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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/553-h.zip b/553-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fad569f --- /dev/null +++ b/553-h.zip diff --git a/553-h/553-h.htm b/553-h/553-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7a83df2 --- /dev/null +++ b/553-h/553-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5403 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Out of Time's Abyss, by Edgar Rice Burroughs +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Out of Time's Abyss, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +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: Out of Time's Abyss + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Posting Date: July 30, 2008 [EBook #553] +Release Date: June, 1996 +[Last updated: November 24, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Out of Time's Abyss +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Edgar Rice Burroughs +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Contents +</H2> + +<P> +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap01">CHAPTER I</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap02">CHAPTER II</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap03">CHAPTER III</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap04">CHAPTER IV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap05">CHAPTER V</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> + +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> + +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> + +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> + +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> + +</TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter I +</H3> + +<P> +This is the tale of Bradley after he left Fort Dinosaur upon the west +coast of the great lake that is in the center of the island. +</P> + +<P> +Upon the fourth day of September, 1916, he set out with four +companions, Sinclair, Brady, James, and Tippet, to search along the +base of the barrier cliffs for a point at which they might be scaled. +</P> + +<P> +Through the heavy Caspakian air, beneath the swollen sun, the five men +marched northwest from Fort Dinosaur, now waist-deep in lush, jungle +grasses starred with myriad gorgeous blooms, now across open +meadow-land and parklike expanses and again plunging into dense forests +of eucalyptus and acacia and giant arboreous ferns with feathered +fronds waving gently a hundred feet above their heads. +</P> + +<P> +About them upon the ground, among the trees and in the air over them +moved and swung and soared the countless forms of Caspak's teeming +life. Always were they menaced by some frightful thing and seldom were +their rifles cool, yet even in the brief time they had dwelt upon +Caprona they had become callous to danger, so that they swung along +laughing and chatting like soldiers on a summer hike. +</P> + +<P> +"This reminds me of South Clark Street," remarked Brady, who had once +served on the traffic squad in Chicago; and as no one asked him why, he +volunteered that it was "because it's no place for an Irishman." +</P> + +<P> +"South Clark Street and heaven have something in common, then," +suggested Sinclair. James and Tippet laughed, and then a hideous growl +broke from a dense thicket ahead and diverted their attention to other +matters. +</P> + +<P> +"One of them behemoths of 'Oly Writ," muttered Tippet as they came to a +halt and with guns ready awaited the almost inevitable charge. +</P> + +<P> +"Hungry lot o' beggars, these," said Bradley; "always trying to eat +everything they see." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment no further sound came from the thicket. "He may be +feeding now," suggested Bradley. "We'll try to go around him. Can't +waste ammunition. Won't last forever. Follow me." And he set off at +right angles to their former course, hoping to avert a charge. They +had taken a dozen steps, perhaps, when the thicket moved to the advance +of the thing within it, the leafy branches parted, and the hideous head +of a gigantic bear emerged. +</P> + +<P> +"Pick your trees," whispered Bradley. "Can't waste ammunition." +</P> + +<P> +The men looked about them. The bear took a couple of steps forward, +still growling menacingly. He was exposed to the shoulders now. +Tippet took one look at the monster and bolted for the nearest tree; +and then the bear charged. He charged straight for Tippet. The other +men scattered for the various trees they had selected—all except +Bradley. He stood watching Tippet and the bear. The man had a good +start and the tree was not far away; but the speed of the enormous +creature behind him was something to marvel at, yet Tippet was in a +fair way to make his sanctuary when his foot caught in a tangle of +roots and down he went, his rifle flying from his hand and falling +several yards away. Instantly Bradley's piece was at his shoulder, +there was a sharp report answered by a roar of mingled rage and pain +from the carnivore. Tippet attempted to scramble to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Lie still!" shouted Bradley. "Can't waste ammunition." +</P> + +<P> +The bear halted in its tracks, wheeled toward Bradley and then back +again toward Tippet. Again the former's rifle spit angrily, and the +bear turned again in his direction. Bradley shouted loudly. "Come on, +you behemoth of Holy Writ!" he cried. "Come on, you duffer! Can't +waste ammunition." And as he saw the bear apparently upon the verge of +deciding to charge him, he encouraged the idea by backing rapidly away, +knowing that an angry beast will more often charge one who moves than +one who lies still. +</P> + +<P> +And the bear did charge. Like a bolt of lightning he flashed down upon +the Englishman. "Now run!" Bradley called to Tippet and himself +turned in flight toward a nearby tree. The other men, now safely +ensconced upon various branches, watched the race with breathless +interest. Would Bradley make it? It seemed scarce possible. And if +he didn't! James gasped at the thought. Six feet at the shoulder +stood the frightful mountain of blood-mad flesh and bone and sinew that +was bearing down with the speed of an express train upon the seemingly +slow-moving man. +</P> + +<P> +It all happened in a few seconds; but they were seconds that seemed +like hours to the men who watched. They saw Tippet leap to his feet at +Bradley's shouted warning. They saw him run, stooping to recover his +rifle as he passed the spot where it had fallen. They saw him glance +back toward Bradley, and then they saw him stop short of the tree that +might have given him safety and turn back in the direction of the bear. +Firing as he ran, Tippet raced after the great cave bear—the monstrous +thing that should have been extinct ages before—ran for it and fired +even as the beast was almost upon Bradley. The men in the trees +scarcely breathed. It seemed to them such a futile thing for Tippet to +do, and Tippet of all men! They had never looked upon Tippet as a +coward—there seemed to be no cowards among that strangely assorted +company that Fate had gathered together from the four corners of the +earth—but Tippet was considered a cautious man. Overcautious, some +thought him. How futile he and his little pop-gun appeared as he +dashed after that living engine of destruction! But, oh, how glorious! +It was some such thought as this that ran through Brady's mind, though +articulated it might have been expressed otherwise, albeit more +forcefully. +</P> + +<P> +Just then it occurred to Brady to fire and he, too, opened upon the +bear, but at the same instant the animal stumbled and fell forward, +though still growling most fearsomely. Tippet never stopped running or +firing until he stood within a foot of the brute, which lay almost +touching Bradley and was already struggling to regain its feet. +Placing the muzzle of his gun against the bear's ear, Tippet pulled the +trigger. The creature sank limply to the ground and Bradley scrambled +to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Good work, Tippet," he said. "Mightily obliged to you—awful waste of +ammunition, really." +</P> + +<P> +And then they resumed the march and in fifteen minutes the encounter +had ceased even to be a topic of conversation. +</P> + +<P> +For two days they continued upon their perilous way. Already the +cliffs loomed high and forbidding close ahead without sign of break to +encourage hope that somewhere they might be scaled. Late in the +afternoon the party crossed a small stream of warm water upon the +sluggishly moving surface of which floated countless millions of tiny +green eggs surrounded by a light scum of the same color, though of a +darker shade. Their past experience of Caspak had taught them that +they might expect to come upon a stagnant pool of warm water if they +followed the stream to its source; but there they were almost certain +to find some of Caspak's grotesque, manlike creatures. Already since +they had disembarked from the U-33 after its perilous trip through the +subterranean channel beneath the barrier cliffs had brought them into +the inland sea of Caspak, had they encountered what had appeared to be +three distinct types of these creatures. There had been the pure +apes—huge, gorillalike beasts—and those who walked, a trifle more +erect and had features with just a shade more of the human cast about +them. Then there were men like Ahm, whom they had captured and +confined at the fort—Ahm, the club-man. "Well-known club-man," Tyler +had called him. Ahm and his people had knowledge of a speech. They +had a language, in which they were unlike the race just inferior to +them, and they walked much more erect and were less hairy: but it was +principally the fact that they possessed a spoken language and carried +a weapon that differentiated them from the others. +</P> + +<P> +All of these peoples had proven belligerent in the extreme. In common +with the rest of the fauna of Caprona the first law of nature as they +seemed to understand it was to kill—kill—kill. And so it was that +Bradley had no desire to follow up the little stream toward the pool +near which were sure to be the caves of some savage tribe, but fortune +played him an unkind trick, for the pool was much closer than he +imagined, its southern end reaching fully a mile south of the point at +which they crossed the stream, and so it was that after forcing their +way through a tangle of jungle vegetation they came out upon the edge +of the pool which they had wished to avoid. +</P> + +<P> +Almost simultaneously there appeared south of them a party of naked men +armed with clubs and hatchets. Both parties halted as they caught +sight of one another. The men from the fort saw before them a hunting +party evidently returning to its caves or village laden with meat. +They were large men with features closely resembling those of the +African Negro though their skins were white. Short hair grew upon a +large portion of their limbs and bodies, which still retained a +considerable trace of apish progenitors. They were, however, a +distinctly higher type than the Bo-lu, or club-men. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley would have been glad to have averted a meeting; but as he +desired to lead his party south around the end of the pool, and as it +was hemmed in by the jungle on one side and the water on the other, +there seemed no escape from an encounter. +</P> + +<P> +On the chance that he might avoid a clash, Bradley stepped forward with +upraised hand. "We are friends," he called in the tongue of Ahm, the +Bo-lu, who had been held a prisoner at the fort; "permit us to pass in +peace. We will not harm you." +</P> + +<P> +At this the hatchet-men set up a great jabbering with much laughter, +loud and boisterous. "No," shouted one, "you will not harm us, for we +shall kill you. Come! We kill! We kill!" And with hideous shouts +they charged down upon the Europeans. +</P> + +<P> +"Sinclair, you may fire," said Bradley quietly. "Pick off the leader. +Can't waste ammunition." +</P> + +<P> +The Englishman raised his piece to his shoulder and took quick aim at +the breast of the yelling savage leaping toward them. Directly behind +the leader came another hatchet-man, and with the report of Sinclair's +rifle both warriors lunged forward in the tall grass, pierced by the +same bullet. The effect upon the rest of the band was electrical. As +one man they came to a sudden halt, wheeled to the east and dashed into +the jungle, where the men could hear them forcing their way in an +effort to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the +authors of this new and frightful noise that killed warriors at a great +distance. +</P> + +<P> +Both the savages were dead when Bradley approached to examine them, and +as the Europeans gathered around, other eyes were bent upon them with +greater curiosity than they displayed for the victim of Sinclair's +bullet. When the party again took up the march around the southern end +of the pool the owner of the eyes followed them—large, round eyes, +almost expressionless except for a certain cold cruelty which glinted +malignly from under their pale gray irises. +</P> + +<P> +All unconscious of the stalker, the men came, late in the afternoon, to +a spot which seemed favorable as a campsite. A cold spring bubbled +from the base of a rocky formation which overhung and partially +encircled a small inclosure. At Bradley's command, the men took up the +duties assigned them—gathering wood, building a cook-fire and +preparing the evening meal. It was while they were thus engaged that +Brady's attention was attracted by the dismal flapping of huge wings. +He glanced up, expecting to see one of the great flying reptiles of a +bygone age, his rifle ready in his hand. Brady was a brave man. He +had groped his way up narrow tenement stairs and taken an armed maniac +from a dark room without turning a hair; but now as he looked up, he +went white and staggered back. +</P> + +<P> +"Gawd!" he almost screamed. "What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +Attracted by Brady's cry the others seized their rifles as they +followed his wide-eyed, frozen gaze, nor was there one of them that was +not moved by some species of terror or awe. Then Brady spoke again in +an almost inaudible voice. "Holy Mother protect us—it's a banshee!" +</P> + +<P> +Bradley, always cool almost to indifference in the face of danger, felt +a strange, creeping sensation run over his flesh, as slowly, not a +hundred feet above them, the thing flapped itself across the sky, its +huge, round eyes glaring down upon them. And until it disappeared over +the tops of the trees of a near-by wood the five men stood as though +paralyzed, their eyes never leaving the weird shape; nor never one of +them appearing to recall that he grasped a loaded rifle in his hands. +</P> + +<P> +With the passing of the thing, came the reaction. Tippet sank to the +ground and buried his face in his hands. "Oh, Gord," he moaned. "Tyke +me awy from this orful plice." Brady, recovered from the first shock, +swore loud and luridly. He called upon all the saints to witness that +he was unafraid and that anybody with half an eye could have seen that +the creature was nothing more than "one av thim flyin' alligators" that +they all were familiar with. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Sinclair with fine sarcasm, "we've saw so many of them with +white shrouds on 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up, you fool!" growled Brady. "If you know so much, tell us what +it was after bein' then." +</P> + +<P> +Then he turned toward Bradley. "What was it, sir, do you think?" he +asked. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "It looked like a +winged human being clothed in a flowing white robe. Its face was more +human than otherwise. That is the way it looked to me; but what it +really was I can't even guess, for such a creature is as far beyond my +experience or knowledge as it is beyond yours. All that I am sure of +is that whatever else it may have been, it was quite material—it was +no ghost; rather just another of the strange forms of life which we +have met here and with which we should be accustomed by this time." +</P> + +<P> +Tippet looked up. His face was still ashy. "Yer cawn't tell me," he +cried. "Hi seen hit. Blime, Hi seen hit. Hit was ha dead man flyin' +through the hair. Didn't Hi see 'is heyes? Oh, Gord! Didn't Hi see +'em?" +</P> + +<P> +"It didn't look like any beast or reptile to me," spoke up Sinclair. +"It was lookin' right down at me when I looked up and I saw its face +plain as I see yours. It had big round eyes that looked all cold and +dead, and its cheeks were sunken in deep, and I could see its yellow +teeth behind thin, tight-drawn lips—like a man who had been dead a +long while, sir," he added, turning toward Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes!" James had not spoken since the apparition had passed over them, +and now it was scarce speech which he uttered—rather a series of +articulate gasps. "Yes—dead—a—long—while. It—means something. +It—come—for some—one. For one—of us. One—of us is goin'—to die. +I'm goin' to die!" he ended in a wail. +</P> + +<P> +"Come! Come!" snapped Bradley. "Won't do. Won't do at all. Get to +work, all of you. Waste of time. Can't waste time." +</P> + +<P> +His authoritative tones brought them all up standing, and presently +each was occupied with his own duties; but each worked in silence and +there was no singing and no bantering such as had marked the making of +previous camps. Not until they had eaten and to each had been issued +the little ration of smoking tobacco allowed after each evening meal +did any sign of a relaxation of taut nerves appear. It was Brady who +showed the first signs of returning good spirits. He commenced humming +"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" and presently to voice the words, but he +was well into his third song before anyone joined him, and even then +there seemed a dismal note in even the gayest of tunes. +</P> + +<P> +A huge fire blazed in the opening of their rocky shelter that the +prowling carnivora might be kept at bay; and always one man stood on +guard, watchfully alert against a sudden rush by some maddened beast of +the jungle. Beyond the fire, yellow-green spots of flame appeared, +moved restlessly about, disappeared and reappeared, accompanied by a +hideous chorus of screams and growls and roars as the hungry +meat-eaters hunting through the night were attracted by the light or +the scent of possible prey. +</P> + +<P> +But to such sights and sounds as these the five men had become callous. +They sang or talked as unconcernedly as they might have done in the +bar-room of some publichouse at home. +</P> + +<P> +Sinclair was standing guard. The others were listening to Brady's +description of traffic congestion at the Rush Street bridge during the +rush hour at night. The fire crackled cheerily. The owners of the +yellow-green eyes raised their frightful chorus to the heavens. +Conditions seemed again to have returned to normal. And then, as +though the hand of Death had reached out and touched them all, the five +men tensed into sudden rigidity. +</P> + +<P> +Above the nocturnal diapason of the teeming jungle sounded a dismal +flapping of wings and over head, through the thick night, a shadowy +form passed across the diffused light of the flaring camp-fire. +Sinclair raised his rifle and fired. An eerie wail floated down from +above and the apparition, whatever it might have been, was swallowed by +the darkness. For several seconds the listening men heard the sound of +those dismally flapping wings lessening in the distance until they +could no longer be heard. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley was the first to speak. "Shouldn't have fired, Sinclair," he +said; "can't waste ammunition." But there was no note of censure in +his tone. It was as though he understood the nervous reaction that had +compelled the other's act. +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't help it, sir," said Sinclair. "Lord, it would take an iron +man to keep from shootin' at that awful thing. Do you believe in +ghosts, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Bradley. "No such things." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know about that," said Brady. "There was a woman murdered +over on the prairie near Brighton—her throat was cut from ear to ear, +and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up," snapped Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"My grandaddy used to live down Coppington wy," said Tippet. "They +were a hold ruined castle on a 'ill near by, hand at midnight they used +to see pale blue lights through the windows an 'ear—" +</P> + +<P> +"Will you close your hatch!" demanded Bradley. "You fools will have +yourselves scared to death in a minute. Now go to sleep." +</P> + +<P> +But there was little sleep in camp that night until utter exhaustion +overtook the harassed men toward morning; nor was there any return of +the weird creature that had set the nerves of each of them on edge. +</P> + +<P> +The following forenoon the party reached the base of the barrier cliffs +and for two days marched northward in an effort to discover a break in +the frowning abutment that raised its rocky face almost perpendicularly +above them, yet nowhere was there the slightest indication that the +cliffs were scalable. +</P> + +<P> +Disheartened, Bradley determined to turn back toward the fort, as he +already had exceeded the time decided upon by Bowen Tyler and himself +for the expedition. The cliffs for many miles had been trending in a +northeasterly direction, indicating to Bradley that they were +approaching the northern extremity of the island. According to the +best of his calculations they had made sufficient easting during the +past two days to have brought them to a point almost directly north of +Fort Dinosaur and as nothing could be gained by retracing their steps +along the base of the cliffs he decided to strike due south through the +unexplored country between them and the fort. +</P> + +<P> +That night (September 9, 1916), they made camp a short distance from +the cliffs beside one of the numerous cool springs that are to be found +within Caspak, oftentimes close beside the still more numerous warm and +hot springs which feed the many pools. After supper the men lay +smoking and chatting among themselves. Tippet was on guard. Fewer +night prowlers threatened them, and the men were commenting upon the +fact that the farther north they had traveled the smaller the number of +all species of animals became, though it was still present in what +would have seemed appalling plenitude in any other part of the world. +The diminution in reptilian life was the most noticeable change in the +fauna of northern Caspak. Here, however, were forms they had not met +elsewhere, several of which were of gigantic proportions. +</P> + +<P> +According to their custom all, with the exception of the man on guard, +sought sleep early, nor, once disposed upon the ground for slumber, +were they long in finding it. It seemed to Bradley that he had +scarcely closed his eyes when he was brought to his feet, wide awake, +by a piercing scream which was punctuated by the sharp report of a +rifle from the direction of the fire where Tippet stood guard. As he +ran toward the man, Bradley heard above him the same uncanny wail that +had set every nerve on edge several nights before, and the dismal +flapping of huge wings. He did not need to look up at the +white-shrouded figure winging slowly away into the night to know that +their grim visitor had returned. +</P> + +<P> +The muscles of his arm, reacting to the sight and sound of the menacing +form, carried his hand to the butt of his pistol; but after he had +drawn the weapon, he immediately returned it to its holster with a +shrug. +</P> + +<P> +"What for?" he muttered. "Can't waste ammunition." Then he walked +quickly to where Tippet lay sprawled upon his face. By this time +James, Brady and Sinclair were at his heels, each with his rifle in +readiness. +</P> + +<P> +"Is he dead, sir?" whispered James as Bradley kneeled beside the +prostrate form. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley turned Tippet over on his back and pressed an ear close to the +other's heart. In a moment he raised his head. "Fainted," he +announced. "Get water. Hurry!" Then he loosened Tippet's shirt at +the throat and when the water was brought, threw a cupful in the man's +face. Slowly Tippet regained consciousness and sat up. At first he +looked curiously into the faces of the men about him; then an +expression of terror overspread his features. He shot a startled +glance up into the black void above and then burying his face in his +arms began to sob like a child. +</P> + +<P> +"What's wrong, man?" demanded Bradley. "Buck up! Can't play cry-baby. +Waste of energy. What happened?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wot 'appened, sir!" wailed Tippet. "Oh, Gord, sir! Hit came back. +Hit came for me, sir. Right hit did, sir; strite hat me, sir; hand +with long w'ite 'ands it clawed for me. Oh, Gord! Hit almost caught +me, sir. Hi'm has good as dead; Hi'm a marked man; that's wot Hi ham. +Hit was a-goin' for to carry me horf, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Stuff and nonsense," snapped Bradley. "Did you get a good look at it?" +</P> + +<P> +Tippet said that he did—a much better look than he wanted. The thing +had almost clutched him, and he had looked straight into its +eyes—"dead heyes in a dead face," he had described them. +</P> + +<P> +"Wot was it after bein', do you think?" inquired Brady. +</P> + +<P> +"Hit was Death," moaned Tippet, shuddering, and again a pall of gloom +fell upon the little party. +</P> + +<P> +The following day Tippet walked as one in a trance. He never spoke +except in reply to a direct question, which more often than not had to +be repeated before it could attract his attention. He insisted that he +was already a dead man, for if the thing didn't come for him during the +day he would never live through another night of agonized apprehension, +waiting for the frightful end that he was positive was in store for +him. "I'll see to that," he said, and they all knew that Tippet meant +to take his own life before darkness set in. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley tried to reason with him, in his short, crisp way, but soon saw +the futility of it; nor could he take the man's weapons from him +without subjecting him to almost certain death from any of the +numberless dangers that beset their way. +</P> + +<P> +The entire party was moody and glum. There was none of the bantering +that had marked their intercourse before, even in the face of blighting +hardships and hideous danger. This was a new menace that threatened +them, something that they couldn't explain; and so, naturally, it +aroused within them superstitious fear which Tippet's attitude only +tended to augment. To add further to their gloom, their way led +through a dense forest, where, on account of the underbrush, it was +difficult to make even a mile an hour. Constant watchfulness was +required to avoid the many snakes of various degrees of repulsiveness +and enormity that infested the wood; and the only ray of hope they had +to cling to was that the forest would, like the majority of Caspakian +forests, prove to be of no considerable extent. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley was in the lead when he came suddenly upon a grotesque creature +of Titanic proportions. Crouching among the trees, which here +commenced to thin out slightly, Bradley saw what appeared to be an +enormous dragon devouring the carcass of a mammoth. From frightful +jaws to the tip of its long tail it was fully forty feet in length. +Its body was covered with plates of thick skin which bore a striking +resemblance to armor-plate. The creature saw Bradley almost at the +same instant that he saw it and reared up on its enormous hind legs +until its head towered a full twenty-five feet above the ground. From +the cavernous jaws issued a hissing sound of a volume equal to the +escaping steam from the safety-valves of half a dozen locomotives, and +then the creature came for the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Scatter!" shouted Bradley to those behind him; and all but Tippet +heeded the warning. The man stood as though dazed, and when Bradley +saw the other's danger, he too stopped and wheeling about sent a bullet +into the massive body forcing its way through the trees toward him. +The shot struck the creature in the belly where there was no protecting +armor, eliciting a new note which rose in a shrill whistle and ended in +a wail. It was then that Tippet appeared to come out of his trance, +for with a cry of terror he turned and fled to the left. Bradley, +seeing that he had as good an opportunity as the others to escape, now +turned his attention to extricating himself; and as the woods seemed +dense on the right, he ran in that direction, hoping that the close-set +boles would prevent pursuit on the part of the great reptile. The +dragon paid no further attention to him, however, for Tippet's sudden +break for liberty had attracted its attention; and after Tippet it +went, bowling over small trees, uprooting underbrush and leaving a wake +behind it like that of a small tornado. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley, the moment he had discovered the thing was pursuing Tippet, +had followed it. He was afraid to fire for fear of hitting the man, +and so it was that he came upon them at the very moment that the +monster lunged its great weight forward upon the doomed man. The +sharp, three-toed talons of the forelimbs seized poor Tippet, and +Bradley saw the unfortunate fellow lifted high above the ground as the +creature again reared up on its hind legs, immediately transferring +Tippet's body to its gaping jaws, which closed with a sickening, +crunching sound as Tippet's bones cracked beneath the great teeth. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley half raised his rifle to fire again and then lowered it with a +shake of his head. Tippet was beyond succor—why waste a bullet that +Caspak could never replace? If he could now escape the further notice +of the monster it would be a wiser act than to throw his life away in +futile revenge. He saw that the reptile was not looking in his +direction, and so he slipped noiselessly behind the bole of a large +tree and thence quietly faded away in the direction he believed the +others to have taken. At what he considered a safe distance he halted +and looked back. Half hidden by the intervening trees he still could +see the huge head and the massive jaws from which protruded the limp +legs of the dead man. Then, as though struck by the hammer of Thor, +the creature collapsed and crumpled to the ground. Bradley's single +bullet, penetrating the body through the soft skin of the belly, had +slain the Titan. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes later, Bradley found the others of the party. The four +returned cautiously to the spot where the creature lay and after +convincing themselves that it was quite dead, came close to it. It was +an arduous and gruesome job extricating Tippet's mangled remains from +the powerful jaws, the men working for the most part silently. +</P> + +<P> +"It was the work of the banshee all right," muttered Brady. "It warned +poor Tippet, it did." +</P> + +<P> +"Hit killed him, that's wot hit did, hand hit'll kill some more of us," +said James, his lower lip trembling. +</P> + +<P> +"If it was a ghost," interjected Sinclair, "and I don't say as it was; +but if it was, why, it could take on any form it wanted to. It might +have turned itself into this thing, which ain't no natural thing at +all, just to get poor Tippet. If it had of been a lion or something +else humanlike it wouldn't look so strange; but this here thing ain't +humanlike. There ain't no such thing an' never was." +</P> + +<P> +"Bullets don't kill ghosts," said Bradley, "so this couldn't have been +a ghost. Furthermore, there are no such things. I've been trying to +place this creature. Just succeeded. It's a tyrannosaurus. Saw +picture of skeleton in magazine. There's one in New York Natural +History Museum. Seems to me it said it was found in place called Hell +Creek somewhere in western North America. Supposed to have lived about +six million years ago." +</P> + +<P> +"Hell Creek's in Montana," said Sinclair. "I used to punch cows in +Wyoming, an' I've heard of Hell Creek. Do you s'pose that there +thing's six million years old?" His tone was skeptical. +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Bradley; "But it would indicate that the island of +Caprona has stood almost without change for more than six million +years." +</P> + +<P> +The conversation and Bradley's assurance that the creature was not of +supernatural origin helped to raise a trifle the spirits of the men; +and then came another diversion in the form of ravenous meat-eaters +attracted to the spot by the uncanny sense of smell which had apprised +them of the presence of flesh, killed and ready for the eating. +</P> + +<P> +It was a constant battle while they dug a grave and consigned all that +was mortal of John Tippet to his last, lonely resting-place. Nor would +they leave then; but remained to fashion a rude headstone from a +crumbling out-cropping of sandstone and to gather a mass of the +gorgeous flowers growing in such great profusion around them and heap +the new-made grave with bright blooms. Upon the headstone Sinclair +scratched in rude characters the words: +</P> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HERE LIES JOHN TIPPET<BR> + ENGLISHMAN<BR> +KILLED BY TYRANNOSAURUS<BR> + 10 SEPT. A.D. 1916<BR> + R.I.P.<BR> +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +and Bradley repeated a short prayer before they left their comrade +forever. +</P> + +<P> +For three days the party marched due south through forests and +meadow-land and great park-like areas where countless herbivorous +animals grazed—deer and antelope and bos and the little ecca, the +smallest species of Caspakian horse, about the size of a rabbit. There +were other horses too; but all were small, the largest being not above +eight hands in height. Preying continually upon the herbivora were the +meat-eaters, large and small—wolves, hyaenodons, panthers, lions, +tigers, and bears as well as several large and ferocious species of +reptilian life. +</P> + +<P> +On September twelfth the party scaled a line of sandstone cliffs which +crossed their route toward the south; but they crossed them only after +an encounter with the tribe that inhabited the numerous caves which +pitted the face of the escarpment. That night they camped upon a rocky +plateau which was sparsely wooded with jarrah, and here once again they +were visited by the weird, nocturnal apparition that had already filled +them with a nameless terror. +</P> + +<P> +As on the night of September ninth the first warning came from the +sentinel standing guard over his sleeping companions. A +terror-stricken cry punctuated by the crack of a rifle brought Bradley, +Sinclair and Brady to their feet in time to see James, with clubbed +rifle, battling with a white-robed figure that hovered on widespread +wings on a level with the Englishman's head. As they ran, shouting, +forward, it was obvious to them that the weird and terrible apparition +was attempting to seize James; but when it saw the others coming to his +rescue, it desisted, flapping rapidly upward and away, its long, ragged +wings giving forth the peculiarly dismal notes which always +characterized the sound of its flying. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley fired at the vanishing menacer of their peace and safety; but +whether he scored a hit or not, none could tell, though, following the +shot, there was wafted back to them the same piercing wail that had on +other occasions frozen their marrow. +</P> + +<P> +Then they turned toward James, who lay face downward upon the ground, +trembling as with ague. For a time he could not even speak, but at +last regained sufficient composure to tell them how the thing must have +swooped silently upon him from above and behind as the first +premonition of danger he had received was when the long, clawlike +fingers had clutched him beneath either arm. In the melee his rifle +had been discharged and he had broken away at the same instant and +turned to defend himself with the butt. The rest they had seen. +</P> + +<P> +From that instant James was an absolutely broken man. He maintained +with shaking lips that his doom was sealed, that the thing had marked +him for its own, and that he was as good as dead, nor could any amount +of argument or raillery convince him to the contrary. He had seen +Tippet marked and claimed and now he had been marked. Nor were his +constant reiterations of this belief without effect upon the rest of +the party. Even Bradley felt depressed, though for the sake of the +others he managed to hide it beneath a show of confidence he was far +from feeling. +</P> + +<P> +And on the following day William James was killed by a saber-tooth +tiger—September 13, 1916. Beneath a jarrah tree on the stony plateau +on the northern edge of the Sto-lu country in the land that Time +forgot, he lies in a lonely grave marked by a rough headstone. +</P> + +<P> +Southward from his grave marched three grim and silent men. To the +best of Bradley's reckoning they were some twenty-five miles north of +Fort Dinosaur, and that they might reach the fort on the following day, +they plodded on until darkness overtook them. With comparative safety +fifteen miles away, they made camp at last; but there was no singing +now and no joking. In the bottom of his heart each prayed that they +might come safely through just this night, for they knew that during +the morrow they would make the final stretch, yet the nerves of each +were taut with strained anticipation of what gruesome thing might flap +down upon them from the black sky, marking another for its own. Who +would be the next? +</P> + +<P> +As was their custom, they took turns at guard, each man doing two hours +and then arousing the next. Brady had gone on from eight to ten, +followed by Sinclair from ten to twelve, then Bradley had been +awakened. Brady would stand the last guard from two to four, as they +had determined to start the moment that it became light enough to +insure comparative safety upon the trail. +</P> + +<P> +The snapping of a twig aroused Brady out of a dead sleep, and as he +opened his eyes, he saw that it was broad daylight and that at twenty +paces from him stood a huge lion. As the man sprang to his feet, his +rifle ready in his hand, Sinclair awoke and took in the scene in a +single swift glance. The fire was out and Bradley was nowhere in +sight. For a long moment the lion and the men eyed one another. The +latter had no mind to fire if the beast minded its own affairs—they +were only too glad to let it go its way if it would; but the lion was +of a different mind. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the long tail snapped stiffly erect, and as though it had been +attached to two trigger fingers the two rifles spoke in unison, for +both men knew this signal only too well—the immediate forerunner of a +deadly charge. As the brute's head had been raised, his spine had not +been visible; and so they did what they had learned by long experience +was best to do. Each covered a front leg, and as the tail snapped +aloft, fired. With a hideous roar the mighty flesh-eater lurched +forward to the ground with both front legs broken. It was an easy +accomplishment in the instant before the beast charged—after, it would +have been well-nigh an impossible feat. Brady stepped close in and +finished him with a shot in the base of the brain lest his terrific +roarings should attract his mate or others of their kind. +</P> + +<P> +Then the two men turned and looked at one another. "Where is +Lieutenant Bradley?" asked Sinclair. They walked to the fire. Only a +few smoking embers remained. A few feet away lay Bradley's rifle. +There was no evidence of a struggle. The two men circled about the +camp twice and on the last lap Brady stooped and picked up an object +which had lain about ten yards beyond the fire—it was Bradley's cap. +Again the two looked questioningly at one another, and then, +simultaneously, both pairs of eyes swung upward and searched the sky. +A moment later Brady was examining the ground about the spot where +Bradley's cap had lain. It was one of those little barren, sandy +stretches that they had found only upon this stony plateau. Brady's +own footsteps showed as plainly as black ink upon white paper; but his +was the only foot that had marred the smooth, windswept surface—there +was no sign that Bradley had crossed the spot upon the surface of the +ground, and yet his cap lay well toward the center of it. +</P> + +<P> +Breakfastless and with shaken nerves the two survivors plunged madly +into the long day's march. Both were strong, courageous, resourceful +men; but each had reached the limit of human nerve endurance and each +felt that he would rather die than spend another night in the hideous +open of that frightful land. Vivid in the mind of each was a picture +of Bradley's end, for though neither had witnessed the tragedy, both +could imagine almost precisely what had occurred. They did not discuss +it—they did not even mention it—yet all day long the thing was +uppermost in the mind of each and mingled with it a similar picture +with himself as victim should they fail to make Fort Dinosaur before +dark. +</P> + +<P> +And so they plunged forward at reckless speed, their clothes, their +hands, their faces torn by the retarding underbrush that reached forth +to hinder them. Again and again they fell; but be it to their credit +that the one always waited and helped the other and that into the mind +of neither entered the thought or the temptation to desert his +companion—they would reach the fort together if both survived, or +neither would reach it. +</P> + +<P> +They encountered the usual number of savage beasts and reptiles; but +they met them with a courageous recklessness born of desperation, and +by virtue of the very madness of the chances they took, they came +through unscathed and with the minimum of delay. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly after noon they reached the end of the plateau. Before them +was a drop of two hundred feet to the valley beneath. To the left, in +the distance, they could see the waters of the great inland sea that +covers a considerable portion of the area of the crater island of +Caprona and at a little lesser distance to the south of the cliffs they +saw a thin spiral of smoke arising above the tree-tops. +</P> + +<P> +The landscape was familiar—each recognized it immediately and knew +that that smoky column marked the spot where Dinosaur had stood. Was +the fort still there, or did the smoke arise from the smoldering embers +of the building they had helped to fashion for the housing of their +party? Who could say! +</P> + +<P> +Thirty precious minutes that seemed as many hours to the impatient men +were consumed in locating a precarious way from the summit to the base +of the cliffs that bounded the plateau upon the south, and then once +again they struck off upon level ground toward their goal. The closer +they approached the fort the greater became their apprehension that all +would not be well. They pictured the barracks deserted or the small +company massacred and the buildings in ashes. It was almost in a +frenzy of fear that they broke through the final fringe of jungle and +stood at last upon the verge of the open meadow a half-mile from Fort +Dinosaur. +</P> + +<P> +"Lord!" ejaculated Sinclair. "They are still there!" And he fell to +his knees, sobbing. +</P> + +<P> +Brady trembled like a leaf as he crossed himself and gave silent +thanks, for there before them stood the sturdy ramparts of Dinosaur and +from inside the inclosure rose a thin spiral of smoke that marked the +location of the cook-house. All was well, then, and their comrades +were preparing the evening meal! +</P> + +<P> +Across the clearing they raced as though they had not already covered +in a single day a trackless, primeval country that might easily have +required two days by fresh and untired men. Within hailing distance +they set up such a loud shouting that presently heads appeared above +the top of the parapet and soon answering shouts were rising from +within Fort Dinosaur. A moment later three men issued from the +inclosure and came forward to meet the survivors and listen to the +hurried story of the eleven eventful days since they had set out upon +their expedition to the barrier cliffs. They heard of the deaths of +Tippet and James and of the disappearance of Lieutenant Bradley, and a +new terror settled upon Dinosaur. +</P> + +<P> +Olson, the Irish engineer, with Whitely and Wilson constituted the +remnants of Dinosaur's defenders, and to Brady and Sinclair they +narrated the salient events that had transpired since Bradley and his +party had marched away on September 4th. They told them of the +infamous act of Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and his German crew who +had stolen the U-33, breaking their parole, and steaming away toward +the subterranean opening through the barrier cliffs that carried the +waters of the inland sea into the open Pacific beyond; and of the +cowardly shelling of the fort. +</P> + +<P> +They told of the disappearance of Miss La Rue in the night of September +11th, and of the departure of Bowen Tyler in search of her, accompanied +only by his Airedale, Nobs. Thus of the original party of eleven +Allies and nine Germans that had constituted the company of the U-33 +when she left English waters after her capture by the crew of the +English tug there were but five now to be accounted for at Fort +Dinosaur. Benson, Tippet, James, and one of the Germans were known to +be dead. It was assumed that Bradley, Tyler and the girl had already +succumbed to some of the savage denizens of Caspak, while the fate of +the Germans was equally unknown, though it might readily be believed +that they had made good their escape. They had had ample time to +provision the ship and the refining of the crude oil they had +discovered north of the fort could have insured them an ample supply to +carry them back to Germany. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter 2 +</H3> + +<P> +When Bradley went on guard at midnight, September 14th, his thoughts +were largely occupied with rejoicing that the night was almost spent +without serious mishap and that the morrow would doubtless see them all +safely returned to Fort Dinosaur. The hopefulness of his mood was +tinged with sorrow by recollection of the two members of his party who +lay back there in the savage wilderness and for whom there would never +again be a homecoming. +</P> + +<P> +No premonition of impending ill cast gloom over his anticipations for +the coming day, for Bradley was a man who, while taking every +precaution against possible danger, permitted no gloomy forebodings to +weigh down his spirit. When danger threatened, he was prepared; but he +was not forever courting disaster, and so it was that when about one +o'clock in the morning of the fifteenth, he heard the dismal flapping +of giant wings overhead, he was neither surprised nor frightened but +idly prepared for an attack he had known might reasonably be expected. +</P> + +<P> +The sound seemed to come from the south, and presently, low above the +trees in that direction, the man made out a dim, shadowy form circling +slowly about. Bradley was a brave man, yet so keen was the feeling of +revulsion engendered by the sight and sound of that grim, uncanny shape +that he distinctly felt the gooseflesh rise over the surface of his +body, and it was with difficulty that he refrained from following an +instinctive urge to fire upon the nocturnal intruder. Better, far +better would it have been had he given in to the insistent demand of +his subconscious mentor; but his almost fanatical obsession to save +ammunition proved now his undoing, for while his attention was riveted +upon the thing circling before him and while his ears were filled with +the beating of its wings, there swooped silently out of the black night +behind him another weird and ghostly shape. With its huge wings partly +closed for the dive and its white robe fluttering in its wake, the +apparition swooped down upon the Englishman. +</P> + +<P> +So great was the force of the impact when the thing struck Bradley +between the shoulders that the man was half stunned. His rifle flew +from his grasp; he felt clawlike talons of great strength seize him +beneath his arms and sweep him off his feet; and then the thing rose +swiftly with him, so swiftly that his cap was blown from his head by +the rush of air as he was borne rapidly upward into the inky sky and +the cry of warning to his companions was forced back into his lungs. +</P> + +<P> +The creature wheeled immediately toward the east and was at once joined +by its fellow, who circled them once and then fell in behind them. +Bradley now realized the strategy that the pair had used to capture him +and at once concluded that he was in the power of reasoning beings +closely related to the human race if not actually of it. +</P> + +<P> +Past experience suggested that the great wings were a part of some +ingenious mechanical device, for the limitations of the human mind, +which is always loath to accept aught beyond its own little experience, +would not permit him to entertain the idea that the creatures might be +naturally winged and at the same time of human origin. From his +position Bradley could not see the wings of his captor, nor in the +darkness had he been able to examine those of the second creature +closely when it circled before him. He listened for the puff of a +motor or some other telltale sound that would prove the correctness of +his theory. However, he was rewarded with nothing more than the +constant flap-flap. +</P> + +<P> +Presently, far below and ahead, he saw the waters of the inland sea, +and a moment later he was borne over them. Then his captor did that +which proved beyond doubt to Bradley that he was in the hands of human +beings who had devised an almost perfect scheme of duplicating, +mechanically, the wings of a bird—the thing spoke to its companion and +in a language that Bradley partially understood, since he recognized +words that he had learned from the savage races of Caspak. From this +he judged that they were human, and being human, he knew that they +could have no natural wings—for who had ever seen a human being so +adorned! Therefore their wings must be mechanical. Thus Bradley +reasoned—thus most of us reason; not by what might be possible; but by +what has fallen within the range of our experience. +</P> + +<P> +What he heard them say was to the effect that having covered half the +distance the burden would now be transferred from one to the other. +Bradley wondered how the exchange was to be accomplished. He knew that +those giant wings would not permit the creatures to approach one +another closely enough to effect the transfer in this manner; but he +was soon to discover that they had other means of doing it. +</P> + +<P> +He felt the thing that carried him rise to a greater altitude, and +below he glimpsed momentarily the second white-robed figure; then the +creature above sounded a low call, it was answered from below, and +instantly Bradley felt the clutching talons release him; gasping for +breath, he hurtled downward through space. +</P> + +<P> +For a terrifying instant, pregnant with horror, Bradley fell; then +something swooped for him from behind, another pair of talons clutched +him beneath the arms, his downward rush was checked, within another +hundred feet, and close to the surface of the sea he was again borne +upward. As a hawk dives for a songbird on the wing, so this great, +human bird dived for Bradley. It was a harrowing experience, but soon +over, and once again the captive was being carried swiftly toward the +east and what fate he could not even guess. +</P> + +<P> +It was immediately following his transfer in mid-air that Bradley made +out the shadowy form of a large island far ahead, and not long after, +he realized that this must be the intended destination of his captors. +Nor was he mistaken. Three quarters of an hour from the time of his +seizure his captors dropped gently to earth in the strangest city that +human eye had ever rested upon. Just a brief glimpse of his immediate +surroundings vouchsafed Bradley before he was whisked into the interior +of one of the buildings; but in that momentary glance he saw strange +piles of stone and wood and mud fashioned into buildings of all +conceivable sizes and shapes, sometimes piled high on top of one +another, sometimes standing alone in an open court-way, but usually +crowded and jammed together, so that there were no streets or alleys +between them other than a few which ended almost as soon as they began. +The principal doorways appeared to be in the roofs, and it was through +one of these that Bradley was inducted into the dark interior of a +low-ceiled room. Here he was pushed roughly into a corner where he +tripped over a thick mat, and there his captors left him. He heard +them moving about in the darkness for a moment, and several times he +saw their large luminous eyes glowing in the dark. Finally, these +disappeared and silence reigned, broken only by the breathing of the +creature which indicated to the Englishman that they were sleeping +somewhere in the same apartment. +</P> + +<P> +It was now evident that the mat upon the floor was intended for +sleeping purposes and that the rough shove that had sent him to it had +been a rude invitation to repose. After taking stock of himself and +finding that he still had his pistol and ammunition, some matches, a +little tobacco, a canteen full of water and a razor, Bradley made +himself comfortable upon the mat and was soon asleep, knowing that an +attempted escape in the darkness without knowledge of his surroundings +would be predoomed to failure. +</P> + +<P> +When he awoke, it was broad daylight, and the sight that met his eyes +made him rub them again and again to assure himself that they were +really open and that he was not dreaming. A broad shaft of morning +light poured through the open doorway in the ceiling of the room which +was about thirty feet square, or roughly square, being irregular in +shape, one side curving outward, another being indented by what might +have been the corner of another building jutting into it, another +alcoved by three sides of an octagon, while the fourth was serpentine +in contour. Two windows let in more daylight, while two doors +evidently gave ingress to other rooms. The walls were partially ceiled +with thin strips of wood, nicely fitted and finished, partially +plastered and the rest covered with a fine, woven cloth. Figures of +reptiles and beasts were painted without regard to any uniform scheme +here and there upon the walls. A striking feature of the decorations +consisted of several engaged columns set into the walls at no regular +intervals, the capitals of each supporting a human skull the cranium of +which touched the ceiling, as though the latter was supported by these +grim reminders either of departed relatives or of some hideous tribal +rite—Bradley could not but wonder which. +</P> + +<P> +Yet it was none of these things that filled him with greatest +wonder—no, it was the figures of the two creatures that had captured +him and brought him hither. At one end of the room a stout pole about +two inches in diameter ran horizontally from wall to wall some six or +seven feet from the floor, its ends securely set in two of the columns. +Hanging by their knees from this perch, their heads downward and their +bodies wrapped in their huge wings, slept the creatures of the night +before—like two great, horrid bats they hung, asleep. +</P> + +<P> +As Bradley gazed upon them in wide-eyed astonishment, he saw plainly +that all his intelligence, all his acquired knowledge through years of +observation and experience were set at naught by the simple evidence of +the fact that stood out glaringly before his eyes—the creatures' wings +were not mechanical devices but as natural appendages, growing from +their shoulderblades, as were their arms and legs. He saw, too, that +except for their wings the pair bore a strong resemblance to human +beings, though fashioned in a most grotesque mold. +</P> + +<P> +As he sat gazing at them, one of the two awoke, separated his wings to +release his arms that had been folded across his breast, placed his +hands upon the floor, dropped his feet and stood erect. For a moment +he stretched his great wings slowly, solemnly blinking his large round +eyes. Then his gaze fell upon Bradley. The thin lips drew back +tightly against yellow teeth in a grimace that was nothing but hideous. +It could not have been termed a smile, and what emotion it registered +the Englishman was at a loss to guess. No expression whatever altered +the steady gaze of those large, round eyes; there was no color upon the +pasty, sunken cheeks. A death's head grimaced as though a man long +dead raised his parchment-covered skull from an old grave. +</P> + +<P> +The creature stood about the height of an average man but appeared much +taller from the fact that the joints of his long wings rose fully a +foot above his hairless head. The bare arms were long and sinewy, +ending in strong, bony hands with clawlike fingers—almost talonlike in +their suggestiveness. The white robe was separated in front, revealing +skinny legs and the further fact that the thing wore but the single +garment, which was of fine, woven cloth. From crown to sole the +portions of the body exposed were entirely hairless, and as he noted +this, Bradley also noted for the first time the cause of much of the +seeming expressionlessness of the creature's countenance—it had +neither eye-brows or lashes. The ears were small and rested flat +against the skull, which was noticeably round, though the face was +quite flat. The creature had small feet, beautifully arched and plump, +but so out of keeping with every other physical attribute it possessed +as to appear ridiculous. +</P> + +<P> +After eyeing Bradley for a moment the thing approached him. "Where +from?" it asked. +</P> + +<P> +"England," replied Bradley, as briefly. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is England and what?" pursued the questioner. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a country far from here," answered the Englishman. +</P> + +<P> +"Are your people cor-sva-jo or cos-ata-lu?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not understand you," said Bradley; "and now suppose you answer a +few questions. Who are you? What country is this? Why did you bring +me here?" +</P> + +<P> +Again the sepulchral grimace. "We are Wieroos—Luata is our father. +Caspak is ours. This, our country, is called Oo-oh. We brought you +here for (literally) Him Who Speaks for Luata to gaze upon and +question. He would know from whence you came and why; but principally +if you be cos-ata-lu." +</P> + +<P> +"And if I am not cos—whatever you call the bloomin' beast—what of it?" +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroo raised his wings in a very human shrug and waved his bony +claws toward the human skulls supporting the ceiling. His gesture was +eloquent; but he embellished it by remarking, "And possibly if you are." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm hungry," snapped Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroo motioned him to one of the doors which he threw open, +permitting Bradley to pass out onto another roof on a level lower than +that upon which they had landed earlier in the morning. By daylight +the city appeared even more remarkable than in the moonlight, though +less weird and unreal. The houses of all shapes and sizes were piled +about as a child might pile blocks of various forms and colors. He saw +now that there were what might be called streets or alleys, but they +ran in baffling turns and twists, nor ever reached a destination, +always ending in a dead wall where some Wieroo had built a house across +them. +</P> + +<P> +Upon each house was a slender column supporting a human skull. +Sometimes the columns were at one corner of the roof, sometimes at +another, or again they rose from the center or near the center, and the +columns were of varying heights, from that of a man to those which rose +twenty feet above their roofs. The skulls were, as a rule, +painted—blue or white, or in combinations of both colors. The most +effective were painted blue with the teeth white and the eye-sockets +rimmed with white. +</P> + +<P> +There were other skulls—thousands of them—tens, hundreds of +thousands. They rimmed the eaves of every house, they were set in the +plaster of the outer walls and at no great distance from where Bradley +stood rose a round tower built entirely of human skulls. And the city +extended in every direction as far as the Englishman could see. +</P> + +<P> +All about him Wieroos were moving across the roofs or winging through +the air. The sad sound of their flapping wings rose and fell like a +solemn dirge. Most of them were appareled all in white, like his +captors; but others had markings of red or blue or yellow slashed +across the front of their robes. +</P> + +<P> +His guide pointed toward a doorway in an alley below them. "Go there +and eat," he commanded, "and then come back. You cannot escape. If +any question you, say that you belong to Fosh-bal-soj. There is the +way." And this time he pointed to the top of a ladder which protruded +above the eaves of the roof near-by. Then he turned and reentered the +house. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley looked about him. No, he could not escape—that seemed +evident. The city appeared interminable, and beyond the city, if not a +savage wilderness filled with wild beasts, there was the broad inland +sea infested with horrid monsters. No wonder his captor felt safe in +turning him loose in Oo-oh—he wondered if that was the name of the +country or the city and if there were other cities like this upon the +island. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly he descended the ladder to the seemingly deserted alley which +was paved with what appeared to be large, round cobblestones. He +looked again at the smooth, worn pavement, and a rueful grin crossed +his features—the alley was paved with skulls. "The City of Human +Skulls," mused Bradley. "They must have been collectin' 'em since +Adam," he thought, and then he crossed and entered the building through +the doorway that had been pointed out to him. +</P> + +<P> +Inside he found a large room in which were many Wieroos seated before +pedestals the tops of which were hollowed out so that they resembled +the ordinary bird drinking- and bathing-fonts so commonly seen on +suburban lawns. A seat protruded from each of the four sides of the +pedestals—just a flat board with a support running from its outer end +diagonally to the base of the pedestal. +</P> + +<P> +As Bradley entered, some of the Wieroos espied him, and a dismal wail +arose. Whether it was a greeting or a threat, Bradley did not know. +Suddenly from a dark alcove another Wieroo rushed out toward him. "Who +are you?" he cried. "What do you want?" +</P> + +<P> +"Fosh-bal-soj sent me here to eat," replied Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you belong to Fosh-bal-soj?" asked the other. +</P> + +<P> +"That appears to be what he thinks," answered the Englishman. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you cos-ata-lu?" demanded the Wieroo. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me something to eat or I'll be all of that," replied Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroo looked puzzled. "Sit here, jaal-lu," he snapped, and +Bradley sat down unconscious of the fact that he had been insulted by +being called a hyena-man, an appellation of contempt in Caspak. +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroo had seated him at a pedestal by himself, and as he sat +waiting for what was next to transpire, he looked about him at the +Wieroo in his immediate vicinity. He saw that in each font was a +quantity of food, and that each Wieroo was armed with a wooden skewer, +sharpened at one end; with which they carried solid portions of food to +their mouths. At the other end of the skewer was fastened a small +clam-shell. This was used to scoop up the smaller and softer portions +of the repast into which all four of the occupants of each table dipped +impartially. The Wieroo leaned far over their food, scooping it up +rapidly and with much noise, and so great was their haste that a part +of each mouthful always fell back into the common dish; and when they +choked, by reason of the rapidity with which they attempted to bolt +their food, they often lost it all. Bradley was glad that he had a +pedestal all to himself. +</P> + +<P> +Soon the keeper of the place returned with a wooden bowl filled with +food. This he dumped into Bradley's "trough," as he already thought of +it. The Englishman was glad that he could not see into the dark alcove +or know what were all the ingredients that constituted the mess before +him, for he was very hungry. +</P> + +<P> +After the first mouthful he cared even less to investigate the +antecedents of the dish, for he found it peculiarly palatable. It +seemed to consist of a combination of meat, fruits, vegetables, small +fish and other undistinguishable articles of food all seasoned to +produce a gastronomic effect that was at once baffling and delicious. +</P> + +<P> +When he had finished, his trough was empty, and then he commenced to +wonder who was to settle for his meal. As he waited for the proprietor +to return, he fell to examining the dish from which he had eaten and +the pedestal upon which it rested. The font was of stone worn smooth +by long-continued use, the four outer edges hollowed and polished by +the contact of the countless Wieroo bodies that had leaned against them +for how long a period of time Bradley could not even guess. Everything +about the place carried the impression of hoary age. The carved +pedestals were black with use, the wooden seats were worn hollow, the +floor of stone slabs was polished by the contact of possibly millions +of naked feet and worn away in the aisles between the pedestals so that +the latter rested upon little mounds of stone several inches above the +general level of the floor. +</P> + +<P> +Finally, seeing that no one came to collect, Bradley arose and started +for the doorway. He had covered half the distance when he heard the +voice of mine host calling to him: "Come back, jaal-lu," screamed the +Wieroo; and Bradley did as he was bid. As he approached the creature +which stood now behind a large, flat-topped pedestal beside the alcove, +he saw lying upon the smooth surface something that almost elicited a +gasp of astonishment from him—a simple, common thing it was, or would +have been almost anywhere in the world but Caspak—a square bit of +paper! +</P> + +<P> +And on it, in a fine hand, written compactly, were many strange +hieroglyphics! These remarkable creatures, then, had a written as well +as a spoken language and besides the art of weaving cloth possessed +that of paper-making. Could it be that such grotesque beings +represented the high culture of the human race within the boundaries of +Caspak? Had natural selection produced during the countless ages of +Caspakian life a winged monstrosity that represented the earthly +pinnacle of man's evolution? +</P> + +<P> +Bradley had noted something of the obvious indications of a gradual +evolution from ape to spearman as exemplified by the several +overlapping races of Alalus, club-men and hatchet-men that formed the +connecting links between the two extremes with which he, had come in +contact. He had heard of the Krolus and the Galus—reputed to be still +higher in the plane of evolution—and now he had indisputable evidence +of a race possessing refinements of civilization eons in advance of the +spear-men. The conjectures awakened by even a momentary consideration +of the possibilities involved became at once as wildly bizarre as the +insane imaginings of a drug addict. +</P> + +<P> +As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the Wieroo held out a pen +of bone fixed to a wooden holder and at the same time made a sign that +Bradley was to write upon the paper. It was difficult to judge from +the expressionless features of the Wieroo what was passing in the +creature's mind, but Bradley could not but feel that the thing cast a +supercilious glance upon him as much as to say, "Of course you do not +know how to write, you poor, low creature; but you can make your mark." +</P> + +<P> +Bradley seized the pen and in a clear, bold hand wrote: "John Bradley, +England." The Wieroo showed evidences of consternation as it seized +the piece of paper and examined the writing with every mark of +incredulity and surprise. Of course it could make nothing of the +strange characters; but it evidently accepted them as proof that +Bradley possessed knowledge of a written language of his own, for +following the Englishman's entry it made a few characters of its own. +</P> + +<P> +"You will come here again just before Lua hides his face behind the +great cliff," announced the creature, "unless before that you are +summoned by Him Who Speaks for Luata, in which case you will not have +to eat any more." +</P> + +<P> +"Reassuring cuss," thought Bradley as he turned and left the building. +</P> + +<P> +Outside were several Wieroos that had been eating at the pedestals +within. They immediately surrounded him, asking all sorts of +questions, plucking at his garments, his ammunition-belt and his +pistol. Their demeanor was entirely different from what it had been +within the eating-place and Bradley was to learn that a house of food +was sanctuary for him, since the stern laws of the Wieroos forbade +altercations within such walls. Now they were rough and threatening, +as with wings half spread they hovered about him in menacing attitudes, +barring his way to the ladder leading to the roof from whence he had +descended; but the Englishman was not one to brook interference for +long. He attempted at first to push his way past them, and then when +one seized his arm and jerked him roughly back, Bradley swung upon the +creature and with a heavy blow to the jaw felled it. +</P> + +<P> +Instantly pandemonium reigned. Loud wails arose, great wings opened +and closed with a loud, beating noise and many clawlike hands reached +forth to clutch him. Bradley struck to right and left. He dared not +use his pistol for fear that once they discovered its power he would be +overcome by weight of numbers and relieved of possession of what he +considered his trump card, to be reserved until the last moment that it +might be used to aid in his escape, for already the Englishman was +planning, though almost hopelessly, such an attempt. +</P> + +<P> +A few blows convinced Bradley that the Wieroos were arrant cowards and +that they bore no weapons, for after two or three had fallen beneath +his fists the others formed a circle about him, but at a safe distance +and contented themselves with threatening and blustering, while those +whom he had felled lay upon the pavement without trying to arise, the +while they moaned and wailed in lugubrious chorus. +</P> + +<P> +Again Bradley strode toward the ladder, and this time the circle parted +before him; but no sooner had he ascended a few rungs than he was +seized by one foot and an effort made to drag him down. With a quick +backward glance the Englishman, clinging firmly to the ladder with both +hands, drew up his free foot and with all the strength of a powerful +leg, planted a heavy shoe squarely in the flat face of the Wieroo that +held him. Shrieking horribly, the creature clapped both hands to its +face and sank to the ground while Bradley clambered quickly the +remaining distance to the roof, though no sooner did he reach the top +of the ladder than a great flapping of wings beneath him warned him +that the Wieroos were rising after him. A moment later they swarmed +about his head as he ran for the apartment in which he had spent the +early hours of the morning after his arrival. +</P> + +<P> +It was but a short distance from the top of the ladder to the doorway, +and Bradley had almost reached his goal when the door flew open and +Fosh-bal-soj stepped out. Immediately the pursuing Wieroos demanded +punishment of the jaal-lu who had so grievously maltreated them. +Fosh-bal-soj listened to their complaints and then with a sudden sweep +of his right hand seized Bradley by the scruff of the neck and hurled +him sprawling through the doorway upon the floor of the chamber. +</P> + +<P> +So sudden was the assault and so surprising the strength of the Wieroo +that the Englishman was taken completely off his guard. When he arose, +the door was closed, and Fosh-bal-soj was standing over him, his +hideous face contorted into an expression of rage and hatred. +</P> + +<P> +"Hyena, snake, lizard!" he screamed. "You would dare lay your low, +vile, profaning hands upon even the lowliest of the Wieroos—the sacred +chosen of Luata!" +</P> + +<P> +Bradley was mad, and so he spoke in a very low, calm voice while a +half-smile played across his lips but his cold, gray eyes were +unsmiling. +</P> + +<P> +"What you did to me just now," he said, "—I am going to kill you for +that," and even as he spoke, he launched himself at the throat of +Fosh-bal-soj. The other Wieroo that had been asleep when Bradley left +the chamber had departed, and the two were alone. Fosh-bal-soj +displayed little of the cowardice of those that had attacked Bradley in +the alleyway, but that may have been because he had so slight +opportunity, for Bradley had him by the throat before he could utter a +cry and with his right hand struck him heavily and repeatedly upon his +face and over his heart—ugly, smashing, short-arm jabs of the sort +that take the fight out of a man in quick time. +</P> + +<P> +But Fosh-bal-soj was of no mind to die passively. He clawed and struck +at Bradley while with his great wings he attempted to shield himself +from the merciless rain of blows, at the same time searching for a hold +upon his antagonist's throat. Presently he succeeded in tripping the +Englishman, and together the two fell heavily to the floor, Bradley +underneath, and at the same instant the Wieroo fastened his long talons +about the other's windpipe. +</P> + +<P> +Fosh-bal-soj was possessed of enormous strength and he was fighting for +his life. The Englishman soon realized that the battle was going +against him. Already his lungs were pounding painfully for air as he +reached for his pistol. It was with difficulty that he drew it from +its holster, and even then, with death staring him in the face, he +thought of his precious ammunition. "Can't waste it," he thought; and +slipping his fingers to the barrel he raised the weapon and struck +Fosh-bal-soj a terrific blow between the eyes. Instantly the clawlike +fingers released their hold, and the creature sank limply to the floor +beside Bradley, who lay for several minutes gasping painfully in an +effort to regain his breath. +</P> + +<P> +When he was able, he rose, and leaned close over the Wieroo, lying +silent and motionless, his wings drooping limply and his great, round +eyes staring blankly toward the ceiling. A brief examination convinced +Bradley that the thing was dead, and with the conviction came an +overwhelming sense of the dangers which must now confront him; but how +was he to escape? +</P> + +<P> +His first thought was to find some means for concealing the evidence of +his deed and then to make a bold effort to escape. Stepping to the +second door he pushed it gently open and peered in upon what seemed to +be a store room. In it was a litter of cloth such as the Wieroos' +robes were fashioned from, a number of chests painted blue and white, +with white hieroglyphics painted in bold strokes upon the blue and blue +hieroglyphics upon the white. In one corner was a pile of human skulls +reaching almost to the ceiling and in another a stack of dried Wieroo +wings. The chamber was as irregularly shaped as the other and had but +a single window and a second door at the further end, but was without +the exit through the roof and, most important of all, there was no +creature of any sort in it. +</P> + +<P> +As quickly as possible Bradley dragged the dead Wieroo through the +doorway and closed the door; then he looked about for a place to +conceal the corpse. One of the chests was large enough to hold the +body if the knees were bent well up, and with this idea in view Bradley +approached the chest to open it. The lid was made in two pieces, each +being hinged at an opposite end of the chest and joining nicely where +they met in the center of the chest, making a snug, well-fitting joint. +There was no lock. Bradley raised one half the cover and looked in. +With a smothered "By Jove!" he bent closer to examine the contents—the +chest was about half filled with an assortment of golden trinkets. +There were what appeared to be bracelets, anklets and brooches of +virgin gold. +</P> + +<P> +Realizing that there was no room in the chest for the body of the +Wieroo, Bradley turned to seek another means of concealing the evidence +of his crime. There was a space between the chests and the wall, and +into this he forced the corpse, piling the discarded robes upon it +until it was entirely hidden from sight; but now how was he to make +good his escape in the bright glare of that early Spring day? +</P> + +<P> +He walked to the door at the far end of the apartment and cautiously +opened it an inch. Before him and about two feet away was the blank +wall of another building. Bradley opened the door a little farther and +looked in both directions. There was no one in sight to the left over +a considerable expanse of roof-top, and to the right another building +shut off his line of vision at about twenty feet. Slipping out, he +turned to the right and in a few steps found a narrow passageway +between two buildings. Turning into this he passed about half its +length when he saw a Wieroo appear at the opposite end and halt. The +creature was not looking down the passageway; but at any moment it +might turn its eyes toward him, when he would be immediately discovered. +</P> + +<P> +To Bradley's left was a triangular niche in the wall of one of the +houses and into this he dodged, thus concealing himself from the sight +of the Wieroo. Beside him was a door painted a vivid yellow and +constructed after the same fashion as the other Wieroo doors he had +seen, being made up of countless narrow strips of wood from four to six +inches in length laid on in patches of about the same width, the strips +in adjacent patches never running in the same direction. The result +bore some resemblance to a crazy patchwork quilt, which was heightened +when, as in one of the doors he had seen, contiguous patches were +painted different colors. The strips appeared to have been bound +together and to the underlying framework of the door with gut or fiber +and also glued, after which a thick coating of paint had been applied. +One edge of the door was formed of a straight, round pole about two +inches in diameter that protruded at top and bottom, the projections +setting in round holes in both lintel and sill forming the axis upon +which the door swung. An eccentric disk upon the inside face of the +door engaged a slot in the frame when it was desired to secure the door +against intruders. +</P> + +<P> +As Bradley stood flattened against the wall waiting for the Wieroo to +move on, he heard the creature's wings brushing against the sides of +the buildings as it made its way down the narrow passage in his +direction. As the yellow door offered the only means of escape without +detection, the Englishman decided to risk whatever might lie beyond it, +and so, boldly pushing it in, he crossed the threshold and entered a +small apartment. +</P> + +<P> +As he did so, he heard a muffled ejaculation of surprise, and turning +his eyes in the direction from whence the sound had come, he beheld a +wide-eyed girl standing flattened against the opposite wall, an +expression of incredulity upon her face. At a glance he saw that she +was of no race of humans that he had come in contact with since his +arrival upon Caprona—there was no trace about her form or features of +any relationship to those low orders of men, nor was she appareled as +they—or, rather, she did not entirely lack apparel as did most of them. +</P> + +<P> +A soft hide fell from her left shoulder to just below her left hip on +one side and almost to her right knee on the other, a loose girdle was +about her waist, and golden ornaments such as he had seen in the +blue-and-white chest encircled her arms and legs, while a golden fillet +with a triangular diadem bound her heavy hair above her brows. Her +skin was white as from long confinement within doors; but it was clear +and fine. Her figure, but partially concealed by the soft deerskin, +was all curves of symmetry and youthful grace, while her features might +easily have been the envy of the most feted of Continental beauties. +</P> + +<P> +If the girl was surprised by the sudden appearance of Bradley, the +latter was absolutely astounded to discover so wondrous a creature +among the hideous inhabitants of the City of Human Skulls. For a +moment the two looked at one another in unconcealed consternation, and +then Bradley spoke, using to the best of his poor ability, the common +tongue of Caspak. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you," he asked, "and from where do you come? Do not tell me +that you are a Wieroo." +</P> + +<P> +"No," she replied, "I am no Wieroo." And she shuddered slightly as she +pronounced the word. "I am a Galu; but who and what are you? I am +sure that you are no Galu, from your garments; but you are like the +Galus in other respects. I know that you are not of this frightful +city, for I have been here for almost ten moons, and never have I seen +a male Galu brought hither before, nor are there such as you and I, +other than prisoners in the land of Oo-oh, and these are all females. +Are you a prisoner, then?" +</P> + +<P> +He told her briefly who and what he was, though he doubted if she +understood, and from her he learned that she had been a prisoner there +for many months; but for what purpose he did not then learn, as in the +midst of their conversation the yellow door swung open and a Wieroo +with a robe slashed with yellow entered. +</P> + +<P> +At sight of Bradley the creature became furious. "Whence came this +reptile?" it demanded of the girl. "How long has it been here with +you?" +</P> + +<P> +"It came through the doorway just ahead of you," Bradley answered for +the girl. +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroo looked relieved. "It is well for the girl that this is so," +it said, "for now only you will have to die." And stepping to the door +the creature raised its voice in one of those uncanny, depressing wails. +</P> + +<P> +The Englishman looked toward the girl. "Shall I kill it?" he asked, +half drawing his pistol. "What is best to do?—I do not wish to +endanger you." +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroo backed toward the door. "Defiler!" it screamed. "You dare +to threaten one of the sacred chosen of Luata!" +</P> + +<P> +"Do not kill him," cried the girl, "for then there could be no hope for +you. That you are here, alive, shows that they may not intend to kill +you at all, and so there is a chance for you if you do not anger them; +but touch him in violence and your bleached skull will top the loftiest +pedestal of Oo-oh." +</P> + +<P> +"And what of you?" asked Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"I am already doomed," replied the girl; "I am cos-ata-lo." +</P> + +<P> +"Cos-ata-lo! cos-ata-lu!" What did these phrases mean that they were +so oft repeated by the denizens of Oo-oh? Lu and lo, Bradley knew to +mean man and woman; ata; was employed variously to indicate life, eggs, +young, reproduction and kindred subjects; cos was a negative; but in +combination they were meaningless to the European. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean they will kill you?" asked Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"I but wish that they would," replied the girl. "My fate is to be +worse than death—in just a few nights more, with the coming of the new +moon." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor she-snake!" snapped the Wieroo. "You are to become sacred above +all other shes. He Who Speaks for Luata has chosen you for himself. +Today you go to his temple—" the Wieroo used a phrase meaning +literally High Place—"where you will receive the sacred commands." +</P> + +<P> +The girl shuddered and cast a sorrowful glance toward Bradley. "Ah," +she sighed, "if I could but see my beloved country once again!" +</P> + +<P> +The man stepped suddenly close to her side before the Wieroo could +interpose and in a low voice asked her if there was no way by which he +might encompass her escape. She shook her head sorrowfully. "Even if +we escaped the city," she replied, "there is the big water between the +island of Oo-oh and the Galu shore." +</P> + +<P> +"And what is beyond the city, if we could leave it?" pursued Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"I may only guess from what I have heard since I was brought here," +she answered; "but by reports and chance remarks I take it to be a +beautiful land in which there are but few wild beasts and no men, for +only the Wieroos live upon this island and they dwell always in cities +of which there are three, this being the largest. The others are at +the far end of the island, which is about three marches from end to end +and at its widest point about one march." +</P> + +<P> +From his own experience and from what the natives on the mainland had +told him, Bradley knew that ten miles was a good day's march in Caspak, +owing to the fact that at most points it was a trackless wilderness and +at all times travelers were beset by hideous beasts and reptiles that +greatly impeded rapid progress. +</P> + +<P> +The two had spoken rapidly but were now interrupted by the advent +through the opening in the roof of several Wieroos who had come in +answer to the alarm it of the yellow slashing had uttered. +</P> + +<P> +"This jaal-lu," cried the offended one, "has threatened me. Take its +hatchet from it and make it fast where it can do no harm until He Who +Speaks for Luata has said what shall be done with it. It is one of +those strange creatures that Fosh-bal-soj discovered first above the +Band-lu country and followed back toward the beginning. He Who Speaks +for Luata sent Fosh-bal-soj to fetch him one of the creatures, and here +it is. It is hoped that it may be from another world and hold the +secret of the cos-ata-lus." +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroos approached boldly to take Bradley's "hatchet" from him, +their leader having indicated the pistol hanging in its holster at the +Englishman's hip, but the first one went reeling backward against his +fellows from the blow to the chin which Bradley followed up with a rush +and the intention to clean up the room in record time; but he had +reckoned without the opening in the roof. Two were down and a great +wailing and moaning was arising when reinforcements appeared from +above. Bradley did not see them; but the girl did, and though she +cried out a warning, it came too late for him to avoid a large Wieroo +who dived headforemost for him, striking him between the shoulders and +bearing him to the floor. Instantly a dozen more were piling on top of +him. His pistol was wrenched from its holster and he was securely +pinioned down by the weight of numbers. +</P> + +<P> +At a word from the Wieroo of the yellow slashing who evidently was a +person of authority, one left and presently returned with fiber ropes +with which Bradley was tightly bound. +</P> + +<P> +"Now bear him to the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," directed the chief +Wieroo, "and one take the word of all that has passed to Him Who Speaks +for Luata." +</P> + +<P> +Each of the creatures raised a hand, the back against its face, as +though in salute. One seized Bradley and carried him through the +yellow doorway to the roof from whence it rose upon its wide-spread +wings and flapped off across the roof-tops of Oo-oh with its heavy +burden clutched in its long talons. +</P> + +<P> +Below him Bradley could see the city stretching away to a distance on +every hand. It was not as large as he had imagined, though he judged +that it was at least three miles square. The houses were piled in +indescribable heaps, sometimes to a height of a hundred feet. The +streets and alleys were short and crooked and there were many areas +where buildings had been wedged in so closely that no light could +possibly reach the lowest tiers, the entire surface of the ground being +packed solidly with them. +</P> + +<P> +The colors were varied and startling, the architecture amazing. Many +roofs were cup or saucer-shaped with a small hole in the center of +each, as though they had been constructed to catch rain-water and +conduct it to a reservoir beneath; but nearly all the others had the +large opening in the top that Bradley had seen used by these flying men +in lieu of doorways. At all levels were the myriad poles surmounted by +grinning skulls; but the two most prominent features of the city were +the round tower of human skulls that Bradley had noted earlier in the +day and another and much larger edifice near the center of the city. +As they approached it, Bradley saw that it was a huge building rising a +hundred feet in height from the ground and that it stood alone in the +center of what might have been called a plaza in some other part of the +world. Its various parts, however, were set together with the same +strange irregularity that marked the architecture of the city as a +whole; and it was capped by an enormous saucer-shaped roof which +projected far beyond the eaves, having the appearance of a colossal +Chinese coolie hat, inverted. +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroo bearing Bradley passed over one corner of the open space +about the large building, revealing to the Englishman grass and trees +and running water beneath. They passed the building and about five +hundred yards beyond the creature alighted on the roof of a square, +blue building surmounted by seven poles bearing seven skulls. This +then, thought Bradley, is the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. +</P> + +<P> +Over the opening in the roof was a grated covering, and this the Wieroo +removed. The thing then tied a piece of fiber rope to one of Bradley's +ankles and rolled him over the edge of the opening. All was dark below +and for an instant the Englishman came as near to experiencing real +terror as he had ever come in his life before. As he rolled off into +the black abyss he felt the rope tighten about his ankle and an instant +later he was stopped with a sudden jerk to swing pendulumlike, head +downward. Then the creature lowered away until Bradley's head came in +sudden and painful contact with the floor below, after which the Wieroo +let loose of the rope entirely and the Englishman's body crashed to the +wooden planking. He felt the free end of the rope dropped upon him and +heard the grating being slid into place above him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter 3 +</H3> + +<P> +Half-stunned, Bradley lay for a minute as he had fallen and then slowly +and painfully wriggled into a less uncomfortable position. He could +see nothing of his surroundings in the gloom about him until after a +few minutes his eyes became accustomed to the dark interior when he +rolled them from side to side in survey of his prison. +</P> + +<P> +He discovered himself to be in a bare room which was windowless, nor +could he see any other opening than that through which he had been +lowered. In one corner was a huddled mass that might have been almost +anything from a bundle of rags to a dead body. +</P> + +<P> +Almost immediately after he had taken his bearings Bradley commenced +working with his bonds. He was a man of powerful physique, and as from +the first he had been imbued with a belief that the fiber ropes were +too weak to hold him, he worked on with a firm conviction that sooner +or later they would part to his strainings. After a matter of five +minutes he was positive that the strands about his wrists were +beginning to give; but he was compelled to rest then from exhaustion. +</P> + +<P> +As he lay, his eyes rested upon the bundle in the corner, and presently +he could have sworn that the thing moved. With eyes straining through +the gloom the man lay watching the grim and sinister thing in the +corner. Perhaps his overwrought nerves were playing a sorry joke upon +him. He thought of this and also that his condition of utter +helplessness might still further have stimulated his imagination. He +closed his eyes and sought to relax his muscles and his nerves; but +when he looked again, he knew that he had not been mistaken—the thing +had moved; now it lay in a slightly altered form and farther from the +wall. It was nearer him. +</P> + +<P> +With renewed strength Bradley strained at his bonds, his fascinated +gaze still glued upon the shapeless bundle. No longer was there any +doubt that it moved—he saw it rise in the center several inches and +then creep closer to him. It sank and arose again—a headless, +hideous, monstrous thing of menace. Its very silence rendered it the +more terrible. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley was a brave man; ordinarily his nerves were of steel; but to be +at the mercy of some unknown and nameless horror, to be unable to +defend himself—it was these things that almost unstrung him, for at +best he was only human. To stand in the open, even with the odds all +against him; to be able to use his fists, to put up some sort of +defense, to inflict punishment upon his adversary—then he could face +death with a smile. It was not death that he feared now—it was that +horror of the unknown that is part of the fiber of every son of woman. +</P> + +<P> +Closer and closer came the shapeless mass. Bradley lay motionless and +listened. What was that he heard! Breathing? He could not be +mistaken—and then from out of the bundle of rags issued a hollow +groan. Bradley felt his hair rise upon his head. He struggled with +the slowly parting strands that held him. The thing beside him rose up +higher than before and the Englishman could have sworn that he saw a +single eye peering at him from among the tumbled cloth. For a moment +the bundle remained motionless—only the sound of breathing issued from +it, then there broke from it a maniacal laugh. +</P> + +<P> +Cold sweat stood upon Bradley's brow as he tugged for liberation. He +saw the rags rise higher and higher above him until at last they +tumbled upon the floor from the body of a naked man—a thin, a bony, a +hideous caricature of man, that mouthed and mummed and, wabbling upon +its weak and shaking legs, crumpled to the floor again, still +laughing—laughing horribly. +</P> + +<P> +It crawled toward Bradley. "Food! Food!" it screamed. "There is a +way out! There is a way out!" +</P> + +<P> +Dragging itself to his side the creature slumped upon the Englishman's +breast. "Food!" it shrilled as with its bony fingers and its teeth, it +sought the man's bare throat. +</P> + +<P> +"Food! There is a way out!" Bradley felt teeth upon his jugular. He +turned and twisted, shaking himself free for an instant; but once more +with hideous persistence the thing fastened itself upon him. The weak +jaws were unable to send the dull teeth through the victim's flesh; but +Bradley felt it pawing, pawing, pawing, like a monstrous rat, seeking +his life's blood. +</P> + +<P> +The skinny arms now embraced his neck, holding the teeth to his throat +against all his efforts to dislodge the thing. Weak as it was it had +strength enough for this in its mad efforts to eat. Mumbling as it +worked, it repeated again and again, "Food! Food! There is a way +out!" until Bradley thought those two expressions alone would drive him +mad. +</P> + +<P> +And all but mad he was as with a final effort backed by almost maniacal +strength he tore his wrists from the confining bonds and grasping the +repulsive thing upon his breast hurled it halfway across the room. +Panting like a spent hound Bradley worked at the thongs about his +ankles while the maniac lay quivering and mumbling where it had fallen. +Presently the Englishman leaped to his feet—freer than he had ever +before felt in all his life, though he was still hopelessly a prisoner +in the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. +</P> + +<P> +With his back against the wall for support, so weak the reaction left +him, Bradley stood watching the creature upon the floor. He saw it +move and slowly raise itself to its hands and knees, where it swayed to +and fro as its eyes roved about in search of him; and when at last they +found him, there broke from the drawn lips the mumbled words: "Food! +Food! There is a way out!" The pitiful supplication in the tones +touched the Englishman's heart. He knew that this could be no Wieroo, +but possibly once a man like himself who had been cast into this pit of +solitary confinement with this hideous result that might in time be his +fate, also. +</P> + +<P> +And then, too, there was the suggestion of hope held out by the +constant reiteration of the phrase, "There is a way out." Was there a +way out? What did this poor thing know? +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you and how long have you been here?" Bradley suddenly +demanded. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the man upon the floor made no response, then mumblingly +came the words: "Food! Food!" +</P> + +<P> +"Stop!" commanded the Englishman—the injunction might have been barked +from the muzzle of a pistol. It brought the man to a sitting posture, +his hands off the ground. He stopped swaying to and fro and appeared +to be startled into an attempt to master his faculties of concentration +and thought. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley repeated his questions sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"I am An-Tak, the Galu," replied the man. "Luata alone knows how long +I have been here—maybe ten moons, maybe ten moons three times"—it was +the Caspakian equivalent of thirty. "I was young and strong when they +brought me here. Now I am old and very weak. I am cos-ata-lu—that is +why they have not killed me. If I tell them the secret of becoming +cos-ata-lu they will take me out; but how can I tell them that which +Luata alone knows? +</P> + +<P> +"What is cos-ata-lu?" demanded Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"Food! Food! There is a way out!" mumbled the Galu. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley strode across the floor, seized the man by his shoulders and +shook him. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me," he cried, "what is cos-ata-lu?" +</P> + +<P> +"Food!" whimpered An-Tak. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley bethought himself. His haversack had not been taken from him. +In it besides his razor and knife were odds and ends of equipment and a +small quantity of dried meat. He tossed a small strip of the latter to +the starving Galu. An-Tak seized upon it and devoured it ravenously. +It instilled new life in the man. +</P> + +<P> +"What is cos-ata-lu?" insisted Bradley again. +</P> + +<P> +An-Tak tried to explain. His narrative was often broken by lapses of +concentration during which he reverted to his plaintive mumbling for +food and recurrence to the statement that there was a way out; but by +firmness and patience the Englishman drew out piece-meal a more or less +lucid exposition of the remarkable scheme of evolution that rules in +Caspak. In it he found explanations of the hitherto inexplicable. He +discovered why he had seen no babes or children among the Caspakian +tribes with which he had come in contact; why each more northerly tribe +evinced a higher state of development than those south of them; why +each tribe included individuals ranging in physical and mental +characteristics from the highest of the next lower race to the lowest +of the next higher, and why the women of each tribe immersed themselves +each morning for an hour or more in the warm pools near which the +habitations of their people always were located; and, too, he +discovered why those pools were almost immune from the attacks of +carnivorous animals and reptiles. +</P> + +<P> +He learned that all but those who were cos-ata-lu came up cor-sva-jo, +or from the beginning. The egg from which they first developed into +tadpole form was deposited, with millions of others, in one of the warm +pools and with it a poisonous serum that the carnivora instinctively +shunned. Down the warm stream from the pool floated the countless +billions of eggs and tadpoles, developing as they drifted slowly toward +the sea. Some became tadpoles in the pool, some in the sluggish stream +and some not until they reached the great inland sea. In the next +stage they became fishes or reptiles, An-Tak was not positive which, +and in this form, always developing, they swam far to the south, where, +amid the rank and teeming jungles, some of them evolved into +amphibians. Always there were those whose development stopped at the +first stage, others whose development ceased when they became reptiles, +while by far the greater proportion formed the food supply of the +ravenous creatures of the deep. +</P> + +<P> +Few indeed were those that eventually developed into baboons and then +apes, which was considered by Caspakians the real beginning of +evolution. From the egg, then, the individual developed slowly into a +higher form, just as the frog's egg develops through various stages +from a fish with gills to a frog with lungs. With that thought in mind +Bradley discovered that it was not difficult to believe in the +possibility of such a scheme—there was nothing new in it. +</P> + +<P> +From the ape the individual, if it survived, slowly developed into the +lowest order of man—the Alu—and then by degrees to Bo-lu, Sto-lu, +Band-lu, Kro-lu and finally Galu. And in each stage countless millions +of other eggs were deposited in the warm pools of the various races and +floated down to the great sea to go through a similar process of +evolution outside the womb as develops our own young within; but in +Caspak the scheme is much more inclusive, for it combines not only +individual development but the evolution of species and genera. If an +egg survives it goes through all the stages of development that man has +passed through during the unthinkable eons since life first moved upon +the earth's face. +</P> + +<P> +The final stage—that which the Galus have almost attained and for +which all hope—is cos-ata-lu, which literally, means no-egg-man, or +one who is born directly as are the young of the outer world of +mammals. Some of the Galus produce cos-ata-lu and cos-ata-lo both; the +Wieroos only cos-ata-lu—in other words all Wieroos are born male, and +so they prey upon the Galus for their women and sometimes capture and +torture the Galu men who are cos-ata-lu in an endeavor to learn the +secret which they believe will give them unlimited power over all other +denizens of Caspak. +</P> + +<P> +No Wieroos come up from the beginning—all are born of the Wieroo +fathers and Galu mothers who are cos-ata-lo, and there are very few of +the latter owing to the long and precarious stages of development. +Seven generations of the same ancestor must come up from the beginning +before a cos-ata-lu child may be born; and when one considers the +frightful dangers that surround the vital spark from the moment it +leaves the warm pool where it has been deposited to float down to the +sea amid the voracious creatures that swarm the surface and the deeps +and the almost equally unthinkable trials of its effort to survive +after it once becomes a land animal and starts northward through the +horrors of the Caspakian jungles and forests, it is plainly a wonder +that even a single babe has ever been born to a Galu woman. +</P> + +<P> +Seven cycles it requires before the seventh Galu can complete the +seventh danger-infested circle since its first Galu ancestor achieved +the state of Galu. For ages before, the ancestors of this first Galu +may have developed from a Band-lu or Bo-lu egg without ever once +completing the whole circle—that is from a Galu egg, back to a fully +developed Galu. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley's head was whirling before he even commenced to grasp the +complexities of Caspakian evolution; but as the truth slowly filtered +into his understanding—as gradually it became possible for him to +visualize the scheme, it appeared simpler. In fact, it seemed even +less difficult of comprehension than that with which he was familiar. +</P> + +<P> +For several minutes after An-Tak ceased speaking, his voice having +trailed off weakly into silence, neither spoke again. Then the Galu +recommenced his, "Food! Food! There is a way out!" Bradley tossed him +another bit of dried meat, waiting patiently until he had eaten it, +this time more slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean by saying there is a way out?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"He who died here just after I came, told me," replied An-Tak. "He +said there was a way out, that he had discovered it but was too weak to +use his knowledge. He was trying to tell me how to find it when he +died. Oh, Luata, if he had lived but a moment more!" +</P> + +<P> +"They do not feed you here?" asked Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"No, they give me water once a day—that is all." +</P> + +<P> +"But how have you lived, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"The lizards and the rats," replied An-Tak. "The lizards are not so +bad; but the rats are foul to taste. However, I must eat them or they +would eat me, and they are better than nothing; but of late they do not +come so often, and I have not had a lizard for a long time. I shall +eat though," he mumbled. "I shall eat now, for you cannot remain awake +forever." He laughed, a cackling, dry laugh. "When you sleep, An-Tak +will eat." +</P> + +<P> +It was horrible. Bradley shuddered. For a long time each sat in +silence. The Englishman could guess why the other made no sound—he +awaited the moment that sleep should overcome his victim. In the long +silence there was born upon Bradley's ears a faint, monotonous sound as +of running water. He listened intently. It seemed to come from far +beneath the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that noise?" he asked. "That sounds like water running +through a narrow channel." +</P> + +<P> +"It is the river," replied An-Tak. "Why do you not go to sleep? It +passes directly beneath the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. It runs +through the temple grounds, beneath the temple and under the city. +When we die, they will cut off our heads and throw our bodies into the +river. At the mouth of the river await many large reptiles. Thus do +they feed. The Wieroos do likewise with their own dead, keeping only +the skulls and the wings. Come, let us sleep." +</P> + +<P> +"Do the reptiles come up the river into the city?" asked Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"The water is too cold—they never leave the warm water of the great +pool," replied An-Tak. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us search for the way out," suggested Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +An-Tak shook his head. "I have searched for it all these moons," he +said. "If I could not find it, how would you?" +</P> + +<P> +Bradley made no reply but commenced a diligent examination of the walls +and floor of the room, pressing over each square foot and tapping with +his knuckles. About six feet from the floor he discovered a +sleeping-perch near one end of the apartment. He asked An-Tak about +it, but the Galu said that no Weiroo had occupied the place since he +had been incarcerated there. Again and again Bradley went over the +floor and walls as high up as he could reach. Finally he swung himself +to the perch, that he might examine at least one end of the room all +the way to the ceiling. +</P> + +<P> +In the center of the wall close to the top, an area about three feet +square gave forth a hollow sound when he rapped upon it. Bradley felt +over every square inch of that area with the tips of his fingers. Near +the top he found a small round hole a trifle larger in diameter than +his forefinger, which he immediately stuck into it. The panel, if such +it was, seemed about an inch thick, and beyond it his finger +encountered nothing. Bradley crooked his finger upon the opposite side +of the panel and pulled toward him, steadily but with considerable +force. Suddenly the panel flew inward, nearly precipitating the man to +the floor. It was hinged at the bottom, and when lowered the outer +edge rested upon the perch, making a little platform parallel with the +floor of the room. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond the opening was an utterly dark void. The Englishman leaned +through it and reached his arm as far as possible into the blackness +but touched nothing. Then he fumbled in his haversack for a match, a +few of which remained to him. When he struck it, An-Tak gave a cry of +terror. Bradley held the light far into the opening before him and in +its flickering rays saw the top of a ladder descending into a black +abyss below. How far down it extended he could not guess; but that he +should soon know definitely he was positive. +</P> + +<P> +"You have found it! You have found the way out!" screamed An-Tak. +"Oh, Luata! And now I am too weak to go. Take me with you! Take me +with you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up!" admonished Bradley. "You will have the whole flock of birds +around our heads in a minute, and neither of us will escape. Be quiet, +and I'll go ahead. If I find a way out, I'll come back and help you, +if you'll promise not to try to eat me up again." +</P> + +<P> +"I promise," cried An-Tak. "Oh, Luata! How could you blame me? I am +half crazed of hunger and long confinement and the horror of the +lizards and the rats and the constant waiting for death." +</P> + +<P> +"I know," said Bradley simply. "I'm sorry for you, old top. Keep a +stiff upper lip." And he slipped through the opening, found the ladder +with his feet, closed the panel behind him, and started downward into +the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +Below him rose more and more distinctly the sound of running water. +The air felt damp and cool. He could see nothing of his surroundings +and felt nothing but the smooth, worn sides and rungs of the ladder +down which he felt his way cautiously lest a broken rung or a misstep +should hurl him downward. +</P> + +<P> +As he descended thus slowly, the ladder seemed interminable and the pit +bottomless, yet he realized when at last he reached the bottom that he +could not have descended more than fifty feet. The bottom of the +ladder rested on a narrow ledge paved with what felt like large round +stones, but what he knew from experience to be human skulls. He could +not but marvel as to where so many countless thousands of the things +had come from, until he paused to consider that the infancy of Caspak +dated doubtlessly back into remote ages, far beyond what the outer +world considered the beginning of earthly time. For all these eons the +Wieroos might have been collecting human skulls from their enemies and +their own dead—enough to have built an entire city of them. +</P> + +<P> +Feeling his way along the narrow ledge, Bradley came presently to a +blank wall that stretched out over the water swirling beneath him, as +far as he could reach. Stooping, he groped about with one hand, +reaching down toward the surface of the water, and discovered that the +bottom of the wall arched above the stream. How much space there was +between the water and the arch he could not tell, nor how deep the +former. There was only one way in which he might learn these things, +and that was to lower himself into the stream. For only an instant he +hesitated weighing his chances. Behind him lay almost certainly the +horrid fate of An-Tak; before him nothing worse than a comparatively +painless death by drowning. Holding his haversack above his head with +one hand he lowered his feet slowly over the edge of the narrow +platform. Almost immediately he felt the swirling of cold water about +his ankles, and then with a silent prayer he let himself drop gently +into the stream. +</P> + +<P> +Great was Bradley's relief when he found the water no more than waist +deep and beneath his feet a firm, gravel bottom. Feeling his way +cautiously he moved downward with the current, which was not so strong +as he had imagined from the noise of the running water. +</P> + +<P> +Beneath the first arch he made his way, following the winding +curvatures of the right-hand wall. After a few yards of progress his +hand came suddenly in contact with a slimy thing clinging to the +wall—a thing that hissed and scuttled out of reach. What it was, the +man could not know; but almost instantly there was a splash in the +water just ahead of him and then another. +</P> + +<P> +On he went, passing beneath other arches at varying distances, and +always in utter darkness. Unseen denizens of this great sewer, +disturbed by the intruder, splashed into the water ahead of him and +wriggled away. Time and again his hand touched them and never for an +instant could he be sure that at the next step some gruesome thing +might not attack him. He had strapped his haversack about his neck, +well above the surface of the water, and in his left hand he carried +his knife. Other precautions there were none to take. +</P> + +<P> +The monotony of the blind trail was increased by the fact that from the +moment he had started from the foot of the ladder he had counted his +every step. He had promised to return for An-Tak if it proved humanly +possible to do so, and he knew that in the blackness of the tunnel he +could locate the foot of the ladder in no other way. +</P> + +<P> +He had taken two hundred and sixty-nine steps—afterward he knew that +he should never forget that number—when something bumped gently +against him from behind. Instantly he wheeled about and with knife +ready to defend himself stretched forth his right hand to push away the +object that now had lodged against his body. His fingers feeling +through the darkness came in contact with something cold and +clammy—they passed to and fro over the thing until Bradley knew that +it was the face of a dead man floating upon the surface of the stream. +With an oath he pushed his gruesome companion out into mid-stream to +float on down toward the great pool and the awaiting scavengers of the +deep. +</P> + +<P> +At his four hundred and thirteenth step another corpse bumped against +him—how many had passed him without touching he could not guess; but +suddenly he experienced the sensation of being surrounded by dead faces +floating along with him, all set in hideous grimaces, their dead eyes +glaring at this profaning alien who dared intrude upon the waters of +this river of the dead—a horrid escort, pregnant with dire forebodings +and with menace. +</P> + +<P> +Though he advanced very slowly, he tried always to take steps of about +the same length; so that he knew that though considerable time had +elapsed, yet he had really advanced no more than four hundred yards +when ahead he saw a lessening of the pitch-darkness, and at the next +turn of the stream his surroundings became vaguely discernible. Above +him was an arched roof and on either hand walls pierced at intervals by +apertures covered with wooden doors. Just ahead of him in the roof of +the aqueduct was a round, black hole about thirty inches in diameter. +His eyes still rested upon the opening when there shot downward from it +to the water below the naked body of a human being which almost +immediately rose to the surface again and floated off down the stream. +In the dim light Bradley saw that it was a dead Wieroo from which the +wings and head had been removed. A moment later another headless body +floated past, recalling what An-Tak had told him of the +skull-collecting customs of the Wieroo. Bradley wondered how it +happened that the first corpse he had encountered in the stream had not +been similarly mutilated. +</P> + +<P> +The farther he advanced now, the lighter it became. The number of +corpses was much smaller than he had imagined, only two more passing +him before, at six hundred steps, or about five hundred yards, from the +point he had taken to the stream, he came to the end of the tunnel and +looked out upon sunlit water, running between grassy banks. +</P> + +<P> +One of the last corpses to pass him was still clothed in the white robe +of a Wieroo, blood-stained over the headless neck that it concealed. +</P> + +<P> +Drawing closer to the opening leading into the bright daylight, Bradley +surveyed what lay beyond. A short distance before him a large building +stood in the center of several acres of grass and tree-covered ground, +spanning the stream which disappeared through an opening in its +foundation wall. From the large saucer-shaped roof and the vivid +colorings of the various heterogeneous parts of the structure he +recognized it as the temple past which he had been borne to the Blue +Place of Seven Skulls. +</P> + +<P> +To and fro flew Wieroos, going to and from the temple. Others passed +on foot across the open grounds, assisting themselves with their great +wings, so that they barely skimmed the earth. To leave the mouth of +the tunnel would have been to court instant discovery and capture; but +by what other avenue he might escape, Bradley could not guess, unless +he retraced his steps up the stream and sought egress from the other +end of the city. The thought of traversing that dark and horror-ridden +tunnel for perhaps miles he could not entertain—there must be some +other way. Perhaps after dark he could steal through the temple +grounds and continue on downstream until he had come beyond the city; +and so he stood and waited until his limbs became almost paralyzed with +cold, and he knew that he must find some other plan for escape. +</P> + +<P> +A half-formed decision to risk an attempt to swim under water to the +temple was crystallizing in spite of the fact that any chance Wieroo +flying above the stream might easily see him, when again a floating +object bumped against him from behind and lodged across his back. +Turning quickly he saw that the thing was what he had immediately +guessed it to be—a headless and wingless Wieroo corpse. With a grunt +of disgust he was about to push it from him when the white garment +enshrouding it suggested a bold plan to his resourceful brain. +Grasping the corpse by an arm he tore the garment from it and then let +the body float downward toward the temple. With great care he draped +the robe about him; the bloody blotch that had covered the severed neck +he arranged about his own head. His haversack he rolled as tightly as +possible and stuffed beneath his coat over his breast. Then he fell +gently to the surface of the stream and lying upon his back floated +downward with the current and out into the open sunlight. +</P> + +<P> +Through the weave of the cloth he could distinguish large objects. He +saw a Wieroo flap dismally above him; he saw the banks of the stream +float slowly past; he heard a sudden wail upon the right-hand shore, +and his heart stood still lest his ruse had been discovered; but never +by a move of a muscle did he betray that aught but a cold lump of clay +floated there upon the bosom of the water, and soon, though it seemed +an eternity to him, the direct sunlight was blotted out, and he knew +that he had entered beneath the temple. +</P> + +<P> +Quickly he felt for bottom with his feet and as quickly stood erect, +snatching the bloody, clammy cloth from his face. On both sides were +blank walls and before him the river turned a sharp corner and +disappeared. Feeling his way cautiously forward he approached the turn +and looked around the corner. To his left was a low platform about a +foot above the level of the stream, and onto this he lost no time in +climbing, for he was soaked from head to foot, cold and almost +exhausted. +</P> + +<P> +As he lay resting on the skull-paved shelf, he saw in the center of the +vault above the river another of those sinister round holes through +which he momentarily expected to see a headless corpse shoot downward +in its last plunge to a watery grave. A few feet along the platform a +closed door broke the blankness of the wall. As he lay looking at it +and wondering what lay behind, his mind filled with fragments of many +wild schemes of escape, it opened and a white robed Wieroo stepped out +upon the platform. The creature carried a large wooden basin filled +with rubbish. Its eyes were not upon Bradley, who drew himself to a +squatting position and crouched as far back in the corner of the niche +in which the platform was set as he could force himself. The Wieroo +stepped to the edge of the platform and dumped the rubbish into the +stream. If it turned away from him as it started to retrace its steps +to the doorway, there was a small chance that it might not see him; but +if it turned toward him there was none at all. Bradley held his breath. +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroo paused a moment, gazing down into the water, then it +straightened up and turned toward the Englishman. Bradley did not +move. The Wieroo stopped and stared intently at him. It approached +him questioningly. Still Bradley remained as though carved of stone. +The creature was directly in front of him. It stopped. There was no +chance on earth that it would not discover what he was. +</P> + +<P> +With the quickness of a cat, Bradley sprang to his feet and with all +his great strength, backed by his heavy weight, struck the Wieroo upon +the point of the chin. Without a sound the thing crumpled to the +platform, while Bradley, acting almost instinctively to the urge of the +first law of nature, rolled the inanimate body over the edge into the +river. +</P> + +<P> +Then he looked at the open doorway, crossed the platform and peered +within the apartment beyond. What he saw was a large room, dimly +lighted, and about the side rows of wooden vessels stacked one upon +another. There was no Wieroo in sight, so the Englishman entered. At +the far end of the room was another door, and as he crossed toward it, +he glanced into some of the vessels, which he found were filled with +dried fruits, vegetables and fish. Without more ado he stuffed his +pockets and his haversack full, thinking of the poor creature awaiting +his return in the gloom of the Place of Seven Skulls. +</P> + +<P> +When night came, he would return and fetch An-Tak this far at least; +but in the meantime it was his intention to reconnoiter in the hope +that he might discover some easier way out of the city than that +offered by the chill, black channel of the ghastly river of corpses. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond the farther door stretched a long passageway from which closed +doorways led into other parts of the cellars of the temple. A few +yards from the storeroom a ladder rose from the corridor through an +aperture in the ceiling. Bradley paused at the foot of it, debating +the wisdom of further investigation against a return to the river; but +strong within him was the spirit of exploration that has scattered his +race to the four corners of the earth. What new mysteries lay hidden +in the chambers above? The urge to know was strong upon him though his +better judgment warned him that the safer course lay in retreat. For a +moment he stood thus, running his fingers through his hair; then he +cast discretion to the winds and began the ascent. +</P> + +<P> +In conformity with such Wieroo architecture as he had already observed, +the well through which the ladder rose continually canted at an angle +from the perpendicular. At more or less regular stages it was pierced +by apertures closed by doors, none of which he could open until he had +climbed fully fifty feet from the river level. Here he discovered a +door already ajar opening into a large, circular chamber, the walls and +floors of which were covered with the skins of wild beasts and with +rugs of many colors; but what interested him most was the occupants of +the room—a Wieroo, and a girl of human proportions. She was standing +with her back against a column which rose from the center of the +apartment from floor to ceiling—a hollow column about forty inches in +diameter in which he could see an opening some thirty inches across. +The girl's side was toward Bradley, and her face averted, for she was +watching the Wieroo, who was now advancing slowly toward her, talking +as he came. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley could distinctly hear the words of the creature, who was urging +the girl to accompany him to another Wieroo city. "Come with me," he +said, "and you shall have your life; remain here and He Who Speaks for +Luata will claim you for his own; and when he is done with you, your +skull will bleach at the top of a tall staff while your body feeds the +reptiles at the mouth of the River of Death. Even though you bring +into the world a female Wieroo, your fate will be the same if you do +not escape him, while with me you shall have life and food and none +shall harm you." +</P> + +<P> +He was quite close to the girl when she replied by striking him in the +face with all her strength. "Until I am slain," she cried, "I shall +fight against you all." From the throat of the Wieroo issued that +dismal wail that Bradley had heard so often in the past—it was like a +scream of pain smothered to a groan—and then the thing leaped upon the +girl, its face working in hideous grimaces as it clawed and beat at her +to force her to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +The Englishman was upon the point of entering to defend her when a door +at the opposite side of the chamber opened to admit a huge Wieroo +clothed entirely in red. At sight of the two struggling upon the floor +the newcomer raised his voice in a shriek of rage. Instantly the +Wieroo who was attacking the girl leaped to his feet and faced the +other. +</P> + +<P> +"I heard," screamed he who had just entered the room. "I heard, and +when He Who Speaks for young, reproduction and kindred subjects shall have heard—" He paused and made a +suggestive movement of a finger across his throat. +</P> + +<P> +"He shall not hear," returned the first Wieroo as, with a powerful +motion of his great wings, he launched himself upon the red-robed +figure. The latter dodged the first charge, drew a wicked-looking +curved blade from beneath its red robe, spread its wings and dived for +its antagonist. Beating their wings, wailing and groaning, the two +hideous things sparred for position. The white-robed one being unarmed +sought to grasp the other by the wrist of its knife-hand and by the +throat, while the latter hopped around on its dainty white feet, +seeking an opening for a mortal blow. Once it struck and missed, and +then the other rushed in and clinched, at the same time securing both +the holds it sought. Immediately the two commenced beating at each +other's heads with the joints of their wings, kicking with their soft, +puny feet and biting, each at the other's face. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime the girl moved about the room, keeping out of the way +of the duelists, and as she did so, Bradley caught a glimpse of her +full face and immediately recognized her as the girl of the place of +the yellow door. He did not dare intervene now until one of the Wieroo +had overcome the other, lest the two should turn upon him at once, when +the chances were fair that he would be defeated in so unequal a battle +as the curved blade of the red Wieroo would render it, and so he +waited, watching the white-robed figure slowly choking the life from +him of the red robe. The protruding tongue and the popping eyes +proclaimed that the end was near and a moment later the red robe sank +to the floor of the room, the curved blade slipping from nerveless +fingers. For an instant longer the victor clung to the throat of his +defeated antagonist and then he rose, dragging the body after him, and +approached the central column. Here he raised the body and thrust it +into the aperture where Bradley saw it drop suddenly from sight. +Instantly there flashed into his memory the circular openings in the +roof of the river vault and the corpses he had seen drop from them to +the water beneath. +</P> + +<P> +As the body disappeared, the Wieroo turned and cast about the room for +the girl. For a moment he stood eying her. "You saw," he muttered, +"and if you tell them, He Who Speaks for Luata will have my wings +severed while still I live and my head will be severed and I shall be +cast into the River of Death, for thus it happens even to the highest +who slay one of the red robe. You saw, and you must die!" he ended +with a scream as he rushed upon the girl. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley waited no longer. Leaping into the room he ran for the Wieroo, +who had already seized the girl, and as he ran, he stooped and picked +up the curved blade. The creature's back was toward him as, with his +left hand, he seized it by the neck. Like a flash the great wings beat +backward as the creature turned, and Bradley was swept from his feet, +though he still retained his hold upon the blade. Instantly the Wieroo +was upon him. Bradley lay slightly raised upon his left elbow, his +right arm free, and as the thing came close, he cut at the hideous face +with all the strength that lay within him. The blade struck at the +junction of the neck and torso and with such force as to completely +decapitate the Wieroo, the hideous head dropping to the floor and the +body falling forward upon the Englishman. Pushing it from him he rose +to his feet and faced the wide-eyed girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Luata!" she exclaimed. "How came you here?" +</P> + +<P> +Bradley shrugged. "Here I am," he said; "but the thing now is to get +out of here—both of us." +</P> + +<P> +The girl shook her head. "It cannot be," she stated sadly. +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I thought when they dropped me into the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls," replied Bradley. "Can't be done. I did it.—Here! +You're mussing up the floor something awful, you." This last to the +dead Wieroo as he stooped and dragged the corpse to the central shaft, +where he raised it to the aperture and let it slip into the tube. Then +he picked up the head and tossed it after the body. "Don't be so +glum," he admonished the former as he carried it toward the well; +"smile!" +</P> + +<P> +"But how can he smile?" questioned the girl, a half-puzzled, +half-frightened look upon her face. "He is dead." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," admitted Bradley, "and I suppose he does feel a bit cut up +about it." +</P> + +<P> +The girl shook her head and edged away from the man—toward the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Come!" said the Englishman. "We've got to get out of here. If you +don't know a better way than the river, it's the river then." +</P> + +<P> +The girl still eyed him askance. "But how could he smile when he was +dead?" +</P> + +<P> +Bradley laughed aloud. "I thought we English were supposed to have the +least sense of humor of any people in the world," he cried; "but now +I've found one human being who hasn't any. Of course you don't know +half I'm saying; but don't worry, little girl; I'm not going to hurt +you, and if I can get you out of here, I'll do it." +</P> + +<P> +Even if she did not understand all he said, she at least read something +in his smiling countenance—something which reassured her. "I do not +fear you," she said; "though I do not understand all that you say even +though you speak my own tongue and use words that I know. But as for +escaping"—she sighed—"alas, how can it be done?" +</P> + +<P> +"I escaped from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," Bradley reminded her. +"Come!" And he turned toward the shaft and the ladder that he had +ascended from the river. "We cannot waste time here." +</P> + +<P> +The girl followed him; but at the doorway both drew back, for from +below came the sound of some one ascending. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley tiptoed to the door and peered cautiously into the well; then +he stepped back beside the girl. "There are half a dozen of them +coming up; but possibly they will pass this room." +</P> + +<P> +"No," she said, "they will pass directly through this room—they are on +their way to Him Who Speaks for Luata. We may be able to hide in the +next room—there are skins there beneath which we may crawl. They will +not stop in that room; but they may stop in this one for a short +time—the other room is blue." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that go to do with it?" demanded the Englishman. +</P> + +<P> +"They fear blue," she replied. "In every room where murder has been +done you will find blue—a certain amount for each murder. When the +room is all blue, they shun it. This room has much blue; but evidently +they kill mostly in the next room, which is now all blue." +</P> + +<P> +"But there is blue on the outside of every house I have seen," said +Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," assented the girl, "and there are blue rooms in each of those +houses—when all the rooms are blue then the whole outside of the house +will be blue as is the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. There are many such +here." +</P> + +<P> +"And the skulls with blue upon them?" inquired Bradley. "Did they +belong to murderers?" +</P> + +<P> +"They were murdered—some of them; those with only a small amount of +blue were murderers—known murderers. All Wieroos are murderers. When +they have committed a certain number of murders without being caught at +it, they confess to Him Who Speaks for Luata and are advanced, after +which they wear robes with a slash of some color—I think yellow comes +first. When they reach a point where the entire robe is of yellow, +they discard it for a white robe with a red slash; and when one wins a +complete red robe, he carries such a long, curved knife as you have in +your hand; after that comes the blue slash on a white robe, and then, I +suppose, an all blue robe. I have never seen such a one." +</P> + +<P> +As they talked in low tones they had moved from the room of the death +shaft into an all blue room adjoining, where they sat down together in +a corner with their backs against a wall and drew a pile of hides over +themselves. A moment later they heard a number of Wieroos enter the +chamber. They were talking together as they crossed the floor, or the +two could not have heard them. Halfway across the chamber they halted +as the door toward which they were advancing opened and a dozen others +of their kind entered the apartment. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley could guess all this by the increased volume of sound and the +dismal greetings; but the sudden silence that almost immediately ensued +he could not fathom, for he could not know that from beneath one of the +hides that covered him protruded one of his heavy army shoes, or that +some eighteen large Wieroos with robes either solid red or slashed with +red or blue were standing gazing at it. Nor could he hear their +stealthy approach. +</P> + +<P> +The first intimation he had that he had been discovered was when his +foot was suddenly seized, and he was yanked violently from beneath the +hides to find himself surrounded by menacing blades. They would have +slain him on the spot had not one clothed all in red held them back, +saying that He Who Speaks for Luata desired to see this strange +creature. +</P> + +<P> +As they led Bradley away, he caught an opportunity to glance back +toward the hides to see what had become of the girl, and, to his +gratification, he discovered that she still lay concealed beneath the +hides. He wondered if she would have the nerve to attempt the river +trip alone and regretted that now he could not accompany her. He felt +rather all in, himself, more so than he had at any time since he had +been captured by the Wieroo, for there appeared not the slightest cause +for hope in his present predicament. He had dropped the curved blade +beneath the hides when he had been jerked so violently from their +fancied security. It was almost in a spirit of resigned hopelessness +that he quietly accompanied his captors through various chambers and +corridors toward the heart of the temple. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter 4 +</H3> + +<P> +The farther the group progressed, the more barbaric and the more +sumptuous became the decorations. Hides of leopard and tiger +predominated, apparently because of their more beautiful markings, and +decorative skulls became more and more numerous. Many of the latter +were mounted in precious metals and set with colored stones and +priceless gems, while thick upon the hides that covered the walls were +golden ornaments similar to those worn by the girl and those which had +filled the chests he had examined in the storeroom of Fosh-bal-soj, +leading the Englishman to the conviction that all such were spoils of +war or theft, since each piece seemed made for personal adornment, +while in so far as he had seen, no Wieroo wore ornaments of any sort. +</P> + +<P> +And also as they advanced the more numerous became the Wieroos moving +hither and thither within the temple. Many now were the solid red +robes and those that were slashed with blue—a veritable hive of +murderers. +</P> + +<P> +At last the party halted in a room in which were many Wieroos who +gathered about Bradley questioning his captors and examining him and +his apparel. One of the party accompanying the Englishman spoke to a +Wieroo that stood beside a door leading from the room. "Tell Him Who +Speaks for Luata," he said, "that Fosh-bal-soj we could not find; but +that in returning we found this creature within the temple, hiding. It +must be the same that Fosh-bal-soj captured in the Sto-lu country +during the last darkness. Doubtless He Who Speaks for Luata would wish +to see and question this strange thing." +</P> + +<P> +The creature addressed turned and slipped through the doorway, closing +the door after it, but first depositing its curved blade upon the floor +without. Its post was immediately taken by another and Bradley now saw +that at least twenty such guards loitered in the immediate vicinity. +The doorkeeper was gone but for a moment, and when he returned, he +signified that Bradley's party was to enter the next chamber; but first +each of the Wieroos removed his curved weapon and laid it upon the +floor. The door was swung open, and the party, now reduced to Bradley +and five Wieroos, was ushered across the threshold into a large, +irregularly shaped room in which a single, giant Wieroo whose robe was +solid blue sat upon a raised dais. +</P> + +<P> +The creature's face was white with the whiteness of a corpse, its dead +eyes entirely expressionless, its cruel, thin lips tight-drawn against +yellow teeth in a perpetual grimace. Upon either side of it lay an +enormous, curved sword, similar to those with which some of the other +Wieroos had been armed, but larger and heavier. Constantly its +clawlike fingers played with one or the other of these weapons. +</P> + +<P> +The walls of the chamber as well as the floor were entirely hidden by +skins and woven fabrics. Blue predominated in all the colorations. +Fastened against the hides were many pairs of Wieroo wings, mounted so +that they resembled long, black shields. Upon the ceiling were painted +in blue characters a bewildering series of hieroglyphics and upon +pedestals set against the walls or standing out well within the room +were many human skulls. +</P> + +<P> +As the Wieroos approached the figure upon the dais, they leaned far +forward, raising their wings above their heads and stretching their +necks as though offering them to the sharp swords of the grim and +hideous creature. +</P> + +<P> +"O Thou Who Speakest for Luata!" exclaimed one of the party. "We bring +you the strange creature that Fosh-bal-soj captured and brought thither +at thy command." +</P> + +<P> +So this then was the godlike figure that spoke for divinity! This +arch-murderer was the Caspakian representative of God on Earth! His +blue robe announced him the one and the seeming humility of his minions +the other. For a long minute he glared at Bradley. Then he began to +question him—from whence he came and how, the name and description of +his native country, and a hundred other queries. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you cos-ata-lu?" the creature asked. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley replied that he was and that all his kind were, as well as +every living thing in his part of the world. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you tell me the secret?" asked the creature. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley hesitated and then, thinking to gain time, replied in the +affirmative. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" demanded the Wieroo, leaning far forward and exhibiting +every evidence of excited interest. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley leaned forward and whispered: "It is for your ears alone; I +will not divulge it to others, and then only on condition that you +carry me and the girl I saw in the place of the yellow door near to +that of Fosh-bal-soj back to her own country." +</P> + +<P> +The thing rose in wrath, holding one of its swords above its head. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you to make terms for Him Who Speaks for Luata?" it shrilled. +"Tell me the secret or die where you stand!" +</P> + +<P> +"And if I die now, the secret goes with me," Bradley reminded him. +"Never again will you get the opportunity to question another of my +kind who knows the secret." Anything to gain time, to get the rest of +the Wieroos from the room, that he might plan some scheme for escape +and put it into effect. +</P> + +<P> +The creature turned upon the leader of the party that had brought +Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"Is the thing with weapons?" it asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No," was the response. +</P> + +<P> +"Then go; but tell the guard to remain close by," commanded the high +one. +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroos salaamed and withdrew, closing the door behind them. He +Who Speaks for Luata grasped a sword nervously in his right hand. At +his left side lay the second weapon. It was evident that he lived in +constant dread of being assassinated. The fact that he permitted none +with weapons within his presence and that he always kept two swords at +his side pointed to this. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley was racking his brain to find some suggestion of a plan whereby +he might turn the situation to his own account. His eyes wandered past +the weird figure before him; they played about the walls of the +apartment as though hoping to draw inspiration from the dead skulls and +the hides and the wings, and then they came back to the face of the +Wieroo god, now working in anger. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick!" screamed the thing. "The secret!" +</P> + +<P> +"Will you give me and the girl our freedom?" insisted Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +For an instant the thing hesitated, and then it grumbled "Yes." At the +same instant Bradley saw two hides upon the wall directly back of the +dais separate and a face appear in the opening. No change of +expression upon the Englishman's countenance betrayed that he had seen +aught to surprise him, though surprised he was for the face in the +aperture was that of the girl he had but just left hidden beneath the +hides in another chamber. A white and shapely arm now pushed past the +face into the room, and in the hand, tightly clutched, was the curved +blade, smeared with blood, that Bradley had dropped beneath the hides +at the moment he had been discovered and drawn from his concealment. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, then," said Bradley in a low voice to the Wieroo. "You shall +know the secret of cos-ata-lu as well as do I; but none other may hear +it. Lean close—I will whisper it into your ear." +</P> + +<P> +He moved forward and stepped upon the dais. The creature raised its +sword ready to strike at the first indication of treachery, and Bradley +stooped beneath the blade and put his ear close to the gruesome face. +As he did so, he rested his weight upon his hands, one upon either side +of the Wieroo's body, his right hand upon the hilt of the spare sword +lying at the left of Him Who Speaks for Luata. +</P> + +<P> +"This then is the secret of both life and death," he whispered, and at +the same instant he grasped the Wieroo by the right wrist and with his +own right hand swung the extra blade in a sudden vicious blow against +the creature's neck before the thing could give even a single cry of +alarm; then without waiting an instant Bradley leaped past the dead god +and vanished behind the hides that had hidden the girl. +</P> + +<P> +Wide-eyed and panting the girl seized his arm. "Oh, what have you +done?" she cried. "He Who Speaks for Luata will be avenged by Luata. +Now indeed must you die. There is no escape, for even though we +reached my own country Luata can find you out." +</P> + +<P> +"Bosh!" exclaimed Bradley, and then: "But you were going to knife him +yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I alone should have died," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley scratched his head. "Neither of us is going to die," he said; +"at least not at the hands of any god. If we don't get out of here +though, we'll die right enough. Can you find your way back to the room +where I first came upon you in the temple?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know the way," replied the girl; "but I doubt if we can go back +without being seen. I came hither because I only met Wieroos who knew +that I am supposed now to be in the temple; but you could go elsewhere +without being discovered." +</P> + +<P> +Bradley's ingenuity had come up against a stone wall. There seemed no +possibility of escape. He looked about him. They were in a small room +where lay a litter of rubbish—torn bits of cloth, old hides, pieces of +fiber rope. In the center of the room was a cylindrical shaft with an +opening in its face. Bradley knew it for what it was. Here the +arch-fiend dragged his victims and cast their bodies into the river of +death far below. The floor about the opening in the shaft and the +sides of the shaft were clotted thick with a dried, dark brown +substance that the Englishman knew had once been blood. The place had +the appearance of having been a veritable shambles. An odor of +decaying flesh permeated the air. +</P> + +<P> +The Englishman crossed to the shaft and peered into the opening. All +below was dark as pitch; but at the bottom he knew was the river. +Suddenly an inspiration and a bold scheme leaped to his mind. Turning +quickly he hunted about the room until he found what he sought—a +quantity of the rope that lay strewn here and there. With rapid +fingers he unsnarled the different lengths, the girl helping him, and +then he tied the ends together until he had three ropes about +seventy-five feet in length. He fastened these together at each end +and without a word secured one of the ends about the girl's body +beneath her arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be frightened," he said at length, as he led her toward the +opening in the shaft. "I'm going to lower you to the river, and then +I'm coming down after you. When you are safe below, give two quick +jerks upon the rope. If there is danger there and you want me to draw +you up into the shaft, jerk once. Don't be afraid—it is the only way." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not afraid," replied the girl, rather haughtily Bradley thought, +and herself climbed through the aperture and hung by her hands waiting +for Bradley to lower her. +</P> + +<P> +As rapidly as was consistent with safety, the man paid out the rope. +When it was about half out, he heard loud cries and wails suddenly +arise within the room they had just quitted. The slaying of their god +had been discovered by the Wieroos. A search for the slayer would +begin at once. +</P> + +<P> +Lord! Would the girl never reach the river? At last, just as he was +positive that searchers were already entering the room behind him, +there came two quick tugs at the rope. Instantly Bradley made the rest +of the strands fast about the shaft, slipped into the black tube and +began a hurried descent toward the river. An instant later he stood +waist deep in water beside the girl. Impulsively she reached toward +him and grasped his arm. A strange thrill ran through him at the +contact; but he only cut the rope from about her body and lifted her to +the little shelf at the river's side. +</P> + +<P> +"How can we leave here?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"By the river," he replied; "but first I must go back to the Blue Place +of Seven Skulls and get the poor devil I left there. I'll have to wait +until after dark, though, as I cannot pass through the open stretch of +river in the temple gardens by day." +</P> + +<P> +"There is another way," said the girl. "I have never seen it; but +often I have heard them speak of it—a corridor that runs beside the +river from one end of the city to the other. Through the gardens it is +below ground. If we could find an entrance to it, we could leave here +at once. It is not safe here, for they will search every inch of the +temple and the grounds." +</P> + +<P> +"Come," said Bradley. "We'll have a look for it, anyway." And so +saying he approached one of the doors that opened onto the skull-paved +shelf. +</P> + +<P> +They found the corridor easily, for it paralleled the river, separated +from it only by a single wall. It took them beneath the gardens and +the city, always through inky darkness. After they had reached the +other side of the gardens, Bradley counted his steps until he had +retraced as many as he had taken coming down the stream; but though +they had to grope their way along, it was a much more rapid trip than +the former. +</P> + +<P> +When he thought he was about opposite the point at which he had +descended from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls, he sought and found a +doorway leading out onto the river; and then, still in the blackest +darkness, he lowered himself into the stream and felt up and down upon +the opposite side for the little shelf and the ladder. Ten yards from +where he had emerged he found them, while the girl waited upon the +opposite side. +</P> + +<P> +To ascend to the secret panel was the work of but a minute. Here he +paused and listened lest a Wieroo might be visiting the prison in +search of him or the other inmate; but no sound came from the gloomy +interior. Bradley could not but muse upon the joy of the man on the +opposite side when he should drop down to him with food and a new hope +for escape. Then he opened the panel and looked into the room. The +faint light from the grating above revealed the pile of rags in one +corner; but the man lay beneath them, he made no response to Bradley's +low greeting. +</P> + +<P> +The Englishman lowered himself to the floor of the room and approached +the rags. Stooping he lifted a corner of them. Yes, there was the man +asleep. Bradley shook him—there was no response. He stooped lower +and in the dim light examined An-Tak; then he stood up with a sigh. A +rat leaped from beneath the coverings and scurried away. "Poor devil!" +muttered Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +He crossed the room to swing himself to the perch preparatory to +quitting the Blue Place of Seven Skulls forever. Beneath the perch he +paused. "I'll not give them the satisfaction," he growled. "Let them +believe that he escaped." +</P> + +<P> +Returning to the pile of rags he gathered the man into his arms. It +was difficult work raising him to the high perch and dragging him +through the small opening and thus down the ladder; but presently it +was done, and Bradley had lowered the body into the river and cast it +off. "Good-bye, old top!" he whispered. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later he had rejoined the girl and hand in hand they were +following the dark corridor upstream toward the farther end of the +city. She told him that the Wieroos seldom frequented these lower +passages, as the air here was too chill for them; but occasionally they +came, and as they could see quite as well by night as by day, they +would be sure to discover Bradley and the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"If they come close enough," she said, "we can see their eyes shining +in the dark—they resemble dull splotches of light. They glow, but do +not blaze like the eyes of the tiger or the lion." +</P> + +<P> +The man could not but note the very evident horror with which she +mentioned the creatures. To him they were uncanny; but she had been +used to them for a year almost, and probably all her life she had +either seen or heard of them constantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you fear them so?" he asked. "It seems more than any ordinary +fear of the harm they can do you." +</P> + +<P> +She tried to explain; but the nearest he could gather was that she +looked upon the Wieroo almost as supernatural beings. "There is a +legend current among my people that once the Wieroo were unlike us only +in that they possessed rudimentary wings. They lived in villages in +the Galu country, and while the two peoples often warred, they held no +hatred for one another. In those days each race came up from the +beginning and there was great rivalry as to which was the higher in the +scale of evolution. The Wieroo developed the first cos-ata-lu but they +were always male—never could they reproduce woman. Slowly they +commenced to develop certain attributes of the mind which, they +considered, placed them upon a still higher level and which gave them +many advantages over us, seeing which they thought only of mental +development—their minds became like stars and the rivers, moving +always in the same manner, never varying. They called this tas-ad, +which means doing everything the right way, or, in other words, the +Wieroo way. If foe or friend, right or wrong, stood in the way of +tas-ad, then it must be crushed. +</P> + +<P> +"Soon the Galus and the lesser races of men came to hate and fear them. +It was then that the Wieroos decided to carry tas-ad into every part of +the world. They were very warlike and very numerous, although they had +long since adopted the policy of slaying all those among them whose +wings did not show advanced development. +</P> + +<P> +"It took ages for all this to happen—very slowly came the different +changes; but at last the Wieroos had wings they could use. But by +reason of always making war upon their neighbors they were hated by +every creature of Caspak, for no one wanted their tas-ad, and so they +used their wings to fly to this island when the other races turned +against them and threatened to kill them all. So cruel had they become +and so bloodthirsty that they no longer had hearts that beat with love +or sympathy; but their very cruelty and wickedness kept them from +conquering the other races, since they were also cruel and wicked to +one another, so that no Wieroo trusted another. +</P> + +<P> +"Always were they slaying those above them that they might rise in +power and possessions, until at last came the more powerful than the +others with a tas-ad all his own. He gathered about him a few of the +most terrible Wieroos, and among them they made laws which took from +all but these few Wieroos every weapon they possessed. +</P> + +<P> +"Now their tas-ad has reached a high plane among them. They make many +wonderful things that we cannot make. They think great thoughts, no +doubt, and still dream of greatness to come, but their thoughts and +their acts are regulated by ages of custom—they are all alike—and +they are most unhappy." +</P> + +<P> +As the girl talked, the two moved steadily along the dark passageway +beside the river. They had advanced a considerable distance when there +sounded faintly from far ahead the muffled roar of falling water, which +increased in volume as they moved forward until at last it filled the +corridor with a deafening sound. Then the corridor ended in a blank +wall; but in a niche to the right was a ladder leading aloft, and to +the left was a door opening onto the river. Bradley tried the latter +first and as he opened it, felt a heavy spray against his face. The +little shelf outside the doorway was wet and slippery, the roaring of +the water tremendous. There could be but one explanation—they had +reached a waterfall in the river, and if the corridor actually +terminated here, their escape was effectually cut off, since it was +quite evidently impossible to follow the bed of the river and ascend +the falls. +</P> + +<P> +As the ladder was the only alternative, the two turned toward it and, +the man first, began the ascent, which was through a well similar to +that which had led him to the upper floors of the temple. As he +climbed, Bradley felt for openings in the sides of the shaft; but he +discovered none below fifty feet. The first he came to was ajar, +letting a faint light into the well. As he paused, the girl climbed to +his side, and together they looked through the crack into a low-ceiled +chamber in which were several Galu women and an equal number of hideous +little replicas of the full-grown Wieroos with which Bradley was not +quite familiar. +</P> + +<P> +He could feel the body of the girl pressed close to his tremble as her +eyes rested upon the inmates of the room, and involuntarily his arm +encircled her shoulders as though to protect her from some danger which +he sensed without recognizing. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor things," she whispered. "This is their horrible fate—to be +imprisoned here beneath the surface of the city with their hideous +offspring whom they hate as they hate their fathers. A Wieroo keeps +his children thus hidden until they are full-grown lest they be +murdered by their fellows. The lower rooms of the city are filled with +many such as these." +</P> + +<P> +Several feet above was a second door beyond which they found a small +room stored with food in wooden vessels. A grated window in one wall +opened above an alley, and through it they could see that they were +just below the roof of the building. Darkness was coming, and at +Bradley's suggestion they decided to remain hidden here until after +dark and then to ascend to the roof and reconnoiter. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly after they had settled themselves they heard something +descending the ladder from above. They hoped that it would continue on +down the well and fairly held their breath as the sound approached the +door to the storeroom. Their hearts sank as they heard the door open +and from between cracks in the vessels behind which they hid saw a +yellow-slashed Wieroo enter the room. Each recognized him immediately, +the girl indicating the fact of her own recognition by a sudden +pressure of her fingers on Bradley's arm. It was the Wieroo of the +yellow slashing whose abode was the place of the yellow door in which +Bradley had first seen the girl. +</P> + +<P> +The creature carried a wooden bowl which it filled with dried food from +several of the vessels; then it turned and quit the room. Bradley +could see through the partially open doorway that it descended the +ladder. The girl told him that it was taking the food to the women and +the young below, and that while it might return immediately, the +chances were that it would remain for some time. +</P> + +<P> +"We are just below the place of the yellow door," she said. "It is far +from the edge of the city; so far that we may not hope to escape if we +ascend to the roofs here." +</P> + +<P> +"I think," replied the man, "that of all the places in Oo-oh this will +be the easiest to escape from. Anyway, I want to return to the place +of the yellow door and get my pistol if it is there." +</P> + +<P> +"It is still there," replied, the girl. "I saw it placed in a chest +where he keeps the things he takes from his prisoners and victims." +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" exclaimed Bradley. "Now come, quickly." And the two crossed +the room to the well and ascended the ladder a short distance to its +top where they found another door that opened into a vacant room—the +same in which Bradley had first met the girl. To find the pistol was a +matter of but a moment's search on the part of Bradley's companion; and +then, at the Englishman's signal, she followed him to the yellow door. +</P> + +<P> +It was quite dark without as the two entered the narrow passage between +two buildings. A few steps brought them undiscovered to the doorway of +the storeroom where lay the body of Fosh-bal-soj. In the distance, +toward the temple, they could hear sounds as of a great gathering of +Wieroos—the peculiar, uncanny wailing rising above the dismal flapping +of countless wings. +</P> + +<P> +"They have heard of the killing of Him Who Speaks for Luata," whispered +the girl. "Soon they will spread in all directions searching for us." +</P> + +<P> +"And will they find us?" +</P> + +<P> +"As surely as Lua gives light by day," she replied; "and when they find +us, they will tear us to pieces, for only the Wieroos may murder—only +they may practice tas-ad." +</P> + +<P> +"But they will not kill you," said Bradley. "You did not slay him." +</P> + +<P> +"It will make no difference," she insisted. "If they find us together +they will slay us both." +</P> + +<P> +"Then they won't find us together," announced Bradley decisively. "You +stay right here—you won't be any worse off than before I came—and +I'll get as far as I can and account for as many of the beggars as +possible before they get me. Good-bye! You're a mighty decent little +girl. I wish that I might have helped you." +</P> + +<P> +"No," she cried. "Do not leave me. I would rather die. I had hoped +and hoped to find some way to return to my own country. I wanted to go +back to An-Tak, who must be very lonely without me; but I know that it +can never be. It is difficult to kill hope, though mine is nearly +dead. Do not leave me." +</P> + +<P> +"An-Tak!" Bradley repeated. "You loved a man called An-Tak?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied the girl. "An-Tak was away, hunting, when the Wieroo +caught me. How he must have grieved for me! He also was cos-ata-lu, +twelve moons older than I, and all our lives we have been together." +</P> + +<P> +Bradley remained silent. So she loved An-Tak. He hadn't the heart to +tell her that An-Tak had died, or how. +</P> + +<P> +At the door of Fosh-bal-soj's storeroom they halted to listen. No +sound came from within, and gently Bradley pushed open the door. All +was inky darkness as they entered; but presently their eyes became +accustomed to the gloom that was partially relieved by the soft +starlight without. The Englishman searched and found those things for +which he had come—two robes, two pairs of dead wings and several +lengths of fiber rope. One pair of the wings he adjusted to the girl's +shoulders by means of the rope. Then he draped the robe about her, +carrying the cowl over her head. +</P> + +<P> +He heard her gasp of astonishment when she realized the ingenuity and +boldness of his plan; then he directed her to adjust the other pair of +wings and the robe upon him. Working with strong, deft fingers she +soon had the work completed, and the two stepped out upon the roof, to +all intent and purpose genuine Wieroos. Besides his pistol Bradley +carried the sword of the slain Wieroo prophet, while the girl was armed +with the small blade of the red Wieroo. +</P> + +<P> +Side by side they walked slowly across the roofs toward the north edge +of the city. Wieroos flapped above them and several times they passed +others walking or sitting upon the roofs. From the temple still rose +the sounds of commotion, now pierced by occasional shrill screams. +</P> + +<P> +"The murderers are abroad," whispered the girl. "Thus will another +become the tongue of Luata. It is well for us, since it keeps them too +busy to give the time for searching for us. They think that we cannot +escape the city, and they know that we cannot leave the island—and so +do I." +</P> + +<P> +Bradley shook his head. "If there is any way, we will find it," he +said. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no way," replied the girl. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley made no response, and in silence they continued until the outer +edge of roofs was visible before them. "We are almost there," he +whispered. +</P> + +<P> +The girl felt for his fingers and pressed them. He could feel hers +trembling as he returned the pressure, nor did he relinquish her hand; +and thus they came to the edge of the last roof. +</P> + +<P> +Here they halted and looked about them. To be seen attempting to +descend to the ground below would be to betray the fact that they were +not Wieroos. Bradley wished that their wings were attached to their +bodies by sinew and muscle rather than by ropes of fiber. A Wieroo was +flapping far overhead. Two more stood near a door a few yards distant. +Standing between these and one of the outer pedestals that supported +one of the numerous skulls Bradley made one end of a piece of rope fast +about the pedestal and dropped the other end to the ground outside the +city. Then they waited. +</P> + +<P> +It was an hour before the coast was entirely clear and then a moment +came when no Wieroo was in sight. "Now!" whispered Bradley; and the +girl grasped the rope and slid over the edge of the roof into the +darkness below. A moment later Bradley felt two quick pulls upon the +rope and immediately followed to the girl's side. +</P> + +<P> +Across a narrow clearing they made their way and into a wood beyond. +All night they walked, following the river upward toward its source, +and at dawn they took shelter in a thicket beside the stream. At no +time did they hear the cry of a carnivore, and though many startled +animals fled as they approached, they were not once menaced by a wild +beast. When Bradley expressed surprise at the absence of the fiercest +beasts that are so numerous upon the mainland of Caprona, the girl +explained the reason that is contained in one of their ancient legends. +</P> + +<P> +"When the Wieroos first developed wings upon which they could fly, they +found this island devoid of any life other than a few reptiles that +live either upon land or in the water and these only close to the +coast. Requiring meat for food the Wieroos carried to the island such +animals as they wished for that purpose. They still occasionally bring +them, and this with the natural increase keeps them provided with +flesh." +</P> + +<P> +"As it will us," suggested Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +The first day they remained in hiding, eating only the dried food that +Bradley had brought with him from the temple storeroom, and the next +night they set out again up the river, continuing steadily on until +almost dawn, when they came to low hills where the river wound through +a gorge—it was little more than rivulet now, the water clear and cold +and filled with fish similar to brook trout though much larger. Not +wishing to leave the stream the two waded along its bed to a spot where +the gorge widened between perpendicular bluffs to a wooded acre of +level land. Here they stopped, for here also the stream ended. They +had reached its source—many cold springs bubbling up from the center +of a little natural amphitheater in the hills and forming a clear and +beautiful pool overshadowed by trees upon one side and bounded by a +little clearing upon the other. +</P> + +<P> +With the coming of the sun they saw they had stumbled upon a place +where they might remain hidden from the Wieroos for a long time and +also one that they could defend against these winged creatures, since +the trees would shield them from an attack from above and also hamper +the movements of the creatures should they attempt to follow them into +the wood. +</P> + +<P> +For three days they rested here before trying to explore the +neighboring country. On the fourth, Bradley stated that he was going +to scale the bluffs and learn what lay beyond. He told the girl that +she should remain in hiding; but she refused to be left, saying that +whatever fate was to be his, she intended to share it, so that he was +at last forced to permit her to come with him. Through woods at the +summit of the bluff they made their way toward the north and had gone +but a short distance when the wood ended and before them they saw the +waters of the inland sea and dimly in the distance the coveted shore. +</P> + +<P> +The beach lay some two hundred yards from the foot of the hill on which +they stood, nor was there a tree nor any other form of shelter between +them and the water as far up and down the coast as they could see. +Among other plans Bradley had thought of constructing a covered raft +upon which they might drift to the mainland; but as such a contrivance +would necessarily be of considerable weight, it must be built in the +water of the sea, since they could not hope to move it even a short +distance overland. +</P> + +<P> +"If this wood was only at the edge of the water," he sighed. +</P> + +<P> +"But it is not," the girl reminded him, and then: "Let us make the +best of it. We have escaped from death for a time at least. We have +food and good water and peace and each other. What more could we have +upon the mainland?" +</P> + +<P> +"But I thought you wanted to get back to your own country!" he +exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +She cast her eyes upon the ground and half turned away. "I do," she +said, "yet I am happy here. I could be little happier there." +</P> + +<P> +Bradley stood in silent thought. "`We have food and good water and +peace and each other!'" he repeated to himself. He turned then and +looked at the girl, and it was as though in the days that they had been +together this was the first time that he had really seen her. The +circumstances that had thrown them together, the dangers through which +they had passed, all the weird and horrible surroundings that had +formed the background of his knowledge of her had had their effect—she +had been but the companion of an adventure; her self-reliance, her +endurance, her loyalty, had been only what one man might expect of +another, and he saw that he had unconsciously assumed an attitude +toward her that he might have assumed toward a man. Yet there had been +a difference—he recalled now the strange sensation of elation that had +thrilled him upon the occasions when the girl had pressed his hand in +hers, and the depression that had followed her announcement of her love +for An-Tak. +</P> + +<P> +He took a step toward her. A fierce yearning to seize her and crush +her in his arms, swept over him, and then there flashed upon the screen +of recollection the picture of a stately hall set amidst broad gardens +and ancient trees and of a proud old man with beetling brows—an old +man who held his head very high—and Bradley shook his head and turned +away again. +</P> + +<P> +They went back then to their little acre, and the days came and went, +and the man fashioned spear and bow and arrows and hunted with them +that they might have meat, and he made hooks of fishbone and caught +fishes with wondrous flies of his own invention; and the girl gathered +fruits and cooked the flesh and the fish and made beds of branches and +soft grasses. She cured the hides of the animals he killed and made +them soft by much pounding. She made sandals for herself and for the +man and fashioned a hide after the manner of those worn by the warriors +of her tribe and made the man wear it, for his own garments were in +rags. +</P> + +<P> +She was always the same—sweet and kind and helpful—but always there +was about her manner and her expression just a trace of wistfulness, +and often she sat and looked at the man when he did not know it, her +brows puckered in thought as though she were trying to fathom and to +understand him. +</P> + +<P> +In the face of the cliff, Bradley scooped a cave from the rotted +granite of which the hill was composed, making a shelter for them +against the rains. He brought wood for their cook-fire which they used +only in the middle of the day—a time when there was little likelihood +of Wieroos being in the air so far from their city—and then he learned +to bank it with earth in such a way that the embers held until the +following noon without giving off smoke. +</P> + +<P> +Always he was planning on reaching the mainland, and never a day passed +that he did not go to the top of the hill and look out across the sea +toward the dark, distant line that meant for him comparative freedom +and possibly reunion with his comrades. The girl always went with him, +standing at his side and watching the stern expression on his face with +just a tinge of sadness on her own. +</P> + +<P> +"You are not happy," she said once. +</P> + +<P> +"I should be over there with my men," he replied. "I do not know what +may have happened to them." +</P> + +<P> +"I want you to be happy," she said quite simply; "but I should be very +lonely if you went away and left me here." +</P> + +<P> +He put his hand on her shoulder. "I would not do that, little girl," +he said gently. "If you cannot go with me, I shall not go. If either +of us must go alone, it will be you." +</P> + +<P> +Her face lighted to a wondrous smile. "Then we shall not be +separated," she said, "for I shall never leave you as long as we both +live." +</P> + +<P> +He looked down into her face for a moment and then: "Who was An-Tak?" +he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"My brother," she replied. "Why?" +</P> + +<P> +And then, even less than before, could he tell her. It was then that +he did something he had never done before—he put his arms about her +and stooping, kissed her forehead. "Until you find An-Tak," he said, +"I will be your brother." +</P> + +<P> +She drew away. "I already have a brother," she said, "and I do not +want another." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chapter 5 +</H3> + +<P> +Days became weeks, and weeks became months, and the months followed one +another in a lazy procession of hot, humid days and warm, humid nights. +The fugitives saw never a Wieroo by day though often at night they +heard the melancholy flapping of giant wings far above them. +</P> + +<P> +Each day was much like its predecessor. Bradley splashed about for a +few minutes in the cold pool early each morning and after a time the +girl tried it and liked it. Toward the center it was deep enough for +swimming, and so he taught her to swim—she was probably the first +human being in all Caspak's long ages who had done this thing. And +then while she prepared breakfast, the man shaved—this he never +neglected. At first it was a source of wonderment to the girl, for the +Galu men are beardless. +</P> + +<P> +When they needed meat, he hunted, otherwise he busied himself in +improving their shelter, making new and better weapons, perfecting his +knowledge of the girl's language and teaching her to speak and to write +English—anything that would keep them both occupied. He still sought +new plans for escape, but with ever-lessening enthusiasm, since each +new scheme presented some insurmountable obstacle. +</P> + +<P> +And then one day as a bolt out of a clear sky came that which blasted +the peace and security of their sanctuary forever. Bradley was just +emerging from the water after his morning plunge when from overhead +came the sound of flapping wings. Glancing quickly up the man saw a +white-robed Wieroo circling slowly above him. That he had been +discovered he could not doubt since the creature even dropped to a +lower altitude as though to assure itself that what it saw was a man. +Then it rose rapidly and winged away toward the city. +</P> + +<P> +For two days Bradley and the girl lived in a constant state of +apprehension, awaiting the moment when the hunters would come for them; +but nothing happened until just after dawn of the third day, when the +flapping of wings apprised them of the approach of Wieroos. Together +they went to the edge of the wood and looked up to see five red-robed +creatures dropping slowly in ever-lessening spirals toward their little +amphitheater. With no attempt at concealment they came, sure of their +ability to overwhelm these two fugitives, and with the fullest measure +of self-confidence they landed in the clearing but a few yards from the +man and the girl. +</P> + +<P> +Following a plan already discussed Bradley and the girl retreated +slowly into the woods. The Wieroos advanced, calling upon them to give +themselves up; but the quarry made no reply. Farther and farther into +the little wood Bradley led the hunters, permitting them to approach +ever closer; then he circled back again toward the clearing, evidently +to the great delight of the Wieroos, who now followed more leisurely, +awaiting the moment when they should be beyond the trees and able to +use their wings. They had opened into semicircular formation now with +the evident intention of cutting the two off from returning into the +wood. Each Wieroo advanced with his curved blade ready in his hand, +each hideous face blank and expressionless. +</P> + +<P> +It was then that Bradley opened fire with his pistol—three shots, +aimed with careful deliberation, for it had been long since he had used +the weapon, and he could not afford to chance wasting ammunition on +misses. At each shot a Wieroo dropped; and then the remaining two +sought escape by flight, screaming and wailing after the manner of +their kind. When a Wieroo runs, his wings spread almost without any +volition upon his part, since from time immemorial he has always used +them to balance himself and accelerate his running speed so that in the +open they appear to skim the surface of the ground when in the act of +running. But here in the woods, among the close-set boles, the +spreading of their wings proved their undoing—it hindered and stopped +them and threw them to the ground, and then Bradley was upon them +threatening them with instant death if they did not +surrender—promising them their freedom if they did his bidding. +</P> + +<P> +"As you have seen," he cried, "I can kill you when I wish and at a +distance. You cannot escape me. Your only hope of life lies in +obedience. Quick, or I kill!" +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroos stopped and faced him. "What do you want of us?" asked one. +</P> + +<P> +"Throw aside your weapons," Bradley commanded. After a moment's +hesitation they obeyed. +</P> + +<P> +"Now approach!" A great plan—the only plan—had suddenly come to him +like an inspiration. +</P> + +<P> +The Wieroos came closer and halted at his command. Bradley turned to +the girl. "There is rope in the shelter," he said. "Fetch it!" +</P> + +<P> +She did as he bid, and then he directed her to fasten one end of a +fifty-foot length to the ankle of one of the Wieroos and the opposite +end to the second. The creatures gave evidence of great fear, but they +dared not attempt to prevent the act. +</P> + +<P> +"Now go out into the clearing," said Bradley, "and remember that I am +walking close behind and that I will shoot the nearer one should either +attempt to escape—that will hold the other until I can kill him as +well." +</P> + +<P> +In the open he halted them. "The girl will get upon the back of the +one in front," announced the Englishman. "I will mount the other. She +carries a sharp blade, and I carry this weapon that you know kills +easily at a distance. If you disobey in the slightest, the +instructions that I am about to give you, you shall both die. That we +must die with you, will not deter us. If you obey, I promise to set +you free without harming you. +</P> + +<P> +"You will carry us due west, depositing us upon the shore of the +mainland—that is all. It is the price of your lives. Do you agree?" +</P> + +<P> +Sullenly the Wieroos acquiesced. Bradley examined the knots that held +the rope to their ankles, and feeling them secure directed the girl to +mount the back of the leading Wieroo, himself upon the other. Then he +gave the signal for the two to rise together. With loud flapping of +the powerful wings the creatures took to the air, circling once before +they topped the trees upon the hill and then taking a course due west +out over the waters of the sea. +</P> + +<P> +Nowhere about them could Bradley see signs of other Wieroos, nor of +those other menaces which he had feared might bring disaster to his +plans for escape—the huge, winged reptilia that are so numerous above +the southern areas of Caspak and which are often seen, though in lesser +numbers, farther north. +</P> + +<P> +Nearer and nearer loomed the mainland—a broad, parklike expanse +stretching inland to the foot of a low plateau spread out before them. +The little dots in the foreground became grazing herds of deer and +antelope and bos; a huge woolly rhinoceros wallowed in a mudhole to the +right, and beyond, a mighty mammoth culled the tender shoots from a +tall tree. The roars and screams and growls of giant carnivora came +faintly to their ears. Ah, this was Caspak. With all of its dangers +and its primal savagery it brought a fullness to the throat of the +Englishman as to one who sees and hears the familiar sights and sounds +of home after a long absence. Then the Wieroos dropped swiftly +downward to the flower-starred turf that grew almost to the water's +edge, the fugitives slipped from their backs, and Bradley told the +red-robed creatures they were free to go. +</P> + +<P> +When he had cut the ropes from their ankles they rose with that uncanny +wailing upon their lips that always brought a shudder to the +Englishman, and upon dismal wings they flapped away toward frightful +Oo-oh. +</P> + +<P> +When the creatures had gone, the girl turned toward Bradley. "Why did +you have them bring us here?" she asked. "Now we are far from my +country. We may never live to reach it, as we are among enemies who, +while not so horrible will kill us just as surely as would the Wieroos +should they capture us, and we have before us many marches through +lands filled with savage beasts." +</P> + +<P> +"There were two reasons," replied Bradley. "You told me that there are +two Wieroo cities at the eastern end of the island. To have passed +near either of them might have been to have brought about our heads +hundreds of the creatures from whom we could not possibly have escaped. +Again, my friends must be near this spot—it cannot be over two marches +to the fort of which I have told you. It is my duty to return to them. +If they still live we shall find a way to return you to your people." +</P> + +<P> +"And you?" asked the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"I escaped from Oo-oh," replied Bradley. "I have accomplished the +impossible once, and so I shall accomplish it again—I shall escape +from Caspak." +</P> + +<P> +He was not looking at her face as he answered her, and so he did not +see the shadow of sorrow that crossed her countenance. When he raised +his eyes again, she was smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"What you wish, I wish," said the girl. +</P> + +<P> +Southward along the coast they made their way following the beach, +where the walking was best, but always keeping close enough to trees to +insure sanctuary from the beasts and reptiles that so often menaced +them. It was late in the afternoon when the girl suddenly seized +Bradley's arm and pointed straight ahead along the shore. "What is +that?" she whispered. "What strange reptile is it?" +</P> + +<P> +Bradley looked in the direction her slim forefinger indicated. He +rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then he seized her wrist and drew +her quickly behind a clump of bushes. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the most frightful reptile that the waters of the world have +ever known," he replied. "It is a German U-boat!" +</P> + +<P> +An expression of amazement and understanding lighted her features. "It +is the thing of which you told me," she exclaimed, "—the thing that +swims under the water and carries men in its belly!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is," replied Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"Then why do you hide from it?" asked the girl. "You said that now it +belonged to your friends." +</P> + +<P> +"Many months have passed since I knew what was going on among my +friends," he replied. "I cannot know what has befallen them. They +should have been gone from here in this vessel long since, and so I +cannot understand why it is still here. I am going to investigate +first before I show myself. When I left, there were more Germans on +the U-33 than there were men of my own party at the fort, and I have +had sufficient experience of Germans to know that they will bear +watching—if they have not been properly watched since I left." +</P> + +<P> +Making their way through a fringe of wood that grew a few yards inland +the two crept unseen toward the U-boat which lay moored to the shore at +a point which Bradley now recognized as being near the oil-pool north +of Dinosaur. As close as possible to the vessel they halted, crouching +low among the dense vegetation, and watched the boat for signs of human +life about it. The hatches were closed—no one could be seen or heard. +For five minutes Bradley watched, and then he determined to board the +submarine and investigate. He had risen to carry his decision into +effect when there suddenly broke upon his ear, uttered in loud and +menacing tones, a volley of German oaths and expletives among which he +heard Englische schweinhunde repeated several times. The voice did not +come from the direction of the U-boat; but from inland. Creeping +forward Bradley reached a spot where, through the creepers hanging from +the trees, he could see a party of men coming down toward the shore. +</P> + +<P> +He saw Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and six of his men—all +armed—while marching in a little knot among them were Olson, Brady, +Sinclair, Wilson, and Whitely. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley knew nothing of the disappearance of Bowen Tyler and Miss La +Rue, nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling the fort and +attempting to escape in the U-33; but he was in no way surprised at +what he saw before him. +</P> + +<P> +The little party came slowly onward, the prisoners staggering beneath +heavy cans of oil, while Schwartz, one of the German noncommissioned +officers cursed and beat them with a stick of wood, impartially. Von +Schoenvorts walked in the rear of the column, encouraging Schwartz and +laughing at the discomfiture of the Britishers. Dietz, Heinz, and +Klatz also seemed to enjoy the entertainment immensely; but two of the +men—Plesser and Hindle—marched with eyes straight to the front and +with scowling faces. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley felt his blood boil at sight of the cowardly indignities being +heaped upon his men, and in the brief span of time occupied by the +column to come abreast of where he lay hidden he made his plans, +foolhardy though he knew them. Then he drew the girl close to him. +"Stay here," he whispered. "I am going out to fight those beasts; but +I shall be killed. Do not let them see you. Do not let them take you +alive. They are more cruel, more cowardly, more bestial than the +Wieroos." +</P> + +<P> +The girl pressed close to him, her face very white. "Go, if that is +right," she whispered; "but if you die, I shall die, for I cannot live +without you." He looked sharply into her eyes. "Oh!" he ejaculated. +"What an idiot I have been! Nor could I live without you, little +girl." And he drew her very close and kissed her lips. "Good-bye." +He disengaged himself from her arms and looked again in time to see +that the rear of the column had just passed him. Then he rose and +leaped quickly and silently from the jungle. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly von Schoenvorts felt an arm thrown about his neck and his +pistol jerked from its holster. He gave a cry of fright and warning, +and his men turned to see a half-naked white man holding their leader +securely from behind and aiming a pistol at them over his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Drop those guns!" came in short, sharp syllables and perfect German +from the lips of the newcomer. "Drop them or I'll put a bullet through +the back of von Schoenvorts' head." +</P> + +<P> +The Germans hesitated for a moment, looking first toward von +Schoenvorts and then to Schwartz, who was evidently second in command, +for orders. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the English pig, Bradley," shouted the latter, "and he's +alone—go and get him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Go yourself," growled Plesser. Hindle moved close to the side of +Plesser and whispered something to him. The latter nodded. Suddenly +von Schoenvorts wheeled about and seized Bradley's pistol arm with both +hands, "Now!" he shouted. "Come and take him, quick!" +</P> + +<P> +Schwartz and three others leaped forward; but Plesser and Hindle held +back, looking questioningly toward the English prisoners. Then Plesser +spoke. "Now is your chance, Englander," he called in low tones. +"Seize Hindle and me and take our guns from us—we will not fight hard." +</P> + +<P> +Olson and Brady were not long in acting upon the suggestion. They had +seen enough of the brutal treatment von Schoenvorts accorded his men +and the especially venomous attentions he had taken great enjoyment in +according Plesser and Hindle to understand that these two might be +sincere in a desire for revenge. In another moment the two Germans +were unarmed and Olson and Brady were running to the support of +Bradley; but already it seemed too late. +</P> + +<P> +Von Schoenvorts had managed to drag the Englishman around so that his +back was toward Schwartz and the other advancing Germans. Schwartz was +almost upon Bradley with gun clubbed and ready to smash down upon the +Englishman's skull. Brady and Olson were charging the Germans in the +rear with Wilson, Whitely, and Sinclair supporting them with bare +fists. It seemed that Bradley was doomed when, apparently out of +space, an arrow whizzed, striking Schwartz in the side, passing +half-way through his body to crumple him to earth. With a shriek the +man fell, and at the same time Olson and Brady saw the slim figure of a +young girl standing at the edge of the jungle coolly fitting another +arrow to her bow. +</P> + +<P> +Bradley had now succeeded in wrestling his arm free from von +Schoenvorts' grip and in dropping the latter with a blow from the butt +of his pistol. The rest of the English and Germans were engaged in a +hand-to-hand encounter, Plesser and Hindle standing aside from the +melee and urging their comrades to surrender and join with the English +against the tyranny of von Schoenvorts. Heinz and Klatz, possibly +influenced by their exhortation, were putting up but a half-hearted +resistance; but Dietz, a huge, bearded, bull-necked Prussian, yelling +like a maniac, sought to exterminate the Englische schweinhunde with +his bayonet, fearing to fire his piece lest he kill some of his +comrades. +</P> + +<P> +It was Olson who engaged him, and though unused to the long German +rifle and bayonet, he met the bull-rush of the Hun with the cold, cruel +precision and science of English bayonet-fighting. There was no +feinting, no retiring and no parrying that was not also an attack. +Bayonet-fighting today is not a pretty thing to see—it is not an +artistic fencing-match in which men give and take—it is slaughter +inevitable and quickly over. +</P> + +<P> +Dietz lunged once madly at Olson's throat. A short point, with just a +twist of the bayonet to the left sent the sharp blade over the +Englishman's left shoulder. Instantly he stepped close in, dropped his +rifle through his hands and grasped it with both hands close below the +muzzle and with a short, sharp jab sent his blade up beneath Dietz's +chin to the brain. So quickly was the thing done and so quick the +withdrawal that Olson had wheeled to take on another adversary before +the German's corpse had toppled to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +But there were no more adversaries to take on. Heinz and Klatz had +thrown down their rifles and with hands above their heads were crying +"Kamerad! Kamerad!" at the tops of their voices. Von Schoenvorts +still lay where he had fallen. Plesser and Hindle were explaining to +Bradley that they were glad of the outcome of the fight, as they could +no longer endure the brutality of the U-boat commander. +</P> + +<P> +The remainder of the men were looking at the girl who now advanced +slowly, her bow ready, when Bradley turned toward her and held out his +hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Co-Tan," he said, "unstring your bow—these are my friends, and +yours." And to the Englishmen: "This is Co-Tan. You who saw her save +me from Schwartz know a part of what I owe her." +</P> + +<P> +The rough men gathered about the girl, and when she spoke to them in +broken English, with a smile upon her lips enhancing the charm of her +irresistible accent, each and every one of them promptly fell in love +with her and constituted himself henceforth her guardian and her slave. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later the attention of each was called to Plesser by a volley +of invective. They turned in time to see the man running toward von +Schoenvorts who was just rising from the ground. Plesser carried a +rifle with bayonet fixed, that he had snatched from the side of Dietz's +corpse. Von Schoenvorts' face was livid with fear, his jaws working as +though he would call for help; but no sound came from his blue lips. +</P> + +<P> +"You struck me," shrieked Plesser. "Once, twice, three times, you +struck me, pig. You murdered Schwerke—you drove him insane by your +cruelty until he took his own life. You are only one of your +kind—they are all like you from the Kaiser down. I wish that you were +the Kaiser. Thus would I do!" And he lunged his bayonet through von +Schoenvorts' chest. Then he let his rifle fall with the dying man and +wheeled toward Bradley. "Here I am," he said. "Do with me as you +like. All my life I have been kicked and cuffed by such as that, and +yet always have I gone out when they commanded, singing, to give up my +life if need be to keep them in power. Only lately have I come to know +what a fool I have been. But now I am no longer a fool, and besides, I +am avenged and Schwerke is avenged, so you can kill me if you wish. +Here I am." +</P> + +<P> +"If I was after bein' the king," said Olson, "I'd pin the V.C. on your +noble chist; but bein' only an Irishman with a Swede name, for which +God forgive me, the bist I can do is shake your hand." +</P> + +<P> +"You will not be punished," said Bradley. "There are four of you +left—if you four want to come along and work with us, we will take +you; but you will come as prisoners." +</P> + +<P> +"It suits me," said Plesser. "Now that the captain-lieutenant is dead +you need not fear us. All our lives we have known nothing but to obey +his class. If I had not killed him, I suppose I would be fool enough +to obey him again; but he is dead. Now we will obey you—we must obey +some one." +</P> + +<P> +"And you?" Bradley turned to the other survivors of the original crew +of the U-33. Each promised obedience. +</P> + +<P> +The two dead Germans were buried in a single grave, and then the party +boarded the submarine and stowed away the oil. +</P> + +<P> +Here Bradley told the men what had befallen him since the night of +September 14th when he had disappeared so mysteriously from the camp +upon the plateau. Now he learned for the first time that Bowen J. +Tyler, Jr., and Miss La Rue had been missing even longer than he and +that no faintest trace of them had been discovered. +</P> + +<P> +Olson told him of how the Germans had returned and waited in ambush for +them outside the fort, capturing them that they might be used to assist +in the work of refining the oil and later in manning the U-33, and +Plesser told briefly of the experiences of the German crew under von +Schoenvorts since they had escaped from Caspak months before—of how +they lost their bearings after having been shelled by ships they had +attempted to sneak farther north and how at last with provisions gone +and fuel almost exhausted they had sought and at last found, more by +accident than design, the mysterious island they had once been so glad +to leave behind. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," announced Bradley, "we'll plan for the future. The boat has +fuel, provisions and water for a month, I believe you said, Plesser; +there are ten of us to man it. We have a last sad duty here—we must +search for Miss La Rue and Mr. Tyler. I say a sad duty because we know +that we shall not find them; but it is none the less our duty to comb +the shoreline, firing signal shells at intervals, that we at least may +leave at last with full knowledge that we have done all that men might +do to locate them." +</P> + +<P> +None dissented from this conviction, nor was there a voice raised in +protest against the plan to at least make assurance doubly sure before +quitting Caspak forever. +</P> + +<P> +And so they started, cruising slowly up the coast and firing an +occasional shot from the gun. Often the vessel was brought to a stop, +and always there were anxious eyes scanning the shore for an answering +signal. Late in the afternoon they caught sight of a number of Band-lu +warriors; but when the vessel approached the shore and the natives +realized that human beings stood upon the back of the strange monster +of the sea, they fled in terror before Bradley could come within +hailing distance. +</P> + +<P> +That night they dropped anchor at the mouth of a sluggish stream whose +warm waters swarmed with millions of tiny tadpolelike organisms—minute +human spawn starting on their precarious journey from some inland pool +toward "the beginning"—a journey which one in millions, perhaps, might +survive to complete. Already almost at the inception of life they were +being greeted by thousands of voracious mouths as fish and reptiles of +many kinds fought to devour them, the while other and larger creatures +pursued the devourers, to be, in turn, preyed upon by some other of the +countless forms that inhabit the deeps of Caprona's frightful sea. +</P> + +<P> +The second day was practically a repetition of the first. They moved +very slowly with frequent stops and once they landed in the Kro-lu +country to hunt. Here they were attacked by the bow-and-arrow men, +whom they could not persuade to palaver with them. So belligerent were +the natives that it became necessary to fire into them in order to +escape their persistent and ferocious attentions. +</P> + +<P> +"What chance," asked Bradley, as they were returning to the boat with +their game, "could Tyler and Miss La Rue have had among such as these?" +</P> + +<P> +But they continued on their fruitless quest, and the third day, after +cruising along the shore of a deep inlet, they passed a line of lofty +cliffs that formed the southern shore of the inlet and rounded a sharp +promontory about noon. Co-Tan and Bradley were on deck alone, and as +the new shoreline appeared beyond the point, the girl gave an +exclamation of joy and seized the man's hand in hers. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, look!" she cried. "The Galu country! The Galu country! It is my +country that I never thought to see again." +</P> + +<P> +"You are glad to come again, Co-Tan?" asked Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, so glad!" she cried. "And you will come with me to my people? We +may live here among them, and you will be a great warrior—oh, when Jor +dies you may even be chief, for there is none so mighty as my warrior. +You will come?" +</P> + +<P> +Bradley shook his head. "I cannot, little Co-Tan," he answered. "My +country needs me, and I must go back. Maybe someday I shall return. +You will not forget me, Co-Tan?" +</P> + +<P> +She looked at him in wide-eyed wonder. "You are going away from me?" +she asked in a very small voice. "You are going away from Co-Tan?" +</P> + +<P> +Bradley looked down upon the little bowed head. He felt the soft cheek +against his bare arm; and he felt something else there too—hot drops +of moisture that ran down to his very finger-tips and splashed, but +each one wrung from a woman's heart. +</P> + +<P> +He bent low and raised the tear-stained face to his own. "No, Co-Tan," +he said, "I am not going away from you—for you are going with me. You +are going back to my own country to be my wife. Tell me that you will, +Co-Tan." And he bent still lower yet from his height and kissed her +lips. Nor did he need more than the wonderful new light in her eyes to +tell him that she would go to the end of the world with him if he would +but take her. And then the gun-crew came up from below again to fire a +signal shot, and the two were brought down from the high heaven of +their new happiness to the scarred and weather-beaten deck of the U-33. +</P> + +<P> +An hour later the vessel was running close in by a shore of wondrous +beauty beside a parklike meadow that stretched back a mile inland to +the foot of a plateau when Whitely called attention to a score of +figures clambering downward from the elevation to the lowland below. +The engines were reversed and the boat brought to a stop while all +hands gathered on deck to watch the little party coming toward them +across the meadow. +</P> + +<P> +"They are Galus," cried Co-Tan; "they are my own people. Let me speak +to them lest they think we come to fight them. Put me ashore, my man, +and I will go meet them." +</P> + +<P> +The nose of the U-boat was run close in to the steep bank; but when +Co-Tan would have run forward alone, Bradley seized her hand and held +her back. "I will go with you, Co-Tan," he said; and together they +advanced to meet the oncoming party. +</P> + +<P> +There were about twenty warriors moving forward in a thin line, as our +infantry advance as skirmishers. Bradley could not but notice the +marked difference between this formation and the moblike methods of the +lower tribes he had come in contact with, and he commented upon it to +Co-Tan. +</P> + +<P> +"Galu warriors always advance into battle thus," she said. "The lesser +people remain in a huddled group where they can scarce use their +weapons the while they present so big a mark to us that our spears and +arrows cannot miss them; but when they hurl theirs at our warriors, if +they miss the first man, there is no chance that they will kill some +one behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"Stand still now," she cautioned, "and fold your arms. They will not +harm us then." +</P> + +<P> +Bradley did as he was bid, and the two stood with arms folded as the +line of warriors approached. When they had come within some fifty +yards, they halted and one spoke. "Who are you and from whence do you +come?" he asked; and then Co-Tan gave a little, glad cry and sprang +forward with out-stretched arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Tan!" she exclaimed. "Do you not know your little Co-Tan?" +</P> + +<P> +The warrior stared, incredulous, for a moment, and then he, too, ran +forward and when they met, took the girl in his arms. It was then that +Bradley experienced to the full a sensation that was new to him—a +sudden hatred for the strange warrior before him and a desire to kill +without knowing why he would kill. He moved quickly to the girl's side +and grasped her wrist. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is this man?" he demanded in cold tones. +</P> + +<P> +Co-Tan turned a surprised face toward the Englishman and then of a +sudden broke forth into a merry peal of laughter. "This is my father, +Brad-lee," she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"And who is Brad-lee?" demanded the warrior. +</P> + +<P> +"He is my man," replied Co-Tan simply. +</P> + +<P> +"By what right?" insisted Tan. +</P> + +<P> +And then she told him briefly of all that she had passed through since +the Wieroos had stolen her and of how Bradley had rescued her and +sought to rescue An-Tak, her brother. +</P> + +<P> +"You are satisfied with him?" asked Tan. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied the girl proudly. +</P> + +<P> +It was then that Bradley's attention was attracted to the edge of the +plateau by a movement there, and looking closely he saw a horse bearing +two figures sliding down the steep declivity. Once at the bottom, the +animal came charging across the meadowland at a rapid run. It was a +magnificent animal—a great bay stallion with a white-blazed face and +white forelegs to the knees, its barrel encircled by a broad surcingle +of white; and as it came to a sudden stop beside Tan, the Englishman +saw that it bore a man and a girl—a tall man and a girl as beautiful +as Co-Tan. When the girl espied the latter, she slid from the horse +and ran toward her, fairly screaming for joy. +</P> + +<P> +The man dismounted and stood beside Tan. Like Bradley he was garbed +after the fashion of the surrounding warriors; but there was a subtle +difference between him and his companion. Possibly he detected a +similar difference in Bradley, for his first question was, "From what +country?" and though he spoke in Galu Bradley thought he detected an +accent. +</P> + +<P> +"England," replied Bradley. +</P> + +<P> +A broad smile lighted the newcomer's face as he held out his hand. "I +am Tom Billings of Santa Monica, California," he said. "I know all +about you, and I'm mighty glad to find you alive." +</P> + +<P> +"How did you get here?" asked Bradley. "I thought ours was the only +party of men from the outer world ever to enter Caprona." +</P> + +<P> +"It was, until we came in search of Bowen J. Tyler, Jr.," replied +Billings. "We found him and sent him home with his bride; but I was +kept a prisoner here." +</P> + +<P> +Bradley's face darkened—then they were not among friends after all. +"There are ten of us down there on a German sub with small-arms and a +gun," he said quickly in English. "It will be no trick to get away +from these people." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't know my jailer," replied Billings, "or you'd not be so sure. +Wait, I'll introduce you." And then turning to the girl who had +accompanied him he called her by name. "Ajor," he said, "permit me to +introduce Lieutenant Bradley; Lieutenant, Mrs. Billings—my jailer!" +</P> + +<P> +The Englishman laughed as he shook hands with the girl. "You are not +as good a soldier as I," he said to Billings. "Instead of being taken +prisoner myself I have taken one—Mrs. Bradley, this is Mr. Billings." +</P> + +<P> +Ajor, quick to understand, turned toward Co-Tan. "You are going back +with him to his country?" she asked. Co-Tan admitted it. +</P> + +<P> +"You dare?" asked Ajor. "But your father will not permit it—Jor, my +father, High Chief of the Galus, will not permit it, for like me you +are cos-ata-lo. Oh, Co-Tan, if we but could! How I would love to see +all the strange and wonderful things of which my Tom tells me!" +</P> + +<P> +Bradley bent and whispered in her ear. "Say the word and you may both +go with us." +</P> + +<P> +Billings heard and speaking in English, asked Ajor if she would go. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she answered, "If you wish it; but you know, my Tom, that if Jor +captures us, both you and Co-Tan's man will pay the penalty with your +lives—not even his love for me nor his admiration for you can save +you." +</P> + +<P> +Bradley noticed that she spoke in English—broken English like Co-Tan's +but equally appealing. "We can easily get you aboard the ship," he +said, "on some pretext or other, and then we can steam away. They can +neither harm nor detain us, nor will we have to fire a shot at them." +</P> + +<P> +And so it was done, Bradley and Co-Tan taking Ajor and Billings aboard +to "show" them the vessel, which almost immediately raised anchor and +moved slowly out into the sea. +</P> + +<P> +"I hate to do it," said Billings. "They have been fine to me. Jor and +Tan are splendid men and they will think me an ingrate; but I can't +waste my life here when there is so much to be done in the outer world." +</P> + +<P> +As they steamed down the inland sea past the island of Oo-oh, the +stories of their adventures were retold, and Bradley learned that Bowen +Tyler and his bride had left the Galu country but a fortnight before +and that there was every reason to believe that the Toreador might +still be lying in the Pacific not far off the subterranean mouth of the +river which emitted Caprona's heated waters into the ocean. +</P> + +<P> +Late in the second day, after running through swarms of hideous +reptiles, they submerged at the point where the river entered beneath +the cliffs and shortly after rose to the sunlit surface of the Pacific; +but nowhere as far as they could see was sign of another craft. Down +the coast they steamed toward the beach where Billings had made his +crossing in the hydro-aeroplane and just at dusk the lookout announced +a light dead ahead. It proved to be aboard the Toreador, and a +half-hour later there was such a reunion on the deck of the trim little +yacht as no one there had ever dreamed might be possible. Of the +Allies there were only Tippet and James to be mourned, and no one +mourned any of the Germans dead nor Benson, the traitor, whose ugly +story was first told in Bowen Tyler's manuscript. +</P> + +<P> +Tyler and the rescue party had but just reached the yacht that +afternoon. They had heard, faintly, the signal shots fired by the U-33 +but had been unable to locate their direction and so had assumed that +they had come from the guns of the Toreador. +</P> + +<P> +It was a happy party that sailed north toward sunny, southern +California, the old U-33 trailing in the wake of the Toreador and +flying with the latter the glorious Stars and Stripes beneath which she +had been born in the shipyard at Santa Monica. Three newly married +couples, their bonds now duly solemnized by the master of the ship, +joyed in the peace and security of the untracked waters of the south +Pacific and the unique honeymoon which, had it not been for stern duty +ahead, they could have wished protracted till the end of time. +</P> + +<P> +And so they came one day to dock at the shipyard which Bowen Tyler now +controlled, and here the U-33 still lies while those who passed so many +eventful days within and because of her, have gone their various ways. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<PRE> +[Transcriber's note: I have made the following changes to the text: + + PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO + 10 12 of or + 14 19 of animals life of animals + 31 26 is arms his arms + 37 14 above this above his + 37 23 Bradley, Bradley + 54 18 man man + 57 14 and of Oo-oh of Oo-oh + 62 18 spend spent + 63 31 and mumbled the mumbled + 64 9 things thing + 80 30 east cast + 104 16 proaching proached + 106 30 cos-at-lu cos-ata-lu + 126 17 not artistic not an artistic + 126 25 close below hands close below + 130 1 internals intervals + 132 9 than that + 132 10 splashes splashed + 134 3 know know not know] +</PRE> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Out of Time's Abyss, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS *** + +***** This file should be named 553-h.htm or 553-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/553/ + +Produced by Judith Boss. + +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: Out of Time's Abyss + +Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs + +Posting Date: July 30, 2008 [EBook #553] +Release Date: June, 1996 +[Last updated: November 24, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss. + + + + + + + + +Out of Time's Abyss + + +By + +Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + + +Chapter I + +This is the tale of Bradley after he left Fort Dinosaur upon the west +coast of the great lake that is in the center of the island. + +Upon the fourth day of September, 1916, he set out with four +companions, Sinclair, Brady, James, and Tippet, to search along the +base of the barrier cliffs for a point at which they might be scaled. + +Through the heavy Caspakian air, beneath the swollen sun, the five men +marched northwest from Fort Dinosaur, now waist-deep in lush, jungle +grasses starred with myriad gorgeous blooms, now across open +meadow-land and parklike expanses and again plunging into dense forests +of eucalyptus and acacia and giant arboreous ferns with feathered +fronds waving gently a hundred feet above their heads. + +About them upon the ground, among the trees and in the air over them +moved and swung and soared the countless forms of Caspak's teeming +life. Always were they menaced by some frightful thing and seldom were +their rifles cool, yet even in the brief time they had dwelt upon +Caprona they had become callous to danger, so that they swung along +laughing and chatting like soldiers on a summer hike. + +"This reminds me of South Clark Street," remarked Brady, who had once +served on the traffic squad in Chicago; and as no one asked him why, he +volunteered that it was "because it's no place for an Irishman." + +"South Clark Street and heaven have something in common, then," +suggested Sinclair. James and Tippet laughed, and then a hideous growl +broke from a dense thicket ahead and diverted their attention to other +matters. + +"One of them behemoths of 'Oly Writ," muttered Tippet as they came to a +halt and with guns ready awaited the almost inevitable charge. + +"Hungry lot o' beggars, these," said Bradley; "always trying to eat +everything they see." + +For a moment no further sound came from the thicket. "He may be +feeding now," suggested Bradley. "We'll try to go around him. Can't +waste ammunition. Won't last forever. Follow me." And he set off at +right angles to their former course, hoping to avert a charge. They +had taken a dozen steps, perhaps, when the thicket moved to the advance +of the thing within it, the leafy branches parted, and the hideous head +of a gigantic bear emerged. + +"Pick your trees," whispered Bradley. "Can't waste ammunition." + +The men looked about them. The bear took a couple of steps forward, +still growling menacingly. He was exposed to the shoulders now. +Tippet took one look at the monster and bolted for the nearest tree; +and then the bear charged. He charged straight for Tippet. The other +men scattered for the various trees they had selected--all except +Bradley. He stood watching Tippet and the bear. The man had a good +start and the tree was not far away; but the speed of the enormous +creature behind him was something to marvel at, yet Tippet was in a +fair way to make his sanctuary when his foot caught in a tangle of +roots and down he went, his rifle flying from his hand and falling +several yards away. Instantly Bradley's piece was at his shoulder, +there was a sharp report answered by a roar of mingled rage and pain +from the carnivore. Tippet attempted to scramble to his feet. + +"Lie still!" shouted Bradley. "Can't waste ammunition." + +The bear halted in its tracks, wheeled toward Bradley and then back +again toward Tippet. Again the former's rifle spit angrily, and the +bear turned again in his direction. Bradley shouted loudly. "Come on, +you behemoth of Holy Writ!" he cried. "Come on, you duffer! Can't +waste ammunition." And as he saw the bear apparently upon the verge of +deciding to charge him, he encouraged the idea by backing rapidly away, +knowing that an angry beast will more often charge one who moves than +one who lies still. + +And the bear did charge. Like a bolt of lightning he flashed down upon +the Englishman. "Now run!" Bradley called to Tippet and himself +turned in flight toward a nearby tree. The other men, now safely +ensconced upon various branches, watched the race with breathless +interest. Would Bradley make it? It seemed scarce possible. And if +he didn't! James gasped at the thought. Six feet at the shoulder +stood the frightful mountain of blood-mad flesh and bone and sinew that +was bearing down with the speed of an express train upon the seemingly +slow-moving man. + +It all happened in a few seconds; but they were seconds that seemed +like hours to the men who watched. They saw Tippet leap to his feet at +Bradley's shouted warning. They saw him run, stooping to recover his +rifle as he passed the spot where it had fallen. They saw him glance +back toward Bradley, and then they saw him stop short of the tree that +might have given him safety and turn back in the direction of the bear. +Firing as he ran, Tippet raced after the great cave bear--the monstrous +thing that should have been extinct ages before--ran for it and fired +even as the beast was almost upon Bradley. The men in the trees +scarcely breathed. It seemed to them such a futile thing for Tippet to +do, and Tippet of all men! They had never looked upon Tippet as a +coward--there seemed to be no cowards among that strangely assorted +company that Fate had gathered together from the four corners of the +earth--but Tippet was considered a cautious man. Overcautious, some +thought him. How futile he and his little pop-gun appeared as he +dashed after that living engine of destruction! But, oh, how glorious! +It was some such thought as this that ran through Brady's mind, though +articulated it might have been expressed otherwise, albeit more +forcefully. + +Just then it occurred to Brady to fire and he, too, opened upon the +bear, but at the same instant the animal stumbled and fell forward, +though still growling most fearsomely. Tippet never stopped running or +firing until he stood within a foot of the brute, which lay almost +touching Bradley and was already struggling to regain its feet. +Placing the muzzle of his gun against the bear's ear, Tippet pulled the +trigger. The creature sank limply to the ground and Bradley scrambled +to his feet. + +"Good work, Tippet," he said. "Mightily obliged to you--awful waste of +ammunition, really." + +And then they resumed the march and in fifteen minutes the encounter +had ceased even to be a topic of conversation. + +For two days they continued upon their perilous way. Already the +cliffs loomed high and forbidding close ahead without sign of break to +encourage hope that somewhere they might be scaled. Late in the +afternoon the party crossed a small stream of warm water upon the +sluggishly moving surface of which floated countless millions of tiny +green eggs surrounded by a light scum of the same color, though of a +darker shade. Their past experience of Caspak had taught them that +they might expect to come upon a stagnant pool of warm water if they +followed the stream to its source; but there they were almost certain +to find some of Caspak's grotesque, manlike creatures. Already since +they had disembarked from the U-33 after its perilous trip through the +subterranean channel beneath the barrier cliffs had brought them into +the inland sea of Caspak, had they encountered what had appeared to be +three distinct types of these creatures. There had been the pure +apes--huge, gorillalike beasts--and those who walked, a trifle more +erect and had features with just a shade more of the human cast about +them. Then there were men like Ahm, whom they had captured and +confined at the fort--Ahm, the club-man. "Well-known club-man," Tyler +had called him. Ahm and his people had knowledge of a speech. They +had a language, in which they were unlike the race just inferior to +them, and they walked much more erect and were less hairy: but it was +principally the fact that they possessed a spoken language and carried +a weapon that differentiated them from the others. + +All of these peoples had proven belligerent in the extreme. In common +with the rest of the fauna of Caprona the first law of nature as they +seemed to understand it was to kill--kill--kill. And so it was that +Bradley had no desire to follow up the little stream toward the pool +near which were sure to be the caves of some savage tribe, but fortune +played him an unkind trick, for the pool was much closer than he +imagined, its southern end reaching fully a mile south of the point at +which they crossed the stream, and so it was that after forcing their +way through a tangle of jungle vegetation they came out upon the