would be his last +move, he well knew. He was sick with chagrin to see how easily they had +been trapped; Walt had tried to play fair with a man who had not an atom +of fairness in his character. And now—</p> + +<p>"Seven to three!" Schwartzmann was gloating—till another voice broke +in.</p> + +<p>"I don't check your figures." The whistling tones were coming from a +tortured throat, but the words were clear and distinct. "I don't check +you; I make it six to four—and if one of your men makes a move, Herr +Schwartzmann, I shall blow you to a pulp!"</p> + +<p>And Herr Doktor Kreiss held a gun in a steady hand as he moved a pace +nearer to Chet—a gun whose slender barrel made a glinting line of light +toward Schwartzmann's eyes.</p> + +<p>"If the gentlemen and Mademoiselle will permit," he offered almost +diffidently, "I would prefer to be aligned with them. We are citizens of +another world now; my former allegiance to Herr Schwartzmann is ended. +This is—what is it you say?—a new deal. I would like to see it; and I +use another of your American aphorisms: I would like to see it a square +deal."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The voice of a scholar, thought Chet; one more used to the precision of +laboratory phrases than to wild talk like this; but no man to be trifled +with, nevertheless. Chet did not hesitate to turn despite the pistols +that were still aimed at him.</p> + +<p>But Herr Kreiss was not looking in his direction; his eyes were trained +steadily in the same line as his gun. This little experiment he was +conducting seemed to require his undivided attention until the end. To +Schwartzmann he said sharply:</p> + +<p>"Your men—order them to drop their weapons. Quick!"</p> + +<p>As they clattered upon the floor the scientist turned and extended his +hand to Chet.</p> + +<p>"And still speaking not too technically," he continued, "this is one +hell of a fix that you have got us into. Even in desperate straits it +took nerve to do that." He pointed to the shattered remains of the +multiple bars that had been the control mechanism, and added:</p> + +<p>"I admire that kind of nerve. And, if you don't mind, since we are +exiles together—" His throat seemed choking him again.</p> + +<p>There were weapons in the hands of Chet and Harkness; they were not +making the same mistake twice. Chet shifted his gun to his left hand +that he might reach toward the scientist with his right.</p> + +<p>"I knew you were white all the time," Chet told him; "I'll say you +belong!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3><i>The Red Swarm</i></h3> + + +<p>It was a matter of a half hour later when Harkness ordered them all +outside. He had accepted Kreiss as an addition to their ranks and had +made himself plain to Schwartzmann.</p> + +<p>To the scientist he said. "You remarked that no ship could hold two +commanding pilots: that goes for an expedition like this, too. I am in +command. If you will take orders we will be mighty glad to have you with +us."</p> + +<p>And to Schwartzmann, in a different tone: "I am sparing you and your +men. I ought to shoot you down, but I won't. And I don't expect you to +understand why; any decency such as that would beyond you.</p> + +<p>"But I am letting you live. This world is big enough to hold us both, +and pretty soon I will tell you what part of it you can live in. And +then remember this one thing, Schwartzmann—get this straight!—you keep +out of my way. I will show you a valley where you and your men can stay. +And if ever you leave that valley I will hunt you down as I would one of +the beasts that you will see in this world."</p> + +<p>Chet had to repress a little smile that was twitching at his lips; it +always amused him hugely to see Harkness when roused.</p> + +<p>"Turn us out to starve?" Schwartzmann was demanding. "You would do +that?"</p> + +<p>"There will be food there," said Harkness curtly: "suit yourself about +starving. Only stay where I put you!"</p> + +<p>Back of the others of Schwartzmann's men, the pilot, Max, was stooping. +Half-hidden he moved toward the doorway to the rear cabin and to the +storage-room and gun-rooms beyond. Chet glimpsed him in his silent +retreat.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Max," he advised quietly. +"Personally, I think you're all getting off too well; as for myself, I'm +sort of itching for an excuse to let off this gun."</p> + +<p>It was here that Harkness turned to the open port.</p> + +<p>"Put them out!" he snapped. "You, Chet, go out first and line them up as +they come—but, no, wait: there may be gas out there."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet was beside the port; a breath from outside came to him sweetly +fragrant. A shadow was moving across the smooth lava rock. "A bird!" he +thought. Then a flash of red in startling vividness swept past the open +door: it was like a quick flicker of living flame. He could not see what +it was, but it was alive—and this answered his question.</p> + +<p>"Send 'em along," he said; "it seems all right now." He stepped through +the opening in the heavily insulated walls.</p> + +<p>It was early morning, yet the sun was already hot upon the smooth +expanse of the lava flow. Some ancient eruption from the distant peaks +that hemmed in the valley had sent out this flood of molten rock; it was +hard and black now. But, to the right, where the valley went on and up, +and rose gently and widened as it rose, a myriad of red flames and jets +of steam told of the inner fires that still raged.</p> + +<p>These were the fumeroles where only a month before he and Harkness and +Diane had found clustering savages who were more apes than men; they had +been roasting meat at these flames. And below, where the lava stopped, +was the open glade where the little stream splashed and sparkled: in the +high rock walls that hemmed the glade the caves showed black. And, +beyond the open ground, was the weird forest, where tree-trunks of +ghostly white were laced with a network of red veining. They grew close, +those spectral columns, in a shadow-world beneath the high roof of +greenery they supported.</p> + +<p>Here was the scene of an earlier adventure. Chet was swept up in the +flood of recollections born of familiar sights and scents. Herr +Schwartzmann, cursing steadily in a guttural tongue, came from the ship +to bring Chet's thoughts back to the more immediate problem.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There were five others who followed—the pilot and Schwartzmann's four +men. There had been another, but his body lay huddled upon the bare +lava. He had followed his master far—and here, for him, was the end.</p> + +<p>Kreiss' pistol was still in his hand as he came after. Harkness and +Diane were last.</p> + +<p>Harkness pointed with his gun. "Over there!" he ordered. "Get them away +from the ship, Chet. Line them up down below there; all the ape-men have +cleared out since we had our last fight. Get them down by the stream. +Diane and I will bring them some supplies, and then we can send them off +for good."</p> + +<p>Chet sent Kreiss down first, where an easy slope made the descent a +simple matter; it had been the bow-wave of the molten lava—here was the +end of that inundation of another age—and the slope was wrinkled and +creased. Schwartzmann followed; then the others. The last man was ready +to descend when Diane and Walt came back.</p> + +<p>They had packages of compressed foods. This was all right with Chet, but +he raised his eyebrows inquiringly at sight of several boxes of +ammunition and an extra gun. Harkness smiled good-naturedly.</p> + +<p>"I will give them one pistol," Walt told him, "and a good supply of +shells. We don't need to be afraid of them with only one gun, and we +can't leave the poor devils at the mercy of every wild beast."</p> + +<p>"You're the boss," said Chet briefly; "but, for me, I'd sooner give this +Schwartzmann just one bullet—right where it would do the most good.</p> + +<p>"Let's make him work for it," he suggested, and called to the men below:</p> + +<p>"Come back up here, Schwartzmann! A little present for you—and I'm +saying you don't deserve it."</p> + +<p>He watched the return trip as Schwartzmann dragged his heavy bulk up the +slope; he was enjoying the man's explosive, panted curses. Beside him +were Diane and Walt. With them, it was as it had been with him at first. +They had eyes only for the familiar ground below: the stream, the open +ground, the trees....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Each of them was looking down at that lower ground.</p> + +<p>It was Kreiss standing down there who first caught Chet's attention. +Kreiss was trying to shout. Chet saw his waving arms; he stared, +puzzled, at the facial contortions—the working lips from which no sound +came. He knew that something was wrong. It was a moment or two before he +realized that Kreiss could not speak, that the throat, injured by the +choking fumes, had failed him. Then he heard the strangled croak that +Kreiss forced from his lips: "<i>Behind you!—look behind you!</i>"</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann was scrambling to the top where they stood; every man was +accounted for. What had they to fear? And suddenly it was borne in upon +Chet's consciousness that he had been hearing a sound—a sound that was +louder now—a rustling!—a clashing of dry, rasping things! The very air +seemed to hold something ominous.</p> + +<p>He knew this in the instant while he whirled about; while he heard the +dry rustling change to a humming roar; while he saw, like a cloud of +flame, a great swarm of red, flying things like the one that had flown +past the port—and one, swifter than the rest, that darted from the +swarm and flashed upon him.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a> +<img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>One, swifter than the rest, dashed upon him.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>It was red—vividly, dazzlingly red! The body of a reptile—a wild +phantasm of distorted dreams—was supported by short, quivering wings. +The body was some five feet in length, and it was translucent.</p> + +<p>A shell, like the dried husk of some creature long dead!—yet here was +something alive, as its quick attack proved. It had a head of dry scales +which ended in a projecting black-tipped beak that came like a sword, +straight and true for Chet's heart. It seemed an age before he could +bring his pistol up and fire.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Detonite, as everyone knows, does not explode on impact; the cap of +fulminate in the end of each bullet sets it off. But even this requires +some resistance—something more than a dry, red husk to check the +bullet's flight. There was no explosion from the tiny shell that Chet's +pistol fired, but the bullet did its work. The creature fell plunging to +the rocky ground, and its transparent wings sent flurries of dust where +they beat upon the ground. There were others that went down, for the +bullet had gone on and through the great swarm.</p> + +<p>And then they attacked.</p> + +<p>The very fury of the assault saved the huddle of humans. So close were +the red things pressed together that their vibrating wings beat and +locked the swarm into a mass. They were almost above their prey. Chet +knew that he was firing upward into the swarm, but the sound of his +pistol was lost. The red cloud hung poised in a whirling maelstrom; and +the pandemonium of clashing wings whipped down to them not only the +sound of their dry scraping but a stench from those reptile bodies that +was overpowering.</p> + +<p>Sickly sweet, the taste of it was in Chet's mouth; the sound of the +furious swarm was battering at his ears as he knew that his pistol was +empty.</p> + +<p>There were red bodies on the bare rock before him. A scaly, scabrous +thing was pressing against his upflung hands that he raised above his +head—a loathsome touch! A beak that was a needle-pointed tube stabbed +his shoulder before he could flinch aside: the quick pain of it was +piercingly sharp....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Other red horrors dropped from the main mass overhead; he saw Harkness +beating at them wildly while he made a shelter of his body above the +crouched figure of Diane. Two of them—two incredible, beastly, flying +things! He saw them so plainly where they hovered, and Harkness striking +at them with a useless, empty gun, while they waited to drive home their +lance-like beaks.</p> + +<p>The picture was so plain! His brain was a photographic plate, +super-sensitized by the utter horror of the moment. While the red +monster stabbed its beak into his shoulder, while he drove home one blow +against its parchment body with his empty pistol, while the wild, +beating wings lifted the creature again into the air—he saw it all.</p> + +<p>Here were Diane and Harkness! Nearby Schwartzmann was on the ground! His +man—the one who had not yet descended with the others—was running +stumblingly forward. He was wounded, and the blood was streaming from +his back. Chet saw the two monsters hovering above Harkness' head; he +saw their thick-lidded eyes—and he saw those eyes as they detected an +easier prey.</p> + +<p>The fleeing man was half-stooped in a shambling run. The winged reptile +Chet had beaten off joined the other two and they were upon the wounded +man in a flurry of red.</p> + +<p>Chet saw him go down and took one involuntary step forward to give him +aid—then stopped, transfixed by what he beheld.</p> + +<p>The man was down crouching in terror. Above him the three monstrous +things beat each other with their wings; then their long beaks stabbed +downward. The man's body was hidden, but through those transparent beaks +there mounted swiftly a red stream. Plainly visible, Chet saw that vital +current—the living life-blood of a living man—drawn into those beastly +bodies; he saw it spread through a network of canals! And he was held +rigid with horror until a harsh scream from Harkness reached his brain.</p> + +<p>"The trees!" Harkness was shouting. "The trees! Down, Chet, for God's +sake! You can't save him!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Walt was half carrying Diane. Even then Chet was vaguely thankful that +their bodies were between the girl and this gruesome sight. And Walt was +leaping madly down the lava slope.</p> + +<p>Beyond him, already on the lower level, was the racing figure of +Schwartzmann. A whirring flash of red pursued him. Another made a +crimson streak through the air toward Walt's back. Chet came with +startling abruptness from the frozen rigidity that held him, and he +crashed his empty pistol in well-directed aim through the body of the +beast. Then he, too, threw himself in great leaps down the slope.</p> + +<p>Kreiss was firing from below; Chet knew dimly that this was checking the +attack of the swarm. He saw Walt stagger; saw blood flowing from a slash +on the back of his head, and knew that Kreiss had got the monster just +in time. He sprang toward the stumbling man and got his arms under the +unconscious figure of the girl to help carry the load.</p> + +<p>And now it was Kreiss who was shouting. "The trees! We'll be safe in the +trees!" He saw Kreiss drop his pistol and dash headlong for the white +trunks of ghostly trees.</p> + +<p>His arm was pierced by a stinging pain; cold eyes, with thick, leathery +lids, were staring into Chet's as he cast one horrified glance over his +shoulder. Then he crashed against the white trunk of a tree and helped +Harkness drag the body of the girl between two twin trunks. He pulled +himself to safety in the shelter of the protecting trees, and held +weakly to one of them.... And the crimson lace-work of the sap-wood that +showed through the white bark was no brighter red than the mark of his +blood-stained hands where they clung for support.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3><i>Doomed</i></h3> + + +<p>The sun was high when they ventured forth. Diane would have come, but +the two men would have none of it. They remembered the sight they had +seen; they knew what was left of a man's body lying on the rocks above; +and they ordered the girl to stay hidden while Kreiss remained with her +as a guard.</p> + +<p>There were only the four who lay hidden in the woods; Schwartzmann and +Max, with the remaining three men, were gone. Harkness' calls were +unanswered, and he ceased the halloo.</p> + +<p>"Better keep quiet," he advised himself and the others. "We are out of +ammunition, though they don't know it. And they have got away. They will +keep on going, too, and I am not any too well pleased with that. I +wanted to put Schwartzmann where I could keep an eye on him.... Oh, +well, he isn't very dangerous."</p> + +<p>But Chet Bullard made a few mental and unspoken reservations to that +remark. "That boy is always dangerous," he told himself, "and he won't +be happy unless he is making trouble. Thank the Lord he hasn't got that +gun!"</p> + +<p>He came out cautiously from among the trees, but the red horde was gone. +The reptiles' wings had rasped and clashed furiously for a time; they +had darted in fiery flashes before the protecting trees: and the fitful +breeze had brought gusts of nauseous odors—until a thin haze formed in +the higher air and the red things were gone.</p> + +<p>"There will not be any more for a while," said Harkness.</p> + +<p>He pointed toward the fumerole they had seen from the lookout earlier in +the day: again it was emitting jets of thin, steamy vapor that did not +disappear like steam but floated up above their heads. "The gas has +driven them off," he added.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The two men climbed slowly up the slope that had been the wave front of +molten rock. Chet found his pistol by the path and picked it up.</p> + +<p>"We'll get more ammunition up top," he told Harkness, "and we will toss +some down to Kreiss. He can have the extra gun you brought for +Schwartzmann, too."</p> + +<p>He stopped suddenly. He had reached the level top of the lava flow. Here +was where they had stood when the beasts attacked; where Harkness had +dropped the boxes of ammunition and the pistol—and except for a few +scattered bodies of unbelievable reptiles and for a stain of blood where +his own wound had bled, there was nothing to show where they had been.</p> + +<p>"He got 'em!" Chet exclaimed. "That son-of-a-gun Schwartzmann got the +gun and shells. I saw him scrambling around on the rock. I thought he +was just scared to death; but no, he wasn't too frightened to grab the +gun and the ammunition while one of his own men was being killed. And +that's not so good, either!"</p> + +<p>A dozen paces beyond was a huddle of clothing that stirred idly in the +breeze. "The poor devil!" exclaimed Chet, and moved over beside the body +of the man who had gone down under the red swarm's attack.</p> + +<p>It lay face down. Chet stooped to turn the body over, though he knew +there was no hope of life. He stopped with a gasp of dismay.</p> + +<p>Two eyes still stared in horror from a face that was colorless—a +drained, ghastly white face! No tint remained to show that this ever had +been a living man. More dreadful than the waxen pallor of death, here +was a bleached, bloodless flesh that told of the nameless horror that +had overwhelmed this man, beaten him down and drained him of every drop +of blood.</p> + +<p>"Vampires!" Chet heard Harkness saying in a horrified whisper. "Those +beaks that were like tubes! And they—they—" He stopped as if in fear +of the words that would tell what they themselves had escaped.</p> + +<p>Chet turned the body to its former position; that dreadful face beneath +a pitiless sun was a sight no other eyes should see. "Let's go on to the +ship," he said. "We'll get some ammunition, go back and get Diane—"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He did not finish the thought. Before him he saw the lifeless body +moving; it rolled and shuddered as if life had returned to this thing +where no life should be. Chet raised one hand in an unconscious gesture +as if to ward off some new horror that the body might disclose. It was a +moment before he realized that the rock was shaking beneath his feet, +that he was dizzy and that from no great distance a rumbling growl was +sounding in his ears.</p> + +<p>The moving body had shaken Chet's mental poise as had the earthquake his +physical equilibrium. Harkness had not seen it; he was looking off +across the level plateau.</p> + +<p>"Look!" he exclaimed; "another vent has opened! See it spout?"</p> + +<p>Some hundred yards distant were clouds of green vapor that rolled into +the air. At their base a fountain of mud sputtered and spouted and fell +back to build up a cone. The green cloud whirled sluggishly, then was +caught by the breeze and began its slow, rolling progress across the +flat rock. It was coming their way, rolling down toward the ship, and +Chet gripped suddenly at his companion's arm.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" he said! "I'm going away from here, and I'm going now. We'll +get Diane and Kreiss: remember what a whiff of gas did to him this +morning."</p> + +<p>He was drawing Harkness toward the face of the rock; he wondered at his +slowness. Walt seemed fascinated by the oncoming cloud.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" Harkness paused at the top of the descending slope. Chet turned, +to look where Harkness was watching.</p> + +<p>The green cloud moved slowly. As he turned to stare it touched the bow +of their ship; it flowed slowly, sluggishly, along the sides, and then +swept up and over the top. The lookouts of the control room were +obscured, and the port from which they had come!</p> + +<p>"Cut off!" breathed Harkness, his voice heavy with hopeless conviction. +"We can't get back! And now we're on our own past any doubt!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"It may not last," Chet was urging an hour later, when, with Kreiss and +Diane, they stood on high ground to look down on the ship.</p> + +<p>The sparkling sheen of the metal cylinder had changed from silver to +pale green. The cloud that enveloped it was not heavy, but it was always +the same. Yet still Chet insisted: "It may not last."</p> + +<p>"Sorry to disappoint you," replied Kreiss, "but there is little ground +for such a belief." Again he was the professor instructing a class. +"These fumeroles, in my opinion, are venting a region far below the +surface. It is possible that further seismic disturbances may alter +conditions; a rearrangement of the lower rock strata may close existing +crevices and open others like this you have seen; but, barring that, I +see no reason for thinking that this emission of what appears to be +chlorine with other gases may not continue indefinitely."</p> + +<p>Chet looked at Diane. Was it a twinkle that appeared and vanished in her +eyes as Herr Professor Kreiss concluded his remarks. She would laugh in +the very face of death, Chet realized, but her tone was entirely serious +as she offered another suggestion.</p> + +<p>"If this wind should change," she said, "and if it blew the gas in +another direction, the ship could be cleared. One of us could go in long +enough to switch on the air generators full."</p> + +<p>But now it was Chet who shook his head in a negative. "Remember," he +told her, "when we were here before? All of the time while Walt was gone +for the ship—how did the wind blow then?"</p> + +<p>"The same as now," she admitted.</p> + +<p>"And it never changed."</p> + +<p>"No,"—slowly—"it never changed."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet turned to Walt and Kreiss. "That's that," he said shortly. "Any +other good ideas in the crowd? Can anyone go through that gas and get to +the ship? I'll make a try."</p> + +<p>"Suicide!" was Kreiss' verdict, and Harkness confirmed his words.</p> + +<p>"I saw things that moved up in the trees," he said. "Lord knows what +they were; Birds—beasts of some sort! But they were alive till the gas +touched them. I saw it drift among the trees when we left, and those +things up there came plopping down like ripe apples."</p> + +<p>Diane Delacouer looked up at Harkness with wide, serious eyes. "Then," +she shrugged, "we are really—"</p> + +<p>"Castaways," Harkness told her. "We're on our own—off on a desert +island—shipwrecked—all that sort of thing! And you might as well know +the worst of it; you, too, Kreiss.</p> + +<p>"Our good friend, Schwartzmann, is at large, and he has the pistol and +ammunition we brought out from the ship. He is armed, and we are not; he +has food, and we have none. And I'll have to admit that I didn't have +any breakfast and could use a little right now."</p> + +<p>"There are seven shells left in my pistol," said Diane. She held the +weapon out to Harkness; he took it carefully.</p> + +<p>"Seven," he said; "it is all we have. We must kill some animals for +food, my dear, but not with these; we must save these for bigger game."</p> + +<p>"But we cannot!" expostulated Kreiss. "To kill game with our bare +hands—impossible! We are doomed!"</p> + +<p>And now Chet caught Diane's glance brimming with mirth that was +undisguised. Truly, Diane Delacouer would have her laugh in the face of +death.</p> + +<p>"Doomed?" she exclaimed. "Not while Chet and I know how to make bows and +arrows!... Do you suppose we can find any of their old spears, Chet? +They made gorgeous bows, you remember."</p> + +<p>And Chet bowed low in an exaggeration of admiration that was not +entirely assumed. "Lead on!" he said. "You are in command. The army is +ready to follow."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3><i>A Premonition</i></h3> + + +<p>Fire Valley had been the home of the ape-men. On that earlier journey +Walt and Chet had seen them, had fought with the tribe, and had lived +for a time in their caves that made dark shadows high on the rock wall. +And they knew that the wood the ape-men used for their spears was well +suited for bows.</p> + +<p>Back in the caves they found discarded spears and some wood that had +been gathered for shafts. Tough, springy, flexible, it was a simple +matter for the men to convert these into serviceable weapons. Sinews +that the ape-men had torn from great beasts made the bowstrings, and +there were other slim shafts that they notched, then sharpened in the +fire.</p> + +<p>Yet, to Chet as he worked, came an overwhelming feeling of despondency. +To be fashioning crude weapons like these—preparing to defend +themselves as best they could from the dangers of this new, raw world! +No, it could not be true.... And he knew while he protested that it was +all in vain.</p> + +<p>He asked himself a score of times if his impulsive, desperate act had +not been a horrible mistake. And he found the same answer always: it was +all he could have done. Had he attacked Schwartzmann he would have been +killed—and Walt, too! Schwartzmann would have had Diane. Only some such +stupefying shock as the effect of the shattered control could have +checked Schwartzmann. No, there had been no alternative. And the thing +was done. Finally, irrevocably done!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet walked to the cave-mouth to stare down at the ship below him in the +valley. From the fumerole's throat came a steady, rolling cloud of +shimmering green; the ship was immersed in it. The voice of Herr Kreiss +spoke to him; the scientist, too, had come forward for another look.</p> + +<p>"If it were at the bottom of the sea," he said, "it would be no more +inaccessible. It is, in very fact, at the bottom of a sea—a sea of gas. +We could penetrate an aqueous medium more easily."</p> + +<p>"And," Chet pondered slowly, "if only I could have returned.... With +time—and metal bars—and tools that I could improvise—I might...."</p> + +<p>His voice trailed off. What use now to speculate on what he might have +done. The scientist concluded his thought:</p> + +<p>"You might have reconstructed the control—yes, I, too, had thought of +that. But now, the gas! No—we must put that out of our minds, unless we +would become insane."</p> + +<p>Chet turned back into the black and odorous cave. He saw Harkness who +was flexing a bow he was making for Diane; he was showing her how to +grip it and let the arrow run free.</p> + +<p>"Towahg was the last one I instructed," Walt was saying; and Chet knew +from the deep lines in his face that his attempt at casual talk was for +Diane's benefit; "I wonder how long Towahg remembered. He was a grateful +little animal."</p> + +<p>"Towahg?" queried Kreiss. "Who is Towahg?"</p> + +<p>"Ape-man," Harkness told him. "Friendly little rascal; he helped us out +when we were here before. He saved Diane's life, no question about that. +I showed him the use of the bow; jumped him ahead a hundred generations +in the art of self-defense."</p> + +<p>"And offense!" was Kreiss' comment. "There are certain drawbacks to +arming a potential enemy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Towahg is all right," Harkness reassured the scientist, "although +he may have taught the trick to others of the tribe who are not so +friendly."</p> + +<p>"Where are they? In what direction do they live?" Kreiss continued.</p> + +<p>"Want to make a social call?" Chet inquired. "You needn't mind those +little formalities up here, Doctor."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>But in the mental makeup of Herr Doktor Kreiss had been included no +trace of humor; he took Chet's remark at face value. And he answered in +words that echoed Chet's real thoughts and that took the smile from his +lips.</p> + +<p>"But, no," said Herr Kreiss; "it is the contrary that I desire. Here we +are; here we stay for the rest of our lives. I would wish those years to +be undisturbed. I have no wish to quarrel with what primitive +inhabitants this globe may hold. There is much to study, to learn. I +shall pass the years so.</p> + +<p>"And now," he questioned, "where is it that we go? Where shall be our +home?"</p> + +<p>Chet, too, looked inquiringly at Harkness. "You saw more of this country +than I did," he reminded him; "what would you suggest?"</p> + +<p>And, at sight of the serious, troubled eyes of Diane Delacouer, he +added:</p> + +<p>"We want a site for a high-grade subdivision, you understand. Something +good, something exclusive, where we can keep out the less desirable +element. Dianeville must appeal to the people who rate socially."</p> + +<p>At the puzzled look on the scientist's face, Chet caught Diane's glance +of unspoken amusement, and knew that his ruse had succeeded: he must not +let Diane get too serious. Harkness answered slowly:</p> + +<p>"I saw a valley; I think I can find it again. When Towahg guided me back +to the ship, when we were here before, I saw the valley beyond the third +range of hills. We go up Fire Valley; follow the stream that comes in +from the side—"</p> + +<p>"Water?" Chet questioned.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I saw a lake."</p> + +<p>"Cover? Trees? Not the man-eating ones?"</p> + +<p>"Everything: open ground, hills, woods. It looked good to me then; it +will look a lot better now," said Walt enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>"Walk faster," said Chet; "I'm stepping on your heels."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They reached the valley floor some distance above the fumerole and the +clouds of poison gas; and the march began. The attack of the flying +reptiles had taught them the danger of exposure in the open, and they +kept close to the trees that fringed the valley.</p> + +<p>Once Chet left them and vanished among the trees, to return with the +body of an animal slung over one shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Moon-pig!" he told the others. "Ask Doctor Kreiss if you want to know +its species and ancestry and such things. All I know is that it has got +hams, and I am going to roast a slice or so before we start."</p> + +<p>"Bow and arrow?" asked Harkness.</p> + +<p>Chet nodded. "I'm a dead shot," he admitted, "up to a range of ten feet. +This thing with the funny face stood still for me, so it looks as if we +won't starve."</p> + +<p>The sun had swung rapidly into the sky; it was now overhead. One half of +their first short day was gone. And Chet's suggestions of food met with +approval.</p> + +<p>"I can't quite get used to it," Diane admitted to the rest; "to think +that for us time has turned back. We have been dropped into a new and +savage world, and we must do as the savages of our world did thousands +of years ago. Now!—in nineteen seventy-three!"</p> + +<p>Chet removed a slab of meat from the hot throat of a tiny fumerole. +"Nineteen seventy-three on Earth," he agreed, "but not here. This is +about nineteen thousand B.C."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He called to Kreiss who was digging into a thin stratum of rock. The +scientist had a splinter of flint in his hand, and he was gouging at a +red outcropping layer.</p> + +<p>"Old John Q. Neanderthal, himself!" said Chet. "What have you found, +silver or gold? Whatever it is, you're forgetting to eat; better come +along." But Doctor Kreiss had turned geologist, it was plain.</p> + +<p>"Cinnabar," he said; "an ore of hydrargyrum!" His tone was excited, but +Chet refused to have his mind turned from practical things.</p> + +<p>"Is it good to eat?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"<i>Nein, nein!</i>" Kreiss protested. "It is what you call +mercury—quicksilver!"</p> + +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen," said Chet dryly, "I see where this man Kreiss is +to be a big help. He has discovered the site for the thermometer +factory. He will be organizing a Chamber of Commerce next."</p> + +<p>He left out a portion of the cooked meat for Kreiss' later attention, +and he and Harkness rolled a supply into leaf-wrapped packages and +stowed them in the pockets of their coats before they started on. Again +the little procession took up the march with Harkness leading.</p> + +<p>"Leave as little trail as possible," Harkness ordered. "We don't want to +shout to Schwartzmann where we have gone."</p> + +<p>They left the Valley of the Fires to follow the stream-bed in another +hollow between great hills. Chet found himself looking back at the +familiar flares with regret. Here was the only place on this new world +which was not utterly strange to his eyes. He continued to glance behind +him, long after the smoky fires were lost to sight; but he would not +admit even to himself that it was for another reason.</p> + +<p>Nineteen seventy-three!—and he was a man of the modern civilization. +Yet deep within him there stirred ancient instincts—racial memories, +perhaps. And, as he splashed through the little stream and bent to make +his way through strange-leafed vines and leprous-spotted trees, a +warning voice spoke inaudibly within his own mind—spoke as it might +have whispered to some ancestor scores of centuries dead.</p> + +<p>"You are followed!" it told him. "Listen!—there is one who follows on +the trail!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3><i>A Mysterious Rescuer</i></h3> + + +<p>Their way led through tangled growths of trees and vines that were like +unreal things of a dream. Unreal they were, too, in their strange degree +of livingness, for there were snaky tendrils that drew back as if in +fear at their approach and stalks that folded great, thorny leaves +protectingly about pulpy centers at the first touch of a hand. The world +of vegetation seemed strangely sentient and aware of their approach. +Only the leprous-white trees remained motionless; their red-veined +trunks towered high in air, and the sun of late afternoon shot +slantingly through a leafy roof overhead.</p> + +<p>Twice Chet let the others go on ahead while he slipped silently into +some rocky concealment and watched with staring, anxious eyes back along +their trail. But the little stream's gurgling whisper was the only +voice, and in all the weird jungle there was no movement but for the +unfolding of the vegetation where they had passed.</p> + +<p>"Nerves!" he reproached himself. "You're getting jumpy, and that won't +do." But once more he let the others climb on while he stepped quickly +behind a projecting rock over which he could look.</p> + +<p>Again there was silence; again the leaves unfolded their thorny +wrappings while vermiform tendrils crept across the ground or reached +tentatively into the air. And then, while the silence was unbroken, +while no evidence came through his feeble, human senses, something +approached.</p> + +<p>Neither sight nor sound betrayed it—this something, that came +noiselessly after—but a tell-tale plant whipped its leaves into their +former wrapping; a vine drew its hanging clusters of flowers sharply +into the air. The unseeing watchers of the forest had sensed what was +unheard and unseen, and Chet knew that his own inner warning had been +true.</p> + +<p>He waited to see this mysterious pursuer come into view; and after +waiting in vain he realized the folly of thinking himself concealed. He +glanced about him; every plant was drawn tightly upon itself. With +silent voices they were proclaiming his hiding place, warning this other +to wait, telling him that someone was hidden here.</p> + +<p>Chet's face, despite his apprehension, drew into a whimsical, silent +grin. "No chance to ambush him, whoever he is or whatever it is," he +told himself. "But that works two ways: he can't jump us when we're +prepared; not in daylight, anyway."</p> + +<p>And he asked himself a question he could not answer: "I wonder," he +whispered softly, "—I wonder what these plants will do at night!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Almost they could see the swift descent of the sun. Each flashing glint +of light through the dense growth came from lower down toward the +invisible horizon. It shone at last where Chet cast anxious glances +about upon a mound of rocks.</p> + +<p>Rough blocks of tremendous size had been left here from some seismic +disturbance. Like the ruins of a castle they were heaped high in air. +Even the tree growths stopped at their base, and above them was an +opening in the roof of tangled branches and leaves—a rough circle of +clear, blue sky.</p> + +<p>"How about making camp?" Chet asked. "This place looks good to me. I +would just as soon be up off the ground a bit."</p> + +<p>Harkness looked at the pile of rocks; glanced once toward the sun. +"Right!" he agreed. "This will do for our first camp."</p> + +<p>"You've named it," Chet told him as he scrambled to the top of a great +block. He extended a hand to Diane, standing tired and breathless at its +side.</p> + +<p>"Welcome to First Camp!" he told her. "Take this elevator for the first +ten floors."</p> + +<p>He drew her up to the top of the block. Harkness joined them, and Diane, +though she tried to smile in response to Chet, did not refuse their help +in making the ascent; the day's experiences had told on all of them.</p> + +<p>Thirty or forty feet above the ground was Chet's estimate. From the top +of their little fort they watched the shadows of night sweep swiftly +down. Scrub tree growths whose roots had anchored among the rocks gave +them shelter, while vines and mosses softened the hard outlines of the +labyrinth of stones.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet undid the package of meat and passed it out freely. There had been +scurryings and rustlings in the jungle growth that had reassured him in +the matter of food. Darkness fell as they ate; then it gave way to a new +flood of light.</p> + +<p>Golden light from a monstrous moon! It sent searching fingers through +rifts in the leafy roof, then poured itself over the edge of the opening +above in a cascade of glory. And, though each one of the four raised his +eyes toward that distant globe and knew it for the Earth, no word was +said; they ate their food in silence while the silent night wrapped them +about.</p> + +<p>Still in silence they prepared for the night. Chet and Harkness +improvised a bed for Diane in the shelter of a sheer-rising rock. They +tore off pieces of moss and stripped leaves from the climbing vines to +make a mattress for her; then withdrew with Kreiss to a short distance +while Chet told them of his suspicions.</p> + +<p>"Six hours of night," he said at last; "that means two hours for each of +us. We'll take turns standing guard."</p> + +<p>Harkness insisted upon being first. Chet flipped a coin with Kreiss and +drew the last turn of guard duty. He stretched himself out on a bit of +ground where vegetation had gained a foothold among the rocks.</p> + +<p>"It's going to take me a while to get used to these short days," he +said. "Six hours of daylight; six hours of night. This is a funny, +little world—but it's the only one we've got."</p> + +<p>The night air was softly warm; the day had been hard on muscles and +nerves. Chet stared toward the glorious ball of light that was their +moon. There were men and women there who were going about their normal +affairs. Ships were roaring through the air at their appointed levels; +their pilots were checking their courses, laughing, joking.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet resolutely withdrew his eyes. Think? Hell, no! That was one thing +that he must not do. He threw one arm across his eyes to shut out the +light that brought visions of a world he would never see again—that +emphasized the utter hopelessness of their position.... His next +conscious sensation was of his shoulder being shaken, while the hushed +voice of Doctor Kreiss said:</p> + +<p>"Your turn now, Herr Bullard; four hours have you slept."</p> + +<p>From Kreiss, Chet took the pistol with its seven precious shells. "All +quiet," Kreiss told him as he prepared to take Chet's place on the soft +leaves; "strange, flying things have I seen, but they do not come near. +And of your mysterious pursuer we have seen nothing. You imagined it, +perhaps."</p> + +<p>"I might have imagined it," Chet answered, "but don't try to tell me +that the plants did. I'll give this vegetation credit for some damned +uncanny powers but not for imagination—I draw the line there."</p> + +<p>He looked toward the highest point of rock and shook his head. "Too +plain a target if I'm up there," he argued, and took up his position in +the shadows instead.</p> + +<p>Once he moved cautiously toward the place they had prepared for Diane. +She was breathing softly and regularly. And on the rock at her side, +with only his jacket for a bed, lay Harkness. Their hands were clasped, +and Chet knew that the girl slept peacefully in the assurance of that +touch.</p> + +<p>"They don't make 'em any finer!" he was telling himself, and at the same +moment he stiffened abruptly to attention.</p> + +<p>Something was moving! Through and above the hushed noises of the night +had come a gliding sound. It was an indescribable sound, too elusive for +identification; and Chet, in the next instant, could not be sure of its +reality. He did not call, but swung alertly back on guard and slipped +from shadow to shadow as he made his way across the welter of rocks.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He stopped at last in strained listening to the silent night. One hand +upon a great stone block at his side steadied his body in tense, poised +concentration.</p> + +<p>From afar came a whistling note whose thin keenness was mingled with a +squeal of fright: some marauder of the night had found its prey. From +the leafy canopy above him voices whispered as the night wind set a +myriad leaves in motion. The thousand tiny sounds that blend to make the +silence of the dark! These he heard, and nothing more, while he forced +himself to listen beyond them. He followed with his eyes the creeping +flood of Earth-light that came slantingly now through the opening above +to half-illumine this rocky world; and then, in the far margin of that +light he found something on which his eyes focused sharply—something +that moved!</p> + +<p>Walt!—Kreiss—he must arouse them! A shout of alarm was in his +throat—a shout that was never uttered. For, from the darkness at his +back—not where this moving thing had been disclosed by the friendly +Earth-light, but from the place he had just left—came a scream of pure +terror. It was the shocking scream of a person roused from sleep in +utter fright, and the voice was that of Diane.</p> + +<p>"Walter!" she cried! "Walt!" There were other words that ended in a +strangling, choking sound, while a hoarse shout from Harkness merged +into a discord that rang horribly through the still night.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet was racing across the rocks; the pistol was in his hand. What +fearful thing would he face? What was it that had attacked? He forced +his leaden feet to carry him on in a succession of wild leaps. Forgotten +was the menace behind him, although he half saw, half sensed, a shadow +that moved faster than he along the upper rocks. He thought only of the +unknown horror that was ahead, that had drawn that despairing shriek +from the brave lips of Diane. The few seconds of his crossing were an +age in length.</p> + +<p>One last spring, one vivid instant while the Earth-light marked in sharp +distinctness the figure of a leaping man! It was Harkness, throwing +himself into the air, trying vainly to reach the struggling form of +Diane Delacouer. She was held high above his head, and she was wrapped +in the coils of a monster serpent—coils that finished in a +smoothly-rounded end. And Chet knew in that instant of horror that the +thing was headless!</p> + +<p>He was raising his pistol to fire; the long moments that seemed never to +end were in actuality an instant. Where should he aim? He must not +injure Diane.</p> + +<p>From the high rocks beside him came a glint of light, a straight line of +reflected brilliance as from a poised and slender shaft. It moved, it +flashed downward, it hissed angrily as it passed close to Chet's head. +It went on, a spear like a flash of light—on and down, to drive sharply +into the body of that serpent shape! And the coils, at that blow, +relaxed, while the figure of Diane Delacouer fell limply to the +outstretched, cushioning arms of the man below....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Had the weapon been thrown with uncanny accuracy, or had it been meant +for him? Chet could not be sure. But he knew that before him Walt +Harkness was bending protectingly above the unconscious figure of a +girl, while above and about the two there flailed a terrible, headless +thing that beat the rocks with sledge-hammer blows. It struck Harkness +once and sent him staggering, and once it came close to Chet so that his +hands closed upon it for an instant. And with the touch he knew that +this serpent was no animal shape, but worse—a creeping tendril from +some flesh-eating horror of the vegetable world.</p> + +<p>He dashed in beside Walt; he saw Kreiss hurrying across the rocks. They +had Diane safely out of reach of the threshing, striking thing before +the scientist arrived.</p> + +<p>The spear that had passed close to Chet had pinned this deadly thing to +earth; it tore loose as they watched, and the wounded tendril, with the +spear still hanging from its side, slid swiftly down the slope and into +the darkness at the foot of the rocks.</p> + +<p>Even the calm preciseness of Herr Kreiss was shattered by the attack. In +a confusion of words he stammered questions that went unanswered. Chet +thrust his pistol into Harkness' hands and was off down the rocky slope +toward the springs where they had got water for their evening meal. A +rolled leaf made a cup that he held carefully while he climbed back. A +few minutes later the pallid face of Diane showed a faint flush, while +she drew a choking breath.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Harkness held the girl's head in his arms; he was uttering words of +endearment that were mingled with vicious curses for the thing that had +escaped.</p> + +<p>"Never mind that," argued Chet; "that one won't bother us again, and +after this we will be on guard. But here is something to wonder about. +What about this spear? Where did it come from?"</p> + +<p>Harkness had eyes only for Diane's tremulous smile. "I am all right, +truly," she assured him. Only then did he turn in bewilderment to Chet.</p> + +<p>"I thought you threw it! But of course not; you couldn't; we didn't have +any spears."</p> + +<p>"No," said Chet; "I didn't throw it. I saw something moving over across +there"—he pointed toward the farther rocks where he had been—"I was +going to call when Diane's scream beat me to it. But what I saw wasn't +the thing that attacked her. And if it was the same one who threw that +spear he must have come across here in a hurry. And that spear, by the +way, came uncomfortably close to my head. I'm not at all sure but it was +meant for me."</p> + +<p>Harkness released his arms from Diane, for she was now able to sit +erect. He picked up the crude bow that had been beside him and fitted an +arrow to the string.</p> + +<p>"I'll go and have a look," he promised grimly. But Chet held him back.</p> + +<p>"You're not thinking straight; this shock has knocked you out of +control. If that little stranger with the spear meant to help us there's +no need of hunting him out; he doesn't seem anxious to show himself. And +if he meant it for me, he's still too good a shot to fool with in the +dark. You stick here until daylight."</p> + +<p>"That is good advice," Herr Kreiss agreed. "The night, it will soon be +gone." He was looking at the leafy opening overhead where the golden +light of a distant Earth was fading before the glow of approaching day.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3><i>The Sacrificial Altar</i></h3> + + +<p>"I am off the trail," Harkness admitted. "Towahg guided me before; I +wish he were here to do it now."</p> + +<p>They had pushed on for another short day, Harkness leading, and Chet +bringing up the rear and casting frequent backward glances in a vain +effort to catch a glimpse of some other moving figure.</p> + +<p>Smothered at times in a dense tangle of vegetation, where they sweated +and worked with aching muscles to tear a path; watching always for the +flaming, crimson buds on grotesque trees, whose limbs were waving, +undulating arms and from which came tendrils like the one that had +nearly ended Diane's life, they fought their way on.</p> + +<p>They had seen the buds on that earlier trip; had seen the revolting +beauty of them—the fleshy lips that opened above a pool of death into +which those reaching arms would drop any living thing they touched. They +kept well out of reach when a splash of crimson against the white trees +flashed in warning.</p> + +<p>Again they would traverse an open space, where outcropping rocks would +send Kreiss into transports of delight over their rich mineral contents. +But always their leader's eyes were turned toward a range of hills.</p> + +<p>"It is beyond there," he assured them, "if only we can reach it." +Harkness pointed to a scar on a mountainside where a crystal outcrop in +a sheer face of rock sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. "I remember +that—it isn't so very far—and we can look back down the valley from +there and see our ship."</p> + +<p>"But we'll never make it to-night," said Chet; "it's a case of making +camp again."</p> + +<p>They had gained an altitude of perhaps a thousand feet. No longer did +the jungle press so hard upon them. Even the single file that had been +their manner of marching could be abandoned, and Harkness drew Diane to +his side that he might lend her some of his own strength.</p> + +<p>Again the soft contours of the rolling ground had been disturbed: a +landslide in some other century had sent a torrent of boulders from the +high slopes above. Harkness threaded his way among great masses of +granite to come at last to an opening where massive monoliths formed a +gateway.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It was an entrance to another valley. They did not need to enter, for +they could skirt it and continue toward the high pass in the hills. But +the gateway seemed inviting. Harkness took Diane's hand to help her +toward it; the others followed.</p> + +<p>The fast sinking sun had buried itself behind a distant range, and long +shadows swept swiftly across the world, as if the oncoming night were +alive—as if it were rousing from the somnolence of its daytime sleep +and reaching out with black and clutching hands toward a fearful, +waiting world.</p> + +<p>"No twilight here," Chet observed; "let's find a hide-out—a cave, by +choice—where we can guard the entrance and—"</p> + +<p>A gasp from Diane checked him. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "It is not real! +<i>C'est impossible!</i>"</p> + +<p>Chet had been busied with the matter of a secure footing; he looked up +now and took a step forward where Harkness and Diane stood motionless in +a gateway of stone. And he, too, stopped as if stunned by the weird +beauty of the scene.</p> + +<p>A valley. Its length reached out before them to end some half mile away. +Sides that might once have sloped evenly seemed weathered to a series of +great steps, and an alternation of striations in black and white made a +banding that encircled the entire oval. Each step was dead-black stone, +each riser was snow-white marble; and the steps mounted up and up until +they resembled the sides of a great bowl. In the center, like an altar +for the worship of some wild, gargantuan god, was a stepped pyramid of +the same startling black and white. Banded like the walls, it rose to +half their height to finish in a capstone cut square and true.</p> + +<p>An altar, perhaps; an arena, beyond a doubt, or so it seemed to Chet. He +was first to put the impression in words.</p> + +<p>"A stadium!" he marvelled; "an arena for the games of the gods!"</p> + +<p>"The gods," Diane breathed softly, "of a wild, lost world—" But Chet +held to another thought.</p> + +<p>"Who—who built it?" he asked. "It's tremendous! There is nothing like +it on Earth!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Only Kreiss seemed oblivious to the weird beauty of the spectacle. To +Professor Kreiss dolomite and black flint rock were dolomite and black +flint; interesting specimens—a peculiar arrangement—but nature must be +permitted her little vagaries.</p> + +<p>"Who built it?" He repeated Chet's question and gave a short laugh +before answering in words. "The rains, Herr Bullard, and the winds of +ages past. Yes, yes! A most remarkable example of erosion—most +remarkable! I must return this way some time and give it my serious +attention."</p> + +<p>Harkness had not spoken; he was shaking his head doubtfully at Kreiss' +words. "I am inclined to agree with Chet," he said slowly. "But who +could have built a gigantic work like this? Have there been former +civilisations here?"</p> + +<p>He straightened up and shook himself free from the effects of the wild, +barbaric scene.</p> + +<p>"And you needn't come back," he told Kreiss; "you can have a look now, +to-night, by moonlight. We can't go on. I think we'll be safest on that +big altar rock; nothing will get near us without our knowing."</p> + +<p>Chet felt Diane Delacouer's hand on his arm; her other hand was gripping +at Harkness. The shiver that passed through her was plainly perceptible. +"I'm afraid," she confessed in a half-whisper; "there's something about +it: I do not like it. There is evil there—danger. We should not enter."</p> + +<p>Walt Harkness gently patted the hand that trembled on his arm. "I don't +wonder that you are all shot to pieces," he assured her. "After last +night, you've a right to be. But I really believe this is the safest +spot we can find."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He stepped forward beyond the great stones that were like a gateway from +one wildly impossible world to another. A rock slide, it seemed, had +smoothed off the great steps from where they stood, for there was a +descending slope that gave easy footing. He took one step, and then +another, to show the girl how foolish were her fears; then he started +back. In the fading light something had flashed from the jungle they had +left. Across the rocky expanse it came, to bury itself in the loose soil +and rubble, not two paces in advance of the startled man. An arrow!—and +it stood quivering in silent warning on the path ahead.</p> + +<p>Chet quietly unslung his bow where he had looped it over one shoulder, +but Harkness motioned him back. The pistol was in his hand, but after a +moment's hesitation he returned that to his belt. His voice was low and +tense.</p> + +<p>"Listen," he said: "we're no match for them with our bows. They are +hidden; they could pick us off as we came. And I can't waste a single +detonite shell on them while they keep out of sight. We can't go back; +we must go ahead. We will all make a break for it and run as fast as we +can toward the big altar—the pyramid. From there we can stand them off +for a while. And we will go now and take them by surprise."</p> + +<p>He seized Diane firmly by one arm and steadied her as they dashed down +the slope. Chet and the professor were close behind. Each spine must +have tingled in anticipation of a shower of arrows. Chet threw one hasty +look toward the rear; the air was clear; no slender shafts pursued them. +But from the cover of the jungle growth came a peculiar sound, almost +like a human in distress—a call like a moaning cry.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They slackened their breath-taking pace and approached the great pyramid +more slowly. As they drew near, the great steps took on their real size; +each block was taller even than Chet, and he had to reach above his head +to touch the edge of the stone.</p> + +<p>They walked quickly about; found a place where the great blocks were +broken down, where the slope was littered with debris from the +disintegrating stone that had sifted down from above. They could climb +here; it was almost like a crudely formed set of more normally sized +steps. They made their way upward while Chet counted the courses of +stone. Six, then eight—ten—and here Harkness called a halt.</p> + +<p>"This—will do," he gasped between labored breaths. "Safe enough here. +Chet, you and Kreiss—spread out—watch from all—sides."</p> + +<p>The pilot was not as badly winded as Harkness who bad been helping +Diane. "Stay here," he told Harkness; "you too, Kreiss; make yourselves +comfortable. I will go on up to the top. The moon—or the Earth, +rather—will be up pretty soon; I can keep watch in all directions from +up there. We've got to get some sleep; can't let whoever it is that is +trailing us rob us of our rest or we'll soon be no good. I'll call you +after a while."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The great capstone projected beyond the blocks that supported it; that +much had been apparent from the ground. But Chet was amazed at the size +of the monolith when he stood at last on the broad step over which this +capstone projected like a roof.</p> + +<p>The shadows were deep beneath, and Chet, knowing that he could never +draw himself to the top of the great slab whose under side he could +barely touch, knew also that he must watch from all sides. The shadowed +floor beneath the big stone made a shelter from any watchful eyes out +there in the night; here would be his beat as sentry. He walked slowly +to the side of the pyramid, then around toward the front.</p> + +<p>It was the front to Chet because it faced the entrance, the rocky +gateway, where they had come in. He did not expect to find that side in +any way differing from the first. Each side was twenty paces in length; +Chet measured them carefully, astounded still at the size of the +structure.</p> + +<p>"Carved by the winds and rains," he said, repeating the opinion of +Professor Kreiss. "Now, I wonder.... It seems too regular, too much as +if—" He paused in his thoughts as he reached the corner; waited to +stare watchfully out into the night; turned the corner, and, still in +shadow, moved on. "Too much as if nature had had some help!"</p> + +<p>His meditation ended as abruptly as did his steady pacing: he was +checked in midstride, one foot outstretched, while he struggled for +balance and fought to keep from taking that forward step.</p> + +<p>In the shelter of the capstone was a darker shadow; there was a +blackness there that could mean only the opening of a cave—a cavern, +whose regular outlines and square-cut portal dismissed for all time the +thought of a natural opening in the rock. But it was not this alone that +had brought the man up short in his stealthy stride: it had jolted him +as if he had walked head on into the great monolith itself. It was not +this but a flat platform before the cave, a raised stone surface some +two feet above the floor. And on it, pale and unreal in the first light +of the rising Earth was a naked, human form—a face that grimaced with +distorted features.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet had known the ape-men on that earlier visit: he knew that while +most of them were heavily covered with hair there were some who were +almost human in their hairlessness. The body before him was one of +these.</p> + +<p>It lay limply across the stone platform, the listless head hanging +downward over one edge. It had high cheekbones, a retreating forehead, +glassy, staring eyes, and grinning teeth that projected from between +loose lips. And the evening wind stirred the black, stringy hair while +it touched lightly upon the ends of a short length of vine about the +ape-man's neck, where only the ends could be seen, for the rest of the +pliant vine was sunk deeply into the flesh of the neck. It had been the +instrument of death; the ape-man had been strangled.</p> + +<p>Chet tore his fascinated eyes from the revolting features of that purple +face; he forced himself to look beyond at what else might be on this +sacrificial stone. And, as he saw the assortment of fruit that was there +on a green mat of leaves, the surprise was even greater than would have +followed a repetition of the first discovery.</p> + +<p>A naked, murdered man!—and ripe fruit! What was the meaning of this? +Chet asked himself a score of questions and found the answer to none. +But one thing he knew now beyond a doubt: Herr Professor Kreiss had been +wrong. This was truly an altar for the performance of unknown and savage +rites, and the altar itself and the whole encircling arena had been +created by some intelligence. People—things—embodied intelligences of +some sort had carved these stones. Chet was oppressed by a feeling of +impending danger.</p> + +<p>His thoughts came back sharply to the things on the stone: the absurdly +contrasting exhibits: a naked body and fruit! But were they so +different? he asked himself, and knew in the same instant that they were +not. They were one and the same; they differed only in kind. They were +both food!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>From the darkness beyond came a shuffling of feet. From the black +passage someone was coming—drawing near to the portal—and coming +slowly, steadily through the dark. The pad of animal feet would have +been unnerving—or the stealthy footfalls of an approaching savage—but +this was neither; it was a scuffing, shuffling sound. The sweat stood +out in beads on Chet's forehead and a trickle of it reached his eyes. He +dashed it away with the back of his hand while he drew silently into the +shadow of the overhanging stone. He held his breath as he watched in the +darkness.</p> + +<p>His pistol came noiselessly from his belt. Yet, how could he fire it? he +asked himself in a moment of frantic planning. Only seven cartridges +left!—they would need them all; and to fire now would bring more +enemies upon them. He returned the gun to his belt and stooped to weigh +a fragment of stone in his hand: this must serve him as a weapon.</p> + +<p>The dragging footsteps were near, where the passage mouth loomed black. +The light of a distant Earth, struck slantingly across to leave this +face of the pyramid in half-darkness. From that far and peaceful world +the light poured floodingly down; it shone in under the projecting +capstone; it struck upon the raised altar and revealed in ghastliest +detail the gruesome offering there. And surely the strangest sight of +all that that Earth-light disclosed was when it shone golden upon a +black and hairy body of a beast that was half man, half ape. The +creature moved slowly forward, walking erect, with its furry arms +stretched gropingly ahead. In the full light it went shuffling on like +one who is blind or who walks in the dark, until it stopped before the +altar stone and stood rigidly waiting.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Waiting for what? Chet was making demands upon his reason that was +already taxed beyond its capacity. He heard nothing, and he knew with +entire certainty that there was no audible call, yet he sensed the +message at the instant the ape-man moved.</p> + +<p>"Flesh!" said the message. "Bring flesh! Bring it now!"</p> + +<p>And, with glazed, wide-open eyes which plainly saw, but could not +comprehend, the ape-thing stared at the altar-stone. It bent forward, +took the fresh-killed body by the throat, and slung it across one +shoulder as easily as a child might handle a doll; then it turned and +vanished once more into the waiting dark.</p> + +<p>"God!" breathed Chet when the vision had passed. "God help us! What does +it mean?"</p> + +<p>He took one backward step, then another, and made his way in silence +along the path he had come. He must get back to the others to tell them +of what he had seen; to help them to flee from this place of horror that +was more terrible for its qualities of the unknown.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He gave his companions the story in staccato sentences. "And the ape-man +was unconscious," he concluded; "he was an automaton only, directed by +another brain. I know it. I got that message, I tell you; it was radioed +by someone or by something—sent direct to that big ape's brain.</p> + +<p>"Now let's get out of here. Diane had it right when she said that the +place was evil. But she didn't make it strong enough. It's foul with +evil! It's damned! Come on, I'm leaving now!"</p> + +<p>Chet's whispered words were uttered with all the emphasis that horror +could instill. He knew that he spoke truth. But he could not know how +mistaken was his last positive assertion.</p> + +<p>"I'm leaving now!" Chet had said, and how desperately he wanted to put +this place behind him only he himself could know. He took one step +toward the place where they could descend; then Harkness' hand pulled +him roughly to his knees.</p> + +<p>"Down!" Harkness was commanding; "get down, Chet! They're coming—a +swarm of them—through the gate!"</p> + +<p>The pilot heard them before he saw them. They began a chant as they +poured through the entrance, a weird, wailing note like the cry of a +stricken animal that cries on and on. Then he saw the swarm.</p> + +<p>They came in a cataract of black bodies that spilled through that stone +portal and down the long slope. They formed a ragged column on the +ground and came on toward the pyramid, where, unseen, three men and a +girl from another world were crouching.</p> + +<p>"Back!" Chet ordered in a whisper. "Keep low—in the shadow! Get around +in back of the pyramid. We can make a run for it!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They crept swiftly along the rocky step where the deep angle was in +shadow. They reached the rear slope where Chet had climbed. And each one +knew without the speaking of a word that retreat was not to be +considered. The open arena!—the high bank of great steps in their bold +markings of black and white! They could never hope to scale them; they +would never even reach them alive, for the savage horde would overwhelm +them before they had crossed the Earth-lit ground.</p> + +<p>"All right," said Chet in acceptance of their unspoken thoughts, "up it +is! Here's a hand, Diane—up you go! Now watch your step, and climb as +if a thousand devils were after you, for there's all of that!"</p> + +<p>The wave of bodies was washing against the pyramid's base when Chet drew +Kreiss, the last of the four, into the shadow of the huge capstone. The +noise of their climbing had been covered by the wailing cry that came +piercing shrilly from the throng far below. And they had been unseen, +Chet was sure; unless the one furtive shadow that he had seen draw away +from the crowd and slip around toward the rear of the pyramid meant that +some one of the tribe had found their trail.</p> + +<p>From the front of the shadowed top came the shuffling of heavy, dragging +feet on the stone. It was the same as before. Chet had held some vague +idea of fighting off the horde from the top of the steps, for here was +the only place where they could ascend. He had forgotten this other one +for the moment, and he realized in a single flashing instant that here +was a worse menace than the pack.</p> + +<p>Only one, it was true, one ape-man who would be no match for them! But +Chet remembered those blind, staring eyes and the message that had come +to him. Those eyes had seen the horrible food upon the altar; some other +brain had seen it too. The ape-man was an instrument only; there was +some hidden horror in back of him, something that saw with his eyes, +something that must never see them, cowering and huddled in the shadow +of that great stone.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The shuffling was coming from the right; Chet clutched silently at the +others to draw them away and toward the left. They retreated to the +corner, turned it, and went on toward the front; then stopped in silent +waiting where the shadow ended. The front, where the altar stood, was in +the full glare of Earth.</p> + +<p>For the moment they were safe, but what of the time when the ape-man +returned? He had descended to the ground; when he climbed back again +would he retrace his steps? Or would he come this side and trap them +here where the light of their own Earth made any forward step +impossible?</p> + +<p>Below them the wailing ceased. Chet leaned forward to see the black +horde, silent and motionless. Approaching them was the "big ape" he had +seen at the altar. His hands were reaching blindly before him and he +moved as would a human when entranced.</p> + +<p>He reached the huddled blacks; his groping hands hovered hesitantly +above a cowering, hairy form. Presently the ape-man passed on to the +next, and his hands rested on the creature's face. From the massed +figures there rose a moan, and Chet felt poignantly the animal misery of +it. Suddenly all emotion was transformed to startled attention. From the +slope at the rear had come the rattle of loose stones!</p> + +<p>Far below, in plain view, was the one who had descended—Chet knew that +his eyes could never mistake that blind, groping figure—but from the +slope they could not see, from around the far edge of the pyramid, a +clicking stone sent a repeated warning.</p> + +<p>Chet laid a hand on Harkness' arm. "Get set, Walt!" he warned. "Get +ready for trouble. There's something coming: it may come this way!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3><i>In the Shadow of the Pyramid</i></h3> + + +<p>They waited, unbreathing, listening to the occasional stealthy sounds. +The pistol was still in Chet's belt; the three men were crouched before +Diane, in their hands the crude weapons that they had made.</p> + +<p>And then the sounds ceased. The menace seemed to have passed, or to be +withheld; the men had been tensely prepared for some minutes when Diane +spoke softly.</p> + +<p>"Look below," she whispered; "the savages! That big one seems to be +choosing them—selecting some from among them."</p> + +<p>Chet forced himself to look away from that corner of the rocky step +where he had been expecting an unknown enemy to appear, and he stared +below them where the Earth-light from the fully risen globe swept across +the arena.</p> + +<p>He was amazed at the numbers of the savages that the full light +disclosed. There were hundreds—yes, thousands—of them, he estimated. +And they were standing in black, clotted masses, standing awed and +silent in a world that was all black and white in a dazzling contrast, +while there passed among them one with outstretched arms.</p> + +<p>The black, hairy hands would hover over a cowering head; the eyes, Chet +knew, were staring widely, blindly, at the shivering creature before +him. And if Chet's surmise was correct, there was another—a hidden, +mysterious something—who was taking the message of those eyes as the +ape-man's brain transmitted it; taking it and sending back instructions +as to which victims should be selected.</p> + +<p>Often the hands passed on; but soon they would descend to touch the +savage face of another in the assemblage. At the touch the selected one +jerked sharply erect, then walked stiffly from the ranks to join a group +that was waiting.</p> + +<p>At last there were nearly a hundred savage figures in that group, all +grown men, young and in the full flood of their savage strength. No +women were chosen, nor children, though there were countless little +black bodies huddled with the others.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>A prolific race, indeed, Chet thought, and this human automaton down +there was leaving the women to produce more victims; leaving the +children till they were fully grown, taking only the best and strongest +of the pack—for what?</p> + +<p>His question was answered in part in the next instant. While the wailing +cry quivered again upon the air, the chosen hundred took up their +somnambulistic walk. The messenger from the pyramid came after like a +herdsman driving cattle to the slaughter. They passed from Chet's view +as they rounded the rear of the pyramid, and then he heard the scuff and +clatter of their ascent.</p> + +<p>No need to explain to the others; each of the four saw all too clearly +their predicament. From the rear, coming steadily on, was the savage +throng; before them, plainly visible from below, was the lighted edge +where the altar rock stood. To step out there in full view would bring +the whole pack upon them; to drop down to another level would expose +them as plainly. Only in the dark shelter of the projecting capstone +were they hidden from the upturned faces now massed solidly about.</p> + +<p>Their problem was solved for them by the sight of a savage body, black, +ragged with unkempt tufts of hair—another!—a score of them! They were +rounding the corner of the pyramid and walking stiffly toward them, +pressing upon them.</p> + +<p>And the arrow on the drawn bow in Chet's hand was never loosed, for each +savage face was wide-eyed and devoid of expression; the ape-men neither +saw nor felt them. They were hypnotized, as Chet was suddenly aware; +they knew only that they must follow the mental instructions that were +guiding them on.</p> + +<p>The black, animal bodies were upon them. Chet came from the stupefying +wonder that had claimed them all and sprang to shield the group from the +steady advance. Harkness was beside him, and an instant later, Kreiss; +Diane was at their backs. And the weight of the advancing bodies swept +them irresistibly backward, out into the light, along the wide step +toward the passage that yawned darkly under the projecting cap.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There was no checking the avalanche of bodies—no resisting them: the +men were carried along; it was all they could do to keep their footing. +Harkness sprang backward to take Diane in his arms and retreat with her +before the advancing horde. Chet was waiting for an outcry from below, +for some indication that despite the mass of bodies that smothered them, +their presence had been observed. But only the wailing cry persisted.</p> + +<p>There was another advancing column that had circled the other side, and +now both groups were meeting at the passageway. Chet gripped at the +figure of Kreiss who was being swept helpless toward the dark vault and +he dragged him back. The two fought their way out toward the front and +saw Harkness doing the same.</p> + +<p>"The altar," gasped Chet; "up on the altar!" And he saw Harkness swing +Diane up on the stone, then turn and extend a helping hand toward the +two men.</p> + +<p>Safe in the sanctuary of this altar dedicated to some deity that they +could never imagine, they crouched close to its blood-clotted surface, +and still there was no change in the cry from below.</p> + +<p>"Let them all go in," Harkness whispered. "Then follow them into the +shadow. There will no more come up here, I imagine. We will make our +escape after a bit."</p> + +<p>The black mouth of the passage had swallowed the ape-men by solid +scores, and now only some stragglers were left. Harkness was speaking in +quick, whispered orders:</p> + +<p>"Follow the last ones. Keep stooped over so they won't spot us from +below. Wait in the darkness of the entrance."</p> + +<p>Chet saw him crouch low as he crept from the stone. Diane followed, then +Kreiss; and Chet next, close behind a shambling ape-figure that slunk +into the darkness of the passageway.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>That it was a passage Chet had not the least doubt. It had taken in +these scores of savage figures, taken them somewhere; but where it led +or why these poor stunned creatures had been chosen he could not know. +Yet he remembered the one message he had caught: "Flesh! Bring flesh!" +It had meant only one thing: it was food that was wanted—human food! +And the fetid stench that was wafted from the darkness of this place of +mystery and horror, that made him reel back and put a hand to his +revolted lips, would not have encouraged him, even had he had any desire +to learn the answer to the puzzle.</p> + +<p>Diane was half-crouching; she was choking with the foul air. Harkness +spoke gaspingly as he took her by the arm:</p> + +<p>"Outside, for God's sake!... Horrible!... Get Diane outside—try lying +down—we may be out of sight!"</p> + +<p>But this time he did not follow his own instructions. He rose erect, +instead, and stood swaying as if dazed; and Chet saw that before him, +outlined against the lighted opening in the rock, was the messenger he +had seen.</p> + +<p>Black against the bright Earth-light, his features were lost; no +expression could be seen. But his eyes, that were dead and white like +the upturned belly of a fish, came suddenly to life. They glared from +the dark face with a light that came almost visibly from them to the +staring eyes of Walt Harkness. Chet saw Harkness stiffen, one upraised +hand falling woodenly to his side; a cry of warning was strangled in his +throat, and then the glaring eyes passed on to the face of Diane.</p> + +<p>Chet had forgotten this messenger from the pyramid's hidden horror. If +he had thought of him at all he had assumed that he had passed in with +the other crowding ape-men; he was one like them, undistinguishable from +the rest. And now the savage figure was before them in terrifying +reality.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The eyes passed on to Kreiss. Then the ugly face swung toward Chet, and, +as their eyes met, it seemed to Chet that a blow had crashed stunningly +upon his brain. He tried to move—he knew that he must move. He must +reach for his bow, must leap upon this hulking brute and beat at the +glaring eyes with his bare fists. And his muscles that he tried to rouse +to action might have changed to stone, so unresponsive were they, and +unmoving.</p> + +<p>The hairy hands reached out and touched Harkness. They passed on and +lingered upon the blanched features of the girl, and Chet raged inwardly +at his inability to resist and her utter helplessness to draw away. Then +Kreiss; and again Chet's turn. And, with the touching of those rough +animal hands, he felt that a contact had been established with some +distant force—a something that communicated with him, that sent +thoughts which his brain phrased in words.</p> + +<p>"Curious!" said those thoughts. "How exceedingly curious! We shall be +interested in learning more. We shall learn all we can in one way and +another of this new race. We shall dismember them slowly, all but the +woman: we find her strangely attractive.... You will bring them to us at +once."</p> + +<p>And Chet knew that the instructions were for the messenger whose hands +came stiffly upward to point the way; while, with a portion of his mind +that was functioning freely, Chet raged as he saw Diane take the first +stiff, involuntary step forward. Then Harkness and Kreiss! and he knew +that he too must follow, knew himself to be as helpless as the driven +brutes he had seen herded down below. And then, with the same mind that +was still able to comprehend the messages of his own eyes and ears, he +knew that from behind the savage figure there had come a sound.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>His senses were alert, sharpened to an abnormal degree; the almost +silent footfall otherwise could never have been heard.</p> + +<p>The raised hand swung toward him; he knew that he must turn and follow +the others to whatever awaited.... But the hand paused! Then swiftly the +savage figure swung to face toward the entrance, and those blazing eyes, +as Chet knew, were a match for any opponent.</p> + +<p>But the eyes never found what they looked for and the quick swing of the +big ape-body was never completed. In the portal of light there was +framed a naked figure which sprang as if from nowhere, squat, savage and +ape-like, but hairless. Its arms were upraised; the hands held a bow; +and the twang of the bowstring came as one with the ripping thud of a +shaft that was tearing through flesh.</p> + +<p>The savage fell in mid-turn; and it seemed as if the blazing light of +the terrible eyes must have flicked out before the breath of Death. And, +protruding from the thick neck, was the shaft of a crude arrow.... There +were others that flashed, thudding and quivering, into the body that +jerked with each impact, then lay still, a darker blot on the floor of a +dark cave.</p> + +<p>Chet was breathless; it was an instant before he realized that he was +free, that the hypnotic bonds that had bound him were loosed. It was +another instant before he sensed that his companions were still +marching—trudging stiffly, woodenly off through the dark. He bounded +after, heedless of bruising walls; he followed where the sound of their +scuffling feet marked their progress to a sure doom.</p> + +<p>There were stairs; how he sensed them Chet could not have told. But he +paused, hesitated a moment, then found the first step and half ran, half +fell, through the utter darkness of the pit into which they had gone.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The odors that had seemed the utmost of vileness now came to him a +hundred times worse. They tore at his throat with a strangling grip, and +he was weak with nausea when he crashed upon a figure that he knew, was +Kreiss. Then on, to grasp at Diane and Harkness; to drag them to a +standstill in the darkness that pressed upon them smotheringly, while he +shook them, beat at them, shouted their names.</p> + +<p>"Diane! Walt! Wake up! Wake up, I tell you! We're going back!"</p> + +<p>He swung them around; forced them to face about.</p> + +<p>"Walt, for God's sake, wake up! Diane! Kreiss!" The deep, sobbing breath +of Diane was the first encouraging response.</p> + +<p>Then: "Free!" she gasped. "I'm free!" And Harkness and Kreiss both +mumbled incoherently as they came from their hypnotic stupor.</p> + +<p>"How—" began Harkness, "how did you—" But Chet waited for no +explanation of the seeming miracle that had just taken place.</p> + +<p>"Go back," he told them, "—back up the steps!" And a babble of cries +that were terrifying in their inhuman savagery welled up from the depths +of the pyramid to urge them on.</p> + +<p>The body of their captor was prone on the floor above: they stepped over +it to reach the entrance. No figure showed there now; Chet stooped low +and stepped forth cautiously that the surging horde on the ground might +not see him. The others followed. He felt Harkness' hand in a sudden +warning grip upon him.</p> + +<p>"Chet!" said Harkness, "there is something there in the shadow—there!" +And Chet saw, even before Walt pointed, a wriggling figure that crept +toward them.</p> + +<p>He struck down the bow that Kreiss had raised, and a ray of light came +through a jagged niche in the rock above to fall upon the face of the +one who drew near.</p> + +<p>Abjectly, in utmost humility, the naked figure crept toward their feet, +and the savage face that was raised to theirs was wreathed in a +distorted smile.</p> + +<p>Beside him, Chet felt Harkness struggling to speak. In wondering tones +that were almost unbelieving, Harkness choked out one word.</p> + +<p>"Towahg!" he said. "Towahg!"</p> + +<p>And the thick lips in that upraised face echoed proudly:</p> + +<p>"Towahg! Me come!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3><i>Happy Valley</i></h3> + + +<p>"Towahg!" Chet marveled; "you little devil! It's you who has been +following us all this time!"</p> + +<p>"I wish he hadn't been so bashful," Harkness added. "If he had come out +and showed himself he would have saved us a lot of trouble." But +Harkness stepped forward and patted the black shoulder that quivered +with joy beneath his touch. "Good boy, Towahg!" he told the grinning +ape-man.</p> + +<p>Monkey-like, Towahg had to imitate, and this time he gave a reproduction +of his own acts. He wriggled toward the entrance of the passage, peered +around the edge, and seemed to see something that made him draw back. +Then he fitted an arrow to his bow and springing upright, let it fly.</p> + +<p>So realistic was the performance that Chet actually expected to see +another enemy transfixed, but the squat figure of Towahg was doing a +dance of victory beside the prostrate figure of the first and only +victim. Chet reached out with one long arm and swung the exulting savage +about. He heard Herr Kreiss expressing his opinion in accents of +disgust.</p> + +<p>"Ugly little beast!" Kreiss was saying. "And murderous!"</p> + +<p>There was no time to lose: the sound of scrambling bodies was coming +nearer from the dark pit beyond. Yet, even then, Chet found an instant +to defend the black.</p> + +<p>"Damned lucky for us that he is a murderer!" he told Kreiss. Then to +Towahg:</p> + +<p>"Listen, you little imp of hell! You don't know more than ten words, but +get this!"</p> + +<p>Chet was standing where the Earth-light struck upon him; he pointed into +the dark where the sounds of pursuit grew loud, and he shook his head +and screwed his features into an expression that was supposed to depict +fear. "No! No!" he said.</p> + +<p>He dragged the savage forward and pointed cautiously to the milling +horde below, and repeated, "No! No!" Then he included them all in a wave +of his hand and pointed back and out into the night. And Towahg's +unlovely features were again twisted into what was for him a smile, as +he grunted some unintelligible syllables and motioned them to follow.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It had taken but an instant. Towahg was scurrying in advance; he sped +like a shadow of a passing cloud, and behind him the others followed, +crouching low in the shelter of the deep-cut step. No figures were below +them at the rear of the pyramid, and Chet reached for one of Diane's +arms, while Harkness took the other. Between them they held her from +falling while they followed the dark blur that was Towahg leaping +noiselessly down the long slope.</p> + +<p>No time for caution now. The savage ahead of them leaped silently; his +flying feet hardly disturbed a stone. But beneath them, Chet felt a +small landslide of rubble that came with them in their flight. And above +the noise of their going came a sound that sped them on—the rising +shout of wonder from the unseen multitude in front, and a chorus of +animal cries from the pyramid's top.</p> + +<p>Chet saw a blot of black figures at the top of the slope just as they +felt firm ground beneath their feet. They followed where Towahg led in a +swift race across the open arena toward the great steps at the rear. +Black and white in strongly contrasting bands, the rock reared itself in +a barrier that, to Chet, seemed hopelessly unsurmountable. He felt that +they had come to the end of their tether.</p> + +<p>"Trapped!" he told himself, and wondered at Towahg's leading them into +such a cul-de-sac, even while he knew that retreat in other directions +was cut off. The pursuit was gaining on them; savages from beyond the +pyramid had sighted them now in the full light of Earth, and their +yelping cry came mingled with hoarse growls as the full pack took the +trail. Ahead of them, Towahg, reaching the base of the first white step, +was dancing with excitement beside a narrow cleft in the rocks. He led +the way through the small passage. And Harkness, bringing up the rear, +took the detonite pistol in his hand.</p> + +<p>"One shell! We'll have to waste it!" he said, and raised the weapon.</p> + +<p>Its own explosion was slight, but the sound of the bursting cartridge +when its grain of detonite struck the rocks made a thunderous noise as +it echoed between the narrow walls.</p> + +<p>"That will check the pursuit," Harkness exulted; "that will make them +stop and think it over."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It was another hour before Towahg slackened his pace. He had led them +through jungle that to them seemed impassable; had shown them the hidden +trails and warned them against spiked plants whose darts were needle +sharp. At last he led them to a splashing stream where they followed him +through the trackless water for a mile or more.</p> + +<p>The mountain with the white scar was their beacon. Harkness pointed it +out to their guide and made him understand that that was where they +would go.</p> + +<p>And, when night was gone, and the first rays of the rising sun made a +quickly changing kaleidoscope of the colorful east, they came at last to +a barren height. Behind them was a maze of valleys and rolling hills; +beyond these was a place of smoke, where red fires shone pale in the +early light, and set off at one side was a shape whose cylindrical +outline could be plainly seen. It caught the first light of the sun to +reflect it in sparkling lines and glittering points, and every +reflection came back to them tinged with pale green, by which they knew +that the gas was still there.</p> + +<p>Chet turned from a prospect that could only be depressing. His muscles +were heavy with the poisons of utter fatigue; the others must be the +same, but for the present they were safe, and they could find some +position that they could defend. Towahg would be a valuable ally. And +now their lives were ahead of them—lives of loneliness, of exile.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Harkness, too, had been staring back toward that ship that was their +only link with their lost world; his eyes met Chet's in an exchange of +glances that showed how similar were their thoughts. And then, at sound +of a glad laugh from Diane, their looks of despair gave place to +something more like shame, and Chet shifted his own eyes quickly away.</p> + +<p>"It is beautiful, Walter," Diane was saying: "the lovely valley, the +lake, the three mountain peaks like sentinels. It is marvelous. And we +will be happy there, all of us, I know it.... Happy Valley. There—I've +named it! Do you like the name, Walter?"</p> + +<p>And Chet saw Harkness' reply in a quick pressure of his hand on one of +Diane's. And he knew why Walt looked suddenly away without giving her an +answer in words.</p> + +<p>"Happy Valley!" Diane of all the four had shown the ability to rise +above desperate physical weariness, above a despondent mood, to dare +look ahead instead of backward and to find hope for happiness in the +prospect.</p> + +<p>Off at one side, Chet saw Kreiss; the scientist's weariness was +forgotten while he ran like a puppy after a bird, in pursuit of a +floating butterfly that drifted like a wind-blown flower. And Harkness, +unspeaking, was still clinging to Diane's firm hand.... Yes, thought +Chet, there was happiness to be found here. For himself, it would be +more than a little lonesome. But, he reflected, what happiness was there +in any place or thing more than the happiness we put there for +ourselves?... Happy Valley—and why not? He dared to meet the girl's +eyes now, and the smile on his lips spread to his own eyes, as he echoed +his thoughts:</p> + +<p>"Why not?" he asked. "Happy Valley it is; we just didn't recognize it at +first."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They came to the lake at last; its sparkling blue had drawn them from +afar off: it was still lovelier as they came near. Here was the same +steady west wind that had driven the gas upon their ship. But here it +ruffled the velvet of waving grasses that swept down to the margin of +the lake. There was a higher knoll that rose sharply from the shore, and +back of all were forests of white-trunked trees.</p> + +<p>Chet had seen none of the crimson buds, nor threatening tendrils since +entering the valley. And Towahg confirmed his estimate of the valley's +safety. He waved one naked arm in an all-inclusive gesture, and he drew +upon his limited vocabulary to tell them of this place.</p> + +<p>"Good!" he said, and waved his arm again. "Good! Good!"</p> + +<p>"Towahg, you're a silver-tongued orator," Chet told him: "no one could +have described it better. You're darned right; it's good."</p> + +<p>He raised his head to take a deep breath of the fragrant air; it was +intoxicating with its blending of spicy odors. At his feet the water +made emerald waves, where the clear, deep blue of the reflected sky +merged with yellow sand. Fish darted through the deeper pools where the +beach shelved off, and above them the air held flashing colorful things +that circled and skimmed above the waves.</p> + +<p>The rippling grass was so green, the sky and lake so intense a blue, and +one mountainous mass of cloud shone in a white too blinding to be borne. +And over it all flowed the warm, soft air that seemed vibrant with a +life-force pulsing strongly through this virgin world.</p> + +<p>Diane called from where she and Harkness had wandered through the lush +grass. Kreiss had thrown himself upon a strip of warm sand and was +oblivious to the beauties that surrounded him. Towahg was squatted like +a half-human frog, binding new heads on his arrows.</p> + +<p>"Chet," she called, "come over here and help me to exclaim over this +beautiful place. Walter talks only of building a house and arranging a +place that we can defend. He is so very practical."</p> + +<p>"Practical!" exclaimed Chet. "Why, Walt's a dreamer and a poet compared +to me. I'm thinking of food. Hey, Towahg," he called to the black, +"let's eat!" He amplified this with unmistakable pointings at his mouth +and suggestive rubbing of his stomach, and Towahg started off at a run +toward trees that were heavy with strange fruit.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>By night there were unmistakable signs that the hand of man had been at +work. A band of savages would have accepted the place as they found it; +for them the shelter of a rock would have sufficed. They would have +passed on to other hunting grounds and only a handful of ashes and a +broken branch, perhaps, would have marked where they had been. But your +civilized man is never satisfied.</p> + +<p>Along the mile of shore was open ground. Here the trees approached the +water: again their solid rampart of ghostly trunks was held back some +hundreds of yards. And the open ground was vividly green where the soft +grass waved; and it was matted, too, with crimson and gold of countless +flowers. A beautiful carpet, flung down by the edge of a crystal lake, +and the flowered covering swept up and over the one high knoll that +touched the shore.... And on the knoll, near an outcrop of limestone +rocks, was a house.</p> + +<p>"Not exactly pretentious," Chet had admitted, "but we'll do better later +on."</p> + +<p>"It will keep Diane under cover," argued Harkness; "these leaves are +like leather."</p> + +<p>He helped Diane put another strip of leaf in place on the roof; a twist +of green vine tied around the stem held it loosely.</p> + +<p>The leaves were huge, as much as ten feet in diameter: great circles of +leathery green that they cut with a pocket knife and "tailored" as Diane +called it to fit the rough framework of the hut. Towahg had found them +and had given them a name that they did not trouble to learn. "Towahg's +grunts sound so much alike," Diane complained smilingly. "He seems to +know his natural history, but he is difficult to understand."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>But Towahg proved a valuable man. He cracked two round stones together, +and cleaved off one to a rounded edge. He bound this with withes to a +short stick and in a few minutes had a serviceable stone ax that bit +into slender saplings that were needed for a framework.</p> + +<p>Chet nodded his head to call Kreiss' attention to that. "Herr Doktor," +he said, "it isn't every scientist who has the chance to see a close-up +of the stone age."</p> + +<p>But Herr Kreiss, as Chet told Harkness later, did not seem to "snuggle +up nice and friendly" to the grinning savage. "He is armed better than +we," Kreiss complained. "I do not trust him. It is an impossible +situation, this, that civilized men should be dependent upon one so +savage. For what is our <i>kultur</i>, our great advancement in all lines of +mental endeavor, if at the last, when tested by nature, we must rely +upon such assistance?"</p> + +<p>Chet saw Herr Doktor Kreiss draw himself aloof with meticulous care as +Towahg dashed by, and it occurred to him that perhaps it was as well for +Kreiss that the black one knew so little of what was said.</p> + +<p>But aloud he merely said: "You'll have lots of chances to use that +mental endeavor stuff later on, Doctor. But right now what we need to +know is how to get by without any of your laboratories, without text +books or tools, with just our bare hands and with brains that are geared +up to the civilization you mention and don't do us a whole lot of good +here. Better let Towahg show us what he knows."</p> + +<p>But Herr Kreiss only shrugged his thin shoulders and wandered off +through this research-man's paradise, where every flower and insect and +stone were calling to him. Chet envied the equanimity with which the man +had accepted his lot, had come to this place and was prepared to spend +his remaining years collecting scientific data that were to him +all-important.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Again the sun sank swiftly. But this time, Chet stretched himself +luxuriously upon the matted grass and turned to stare at the little fire +that burned before the entrance of Diane's shelter. His pocket fireflash +had kindled some dry sticks that burned without smoke.</p> + +<p>"We will be a little careful about smoke," Harkness had warned them all. +"No use of broadcasting the news of our being here. We have come a long +way and I think there is small chance of Schwartzmann's party or the +savages finding us in this spot."</p> + +<p>Beyond the fire, Harkness raised himself now to sit erect and glance +about the circle of fire-lit faces. "There's plenty of planning to be +done," he said. "There is the matter of defense; we must build a +barricade of some sort. As for shelter, we must remember that we will be +here a long time and that we might as well face it. We will need to +build some serviceable shelters. Then, what about clothes? These we are +wearing are none the better for the trip through the jungle: they won't +last forever. We've got to learn—Lord! we've got to learn so many +things!"</p> + +<p>And the first of many councils was begun.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3><i>A Bag of Green Gas</i></h3> + + +<p>Under a tree on the edge of the open ground a notched stick hung. Six +sharply cut V's showed red through the white bark, then one that was +deeper; another six and another deeper cut; more of them until the stick +was full: so passed the little days.</p> + +<p>"Some time," Herr Kreiss had promised, "I shall determine with accuracy +the length of our Dark Moon days; then we will convert these crude +records into Earth time. It is good that we should not lose our +knowledge of the days on Earth." He made a ceremony each morning of the +cutting of another notch.</p> + +<p>Chet, too, had a bit of daily routine that was never neglected. Each +sunrise found him on the high divide; each morning he watched for the +glint and sparkle of sunlight as it flashed from a metal ship; and each +morning the reflected light came to him tinged with green, until he knew +at last that it might never be different. The poisonous fumes filled the +pocket at the end of the valley where the great ship rested. She was +indeed at the bottom of a sea.</p> + +<p>Back at camp were other signs of the passing days. Around the top of the +knoll a palisade had sprung up. Stakes buried in the ground, with +sharpened ends pointing up and outward, were interwoven with tough vines +to make a barricade that would check any direct assault. And, within the +enclosure, near the little hut that had been built for Diane, were other +shelters. One black night of tropic rainstorm had taught the necessity +for roofs that would protect them from torrential downpours.</p> + +<p>These did well enough for the present, these temporary shelters and +defenses, and they had kept Diane and the two men working like mad when +it was essential that they have something to do, something to think of, +that they might not brood too long and deeply on their situation and the +life of exile they were facing.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>For Kreiss this was not necessary. In Herr Kreiss, it seemed, were the +qualities of the stoic. They were exiled—that was a fact; Herr Kreiss +accepted it and put it aside. For, about him, were countless things +animate and inanimate of this new world, things which must be taken into +his thin hands, examined, classified and catalogued in his mind.</p> + +<p>In the rocky outcrop at the top of their knoll he had found a cave with +which this rock seemed honeycombed. Here, within the shelter of the +barricade, he had established what he called very seriously his +"laboratory." And here he brought strange animals from the +jungle—flying things that were more like bats than birds, yet colored +gorgeously. Chet found him one day quietly exultant over a wrinkled +piece of parchment. He was sharpening a quill into a pen, and a +cup-shaped stone held some dark liquid that was evidently ink.</p> + +<p>"So much data to record," he said. "There will be others who will follow +us some day. Perhaps not during our lifetime, but they will come. These +discoveries are mine; I must have the records for them.... And later I +will make paper," he added as an afterthought; "there is papyrus growing +in the lake."</p> + +<p>But on the whole, Kreiss kept strictly to himself. "He's a lone wolf," +Chet told the others, "and now that he is bringing in those heavy loads +of metals he is more exclusive than ever: won't let me into the back end +of his cave."</p> + +<p>"Does he think we will steal his gold?" Harkness asked moodily. "What +good is gold to us here?"</p> + +<p>"He may have gold," Chet informed him, "but he has something more +valuable too. I saw some chunks that glowed in the dark. Rotten with +radium, he told me. But even so, he is welcome to it: we can't use it. +No, I don't think he suspects us of wanting his trophies; he's merely +the kind that flocks by himself. He was having a wonderful time today +pounding out some of his metals with a stone hammer; I heard him at it +all day. He seems to have settled down in that cave for keeps."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Harkness threw another stick across the fire; its warmth was unneeded, +but its dancing flames were cheering.</p> + +<p>"And that is something we must make up our minds about," he said slowly: +"are we to stay here, or should we move on?"</p> + +<p>He dropped to the ground near where Diane was sitting, and took one of +her hands in his.</p> + +<p>"Diane and I plan to 'set up housekeeping,'" he told Chet, and Chet saw +him smile whimsically at the words. Housekeeping on the Dark Moon would +be primitive indeed. "We are lacking in some of the customary features +of a wedding; we seem to be just out of ministers or civil officials to +tie the knot."</p> + +<p>"Elect me Mayor of Dianeville," Chet suggested with a grin, "and I'll +marry you—if you think those formalities are necessary here."</p> + +<p>Diane broke in. "It's foolish of me, Chet, I know it; but don't laugh at +me." He saw her lips tremble for an instant. "You see, we're so far away +from—from everything, and it seems that that if Walter and I could just +start our lives with a really and truly marriage—oh, I know it is +foolish—"</p> + +<p>This time Chet interrupted. "After all you have been through, and after +the bravery you've shown, I think you are entitled to a little +'foolishness.' And you <i>shall</i> be married with as good a knot as any +minister could tie: you see, that is one of the advantages of being a +Master Pilot. My warrant permits me to perform a marriage service in any +level above the surface of the Earth. A left-over from the time when +ship's captains had the same right. And although we are grounded for +keeps, if we are not above the surface of the Earth right now I don't +know anything about altitudes. But," he added as if it were an +afterthought, "my fee, although I hate to mention it, is five dollars."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Harkness gravely reached into the pocket of his ragged coat and brought +out a wallet. He tendered a five dollar bill to Chet. "I think you're +robbing me," he complained, "but that's what happens when there is no +competition. And we'll start building a house to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Will we?" Chet inquired. "Is this the best place? For my part I would +feel safer if there were more miles between us and that pyramid. What +was down in there, God knows. But there was something back of that +hypnotized ape—something that knocked us for a crash landing with one +look from those eyes."</p> + +<p>The night air was warm, where he lay before their huts, but a shiver of +apprehension gripped him at the thought of a mysterious Something that +was beyond the power of his imagination, and that was an enemy they +would never want to face. Something inhuman in its cold brutality, yet +superhuman too, if this mental force were an indication. A something +different from anything the people of Earth had ever known, bestial and +damnable!</p> + +<p>"I am with you on that," Harkness agreed, "but what about the ship? You +have had your eye on it every day; do we want to go where we could not +see it? If the gas cleared, if there was ever a season when the wind +changed, think of what that would mean. Ammunition, food, supplies of +all kinds, and the ship as a place of refuge, too, would be lost. No, we +can't turn that over to Schwartzmann, Chet; we've got to stick around."</p> + +<p>"I still wish we were farther away," Chet acknowledged, "but you are +right, Walt; we could never be satisfied a single day if we thought the +ship could be reached. Then, too, Towahg seems to think this is O. K.</p> + +<p>"As near as I can learn from his sign language and a dozen words, this +is about as good a spot as we can find. He says the ape-men never cross +the big divide; something spooky about it I judged. However, we must +remember this: the fact that Towahg came across shows that the rest of +them would if they found it could be done."</p> + +<p>"That was why he led us so far while we waded up that stream," offered +Diane. "Trailing Towahg would be like trying to follow the wake of an +airship."</p> + +<p>"And I asked him about the red vampires that jumped us down by the +ship," Chet continued. "He gave me the clear sign on that, too."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Diane was not anxious for more wanderings, as Chet could see. "There is +game here," she suggested, "and the edge of the jungle is simply an +orchard of fruit, as you know. And having a lake to bathe in is +important—oh, I must not try to influence you. We must do what is +best."</p> + +<p>"No," said Chet, "our own wishes don't count; the ship's the deciding +factor. You had better build your house here, Walt. Happy Valley will be +headquarters for the expedition; we've got a whale of a lot of country +to explore. And, of course, we will slip back and check up on +Schwartzmann; find out where he went to—"</p> + +<p>"Count me out;" Harkness interrupted; "count me out. You go and hunt +trouble if you want to; Diane and I will have our hands full right here. +Great heavens, man! We've got to learn to make clothes; and, by the way, +that uniform you're wearing is no credit to your tailor. If we are to +call this home, we must do better than the savages. I intend to find +some bamboo, split it, make some troughs, and bring water down here from +the spring. I've got to learn where Kreiss is getting his metal and find +some soft enough to hammer into dishes. We can't call the department +store by radiophone, you know, and have them shoot a bunch of stuff out +by pneumatic tube."</p> + +<p>"That's all right," Chet mocked; "by the time you have built a house +with only a stone ax in your tool kit, you'll think the rest of it is +simple."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The barricade, or <i>chevaux de frise</i> as Chet insisted upon calling it, +to show his deep study of the wars of earlier days, was built in the +form of a U. The knoll itself sloped on one side directly to the water's +edge: they had left that side open and carried their line of sharp +stakes down to the water, that in the event of a siege they would not be +conquered by thirst.</p> + +<p>On the highest point of the knoll, some few weeks later, a house was +being built—a more pretentious structure, this, than the other little +huts. The aerial roots that the white trees dropped from their +high-flung branches were not impossible to cut with their crude +implements; they made good building material for a house whose framework +must be tied together with vines and tough roots. This would be the home +of Harkness and Diane.</p> + +<p>The two had been insistent that this structure would be incomplete +without a room for Chet, but the pilot only laughed at that suggestion.</p> + +<p>"It's an old saying," he told them, "that one house isn't big enough for +two families. I think the remark is as old as the institution of +marriage, just about. And it's as true on the Dark Moon as it is on +Earth. And, besides, I intend to build some bachelor apartments that +will make this place of yours look pretty cheap, that is, if I ever find +time. I am going to be pretty busy just roaming around this little world +seeing what I can see. Even Herr Kreiss has got the wanderlust, you will +notice."</p> + +<p>"He has been gone four days," said Diane. Her tone was frankly worried. +Chet finished tying a sapling to a row of uprights and slid to the +ground.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed about Kreiss," he reassured her. "He has been +all-fired mysterious for the past several weeks. He's been working on +something in that cave of his, and visitors have not been admitted. When +he left he told me he would be gone for some time, and he looked at me +like an owl when he said it: his mysterious secret was making his eyes +pop out. He has a surprise up his sleeve."</p> + +<p>"Wedding present for Diane," Harkness suggested.</p> + +<p>"Well, he showed me some darn nice sapphires," Chet agreed. "Probably +found some way to cut them and he's setting them in a bracelet of soft +gold: that's my guess."</p> + +<p>"I wish he were here," Diane insisted.</p> + +<p>And Chet nodded across the clearing as he said fervently: "I wish I +could get all my wishes as quickly as that. There he comes now with his +bow in one hand and a bag of something in the other."</p> + +<p>The tall figure moved wearily across the open ground, but straightened +and came briskly toward them as he drew near. He seemed more gaunt than +usual, as if he had finished a long journey and had slept but little. +But his eyes behind their heavy spectacles were big with pride.</p> + +<p>"You have—what do you Americans say?—'poked fun' at my helplessness in +the forest," he told Chet. "And now see. Alone and without help I have +made a great journey, a most important journey." He held up a bladder, +translucent, filled with something palely green.</p> + +<p>"The gas!" he said proudly.</p> + +<p>"Why, Herr Kreiss," Diane exclaimed, amazed, "you can't mean that you've +been to Fire Valley; that that is the gas from about the ship!... And +why did you want it? What earthly use...."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>She had looked from the proud face of the scientist to that of Harkness; +then turned toward Chet. Her voice died away, her question unfinished, +at sight of the expression in those other eyes.</p> + +<p>"From—the ship? You mean that you've been there—Fire Valley? That +you've come back here?" Chet was asking on behalf of Harkness as well: +his companion added nothing to the words of the pilot—words spoken in a +curiously quiet, strained tone.</p> + +<p>"But yes!" Herr Kreiss assured him. His gaze was still proudly fixed +upon the bladder of green gas. "I needed some for an experiment—a most +important experiment." And not till then did he glance up and let his +thin face wrinkle in amazed wonder at the look on the pilot's face.</p> + +<p>Chet had raised one end of another stick as Kreiss approached. He had +intended to place it against the frame they were building: it fell +heavily to the ground instead. He regarded Harkness with eyes that were +somber with hopeless despair, yet that somehow crinkled with a whimsical +smile.</p> + +<p>"Well, I said he had a surprise up his sleeve," he reminded them. "It is +nearly night; I can't do anything now. I'll go to-morrow; take Towahg. I +don't know that there's anything we can do, but we'll try.</p> + +<p>"You will stay here with Diane," he told Harkness. And Harkness accepted +the order as he would from one who was in command.</p> + +<p>"It's up to you now," he told Chet. "I'll stay here and hold the fort. +You're running the job from now on."</p> + +<p>But the pilot only nodded. Herr Kreiss was sputtering a barrage of how's +and why's; he demanded to know why his success in so hazardous a trip +should have this result.</p> + +<p>But Chet Bullard did not answer. He walked slowly away, his eyes on the +ground, as one who is trying to plan; driving his thoughts in an effort +to find some escape from a danger that seemed to hover threateningly.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3><i>Terrors of the Jungle</i></h3> + + +<p>Towahg had learned the names of these white-skinned ones who came down +from whatever heaven was pictured in his rudimentary mind. His +pronunciation of them was peculiar: it had not been helped any by reason +of Diane's having been his teacher. Her French accent was delightful to +hear, but not helpful to a Dark Moon ape-man who was grappling with +English.</p> + +<p>But he knew them by name, using always the French "Monsieur," and when +Chet repeated: "Monsieur Kreiss—he go," pointing through the jungle, +and followed this with the command: "Towahg go! Me go!" the ape-man's +unlovely face drew into its hideous grin and he nodded his head +violently to show that he understood.</p> + +<p>Chet gripped a hand each if Harkness and Diane and clung to them for a +moment. Below their knoll the white morning mist drifted eerily toward +the lake; the knoll was an island and they three the only living +creatures in a living world. It was the first division of their little +force, the first parting where any such farewell might be the last. The +silence hung heavily about them.</p> + +<p>"Au 'voir," Diane said softly; "and take no chances. Come back here and +we'll win or lose together."</p> + +<p>"Blue skies," was Walt Harkness' good-by in the language of the flyer; +"blue skies and happy landings!"</p> + +<p>And Chet, before the shrouding mist swallowed him up, replied in kind.</p> + +<p>"Lifting off!" he announced as if his ship were rising beneath him, "and +the air is cleared. I'll drop back in four days if I'm lucky."</p> + +<p>Towahg was waiting, curled up for warmth in the hollow of a great tree's +roots. Like all the ape-men he was sullen and taciturn in the chill of +the morning. Not until the sun warmed him would he become his customary +self. But he grunted when Chet repeated his instructions, "Monsieur +Kreiss, he go! Now Towahg go too—go where Monsieur Kreiss go!" and he +led the way into the jungle where the scientist had emerged.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet followed close through wraith-like, drifting mist. They were +ascending a gentle slope; among the trees and tangled giant vines the +mist grew thin. Then they were above it, and occasional shafts of golden +light shot flatly in to mark the ascending sun.</p> + +<p>They were climbing toward the big divide, that much Chet knew. White, +ghostly trees gave place to the darker, gloomier growth of the uplands. +Strange monstrosities, they had been to Chet when first he had seen +them, but he was accustomed to them now and passed unnoticing among +their rubbery trunks, so black and shining with morning dew.</p> + +<p>Far above a wind moved among the pliant branches that whipped and +whirled their elastic lengths into strange, curled forms. Then the +miracle of the daily growth of leaves took place, and the rubbery limbs +were clothed in green, where golden flowers budded prodigiously before +they flashed open and filled the wet air with their fragrance.</p> + +<p>They were following the path that Chet had traveled on his morning trips +to the divide for a view of the ship. Kreiss would have gone this way, +of course, although to Chet, there was no sign of his having passed. +Then came the divide, and still Chet followed where Towahg led sullenly +across the expanse of barren rocks. Towahg's head was sunk between his +black shoulders; his long arms hung limply; and he moved on with a +steady motion of his short, heavily muscled legs, with apparently no +thought of where he went or why.</p> + +<p>Chet stopped for a moment's look at the distant sparkle that meant the +shining ship, which shone green as on every other day, and he wondered +as he had a score of times if it might be possible for them to make a +suit—a bag to enclose his head, or a gas-mask—anything that could be +made gas-tight: and could be supplied with air. Then he thought of the +bow that was slung on his shoulder and the stone ax at his belt. These +were their implements: these were all they had.... Suddenly he began to +walk rapidly down the slope after Towahg who was almost to the trees.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Again they were among the black rubbery growth. It rose from a tangle of +mammoth leafed vines and creepers that wove themselves into an +impassable wall—impassable until Towahg lifted a huge leaf here, swung +a hanging vine there, and laid open a passage through the living +labyrinth.</p> + +<p>"How did Kreiss ever find his way?" Chet asked himself. And then he +questioned: "Did he come this way? Is Towahg on the trail?"</p> + +<p>Again he repeated his instructions to the ape-man, and he showed his own +wonder as to which way they should go.</p> + +<p>The sun must have done its work effectively, for now Towahg's wide grin +was in evidence. He nodded vigorously, then dropped to one knee and +motioned for Chet to see for himself, as he pointed to his proof.</p> + +<p>Chet stared at the unbroken ground. Was a tiny leaf crushed? It might +have been, but so were a thousand others that had fallen from above. He +shook his head, and Towahg could only show his elation by hopping +ludicrously from one foot to the other in a dance of joy.</p> + +<p>Then he went on at a pace Chet found difficulty in following, until they +came to a place where Towahg tore a vine aside to show easier going, but +climbed instead over a fallen tree, grown thickly with vines, and here +even Chet could see that other feet had tripped and stumbled. The Master +Pilot glanced at the triple star still pinned to his blouse; he thought +of the study and training that had preceded the conferring of that +rating, the charting of the stars, navigational problems in a +three-dimensional sea. And he smiled at his failure to read this trail +that to Towahg was entirely plain.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Every man to his job," he told the black, and patted him on the +shoulder, "and you know yours, Towahg, you're good! Now, where do we +sleep?"</p> + +<p>He ventured to suggest a bed of leaves that had gathered amongst a maze +of great rocks, but Towahg registered violent disapproval. He pointed to +a pendant vine; his hands that were clumsy at so many things gave an +unmistakable imitation of a bud that developed on that vine and opened. +Then Towahg sniffed once at that imaginary flower, and his body went +suddenly limp and apparently lifeless as it fell to the ground.</p> + +<p>"You're right, old top!" Chet assured him, as Towahg came again to his +feet. "This is no place to take a nap." A crashing of some enormous body +that tore the tough jungle in its rush came from beyond the rocks.</p> + +<p>"And there are other reasons," he added as he followed Towahg's example +and leaped for a hanging tangle of laced vines. Here was a ladder ready +to take them to the high roof above, but they did not need it; the +crashing died away in the distance.</p> + +<p>It was Chet's first intimation that this section of the Dark Moon held +beasts more huge than the "Moon-pigs" he had killed: it was a disturbing +bit of knowledge. He caught Towahg's cautious, wary eyes and motioned +toward the branches high overhead.</p> + +<p>"How about hanging ourselves up there for the night?" he asked, and the +gestures, though not the words, were plain, as the ape-man's quick +dissent made clear.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He motioned Chet to follow. Down they plunged, and always down. Towahg +gave Chet to understand that Kreiss had slept some distance beyond: they +would try to reach the same place. But the quick-falling dusk caught +them while yet among the black rubbery trees. And the dark showed Chet +why their branches might not be inviting as a sleeping place.</p> + +<p>By ones and twos they came at first, occasional lines of light that +flowed swiftly and vanished through the black tangle of limbs. Chet +could hardly believe them real; they appeared and were lost from sight +as if they had melted.</p> + +<p>But more came, and it seemed at last as if the roof above were alive +with light. The moving, luminous things glowed in hues that were never +still: were pure gold, were green, then red, melting and changing +through all the colors of the spectrum.</p> + +<p>Living fireworks that were a blaze of gorgeous beauty! They wove an +ever-moving canopy of softest lights that raced dazzlingly to and fro, +that crossed and intertwined; that were dazing to his eyes while they +held his senses enthralled by their color and sheer loveliness ... until +one light detached itself and fell toward him where he stood spellbound +beside a giant fern.</p> + +<p>It struck softly behind him, and its crimson glory flashed yellow as it +struck, then went black and in the dim light, on a great leathery leaf +with a spread of ten feet, Chet saw an enormous worm, whose head was a +thing of writhing antennae, whose eyes were pure deadliness, and whose +round corrugated body drew up the hanging part that the leaf could not +hold. It hunched itself into a huge inverted U and, before Chet could +recover from his horrified surprise, was poised to spring.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It was Towahg's strength, not his own, that threw him bodily down the +path. It was Towahg who poured a volley of grunted words and shrieks +into his ear, while he dragged him back. Chet saw the vicious head flash +to loveliest gold while it shot forward to the body's full twelve feet +of length—twelve feet of pulsing lavender and rose and flashing crimson +that was more horrible by reason of its beauty.</p> + +<p>Chet stumbled to his feet and raced after Towahg. The ape-man moved in +swift silence, Chet close at his back. And other luminous horrors +dropped on ropes of translucent silver behind them, until the ghostly +white of friendly trees became visible, and they stood at last, +breathless and shaken, as far as Chet was concerned, in the familiar +jungle of the lower valleys.</p> + +<p>And Towahg, to whom poison vines and writhing, horrible worms of death +that had failed to make him their prey were things of a forgotten past, +curled up in the shelter of an outflung snarl of great roots, grunted +once, and went calmly to sleep.</p> + +<p>But Chet Bullard, accustomed only to man-made dangers that would have +held Towahg petrified with fear, lay long, staring into the dark.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3><i>Through Air and Water</i></h3> + + +<p>It was midday when they approached the heights they had reached on their +flight from Fire Valley. Off to one side must lie the arena with the +pyramid within. And within the pyramid—! Chet took his thoughts quickly +away from that. Or perhaps it was the shrieking chatter from ahead that +gave him other things to think of.</p> + +<p>Towahg had heard them before, but Chet had not understood his signs. And +now the chorus of an approaching pack of ape-men was louder with each +passing minute. That they were coming along the same trail seemed +certain.</p> + +<p>Towahg sprang into the air; his gnarled hands closed on a heavy vine: he +went up this hand over hand, ready to move off to one side through the +leafy roof with never a sign of his going. He waited impatiently for +Chet to join him, and the pilot, regarding the incredible leap of that +squat ape-man body, shook his head in despair.</p> + +<p>"Grab a loose end," he told Towahg. "Lower a rope—a vine. Get it down +where I can reach it!" And he raved inwardly at the blank look on the +savage face while he held himself in check and made signs over and over +in an effort to get the idea across.</p> + +<p>Towahg got it at last. He lowered a vine and hauled Chet up with jerks +that almost tore the pilot's hands from their hold on the rough bark. +Then off to one side! And they waited in the shelter of concealing +leaves while the yelling pack drew near and a hundred or more of them +raced by along the trail below.</p> + +<p>Invisible to Chet was the marked trail where Kreiss had gone, but these +savage things ran at top speed and read it as they ran.</p> + +<p>Were they puzzled by the sudden increase in markings? Did they sense +that some were more recent than those they had followed? Chet could not +say. But he saw the pack return, staring curiously about until they +swung off and vanished through the trees toward the west. And in that +direction lay the arena and the haunt of a horror unknown.</p> + +<p>Yet Chet lowered himself to the ground with steady hands and motioned +Towahg where the yelling mob had gone.</p> + +<p>"We'll go that way," he said; "we'll follow them up. And perhaps, if I +can only get the idea into your thick head, we can learn what their +plans are: find out if Kreiss has really thrown us in their hands—led +them as straight as a pack of wolves could run to the quiet peace of +Happy Valley."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet might have followed them into the arena itself: he felt so keenly +that he must know with certainty whether or not the pack would continue +their pursuit. And why had they turned back? he asked himself. Had they +returned to acquaint their horrible god and his hypnotised slaves with +what they had learned?</p> + +<p>But the trail turned off from the rocky waste where the arena lay; it +took them west and south for another mile, until again to Chet's ears +came the chattering bedlam of monkey-talk that was almost human. And now +they moved more cautiously from rock to tree and through the concealing +shadows until they could look into a shallow valley ahead. But before +Chet looked he was prepared for a surprising scene. For over and above +the raucous calling of the ape-folk had come another deeper tone.</p> + +<p>"<i>Gott im Himmel!</i>" the deep voice said. "One at a time, you <i>verdammt</i> +beasts. Beat them on the head, Max; make them shut up!"</p> + +<p>And the big bulk of Schwartzmann, when Chet first saw him, was seated on +a high rock that was like a barbaric throne in a valley of green. About +him the ape-men leaped and grimaced and made futile animal efforts to +tell him of their discovery.</p> + +<p>"They've found something, Max," Schwartzmann said to his pilot. "Get the +other two men. We'll go with the dirty brutes. And if they've got wind +of those others—" His remarks concluded with a sputtering of profanity +whose nature was not obscured by its being given in another language. +And Chet knew that the obscenities were intended for his companions and +himself.</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann's booming voice came plainly even above the chorus of +coughing growls and shriller chatter. Chet saw him showing his detonite +pistol in a half-threatening motion, and the ape-men cringed away in +fear.</p> + +<p>"Not so well trained an army, Max, that I am general of, but if we find +that man, Harkness, and his pilot and that traitor Kreiss, we will let +these soldiers of mine tear them to little bits. Now, we go!"</p> + +<p>Max's call had brought the other two men of Schwartzmann's party, and +the black horde of ape-men broke into a wild run across the grass toward +the place where Chet and Towahg lay. The two slipped hurriedly into the +concealment of denser growth, then ran at top speed down a jungle trail +that led off to one side.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They were bedded down for the night on the edge of the white forest; no +persuasion of Schwartzmann's would have driven the ape-men into the +darkness of the black trees and their flashing, luminous worm-beasts. +Chet and Towahg came within hearing of their encampment just at dusk, +and a late-rising moon broke through the gaps in the leafy roof to make +splotched islands of gold in the velvet dark where Chet and Towahg +fought the jungle so they might swing around and past the camp. +Occasional grunts and scufflings showed that the ape-men were restless, +and the two knew that every step must be taken in silence and every +obstructing leaf moved with no rasping friction on other leaves or +branches. But they came again to the trail, and now they were ahead of +the pack, as the first gray light of dawn was stealing through the +ghostly white of the trees.</p> + +<p>Towahg would have curled himself into a sleepy ball a score of times had +Chet not driven him on, and now the pilot only allowed a few minutes for +food, where ripe purple fruit hung in clusters on the end of stems that +were like ropes.</p> + +<p>No use to explain to Towahg. Perhaps the ape-man thought they were +hurrying to get through the black forest; he might even have thought the +matter through to see the necessity for reaching their own valley and +warning the others. Certainly he had no idea of any plans other than +these, and he must have been puzzled some several hours later when Chet +halted where the trail had crossed a barren expanse of rock.</p> + +<p>Towahg had stopped there on the way down. Then he had sniffed the air, +dropped his head low and circled about, motioning Chet to follow, from +across the clearing where he had picked up the trail. Chet knew the +ape-men would do the same unless they were diverted, and he had a plan. +To communicate it to his assistant was his greatest problem.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He stopped at the clearing, while Towahg urged him on across the smooth +rock. Chet shook his head and pointed away from the direction of the big +divide, and at last he made him understand. Then Towahg did what Chet +never could have done.</p> + +<p>He followed their former trail across the stone, his head close to the +ground. Now he picked a bruised leaf: again he replaced a turned stone +whose markings showed it had been displaced, and he came back over an +area that even an ape-man would not follow as being a place where men +had gone.</p> + +<p>From where they emerged he turned as Chet had pointed, crossed the +clearing as clumsily as the German scientist might have done, scuffed +his bare feet in a pocket of gravel, and pointed to soft earth where +Chet might walk and leave a mark of shoes. Chet grinned happily while +Towahg did his grotesque dance that indicated satisfaction, though from +afar the first cries of the pack rang in the air.</p> + +<p>They could never have outdistanced the apes alone, Chet knew that. But +he also knew that Schwartzmann and the others would slow them up, and he +counted on the pack staying together on the trail as they traversed this +new country. He entered the jungle with Towahg where their new trail +led, and drove his tired muscles to greater speed while Towahg, always +in the lead, motioned him on.</p> + +<p>There were stops for food at times until another night came, and Chet +threw himself down on a mat of grass and fell instantly asleep. If there +was danger abroad he neither knew nor cared. He knew only that every +muscle of his body was aching from the forced march, and that Towahg's +twitching ears were on guard.</p> + +<p>The following day they went more slowly, stopping at times to wait for +the sounds of pursuit. They were leading the pack on a long journey; +Chet wanted to be sure they were following and had not turned back. He +left a plain mark of his boot from time to time, and knew that this mark +would be shown to Schwartzmann. With that to lead him there would be no +stopping the man: he would drive his army of blacks despite their +superstitious fears.</p> + +<p>The short days and nights formed an endless succession to Chet. Only +once did he see a familiar place, as they passed a valley and he saw +where their ship had rested on that earlier voyage.</p> + +<p>"This is far enough," he told Towahg, and made himself plain with signs. +"Now we'll lose them; hang them right up in the air and leave them +there."</p> + +<p>Another steep climb and a valley beyond, and in the hollow a tumbling +stream. There was no need to tell Towahg what to do, for he led straight +for the water, and his thick legs churned through it as he headed down +stream; nor did he stop until they had covered many miles.</p> + +<p>Chet had wondered how they would leave the water without trace, but +again Towahg was ready. A stone where the water splashed would show no +mark of bare feet. From it he leaped into the air toward a swaying vine. +He missed, tried again, and finally grasped it. And the rest was a +repetition of what had been done before.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He lowered a vine as Chet had taught him, pulled the slim figure of Chet +up to the dizzy heights of the jungle trees, then took Chet's one arm in +a grip of chilled steel and threw him across his back, while he swung +sickeningly from limb to limb, up through the branches of another +grotesque tree where its queerly distorted limbs sagged and swung them +to its fellow some fifty feet away.</p> + +<p>It was a wild ride for the pilot. "I've driven everything that's made +with an engine in it," he told himself, "but this one-ape-power craft +has them all stopped for thrills."</p> + +<p>And at last when even Towahg's chest that seemed ribbed with steel, was +rising and falling with his great breaths, Chet found himself set down +on the ground, and he patted the black on the shoulder in the gesture +that meant approval.</p> + +<p>"Water and air," he said; "it'll bother them to trail us over that +route. Towahg, you're there when it comes to trapeze work. Now, if you +can find the way back again—!"</p> + +<p>And Towahg could, as Chet admitted when, after a series of eventless +days, they came again to the big divide above the reaches of Happy +Valley.</p> + +<p>And the grip of Harkness' hand, and the tears in Diane's eyes brought a +choke to his throat until the voluble apologies of a penitent Herr +Kreiss and the antics of a Towahg, recipient of many approving pats, +turned the emotion into the safer channel of laughter.</p> + +<p>"But I think we switched them off for good," Chet said, in conclusion of +his recital; "I believe we are as safe as we ever were. And I've only +one big regret:</p> + +<p>"If I could just have been around somewhere when friend Schwartzmann +found his scouts had led him up a blind alley, it would have been worth +the trip. He did pretty well when he started cussing us out before; I'll +bet he pumped his vocabulary dry on them this time."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3><i>Hunted Down</i></h3> + + +<p>Work on the house was resumed. "And when it is done," said Diane with a +gay laugh, "Walter and I shall have our wedding day. Now you see why you +were wanted so badly, Chet; it was not that we worried for you, but only +that we feared the loss of the one person on the Dark Moon who could +perform a marriage ceremony."</p> + +<p>"And I thought all along it was my clever carpenter work that had +captivated you," responded Chet, and tried to fit the splintered end of +a timber into a forked branch that made an upright post.</p> + +<p>And each day the house took form, while the sun shone down with tropical +warmth where the work was going on.</p> + +<p>Only Harkness and Chet were the builders. Diane's strength was not equal +to the task of cutting tough wood with a crude stone ax, and Herr +Kreiss, though willing enough to help when asked, was usually in his own +cave, busied with mysterious experiments of which he would tell nothing.</p> + +<p>Towahg, their only remaining Helper, could not be held. Too wild for +restraint of any kind, he would vanish into the jungle at break of day +to reappear now and then as silently as a black shadow. But he kept them +all supplied with game and fruit and succulent roots which his wilder +brethren of the forest must have shown him were fit for food.</p> + +<p>And then came an interruption that checked the work on the house, that +drained the brilliant sunshine of its warmth and light, and turned all +thoughts to the question of defense.</p> + +<p>The two had been working on the roof, while Diane had returned to the +jungle for another of the big leaves. She carried her bow on such trips, +although the weeks had brought them a sense of security. But for Chet +this feeling of safety vanished in the instant that he heard Harkness' +half-uttered exclamation and saw him drop quickly to the ground.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Beyond him, coming through the green smother of grass that was now as +high as her waist, was Diane. Even at a distance Chet could see the +unnatural paleness of her face; she was running fast, coming along the +trail they had all helped to make.</p> + +<p>Chet hit the ground on all fours and reached for the long bow with which +he had become so expert; then followed Harkness who was racing to meet +the girl.</p> + +<p>"An ape!" she was saying between choking breaths when Chet reached them. +"An ape-man!" She was clinging to Harkness in utter fright that was +unlike the Diane he had known.</p> + +<p>"Towahg," Harkness suggested; "you saw Towahg!" But the girl shook her +head. She was recovering something of her normal poise; her breath came +more evenly.</p> + +<p>"No! It was not Towahg. I saw it. I was hidden under the big leaves. It +was an ape-man. He came swinging along through the branches of the +trees: he was up high and he looked in all directions. I ran. I think he +did not see me.</p> + +<p>"And now," she confessed, "I am ashamed. I thought I had forgotten the +horror of that experience, but this brought it all back.... There! I am +all right now."</p> + +<p>Harkness held her tenderly close. "Frightened," he reassured her, "and +no wonder! That night on the pyramid left its mark on us all. Now, come; +come quietly."</p> + +<p>He was leading the girl toward the knoll that they all called home. Chet +followed, casting frequent glances toward the trees. They had covered +half the distance to the barricade when Chet spoke in a voice that was +half a whisper in its hushed tenseness.</p> + +<p>"Drop—quick!" he ordered. "Get into the grass. It's coming. Now let's +see what it is."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He knew that the others had taken cover. For himself, he had flung his +lanky figure into the tall grass. The bow was beside him, an arrow +ready; and the tip of polished bone and the feathered shaft made it a +weapon that was not one to be disregarded. Long hours of practice had +developed his natural aptitude into real skill. Before him, he parted +the tall grass cautiously to see the forest whence the sound had come.</p> + +<p>The swish of leaves had warned Chet; some far-flung branch must have +failed to bear the big beast's weight and had bent to swing him to the +ground—or perhaps the descent was intentional.</p> + +<p>And now there was silence, the silence of noonday that is so filled with +unheard summer sounds. A foot above Chet's head a tiny bat-winged bird +rocked and tilted on vermilion leather wings, while its iridescent head +made flickering rainbow colors with the vibrations of a throat that +hummed a steady call. Across the meadow were countless other flashing, +humming things, like dust specks dancing in the sun, but magnified and +intensely colored.</p> + +<p>Above their droning note was the shrill cry of the insects that spent +their days in idle and ceaseless unmusical scrapings. They inhabited the +shadowed zone along the forest edge. And now, where the foliage of the +towering trees was torn back in a great arch, the insect shrilling +ceased.</p> + +<p>As the strings of a harp are damped and silenced in unison, their myriad +voices ended that shrill note in the same instant. The silence spread; +there was a hush as if all living things were mute in dread expectancy +of something as yet unseen.</p> + +<p>Chet was watching that arched opening. In one instant, except for the +flickering shadows, it was empty; the place was so still it might have +been lifeless since the dawn of time. And then—</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet neither saw nor heard him come. He was there—a hulking hairy +figure that came in absolute silence despite his huge weight.</p> + +<p>An ape-man larger than any Chet had seen: he stood as motionless as an +exhibit in a museum in some city of a far-off Earth. Only the white of +his eyeballs moved as the little eyes, under their beetling black brows, +darted swiftly about.</p> + +<p>"Bad!" thought Chet. "Damn bad!" If this was an advance scout for a pick +of great monsters like himself it meant an assault their own little +force could never meet. And this newcomer was hostile. There was not the +least doubt of that.</p> + +<p>Chet reached one hand behind him to motion for silence; one of his +companions had stirred, had moved the grass in a ripple that was not +that of the wind. Chet held his hand rigid in air, his whole body +seeming to freeze with a premonition that was pure horror; and within +him was a voice that said with dreadful certainty: "They have found you. +They have hunted you down."</p> + +<p>For the thing in the forest, the creature half-human, half-beast, had +raised its two shaggy arms before it; and, with eyes fixed and staring, +it was walking straight toward them, walking as no other living thing +had walked, but one. Chet was seeing again that one—a helplessly +hypnotized ape that appeared from a pit in a great pyramid. And the +voice within him repeated hopelessly: "They have found you. They have +run you down."</p> + +<p>Chet lay motionless. He still hoped that the dread messenger might pass +them by, but the rigidly outstretched arms were extended straight toward +him; the creature's short, heavily muscled legs were moving stiffly, +tearing a path through the thick grass and bringing him nearer with +every step.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Diane and Harkness had been a few paces in advance of Chet when they +dropped into the concealing grass. Chet could see where they lay, and +the ape-man, as he approached, turned off as if he had lost the +direction. He passed Chet by, passed where Walt and Diane were hiding +and stopped! And Chet saw the glazed eyes turn here and there about +their peaceful valley.</p> + +<p>Unseeing they seemed, but again Chet knew better. Was he more +sensitively attuned than the others? Who could say? But again he caught +a message as plainly as if the words had been shouted inside his brain.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the valley of the three sentinel peaks and the lake of blue; we +can find it again. Houses, shelters—how crudely they build, these +white-faced intruders!" Chet even sensed the contempt that accompanied +the thoughts. "That is enough; you have done well. You shall have their +raw hearts for your reward. Now bring them in—bring them in quickly!"</p> + +<p>The instant action that followed this command was something Chet would +never have believed possible had his own eyes not seen the incredible +leap of the huge body. The ape-man's knotted muscles hurled him through +the air directly toward the spot where Walt and Diane were hidden. But, +had Chet been able to stand off and observe himself, he might have been +equally amazed at the sight of a man who leaped erect, who raised a long +bow, fitted an arrow, drew it to his shoulder, and did all in the +instant while the huge brute's body was in the air.</p> + +<p>The great ape landed on all fours. When he straightened and stood +erect—his arms were extended, and in each of his gnarled hands he held +a figure that was helpless in that terrible grasp.</p> + +<p>No chance to loose the arrow then, though the brute's back was half +turned. He had Harkness and Diane by their throats, and Chet knew by the +unresisting limpness of Harkness' body that the fearful fire in those +blazing eyes had them in a grip even more deadly than the hands of the +beast.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Thoughts were flashing wildly through Chet's brain. "Knocked 'em cold! +He'll do the same to me if I meet his eyes. But I can't shoot now; +Diane's in line. I must take him face about; get him before he gets +me—get him first time!"</p> + +<p>And, confusedly, there were other thoughts mingled with his +own—thoughts he was picking up by means of a nervous system that was +like an aerial antenna:</p> + +<p>"Good—good! No—do not kill them. Not now; bring them to us alive. The +pleasure will come later. And where are the other two? Find them!" It +was here that Chet let out a wordless, blood-curdling shriek from lungs +and throat that were tight with breathless waiting.</p> + +<p>He must face the big brute about, and his wild yell did the work. +Startled by that cry that must have reached even those calloused, savage +nerves, the ape-man leaped straight up in the air. He whirled as he +sprang, to face whatever was behind him, and he threw the bodies of +Harkness and Diane to the ground.</p> + +<p>Chet saw the black ugliness of the face; he saw the eyes swing toward +him.... But he was following with his own narrowed eyes a spot on a +hairy throat; he even seemed to see within it where a great carotid +artery carried pumping blood to an undeveloped brain.