edge +of the pool which they had wished to avoid. + +Almost simultaneously there appeared south of them a party of naked men +armed with clubs and hatchets. Both parties halted as they caught +sight of one another. The men from the fort saw before them a hunting +party evidently returning to its caves or village laden with meat. +They were large men with features closely resembling those of the +African Negro though their skins were white. Short hair grew upon a +large portion of their limbs and bodies, which still retained a +considerable trace of apish progenitors. They were, however, a +distinctly higher type than the Bo-lu, or club-men. + +Bradley would have been glad to have averted a meeting; but as he +desired to lead his party south around the end of the pool, and as it +was hemmed in by the jungle on one side and the water on the other, +there seemed no escape from an encounter. + +On the chance that he might avoid a clash, Bradley stepped forward with +upraised hand. "We are friends," he called in the tongue of Ahm, the +Bo-lu, who had been held a prisoner at the fort; "permit us to pass in +peace. We will not harm you." + +At this the hatchet-men set up a great jabbering with much laughter, +loud and boisterous. "No," shouted one, "you will not harm us, for we +shall kill you. Come! We kill! We kill!" And with hideous shouts +they charged down upon the Europeans. + +"Sinclair, you may fire," said Bradley quietly. "Pick off the leader. +Can't waste ammunition." + +The Englishman raised his piece to his shoulder and took quick aim at +the breast of the yelling savage leaping toward them. Directly behind +the leader came another hatchet-man, and with the report of Sinclair's +rifle both warriors lunged forward in the tall grass, pierced by the +same bullet. The effect upon the rest of the band was electrical. As +one man they came to a sudden halt, wheeled to the east and dashed into +the jungle, where the men could hear them forcing their way in an +effort to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the +authors of this new and frightful noise that killed warriors at a great +distance. + +Both the savages were dead when Bradley approached to examine them, and +as the Europeans gathered around, other eyes were bent upon them with +greater curiosity than they displayed for the victim of Sinclair's +bullet. When the party again took up the march around the southern end +of the pool the owner of the eyes followed them--large, round eyes, +almost expressionless except for a certain cold cruelty which glinted +malignly from under their pale gray irises. + +All unconscious of the stalker, the men came, late in the afternoon, to +a spot which seemed favorable as a campsite. A cold spring bubbled +from the base of a rocky formation which overhung and partially +encircled a small inclosure. At Bradley's command, the men took up the +duties assigned them--gathering wood, building a cook-fire and +preparing the evening meal. It was while they were thus engaged that +Brady's attention was attracted by the dismal flapping of huge wings. +He glanced up, expecting to see one of the great flying reptiles of a +bygone age, his rifle ready in his hand. Brady was a brave man. He +had groped his way up narrow tenement stairs and taken an armed maniac +from a dark room without turning a hair; but now as he looked up, he +went white and staggered back. + +"Gawd!" he almost screamed. "What is it?" + +Attracted by Brady's cry the others seized their rifles as they +followed his wide-eyed, frozen gaze, nor was there one of them that was +not moved by some species of terror or awe. Then Brady spoke again in +an almost inaudible voice. "Holy Mother protect us--it's a banshee!" + +Bradley, always cool almost to indifference in the face of danger, felt +a strange, creeping sensation run over his flesh, as slowly, not a +hundred feet above them, the thing flapped itself across the sky, its +huge, round eyes glaring down upon them. And until it disappeared over +the tops of the trees of a near-by wood the five men stood as though +paralyzed, their eyes never leaving the weird shape; nor never one of +them appearing to recall that he grasped a loaded rifle in his hands. + +With the passing of the thing, came the reaction. Tippet sank to the +ground and buried his face in his hands. "Oh, Gord," he moaned. "Tyke +me awy from this orful plice." Brady, recovered from the first shock, +swore loud and luridly. He called upon all the saints to witness that +he was unafraid and that anybody with half an eye could have seen that +the creature was nothing more than "one av thim flyin' alligators" that +they all were familiar with. + +"Yes," said Sinclair with fine sarcasm, "we've saw so many of them with +white shrouds on 'em." + +"Shut up, you fool!" growled Brady. "If you know so much, tell us what +it was after bein' then." + +Then he turned toward Bradley. "What was it, sir, do you think?" he +asked. + +Bradley shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "It looked like a +winged human being clothed in a flowing white robe. Its face was more +human than otherwise. That is the way it looked to me; but what it +really was I can't even guess, for such a creature is as far beyond my +experience or knowledge as it is beyond yours. All that I am sure of +is that whatever else it may have been, it was quite material--it was +no ghost; rather just another of the strange forms of life which we +have met here and with which we should be accustomed by this time." + +Tippet looked up. His face was still ashy. "Yer cawn't tell me," he +cried. "Hi seen hit. Blime, Hi seen hit. Hit was ha dead man flyin' +through the hair. Didn't Hi see 'is heyes? Oh, Gord! Didn't Hi see +'em?" + +"It didn't look like any beast or reptile to me," spoke up Sinclair. +"It was lookin' right down at me when I looked up and I saw its face +plain as I see yours. It had big round eyes that looked all cold and +dead, and its cheeks were sunken in deep, and I could see its yellow +teeth behind thin, tight-drawn lips--like a man who had been dead a +long while, sir," he added, turning toward Bradley. + +"Yes!" James had not spoken since the apparition had passed over them, +and now it was scarce speech which he uttered--rather a series of +articulate gasps. "Yes--dead--a--long--while. It--means something. +It--come--for some--one. For one--of us. One--of us is goin'--to die. +I'm goin' to die!" he ended in a wail. + +"Come! Come!" snapped Bradley. "Won't do. Won't do at all. Get to +work, all of you. Waste of time. Can't waste time." + +His authoritative tones brought them all up standing, and presently +each was occupied with his own duties; but each worked in silence and +there was no singing and no bantering such as had marked the making of +previous camps. Not until they had eaten and to each had been issued +the little ration of smoking tobacco allowed after each evening meal +did any sign of a relaxation of taut nerves appear. It was Brady who +showed the first signs of returning good spirits. He commenced humming +"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" and presently to voice the words, but he +was well into his third song before anyone joined him, and even then +there seemed a dismal note in even the gayest of tunes. + +A huge fire blazed in the opening of their rocky shelter that the +prowling carnivora might be kept at bay; and always one man stood on +guard, watchfully alert against a sudden rush by some maddened beast of +the jungle. Beyond the fire, yellow-green spots of flame appeared, +moved restlessly about, disappeared and reappeared, accompanied by a +hideous chorus of screams and growls and roars as the hungry +meat-eaters hunting through the night were attracted by the light or +the scent of possible prey. + +But to such sights and sounds as these the five men had become callous. +They sang or talked as unconcernedly as they might have done in the +bar-room of some publichouse at home. + +Sinclair was standing guard. The others were listening to Brady's +description of traffic congestion at the Rush Street bridge during the +rush hour at night. The fire crackled cheerily. The owners of the +yellow-green eyes raised their frightful chorus to the heavens. +Conditions seemed again to have returned to normal. And then, as +though the hand of Death had reached out and touched them all, the five +men tensed into sudden rigidity. + +Above the nocturnal diapason of the teeming jungle sounded a dismal +flapping of wings and over head, through the thick night, a shadowy +form passed across the diffused light of the flaring camp-fire. +Sinclair raised his rifle and fired. An eerie wail floated down from +above and the apparition, whatever it might have been, was swallowed by +the darkness. For several seconds the listening men heard the sound of +those dismally flapping wings lessening in the distance until they +could no longer be heard. + +Bradley was the first to speak. "Shouldn't have fired, Sinclair," he +said; "can't waste ammunition." But there was no note of censure in +his tone. It was as though he understood the nervous reaction that had +compelled the other's act. + +"I couldn't help it, sir," said Sinclair. "Lord, it would take an iron +man to keep from shootin' at that awful thing. Do you believe in +ghosts, sir?" + +"No," replied Bradley. "No such things." + +"I don't know about that," said Brady. "There was a woman murdered +over on the prairie near Brighton--her throat was cut from ear to ear, +and--" + +"Shut up," snapped Bradley. + +"My grandaddy used to live down Coppington wy," said Tippet. "They +were a hold ruined castle on a 'ill near by, hand at midnight they used +to see pale blue lights through the windows an 'ear--" + +"Will you close your hatch!" demanded Bradley. "You fools will have +yourselves scared to death in a minute. Now go to sleep." + +But there was little sleep in camp that night until utter exhaustion +overtook the harassed men toward morning; nor was there any return of +the weird creature that had set the nerves of each of them on edge. + +The following forenoon the party reached the base of the barrier cliffs +and for two days marched northward in an effort to discover a break in +the frowning abutment that raised its rocky face almost perpendicularly +above them, yet nowhere was there the slightest indication that the +cliffs were scalable. + +Disheartened, Bradley determined to turn back toward the fort, as he +already had exceeded the time decided upon by Bowen Tyler and himself +for the expedition. The cliffs for many miles had been trending in a +northeasterly direction, indicating to Bradley that they were +approaching the northern extremity of the island. According to the +best of his calculations they had made sufficient easting during the +past two days to have brought them to a point almost directly north of +Fort Dinosaur and as nothing could be gained by retracing their steps +along the base of the cliffs he decided to strike due south through the +unexplored country between them and the fort. + +That night (September 9, 1916), they made camp a short distance from +the cliffs beside one of the numerous cool springs that are to be found +within Caspak, oftentimes close beside the still more numerous warm and +hot springs which feed the many pools. After supper the men lay +smoking and chatting among themselves. Tippet was on guard. Fewer +night prowlers threatened them, and the men were commenting upon the +fact that the farther north they had traveled the smaller the number of +all species of animals became, though it was still present in what +would have seemed appalling plenitude in any other part of the world. +The diminution in reptilian life was the most noticeable change in the +fauna of northern Caspak. Here, however, were forms they had not met +elsewhere, several of which were of gigantic proportions. + +According to their custom all, with the exception of the man on guard, +sought sleep early, nor, once disposed upon the ground for slumber, +were they long in finding it. It seemed to Bradley that he had +scarcely closed his eyes when he was brought to his feet, wide awake, +by a piercing scream which was punctuated by the sharp report of a +rifle from the direction of the fire where Tippet stood guard. As he +ran toward the man, Bradley heard above him the same uncanny wail that +had set every nerve on edge several nights before, and the dismal +flapping of huge wings. He did not need to look up at the +white-shrouded figure winging slowly away into the night to know that +their grim visitor had returned. + +The muscles of his arm, reacting to the sight and sound of the menacing +form, carried his hand to the butt of his pistol; but after he had +drawn the weapon, he immediately returned it to its holster with a +shrug. + +"What for?" he muttered. "Can't waste ammunition." Then he walked +quickly to where Tippet lay sprawled upon his face. By this time +James, Brady and Sinclair were at his heels, each with his rifle in +readiness. + +"Is he dead, sir?" whispered James as Bradley kneeled beside the +prostrate form. + +Bradley turned Tippet over on his back and pressed an ear close to the +other's heart. In a moment he raised his head. "Fainted," he +announced. "Get water. Hurry!" Then he loosened Tippet's shirt at +the throat and when the water was brought, threw a cupful in the man's +face. Slowly Tippet regained consciousness and sat up. At first he +looked curiously into the faces of the men about him; then an +expression of terror overspread his features. He shot a startled +glance up into the black void above and then burying his face in his +arms began to sob like a child. + +"What's wrong, man?" demanded Bradley. "Buck up! Can't play cry-baby. +Waste of energy. What happened?" + +"Wot 'appened, sir!" wailed Tippet. "Oh, Gord, sir! Hit came back. +Hit came for me, sir. Right hit did, sir; strite hat me, sir; hand +with long w'ite 'ands it clawed for me. Oh, Gord! Hit almost caught +me, sir. Hi'm has good as dead; Hi'm a marked man; that's wot Hi ham. +Hit was a-goin' for to carry me horf, sir." + +"Stuff and nonsense," snapped Bradley. "Did you get a good look at it?" + +Tippet said that he did--a much better look than he wanted. The thing +had almost clutched him, and he had looked straight into its +eyes--"dead heyes in a dead face," he had described them. + +"Wot was it after bein', do you think?" inquired Brady. + +"Hit was Death," moaned Tippet, shuddering, and again a pall of gloom +fell upon the little party. + +The following day Tippet walked as one in a trance. He never spoke +except in reply to a direct question, which more often than not had to +be repeated before it could attract his attention. He insisted that he +was already a dead man, for if the thing didn't come for him during the +day he would never live through another night of agonized apprehension, +waiting for the frightful end that he was positive was in store for +him. "I'll see to that," he said, and they all knew that Tippet meant +to take his own life before darkness set in. + +Bradley tried to reason with him, in his short, crisp way, but soon saw +the futility of it; nor could he take the man's weapons from him +without subjecting him to almost certain death from any of the +numberless dangers that beset their way. + +The entire party was moody and glum. There was none of the bantering +that had marked their intercourse before, even in the face of blighting +hardships and hideous danger. This was a new menace that threatened +them, something that they couldn't explain; and so, naturally, it +aroused within them superstitious fear which Tippet's attitude only +tended to augment. To add further to their gloom, their way led +through a dense forest, where, on account of the underbrush, it was +difficult to make even a mile an hour. Constant watchfulness was +required to avoid the many snakes of various degrees of repulsiveness +and enormity that infested the wood; and the only ray of hope they had +to cling to was that the forest would, like the majority of Caspakian +forests, prove to be of no considerable extent. + +Bradley was in the lead when he came suddenly upon a grotesque creature +of Titanic proportions. Crouching among the trees, which here +commenced to thin out slightly, Bradley saw what appeared to be an +enormous dragon devouring the carcass of a mammoth. From frightful +jaws to the tip of its long tail it was fully forty feet in length. +Its body was covered with plates of thick skin which bore a striking +resemblance to armor-plate. The creature saw Bradley almost at the +same instant that he saw it and reared up on its enormous hind legs +until its head towered a full twenty-five feet above the ground. From +the cavernous jaws issued a hissing sound of a volume equal to the +escaping steam from the safety-valves of half a dozen locomotives, and +then the creature came for the man. + +"Scatter!" shouted Bradley to those behind him; and all but Tippet +heeded the warning. The man stood as though dazed, and when Bradley +saw the other's danger, he too stopped and wheeling about sent a bullet +into the massive body forcing its way through the trees toward him. +The shot struck the creature in the belly where there was no protecting +armor, eliciting a new note which rose in a shrill whistle and ended in +a wail. It was then that Tippet appeared to come out of his trance, +for with a cry of terror he turned and fled to the left. Bradley, +seeing that he had as good an opportunity as the others to escape, now +turned his attention to extricating himself; and as the woods seemed +dense on the right, he ran in that direction, hoping that the close-set +boles would prevent pursuit on the part of the great reptile. The +dragon paid no further attention to him, however, for Tippet's sudden +break for liberty had attracted its attention; and after Tippet it +went, bowling over small trees, uprooting underbrush and leaving a wake +behind it like that of a small tornado. + +Bradley, the moment he had discovered the thing was pursuing Tippet, +had followed it. He was afraid to fire for fear of hitting the man, +and so it was that he came upon them at the very moment that the +monster lunged its great weight forward upon the doomed man. The +sharp, three-toed talons of the forelimbs seized poor Tippet, and +Bradley saw the unfortunate fellow lifted high above the ground as the +creature again reared up on its hind legs, immediately transferring +Tippet's body to its gaping jaws, which closed with a sickening, +crunching sound as Tippet's bones cracked beneath the great teeth. + +Bradley half raised his rifle to fire again and then lowered it with a +shake of his head. Tippet was beyond succor--why waste a bullet that +Caspak could never replace? If he could now escape the further notice +of the monster it would be a wiser act than to throw his life away in +futile revenge. He saw that the reptile was not looking in his +direction, and so he slipped noiselessly behind the bole of a large +tree and thence quietly faded away in the direction he believed the +others to have taken. At what he considered a safe distance he halted +and looked back. Half hidden by the intervening trees he still could +see the huge head and the massive jaws from which protruded the limp +legs of the dead man. Then, as though struck by the hammer of Thor, +the creature collapsed and crumpled to the ground. Bradley's single +bullet, penetrating the body through the soft skin of the belly, had +slain the Titan. + +A few minutes later, Bradley found the others of the party. The four +returned cautiously to the spot where the creature lay and after +convincing themselves that it was quite dead, came close to it. It was +an arduous and gruesome job extricating Tippet's mangled remains from +the powerful jaws, the men working for the most part silently. + +"It was the work of the banshee all right," muttered Brady. "It warned +poor Tippet, it did." + +"Hit killed him, that's wot hit did, hand hit'll kill some more of us," +said James, his lower lip trembling. + +"If it was a ghost," interjected Sinclair, "and I don't say as it was; +but if it was, why, it could take on any form it wanted to. It might +have turned itself into this thing, which ain't no natural thing at +all, just to get poor Tippet. If it had of been a lion or something +else humanlike it wouldn't look so strange; but this here thing ain't +humanlike. There ain't no such thing an' never was." + +"Bullets don't kill ghosts," said Bradley, "so this couldn't have been +a ghost. Furthermore, there are no such things. I've been trying to +place this creature. Just succeeded. It's a tyrannosaurus. Saw +picture of skeleton in magazine. There's one in New York Natural +History Museum. Seems to me it said it was found in place called Hell +Creek somewhere in western North America. Supposed to have lived about +six million years ago." + +"Hell Creek's in Montana," said Sinclair. "I used to punch cows in +Wyoming, an' I've heard of Hell Creek. Do you s'pose that there +thing's six million years old?" His tone was skeptical. + +"No," replied Bradley; "But it would indicate that the island of +Caprona has stood almost without change for more than six million +years." + +The conversation and Bradley's assurance that the creature was not of +supernatural origin helped to raise a trifle the spirits of the men; +and then came another diversion in the form of ravenous meat-eaters +attracted to the spot by the uncanny sense of smell which had apprised +them of the presence of flesh, killed and ready for the eating. + +It was a constant battle while they dug a grave and consigned all that +was mortal of John Tippet to his last, lonely resting-place. Nor would +they leave then; but remained to fashion a rude headstone from a +crumbling out-cropping of sandstone and to gather a mass of the +gorgeous flowers growing in such great profusion around them and heap +the new-made grave with bright blooms. Upon the headstone Sinclair +scratched in rude characters the words: + + HERE LIES JOHN TIPPET + ENGLISHMAN + KILLED BY TYRANNOSAURUS + 10 SEPT. A.D. 1916 + R.I.P. + +and Bradley repeated a short prayer before they left their comrade +forever. + +For three days the party marched due south through forests and +meadow-land and great park-like areas where countless herbivorous +animals grazed--deer and antelope and bos and the little ecca, the +smallest species of Caspakian horse, about the size of a rabbit. There +were other horses too; but all were small, the largest being not above +eight hands in height. Preying continually upon the herbivora were the +meat-eaters, large and small--wolves, hyaenodons, panthers, lions, +tigers, and bears as well as several large and ferocious species of +reptilian life. + +On September twelfth the party scaled a line of sandstone cliffs which +crossed their route toward the south; but they crossed them only after +an encounter with the tribe that inhabited the numerous caves which +pitted the face of the escarpment. That night they camped upon a rocky +plateau which was sparsely wooded with jarrah, and here once again they +were visited by the weird, nocturnal apparition that had already filled +them with a nameless terror. + +As on the night of September ninth the first warning came from the +sentinel standing guard over his sleeping companions. A +terror-stricken cry punctuated by the crack of a rifle brought Bradley, +Sinclair and Brady to their feet in time to see James, with clubbed +rifle, battling with a white-robed figure that hovered on widespread +wings on a level with the Englishman's head. As they ran, shouting, +forward, it was obvious to them that the weird and terrible apparition +was attempting to seize James; but when it saw the others coming to his +rescue, it desisted, flapping rapidly upward and away, its long, ragged +wings giving forth the peculiarly dismal notes which always +characterized the sound of its flying. + +Bradley fired at the vanishing menacer of their peace and safety; but +whether he scored a hit or not, none could tell, though, following the +shot, there was wafted back to them the same piercing wail that had on +other occasions frozen their marrow. + +Then they turned toward James, who lay face downward upon the ground, +trembling as with ague. For a time he could not even speak, but at +last regained sufficient composure to tell them how the thing must have +swooped silently upon him from above and behind as the first +premonition of danger he had received was when the long, clawlike +fingers had clutched him beneath either arm. In the melee his rifle +had been discharged and he had broken away at the same instant and +turned to defend himself with the butt. The rest they had seen. + +From that instant James was an absolutely broken man. He maintained +with shaking lips that his doom was sealed, that the thing had marked +him for its own, and that he was as good as dead, nor could any amount +of argument or raillery convince him to the contrary. He had seen +Tippet marked and claimed and now he had been marked. Nor were his +constant reiterations of this belief without effect upon the rest of +the party. Even Bradley felt depressed, though for the sake of the +others he managed to hide it beneath a show of confidence he was far +from feeling. + +And on the following day William James was killed by a saber-tooth +tiger--September 13, 1916. Beneath a jarrah tree on the stony plateau +on the northern edge of the Sto-lu country in the land that Time +forgot, he lies in a lonely grave marked by a rough headstone. + +Southward from his grave marched three grim and silent men. To the +best of Bradley's reckoning they were some twenty-five miles north of +Fort Dinosaur, and that they might reach the fort on the following day, +they plodded on until darkness overtook them. With comparative safety +fifteen miles away, they made camp at last; but there was no singing +now and no joking. In the bottom of his heart each prayed that they +might come safely through just this night, for they knew that during +the morrow they would make the final stretch, yet the nerves of each +were taut with strained anticipation of what gruesome thing might flap +down upon them from the black sky, marking another for its own. Who +would be the next? + +As was their custom, they took turns at guard, each man doing two hours +and then arousing the next. Brady had gone on from eight to ten, +followed by Sinclair from ten to twelve, then Bradley had been +awakened. Brady would stand the last guard from two to four, as they +had determined to start the moment that it became light enough to +insure comparative safety upon the trail. + +The snapping of a twig aroused Brady out of a dead sleep, and as he +opened his eyes, he saw that it was broad daylight and that at twenty +paces from him stood a huge lion. As the man sprang to his feet, his +rifle ready in his hand, Sinclair awoke and took in the scene in a +single swift glance. The fire was out and Bradley was nowhere in +sight. For a long moment the lion and the men eyed one another. The +latter had no mind to fire if the beast minded its own affairs--they +were only too glad to let it go its way if it would; but the lion was +of a different mind. + +Suddenly the long tail snapped stiffly erect, and as though it had been +attached to two trigger fingers the two rifles spoke in unison, for +both men knew this signal only too well--the immediate forerunner of a +deadly charge. As the brute's head had been raised, his spine had not +been visible; and so they did what they had learned by long experience +was best to do. Each covered a front leg, and as the tail snapped +aloft, fired. With a hideous roar the mighty flesh-eater lurched +forward to the ground with both front legs broken. It was an easy +accomplishment in the instant before the beast charged--after, it would +have been well-nigh an impossible feat. Brady stepped close in and +finished him with a shot in the base of the brain lest his terrific +roarings should attract his mate or others of their kind. + +Then the two men turned and looked at one another. "Where is +Lieutenant Bradley?" asked Sinclair. They walked to the fire. Only a +few smoking embers remained. A few feet away lay Bradley's rifle. +There was no evidence of a struggle. The two men circled about the +camp twice and on the last lap Brady stooped and picked up an object +which had lain about ten yards beyond the fire--it was Bradley's cap. +Again the two looked questioningly at one another, and then, +simultaneously, both pairs of eyes swung upward and searched the sky. +A moment later Brady was examining the ground about the spot where +Bradley's cap had lain. It was one of those little barren, sandy +stretches that they had found only upon this stony plateau. Brady's +own footsteps showed as plainly as black ink upon white paper; but his +was the only foot that had marred the smooth, windswept surface--there +was no sign that Bradley had crossed the spot upon the surface of the +ground, and yet his cap lay well toward the center of it. + +Breakfastless and with shaken nerves the two survivors plunged madly +into the long day's march. Both were strong, courageous, resourceful +men; but each had reached the limit of human nerve endurance and each +felt that he would rather die than spend another night in the hideous +open of that frightful land. Vivid in the mind of each was a picture +of Bradley's end, for though neither had witnessed the tragedy, both +could imagine almost precisely what had occurred. They did not discuss +it--they did not even mention it--yet all day long the thing was +uppermost in the mind of each and mingled with it a similar picture +with himself as victim should they fail to make Fort Dinosaur before +dark. + +And so they plunged forward at reckless speed, their clothes, their +hands, their faces torn by the retarding underbrush that reached forth +to hinder them. Again and again they fell; but be it to their credit +that the one always waited and helped the other and that into the mind +of neither entered the thought or the temptation to desert his +companion--they would reach the fort together if both survived, or +neither would reach it. + +They encountered the usual number of savage beasts and reptiles; but +they met them with a courageous recklessness born of desperation, and +by virtue of the very madness of the chances they took, they came +through unscathed and with the minimum of delay. + +Shortly after noon they reached the end of the plateau. Before them +was a drop of two hundred feet to the valley beneath. To the left, in +the distance, they could see the waters of the great inland sea that +covers a considerable portion of the area of the crater island of +Caprona and at a little lesser distance to the south of the cliffs they +saw a thin spiral of smoke arising above the tree-tops. + +The landscape was familiar--each recognized it immediately and knew +that that smoky column marked the spot where Dinosaur had stood. Was +the fort still there, or did the smoke arise from the smoldering embers +of the building they had helped to fashion for the housing of their +party? Who could say! + +Thirty precious minutes that seemed as many hours to the impatient men +were consumed in locating a precarious way from the summit to the base +of the cliffs that bounded the plateau upon the south, and then once +again they struck off upon level ground toward their goal. The closer +they approached the fort the greater became their apprehension that all +would not be well. They pictured the barracks deserted or the small +company massacred and the buildings in ashes. It was almost in a +frenzy of fear that they broke through the final fringe of jungle and +stood at last upon the verge of the open meadow a half-mile from Fort +Dinosaur. + +"Lord!" ejaculated Sinclair. "They are still there!" And he fell to +his knees, sobbing. + +Brady trembled like a leaf as he crossed himself and gave silent +thanks, for there before them stood the sturdy ramparts of Dinosaur and +from inside the inclosure rose a thin spiral of smoke that marked the +location of the cook-house. All was well, then, and their comrades +were preparing the evening meal! + +Across the clearing they raced as though they had not already covered +in a single day a trackless, primeval country that might easily have +required two days by fresh and untired men. Within hailing distance +they set up such a loud shouting that presently heads appeared above +the top of the parapet and soon answering shouts were rising from +within Fort Dinosaur. A moment later three men issued from the +inclosure and came forward to meet the survivors and listen to the +hurried story of the eleven eventful days since they had set out upon +their expedition to the barrier cliffs. They heard of the deaths of +Tippet and James and of the disappearance of Lieutenant Bradley, and a +new terror settled upon Dinosaur. + +Olson, the Irish engineer, with Whitely and Wilson constituted the +remnants of Dinosaur's defenders, and to Brady and Sinclair they +narrated the salient events that had transpired since Bradley and his +party had marched away on September 4th. They told them of the +infamous act of Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and his German crew who +had stolen the U-33, breaking their parole, and steaming away toward +the subterranean opening through the barrier cliffs that carried the +waters of the inland sea into the open Pacific beyond; and of the +cowardly shelling of the fort. + +They told of the disappearance of Miss La Rue in the night of September +11th, and of the departure of Bowen Tyler in search of her, accompanied +only by his Airedale, Nobs. Thus of the original party of eleven +Allies and nine Germans that had constituted the company of the U-33 +when she left English waters after her capture by the crew of the +English tug there were but five now to be accounted for at Fort +Dinosaur. Benson, Tippet, James, and one of the Germans were known to +be dead. It was assumed that Bradley, Tyler and the girl had already +succumbed to some of the savage denizens of Caspak, while the fate of +the Germans was equally unknown, though it might readily be believed +that they had made good their escape. They had had ample time to +provision the ship and the refining of the crude oil they had +discovered north of the fort could have insured them an ample supply to +carry them back to Germany. + + + +Chapter 2 + +When Bradley went on guard at midnight, September 14th, his thoughts +were largely occupied with rejoicing that the night was almost spent +without serious mishap and that the morrow would doubtless see them all +safely returned to Fort Dinosaur. The hopefulness of his mood was +tinged with sorrow by recollection of the two members of his party who +lay back there in the savage wilderness and for whom there would never +again be a homecoming. + +No premonition of impending ill cast gloom over his anticipations for +the coming day, for Bradley was a man who, while taking every +precaution against possible danger, permitted no gloomy forebodings to +weigh down his spirit. When danger threatened, he was prepared; but he +was not forever courting disaster, and so it was that when about one +o'clock in the morning of the fifteenth, he heard the dismal flapping +of giant wings overhead, he was neither surprised nor frightened but +idly prepared for an attack he had known might reasonably be expected. + +The sound seemed to come from the south, and presently, low above the +trees in that direction, the man made out a dim, shadowy form circling +slowly about. Bradley was a brave man, yet so keen was the feeling of +revulsion engendered by the sight and sound of that grim, uncanny shape +that he distinctly felt the gooseflesh rise over the surface of his +body, and it was with difficulty that he refrained from following an +instinctive urge to fire upon the nocturnal intruder. Better, far +better would it have been had he given in to the insistent demand of +his subconscious mentor; but his almost fanatical obsession to save +ammunition proved now his undoing, for while his attention was riveted +upon the thing circling before him and while his ears were filled with +the beating of its wings, there swooped silently out of the black night +behind him another weird and ghostly shape. With its huge wings partly +closed for the dive and its white robe fluttering in its wake, the +apparition swooped down upon the Englishman. + +So great was the force of the impact when the thing struck Bradley +between the shoulders that the man was half stunned. His rifle flew +from his grasp; he felt clawlike talons of great strength seize him +beneath his arms and sweep him off his feet; and then the thing rose +swiftly with him, so swiftly that his cap was blown from his head by +the rush of air as he was borne rapidly upward into the inky sky and +the cry of warning to his companions was forced back into his lungs. + +The creature wheeled immediately toward the east and was at once joined +by its fellow, who circled them once and then fell in behind them. +Bradley now realized the strategy that the pair had used to capture him +and at once concluded that he was in the power of reasoning beings +closely related to the human race if not actually of it. + +Past experience suggested that the great wings were a part of some +ingenious mechanical device, for the limitations of the human mind, +which is always loath to accept aught beyond its own little experience, +would not permit him to entertain the idea that the creatures might be +naturally winged and at the same time of human origin. From his +position Bradley could not see the wings of his captor, nor in the +darkness had he been able to examine those of the second creature +closely when it circled before him. He listened for the puff of a +motor or some other telltale sound that would prove the correctness of +his theory. However, he was rewarded with nothing more than the +constant flap-flap. + +Presently, far below and ahead, he saw the waters of the inland sea, +and a moment later he was borne over them. Then his captor did that +which proved beyond doubt to Bradley that he was in the hands of human +beings who had devised an almost perfect scheme of duplicating, +mechanically, the wings of a bird--the thing spoke to its companion and +in a language that Bradley partially understood, since he recognized +words that he had learned from the savage races of Caspak. From this +he judged that they were human, and being human, he knew that they +could have no natural wings--for who had ever seen a human being so +adorned! Therefore their wings must be mechanical. Thus Bradley +reasoned--thus most of us reason; not by what might be possible; but by +what has fallen within the range of our experience. + +What he heard them say was to the effect that having covered half the +distance the burden would now be transferred from one to the other. +Bradley wondered how the exchange was to be accomplished. He knew that +those giant wings would not permit the creatures to approach one +another closely enough to effect the transfer in this manner; but he +was soon to discover that they had other means of doing it. + +He felt the thing that carried him rise to a greater altitude, and +below he glimpsed momentarily the second white-robed figure; then the +creature above sounded a low call, it was answered from below, and +instantly Bradley felt the clutching talons release him; gasping for +breath, he hurtled downward through space. + +For a terrifying instant, pregnant with horror, Bradley fell; then +something swooped for him from behind, another pair of talons clutched +him beneath the arms, his downward rush was checked, within another +hundred feet, and close to the surface of the sea he was again borne +upward. As a hawk dives for a songbird on the wing, so this great, +human bird dived for Bradley. It was a harrowing experience, but soon +over, and once again the captive was being carried swiftly toward the +east and what fate he could not even guess. + +It was immediately following his transfer in mid-air that Bradley made +out the shadowy form of a large island far ahead, and not long after, +he realized that this must be the intended destination of his captors. +Nor was he mistaken. Three quarters of an hour from the time of his +seizure his captors dropped gently to earth in the strangest city that +human eye had ever rested upon. Just a brief glimpse of his immediate +surroundings vouchsafed Bradley before he was whisked into the interior +of one of the buildings; but in that momentary glance he saw strange +piles of stone and wood and mud fashioned into buildings of all +conceivable sizes and shapes, sometimes piled high on top of one +another, sometimes standing alone in an open court-way, but usually +crowded and jammed together, so that there were no streets or alleys +between them other than a few which ended almost as soon as they began. +The principal doorways appeared to be in the roofs, and it was through +one of these that Bradley was inducted into the dark interior of a +low-ceiled room. Here he was pushed roughly into a corner where he +tripped over a thick mat, and there his captors left him. He heard +them moving about in the darkness for a moment, and several times he +saw their large luminous eyes glowing in the dark. Finally, these +disappeared and silence reigned, broken only by the breathing of the +creature which indicated to the Englishman that they were sleeping +somewhere in the same apartment. + +It was now evident that the mat upon the floor was intended for +sleeping purposes and that the rough shove that had sent him to it had +been a rude invitation to repose. After taking stock of himself and +finding that he still had his pistol and ammunition, some matches, a +little tobacco, a canteen full of water and a razor, Bradley made +himself comfortable upon the mat and was soon asleep, knowing that an +attempted escape in the darkness without knowledge of his surroundings +would be predoomed to failure. + +When he awoke, it was broad daylight, and the sight that met his eyes +made him rub them again and again to assure himself that they were +really open and that he was not dreaming. A broad shaft of morning +light poured through the open doorway in the ceiling of the room which +was about thirty feet square, or roughly square, being irregular in +shape, one side curving outward, another being indented by what might +have been the corner of another building jutting into it, another +alcoved by three sides of an octagon, while the fourth was serpentine +in contour. Two windows let in more daylight, while two doors +evidently gave ingress to other rooms. The walls were partially ceiled +with thin strips of wood, nicely fitted and finished, partially +plastered and the rest covered with a fine, woven cloth. Figures of +reptiles and beasts were painted without regard to any uniform scheme +here and there upon the walls. A striking feature of the decorations +consisted of several engaged columns set into the walls at no regular +intervals, the capitals of each supporting a human skull the cranium of +which touched the ceiling, as though the latter was supported by these +grim reminders either of departed relatives or of some hideous tribal +rite--Bradley could not but wonder which. + +Yet it was none of these things that filled him with greatest +wonder--no, it was the figures of the two creatures that had captured +him and brought him hither. At one end of the room a stout pole about +two inches in diameter ran horizontally from wall to wall some six or +seven feet from the floor, its ends securely set in two of the columns. +Hanging by their knees from this perch, their heads downward and their +bodies wrapped in their huge wings, slept the creatures of the night +before--like two great, horrid bats they hung, asleep. + +As Bradley gazed upon them in wide-eyed astonishment, he saw plainly +that all his intelligence, all his acquired knowledge through years of +observation and experience were set at naught by the simple evidence of +the fact that stood out glaringly before his eyes--the creatures' wings +were not mechanical devices but as natural appendages, growing from +their shoulderblades, as were their arms and legs. He saw, too, that +except for their wings the pair bore a strong resemblance to human +beings, though fashioned in a most grotesque mold. + +As he sat gazing at them, one of the two awoke, separated his wings to +release his arms that had been folded across his breast, placed his +hands upon the floor, dropped his feet and stood erect. For a moment +he stretched his great wings slowly, solemnly blinking his large round +eyes. Then his gaze fell upon Bradley. The thin lips drew back +tightly against yellow teeth in a grimace that was nothing but hideous. +It could not have been termed a smile, and what emotion it registered +the Englishman was at a loss to guess. No expression whatever altered +the steady gaze of those large, round eyes; there was no color upon the +pasty, sunken cheeks. A death's head grimaced as though a man long +dead raised his parchment-covered skull from an old grave. + +The creature stood about the height of an average man but appeared much +taller from the fact that the joints of his long wings rose fully a +foot above his hairless head. The bare arms were long and sinewy, +ending in strong, bony hands with clawlike fingers--almost talonlike in +their suggestiveness. The white robe was separated in front, revealing +skinny legs and the further fact that the thing wore but the single +garment, which was of fine, woven cloth. From crown to sole the +portions of the body exposed were entirely hairless, and as he noted +this, Bradley also noted for the first time the cause of much of the +seeming expressionlessness of the creature's countenance--it had +neither eye-brows or lashes. The ears were small and rested flat +against the skull, which was noticeably round, though the face was +quite flat. The creature had small feet, beautifully arched and plump, +but so out of keeping with every other physical attribute it possessed +as to appear ridiculous. + +After eyeing Bradley for a moment the thing approached him. "Where +from?" it asked. + +"England," replied Bradley, as briefly. + +"Where is England and what?" pursued the questioner. + +"It is a country far from here," answered the Englishman. + +"Are your people cor-sva-jo or cos-ata-lu?" + +"I do not understand you," said Bradley; "and now suppose you answer a +few questions. Who are you? What country is this? Why did you bring +me here?" + +Again the sepulchral grimace. "We are Wieroos--Luata is our father. +Caspak is ours. This, our country, is called Oo-oh. We brought you +here for (literally) Him Who Speaks for Luata to gaze upon and +question. He would know from whence you came and why; but principally +if you be cos-ata-lu." + +"And if I am not cos--whatever you call the bloomin' beast--what of it?" + +The Wieroo raised his wings in a very human shrug and waved his bony +claws toward the human skulls supporting the ceiling. His gesture was +eloquent; but he embellished it by remarking, "And possibly if you are." + +"I'm hungry," snapped Bradley. + +The Wieroo motioned him to one of the doors which he threw open, +permitting Bradley to pass out onto another roof on a level lower than +that upon which they had landed earlier in the morning. By daylight +the city appeared even more remarkable than in the moonlight, though +less weird and unreal. The houses of all shapes and sizes were piled +about as a child might pile blocks of various forms and colors. He saw +now that there were what might be called streets or alleys, but they +ran in baffling turns and twists, nor ever reached a destination, +always ending in a dead wall where some Wieroo had built a house across +them. + +Upon each house was a slender column supporting a human skull. +Sometimes the columns were at one corner of the roof, sometimes at +another, or again they rose from the center or near the center, and the +columns were of varying heights, from that of a man to those which rose +twenty feet above their roofs. The skulls were, as a rule, +painted--blue or white, or in combinations of both colors. The most +effective were painted blue with the teeth white and the eye-sockets +rimmed with white. + +There were other skulls--thousands of them--tens, hundreds of +thousands. They rimmed the eaves of every house, they were set in the +plaster of the outer walls and at no great distance from where Bradley +stood rose a round tower built entirely of human skulls. And the city +extended in every direction as far as the Englishman could see. + +All about him Wieroos were moving across the roofs or winging through +the air. The sad sound of their flapping wings rose and fell like a +solemn dirge. Most of them were appareled all in white, like his +captors; but others had markings of red or blue or yellow slashed +across the front of their robes. + +His guide pointed toward a doorway in an alley below them. "Go there +and eat," he commanded, "and then come back. You cannot escape. If +any question you, say that you belong to Fosh-bal-soj. There is the +way." And this time he pointed to the top of a ladder which protruded +above the eaves of the roof near-by. Then he turned and reentered the +house. + +Bradley looked about him. No, he could not escape--that seemed +evident. The city appeared interminable, and beyond the city, if not a +savage wilderness filled with wild beasts, there was the broad inland +sea infested with horrid monsters. No wonder his captor felt safe in +turning him loose in Oo-oh--he wondered if that was the name of the +country or the city and if there were other cities like this upon the +island. + +Slowly he descended the ladder to the seemingly deserted alley which +was paved with what appeared to be large, round cobblestones. He +looked again at the smooth, worn pavement, and a rueful grin crossed +his features--the alley was paved with skulls. "The City of Human +Skulls," mused Bradley. "They must have been collectin' 'em since +Adam," he thought, and then he crossed and entered the building through +the doorway that had been pointed out to him. + +Inside he found a large room in which were many Wieroos seated before +pedestals the tops of which were hollowed out so that they resembled +the ordinary bird drinking- and bathing-fonts so commonly seen on +suburban lawns. A seat protruded from each of the four sides of the +pedestals--just a flat board with a support running from its outer end +diagonally to the base of the pedestal. + +As Bradley entered, some of the Wieroos espied him, and a dismal wail +arose. Whether it was a greeting or a threat, Bradley did not know. +Suddenly from a dark alcove another Wieroo rushed out toward him. "Who +are you?" he cried. "What do you want?" + +"Fosh-bal-soj sent me here to eat," replied Bradley. + +"Do you belong to Fosh-bal-soj?" asked the other. + +"That appears to be what he thinks," answered the Englishman. + +"Are you cos-ata-lu?" demanded the Wieroo. + +"Give me something to eat or I'll be all of that," replied Bradley. + +The Wieroo looked puzzled. "Sit here, jaal-lu," he snapped, and +Bradley sat down unconscious of the fact that he had been insulted by +being called a hyena-man, an appellation of contempt in Caspak. + +The Wieroo had seated him at a pedestal by himself, and as he sat +waiting for what was next to transpire, he looked about him at the +Wieroo in his immediate vicinity. He saw that in each font was a +quantity of food, and that each Wieroo was armed with a wooden skewer, +sharpened at one end; with which they carried solid portions of food to +their mouths. At the other end of the skewer was fastened a small +clam-shell. This was used to scoop up the smaller and softer portions +of the repast into which all four of the occupants of each table dipped +impartially. The Wieroo leaned far over their food, scooping it up +rapidly and with much noise, and so great was their haste that a part +of each mouthful always fell back into the common dish; and when they +choked, by reason of the rapidity with which they attempted to bolt +their food, they often lost it all. Bradley was glad that he had a +pedestal all to himself. + +Soon the keeper of the place returned with a wooden bowl filled with +food. This he dumped into Bradley's "trough," as he already thought of +it. The Englishman was glad that he could not see into the dark alcove +or know what were all the ingredients that constituted the mess before +him, for he was very hungry. + +After the first mouthful he cared even less to investigate the +antecedents of the dish, for he found it peculiarly palatable. It +seemed to consist of a combination of meat, fruits, vegetables, small +fish and other undistinguishable articles of food all seasoned to +produce a gastronomic effect that was at once baffling and delicious. + +When he had finished, his trough was empty, and then he commenced to +wonder who was to settle for his meal. As he waited for the proprietor +to return, he fell to examining the dish from which he had eaten and +the pedestal upon which it rested. The font was of stone worn smooth +by long-continued use, the four outer edges hollowed and polished by +the contact of the countless Wieroo bodies that had leaned against them +for how long a period of time Bradley could not even guess. Everything +about the place carried the impression of hoary age. The carved +pedestals were black with use, the wooden seats were worn hollow, the +floor of stone slabs was polished by the contact of possibly millions +of naked feet and worn away in the aisles between the pedestals so that +the latter rested upon little mounds of stone several inches above the +general level of the floor. + +Finally, seeing that no one came to collect, Bradley arose and started +for the doorway. He had covered half the distance when he heard the +voice of mine host calling to him: "Come back, jaal-lu," screamed the +Wieroo; and Bradley did as he was bid. As he approached the creature +which stood now behind a large, flat-topped pedestal beside the alcove, +he saw lying upon the smooth surface something that almost elicited a +gasp of astonishment from him--a simple, common thing it was, or would +have been almost anywhere in the world but Caspak--a square bit of +paper! + +And on it, in a fine hand, written compactly, were many strange +hieroglyphics! These remarkable creatures, then, had a written as well +as a spoken language and besides the art of weaving cloth possessed +that of paper-making. Could it be that such grotesque beings +represented the high culture of the human race within the boundaries of +Caspak? Had natural selection produced during the countless ages of +Caspakian life a winged monstrosity that represented the earthly +pinnacle of man's evolution? + +Bradley had noted something of the obvious indications of a gradual +evolution from ape to spearman as exemplified by the several +overlapping races of Alalus, club-men and hatchet-men that formed the +connecting links between the two extremes with which he, had come in +contact. He had heard of the Krolus and the Galus--reputed to be still +higher in the plane of evolution--and now he had indisputable evidence +of a race possessing refinements of civilization eons in advance of the +spear-men. The conjectures awakened by even a momentary consideration +of the possibilities involved became at once as wildly bizarre as the +insane imaginings of a drug addict. + +As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the Wieroo held out a pen +of bone fixed to a wooden