</p> + +<p>The glare of those eyes struck him like a blow: his own were drawn +irresistibly into that meeting of glances that would freeze him to a +rigid statue—but the twang and snap of his own bowstring was in his +ears, and a hairy body, its throat pierced in mid-air, was falling +heavily to the ground.</p> + +<p>But Chet Bullard, even as he leaped to the side of his companions, was +thinking not of his victory, nor even of the two whose lives he had +saved. He was thinking of some horror that his mind could not clearly +picture: it had found them; it had seen them through this ape-man's eyes +before the arrow had closed them in death ... and from now on there +could not be two consecutive minutes of peace and happiness in this +Happy Valley of Diane's.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3><i>Besieged!</i></h3> + + +<p>"I've felt it for some time," Chet confessed. "I've wakened and known I +had been dreaming about that damnable thing. And, although it sounds +like the wildest sort of insanity, I have felt that there was +something—some mental force—that was reaching out for our minds; +searching for us. Well, if there is anything like that—"</p> + +<p>He was about to say that the trail made by Kreiss and the apes who +tracked him would have given this other enemy a direction to follow, but +Kreiss himself dropped down beside Chet where he and Walt sat before the +front of Diane's shelter. The pilot did not finish the sentence. Kreiss +had meant it for the best; there was no use of rubbing it in. But that +thing in the pyramid would never be fooled as Schwartzmann and the apes +had been.</p> + +<p>Chet had told Kreiss of the attack and had shown him the body of the +ape-man. "Council of war," he explained as Kreiss rejoined them, but he +corrected himself at once. "No—not war! We don't want to go up against +that bunch. Our job is to plan a retreat."</p> + +<p>Harkness turned to look inside the hut. "Diane, old girl," he asked, +"how about it? Are you going to be able to make a long trip?"</p> + +<p>Within the shelter Chet could see Diane's hands drawn into two hard +little fists. She would force those tight hands to relax while she lay +quietly in the dark; then again they would tremble, and, unconsciously, +the nervous tension would be manifested in those white-knuckled little +fists. For all of them the shock had been severe; it was hardest on +Diane.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>She answered now in a voice whose very quietness belied her brave words.</p> + +<p>"Any time—any place!" she told Walt. "And—and the farther we go the +better!"</p> + +<p>"Quite right," Harkness agreed. "I am satisfied that there is something +there we can never combat. We don't know what it is, and God help anyone +who ever finds out. How about it, Chet? And you, too, Kreiss? Do you +agree that there is no use in staying here and trying to fight it out?"</p> + +<p>"I do not agree," the scientist objected. "My work, my experiments I +have collected! Would you have me abandon them? Must we run in fear +because an anthropoid ape has come into this clearing? And, if there are +more, we have our barricade; our weapons are crude, but effective, and I +might add to them with some ideas of my own should occasion demand."</p> + +<p>"Listen!" Chet commanded. "That anthropoid ape is nothing to be afraid +of: you're right on that. But he came from the pyramid, Kreiss, and +there's something there that knows every foot of ground that messenger +went over. There's something in that pyramid that can send more ape-men, +that can come itself, for all that I know, and that can knock us cold in +half a second.</p> + +<p>"It's found us. One arrow went straight, thank God! It has given us a +stay of execution. But is that damnable thing in the pyramid going to +let it go at that? You know the answer as well as I do. It has probably +sent twenty more of those messengers who are on their way this minute, I +am telling you; and we've got two days at the most before they get +here."</p> + +<p>Kreiss still protested. "But my work—"</p> + +<p>"Is ended!" snapped Chet. "Stay if you want to; you'll never finish your +work. The rest of us will leave in the morning. Towahg will be back here +to-night.</p> + +<p>"Nothing much to get together," he told Harkness. "I'll see to it; you +stay with Diane."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Their bows, a store of extra bone-tipped arrows, and food: as Chet had +said there was not much to prepare for their flight. They had spent many +hours in arrow making: there were bundles of them stored away in +readiness for an attack, and Chet looked at them with regret, but knew +they must travel fast and light.</p> + +<p>Out of his rocky "laboratory" Kreiss came at dusk to tramp slowly and +moodily down to the shelters.</p> + +<p>"I shall leave when you do," he told Chet. "Perhaps we can find some +place, some corner of this world, where we can live in peace. But I had +hoped, I had thought—"</p> + +<p>"Yes?" Chet queried. "What did you have on your mind?"</p> + +<p>"The gas," the scientist replied. "I was working with a rubber latex. I +had thought to make a mask, improvise an air-pump and send one of us +through the green gas to reach the ship. And there was more that I hoped +to do; but, as you say, my work is ended."</p> + +<p>"Bully for you," said Chet admiringly; "the old bean keeps right on +working all the time. Well, you may do it yet; we may come back to the +ship. Who can tell? But just now I am more anxious about Towahg. Right +now, when we need him the most, he fails to show up."</p> + +<p>The ape-man was seldom seen by day, but always he came back before +nightfall; his chunky figure was a familiar sight as he slipped +soundlessly from the jungle where the shadows of approaching night lay +first. But now Chet watched in vain at the arched entrance to the leafy +tangle. He even ventured, after dark, within the jungle's edge and +called and hallooed without response. And this night the hours dragged +by where Chet lay awake, watching and listening for some sign of their +guide.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Then dawn, and golden arrows of light that drove the morning mist in +lazy whirls above the surface of the lake. But no silent shadow-form +came from among the distant trees. And without Towahg—!</p> + +<p>"Might as well stay here and take it standing," was Chet's verdict, and +Harkness nodded assent.</p> + +<p>"Not a chance," he agreed. "We might make our way through the forest +after a fashion, but we would be slow doing it, and the brutes would be +after us, of course."</p> + +<p>They made all possible preparations to withstand a siege. Chet, after a +careful, listening reconnaissance, went into the jungle with bow and +arrows, and he came back with three of the beasts he had called +Moon-pigs. Other trips, with Kreiss as an assistant, resulted in a great +heap of fruit that they placed carefully in the shade of a hut. Water +they had in unlimited supply.</p> + +<p>How they would stand off an enemy who fought only with the terrible +gleam of their eyes no one of them could have said. But they all worked, +and Diane helped, too, to place extra bows at points where they might be +needed and to put handfuls of arrows at the firing platforms spaced at +regular intervals along the barricade.</p> + +<p>Chet smiled sardonically as he saw Herr Kreiss laboring mightily and +alone to rig a catapult that could be turned to face in all directions. +But he helped to bring in a supply of round stones from a distance down +the shore, though the picture of this medieval weapon being effective +against those broadsides of mental force was not one his mind could +easily paint.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>And then Towahg came! Not the silent, swiftly-leaping figure that moved +on muscles like coiled steel springs! This was another Towahg who +dragged a bruised body through the grass until Harkness and Chet reached +him and helped him to the barricade.</p> + +<p>"Gr-r-ranga!" he growled. It was the sound he had made before when he +had seen or had tried to tell them of the ape-men. "Gr-r-ranga! +Gr-r-ranga!" He pointed about him as if to say: "There!—and there!—and +there!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes!" Chet assured him. "We understand: you met up with a pack of +them."</p> + +<p>Whereupon Towahg, with his monkey mimicry, gave a convincing +demonstration of himself being seized and beaten: and the tooth-marks on +nearly every inch of his body gave proof of the rough reception he had +encountered.</p> + +<p>Then he showed himself escaping, running, swinging through trees, till +he came to the camp. And now he raised his bruised body to a standing +position and motioned them toward the forest.</p> + +<p>"Gr-r-ranga come!" he warned them, and repeated it over again, while his +face wrinkled in fear that told plainly of the danger he had seen.</p> + +<p>Chet glanced at Harkness and knew his own gaze was as disconsolate as +his companion's. "He's met up with them," he admitted, "though, for the +life of me, I can't see how he ever got away if it was a crowd of +messenger-apes who could petrify him with one look. There's something +strange about that, but whatever it is, here's our guide in no shape to +travel."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Towahg was growling and grimacing in an earnest effort to communicate +some idea. His few words and the full power of his mimicry had been used +to urge them on, to warn them that they must flee for their lives, but +it seemed he had something else to tell. Suddenly he leaped into his +grotesque dance, though his wounds must have made it an agonizing +effort, but his joy in the thought that had come to him was too great to +take quietly. He knew how to tell Chet!</p> + +<p>And with a protruded stomach he marched before them as a well-fed German +might walk, and he stroked at an imaginary beard in reproduction of an +act that was habitual with one they had known.</p> + +<p>"Schwartzmann?" asked Chet. He had used the name before when he and +Towahg had led their enemy's "army" off the trail. "You have seen +Schwartzmann?"</p> + +<p>And Towahg leaped and capered with delight. "Szhwarr!" he growled in an +effort to pronounce the name; "Szhwarr come!"</p> + +<p>Chet made a wild leap for their bows and supplies.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" he shouted. "That's the answer. It isn't the ones from the +pyramid; they're coming later. It's Schwartzmann and his bunch of apes. +They've followed the messenger, they're on their way, and, in spite of +his being all chewed up, Towahg can travel faster than that crowd. He'll +guide us out of this yet!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He was thrusting bundles of supplies—food, arrows, bows—into the eager +hands of the others, while Towahg alternately licked his wounds and +danced about with excitement. Diane's voice broke in upon the tense +haste and bustle of the moment. She spoke quietly—her tone was flat, +almost emotionless—yet there was a quality that made Chet drop what he +was holding and reach for a bow.</p> + +<p>"We can't go," Diane was saying; "we can't go. Poor Towahg! He couldn't +tell us how close they were on his trail; he hurried us all he could."</p> + +<p>Chet saw her hand raised; he followed with his eyes the finger that +pointed toward the jungle, and he saw as had Diane the flick of moving +leaves where black faces showed silently for an instant and then +vanished. They were up in the trees—lower—down on the ground. There +were scores upon scores of the ape-men spying upon them, watching every +move that they made.</p> + +<p>And suddenly, across the open ground, where the high-flung branches made +the great arch that they called the entrance, a ragged figure appeared. +The figure of a man whose torn clothes fluttered in the breeze, whose +face was black with an unkempt beard, whose thick hand waved to motion +other scarecrow figures to him, and who laughed, loudly and derisively +that the three quiet men and the girl on the knoll might hear.</p> + +<p>"<i>Guten tag, meine Herrschaften</i>," Schwartzmann called loudly, "<i>meine +sehr geehrten Herrschaften!</i> You must not be so exclusive. Many <i>guten</i> +friends haff I here with me. I haff been looking forward to this time +when they would meet you."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>"<i>One for Each of Us</i>"</h3> + + +<p>For men who had come from a world where wars and warfare were things of +the past, Chet, and Harkness had done effective work in preparing a +defense. The knoll made a height of land that any military man would +have chosen to defend, and the top of the gentle slope was protected by +the barricade.</p> + +<p>On each side of the inverted U that ended at the water's edge an opening +had been left, where they passed in and out. But even here the wall had +been doubled and carried past itself: no place was left for an easy +assault, and on the open end the water was their protection.</p> + +<p>Within the barricade, at about the center, the top of the knoll showed +an outcrop of rocks that rose high enough to be exposed to fire from +outside, but their little shelters were on nearly level ground at the +base of the rocks. The whole enclosure was some thirty feet in width and +perhaps a hundred feet long. Plenty to protect in case of an attack, as +Chet had remarked, but it could not have been much smaller and have done +its work effectively.</p> + +<p>There was no one of the four white persons but gave unspoken thanks for +the barricade of sharp stakes, and even Towahg, although his fangs were +bared in an animal snarl at the sound of Schwartzmann's voice, must have +been glad to keep his bruised body out of sight behind the sheltering +wall.</p> + +<p>No one of them replied to Schwartzmann's taunt. Harkness wrinkled his +eyes to stare through the bright sunlight and see the pistol in the +man's belt.</p> + +<p>"He still has it," he said, half to himself: "he's got the gun. I was +rather hoping something might have happened to it. Just one gun; but he +has plenty of ammunition—"</p> + +<p>"And we haven't—" It was Chet, now, who seemed thinking aloud. "But, I +wonder—can we bluff him a bit?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He dropped behind the barricade and crawled into one of the huts to come +out with three extra pistols clutched in his hand. Empty, of course, but +they had brought them with them with some faint hope that some day the +ship might be reached and ammunition secured. Chet handed one to Diane +and another to Kreiss; the third weapon he stuck in his own belt where +it would show plainly. Harkness was already armed.</p> + +<p>"Now let's get up where they can see us," was Chet's answer to their +wondering looks; "let's show off our armament. How can he know how much +ammunition we have left? For that matter, he may be getting a little +short of shells himself, and he won't know that his solitary pistol is +the thing we are most afraid of."</p> + +<p>"Good," Harkness agreed; "we will play a little good old-fashioned poker +with the gentleman, but don't overdo it, just casually let him see the +guns."</p> + +<p>Schwartzmann, far across the open ground, must have seen them as plainly +as they saw him as they climbed the little hummock of rocks. He could +not fail to note the pistols in the men's belts, nor overlook the +significance of the weapon that gleamed brightly in the pilot's hand. +Chet saw him return his pistol to his belt as he backed slowly into the +shadows, and he knew that Schwartzmann had no wish for an exchange of +shots, even at long range, with so many guns against him. But from their +slight elevation he saw something else.</p> + +<p>The grass was trampled flat all about their enclosure, but, beyond, it +stood half the height of a man; it was a sea of rippling green where the +light wind brushed across it. And throughout that sea that intervened +between them and the jungle Chet saw other ripples forming, little +quiverings of shaken stalks that came here and there until the whole +expanse seemed trembling.</p> + +<p>"Down—and get ready for trouble!" he ordered crisply, then added as he +sprang for his own long bow: "Their commanding officer doesn't want to +mix it with us—not just yet—but the rest are coming, and there's a +million of them, it looks like."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The apes broke cover with all the suddenness of a covey of quail, but +they charged like wild, hungry beasts that have sighted prey. Only the +long spears in their bunchy fists and the shorter throwing spears that +came through the air marked them as primitive men.</p> + +<p>The standing grass at the end of the clearing beyond their barricade was +abruptly black with naked bodies. To Chet, that charging horde was a +formless dark wave that came rolling up toward them; then, as suddenly +as the black wave had appeared, it ceased to be a mere mass and Chet saw +individual units. A black-haired one was springing in advance. The man +behind the barricade heard the twang of his bow as if it were a sound +from afar off; but he saw the arrow projecting from a barrel-shaped +chest, and the ape-man tottering over.</p> + +<p>He loosed his arrows as rapidly as he could draw the bow; he knew that +others were shooting too. Where naked feet were stumbling over prostrate +bodies the black wave broke in confusion and came on unsteadily into the +hail of winged barbs.</p> + +<p>But the wave rushed on and up to the barricade in a scattering of +shrieking, leaping ape-man, and Chet spared a second for unspoken thanks +for the height of the barrier. A full six feet it stood from the ground, +and the ends that had been burned, then pointed with a crude ax, were +aimed outward. Inside the enclosure Chet had wanted to throw up a bench +or mound of earth on which they could stand to fire above the high +barrier, but lack of tools had prevented them. Instead they had laid +cribbing of short poles at intervals and on each of these had built a +platform of branches.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Close to the barricade of poles and vines, these platforms enabled the +defenders to shield themselves from thrown spears and rise as they +wished to fire out and down into the mob. But with the rush of a score +or more of the man-beasts to the barricade itself, Chet suddenly knew +that they were vulnerable to an attack with long lances.</p> + +<p>A leaping body was hanging on the barrier; huge hands tore and clawed at +the inner side for a grip. From the platform where Diane stood came an +arrow at the same instant Chet shot. One matched the other for accuracy, +and the clawing figure fell limply from sight. But there were +others—and a lance tipped with the jagged fin, needle-sharp, of a +poison fish was thrusting wickedly toward Diane.</p> + +<p>This time Harkness' arrow did the work, but Chet ordered a retreat. +Above the pandemonium of snarling growls, he shouted.</p> + +<p>"Back to the rocks, Walt," he ordered; "you and Diane! Quick! The rest +of us will hold 'em till you are ready. Then you keep 'em off until we +come!" And the two obeyed the cool, crisp voice that was interrupted +only when its owner, with the others, had to duck quickly to avoid a +barrage of spears.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Kreiss was wounded. Chet found him dropped beside his firing platform +working methodically to extract the broad blade of a spear from his +shoulder where it was embedded.</p> + +<p>Chet's first thought was of poison, and he shouted for Towahg. But the +savage only looked once at the spear, seized it and with one quick jerk +drew the weapon from the wound; then, when the blood flowed freely, he +motioned to Chet that the man was all right.</p> + +<p>The savage wadded a handful of leaves into a ball and pressed it against +the wound, and Chet improvised a first-aid bandage from Kreiss' ragged +blouse before they put him from sight in one of the shelters and ran to +rejoin Harkness and Diane on the rocks.</p> + +<p>But the first wave was spent. There were no more snarling, white-toothed +faces above the barricade, and in the open space beyond were shambling +forms that hid themselves in the long grass while others dragged +themselves to the same concealment or lay limply inert on the open, +sunlit ground.</p> + +<p>And within the enclosure one solitary ape-man forgot his bruised body +while he stamped up and down or whirled absurdly in a dance that +expressed his joy in victory.</p> + +<p>"Better come down," said Chet. "Schwartzmann might take a shot at you, +although I think we are out of pistol range. We're lucky that isn't a +service gun he's got, but come down anyway, and we'll see what's next. +This time we've had the breaks, but there's more coming. Schwartzmann +isn't through."</p> + +<p>But Schwartzmann was through for the day; Chet was mistaken in expecting +a second assault so soon. He posted Towahg as sentry, and, with Diane +and Harkness, threw himself before the door-flap of the shelter where +Kreiss had been hidden, and was now sitting up, his arm in a sling.</p> + +<p>"Either you're a 'mighty hard man to kill,'" he told Kreiss, "or else +Towahg is a powerful medicine man."</p> + +<p>"I am still in the fight," the scientist assured him. "I can't do any +more work with bow and arrow, but I can keep the rest of you supplied."</p> + +<p>"We'll need you," Chet assured him grimly.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They ate in silence as the afternoon drew on toward evening.</p> + +<p>Back by their little fire, with Towahg on guard, Chet shot an +appreciative glance at a white disk in the southern sky. "Still getting +the breaks," he exulted. "The moon is up; it will give us some light +after sunset, and later the Earth will rise and light things up around +here in good shape."</p> + +<p>That white disk turned golden as the sun vanished where mountainous +clouds loomed blackly far across the jungle-clad hills. Then the quick +night blanketed everything, and the golden moon made black the fringe of +forest trees while it sent long lines of light through their waving, +sinuous branches, to cast moving shadows that seemed strangely alive on +the open ground. Muffled by the jungle-sea that absorbed the sound +waves, faint grumblings came to them, and at a quiver of light in the +blackness where the clouds had been, Harkness turned to Chet.</p> + +<p>"We had all better get on the job," Chet was saying, as he took his bow +and a supply of arrows, "we've got our work cut out for us to-night."</p> + +<p>And Harkness nodded grimly as the flickering lightning played fitfully +over far-distant trees. "We crowed a bit too soon," he told Chet; +"there's a big storm coming, and that's a break for Schwartzmann. No +light from either moon or Earth to-night."</p> + +<p>The moon-disk, as he spoke, lost its first clear brilliance in the haze +of the expanding clouds.</p> + +<p>"Watch sharp, Towahg!" Chet ordered. And, to the others: "Get this fire +moved away from the huts—here. I'll do that, Walt. You bring a supply +of wood; some of those dried leaves, too. We'll build a big fire, we +have to depend on that for light."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>With the skeleton of a huge palm leaf he raked the fire out into an open +space; they had plenty of fuel and they fed the blaze until its mounting +flames lighted the entire enclosure. But outside the barricade were dark +shadows, and Chet saw that this light would only make targets of the +defenders, while the attackers could creep up in safety.</p> + +<p>"'Way up," he ordered; "we've got to have the fire on the top of the +rocks." He clambered to the topmost level of the rocky outcrop and +dragged a blazing stick with him. Harkness handed him more; and now the +light struck down and over the stockade and illumined the ground +outside.</p> + +<p>"Here's your job, Kreiss," said Chet, "if you're equal to it. You keep +that fire going and have a pile of dried husks handy if I call for a +bright blaze.</p> + +<p>"We've got to defend the whole works," he explained. "That bunch today +tried to jump us just from one side, but trust Schwartzmann to divide +his force and hit us from all sides next time.</p> + +<p>"But we'll hold the fort," he said and he forced a confidence into his +voice that his inner thoughts did not warrant. To Harkness he whispered +when Diane was away: "Six shells in the gun, Walt; we won't waste them +on the apes. There's one for each of us including Towahg, and one extra +in case you miss. We'll fight as long as we are able; then it's up to +you to shoot quick and straight."</p> + +<p>But Walt Harkness felt for the pistol in his belt and handed it to Chet. +"I couldn't," he said, and his voice was harsh and strained, "—not +Diane; you'll have to, Chet." And Chet Bullard dropped his own useless +pistol to the ground while he slipped the other into its holster on the +belt that bound his ragged clothes about him, but he said nothing. He +was facing a situation where words were hardly adequate to express the +surging emotion within.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Diane had returned when he addressed Walt casually. "Wonder why the +beggars didn't attack again," he pondered. "Why has Schwartzmann waited; +why hasn't he or one of his men crept up in the grass for a shot at us? +He's got some deviltry brewing."</p> + +<p>"Waiting for night," hazarded Walt. He looked up to see Kreiss who had +joined them.</p> + +<p>"If Towahg could tend the fire," suggested the scientist, "I could fire +my little catapult with one hand. I think I could do some damage." But +Chet shook his head and answered gently:</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid Towahg's the better man to-night, Kreiss. You can help best +by giving us light. That's the province of science, you know," he added, +and grinned up at the anxious man.</p> + +<p>Each moment of this companionship meant much to Chet. It was the last +conference, he knew. They would be swamped, overwhelmed, and then—only +the pistol with its six shells was left. But he drew his thoughts back +to the peaceful quiet of the present moment, though the hush was ominous +with the threat of the approaching storm and of the other assault that +must come in the storm's concealing darkness. He looked at Diane and +Walt—comrades true and tender. The leaping flames from the rocks above +made flickering shadows on their upturned faces.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The moment ended. A growl from where Towahg was on guard brought them +scrambling to their feet. "Gr-r-ranga!" Towahg was warning. "Granga +come!"</p> + +<p>They fired from their platforms as before, then raced for the rocks and +the elevation they afforded, for the black bodies had reached the +stockade quickly in the half light. But they came again from one +point—the farthest curve of the U-shaped fence this time—and though a +score of black animal faces showed staring eyes and snarling fangs where +heavy bodies were drawn up on the barricade, no one of them reached the +inside.</p> + +<p>"We're holding them!" Chet was shouting. But the easy victory was too +good to believe; he knew there were more to come; this force of some +thirty or forty was not all that Schwartzmann could throw into the +fight. And Schwartzmann, himself! Chet had seen the bronzed faces of Max +and another standing back of the assaulting force, but where was +Schwartzmann?</p> + +<p>It was Kreiss who answered the insistent question. From above on the +rocks, where he had kept the fire blazing, Kreiss was calling in a +high-pitched voice.</p> + +<p>"The water!" he shouted, "they're attacking from the water!" And Chet +rushed around the broken rock-heap to see a lake like an inky pool, +where the firelight showed faint reflections from black, shining faces; +where rippling lines of phosphorescence marked each swimming savage; and +where larger waves of ghostly light came from a log raft on which was a +familiar figure whose face, through its black beard, showed white in +contrast with the faces of his companions.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Still a hundred feet from the shore, they were approaching steadily, +inexorably; and the storm, at that instant, broke with a ripping flash +of light that tore the heavens apart, and that seared the picture of the +attackers upon the eyeballs of the man who stared down.</p> + +<p>From behind him came sounds of a renewed attack. He heard Harkness: +"Shoot, Diane! Nail 'em, Towahg! There's a hundred of them!" And the +wind that came with the lightning flash, though it brought no rain, +whipped the black water of the lake to waves that drove the raft and the +swimming savages closer—closer—</p> + +<p>Chet glanced above him. "Come down, Kreiss!" he ordered. "Get down here, +quick! This is the finish. We could have licked them on land, but these +others will get us." He stood, dumb with amazement, as he saw the thin +figure of Kreiss leap excitedly from his rocky perch and vanish like a +terrified rabbit into the cave in the rocks.</p> + +<p>"I didn't think—" he was telling himself in wondering disbelief at this +cowardice, when Kreiss reappeared. His one hand was white with a rubbery +coating that Chet vaguely knew for latex. He was holding a gray, earthy +mass, and he threw himself forward to the catapult where it stood idly +erect in the wind that beat and whipped at it.</p> + +<p>"Help me!" It was Kreiss who ordered, and once more he spoke as if he +were conducting only an interesting experiment. "Pull here! Bend +it—bend it! Now hold steady; this is metallic sodium, a deposit I found +deep in the earth."</p> + +<p>The gray mass was in the crude bucket of the machine. Kreiss' knife was +ready. He slashed at the vine that he'd the bent sapling, and a gray +mass whirled out into the dark; out and down—and the inky waters were +in that instant ablaze with fire.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a> +<img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>The inky waters were ablaze with fire.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Fire that threw itself in flaming balls; that broke into many parts and +each part, like a living thing, darted crazily about; that leaped into +the air to fall again among ape-men who screamed frenziedly in animal +terror.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"It unites with water," Kreiss was saying: "a spontaneous liberation and +ignition of hydrogen." The white-coated hand had dumped another mass +into the primitive engine of war. "Now pull—so—and I cut it!" And the +leaping, flashing fires tore furiously in redoubled madness where a +shrieking mob of terrified beasts, and one white man among them, drove +ashore beyond the end of a barricade.</p> + +<p>Chet felt Harkness beside him. "We drove 'em off in back. What the devil +is going on here?" Walt was demanding. But Chet was watching the retreat +of the blacks straight off and down the shore where the sand was smooth +and neither grass nor trees could hinder their wild flight.</p> + +<p>"You've got them licked," Harkness was exulting: "and we've cleaned them +up on our side. Just came over to see if you needed help."</p> + +<p>"We sure would have," said Chet; "more than you could give if it hadn't +been for Kreiss."</p> + +<p>"We've got 'em licked!" Harkness repeated wonderingly; "we've won!" It +was too much to grasp all at once. The victory had been so quick, and he +had already given up hope.</p> + +<p>The two had clasped hands; they stood so for silent minutes. Chet had +been nerved to the point of destroying his companions and himself; the +revulsion of feeling that victory brought was more stupefying than the +threat of impending defeat.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Staring out over the black waters, he knew only vaguely when Harkness +left; a moment later he followed him gropingly around the jagged rocks, +while there came to him, blurred by his own mental numbness, a shouted +call.... But a moment elapsed before he was aroused, before he knew it +for Walt's voice. He recognized the agonized tone and sprang forward +into the clearing.</p> + +<p>The fire still blazed on the rocky platform above; its uncertain light +reached the figure of a running man who was making madly for the opening +in the wall. As he ran he screamed over and over, in a voice hoarse and +horrible like one seized in the fright of a fearful dream: "Diane! +Diane, wait! For God's sake, Diane, don't go!"</p> + +<p>And the driven clouds were torn apart for a space to let through a clear +golden light. The great lantern of Earth was flashing down through space +to light a grassy opening in a jungle of another world, where, stark and +rigid, a girl was walking toward the shadow-world beyond, while before +her went a black shape, huge and powerful, in whose head were eyes like +burning lights, and whose arms were rigidly extended as if to draw the +stricken girl on and on.</p> + +<p>The running figure overtook them. Chet saw him checked in mid-spring, +and Harkness, too, stood rigid as if carved from stone, then followed as +did Diane, where the ape-thing led.... From the far side of the +clearing, where Schwartzmann's men had gone, came a great shout of +laughter that jarred Chet from the stupor that bound him.</p> + +<p>"The messenger!" he said aloud. "God help them; it's the messenger—and +he's taking them to the pyramid!"</p> + +<p>Then the torn clouds closed that the greater darkness might cover those +who vanished in the shadowed fringe of a stormy, wind-whipped jungle....</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3><i>On to the Pyramid</i></h3> + + +<p>It was like Walt Harkness to rush impetuously after where Diane was +being drawn away; but who, under the same circumstances, would have done +otherwise? Yet it was like Chet, too, to keep a sane and level head, to +check the first wild impulse to dash to their rescue, to realize that he +would be throwing himself away by doing it and helping them not at all. +It was like Chet to stop and think when thinking was desperately needed, +though what it would lead to he could not have told. There were many +factors that entered into his calculations.</p> + +<p>Half-consciously he had walked to the barricade that he might stare into +the blackness beyond. The worst of the storm had passed, and the strong +Earth-light forced its way through the thinning clouds in a cold, gray +glow. It served to show the great gateway to the jungle, empty and +black, until Chet saw more of the man-beasts he had called messengers.</p> + +<p>A file of them, stolid, woodenly walking—he could not fail to know them +from the ape-men of the tribe. And they moved through the darkness +toward the sounds of shouts and laughter.</p> + +<p>Chet saw them when they returned; following them were three others. +Schwartzmann was not one of them; but the pilot, Max, Chet could +distinguish plainly; the other two, he was sure, were the men of +Schwartzmann's crew.</p> + +<p>And, for each of them, all laughter and shouted jests had escaped. They +moved like wooden toys half-come to life. And they, too, vanished where +Walt and Diane had gone through the high arch of the jungle's open door.</p> + +<p>Chet knew Kreiss was beside him; at a short distance, Towahg, staring +above the palisade, buried his unkempt, hairy head in the shelter of his +arms. All of Towahg's savage bravery had oozed away at direct sight of +the pyramid men; Chet, even through his heavy-hearted dismay, was aware +of the courage that must have carried this primitive man to their rescue +on that other black night when the pyramid had been about to swallow, +them up.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>To the pyramid all Chet's thoughts had been tending. There Diane and +Harkness were bound; there he, too, must go, though the thought of +driving himself into that black maw, through the overpowering stench and +down to the pit where some horror of mystery lay waiting, was almost +more than his conscious mind could accept. But, with the sight of Towahg +and the abject fear that had overwhelmed him, Chet found his own mind +calmly determined, though through that cool self-detachment came savage +spoken words.</p> + +<p>"If poor Towahg could go near that damned place," he reasoned, "am I +going to be stopped by anything between heaven and hell?"</p> + +<p>And his mind was suddenly at ease with the certainty of the next step he +must take. He turned to speak to Kreiss, but paused instead to stare +into the dark where shadows that were not the ghosts of clouds were +moving. Then his whispered orders came sharply to the scientist and to +Towahg.</p> + +<p>"Come!" he commanded. "Come quickly; follow me!"</p> + +<p>The two were behind him as he found the narrow opening in the barrier's +farther side, passed through, and crouched low in the darkness as he ran +toward the lake where the shallow water of the shore took no mark of +their hurrying feet.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>At the end of the lake he stopped. Beside him, Kreiss, weakened by his +wound, was panting and gasping; Towahg, moving like a dark shadow, was +close behind.</p> + +<p>"I saw them," said Kreiss, when he had breath enough for speech, "—more +beasts from the pyramid. They were coming for us! But we can go back +there after a day or so."</p> + +<p>"You can," Chet told him; "Towahg and I are going on."</p> + +<p>"Where?" Kreiss demanded.</p> + +<p>"To the pyramid."</p> + +<p>Chet's reply was brief, and Kreiss' response was equally so. "You're a +fool," he said.</p> + +<p>"Sure," Chet told him: "I know there's nothing I can do to help them. +But I'm going. All I ask is to get one crack at whatever it is that is +down in that beastly pit and if I can't do that maybe I can still save +Diane and Walt from tortures you and I can't imagine." He touched his +pistol suggestively.</p> + +<p>"Still I say you are a fool," Kreiss insisted. "They are gone—captured; +they will die. That is regrettable, but it is done. Now, besides Herr +Schwartzmann who escaped, only we two remain; the savage, he does not +count. We two!—and a new world!—and science! Science that remains +after these two are gone—after you and I are gone! It is greater than +us all.</p> + +<p>"But I, staying, shall contribute to the knowledge of men; I shall make +discoveries that will bear my name always. This world is my laboratory; +I have found deposits such as none has ever seen on Earth.</p> + +<p>"Be reasonable, Herr Bullard. The enemy has tracked us down by his +superior cleverness. We will go far away now where he never shall find +us, you and I. Do not be a fool; do not throw your life away."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet Bullard, a figure of helpless, hopeless despair, stood unspeaking +while he stared into the black depths of the jungle, and the night wind +whipped his tattered clothing about him.</p> + +<p>"A fool!" he said at last, and his voice was dull and heavy. "I guess +you're right—"</p> + +<p>Herr Kreiss interrupted: "Of course I am right—right and reasonable and +logical!"</p> + +<p>Chet went on as if the other had not spoken:</p> + +<p>"If I hadn't been a fool I would have found some way to prevent it; I +would have killed that ape-thing when first I saw it; I would have got +them free."</p> + +<p>He turned slowly to face his companion in the darkness.</p> + +<p>"But you were wrong, Kreiss; you forgot a couple of things. You said +they found us by their superior cleverness. That's wrong. They found us +because you left a trail they could follow. We threw them off once, +Towahg and I, but the messenger wouldn't be fooled. Then Schwartzmann +and his pack followed the messenger in.</p> + +<p>"And you say it is logical that I should quit here, leave Diane and Walt +to take whatever is coming; you say I'm a fool to stay with them till +the end.</p> + +<p>"Well,"—he was speaking very quietly, very simply—"if you are right +I'm rather glad that I'm a fool. For you see, Kreiss, they're my +friends, and between friends logic gets knocked all to hell.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Towahg!" he called. "Let's see if we can travel this jungle in +the night!" He set off toward the fringe of great trees, then let Towahg +go ahead to find a trail.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Travel at night through the tangle of creepers was not humanly possible. +Even Towahg, after an hour's work, grunted his disgust and curled +himself up for the night. And Chet, though he found his mind filled with +vain imaginings, was so drained by the day's demands on his nervous +energy that he slept through to the rising of the sun.</p> + +<p>Then they circled wide of the trail they had taken before; no risk would +Chet take of a chance meeting with one of the pyramid apes. And he +plagued his brain with vain questions of what he should do when he +reached the arena and the pyramid and the unknown something that waited +within, until he told himself in desperation: "You're going down, you're +going into that damned place; that's all you know for sure."</p> + +<p>Whereupon his questioning ceased, and his mind was clear enough to think +of giant creepers that barred his way, of streams to be crossed, and to +wonder, at the last, when the valley of the pyramid was in sight and +whether the others had reached there before him.</p> + +<p>Another day's sun was beating straight down into the arena when again it +opened before Chet's eyes. And the bleak horror of this place of black +and white that had seemed so incredibly unreal under Earth-lit skies was +doubly so in the glare of noon.</p> + +<p>They entered through the jagged crack that had been their means of +escape. An earthquake, one time, had split the stone, and Chet was more +than satisfied to avoid the broad entrance where the rocks made a +gateway and where hostile eyes might be watching.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He stood for long minutes in the cleft in the rocks where the hard earth +of the arena made a floor before him, where the huge steps of ribboned +white and black swung out on either hand, and where, directly ahead, in +the same hard, contrasting strata, a pyramid lifted itself to finish in +a projecting capstone. And now that he faced it he found himself +curiously cool.</p> + +<p>He motioned Towahg to his side, and the black came cowering and +trembling. He had tried before to ask Towahg about the mystery of the +pyramid, but Towahg had never understood, or, as Chet believed, he had +pretended not to understand. But now he could no longer feign ignorance +of Chet's queries.</p> + +<p>Chet pointed to the pyramid with a commanding hand. "What is there?" he +demanded. "Towahg afraid! What is Towahg afraid of? Ape-men go in +there—Gr-r-ranga-men; who sends for them?"</p> + +<p>And Towahg, who must know the sense of the questions, even though some +words were strange, could not answer. He dropped to his knees there in +the narrow, ragged chasm in the rock and clutched at Chet's legs with +his two hands while he buried his shaggy head in his arms. Then—</p> + +<p>"Krargh!" he wailed; "Krargh there! Krargh send—Gr-r-ranga go. +Gr-r-ranga no come back!"</p> + +<p>It was perhaps the longest speech Towahg had ever made, and Chet nodded +his understanding. "Yes," he agreed; "that's right. I imagine. When +Krargh sends for you, you never come back."</p> + +<p>But more eloquent than the ape-man's halting words was the trembling of +his muscle-knotted shoulders in a fear that struck him limp at Chet's +feet. And the pilot realized that the fear was inspired in part by the +thought in the savage mind that his master might ask him to go closer to +the place of dread. He had followed them once and had struck down a +messenger, but this was when he was avid with curiosity and +half-worshipful of the white men as gods. Now, to go that dreadful way +in full daylight!—it was more than Towahg could face.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet patted the cringing shoulder with a kindly hand. "Get up, Towahg," +he ordered and pointed back toward the jungle. "Towahg wait outside; +wait today and to-night!" He gave the ape-man's sign of the open and +closed hand to signify one day and one night, and Towahg's grunt was +half in relief and half in understanding as he slipped back into hiding +where the jungle pressed close.</p> + +<p>Chet turned again to the pyramid. "They're down there," he told himself, +"facing God knows what. And now it's sink or swim, and I'm almighty +afraid I know which it's to be. But we'll take it together: 'When Krargh +sends for you, you never come back.'"</p> + +<p>No jungle sounds were here in this silent arena, no flashing of +leather-winged birds nor scuttling of little, odd creatures of the +ground. It was as if some terror had spread its dark wings above the +place, a terror unseen of men. But the little, wild things of earth and +air had seen, and they had fled long since from a place unclean and +unfit for life.</p> + +<p>Chet felt the silence pressing heavily upon him as he took his hand from +the rock at his side and stepped out into the arena. And the vast +amphitheater seemed peopled with phantom shapes that sat in serried rows +and watched him with dead and terrible eyes, while he went the long way +to the pyramid's base, and his feet found the rough stone ascent....</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3><i>The Monstrous Something</i></h3> + + +<p>The way to the top of the pyramid was long. One look Chet allowed +himself out over this world—one slow, sweeping gaze that took in the +bare floor at the pyramid's base, a level platform of rock some distance +in front of the pyramid, the hard black and white of the walled oval, +the sea of waving green that was the jungle beyond, and, beyond that, +hills, misty and shimmering in the noonday heat. And nestled there, +beyond that last bare ridge, must be the valley of happiness, Diane +Delacouer's "Happy Valley."</p> + +<p>Chet Bullard turned abruptly where the projecting capstone hung heavy +above a shadowed entrance. He entered the blackness within, stopped once +in choking nausea as the first wave of vile air struck him, then fought +his way on till his searching feet found the stairway, and he knew he +was descending into a pit that held something inhumanly horrible—an +abomination unto all gods of decency and right.</p> + +<p>And still there persisted that abnormal coolness that made him almost +light-headed, almost carefree. Even the fetid stench ceased to offend. +His feet moved with never a sound to find the first step—and the +next—and the next. He must go cautiously; he must not betray his +presence until he was ready to strike.</p> + +<p>Just where that blow would be delivered or against what adversary he +could not tell, and perhaps it would be given him only to save Diane and +Walt by the grace of a merciful bullet. It made no difference. Nothing +made any difference any more; they had had their day, and now if the +night came suddenly that was all he could ask. And still his cautious +feet were carrying him down and yet down....</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He was far below the surface of the ground when he found the foot of the +stairs. They had been a spiral; his hand had touched one wall that led +him smoothly around a shaft like a great well. And now there was firm +rock beneath his feet, where, with one hand still guiding him along the +stone wall, he followed the wall into a darkness that was an almost +solid, opaque black. He seemed lost in a great void, smothered in +silence, and buried under the black weight of the pressing dark, until +the sound of a footfall gave him sense of direction and of distance.</p> + +<p>It made soft echoings along rock walls that picked up every slightest +rustle, and Chet realized again how cautious his own advance must be. +It came toward him, soft, scuffing, followed the wall where he +stood ... and Chet felt that approaching presence almost upon him before +he stepped silently out and away.</p> + +<p>And in the darkness that blotted out his sight he sensed with some inner +eye the passing ape-man with arms rigidly extended, while a wave of +thankfulness flooded him as he realized that in the dark the brute was +as blind as himself and that the terrible thing that had sent him could +see at a distance only with the ape-man's eyes.</p> + +<p>Here was something definite to count on. As long as he remained silent, +as long as he kept himself hidden, he was safe.</p> + +<p>The scuffling footsteps had gone to nothing in the distance when Chet +reached out for the wall and went swiftly, carefully, on. The messenger +had come this way; he could hurry now that he knew there was safe +footing in the dark.</p> + +<p>The wall ended in a sharp corner; it formed a right angle, and the new +surface went on and away from him. Chet was debating whether he should +follow or should cast out into the darkness when his staring eyes found +the first touch of light.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It came from above, a wavering line that trembled to a flame which +seemed curiously cold. The line grew: a foot-wide band of light high up +on the wall, it thrust itself forward like a tendril of the horrible +plants he had seen. It grew on and wrapped itself about a great room, +while, behind it, cold flames flickered and leaped. And Chet, so +interested was he in the motion of this light that seemed almost alive, +realized only after some moments that the light was betraying him.</p> + +<p>He glanced quickly about and found himself within a chamber of huge +proportions. Walls that only nature could form reared themselves high in +the putrescent air of the room; they curved into a ceiling, and from +that ceiling there hung a glittering array of gems.</p> + +<p>Chet knew them for great stalactites, and, even as he cast about +desperately for some secluded nook, he marveled at the diamond +brilliance of the display. But on the smooth floor of stone, where +corresponding stalagmites must have been, were no traces of crystal +growths, from which he knew that though nature had formed the room some +other power had fitted it to its own use.</p> + +<p>Chet's eyes were darting swift glances about. There was no single moving +thing, no sign of life; he was still undiscovered. But it could not last +long, this safety; he looked vainly for some niche where the light would +not strike so clearly, so betrayingly.</p> + +<p>Across the great chamber was a platform fifteen feet above the floor. +Even at a distance Chet knew this was not a natural formation; he could +see where the stones had been cleverly fitted. And now his eyes, +accustomed to the light, saw that the platform was carpeted with hides +and strange furs. There were some that hung over the edge; they reached +almost to the upright block like a table or altar at the platform's +base. On this altar another great hide of thick leather was spread; it +dragged in places on the floor.</p> + +<p>Bare floors, bare walls—no place where an intruder could remain +concealed! Suddenly from the lighted mouth of another passage he heard +sounds of many feet; the sounds of approaching feet.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The impulse that threw him across the room was born of desperation; he +raced frantically to cross the wide expanse before those feet brought +their owners within view, and he fought to keep his panting breath +inaudible while he tugged at the heavy leather altar covering, stiff and +thick as a board; while he forced his crouching body beneath and found +space there where he could move freely about.</p> + +<p>It walled him in completely on the platform side where it hung to the +floor, but on the other three sides there were gaps near the floor where +the light shone in on two pedestals of stone that supported the stone +top.</p> + +<p>Between the pedestals Chet crouched, hardly daring to look, hardly +daring to breathe, while feet, bare and black, tramped shufflingly past. +They went in groups—he lost count of their number but knew there were +hundreds; he heard them going to the platform above. And, through the +sound of the naked feet, came disjointed fragments of thought that +reached his brain, transformed to words.</p> + +<p>Mere fragments at first: "... back; the Master goes first!... The +lights—how grateful is their coolness!... Who stumbled? Careless and +stupid ape! You, Bearer-captain, shall take him to the torture room; a +touch of fire will help his infirmity!"</p> + +<p>And there was a cold rage that accompanied the last which set Chet's +tense nerves a-tingle. But there was no fear in the emotion; he was +quivering with a fierce, instinctive, animal hate.</p> + +<p>The black feet retraced their steps. Then there was silence, and Chet +knew there was something above him on the platform; whether one or many +he could not tell until an interchange of thoughts reached him to show +there was at least more than one.</p> + +<p>"A presence!" some unseen thing was thinking. "I sense a strange mental +force!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>A moment of panic gripped Chet at the threat of discovery. Then he +forced himself to relax; he tried to make his mind a blank; or if not +that, to think of anything but himself—of the jungle, the ape-men, of +the two comrades who had been captured.</p> + +<p>"Patience!" another thinker was counseling. "It is the captives; they +draw near." And across the great room, from the same passage where he +had entered, Chet heard again the sound of bare, scuffing feet.</p> + +<p>He could see them at last; he dared, to stop and peer along the floor. +Bare feet—black, hairy legs, and then came sounds of clumping leather +that brought Chet's heart into his throat, until, directly before the +altar that made his shelter, he saw the stained shoes and torn leggings +of Walt Harkness, and beside them, the little boots and jungle-stained +stockings that encased the slender legs of Mademoiselle Diane.</p> + +<p>They were there before him, Walt and Diane; he would see them if he but +dared to look. And, from somewhere above, a confusion of thought +messages poured in upon him like the unintelligible medley of many +voices. Out of them came one, clearer, more commanding:</p> + +<p>"Silence! Be still, all! Your Master speaks. I shall question the +captives."</p> + +<p>And there came to Chet, crouched beneath the altar, hardly breathing, +listening, tense, a battering of questioning thoughts. He heard no +answer from Harkness and Diane, but he knew that their minds were open +pages to the one from whom those thought-waves issued.</p> + +<p>"Where are you from?—what part of this globe?... Another world? +Impossible! This is our own world, Rajj. It is alone. There is no nearby +star."</p> + +<p>And after a moment, when Harkness had silently answered, came other +thoughts:</p> + +<p>"Strange! Strange! This creature of an inferior race says that our world +has joined hands with his; that his is greater; that our own world, +Rajj, is now a satellite of his world that he calls by the strange name +of 'Earth.'"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>To Chet it seemed that this one mysterious thinker, this "Master" of an +unknown realm, was explaining his findings to other mysterious beings. +There followed a babel of released thoughts from which Chet got only a +confused impression of conflicting emotions: curiosity, rage, hate, and +a cold ferocity that bound them into one powerful, vindictive whole.</p> + +<p>Again the leader quieted the rest; again he laid open the minds of Walt +and Diane for his exploring questions, while Chet mentally listened and +tried to picture what manner of thing this was that held two Earth-folk +helpless, that called them "creatures of an inferior race."</p> + +<p>Super-men? No? Super-beasts, these must be. Chet was chilled with a +nameless horror as he sensed the cold deadliness and implacable hate in +the traces of emotion that clung and came to him with the thoughts. And +his imagination balked at trying to picture thinking creatures so +abominably vile as these thinkers must be.</p> + +<p>The questions went on and on. Chet lost all sense of time. He had the +feeling that the two helpless prisoners were being mentally flayed. No +thought, no hidden emotion, but was stripped from them and displayed +before the mental gaze of these inhuman inquisitors. No physical torture +could have been more revolting.</p> + +<p>And at list the ordeal was ended. Chet had forgotten Schwartzmann's men +until the "Master's" order recalled them to his mind. "Bring the other +captives!" the unspoken thought commanded.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet crouched low to see from under the hanging leather. Naked feet +shuffled aimlessly; they were raised and put down again in the same +position, until the dazed and hypnotized blacks received their orders +and drew Diane and Harkness to one side. Then other leather-shod feet +came into view as Max and his companions were brought forward.</p> + +<p>But there was no more questioning. "Perhaps another day we shall amuse +ourselves with them," a thinker said. Chet, for the first time was +paying no attention.</p> + +<p>A slit in the leather—it might bare been where a spear had entered to +slay a dinosaur in some earlier age—served now as a peep-hole from +which Chet saw two gray and lifeless faces that were expressionless as +stone. And, as if their bodies, too, were carved from granite, Diane and +Harkness stood motionless.</p> + +<p>He saw the blacks, saw that all eyes were on the other prisoners. Only +Harkness and Diane stood with lowered gaze, staring stonily at the floor +where the leather hung. And through Chet's mind flashed a quick impulse +that set his nerves thrilling and quivering, though he checked the +emotion in an instant lest some other mind should sense it.</p> + +<p>Those other minds were not contacting Walt and Diane now. Could he reach +them? Chet wondered. That they were conscious, that they knew with +horrible clearness every detail of what went on, Chet was certain: his +own brief experience that first night on the pyramid had taught him +that. And now if these two could see and comprehend what they saw: if +only he could send them a word—one flashing message of hope! His hands +were working swiftly at his belt.</p> + +<p>The detonite pistol slipped silently from its sheath. And as silently he +placed it on the floor where the two were looking, then slid it +cautiously underneath the leather that just cleared the floor.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>His eye was close to the narrow slit. Did a change of expression flash +for an instant across the face of Walt Harkness? Was it only +imagination, or was there the briefest flicker of life in the dead eyes +of Diane Delacouer? Chet could not be sure, but he dared to hope.</p> + +<p>The "Master" was speaking. To Chet came a conviction that he must not +fail to hear these thoughts. He restored the pistol to his belt.</p> + +<p>"And now the time has come," flashed the message. "One thousand times +has Rajj circled the sun since we put his light behind us and came down +to the dark place that had been prepared.</p> + +<p>"One hundred others and myself; we were the peerless leaders of a +peerless race. To produce the marvelous mentality that made us what we +were, all the forces of evolution had been laboring for ages. We were +supreme, and for us there was nothing left; no further growth.</p> + +<p>"Then, what said Vashta, the All-Wise One? That I and a hundred chosen +ones should descend into the dark, there to live until a new world was +ready for us, lest our great race of Krargh perish." Chet started at the +name. Krargh! It was the same word that Towahg had used.</p> + +<p>The mental message went on:</p> + +<p>"And we alone survive. Our world of Rajj is a wasteland where once we +and our fellows lived. And we have been patient, awaiting the day. The +biped beasts, as you know, have been our food; we have trained them to +be our slaves as well. By the power of our invincible minds we have sent +them out to do our bidding and bring in more of the man-herd for +slaughter when we hungered.</p> + +<p>"And now, remember the words of Vashta, the All-Wise: 'until a new world +is ready.' O Peerless Ones, the new world waits. These ignorant, white +animals have brought the word. We had thought that Vashta meant us to +make a new world of our old world of Rajj, but what of this new world +called Earth? Perhaps that will be ours."</p> + +<p>Chet felt the thinker break in on his own thoughts.</p> + +<p>"One thousand years, but not to a day. Tell us, O Keeper of the Records, +when is the time?"</p> + +<p>And another's thoughts came in answer: "Six days, Master; six days +more."</p> + +<p>The leader's thoughts crashed in with an almost physical violence:</p> + +<p>"On the sixth night we shall go out! In darkness we have lived; in +darkness we shall emerge. Then shall we feast in the arena of Vashta as +we did of old. We shall see this new world; we shall breed and people +the world; we shall take up our lives again.</p> + +<p>"Let the captives live!" he commanded. "Feed them well. They shall be +the sacrifice to Vashta—all but the woman. She shall see the blood of +the others flow on the altar stone; then shall she come to me."</p> + +<p>There was a chorus of mental protests; of counter claims. The leader +quieted them as before.</p> + +<p>"I am Master of All," he told them. "Would you dispute with me over this +beast of the Earth—a creature of no mental growth? Absurd! But she +interests me somewhat; I will find her amusing for a time."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There were bearers who came crowding in; and again in groups they left. +They were on the side where Chet dared not look, but he knew each group +of blacks meant a mysterious something that was being carried carefully.</p> + +<p>And somewhere in the confusion of black, shuffling feet the others +vanished. No sight of Walt or Diane did the slitted leather give; only a +motley crew of blacks who were left, and a wall, high-sprung to a +glittering ceiling, and flaming, cold fire that ebbed and flowed till +the room's last occupant was gone. Then the flames faded to dense +blackness where only fitful images on the retina of Chet's staring eyes +flared and waned, and ghostly voices seemed still whispering through the +clamoring silence of the room....</p> + +<p>They were echoing within his brain and harshly at his taut nerves as he +made his slow way toward the passage through which he had come. Despite +their terror-filled urging he did not run, but took one silent, cautious +step at a time, until, after centuries of waiting, his eyes found a +square of light that was blinding; and he knew that he was stumbling +through the portal in the top of the pyramid of Vashta—Vashta the +All-Wise—unholy preceptor of an inhuman race.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3><i>Sacrifice</i></h3> + + +<p>"Down in the pyramid! You went down there?" Herr Kreiss forgot even his +absorbing experiments to exclaim incredulously at Chet's report.</p> + +<p>Guided by Towahg, Chet had returned to Happy Valley. There had been six +days and nights to be spent, and he felt that he should tell Kreiss what +he had learned.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Chet dully; "yes, I went down."</p> + +<p>He was seated on a rock in the enclosure they had built. He raised his +deep-sunk, sleepless eyes to stare at the house where he and Walt had +worked. There Walt and Diane were to have made their home; Chet found +something infinitely pathetic now in the unfinished shelter: its very +crudities seemed to cry aloud against the blight that had fallen upon +the place.</p> + +<p>"And what was there?" Kreiss demanded. "This hypnotic power—was it an +attribute of the ape-men themselves? That seems highly improbable. Or +was there something else—some other source of the thought waves or +radiations of mental force?"</p> + +<p>Chet was still answering almost in monosyllables. "Something else," he +told Kreiss.</p> + +<p>"Ah," exclaimed the scientist, "I should have liked to see them. Such +mental attainment! Such control of the great thought-force which with us +is so little developed! Mind—pure mentality—carried to that stage of +conscious development, would be worthy of our highest admiration. I +should like to meet such men."</p> + +<p>"They're not men," said Chet; "they're—they're—"</p> + +<p>He knew how unable he was to put into words his impression of the unseen +things, and he suddenly became voluble with hate.</p> + +<p>"God knows what they are!" he exclaimed, "but they're not men. 'Mind', +you say; 'mentality!' Well, if those coldly devilish things are an +example of what mind can evolve into when there's no decency of soul +along with it, then I tell you hell's full of some marvelous minds!"</p> + +<p>He sprang abruptly to his feet.</p> + +<p>"I've got to get out of here," he said; "I can't stand it. Four more +days, and that's the end of it all. I'm going back to the ship. I saw it +from up on the divide. Still buried in gas—but I'm going back. If I +could just get in there I might do something. There's all our +supplies—our storage of detonite; I might do some good work yet!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He was pacing up and down restlessly where a path had been worn on the +grassy knoll, worn by his feet and the pitiful, bruised feet he had seen +from his shelter in the pyramid; worn by Walt and Diane—his comrades! +And they were helpless; their whole hope lay in him! The thought of his +own impotence was maddening. He poured out the story of his experience +in the pyramid, as if the telling might give him relief.</p> + +<p>Kreiss sat in silence, listening to it all. He broke in at last.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" he ordered. "There are some questions I would have answered. You +said once that they found us—these devils that you tell of—because of +the trail that I left. That is true?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Chet agreed irritably, "but what of it? It's all over now."</p> + +<p>"Possibly not," Herr Kreiss demurred; "quite possibly not. The fault, it +appears, was mine. Who shall say where the results of that fault shall +lead?</p> + +<p>"And you say that these thinking creatures are devils, and that they +plan to sacrifice your good friends to strange gods; and still the fault +leads on." Herr Kreiss, to whom cause and effect were sure guides, +seemed meditating upon the strange workings of immutable laws.</p> + +<p>"And you say that if you could reach the interior of your ship you might +perhaps be of help. Yes, it is so! And the ship is engulfed in a fluid +sea, but the sea is of gas. Now in that I am not to blame, and +yet—and—yet—they all tie in together at the last; yes!"</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about?" demanded Chet Bullard harshly. "It's no +use to moralize on who is to blame. If you know anything to do, speak +up; if not—"</p> + +<p>Herr Kreiss raised his spare frame erect. "I shall do better than that," +he stated; "I shall act." And Chet stared curiously after, as the thin +figure clambered up on the rocks and vanished into the cave.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He forgot him then and turned to stare moodily across the enclosure that +had been the scene of their battle. Kreiss had done good work there; he +had scared the savages into a panic fear. Chet was seeing again the +scenes of that night when a faint explosion came from the rocks at his +side. He looked up to see Herr Kreiss stagger from the cave.</p> + +<p>Eyebrows and lashes were gone; his hair was tinged short; but his thick +glasses had protected his eyes. He breathed deeply of the outside air as +he regarded the remnant of a bladder that once had held a sample of +green gas. Then, without a word of explanation, he turned again into the +cave where a thin trickle of smoke was issuing.</p> + +<p>Ragged and torn, his clothes were held together by bits of vine. There +were longer ropes of the same material that made a sling on his +shoulders when he reappeared. And, tied in the sling, were bundles; one +large, one small, but sagging with weight. Both were bound tightly in +wrappings of broad leaves.</p> + +<p>"We will go now," Herr Kreiss stated: "there is no time to be lost."</p> + +<p>"Go? Go where?" Chet's question echoed his utter bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"To the ship! Come, savage!"—he motioned to Towahg—"I did not do well +when I made my way alone. You shall lead now."</p> + +<p>"He's crazy," Chet told himself half aloud: "his motor's shot and his +controls are jammed! Oh, well; what's the difference? I might as well +spend the time this way as any. I meant to go back to the old ship once +more."</p> + +<p>Kreiss' arm still troubled from the wound he had got in the fight, but +Chet could not induce him to share his load.</p> + +<p>"<i>Es ist mein recht</i>," he grumbled, and added cryptically: "To each man +this only is sure—that he must carry his own cross." And Chet, with a +shrug, let him have his way.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There was little said on the trip. Chet was as silent and +uncommunicative as Kreiss when, for the last time, he paused on the +divide to see the green glint from a distant ship, then plunged with the +others into a forest as unreal as all this experience now seemed.</p> + +<p>And at the last, when the red light of late afternoon ensanguined a wild +world, they came to the smoke of Fire Valley, and a thousand fumeroles, +little and big, that emitted their flame and gas. And one, at the lower +end of the valley had built up a great mound of greasy mud from whose +top issued hot billows of green gas. It was here that Kreiss paused and +unslung his pack.</p> + +<p>"Take this," he told Chet; and the pilot dragged his reluctant eyes from +the view of the nearby cylinder enveloped in green clouds. The scientist +was handing him the larger of the two packages. It was bulky but light: +Chet took it by a loop in one of the vines.</p> + +<p>"Careful!" warned Kreiss. "I have worked on it for a month; you see, my +equipment was not so good. I thought that the time might come when it +would be put to use, only first I must conquer the gas—which I now +prepare to do."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand," Chet protested.</p> + +<p>"You are a Master Pilot of the World?" questioned Kreiss, and Chet +nodded.</p> + +<p>"And the control on your ship was a modification of the new ball-control +mechanism such as is used on the latest of the high-level liners?"</p> + +<p>Again Chet nodded.</p> + +<p>"Then, if ever you are so fortunate, Herr Bullard, as to see once more +that device on one of those ships, will you examine it carefully? And, +stamped on the under side, you will find—"</p> + +<p>"The patent marking," said Chet; then stopped short as the light of +understanding blazed into his brain.</p> + +<p>"Patented," he reflected; "that's what it says," and a wondering +comprehension was in his voice: "patented by H. Kreiss, of Austria! +You—you are the inventor?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"I did not speak with entire truth to Herr Schwartzmann," admitted +Kreiss, "on that occasion when I told him I could not rebuild the +control you had demolished. With your equipment on the ship I could have +done a quite creditable job, but even now,"—he pointed to the +leaf-wrapped bundle in Chet's hand—"with copper I have hammered from +the rocks, and with silver and gold and even iron which I found +occurring in a quite novel manner, I have done not so badly."</p> + +<p>"This is—this is—" Chet stared at the object in his hand; his tongue +could not be brought to speak the words. "But what use? How can I get +in? The gas—"</p> + +<p>"Cause and effect!" stated Herr Doktor Kreiss of the Institute at +Vienna, and once more he seemed addressing a class and taking pleasure +in his ability to dispense knowledge. "It is the law of the universe.</p> + +<p>"I perform an act. It is a cause—I have invoked the law. And the +effects go out like circling waves in an endless ocean of time forever +beyond our reach.</p> + +<p>"But we can do other acts, produce other causes, and sometimes we can +neutralize thereby the effects of the first. I do that now." He picked +up the second bundle in its wrapping of leaves; it was heavy for him to +manage with his wounded arm. "This is all that I have," he said! "I must +place it surely.</p> + +<p>"Go down toward the ship," he ordered. "Wait where it is safe. Then +when the gas ceases you will have but three minutes. Three +minutes!—remember! Lose no time at the port!"</p> + +<p>He had reached the base of the hill of mud. He was on the windward side; +above him the fumerole was grunting and roaring. And, to Chet, the thin +figure, gaunt and ungainly and absurd in its wrappings of dilapidated +garments, became somehow tremendous, vaguely symbolic. He could not get +it clearly, but there was something there of the cool, reasoning +sureness of science itself—an indomitable pressing on toward whatever +goal the law might lead one to; but Kreiss was human as well. He stopped +once and looked about him.</p> + +<p>"A laboratory—this world!" he exclaimed. "Virgin! Untouched!... So much +to be learned; so much to be done! And mine would have been the glory +and fame of it!"</p> + +<p>He turned hesitantly, almost apologetically, toward Chet standing +motionless and unspeaking with the wonder of this turn of events.</p> + +<p>"Should you be so fortunate as to survive," began Kreiss, "perhaps you +would be so kind—my name—I would not want it lost." He straightened +abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Go!" he ordered. "Get as near as you can!" His feet were climbing +steadily up the slippery ascent.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The faintest breath of the gas warned Chet back. Almost infinitely +diluted, it still set him choking while the tears streamed down his +face. But he worked his way as near the ship as he dared, and he saw +through the tears that still blinded his stinging eyes the tall figure +of Kreiss as he reached the top.</p> + +<p>A table of steaming mud was there, and Kreiss was sinking into it as he +struggled forward. At the center was a hot throat where fumes like a +breath from hell roared and choked with the strangling of its own gas. +The figure writhed as a whirl of green enveloped it, threw itself +forward. From one outstretched hand an object fell toward the throat; +its leafy wrapping was whipped sharply for an instant by the coughing +breath....</p> + +<p>And then, where the hot blast had been, and the forming clouds and the +erupting mud, was a pillar of fire—a white flame that thundered into +the sky.</p> + +<p>Straight and clean, like the sword of some guardian angel, it stood +erect—a line of dazzling light in a darkening sky. And the fumes of +green had vanished at its touch.</p> + +<p>But Kreiss! Chet found himself running toward the fumerole. He must save +him, drag him back. Then he knew with a certainty that admitted of no +question that for Kreiss there was no help: that for this man of science +the laws of cause and effect were no longer operative on the plane of +Earth. The heat would have killed him, but the enveloping gas must have +reached him first. And he had sacrificed himself for what?—that he, +Chet, might reach the ship!... Before Chet's eyes was a silvery cylinder +whose closed port was plainly marked.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>No gas now! No glint of green! The way was clear, and the slim figure of +Chet Bullard was checked in its rush toward a mound of mud and the body +of a man that lay next to a blasting column of flame; he turned instead +to throw himself through the clean air toward the ship that was free of +gas.</p> + +<p>"Three minutes!" This was what Kreiss had said; this was the allotted +time. In three minutes he must reach the ship, force open the long +unused port, get inside—!</p> + +<p>At one side, across the level lava rock he saw Towahg. The savage was +running at top speed. He had thrown away his bow, dropping it lest it +impede his flight from this terrifying witchcraft he had seen. There had +been a witch-doctor in Towahg's tribe; the savage knew sorcery when he +saw it. But never had his witch-doctor changed green gas to a column of +fire; and this white sorcerer, Kreiss, powerful as he was, had been +struck down by the fire-god before Towahg's eyes. Towahg ran as if the +roaring finger of flame might reach after him at any instant.</p> + +<p>Chet saw this in a glance—knew the reason for the black's desertion: +then lost all thought of him and of Kreiss and even of the waiting ship. +For, in the same glance, he saw, springing from behind a lava block, the +heavy figure of a man.</p> + +<p>Black as any ape, hairy of face, roaring strange oaths, the man threw +himself upon Chet! It was Schwartzmann; and, mingled with profane +exclamations, were the words: "the ship—und I take it for mineself!" +And his heavy body hurled itself down upon the lighter man in the +instant that Chet drew his pistol.</p> + +<p>But, tearing through Chet's mind, was no rage against this man as an +enemy in himself; he thought only of Kreiss' words; "Three minutes! Lose +no time at the port!" And now the brave sacrifice! It would be in vain. +He twisted himself about, so that his shoulder might receive the human +projectile that was crashing upon him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3><i>The Might of the "Master"</i></h3> + + +<p>As with other measures of matters earthly, time is a relative gauge. +Nowhere is this more apparent than in those moments of mental stress +when time passes in a flash or, conversely, drags each lagging minute +into hours of timeless length.</p> + +<p>"Three minutes!" The words clanged and reverberated through Chet's +brain. And it seemed, as he strained and struggled and was forced +backward and yet backward by the weight of his antagonist, that those +three minutes had long since passed, and other three's without end.</p> + +<p>The enemy's leaping body had been upon him before the detonite pistol +was half drawn. And now he fought desperately; he felt only the jar of +blows that landed on his half-covered face. There was no sting or pain, +only the crashing thud that made strange clamor and confusion in his +head. But he ducked and blocked awkwardly with the one arm that held the +package Kreiss had given him, while the other hand that gripped the +pistol was twisted behind him.</p> + +<p>No chance here for clever blocking, no room for quick foot-work; weight +was telling, and the weight was all in favor of his big opponent.</p> + +<p>Chet knew that possession of the gun was vital. Flashingly it came to +him that Schwartzmann had not fired: his pistol, then, was lost, or he +was out of ammunition. And now Chet's hand that held the gun with the +six precious charges of detonite was fast in the clutch of a huge paw, +and the pain of that twisted arm was sending searing flashes to his +brain.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a> +<img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>With the free hand he shot over a blow.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>A twist of the body, and the pain relaxed. He dropped the leaf-wrapped +package to the ground, and, with the free hand, shot over a blow that +brought a grunt of pain from Schwartzmann and a gush of blood that +smeared the black, hairy face. He took one stiff jolt himself on his +half-averted head that he might counter with another to flatten that +crushed and painful nose.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>For one brief instant Schwartzmann's free hand was raised protectingly +to his face so contorted with rage; for one brief instant, below that +big fist, there showed the contour of a jaw; and, with every ounce of +weight that Chet could put into the swing, he came up from under in that +same instant with a smashing left that connected with the exposed jaw.</p> + +<p>The hand that gripped his gun-hand did not let go completely, but Chet +felt the steel-hard rigidity of that arm relax, and abruptly he knew +that he could beat this man down if he once got clear. He didn't need +the gun; he needed only to get both hands free. And, despite the arm +that clung and swung with his, he managed to wrench himself into a +sideways throw of his whole body at the instant he unclosed his hand. +The slim barrel of the detonite pistol described a flashing arc through +the clear air and clattered along the lava underneath a big shining +surface of metal.</p> + +<p>And then, in a breath-taking flash of understanding, Chet knew.</p> + +<p>He knew he was beside the ship: he saw the closed port and the +self-retracting lever that would open it, and he saw it through clear +air where no taint of the green gas was apparent.</p> + +<p>He was certain that he had been fighting for an interminable time, yet +before him the air was clear. It was impossible, but true; and he threw +the half-stunned body of Schwartzmann from him. Then, instead of +following it with punishing blows, he sprang toward the port.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>With one hand on the lever, he turned to dart a glance toward the column +of flame. It was gone! And in its place came green, billowing gas that +was coughed and spewed into the air to be caught up in the steady breeze +that blew directly from the vent.</p> + +<p>Beside him, his antagonist, prone on the lava floor, dragged himself +beneath the ship to reach for the gun. Chet paid no heed; his every +thought—his whole being, it seemed—was focused upon the lever that +turned so slowly, that let fall, at last, a lock whose releasing +mechanism clanged loudly through the metal wall.</p> + +<p>The outer port, a thin door that served only to streamline the opening, +swung open under Chet's hand. And, while he held his breath till his +pumping heart set his whole body to pulsing, he drew himself into the +ship as the green cloud wrapped thickly about. But first he bent to +grasp the knotted vines and leathery leaves that enclosed a bulky +package.</p> + +<p>The port closed silently upon its soft-faced gasket; it was gas-tight +when no pressure was applied. And Chet stumbled and reached blindly till +he fell beside the huge inner compression port, while the breath of gas +that had touched him tore with ripping talons at his throat.</p> + +<p>More measureless time—whether hours or minutes Chet could never have +told—and he sat upright and tried to believe the utterly incredible +story that his eyes were telling.</p> + +<p>A short passage and a control room beyond! It was just as they had left +it; was it days or years before? The shattered control cage was there, +the familiar instrument board, the very bar of metal with which he had +wrought such havoc in that wild moment of demolition; it was all crystal +clear under the flooding light of the nitron illuminator!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Yes, it was true! He, Chet Bullard, was staring wide-eyed at his own +control-room, in his own ship—his and Walt's—and he was alone! The +remembrance of Walt and Diane, and the realization that now, by some +miracle, he might be of help, brought him to his feet.</p> + +<p>He sprang toward a lookout where the last light of day was gone and a +monstrous moon shone down upon a world of ghastly green. Yet, through +the gas, every detail of the world outside showed clear; even the giant +fumerole that had been the funeral pyre of a man of science; even the +mound of ashes at its top which the moving air was blowing in dusty +puffs until spouting mud fell back to hide them from sight.</p> + +<p>Chet cursed the gas for the dimness that clouded his eyes, and he rubbed +at them savagely as he turned and walked to a side lookout.</p> + +<p>Through the riot of impressions of the fight outside the port, he had +known that there was a human body over which he stumbled at times. He +saw it now—the body of Schwartzmann's henchman, killed these long weeks +before but preserved in the ceaseless flow of gas.</p> + +<p>But now, sprawled across it, was another and bulkier shape. Sightless +eyes stared upward from a face turned to the cruel gas clouds and the +hideous green moon above. The mouth sagged open in a black, bearded +face, and one hand still clutched a pistol. It would have shattered his +human opponent had the man been given an instant more, but against the +enemy that rolled down and overwhelmed him in billowing clouds no weapon +could prevail. Herr Schwartzmann had fought his last fight.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The package—the last gift of Kreiss—was still securely wrapped. It lay +on the metal floor. Chet stooped to lift it, to work at the knotted +vines and lay off the thick wrappings of fibrous leaves, until he stood +at last, under the white glare of the bubbling nitron bulb, to stare and +stare wordlessly at the cage of metal bars in his hand.</p> + +<p>Crude!—yes; no finely polished mechanism, this; no one of the many +connection clips that the other had had, either. But Chet knew he could +solder on the hundreds of wires that made the nervous system of the +control and fed the current to the cage; and Kreiss had believed it +would work!</p> + +<p>There was no thought of delay in Chet's mind, no waiting for daylight. +This was the fourth night since he had been in that place of horror, +since, above him in that Stygian pit, an inhuman satanic <i>something</i> had +said: "... the captives ... a sacrifice to Vashta ... on the sixth +night...."</p> + +<p>Chet threw off the rags that once had been a trim khaki jacket and went +feverishly to work. And through the time that was left he drove himself +desperately. The hours so few and each hour so short! As he worked with +seemingly countless strands of heavy cables, where each strand must be +traced back and its point of connection determined, he knew how long +each dreadful minute must be for the two captives deep inside the Dark +Moon.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It was as well, perhaps, that Chet did not have the power of distant +sight, that he had no messenger like those from the pyramid who might +have gone down in that place and have sent him by mental television a +picture of what was there. For he would have seen that which could have +lent no clarity of vision to his deep-sunk eyes nor skill to the touch +of fumbling, tired hands.</p> + +<p>Walt Harkness, no longer under hypnotic control, stood in a dim-lit room +carved from solid stone; stood, and stared despairingly at the +surrounding walls and at the pair of giant ape-men who guarded the one +doorway. And, clinging to his hand, was a girl; and she, too, had been +released from the invisible bonds. She was speaking:</p> + +<p>"No, Walter; we both saw it; it must be true. It was Chet's pistol; he +was there in that horrible place. And I will not give up. He will save +us at the last; I know it! He will save us from the inhuman cruelty of +those terrible things. He shoots straight, Chet does; and he will give +us a bullet apiece from the gun—the last kindly act of a friend. That's +what the signal meant."</p> + +<p>"Then why did he wait! Why didn't he do it then?" Walt Harkness had made +the same demand a hundred times.</p> + +<p>And Diane answered as always: "I don't know, Walter, I—don't—know."</p> + +<p>Chet, cursing insanely at strange machines—equilibrators that +controlled the longitudinal and transverse and rotative stability of the +ship and that refused to take their electrical charge—knew with +horrible certainty that the last night had come. But to the two humans, +in the depths of this world where all knowledge of time was lost, the +knowledge came only when they were dragged by their guards into a +familiar room.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Ape-men were all about; they stared unwinkingly at the captives who +stared back again in an effort to keep their eyes averted from the +monstrous repulsiveness on the platform above them, till their eyes were +drawn to meet the compelling gaze of the "Master" of a lost race.</p> + +<p>A something which, at first glance, seemed all head—this was the +"Master." The naked body, so skeleton-thin, was shrunken and distorted; +it was withered and leathery-brown, like the aged parchment of mummified +flesh. It was seated in a resplendent chair, whose radiating handles +were for its carrying; and, above it, the head, so incredibly repulsive, +was made more hideous by its travestied resemblance to human form.</p> + +<p>Soft, pulpy and wetly smooth—a ten-foot sac, enclosed in a membrane of +dead gray shot through with flickerings of color that flamed and +died—the whole pulsing mass was supported in a sling of golden cloth. +And, dominating it, in the center of that flabby forehead, a focal point +for the gaze of the horrified observers, was a single glassy and lidless +eye.</p> + +<p>Cold, unchanging, entirely expressionless except for the fixed ferocity +that was there, the eye was a yellow disk of hate, where quivering lines +of violet culminated in a central, flaming point; and that point of +living fire swelled prodigiously before their staring eyes. It seemed to +expand, to slowly draw their senses—their very selves—from their +bodies, to plunge them down to annihilation in that fiery pit where a +soundless voice was speaking.</p> + +<p>"Slaves! Apes! Take the captives to the great altar rock of Vashta, to +the Holy of Holies. The others you were permitted to slaughter for our +food; hold these two safely. For one shall die slowly for Vashta's +pleasure, and one shall live on for mine. And we would not have them +under our mental control, so guard them well; the offering is more +pleasing to Vashta when the blood in his cup flows from a creature +unbound both in body and mind." And the two helpless humans found +themselves released from the flaming pit that became again but an eye in +the forehead of a loathsome thing.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They were fully conscious of their surroundings as they were herded up +through the pyramid and out into the night, where rough, calloused hands +seized them and dragged them to a smooth table-top of rock that stood +only slightly above the ground before the great rocky pile. Stunned, +waiting dumbly, they saw swarming ape-men clustered like bees on the +lower pyramid face; they saw coverings of stone being removed and a +great recess laid open, while the ape-things dropped in awe before a +grotesque and horrible beast-head carved from a single piece of stone.</p> + +<p>The eyes of the beast shone with some cold, hidden light. They seemed +fixed hungrily upon a cup in a distorted hand, and, though the cup was +empty, there was promise of its being filled. For little sluices of +stone sloped from the place where the captives stood, and they ended +above the cup so that the life-blood of a slaughtered creature, or a +sacrificed man, might pour splashingly in, a streaming draught for this +blood-thirsty god.</p> + +<p>The arena filled with abominable life. Now, in the dark silence of a +moonless night, the cold stars shone down on a gathering of spectators, +wild and unreal—nameless, spectral horrors of a blood-chilling dream.</p> + +<p>The flat capstone of the pyramid was the resting place of the "Master"; +his huge head showed pulpy and gray above the glittering gold of the +metal carrying-chair where a misshapen body was seated. Others like him +had poured from the pyramid, carried by thousands of slaves to their +places about the arena.</p> + +<p>Monsters of prodigious strength, their forebears must have been, but +this degenerate product of evolutionary forces had lost all firmness of +flesh. Their bodies, sacrificed for the development of the bulbous +heads, were mere appendages, fit only for the propagation of their kind +and for the digestion of human food.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The clean air of night was polluted with abominable odors as it swept +over the exudations of those glistening, pulpy masses. To the two +waiting humans on the great sacrificial stone came a deadening of the +senses, as an executioner, armed with strange torturing instruments, +drew near. But, of the two, one, clinging hopelessly to the other, +abruptly stifled the dry choking sobs in her throat to lift her head in +sharp, listening alertness.</p> + +<p>Walt Harkness was speaking in a dead, emotionless tone:</p> + +<p>"Chet has failed us; he is probably dead. Good-by, dear—"</p> + +<p>But his words were interrupted and smothered by a breathless, strangling +voice. Diane Delacouer, staring with agonized eyes into the night was +calling to him:</p> + +<p>"Listen! Oh, listen! It's the ship, Walter! It's the ship! It's not the +wind! I'm not dreaming nor insane!—Chet is coming with the ship!"</p> + +<p>It was as well that Chet Bullard could not see the two, could not hear +that voice, trembling and vibrant with an impossible, heart-gripping +hope; and surely it was well that he could not share their emotions +when, for them, the silence became faintly resonant, when the distant, +humming, drumming reverberation grew to a nerve-shattering roar, when +the black night was ripped apart by the passage of a meteor-ship that +shrieked and thundered through the screaming air close above the arena, +while, with the rock beneath them still shuddering from the blasting +voice of that full exhaust, the sky above burst into dazzling flame.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>For Chet in that control-room that was darkened that he might see the +world outside—Chet, grim and haggard and stained of face and with +thin-drawn lips that bled unheeded where his teeth had clamped down on +them—Chet Bullard, Master Pilot of the World, had no thought nor +emotion to spare for aught beyond the reach of his hand. He was throwing +his ship at a speed that was sheer suicide over a strange terrain +flashing under and close below.</p> + +<p>He overshot the target on the first try. The twin beams of his +searchlights picked up the dazzling black and white of the arena; it was +before him!—under him!—lost far astern in one single instant that was +ended as it began. But his hand, ready on a release key, pressed as he +passed, and the sky behind him turned blazing bright with the cloud of +flare-dust that made white flame as it fell.</p> + +<p>Such speed was not meant for close work; nor was a ship expected to hit +dense air with a blast such as this on full. Even through the thick +insulated walls came a terrible scream. Like voices of humans in agony, +the tortured air shrieked its protest while Chet threw on the bow-blast +to check them and slanted slowly, slowly upward in a great loop whose +tremendous size was an indication of the speed and the slow turning that +was all Chet could stand and live through.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>He came in more slowly the next time. Floodlights in the under-skin of +the ship were blazing white, and whiter yet were the star-flares that he +dropped one after another. Brighter than the sunlight of the brightest +day this globe had ever seen, the sky, ablaze with dazzling fire, shone +down in vivid splendor to drain every shadow and half-light and leave +only the hard contrast of black and white.</p> + +<p>In the nose of the ship was a .50 caliber gun. Chet sprayed the pyramid +top, but it is doubtful if the two below heard the explosions. They must +have seen the whole cap of the mountain of rock vanish as if, +feather-light, it had been snatched up in a gust of wind. But perhaps +they had eyes only for each other and for a glittering, silvery ship +that came crashing toward the place where they stood, that checked +itself on thunderous exhausts; then touched the hard floor of the arena +as softly as the caress of a master hand on the controls.</p> + +<p>But from them came no cry nor exclamation of joy; they were dazed, Chet +saw, when he threw open the port. They were walking slowly, +unbelievingly, toward him till Diane faltered. Then Chet leaped forward +to sweep the drooping, ragged figure up into his arms while he hustled +Harkness ahead and closed the port upon them all. But, still haggard and +stern of face, he left the fainting girl to Harkness' care while he +sprang for a ball-control and a firing key that released a hail of +little .50 caliber shells whose touch could plough the earth with the +ripping sword of an avenging god.</p> + +<p>And later—a pulverous mass where a huge pyramid had been; smoking rock +in a great oval of shattered crumbling blocks; and, under all the cold +light of the stars, no sign of life but for a screaming, frantic mob of +ape-men, freed and fleeing from the broken bondage of masters now +crushed and dead!</p> + +<p>All this Chet's straining, blood-shot eyes saw clearly before his hand +on the firing key relaxed, before he covered his eyes with trembling +hands as realization of their own release rushed overwhelmingly upon +him.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There were supplies of clothing in the ship—jackets, knee-length +trousers, silken blouses, boots, and even snug-fitting, fashionable +caps. Very unlike the ragged wanderers of the mountainous wastes were +the three who stood safely to windward of a spouting fumerole.</p> + +<p>Mud, coughed hoarsely from a hot throat, and green, billowing +gas!—there was nothing now to show that here was the scene of a +companion's last moments. With heads bared to the steady breeze that had +been their undoing, they stood silent for long minutes.</p> + +<p>Behind them, at a still safer distance, where no chance flicker of a +fire-god's finger might strike him down as it had the white man, a black +figure danced absurdly from foot to foot and indulged in unexpected +gyrations of joy.</p> + +<p>For did not Towahg hold in one hand a most marvelous weapon of shining, +keen-edged metal, with a blade that was longer than his two hands? What +member of the tribe had ever seen such an indescribably glorious thing? +And, lacking the words even to propound that question, Towahg spun +himself in still tighter spirals of ecstasy.</p> + +<p>Then there was the ax! Not made of stone but fashioned from the same +metal! And besides this a magic thing for which as yet there was not +even a name! It made flashing reflections in the sun; and if one held it +just so, and moved one's head before it, it showed a quite remarkably +attractive face of a man who was more than half ape—though Towahg had +never yet been able to catch that man beyond the magic that the white +men called "mirror."</p> + +<p>He was still enthralled in his grotesque posturing when Diane looked +down from the floating ship.</p> + +<p>"He'll be the Lord Chief Voodoo Man for the whole tribe," she said, and, +for the first time since they had stood at the fumerole, she managed to +smile. "And now," she asked, "are we off? What comes next?"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Chet's hand was on a metal ball in a crudely constructed cage of metal +bars. He looked at Harkness, and, at the other's almost imperceptible +nod, he moved the ball forward and up.</p> + +<p>"We're off!" Harkness agreed. "Off for Earth—home! And it will look +good to us all. We will take up things where we left them when we were +interrupted: there's no Schwartzmann to fear now. We can show our ship +to the world—revolutionize all lines of transportation; and we can +plan—"</p> + +<p>He failed to finish the sentence. To his reaching vision there were, +perhaps, more potentialities than he could compass in words.</p> + +<p>And Chet Bullard, fingering the triple star on his blouse—the insignia +that had gone with him through all his hopes and despairs—looked out +into space and smiled.</p> + +<p>Behind him a brilliant world went slowly dark; it became, after long +watching, a violet ring—then that was gone; the Dark Moon was lost in +the folds of enshrouding night. Ahead was an infinity of black space +where only the distant stars struck sparks of fire in the dark. And +still he smiled, as if, looking into the unplumbed depths, he, too, made +plans. But he moved the little ball within his hand and swung the bow +sights to bear upon a glorious globe—a brilliant, welcome beacon.</p> + +<p>"Home it is!" he stated. "We're on our way!"</p> + +<p>But there was needed the rising roar from astern that his words might +have meaning; it thundered sonorously its resounding hum in a crescendo +of power that brooked no denial, that threw them out and onward through +the velvet dark.</p> + + +<h3>The End.</h3> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Brood of the Dark Moon, by Charles Willard Diffin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROOD OF THE DARK MOON *** + +***** This file should be named 32398-h.htm or 32398-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/3/9/32398/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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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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: Brood of the Dark Moon + +Author: Charles Willard Diffin + +Release Date: May 16, 2010 [EBook #32398] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROOD OF THE DARK MOON *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +Brood of the Dark Moon + +(_A Sequel to "Dark Moon"_) + +_By Charles Willard Diffin_ + +[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Astounding Stories +August, September, October and November 1931. Extensive research did not +uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was +renewed.] + + + +List of Illustrations + + +_He landed one blow on the nearest face._ + +_One, swifter than the rest, dashed upon him._ + +_The inky waters were ablaze with fire._ + +_With the free hand he shot over a blow._ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +_The Message_ + +[Sidenote: Once more Chet, Walt and Diane are united in a wild ride to +the Dark Moon--but this time they go as prisoners of their deadly enemy +Schwartzmann.] + + +In a hospital in Vienna, in a room where sunlight flooded through +ultraviolet permeable crystal, the warm rays struck upon smooth walls +the color of which changed from hot reds to cool yellow or gray or to +soothing green, as the Directing Surgeon might order. An elusive +blending of tones now seemed pulsing with life; surely even a flickering +flame of vitality would be blown into warm livingness in such a place. + +Even the chart case in the wall glittered with the same clean, brilliant +hues from its glass and metal door. The usual revolving paper disks +showed white beyond the glass. They were moving; and the ink lines grew +to tell a story of temperature and respiration and of every heart-beat. + +On the identification-plate a name appeared and a date: "Chet +Bullard--23 years. Admitted: August 10, 1973." And below that the +ever-changing present ticked into the past in silent minutes: "August +15, 1973; World Standard Time: 10:38--10:39--10:40--" + +For five days the minutes had trickled into a rivulet of time that +flowed past a bandaged figure in the bed below--a silent figure and +unmoving, as one for whom time has ceased. But the surgeons of the +Allied Hospital at Vienna are clever. + +10:41--10:42--The bandaged figure stirred uneasily on a snow-white +bed.... + + * * * * * + +A nurse was beside him in an instant. Was her patient about to recover +consciousness? She examined the bandages that covered a ragged wound in +his side, where all seemed satisfactory. To all appearances the man who +had moved was unconscious still; the nurse could not know of the thought +impressions, blurred at first, then gradually clearing, that were +flashing through his mind. + +Flashing; yet, to the man who struggled to comprehend them, they passed +laggingly in review: one picture followed another with exasperating +slowness.... + +Where was he? What had happened? He was hardly conscious of his own +identity.... + +There was a ship ... he held the controls ... they were flying low.... +One hand reached fumblingly beneath the soft coverlet to search for a +triple star that should be upon his jacket. A triple star: the insignia +of a Master Pilot of the World!--and with the movement there came +clearly a realization of himself. + +Chet Bullard, Master Pilot; he was Chet Bullard ... and a wall of water +was sweeping under him from the ocean to wipe out the great Harkness +Terminal buildings.... It was Harkness--Walt Harkness--from whom he had +snatched the controls.... To fly to the Dark Moon, of course-- + +What nonsense was that?... No, it was true: the Dark Moon had raised the +devil with things on Earth.... How slowly the thoughts came! Why +couldn't he remember?... + +Dark Moon!--and they were flying through space.... They had conquered +space; they were landing on the Dark Moon that was brilliantly alight. +Walt Harkness had set the ship down beautifully-- + + * * * * * + +Then, crowding upon one another in breath-taking haste, came clear +recollection of past adventures: + +They were upon the Dark Moon--and there was the girl, Diane. They must +save Diane. Harkness had gone for the ship. A savage, half-human shape +was raising a hairy arm to drive a spear toward Diane, and he, Chet, was +leaping before her. He felt again the lancet-pain of that blade.... + +And now he was dying--yes, he remembered it now--dying in the night on a +great, sweeping surface of frozen lava.... It was only a moment before +that he had opened his eyes to see Harkness' strained face and the +agonized look of Diane as the two leaned above him.... But now he felt +stronger. He must see them again.... + +He opened his eyes for another look at his companions--and, instead of +black, star-pricked night on a distant globe, there was dazzling +sunlight. No desolate lava-flow, this; no thousand fires that flared and +smoked from their fumeroles in the dark. And, instead of Harkness and +the girl, Diane, leaning over him there was a nurse who laid one cool +hand upon his blond head and who spoke soothingly to him of keeping +quiet. He was to take it easy--he would understand later--and everything +was all right.... And with this assurance Chet Bullard drifted again +into sleep.... + + * * * * * + +The blurring memories had lost their distortions a week later, as he sat +before a broad window in his room and looked out over the housetops of +Vienna. Again he was himself, Chet Bullard, with a Master Pilot's +rating; and he let his eyes follow understandingly the moving picture of +the world outside. It was good to be part of a world whose every +movement he understood. + +Those cylinders with stubby wings that crossed and recrossed the sky; +their sterns showed a jet of thin vapor where a continuous explosion of +detonite threw them through the air. He knew them all: the pleasure +craft, the big, red-bellied freighters, the sleek liners, whose multiple +helicopters spun dazzlingly above as they sank down through the shaft of +pale-green light that marked a descending area. + +That one would be the China Mail. Her under-ports were open before the +hold-down clamps had gripped her; the mail would pour out in an +avalanche of pouches where smaller mailships waited to distribute the +cargo across the land. + +And the big fellow taking off, her hull banded with blue, was one of +Schwartzmann's liners. He wondered what had become of Schwartzmann, the +man who had tried to rob Harkness of his ship; who had brought the +patrol ships upon them in an effort to prevent their take-off on that +wild trip. + +For that matter, what had become of Harkness? Chet Bullard was seriously +disturbed at the absence of any word beyond the one message that had +been waiting for him when he regained consciousness. He drew that +message from a pocket of his dressing gown and read it again: + + "Chet, old fellow, lie low. S has vanished. Means mischief. Think + best not to see you or reveal your whereabouts until our position + firmly established. Have concealed ship. Remember, S will stop at + nothing. Trying to discredit us, but the gas I brought will fix all + that. Get yourself well. We are planning to go back, of course. + Walt." + +Chet returned the folded message to his pocket. He arose and walked +about the room to test his returning strength: to remain idle was +becoming increasingly difficult. He wanted to see Walter Harkness, talk +with him, plan for their return to the wonder-world they had found. + + * * * * * + +Instead he dropped again into his chair and touched a knob on the +newscaster beside him. A voice, hushed to the requirements of these +hospital precincts spoke softly of market quotations in the far corners +of the earth. He turned the dial irritably and set it on "World +News--General." The name of Harkness came from the instrument to focus +Chet's attention. + +"Harkness makes broad claims," the voice was saying. "Vienna physicists +ridicule his pretensions. + +"Walter Harkness, formerly of New York, proprietor of Harkness +Terminals, whose great buildings near New York were destroyed in the +Dark Moon wave, claims to have reached and returned from the Dark Moon. + +"Nearly two months have passed since the new satellite crashed into the +gravitational field of Earth, its coming manifested by earth shocks and +a great tidal wave. The globe, as we know, was invisible. Although still +unseen, and only a black circle that blocks out distant stars, it is +visible in the telescopes of the astronomers; its distance and its +orbital motion have been determined. + +"And now this New Yorker claims to have penetrated space; to have landed +on the Dark Moon; and to have returned to Earth. Broad claims, indeed, +especially so in view of the fact that Harkness refuses to submit his +ship for examination by the Stratosphere Control Board. He has filed +notice of ownership, thus introducing some novel legal technicalities, +but, since space-travel is still a dream of the future, there will be +none to dispute his claims. + +"Of immediate interest is Harkness' claim to have discovered a gas that +is fatal to the serpents of space. The monsters that appeared when the +Dark Moon came and that attacked ships above the Repelling Area are +still there. All flying is confined to the lower levels; fast +world-routes are disorganized. + +"Whether or not this gas, of which Harkness has a sample, came from the +Dark Moon or from some laboratory on Earth is of no particular +importance. Will it destroy the space-serpents? If it does this, our +hats are off to Mr. Walter Harkness; almost will we be inclined to +believe the rest of his story--or to laugh with him over one of the +greatest hoaxes ever attempted." + +Chet had been too intent upon the newscast to heed an opening door at +his back.... + + * * * * * + +"How about it, Chet?" a voice was asking. "Would you call it a hoax or +the real thing?" And a girl's voice chimed in with exclamations of +delight at sight of the patient, so evidently recovering. + +"Diane!" Chet exulted, "--and Walt!--you old son-of-a-gun!" He found +himself clinging to a girl's soft hand with one of his, while with the +other he reached for that of her companion. But Walt Harkness' arm went +about his shoulders instead. + +"I'd like to hammer you plenty," Harkness was saying, "and I don't even +dare give you a friendly slam on the back. How's the side where they got +you with the spear?--and how are you? How soon will you be ready to +start back? What about--" + +Diane Delacouer raised her one free hand to stop the flood of questions. +"My dear," she protested, "give Chet a chance. He must be dying for +information." + +"I was dying for another reason the last time I saw you," Chet reminded +her, "--up on the Dark Moon. But it seems that you got me back here in +time for repairs. And now what?" His nurse came into the room with extra +chairs; Chet waited till she was gone before he repeated: "Now what? +When do we go back?" + +Harkness did not answer at once. Instead he crossed to the newscaster in +its compact, metal case. The voice was still speaking softly; at a touch +of a switch it ceased, and in the silence came the soft rush of sound +that meant the telautotype had taken up its work. Beneath a glass a +paper moved, and words came upon it from a hurricane of type-bars +underneath. The instrument was printing the news story as rapidly as any +voice could speak it. + +Harkness read the words for an instant, then let the paper pass on to +wind itself upon a spool. It had still been telling of the gigantic hoax +that this eccentric American had attempted and Harkness repeated the +words. + +"A hoax!" he exclaimed, and his eyes, for a moment, flashed angrily +beneath the dark hair that one hand had disarranged. "I would like to +take that facetious bird out about a thousand miles and let him play +around with the serpents we met. But, why get excited? This is all +Schwartzmann's doing. The tentacles of that man's influence reach out +like those of an octopus." + + * * * * * + +Chet ranged himself alongside. Tall and slim and blond, he contrasted +strongly with this other man, particularly in his own quiet self-control +as against Harkness' quick-flaring anger. + +"Take it easy, Walt," he advised. "We'll show them. But I judge that you +have been razzed a bit. It's a pretty big story for them to swallow +without proof. Why didn't you show them the ship? Or why didn't you let +Diane and me back up your yarn? And you haven't answered my other +questions: when do we go back?" + +Harkness took the queries in turn. + +"I didn't show the old boat," he explained, "because I'm not ready for +that yet. I want it kept dark--dark as the Dark Moon. I want to do my +preliminary work there before Schwartzmann and his experts see our ship. +He would duplicate it in a hurry and be on our trail. + +"And now for our plans. Well, our there in space the Dark Moon is +waiting. Have you realized, Chet, that we own that world--you and Diane +and I? Small--only half the size of our old moon--but what a place! And +it's ours! + +"Back in history--you remember?--an ambitious lad named Alexander sighed +for more worlds to conquer. Well, we're going Alexander one +better--we've found the world. We're the first ever to go out into space +and return again. + +"We'll go back there, the three of us. We will take no others along--not +yet. We will explore and make our plans for development; and we will +keep it to ourselves until we are ready to hold it against any +opposition. + +"And now, how soon can you go? Your injury--how soon will you be well +enough?" + +"Right now," Chet told him laconically; "today, if you say the word. +They've got me welded together so I'll hold, I reckon. But where's the +ship? What have you done--" He broke off abruptly to listen-- + + * * * * * + +To all three came a muffled, booming roar. The windows beside them +shivered with the thud of the distant explosion; they had not ceased +their trembling before Harkness had switched on the news broadcast. And +it was a minute only until the news-gathering system was on the air. + +"Explosion at the Institute of Physical Science!" it stated. "This is +Vienna broadcasting. An explosion has just occurred. We are giving a +preliminary announcement only. The laboratories of the Scientific +Institute of this city are destroyed. A number of lives have been lost. +The cause has not been determined. It is reported that the laboratories +were beginning analytical work, on the so-called Harkness Dark Moon +gas-- + +"Confirmation has just been radioed to this station. Dark Moon gas +exploded on contact with air. The American, Harkness, is either a +criminal or a madman; he will be apprehended at once. This confirmation +comes from Herr Schwartzmann of Vienna who left the Institute only a few +minutes before the explosion occurred--" + +And, in the quiet of a hospital room, Walter Harkness drew a long breath +and whispered; "Schwartzmann! His hand is everywhere.... And that sample +was all I had.... I must leave at once--go back to America." + +He was halfway to the door--he was almost carrying Diane Delacouer with +him--when Chet's quiet tones brought him up short. + +"I've never seen you afraid," said Chet; and his eyes were regarding the +other man curiously; "but you seem to have the wind up, as the old +flyers used to say, when it comes to Schwartzmann." + + * * * * * + +Harkness looked at the girl he held so tightly, then grinned boyishly at +Chet. "I've someone else to be afraid for now," he said. + +His smile faded and was replaced by a look of deep concern. "I haven't +told you about Schwartzmann," he said; "haven't had time. But he's +poison, Chet. And he's after our ship." + +"Where is the ship; where have you hidden it? Tell me--where?" + +Harkness looked about him before he whispered sharply: "Our old shop--up +north!" + +He seemed to feel that some explanation was due Chet. "In this day it +seems absurd to say such things," he added; "but this Schwartzmann is a +throw-back--a conscienceless scoundrel. He would put all three of us out +of the way in a minute if he could get the ship. _He_ knows we have been +to the Dark Moon--no question about that--and he wants the wealth he can +imagine is there. + +"We'll all plan to leave; I'll radio you later. We'll go back to the +Dark Moon--" He broke off abruptly as the door opened to admit the +nurse. "You'll hear from me later," he repeated; and hurried Diane +Delacouer from the room. + +But he returned in a moment to stand again at the door--the nurse was +still in the room. "In case you feel like going for a hop," he told Chet +casually, "Diane's leaving her ship here for you. You'll find it up +above--private landing stage on the roof." + +Chet answered promptly, "Fine; that will go good one of these days." All +this for the benefit of listening ears. Yet even Chet would have been +astonished to know that he would be using that ship within an hour.... + + * * * * * + +He was standing at the window, and his mind was filled, not with +thoughts of any complications that had developed for his friend +Harkness, but only of the adventures that lay ahead of them both. The +Dark Moon!--they had reached it, indeed; but they had barely scratched +the surface of that world of mystery and adventure. He was wild with +eagerness to return--to see again that new world, blazing brightly +beneath the sun; to see the valley of fires--and he had a score to +settle with the tribe of ape-men, unless Harkness had finished them off +while he, himself, lay unconscious.... Yes, there seemed little doubt of +that; Walt would have paid the score for all of them.... He seemed +actually back in that world to which his thoughts went winging across +the depths of space. The buzz of a telephone recalled him. + +It was the hospital office, he found, when he answered. There was a +message--would Mr. Bullard kindly receive it on the telautotype--lever +number four, and dial fifteen-point-two--thanks.... And Chet depressed a +key and adjusted the instrument that had been printing the newscast. + +The paper moved on beneath the glass, and the type-bars clicked more +slowly now. From some distant station that might be anywhere on or above +the earth, there was coming a message. + +The frequency of that sending current was changed at some central +office; it was stepped down to suit the instrument beside him. And the +type was spelling out words that made the watching man breathless and +intent--until he tore off the paper and leaped for the call signal that +would summon the nurse. Through her he would get his own clothes, his +uniform, the triple star that showed his rating and his authority in +every air-level of the world. + +That badge would have got him immediate attention on any landing field. +Now, on the flat roof, with steady, gray eyes and a voice whose very +quietness accentuated its imperative commands, Chet had the staff of the +hospital hangars as alert as if their alarm had sounded a general +ambulance call. + + * * * * * + +Straight into the sky a red beacon made a rigid column of light; a radio +sender was crackling a warning and a demand for "clear air." From the +forty level, a patrol ship that had caught the signal came corkscrewing +down the red shaft to stand by for emergency work.... Chet called her +commander from the cabin of Diane's ship. A word of thanks--Chet's +number--and a dismissal of the craft. Then the white lights signaled +"all clear" and the hold-down levers let go with a soft hiss-- + +The feel of the controls was good to his hands; the ship roared into +life. A beautiful little cruiser, this ship of Diane's; her twin +helicopters lifted her gracefully into the air. The column of red light +had changed to blue, the mark of an ascending area; Chet touched a +switch. A muffled roar came from the stern and the blast drove him +straight out for a mile; then he swung and returned. He was nosing up as +he touched the blue--straight up--and he held the vertical climb till +the altimeter before him registered sixty thousand. + +Traffic is north-bound only on the sixty-level, and Chet set his ship on +a course for the frozen wastes of the Arctic; then he gave her the gun +and nodded in tight-lipped satisfaction at the mounting thunder that +answered from the stern. + +Only then did he read again the message on a torn fragment of +telautotype paper. "Harkness," was the signature; and above, a brief +warning and a call--"Danger--must leave at once. You get ship and stand +by. I will meet you there." And, for the first time, Chet found time to +wonder at this danger that had set the hard-headed, hard-hitting Walt +Harkness into a flutter of nerves. + + * * * * * + +What danger could there be in this well-guarded world? A patrol-ship +passed below him as he asked himself the question. It was symbolic of a +world at peace; a world too busy with its own tremendous development to +find time for wars or makers of war. What trouble could this man +Schwartzmann threaten that a word to the Peace Enforcement Commission +would not quell? Where could he go to elude the inescapable patrols? + +And suddenly Chet saw the answer to that question--saw plainly where +Schwartzmann could go. Those vast reaches of black space! If +Schwartzmann had their ship he could go where they had gone--go out to +the Dark Moon.... And Harkness had warned Chet to get their ship and +stand by. + +Had Walt learned of some plan of Schwartzmann's? Chet could not answer +the question, but he moved the control rheostat over to the last notch. + +From the body of the craft came an unending roar of a generator where +nothing moved; where only the terrific, explosive impact of bursting +detonite drove out from the stern to throw them forward. "A good little +ship," Chet had said of this cruiser of Diane's; and he nodded approval +now of a ground-speed detector whose quivering needle had left the 500 +mark. It touched 600, crept on, and trembled at 700 miles an hour with +the top speed of the ship. + +There was a position-finder in the little control-room, and Chet's gaze +returned to it often to see the pinpoint of light that crept slowly +across the surface of a globe. It marked their ever-changing location, +and it moved unerringly toward a predetermined goal. + + * * * * * + +It was a place of ice and snow and bleak outcropping of half-covered +rocks where he descended. Lost from the world, a place where even the +high levels seldom echoed to the roar of passing ships, it had been a +perfect location for their "shop." Here he and Walt had assembled their +mystery ship. + +He had to search intently over the icy waste to find the exact location; +a dim red glow from a hidden sun shone like pale fire across distant +black hills. But the hills gave him a bearing, and he landed at last +beside a vaguely outlined structure, half hidden in drifting snow. + +The dual fans dropped him softly upon the snow ground and Chet, as he +walked toward the great locked doors, was trembling from other causes +than the cold. Would the ship be there? He was suddenly a-quiver with +excitement at the thought of what this ship meant--the adventure, the +exploration that lay ahead. + +The doors swung back. In the warm and lighted room was a cylinder of +silvery white. Its bow ended in a gaping port where a mighty exhaust +could roar forth to check the ship's forward speed; there were other +ports ranged about the gleaming body. Above the hull a control-room +projected flatly; its lookouts shone in the brilliance of the nitron +illuminator that flooded the room with light.... + +Chet Bullard was breathless as he moved on and into the room. His wild +experiences that had seemed but a weird dream were real again. The Dark +Moon was real! And they would be going back to it! + + * * * * * + +The muffled beating of great helicopters was sounding in his ears; +outside, a ship was landing. This would be Harkness coming to join him; +yet, even as the thought flashed through his mind, it was countered by a +quick denial. To the experienced hearing of the Master Pilot this sound +of many fans meant no little craft. It was a big ship that was landing, +and it was coming down fast. The blue-striped monster looming large in +the glow of the midnight sun was not entirely a surprise to Chet's +staring eyes. + +But--blue-striped! The markings of the Schwartzmann line!--He had hardly +sensed the danger when it was upon him. + +A man, heavy and broad of frame, was giving orders. Only once had Chet +seen this Herr Schwartzmann, but there was no mistaking him now. And he +was sending a squad of rushing figures toward the man who struggled to +close a great door. + +Chet crouched to meet the attack. He was outnumbered; he could never win +out. But the knowledge of his own helplessness was nothing beside that +other conviction that flooded him with sickening certainty-- + +A hoax!--that was what they had called Walt's story; Schwartzmann had so +named it, and now Schwartzmann had been the one to fool them; the +message was a fake--a bait to draw him out; and he, Chet, had taken the +bait. He had led Schwartzmann here; had delivered their ship into his +hands-- + +[Illustration: _He landed one blow on the nearest face._] + +He landed one blow on the nearest face; he had one glimpse of a clubbed +weapon swinging above him--and the world went dark. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +_Into Space_ + + +A pulsing pain that stabbed through his head was Chet's first conscious +impression. Then, as objects came slowly into focus before his eyes, he +knew that above him a ray of light was striking slantingly through the +thick glass of a control-room lookout. + +Other lookouts were black, the dead black of empty space. Through them, +sparkling points of fire showed here and there--suns, sending their +light across millions of years to strike at last on a speeding ship. +But, from the one port that caught the brighter light, came that +straight ray to illumine the room. + +"Space," thought Chet vaguely. "That is the sunlight of space!" + +He was trying to arrange his thoughts in some sensible sequence. His +head!--what had happened to his head?... And then he remembered. Again +he saw a clubbed weapon descending, while the face of Schwartzmann +stared at him through bulbous eyes.... + +And this control-room where he lay--he knew in an instant where he was. +It was his own ship that was roaring and trembling beneath him--his and +Walt Harkness'--it was flying through space! And, with the sudden +realization of what this meant, he struggled to arise. Only then did he +see the figure at the controls. + +The man was leaning above an instrument board; he straightened to stare +from a rear port while he spoke to someone Chet could not see. + +"There's more of 'em coming!" he said in a choked voice. "_Mein Gott!_ +Neffer can we get away!" + + * * * * * + +He fumbled with shaking hands at instruments and controls; and now Chet +saw his chalk-white face and read plainly the terror that was written +there. But the cords that cut into his own wrists and ankles reminded +him that he was bound; he settled back upon the floor. Why struggle? If +this other pilot was having trouble let him get out of it by +himself--let him kill his own snakes! + +That the man was having trouble there was no doubt. He looked once more +behind him as if at something that pursued; then swung the ball-control +to throw the ship off her course. + +The craft answered sluggishly, and Chet Bullard grinned where he lay +helpless upon the floor; for he knew that his ship should have been +thrown crashingly aside with such a motion as that. The answer was +plain: the flask of super-detonite was exhausted; here was the last +feeble explosion of the final atoms of the terrible explosive that was +being admitted to the generator. And to cut in another flask meant the +opening of a hidden valve. + +Chet forgot the pain of his swelling hands to shake with suppressed +mirth. This was going to be good! He forgot it until, through a lookout, +he saw a writhing, circling fire that wrapped itself about the ship and +jarred them to a halt. + +The serpents!--those horrors from space that had come with the coming of +the Dark Moon! They had disrupted the high-level traffic of the world; +had seized great, liners; torn their way in; stripped them of every +living thing, and let the empty shells crash back to earth. Chet had +forgotten or he had failed to realize the height at which this new pilot +was flying. Only speed could save them; the monsters, with their snouts +that were great suction-cups, could wrench off a metal door--tear out +the glass from a port! + + * * * * * + +He saw the luminous mass crush itself against a forward lookout and felt +the jar of its body against their ship. Soft and vaporous, these +cloud-like serpents seemed as they drifted through space; yet the +impact, when they struck, proved that this new matter had mass. + +Chet saw the figure at the controls stagger back and cower in fear; the +man's bullet-shaped head was covered by his upraised arms: there was +some horror outside those windows that his eyes had no wish to see. +Beside him the towering figure of Schwartzmann appeared; he had sprung +into Chet's view, and he screamed orders at the fear-stricken pilot. + +"Fool! Swine!" Schwartzmann was shouting. "Do something! You said you +could fly this ship!" In desperation he leaped forward and reached for +the controls himself. + +Chet's blurred faculties snapped sharply to attention. That yellow glow +against the port--the jarring of their ship--it meant instant +destruction once that searching snout found some place where it could +secure a hold. If the air-pressure within the ship were released; if +even a crack were opened!-- + +"Here, you!" he shouted to the frantic Schwartzmann who was jerking +frenziedly at the controls that no longer gave response. "Cut these +ropes!--leave those instruments alone, you fool!" He was suddenly +vibrant with hate as he realized what this man had done: he had struck +him, Chet, down as he would have felled an animal for butchery; he had +stolen their ship; and now he was losing it. Chet hardly thought of his +own desperate plight in his rage at this threat to their ship, and at +Schwartzmann's inability to help himself. + +"Cut these ropes!" he repeated. "Damn it all, turn me loose; I can fly +us out!" He added his frank opinion of Schwartzmann and all his men. And +Schwartzmann, though his dark face flushed angrily red for one instant, +leaped to Chet's side and slashed at the cords with a knife. + +The room swam before Chet's dizzy eyes as he came to his feet. He half +fell, half drew himself full length toward the valve that he alone knew. +Then again he was on his feet, and he gripped at the ball-control with +one hand while he opened a master throttle that cut in this new supply +of explosive. + + * * * * * + +The room had been silent with the silence of empty space, save only for +the scraping of a horrid body across the ship's outer shell. The silence +was shattered now as if by the thunder of many guns. There was no time +for easing themselves into gradual flight. Chet thrust forward on the +ball-control, and the blast from their stern threw the ship as if it had +been fired from a giant cannon. + +The self-compensating floor swung back and up; Chet's weight was almost +unbearable as the ship beneath him leaped out and on, and the terrific +blast that screamed and thundered urged this speeding shell to greater +and still greater speed. And then, with the facility that that speed +gave, Chet's careful hands moved a tiny metal ball within its magnetic +cage, and the great ship bellowed from many ports as it followed the +motion of that ball. + +Could an eye have seen the wild, twisting flight, it must have seemed as +if pilot and ship had gone suddenly mad. The craft corkscrewed and +whirled; it leaped upward and aside; and, as the glowing mass was thrown +clear of the lookout, Chet's hand moved again to that maximum forward +position, and again the titanic blast from astern drove them on and out. + +There were other shapes ahead, glowing lines of fire, luminous masses +like streamers of cloud that looped themselves into contorted forms and +writhed vividly until they straightened into sharp lines of speed that +bore down upon the fleeing craft and the human food that was escaping +these hungry snouts. + +Chet saw them dead ahead; he saw the outthrust heads, each ending in a +great suction-cup, the row of disks that were eyes blazing above, and +the gaping maw below. He altered their course not a hair's breadth as he +bore down upon them, while the monsters swelled prodigiously before his +eyes. And the thunderous roar from astern came with never a break, while +the ship itself ceased its trembling protest against the sudden blast +and drove smoothly on and into the waiting beasts. + +There was a hardly perceptible thudding jar. They were free! And the +forward lookouts showed only the brilliant fires of distant suns and one +more glorious than the rest that meant a planet. + + * * * * * + +Chet turned at last to face Schwartzmann and his pilot where they had +clung helplessly to a metal stanchion. Four or five others crept in from +the cabin aft; their blanched faces told of the fear that had gripped +them--fear of the serpents; fear, too, of the terrific plunges into +which the ship had been thrown. Chet Bullard drew the metal control-ball +back into neutral and permitted himself the luxury of a laugh. + +"You're a fine bunch of highwaymen," he told Schwartzmann; "you'll steal +a ship you can't fly; then come up here above the R. A. level and get +mixed up with those brutes. What's the idea? Did you think you would +just hop over to the Dark Moon? Some little plan like that in your +mind?" + +Again the dark, heavy face of Schwartzmann flushed deeply; but it was +his own men upon whom he turned. + +"You," he told the pilot--"you were so clever; you would knock this man +senseless! You would insist that you could fly the ship!" + +The pilot's eyes still bulged with the fear he had just experienced. +"But, Herr Schwartzmann, it was you who told me--" + +A barrage of unintelligible words cut his protest short. Schwartzmann +poured forth imprecations in an unknown tongue, then turned to the +others. + +"Back!" he ordered. "Bah!--such men! The danger it iss over--yess! This +pilot, he will take us back safely." + +He turned his attention now to the waiting Chet. "Herr Bullard, iss it +not--yess?" + +He launched into extended apologies--he had wanted a look at this so +marvelous ship--he had spied upon it; he admitted it. But this murderous +attack was none of his doing; his men had got out of hand; and then he +had thought it best to take Chet, unconscious as he was and return with +him where he could have care. + + * * * * * + +And Chet Bullard kept his eyes steadily upon the protesting man and said +nothing, but he was thinking of a number of things. There was Walt's +warning, "this Schwartzmann means mischief," and the faked message that +had brought him from the hospital to get the ship from its hiding place; +no, it was too much to believe. But Chet's eyes were unchanging, and he +nodded shortly in agreement as the other concluded. + +"You will take us back?" Schwartzmann was asking. "I will repay you well +for what inconvenience we have caused. The ship, you will return it +safely to the place where it was?" + +And Chet, after making and discarding a score of plans, knew there was +nothing else he could do. He swung the little metal ball into a +sharply-banked turn. The straight ray of light from an impossibly +brilliant sun struck now on a forward lookout; it shone across the +shoulder of a great globe to make a white, shining crescent as of a +giant moon. It was Earth; and Chet brought the bow-sights to bear on +that far-off target, while again the thunderous blast was built up to +drive them back along the trackless path on which they had come. But he +wondered, as he pressed forward on the control, what the real plan of +this man, Schwartzmann, might be.... + + * * * * * + +Less than half an hour brought them to the Repelling Area, and Chet felt +the upward surge as he approached it. Here, above this magnetic field +where gravitation's pull was nullified, had been the air-lanes for fast +liners. Empty lanes they were now; for the R. A., as the flying +fraternity knew it--the Heaviside Layer of an earlier day--marked the +danger line above which the mysterious serpents lay in wait. Only the +speed of Chet's ship saved them; more than one of the luminous monsters +was in sight as he plunged through the invisible R. A. and threw on +their bow-blast strongly to check their fall. + +Then, as he set a course that would take them to that section of the +Arctic waste where the ship had been, he pondered once more upon the +subject of this Schwartzmann of the shifty eyes and the glib tongue and +of his men who had "got out of hand" and had captured this ship. + +"Why in thunder are we back here?" Chet asked himself in perplexity. +"This big boy means to keep the ship; and, whatever his plans may have +been before, he will never stop short of the Dark Moon now that he has +seen the old boat perform. Then why didn't he keep on when he was +started? Had the serpents frightened him back?" + +He was still mentally proposing questions to which there seemed no +answer when he felt the pressure of a metal tube against his back. The +voice of Schwartzmann was in his ears. + +"This is a detonite pistol"--that voice was no longer unctuous and +self-deprecating--"one move and I'll plant a charge inside you that will +smash you to a jelly!" + + * * * * * + +There were hands that gripped Chet before he could turn; his arms were +wrenched backward; he was helpless in the grip of Schwartzmann's men. +The former pilot sprang forward. + +"Take control, Max!" Schwartzmann snapped; but he followed it with a +question while the pilot was reaching for the ball. "You can fly it for +sure, Max?" + +The man called Max answered confidently. + +"_Ja wohl!_" he said with eager assurance. "Up top there would have been +no trouble yet for that _verdammt, verloren_ valve. That one +experimental trip is enough--I fly it!" + +Those who held Chet were binding his wrists. He was thrown to the floor +while his feet were tied, and, as a last precaution, a gag was forced +into his mouth. Schwartzmann left this work to his men. He paid no +attention to Chet; he was busy at the radio. + +He placed the sending-levers in strange positions that would effect a +blending of wave lengths which only one receiving instrument could pick +up. He spoke cryptic words into the microphone, then dropped into a +language that was unfamiliar to Chet. Yet, even then, it was plain that +he was giving instructions, and he repeated familiar words. + +"Harkness," Chet heard him say, and, "--Delacouer--_ja!_--Mam'selle +Delacouer!" + +Then, leaving the radio, he said, "Put my ship inside the hangar;" and +the pilot, Max, grounded their own ship to allow the men to leap out and +float into the big building the big aircraft in which Schwartzmann had +come. + +"Now close the doors!" their leader ordered. "Leave everything as it +was!" And to the pilot he gave added instructions: "There iss no air +traffic here. You will to forty thousand ascend, und you will wait over +this spot." Contemptuously he kicked aside the legs of the bound man +that he might walk back into the cabin. + + * * * * * + +The take-off was not as smooth as it would have been had Chet's slim +hands been on the controls; this burly one who handled them now was not +accustomed to such sensitivity. But Chet felt the ship lift and lurch, +then settle down to a swift, spiralling ascent. Now he lay still as he +tried to ponder the situation. + +"Now what dirty work are they up to?" he asked himself. He had seen a +sullen fury on the dark face of Herr Schwartzmann as he spoke the names +of Walt and Diane into the radio. Chet remembered the look now, and he +struggled vainly with the cords about his wrists. Even a detonite pistol +with its tiny grain of explosive in the end of each bullet would not +check him--not when Walt and Diane were endangered. And the expression +on that heavy, scowling face had told him all too clearly that some real +danger threatened. + +But the cords held fast on his swollen wrists. His head was still +throbbing; and even his side, not entirely healed, was adding to the +torment that beat upon him--beat and beat with his pulsing blood--until +the beating faded out into unconsciousness.... + +Dimly he knew they were soaring still higher as their radio picked up +the warning of an approaching patrol ship; vaguely, he realized that +they descended again to a level of observation. Chet knew in some corner +of his brain that Schwartzmann was watching from an under lookout with a +powerful glass, and he heard his excited command: + +"Down--go slowly, down!... They are landing.... They have entered the +hangar. Now, down with it. Max! Down! down!" + + * * * * * + +The plunging fall of the ship roused Chet from his stupor. He felt the +jolt of the clumsy landing despite the snow-cushioned ground; he heard +plainly the exclamations from beyond an open port--the startled oath in +Walter Harkness' voice, and the stinging scorn in the words of Diane +Delacouer. + +Herr Schwartzmann had been in the employ of Mademoiselle Delacouer, but +he was taking orders no longer. There was a sound of scuffling feet, and +once the thud of a blow.... Then Chet watched with heavy, hopeless eyes +as the familiar faces of Diane and Walt appeared in the doorway. Their +hands were bound; they, too, were threatened with a slim-barreled pistol +in the hands of the smirking, exultant Schwartzmann. + +A tall, thin-faced man whom Chet had not seen before followed them into +the room. The newcomer was motioned forward now, as Schwartzmann called +an order to the pilot: + +"All right; now we go. Max! Herr Doktor Kreiss will give you the +bearings; he knows his way among the stars." + +Herr Schwartzmann doubled over in laughing appreciation of his own +success before he straightened up and regarded his captives with cold +eyes. + +"Such a pleasure!" he mocked; "such charming passengers to take with me +on my first trip into space; this ship, it iss not so goot. I will build +better ships later on; I will let you see them when I shall come to +visit you." + +He laughed again at sight of the wondering looks in the eyes of the +three; stooping, he jerked the gag from Chet's mouth. + +"You do not understand," he exclaimed. "I should haff explained. You +see, _meine guten Freunde_, we go--ach!--you have guessed it already! We +go to the Dark Moon. I am pleased to take you with me on the trip out; +but coming back, I will have so much to bring--there will be no room for +passengers. + +"I could have killed you here," he said; and his mockery gave place for +a moment to a savage tone, "but the patrol ships, they are everywhere. +But I have influence here und there--I arranged that your flask of gas +should be charged with explosive, I discredited you, and yet I could not +so great a risk take as to kill you all. + +"So came inspiration! I called your foolish young friend here from the +hospital. I ordered him to go at once to the ship hidden where I could +not find, and I signed the name of Herr Harkness." + + * * * * * + +Chet caught the silent glances of his friends who could yet smile +hopefully through the other emotions that possessed them. He ground his +teeth as the smooth voice of Herr Schwartzmann went on: + +"He led me here: the young fool! Then I sent for you--und this time I +signed his name--und you came. So simple! + +"Und now we go in _my_ ship to _my_ new world. And," he added savagely, +"if one of you makes the least trouble, he will land on the Dark +Moon--yess!--but he will land hard, from ten thousand feet up!" + +The great generator was roaring. To Chet came the familiar lift of the +R. A. effect. They were beyond the R. A.; they were heading out and away +from Earth; and his friends were captives through his own unconscious +treachery, carried out into space in their own ship, with the hands of +an enemy gripping the controls.... + +Chet's groan, as he turned his face away from the others who had tried +to smile cheerfully, had nothing to do with the pain of his body. It was +his mind that was torturing him. + +But he muttered broken words as he lay there, words that had reference +to one Schwartzmann. "I'll get him, damn him! I'll get him!" he was +promising himself. + +And Herr Schwartzmann, who was clever, would have proved his cleverness +still more by listening. For a Mister Pilot of the World does not get +his rating on vain boasts. He must know first his flying, his ships and +his air--but he is apt to make good in other ways as well. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +_Out of Control_ + + +Walter Harkness had built this ship with Chet's help. They had designed +it for space-travel. It was the first ship to leave the Earth under its +own power, reach another heavenly body, and come back for a safe +landing. But they had not installed any luxuries for the passengers. + +In the room where the three were confined, there were no +self-compensating chairs such as the high-liners used. But the +acceleration of the speeding ship was constant, and the rear wall became +their floor where they sat or paced back and forth. Their bonds had been +removed, and one of Harkness' hands was gripping Diane's where they sat +side by side. Chet was briskly limbering his cramped muscles. + +He glanced at the two who sat silent nearby, and he knew what was in +their minds--knew that each was thinking of the other, forgetting their +own danger; and it was these two who had saved his life on their first +adventure out in space. + +Walt--one man who was never spoiled by his millions; and Diane--straight +and true as they make 'em! Some way, somehow, they must be saved--thus +ran his thoughts--but it looked bad for them all. Schwartzmann?--no use +kidding themselves about that lad; he was one bad hombre. The best they +could hope for was to be marooned on the Dark Moon--left there to live +or to die amid those savage surroundings; and the worst that might +happen--! But Chet refused to think of what alternatives might occur to +the ugly, distorted mind of the man who had them at his mercy. + +There was no echo of these thoughts when he spoke; the smile that +flashed across his lean face brought a brief response from the +despondent countenances of his companions. + +"Well," Chet observed, and ran his hand through a tangle of blond hair, +"I have heard that the Schwartzmann lines give service, and I reckon +I heard right. Here we were wanting to go back to the Dark Moon, +and,"--he paused to point toward a black portlight where occasional +lights flashed past--"I'll say we're going; going somewhere at least. +All I hope is that that Maxie boy doesn't find the Dark Moon at about +ten thousand per. He may be a great little skipper on a nice, slow, +five-hundred-maximum freighter, but not on this boat. I don't like his +landings." + + * * * * * + +Diane Delacouer raised her eyes to smile approvingly upon him. "You're +good, Chet," she said; "you are a darn good sport. They knock you down +out of control, and you nose right back up for a forty-thousand foot +zoom. And you try to carry us with you. Well, I guess it's time we got +over our gloom. Now what is going to happen?" + +"I'll tell you," said Walter Harkness, looking at his watch: "if that +fool pilot of Schwartzmann's doesn't cut his stern thrust and build up a +bow resistance, we'll overshoot our mark and go tearing on a few hundred +thousand miles in space." + +Diane was playing up to Chet's lead. + +"_Bien!