holder and at the same time made a sign that +Bradley was to write upon the paper. It was difficult to judge from +the expressionless features of the Wieroo what was passing in the +creature's mind, but Bradley could not but feel that the thing cast a +supercilious glance upon him as much as to say, "Of course you do not +know how to write, you poor, low creature; but you can make your mark." + +Bradley seized the pen and in a clear, bold hand wrote: "John Bradley, +England." The Wieroo showed evidences of consternation as it seized +the piece of paper and examined the writing with every mark of +incredulity and surprise. Of course it could make nothing of the +strange characters; but it evidently accepted them as proof that +Bradley possessed knowledge of a written language of his own, for +following the Englishman's entry it made a few characters of its own. + +"You will come here again just before Lua hides his face behind the +great cliff," announced the creature, "unless before that you are +summoned by Him Who Speaks for Luata, in which case you will not have +to eat any more." + +"Reassuring cuss," thought Bradley as he turned and left the building. + +Outside were several Wieroos that had been eating at the pedestals +within. They immediately surrounded him, asking all sorts of +questions, plucking at his garments, his ammunition-belt and his +pistol. Their demeanor was entirely different from what it had been +within the eating-place and Bradley was to learn that a house of food +was sanctuary for him, since the stern laws of the Wieroos forbade +altercations within such walls. Now they were rough and threatening, +as with wings half spread they hovered about him in menacing attitudes, +barring his way to the ladder leading to the roof from whence he had +descended; but the Englishman was not one to brook interference for +long. He attempted at first to push his way past them, and then when +one seized his arm and jerked him roughly back, Bradley swung upon the +creature and with a heavy blow to the jaw felled it. + +Instantly pandemonium reigned. Loud wails arose, great wings opened +and closed with a loud, beating noise and many clawlike hands reached +forth to clutch him. Bradley struck to right and left. He dared not +use his pistol for fear that once they discovered its power he would be +overcome by weight of numbers and relieved of possession of what he +considered his trump card, to be reserved until the last moment that it +might be used to aid in his escape, for already the Englishman was +planning, though almost hopelessly, such an attempt. + +A few blows convinced Bradley that the Wieroos were arrant cowards and +that they bore no weapons, for after two or three had fallen beneath +his fists the others formed a circle about him, but at a safe distance +and contented themselves with threatening and blustering, while those +whom he had felled lay upon the pavement without trying to arise, the +while they moaned and wailed in lugubrious chorus. + +Again Bradley strode toward the ladder, and this time the circle parted +before him; but no sooner had he ascended a few rungs than he was +seized by one foot and an effort made to drag him down. With a quick +backward glance the Englishman, clinging firmly to the ladder with both +hands, drew up his free foot and with all the strength of a powerful +leg, planted a heavy shoe squarely in the flat face of the Wieroo that +held him. Shrieking horribly, the creature clapped both hands to its +face and sank to the ground while Bradley clambered quickly the +remaining distance to the roof, though no sooner did he reach the top +of the ladder than a great flapping of wings beneath him warned him +that the Wieroos were rising after him. A moment later they swarmed +about his head as he ran for the apartment in which he had spent the +early hours of the morning after his arrival. + +It was but a short distance from the top of the ladder to the doorway, +and Bradley had almost reached his goal when the door flew open and +Fosh-bal-soj stepped out. Immediately the pursuing Wieroos demanded +punishment of the jaal-lu who had so grievously maltreated them. +Fosh-bal-soj listened to their complaints and then with a sudden sweep +of his right hand seized Bradley by the scruff of the neck and hurled +him sprawling through the doorway upon the floor of the chamber. + +So sudden was the assault and so surprising the strength of the Wieroo +that the Englishman was taken completely off his guard. When he arose, +the door was closed, and Fosh-bal-soj was standing over him, his +hideous face contorted into an expression of rage and hatred. + +"Hyena, snake, lizard!" he screamed. "You would dare lay your low, +vile, profaning hands upon even the lowliest of the Wieroos--the sacred +chosen of Luata!" + +Bradley was mad, and so he spoke in a very low, calm voice while a +half-smile played across his lips but his cold, gray eyes were +unsmiling. + +"What you did to me just now," he said, "--I am going to kill you for +that," and even as he spoke, he launched himself at the throat of +Fosh-bal-soj. The other Wieroo that had been asleep when Bradley left +the chamber had departed, and the two were alone. Fosh-bal-soj +displayed little of the cowardice of those that had attacked Bradley in +the alleyway, but that may have been because he had so slight +opportunity, for Bradley had him by the throat before he could utter a +cry and with his right hand struck him heavily and repeatedly upon his +face and over his heart--ugly, smashing, short-arm jabs of the sort +that take the fight out of a man in quick time. + +But Fosh-bal-soj was of no mind to die passively. He clawed and struck +at Bradley while with his great wings he attempted to shield himself +from the merciless rain of blows, at the same time searching for a hold +upon his antagonist's throat. Presently he succeeded in tripping the +Englishman, and together the two fell heavily to the floor, Bradley +underneath, and at the same instant the Wieroo fastened his long talons +about the other's windpipe. + +Fosh-bal-soj was possessed of enormous strength and he was fighting for +his life. The Englishman soon realized that the battle was going +against him. Already his lungs were pounding painfully for air as he +reached for his pistol. It was with difficulty that he drew it from +its holster, and even then, with death staring him in the face, he +thought of his precious ammunition. "Can't waste it," he thought; and +slipping his fingers to the barrel he raised the weapon and struck +Fosh-bal-soj a terrific blow between the eyes. Instantly the clawlike +fingers released their hold, and the creature sank limply to the floor +beside Bradley, who lay for several minutes gasping painfully in an +effort to regain his breath. + +When he was able, he rose, and leaned close over the Wieroo, lying +silent and motionless, his wings drooping limply and his great, round +eyes staring blankly toward the ceiling. A brief examination convinced +Bradley that the thing was dead, and with the conviction came an +overwhelming sense of the dangers which must now confront him; but how +was he to escape? + +His first thought was to find some means for concealing the evidence of +his deed and then to make a bold effort to escape. Stepping to the +second door he pushed it gently open and peered in upon what seemed to +be a store room. In it was a litter of cloth such as the Wieroos' +robes were fashioned from, a number of chests painted blue and white, +with white hieroglyphics painted in bold strokes upon the blue and blue +hieroglyphics upon the white. In one corner was a pile of human skulls +reaching almost to the ceiling and in another a stack of dried Wieroo +wings. The chamber was as irregularly shaped as the other and had but +a single window and a second door at the further end, but was without +the exit through the roof and, most important of all, there was no +creature of any sort in it. + +As quickly as possible Bradley dragged the dead Wieroo through the +doorway and closed the door; then he looked about for a place to +conceal the corpse. One of the chests was large enough to hold the +body if the knees were bent well up, and with this idea in view Bradley +approached the chest to open it. The lid was made in two pieces, each +being hinged at an opposite end of the chest and joining nicely where +they met in the center of the chest, making a snug, well-fitting joint. +There was no lock. Bradley raised one half the cover and looked in. +With a smothered "By Jove!" he bent closer to examine the contents--the +chest was about half filled with an assortment of golden trinkets. +There were what appeared to be bracelets, anklets and brooches of +virgin gold. + +Realizing that there was no room in the chest for the body of the +Wieroo, Bradley turned to seek another means of concealing the evidence +of his crime. There was a space between the chests and the wall, and +into this he forced the corpse, piling the discarded robes upon it +until it was entirely hidden from sight; but now how was he to make +good his escape in the bright glare of that early Spring day? + +He walked to the door at the far end of the apartment and cautiously +opened it an inch. Before him and about two feet away was the blank +wall of another building. Bradley opened the door a little farther and +looked in both directions. There was no one in sight to the left over +a considerable expanse of roof-top, and to the right another building +shut off his line of vision at about twenty feet. Slipping out, he +turned to the right and in a few steps found a narrow passageway +between two buildings. Turning into this he passed about half its +length when he saw a Wieroo appear at the opposite end and halt. The +creature was not looking down the passageway; but at any moment it +might turn its eyes toward him, when he would be immediately discovered. + +To Bradley's left was a triangular niche in the wall of one of the +houses and into this he dodged, thus concealing himself from the sight +of the Wieroo. Beside him was a door painted a vivid yellow and +constructed after the same fashion as the other Wieroo doors he had +seen, being made up of countless narrow strips of wood from four to six +inches in length laid on in patches of about the same width, the strips +in adjacent patches never running in the same direction. The result +bore some resemblance to a crazy patchwork quilt, which was heightened +when, as in one of the doors he had seen, contiguous patches were +painted different colors. The strips appeared to have been bound +together and to the underlying framework of the door with gut or fiber +and also glued, after which a thick coating of paint had been applied. +One edge of the door was formed of a straight, round pole about two +inches in diameter that protruded at top and bottom, the projections +setting in round holes in both lintel and sill forming the axis upon +which the door swung. An eccentric disk upon the inside face of the +door engaged a slot in the frame when it was desired to secure the door +against intruders. + +As Bradley stood flattened against the wall waiting for the Wieroo to +move on, he heard the creature's wings brushing against the sides of +the buildings as it made its way down the narrow passage in his +direction. As the yellow door offered the only means of escape without +detection, the Englishman decided to risk whatever might lie beyond it, +and so, boldly pushing it in, he crossed the threshold and entered a +small apartment. + +As he did so, he heard a muffled ejaculation of surprise, and turning +his eyes in the direction from whence the sound had come, he beheld a +wide-eyed girl standing flattened against the opposite wall, an +expression of incredulity upon her face. At a glance he saw that she +was of no race of humans that he had come in contact with since his +arrival upon Caprona--there was no trace about her form or features of +any relationship to those low orders of men, nor was she appareled as +they--or, rather, she did not entirely lack apparel as did most of them. + +A soft hide fell from her left shoulder to just below her left hip on +one side and almost to her right knee on the other, a loose girdle was +about her waist, and golden ornaments such as he had seen in the +blue-and-white chest encircled her arms and legs, while a golden fillet +with a triangular diadem bound her heavy hair above her brows. Her +skin was white as from long confinement within doors; but it was clear +and fine. Her figure, but partially concealed by the soft deerskin, +was all curves of symmetry and youthful grace, while her features might +easily have been the envy of the most feted of Continental beauties. + +If the girl was surprised by the sudden appearance of Bradley, the +latter was absolutely astounded to discover so wondrous a creature +among the hideous inhabitants of the City of Human Skulls. For a +moment the two looked at one another in unconcealed consternation, and +then Bradley spoke, using to the best of his poor ability, the common +tongue of Caspak. + +"Who are you," he asked, "and from where do you come? Do not tell me +that you are a Wieroo." + +"No," she replied, "I am no Wieroo." And she shuddered slightly as she +pronounced the word. "I am a Galu; but who and what are you? I am +sure that you are no Galu, from your garments; but you are like the +Galus in other respects. I know that you are not of this frightful +city, for I have been here for almost ten moons, and never have I seen +a male Galu brought hither before, nor are there such as you and I, +other than prisoners in the land of Oo-oh, and these are all females. +Are you a prisoner, then?" + +He told her briefly who and what he was, though he doubted if she +understood, and from her he learned that she had been a prisoner there +for many months; but for what purpose he did not then learn, as in the +midst of their conversation the yellow door swung open and a Wieroo +with a robe slashed with yellow entered. + +At sight of Bradley the creature became furious. "Whence came this +reptile?" it demanded of the girl. "How long has it been here with +you?" + +"It came through the doorway just ahead of you," Bradley answered for +the girl. + +The Wieroo looked relieved. "It is well for the girl that this is so," +it said, "for now only you will have to die." And stepping to the door +the creature raised its voice in one of those uncanny, depressing wails. + +The Englishman looked toward the girl. "Shall I kill it?" he asked, +half drawing his pistol. "What is best to do?--I do not wish to +endanger you." + +The Wieroo backed toward the door. "Defiler!" it screamed. "You dare +to threaten one of the sacred chosen of Luata!" + +"Do not kill him," cried the girl, "for then there could be no hope for +you. That you are here, alive, shows that they may not intend to kill +you at all, and so there is a chance for you if you do not anger them; +but touch him in violence and your bleached skull will top the loftiest +pedestal of Oo-oh." + +"And what of you?" asked Bradley. + +"I am already doomed," replied the girl; "I am cos-ata-lo." + +"Cos-ata-lo! cos-ata-lu!" What did these phrases mean that they were +so oft repeated by the denizens of Oo-oh? Lu and lo, Bradley knew to +mean man and woman; ata; was employed variously to indicate life, eggs, +young, reproduction and kindred subjects; cos was a negative; but in +combination they were meaningless to the European. + +"Do you mean they will kill you?" asked Bradley. + +"I but wish that they would," replied the girl. "My fate is to be +worse than death--in just a few nights more, with the coming of the new +moon." + +"Poor she-snake!" snapped the Wieroo. "You are to become sacred above +all other shes. He Who Speaks for Luata has chosen you for himself. +Today you go to his temple--" the Wieroo used a phrase meaning +literally High Place--"where you will receive the sacred commands." + +The girl shuddered and cast a sorrowful glance toward Bradley. "Ah," +she sighed, "if I could but see my beloved country once again!" + +The man stepped suddenly close to her side before the Wieroo could +interpose and in a low voice asked her if there was no way by which he +might encompass her escape. She shook her head sorrowfully. "Even if +we escaped the city," she replied, "there is the big water between the +island of Oo-oh and the Galu shore." + +"And what is beyond the city, if we could leave it?" pursued Bradley. + +"I may only guess from what I have heard since I was brought here," +she answered; "but by reports and chance remarks I take it to be a +beautiful land in which there are but few wild beasts and no men, for +only the Wieroos live upon this island and they dwell always in cities +of which there are three, this being the largest. The others are at +the far end of the island, which is about three marches from end to end +and at its widest point about one march." + +From his own experience and from what the natives on the mainland had +told him, Bradley knew that ten miles was a good day's march in Caspak, +owing to the fact that at most points it was a trackless wilderness and +at all times travelers were beset by hideous beasts and reptiles that +greatly impeded rapid progress. + +The two had spoken rapidly but were now interrupted by the advent +through the opening in the roof of several Wieroos who had come in +answer to the alarm it of the yellow slashing had uttered. + +"This jaal-lu," cried the offended one, "has threatened me. Take its +hatchet from it and make it fast where it can do no harm until He Who +Speaks for Luata has said what shall be done with it. It is one of +those strange creatures that Fosh-bal-soj discovered first above the +Band-lu country and followed back toward the beginning. He Who Speaks +for Luata sent Fosh-bal-soj to fetch him one of the creatures, and here +it is. It is hoped that it may be from another world and hold the +secret of the cos-ata-lus." + +The Wieroos approached boldly to take Bradley's "hatchet" from him, +their leader having indicated the pistol hanging in its holster at the +Englishman's hip, but the first one went reeling backward against his +fellows from the blow to the chin which Bradley followed up with a rush +and the intention to clean up the room in record time; but he had +reckoned without the opening in the roof. Two were down and a great +wailing and moaning was arising when reinforcements appeared from +above. Bradley did not see them; but the girl did, and though she +cried out a warning, it came too late for him to avoid a large Wieroo +who dived headforemost for him, striking him between the shoulders and +bearing him to the floor. Instantly a dozen more were piling on top of +him. His pistol was wrenched from its holster and he was securely +pinioned down by the weight of numbers. + +At a word from the Wieroo of the yellow slashing who evidently was a +person of authority, one left and presently returned with fiber ropes +with which Bradley was tightly bound. + +"Now bear him to the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," directed the chief +Wieroo, "and one take the word of all that has passed to Him Who Speaks +for Luata." + +Each of the creatures raised a hand, the back against its face, as +though in salute. One seized Bradley and carried him through the +yellow doorway to the roof from whence it rose upon its wide-spread +wings and flapped off across the roof-tops of Oo-oh with its heavy +burden clutched in its long talons. + +Below him Bradley could see the city stretching away to a distance on +every hand. It was not as large as he had imagined, though he judged +that it was at least three miles square. The houses were piled in +indescribable heaps, sometimes to a height of a hundred feet. The +streets and alleys were short and crooked and there were many areas +where buildings had been wedged in so closely that no light could +possibly reach the lowest tiers, the entire surface of the ground being +packed solidly with them. + +The colors were varied and startling, the architecture amazing. Many +roofs were cup or saucer-shaped with a small hole in the center of +each, as though they had been constructed to catch rain-water and +conduct it to a reservoir beneath; but nearly all the others had the +large opening in the top that Bradley had seen used by these flying men +in lieu of doorways. At all levels were the myriad poles surmounted by +grinning skulls; but the two most prominent features of the city were +the round tower of human skulls that Bradley had noted earlier in the +day and another and much larger edifice near the center of the city. +As they approached it, Bradley saw that it was a huge building rising a +hundred feet in height from the ground and that it stood alone in the +center of what might have been called a plaza in some other part of the +world. Its various parts, however, were set together with the same +strange irregularity that marked the architecture of the city as a +whole; and it was capped by an enormous saucer-shaped roof which +projected far beyond the eaves, having the appearance of a colossal +Chinese coolie hat, inverted. + +The Wieroo bearing Bradley passed over one corner of the open space +about the large building, revealing to the Englishman grass and trees +and running water beneath. They passed the building and about five +hundred yards beyond the creature alighted on the roof of a square, +blue building surmounted by seven poles bearing seven skulls. This +then, thought Bradley, is the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. + +Over the opening in the roof was a grated covering, and this the Wieroo +removed. The thing then tied a piece of fiber rope to one of Bradley's +ankles and rolled him over the edge of the opening. All was dark below +and for an instant the Englishman came as near to experiencing real +terror as he had ever come in his life before. As he rolled off into +the black abyss he felt the rope tighten about his ankle and an instant +later he was stopped with a sudden jerk to swing pendulumlike, head +downward. Then the creature lowered away until Bradley's head came in +sudden and painful contact with the floor below, after which the Wieroo +let loose of the rope entirely and the Englishman's body crashed to the +wooden planking. He felt the free end of the rope dropped upon him and +heard the grating being slid into place above him. + + + +Chapter 3 + +Half-stunned, Bradley lay for a minute as he had fallen and then slowly +and painfully wriggled into a less uncomfortable position. He could +see nothing of his surroundings in the gloom about him until after a +few minutes his eyes became accustomed to the dark interior when he +rolled them from side to side in survey of his prison. + +He discovered himself to be in a bare room which was windowless, nor +could he see any other opening than that through which he had been +lowered. In one corner was a huddled mass that might have been almost +anything from a bundle of rags to a dead body. + +Almost immediately after he had taken his bearings Bradley commenced +working with his bonds. He was a man of powerful physique, and as from +the first he had been imbued with a belief that the fiber ropes were +too weak to hold him, he worked on with a firm conviction that sooner +or later they would part to his strainings. After a matter of five +minutes he was positive that the strands about his wrists were +beginning to give; but he was compelled to rest then from exhaustion. + +As he lay, his eyes rested upon the bundle in the corner, and presently +he could have sworn that the thing moved. With eyes straining through +the gloom the man lay watching the grim and sinister thing in the +corner. Perhaps his overwrought nerves were playing a sorry joke upon +him. He thought of this and also that his condition of utter +helplessness might still further have stimulated his imagination. He +closed his eyes and sought to relax his muscles and his nerves; but +when he looked again, he knew that he had not been mistaken--the thing +had moved; now it lay in a slightly altered form and farther from the +wall. It was nearer him. + +With renewed strength Bradley strained at his bonds, his fascinated +gaze still glued upon the shapeless bundle. No longer was there any +doubt that it moved--he saw it rise in the center several inches and +then creep closer to him. It sank and arose again--a headless, +hideous, monstrous thing of menace. Its very silence rendered it the +more terrible. + +Bradley was a brave man; ordinarily his nerves were of steel; but to be +at the mercy of some unknown and nameless horror, to be unable to +defend himself--it was these things that almost unstrung him, for at +best he was only human. To stand in the open, even with the odds all +against him; to be able to use his fists, to put up some sort of +defense, to inflict punishment upon his adversary--then he could face +death with a smile. It was not death that he feared now--it was that +horror of the unknown that is part of the fiber of every son of woman. + +Closer and closer came the shapeless mass. Bradley lay motionless and +listened. What was that he heard! Breathing? He could not be +mistaken--and then from out of the bundle of rags issued a hollow +groan. Bradley felt his hair rise upon his head. He struggled with +the slowly parting strands that held him. The thing beside him rose up +higher than before and the Englishman could have sworn that he saw a +single eye peering at him from among the tumbled cloth. For a moment +the bundle remained motionless--only the sound of breathing issued from +it, then there broke from it a maniacal laugh. + +Cold sweat stood upon Bradley's brow as he tugged for liberation. He +saw the rags rise higher and higher above him until at last they +tumbled upon the floor from the body of a naked man--a thin, a bony, a +hideous caricature of man, that mouthed and mummed and, wabbling upon +its weak and shaking legs, crumpled to the floor again, still +laughing--laughing horribly. + +It crawled toward Bradley. "Food! Food!" it screamed. "There is a +way out! There is a way out!" + +Dragging itself to his side the creature slumped upon the Englishman's +breast. "Food!" it shrilled as with its bony fingers and its teeth, it +sought the man's bare throat. + +"Food! There is a way out!" Bradley felt teeth upon his jugular. He +turned and twisted, shaking himself free for an instant; but once more +with hideous persistence the thing fastened itself upon him. The weak +jaws were unable to send the dull teeth through the victim's flesh; but +Bradley felt it pawing, pawing, pawing, like a monstrous rat, seeking +his life's blood. + +The skinny arms now embraced his neck, holding the teeth to his throat +against all his efforts to dislodge the thing. Weak as it was it had +strength enough for this in its mad efforts to eat. Mumbling as it +worked, it repeated again and again, "Food! Food! There is a way +out!" until Bradley thought those two expressions alone would drive him +mad. + +And all but mad he was as with a final effort backed by almost maniacal +strength he tore his wrists from the confining bonds and grasping the +repulsive thing upon his breast hurled it halfway across the room. +Panting like a spent hound Bradley worked at the thongs about his +ankles while the maniac lay quivering and mumbling where it had fallen. +Presently the Englishman leaped to his feet--freer than he had ever +before felt in all his life, though he was still hopelessly a prisoner +in the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. + +With his back against the wall for support, so weak the reaction left +him, Bradley stood watching the creature upon the floor. He saw it +move and slowly raise itself to its hands and knees, where it swayed to +and fro as its eyes roved about in search of him; and when at last they +found him, there broke from the drawn lips the mumbled words: "Food! +Food! There is a way out!" The pitiful supplication in the tones +touched the Englishman's heart. He knew that this could be no Wieroo, +but possibly once a man like himself who had been cast into this pit of +solitary confinement with this hideous result that might in time be his +fate, also. + +And then, too, there was the suggestion of hope held out by the +constant reiteration of the phrase, "There is a way out." Was there a +way out? What did this poor thing know? + +"Who are you and how long have you been here?" Bradley suddenly +demanded. + +For a moment the man upon the floor made no response, then mumblingly +came the words: "Food! Food!" + +"Stop!" commanded the Englishman--the injunction might have been barked +from the muzzle of a pistol. It brought the man to a sitting posture, +his hands off the ground. He stopped swaying to and fro and appeared +to be startled into an attempt to master his faculties of concentration +and thought. + +Bradley repeated his questions sharply. + +"I am An-Tak, the Galu," replied the man. "Luata alone knows how long +I have been here--maybe ten moons, maybe ten moons three times"--it was +the Caspakian equivalent of thirty. "I was young and strong when they +brought me here. Now I am old and very weak. I am cos-ata-lu--that is +why they have not killed me. If I tell them the secret of becoming +cos-ata-lu they will take me out; but how can I tell them that which +Luata alone knows? + +"What is cos-ata-lu?" demanded Bradley. + +"Food! Food! There is a way out!" mumbled the Galu. + +Bradley strode across the floor, seized the man by his shoulders and +shook him. + +"Tell me," he cried, "what is cos-ata-lu?" + +"Food!" whimpered An-Tak. + +Bradley bethought himself. His haversack had not been taken from him. +In it besides his razor and knife were odds and ends of equipment and a +small quantity of dried meat. He tossed a small strip of the latter to +the starving Galu. An-Tak seized upon it and devoured it ravenously. +It instilled new life in the man. + +"What is cos-ata-lu?" insisted Bradley again. + +An-Tak tried to explain. His narrative was often broken by lapses of +concentration during which he reverted to his plaintive mumbling for +food and recurrence to the statement that there was a way out; but by +firmness and patience the Englishman drew out piece-meal a more or less +lucid exposition of the remarkable scheme of evolution that rules in +Caspak. In it he found explanations of the hitherto inexplicable. He +discovered why he had seen no babes or children among the Caspakian +tribes with which he had come in contact; why each more northerly tribe +evinced a higher state of development than those south of them; why +each tribe included individuals ranging in physical and mental +characteristics from the highest of the next lower race to the lowest +of the next higher, and why the women of each tribe immersed themselves +each morning for an hour or more in the warm pools near which the +habitations of their people always were located; and, too, he +discovered why those pools were almost immune from the attacks of +carnivorous animals and reptiles. + +He learned that all but those who were cos-ata-lu came up cor-sva-jo, +or from the beginning. The egg from which they first developed into +tadpole form was deposited, with millions of others, in one of the warm +pools and with it a poisonous serum that the carnivora instinctively +shunned. Down the warm stream from the pool floated the countless +billions of eggs and tadpoles, developing as they drifted slowly toward +the sea. Some became tadpoles in the pool, some in the sluggish stream +and some not until they reached the great inland sea. In the next +stage they became fishes or reptiles, An-Tak was not positive which, +and in this form, always developing, they swam far to the south, where, +amid the rank and teeming jungles, some of them evolved into +amphibians. Always there were those whose development stopped at the +first stage, others whose development ceased when they became reptiles, +while by far the greater proportion formed the food supply of the +ravenous creatures of the deep. + +Few indeed were those that eventually developed into baboons and then +apes, which was considered by Caspakians the real beginning of +evolution. From the egg, then, the individual developed slowly into a +higher form, just as the frog's egg develops through various stages +from a fish with gills to a frog with lungs. With that thought in mind +Bradley discovered that it was not difficult to believe in the +possibility of such a scheme--there was nothing new in it. + +From the ape the individual, if it survived, slowly developed into the +lowest order of man--the Alu--and then by degrees to Bo-lu, Sto-lu, +Band-lu, Kro-lu and finally Galu. And in each stage countless millions +of other eggs were deposited in the warm pools of the various races and +floated down to the great sea to go through a similar process of +evolution outside the womb as develops our own young within; but in +Caspak the scheme is much more inclusive, for it combines not only +individual development but the evolution of species and genera. If an +egg survives it goes through all the stages of development that man has +passed through during the unthinkable eons since life first moved upon +the earth's face. + +The final stage--that which the Galus have almost attained and for +which all hope--is cos-ata-lu, which literally, means no-egg-man, or +one who is born directly as are the young of the outer world of +mammals. Some of the Galus produce cos-ata-lu and cos-ata-lo both; the +Wieroos only cos-ata-lu--in other words all Wieroos are born male, and +so they prey upon the Galus for their women and sometimes capture and +torture the Galu men who are cos-ata-lu in an endeavor to learn the +secret which they believe will give them unlimited power over all other +denizens of Caspak. + +No Wieroos come up from the beginning--all are born of the Wieroo +fathers and Galu mothers who are cos-ata-lo, and there are very few of +the latter owing to the long and precarious stages of development. +Seven generations of the same ancestor must come up from the beginning +before a cos-ata-lu child may be born; and when one considers the +frightful dangers that surround the vital spark from the moment it +leaves the warm pool where it has been deposited to float down to the +sea amid the voracious creatures that swarm the surface and the deeps +and the almost equally unthinkable trials of its effort to survive +after it once becomes a land animal and starts northward through the +horrors of the Caspakian jungles and forests, it is plainly a wonder +that even a single babe has ever been born to a Galu woman. + +Seven cycles it requires before the seventh Galu can complete the +seventh danger-infested circle since its first Galu ancestor achieved +the state of Galu. For ages before, the ancestors of this first Galu +may have developed from a Band-lu or Bo-lu egg without ever once +completing the whole circle--that is from a Galu egg, back to a fully +developed Galu. + +Bradley's head was whirling before he even commenced to grasp the +complexities of Caspakian evolution; but as the truth slowly filtered +into his understanding--as gradually it became possible for him to +visualize the scheme, it appeared simpler. In fact, it seemed even +less difficult of comprehension than that with which he was familiar. + +For several minutes after An-Tak ceased speaking, his voice having +trailed off weakly into silence, neither spoke again. Then the Galu +recommenced his, "Food! Food! There is a way out!" Bradley tossed him +another bit of dried meat, waiting patiently until he had eaten it, +this time more slowly. + +"What do you mean by saying there is a way out?" he asked. + +"He who died here just after I came, told me," replied An-Tak. "He +said there was a way out, that he had discovered it but was too weak to +use his knowledge. He was trying to tell me how to find it when he +died. Oh, Luata, if he had lived but a moment more!" + +"They do not feed you here?" asked Bradley. + +"No, they give me water once a day--that is all." + +"But how have you lived, then?" + +"The lizards and the rats," replied An-Tak. "The lizards are not so +bad; but the rats are foul to taste. However, I must eat them or they +would eat me, and they are better than nothing; but of late they do not +come so often, and I have not had a lizard for a long time. I shall +eat though," he mumbled. "I shall eat now, for you cannot remain awake +forever." He laughed, a cackling, dry laugh. "When you sleep, An-Tak +will eat." + +It was horrible. Bradley shuddered. For a long time each sat in +silence. The Englishman could guess why the other made no sound--he +awaited the moment that sleep should overcome his victim. In the long +silence there was born upon Bradley's ears a faint, monotonous sound as +of running water. He listened intently. It seemed to come from far +beneath the floor. + +"What is that noise?" he asked. "That sounds like water running +through a narrow channel." + +"It is the river," replied An-Tak. "Why do you not go to sleep? It +passes directly beneath the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. It runs +through the temple grounds, beneath the temple and under the city. +When we die, they will cut off our heads and throw our bodies into the +river. At the mouth of the river await many large reptiles. Thus do +they feed. The Wieroos do likewise with their own dead, keeping only +the skulls and the wings. Come, let us sleep." + +"Do the reptiles come up the river into the city?" asked Bradley. + +"The water is too cold--they never leave the warm water of the great +pool," replied An-Tak. + +"Let us search for the way out," suggested Bradley. + +An-Tak shook his head. "I have searched for it all these moons," he +said. "If I could not find it, how would you?" + +Bradley made no reply but commenced a diligent examination of the walls +and floor of the room, pressing over each square foot and tapping with +his knuckles. About six feet from the floor he discovered a +sleeping-perch near one end of the apartment. He asked An-Tak about +it, but the Galu said that no Weiroo had occupied the place since he +had been incarcerated there. Again and again Bradley went over the +floor and walls as high up as he could reach. Finally he swung himself +to the perch, that he might examine at least one end of the room all +the way to the ceiling. + +In the center of the wall close to the top, an area about three feet +square gave forth a hollow sound when he rapped upon it. Bradley felt +over every square inch of that area with the tips of his fingers. Near +the top he found a small round hole a trifle larger in diameter than +his forefinger, which he immediately stuck into it. The panel, if such +it was, seemed about an inch thick, and beyond it his finger +encountered nothing. Bradley crooked his finger upon the opposite side +of the panel and pulled toward him, steadily but with considerable +force. Suddenly the panel flew inward, nearly precipitating the man to +the floor. It was hinged at the bottom, and when lowered the outer +edge rested upon the perch, making a little platform parallel with the +floor of the room. + +Beyond the opening was an utterly dark void. The Englishman leaned +through it and reached his arm as far as possible into the blackness +but touched nothing. Then he fumbled in his haversack for a match, a +few of which remained to him. When he struck it, An-Tak gave a cry of +terror. Bradley held the light far into the opening before him and in +its flickering rays saw the top of a ladder descending into a black +abyss below. How far down it extended he could not guess; but that he +should soon know definitely he was positive. + +"You have found it! You have found the way out!" screamed An-Tak. +"Oh, Luata! And now I am too weak to go. Take me with you! Take me +with you!" + +"Shut up!" admonished Bradley. "You will have the whole flock of birds +around our heads in a minute, and neither of us will escape. Be quiet, +and I'll go ahead. If I find a way out, I'll come back and help you, +if you'll promise not to try to eat me up again." + +"I promise," cried An-Tak. "Oh, Luata! How could you blame me? I am +half crazed of hunger and long confinement and the horror of the +lizards and the rats and the constant waiting for death." + +"I know," said Bradley simply. "I'm sorry for you, old top. Keep a +stiff upper lip." And he slipped through the opening, found the ladder +with his feet, closed the panel behind him, and started downward into +the darkness. + +Below him rose more and more distinctly the sound of running water. +The air felt damp and cool. He could see nothing of his surroundings +and felt nothing but the smooth, worn sides and rungs of the ladder +down which he felt his way cautiously lest a broken rung or a misstep +should hurl him downward. + +As he descended thus slowly, the ladder seemed interminable and the pit +bottomless, yet he realized when at last he reached the bottom that he +could not have descended more than fifty feet. The bottom of the +ladder rested on a narrow ledge paved with what felt like large round +stones, but what he knew from experience to be human skulls. He could +not but marvel as to where so many countless thousands of the things +had come from, until he paused to consider that the infancy of Caspak +dated doubtlessly back into remote ages, far beyond what the outer +world considered the beginning of earthly time. For all these eons the +Wieroos might have been collecting human skulls from their enemies and +their own dead--enough to have built an entire city of them. + +Feeling his way along the narrow ledge, Bradley came presently to a +blank wall that stretched out over the water swirling beneath him, as +far as he could reach. Stooping, he groped about with one hand, +reaching down toward the surface of the water, and discovered that the +bottom of the wall arched above the stream. How much space there was +between the water and the arch he could not tell, nor how deep the +former. There was only one way in which he might learn these things, +and that was to lower himself into the stream. For only an instant he +hesitated weighing his chances. Behind him lay almost certainly the +horrid fate of An-Tak; before him nothing worse than a comparatively +painless death by drowning. Holding his haversack above his head with +one hand he lowered his feet slowly over the edge of the narrow +platform. Almost immediately he felt the swirling of cold water about +his ankles, and then with a silent prayer he let himself drop gently +into the stream. + +Great was Bradley's relief when he found the water no more than waist +deep and beneath his feet a firm, gravel bottom. Feeling his way +cautiously he moved downward with the current, which was not so strong +as he had imagined from the noise of the running water. + +Beneath the first arch he made his way, following the winding +curvatures of the right-hand wall. After a few yards of progress his +hand came suddenly in contact with a slimy thing clinging to the +wall--a thing that hissed and scuttled out of reach. What it was, the +man could not know; but almost instantly there was a splash in the +water just ahead of him and then another. + +On he went, passing beneath other arches at varying distances, and +always in utter darkness. Unseen denizens of this great sewer, +disturbed by the intruder, splashed into the water ahead of him and +wriggled away. Time and again his hand touched them and never for an +instant could he be sure that at the next step some gruesome thing +might not attack him. He had strapped his haversack about his neck, +well above the surface of the water, and in his left hand he carried +his knife. Other precautions there were none to take. + +The monotony of the blind trail was increased by the fact that from the +moment he had started from the foot of the ladder he had counted his +every step. He had promised to return for An-Tak if it proved humanly +possible to do so, and he knew that in the blackness of the tunnel he +could locate the foot of the ladder in no other way. + +He had taken two hundred and sixty-nine steps--afterward he knew that +he should never forget that number--when something bumped gently +against him from behind. Instantly he wheeled about and with knife +ready to defend himself stretched forth his right hand to push away the +object that now had lodged against his body. His fingers feeling +through the darkness came in contact with something cold and +clammy--they passed to and fro over the thing until Bradley knew that +it was the face of a dead man floating upon the surface of the stream. +With an oath he pushed his gruesome companion out into mid-stream to +float on down toward the great pool and the awaiting scavengers of the +deep. + +At his four hundred and thirteenth step another corpse bumped against +him--how many had passed him without touching he could not guess; but +suddenly he experienced the sensation of being surrounded by dead faces +floating along with him, all set in hideous grimaces, their dead eyes +glaring at this profaning alien who dared intrude upon the waters of +this river of the dead--a horrid escort, pregnant with dire forebodings +and with menace. + +Though he advanced very slowly, he tried always to take steps of about +the same length; so that he knew that though considerable time had +elapsed, yet he had really advanced no more than four hundred yards +when ahead he saw a lessening of the pitch-darkness, and at the next +turn of the stream his surroundings became vaguely discernible. Above +him was an arched roof and on either hand walls pierced at intervals by +apertures covered with wooden doors. Just ahead of him in the roof of +the aqueduct was a round, black hole about thirty inches in diameter. +His eyes still rested upon the opening when there shot downward from it +to the water below the naked body of a human being which almost +immediately rose to the surface again and floated off down the stream. +In the dim light Bradley saw that it was a dead Wieroo from which the +wings and head had been removed. A moment later another headless body +floated past, recalling what An-Tak had told him of the +skull-collecting customs of the Wieroo. Bradley wondered how it +happened that the first corpse he had encountered in the stream had not +been similarly mutilated. + +The farther he advanced now, the lighter it became. The number of +corpses was much smaller than he had imagined, only two more passing +him before, at six hundred steps, or about five hundred yards, from the +point he had taken to the stream, he came to the end of the tunnel and +looked out upon sunlit water, running between grassy banks. + +One of the last corpses to pass him was still clothed in the white robe +of a Wieroo, blood-stained over the headless neck that it concealed. + +Drawing closer to the opening leading into the bright daylight, Bradley +surveyed what lay beyond. A short distance before him a large building +stood in the center of several acres of grass and tree-covered ground, +spanning the stream which disappeared through an opening in its +foundation wall. From the large saucer-shaped roof and the vivid +colorings of the various heterogeneous parts of the structure he +recognized it as the temple past which he had been borne to the Blue +Place of Seven Skulls. + +To and fro flew Wieroos, going to and from the temple. Others passed +on foot across the open grounds, assisting themselves with their great +wings, so that they barely skimmed the earth. To leave the mouth of +the tunnel would have been to court instant discovery and capture; but +by what other avenue he might escape, Bradley could not guess, unless +he retraced his steps up the stream and sought egress from the other +end of the city. The thought of traversing that dark and horror-ridden +tunnel for perhaps miles he could not entertain--there must be some +other way. Perhaps after dark he could steal through the temple +grounds and continue on downstream until he had come beyond the city; +and so he stood and waited until his limbs became almost paralyzed with +cold, and he knew that he must find some other plan for escape. + +A half-formed decision to risk an attempt to swim under water to the +temple was crystallizing in spite of the fact that any chance Wieroo +flying above the stream might easily see him, when again a floating +object bumped against him from behind and lodged across his back. +Turning quickly he saw that the thing was what he had immediately +guessed it to be--a headless and wingless Wieroo corpse. With a grunt +of disgust he was about to push it from him when the white garment +enshrouding it suggested a bold plan to his resourceful brain. +Grasping the corpse by an arm he tore the garment from it and then let +the body float downward toward the temple. With great care he draped +the robe about him; the bloody blotch that had covered the severed neck +he arranged about his own head. His haversack he rolled as tightly as +possible and stuffed beneath his coat over his breast. Then he fell +gently to the surface of the stream and lying upon his back floated +downward with the current and out into the open sunlight. + +Through the weave of the cloth he could distinguish large objects. He +saw a Wieroo flap dismally above him; he saw the banks of the stream +float slowly past; he heard a sudden wail upon the right-hand shore, +and his heart stood still lest his ruse had been discovered; but never +by a move of a muscle did he betray that aught but a cold lump of clay +floated there upon the bosom of the water, and soon, though it seemed +an eternity to him, the direct sunlight was blotted out, and he knew +that he had entered beneath the temple. + +Quickly he felt for bottom with his feet and as quickly stood erect, +snatching the bloody, clammy cloth from his face. On both sides were +blank walls and before him the river turned a sharp corner and +disappeared. Feeling his way cautiously forward he approached the turn +and looked around the corner. To his left was a low platform about a +foot above the level of the stream, and onto this he lost no time in +climbing, for he was soaked from head to foot, cold and almost +exhausted. + +As he lay resting on the skull-paved shelf, he saw in the center of the +vault above the river another of those sinister round holes through +which he momentarily expected to see a headless corpse shoot downward +in its last plunge to a watery grave. A few feet along the platform a +closed door broke the blankness of the wall. As he lay looking at it +and wondering what lay behind, his mind filled with fragments of many +wild schemes of escape, it opened and a white robed Wieroo stepped out +upon the platform. The creature carried a large wooden basin filled +with rubbish. Its eyes were not upon Bradley, who drew himself to a +squatting position and crouched as far back in the corner of the niche +in which the platform was set as he could force himself. The Wieroo +stepped to the edge of the platform and dumped the rubbish into the +stream. If it turned away from him as it started to retrace its steps +to the doorway, there was a small chance that it might not see him; but +if it turned toward him there was none at all. Bradley held his breath. + +The Wieroo paused a moment, gazing down into the water, then it +straightened up and turned toward the Englishman. Bradley did not +move. The Wieroo stopped and stared intently at him. It approached +him questioningly. Still Bradley remained as though carved of stone. +The creature was directly in front of him. It stopped. There was no +chance on earth that it would not discover what he was. + +With the quickness of a cat, Bradley sprang to his feet and with all +his great strength, backed by his heavy weight, struck the Wieroo upon +the point of the chin. Without a sound the thing crumpled to the +platform, while Bradley, acting almost instinctively to the urge of the +first law of nature, rolled the inanimate body over the edge into the +river. + +Then he looked at the open doorway, crossed the platform and peered +within the apartment beyond. What he saw was a large room, dimly +lighted, and about the side rows of wooden vessels stacked one upon +another. There was no Wieroo in sight, so the Englishman entered. At +the far end of the room was another door, and as he crossed toward it, +he glanced into some of the vessels, which he found were filled with +dried fruits, vegetables and fish. Without more ado he stuffed his +pockets and his haversack full, thinking of the poor creature awaiting +his return in the gloom of the Place of Seven Skulls. + +When night came, he would return and fetch An-Tak this far at least; +but in the meantime it was his intention to reconnoiter in the hope +that he might discover some easier way out of the city than that +offered by the chill, black channel of the ghastly river of corpses. + +Beyond the farther door stretched a long passageway from which closed +doorways led into other parts of the cellars of the temple. A few +yards from the storeroom a ladder rose from the corridor through an +aperture in the ceiling. Bradley paused at the foot of it, debating +the wisdom of further investigation against a return to the river; but +strong within him was the spirit of exploration that has scattered his +race to the four corners of the earth. What new mysteries lay hidden +in the chambers above? The urge to know was strong upon him though his +better judgment warned him that the safer course lay in retreat. For a +moment he stood thus, running his fingers through his hair; then he +cast discretion to the winds and began the ascent. + +In conformity with such Wieroo architecture as he had already observed, +the well through which the ladder rose continually canted at an angle +from the perpendicular. At more or less regular stages it was pierced +by apertures closed by doors, none of which he could open until he had +climbed fully fifty feet from the river level. Here he discovered a +door already ajar opening into a large, circular chamber, the walls and +floors of which were covered with the skins of wild beasts and with +rugs of many colors; but what interested him most was the occupants of +the room--a Wieroo, and a girl of human proportions. She was standing +with her back against a column which rose from the center of the +apartment from floor to ceiling--a hollow column about forty inches in +diameter in which he could see an opening some thirty inches across. +The girl's side was toward Bradley, and her face averted, for she was +watching the Wieroo, who was now advancing slowly toward her, talking +as he came. + +Bradley could distinctly hear the words of the creature, who was urging +the girl to accompany him to another Wieroo city. "Come with me," he +said, "and you shall have your life; remain here and He Who Speaks for +Luata will claim you for his own; and when he is done with you, your +skull will bleach at the top of a tall staff while your body feeds the +reptiles at the mouth of the River of Death. Even though you bring +into the world a female Wieroo, your fate will be the same if you do +not escape him, while with me you shall have life and food and none +shall harm you." + +He was quite close to the girl when she replied by striking him in the +face with all her strength. "Until I am slain," she cried, "I shall +fight against you all." From the throat of the Wieroo issued that +dismal wail that Bradley had heard so often in the past--it was like a +scream of pain smothered to a groan--and then the thing leaped upon the +girl, its face working in hideous grimaces as it clawed and beat at her +to force her to the floor. + +The Englishman was upon the point of entering to defend her when a door +at the opposite side of the chamber opened to admit a huge Wieroo +clothed entirely in red. At sight of the two struggling upon the floor +the newcomer raised his voice in a shriek of rage. Instantly the +Wieroo who was attacking the girl leaped to his feet and faced the +other. + +"I heard," screamed he who had just entered the room. "I heard, and +when He Who Speaks for young, reproduction and kindred subjects shall have heard--" He paused and made a +suggestive movement of a finger across his throat. + +"He shall not hear," returned the first Wieroo as, with a powerful +motion of his great wings, he launched himself upon the red-robed +figure. The latter dodged the first charge, drew a wicked-looking +curved blade from beneath its red robe, spread its wings and dived for +its antagonist. Beating their wings, wailing and groaning, the two +hideous things sparred for position. The white-robed one being unarmed +sought to grasp the other by the wrist of its knife-hand and by the +throat, while the latter hopped around on its dainty white feet, +seeking an opening for a mortal blow. Once it struck and missed, and +then the other rushed in and clinched, at the same time securing both +the holds it sought. Immediately the two commenced beating at each +other's heads with the joints of their wings, kicking with their soft, +puny feet and biting, each at the other's face. + +In the meantime the girl moved about the room, keeping out of the way +of the duelists, and as she did so, Bradley caught a glimpse of her +full face and immediately recognized her as the girl of the place of +the yellow door. He did not dare intervene now until one of the Wieroo +had overcome the other, lest the two should turn upon him at once, when +the chances were fair that he would be defeated in so unequal a battle +as the curved blade of the red Wieroo would render it, and so he +waited, watching the white-robed figure slowly choking the life from +him of the red robe. The protruding tongue and the popping eyes +proclaimed that the end was near and a moment later the red robe sank +to the floor of the room, the curved blade slipping from nerveless +fingers. For an instant longer the victor clung to the throat of his +defeated antagonist and then he rose, dragging the body after him, and +approached the central column. Here he raised the body and thrust it +into the aperture where Bradley saw it drop suddenly from sight. +Instantly there flashed into his memory the circular openings in the +roof of the river vault and the corpses he had seen drop from them to +the water beneath. + +As the body disappeared, the Wieroo turned and cast about the room for +the girl. For a moment he stood eying her. "You saw," he muttered, +"and if you tell them, He Who Speaks for Luata will have my wings +severed while still I live and my head will be severed and I shall be +cast into the River of Death, for thus it happens even to the highest +who slay one of the red robe. You saw, and you must die!" he ended +with a scream as he rushed upon the girl. + +Bradley waited no longer. Leaping into the room he ran for the Wieroo, +who had already seized the girl, and as he ran, he stooped and picked +up the curved blade. The creature's back was toward him as, with his +left hand, he seized it by the neck. Like a flash the great wings beat +backward as the creature turned, and Bradley was swept from his feet, +though he still retained his hold upon the blade. Instantly the Wieroo +was upon him. Bradley lay slightly raised upon his left elbow, his +right arm free, and as the thing came close, he cut at the hideous face +with all the strength that lay within him. The blade struck at the +junction of the neck and torso and with such force as to completely +decapitate the Wieroo, the hideous head dropping to the floor and the +body falling forward upon the Englishman. Pushing it from him he rose +to his feet and faced the wide-eyed girl. + +"Luata!" she exclaimed. "How came you here?" + +Bradley shrugged. "Here I am," he said; "but the thing now is to get +out of here--both of us." + +The girl shook her head. "It cannot be," she stated sadly. + +"That is what I thought when they dropped me into the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls," replied Bradley. "Can't be done. I did it.