_" she exclaimed. "A few million, perhaps! Then we may see some +of those Martians we've been speculating about. I hear they are +handsome, my Walter--much better looking than you. Maybe this is all for +the best after all!" + +"Say," Harkness protested, "if you two idiots don't know enough to worry +as you ought, I don't see any reason why I should do all the heavy +worrying for the whole crowd. I guess you've got the right idea at that: +take what comes when it gets here--or when we get there." + +Small wonder, thought Chet, that Herr Schwartzmann stared at them in +puzzled bewilderment when he flung open the door, and took one long +stride into the room. Stocky, heavy-muscled, he stood regarding them, a +frown of suspicion drawing his face into ugly lines. Plainly he was +disturbed by this laughing good-humor where he had expected misery and +hopelessness and tears. He moved the muzzle of a detonite pistol back +and forth. + + * * * * * + +"You haff been drinking!" he stated at last. "You are intoxicated--all +of you!" His eyes darted searching glances about the little room that +was too bare to hide any cause for inebriation. + +It was Mam'selle Diane who answered him with an emphatic shake of her +dark head; an engaging smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "_Mais +non!_ my dear Herr Schwartzmann," she assured him; "it is joy--just +happiness at again approaching our Moon--and in such good company, too." + +"Fortunes of war, Schwartzmann," declared Harkness; "we know how to +accept them, and we don't hold it against you. We are down now, but your +turn will come." + +The man's reply was a sputtering of rage in words that neither Chet nor +Harkness could understand. The latter turned to the girl with a +question. + +"Did you get it, Diane? What did he say?" + +"I think I would not care to translate it literally," said Diane +Delacouer, twisting her soft mouth into an expression of distaste; "but, +speaking generally, he disagrees with you." + +Herr Schwartzmann was facing Harkness belligerently. "You think you know +something! What is it?" he demanded. "You are under my feet; I kick you +as I would _meinen Hund_ and you can do nothing." He aimed a savage kick +into the air to illustrate his meaning, and Harkness' face flushed +suddenly scarlet. + + * * * * * + +Whatever retort was on Harkness' tongue was left unspoken; a sharp look +from Chet, who brought his fingers swiftly to his lips in a gesture of +silence, checked the reply. The action was almost unconscious on Chet's +part; it was as unpremeditated as the sudden thought that flashed +abruptly into his mind-- + +They were helpless; they were in this brute's power beyond the slightest +doubt. Schwartzmann's words, "You know something. What is it?" had fired +a swift train of thought. + +The idea was nebulous as yet ... but if they could throw a scare into +this man--make him think there was danger ahead.... Yes, that was it: +make Schwartzmann think they knew of dangers that he could not avoid. +They had been there before: make this man afraid to kill them. The +dreadful alternative that Chet had feared to think of might be +averted.... + +All this came in an instantaneous, flashing correlation of his conscious +thoughts. + +"I'll tell you what we mean," he told Schwartzmann. He even leaned +forward to shake an impressive finger before the other's startled face. +"I'll tell you first of all that it doesn't make a damn bit of +difference who is on top--or it won't in a few hours more. We'll all be +washed out together. + +"I've landed once on the Dark Moon; I know what will happen. And do you +know how fast we are going? Do you know the Moon's speed as it +approaches? Had you thought what you will look like when that fool pilot +rams into it head on? + +"And that isn't all!" He grinned derisively into Schwartzmann's flushed +face, disregarding the half-raised pistol; it was as if some secret +thought had filled him with overpowering amusement. His broad grin grew +into a laugh. "That isn't all, big boy. What will you do if you do land? +What will you do when you open the ports and the--" He cut his words +short, and the smile, with all other expression, was carefully erased +from his young face. + +"No, I reckon I won't spoil the surprise. We got through it all right; +maybe you will, too--maybe!" + + * * * * * + +And again it was Diane who played up to Chet's lead without a moment's +hesitation. + +"Chet," she demanded, "aren't you going to warn him? You would not allow +him and his men to be--" + +She stopped in apparent horror of the unsaid words; Chet gave her an +approving glance. + +"We'll see about that when we get there, Diane." + +He turned abruptly back to Schwartzmann, "I'll forget what a rotten +winner you have been; I'll help you out: I'll take the controls if you +like. Of course, your man, Max, may set us down without damage; then +again--" + +"Take them!" Schwartzmann ungraciously made an order of his acceptance. +"Take the controls, Herr Bullard! But if you make a single false move!" +The menacing pistol completed the threat. + +But "Herr Bullard" merely turned to his companion with a level, +understanding look. "Come on," he said; "you can both help in working +out our location." + +He stepped before the burly man that Diane might precede them through +the door. And he felt the hand of Walt Harkness on his arm in a pressure +that told what could not be said aloud. + + * * * * * + +There were pallid-faced men in the cabin through which they passed; men +who stared and stared from the window-ports into the black immensity of +space. Chet, too, stopped to look; there had been no port-holes in that +inner room where they had been confined. + +He knew what to expect; he knew how awe-inspiring would be the sight of +strange, luminous bodies--great islands of light--masses of +animalculae--that glowed suddenly, then melted again into velvet black. +A whirl of violet grew almost golden in sudden motion; Chet knew it for +an invisible monster of space. Glowingly luminous as it threw itself +upon a subtle mass of shimmering light, it faded like a flickering flame +and went dark as its motion ceased. + +Life!--life, everywhere in this ocean of space! And on every hand was +death. "Not surprising," Chet realized, "that these other Earthmen are +awed and trembling!" + +The sun was above them; its light struck squarely down through the upper +ports. This was polarized light--there was nothing outside to reflect or +refract it--and, coming as a straight beam from above, it made a +brilliant circle upon the floor from which it was diffused throughout +the room. It was as if the floor itself was the illuminating agent. + +No eye could bear to look into the glare from above; nor was there need, +for the other ports drew the eyes with their black depths of unplumbed +space. + +Black!--so velvet as to seem almost tangible! Could one have reached out +a hand, that blackness, it seemed, must be a curtain that the hand could +draw aside, where unflickering points of light pricked through the dark +to give promise of some radiant glory beyond. + + * * * * * + +They had seen it before, these three, yet Chet caught the eyes of +Harkness and Diane and knew that his own eyes must share something of +the look he saw in theirs--something of reverent wonder and a strange +humility before this evidence of transcendent greatness. + +Their own immediate problem seemed gone. The tyranny of this glowering +human and his men--the efforts of the whole world and its struggling +millions--how absurdly unimportant it all was! How it faded to +insignificance! And yet.... + +Chet came from the reverie that held him. There was one man by whom this +beauty was unseen. Herr Schwartzmann was angrily ordering them on, and, +surprisingly, Chet laughed aloud. + +This problem, he realized, was _his_ problem--his to solve with the help +of the other two. And it was not insignificant; he knew with some sudden +wordless knowledge that there was nothing in all the great scheme but +that it had its importance. This vastness that was beyond the power of +human mind to grasp ceased to be formidable--he was part of it. He felt +buoyed up; and he led the way confidently toward the control-room door +where Schwartzmann stood. + +The scientist, whom Schwartzmann had called Herr Doktor Kreiss, was +beside the pilot. He was leaning forward to search the stars in the +blackness ahead, but the pilot turned often to stare through the rear +lookouts as if drawn in fearful fascination by what was there. Chet took +the controls at Schwartzmann's order; the pilot saluted with a trembling +hand and vanished into the cabin at the rear. + +"Ready for flying orders, Doctor," the new pilot told Herr Kreiss. "I'll +put her where you say--within reason." + +Behind him he heard the choked voice of Mademoiselle Diane: "_Regardez! +Ah, mon Dieu_, the beauty of it! This loveliness--it hurts!" + + * * * * * + +One hand was pressed to her throat; her face was turned as the pilot's +had been that she might stare and stare at a quite impossible moon--a +great half-disk of light in the velvet dark. + +"This loveliness--it hurts!" Chet looked, too, and knew what Diane was +feeling. There was a catch of emotion in his own throat--a feeling that +was almost fear. + +A giant half-moon!--and he knew it was the Earth. Golden Earth-light +came to them in a flooding glory; the blazing sun struck on it from +above to bring out half the globe in brilliant gold that melted to +softest, iridescent, rainbow tints about its edge. Below, hung +motionless in the night, was another sphere. Like a reflection of Earth +in the depths of some Stygian lake, the old moon shone, too, in a +half-circle of light. + +Small wonder that these celestial glories brought a gasp of delight from +Diane, or drew into lines of fear the face of that other pilot who saw +only his own world slipping away. But Chet Bullard, Master Pilot of the +World, swung back to scan a star-chart that the scientist was holding, +then to search out a similar grouping in the black depths into which +they were plunging, and to bring the cross-hairs of a rigidly mounted +telescope upon that distant target. + +"How far?" he asked himself in a half-spoken thought, "--how far have we +come?" + + * * * * * + +There was an instrument that ticked off the seconds in this seemingly +timeless void. He pressed a small lever beside it, and, beneath a glass +that magnified the readings, there passed the time-tape. Each hour and +minute was there; each movement of the controls was indicated; each +trifling variation in the power of the generator's blast. Chet made some +careful computations and passed the paper to Harkness, who tilted the +time-tape recorder that he might see the record. + +"Check this, will you, Walt?" Chet was asking. "It is based on the time +of our other trip, acceleration assumed as one thousand miles per hour +per hour out of air--" + +The scientist interrupted; he spoke in English that was carefully +precise. + +"It should lie directly ahead--the Dark Moon. I have calculated with +exactness." + +Walter Harkness had snatched up a pair of binoculars. He swung sharply +from lookout to lookout while he searched the heavens. + +"It's damned lucky for us that you made a slight error," Chet was +telling the other. + +"Error?" Kreiss challenged. "Impossible!" + +"Then you and I are dead right this minute," Chet told him. "We are +crossing the orbit of the Dark Moon--crossing at twenty thousand miles +per hour relative to Earth, slightly in excess of that figure relative +to the Dark Moon. If it had been here--!" He had been watching Harkness +anxiously; he bit off his words as the binoculars were thrust into his +hand. + +"There she comes," Harkness told him quietly; "it's up to you!" + +But Chet did not need the glasses. With his unaided eyes he could see a +faint circle of violet light. It lay ahead and slightly above, and it +grew visibly larger as he watched. A ring of nothingness, whose outline +was the faintest shimmering halo; more of the distant stars winked out +swiftly behind that ghostly circle; it was the Dark Moon!--and it was +rushing upon them! + + * * * * * + +Chet swung an instrument upon it. He picked out a jet of violet light +that could be distinguished, and he followed it with the cross-hairs +while he twirled a micrometer screw; then he swiftly copied the reading +that the instrument had inscribed. The invisible disk with its ghostly +edges of violet was perceptibly larger as he slammed over the +control-ball to up-end them in air. + +Under the control-room's nitron illuminator the cheeks of Herr Doktor +Kreiss were pale and bloodless as if his heart had ceased to function. +Harkness had moved quietly back to the side of Diane Delacouer and was +holding her two hands firmly in his. + +The very air seemed charged with the quick tenseness of emotions. +Schwartzmann must have sensed it even before he saw the onrushing death. +Then he leaped to a lookout, and, an instant later, sprang at Chet +calmly fingering the control. + +"Fool!" he screamed, "you would kill us all? Turn away from it! Away +from it!" + +He threw himself in a frenzy upon the pilot. The detonite pistol was +still in his hand. "Quick!" he shouted. "Turn us!" + +Harkness moved swiftly, but the scientist, Kreiss, was nearer; it was he +who smashed the gun-hand down with a quick blow and snatched at the +weapon. + +Schwartzmann was beside himself with rage. "You, too?" he demanded. +"Giff it me--traitor!" + + * * * * * + +But the tall man stood uncompromisingly erect. "Never," he said, "have I +seen a ship large enough to hold two commanding pilots. I take your +orders in all things, Herr Schwartzmann--all but this. If we die--we +die." + +Schwartzmann sputtered: "We should haff turned away. Even yet we might. +It will--it will--" + +"Perhaps," agreed Kreiss, still in that precise, class-room voice, +"perhaps it will. But this I know: with an acceleration of one thousand +m.p.h. per hour as this young man with the badge of a Master Pilot says, +we cannot hope, in the time remaining, to overcome our present velocity; +we can never check our speed and build up a relatively opposite motion +before that globe would overwhelm us. If he has figured correctly, this +young man--if he has found the true resultant of our two motions of +approach--and if he has swung us that we may drive out on a line +perpendicular to the resultant--" + +"I think I have," said Chet quietly. "If I haven't, in just a few +minutes it won't matter to any of us; it won't matter at all." He met +the gaze of Herr Doktor Kreiss who regarded him curiously. + +"If we escape," the scientist told him, "you will understand that I am +under Herr Schwartzmann's command; I will be compelled to shoot you if +he so orders. But, Herr Bullard, at this moment I would be very proud to +shake your hand." + +And Chet, as he extended his hand, managed a grin that was meant also +for the tense, white-faced Harkness and Diane. "I like to see 'em dealt +that way," he said, "--right off the top of the deck." + +But the smile was erased as he turned back to the lookout. He had to +lean close to see all of the disk, so swiftly was the approaching globe +bearing down. + + * * * * * + +It came now from the side; it swelled larger and larger before his eyes. +Their own ship seemed unmoving; only the unending thunder of the +generator told of the frantic efforts to escape. They seemed hung in +space; their own terrific speed seemed gone--added to and fused with the +orbital motion of the Dark Moon to bring swiftly closer that messenger +of death. The circle expanded silently; became menacingly huge. + +Chet was whispering softly to himself: "If I'd got hold of her an hour +sooner--thirty minutes--or even ten.... We're doing over twenty thousand +an hour combined speed, and we'll never really hit it.... We'll never +reach the ground." + +He turned this over in his mind, and he nodded gravely in confirmation +of his own conclusions. It seemed somehow of tremendous importance that +he get this clearly thought out--this experience that was close ahead. + +"Skin friction!" he added. "It will burn us up!" + +He has a sudden vision of a flaming star blazing a hot trail through the +atmosphere of this globe; there would be only savage eyes to follow +it--to see the line of fire curving swiftly across the heavens.... He, +himself, was seeing that blazing meteor so plainly.... + +His eyes found the lookout; the globe was gone. They were close--close! +Only for the enveloping gas that made of this a dark moon, they would be +seeing the surface, the outlines of continents. + +Chet strained his eyes--to see nothing! It was horrible. It had been +fearful enough to watch that expanding globe.... He was abruptly aware +that the outer rim of the lookout was red! + +For Chet Bullard, time ceased to have meaning; what were seconds--or +centuries--as he stared at that glowing rim? He could not have told. The +outer shell of their ship--it was radiant--shining red-hot in the night. +And above the roar of the generator came a nerve-ripping shriek. A wind +like a blast from hell was battering and tearing at their ship. + +"Good-by!" He has tried to call; the demoniac shrieking from without +smothered his voice. One arm was across his eyes in an unconscious +motion. The air of the little room was stifling. He forced his arm down; +he would meet death face to face. + + * * * * * + +The lookout was ringed with fire; it was white with the terrible white +of burning steel!--it was golden!--then cherry red! It was dying, as the +fire dies from glowing metal plunged in its tempering bath--or thrown +into the cold reaches of space! + +In Chet's ears was the roar of a detonite motor. He tried to realize +that the lookouts were rimmed with black--cold, fireless black! An +incredible black! There were stars there like pinpoints of flame! But +conviction came only when he saw from a lookout in another wall a circle +of violet that shrank and dwindled as he watched.... + +A hand was gripping his shoulder; he heard the voice of Walter Harkness +speaking, while Walt's hand crept to raise the triple star that was +pinned to his blouse. + +"Master Pilot of the World!" Harkness was saying. "That doesn't cover +enough territory, old man. It's another rating that you're entitled to, +but I'm damned if I know what it is." + +And, for once, Chet's ready smile refused to form. He stared dumbly at +his friend; his eyes passed to the white face of Mademoiselle Diane; +then back to the controls, where his hand, without conscious volition, +was reaching to move a metal ball. + +"Missed it!" he assured himself. "Hit the fringe of the air--just the +very outside. If we'd been twenty thousand feet nearer!... He was moving +the ball: their bow was swinging. He steadied it and set the ship on an +approximate course. + +"A stern chase!" he said aloud. "All our momentum to be overcome--but +it's easy sailing now!" + +He pushed the ball forward to the limit, and the explosion-motor gave +thunderous response. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +_The Return to the Dark Moon_ + + +No man faces death in so shocking a form without feeling the effects. +Death had flicked them with a finger of flame and had passed them by. +Chet Bullard found his hands trembling uncontrollably as he fumbled for +a book and opened it. The tables of figures printed there were blurred +at first to his eyes, but he forced himself to forget the threat that +was past, for there was another menace to consider now. + +And uppermost in his mind, when his thoughts came back into some +approximate order, was condemnation of himself for an opportunity that +was gone. + +"I could have jumped him," he told himself with bitter self-reproach; "I +could have grabbed the pistol from Kreiss--the man was petrified." And +then Chet had to admit a fact there was no use of denying: "I was as +paralyzed as he was," he said, and only knew he had spoken aloud when he +saw the puzzled look that crossed Harkness' face. + +Harkness and Diane had drawn near. In a far corner of the little room +Schwartzmann had motioned to Kreiss to join him; they were as far away +from the others as could be managed. Schwartzmann, Chet judged, needed +some scientific explanation of these disturbing events; also he needed +to take the detonite pistol from Kreiss' hand and jam it into his own +hand. His eyes, at Chet's unconscious exclamation, had come with instant +suspicion toward the two men. + +"Forty-seven hours, Walt," the pilot said, and repeated it loudly for +Schwartzmann's benefit; "--forty-seven hours before we return to this +spot. We are driving out into space; we've crossed the orbit of the Dark +Moon, and we're doing twenty thousand miles an hour. + +"Now we must decelerate. It will take twenty hours to check us to zero +speed; then twenty-seven more to shoot us back to this same point in +space, allowing, of course, for a second deceleration. The same figuring +with only slight variation will cover a return to the Dark Moon. As we +sweep out I can allow for the moon-motion, and we'll hit it at a safe +landing speed on the return trip this time." + + * * * * * + +Chet was paying little attention to his companion as he spoke. His eyes, +instead, were covertly watching the bulky figure of Schwartzmann. As he +finished, their captor shot a volley of questions at the scientist +beside him; he was checking up on the pilot's remarks. + +Chet was leaning forward to stare intently from a lookout, his head was +close to that of Harkness. + +"Listen, Walt," he whispered; "the Moon's out of sight; it's easy to +lose. Maybe I can't find it again, anyway--it's going to take some nice +navigating--but I'll miss it by ten thousand miles if you say so, and +even the Herr Doktor can't check me on it." + +Chet saw the eyes of Schwartzmann grow intent. He reached ostentatiously +for another book of tables, and he seated himself that he might figure +in comfort. + +"Just check me on this," he told Harkness. + +He put down meaningless figures, while the man beside him remained +silent. Over and over he wrote them--would Harkness never reach a +decision?--over and over, until-- + +"I don't agree with that," Harkness told him and reached for the stylus +in Chet's hand. And, while he appeared to make his own swift +computations, there were words instead of figures that flowed from his +pen. + +"Only alternative: return to Earth," he wrote. "Then S will hold off; +wait in upper levels. Kreiss will give him new bearings. We'll shoot out +again and do it better next time. Kreiss is nobody's fool. S means to +maroon us on Moon--kill us perhaps. He'll get us there, sure. We might +as well go now." + + * * * * * + +Chet had seen a movement across the room. "Let's start all over again," +he broke in abruptly. He covered the writing with a clean sheet of paper +where he set down more figures. He was well under way when +Schwartzmann's quick strides brought him towering above them. Again the +detonite pistol was in evidence; its small black muzzle moved steadily +from Harkness to Chet. + +"For your life--such as is left of it--you may thank Herr Doktor +Kreiss," he told Chet. "I thought at first you would have attempted to +kill us." His smile, as he regarded them, seemed to Chet to be entirely +evil. "You were near death twice, my dear Herr Bullard; and the danger +is not entirely removed. + +"'Forty-seven hours' you have said; in forty-seven hours you will land +us on the Dark Moon. If you do not,"--he raised the pistol +suggestively--"remember that the pilot, Max, can always take us back to +Earth. You are not indispensable." + +Chet looked at the dark face and its determined and ominous scowl. +"You're a cheerful sort of soul, aren't you?" he demanded. "Do you have +any faint idea of what a job this is? Do you know we will shoot another +two hundred thousand miles straight out before I can check this ship? +Then we come back; and meanwhile the Dark Moon has gone on its way. Had +you thought that there's a lot of room to get lost in out here?" + +"Forty-seven hours!" said Schwartzmann. "I would advise that you do not +lose your way." + +Chet shot one quizzical glance at Harkness. + +"That," he said, "makes it practically unanimous." + +Schwartzmann, with an elaborate show of courtesy, escorted Diane +Delacouer to a cabin where she might rest. At a questioning look between +Diane and Harkness, their captor reassured them. + +"Mam'selle shall be entirely safe," he said. "She may join you here +whenever she wishes. As for you,"--he was speaking to Harkness--"I will +permit you to stay here. I could tie you up but this iss not necessary." + +And Harkness must have agreed that it was indeed unnecessary, for either +Kreiss or Max, or some other of Schwartzmann's men, was at his side +continuously from that moment on. + + * * * * * + +Chet would have liked a chance for a quiet talk and an exchange of +ideas. It seemed that somewhere, somehow, he should be able to find an +answer to their problem. He stared moodily out into the blackness ahead, +where a distant star was seemingly their goal. Harkness stood at his +side or paced back and forth in the little room, until he threw himself, +at last, upon a cot. + +And always the great stern-blast roared; muffled by the insulated walls, +its unceasing thunder came at last to be unheard. To the pilot there was +neither sound nor motion. His directional sights were unswervingly upon +that distant star ahead. Seemingly they were suspended, helpless and +inert, in a black void. But for the occasional glowing masses of strange +living substance that flashed past in this ocean of space, he must +almost have believed they were motionless--a dead ship in a dead, black +night. + +But the luminous things flashed and were gone--and their coming, +strangely, was from astern; they flicked past and vanished up ahead. +And, by this, Chet knew that their tremendous momentum was unchecked. +Though he was using the great stern blast to slow the ship, it was +driving stern-first into outer space. Nor, for twenty hours, was there a +change, more than a slackening of the breathless speed with which the +lights went past. + +Twenty hours--and then Chet knew that they were in all truth hung +motionless, and he prayed that his figures that told him this were +correct.... More timeless minutes, an agony of waiting--and a +dimly-glowing mass that was ahead approached their bow, swung off and +vanished far astern. And, with its going, Chet knew that the return trip +was begun. + +He gave Harkness the celestial bearing marks and relinquished the helm. +"Full speed ahead as you are," he ordered; "then at nineteen-forty on +W.S. time, we'll cut it and ease on bow repulsion to the limit." + +And, despite the strangeness of their surroundings, the ceaseless, +murmuring roar of the exhaust, the weird world outside, where endless +space was waiting for man's exploration--despite the deadly menace that +threatened, Chet dropped his head upon his outflung arms and slept. + + * * * * * + +To his sleep-drugged brain it was scarcely a moment until a hand was +dragging at his shoulder. + +"Forty-seven hours!" the voice of Schwartzmann was saying. + +And: "Some navigating!" Harkness was exclaiming in flattering amazement. +"Wake up, Chet! Wake up! The Dark Moon's in sight. You've hit it on the +nose, old man: she isn't three points off the sights!" + +The bow-blast was roaring full on. Ahead of them Chet's sleepy eyes +found a circle of violet; and he rubbed his eyes savagely that he might +take his bearings on Sun and Earth. + +As it had been before, the Earth was a giant half-moon; like a +mirror-sphere it shot to them across the vast distance the reflected +glory of the sun. But the globe ahead was a ghostly world. Its black +disk was lost in the utter blackness of space. It was a circle, marked +only by the absence of star-points and by the halo of violet glow that +edged it about. + +Chet cut down the repelling blast. He let the circle enlarge, then swung +the ship end for end in mid-space that the more powerful stern exhaust +might be ready to counteract the gravitational pull of the new world. + +Again those impalpable clouds surrounded them. Here was the enveloping +gas that made this a dark moon--the gas, if Harkness' theory was +correct, that let the sun's rays pass unaltered; that took the light +through freely to illumine this globe, but that barred its return +passage as reflected light. + +Black--dead black was the void into which they were plunging, until the +darkness gave way before a gentle glow that enfolded their ship. The +golden light enveloped them in growing splendor. Through every lookout +it was flooding the cabin with brilliant rays, until, from below them, +directly astern of the ship, where the thundering blast checked their +speed of descent, emerged a world. + + * * * * * + +And, to Chet Bullard, softly fingering the controls of the first ship of +space--to Chet Bullard, whose uncanny skill had brought the tiny speck +that was their ship safely back from the dark recesses of the +unknown--there came a thrill that transcended any joy of the first +exploration. + +Here was water in great seas of unreal hue--and those seas were his! +Vast continents, ripe for adventure and heavy with treasure--and they, +too, were his! His own world--his and Diane's and Walt's! Who was this +man, Schwartzmann, that dared dream of violating their possessions? + +A slender tube pressed firmly, uncompromisingly, into his back to give +the answer to his question. "Almost I wish you had missed it!" Herr +Schwartzmann was saying. "But now you will land; you will set us down in +some place that you know. No tricks, Herr Bullard! You are clever, but +not clever enough for that. We will land, yess, where you know it is +safe." + +From the lookout, the man stared for a moment with greedy eyes; then +brought his gaze back to the three. His men, beside Harkness and Diane, +were alert; the scientist, Kreiss, stood close to Chet. + +"A nice little world," Schwartzmann told them. "Herr Harkness, you have +filed claims on it; who am I to dispute with the great Herr Harkness? +Without question it iss yours!" + +He laughed loudly, while his eyes narrowed between creasing wrinkles of +flesh. "You shall enjoy it," he told them; "--all your life." + +And Chet, as he caught the gaze of Harkness and Diane, wondered how long +this enjoyment would last. "All your life!" But this was rather +indefinite as a measure of time. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +_A Desperate Act_ + + +The ship that Chet Bullard and Harkness had designed had none of the +instruments for space navigation that the ensuing years were to bring. +Chet's accuracy was more the result of that flyer's sixth sense--that +same uncanny power that had served aviators so well in an earlier day. +But Chet was glad to see his instruments registering once more as he +approached a new world. + +Even the sonoflector was recording; its invisible rays were darting +downward to be reflected back again from the surface below. That +absolute altitude recording was a joy to read; it meant a definite +relationship with the world. + +"I'll hold her at fifty thousand," he told Harkness. "Watch for some +outline that you can remember from last time." + +There was an irregular area of continental size; only when they had +crossed it did Harkness point toward an outflung projection of land. +"That peninsula," he exclaimed; "we saw that before! Swing south and +inland.... Now down forty, and east of south.... This ought to be the +spot." + +Perhaps Harkness, too, had the flyer's indefinable power of orientation. +He guided Chet in the downward flight, and his pointing finger aimed at +last at a cluster of shadows where a setting sun brought mountain ranges +into strong relief. Chet held the ship steady, hung high in the air, +while the quick-spreading mantle of night swept across the world below. +And, at last, when the little world was deep-buried in shadow, they saw +the red glow of fires from a hidden valley in the south. + +"Fire Valley!" said Chet, "Don't say anything about me being a +navigator. Wait, you've brought us home, sure enough." + +"Home!" He could not overcome this strange excitement of a homecoming to +their own world. Even the man who stood, pistol in hand, behind him was, +for the moment, forgotten. + +Valley of a thousand fires!--scene of his former adventures! Each +fumerole was adding its smoky red to the fiery glow that illumined the +place. There were ragged mountains hemming it in; Chet's gaze passed on +to the valley's end. + +Down there, where the fires ceased, there would be water; he would land +there! And the ship from Earth slipped down in a long slanting line to +cushion against its under exhausts, whose soft thunder echoed back from +a bare expanse of frozen lava. Then its roaring faded. The silvery shape +sank softly to its rocky bed as Chet cut the motor that had sung its +song of power since the moment when Schwartzmann had carried him +off--taken him from that frozen, forgotten corner of an incredibly +distant Earth. + + * * * * * + +"Iss there air?" Schwartzmann demanded. Chet came to himself again with +a start: he saw the man peering from the lookout to right and to left as +if he would see all that there was in the last light of day. + +"Strange!" he was grumbling to himself. "A strange place! But those +hills--I saw their markings--there will be metals there. I will explore; +later I return: I will mine them. Many ships I must build to establish a +line. The first transportation line of space. Me, Jacob Schwartzmann--I +will do it. I will haff more than anyone else on Earth; I will make them +all come to me crawling on their bellies!" + +Chet saw the hard shine of the narrowed eyes. For an instant only, he +dared to consider the chance of leaping upon the big, gloating figure. +One blow and a quick snatch for the pistol!... Then he knew the folly of +such a plan: Schwartzmann's men were armed; he would be downed in +another second, his body a shattered, jellied mass. + +Schwartzmann's thoughts had come back to the matter of air; he motioned +Chet and Harkness toward the port. + +Diane Delacouer had joined them and she thrust herself quickly between +the two men. And, though Schwartzmann made a movement as if he would +snatch her back, he thought better of it and motioned for the portal to +be swung. Chet felt him close behind as he followed the others out into +the gathering dark. + + * * * * * + +The air was heavy with the fragrance of night-blooming trees. They were +close to the edge of the lava flow. The rock was black in the light of a +starry sky; it dropped away abruptly to a lower glade. A stream made +silvery sparklings in the night, while beyond it were waving shadows of +strange trees whose trunks were ghostly white. + +It was all so familiar.... Chet smiled understandingly as he saw Walt +Harkness' arm go about the trim figure of Diane Delacouer. No mannish +attire could disguise Diane's charms; nor could nerve and cold courage +that any man might envy detract from her femininity. Her dark, curling +hair was blowing back from her upraised face as the scented breezes +played about her; and the soft beauty of that face was enhanced by the +very starlight that revealed it. + +It was here that Walt and Diane had learned to love; what wonder that +the fragrant night brought only remembrance, and forgetfulness of their +present plight. But Chet Bullard, while he saw them and smiled in +sympathy, knew suddenly that other eyes were watching, too; he felt the +bulky figure of Herr Schwartzmann beside him grow tense and rigid. + +But Schwartzmann's voice, when he spoke, was controlled. "All right," he +called toward the ship; "all iss safe." + +Yet Chet wondered at that sudden tensing, and an uneasy presentiment +found entrance to his thoughts. He must keep an eye on Schwartzmann, +even more than he had supposed. + +Their captor had threatened to maroon them on the Dark Moon. Chet did +not question his intent. Schwartzmann would have nothing to gain by +killing them now. It would be better to leave them here, for he might +find them useful later on. But did he plan to leave them all or only +two? Behind the steady, expressionless eyes of the Master Pilot, strange +thoughts were passing.... + + * * * * * + +There were orders, at length, to return to the ship. "It is dark +already," Schwartzmann concluded; "nothing can be accomplished at night. + +"How long are the days and nights?" he asked Harkness. + +"Six hours." Harkness told him; "our little world spins fast." + +"Then for six hours we sleep," was the order. And again Herr +Schwartzmann conducted Mademoiselle Delacouer to her cabin, while Chet +Bullard watched until he saw the man depart and heard the click of the +lock on the door of Diane's room. + +Then for six hours he listened to the sounds of sleeping men who were +sprawled about him on the floor; for six hours he saw the one man who +sat on guard beside a light that made any thought of attack absurd. And +he cursed himself for a fool, as he lay wakeful and vainly planning--a +poor, futile fool who was unable to cope with this man who had bested +him. + +Nineteen seventy-three!--and here were Harkness and Diane and himself, +captured by a man who was mentally and morally a misfit in a modern +world. A throw-back--that was Schwartzmann: Harkness had said it. He +belonged back in nineteen fourteen. + +Harkness was beyond the watching guard; from where he lay came sounds of +restless movement. Chet knew that he was not alone in this mood of +hopeless dejection. There was no opportunity for talk; only with the +coming of day did the two find a chance to exchange a few quick words. + + * * * * * + +The guard roused the others at the first sight of sunlight beyond the +ports. Harkness sauntered slowly to where Chet was staring from a +lookout. He, too, leaned to see the world outside, and he spoke +cautiously in a half-whisper: + +"Not a chance, Chet. No use trying to bluff this big crook any more. +He's here, and he's safe; and he knows it as well as we do. We'll let +him ditch us--you and Diane and me. Then, when we're on our own, we'll +watch our chance. He will go crazy with what he finds--may get +careless--then we'll seize the ship--" His words ended abruptly. As +Schwartzmann came behind them, he was casually calling Chet's attention +to a fumerole from which a jet of vapor had appeared. Yellowish, it was; +and the wind was blowing it. + +Chet turned away; he hardly saw Schwartzmann or heard Harkness' words. +He was thinking of what Walt had said. Yes, it was all they could do; +there was no chance of a fight with them now. But later! + +Diane Delacouer came into the control-room at the instant; her dark eyes +were still lovely with sleep, but they brightened to flash an +encouraging smile toward the two men. There were five of Schwartzmann's +men in the ship besides the pilot and the scientist, Kreiss. They all +crowded in after Diane. + +They must have had their orders in advance; Schwartzmann merely nodded, +and they sprang upon Harkness and Chet. The two were caught off their +guard; their arms were twisted behind them before resistance could be +thought of. Diane gave a cry, started forward, and was brushed back by a +sweep of Schwartzmann's arm. The man himself stood staring at them, +unmoving, wordless. Only the flesh about his eyes gathered into creases +to squeeze the eyes to malignant slits. There was no mistaking the +menace in that look. + + * * * * * + +"I think we do not need you any more," he said at last. "I think, Herr +Harkness, this is the end of our little argument--and, Herr Harkness, +you lose. Now, I will tell you how it iss that you pay. + +"You haff thought, perhaps, I would kill you. But you were wrong, as you +many times have been. You haff not appreciated my kindness; you haff not +understood that mine iss a heart of gold. + +"Even I was not sure before we came what it iss best to do. But now I +know. I saw oceans and many lands on this world. I saw islands in those +oceans. + +"You so clever are--such a great thinker iss Herr Harkness--and on one +of those islands you will haff plenty of time to think--yess! You can +think of your goot friend, Schwartzmann, and of his kindness to you." + +"You are going to maroon us on an island?" asked Walt Harkness hoarsely. +Plainly his plans for seizing the ship were going awry. "You are going +to put the three of us off in some lost corner of this world?" + +Chet Bullard was silent until he saw the figure of Harkness struggling +to throw off his two guards. "Walt," he called loudly, "take it easy! +For God's sake, Walt, keep your head!" + +This, Chet sensed, was no time for resistance. Let Schwartzmann go ahead +with his plans; let him think them complacent and unresisting; let Max +pilot the ship; then watch for an opening when they could land a blow +that would count! He heard Schwartzmann laughing now, laughing as if he +were enjoying something more pleasing than the struggles of Walt. + + * * * * * + +Chet was standing by the controls. The metal instrument-table was beside +him; above it was the control itself, a metal ball that hung suspended +in air within a cage of curved bars. + +It was pure magic, this ball-control, where magnetic fields crossed and +recrossed; it was as if the one who held it were a genie who could throw +the ship itself where he willed. Glass almost enclosed the cage of bars, +and the whole instrument swung with the self-compensating platform that +adjusted itself to the "gravitation" of accelerated speed. The pilot, +Max, had moved across to the instrument-table, ready for the take-off. + +Schwartzmann's laughter died to a gurgling chuckle. He wiped his eyes +before he replied to Harkness' question. + +"Leave you," he said, "in one place? _Nein!_ One here, the other there. +A thousand miles apart, it might be. And not all three of you. That +would be so unkind--" + +He interrupted himself to call to Kreiss who was opening the port. + +"No," he ordered: "keep it closed. We are not going outside; we are +going up." + +But Kreiss had the port open. "I want a man to get some fresh water," he +said; "he will only be a minute." + +He shoved at a waiting man to hurry him through the doorway. It was only +a gentle push: Chet wondered as he saw the man stagger and grasp at his +throat. He was coughing--choking horribly for an instant outside the +open port--then fell to the ground, while his legs jerked awkwardly, +spasmodically. + +Chet saw Kreiss follow. The scientist would have leaped to the side of +the stricken man, whose body was so still now on the sunlit rock; but +he, too, crumpled, then staggered back into the room. He pushed feebly +at the port and swung it shut. His face, as he turned, was drawn into +fearful lines. + +"Acid!" He choked out the words between strangled breaths. +"Acid--sulfuric--fumes!" + + * * * * * + +Chet turned quickly to the spectro-analyzer: the lines of oxygen and +nitrogen were merged with others, and that meant an atmosphere unfit for +human lungs! There had been a fumerole where yellowish vapor was +spouting: he remembered it now. + +"So!" boomed Schwartzmann, and now his squinting eyes were full on Chet. +"You--you _schwein_! You said when we opened the ports there would be a +surprise! Und this iss it! You thought to see us kill ourselves! + +"Open that port!" he shouted. The men who held Chet released him and +sprang forward to obey. The pilot, Max, took their place. He put one +hand on Chet's shoulder, while his other hand brought up a threatening +metal bar. + +Schwartzmann's heavy face had lost its stolid look; it was alive with +rage. He thrust his head forward to glare at the men, while he stood +firmly, his feet far apart, two heavy fists on his hips. He whirled +abruptly and caught Diane by one arm. He pulled her roughly to him and +encircled the girl's trim figure with one huge arm. + +"Put you _all_ on one island?" he shouted. "Did you think I would put +you _all_ out of the ship? You"--he pointed at Harkness--"and you"--this +time it was Chet--"go out now. You can die in your damned gas that you +expected would kill me! But, you fools, you imbeciles--Mam'selle, she +stays with me!" The struggling girl was helpless in the great arm that +drew her close. + +Harkness' mad rage gave place to a dead stillness. From bloodless lips +in a chalk-white face he spat out one sentence: + +"Take your filthy hands off her--now--or I'll--" + +Schwartzmann's one free hand still held the pistol. He raised it with +deadly deliberation; it came level with Harkness' unflinching eyes. + +"Yes?" said Schwartzmann, "You will do--what?" + + * * * * * + +Chet saw the deadly tableau. He knew with a conviction that gripped his +heart that here was the end. Walt would die and he would be next. Diane +would be left defenseless.... The flashing thought that followed came to +him as sharply as the crack of any pistol. It seemed to burst inside his +brain, to lift him with some dynamic power of its own and project him +into action. + +He threw himself sideways from under the pilot's hand, out from beneath +the heavy metal bar--and he whirled, as he leaped, to face the man. One +lean, brown hand clenched to a fist that started a long swing from +somewhere near his knees; it shot upward to crash beneath the pilot's +outthrust jaw and lift him from the floor. Max had aimed the bar in a +downward sweep where Chet's head had been the moment before; and now man +and bar went down together. In the same instant Chet threw himself upon +the weapon and leaped backward to his feet. + +One frozen second, while, to Chet, the figures seemed as motionless as +if carved from stone--two men beside the half-opened port--Harkness in +convulsive writhing between two others--the figure of Diane, strained, +tense and helpless in Schwartzmann's grasp--and Schwartzmann, whose aim +had been disturbed, steadying the pistol deliberately upon Harkness-- + +"Wait!" Chet's voice tore through the confusion. He knew he must grip +Schwartzmann's attention--hold that trigger finger that was tensed to +send a detonite bullet on its way. "Wait, damn you! I'll answer your +question. I'll tell you what we'll do!" + +In that second he had swung the metal bar high; now he brought it +crashing down in front of him. Schwartzmann flinched, half turned as if +to fire at Chet, and saw the blow was not for him. + + * * * * * + +With a splintering crash, the bar went through an obstruction. There was +sound of glass that slivered to a million mangled bits--the sharp tang +of metal broken off--a crash and clatter--then silence, save for one bit +of glass that fell belatedly to the floor, its tiny jingling crash +ringing loud in the deathly stillness of the room.... + +It had been the control-room, this place of metal walls and of shining, +polished instruments, and it could be called that no longer. For, +battered to useless wreckage, there lay on a metal table a cage that had +once been formed of curving bars. Among the fragments a metal ball that +had guided the great ship still rocked idly from its fall, until it, +too, was still. + +It was a room where nothing moved--where no person so much as +breathed.... + +Then came the Master Pilot's voice, and it was speaking with quiet +finality. + +"And that," he said, "is your answer. Our ship has made its last +flight." + +His eyes held steadily upon the blanched face of Herr Schwartzmann, +whose limp arms released the body of Diane; the pistol hung weakly at +the man's side. And the pilot's voice went on, so quiet, so hushed--so +curiously toneless in that silent room. + +"What was it that you said?--that Harkness and I would be staying here? +Well, you were right when you said that, Schwartzmann: but it's a hard +sentence, that--imprisonment for life." + +Chet paused now, to smile deliberately, grimly at the dark face so +bleached and bloodless, before he repeated: + +"Imprisonment for life!--and you didn't know that you were sentencing +yourself. For you're staying too, Schwartzmann, you contemptible, +thieving dog! You're staying with us--here--on the Dark Moon!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +"_Six to Four_" + + +Perhaps to every person in that control room there came, as Chet's +quiet, emotionless tones died away, the same mental picture; for there +was the same dazed look on the countenances of all. + +They were seeing an ocean of space, an endless void of empty black. And +across that etheric sea was a whirling globe. They had seen it from +afar; they had seen its diminutive continents and its snow-clad +poles.... They would never see it again.... + +Earth!--their own world!--home! And now for them it was only a moon, a +tremendous, glorious moon, whose apparent nearness would be taunting and +calling them each day and night of their lives.... + +It was Diane Delacouer who dared to break the hard silence that bound +them all. From wide eyes she stared at Walt Harkness; then her lips +formed a trembling smile in which Chet, too, was included. + +"You saved us," she whispered; "you saved us, Chet ... but now it looks +as if we all were exiles." + +She crossed slowly, walking like one in a dream, to stand close to Walt +Harkness. And Chet Bullard also roused himself; but it was toward the +stupefied, hulking figure of Schwartzmann that he moved. + +He reached for the detonite pistol, and this man who had been their +captor was too stunned to make any resistance. Chet jammed the weapon +under his belt. + +"Close that port!" he ordered the two men who had half-opened it at +Schwartzmann's command. "Keep that poison gas out." + + * * * * * + +There was a flash of color that swept by the open port--some flying +creature of vivid crimson: Chet had no time to see what manner of bird +or beast it was. But it was alive! He crossed to examine the +spectro-analyzer, and the two men disregarded his order and slipped into +the rear cabin. + +"Seems all clear to me, Walt," he said; and Harkness confirmed his +findings with a quick glance. + +"O.K.!" he assured Chet; "that air is all right to breathe." + +He glanced from a lookout port. "The air's moving now," he said. "That +gas--whatever it was--is gone; it must have settled down here in the +night. Some new vent that has opened since we were here before. + +"But suppose we forget that and settle matters in here," he suggested; +and Chet nodded assent. + +"Call your men!" Harkness ordered Schwartzmann. + +The man had recovered his composure; again his heavy face was flushed +beneath a stubble of beard. He made no move to comply with Harkness' +demand. + +But there was no need: from the cabin at the rear came the scientist, +Kreiss. His face was pale and drawn, and he stared long and searchingly +at Chet Bullard. His breath still whistled in his throat; the poison gas +had nearly done for him. + +At his heels were the two who had been working at the port. Two others, +who had held Harkness, were drawn off at one side, where they mumbled +one to another and shot ugly glances toward Chet. + +This, Chet knew, accounted for all. Even the pilot, Max, had roused from +the sleep that a blow on the chin had induced and was again on his feet. +For him no explanation was needed; the shattered cage of the +ball-control told its own story. + +Harkness seated Mademoiselle Delacouer on a bench at the pilot's post. +"You will want to be in on this," he told her, "but I'll put you here in +case they get rough. But don't worry," he added; "we'll be ready for +them now." + + * * * * * + +Then he turned to Schwartzmann: "Now, you! Oh, there are plenty of +things I could call you! And you would understand them perfectly, though +they are all words that no gentleman would use." + +At Schwartzmann's outburst of profane rejoinder, Harkness broke in with +no uncertain tones. + +"Shut up, Schwartzmann, and stay that way; I'm giving the orders now. +And we'll just cut out all the pleasantries; they won't get us anywhere. +We must face the situation, all of us; see what we're up against and +make some plans." + +But Herr Schwartzmann was not to be put down so easily. He crossed over +to where Chet stood. Chet's hand dropped to the pistol that was hooked +in his own belt, but Schwartzmann made no move toward it. Instead he +planted himself before the pilot and jammed his fists into his hips +while he tried to draw his stocky form to equal Chet's slim height. + +"Fool!" he said. "Dolt! For a minute I believed you; I thought you had +cut us off from the Earth. Now I know better. Max, he understands ships; +and the Herr Doktor Kreiss iss a man of science: together they the +repairs will make." + +The Master Pilot smiled grimly. "Try to do it," he said, and turned +toward the two whom Schwartzmann had named. "You, Max, and you, too, +Doctor Kreiss--do you want to take on the job? If you do, I will help +you." + +But the two looked at the shattered controls and shook their heads at +their employer. + +"Impossible!" the pilot exclaimed. "Without new parts it can never be +done." + +Schwartzmann seemed about to vent his fury upon the man who dared give +such a report, but Doctor Kreiss raised a restraining hand. + +"Check!" he said. "I check that report. Repairs are out of the +question." + + * * * * * + +Chet caught Harkness' eye upon him. "I'll be back," Harkness told him +and went quickly toward the rear of the ship. Their stores were back +there; would Walt think to get a detonite pistol? He came back into the +room while the thought was still in Chet's mind. A gun was in each hand; +he passed one of the weapons to Diane. + +Unconsciously, Schwartzmann felt for his own gun that was in Chet's +belt. He laughed mirthlessly. "Two men," he said scornfully; "two men +and a girl!" + +Harkness paid no attention. "Now we will get right down to cases," he +remarked. "Two men and a girl is right--plus what is left of one ship. +And please don't forget that the ship is ours and all the supplies that +are in it. Now, you listen to me; I've a few things to tell you." + +He faced squarely toward Schwartzmann, and Chet had to repress a grin at +the steely glint in his companion's eyes. Nice chap, Harkness--nice, +easy-going sort--up to a certain point. Chet had seen him in action +before. + +"First of all," Harkness was saying, "don't think that we have any +illusions about you. You're a killer, and, like all such, you're a +coward. If you had the upper hand, you would never give us a chance for +our lives. In fact you were ready to throw us out to be gassed when Chet +raised your little bet. + +"But it looks as if Chet and Mademoiselle Delacouer and I will have to +be living on this world for some time. We don't want to start that life +by killing off even such as you--not in cold blood. We will give you a +chance; we will split our provisions with you--give you half of what we +have; you will have to shift for yourselves when that is gone. We will +all have to learn to do that." + + * * * * * + +Again the heavy, glowering face of Schwartzmann broke into a laugh that +was half sneer. + +"You're damned kind," he told Harkness, "and, as usual, a fool. Two men +and a girl!" He half turned to count his own forces. + +"There are seven of us," he challenged; "seven! And all of them +armed--all but me!" + +He spoke a curt order in his own tongue, and each man whipped a pistol +from his clothes. + +"Seven to two," he said, and laughed again; "maybe it iss that Herr +Harkness would like to count them. + +"_Your_ ship and _your_ supplies!" he exclaimed scornfully. "And you +would be so kind as to giff us food. + +"_Gott im Himmel!_" he shouted; "I show you! I am talking now! We stay +here--_ja_--because this _Dummkopf_ has the controls _gebrochen_! But it +iss we who stay; und you? You go, because I say so. It iss I who rule, +und I prove it--seven to two!" + +"Three!" a firm voice spoke from between Chet and Harkness; "seven to +three! Our odds are improving, Herr Schwartzmann." + +And Chet saw from the corner of his eye that the gun in the small hand +of Mademoiselle Diane was entirely unwavering. But he spoke to her +sharply, and his voice merged with that of Harkness who was saying +somewhat the same words: + +"Back--go back, Diane! We can handle this. For God's sake, keep out; we +don't want any shooting." + +Neither of the men had drawn his gun. Their hands were ready, but each +had hoped to end this weird conference without firing a shot. Here was +no place for gun-play and for wounded men. + + * * * * * + +Their attention was on Diane for the moment. A growled word from their +enemy brought their minds back to him; they turned to find black pistol +muzzles staring each of them in the eyes. Herr Schwartzmann, in the +language of an earlier day, had got the drop. + +"Seven to three," Schwartzmann said; "let it go that way; no difference +does it make. If I say one word, you die." + +Chet's arm ached to snap his hand toward his gun. It would be his last +move, he well knew. He was sick with chagrin to see how easily they had +been trapped; Walt had tried to play fair with a man who had not an atom +of fairness in his character. And now-- + +"Seven to three!" Schwartzmann was gloating--till another voice broke +in. + +"I don't check your figures." The whistling tones were coming from a +tortured throat, but the words were clear and distinct. "I don't check +you; I make it six to four--and if one of your men makes a move, Herr +Schwartzmann, I shall blow you to a pulp!" + +And Herr Doktor Kreiss held a gun in a steady hand as he moved a pace +nearer to Chet--a gun whose slender barrel made a glinting line of light +toward Schwartzmann's eyes. + +"If the gentlemen and Mademoiselle will permit," he offered almost +diffidently, "I would prefer to be aligned with them. We are citizens of +another world now; my former allegiance to Herr Schwartzmann is ended. +This is--what is it you say?--a new deal. I would like to see it; and I +use another of your American aphorisms: I would like to see it a square +deal." + + * * * * * + +The voice of a scholar, thought Chet; one more used to the precision of +laboratory phrases than to wild talk like this; but no man to be trifled +with, nevertheless. Chet did not hesitate to turn despite the pistols +that were still aimed at him. + +But Herr Kreiss was not looking in his direction; his eyes were trained +steadily in the same line as his gun. This little experiment he was +conducting seemed to require his undivided attention until the end. To +Schwartzmann he said sharply: + +"Your men--order them to drop their weapons. Quick!" + +As they clattered upon the floor the scientist turned and extended his +hand to Chet. + +"And still speaking not too technically," he continued, "this is one +hell of a fix that you have got us into. Even in desperate straits it +took nerve to do that." He pointed to the shattered remains of the +multiple bars that had been the control mechanism, and added: + +"I admire that kind of nerve. And, if you don't mind, since we are +exiles together--" His throat seemed choking him again. + +There were weapons in the hands of Chet and Harkness; they were not +making the same mistake twice. Chet shifted his gun to his left hand +that he might reach toward the scientist with his right. + +"I knew you were white all the time," Chet told him; "I'll say you +belong!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +_The Red Swarm_ + + +It was a matter of a half hour later when Harkness ordered them all +outside. He had accepted Kreiss as an addition to their ranks and had +made himself plain to Schwartzmann. + +To the scientist he said. "You remarked that no ship could hold two +commanding pilots: that goes for an expedition like this, too. I am in +command. If you will take orders we will be mighty glad to have you with +us." + +And to Schwartzmann, in a different tone: "I am sparing you and your +men. I ought to shoot you down, but I won't. And I don't expect you to +understand why; any decency such as that would beyond you. + +"But I am letting you live. This world is big enough to hold us both, +and pretty soon I will tell you what part of it you can live in. And +then remember this one thing, Schwartzmann--get this straight!--you keep +out of my way. I will show you a valley where you and your men can stay. +And if ever you leave that valley I will hunt you down as I would one of +the beasts that you will see in this world." + +Chet had to repress a little smile that was twitching at his lips; it +always amused him hugely to see Harkness when roused. + +"Turn us out to starve?" Schwartzmann was demanding. "You would do +that?" + +"There will be food there," said Harkness curtly: "suit yourself about +starving. Only stay where I put you!" + +Back of the others of Schwartzmann's men, the pilot, Max, was stooping. +Half-hidden he moved toward the doorway to the rear cabin and to the +storage-room and gun-rooms beyond. Chet glimpsed him in his silent +retreat. + +"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Max," he advised quietly. +"Personally, I think you're all getting off too well; as for myself, I'm +sort of itching for an excuse to let off this gun." + +It was here that Harkness turned to the open port. + +"Put them out!" he snapped. "You, Chet, go out first and line them up as +they come--but, no, wait: there may be gas out there." + + * * * * * + +Chet was beside the port; a breath from outside came to him sweetly +fragrant. A shadow was moving across the smooth lava rock. "A bird!" he +thought. Then a flash of red in startling vividness swept past the open +door: it was like a quick flicker of living flame. He could not see what +it was, but it was alive--and this answered his question. + +"Send 'em along," he said; "it seems all right now." He stepped through +the opening in the heavily insulated walls. + +It was early morning, yet the sun was already hot upon the smooth +expanse of the lava flow. Some ancient eruption from the distant peaks +that hemmed in the valley had sent out this flood of molten rock; it was +hard and black now. But, to the right, where the valley went on and up, +and rose gently and widened as it rose, a myriad of red flames and jets +of steam told of the inner fires that still raged. + +These were the fumeroles where only a month before he and Harkness and +Diane had found clustering savages who were more apes than men; they had +been roasting meat at these flames. And below, where the lava stopped, +was the open glade where the little stream splashed and sparkled: in the +high rock walls that hemmed the glade the caves showed black. And, +beyond the open ground, was the weird forest, where tree-trunks of +ghostly white were laced with a network of red veining. They grew close, +those spectral columns, in a shadow-world beneath the high roof of +greenery they supported. + +Here was the scene of an earlier adventure. Chet was swept up in the +flood of recollections born of familiar sights and scents. Herr +Schwartzmann, cursing steadily in a guttural tongue, came from the ship +to bring Chet's thoughts back to the more immediate problem. + + * * * * * + +There were five others who followed--the pilot and Schwartzmann's four +men. There had been another, but his body lay huddled upon the bare +lava. He had followed his master far--and here, for him, was the end. + +Kreiss' pistol was still in his hand as he came after. Harkness and +Diane were last. + +Harkness pointed with his gun. "Over there!" he ordered. "Get them away +from the ship, Chet. Line them up down below there; all the ape-men have +cleared out since we had our last fight. Get them down by the stream. +Diane and I will bring them some supplies, and then we can send them off +for good." + +Chet sent Kreiss down first, where an easy slope made the descent a +simple matter; it had been the bow-wave of the molten lava--here was the +end of that inundation of another age--and the slope was wrinkled and +creased. Schwartzmann followed; then the others. The last man was ready +to descend when Diane and Walt came back. + +They had packages of compressed foods. This was all right with Chet, but +he raised his eyebrows inquiringly at sight of several boxes of +ammunition and an extra gun. Harkness smiled good-naturedly. + +"I will give them one pistol," Walt told him, "and a good supply of +shells. We don't need to be afraid of them with only one gun, and we +can't leave the poor devils at the mercy of every wild beast." + +"You're the boss," said Chet briefly; "but, for me, I'd sooner give this +Schwartzmann just one bullet--right where it would do the most good. + +"Let's make him work for it," he suggested, and called to the men below: + +"Come back up here, Schwartzmann! A little present for you--and I'm +saying you don't deserve it." + +He watched the return trip as Schwartzmann dragged his heavy bulk up the +slope; he was enjoying the man's explosive, panted curses. Beside him +were Diane and Walt. With them, it was as it had been with him at first. +They had eyes only for the familiar ground below: the stream, the open +ground, the trees.... + + * * * * * + +Each of them was looking down at that lower ground. + +It was Kreiss standing down there who first caught Chet's attention. +Kreiss was trying to shout. Chet saw his waving arms; he stared, +puzzled, at the facial contortions--the working lips from which no sound +came. He knew that something was wrong. It was a moment or two before he +realized that Kreiss could not speak, that the throat, injured by the +choking fumes, had failed him. Then he heard the strangled croak that +Kreiss forced from his lips: "_Behind you!--look behind you!_" + +Schwartzmann was scrambling to the top where they stood; every man was +accounted for. What had they to fear? And suddenly it was borne in upon +Chet's consciousness that he had been hearing a sound--a sound that was +louder now--a rustling!--a clashing of dry, rasping things! The very air +seemed to hold something ominous. + +He knew this in the instant while he whirled about; while he heard the +dry rustling change to a humming roar; while he saw, like a cloud of +flame, a great swarm of red, flying things like the one that had flown +past the port--and one, swifter than the rest, that darted from the +swarm and flashed upon him. + +[Illustration: _One, swifter than the rest, dashed upon him._] + +It was red--vividly, dazzlingly red! The body of a reptile--a wild +phantasm of distorted dreams--was supported by short, quivering wings. +The body was some five feet in length, and it was translucent. + +A shell, like the dried husk of some creature long dead!--yet here was +something alive, as its quick attack proved. It had a head of dry scales +which ended in a projecting black-tipped beak that came like a sword, +straight and true for Chet's heart. It seemed an age before he could +bring his pistol up and fire. + + * * * * * + +Detonite, as everyone knows, does not explode on impact; the cap of +fulminate in the end of each bullet sets it off. But even this requires +some resistance--something more than a dry, red husk to check the +bullet's flight. There was no explosion from the tiny shell that Chet's +pistol fired, but the bullet did its work. The creature fell plunging to +the rocky ground, and its transparent wings sent flurries of dust where +they beat upon the ground. There were others that went down, for the +bullet had gone on and through the great swarm. + +And then they attacked. + +The very fury of the assault saved the huddle of humans. So close were +the red things pressed together that their vibrating wings beat and +locked the swarm into a mass. They were almost above their prey. Chet +knew that he was firing upward into the swarm, but the sound of his +pistol was lost. The red cloud hung poised in a whirling maelstrom; and +the pandemonium of clashing wings whipped down to them not only the +sound of their dry scraping but a stench from those reptile bodies that +was overpowering. + +Sickly sweet, the taste of it was in Chet's mouth; the sound of the +furious swarm was battering at his ears as he knew that his pistol was +empty. + +There were red bodies on the bare rock before him. A scaly, scabrous +thing was pressing against his upflung hands that he raised above his +head--a loathsome touch! A beak that was a needle-pointed tube stabbed +his shoulder before he could flinch aside: the quick pain of it was +piercingly sharp.... + + * * * * * + +Other red horrors dropped from the main mass overhead; he saw Harkness +beating at them wildly while he made a shelter of his body above the +crouched figure of Diane. Two of them--two incredible, beastly, flying +things! He saw them so plainly where they hovered, and Harkness striking +at them with a useless, empty gun, while they waited to drive home their +lance-like beaks. + +The picture was so plain! His brain was a photographic plate, +super-sensitized by the utter horror of the moment. While the red +monster stabbed its beak into his shoulder, while he drove home one blow +against its parchment body with his empty pistol, while the wild, +beating wings lifted the creature again into the air--he saw it all. + +Here were Diane and Harkness! Nearby Schwartzmann was on the ground! His +man--the one who had not yet descended with the others--was running +stumblingly forward. He was wounded, and the blood was streaming from +his back. Chet saw the two monsters hovering above Harkness' head; he +saw their thick-lidded eyes--and he saw those eyes as they detected an +easier prey. + +The fleeing man was half-stooped in a shambling run. The winged reptile +Chet had beaten off joined the other two and they were upon the wounded +man in a flurry of red. + +Chet saw him go down and took one involuntary step forward to give him +aid--then stopped, transfixed by what he beheld. + +The man was down crouching in terror. Above him the three monstrous +things beat each other with their wings; then their long beaks stabbed +downward. The man's body was hidden, but through those transparent beaks +there mounted swiftly a red stream. Plainly visible, Chet saw that vital +current--the living life-blood of a living man--drawn into those beastly +bodies; he saw it spread through a network of canals! And he was held +rigid with horror until a harsh scream from Harkness reached his brain. + +"The trees!" Harkness was shouting. "The trees! Down, Chet, for God's +sake! You can't save him!" + + * * * * * + +Walt was half carrying Diane. Even then Chet was vaguely thankful that +their bodies were between the girl and this gruesome sight. And Walt was +leaping madly down the lava slope. + +Beyond him, already on the lower level, was the racing figure of +Schwartzmann. A whirring flash of red pursued him. Another made a +crimson streak through the air toward Walt's back. Chet came with +startling abruptness from the frozen rigidity that held him, and he +crashed his empty pistol in well-directed aim through the body of the +beast. Then he, too, threw himself in great leaps down the slope. + +Kreiss was firing from below; Chet knew dimly that this was checking the +attack of the swarm. He saw Walt stagger; saw blood flowing from a slash +on the back of his head, and knew that Kreiss had got the monster just +in time. He sprang toward the stumbling man and got his arms under the +unconscious figure of the girl to help carry the load. + +And now it was Kreiss who was shouting. "The trees! We'll be safe in the +trees!" He saw Kreiss drop his pistol and dash headlong for the white +trunks of ghostly trees. + +His arm was pierced by a stinging pain; cold eyes, with thick, leathery +lids, were staring into Chet's as he cast one horrified glance over his +shoulder. Then he crashed against the white trunk of a tree and helped +Harkness drag the body of the girl between two twin trunks. He pulled +himself to safety in the shelter of the protecting trees, and held +weakly to one of them.... And the crimson lace-work of the sap-wood that +showed through the white bark was no brighter red than the mark of his +blood-stained hands where they clung for support. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +_Doomed_ + + +The sun was high when they ventured forth. Diane would have come, but +the two men would have none of it. They remembered the sight they had +seen; they knew what was left of a man's body lying on the rocks above; +and they ordered the girl to stay hidden while Kreiss remained with her +as a guard. + +There were only the four who lay hidden in the woods; Schwartzmann and +Max, with the remaining three men, were gone. Harkness' calls were +unanswered, and he ceased the halloo. + +"Better keep quiet," he advised himself and the others. "We are out of +ammunition, though they don't know it. And they have got away. They will +keep on going, too, and I am not any too well pleased with that. I +wanted to put Schwartzmann where I could keep an eye on him.... Oh, +well, he isn't very dangerous." + +But Chet Bullard made a few mental and unspoken reservations to that +remark. "That boy is always dangerous," he told himself, "and he won't +be happy unless he is making trouble. Thank the Lord he hasn't got that +gun!" + +He came out cautiously from among the trees, but the red horde was gone. +The reptiles' wings had rasped and clashed furiously for a time; they +had darted in fiery flashes before the protecting trees: and the fitful +breeze had brought gusts of nauseous odors--until a thin haze formed in +the higher air and the red things were gone. + +"There will not be any more for a while," said Harkness. + +He pointed toward the fumerole they had seen from the lookout earlier in +the day: again it was emitting jets of thin, steamy vapor that did not +disappear like steam but floated up above their heads. "The gas has +driven them off," he added. + + * * * * * + +The two men climbed slowly up the slope that had been the wave front of +molten rock. Chet found his pistol by the path and picked it up. + +"We'll get more ammunition up top," he told Harkness, "and we will toss +some down to Kreiss. He can have the extra gun you brought for +Schwartzmann, too." + +He stopped suddenly. He had reached the level top of the lava flow. Here +was where they had stood when the beasts attacked; where Harkness had +dropped the boxes of ammunition and the pistol--and except for a few +scattered bodies of unbelievable reptiles and for a stain of blood where +his own wound had bled, there was nothing to show where they had been. + +"He got 'em!" Chet exclaimed. "That son-of-a-gun Schwartzmann got the +gun and shells. I saw him scrambling around on the rock. I thought he +was just scared to death; but no, he wasn't too frightened to grab the +gun and the ammunition while one of his own men was being killed. And +that's not so good, either!" + +A dozen paces beyond was a huddle of clothing that stirred idly in the +breeze. "The poor devil!" exclaimed Chet, and moved over beside the body +of the man who had gone down under the red swarm's attack. + +It lay face down. Chet stooped to turn the body over, though he knew +there was no hope of life. He stopped with a gasp of dismay. + +Two eyes still stared in horror from a face that was colorless--a +drained, ghastly white face! No tint remained to show that this ever had +been a living man. More dreadful than the waxen pallor of death, here +was a bleached, bloodless flesh that told of the nameless horror that +had overwhelmed this man, beaten him down and drained him of every drop +of blood. + +"Vampires!" Chet heard Harkness saying in a horrified whisper. "Those +beaks that were like tubes! And they--they--" He stopped as if in fear +of the words that would tell what they themselves had escaped. + +Chet turned the body to its former position; that dreadful face beneath +a pitiless sun was a sight no other eyes should see. "Let's go on to the +ship," he said. "We'll get some ammunition, go back and get Diane--" + + * * * * * + +He did not finish the thought. Before him he saw the lifeless body +moving; it rolled and shuddered as if life had returned to this thing +where no life should be. Chet raised one hand in an unconscious gesture +as if to ward off some new horror that the body might disclose. It was a +moment before he realized that the rock was shaking beneath his feet, +that he was dizzy and that from no great distance a rumbling growl was +sounding in his ears. + +The moving body had shaken Chet's mental poise as had the earthquake his +physical equilibrium. Harkness had not seen it; he was looking off +across the level plateau. + +"Look!" he exclaimed; "another vent has opened! See it spout?" + +Some hundred yards distant were clouds of green vapor that rolled into +the air. At their base a fountain of mud sputtered and spouted and fell +back to build up a cone. The green cloud whirled sluggishly, then was +caught by the breeze and began its slow, rolling progress across the +flat rock. It was coming their way, rolling down toward the ship, and +Chet gripped suddenly at his companion's arm. + +"Come on!" he said! "I'm going away from here, and I'm going now. We'll +get Diane and Kreiss: remember what a whiff of gas did to him this +morning." + +He was drawing Harkness toward the face of the rock; he wondered at his +slowness. Walt seemed fascinated by the oncoming cloud. + +"Wait!" Harkness paused at the top of the descending slope. Chet turned, +to look where Harkness was watching. + +The green cloud moved slowly. As he turned to stare it touched the bow +of their ship; it flowed slowly, sluggishly, along the sides, and then +swept up and over the top. The lookouts of the control room were +obscured, and the port from which they had come! + +"Cut off!" breathed Harkness, his voice heavy with hopeless conviction. +"We can't get back! And now we're on our own past any doubt!" + + * * * * * + +"It may not last," Chet was urging an hour later, when, with Kreiss and +Diane, they stood on high ground to look down on the ship. + +The sparkling sheen of the metal cylinder had changed from silver to +pale green. The cloud that enveloped it was not heavy, but it was always +the same. Yet still Chet insisted: "It may not last." + +"Sorry to disappoint you," replied Kreiss, "but there is little ground +for such a belief." Again he was the professor instructing a class. +"These fumeroles, in my opinion, are venting a region far below the +surface. It is possible that further seismic disturbances may alter +conditions; a rearrangement of the lower rock strata may close existing +crevices and open others like this you have seen; but, barring that, I +see no reason for thinking that this emission of what appears to be +chlorine with other gases may not continue indefinitely." + +Chet looked at Diane. Was it a twinkle that appeared and vanished in her +eyes as Herr Professor Kreiss concluded his remarks. She would laugh in +the very face of death, Chet realized, but her tone was entirely serious +as she offered another suggestion. + +"If this wind should change," she said, "and if it blew the gas in +another direction, the ship could be cleared. One of us could go in long +enough to switch on the air generators full." + +But now it was Chet who shook his head in a negative. "Remember," he +told her, "when we were here before? All of the time while Walt was gone +for the ship--how did the wind blow then?" + +"The same as now," she admitted. + +"And it never changed." + +"No,"--slowly--"it never changed." + + * * * * * + +Chet turned to Walt and Kreiss. "That's that," he said shortly. "Any +other good ideas in the crowd? Can anyone go through that gas and get to +the ship? I'll make a try." + +"Suicide!" was Kreiss' verdict, and Harkness confirmed his words. + +"I saw things that moved up in the trees," he said. "Lord knows what +they were; Birds--beasts of some sort! But they were alive till the gas +touched them. I saw it drift among the trees when we left, and those +things up there came plopping down like ripe apples." + +Diane Delacouer looked up at Harkness with wide, serious eyes. "Then," +she shrugged, "we are really--" + +"Castaways," Harkness told her. "We're on our own--off on a desert +island--shipwrecked--all that sort of thing! And you might as well know +the worst of it; you, too, Kreiss. + +"Our good friend, Schwartzmann, is at large, and he has the pistol and +ammunition we brought out from the ship. He is armed, and we are not; he +has food, and we have none. And I'll have to admit that I didn't have +any breakfast and could use a little right now." + +"There are seven shells left in my pistol," said Diane. She held the +weapon out to Harkness; he took it carefully. + +"Seven," he said; "it is all we have. We must kill some animals for +food, my dear, but not with these; we must save these for bigger game." + +"But we cannot!" expostulated Kreiss. "To kill game with our bare +hands--impossible! We are doomed!" + +And now Chet caught Diane's glance brimming with mirth that was +undisguised. Truly, Diane Delacouer would have her laugh in the face of +death. + +"Doomed?" she exclaimed. "Not while Chet and I know how to make bows and +arrows!... Do you suppose we can find any of their old spears, Chet? +They made gorgeous bows, you remember." + +And Chet bowed low in an exaggeration of admiration that was not +entirely assumed. "Lead on!" he said. "You are in command. The army is +ready to follow." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +_A Premonition_ + + +Fire Valley had been the home of the ape-men. On that earlier journey +Walt and Chet had seen them, had fought with the tribe, and had lived +for a time in their caves that made dark shadows high on the rock wall. +And they knew that the wood the ape-men used for their spears was well +suited for bows. + +Back in the caves they found discarded spears and some wood that had +been gathered for shafts. Tough, springy, flexible, it was a simple +matter for the men to convert these into serviceable weapons. Sinews +that the ape-men had torn from great beasts made the bowstrings, and +there were other slim shafts that they notched, then sharpened in the +fire. + +Yet, to Chet as he worked, came an overwhelming feeling of despondency. +To be fashioning crude weapons like these--preparing to defend +themselves as best they could from the dangers of this new, raw world! +No, it could not be true.... And he knew while he protested that it was +all in vain. + +He asked himself a score of times if his impulsive, desperate act had +not been a horrible mistake. And he found the same answer always: it was +all he could have done. Had he attacked Schwartzmann he would have been +killed--and Walt, too! Schwartzmann would have had Diane. Only some such +stupefying shock as the effect of the shattered control could have +checked Schwartzmann. No, there had been no alternative. And the thing +was done. Finally, irrevocably done! + + * * * * * + +Chet walked to the cave-mouth to stare down at the ship below him in the +valley. From the fumerole's throat came a steady, rolling cloud of +shimmering green; the ship was immersed in it. The voice of Herr Kreiss +spoke to him; the scientist, too, had come forward for another look. + +"If it were at the bottom of the sea," he said, "it would be no more +inaccessible. It is, in very fact, at the bottom of a sea--a sea of gas. +We could penetrate an aqueous medium more easily." + +"And," Chet pondered slowly, "if only I could have returned.... With +time--and metal bars--and tools that I could improvise--I might...." + +His voice trailed off. What use now to speculate on what he might have +done. The scientist concluded his thought: + +"You might have reconstructed the control--yes, I, too, had thought of +that. But now, the gas! No--we must put that out of our minds, unless we +would become insane." + +Chet turned back into the black and odorous cave. He saw Harkness who +was flexing a bow he was making for Diane; he was showing her how to +grip it and let the arrow run free. + +"Towahg was the last one I instructed," Walt was saying; and Chet knew +from the deep lines in his face that his attempt at casual talk was for +Diane's benefit; "I wonder how long Towahg remembered. He was a grateful +little animal." + +"Towahg?" queried Kreiss. "Who is Towahg?" + +"Ape-man," Harkness told him. "Friendly little rascal; he helped us out +when we were here before. He saved Diane's life, no question about that. +I showed him the use of the bow; jumped him ahead a hundred generations +in the art of self-defense." + +"And offense!" was Kreiss' comment. "There are certain drawbacks to +arming a potential enemy." + +"Oh, Towahg is all right," Harkness reassured the scientist, "although +he may have taught the trick to others of the tribe who are not so +friendly." + +"Where are they? In what direction do they live?" Kreiss continued. + +"Want to make a social call?" Chet inquired. "You needn't mind those +little formalities up here, Doctor." + + * * * * * + +But in the mental makeup of Herr Doktor Kreiss had been included no +trace of humor; he took Chet's remark at face value. And he answered in +words that echoed Chet's real thoughts and that took the smile from his +lips. + +"But, no," said Herr Kreiss; "it is the contrary that I desire. Here we +are; here we stay for the rest of our lives. I would wish those years to +be undisturbed. I have no wish to quarrel with what primitive +inhabitants this globe may hold. There is much to study, to learn. I +shall pass the years so. + +"And now," he questioned, "where is it that we go? Where shall be our +home?" + +Chet, too, looked inquiringly at Harkness. "You saw more of this country +than I did," he reminded him; "what would you suggest?" + +And, at sight of the serious, troubled eyes of Diane Delacouer, he +added: + +"We want a site for a high-grade subdivision, you understand. Something +good, something exclusive, where we can keep out the less desirable +element. Dianeville must appeal to the people who rate socially." + +At the puzzled look on the scientist's face, Chet caught Diane's glance +of unspoken amusement, and knew that his ruse had succeeded: he must not +let Diane get too serious. Harkness answered slowly: + +"I saw a valley; I think I can find it again. When Towahg guided me back +to the ship, when we were here before, I saw the valley beyond the third +range of hills. We go up Fire Valley; follow the stream that comes in +from the side--" + +"Water?" Chet questioned. + +"Yes; I saw a lake." + +"Cover? Trees? Not the man-eating ones?" + +"Everything: open ground, hills, woods. It looked good to me then; it +will look a lot better now," said Walt enthusiastically. + +"Walk faster," said Chet; "I'm stepping on your heels." + + * * * * * + +They reached the valley floor some distance above the fumerole and the +clouds of poison gas; and the march began. The attack of the flying +reptiles had taught them the danger of exposure in the open, and they +kept close to the trees that fringed the valley. + +Once Chet left them and vanished among the trees, to return with the +body of an animal slung over one shoulder. + +"Moon-pig!" he told the others. "Ask Doctor Kreiss if you want to know +its species and ancestry and such things. All I know is that it has got +hams, and I am going to roast a slice or so before we start." + +"Bow and arrow?" asked Harkness. + +Chet nodded. "I'm a dead shot," he admitted, "up to a range of ten feet. +This thing with the funny face stood still for me, so it looks as if we +won't starve." + +The sun had swung rapidly into the sky; it was now overhead. One half of +their first short day was gone. And Chet's suggestions of food met with +approval. + +"I can't quite get used to it," Diane admitted to the rest; "to think +that for us time has turned back. We have been dropped into a new and +savage world, and we must do as the savages of our world did thousands +of years ago. Now!--in nineteen seventy-three!" + +Chet removed a slab of meat from the hot throat of a tiny fumerole. +"Nineteen seventy-three on Earth," he agreed, "but not here. This is +about nineteen thousand B.C." + + * * * * * + +He called to Kreiss who was digging into a thin stratum of rock. The +scientist had a splinter of flint in his hand, and he was gouging at a +red outcropping layer. + +"Old John Q. Neanderthal, himself!" said Chet. "What have you found, +silver or gold? Whatever it is, you're forgetting to eat; better come +along." But Doctor Kreiss had turned geologist, it was plain. + +"Cinnabar," he said; "an ore of hydrargyrum!" His tone was excited, but +Chet refused to have his mind turned from practical things. + +"Is it good to eat?" he demanded. + +"_Nein, nein!_" Kreiss protested. "It is what you call +mercury--quicksilver!" + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said Chet dryly, "I see where this man Kreiss is +to be a big help. He has discovered the site for the thermometer +factory. He will be organizing a Chamber of Commerce next." + +He left out a portion of the cooked meat for Kreiss' later attention, +and he and Harkness rolled a supply into leaf-wrapped packages and +stowed them in the pockets of their coats before they started on. Again +the little procession took up the march with Harkness leading. + +"Leave as little trail as possible," Harkness ordered. "We don't want to +shout to Schwartzmann where we have gone." + +They left the Valley of the Fires to follow the stream-bed in another +hollow between great hills. Chet found himself looking back at the +familiar flares with regret. Here was the only place on this new world +which was not utterly strange to his eyes. He continued to glance behind +him, long after the smoky fires were lost to sight; but he would not +admit even to himself that it was for another reason. + +Nineteen seventy-three!--and he was a man of the modern civilization. +Yet deep within him there stirred ancient instincts--racial memories, +perhaps. And, as he splashed through the little stream and bent to make +his way through strange-leafed vines and leprous-spotted trees, a +warning voice spoke inaudibly within his own mind--spoke as it might +have whispered to some ancestor scores of centuries dead. + +"You are followed!" it told him. "Listen!--there is one who follows on +the trail!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +_A Mysterious Rescuer_ + + +Their way led through tangled growths of trees and vines that were like +unreal things of a dream. Unreal they were, too, in their strange degree +of livingness, for there were snaky tendrils that drew back as if in +fear at their approach and stalks that folded great, thorny leaves +protectingly about pulpy centers at the first touch of a hand. The world +of vegetation seemed strangely sentient and aware of their approach. +Only the leprous-white trees remained motionless; their red-veined +trunks towered high in air, and the sun of late afternoon shot +slantingly through a leafy roof overhead. + +Twice Chet let the others go on ahead while he slipped silently into +some rocky concealment and watched with staring, anxious eyes back along +their trail. But the little stream's gurgling whisper was the only +voice, and in all the weird jungle there was no movement but for the +unfolding of the vegetation where they had passed. + +"Nerves!" he reproached himself. "You're getting jumpy, and that won't +do." But once more he let the others climb on while he stepped quickly +behind a projecting rock over which he could look. + +Again there was silence; again the leaves unfolded their thorny +wrappings while vermiform tendrils crept across the ground or reached +tentatively into the air. And then, while the silence was unbroken, +while no evidence came through his feeble, human senses, something +approached. + +Neither sight nor sound betrayed it--this something, that came +noiselessly after--but a tell-tale plant whipped its leaves into their +former wrapping; a vine drew its hanging clusters of flowers sharply +into the air. The unseeing watchers of the forest had sensed what was +unheard and unseen, and Chet knew that his own inner warning had been +true. + +He waited to see this mysterious pursuer come into view; and after +waiting in vain he realized the folly of thinking himself concealed. He +glanced about him; every plant was drawn tightly upon itself. With +silent voices they were proclaiming his hiding place, warning this other +to wait, telling him that someone was hidden here. + +Chet's face, despite his apprehension, drew into a whimsical, silent +grin. "No chance to ambush him, whoever he is or whatever it is," he +told himself. "But that works two ways: he can't jump us when we're +prepared; not in daylight, anyway." + +And he asked himself a question he could not answer: "I wonder," he +whispered softly, "--I wonder what these plants will do at night!" + + * * * * * + +Almost they could see the swift descent of the sun. Each flashing glint +of light through the dense growth came from lower down toward the +invisible horizon. It shone at last where Chet cast anxious glances +about upon a mound of rocks. + +Rough blocks of tremendous size had been left here from some seismic +disturbance. Like the ruins of a castle they were heaped high in air. +Even the tree growths stopped at their base, and above them was an +opening in the roof of tangled branches and leaves--a rough circle of +clear, blue sky. + +"How about making camp?" Chet asked. "This place looks good to me. I +would just as soon be up off the ground a bit." + +Harkness looked at the pile of rocks; glanced once toward the sun. +"Right!" he agreed. "This will do for our first camp." + +"You've named it," Chet told him as he scrambled to the top of a great +block. He extended a hand to Diane, standing tired and breathless at its +side. + +"Welcome to First Camp!" he told her. "Take this elevator for the first +ten floors." + +He drew her up to the top of the block. Harkness joined them, and Diane, +though she tried to smile in response to Chet, did not refuse their help +in making the ascent; the day's experiences had told on all of them. + +Thirty or forty feet above the ground was Chet's estimate. From the top +of their little fort they watched the shadows of night sweep swiftly +down. Scrub tree growths whose roots had anchored among the rocks gave +them shelter, while vines and mosses softened the hard outlines of the +labyrinth of stones. + + * * * * * + +Chet undid the package of meat and passed it out freely. There had been +scurryings and rustlings in the jungle growth that had reassured him in +the matter of food. Darkness fell as they ate; then it gave way to a new +flood of light. + +Golden light from a monstrous moon! It sent searching fingers through +rifts in the leafy roof, then poured itself over the edge of the opening +above in a cascade of glory. And, though each one of the four raised his +eyes toward that distant globe and knew it for the Earth, no word was +said; they ate their food in silence while the silent night wrapped them +about. + +Still in silence they prepared for the night. Chet and Harkness +improvised a bed for Diane in the shelter of a sheer-rising rock. They +tore off pieces of moss and stripped leaves from the climbing vines to +make a mattress for her; then withdrew with Kreiss to a short distance +while Chet told them of his suspicions. + +"Six hours of night," he said at last; "that means two hours for each of +us. We'll take turns standing guard." + +Harkness insisted upon being first. Chet flipped a coin with Kreiss and +drew the last turn of guard duty. He stretched himself out on a bit of +ground where vegetation had gained a foothold among the rocks. + +"It's going to take me a while to get used to these short days," he +said. "Six hours of daylight; six hours of night. This is a funny, +little world--but it's the only one we've got." + +The night air was softly warm; the day had been hard on muscles and +nerves. Chet stared toward the glorious ball of light that was their +moon. There were men and women there who were going about their normal +affairs. Ships were roaring through the air at their appointed levels; +their pilots were checking their courses, laughing, joking. + + * * * * * + +Chet resolutely withdrew his eyes. Think? Hell, no! That was one thing +that he must not do. He threw one arm across his eyes to shut out the +light that brought visions of a world he would never see again--that +emphasized the utter hopelessness of their position.... His next +conscious sensation was of his shoulder being shaken, while the hushed +voice of Doctor Kreiss said: + +"Your turn now, Herr Bullard; four hours have you slept." + +From Kreiss, Chet took the pistol with its seven precious shells. "All +quiet," Kreiss told him as he prepared to take Chet's place on the soft +leaves; "strange, flying things have I seen, but they do not come near. +And of your mysterious pursuer we have seen nothing. You imagined it, +perhaps." + +"I might have imagined it," Chet answered, "but don't try to tell me +that the plants did. I'll give this vegetation credit for some damned +uncanny powers but not for imagination--I draw the line there." + +He looked toward the highest point of rock and shook his head. "Too +plain a target if I'm up there," he argued, and took up his position in +the shadows instead. + +Once he moved cautiously toward the place they had prepared for Diane. +She was breathing softly and regularly. And on the rock at her side, +with only his jacket for a bed, lay Harkness. Their hands were clasped, +and Chet knew that the girl slept peacefully in the assurance of that +touch. + +"They don't make 'em any finer!" he was telling himself, and at the same +moment he stiffened abruptly to attention. + +Something was moving! Through and above the hushed noises of the night +had come a gliding sound. It was an indescribable sound, too elusive for +identification; and Chet, in the next instant, could not be sure of its +reality. He did not call, but swung alertly back on guard and slipped +from shadow to shadow as he made his way across the welter of rocks. + + * * * * * + +He stopped at last in strained listening to the silent night. One hand +upon a great stone block at his side steadied his body in tense, poised +concentration. + +From afar came a whistling note whose thin keenness was mingled with a +squeal of fright: some marauder of the night had found its prey. From +the leafy canopy above him voices whispered as the night wind set a +myriad leaves in motion. The thousand tiny sounds that blend to make the +silence of the dark! These he heard, and nothing more, while he forced +himself to listen beyond them. He followed with his eyes the creeping +flood of Earth-light that came slantingly now through the opening above +to half-illumine this rocky world; and then, in the far margin of that +light he found something on which his eyes focused sharply--something +that moved! + +Walt!--Kreiss--he must arouse them! A shout of alarm was in his +throat--a shout that was never uttered. For, from the darkness at his +back--not where this moving thing had been disclosed by the friendly +Earth-light, but from the place he had just left--came a scream of pure +terror. It was the shocking scream of a person roused from sleep in +utter fright, and the voice was that of Diane. + +"Walter!" she cried! "Walt!" There were other words that ended in a +strangling, choking sound, while a hoarse shout from Harkness merged +into a discord that rang horribly through the still night. + + * * * * * + +Chet was racing across the rocks; the pistol was in his hand. What +fearful thing would he face? What was it that had attacked? He forced +his leaden feet to carry him on in a succession of wild leaps. Forgotten +was the menace behind him, although he half saw, half sensed, a shadow +that moved faster than he along the upper rocks. He thought only of the +unknown horror that was ahead, that had drawn that despairing shriek +from the brave lips of Diane. The few seconds of his crossing were an +age in length. + +One last spring, one vivid instant while the Earth-light marked in sharp +distinctness the figure of a leaping man! It was Harkness, throwing +himself into the air, trying vainly to reach the struggling form of +Diane Delacouer. She was held high above his head, and she was wrapped +in the coils of a monster serpent--coils that finished in a +smoothly-rounded end. And Chet knew in that instant of horror that the +thing was headless! + +He was raising his pistol to fire; the long moments that seemed never to +end were in actuality an instant. Where should he aim? He must not +injure Diane. + +From the high rocks beside him came a glint of light, a straight line of +reflected brilliance as from a poised and slender shaft. It moved, it +flashed downward, it hissed angrily as it passed close to Chet's head. +It went on, a spear like a flash of light--on and down, to drive sharply +into the body of that serpent shape! And the coils, at that blow, +relaxed, while the figure of Diane Delacouer fell limply to the +outstretched, cushioning arms of the man below.... + + * * * * * + +Had the weapon been thrown with uncanny accuracy, or had it been meant +for him? Chet could not be sure. But he knew that before him Walt +Harkness was bending protectingly above the unconscious figure of a +girl, while above and about the two there flailed a terrible, headless +thing that beat the rocks with sledge-hammer blows. It struck Harkness +once and sent him staggering, and once it came close to Chet so that his +hands closed upon it for an instant. And with the touch he knew that +this serpent was no animal shape, but worse--a creeping tendril from +some flesh-eating horror of the vegetable world. + +He dashed in beside Walt; he saw Kreiss hurrying across the rocks. They +had Diane safely out of reach of the threshing, striking thing before +the scientist arrived. + +The spear that had passed close to Chet had pinned this deadly thing to +earth; it tore loose as they watched, and the wounded tendril, with the +spear still hanging from its side, slid swiftly down the slope and into +the darkness at the foot of the rocks. + +Even the calm preciseness of Herr Kreiss was shattered by the attack. In +a confusion of words he stammered questions that went unanswered. Chet +thrust his pistol into Harkness' hands and was off down the rocky slope +toward the springs where they had got water for their evening meal. A +rolled leaf made a cup that he held carefully while he climbed back. A +few minutes later the pallid face of Diane showed a faint flush, while +she drew a choking breath. + + * * * * * + +Harkness held the girl's head in his arms; he was uttering words of +endearment that were mingled with vicious curses for the thing that had +escaped. + +"Never mind that," argued Chet; "that one won't bother us again, and +after this we will be on guard. But here is something to wonder about. +What about this spear? Where did it come from?" + +Harkness had eyes only for Diane's tremulous smile. "I am all right, +truly," she assured him. Only then did he turn in bewilderment to Chet. + +"I thought you threw it! But of course not; you couldn't; we didn't have +any spears." + +"No," said Chet; "I didn't throw it. I saw something moving over across +there"--he pointed toward the farther rocks where he had been--"I was +going to call when Diane's scream beat me to it. But what I saw wasn't +the thing that attacked her. And if it was the same one who threw that +spear he must have come across here in a hurry. And that spear, by the +way, came uncomfortably close to my head. I'm not at all sure but it was +meant for me." + +Harkness released his arms from Diane, for she was now able to sit +erect. He picked up the crude bow that had been beside him and fitted an +arrow to the string. + +"I'll go and have a look," he promised grimly. But Chet held him back. + +"You're not thinking straight; this shock has knocked you out of +control. If that little stranger with the spear meant to help us there's +no need of hunting him out; he doesn't seem anxious to show himself. And +if he meant it for me, he's still too good a shot to fool with in the +dark. You stick here until daylight." + +"That is good advice," Herr Kreiss agreed. "The night, it will soon be +gone." He was looking at the leafy opening overhead where the golden +light of a distant Earth was fading before the glow of approaching day. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +_The Sacrificial Altar_ + + +"I am off the trail," Harkness admitted. "Towahg guided me before; I +wish he were here to do it now." + +They had pushed on for another short day, Harkness leading, and Chet +bringing up the rear and casting frequent backward glances in a vain +effort to catch a glimpse of some other moving figure. + +Smothered at times in a dense tangle of vegetation, where they sweated +and worked with aching muscles to tear a path; watching always for the +flaming, crimson buds on grotesque trees, whose limbs were waving, +undulating arms and from which came tendrils like the one that had +nearly ended Diane's life, they fought their way on. + +They had seen the buds on that earlier trip; had seen the revolting +beauty of them--the fleshy lips that opened above a pool of death into +which those reaching arms would drop any living thing they touched. They +kept well out of reach when a splash of crimson against the white trees +flashed in warning. + +Again they would traverse an open space, where outcropping rocks would +send Kreiss into transports of delight over their rich mineral contents. +But always their leader's eyes were turned toward a range of hills. + +"It is beyond there," he assured them, "if only we can reach it." +Harkness pointed to a scar on a mountainside where a crystal outcrop in +a sheer face of rock sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. "I remember +that--it isn't so very far--and we can look back down the valley from +there and see our ship." + +"But we'll never make it to-night," said Chet; "it's a case of making +camp again." + +They had gained an altitude of perhaps a thousand feet. No longer did +the jungle press so hard upon them. Even the single file that had been +their manner of marching could be abandoned, and Harkness drew Diane to +his side that he might lend her some of his own strength. + +Again the soft contours of the rolling ground had been disturbed: a +landslide in some other century had sent a torrent of boulders from the +high slopes above. Harkness threaded his way among great masses of +granite to come at last to an opening where massive monoliths formed a +gateway. + + * * * * * + +It was an entrance to another valley. They did not need to enter, for +they could skirt it and continue toward the high pass in the hills. But +the gateway seemed inviting. Harkness took Diane's hand to help her +toward it; the others followed. + +The fast sinking sun had buried itself behind a distant range, and long +shadows swept swiftly across the world, as if the oncoming night were +alive--as if it were rousing from the somnolence of its daytime sleep +and reaching out with black and clutching hands toward a fearful, +waiting world. + +"No twilight here," Chet observed; "let's find a hide-out--a cave, by +choice--where we can guard the entrance and--" + +A gasp from Diane checked him. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "It is not real! +_C'est impossible!_" + +Chet had been busied with the matter of a secure footing; he looked up +now and took a step forward where Harkness and Diane stood motionless in +a gateway of stone. And he, too, stopped as if stunned by the weird +beauty of the scene. + +A valley. Its length reached out before them to end some half mile away. +Sides that might once have sloped evenly seemed weathered to a series of +great steps, and an alternation of striations in black and white made a +banding that encircled the entire oval. Each step was dead-black stone, +each riser was snow-white marble; and the steps mounted up and up until +they resembled the sides of a great bowl. In the center, like an altar +for the worship of some wild, gargantuan god, was a stepped pyramid of +the same startling black and white. Banded like the walls, it rose to +half their height to finish in a capstone cut square and true. + +An altar, perhaps; an arena, beyond a doubt, or so it seemed to Chet. He +was first to put the impression in words. + +"A stadium!" he marvelled; "an arena for the games of the gods!" + +"The gods," Diane breathed softly, "of a wild, lost world--" But Chet +held to another thought. + +"Who--who built it?" he asked. "It's tremendous! There is nothing like +it on Earth!" + + * * * * * + +Only Kreiss seemed oblivious to the weird beauty of the spectacle. To +Professor Kreiss dolomite and black flint rock were dolomite and black +flint; interesting specimens--a peculiar arrangement--but nature must be +permitted her little vagaries. + +"Who built it?" He repeated Chet's question and gave a short laugh +before answering in words. "The rains, Herr Bullard, and the winds of +ages past. Yes, yes! A most remarkable example of erosion--most +remarkable! I must return this way some time and give it my serious +attention." + +Harkness had not spoken; he was shaking his head doubtfully at Kreiss' +words. "I am inclined to agree with Chet," he said slowly. "But who +could have built a gigantic work like this? Have there been former +civilisations here?" + +He straightened up and shook himself free from the effects of the wild, +barbaric scene. + +"And you needn't come back," he told Kreiss; "you can have a look now, +to-night, by moonlight. We can't go on. I think we'll be safest on that +big altar rock; nothing will get near us without our knowing." + +Chet felt Diane Delacouer's hand on his arm; her other hand was gripping +at Harkness. The shiver that passed through her was plainly perceptible. +"I'm afraid," she confessed in a half-whisper; "there's something about +it: I do not like it. There is evil there--danger. We should not enter." + +Walt Harkness gently patted the hand that trembled on his arm. "I don't +wonder that you are all shot to pieces," he assured her. "After last +night, you've a right to be. But I really believe this is the safest +spot we can find." + + * * * * * + +He stepped forward beyond the great stones that were like a gateway from +one wildly impossible world to another. A rock slide, it seemed, had +smoothed off the great steps from where they stood, for there was a +descending slope that gave easy footing. He took one step, and then +another, to show the girl how foolish were her fears; then he started +back. In the fading light something had flashed from the jungle they had +left. Across the rocky expanse it came, to bury itself in the loose soil +and rubble, not two paces in advance of the startled man. An arrow!--and +it stood quivering in silent warning on the path ahead. + +Chet quietly unslung his bow where he had looped it over one shoulder, +but Harkness motioned him back. The pistol was in his hand, but after a +moment's hesitation he returned that to his belt. His voice was low and +tense. + +"Listen," he said: "we're no match for them with our bows. They are +hidden; they could pick us off as we came. And I can't waste a single +detonite shell on them while they keep out of sight. We can't go back; +we must go ahead. We will all make a break for it and run as fast as we +can toward the big altar--the pyramid. From there we can stand them off +for a while. And we will go now and take them by surprise." + +He seized Diane firmly by one arm and steadied her as they dashed down +the slope. Chet and the professor were close behind. Each spine must +have tingled in anticipation of a shower of arrows. Chet threw one hasty +look toward the rear; the air was clear; no slender shafts pursued them. +But from the cover of the jungle growth came a peculiar sound, almost +like a human in distress--a call like a moaning cry. + + * * * * * + +They slackened their breath-taking pace and approached the great pyramid +more slowly. As they drew near, the great steps took on their real size; +each block was taller even than Chet, and he had to reach above his head +to touch the edge of the stone. + +They walked quickly about; found a place where the great blocks were +broken down, where the slope was littered with debris from the +disintegrating stone that had sifted down from above. They could climb +here; it was almost like a crudely formed set of more normally sized +steps. They made their way upward while Chet counted the courses of +stone. Six, then eight--ten--and here Harkness called a halt. + +"This--will do," he gasped between labored breaths. "Safe enough here. +Chet, you and Kreiss--spread out--watch from all--sides." + +The pilot was not as badly winded as Harkness who bad been helping +Diane. "Stay here," he told Harkness; "you too, Kreiss; make yourselves +comfortable. I will go on up to the top. The moon--or the Earth, +rather--will be up pretty soon; I can keep watch in all directions from +up there. We've got to get some sleep; can't let whoever it is that is +trailing us rob us of our rest or we'll soon be no good. I'll call you +after a while." + + * * * * * + +The great capstone projected beyond the blocks that supported it; that +much had been apparent from the ground. But Chet was amazed at the size +of the monolith when he stood at last on the broad step over which this +capstone projected like a roof. + +The shadows were deep beneath, and Chet, knowing that he could never +draw himself to the top of the great slab whose under side he could +barely touch, knew also that he must watch from all sides. The shadowed +floor beneath the big stone made a shelter from any watchful eyes out +there in the night; here would be his beat as sentry. He walked slowly +to the side of the pyramid, then around toward the front. + +It was the front to Chet because it faced the entrance, the rocky +gateway, where they had come in. He did not expect to find that side in +any way differing from the first. Each side was twenty paces in length; +Chet measured them carefully, astounded still at the size of the +structure. + +"Carved by the winds and rains," he said, repeating the opinion of +Professor Kreiss. "Now, I wonder.... It seems too regular, too much as +if--" He paused in his thoughts as he reached the corner; waited to +stare watchfully out into the night; turned the corner, and, still in +shadow, moved on. "Too much as if nature had had some help!" + +His meditation ended as abruptly as did his steady pacing: he was +checked in midstride, one foot outstretched, while he struggled for +balance and fought to keep from taking that forward step. + +In the shelter of the capstone was a darker shadow; there was a +blackness there that could mean only the opening of a cave--a cavern, +whose regular outlines and square-cut portal dismissed for all time the +thought of a natural opening in the rock. But it was not this alone that +had brought the man up short in his stealthy stride: it had jolted him +as if he had walked head on into the great monolith itself. It was not +this but a flat platform before the cave, a raised stone surface some +two feet above the floor. And on it, pale and unreal in the first light +of the rising Earth was a naked, human form--a face that grimaced with +distorted features. + + * * * * * + +Chet had known the ape-men on that earlier visit: he knew that while +most of them were heavily covered with hair there were some who were +almost human in their hairlessness. The body before him was one of +these. + +It lay limply across the stone platform, the listless head hanging +downward over one edge. It had high cheekbones, a retreating forehead, +glassy, staring eyes, and grinning teeth that projected from between +loose lips. And the evening wind stirred the black, stringy hair while +it touched lightly upon the ends of a short length of vine about the +ape-man's neck, where only the ends could be seen, for the rest of the +pliant vine was sunk deeply into the flesh of the neck. It had been the +instrument of death; the ape-man had been strangled. + +Chet tore his fascinated eyes from the revolting features of that purple +face; he forced himself to look beyond at what else might be on this +sacrificial stone. And, as he saw the assortment of fruit that was there +on a green mat of leaves, the surprise was even greater than would have +followed a repetition of the first discovery. + +A naked, murdered man!--and ripe fruit! What was the meaning of this? +Chet asked himself a score of questions and found the answer to none. +But one thing he knew now beyond a doubt: Herr Professor Kreiss had been +wrong. This was truly an altar for the performance of unknown and savage +rites, and the altar itself and the whole encircling arena had been +created by some intelligence. People--things--embodied intelligences of +some sort had carved these stones. Chet was oppressed by a feeling of +impending danger. + +His thoughts came back sharply to the things on the stone: the absurdly +contrasting exhibits: a naked body and fruit! But were they so +different? he asked himself, and knew in the same instant that they were +not. They were one and the same; they differed only in kind. They were +both food! + + * * * * * + +From the darkness beyond came a shuffling of feet. From the black +passage someone was coming--drawing near to the portal--and coming +slowly, steadily through the dark. The pad of animal feet would have +been unnerving--or the stealthy footfalls of an approaching savage--but +this was neither; it was a scuffing, shuffling sound. The sweat stood +out in beads on Chet's forehead and a trickle of it reached his eyes. He +dashed it away with the back of his hand while he drew silently into the +shadow of the overhanging stone. He held his breath as he watched in the +darkness. + +His pistol came noiselessly from his belt. Yet, how could he fire it? he +asked himself in a moment of frantic planning. Only seven cartridges +left!--they would need them all; and to fire now would bring more +enemies upon them. He returned the gun to his belt and stooped to weigh +a fragment of stone in his hand: this must serve him as a weapon. + +The dragging footsteps were near, where the passage mouth loomed black. +The light of a distant Earth, struck slantingly across to leave this +face of the pyramid in half-darkness. From that far and peaceful world +the light poured floodingly down; it shone in under the projecting +capstone; it struck upon the raised altar and revealed in ghastliest +detail the gruesome offering there. And surely the strangest sight of +all that that Earth-light disclosed was when it shone golden upon a +black and hairy body of a beast that was half man, half ape. The +creature moved slowly forward, walking erect, with its furry arms +stretched gropingly ahead. In the full light it went shuffling on like +one who is blind or who walks in the dark, until it stopped before the +altar stone and stood rigidly waiting. + + * * * * * + +Waiting for what? Chet was making demands upon his reason that was +already taxed beyond its capacity. He heard nothing, and he knew with +entire certainty that there was no audible call, yet he sensed the +message at the instant the ape-man moved. + +"Flesh!" said the message. "Bring flesh! Bring it now!" + +And, with glazed, wide-open eyes which plainly saw, but could not +comprehend, the ape-thing stared at the altar-stone. It bent forward, +took the fresh-killed body by the throat, and slung it across one +shoulder as easily as a child might handle a doll; then it turned and +vanished once more into the waiting dark. + +"God!" breathed Chet when the vision had passed. "God help us! What does +it mean?" + +He took one backward step, then another, and made his way in silence +along the path he had come. He must get back to the others to tell them +of what he had seen; to help them to flee from this place of horror that +was more terrible for its qualities of the unknown. + + * * * * * + +He gave his companions the story in staccato sentences. "And the ape-man +was unconscious," he concluded; "he was an automaton only, directed by +another brain. I know it. I got that message, I tell you; it was radioed +by someone or by something--sent direct to that big ape's brain. + +"Now let's get out of here. Diane had it right when she said that the +place was evil. But she didn't make it strong enough. It's foul with +evil! It's damned! Come on, I'm leaving now!" + +Chet's whispered words were uttered with all the emphasis that horror +could instill. He knew that he spoke truth. But he could not know how +mistaken was his last positive assertion. + +"I'm leaving now!" Chet had said, and how desperately he wanted to put +this place behind him only he himself could know. He took one step +toward the place where they could descend; then Harkness' hand pulled +him roughly to his knees. + +"Down!" Harkness was commanding; "get down, Chet! They're coming--a +swarm of them--through the gate!" + +The pilot heard them before he saw them. They began a chant as they +poured through the entrance, a weird, wailing note like the cry of a +stricken animal that cries on and on. Then he saw the swarm. + +They came in a cataract of black bodies that spilled through that stone +portal and down the long slope. They formed a ragged column on the +ground and came on toward the pyramid, where, unseen, three men and a +girl from another world were crouching. + +"Back!" Chet ordered in a whisper. "Keep low--in the shadow! Get around +in back of the pyramid. We can make a run for it!" + + * * * * * + +They crept swiftly along the rocky step where the deep angle was in +shadow. They reached the rear slope where Chet had climbed. And each one +knew without the speaking of a word that retreat was not to be +considered. The open arena!--the high bank of great steps in their bold +markings of black and white! They could never hope to scale them; they +would never even reach them alive, for the savage horde would overwhelm +them before they had crossed the Earth-lit ground. + +"All right," said Chet in acceptance of their unspoken thoughts, "up it +is! Here's a hand, Diane--up you go! Now watch your step, and climb as +if a thousand devils were after you, for there's all of that!" + +The wave of bodies was washing against the pyramid's base when Chet drew +Kreiss, the last of the four, into the shadow of the huge capstone. The +noise of their climbing had been covered by the wailing cry that came +piercing shrilly from the throng far below. And they had been unseen, +Chet was sure; unless the one furtive shadow that he had seen draw away +from the crowd and slip around toward the rear of the pyramid meant that +some one of the tribe had found their trail. + +From the front of the shadowed top came the shuffling of heavy, dragging +feet on the stone. It was the same as before. Chet had held some vague +idea of fighting off the horde from the top of the steps, for here was +the only place where they could ascend. He had forgotten this other one +for the moment, and he realized in a single flashing instant that here +was a worse menace than the pack. + +Only one, it was true, one ape-man who would be no match for them! But +Chet remembered those blind, staring eyes and the message that had come +to him. Those eyes had seen the horrible food upon the altar; some other +brain had seen it too. The ape-man was an instrument only; there was +some hidden horror in back of him, something that saw with his eyes, +something that must never see them, cowering and huddled in the shadow +of that great stone. + + * * * * * + +The shuffling was coming from the right; Chet clutched silently at the +others to draw them away and toward the left. They retreated to the +corner, turned it, and went on toward the front; then stopped in silent +waiting where the shadow ended. The front, where the altar stood, was in +the full glare of Earth. + +For the moment they were safe, but what of the time when the ape-man +returned? He had descended to the ground; when he climbed back again +would he retrace his steps? Or would he come this side and trap them +here where the light of their own Earth made any forward step +impossible? + +Below them the wailing ceased. Chet leaned forward to see the black +horde, silent and motionless. Approaching them was the "big ape" he had +seen at the altar. His hands were reaching blindly before him and he +moved as would a human when entranced. + +He reached the huddled blacks; his groping hands hovered hesitantly +above a cowering, hairy form. Presently the ape-man passed on to the +next, and his hands rested on the creature's face. From the massed +figures there rose a moan, and Chet felt poignantly the animal misery of +it. Suddenly all emotion was transformed to startled attention. From the +slope at the rear had come the rattle of loose stones! + +Far below, in plain view, was the one who had descended--Chet knew that +his eyes could never mistake that blind, groping figure--but from the +slope they could not see, from around the far edge of the pyramid, a +clicking stone sent a repeated warning. + +Chet laid a hand on Harkness' arm. "Get set, Walt!" he warned. "Get +ready for trouble. There's something coming: it may come this way!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +_In the Shadow of the Pyramid_ + + +They waited, unbreathing, listening to the occasional stealthy sounds. +The pistol was still in Chet's belt; the three men were crouched before +Diane, in their hands the crude weapons that they had made. + +And then the sounds ceased. The menace seemed to have passed, or to be +withheld; the men had been tensely prepared for some minutes when Diane +spoke softly. + +"Look below," she whispered; "the savages! That big one seems to be +choosing them--selecting some from among them." + +Chet forced himself to look away from that corner of the rocky step +where he had been expecting an unknown enemy to appear, and he stared +below them where the Earth-light from the fully risen globe swept across +the arena. + +He was amazed at the numbers of the savages that the full light +disclosed. There were hundreds--yes, thousands--of them, he estimated. +And they were standing in black, clotted masses, standing awed and +silent in a world that was all black and white in a dazzling contrast, +while there passed among them one with outstretched arms. + +The black, hairy hands would hover over a cowering head; the eyes, Chet +knew, were staring widely, blindly, at the shivering creature before +him. And if Chet's surmise was correct, there was another--a hidden, +mysterious something--who was taking the message of those eyes as the +ape-man's brain transmitted it; taking it and sending back instructions +as to which victims should be selected. + +Often the hands passed on; but soon they would descend to touch the +savage face of another in the assemblage. At the touch the selected one +jerked sharply erect, then walked stiffly from the ranks to join a group +that was waiting. + +At last there were nearly a hundred savage figures in that group, all +grown men, young and in the full flood of their savage strength. No +women were chosen, nor children, though there were countless little +black bodies huddled with the others. + + * * * * * + +A prolific race, indeed, Chet thought, and this human automaton down +there was leaving the women to produce more victims; leaving the +children till they were fully grown, taking only the best and strongest +of the pack--for what? + +His question was answered in part in the next instant. While the wailing +cry quivered again upon the air, the chosen hundred took up their +somnambulistic walk. The messenger from the pyramid came after like a +herdsman driving cattle to the slaughter. They passed from Chet's view +as they rounded the rear of the pyramid, and then he heard the scuff and +clatter of their ascent. + +No need to explain to the others; each of the four saw all too clearly +their predicament. From the rear, coming steadily on, was the savage +throng; before them, plainly visible from below, was the lighted edge +where the altar rock stood. To step out there in full view would bring +the whole pack upon them; to drop down to another level would expose +them as plainly. Only in the dark shelter of the projecting capstone +were they hidden from the upturned faces now massed solidly about. + +Their problem was solved for them by the sight of a savage body, black, +ragged with unkempt tufts of hair--another!--a score of them! They were +rounding the corner of the pyramid and walking stiffly toward them, +pressing upon them. + +And the arrow on the drawn bow in Chet's hand was never loosed, for each +savage face was wide-eyed and devoid of expression; the ape-men neither +saw nor felt them. They were hypnotized, as Chet was suddenly aware; +they knew only that they must follow the mental instructions that were +guiding them on. + +The black, animal bodies were upon them. Chet came from the stupefying +wonder that had claimed them all and sprang to shield the group from the +steady advance. Harkness was beside him, and an instant later, Kreiss; +Diane was at their backs. And the weight of the advancing bodies swept +them irresistibly backward, out into the light, along the wide step +toward the passage that yawned darkly under the projecting cap. + + * * * * * + +There was no checking the avalanche of bodies--no resisting them: the +men were carried along; it was all they could do to keep their footing. +Harkness sprang backward to take Diane in his arms and retreat with her +before the advancing horde. Chet was waiting for an outcry from below, +for some indication that despite the mass of bodies that smothered them, +their presence had been observed. But only the wailing cry persisted. + +There was another advancing column that had circled the other side, and +now both groups were meeting at the passageway. Chet gripped at the +figure of Kreiss who was being swept helpless toward the dark vault and +he dragged him back. The two fought their way out toward the front and +saw Harkness doing the same. + +"The altar," gasped Chet; "up on the altar!" And he saw Harkness swing +Diane up on the stone, then turn and extend a helping hand toward the +two men. + +Safe in the sanctuary of this altar dedicated to some deity that they +could never imagine, they crouched close to its blood-clotted surface, +and still there was no change in the cry from below. + +"Let them all go in," Harkness whispered. "Then follow them into the +shadow. There will no more come up here, I imagine. We will make our +escape after a bit." + +The black mouth of the passage had swallowed the ape-men by solid +scores, and now only some stragglers were left. Harkness was speaking in +quick, whispered orders: + +"Follow the last ones. Keep stooped over so they won't spot us from +below. Wait in the darkness of the entrance." + +Chet saw him crouch low as he crept from the stone. Diane followed, then +Kreiss; and Chet next, close behind a shambling ape-figure that slunk +into the darkness of the passageway. + + * * * * * + +That it was a passage Chet had not the least doubt. It had taken in +these scores of savage figures, taken them somewhere; but where it led +or why these poor stunned creatures had been chosen he could not know. +Yet he remembered the one message he had caught: "Flesh! Bring flesh!" +It had meant only one thing: it was food that was wanted--human food! +And the fetid stench that was wafted from the darkness of this place of +mystery and horror, that made him reel back and put a hand to his +revolted lips, would not have encouraged him, even had he had any desire +to learn the answer to the puzzle. + +Diane was half-crouching; she was choking with the foul air. Harkness +spoke gaspingly as he took her by the arm: + +"Outside, for God's sake!... Horrible!... Get Diane outside--try lying +down--we may be out of sight!" + +But this time he did not follow his own instructions. He rose erect, +instead, and stood swaying as if dazed; and Chet saw that before him, +outlined against the lighted opening in the rock, was the messenger he +had seen. + +Black against the bright Earth-light, his features were lost; no +expression could be seen. But his eyes, that were dead and white like +the upturned belly of a fish, came suddenly to life. They glared from +the dark face with a light that came almost visibly from them to the +staring eyes of Walt Harkness. Chet saw Harkness stiffen, one upraised +hand falling woodenly to his side; a cry of warning was strangled in his +throat, and then the glaring eyes passed on to the face of Diane. + +Chet had forgotten this messenger from the pyramid's hidden horror. If +he had thought of him at all he had assumed that he had passed in with +the other crowding ape-men; he was one like them, undistinguishable from +the rest. And now the savage figure was before them in terrifying +reality. + + * * * * * + +The eyes passed on to Kreiss. Then the ugly face swung toward Chet, and, +as their eyes met, it seemed to Chet that a blow had crashed stunningly +upon his brain. He tried to move--he knew that he must move. He must +reach for his bow, must leap upon this hulking brute and beat at the +glaring eyes with his bare fists. And his muscles that he tried to rouse +to action might have changed to stone, so unresponsive were they, and +unmoving. + +The hairy hands reached out and touched Harkness. They passed on and +lingered upon the blanched features of the girl, and Chet raged inwardly +at his inability to resist and her utter helplessness to draw away. Then +Kreiss; and again Chet's turn. And, with the touching of those rough +animal hands, he felt that a contact had been established with some +distant force--a something that communicated with him, that sent +thoughts which his brain phrased in words. + +"Curious!" said those thoughts. "How exceedingly curious! We shall be +interested in learning more. We shall learn all we can in one way and +another of this new race. We shall dismember them slowly, all but the +woman: we find her strangely attractive.... You will bring them to us at +once." + +And Chet knew that the instructions were for the messenger whose hands +came stiffly upward to point the way; while, with a portion of his mind +that was functioning freely, Chet raged as he saw Diane take the first +stiff, involuntary step forward. Then Harkness and Kreiss! and he knew +that he too must follow, knew himself to be as helpless as the driven +brutes he had seen herded down below. And then, with the same mind that +was still able to comprehend the messages of his own eyes and ears, he +knew that from behind the savage figure there had come a sound. + + * * * * * + +His senses were alert, sharpened to an abnormal degree; the almost +silent footfall otherwise could never have been heard. + +The raised hand swung toward him; he knew that he must turn and follow +the others to whatever awaited.... But the hand paused! Then swiftly the +savage figure swung to face toward the entrance, and those blazing eyes, +as Chet knew, were a match for any opponent. + +But the eyes never found what they looked for and the quick swing of the +big ape-body was never completed. In the portal of light there was +framed a naked figure which sprang as if from nowhere, squat, savage and +ape-like, but hairless. Its arms were upraised; the hands held a bow; +and the twang of the bowstring came as one with the ripping thud of a +shaft that was tearing through flesh. + +The savage fell in mid-turn; and it seemed as if the blazing light of +the terrible eyes must have flicked out before the breath of Death. And, +protruding from the thick neck, was the shaft of a crude arrow.... There +were others that flashed, thudding and quivering, into the body that +jerked with each impact, then lay still, a darker blot on the floor of a +dark cave. + +Chet was breathless; it was an instant before he realized that he was +free, that the hypnotic bonds that had bound him were loosed. It was +another instant before he sensed that his companions were still +marching--trudging stiffly, woodenly off through the dark. He bounded +after, heedless of bruising walls; he followed where the sound of their +scuffling feet marked their progress to a sure doom. + +There were stairs; how he sensed them Chet could not have told. But he +paused, hesitated a moment, then found the first step and half ran, half +fell, through the utter darkness of the pit into which they had gone. + + * * * * * + +The odors that had seemed the utmost of vileness now came to him a +hundred times worse. They tore at his throat with a strangling grip, and +he was weak with nausea when he crashed upon a figure that he knew, was +Kreiss. Then on, to grasp at Diane and Harkness; to drag them to a +standstill in the darkness that pressed upon them smotheringly, while he +shook them, beat at them, shouted their names. + +"Diane! Walt! Wake up! Wake up, I tell you! We're going back!" + +He swung them around; forced them to face about. + +"Walt, for God's sake, wake up! Diane! Kreiss!" The deep, sobbing breath +of Diane was the first encouraging response. + +Then: "Free!" she gasped. "I'm free!" And Harkness and Kreiss both +mumbled incoherently as they came from their hypnotic stupor. + +"How--" began Harkness, "how did you--" But Chet waited for no +explanation of the seeming miracle that had just taken place. + +"Go back," he told them, "--back up the steps!" And a babble of cries +that were terrifying in their inhuman savagery welled up from the depths +of the pyramid to urge them on. + +The body of their captor was prone on the floor above: they stepped over +it to reach the entrance. No figure showed there now; Chet stooped low +and stepped forth cautiously that the surging horde on the ground might +not see him. The others followed. He felt Harkness' hand in a sudden +warning grip upon him. + +"Chet!" said Harkness, "there is something there in the shadow--there!" +And Chet saw, even before Walt pointed, a wriggling figure that crept +toward them. + +He struck down the bow that Kreiss had raised, and a ray of light came +through a jagged niche in the rock above to fall upon the face of the +one who drew near. + +Abjectly, in utmost humility, the naked figure crept toward their feet, +and the savage face that was raised to theirs was wreathed in a +distorted smile. + +Beside him, Chet felt Harkness struggling to speak. In wondering tones +that were almost unbelieving, Harkness choked out one word. + +"Towahg!" he said. "Towahg!" + +And the thick lips in that upraised face echoed proudly: + +"Towahg! Me come!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +_Happy Valley_ + + +"Towahg!" Chet marveled; "you little devil! It's you who has been +following us all this time!" + +"I wish he hadn't been so bashful," Harkness added. "If he had come out +and showed himself he would have saved us a lot of trouble." But +Harkness stepped forward and patted the black shoulder that quivered +with joy beneath his touch. "Good boy, Towahg!" he told the grinning +ape-man. + +Monkey-like, Towahg had to imitate, and this time he gave a reproduction +of his own acts. He wriggled toward the entrance of the passage, peered +around the edge, and seemed to see something that made him draw back. +Then he fitted an arrow to his bow and springing upright, let it fly. + +So realistic was the performance that Chet actually expected to see +another enemy transfixed, but the squat figure of Towahg was doing a +dance of victory beside the prostrate figure of the first and only +victim. Chet reached out with one long arm and swung the exulting savage +about. He heard Herr Kreiss expressing his opinion in accents of +disgust. + +"Ugly little beast!" Kreiss was saying. "And murderous!" + +There was no time to lose: the sound of scrambling bodies was coming +nearer from the dark pit beyond. Yet, even then, Chet found an instant +to defend the black. + +"Damned lucky for us that he is a murderer!" he told Kreiss. Then to +Towahg: + +"Listen, you little imp of hell! You don't know more than ten words, but +get this!" + +Chet was standing where the Earth-light struck upon him; he pointed into +the dark where the sounds of pursuit grew loud, and he shook his head +and screwed his features into an expression that was supposed to depict +fear. "No! No!" he said. + +He dragged the savage forward and pointed cautiously to the milling +horde below, and repeated, "No! No!" Then he included them all in a wave +of his hand and pointed back and out into the night. And Towahg's +unlovely features were again twisted into what was for him a smile, as +he grunted some unintelligible syllables and motioned them to follow. + + * * * * * + +It had taken but an instant. Towahg was scurrying in advance; he sped +like a shadow of a passing cloud, and behind him the others followed, +crouching low in the shelter of the deep-cut step. No figures were below +them at the rear of the pyramid, and Chet reached for one of Diane's +arms, while Harkness took the other. Between them they held her from +falling while they followed the dark blur that was Towahg leaping +noiselessly down the long slope. + +No time for caution now. The savage ahead of them leaped silently; his +flying feet hardly disturbed a stone. But beneath them, Chet felt a +small landslide of rubble that came with them in their flight. And above +the noise of their going came a sound that sped them on--the rising +shout of wonder from the unseen multitude in front, and a chorus of +animal cries from the pyramid's top. + +Chet saw a blot of black figures at the top of the slope just as they +felt firm ground beneath their feet. They followed where Towahg led in a +swift race across the open arena toward the great steps at the rear. +Black and white in strongly contrasting bands, the rock reared itself in +a barrier that, to Chet, seemed hopelessly unsurmountable. He felt that +they had come to the end of their tether. + +"Trapped!" he told himself, and wondered at Towahg's leading them into +such a cul-de-sac, even while he knew that retreat in other directions +was cut off. The pursuit was gaining on them; savages from beyond the +pyramid had sighted them now in the full light of Earth, and their +yelping cry came mingled with hoarse growls as the full pack took the +trail. Ahead of them, Towahg, reaching the base of the first white step, +was dancing with excitement beside a narrow cleft in the rocks. He led +the way through the small passage. And Harkness, bringing up the rear, +took the detonite pistol in his hand. + +"One shell! We'll have to waste it!" he said, and raised the weapon. + +Its own explosion was slight, but the sound of the bursting cartridge +when its grain of detonite struck the rocks made a thunderous noise as +it echoed between the narrow walls. + +"That will check the pursuit," Harkness exulted; "that will make them +stop and think it over." + + * * * * * + +It was another hour before Towahg slackened his pace. He had led them +through jungle that to them seemed impassable; had shown them the hidden +trails and warned them against spiked plants whose darts were needle +sharp. At last he led them to a splashing stream where they followed him +through the trackless water for a mile or more. + +The mountain with the white scar was their beacon. Harkness pointed it +out to their guide and made him understand that that was where they +would go. + +And, when night was gone, and the first rays of the rising sun made a +quickly changing kaleidoscope of the colorful east, they came at last to +a barren height. Behind them was a maze of valleys and rolling hills; +beyond these was a place of smoke, where red fires shone pale in the +early light, and set off at one side was a shape whose cylindrical +outline could be plainly seen. It caught the first light of the sun to +reflect it in sparkling lines and glittering points, and every +reflection came back to them tinged with pale green, by which they knew +that the gas was still there. + +Chet turned from a prospect that could only be depressing. His muscles +were heavy with the poisons of utter fatigue; the others must be the +same, but for the present they were safe, and they could find some +position that they could defend. Towahg would be a valuable ally. And +now their lives were ahead of them--lives of loneliness, of exile. + + * * * * * + +Harkness, too, had been staring back toward that ship that was their +only link with their lost world; his eyes met Chet's in an exchange of +glances that showed how similar were their thoughts. And then, at sound +of a glad laugh from Diane, their looks of despair gave place to +something more like shame, and Chet shifted his own eyes quickly away. + +"It is beautiful, Walter," Diane was saying: "the lovely valley, the +lake, the three mountain peaks like sentinels. It is marvelous. And we +will be happy there, all of us, I know it.... Happy Valley. There--I've +named it! Do you like the name, Walter?" + +And Chet saw Harkness' reply in a quick pressure of his hand on one of +Diane's. And he knew why Walt looked suddenly away without giving her an +answer in words. + +"Happy Valley!" Diane of all the four had shown the ability to rise +above desperate physical weariness, above a despondent mood, to dare +look ahead instead of backward and to find hope for happiness in the +prospect. + +Off at one side, Chet saw Kreiss; the scientist's weariness was +forgotten while he ran like a puppy after a bird, in pursuit of a +floating butterfly that drifted like a wind-blown flower. And Harkness, +unspeaking, was still clinging to Diane's firm hand.... Yes, thought +Chet, there was happiness to be found here. For himself, it would be +more than a little lonesome. But, he reflected, what happiness was there +in any place or thing more than the happiness we put there for +ourselves?... Happy Valley--and why not? He dared to meet the girl's +eyes now, and the smile on his lips spread to his own eyes, as he echoed +his thoughts: + +"Why not?" he asked. "Happy Valley it is; we just didn't recognize it at +first." + + * * * * * + +They came to the lake at last; its sparkling blue had drawn them from +afar off: it was still lovelier as they came near. Here was the same +steady west wind that had driven the gas upon their ship. But here it +ruffled the velvet of waving grasses that swept down to the margin of +the lake. There was a higher knoll that rose sharply from the shore, and +back of all were forests of white-trunked trees. + +Chet had seen none of the crimson buds, nor threatening tendrils since +entering the valley. And Towahg confirmed his estimate of the valley's +safety. He waved one naked arm in an all-inclusive gesture, and he drew +upon his limited vocabulary to tell them of this place. + +"Good!" he said, and waved his arm again. "Good! Good!" + +"Towahg, you're a silver-tongued orator," Chet told him: "no one could +have described it better. You're darned right; it's good." + +He raised his head to take a deep breath of the fragrant air; it was +intoxicating with its blending of spicy odors. At his feet the water +made emerald waves, where the clear, deep blue of the reflected sky +merged with yellow sand. Fish darted through the deeper pools where the +beach shelved off, and above them the air held flashing colorful things +that circled and skimmed above the waves. + +The rippling grass was so green, the sky and lake so intense a blue, and +one mountainous mass of cloud shone in a white too blinding to be borne. +And over it all flowed the warm, soft air that seemed vibrant with a +life-force pulsing strongly through this virgin world. + +Diane called from where she and Harkness had wandered through the lush +grass. Kreiss had thrown himself upon a strip of warm sand and was +oblivious to the beauties that surrounded him. Towahg was squatted like +a half-human frog, binding new heads on his arrows. + +"Chet," she called, "come over here and help me to exclaim over this +beautiful place. Walter talks only of building a house and arranging a +place that we can defend. He is so very practical." + +"Practical!" exclaimed Chet. "Why, Walt's a dreamer and a poet compared +to me. I'm thinking of food. Hey, Towahg," he called to the black, +"let's eat!" He amplified this with unmistakable pointings at his mouth +and suggestive rubbing of his stomach, and Towahg started off at a run +toward trees that were heavy with strange fruit. + + * * * * * + +By night there were unmistakable signs that the hand of man had been at +work. A band of savages would have accepted the place as they found it; +for them the shelter of a rock would have sufficed. They would have +passed on to other hunting grounds and only a handful of ashes and a +broken branch, perhaps, would have marked where they had been. But your +civilized man is never satisfied. + +Along the mile of shore was open ground. Here the trees approached the +water: again their solid rampart of ghostly trunks was held back some +hundreds of yards. And the open ground was vividly green where the soft +grass waved; and it was matted, too, with crimson and gold of countless +flowers. A beautiful carpet, flung down by the edge of a crystal lake, +and the flowered covering swept up and over the one high knoll that +touched the shore.... And on the knoll, near an outcrop of limestone +rocks, was a house. + +"Not exactly pretentious," Chet had admitted, "but we'll do better later +on." + +"It will keep Diane under cover," argued Harkness; "these leaves are +like leather." + +He helped Diane put another strip of leaf in place on the roof; a twist +of green vine tied around the stem held it loosely. + +The leaves were huge, as much as ten feet in diameter: great circles of +leathery green that they cut with a pocket knife and "tailored" as Diane +called it to fit the rough framework of the hut. Towahg had found them +and had given them a name that they did not trouble to learn. "Towahg's +grunts sound so much alike," Diane complained smilingly. "He seems to +know his natural history, but he is difficult to understand." + + * * * * * + +But Towahg proved a valuable man. He cracked two round stones together, +and cleaved off one to a rounded edge. He bound this with withes to a +short stick and in a few minutes had a serviceable stone ax that bit +into slender saplings that were needed for a framework. + +Chet nodded his head to call Kreiss' attention to that. "Herr Doktor," +he said, "it isn't every scientist who has the chance to see a close-up +of the stone age." + +But Herr Kreiss, as Chet told Harkness later, did not seem to "snuggle +up nice and friendly" to the grinning savage. "He is armed better than +we," Kreiss complained. "I do not trust him. It is an impossible +situation, this, that civilized men should be dependent upon one so +savage. For what is our _kultur_, our great advancement in all lines of +mental endeavor, if at the last, when tested by nature, we must rely +upon such assistance?" + +Chet saw Herr Doktor Kreiss draw himself aloof with meticulous care as +Towahg dashed by, and it occurred to him that perhaps it was as well for +Kreiss that the black one knew so little of what was said. + +But aloud he merely said: "You'll have lots of chances to use that +mental endeavor stuff later on, Doctor. But right now what we need to +know is how to get by without any of your laboratories, without text +books or tools, with just our bare hands and with brains that are geared +up to the civilization you mention and don't do us a whole lot of good +here. Better let Towahg show us what he knows." + +But Herr Kreiss only shrugged his thin shoulders and wandered off +through this research-man's paradise, where every flower and insect and +stone were calling to him. Chet envied the equanimity with which the man +had accepted his lot, had come to this place and was prepared to spend +his remaining years collecting scientific data that were to him +all-important. + + * * * * * + +Again the sun sank swiftly. But this time, Chet stretched himself +luxuriously upon the matted grass and turned to stare at the little fire +that burned before the entrance of Diane's shelter. His pocket fireflash +had kindled some dry sticks that burned without smoke. + +"We will be a little careful about smoke," Harkness had warned them all. +"No use of broadcasting the news of our being here. We have come a long +way and I think there is small chance of Schwartzmann's party or the +savages finding us in this spot." + +Beyond the fire, Harkness raised himself now to sit erect and glance +about the circle of fire-lit faces. "There's plenty of planning to be +done," he said. "There is the matter of defense; we must build a +barricade of some sort. As for shelter, we must remember that we will be +here a long time and that we might as well face it. We will need to +build some serviceable shelters. Then, what about clothes? These we are +wearing are none the better for the trip through the jungle: they won't +last forever. We've got to learn--Lord! we've got to learn so many +things!" + +And the first of many councils was begun. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +_A Bag of Green Gas_ + + +Under a tree on the edge of the open ground a notched stick hung. Six +sharply cut V's showed red through the white bark, then one that was +deeper; another six and another deeper cut; more of them until the stick +was full: so passed the little days. + +"Some time," Herr Kreiss had promised, "I shall determine with accuracy +the length of our Dark Moon days; then we will convert these crude +records into Earth time. It is good that we should not lose our +knowledge of the days on Earth." He made a ceremony each morning of the +cutting of another notch. + +Chet, too, had a bit of daily routine that was never neglected. Each +sunrise found him on the high divide; each morning he watched for the +glint and sparkle of sunlight as it flashed from a metal ship; and each +morning the reflected light came to him tinged with green, until he knew +at last that it might never be different. The poisonous fumes filled the +pocket at the end of the valley where the great ship rested. She was +indeed at the bottom of a sea. + +Back at camp were other signs of the passing days. Around the top of the +knoll a palisade had sprung up. Stakes buried in the ground, with +sharpened ends pointing up and outward, were interwoven with tough vines +to make a barricade that would check any direct assault. And, within the +enclosure, near the little hut that had been built for Diane, were other +shelters. One black night of tropic rainstorm had taught the necessity +for roofs that would protect them from torrential downpours. + +These did well enough for the present, these temporary shelters and +defenses, and they had kept Diane and the two men working like mad when +it was essential that they have something to do, something to think of, +that they might not brood too long and deeply on their situation and the +life of exile they were facing. + + * * * * * + +For Kreiss this was not necessary. In Herr Kreiss, it seemed, were the +qualities of the stoic. They were exiled--that was a fact; Herr Kreiss +accepted it and put it aside. For, about him, were countless things +animate and inanimate of this new world, things which must be taken into +his thin hands, examined, classified and catalogued in his mind. + +In the rocky outcrop at the top of their knoll he had found a cave with +which this rock seemed honeycombed. Here, within the shelter of the +barricade, he had established what he called very seriously his +"laboratory." And here he brought strange animals from the +jungle--flying things that were more like bats than birds, yet colored +gorgeously. Chet found him one day quietly exultant over a wrinkled +piece of parchment. He was sharpening a quill into a pen, and a +cup-shaped stone held some dark liquid that was evidently ink. + +"So much data to record," he said. "There will be others who will follow +us some day. Perhaps not during our lifetime, but they will come. These +discoveries are mine; I must have the records for them.... And later I +will make paper," he added as an afterthought; "there is papyrus growing +in the lake." + +But on the whole, Kreiss kept strictly to himself. "He's a lone wolf," +Chet told the others, "and now that he is bringing in those heavy loads +of metals he is more exclusive than ever: won't let me into the back end +of his cave." + +"Does he think we will steal his gold?" Harkness asked moodily. "What +good is gold to us here?" + +"He may have gold," Chet informed him, "but he has something more +valuable too. I saw some chunks that glowed in the dark. Rotten with +radium, he told me. But even so, he is welcome to it: we can't use it. +No, I don't think he suspects us of wanting his trophies; he's merely +the kind that flocks by himself. He was having a wonderful time today +pounding out some of his metals with a stone hammer; I heard him at it +all day. He seems to have settled down in that cave for keeps." + + * * * * * + +Harkness threw another stick across the fire; its warmth was unneeded, +but its dancing flames were cheering. + +"And that is something we must make up our minds about," he said slowly: +"are we to stay here, or should we move on?" + +He dropped to the ground near where Diane was sitting, and took one of +her hands in his. + +"Diane and I plan to 'set up housekeeping,'" he told Chet, and Chet saw +him smile whimsically at the words. Housekeeping on the Dark Moon would +be primitive indeed. "We are lacking in some of the customary features +of a wedding; we seem to be just out of ministers or civil officials to +tie the knot." + +"Elect me Mayor of Dianeville," Chet suggested with a grin, "and I'll +marry you--if you think those formalities are necessary here." + +Diane broke in. "It's foolish of me, Chet, I know it; but don't laugh at +me." He saw her lips tremble for an instant. "You see, we're so far away +from--from everything, and it seems that that if Walter and I could just +start our lives with a really and truly marriage--oh, I know it is +foolish--" + +This time Chet interrupted. "After all you have been through, and after +the bravery you've shown, I think you are entitled to a little +'foolishness.' And you _shall_ be married with as good a knot as any +minister could tie: you see, that is one of the advantages of being a +Master Pilot. My warrant permits me to perform a marriage service in any +level above the surface of the Earth. A left-over from the time when +ship's captains had the same right. And although we are grounded for +keeps, if we are not above the surface of the Earth right now I don't +know anything about altitudes. But," he added as if it were an +afterthought, "my fee, although I hate to mention it, is five dollars." + + * * * * * + +Harkness gravely reached into the pocket of his ragged coat and brought +out a wallet. He tendered a five dollar bill to Chet. "I think you're +robbing me," he complained, "but that's what happens when there is no +competition. And we'll start building a house to-morrow." + +"Will we?" Chet inquired. "Is this the best place? For my part I would +feel safer if there were more miles between us and that pyramid. What +was down in there, God knows. But there was something back of that +hypnotized ape--something that knocked us for a crash landing with one +look from those eyes." + +The night air was warm, where he lay before their huts, but a shiver of +apprehension gripped him at the thought of a mysterious Something that +was beyond the power of his imagination, and that was an enemy they +would never want to face. Something inhuman in its cold brutality, yet +superhuman too, if this mental force were an indication. A something +different from anything the people of Earth had ever known, bestial and +damnable! + +"I am with you on that," Harkness agreed, "but what about the ship? You +have had your eye on it every day; do we want to go where we could not +see it? If the gas cleared, if there was ever a season when the wind +changed, think of what that would mean. Ammunition, food, supplies of +all kinds, and the ship as a place of refuge, too, would be lost. No, we +can't turn that over to Schwartzmann, Chet; we've got to stick around." + +"I still wish we were farther away," Chet acknowledged, "but you are +right, Walt; we could never be satisfied a single day if we thought the +ship could be reached. Then, too, Towahg seems to think this is O. K. + +"As near as I can learn from his sign language and a dozen words, this +is about as good a spot as we can find. He says the ape-men never cross +the big divide; something spooky about it I judged. However, we must +remember this: the fact that Towahg came across shows that the rest of +them would if they found it could be done." + +"That was why he led us so far while we waded up that stream," offered +Diane. "Trailing Towahg would be like trying to follow the wake of an +airship." + +"And I asked him about the red vampires that jumped us down by the +ship," Chet continued. "He gave me the clear sign on that, too." + + * * * * * + +Diane was not anxious for more wanderings, as Chet could see. "There is +game here," she suggested, "and the edge of the jungle is simply an +orchard of fruit, as you know. And having a lake to bathe in is +important--oh, I must not try to influence you. We must do what is +best." + +"No," said Chet, "our own wishes don't count; the ship's the deciding +factor. You had better build your house here, Walt. Happy Valley will be +headquarters for the expedition; we've got a whale of a lot of country +to explore. And, of course, we will slip back and check up on +Schwartzmann; find out where he went to--" + +"Count me out;" Harkness interrupted; "count me out. You go and hunt +trouble if you want to; Diane and I will have our hands full right here. +Great heavens, man! We've got to learn to make clothes; and, by the way, +that uniform you're wearing is no credit to your tailor. If we are to +call this home, we must do better than the savages. I intend to find +some bamboo, split it, make some troughs, and bring water down here from +the spring. I've got to learn where Kreiss is getting his metal and find +some soft enough to hammer into dishes. We can't call the department +store by radiophone, you know, and have them shoot a bunch of stuff out +by pneumatic tube." + +"That's all right," Chet mocked; "by the time you have built a house +with only a stone ax in your tool kit, you'll think the rest of it is +simple." + + * * * * * + +The barricade, or _chevaux de frise_ as Chet insisted upon calling it, +to show his deep study of the wars of earlier days, was built in the +form of a U. The knoll itself sloped on one side directly to the water's +edge: they had left that side open and carried their line of sharp +stakes down to the water, that in the event of a siege they would not be +conquered by thirst. + +On the highest point of the knoll, some few weeks later, a house was +being built--a more pretentious structure, this, than the other little +huts. The aerial roots that the white trees dropped from their +high-flung branches were not impossible to cut with their crude +implements; they made good building material for a house whose framework +must be tied together with vines and tough roots. This would be the home +of Harkness and Diane. + +The two had been insistent that this structure would be incomplete +without a room for Chet, but the pilot only laughed at that suggestion. + +"It's an old saying," he told them, "that one house isn't big enough for +two families. I think the remark is as old as the institution of +marriage, just about. And it's as true on the Dark Moon as it is on +Earth. And, besides, I intend to build some bachelor apartments that +will make this place of yours look pretty cheap, that is, if I ever find +time. I am going to be pretty busy just roaming around this little world +seeing what I can see. Even Herr Kreiss has got the wanderlust, you will +notice." + +"He has been gone four days," said Diane. Her tone was frankly worried. +Chet finished tying a sapling to a row of uprights and slid to the +ground. + + * * * * * + +"Don't be alarmed about Kreiss," he reassured her. "He has been +all-fired mysterious for the past several weeks. He's been working on +something in that cave of his, and visitors have not been admitted. When +he left he told me he would be gone for some time, and he looked at me +like an owl when he said it: his mysterious secret was making his eyes +pop out. He has a surprise up his sleeve." + +"Wedding present for Diane," Harkness suggested. + +"Well, he showed me some darn nice sapphires," Chet agreed. "Probably +found some way to cut them and he's setting them in a bracelet of soft +gold: that's my guess." + +"I wish he were here," Diane insisted. + +And Chet nodded across the clearing as he said fervently: "I wish I +could get all my wishes as quickly as that. There he comes now with his +bow in one hand and a bag of something in the other." + +The tall figure moved wearily across the open ground, but straightened +and came briskly toward them as he drew near. He seemed more gaunt than +usual, as if he had finished a long journey and had slept but little. +But his eyes behind their heavy spectacles were big with pride. + +"You have--what do you Americans say?--'poked fun' at my helplessness in +the forest," he told Chet. "And now see. Alone and without help I have +made a great journey, a most important journey." He held up a bladder, +translucent, filled with something palely green. + +"The gas!" he said proudly. + +"Why, Herr Kreiss," Diane exclaimed, amazed, "you can't mean that you've +been to Fire Valley; that that is the gas from about the ship!... And +why did you want it? What earthly use...." + + * * * * * + +She had looked from the proud face of the scientist to that of Harkness; +then turned toward Chet. Her voice died away, her question unfinished, +at sight of the expression in those other eyes. + +"From--the ship? You mean that you've been there--Fire Valley? That +you've come back here?" Chet was asking on behalf of Harkness as well: +his companion added nothing to the words of the pilot--words spoken in a +curiously quiet, strained tone. + +"But yes!" Herr Kreiss assured him. His gaze was still proudly fixed +upon the bladder of green gas. "I needed some for an experiment--a most +important experiment." And not till then did he glance up and let his +thin face wrinkle in amazed wonder at the look on the pilot's face. + +Chet had raised one end of another stick as Kreiss approached. He had +intended to place it against the frame they were building: it fell +heavily to the ground instead. He regarded Harkness with eyes that were +somber with hopeless despair, yet that somehow crinkled with a whimsical +smile. + +"Well, I said he had a surprise up his sleeve," he reminded them. "It is +nearly night; I can't do anything now. I'll go to-morrow; take Towahg. I +don't know that there's anything we can do, but we'll try. + +"You will stay here with Diane," he told Harkness. And Harkness accepted +the order as he would from one who was in command. + +"It's up to you now," he told Chet. "I'll stay here and hold the fort. +You're running the job from now on." + +But the pilot only nodded. Herr Kreiss was sputtering a barrage of how's +and why's; he demanded to know why his success in so hazardous a trip +should have this result. + +But Chet Bullard did not answer. He walked slowly away, his eyes on the +ground, as one who is trying to plan; driving his thoughts in an effort +to find some escape from a danger that seemed to hover threateningly. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +_Terrors of the Jungle_ + + +Towahg had learned the names of these white-skinned ones who came down +from whatever heaven was pictured in his rudimentary mind. His +pronunciation of them was peculiar: it had not been helped any by reason +of Diane's having been his teacher. Her French accent was delightful to +hear, but not helpful to a Dark Moon ape-man who was grappling with +English. + +But he knew them by name, using always the French "Monsieur," and when +Chet repeated: "Monsieur Kreiss--he go," pointing through the jungle, +and followed this with the command: "Towahg go! Me go!" the ape-man's +unlovely face drew into its hideous grin and he nodded his head +violently to show that he understood. + +Chet gripped a hand each if Harkness and Diane and clung to them for a +moment. Below their knoll the white morning mist drifted eerily toward +the lake; the knoll was an island and they three the only living +creatures in a living world. It was the first division of their little +force, the first parting where any such farewell might be the last. The +silence hung heavily about them. + +"Au 'voir," Diane said softly; "and take no chances. Come back here and +we'll win or lose together." + +"Blue skies," was Walt Harkness' good-by in the language of the flyer; +"blue skies and happy landings!" + +And Chet, before the shrouding mist swallowed him up, replied in kind. + +"Lifting off!" he announced as if his ship were rising beneath him, "and +the air is cleared. I'll drop back in four days if I'm lucky." + +Towahg was waiting, curled up for warmth in the hollow of a great tree's +roots. Like all the ape-men he was sullen and taciturn in the chill of +the morning. Not until the sun warmed him would he become his customary +self. But he grunted when Chet repeated his instructions, "Monsieur +Kreiss, he go! Now Towahg go too--go where Monsieur Kreiss go!" and he +led the way into the jungle where the scientist had emerged. + + * * * * * + +Chet followed close through wraith-like, drifting mist. They were +ascending a gentle slope; among the trees and tangled giant vines the +mist grew thin. Then they were above it, and occasional shafts of golden +light shot flatly in to mark the ascending sun. + +They were climbing toward the big divide, that much Chet knew. White, +ghostly trees gave place to the darker, gloomier growth of the uplands. +Strange monstrosities, they had been to Chet when first he had seen +them, but he was accustomed to them now and passed unnoticing among +their rubbery trunks, so black and shining with morning dew. + +Far above a wind moved among the pliant branches that whipped and +whirled their elastic lengths into strange, curled forms. Then the +miracle of the daily growth of leaves took place, and the rubbery limbs +were clothed in green, where golden flowers budded prodigiously before +they flashed open and filled the wet air with their fragrance. + +They were following the path that Chet had traveled on his morning trips +to the divide for a view of the ship. Kreiss would have gone this way, +of course, although to Chet, there was no sign of his having passed. +Then came the divide, and still Chet followed where Towahg led sullenly +across the expanse of barren rocks. Towahg's head was sunk between his +black shoulders; his long arms hung limply; and he moved on with a +steady motion of his short, heavily muscled legs, with apparently no +thought of where he went or why. + +Chet stopped for a moment's look at the distant sparkle that meant the +shining ship, which shone green as on every other day, and he wondered +as he had a score of times if it might be possible for them to make a +suit--a bag to enclose his head, or a gas-mask--anything that could be +made gas-tight: and could be supplied with air. Then he thought of the +bow that was slung on his shoulder and the stone ax at his belt. These +were their implements: these were all they had.... Suddenly he began to +walk rapidly down the slope after Towahg who was almost to the trees. + + * * * * * + +Again they were among the black rubbery growth. It rose from a tangle of +mammoth leafed vines and creepers that wove themselves into an +impassable wall--impassable until Towahg lifted a huge leaf here, swung +a hanging vine there, and laid open a passage through the living +labyrinth. + +"How did Kreiss ever find his way?" Chet asked himself. And then he +questioned: "Did he come this way? Is Towahg on the trail?" + +Again he repeated his instructions to the ape-man, and he showed his own +wonder as to which way they should go. + +The sun must have done its work effectively, for now Towahg's wide grin +was in evidence. He nodded vigorously, then dropped to one knee and +motioned for Chet to see for himself, as he pointed to his proof. + +Chet stared at the unbroken ground. Was a tiny leaf crushed? It might +have been, but so were a thousand others that had fallen from above. He +shook his head, and Towahg could only show his elation by hopping +ludicrously from one foot to the other in a dance of joy. + +Then he went on at a pace Chet found difficulty in following, until they +came to a place where Towahg tore a vine aside to show easier going, but +climbed instead over a fallen tree, grown thickly with vines, and here +even Chet could see that other feet had tripped and stumbled. The Master +Pilot glanced at the triple star still pinned to his blouse; he thought +of the study and training that had preceded the conferring of that +rating, the charting of the stars, navigational problems in a +three-dimensional sea. And he smiled at his failure to read this trail +that to Towahg was entirely plain. + + * * * * * + +"Every man to his job," he told the black, and patted him on the +shoulder, "and you know yours, Towahg, you're good! Now, where do we +sleep?" + +He ventured to suggest a bed of leaves that had gathered amongst a maze +of great rocks, but Towahg registered violent disapproval. He pointed to +a pendant vine; his hands that were clumsy at so many things gave an +unmistakable imitation of a bud that developed on that vine and opened. +Then Towahg sniffed once at that imaginary flower, and his body went +suddenly limp and apparently lifeless as it fell to the ground. + +"You're right, old top!" Chet assured him, as Towahg came again to his +feet. "This is no place to take a nap." A crashing of some enormous body +that tore the tough jungle in its rush came from beyond the rocks. + +"And there are other reasons," he added as he followed Towahg's example +and leaped for a hanging tangle of laced vines. Here was a ladder ready +to take them to the high roof above, but they did not need it; the +crashing died away in the distance. + +It was Chet's first intimation that this section of the Dark Moon held +beasts more huge than the "Moon-pigs" he had killed: it was a disturbing +bit of knowledge. He caught Towahg's cautious, wary eyes and motioned +toward the branches high overhead. + +"How about hanging ourselves up there for the night?" he asked, and the +gestures, though not the words, were plain, as the ape-man's quick +dissent made clear. + + * * * * * + +He motioned Chet to follow. Down they plunged, and always down. Towahg +gave Chet to understand that Kreiss had slept some distance beyond: they +would try to reach the same place. But the quick-falling dusk caught +them while yet among the black rubbery trees. And the dark showed Chet +why their branches might not be inviting as a sleeping place. + +By ones and twos they came at first, occasional lines of light that +flowed swiftly and vanished through the black tangle of limbs. Chet +could hardly believe them real; they appeared and were lost from sight +as if they had melted. + +But more came, and it seemed at last as if the roof above were alive +with light. The moving, luminous things glowed in hues that were never +still: were pure gold, were green, then red, melting and changing +through all the colors of the spectrum. + +Living fireworks that were a blaze of gorgeous beauty! They wove an +ever-moving canopy of softest lights that raced dazzlingly to and fro, +that crossed and intertwined; that were dazing to his eyes while they +held his senses enthralled by their color and sheer loveliness ... until +one light detached itself and fell toward him where he stood spellbound +beside a giant fern. + +It struck softly behind him, and its crimson glory flashed yellow as it +struck, then went black and in the dim light, on a great leathery leaf +with a spread of ten feet, Chet saw an enormous worm, whose head was a +thing of writhing antennae, whose eyes were pure deadliness, and whose +round corrugated body drew up the hanging part that the leaf could not +hold. It hunched itself into a huge inverted U and, before Chet could +recover from his horrified surprise, was poised to spring. + + * * * * * + +It was Towahg's strength, not his own, that threw him bodily down the +path. It was Towahg who poured a volley of grunted words and shrieks +into his ear, while he dragged him back. Chet saw the vicious head flash +to loveliest gold while it shot forward to the body's full twelve feet +of length--twelve feet of pulsing lavender and rose and flashing crimson +that was more horrible by reason of its beauty. + +Chet stumbled to his feet and raced after Towahg. The ape-man moved in +swift silence, Chet close at his back. And other luminous horrors +dropped on ropes of translucent silver behind them, until the ghostly +white of friendly trees became visible, and they stood at last, +breathless and shaken, as far as Chet was concerned, in the familiar +jungle of the lower valleys. + +And Towahg, to whom poison vines and writhing, horrible worms of death +that had failed to make him their prey were things of a forgotten past, +curled up in the shelter of an outflung snarl of great roots, grunted +once, and went calmly to sleep. + +But Chet Bullard, accustomed only to man-made dangers that would have +held Towahg petrified with fear, lay long, staring into the dark. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +_Through Air and Water_ + + +It was midday when they approached the heights they had reached on their +flight from Fire Valley. Off to one side must lie the arena with the +pyramid within. And within the pyramid--! Chet took his thoughts quickly +away from that. Or perhaps it was the shrieking chatter from ahead that +gave him other things to think of. + +Towahg had heard them before, but Chet had not understood his signs. And +now the chorus of an approaching pack of ape-men was louder with each +passing minute. That they were coming along the same trail seemed +certain. + +Towahg sprang into the air; his gnarled hands closed on a heavy vine: he +went up this hand over hand, ready to move off to one side through the +leafy roof with never a sign of his going. He waited impatiently for +Chet to join him, and the pilot, regarding the incredible leap of that +squat ape-man body, shook his head in despair. + +"Grab a loose end," he told Towahg. "Lower a rope--a vine. Get it down +where I can reach it!" And he raved inwardly at the blank look on the +savage face while he held himself in check and made signs over and over +in an effort to get the idea across. + +Towahg got it at last. He lowered a vine and hauled Chet up with jerks +that almost tore the pilot's hands from their hold on the rough bark. +Then off to one side! And they waited in the shelter of concealing +leaves while the yelling pack drew near and a hundred or more of them +raced by along the trail below. + +Invisible to Chet was the marked trail where Kreiss had gone, but these +savage things ran at top speed and read it as they ran. + +Were they puzzled by the sudden increase in markings? Did they sense +that some were more recent than those they had followed? Chet could not +say. But he saw the pack return, staring curiously about until they +swung off and vanished through the trees toward the west. And in that +direction lay the arena and the haunt of a horror unknown. + +Yet Chet lowered himself to the ground with steady hands and motioned +Towahg where the yelling mob had gone. + +"We'll go that way," he said; "we'll follow them up. And perhaps, if I +can only get the idea into your thick head, we can learn what their +plans are: find out if Kreiss has really thrown us in their hands--led +them as straight as a pack of wolves could run to the quiet peace of +Happy Valley." + + * * * * * + +Chet might have followed them into the arena itself: he felt so keenly +that he must know with certainty whether or not the pack would continue +their pursuit. And why had they turned back? he asked himself. Had they +returned to acquaint their horrible god and his hypnotised slaves with +what they had learned? + +But the trail turned off from the rocky waste where the arena lay; it +took them west and south for another mile, until again to Chet's ears +came the chattering bedlam of monkey-talk that was almost human. And now +they moved more cautiously from rock to tree and through the concealing +shadows until they could look into a shallow valley ahead. But before +Chet looked he was prepared for a surprising scene. For over and above +the raucous calling of the ape-folk had come another deeper tone. + +"_Gott im Himmel!_" the deep voice said. "One at a time, you _verdammt_ +beasts. Beat them on the head, Max; make them shut up!" + +And the big bulk of Schwartzmann, when Chet first saw him, was seated on +a high rock that was like a barbaric throne in a valley of green. About +him the ape-men leaped and grimaced and made futile animal efforts to +tell him of their discovery. + +"They've found something, Max," Schwartzmann said to his pilot. "Get the +other two men. We'll go with the dirty brutes. And if they've got wind +of those others--" His remarks concluded with a sputtering of profanity +whose nature was not obscured by its being given in another language. +And Chet knew that the obscenities were intended for his companions and +himself. + +Schwartzmann's booming voice came plainly even above the chorus of +coughing growls and shriller chatter. Chet saw him showing his detonite +pistol in a half-threatening motion, and the ape-men cringed away in +fear. + +"Not so well trained an army, Max, that I am general of, but if we find +that man, Harkness, and his pilot and that traitor Kreiss, we will let +these soldiers of mine tear them to little bits. Now, we go!" + +Max's call had brought the other two men of Schwartzmann's party, and +the black horde of ape-men broke into a wild run across the grass toward +the place where Chet and Towahg lay. The two slipped hurriedly into the +concealment of denser growth, then ran at top speed down a jungle trail +that led off to one side. + + * * * * * + +They were bedded down for the night on the edge of the white forest; no +persuasion of Schwartzmann's would have driven the ape-men into the +darkness of the black trees and their flashing, luminous worm-beasts. +Chet and Towahg came within hearing of their encampment just at dusk, +and a late-rising moon broke through the gaps in the leafy roof to make +splotched islands of gold in the velvet dark where Chet and Towahg +fought the jungle so they might swing around and past the camp. +Occasional grunts and scufflings showed that the ape-men were restless, +and the two knew that every step must be taken in silence and every +obstructing leaf moved with no rasping friction on other leaves or +branches. But they came again to the trail, and now they were ahead of +the pack, as the first gray light of dawn was stealing through the +ghostly white of the trees. + +Towahg would have curled himself into a sleepy ball a score of times had +Chet not driven him on, and now the pilot only allowed a few minutes for +food, where ripe purple fruit hung in clusters on the end of stems that +were like ropes. + +No use to explain to Towahg. Perhaps the ape-man thought they were +hurrying to get through the black forest; he might even have thought the +matter through to see the necessity for reaching their own valley and +warning the others. Certainly he had no idea of any plans other than +these, and he must have been puzzled some several hours later when Chet +halted where the trail had crossed a barren expanse of rock. + +Towahg had stopped there on the way down. Then he had sniffed the air, +dropped his head low and circled about, motioning Chet to follow, from +across the clearing where he had picked up the trail. Chet knew the +ape-men would do the same unless they were diverted, and he had a plan. +To communicate it to his assistant was his greatest problem. + + * * * * * + +He stopped at the clearing, while Towahg urged him on across the smooth +rock. Chet shook his head and pointed away from the direction of the big +divide, and at last he made him understand. Then Towahg did what Chet +never could have done. + +He followed their former trail across the stone, his head close to the +ground. Now he picked a bruised leaf: again he replaced a turned stone +whose markings showed it had been displaced, and he came back over an +area that even an ape-man would not follow as being a place where men +had gone. + +From where they emerged he turned as Chet had pointed, crossed the +clearing as clumsily as the German scientist might have done, scuffed +his bare feet in a pocket of gravel, and pointed to soft earth where +Chet might walk and leave a mark of shoes. Chet grinned happily while +Towahg did his grotesque dance that indicated satisfaction, though from +afar the first cries of the pack rang in the air. + +They could never have outdistanced the apes alone, Chet knew that. But +he also knew that Schwartzmann and the others would slow them up, and he +counted on the pack staying together on the trail as they traversed this +new country. He entered the jungle with Towahg where their new trail +led, and drove his tired muscles to greater speed while Towahg, always +in the lead, motioned him on. + +There were stops for food at times until another night came, and Chet +threw himself down on a mat of grass and fell instantly asleep. If there +was danger abroad he neither knew nor cared. He knew only that every +muscle of his body was aching from the forced march, and that Towahg's +twitching ears were on guard. + +The following day they went more slowly, stopping at times to wait for +the sounds of pursuit. They were leading the pack on a long journey; +Chet wanted to be sure they were following and had not turned back. He +left a plain mark of his boot from time to time, and knew that this mark +would be shown to Schwartzmann. With that to lead him there would be no +stopping the man: he would drive his army of blacks despite their +superstitious fears. + +The short days and nights formed an endless succession to Chet. Only +once did he see a familiar place, as they passed a valley and he saw +where their ship had rested on that earlier voyage. + +"This is far enough," he told Towahg, and made himself plain with signs. +"Now we'll lose them; hang them right up in the air and leave them +there." + +Another steep climb and a valley beyond, and in the hollow a tumbling +stream. There was no need to tell Towahg what to do, for he led straight +for the water, and his thick legs churned through it as he headed down +stream; nor did he stop until they had covered many miles. + +Chet had wondered how they would leave the water without trace, but +again Towahg was ready. A stone where the water splashed would show no +mark of bare feet. From it he leaped into the air toward a swaying vine. +He missed, tried again, and finally grasped it. And the rest was a +repetition of what had been done before. + + * * * * * + +He lowered a vine as Chet had taught him, pulled the slim figure of Chet +up to the dizzy heights of the jungle trees, then took Chet's one arm in +a grip of chilled steel and threw him across his back, while he swung +sickeningly from limb to limb, up through the branches of another +grotesque tree where its queerly distorted limbs sagged and swung them +to its fellow some fifty feet away. + +It was a wild ride for the pilot. "I've driven everything that's made +with an engine in it," he told himself, "but this one-ape-power craft +has them all stopped for thrills." + +And at last when even Towahg's chest that seemed ribbed with steel, was +rising and falling with his great breaths, Chet found himself set down +on the ground, and he patted the black on the shoulder in the gesture +that meant approval. + +"Water and air," he said; "it'll bother them to trail us over that +route. Towahg, you're there when it comes to trapeze work. Now, if you +can find the way back again--!" + +And Towahg could, as Chet admitted when, after a series of eventless +days, they came again to the big divide above the reaches of Happy +Valley. + +And the grip of Harkness' hand, and the tears in Diane's eyes brought a +choke to his throat until the voluble apologies of a penitent Herr +Kreiss and the antics of a Towahg, recipient of many approving pats, +turned the emotion into the safer channel of laughter. + +"But I think we switched them off for good," Chet said, in conclusion of +his recital; "I believe we are as safe as we ever were. And I've only +one big regret: + +"If I could just have been around somewhere when friend Schwartzmann +found his scouts had led him up a blind alley, it would have been worth +the trip. He did pretty well when he started cussing us out before; I'll +bet he pumped his vocabulary dry on them this time." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +_Hunted Down_ + + +Work on the house was resumed. "And when it is done," said Diane with a +gay laugh, "Walter and I shall have our wedding day. Now you see why you +were wanted so badly, Chet; it was not that we worried for you, but only +that we feared the loss of the one person on the Dark Moon who could +perform a marriage ceremony." + +"And I thought all along it was my clever carpenter work that had +captivated you," responded Chet, and tried to fit the splintered end of +a timber into a forked branch that made an upright post. + +And each day the house took form, while the sun shone down with tropical +warmth where the work was going on. + +Only Harkness and Chet were the builders. Diane's strength was not equal +to the task of cutting tough wood with a crude stone ax, and Herr +Kreiss, though willing enough to help when asked, was usually in his own +cave, busied with mysterious experiments of which he would tell nothing. + +Towahg, their only remaining Helper, could not be held. Too wild for +restraint of any kind, he would vanish into the jungle at break of day +to reappear now and then as silently as a black shadow. But he kept them +all supplied with game and fruit and succulent roots which his wilder +brethren of the forest must have shown him were fit for food. + +And then came an interruption that checked the work on the house, that +drained the brilliant sunshine of its warmth and light, and turned all +thoughts to the question of defense. + +The two had been working on the roof, while Diane had returned to the +jungle for another of the big leaves. She carried her bow on such trips, +although the weeks had brought them a sense of security. But for Chet +this feeling of safety vanished in the instant that he heard Harkness' +half-uttered exclamation and saw him drop quickly to the ground. + + * * * * * + +Beyond him, coming through the green smother of grass that was now as +high as her waist, was Diane. Even at a distance Chet could see the +unnatural paleness of her face; she was running fast, coming along the +trail they had all helped to make. + +Chet hit the ground on all fours and reached for the long bow with which +he had become so expert; then followed Harkness who was racing to meet +the girl. + +"An ape!" she was saying between choking breaths when Chet reached them. +"An ape-man!" She was clinging to Harkness in utter fright that was +unlike the Diane he had known. + +"Towahg," Harkness suggested; "you saw Towahg!" But the girl shook her +head. She was recovering something of her normal poise; her breath came +more evenly. + +"No! It was not Towahg. I saw it. I was hidden under the big leaves. It +was an ape-man. He came swinging along through the branches of the +trees: he was up high and he looked in all directions. I ran. I think he +did not see me. + +"And now," she confessed, "I am ashamed. I thought I had forgotten the +horror of that experience, but this brought it all back.... There! I am +all right now." + +Harkness held her tenderly close. "Frightened," he reassured her, "and +no wonder! That night on the pyramid left its mark on us all. Now, come; +come quietly." + +He was leading the girl toward the knoll that they all called home. Chet +followed, casting frequent glances toward the trees. They had covered +half the distance to the barricade when Chet spoke in a voice that was +half a whisper in its hushed tenseness. + +"Drop--quick!" he ordered. "Get into the grass. It's coming. Now let's +see what it is." + + * * * * * + +He knew that the others had taken cover. For himself, he had flung his +lanky figure into the tall grass. The bow was beside him, an arrow +ready; and the tip of polished bone and the feathered shaft made it a +weapon that was not one to be disregarded. Long hours of practice had +developed his natural aptitude into real skill. Before him, he parted +the tall grass cautiously to see the forest whence the sound had come. + +The swish of leaves had warned Chet; some far-flung branch must have +failed to bear the big beast's weight and had bent to swing him to the +ground--or perhaps the descent was intentional. + +And now there was silence, the silence of noonday that is so filled with +unheard summer sounds. A foot above Chet's head a tiny bat-winged bird +rocked and tilted on vermilion leather wings, while its iridescent head +made flickering rainbow colors with the vibrations of a throat that +hummed a steady call. Across the meadow were countless other flashing, +humming things, like dust specks dancing in the sun, but magnified and +intensely colored. + +Above their droning note was the shrill cry of the insects that spent +their days in idle and ceaseless unmusical scrapings. They inhabited the +shadowed zone along the forest edge. And now, where the foliage of the +towering trees was torn back in a great arch, the insect shrilling +ceased. + +As the strings of a harp are damped and silenced in unison, their myriad +voices ended that shrill note in the same instant. The silence spread; +there was a hush as if all living things were mute in dread expectancy +of something as yet unseen. + +Chet was watching that arched opening. In one instant, except for the +flickering shadows, it was empty; the place was so still it might have +been lifeless since the dawn of time. And then-- + + * * * * * + +Chet neither saw nor heard him come. He was there--a hulking hairy +figure that came in absolute silence despite his huge weight. + +An ape-man larger than any Chet had seen: he stood as motionless as an +exhibit in a museum in some city of a far-off Earth. Only the white of +his eyeballs moved as the little eyes, under their beetling black brows, +darted swiftly about. + +"Bad!" thought Chet. "Damn bad!" If this was an advance scout for a pick +of great monsters like himself it meant an assault their own little +force could never meet. And this newcomer was hostile. There was not the +least doubt of that. + +Chet reached one hand behind him to motion for silence; one of his +companions had stirred, had moved the grass in a ripple that was not +that of the wind. Chet held his hand rigid in air, his whole body +seeming to freeze with a premonition that was pure horror; and within +him was a voice that said with dreadful certainty: "They have found you. +They have hunted you down." + +For the thing in the forest, the creature half-human, half-beast, had +raised its two shaggy arms before it; and, with eyes fixed and staring, +it was walking straight toward them, walking as no other living thing +had walked, but one. Chet was seeing again that one--a helplessly +hypnotized ape that appeared from a pit in a great pyramid. And the +voice within him repeated hopelessly: "They have found you. They have +run you down." + +Chet lay motionless. He still hoped that the dread messenger might pass +them by, but the rigidly outstretched arms were extended straight toward +him; the creature's short, heavily muscled legs were moving stiffly, +tearing a path through the thick grass and bringing him nearer with +every step. + + * * * * * + +Diane and Harkness had been a few paces in advance of Chet when they +dropped into the concealing grass. Chet could see where they lay, and +the ape-man, as he approached, turned off as if he had lost the +direction. He passed Chet by, passed where Walt and Diane were hiding +and stopped! And Chet saw the glazed eyes turn here and there about +their peaceful valley. + +Unseeing they seemed, but again Chet knew better. Was he more +sensitively attuned than the others? Who could say? But again he caught +a message as plainly as if the words had been shouted inside his brain. + +"Yes, the valley of the three sentinel peaks and the lake of blue; we +can find it again. Houses, shelters--how crudely they build, these +white-faced intruders!" Chet even sensed the contempt that accompanied +the thoughts. "That is enough; you have done well. You shall have their +raw hearts for your reward. Now bring them in--bring them in quickly!" + +The instant action that followed this command was something Chet would +never have believed possible had his own eyes not seen the incredible +leap of the huge body. The ape-man's knotted muscles hurled him through +the air directly toward the spot where Walt and Diane were hidden. But, +had Chet been able to stand off and observe himself, he might have been +equally amazed at the sight of a man who leaped erect, who raised a long +bow, fitted an arrow, drew it to his shoulder, and did all in the +instant while the huge brute's body was in the air. + +The great ape landed on all fours. When he straightened and stood +erect--his arms were extended, and in each of his gnarled hands he held +a figure that was helpless in that terrible grasp. + +No chance to loose the arrow then, though the brute's back was half +turned. He had Harkness and Diane by their throats, and Chet knew by the +unresisting limpness of Harkness' body that the fearful fire in those +blazing eyes had them in a grip even more deadly than the hands of the +beast. + + * * * * * + +Thoughts were flashing wildly through Chet's brain. "Knocked 'em cold! +He'll do the same to me if I meet his eyes. But I can't shoot now; +Diane's in line. I must take him face about; get him before he gets +me--get him first time!" + +And, confusedly, there were other thoughts mingled with his +own--thoughts he was picking up by means of a nervous system that was +like an aerial antenna: + +"Good--good! No--do not kill them. Not now; bring them to us alive. The +pleasure will come later. And where are the other two? Find them!" It +was here that Chet let out a wordless, blood-curdling shriek from lungs +and throat that were tight with breathless waiting. + +He must face the big brute about, and his wild yell did the work. +Startled by that cry that must have reached even those calloused, savage +nerves, the ape-man leaped straight up in the air. He whirled as he +sprang, to face whatever was behind him, and he threw the bodies of +Harkness and Diane to the ground. + +Chet saw the black ugliness of the face; he saw the eyes swing toward +him.... But he was following with his own narrowed eyes a spot on a +hairy throat; he even seemed to see within it where a great carotid +artery carried pumping blood to an undeveloped brain. + +The glare of those eyes struck him like a blow: his own were drawn +irresistibly into that meeting of glances that would freeze him to a +rigid statue--but the twang and snap of his own bowstring was in his +ears, and a hairy body, its throat pierced in mid-air, was falling +heavily to the ground. + +But Chet Bullard, even as he leaped to the side of his companions, was +thinking not of his victory, nor even of the two whose lives he had +saved. He was thinking of some horror that his mind could not clearly +picture: it had found them; it had seen them through this ape-man's eyes +before the arrow had closed them in death ... and from now on there +could not be two consecutive minutes of peace and happiness in this +Happy Valley of Diane's. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +_Besieged!_ + + +"I've felt it for some time," Chet confessed. "I've wakened and known I +had been dreaming about that damnable thing. And, although it sounds +like the wildest sort of insanity, I have felt that there was +something--some mental force--that was reaching out for our minds; +searching for us. Well, if there is anything like that--" + +He was about to say that the trail made by Kreiss and the apes who +tracked him would have given this other enemy a direction to follow, but +Kreiss himself dropped down beside Chet where he and Walt sat before the +front of Diane's shelter. The pilot did not finish the sentence. Kreiss +had meant it for the best; there was no use of rubbing it in. But that +thing in the pyramid would never be fooled as Schwartzmann and the apes +had been. + +Chet had told Kreiss of the attack and had shown him the body of the +ape-man. "Council of war," he explained as Kreiss rejoined them, but he +corrected himself at once. "No--not war! We don't want to go up against +that bunch. Our job is to plan a retreat." + +Harkness turned to look inside the hut. "Diane, old girl," he asked, +"how about it? Are you going to be able to make a long trip?" + +Within the shelter Chet could see Diane's hands drawn into two hard +little fists. She would force those tight hands to relax while she lay +quietly in the dark; then again they would tremble, and, unconsciously, +the nervous tension would be manifested in those white-knuckled little +fists. For all of them the shock had been severe; it was hardest on +Diane. + + * * * * * + +She answered now in a voice whose very quietness belied her brave words. + +"Any time--any place!" she told Walt. "And--and the farther we go the +better!" + +"Quite right," Harkness agreed. "I am satisfied that there is something +there we can never combat. We don't know what it is, and God help anyone +who ever finds out. How about it, Chet? And you, too, Kreiss? Do you +agree that there is no use in staying here and trying to fight it out?" + +"I do not agree," the scientist objected. "My work, my experiments I +have collected! Would you have me abandon them? Must we run in fear +because an anthropoid ape has come into this clearing? And, if there are +more, we have our barricade; our weapons are crude, but effective, and I +might add to them with some ideas of my own should occasion demand." + +"Listen!" Chet commanded. "That anthropoid ape is nothing to be afraid +of: you're right on that. But he came from the pyramid, Kreiss, and +there's something there that knows every foot of ground that messenger +went over. There's something in that pyramid that can send more ape-men, +that can come itself, for all that I know, and that can knock us cold in +half a second. + +"It's found us. One arrow went straight, thank God! It has given us a +stay of execution. But is that damnable thing in the pyramid going to +let it go at that? You know the answer as well as I do. It has probably +sent twenty more of those messengers who are on their way this minute, I +am telling you; and we've got two days at the most before they get +here." + +Kreiss still protested. "But my work--" + +"Is ended!" snapped Chet. "Stay if you want to; you'll never finish your +work. The rest of us will leave in the morning. Towahg will be back here +to-night. + +"Nothing much to get together," he told Harkness. "I'll see to it; you +stay with Diane." + + * * * * * + +Their bows, a store of extra bone-tipped arrows, and food: as Chet had +said there was not much to prepare for their flight. They had spent many +hours in arrow making: there were bundles of them stored away in +readiness for an attack, and Chet looked at them with regret, but knew +they must travel fast and light. + +Out of his rocky "laboratory" Kreiss came at dusk to tramp slowly and +moodily down to the shelters. + +"I shall leave when you do," he told Chet. "Perhaps we can find some +place, some corner of this world, where we can live in peace. But I had +hoped, I had thought--" + +"Yes?" Chet queried. "What did you have on your mind?" + +"The gas," the scientist replied. "I was working with a rubber latex. I +had thought to make a mask, improvise an air-pump and send one of us +through the green gas to reach the ship. And there was more that I hoped +to do; but, as you say, my work is ended." + +"Bully for you," said Chet admiringly; "the old bean keeps right on +working all the time. Well, you may do it yet; we may come back to the +ship. Who can tell? But just now I am more anxious about Towahg. Right +now, when we need him the most, he fails to show up." + +The ape-man was seldom seen by day, but always he came back before +nightfall; his chunky figure was a familiar sight as he slipped +soundlessly from the jungle where the shadows of approaching night lay +first. But now Chet watched in vain at the arched entrance to the leafy +tangle. He even ventured, after dark, within the jungle's edge and +called and hallooed without response. And this night the hours dragged +by where Chet lay awake, watching and listening for some sign of their +guide. + + * * * * * + +Then dawn, and golden arrows of light that drove the morning mist in +lazy whirls above the surface of the lake. But no silent shadow-form +came from among the distant trees. And without Towahg--! + +"Might as well stay here and take it standing," was Chet's verdict, and +Harkness nodded assent. + +"Not a chance," he agreed. "We might make our way through the forest +after a fashion, but we would be slow doing it, and the brutes would be +after us, of course." + +They made all possible preparations to withstand a siege. Chet, after a +careful, listening reconnaissance, went into the jungle with bow and +arrows, and he came back with three of the beasts he had called +Moon-pigs. Other trips, with Kreiss as an assistant, resulted in a great +heap of fruit that they placed carefully in the shade of a hut. Water +they had in unlimited supply. + +How they would stand off an enemy who fought only with the terrible +gleam of their eyes no one of them could have said. But they all worked, +and Diane helped, too, to place extra bows at points where they might be +needed and to put handfuls of arrows at the firing platforms spaced at +regular intervals along the barricade. + +Chet smiled sardonically as he saw Herr Kreiss laboring mightily and +alone to rig a catapult that could be turned to face in all directions. +But he helped to bring in a supply of round stones from a distance down +the shore, though the picture of this medieval weapon being effective +against those broadsides of mental force was not one his mind could +easily paint. + + * * * * * + +And then Towahg came! Not the silent, swiftly-leaping figure that moved +on muscles like coiled steel springs! This was another Towahg who +dragged a bruised body through the grass until Harkness and Chet reached +him and helped him to the barricade. + +"Gr-r-ranga!" he growled. It was the sound he had made before when he +had seen or had tried to tell them of the ape-men. "Gr-r-ranga! +Gr-r-ranga!" He pointed about him as if to say: "There!--and there!--and +there!" + +"Yes, yes!" Chet assured him. "We understand: you met up with a pack of +them." + +Whereupon Towahg, with his monkey mimicry, gave a convincing +demonstration of himself being seized and beaten: and the tooth-marks on +nearly every inch of his body gave proof of the rough reception he had +encountered. + +Then he showed himself escaping, running, swinging through trees, till +he came to the camp. And now he raised his bruised body to a standing +position and motioned them toward the forest. + +"Gr-r-ranga come!" he warned them, and repeated it over again, while his +face wrinkled in fear that told plainly of the danger he had seen. + +Chet glanced at Harkness and knew his own gaze was as disconsolate as +his companion's. "He's met up with them," he admitted, "though, for the +life of me, I can't see how he ever got away if it was a crowd of +messenger-apes who could petrify him with one look. There's something +strange about that, but whatever it is, here's our guide in no shape to +travel." + + * * * * * + +Towahg was growling and grimacing in an earnest effort to communicate +some idea. His few words and the full power of his mimicry had been used +to urge them on, to warn them that they must flee for their lives, but +it seemed he had something else to tell. Suddenly he leaped into his +grotesque dance, though his wounds must have made it an agonizing +effort, but his joy in the thought that had come to him was too great to +take quietly. He knew how to tell Chet! + +And with a protruded stomach he marched before them as a well-fed German +might walk, and he stroked at an imaginary beard in reproduction of an +act that was habitual with one they had known. + +"Schwartzmann?" asked Chet. He had used the name before when he and +Towahg had led their enemy's "army" off the trail. "You have seen +Schwartzmann?" + +And Towahg leaped and capered with delight. "Szhwarr!" he growled in an +effort to pronounce the name; "Szhwarr come!" + +Chet made a wild leap for their bows and supplies. + +"Come on!" he shouted. "That's the answer. It isn't the ones from the +pyramid; they're coming later. It's Schwartzmann and his bunch of apes. +They've followed the messenger, they're on their way, and, in spite of +his being all chewed up, Towahg can travel faster than that crowd. He'll +guide us out of this yet!" + + * * * * * + +He was thrusting bundles of supplies--food, arrows, bows--into the eager +hands of the others, while Towahg alternately licked his wounds and +danced about with excitement. Diane's voice broke in upon the tense +haste and bustle of the moment. She spoke quietly--her tone was flat, +almost emotionless--yet there was a quality that made Chet drop what he +was holding and reach for a bow. + +"We can't go," Diane was saying; "we can't go. Poor Towahg! He couldn't +tell us how close they were on his trail; he hurried us all he could." + +Chet saw her hand raised; he followed with his eyes the finger that +pointed toward the jungle, and he saw as had Diane the flick of moving +leaves where black faces showed silently for an instant and then +vanished. They were up in the trees--lower--down on the ground. There +were scores upon scores of the ape-men spying upon them, watching every +move that they made. + +And suddenly, across the open ground, where the high-flung branches made +the great arch that they called the entrance, a ragged figure appeared. +The figure of a man whose torn clothes fluttered in the breeze, whose +face was black with an unkempt beard, whose thick hand waved to motion +other scarecrow figures to him, and who laughed, loudly and derisively +that the three quiet men and the girl on the knoll might hear. + +"_Guten tag, meine Herrschaften_," Schwartzmann called loudly, "_meine +sehr geehrten Herrschaften!_ You must not be so exclusive. Many _guten_ +friends haff I here with me. I haff been looking forward to this time +when they would meet you." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"_One for Each of Us_" + + +For men who had come from a world where wars and warfare were things of +the past, Chet, and Harkness had done effective work in preparing a +defense. The knoll made a height of land that any military man would +have chosen to defend, and the top of the gentle slope was protected by +the barricade. + +On each side of the inverted U that ended at the water's edge an opening +had been left, where they passed in and out. But even here the wall had +been doubled and carried past itself: no place was left for an easy +assault, and on the open end the water was their protection. + +Within the barricade, at about the center, the top of the knoll showed +an outcrop of rocks that rose high enough to be exposed to fire from +outside, but their little shelters were on nearly level ground at the +base of the rocks. The whole enclosure was some thirty feet in width and +perhaps a hundred feet long. Plenty to protect in case of an attack, as +Chet had remarked, but it could not have been much smaller and have done +its work effectively. + +There was no one of the four white persons but gave unspoken thanks for +the barricade of sharp stakes, and even Towahg, although his fangs were +bared in an animal snarl at the sound of Schwartzmann's voice, must have +been glad to keep his bruised body out of sight behind the sheltering +wall. + +No one of them replied to Schwartzmann's taunt. Harkness wrinkled his +eyes to stare through the bright sunlight and see the pistol in the +man's belt. + +"He still has it," he said, half to himself: "he's got the gun. I was +rather hoping something might have happened to it. Just one gun; but he +has plenty of ammunition--" + +"And we haven't--" It was Chet, now, who seemed thinking aloud. "But, I +wonder--can we bluff him a bit?" + + * * * * * + +He dropped behind the barricade and crawled into one of the huts to come +out with three extra pistols clutched in his hand. Empty, of course, but +they had brought them with them with some faint hope that some day the +ship might be reached and ammunition secured. Chet handed one to Diane +and another to Kreiss; the third weapon he stuck in his own belt where +it would show plainly. Harkness was already armed. + +"Now let's get up where they can see us," was Chet's answer to their +wondering looks; "let's show off our armament. How can he know how much +ammunition we have left? For that matter, he may be getting a little +short of shells himself, and he won't know that his solitary pistol is +the thing we are most afraid of." + +"Good," Harkness agreed; "we will play a little good old-fashioned poker +with the gentleman, but don't overdo it, just casually let him see the +guns." + +Schwartzmann, far across the open ground, must have seen them as plainly +as they saw him as they climbed the little hummock of rocks. He could +not fail to note the pistols in the men's belts, nor overlook the +significance of the weapon that gleamed brightly in the pilot's hand. +Chet saw him return his pistol to his belt as he backed slowly into the +shadows, and he knew that Schwartzmann had no wish for an exchange of +shots, even at long range, with so many guns against him. But from their +slight elevation he saw something else. + +The grass was trampled flat all about their enclosure, but, beyond, it +stood half the height of a man; it was a sea of rippling green where the +light wind brushed across it. And throughout that sea that intervened +between them and the jungle Chet saw other ripples forming, little +quiverings of shaken stalks that came here and there until the whole +expanse seemed trembling. + +"Down--and get ready for trouble!" he ordered crisply, then added as he +sprang for his own long bow: "Their commanding officer doesn't want to +mix it with us--not just yet--but the rest are coming, and there's a +million of them, it looks like." + + * * * * * + +The apes broke cover with all the suddenness of a covey of quail, but +they charged like wild, hungry beasts that have sighted prey. Only the +long spears in their bunchy fists and the shorter throwing spears that +came through the air marked them as primitive men. + +The standing grass at the end of the clearing beyond their barricade was +abruptly black with naked bodies. To Chet, that charging horde was a +formless dark wave that came rolling up toward them; then, as suddenly +as the black wave had appeared, it ceased to be a mere mass and Chet saw +individual units. A black-haired one was springing in advance. The man +behind the barricade heard the twang of his bow as if it were a sound +from afar off; but he saw the arrow projecting from a barrel-shaped +chest, and the ape-man tottering over. + +He loosed his arrows as rapidly as he could draw the bow; he knew that +others were shooting too. Where naked feet were stumbling over prostrate +bodies the black wave broke in confusion and came on unsteadily into the +hail of winged barbs. + +But the wave rushed on and up to the barricade in a scattering of +shrieking, leaping ape-man, and Chet spared a second for unspoken thanks +for the height of the barrier. A full six feet it stood from the ground, +and the ends that had been burned, then pointed with a crude ax, were +aimed outward. Inside the enclosure Chet had wanted to throw up a bench +or mound of earth on which they could stand to fire above the high +barrier, but lack of tools had prevented them. Instead they had laid +cribbing of short poles at intervals and on each of these had built a +platform of branches. + + * * * * * + +Close to the barricade of poles and vines, these platforms enabled the +defenders to shield themselves from thrown spears and rise as they +wished to fire out and down into the mob. But with the rush of a score +or more of the man-beasts to the barricade itself, Chet suddenly knew +that they were vulnerable to an attack with long lances. + +A leaping body was hanging on the barrier; huge hands tore and clawed at +the inner side for a grip. From the platform where Diane stood came an +arrow at the same instant Chet shot. One matched the other for accuracy, +and the clawing figure fell limply from sight. But there were +others--and a lance tipped with the jagged fin, needle-sharp, of a +poison fish was thrusting wickedly toward Diane. + +This time Harkness' arrow did the work, but Chet ordered a retreat. +Above the pandemonium of snarling growls, he shouted. + +"Back to the rocks, Walt," he ordered; "you and Diane! Quick! The rest +of us will hold 'em till you are ready. Then you keep 'em off until we +come!" And the two obeyed the cool, crisp voice that was interrupted +only when its owner, with the others, had to duck quickly to avoid a +barrage of spears. + + * * * * * + +Kreiss was wounded. Chet found him dropped beside his firing platform +working methodically to extract the broad blade of a spear from his +shoulder where it was embedded. + +Chet's first thought was of poison, and he shouted for Towahg. But the +savage only looked once at the spear, seized it and with one quick jerk +drew the weapon from the wound; then, when the blood flowed freely, he +motioned to Chet that the man was all right. + +The savage wadded a handful of leaves into a ball and pressed it against +the wound, and Chet improvised a first-aid bandage from Kreiss' ragged +blouse before they put him from sight in one of the shelters and ran to +rejoin Harkness and Diane on the rocks. + +But the first wave was spent. There were no more snarling, white-toothed +faces above the barricade, and in the open space beyond were shambling +forms that hid themselves in the long grass while others dragged +themselves to the same concealment or lay limply inert on the open, +sunlit ground. + +And within the enclosure one solitary ape-man forgot his bruised body +while he stamped up and down or whirled absurdly in a dance that +expressed his joy in victory. + +"Better come down," said Chet. "Schwartzmann might take a shot at you, +although I think we are out of pistol range. We're lucky that isn't a +service gun he's got, but come down anyway, and we'll see what's next. +This time we've had the breaks, but there's more coming. Schwartzmann +isn't through." + +But Schwartzmann was through for the day; Chet was mistaken in expecting +a second assault so soon. He posted Towahg as sentry, and, with Diane +and Harkness, threw himself before the door-flap of the shelter where +Kreiss had been hidden, and was now sitting up, his arm in a sling. + +"Either you're a 'mighty hard man to kill,'" he told Kreiss, "or else +Towahg is a powerful medicine man." + +"I am still in the fight," the scientist assured him. "I can't do any +more work with bow and arrow, but I can keep the rest of you supplied." + +"We'll need you," Chet assured him grimly. + + * * * * * + +They ate in silence as the afternoon drew on toward evening. + +Back by their little fire, with Towahg on guard, Chet shot an +appreciative glance at a white disk in the southern sky. "Still getting +the breaks," he exulted. "The moon is up; it will give us some light +after sunset, and later the Earth will rise and light things up around +here in good shape." + +That white disk turned golden as the sun vanished where mountainous +clouds loomed blackly far across the jungle-clad hills. Then the quick +night blanketed everything, and the golden moon made black the fringe of +forest trees while it sent long lines of light through their waving, +sinuous branches, to cast moving shadows that seemed strangely alive on +the open ground. Muffled by the jungle-sea that absorbed the sound +waves, faint grumblings came to them, and at a quiver of light in the +blackness where the clouds had been, Harkness turned to Chet. + +"We had all better get on the job," Chet was saying, as he took his bow +and a supply of arrows, "we've got our work cut out for us to-night." + +And Harkness nodded grimly as the flickering lightning played fitfully +over far-distant trees. "We crowed a bit too soon," he told Chet; +"there's a big storm coming, and that's a break for Schwartzmann. No +light from either moon or Earth to-night." + +The moon-disk, as he spoke, lost its first clear brilliance in the haze +of the expanding clouds. + +"Watch sharp, Towahg!" Chet ordered. And, to the others: "Get this fire +moved away from the huts--here. I'll do that, Walt. You bring a supply +of wood; some of those dried leaves, too. We'll build a big fire, we +have to depend on that for light." + + * * * * * + +With the skeleton of a huge palm leaf he raked the fire out into an open +space; they had plenty of fuel and they fed the blaze until its mounting +flames lighted the entire enclosure. But outside the barricade were dark +shadows, and Chet saw that this light would only make targets of the +defenders, while the attackers could creep up in safety. + +"'Way up," he ordered; "we've got to have the fire on the top of the +rocks." He clambered to the topmost level of the rocky outcrop and +dragged a blazing stick with him. Harkness handed him more; and now the +light struck down and over the stockade and illumined the ground +outside. + +"Here's your job, Kreiss," said Chet, "if you're equal to it. You keep +that fire going and have a pile of dried husks handy if I call for a +bright blaze. + +"We've got to defend the whole works," he explained. "That bunch today +tried to jump us just from one side, but trust Schwartzmann to divide +his force and hit us from all sides next time. + +"But we'll hold the fort," he said and he forced a confidence into his +voice that his inner thoughts did not warrant. To Harkness he whispered +when Diane was away: "Six shells in the gun, Walt; we won't waste them +on the apes. There's one for each of us including Towahg, and one extra +in case you miss. We'll fight as long as we are able; then it's up to +you to shoot quick and straight." + +But Walt Harkness felt for the pistol in his belt and handed it to Chet. +"I couldn't," he said, and his voice was harsh and strained, "--not +Diane; you'll have to, Chet." And Chet Bullard dropped his own useless +pistol to the ground while he slipped the other into its holster on the +belt that bound his ragged clothes about him, but he said nothing. He +was facing a situation where words were hardly adequate to express the +surging emotion within. + + * * * * * + +Diane had returned when he addressed Walt casually. "Wonder why the +beggars didn't attack again," he pondered. "Why has Schwartzmann waited; +why hasn't he or one of his men crept up in the grass for a shot at us? +He's got some deviltry brewing." + +"Waiting for night," hazarded Walt. He looked up to see Kreiss who had +joined them. + +"If Towahg could tend the fire," suggested the scientist, "I could fire +my little catapult with one hand. I think I could do some damage." But +Chet shook his head and answered gently: + +"I'm afraid Towahg's the better man to-night, Kreiss. You can help best +by giving us light. That's the province of science, you know," he added, +and grinned up at the anxious man. + +Each moment of this companionship meant much to Chet. It was the last +conference, he knew. They would be swamped, overwhelmed, and then--only +the pistol with its six shells was left. But he drew his thoughts back +to the peaceful quiet of the present moment, though the hush was ominous +with the threat of the approaching storm and of the other assault that +must come in the storm's concealing darkness. He looked at Diane and +Walt--comrades true and tender. The leaping flames from the rocks above +made flickering shadows on their upturned faces. + + * * * * * + +The moment ended. A growl from where Towahg was on guard brought them +scrambling to their feet. "Gr-r-ranga!" Towahg was warning. "Granga +come!" + +They fired from their platforms as before, then raced for the rocks and +the elevation they afforded, for the black bodies had reached the +stockade quickly in the half light. But they came again from one +point--the farthest curve of the U-shaped fence this time--and though a +score of black animal faces showed staring eyes and snarling fangs where +heavy bodies were drawn up on the barricade, no one of them reached the +inside. + +"We're holding them!" Chet was shouting. But the easy victory was too +good to believe; he knew there were more to come; this force of some +thirty or forty was not all that Schwartzmann could throw into the +fight. And Schwartzmann, himself! Chet had seen the bronzed faces of Max +and another standing back of the assaulting force, but where was +Schwartzmann? + +It was Kreiss who answered the insistent question. From above on the +rocks, where he had kept the fire blazing, Kreiss was calling in a +high-pitched voice. + +"The water!" he shouted, "they're attacking from the water!" And Chet +rushed around the broken rock-heap to see a lake like an inky pool, +where the firelight showed faint reflections from black, shining faces; +where rippling lines of phosphorescence marked each swimming savage; and +where larger waves of ghostly light came from a log raft on which was a +familiar figure whose face, through its black beard, showed white in +contrast with the faces of his companions. + + * * * * * + +Still a hundred feet from the shore, they were approaching steadily, +inexorably; and the storm, at that instant, broke with a ripping flash +of light that tore the heavens apart, and that seared the picture of the +attackers upon the eyeballs of the man who stared down. + +From behind him came sounds of a renewed attack. He heard Harkness: +"Shoot, Diane! Nail 'em, Towahg! There's a hundred of them!" And the +wind that came with the lightning flash, though it brought no rain, +whipped the black water of the lake to waves that drove the raft and the +swimming savages closer--closer-- + +Chet glanced above him. "Come down, Kreiss!" he ordered. "Get down here, +quick! This is the finish. We could have licked them on land, but these +others will get us." He stood, dumb with amazement, as he saw the thin +figure of Kreiss leap excitedly from his rocky perch and vanish like a +terrified rabbit into the cave in the rocks. + +"I didn't think--" he was telling himself in wondering disbelief at this +cowardice, when Kreiss reappeared. His one hand was white with a rubbery +coating that Chet vaguely knew for latex. He was holding a gray, earthy +mass, and he threw himself forward to the catapult where it stood idly +erect in the wind that beat and whipped at it. + +"Help me!" It was Kreiss who ordered, and once more he spoke as if he +were conducting only an interesting experiment. "Pull here! Bend +it--bend it! Now hold steady; this is metallic sodium, a deposit I found +deep in the earth." + +The gray mass was in the crude bucket of the machine. Kreiss' knife was +ready. He slashed at the vine that he'd the bent sapling, and a gray +mass whirled out into the dark; out and down--and the inky waters were +in that instant ablaze with fire. + +[Illustration: _The inky waters were ablaze with fire._] + +Fire that threw itself in flaming balls; that broke into many parts and +each part, like a living thing, darted crazily about; that leaped into +the air to fall again among ape-men who screamed frenziedly in animal +terror. + + * * * * * + +"It unites with water," Kreiss was saying: "a spontaneous liberation and +ignition of hydrogen." The white-coated hand had dumped another mass +into the primitive engine of war. "Now pull--so--and I cut it!" And the +leaping, flashing fires tore furiously in redoubled madness where a +shrieking mob of terrified beasts, and one white man among them, drove +ashore beyond the end of a barricade. + +Chet felt Harkness beside him. "We drove 'em off in back. What the devil +is going on here?" Walt was demanding. But Chet was watching the retreat +of the blacks straight off and down the shore where the sand was smooth +and neither grass nor trees could hinder their wild flight. + +"You've got them licked," Harkness was exulting: "and we've cleaned them +up on our side. Just came over to see if you needed help." + +"We sure would have," said Chet; "more than you could give if it hadn't +been for Kreiss." + +"We've got 'em licked!" Harkness repeated wonderingly; "we've won!" It +was too much to grasp all at once. The victory had been so quick, and he +had already given up hope. + +The two had clasped hands; they stood so for silent minutes. Chet had +been nerved to the point of destroying his companions and himself; the +revulsion of feeling that victory brought was more stupefying than the +threat of impending defeat. + + * * * * * + +Staring out over the black waters, he knew only vaguely when Harkness +left; a moment later he followed him gropingly around the jagged rocks, +while there came to him, blurred by his own mental numbness, a shouted +call.... But a moment elapsed before he was aroused, before he knew it +for Walt's voice. He recognized the agonized tone and sprang forward +into the clearing. + +The fire still blazed on the rocky platform above; its uncertain light +reached the figure of a running man who was making madly for the opening +in the wall. As he ran he screamed over and over, in a voice hoarse and +horrible like one seized in the fright of a fearful dream: "Diane! +Diane, wait! For God's sake, Diane, don't go!" + +And the driven clouds were torn apart for a space to let through a clear +golden light. The great lantern of Earth was flashing down through space +to light a grassy opening in a jungle of another world, where, stark and +rigid, a girl was walking toward the shadow-world beyond, while before +her went a black shape, huge and powerful, in whose head were eyes like +burning lights, and whose arms were rigidly extended as if to draw the +stricken girl on and on. + +The running figure overtook them. Chet saw him checked in mid-spring, +and Harkness, too, stood rigid as if carved from stone, then followed as +did Diane, where the ape-thing led.... From the far side of the +clearing, where Schwartzmann's men had gone, came a great shout of +laughter that jarred Chet from the stupor that bound him. + +"The messenger!" he said aloud. "God help them; it's the messenger--and +he's taking them to the pyramid!" + +Then the torn clouds closed that the greater darkness might cover those +who vanished in the shadowed fringe of a stormy, wind-whipped jungle.... + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +_On to the Pyramid_ + + +It was like Walt Harkness to rush impetuously after where Diane was +being drawn away; but who, under the same circumstances, would have done +otherwise? Yet it was like Chet, too, to keep a sane and level head, to +check the first wild impulse to dash to their rescue, to realize that he +would be throwing himself away by doing it and helping them not at all. +It was like Chet to stop and think when thinking was desperately needed, +though what it would lead to he could not have told. There were many +factors that entered into his calculations. + +Half-consciously he had walked to the barricade that he might stare into +the blackness beyond. The worst of the storm had passed, and the strong +Earth-light forced its way through the thinning clouds in a cold, gray +glow. It served to show the great gateway to the jungle, empty and +black, until Chet saw more of the man-beasts he had called messengers. + +A file of them, stolid, woodenly walking--he could not fail to know them +from the ape-men of the tribe. And they moved through the darkness +toward the sounds of shouts and laughter. + +Chet saw them when they returned; following them were three others. +Schwartzmann was not one of them; but the pilot, Max, Chet could +distinguish plainly; the other two, he was sure, were the men of +Schwartzmann's crew. + +And, for each of them, all laughter and shouted jests had escaped. They +moved like wooden toys half-come to life. And they, too, vanished where +Walt and Diane had gone through the high arch of the jungle's open door. + +Chet knew Kreiss was beside him; at a short distance, Towahg, staring +above the palisade, buried his unkempt, hairy head in the shelter of his +arms. All of Towahg's savage bravery had oozed away at direct sight of +the pyramid men; Chet, even through his heavy-hearted dismay, was aware +of the courage that must have carried this primitive man to their rescue +on that other black night when the pyramid had been about to swallow, +them up. + + * * * * * + +To the pyramid all Chet's thoughts had been tending. There Diane and +Harkness were bound; there he, too, must go, though the thought of +driving himself into that black maw, through the overpowering stench and +down to the pit where some horror of mystery lay waiting, was almost +more than his conscious mind could accept. But, with the sight of Towahg +and the abject fear that had overwhelmed him, Chet found his own mind +calmly determined, though through that cool self-detachment came savage +spoken words. + +"If poor Towahg could go near that damned place," he reasoned, "am I +going to be stopped by anything between heaven and hell?" + +And his mind was suddenly at ease with the certainty of the next step he +must take. He turned to speak to Kreiss, but paused instead to stare +into the dark where shadows that were not the ghosts of clouds were +moving. Then his whispered orders came sharply to the scientist and to +Towahg. + +"Come!" he commanded. "Come quickly; follow me!" + +The two were behind him as he found the narrow opening in the barrier's +farther side, passed through, and crouched low in the darkness as he ran +toward the lake where the shallow water of the shore took no mark of +their hurrying feet. + + * * * * * + +At the end of the lake he stopped. Beside him, Kreiss, weakened by his +wound, was panting and gasping; Towahg, moving like a dark shadow, was +close behind. + +"I saw them," said Kreiss, when he had breath enough for speech, "--more +beasts from the pyramid. They were coming for us! But we can go back +there after a day or so." + +"You can," Chet told him; "Towahg and I are going on." + +"Where?" Kreiss demanded. + +"To the pyramid." + +Chet's reply was brief, and Kreiss' response was equally so. "You're a +fool," he said. + +"Sure," Chet told him: "I know there's nothing I can do to help them. +But I'm going. All I ask is to get one crack at whatever it is that is +down in that beastly pit and if I can't do that maybe I can still save +Diane and Walt from tortures you and I can't imagine." He touched his +pistol suggestively. + +"Still I say you are a fool," Kreiss insisted. "They are gone--captured; +they will die. That is regrettable, but it is done. Now, besides Herr +Schwartzmann who escaped, only we two remain; the savage, he does not +count. We two!--and a new world!--and science! Science that remains +after these two are gone--after you and I are gone! It is greater than +us all. + +"But I, staying, shall contribute to the knowledge of men; I shall make +discoveries that will bear my name always. This world is my laboratory; +I have found deposits such as none has ever seen on Earth. + +"Be reasonable, Herr Bullard. The enemy has tracked us down by his +superior cleverness. We will go far away now where he never shall find +us, you and I. Do not be a fool; do not throw your life away." + + * * * * * + +Chet Bullard, a figure of helpless, hopeless despair, stood unspeaking +while he stared into the black depths of the jungle, and the night wind +whipped his tattered clothing about him. + +"A fool!" he said at last, and his voice was dull and heavy. "I guess +you're right--" + +Herr Kreiss interrupted: "Of course I am right--right and reasonable and +logical!" + +Chet went on as if the other had not spoken: + +"If I hadn't been a fool I would have found some way to prevent it; I +would have killed that ape-thing when first I saw it; I would have got +them free." + +He turned slowly to face his companion in the darkness. + +"But you were wrong, Kreiss; you forgot a couple of things. You said +they found us by their superior cleverness. That's wrong. They found us +because you left a trail they could follow. We threw them off once, +Towahg and I, but the messenger wouldn't be fooled. Then Schwartzmann +and his pack followed the messenger in. + +"And you say it is logical that I should quit here, leave Diane and Walt +to take whatever is coming; you say I'm a fool to stay with them till +the end. + +"Well,"--he was speaking very quietly, very simply--"if you are right +I'm rather glad that I'm a fool. For you see, Kreiss, they're my +friends, and between friends logic gets knocked all to hell. + +"Come on, Towahg!" he called. "Let's see if we can travel this jungle in +the night!" He set off toward the fringe of great trees, then let Towahg +go ahead to find a trail. + + * * * * * + +Travel at night through the tangle of creepers was not humanly possible. +Even Towahg, after an hour's work, grunted his disgust and curled +himself up for the night. And Chet, though he found his mind filled with +vain imaginings, was so drained by the day's demands on his nervous +energy that he slept through to the rising of the sun. + +Then they circled wide of the trail they had taken before; no risk would +Chet take of a chance meeting with one of the pyramid apes. And he +plagued his brain with vain questions of what he should do when he +reached the arena and the pyramid and the unknown something that waited +within, until he told himself in desperation: "You're going down, you're +going into that damned place; that's all you know for sure." + +Whereupon his questioning ceased, and his mind was clear enough to think +of giant creepers that barred his way, of streams to be crossed, and to +wonder, at the last, when the valley of the pyramid was in sight and +whether the others had reached there before him. + +Another day's sun was beating straight down into the arena when again it +opened before Chet's eyes. And the bleak horror of this place of black +and white that had seemed so incredibly unreal under Earth-lit skies was +doubly so in the glare of noon. + +They entered through the jagged crack that had been their means of +escape. An earthquake, one time, had split the stone, and Chet was more +than satisfied to avoid the broad entrance where the rocks made a +gateway and where hostile eyes might be watching. + + * * * * * + +He stood for long minutes in the cleft in the rocks where the hard earth +of the arena made a floor before him, where the huge steps of ribboned +white and black swung out on either hand, and where, directly ahead, in +the same hard, contrasting strata, a pyramid lifted itself to finish in +a projecting capstone. And now that he faced it he found himself +curiously cool. + +He motioned Towahg to his side, and the black came cowering and +trembling. He had tried before to ask Towahg about the mystery of the +pyramid, but Towahg had never understood, or, as Chet believed, he had +pretended not to understand. But now he could no longer feign ignorance +of Chet's queries. + +Chet pointed to the pyramid with a commanding hand. "What is there?" he +demanded. "Towahg afraid! What is Towahg afraid of? Ape-men go in +there--Gr-r-ranga-men; who sends for them?" + +And Towahg, who must know the sense of the questions, even though some +words were strange, could not answer. He dropped to his knees there in +the narrow, ragged chasm in the rock and clutched at Chet's legs with +his two hands while he buried his shaggy head in his arms. Then-- + +"Krargh!" he wailed; "Krargh there! Krargh send--Gr-r-ranga go. +Gr-r-ranga no come back!" + +It was perhaps the longest speech Towahg had ever made, and Chet nodded +his understanding. "Yes," he agreed; "that's right. I imagine. When +Krargh sends for you, you never come back." + +But more eloquent than the ape-man's halting words was the trembling of +his muscle-knotted shoulders in a fear that struck him limp at Chet's +feet. And the pilot realized that the fear was inspired in part by the +thought in the savage mind that his master might ask him to go closer to +the place of dread. He had followed them once and had struck down a +messenger, but this was when he was avid with curiosity and +half-worshipful of the white men as gods. Now, to go that dreadful way +in full daylight!--it was more than Towahg could face. + + * * * * * + +Chet patted the cringing shoulder with a kindly hand. "Get up, Towahg," +he ordered and pointed back toward the jungle. "Towahg wait outside; +wait today and to-night!" He gave the ape-man's sign of the open and +closed hand to signify one day and one night, and Towahg's grunt was +half in relief and half in understanding as he slipped back into hiding +where the jungle pressed close. + +Chet turned again to the pyramid. "They're down there," he told himself, +"facing God knows what. And now it's sink or swim, and I'm almighty +afraid I know which it's to be. But we'll take it together: 'When Krargh +sends for you, you never come back.'" + +No jungle sounds were here in this silent arena, no flashing of +leather-winged birds nor scuttling of little, odd creatures of the +ground. It was as if some terror had spread its dark wings above the +place, a terror unseen of men. But the little, wild things of earth and +air had seen, and they had fled long since from a place unclean and +unfit for life. + +Chet felt the silence pressing heavily upon him as he took his hand from +the rock at his side and stepped out into the arena. And the vast +amphitheater seemed peopled with phantom shapes that sat in serried rows +and watched him with dead and terrible eyes, while he went the long way +to the pyramid's base, and his feet found the rough stone ascent.... + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +_The Monstrous Something_ + + +The way to the top of the pyramid was long. One look Chet allowed +himself out over this world--one slow, sweeping gaze that took in the +bare floor at the pyramid's base, a level platform of rock some distance +in front of the pyramid, the hard black and white of the walled oval, +the sea of waving green that was the jungle beyond, and, beyond that, +hills, misty and shimmering in the noonday heat. And nestled there, +beyond that last bare ridge, must be the valley of happiness, Diane +Delacouer's "Happy Valley." + +Chet Bullard turned abruptly where the projecting capstone hung heavy +above a shadowed entrance. He entered the blackness within, stopped once +in choking nausea as the first wave of vile air struck him, then fought +his way on till his searching feet found the stairway, and he knew he +was descending into a pit that held something inhumanly horrible--an +abomination unto all gods of decency and right. + +And still there persisted that abnormal coolness that made him almost +light-headed, almost carefree. Even the fetid stench ceased to offend. +His feet moved with never a sound to find the first step--and the +next--and the next. He must go cautiously; he must not betray his +presence until he was ready to strike. + +Just where that blow would be delivered or against what adversary he +could not tell, and perhaps it would be given him only to save Diane and +Walt by the grace of a merciful bullet. It made no difference. Nothing +made any difference any more; they had had their day, and now if the +night came suddenly that was all he could ask. And still his cautious +feet were carrying him down and yet down.... + + * * * * * + +He was far below the surface of the ground when he found the foot of the +stairs. They had been a spiral; his hand had touched one wall that led +him smoothly around a shaft like a great well. And now there was firm +rock beneath his feet, where, with one hand still guiding him along the +stone wall, he followed the wall into a darkness that was an almost +solid, opaque black. He seemed lost in a great void, smothered in +silence, and buried under the black weight of the pressing dark, until +the sound of a footfall gave him sense of direction and of distance. + +It made soft echoings along rock walls that picked up every slightest +rustle, and Chet realized again how cautious his own advance must be. +It came toward him, soft, scuffing, followed the wall where he +stood ... and Chet felt that approaching presence almost upon him before +he stepped silently out and away. + +And in the darkness that blotted out his sight he sensed with some inner +eye the passing ape-man with arms rigidly extended, while a wave of +thankfulness flooded him as he realized that in the dark the brute was +as blind as himself and that the terrible thing that had sent him could +see at a distance only with the ape-man's eyes. + +Here was something definite to count on. As long as he remained silent, +as long as he kept himself hidden, he was safe. + +The scuffling footsteps had gone to nothing in the distance when Chet +reached out for the wall and went swiftly, carefully, on. The messenger +had come this way; he could hurry now that he knew there was safe +footing in the dark. + +The wall ended in a sharp corner; it formed a right angle, and the new +surface went on and away from him. Chet was debating whether he should +follow or should cast out into the darkness when his staring eyes found +the first touch of light. + + * * * * * + +It came from above, a wavering line that trembled to a flame which +seemed curiously cold. The line grew: a foot-wide band of light high up +on the wall, it thrust itself forward like a tendril of the horrible +plants he had seen. It grew on and wrapped itself about a great room, +while, behind it, cold flames flickered and leaped. And Chet, so +interested was he in the motion of this light that seemed almost alive, +realized only after some moments that the light was betraying him. + +He glanced quickly about and found himself within a chamber of huge +proportions. Walls that only nature could form reared themselves high in +the putrescent air of the room; they curved into a ceiling, and from +that ceiling there hung a glittering array of gems. + +Chet knew them for great stalactites, and, even as he cast about +desperately for some secluded nook, he marveled at the diamond +brilliance of the display. But on the smooth floor of stone, where +corresponding stalagmites must have been, were no traces of crystal +growths, from which he knew that though nature had formed the room some +other power had fitted it to its own use. + +Chet's eyes were darting swift glances about. There was no single moving +thing, no sign of life; he was still undiscovered. But it could not last +long, this safety; he looked vainly for some niche where the light would +not strike so clearly, so betrayingly. + +Across the great chamber was a platform fifteen feet above the floor. +Even at a distance Chet knew this was not a natural formation; he could +see where the stones had been cleverly fitted. And now his eyes, +accustomed to the light, saw that the platform was carpeted with hides +and strange furs. There were some that hung over the edge; they reached +almost to the upright block like a table or altar at the platform's +base. On this altar another great hide of thick leather was spread; it +dragged in places on the floor. + +Bare floors, bare walls--no place where an intruder could remain +concealed! Suddenly from the lighted mouth of another passage he heard +sounds of many feet; the sounds of approaching feet. + + * * * * * + +The impulse that threw him across the room was born of desperation; he +raced frantically to cross the wide expanse before those feet brought +their owners within view, and he fought to keep his panting breath +inaudible while he tugged at the heavy leather altar covering, stiff and +thick as a board; while he forced his crouching body beneath and found +space there where he could move freely about. + +It walled him in completely on the platform side where it hung to the +floor, but on the other three sides there were gaps near the floor where +the light shone in on two pedestals of stone that supported the stone +top. + +Between the pedestals Chet crouched, hardly daring to look, hardly +daring to breathe, while feet, bare and black, tramped shufflingly past. +They went in groups--he lost count of their number but knew there were +hundreds; he heard them going to the platform above. And, through the +sound of the naked feet, came disjointed fragments of thought that +reached his brain, transformed to words. + +Mere fragments at first: "... back; the Master goes first!... The +lights--how grateful is their coolness!... Who stumbled? Careless and +stupid ape! You, Bearer-captain, shall take him to the torture room; a +touch of fire will help his infirmity!" + +And there was a cold rage that accompanied the last which set Chet's +tense nerves a-tingle. But there was no fear in the emotion; he was +quivering with a fierce, instinctive, animal hate. + +The black feet retraced their steps. Then there was silence, and Chet +knew there was something above him on the platform; whether one or many +he could not tell until an interchange of thoughts reached him to show +there was at least more than one. + +"A presence!" some unseen thing was thinking. "I sense a strange mental +force!" + + * * * * * + +A moment of panic gripped Chet at the threat of discovery. Then he +forced himself to relax; he tried to make his mind a blank; or if not +that, to think of anything but himself--of the jungle, the ape-men, of +the two comrades who had been captured. + +"Patience!" another thinker was counseling. "It is the captives; they +draw near." And across the great room, from the same passage where he +had entered, Chet heard again the sound of bare, scuffing feet. + +He could see them at last; he dared, to stop and peer along the floor. +Bare feet--black, hairy legs, and then came sounds of clumping leather +that brought Chet's heart into his throat, until, directly before the +altar that made his shelter, he saw the stained shoes and torn leggings +of Walt Harkness, and beside them, the little boots and jungle-stained +stockings that encased the slender legs of Mademoiselle Diane. + +They were there before him, Walt and Diane; he would see them if he but +dared to look. And, from somewhere above, a confusion of thought +messages poured in upon him like the unintelligible medley of many +voices. Out of them came one, clearer, more commanding: + +"Silence! Be still, all! Your Master speaks. I shall question the +captives." + +And there came to Chet, crouched beneath the altar, hardly breathing, +listening, tense, a battering of questioning thoughts. He heard no +answer from Harkness and Diane, but he knew that their minds were open +pages to the one from whom those thought-waves issued. + +"Where are you from?--what part of this globe?... Another world? +Impossible! This is our own world, Rajj. It is alone. There is no nearby +star." + +And after a moment, when Harkness had silently answered, came other +thoughts: + +"Strange! Strange! This creature of an inferior race says that our world +has joined hands with his; that his is greater; that our own world, +Rajj, is now a satellite of his world that he calls by the strange name +of 'Earth.'" + + * * * * * + +To Chet it seemed that this one mysterious thinker, this "Master" of an +unknown realm, was explaining his findings to other mysterious beings. +There followed a babel of released thoughts from which Chet got only a +confused impression of conflicting emotions: curiosity, rage, hate, and +a cold ferocity that bound them into one powerful, vindictive whole. + +Again the leader quieted the rest; again he laid open the minds of Walt +and Diane for his exploring questions, while Chet mentally listened and +tried to picture what manner of thing this was that held two Earth-folk +helpless, that called them "creatures of an inferior race." + +Super-men? No? Super-beasts, these must be. Chet was chilled with a +nameless horror as he sensed the cold deadliness and implacable hate in +the traces of emotion that clung and came to him with the thoughts. And +his imagination balked at trying to picture thinking creatures so +abominably vile as these thinkers must be. + +The questions went on and on. Chet lost all sense of time. He had the +feeling that the two helpless prisoners were being mentally flayed. No +thought, no hidden emotion, but was stripped from them and displayed +before the mental gaze of these inhuman inquisitors. No physical torture +could have been more revolting. + +And at list the ordeal was ended. Chet had forgotten Schwartzmann's men +until the "Master's" order recalled them to his mind. "Bring the other +captives!" the unspoken thought commanded. + + * * * * * + +Chet crouched low to see from under the hanging leather. Naked feet +shuffled aimlessly; they were raised and put down again in the same +position, until the dazed and hypnotized blacks received their orders +and drew Diane and Harkness to one side. Then other leather-shod feet +came into view as Max and his companions were brought forward. + +But there was no more questioning. "Perhaps another day we shall amuse +ourselves with them," a thinker said. Chet, for the first time was +paying no attention. + +A slit in the leather--it might bare been where a spear had entered to +slay a dinosaur in some earlier age--served now as a peep-hole from +which Chet saw two gray and lifeless faces that were expressionless as +stone. And, as if their bodies, too, were carved from granite, Diane and +Harkness stood motionless. + +He saw the blacks, saw that all eyes were on the other prisoners. Only +Harkness and Diane stood with lowered gaze, staring stonily at the floor +where the leather hung. And through Chet's mind flashed a quick impulse +that set his nerves thrilling and quivering, though he checked the +emotion in an instant lest some other mind should sense it. + +Those other minds were not contacting Walt and Diane now. Could he reach +them? Chet wondered. That they were conscious, that they knew with +horrible clearness every detail of what went on, Chet was certain: his +own brief experience that first night on the pyramid had taught him +that. And now if these two could see and comprehend what they saw: if +only he could send them a word--one flashing message of hope! His hands +were working swiftly at his belt. + +The detonite pistol slipped silently from its sheath. And as silently he +placed it on the floor where the two were looking, then slid it +cautiously underneath the leather that just cleared the floor. + + * * * * * + +His eye was close to the narrow slit. Did a change of expression flash +for an instant across the face of Walt Harkness? Was it only +imagination, or was there the briefest flicker of life in the dead eyes +of Diane Delacouer? Chet could not be sure, but he dared to hope. + +The "Master" was speaking. To Chet came a conviction that he must not +fail to hear these thoughts. He restored the pistol to his belt. + +"And now the time has come," flashed the message. "One thousand times +has Rajj circled the sun since we put his light behind us and came down +to the dark place that had been prepared. + +"One hundred others and myself; we were the peerless leaders of a +peerless race. To produce the marvelous mentality that made us what we +were, all the forces of evolution had been laboring for ages. We were +supreme, and for us there was nothing left; no further growth. + +"Then, what said Vashta, the All-Wise One? That I and a hundred chosen +ones should descend into the dark, there to live until a new world was +ready for us, lest our great race of Krargh perish." Chet started at the +name. Krargh! It was the same word that Towahg had used. + +The mental message went on: + +"And we alone survive. Our world of Rajj is a wasteland where once we +and our fellows lived. And we have been patient, awaiting the day. The +biped beasts, as you know, have been our food; we have trained them to +be our slaves as well. By the power of our invincible minds we have sent +them out to do our bidding and bring in more of the man-herd for +slaughter when we hungered. + +"And now, remember the words of Vashta, the All-Wise: 'until a new world +is ready.' O Peerless Ones, the new world waits. These ignorant, white +animals have brought the word. We had thought that Vashta meant us to +make a new world of our old world of Rajj, but what of this new world +called Earth? Perhaps that will be ours." + +Chet felt the thinker break in on his own thoughts. + +"One thousand years, but not to a day. Tell us, O Keeper of the Records, +when is the time?" + +And another's thoughts came in answer: "Six days, Master; six days +more." + +The leader's thoughts crashed in with an almost physical violence: + +"On the sixth night we shall go out! In darkness we have lived; in +darkness we shall emerge. Then shall we feast in the arena of Vashta as +we did of old. We shall see this new world; we shall breed and people +the world; we shall take up our lives again. + +"Let the captives live!" he commanded. "Feed them well. They shall be +the sacrifice to Vashta--all but the woman. She shall see the blood of +the others flow on the altar stone; then shall she come to me." + +There was a chorus of mental protests; of counter claims. The leader +quieted them as before. + +"I am Master of All," he told them. "Would you dispute with me over this +beast of the Earth--a creature of no mental growth? Absurd! But she +interests me somewhat; I will find her amusing for a time." + + * * * * * + +There were bearers who came crowding in; and again in groups they left. +They were on the side where Chet dared not look, but he knew each group +of blacks meant a mysterious something that was being carried carefully. + +And somewhere in the confusion of black, shuffling feet the others +vanished. No sight of Walt or Diane did the slitted leather give; only a +motley crew of blacks who were left, and a wall, high-sprung to a +glittering ceiling, and flaming, cold fire that ebbed and flowed till +the room's last occupant was gone. Then the flames faded to dense +blackness where only fitful images on the retina of Chet's staring eyes +flared and waned, and ghostly voices seemed still whispering through the +clamoring silence of the room.... + +They were echoing within his brain and harshly at his taut nerves as he +made his slow way toward the passage through which he had come. Despite +their terror-filled urging he did not run, but took one silent, cautious +step at a time, until, after centuries of waiting, his eyes found a +square of light that was blinding; and he knew that he was stumbling +through the portal in the top of the pyramid of Vashta--Vashta the +All-Wise--unholy preceptor of an inhuman race. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +_Sacrifice_ + + +"Down in the pyramid! You went down there?" Herr Kreiss forgot even his +absorbing experiments to exclaim incredulously at Chet's report. + +Guided by Towahg, Chet had returned to Happy Valley. There had been six +days and nights to be spent, and he felt that he should tell Kreiss what +he had learned. + +"Yes," said Chet dully; "yes, I went down." + +He was seated on a rock in the enclosure they had built. He raised his +deep-sunk, sleepless eyes to stare at the house where he and Walt had +worked. There Walt and Diane were to have made their home; Chet found +something infinitely pathetic now in the unfinished shelter: its very +crudities seemed to cry aloud against the blight that had fallen upon +the place. + +"And what was there?" Kreiss demanded. "This hypnotic power--was it an +attribute of the ape-men themselves? That seems highly improbable. Or +was there something else--some other source of the thought waves or +radiations of mental force?" + +Chet was still answering almost in monosyllables. "Something else," he +told Kreiss. + +"Ah," exclaimed the scientist, "I should have liked to see them. Such +mental attainment! Such control of the great thought-force which with us +is so little developed! Mind--pure mentality--carried to that stage of +conscious development, would be worthy of our highest admiration. I +should like to meet such men." + +"They're not men," said Chet; "they're--they're--" + +He knew how unable he was to put into words his impression of the unseen +things, and he suddenly became voluble with hate. + +"God knows what they are!" he exclaimed, "but they're not men. 'Mind', +you say; 'mentality!' Well, if those coldly devilish things are an +example of what mind can evolve into when there's no decency of soul +along with it, then I tell you hell's full of some marvelous minds!" + +He sprang abruptly to his feet. + +"I've got to get out of here," he said; "I can't stand it. Four more +days, and that's the end of it all. I'm going back to the ship. I saw it +from up on the divide. Still buried in gas--but I'm going back. If I +could just get in there I might do something. There's all our +supplies--our storage of detonite; I might do some good work yet!" + + * * * * * + +He was pacing up and down restlessly where a path had been worn on the +grassy knoll, worn by his feet and the pitiful, bruised feet he had seen +from his shelter in the pyramid; worn by Walt and Diane--his comrades! +And they were helpless; their whole hope lay in him! The thought of his +own impotence was maddening. He poured out the story of his experience +in the pyramid, as if the telling might give him relief. + +Kreiss sat in silence, listening to it all. He broke in at last. + +"Wait!" he ordered. "There are some questions I would have answered. You +said once that they found us--these devils that you tell of--because of +the trail that I left. That is true?" + +"Yes," Chet agreed irritably, "but what of it? It's all over now." + +"Possibly not," Herr Kreiss demurred; "quite possibly not. The fault, it +appears, was mine. Who shall say where the results of that fault shall +lead? + +"And you say that these thinking creatures are devils, and that they +plan to sacrifice your good friends to strange gods; and still the fault +leads on." Herr Kreiss, to whom cause and effect were sure guides, +seemed meditating upon the strange workings of immutable laws. + +"And you say that if you could reach the interior of your ship you might +perhaps be of help. Yes, it is so! And the ship is engulfed in a fluid +sea, but the sea is of gas. Now in that I am not to blame, and +yet--and--yet--they all tie in together at the last; yes!" + +"What are you talking about?" demanded Chet Bullard harshly. "It's no +use to moralize on who is to blame. If you know anything to do, speak +up; if not--" + +Herr Kreiss raised his spare frame erect. "I shall do better than that," +he stated; "I shall act." And Chet stared curiously after, as the thin +figure clambered up on the rocks and vanished into the cave. + + * * * * * + +He forgot him then and turned to stare moodily across the enclosure that +had been the scene of their battle. Kreiss had done good work there; he +had scared the savages into a panic fear. Chet was seeing again the +scenes of that night when a faint explosion came from the rocks at his +side. He looked up to see Herr Kreiss stagger from the cave. + +Eyebrows and lashes were gone; his hair was tinged short; but his thick +glasses had protected his eyes. He breathed deeply of the outside air as +he regarded the remnant of a bladder that once had held a sample of +green gas. Then, without a word of explanation, he turned again into the +cave where a thin trickle of smoke was issuing. + +Ragged and torn, his clothes were held together by bits of vine. There +were longer ropes of the same material that made a sling on his +shoulders when he reappeared. And, tied in the sling, were bundles; one +large, one small, but sagging with weight. Both were bound tightly in +wrappings of broad leaves. + +"We will go now," Herr Kreiss stated: "there is no time to be lost." + +"Go? Go where?" Chet's question echoed his utter bewilderment. + +"To the ship! Come, savage!"--he motioned to Towahg--"I did not do well +when I made my way alone. You shall lead now." + +"He's crazy," Chet told himself half aloud: "his motor's shot and his +controls are jammed! Oh, well; what's the difference? I might as well +spend the time this way as any. I meant to go back to the old ship once +more." + +Kreiss' arm still troubled from the wound he had got in the fight, but +Chet could not induce him to share his load. + +"_Es ist mein recht_," he grumbled, and added cryptically: "To each man +this only is sure--that he must carry his own cross." And Chet, with a +shrug, let him have his way. + + * * * * * + +There was little said on the trip. Chet was as silent and +uncommunicative as Kreiss when, for the last time, he paused on the +divide to see the green glint from a distant ship, then plunged with the +others into a forest as unreal as all this experience now seemed. + +And at the last, when the red light of late afternoon ensanguined a wild +world, they came to the smoke of Fire Valley, and a thousand fumeroles, +little and big, that emitted their flame and gas. And one, at the lower +end of the valley had built up a great mound of greasy mud from whose +top issued hot billows of green gas. It was here that Kreiss paused and +unslung his pack. + +"Take this," he told Chet; and the pilot dragged his reluctant eyes from +the view of the nearby cylinder enveloped in green clouds. The scientist +was handing him the larger of the two packages. It was bulky but light: +Chet took it by a loop in one of the vines. + +"Careful!" warned Kreiss. "I have worked on it for a month; you see, my +equipment was not so good. I thought that the time might come when it +would be put to use, only first I must conquer the gas--which I now +prepare to do." + +"I don't understand," Chet protested. + +"You are a Master Pilot of the World?" questioned Kreiss, and Chet +nodded. + +"And the control on your ship was a modification of the new ball-control +mechanism such as is used on the latest of the high-level liners?" + +Again Chet nodded. + +"Then, if ever you are so fortunate, Herr Bullard, as to see once more +that device on one of those ships, will you examine it carefully? And, +stamped on the under side, you will find--" + +"The patent marking," said Chet; then stopped short as the light of +understanding blazed into his brain. + +"Patented," he reflected; "that's what it says," and a wondering +comprehension was in his voice: "patented by H. Kreiss, of Austria! +You--you are the inventor?" + + * * * * * + +"I did not speak with entire truth to Herr Schwartzmann," admitted +Kreiss, "on that occasion when I told him I could not rebuild the +control you had demolished. With your equipment on the ship I could have +done a quite creditable job, but even now,"--he pointed to the +leaf-wrapped bundle in Chet's hand--"with copper I have hammered from +the rocks, and with silver and gold and even iron which I found +occurring in a quite novel manner, I have done not so badly." + +"This is--this is--" Chet stared at the object in his hand; his tongue +could not be brought to speak the words. "But what use? How can I get +in? The gas--" + +"Cause and effect!" stated Herr Doktor Kreiss of the Institute at +Vienna, and once more he seemed addressing a class and taking pleasure +in his ability to dispense knowledge. "It is the law of the universe. + +"I perform an act. It is a cause--I have invoked the law. And the +effects go out like circling waves in an endless ocean of time forever +beyond our reach. + +"But we can do other acts, produce other causes, and sometimes we can +neutralize thereby the effects of the first. I do that now." He picked +up the second bundle in its wrapping of leaves; it was heavy for him to +manage with his wounded arm. "This is all that I have," he said! "I must +place it surely. + +"Go down toward the ship," he ordered. "Wait where it is safe. Then +when the gas ceases you will have but three minutes. Three +minutes!--remember! Lose no time at the port!" + +He had reached the base of the hill of mud. He was on the windward side; +above him the fumerole was grunting and roaring. And, to Chet, the thin +figure, gaunt and ungainly and absurd in its wrappings of dilapidated +garments, became somehow tremendous, vaguely symbolic. He could not get +it clearly, but there was something there of the cool, reasoning +sureness of science itself--an indomitable pressing on toward whatever +goal the law might lead one to; but Kreiss was human as well. He stopped +once and looked about him. + +"A laboratory--this world!" he exclaimed. "Virgin! Untouched!... So much +to be learned; so much to be done! And mine would have been the glory +and fame of it!" + +He turned hesitantly, almost apologetically, toward Chet standing +motionless and unspeaking with the wonder of this turn of events. + +"Should you be so fortunate as to survive," began Kreiss, "perhaps you +would be so kind--my name--I would not want it lost." He straightened +abruptly. + +"Go!" he ordered. "Get as near as you can!" His feet were climbing +steadily up the slippery ascent. + + * * * * * + +The faintest breath of the gas warned Chet back. Almost infinitely +diluted, it still set him choking while the tears streamed down his +face. But he worked his way as near the ship as he dared, and he saw +through the tears that still blinded his stinging eyes the tall figure +of Kreiss as he reached the top. + +A table of steaming mud was there, and Kreiss was sinking into it as he +struggled forward. At the center was a hot throat where fumes like a +breath from hell roared and choked with the strangling of its own gas. +The figure writhed as a whirl of green enveloped it, threw itself +forward. From one outstretched hand an object fell toward the throat; +its leafy wrapping was whipped sharply for an instant by the coughing +breath.... + +And then, where the hot blast had been, and the forming clouds and the +erupting mud, was a pillar of fire--a white flame that thundered into +the sky. + +Straight and clean, like the sword of some guardian angel, it stood +erect--a line of dazzling light in a darkening sky. And the fumes of +green had vanished at its touch. + +But Kreiss! Chet found himself running toward the fumerole. He must save +him, drag him back. Then he knew with a certainty that admitted of no +question that for Kreiss there was no help: that for this man of science +the laws of cause and effect were no longer operative on the plane of +Earth. The heat would have killed him, but the enveloping gas must have +reached him first. And he had sacrificed himself for what?--that he, +Chet, might reach the ship!... Before Chet's eyes was a silvery cylinder +whose closed port was plainly marked. + + * * * * * + +No gas now! No glint of green! The way was clear, and the slim figure of +Chet Bullard was checked in its rush toward a mound of mud and the body +of a man that lay next to a blasting column of flame; he turned instead +to throw himself through the clean air toward the ship that was free of +gas. + +"Three minutes!" This was what Kreiss had said; this was the allotted +time. In three minutes he must reach the ship, force open the long +unused port, get inside--! + +At one side, across the level lava rock he saw Towahg. The savage was +running at top speed. He had thrown away his bow, dropping it lest it +impede his flight from this terrifying witchcraft he had seen. There had +been a witch-doctor in Towahg's tribe; the savage knew sorcery when he +saw it. But never had his witch-doctor changed green gas to a column of +fire; and this white sorcerer, Kreiss, powerful as he was, had been +struck down by the fire-god before Towahg's eyes. Towahg ran as if the +roaring finger of flame might reach after him at any instant. + +Chet saw this in a glance--knew the reason for the black's desertion: +then lost all thought of him and of Kreiss and even of the waiting ship. +For, in the same glance, he saw, springing from behind a lava block, the +heavy figure of a man. + +Black as any ape, hairy of face, roaring strange oaths, the man threw +himself upon Chet! It was Schwartzmann; and, mingled with profane +exclamations, were the words: "the ship--und I take it for mineself!" +And his heavy body hurled itself down upon the lighter man in the +instant that Chet drew his pistol. + +But, tearing through Chet's mind, was no rage against this man as an +enemy in himself; he thought only of Kreiss' words; "Three minutes! Lose +no time at the port!" And now the brave sacrifice! It would be in vain. +He twisted himself about, so that his shoulder might receive the human +projectile that was crashing upon him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +_The Might of the "Master"_ + + +As with other measures of matters earthly, time is a relative gauge. +Nowhere is this more apparent than in those moments of mental stress +when time passes in a flash or, conversely, drags each lagging minute +into hours of timeless length. + +"Three minutes!" The words clanged and reverberated through Chet's +brain. And it seemed, as he strained and struggled and was forced +backward and yet backward by the weight of his antagonist, that those +three minutes had long since passed, and other three's without end. + +The enemy's leaping body had been upon him before the detonite pistol +was half drawn. And now he fought desperately; he felt only the jar of +blows that landed on his half-covered face. There was no sting or pain, +only the crashing thud that made strange clamor and confusion in his +head. But he ducked and blocked awkwardly with the one arm that held the +package Kreiss had given him, while the other hand that gripped the +pistol was twisted behind him. + +No chance here for clever blocking, no room for quick foot-work; weight +was telling, and the weight was all in favor of his big opponent. + +Chet knew that possession of the gun was vital. Flashingly it came to +him that Schwartzmann had not fired: his pistol, then, was lost, or he +was out of ammunition. And now Chet's hand that held the gun with the +six precious charges of detonite was fast in the clutch of a huge paw, +and the pain of that twisted arm was sending searing flashes to his +brain. + +[Illustration: _With the free hand he shot over a blow._] + +A twist of the body, and the pain relaxed. He dropped the leaf-wrapped +package to the ground, and, with the free hand, shot over a blow that +brought a grunt of pain from Schwartzmann and a gush of blood that +smeared the black, hairy face. He took one stiff jolt himself on his +half-averted head that he might counter with another to flatten that +crushed and painful nose. + + * * * * * + +For one brief instant Schwartzmann's free hand was raised protectingly +to his face so contorted with rage; for one brief instant, below that +big fist, there showed the contour of a jaw; and, with every ounce of +weight that Chet could put into the swing, he came up from under in that +same instant with a smashing left that connected with the exposed jaw. + +The hand that gripped his gun-hand did not let go completely, but Chet +felt the steel-hard rigidity of that arm relax, and abruptly he knew +that he could beat this man down if he once got clear. He didn't need +the gun; he needed only to get both hands free. And, despite the arm +that clung and swung with his, he managed to wrench himself into a +sideways throw of his whole body at the instant he unclosed his hand. +The slim barrel of the detonite pistol described a flashing arc through +the clear air and clattered along the lava underneath a big shining +surface of metal. + +And then, in a breath-taking flash of understanding, Chet knew. + +He knew he was beside the ship: he saw the closed port and the +self-retracting lever that would open it, and he saw it through clear +air where no taint of the green gas was apparent. + +He was certain that he had been fighting for an interminable time, yet +before him the air was clear. It was impossible, but true; and he threw +the half-stunned body of Schwartzmann from him. Then, instead of +following it with punishing blows, he sprang toward the port. + + * * * * * + +With one hand on the lever, he turned to dart a glance toward the column +of flame. It was gone! And in its place came green, billowing gas that +was coughed and spewed into the air to be caught up in the steady breeze +that blew directly from the vent. + +Beside him, his antagonist, prone on the lava floor, dragged himself +beneath the ship to reach for the gun. Chet paid no heed; his every +thought--his whole being, it seemed--was focused upon the lever that +turned so slowly, that let fall, at last, a lock whose releasing +mechanism clanged loudly through the metal wall. + +The outer port, a thin door that served only to streamline the opening, +swung open under Chet's hand. And, while he held his breath till his +pumping heart set his whole body to pulsing, he drew himself into the +ship as the green cloud wrapped thickly about. But first he bent to +grasp the knotted vines and leathery leaves that enclosed a bulky +package. + +The port closed silently upon its soft-faced gasket; it was gas-tight +when no pressure was applied. And Chet stumbled and reached blindly till +he fell beside the huge inner compression port, while the breath of gas +that had touched him tore with ripping talons at his throat. + +More measureless time--whether hours or minutes Chet could never have +told--and he sat upright and tried to believe the utterly incredible +story that his eyes were telling. + +A short passage and a control room beyond! It was just as they had left +it; was it days or years before? The shattered control cage was there, +the familiar instrument board, the very bar of metal with which he had +wrought such havoc in that wild moment of demolition; it was all crystal +clear under the flooding light of the nitron illuminator! + + * * * * * + +Yes, it was true! He, Chet Bullard, was staring wide-eyed at his own +control-room, in his own ship--his and Walt's--and he was alone! The +remembrance of Walt and Diane, and the realization that now, by some +miracle, he might be of help, brought him to his feet. + +He sprang toward a lookout where the last light of day was gone and a +monstrous moon shone down upon a world of ghastly green. Yet, through +the gas, every detail of the world outside showed clear; even the giant +fumerole that had been the funeral pyre of a man of science; even the +mound of ashes at its top which the moving air was blowing in dusty +puffs until spouting mud fell back to hide them from sight. + +Chet cursed the gas for the dimness that clouded his eyes, and he rubbed +at them savagely as he turned and walked to a side lookout. + +Through the riot of impressions of the fight outside the port, he had +known that there was a human body over which he stumbled at times. He +saw it now--the body of Schwartzmann's henchman, killed these long weeks +before but preserved in the ceaseless flow of gas. + +But now, sprawled across it, was another and bulkier shape. Sightless +eyes stared upward from a face turned to the cruel gas clouds and the +hideous green moon above. The mouth sagged open in a black, bearded +face, and one hand still clutched a pistol. It would have shattered his +human opponent had the man been given an instant more, but against the +enemy that rolled down and overwhelmed him in billowing clouds no weapon +could prevail. Herr Schwartzmann had fought his last fight. + + * * * * * + +The package--the last gift of Kreiss--was still securely wrapped. It lay +on the metal floor. Chet stooped to lift it, to work at the knotted +vines and lay off the thick wrappings of fibrous leaves, until he stood +at last, under the white glare of the bubbling nitron bulb, to stare and +stare wordlessly at the cage of metal bars in his hand. + +Crude!--yes; no finely polished mechanism, this; no one of the many +connection clips that the other had had, either. But Chet knew he could +solder on the hundreds of wires that made the nervous system of the +control and fed the current to the cage; and Kreiss had believed it +would work! + +There was no thought of delay in Chet's mind, no waiting for daylight. +This was the fourth night since he had been in that place of horror, +since, above him in that Stygian pit, an inhuman satanic _something_ had +said: "... the captives ... a sacrifice to Vashta ... on the sixth +night...." + +Chet threw off the rags that once had been a trim khaki jacket and went +feverishly to work. And through the time that was left he drove himself +desperately. The hours so few and each hour so short! As he worked with +seemingly countless strands of heavy cables, where each strand must be +traced back and its point of connection determined, he knew how long +each dreadful minute must be for the two captives deep inside the Dark +Moon. + + * * * * * + +It was as well, perhaps, that Chet did not have the power of distant +sight, that he had no messenger like those from the pyramid who might +have gone down in that place and have sent him by mental television a +picture of what was there. For he would have seen that which could have +lent no clarity of vision to his deep-sunk eyes nor skill to the touch +of fumbling, tired hands. + +Walt Harkness, no longer under hypnotic control, stood in a dim-lit room +carved from solid stone; stood, and stared despairingly at the +surrounding walls and at the pair of giant ape-men who guarded the one +doorway. And, clinging to his hand, was a girl; and she, too, had been +released from the invisible bonds. She was speaking: + +"No, Walter; we both saw it; it must be true. It was Chet's pistol; he +was there in that horrible place. And I will not give up. He will save +us at the last; I know it! He will save us from the inhuman cruelty of +those terrible things. He shoots straight, Chet does; and he will give +us a bullet apiece from the gun--the last kindly act of a friend. That's +what the signal meant." + +"Then why did he wait! Why didn't he do it then?" Walt Harkness had made +the same demand a hundred times. + +And Diane answered as always: "I don't know, Walter, I--don't--know." + +Chet, cursing insanely at strange machines--equilibrators that +controlled the longitudinal and transverse and rotative stability of the +ship and that refused to take their electrical charge--knew with +horrible certainty that the last night had come. But to the two humans, +in the depths of this world where all knowledge of time was lost, the +knowledge came only when they were dragged by their guards into a +familiar room. + + * * * * * + +Ape-men were all about; they stared unwinkingly at the captives who +stared back again in an effort to keep their eyes averted from the +monstrous repulsiveness on the platform above them, till their eyes were +drawn to meet the compelling gaze of the "Master" of a lost race. + +A something which, at first glance, seemed all head--this was the +"Master." The naked body, so skeleton-thin, was shrunken and distorted; +it was withered and leathery-brown, like the aged parchment of mummified +flesh. It was seated in a resplendent chair, whose radiating handles +were for its carrying; and, above it, the head, so incredibly repulsive, +was made more hideous by its travestied resemblance to human form. + +Soft, pulpy and wetly smooth--a ten-foot sac, enclosed in a membrane of +dead gray shot through with flickerings of color that flamed and +died--the whole pulsing mass was supported in a sling of golden cloth. +And, dominating it, in the center of that flabby forehead, a focal point +for the gaze of the horrified observers, was a single glassy and lidless +eye. + +Cold, unchanging, entirely expressionless except for the fixed ferocity +that was there, the eye was a yellow disk of hate, where quivering lines +of violet culminated in a central, flaming point; and that point of +living fire swelled prodigiously before their staring eyes. It seemed to +expand, to slowly draw their senses--their very selves--from their +bodies, to plunge them down to annihilation in that fiery pit where a +soundless voice was speaking. + +"Slaves! Apes! Take the captives to the great altar rock of Vashta, to +the Holy of Holies. The others you were permitted to slaughter for our +food; hold these two safely. For one shall die slowly for Vashta's +pleasure, and one shall live on for mine. And we would not have them +under our mental control, so guard them well; the offering is more +pleasing to Vashta when the blood in his cup flows from a creature +unbound both in body and mind." And the two helpless humans found +themselves released from the flaming pit that became again but an eye in +the forehead of a loathsome thing. + + * * * * * + +They were fully conscious of their surroundings as they were herded up +through the pyramid and out into the night, where rough, calloused hands +seized them and dragged them to a smooth table-top of rock that stood +only slightly above the ground before the great rocky pile. Stunned, +waiting dumbly, they saw swarming ape-men clustered like bees on the +lower pyramid face; they saw coverings of stone being removed and a +great recess laid open, while the ape-things dropped in awe before a +grotesque and horrible beast-head carved from a single piece of stone. + +The eyes of the beast shone with some cold, hidden light. They seemed +fixed hungrily upon a cup in a distorted hand, and, though the cup was +empty, there was promise of its being filled. For little sluices of +stone sloped from the place where the captives stood, and they ended +above the cup so that the life-blood of a slaughtered creature, or a +sacrificed man, might pour splashingly in, a streaming draught for this +blood-thirsty god. + +The arena filled with abominable life. Now, in the dark silence of a +moonless night, the cold stars shone down on a gathering of spectators, +wild and unreal--nameless, spectral horrors of a blood-chilling dream. + +The flat capstone of the pyramid was the resting place of the "Master"; +his huge head showed pulpy and gray above the glittering gold of the +metal carrying-chair where a misshapen body was seated. Others like him +had poured from the pyramid, carried by thousands of slaves to their +places about the arena. + +Monsters of prodigious strength, their forebears must have been, but +this degenerate product of evolutionary forces had lost all firmness of +flesh. Their bodies, sacrificed for the development of the bulbous +heads, were mere appendages, fit only for the propagation of their kind +and for the digestion of human food. + + * * * * * + +The clean air of night was polluted with abominable odors as it swept +over the exudations of those glistening, pulpy masses. To the two +waiting humans on the great sacrificial stone came a deadening of the +senses, as an executioner, armed with strange torturing instruments, +drew near. But, of the two, one, clinging hopelessly to the other, +abruptly stifled the dry choking sobs in her throat to lift her head in +sharp, listening alertness. + +Walt Harkness was speaking in a dead, emotionless tone: + +"Chet has failed us; he is probably dead. Good-by, dear--" + +But his words were interrupted and smothered by a breathless, strangling +voice. Diane Delacouer, staring with agonized eyes into the night was +calling to him: + +"Listen! Oh, listen! It's the ship, Walter! It's the ship! It's not the +wind! I'm not dreaming nor insane!--Chet is coming with the ship!" + +It was as well that Chet Bullard could not see the two, could not hear +that voice, trembling and vibrant with an impossible, heart-gripping +hope; and surely it was well that he could not share their emotions +when, for them, the silence became faintly resonant, when the distant, +humming, drumming reverberation grew to a nerve-shattering roar, when +the black night was ripped apart by the passage of a meteor-ship that +shrieked and thundered through the screaming air close above the arena, +while, with the rock beneath them still shuddering from the blasting +voice of that full exhaust, the sky above burst into dazzling flame. + + * * * * * + +For Chet in that control-room that was darkened that he might see the +world outside--Chet, grim and haggard and stained of face and with +thin-drawn lips that bled unheeded where his teeth had clamped down on +them--Chet Bullard, Master Pilot of the World, had no thought nor +emotion to spare for aught beyond the reach of his hand. He was throwing +his ship at a speed that was sheer suicide over a strange terrain +flashing under and close below. + +He overshot the target on the first try. The twin beams of his +searchlights picked up the dazzling black and white of the arena; it was +before him!--under him!--lost far astern in one single instant that was +ended as it began. But his hand, ready on a release key, pressed as he +passed, and the sky behind him turned blazing bright with the cloud of +flare-dust that made white flame as it fell. + +Such speed was not meant for close work; nor was a ship expected to hit +dense air with a blast such as this on full. Even through the thick +insulated walls came a terrible scream. Like voices of humans in agony, +the tortured air shrieked its protest while Chet threw on the bow-blast +to check them and slanted slowly, slowly upward in a great loop whose +tremendous size was an indication of the speed and the slow turning that +was all Chet could stand and live through. + + * * * * * + +He came in more slowly the next time. Floodlights in the under-skin of +the ship were blazing white, and whiter yet were the star-flares that he +dropped one after another. Brighter than the sunlight of the brightest +day this globe had ever seen, the sky, ablaze with dazzling fire, shone +down in vivid splendor to drain every shadow and half-light and leave +only the hard contrast of black and white. + +In the nose of the ship was a .50 caliber gun. Chet sprayed the pyramid +top, but it is doubtful if the two below heard the explosions. They must +have seen the whole cap of the mountain of rock vanish as if, +feather-light, it had been snatched up in a gust of wind. But perhaps +they had eyes only for each other and for a glittering, silvery ship +that came crashing toward the place where they stood, that checked +itself on thunderous exhausts; then touched the hard floor of the arena +as softly as the caress of a master hand on the controls. + +But from them came no cry nor exclamation of joy; they were dazed, Chet +saw, when he threw open the port. They were walking slowly, +unbelievingly, toward him till Diane faltered. Then Chet leaped forward +to sweep the drooping, ragged figure up into his arms while he hustled +Harkness ahead and closed the port upon them all. But, still haggard and +stern of face, he left the fainting girl to Harkness' care while he +sprang for a ball-control and a firing key that released a hail of +little .50 caliber shells whose touch could plough the earth with the +ripping sword of an avenging god. + +And later--a pulverous mass where a huge pyramid had been; smoking rock +in a great oval of shattered crumbling blocks; and, under all the cold +light of the stars, no sign of life but for a screaming, frantic mob of +ape-men, freed and fleeing from the broken bondage of masters now +crushed and dead! + +All this Chet's straining, blood-shot eyes saw clearly before his hand +on the firing key relaxed, before he covered his eyes with trembling +hands as realization of their own release rushed overwhelmingly upon +him. + + * * * * * + +There were supplies of clothing in the ship--jackets, knee-length +trousers, silken blouses, boots, and even snug-fitting, fashionable +caps. Very unlike the ragged wanderers of the mountainous wastes were +the three who stood safely to windward of a spouting fumerole. + +Mud, coughed hoarsely from a hot throat, and green, billowing +gas!--there was nothing now to show that here was the scene of a +companion's last moments. With heads bared to the steady breeze that had +been their undoing, they stood silent for long minutes. + +Behind them, at a still safer distance, where no chance flicker of a +fire-god's finger might strike him down as it had the white man, a black +figure danced absurdly from foot to foot and indulged in unexpected +gyrations of joy. + +For did not Towahg hold in one hand a most marvelous weapon of shining, +keen-edged metal, with a blade that was longer than his two hands? What +member of the tribe had ever seen such an indescribably glorious thing? +And, lacking the words even to propound that question, Towahg spun +himself in still tighter spirals of ecstasy. + +Then there was the ax! Not made of stone but fashioned from the same +metal! And besides this a magic thing for which as yet there was not +even a name! It made flashing reflections in the sun; and if one held it +just so, and moved one's head before it, it showed a quite remarkably +attractive face of a man who was more than half ape--though Towahg had +never yet been able to catch that man beyond the magic that the white +men called "mirror." + +He was still enthralled in his grotesque posturing when Diane looked +down from the floating ship. + +"He'll be the Lord Chief Voodoo Man for the whole tribe," she said, and, +for the first time since they had stood at the fumerole, she managed to +smile. "And now," she asked, "are we off? What comes next?" + + * * * * * + +Chet's hand was on a metal ball in a crudely constructed cage of metal +bars. He looked at Harkness, and, at the other's almost imperceptible +nod, he moved the ball forward and up. + +"We're off!" Harkness agreed. "Off for Earth--home! And it will look +good to us all. We will take up things where we left them when we were +interrupted: there's no Schwartzmann to fear now. We can show our ship +to the world--revolutionize all lines of transportation; and we can +plan--" + +He failed to finish the sentence. To his reaching vision there were, +perhaps, more potentialities than he could compass in words. + +And Chet Bullard, fingering the triple star on his blouse--the insignia +that had gone with him through all his hopes and despairs--looked out +into space and smiled. + +Behind him a brilliant world went slowly dark; it became, after long +watching, a violet ring--then that was gone; the Dark Moon was lost in +the folds of enshrouding night. Ahead was an infinity of black space +where only the distant stars struck sparks of fire in the dark. And +still he smiled, as if, looking into the unplumbed depths, he, too, made +plans. But he moved the little ball within his hand and swung the bow +sights to bear upon a glorious globe--a brilliant, welcome beacon. + +"Home it is!" he stated. "We're on our way!" + +But there was needed the rising roar from astern that his words might +have meaning; it thundered sonorously its resounding hum in a crescendo +of power that brooked no denial, that threw them out and onward through +the velvet dark. + + +The End. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Brood of the Dark Moon, by Charles Willard Diffin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROOD OF THE DARK MOON *** + +***** This file should be named 32398.txt or 32398.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/3/9/32398/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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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