--Here! +You're mussing up the floor something awful, you." This last to the +dead Wieroo as he stooped and dragged the corpse to the central shaft, +where he raised it to the aperture and let it slip into the tube. Then +he picked up the head and tossed it after the body. "Don't be so +glum," he admonished the former as he carried it toward the well; +"smile!" + +"But how can he smile?" questioned the girl, a half-puzzled, +half-frightened look upon her face. "He is dead." + +"That's so," admitted Bradley, "and I suppose he does feel a bit cut up +about it." + +The girl shook her head and edged away from the man--toward the door. + +"Come!" said the Englishman. "We've got to get out of here. If you +don't know a better way than the river, it's the river then." + +The girl still eyed him askance. "But how could he smile when he was +dead?" + +Bradley laughed aloud. "I thought we English were supposed to have the +least sense of humor of any people in the world," he cried; "but now +I've found one human being who hasn't any. Of course you don't know +half I'm saying; but don't worry, little girl; I'm not going to hurt +you, and if I can get you out of here, I'll do it." + +Even if she did not understand all he said, she at least read something +in his smiling countenance--something which reassured her. "I do not +fear you," she said; "though I do not understand all that you say even +though you speak my own tongue and use words that I know. But as for +escaping"--she sighed--"alas, how can it be done?" + +"I escaped from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," Bradley reminded her. +"Come!" And he turned toward the shaft and the ladder that he had +ascended from the river. "We cannot waste time here." + +The girl followed him; but at the doorway both drew back, for from +below came the sound of some one ascending. + +Bradley tiptoed to the door and peered cautiously into the well; then +he stepped back beside the girl. "There are half a dozen of them +coming up; but possibly they will pass this room." + +"No," she said, "they will pass directly through this room--they are on +their way to Him Who Speaks for Luata. We may be able to hide in the +next room--there are skins there beneath which we may crawl. They will +not stop in that room; but they may stop in this one for a short +time--the other room is blue." + +"What's that go to do with it?" demanded the Englishman. + +"They fear blue," she replied. "In every room where murder has been +done you will find blue--a certain amount for each murder. When the +room is all blue, they shun it. This room has much blue; but evidently +they kill mostly in the next room, which is now all blue." + +"But there is blue on the outside of every house I have seen," said +Bradley. + +"Yes," assented the girl, "and there are blue rooms in each of those +houses--when all the rooms are blue then the whole outside of the house +will be blue as is the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. There are many such +here." + +"And the skulls with blue upon them?" inquired Bradley. "Did they +belong to murderers?" + +"They were murdered--some of them; those with only a small amount of +blue were murderers--known murderers. All Wieroos are murderers. When +they have committed a certain number of murders without being caught at +it, they confess to Him Who Speaks for Luata and are advanced, after +which they wear robes with a slash of some color--I think yellow comes +first. When they reach a point where the entire robe is of yellow, +they discard it for a white robe with a red slash; and when one wins a +complete red robe, he carries such a long, curved knife as you have in +your hand; after that comes the blue slash on a white robe, and then, I +suppose, an all blue robe. I have never seen such a one." + +As they talked in low tones they had moved from the room of the death +shaft into an all blue room adjoining, where they sat down together in +a corner with their backs against a wall and drew a pile of hides over +themselves. A moment later they heard a number of Wieroos enter the +chamber. They were talking together as they crossed the floor, or the +two could not have heard them. Halfway across the chamber they halted +as the door toward which they were advancing opened and a dozen others +of their kind entered the apartment. + +Bradley could guess all this by the increased volume of sound and the +dismal greetings; but the sudden silence that almost immediately ensued +he could not fathom, for he could not know that from beneath one of the +hides that covered him protruded one of his heavy army shoes, or that +some eighteen large Wieroos with robes either solid red or slashed with +red or blue were standing gazing at it. Nor could he hear their +stealthy approach. + +The first intimation he had that he had been discovered was when his +foot was suddenly seized, and he was yanked violently from beneath the +hides to find himself surrounded by menacing blades. They would have +slain him on the spot had not one clothed all in red held them back, +saying that He Who Speaks for Luata desired to see this strange +creature. + +As they led Bradley away, he caught an opportunity to glance back +toward the hides to see what had become of the girl, and, to his +gratification, he discovered that she still lay concealed beneath the +hides. He wondered if she would have the nerve to attempt the river +trip alone and regretted that now he could not accompany her. He felt +rather all in, himself, more so than he had at any time since he had +been captured by the Wieroo, for there appeared not the slightest cause +for hope in his present predicament. He had dropped the curved blade +beneath the hides when he had been jerked so violently from their +fancied security. It was almost in a spirit of resigned hopelessness +that he quietly accompanied his captors through various chambers and +corridors toward the heart of the temple. + + + +Chapter 4 + +The farther the group progressed, the more barbaric and the more +sumptuous became the decorations. Hides of leopard and tiger +predominated, apparently because of their more beautiful markings, and +decorative skulls became more and more numerous. Many of the latter +were mounted in precious metals and set with colored stones and +priceless gems, while thick upon the hides that covered the walls were +golden ornaments similar to those worn by the girl and those which had +filled the chests he had examined in the storeroom of Fosh-bal-soj, +leading the Englishman to the conviction that all such were spoils of +war or theft, since each piece seemed made for personal adornment, +while in so far as he had seen, no Wieroo wore ornaments of any sort. + +And also as they advanced the more numerous became the Wieroos moving +hither and thither within the temple. Many now were the solid red +robes and those that were slashed with blue--a veritable hive of +murderers. + +At last the party halted in a room in which were many Wieroos who +gathered about Bradley questioning his captors and examining him and +his apparel. One of the party accompanying the Englishman spoke to a +Wieroo that stood beside a door leading from the room. "Tell Him Who +Speaks for Luata," he said, "that Fosh-bal-soj we could not find; but +that in returning we found this creature within the temple, hiding. It +must be the same that Fosh-bal-soj captured in the Sto-lu country +during the last darkness. Doubtless He Who Speaks for Luata would wish +to see and question this strange thing." + +The creature addressed turned and slipped through the doorway, closing +the door after it, but first depositing its curved blade upon the floor +without. Its post was immediately taken by another and Bradley now saw +that at least twenty such guards loitered in the immediate vicinity. +The doorkeeper was gone but for a moment, and when he returned, he +signified that Bradley's party was to enter the next chamber; but first +each of the Wieroos removed his curved weapon and laid it upon the +floor. The door was swung open, and the party, now reduced to Bradley +and five Wieroos, was ushered across the threshold into a large, +irregularly shaped room in which a single, giant Wieroo whose robe was +solid blue sat upon a raised dais. + +The creature's face was white with the whiteness of a corpse, its dead +eyes entirely expressionless, its cruel, thin lips tight-drawn against +yellow teeth in a perpetual grimace. Upon either side of it lay an +enormous, curved sword, similar to those with which some of the other +Wieroos had been armed, but larger and heavier. Constantly its +clawlike fingers played with one or the other of these weapons. + +The walls of the chamber as well as the floor were entirely hidden by +skins and woven fabrics. Blue predominated in all the colorations. +Fastened against the hides were many pairs of Wieroo wings, mounted so +that they resembled long, black shields. Upon the ceiling were painted +in blue characters a bewildering series of hieroglyphics and upon +pedestals set against the walls or standing out well within the room +were many human skulls. + +As the Wieroos approached the figure upon the dais, they leaned far +forward, raising their wings above their heads and stretching their +necks as though offering them to the sharp swords of the grim and +hideous creature. + +"O Thou Who Speakest for Luata!" exclaimed one of the party. "We bring +you the strange creature that Fosh-bal-soj captured and brought thither +at thy command." + +So this then was the godlike figure that spoke for divinity! This +arch-murderer was the Caspakian representative of God on Earth! His +blue robe announced him the one and the seeming humility of his minions +the other. For a long minute he glared at Bradley. Then he began to +question him--from whence he came and how, the name and description of +his native country, and a hundred other queries. + +"Are you cos-ata-lu?" the creature asked. + +Bradley replied that he was and that all his kind were, as well as +every living thing in his part of the world. + +"Can you tell me the secret?" asked the creature. + +Bradley hesitated and then, thinking to gain time, replied in the +affirmative. + +"What is it?" demanded the Wieroo, leaning far forward and exhibiting +every evidence of excited interest. + +Bradley leaned forward and whispered: "It is for your ears alone; I +will not divulge it to others, and then only on condition that you +carry me and the girl I saw in the place of the yellow door near to +that of Fosh-bal-soj back to her own country." + +The thing rose in wrath, holding one of its swords above its head. + +"Who are you to make terms for Him Who Speaks for Luata?" it shrilled. +"Tell me the secret or die where you stand!" + +"And if I die now, the secret goes with me," Bradley reminded him. +"Never again will you get the opportunity to question another of my +kind who knows the secret." Anything to gain time, to get the rest of +the Wieroos from the room, that he might plan some scheme for escape +and put it into effect. + +The creature turned upon the leader of the party that had brought +Bradley. + +"Is the thing with weapons?" it asked. + +"No," was the response. + +"Then go; but tell the guard to remain close by," commanded the high +one. + +The Wieroos salaamed and withdrew, closing the door behind them. He +Who Speaks for Luata grasped a sword nervously in his right hand. At +his left side lay the second weapon. It was evident that he lived in +constant dread of being assassinated. The fact that he permitted none +with weapons within his presence and that he always kept two swords at +his side pointed to this. + +Bradley was racking his brain to find some suggestion of a plan whereby +he might turn the situation to his own account. His eyes wandered past +the weird figure before him; they played about the walls of the +apartment as though hoping to draw inspiration from the dead skulls and +the hides and the wings, and then they came back to the face of the +Wieroo god, now working in anger. + +"Quick!" screamed the thing. "The secret!" + +"Will you give me and the girl our freedom?" insisted Bradley. + +For an instant the thing hesitated, and then it grumbled "Yes." At the +same instant Bradley saw two hides upon the wall directly back of the +dais separate and a face appear in the opening. No change of +expression upon the Englishman's countenance betrayed that he had seen +aught to surprise him, though surprised he was for the face in the +aperture was that of the girl he had but just left hidden beneath the +hides in another chamber. A white and shapely arm now pushed past the +face into the room, and in the hand, tightly clutched, was the curved +blade, smeared with blood, that Bradley had dropped beneath the hides +at the moment he had been discovered and drawn from his concealment. + +"Listen, then," said Bradley in a low voice to the Wieroo. "You shall +know the secret of cos-ata-lu as well as do I; but none other may hear +it. Lean close--I will whisper it into your ear." + +He moved forward and stepped upon the dais. The creature raised its +sword ready to strike at the first indication of treachery, and Bradley +stooped beneath the blade and put his ear close to the gruesome face. +As he did so, he rested his weight upon his hands, one upon either side +of the Wieroo's body, his right hand upon the hilt of the spare sword +lying at the left of Him Who Speaks for Luata. + +"This then is the secret of both life and death," he whispered, and at +the same instant he grasped the Wieroo by the right wrist and with his +own right hand swung the extra blade in a sudden vicious blow against +the creature's neck before the thing could give even a single cry of +alarm; then without waiting an instant Bradley leaped past the dead god +and vanished behind the hides that had hidden the girl. + +Wide-eyed and panting the girl seized his arm. "Oh, what have you +done?" she cried. "He Who Speaks for Luata will be avenged by Luata. +Now indeed must you die. There is no escape, for even though we +reached my own country Luata can find you out." + +"Bosh!" exclaimed Bradley, and then: "But you were going to knife him +yourself." + +"Then I alone should have died," she replied. + +Bradley scratched his head. "Neither of us is going to die," he said; +"at least not at the hands of any god. If we don't get out of here +though, we'll die right enough. Can you find your way back to the room +where I first came upon you in the temple?" + +"I know the way," replied the girl; "but I doubt if we can go back +without being seen. I came hither because I only met Wieroos who knew +that I am supposed now to be in the temple; but you could go elsewhere +without being discovered." + +Bradley's ingenuity had come up against a stone wall. There seemed no +possibility of escape. He looked about him. They were in a small room +where lay a litter of rubbish--torn bits of cloth, old hides, pieces of +fiber rope. In the center of the room was a cylindrical shaft with an +opening in its face. Bradley knew it for what it was. Here the +arch-fiend dragged his victims and cast their bodies into the river of +death far below. The floor about the opening in the shaft and the +sides of the shaft were clotted thick with a dried, dark brown +substance that the Englishman knew had once been blood. The place had +the appearance of having been a veritable shambles. An odor of +decaying flesh permeated the air. + +The Englishman crossed to the shaft and peered into the opening. All +below was dark as pitch; but at the bottom he knew was the river. +Suddenly an inspiration and a bold scheme leaped to his mind. Turning +quickly he hunted about the room until he found what he sought--a +quantity of the rope that lay strewn here and there. With rapid +fingers he unsnarled the different lengths, the girl helping him, and +then he tied the ends together until he had three ropes about +seventy-five feet in length. He fastened these together at each end +and without a word secured one of the ends about the girl's body +beneath her arms. + +"Don't be frightened," he said at length, as he led her toward the +opening in the shaft. "I'm going to lower you to the river, and then +I'm coming down after you. When you are safe below, give two quick +jerks upon the rope. If there is danger there and you want me to draw +you up into the shaft, jerk once. Don't be afraid--it is the only way." + +"I am not afraid," replied the girl, rather haughtily Bradley thought, +and herself climbed through the aperture and hung by her hands waiting +for Bradley to lower her. + +As rapidly as was consistent with safety, the man paid out the rope. +When it was about half out, he heard loud cries and wails suddenly +arise within the room they had just quitted. The slaying of their god +had been discovered by the Wieroos. A search for the slayer would +begin at once. + +Lord! Would the girl never reach the river? At last, just as he was +positive that searchers were already entering the room behind him, +there came two quick tugs at the rope. Instantly Bradley made the rest +of the strands fast about the shaft, slipped into the black tube and +began a hurried descent toward the river. An instant later he stood +waist deep in water beside the girl. Impulsively she reached toward +him and grasped his arm. A strange thrill ran through him at the +contact; but he only cut the rope from about her body and lifted her to +the little shelf at the river's side. + +"How can we leave here?" she asked. + +"By the river," he replied; "but first I must go back to the Blue Place +of Seven Skulls and get the poor devil I left there. I'll have to wait +until after dark, though, as I cannot pass through the open stretch of +river in the temple gardens by day." + +"There is another way," said the girl. "I have never seen it; but +often I have heard them speak of it--a corridor that runs beside the +river from one end of the city to the other. Through the gardens it is +below ground. If we could find an entrance to it, we could leave here +at once. It is not safe here, for they will search every inch of the +temple and the grounds." + +"Come," said Bradley. "We'll have a look for it, anyway." And so +saying he approached one of the doors that opened onto the skull-paved +shelf. + +They found the corridor easily, for it paralleled the river, separated +from it only by a single wall. It took them beneath the gardens and +the city, always through inky darkness. After they had reached the +other side of the gardens, Bradley counted his steps until he had +retraced as many as he had taken coming down the stream; but though +they had to grope their way along, it was a much more rapid trip than +the former. + +When he thought he was about opposite the point at which he had +descended from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls, he sought and found a +doorway leading out onto the river; and then, still in the blackest +darkness, he lowered himself into the stream and felt up and down upon +the opposite side for the little shelf and the ladder. Ten yards from +where he had emerged he found them, while the girl waited upon the +opposite side. + +To ascend to the secret panel was the work of but a minute. Here he +paused and listened lest a Wieroo might be visiting the prison in +search of him or the other inmate; but no sound came from the gloomy +interior. Bradley could not but muse upon the joy of the man on the +opposite side when he should drop down to him with food and a new hope +for escape. Then he opened the panel and looked into the room. The +faint light from the grating above revealed the pile of rags in one +corner; but the man lay beneath them, he made no response to Bradley's +low greeting. + +The Englishman lowered himself to the floor of the room and approached +the rags. Stooping he lifted a corner of them. Yes, there was the man +asleep. Bradley shook him--there was no response. He stooped lower +and in the dim light examined An-Tak; then he stood up with a sigh. A +rat leaped from beneath the coverings and scurried away. "Poor devil!" +muttered Bradley. + +He crossed the room to swing himself to the perch preparatory to +quitting the Blue Place of Seven Skulls forever. Beneath the perch he +paused. "I'll not give them the satisfaction," he growled. "Let them +believe that he escaped." + +Returning to the pile of rags he gathered the man into his arms. It +was difficult work raising him to the high perch and dragging him +through the small opening and thus down the ladder; but presently it +was done, and Bradley had lowered the body into the river and cast it +off. "Good-bye, old top!" he whispered. + +A moment later he had rejoined the girl and hand in hand they were +following the dark corridor upstream toward the farther end of the +city. She told him that the Wieroos seldom frequented these lower +passages, as the air here was too chill for them; but occasionally they +came, and as they could see quite as well by night as by day, they +would be sure to discover Bradley and the girl. + +"If they come close enough," she said, "we can see their eyes shining +in the dark--they resemble dull splotches of light. They glow, but do +not blaze like the eyes of the tiger or the lion." + +The man could not but note the very evident horror with which she +mentioned the creatures. To him they were uncanny; but she had been +used to them for a year almost, and probably all her life she had +either seen or heard of them constantly. + +"Why do you fear them so?" he asked. "It seems more than any ordinary +fear of the harm they can do you." + +She tried to explain; but the nearest he could gather was that she +looked upon the Wieroo almost as supernatural beings. "There is a +legend current among my people that once the Wieroo were unlike us only +in that they possessed rudimentary wings. They lived in villages in +the Galu country, and while the two peoples often warred, they held no +hatred for one another. In those days each race came up from the +beginning and there was great rivalry as to which was the higher in the +scale of evolution. The Wieroo developed the first cos-ata-lu but they +were always male--never could they reproduce woman. Slowly they +commenced to develop certain attributes of the mind which, they +considered, placed them upon a still higher level and which gave them +many advantages over us, seeing which they thought only of mental +development--their minds became like stars and the rivers, moving +always in the same manner, never varying. They called this tas-ad, +which means doing everything the right way, or, in other words, the +Wieroo way. If foe or friend, right or wrong, stood in the way of +tas-ad, then it must be crushed. + +"Soon the Galus and the lesser races of men came to hate and fear them. +It was then that the Wieroos decided to carry tas-ad into every part of +the world. They were very warlike and very numerous, although they had +long since adopted the policy of slaying all those among them whose +wings did not show advanced development. + +"It took ages for all this to happen--very slowly came the different +changes; but at last the Wieroos had wings they could use. But by +reason of always making war upon their neighbors they were hated by +every creature of Caspak, for no one wanted their tas-ad, and so they +used their wings to fly to this island when the other races turned +against them and threatened to kill them all. So cruel had they become +and so bloodthirsty that they no longer had hearts that beat with love +or sympathy; but their very cruelty and wickedness kept them from +conquering the other races, since they were also cruel and wicked to +one another, so that no Wieroo trusted another. + +"Always were they slaying those above them that they might rise in +power and possessions, until at last came the more powerful than the +others with a tas-ad all his own. He gathered about him a few of the +most terrible Wieroos, and among them they made laws which took from +all but these few Wieroos every weapon they possessed. + +"Now their tas-ad has reached a high plane among them. They make many +wonderful things that we cannot make. They think great thoughts, no +doubt, and still dream of greatness to come, but their thoughts and +their acts are regulated by ages of custom--they are all alike--and +they are most unhappy." + +As the girl talked, the two moved steadily along the dark passageway +beside the river. They had advanced a considerable distance when there +sounded faintly from far ahead the muffled roar of falling water, which +increased in volume as they moved forward until at last it filled the +corridor with a deafening sound. Then the corridor ended in a blank +wall; but in a niche to the right was a ladder leading aloft, and to +the left was a door opening onto the river. Bradley tried the latter +first and as he opened it, felt a heavy spray against his face. The +little shelf outside the doorway was wet and slippery, the roaring of +the water tremendous. There could be but one explanation--they had +reached a waterfall in the river, and if the corridor actually +terminated here, their escape was effectually cut off, since it was +quite evidently impossible to follow the bed of the river and ascend +the falls. + +As the ladder was the only alternative, the two turned toward it and, +the man first, began the ascent, which was through a well similar to +that which had led him to the upper floors of the temple. As he +climbed, Bradley felt for openings in the sides of the shaft; but he +discovered none below fifty feet. The first he came to was ajar, +letting a faint light into the well. As he paused, the girl climbed to +his side, and together they looked through the crack into a low-ceiled +chamber in which were several Galu women and an equal number of hideous +little replicas of the full-grown Wieroos with which Bradley was not +quite familiar. + +He could feel the body of the girl pressed close to his tremble as her +eyes rested upon the inmates of the room, and involuntarily his arm +encircled her shoulders as though to protect her from some danger which +he sensed without recognizing. + +"Poor things," she whispered. "This is their horrible fate--to be +imprisoned here beneath the surface of the city with their hideous +offspring whom they hate as they hate their fathers. A Wieroo keeps +his children thus hidden until they are full-grown lest they be +murdered by their fellows. The lower rooms of the city are filled with +many such as these." + +Several feet above was a second door beyond which they found a small +room stored with food in wooden vessels. A grated window in one wall +opened above an alley, and through it they could see that they were +just below the roof of the building. Darkness was coming, and at +Bradley's suggestion they decided to remain hidden here until after +dark and then to ascend to the roof and reconnoiter. + +Shortly after they had settled themselves they heard something +descending the ladder from above. They hoped that it would continue on +down the well and fairly held their breath as the sound approached the +door to the storeroom. Their hearts sank as they heard the door open +and from between cracks in the vessels behind which they hid saw a +yellow-slashed Wieroo enter the room. Each recognized him immediately, +the girl indicating the fact of her own recognition by a sudden +pressure of her fingers on Bradley's arm. It was the Wieroo of the +yellow slashing whose abode was the place of the yellow door in which +Bradley had first seen the girl. + +The creature carried a wooden bowl which it filled with dried food from +several of the vessels; then it turned and quit the room. Bradley +could see through the partially open doorway that it descended the +ladder. The girl told him that it was taking the food to the women and +the young below, and that while it might return immediately, the +chances were that it would remain for some time. + +"We are just below the place of the yellow door," she said. "It is far +from the edge of the city; so far that we may not hope to escape if we +ascend to the roofs here." + +"I think," replied the man, "that of all the places in Oo-oh this will +be the easiest to escape from. Anyway, I want to return to the place +of the yellow door and get my pistol if it is there." + +"It is still there," replied, the girl. "I saw it placed in a chest +where he keeps the things he takes from his prisoners and victims." + +"Good!" exclaimed Bradley. "Now come, quickly." And the two crossed +the room to the well and ascended the ladder a short distance to its +top where they found another door that opened into a vacant room--the +same in which Bradley had first met the girl. To find the pistol was a +matter of but a moment's search on the part of Bradley's companion; and +then, at the Englishman's signal, she followed him to the yellow door. + +It was quite dark without as the two entered the narrow passage between +two buildings. A few steps brought them undiscovered to the doorway of +the storeroom where lay the body of Fosh-bal-soj. In the distance, +toward the temple, they could hear sounds as of a great gathering of +Wieroos--the peculiar, uncanny wailing rising above the dismal flapping +of countless wings. + +"They have heard of the killing of Him Who Speaks for Luata," whispered +the girl. "Soon they will spread in all directions searching for us." + +"And will they find us?" + +"As surely as Lua gives light by day," she replied; "and when they find +us, they will tear us to pieces, for only the Wieroos may murder--only +they may practice tas-ad." + +"But they will not kill you," said Bradley. "You did not slay him." + +"It will make no difference," she insisted. "If they find us together +they will slay us both." + +"Then they won't find us together," announced Bradley decisively. "You +stay right here--you won't be any worse off than before I came--and +I'll get as far as I can and account for as many of the beggars as +possible before they get me. Good-bye! You're a mighty decent little +girl. I wish that I might have helped you." + +"No," she cried. "Do not leave me. I would rather die. I had hoped +and hoped to find some way to return to my own country. I wanted to go +back to An-Tak, who must be very lonely without me; but I know that it +can never be. It is difficult to kill hope, though mine is nearly +dead. Do not leave me." + +"An-Tak!" Bradley repeated. "You loved a man called An-Tak?" + +"Yes," replied the girl. "An-Tak was away, hunting, when the Wieroo +caught me. How he must have grieved for me! He also was cos-ata-lu, +twelve moons older than I, and all our lives we have been together." + +Bradley remained silent. So she loved An-Tak. He hadn't the heart to +tell her that An-Tak had died, or how. + +At the door of Fosh-bal-soj's storeroom they halted to listen. No +sound came from within, and gently Bradley pushed open the door. All +was inky darkness as they entered; but presently their eyes became +accustomed to the gloom that was partially relieved by the soft +starlight without. The Englishman searched and found those things for +which he had come--two robes, two pairs of dead wings and several +lengths of fiber rope. One pair of the wings he adjusted to the girl's +shoulders by means of the rope. Then he draped the robe about her, +carrying the cowl over her head. + +He heard her gasp of astonishment when she realized the ingenuity and +boldness of his plan; then he directed her to adjust the other pair of +wings and the robe upon him. Working with strong, deft fingers she +soon had the work completed, and the two stepped out upon the roof, to +all intent and purpose genuine Wieroos. Besides his pistol Bradley +carried the sword of the slain Wieroo prophet, while the girl was armed +with the small blade of the red Wieroo. + +Side by side they walked slowly across the roofs toward the north edge +of the city. Wieroos flapped above them and several times they passed +others walking or sitting upon the roofs. From the temple still rose +the sounds of commotion, now pierced by occasional shrill screams. + +"The murderers are abroad," whispered the girl. "Thus will another +become the tongue of Luata. It is well for us, since it keeps them too +busy to give the time for searching for us. They think that we cannot +escape the city, and they know that we cannot leave the island--and so +do I." + +Bradley shook his head. "If there is any way, we will find it," he +said. + +"There is no way," replied the girl. + +Bradley made no response, and in silence they continued until the outer +edge of roofs was visible before them. "We are almost there," he +whispered. + +The girl felt for his fingers and pressed them. He could feel hers +trembling as he returned the pressure, nor did he relinquish her hand; +and thus they came to the edge of the last roof. + +Here they halted and looked about them. To be seen attempting to +descend to the ground below would be to betray the fact that they were +not Wieroos. Bradley wished that their wings were attached to their +bodies by sinew and muscle rather than by ropes of fiber. A Wieroo was +flapping far overhead. Two more stood near a door a few yards distant. +Standing between these and one of the outer pedestals that supported +one of the numerous skulls Bradley made one end of a piece of rope fast +about the pedestal and dropped the other end to the ground outside the +city. Then they waited. + +It was an hour before the coast was entirely clear and then a moment +came when no Wieroo was in sight. "Now!" whispered Bradley; and the +girl grasped the rope and slid over the edge of the roof into the +darkness below. A moment later Bradley felt two quick pulls upon the +rope and immediately followed to the girl's side. + +Across a narrow clearing they made their way and into a wood beyond. +All night they walked, following the river upward toward its source, +and at dawn they took shelter in a thicket beside the stream. At no +time did they hear the cry of a carnivore, and though many startled +animals fled as they approached, they were not once menaced by a wild +beast. When Bradley expressed surprise at the absence of the fiercest +beasts that are so numerous upon the mainland of Caprona, the girl +explained the reason that is contained in one of their ancient legends. + +"When the Wieroos first developed wings upon which they could fly, they +found this island devoid of any life other than a few reptiles that +live either upon land or in the water and these only close to the +coast. Requiring meat for food the Wieroos carried to the island such +animals as they wished for that purpose. They still occasionally bring +them, and this with the natural increase keeps them provided with +flesh." + +"As it will us," suggested Bradley. + +The first day they remained in hiding, eating only the dried food that +Bradley had brought with him from the temple storeroom, and the next +night they set out again up the river, continuing steadily on until +almost dawn, when they came to low hills where the river wound through +a gorge--it was little more than rivulet now, the water clear and cold +and filled with fish similar to brook trout though much larger. Not +wishing to leave the stream the two waded along its bed to a spot where +the gorge widened between perpendicular bluffs to a wooded acre of +level land. Here they stopped, for here also the stream ended. They +had reached its source--many cold springs bubbling up from the center +of a little natural amphitheater in the hills and forming a clear and +beautiful pool overshadowed by trees upon one side and bounded by a +little clearing upon the other. + +With the coming of the sun they saw they had stumbled upon a place +where they might remain hidden from the Wieroos for a long time and +also one that they could defend against these winged creatures, since +the trees would shield them from an attack from above and also hamper +the movements of the creatures should they attempt to follow them into +the wood. + +For three days they rested here before trying to explore the +neighboring country. On the fourth, Bradley stated that he was going +to scale the bluffs and learn what lay beyond. He told the girl that +she should remain in hiding; but she refused to be left, saying that +whatever fate was to be his, she intended to share it, so that he was +at last forced to permit her to come with him. Through woods at the +summit of the bluff they made their way toward the north and had gone +but a short distance when the wood ended and before them they saw the +waters of the inland sea and dimly in the distance the coveted shore. + +The beach lay some two hundred yards from the foot of the hill on which +they stood, nor was there a tree nor any other form of shelter between +them and the water as far up and down the coast as they could see. +Among other plans Bradley had thought of constructing a covered raft +upon which they might drift to the mainland; but as such a contrivance +would necessarily be of considerable weight, it must be built in the +water of the sea, since they could not hope to move it even a short +distance overland. + +"If this wood was only at the edge of the water," he sighed. + +"But it is not," the girl reminded him, and then: "Let us make the +best of it. We have escaped from death for a time at least. We have +food and good water and peace and each other. What more could we have +upon the mainland?" + +"But I thought you wanted to get back to your own country!" he +exclaimed. + +She cast her eyes upon the ground and half turned away. "I do," she +said, "yet I am happy here. I could be little happier there." + +Bradley stood in silent thought. "`We have food and good water and +peace and each other!'" he repeated to himself. He turned then and +looked at the girl, and it was as though in the days that they had been +together this was the first time that he had really seen her. The +circumstances that had thrown them together, the dangers through which +they had passed, all the weird and horrible surroundings that had +formed the background of his knowledge of her had had their effect--she +had been but the companion of an adventure; her self-reliance, her +endurance, her loyalty, had been only what one man might expect of +another, and he saw that he had unconsciously assumed an attitude +toward her that he might have assumed toward a man. Yet there had been +a difference--he recalled now the strange sensation of elation that had +thrilled him upon the occasions when the girl had pressed his hand in +hers, and the depression that had followed her announcement of her love +for An-Tak. + +He took a step toward her. A fierce yearning to seize her and crush +her in his arms, swept over him, and then there flashed upon the screen +of recollection the picture of a stately hall set amidst broad gardens +and ancient trees and of a proud old man with beetling brows--an old +man who held his head very high--and Bradley shook his head and turned +away again. + +They went back then to their little acre, and the days came and went, +and the man fashioned spear and bow and arrows and hunted with them +that they might have meat, and he made hooks of fishbone and caught +fishes with wondrous flies of his own invention; and the girl gathered +fruits and cooked the flesh and the fish and made beds of branches and +soft grasses. She cured the hides of the animals he killed and made +them soft by much pounding. She made sandals for herself and for the +man and fashioned a hide after the manner of those worn by the warriors +of her tribe and made the man wear it, for his own garments were in +rags. + +She was always the same--sweet and kind and helpful--but always there +was about her manner and her expression just a trace of wistfulness, +and often she sat and looked at the man when he did not know it, her +brows puckered in thought as though she were trying to fathom and to +understand him. + +In the face of the cliff, Bradley scooped a cave from the rotted +granite of which the hill was composed, making a shelter for them +against the rains. He brought wood for their cook-fire which they used +only in the middle of the day--a time when there was little likelihood +of Wieroos being in the air so far from their city--and then he learned +to bank it with earth in such a way that the embers held until the +following noon without giving off smoke. + +Always he was planning on reaching the mainland, and never a day passed +that he did not go to the top of the hill and look out across the sea +toward the dark, distant line that meant for him comparative freedom +and possibly reunion with his comrades. The girl always went with him, +standing at his side and watching the stern expression on his face with +just a tinge of sadness on her own. + +"You are not happy," she said once. + +"I should be over there with my men," he replied. "I do not know what +may have happened to them." + +"I want you to be happy," she said quite simply; "but I should be very +lonely if you went away and left me here." + +He put his hand on her shoulder. "I would not do that, little girl," +he said gently. "If you cannot go with me, I shall not go. If either +of us must go alone, it will be you." + +Her face lighted to a wondrous smile. "Then we shall not be +separated," she said, "for I shall never leave you as long as we both +live." + +He looked down into her face for a moment and then: "Who was An-Tak?" +he asked. + +"My brother," she replied. "Why?" + +And then, even less than before, could he tell her. It was then that +he did something he had never done before--he put his arms about her +and stooping, kissed her forehead. "Until you find An-Tak," he said, +"I will be your brother." + +She drew away. "I already have a brother," she said, "and I do not +want another." + + + +Chapter 5 + +Days became weeks, and weeks became months, and the months followed one +another in a lazy procession of hot, humid days and warm, humid nights. +The fugitives saw never a Wieroo by day though often at night they +heard the melancholy flapping of giant wings far above them. + +Each day was much like its predecessor. Bradley splashed about for a +few minutes in the cold pool early each morning and after a time the +girl tried it and liked it. Toward the center it was deep enough for +swimming, and so he taught her to swim--she was probably the first +human being in all Caspak's long ages who had done this thing. And +then while she prepared breakfast, the man shaved--this he never +neglected. At first it was a source of wonderment to the girl, for the +Galu men are beardless. + +When they needed meat, he hunted, otherwise he busied himself in +improving their shelter, making new and better weapons, perfecting his +knowledge of the girl's language and teaching her to speak and to write +English--anything that would keep them both occupied. He still sought +new plans for escape, but with ever-lessening enthusiasm, since each +new scheme presented some insurmountable obstacle. + +And then one day as a bolt out of a clear sky came that which blasted +the peace and security of their sanctuary forever. Bradley was just +emerging from the water after his morning plunge when from overhead +came the sound of flapping wings. Glancing quickly up the man saw a +white-robed Wieroo circling slowly above him. That he had been +discovered he could not doubt since the creature even dropped to a +lower altitude as though to assure itself that what it saw was a man. +Then it rose rapidly and winged away toward the city. + +For two days Bradley and the girl lived in a constant state of +apprehension, awaiting the moment when the hunters would come for them; +but nothing happened until just after dawn of the third day, when the +flapping of wings apprised them of the approach of Wieroos. Together +they went to the edge of the wood and looked up to see five red-robed +creatures dropping slowly in ever-lessening spirals toward their little +amphitheater. With no attempt at concealment they came, sure of their +ability to overwhelm these two fugitives, and with the fullest measure +of self-confidence they landed in the clearing but a few yards from the +man and the girl. + +Following a plan already discussed Bradley and the girl retreated +slowly into the woods. The Wieroos advanced, calling upon them to give +themselves up; but the quarry made no reply. Farther and farther into +the little wood Bradley led the hunters, permitting them to approach +ever closer; then he circled back again toward the clearing, evidently +to the great delight of the Wieroos, who now followed more leisurely, +awaiting the moment when they should be beyond the trees and able to +use their wings. They had opened into semicircular formation now with +the evident intention of cutting the two off from returning into the +wood. Each Wieroo advanced with his curved blade ready in his hand, +each hideous face blank and expressionless. + +It was then that Bradley opened fire with his pistol--three shots, +aimed with careful deliberation, for it had been long since he had used +the weapon, and he could not afford to chance wasting ammunition on +misses. At each shot a Wieroo dropped; and then the remaining two +sought escape by flight, screaming and wailing after the manner of +their kind. When a Wieroo runs, his wings spread almost without any +volition upon his part, since from time immemorial he has always used +them to balance himself and accelerate his running speed so that in the +open they appear to skim the surface of the ground when in the act of +running. But here in the woods, among the close-set boles, the +spreading of their wings proved their undoing--it hindered and stopped +them and threw them to the ground, and then Bradley was upon them +threatening them with instant death if they did not +surrender--promising them their freedom if they did his bidding. + +"As you have seen," he cried, "I can kill you when I wish and at a +distance. You cannot escape me. Your only hope of life lies in +obedience. Quick, or I kill!" + +The Wieroos stopped and faced him. "What do you want of us?" asked one. + +"Throw aside your weapons," Bradley commanded. After a moment's +hesitation they obeyed. + +"Now approach!" A great plan--the only plan--had suddenly come to him +like an inspiration. + +The Wieroos came closer and halted at his command. Bradley turned to +the girl. "There is rope in the shelter," he said. "Fetch it!" + +She did as he bid, and then he directed her to fasten one end of a +fifty-foot length to the ankle of one of the Wieroos and the opposite +end to the second. The creatures gave evidence of great fear, but they +dared not attempt to prevent the act. + +"Now go out into the clearing," said Bradley, "and remember that I am +walking close behind and that I will shoot the nearer one should either +attempt to escape--that will hold the other until I can kill him as +well." + +In the open he halted them. "The girl will get upon the back of the +one in front," announced the Englishman. "I will mount the other. She +carries a sharp blade, and I carry this weapon that you know kills +easily at a distance. If you disobey in the slightest, the +instructions that I am about to give you, you shall both die. That we +must die with you, will not deter us. If you obey, I promise to set +you free without harming you. + +"You will carry us due west, depositing us upon the shore of the +mainland--that is all. It is the price of your lives. Do you agree?" + +Sullenly the Wieroos acquiesced. Bradley examined the knots that held +the rope to their ankles, and feeling them secure directed the girl to +mount the back of the leading Wieroo, himself upon the other. Then he +gave the signal for the two to rise together. With loud flapping of +the powerful wings the creatures took to the air, circling once before +they topped the trees upon the hill and then taking a course due west +out over the waters of the sea. + +Nowhere about them could Bradley see signs of other Wieroos, nor of +those other menaces which he had feared might bring disaster to his +plans for escape--the huge, winged reptilia that are so numerous above +the southern areas of Caspak and which are often seen, though in lesser +numbers, farther north. + +Nearer and nearer loomed the mainland--a broad, parklike expanse +stretching inland to the foot of a low plateau spread out before them. +The little dots in the foreground became grazing herds of deer and +antelope and bos; a huge woolly rhinoceros wallowed in a mudhole to the +right, and beyond, a mighty mammoth culled the tender shoots from a +tall tree. The roars and screams and growls of giant carnivora came +faintly to their ears. Ah, this was Caspak. With all of its dangers +and its primal savagery it brought a fullness to the throat of the +Englishman as to one who sees and hears the familiar sights and sounds +of home after a long absence. Then the Wieroos dropped swiftly +downward to the flower-starred turf that grew almost to the water's +edge, the fugitives slipped from their backs, and Bradley told the +red-robed creatures they were free to go. + +When he had cut the ropes from their ankles they rose with that uncanny +wailing upon their lips that always brought a shudder to the +Englishman, and upon dismal wings they flapped away toward frightful +Oo-oh. + +When the creatures had gone, the girl turned toward Bradley. "Why did +you have them bring us here?" she asked. "Now we are far from my +country. We may never live to reach it, as we are among enemies who, +while not so horrible will kill us just as surely as would the Wieroos +should they capture us, and we have before us many marches through +lands filled with savage beasts." + +"There were two reasons," replied Bradley. "You told me that there are +two Wieroo cities at the eastern end of the island. To have passed +near either of them might have been to have brought about our heads +hundreds of the creatures from whom we could not possibly have escaped. +Again, my friends must be near this spot--it cannot be over two marches +to the fort of which I have told you. It is my duty to return to them. +If they still live we shall find a way to return you to your people." + +"And you?" asked the girl. + +"I escaped from Oo-oh," replied Bradley. "I have accomplished the +impossible once, and so I shall accomplish it again--I shall escape +from Caspak." + +He was not looking at her face as he answered her, and so he did not +see the shadow of sorrow that crossed her countenance. When he raised +his eyes again, she was smiling. + +"What you wish, I wish," said the girl. + +Southward along the coast they made their way following the beach, +where the walking was best, but always keeping close enough to trees to +insure sanctuary from the beasts and reptiles that so often menaced +them. It was late in the afternoon when the girl suddenly seized +Bradley's arm and pointed straight ahead along the shore. "What is +that?" she whispered. "What strange reptile is it?" + +Bradley looked in the direction her slim forefinger indicated. He +rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then he seized her wrist and drew +her quickly behind a clump of bushes. + +"What is it?" she asked. + +"It is the most frightful reptile that the waters of the world have +ever known," he replied. "It is a German U-boat!" + +An expression of amazement and understanding lighted her features. "It +is the thing of which you told me," she exclaimed, "--the thing that +swims under the water and carries men in its belly!" + +"It is," replied Bradley. + +"Then why do you hide from it?" asked the girl. "You said that now it +belonged to your friends." + +"Many months have passed since I knew what was going on among my +friends," he replied. "I cannot know what has befallen them. They +should have been gone from here in this vessel long since, and so I +cannot understand why it is still here. I am going to investigate +first before I show myself. When I left, there were more Germans on +the U-33 than there were men of my own party at the fort, and I have +had sufficient experience of Germans to know that they will bear +watching--if they have not been properly watched since I left." + +Making their way through a fringe of wood that grew a few yards inland +the two crept unseen toward the U-boat which lay moored to the shore at +a point which Bradley now recognized as being near the oil-pool north +of Dinosaur. As close as possible to the vessel they halted, crouching +low among the dense vegetation, and watched the boat for signs of human +life about it. The hatches were closed--no one could be seen or heard. +For five minutes Bradley watched, and then he determined to board the +submarine and investigate. He had risen to carry his decision into +effect when there suddenly broke upon his ear, uttered in loud and +menacing tones, a volley of German oaths and expletives among which he +heard Englische schweinhunde repeated several times. The voice did not +come from the direction of the U-boat; but from inland. Creeping +forward Bradley reached a spot where, through the creepers hanging from +the trees, he could see a party of men coming down toward the shore. + +He saw Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and six of his men--all +armed--while marching in a little knot among them were Olson, Brady, +Sinclair, Wilson, and Whitely. + +Bradley knew nothing of the disappearance of Bowen Tyler and Miss La +Rue, nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling the fort and +attempting to escape in the U-33; but he was in no way surprised at +what he saw before him. + +The little party came slowly onward, the prisoners staggering beneath +heavy cans of oil, while Schwartz, one of the German noncommissioned +officers cursed and beat them with a stick of wood, impartially. Von +Schoenvorts walked in the rear of the column, encouraging Schwartz and +laughing at the discomfiture of the Britishers. Dietz, Heinz, and +Klatz also seemed to enjoy the entertainment immensely; but two of the +men--Plesser and Hindle--marched with eyes straight to the front and +with scowling faces. + +Bradley felt his blood boil at sight of the cowardly indignities being +heaped upon his men, and in the brief span of time occupied by the +column to come abreast of where he lay hidden he made his plans, +foolhardy though he knew them. Then he drew the girl close to him. +"Stay here," he whispered. "I am going out to fight those beasts; but +I shall be killed. Do not let them see you. Do not let them take you +alive. They are more cruel, more cowardly, more bestial than the +Wieroos." + +The girl pressed close to him, her face very white. "Go, if that is +right," she whispered; "but if you die, I shall die, for I cannot live +without you." He looked sharply into her eyes. "Oh!" he ejaculated. +"What an idiot I have been! Nor could I live without you, little +girl." And he drew her very close and kissed her lips. "Good-bye." +He disengaged himself from her arms and looked again in time to see +that the rear of the column had just passed him. Then he rose and +leaped quickly and silently from the jungle. + +Suddenly von Schoenvorts felt an arm thrown about his neck and his +pistol jerked from its holster. He gave a cry of fright and warning, +and his men turned to see a half-naked white man holding their leader +securely from behind and aiming a pistol at them over his shoulder. + +"Drop those guns!" came in short, sharp syllables and perfect German +from the lips of the newcomer. "Drop them or I'll put a bullet through +the back of von Schoenvorts' head." + +The Germans hesitated for a moment, looking first toward von +Schoenvorts and then to Schwartz, who was evidently second in command, +for orders. + +"It's the English pig, Bradley," shouted the latter, "and he's +alone--go and get him!" + +"Go yourself," growled Plesser. Hindle moved close to the side of +Plesser and whispered something to him. The latter nodded. Suddenly +von Schoenvorts wheeled about and seized Bradley's pistol arm with both +hands, "Now!" he shouted. "Come and take him, quick!" + +Schwartz and three others leaped forward; but Plesser and Hindle held +back, looking questioningly toward the English prisoners. Then Plesser +spoke. "Now is your chance, Englander," he called in low tones. +"Seize Hindle and me and take our guns from us--we will not fight hard." + +Olson and Brady were not long in acting upon the suggestion. They had +seen enough of the brutal treatment von Schoenvorts accorded his men +and the especially venomous attentions he had taken great enjoyment in +according Plesser and Hindle to understand that these two might be +sincere in a desire for revenge. In another moment the two Germans +were unarmed and Olson and Brady were running to the support of +Bradley; but already it seemed too late. + +Von Schoenvorts had managed to drag the Englishman around so that his +back was toward Schwartz and the other advancing Germans. Schwartz was +almost upon Bradley with gun clubbed and ready to smash down upon the +Englishman's skull. Brady and Olson were charging the Germans in the +rear with Wilson, Whitely, and Sinclair supporting them with bare +fists. It seemed that Bradley was doomed when, apparently out of +space, an arrow whizzed, striking Schwartz in the side, passing +half-way through his body to crumple him to earth. With a shriek the +man fell, and at the same time Olson and Brady saw the slim figure of a +young girl standing at the edge of the jungle coolly fitting another +arrow to her bow. + +Bradley had now succeeded in wrestling his arm free from von +Schoenvorts' grip and in dropping the latter with a blow from the butt +of his pistol. The rest of the English and Germans were engaged in a +hand-to-hand encounter, Plesser and Hindle standing aside from the +melee and urging their comrades to surrender and join with the English +against the tyranny of von Schoenvorts. Heinz and Klatz, possibly +influenced by their exhortation, were putting up but a half-hearted +resistance; but Dietz, a huge, bearded, bull-necked Prussian, yelling +like a maniac, sought to exterminate the Englische schweinhunde with +his bayonet, fearing to fire his piece lest he kill some of his +comrades. + +It was Olson who engaged him, and though unused to the long German +rifle and bayonet, he met the bull-rush of the Hun with the cold, cruel +precision and science of English bayonet-fighting. There was no +feinting, no retiring and no parrying that was not also an attack. +Bayonet-fighting today is not a pretty thing to see--it is not an +artistic fencing-match in which men give and take--it is slaughter +inevitable and quickly over. + +Dietz lunged once madly at Olson's throat. A short point, with just a +twist of the bayonet to the left sent the sharp blade over the +Englishman's left shoulder. Instantly he stepped close in, dropped his +rifle through his hands and grasped it with both hands close below the +muzzle and with a short, sharp jab sent his blade up beneath Dietz's +chin to the brain. So quickly was the thing done and so quick the +withdrawal that Olson had wheeled to take on another adversary before +the German's corpse had toppled to the ground. + +But there were no more adversaries to take on. Heinz and Klatz had +thrown down their rifles and with hands above their heads were crying +"Kamerad! Kamerad!" at the tops of their voices. Von Schoenvorts +still lay where he had fallen. Plesser and Hindle were explaining to +Bradley that they were glad of the outcome of the fight, as they could +no longer endure the brutality of the U-boat commander. + +The remainder of the men were looking at the girl who now advanced +slowly, her bow ready, when Bradley turned toward her and held out his +hand. + +"Co-Tan," he said, "unstring your bow--these are my friends, and +yours." And to the Englishmen: "This is Co-Tan. You who saw her save +me from Schwartz know a part of what I owe her." + +The rough men gathered about the girl, and when she spoke to them in +broken English, with a smile upon her lips enhancing the charm of her +irresistible accent, each and every one of them promptly fell in love +with her and constituted himself henceforth her guardian and her slave. + +A moment later the attention of each was called to Plesser by a volley +of invective. They turned in time to see the man running toward von +Schoenvorts who was just rising from the ground. Plesser carried a +rifle with bayonet fixed, that he had snatched from the side of Dietz's +corpse. Von Schoenvorts' face was livid with fear, his jaws working as +though he would call for help; but no sound came from his blue lips. + +"You struck me," shrieked Plesser. "Once, twice, three times, you +struck me, pig. You murdered Schwerke--you drove him insane by your +cruelty until he took his own life. You are only one of your +kind--they are all like you from the Kaiser down. I wish that you were +the Kaiser. Thus would I do!" And he lunged his bayonet through von +Schoenvorts' chest. Then he let his rifle fall with the dying man and +wheeled toward Bradley. "Here I am," he said. "Do with me as you +like. All my life I have been kicked and cuffed by such as that, and +yet always have I gone out when they commanded, singing, to give up my +life if need be to keep them in power. Only lately have I come to know +what a fool I have been. But now I am no longer a fool, and besides, I +am avenged and Schwerke is avenged, so you can kill me if you wish. +Here I am." + +"If I was after bein' the king," said Olson, "I'd pin the V.C. on your +noble chist; but bein' only an Irishman with a Swede name, for which +God forgive me, the bist I can do is shake your hand." + +"You will not be punished," said Bradley. "There are four of you +left--if you four want to come along and work with us, we will take +you; but you will come as prisoners." + +"It suits me," said Plesser. "Now that the captain-lieutenant is dead +you need not fear us. All our lives we have known nothing but to obey +his class. If I had not killed him, I suppose I would be fool enough +to obey him again; but he is dead. Now we will obey you--we must obey +some one." + +"And you?" Bradley turned to the other survivors of the original crew +of the U-33. Each promised obedience. + +The two dead Germans were buried in a single grave, and then the party +boarded the submarine and stowed away the oil. + +Here Bradley told the men what had befallen him since the night of +September 14th when he had disappeared so mysteriously from the camp +upon the plateau. Now he learned for the first time that Bowen J. +Tyler, Jr., and Miss La Rue had been missing even longer than he and +that no faintest trace of them had been discovered. + +Olson told him of how the Germans had returned and waited in ambush for +them outside the fort, capturing them that they might be used to assist +in the work of refining the oil and later in manning the U-33, and +Plesser told briefly of the experiences of the German crew under von +Schoenvorts since they had escaped from Caspak months before--of how +they lost their bearings after having been shelled by ships they had +attempted to sneak farther north and how at last with provisions gone +and fuel almost exhausted they had sought and at last found, more by +accident than design, the mysterious island they had once been so glad +to leave behind. + +"Now," announced Bradley, "we'll plan for the future. The boat has +fuel, provisions and water for a month, I believe you said, Plesser; +there are ten of us to man it. We have a last sad duty here--we must +search for Miss La Rue and Mr. Tyler. I say a sad duty because we know +that we shall not find them; but it is none the less our duty to comb +the shoreline, firing signal shells at intervals, that we at least may +leave at last with full knowledge that we have done all that men might +do to locate them." + +None dissented from this conviction, nor was there a voice raised in +protest against the plan to at least make assurance doubly sure before +quitting Caspak forever. + +And so they started, cruising slowly up the coast and firing an +occasional shot from the gun. Often the vessel was brought to a stop, +and always there were anxious eyes scanning the shore for an answering +signal. Late in the afternoon they caught sight of a number of Band-lu +warriors; but when the vessel approached the shore and the natives +realized that human beings stood upon the back of the strange monster +of the sea, they fled in terror before Bradley could come within +hailing distance. + +That night they dropped anchor at the mouth of a sluggish stream whose +warm waters swarmed with millions of tiny tadpolelike organisms--minute +human spawn starting on their precarious journey from some inland pool +toward "the beginning"--a journey which one in millions, perhaps, might +survive to complete. Already almost at the inception of life they were +being greeted by thousands of voracious mouths as fish and reptiles of +many kinds fought to devour them, the while other and larger creatures +pursued the devourers, to be, in turn, preyed upon by some other of the +countless forms that inhabit the deeps of Caprona's frightful sea. + +The second day was practically a repetition of the first. They moved +very slowly with frequent stops and once they landed in the Kro-lu +country to hunt. Here they were attacked by the bow-and-arrow men, +whom they could not persuade to palaver with them. So belligerent were +the natives that it became necessary to fire into them in order to +escape their persistent and ferocious attentions. + +"What chance," asked Bradley, as they were returning to the boat with +their game, "could Tyler and Miss La Rue have had among such as these?" + +But they continued on their fruitless quest, and the third day, after +cruising along the shore of a deep inlet, they passed a line of lofty +cliffs that formed the southern shore of the inlet and rounded a sharp +promontory about noon. Co-Tan and Bradley were on deck alone, and as +the new shoreline appeared beyond the point, the girl gave an +exclamation of joy and seized the man's hand in hers. + +"Oh, look!" she cried. "The Galu country! The Galu country! It is my +country that I never thought to see again." + +"You are glad to come again, Co-Tan?" asked Bradley. + +"Oh, so glad!" she cried. "And you will come with me to my people? We +may live here among them, and you will be a great warrior--oh, when Jor +dies you may even be chief, for there is none so mighty as my warrior. +You will come?" + +Bradley shook his head. "I cannot, little Co-Tan," he answered. "My +country needs me, and I must go back. Maybe someday I shall return. +You will not forget me, Co-Tan?" + +She looked at him in wide-eyed wonder. "You are going away from me?" +she asked in a very small voice. "You are going away from Co-Tan?" + +Bradley looked down upon the little bowed head. He felt the soft cheek +against his bare arm; and he felt something else there too--hot drops +of moisture that ran down to his very finger-tips and splashed, but +each one wrung from a woman's heart. + +He bent low and raised the tear-stained face to his own. "No, Co-Tan," +he said, "I am not going away from you--for you are going with me. You +are going back to my own country to be my wife. Tell me that you will, +Co-Tan." And he bent still lower yet from his height and kissed her +lips. Nor did he need more than the wonderful new light in her eyes to +tell him that she would go to the end of the world with him if he would +but take her. And then the gun-crew came up from below again to fire a +signal shot, and the two were brought down from the high heaven of +their new happiness to the scarred and weather-beaten deck of the U-33. + +An hour later the vessel was running close in by a shore of wondrous +beauty beside a parklike meadow that stretched back a mile inland to +the foot of a plateau when Whitely called attention to a score of +figures clambering downward from the elevation to the lowland below. +The engines were reversed and the boat brought to a stop while all +hands gathered on deck to watch the little party coming toward them +across the meadow. + +"They are Galus," cried Co-Tan; "they are my own people. Let me speak +to them lest they think we come to fight them. Put me ashore, my man, +and I will go meet them." + +The nose of the U-boat was run close in to the steep bank; but when +Co-Tan would have run forward alone, Bradley seized her hand and held +her back. "I will go with you, Co-Tan," he said; and together they +advanced to meet the oncoming party. + +There were about twenty warriors moving forward in a thin line, as our +infantry advance as skirmishers. Bradley could not but notice the +marked difference between this formation and the moblike methods of the +lower tribes he had come in contact with, and he commented upon it to +Co-Tan. + +"Galu warriors always advance into battle thus," she said. "The lesser +people remain in a huddled group where they can scarce use their +weapons the while they present so big a mark to us that our spears and +arrows cannot miss them; but when they hurl theirs at our warriors, if +they miss the first man, there is no chance that they will kill some +one behind him. + +"Stand still now," she cautioned, "and fold your arms. They will not +harm us then." + +Bradley did as he was bid, and the two stood with arms folded as the +line of warriors approached. When they had come within some fifty +yards, they halted and one spoke. "Who are you and from whence do you +come?" he asked; and then Co-Tan gave a little, glad cry and sprang +forward with out-stretched arms. + +"Oh, Tan!" she exclaimed. "Do you not know your little Co-Tan?" + +The warrior stared, incredulous, for a moment, and then he, too, ran +forward and when they met, took the girl in his arms. It was then that +Bradley experienced to the full a sensation that was new to him--a +sudden hatred for the strange warrior before him and a desire to kill +without knowing why he would kill. He moved quickly to the girl's side +and grasped her wrist. + +"Who is this man?" he demanded in cold tones. + +Co-Tan turned a surprised face toward the Englishman and then of a +sudden broke forth into a merry peal of laughter. "This is my father, +Brad-lee," she cried. + +"And who is Brad-lee?" demanded the warrior. + +"He is my man," replied Co-Tan simply. + +"By what right?" insisted Tan. + +And then she told him briefly of all that she had passed through since +the Wieroos had stolen her and of how Bradley had rescued her and +sought to rescue An-Tak, her brother. + +"You are satisfied with him?" asked Tan. + +"Yes," replied the girl proudly. + +It was then that Bradley's attention was attracted to the edge of the +plateau by a movement there, and looking closely he saw a horse bearing +two figures sliding down the steep declivity. Once at the bottom, the +animal came charging across the meadowland at a rapid run. It was a +magnificent animal--a great bay stallion with a white-blazed face and +white forelegs to the knees, its barrel encircled by a broad surcingle +of white; and as it came to a sudden stop beside Tan, the Englishman +saw that it bore a man and a girl--a tall man and a girl as beautiful +as Co-Tan. When the girl espied the latter, she slid from the horse +and ran toward her, fairly screaming for joy. + +The man dismounted and stood beside Tan. Like Bradley he was garbed +after the fashion of the surrounding warriors; but there was a subtle +difference between him and his companion. Possibly he detected a +similar difference in Bradley, for his first question was, "From what +country?" and though he spoke in Galu Bradley thought he detected an +accent. + +"England," replied Bradley. + +A broad smile lighted the newcomer's face as he held out his hand. "I +am Tom Billings of Santa Monica, California," he said. "I know all +about you, and I'm mighty glad to find you alive." + +"How did you get here?" asked Bradley. "I thought ours was the only +party of men from the outer world ever to enter Caprona." + +"It was, until we came in search of Bowen J. Tyler, Jr.," replied +Billings. "We found him and sent him home with his bride; but I was +kept a prisoner here." + +Bradley's face darkened--then they were not among friends after all. +"There are ten of us down there on a German sub with small-arms and a +gun," he said quickly in English. "It will be no trick to get away +from these people." + +"You don't know my jailer," replied Billings, "or you'd not be so sure. +Wait, I'll introduce you." And then turning to the girl who had +accompanied him he called her by name. "Ajor," he said, "permit me to +introduce Lieutenant Bradley; Lieutenant, Mrs. Billings--my jailer!" + +The Englishman laughed as he shook hands with the girl. "You are not +as good a soldier as I," he said to Billings. "Instead of being taken +prisoner myself I have taken one--Mrs. Bradley, this is Mr. Billings." + +Ajor, quick to understand, turned toward Co-Tan. "You are going back +with him to his country?" she asked. Co-Tan admitted it. + +"You dare?" asked Ajor. "But your father will not permit it--Jor, my +father, High Chief of the Galus, will not permit it, for like me you +are cos-ata-lo. Oh, Co-Tan, if we but could! How I would love to see +all the strange and wonderful things of which my Tom tells me!" + +Bradley bent and whispered in her ear. "Say the word and you may both +go with us." + +Billings heard and speaking in English, asked Ajor if she would go. + +"Yes," she answered, "If you wish it; but you know, my Tom, that if Jor +captures us, both you and Co-Tan's man will pay the penalty with your +lives--not even his love for me nor his admiration for you can save +you." + +Bradley noticed that she spoke in English--broken English like Co-Tan's +but equally appealing. "We can easily get you aboard the ship," he +said, "on some pretext or other, and then we can steam away. They can +neither harm nor detain us, nor will we have to fire a shot at them." + +And so it was done, Bradley and Co-Tan taking Ajor and Billings aboard +to "show" them the vessel, which almost immediately raised anchor and +moved slowly out into the sea. + +"I hate to do it," said Billings. "They have been fine to me. Jor and +Tan are splendid men and they will think me an ingrate; but I can't +waste my life here when there is so much to be done in the outer world." + +As they steamed down the inland sea past the island of Oo-oh, the +stories of their adventures were retold, and Bradley learned that Bowen +Tyler and his bride had left the Galu country but a fortnight before +and that there was every reason to believe that the Toreador might +still be lying in the Pacific not far off the subterranean mouth of the +river which emitted Caprona's heated waters into the ocean. + +Late in the second day, after running through swarms of hideous +reptiles, they submerged at the point where the river entered beneath +the cliffs and shortly after rose to the sunlit surface of the Pacific; +but nowhere as far as they could see was sign of another craft. Down +the coast they steamed toward the beach where Billings had made his +crossing in the hydro-aeroplane and just at dusk the lookout announced +a light dead ahead. It proved to be aboard the Toreador, and a +half-hour later there was such a reunion on the deck of the trim little +yacht as no one there had ever dreamed might be possible. Of the +Allies there were only Tippet and James to be mourned, and no one +mourned any of the Germans dead nor Benson, the traitor, whose ugly +story was first told in Bowen Tyler's manuscript. + +Tyler and the rescue party had but just reached the yacht that +afternoon. They had heard, faintly, the signal shots fired by the U-33 +but had been unable to locate their direction and so had assumed that +they had come from the guns of the Toreador. + +It was a happy party that sailed north toward sunny, southern +California, the old U-33 trailing in the wake of the Toreador and +flying with the latter the glorious Stars and Stripes beneath which she +had been born in the shipyard at Santa Monica. Three newly married +couples, their bonds now duly solemnized by the master of the ship, +joyed in the peace and security of the untracked waters of the south +Pacific and the unique honeymoon which, had it not been for stern duty +ahead, they could have wished protracted till the end of time. + +And so they came one day to dock at the shipyard which Bowen Tyler now +controlled, and here the U-33 still lies while those who passed so many +eventful days within and because of her, have gone their various ways. + + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: I have made the following changes to the text: + + PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO + 10 12 of or + 14 19 of animals life of animals + 31 26 is arms his arms + 37 14 above this above his + 37 23 Bradley, Bradley + 54 18 man man + 57 14 and of Oo-oh of Oo-oh + 62 18 spend spent + 63 31 and mumbled the mumbled + 64 9 things thing + 80 30 east cast + 104 16 proaching proached + 106 30 cos-at-lu cos-ata-lu + 126 17 not artistic not an artistic + 126 25 close below hands close below + 130 1 internals intervals + 132 9 than that + 132 10 splashes splashed + 134 3 know know not know] + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Out of Time's Abyss, by Edgar Rice Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS *** + +***** This file should be named 553.txt or 553.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/553/ + +Produced by Judith Boss. + +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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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Out of Time's Abyss + +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + + + +Chapter I + + +This is the tale of Bradley after he left Fort Dinosaur upon the +west coast of the great lake that is in the center of the island. + +Upon the fourth day of September, 1916, he set out with four +companions, Sinclair, Brady, James, and Tippet, to search along +the base of the barrier cliffs for a point at which they might +be scaled. + +Through the heavy Caspakian air, beneath the swollen sun, the +five men marched northwest from Fort Dinosaur, now waist-deep +in lush, jungle grasses starred with myriad gorgeous blooms, now +across open meadow-land and parklike expanses and again plunging +into dense forests of eucalyptus and acacia and giant arboreous +ferns with feathered fronds waving gently a hundred feet above +their heads. + +About them upon the ground, among the trees and in the air over +them moved and swung and soared the countless forms of Caspak's +teeming life. Always were they menaced by some frightful thing +and seldom were their rifles cool, yet even in the brief time +they had dwelt upon Caprona they had become callous to danger, +so that they swung along laughing and chatting like soldiers on +a summer hike. + +"This reminds me of South Clark Street," remarked Brady, who had +once served on the traffic squad in Chicago; and as no one asked +him why, he volunteered that it was "because it's no place for +an Irishman." + +"South Clark Street and heaven have something in common, then," +suggested Sinclair. James and Tippet laughed, and then a hideous +growl broke from a dense thicket ahead and diverted their +attention to other matters. + +"One of them behemoths of 'Oly Writ," muttered Tippet as they came +to a halt and with guns ready awaited the almost inevitable charge. + +"Hungry lot o' beggars, these," said Bradley; "always trying to +eat everything they see." + +For a moment no further sound came from the thicket. "He may be +feeding now," suggested Bradley. "We'll try to go around him. +Can't waste ammunition. Won't last forever. Follow me." And he +set off at right angles to their former course, hoping to avert +a charge. They had taken a dozen steps, perhaps, when the +thicket moved to the advance of the thing within it, the leafy +branches parted, and the hideous head of a gigantic bear emerged. + +"Pick your trees," whispered Bradley. "Can't waste ammunition." + +The men looked about them. The bear took a couple of steps +forward, still growling menacingly. He was exposed to the +shoulders now. Tippet took one look at the monster and bolted +for the nearest tree; and then the bear charged. He charged +straight for Tippet. The other men scattered for the various +trees they had selected--all except Bradley. He stood watching +Tippet and the bear. The man had a good start and the tree was +not far away; but the speed of the enormous creature behind him +was something to marvel at, yet Tippet was in a fair way to make +his sanctuary when his foot caught in a tangle of roots and down +he went, his rifle flying from his hand and falling several +yards away. Instantly Bradley's piece was at his shoulder, there +was a sharp report answered by a roar of mingled rage and pain +from the carnivore. Tippet attempted to scramble to his feet. + +"Lie still!" shouted Bradley. "Can't waste ammunition." + +The bear halted in its tracks, wheeled toward Bradley and then +back again toward Tippet. Again the former's rifle spit angrily, +and the bear turned again in his direction. Bradley shouted +loudly. "Come on, you behemoth of Holy Writ!" he cried. "Come on, +you duffer! Can't waste ammunition." And as he saw the bear +apparently upon the verge of deciding to charge him, he +encouraged the idea by backing rapidly away, knowing that an +angry beast will more often charge one who moves than one who +lies still. + +And the bear did charge. Like a bolt of lightning he flashed +down upon the Englishman. "Now run!" Bradley called to Tippet +and himself turned in flight toward a nearby tree. The other +men, now safely ensconced upon various branches, watched the race +with breathless interest. Would Bradley make it? It seemed +scarce possible. And if he didn't! James gasped at the thought. +Six feet at the shoulder stood the frightful mountain of +blood-mad flesh and bone and sinew that was bearing down with the +speed of an express train upon the seemingly slow-moving man. + +It all happened in a few seconds; but they were seconds that +seemed like hours to the men who watched. They saw Tippet leap +to his feet at Bradley's shouted warning. They saw him run, +stooping to recover his rifle as he passed the spot where it +had fallen. They saw him glance back toward Bradley, and then they +saw him stop short of the tree that might have given him safety +and turn back in the direction of the bear. Firing as he ran, +Tippet raced after the great cave bear--the monstrous thing that +should have been extinct ages before--ran for it and fired even +as the beast was almost upon Bradley. The men in the trees +scarcely breathed. It seemed to them such a futile thing for +Tippet to do, and Tippet of all men! They had never looked upon +Tippet as a coward--there seemed to be no cowards among that +strangely assorted company that Fate had gathered together from +the four corners of the earth--but Tippet was considered a +cautious man. Overcautious, some thought him. How futile he and +his little pop-gun appeared as he dashed after that living engine +of destruction! But, oh, how glorious! It was some such thought +as this that ran through Brady's mind, though articulated it +might have been expressed otherwise, albeit more forcefully. + +Just then it occurred to Brady to fire and he, too, opened upon +the bear, but at the same instant the animal stumbled and fell +forward, though still growling most fearsomely. Tippet never +stopped running or firing until he stood within a foot of the +brute, which lay almost touching Bradley and was already +struggling to regain its feet. Placing the muzzle of his gun +against the bear's ear, Tippet pulled the trigger. The creature +sank limply to the ground and Bradley scrambled to his feet. + +"Good work, Tippet," he said. "Mightily obliged to you--awful +waste of ammunition, really." + +And then they resumed the march and in fifteen minutes the +encounter had ceased even to be a topic of conversation. + +For two days they continued upon their perilous way. Already the +cliffs loomed high and forbidding close ahead without sign of +break to encourage hope that somewhere they might be scaled. +Late in the afternoon the party crossed a small stream of warm +water upon the sluggishly moving surface of which floated +countless millions of tiny green eggs surrounded by a light scum +of the same color, though of a darker shade. Their past +experience of Caspak had taught them that they might expect to +come upon a stagnant pool of warm water if they followed the +stream to its source; but there they were almost certain to find +some of Caspak's grotesque, manlike creatures. Already since +they had disembarked from the U-33 after its perilous trip +through the subterranean channel beneath the barrier cliffs had +brought them into the inland sea of Caspak, had they encountered +what had appeared to be three distinct types of these creatures. +There had been the pure apes--huge, gorillalike beasts--and those +who walked, a trifle more erect and had features with just a +shade more of the human cast about them. Then there were men +like Ahm, whom they had captured and confined at the fort--Ahm, +the club-man. "Well-known club-man," Tyler had called him. Ahm +and his people had knowledge of a speech. They had a language, +in which they were unlike the race just inferior to them, and +they walked much more erect and were less hairy: but it was +principally the fact that they possessed a spoken language and +carried a weapon that differentiated them from the others. + +All of these peoples had proven belligerent in the extreme. In +common with the rest of the fauna of Caprona the first law of +nature as they seemed to understand it was to kill--kill--kill. +And so it was that Bradley had no desire to follow up the little +stream toward the pool near which were sure to be the caves of +some savage tribe, but fortune played him an unkind trick, for +the pool was much closer than he imagined, its southern end +reaching fully a mile south of the point at which they crossed +the stream, and so it was that after forcing their way through a +tangle of jungle vegetation they came out upon the edge of the +pool which they had wished to avoid. + +Almost simultaneously there appeared south of them a party of +naked men armed with clubs and hatchets. Both parties halted as +they caught sight of one another. The men from the fort saw +before them a hunting party evidently returning to its caves or +village laden with meat. They were large men with features +closely resembling those of the African Negro though their +skins were white. Short hair grew upon a large portion of their +limbs and bodies, which still retained a considerable trace of +apish progenitors. They were, however, a distinctly higher type +than the Bo-lu, or club-men. + +Bradley would have been glad to have averted a meeting; but as he +desired to lead his party south around the end of the pool, and +as it was hemmed in by the jungle on one side and the water on +the other, there seemed no escape from an encounter. + +On the chance that he might avoid a clash, Bradley stepped +forward with upraised hand. "We are friends, " he called in the +tongue of Ahm, the Bolu, who had been held a prisoner at the +fort; "permit us to pass in peace. We will not harm you." + +At this the hatchet-men set up a great jabbering with much +laughter, loud and boisterous. "No," shouted one, "you will not +harm us, for we shall kill you. Come! We kill! We kill!" +And with hideous shouts they charged down upon the Europeans. + +"Sinclair, you may fire," said Bradley quietly." Pick off +the leader. Can't waste ammunition." + +The Englishman raised his piece to his shoulder and took quick +aim at the breast of the yelling savage leaping toward them. +Directly behind the leader came another hatchet-man, and with the +report of Sinclair's rifle both warriors lunged forward in the +tall grass, pierced by the same bullet. The effect upon the rest +of the band was electrical. As one man they came to a sudden +halt, wheeled to the east and dashed into the jungle, where the +men could hear them forcing their way in an effort to put as much +distance as possible between themselves and the authors of this +new and frightful noise that killed warriors at a great distance. + +Both the savages were dead when Bradley approached to examine +them, and as the Europeans gathered around, other eyes were bent +upon them with greater curiosity than they displayed for the +victim of Sinclair's bullet. When the party again took up the +march around the southern end of the pool the owner of the eyes +followed them--large, round eyes, almost expressionless except +for a certain cold cruelty which glinted malignly from under +their pale gray irises. + +All unconscious of the stalker, the men came, late in the +afternoon, to a spot which seemed favorable as a campsite. +A cold spring bubbled from the base of a rocky formation which +overhung and partially encircled a small inclosure. At Bradley's +command, the men took up the duties assigned them--gathering +wood, building a cook-fire and preparing the evening meal. +It was while they were thus engaged that Brady's attention was +attracted by the dismal flapping of huge wings. He glanced up, +expecting to see one of the great flying reptiles of a bygone +age, his rifle ready in his hand. Brady was a brave man. He had +groped his way up narrow tenement stairs and taken an armed +maniac from a dark room without turning a hair; but now as he +looked up, he went white and staggered back. + +"Gawd!" he almost screamed. "What is it?" + +Attracted by Brady's cry the others seized their rifles as they +followed his wide-eyed, frozen gaze, nor was there one of them +that was not moved by some species of terror or awe. Then Brady +spoke again in an almost inaudible voice. "Holy Mother protect +us--it's a banshee!" + +Bradley, always cool almost to indifference in the face of +danger, felt a strange, creeping sensation run over his flesh, as +slowly, not a hundred feet above them, the thing flapped itself +across the sky, its huge, round eyes glaring down upon them. +And until it disappeared over the tops of the trees of a near-by +wood the five men stood as though paralyzed, their eyes never +leaving the weird shape; nor never one of them appearing to recall +that he grasped a loaded rifle in his hands. + +With the passing of the thing, came the reaction. Tippet sank to +the ground and buried his face in his hands. "Oh, Gord," he moaned. +"Tyke me awy from this orful plice." Brady, recovered from the +first shock, swore loud and luridly. He called upon all the +saints to witness that he was unafraid and that anybody with half +an eye could have seen that the creature was nothing more than +"one av thim flyin' alligators" that they all were familiar with. + +"Yes," said Sinclair with fine sarcasm, "we've saw so many of +them with white shrouds on 'em." + +"Shut up, you fool!" growled Brady. "If you know so much, tell +us what it was after bein' then." + +Then he turned toward Bradley. "What was it, sor, do you think?" +he asked. + +Bradley shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "It looked like +a winged human being clothed in a flowing white robe. Its face +was more human than otherwise. That is the way it looked to me; +but what it really was I can't even guess, for such a creature is +as far beyond my experience or knowledge as it is beyond yours. +All that I am sure of is that whatever else it may have been, it +was quite material--it was no ghost; rather just another of the +strange forms of life which we have met here and with which we +should be accustomed by this time." + +Tippet looked up. His face was still ashy. "Yer cawn't tell +me," he cried. "Hi seen hit. Blime, Hi seen hit. Hit was ha +dead man flyin' through the hair. Didn't Hi see 'is heyes? +Oh, Gord! Didn't Hi see 'em?" + +"It didn't look like any beast or reptile to me," spoke up Sinclair. +"It was lookin' right down at me when I looked up and I saw its +face plain as I see yours. It had big round eyes that looked all +cold and dead, and its cheeks were sunken in deep, and I could see +its yellow teeth behind thin, tight-drawn lips--like a man who had +been dead a long while, sir," he added, turning toward Bradley. + +"Yes!" James had not spoken since the apparition had passed over them, +and now it was scarce speech which he uttered--rather a series of +articulate gasps. "Yes--dead--a--long--while. It--means something. +It--come--for some--one. For one--of +us. One--of us is goin'-- +to die. I'm goin' to die!" he ended in a wail. + +"Come! Come!" snapped Bradley. "Won't do. Won't do at all. +Get to work, all of you. Waste of time. Can't waste time." + +His authoritative tones brought them all up standing, and +presently each was occupied with his own duties; but each worked +in silence and there was no singing and no bantering such as had +marked the making of previous camps. Not until they had eaten +and to each had been issued the little ration of smoking tobacco +allowed after each evening meal did any sign of a relaxation of +taut nerves appear. It was Brady who showed the first signs of +returning good spirits. He commenced humming "It's a Long Way to +Tipperary" and presently to voice the words, but he was well into +his third song before anyone joined him, and even then there +seemed a dismal note in even the gayest of tunes. + +A huge fire blazed in the opening of their rocky shelter that the +prowling carnivora might be kept at bay; and always one man stood +on guard, watchfully alert against a sudden rush by some maddened +beast of the jungle. Beyond the fire, yellow-green spots of +flame appeared, moved restlessly about, disappeared and +reappeared, accompanied by a hideous chorus of screams and growls +and roars as the hungry meat-eaters hunting through the night +were attracted by the light or the scent of possible prey. + +But to such sights and sounds as these the five men had +become callous. They sang or talked as unconcernedly as they +might have done in the bar-room of some publichouse at home. + +Sinclair was standing guard. The others were listening to +Brady's description of traffic congestion at the Rush Street +bridge during the rush hour at night. The fire crackled cheerily. +The owners of the yellow-green eyes raised their frightful chorus +to the heavens. Conditions seemed again to have returned to normal. +And then, as though the hand of Death had reached out and touched +them all, the five men tensed into sudden rigidity. + +Above the nocturnal diapason of the teeming jungle sounded a +dismal flapping of wings and over head, through the thick night, +a shadowy form passed across the diffused light of the flaring +camp-fire. Sinclair raised his rifle and fired. An eerie wail +floated down from above and the apparition, whatever it might +have been, was swallowed by the darkness. For several seconds +the listening men heard the sound of those dismally flapping wings +lessening in the distance until they could no longer be heard. + +Bradley was the first to speak. "Shouldn't have fired, +Sinclair," he said; "can't waste ammunition." But there was +no note of censure in his tone. It was as though he understood +the nervous reaction that had compelled the other's act. + +"I couldn't help it, sir," said Sinclair. "Lord, it would take +an iron man to keep from shootin' at that awful thing. Do you +believe in ghosts, sir?" + +"No," replied Bradley. "No such things." + +"I don't know about that," said Brady. "There was a woman +murdered over on the prairie near Brighton--her throat was cut +from ear to ear, and--" + +"Shut up," snapped Bradley. + +"My grandaddy used to live down Coppington wy," said Tippet. +"They were a hold ruined castle on a 'ill near by, hand at midnight +they used to see pale blue lights through the windows an 'ear--" + +"Will you close your hatch!" demanded Bradley. "You fools will +have yourselves scared to death in a minute. Now go to sleep." + +But there was little sleep in camp that night until utter +exhaustion overtook the harassed men toward morning; nor was +there any return of the weird creature that had set the nerves of +each of them on edge. + +The following forenoon the party reached the base of the barrier +cliffs and for two days marched northward in an effort to +discover a break in the frowning abutment that raised its rocky +face almost perpendicularly above them, yet nowhere was there the +slightest indication that the cliffs were scalable. + +Disheartened, Bradley determined to turn back toward the fort, as +he already had exceeded the time decided upon by Bowen Tyler and +himself for the expedition. The cliffs for many miles had been +trending in a northeasterly direction, indicating to Bradley that +they were approaching the northern extremity of the island. +According to the best of his calculations they had made +sufficient easting during the past two days to have brought them +to a point almost directly north of Fort Dinosaur and as nothing +could be gained by retracing their steps along the base of the +cliffs he decided to strike due south through the unexplored +country between them and the fort. + +That night (September 9, 1916), they made camp a short distance +from the cliffs beside one of the numerous cool springs that are +to be found within Caspak, oftentimes close beside the still +more numerous warm and hot springs which feed the many pools. +After supper the men lay smoking and chatting among themselves. +Tippet was on guard. Fewer night prowlers threatened them, and +the men were commenting upon the fact that the farther north they +had traveled the smaller the number of all species of animals +became, though it was still present in what would have seemed +appalling plenitude in any other part of the world. The diminution +in reptilian life was the most noticeable change in the fauna of +northern Caspak. Here, however, were forms they had not met +elsewhere, several of which were of gigantic proportions. + +According to their custom all, with the exception of the man on +guard, sought sleep early, nor, once disposed upon the ground for +slumber, were they long in finding it. It seemed to Bradley that +he had scarcely closed his eyes when he was brought to his feet, +wide awake, by a piercing scream which was punctuated by the +sharp report of a rifle from the direction of the fire where +Tippet stood guard. As he ran toward the man, Bradley heard +above him the same uncanny wail that had set every nerve on edge +several nights before, and the dismal flapping of huge wings. +He did not need to look up at the white-shrouded figure winging +slowly away into the night to know that their grim visitor +had returned. + +The muscles of his arm, reacting to the sight and sound of the +menacing form, carried his hand to the butt of his pistol; but +after he had drawn the weapon, he immediately returned it to its +holster with a shrug. + +"What for?" he muttered. "Can't waste ammunition." Then he +walked quickly to where Tippet lay sprawled upon his face. +By this time James, Brady and Sinclair were at his heels, each +with his rifle in readiness. + +"Is he dead, sir?" whispered James as Bradley kneeled beside the +prostrate form. + +Bradley turned Tippet over on his back and pressed an ear close +to the other's heart. In a moment he raised his head. +"Fainted," he announced. "Get water. Hurry!" Then he loosened +Tippet's shirt at the throat and when the water was brought, +threw a cupful in the man's face. Slowly Tippet regained +consciousness and sat up. At first he looked curiously into the +faces of the men about him; then an expression of terror +overspread his features. He shot a startled glance up into the +black void above and then burying his face in his arms began to +sob like a child. + +"What's wrong, man?" demanded Bradley. "Buck up! Can't play +cry-baby. Waste of energy. What happened?" + +"Wot 'appened, sir!" wailed Tippet. "Oh, Gord, sir! Hit came back. +Hit came for me, sir. Right hit did, sir; strite hat me, sir; +hand with long w'ite 'ands it clawed for me. Oh, Gord! Hit almost +caught me, sir. Hi'm has good as dead; Hi'm a marked man; that's +wot Hi ham. Hit was a-goin' for to carry me horf, sir." + +"Stuff and nonsense," snapped Bradley. "Did you get a good look +at it?" + +Tippet said that he did--a much better look than he wanted. +The thing had almost clutched him, and he had looked straight +into its eyes--"dead heyes in a dead face," he had described them. + +"Wot was it after bein', do you think?" inquired Brady. + +"Hit was Death," moaned Tippet, shuddering, and again a pall of +gloom fell upon the little party. + +The following day Tippet walked as one in a trance. He never +spoke except in reply to a direct question, which more often than +not had to be repeated before it could attract his attention. +He insisted that he was already a dead man, for if the thing didn't +come for him during the day he would never live through another +night of agonized apprehension, waiting for the frightful end +that he was positive was in store for him. "I'll see to that," +he said, and they all knew that Tippet meant to take his own life +before darkness set in. + +Bradley tried to reason with him, in his short, crisp way, but +soon saw the futility of it; nor could he take the man's weapons +from him without subjecting him to almost certain death from any +of the numberless dangers that beset their way. + +The entire party was moody and glum. There was none of the +bantering that had marked their intercourse before, even in the +face of blighting hardships and hideous danger. This was a new +menace that threatened them, something that they couldn't +explain; and so, naturally, it aroused within them superstitious +fear which Tippet's attitude only tended to augment. To add +further to their gloom, their way led through a dense forest, +where, on account of the underbrush, it was difficult to make +even a mile an hour. Constant watchfulness was required to avoid +the many snakes of various degrees of repulsiveness and enormity +that infested the wood; and the only ray of hope they had to +cling to was that the forest would, like the majority of +Caspakian forests, prove to be of no considerable extent. + +Bradley was in the lead when he came suddenly upon a grotesque +creature of Titanic proportions. Crouching among the trees, +which here commenced to thin out slightly, Bradley saw what +appeared to be an enormous dragon devouring the carcass of +a mammoth. From frightful jaws to the tip of its long tail it +was fully forty feet in length. Its body was covered with plates +of thick skin which bore a striking resemblance to armor-plate. +The creature saw Bradley almost at the same instant that he saw +it and reared up on its enormous hind legs until its head towered +a full twenty-five feet above the ground. From the cavernous +jaws issued a hissing sound of a volume equal to the escaping steam +from the safety-valves of half a dozen locomotives, and then the +creature came for the man. + +"Scatter!" shouted Bradley to those behind him; and all but +Tippet heeded the warning. The man stood as though dazed, and +when Bradley saw the other's danger, he too stopped and wheeling +about sent a bullet into the massive body forcing its way through +the trees toward him. The shot struck the creature in the belly +where there was no protecting armor, eliciting a new note which +rose in a shrill whistle and ended in a wail. It was then that +Tippet appeared to come out of his trance, for with a cry of +terror he turned and fled to the left. Bradley, seeing that he +had as good an opportunity as the others to escape, now turned his +attention to extricating himself; and as the woods seemed dense +on the right, he ran in that direction, hoping that the close-set +boles would prevent pursuit on the part of the great reptile. +The dragon paid no further attention to him, however, for Tippet's +sudden break for liberty had attracted its attention; and after +Tippet it went, bowling over small trees, uprooting underbrush +and leaving a wake behind it like that of a small tornado. + +Bradley, the moment he had discovered the thing was pursuing +Tippet, had followed it. He was afraid to fire for fear of +hitting the man, and so it was that he came upon them at the very +moment that the monster lunged its great weight forward upon the +doomed man. The sharp, three-toed talons of the forelimbs seized +poor Tippet, and Bradley saw the unfortunate fellow lifted high +above the ground as the creature again reared up on its hind +legs, immediately transferring Tippet's body to its gaping jaws, +which closed with a sickening, crunching sound as Tippet's bones +cracked beneath the great teeth. + +Bradley half raised his rifle to fire again and then lowered it +with a shake of his head. Tippet was beyond succor--why waste a +bullet that Caspak could never replace? If he could now escape +the further notice of the monster it would be a wiser act than to +throw his life away in futile revenge. He saw that the reptile +was not looking in his direction, and so he slipped noiselessly +behind the bole of a large tree and thence quietly faded away in +the direction he believed the others to have taken. At what he +considered a safe distance he halted and looked back. Half hidden +by the intervening trees he still could see the huge head and the +massive jaws from which protrude the limp legs of the dead man. +Then, as though struck by the hammer of Thor, the creature +collapsed and crumpled to the ground. Bradley's single bullet, +penetrating the body through the soft skin of the belly, had slain +the Titan. + +A few minutes later, Bradley found the others of the party. +The four returned cautiously to the spot where the creature lay +and after convincing themselves that it was quite dead, came close +to it. It was an arduous and gruesome job extricating Tippet's +mangled remains from the powerful jaws, the men working for the +most part silently. + +"It was the work of the banshee all right," muttered Brady. +"It warned poor Tippet, it did." + +"Hit killed him, that's wot hit did, hand hit'll kill some more +of us," said James, his lower lip trembling. + +"If it was a ghost," interjected Sinclair, "and I don't say as it +was; but if it was, why, it could take on any form it wanted to. +It might have turned itself into this thing, which ain't no +natural thing at all, just to get poor Tippet. If it had of been +a lion or something else humanlike it wouldn't look so strange; +but this here thing ain't humanlike. There ain't no such thing +an' never was." + +"Bullets don't kill ghosts," said Bradley, "so this couldn't have +been a ghost. Furthermore, there are no such things. I've been +trying to place this creature. Just succeeded. It's a tyrannosaurus. +Saw picture of skeleton in magazine. There's one in New York +Natural History Museum. Seems to me it said it was found in place +called Hell Creek somewhere in western North America. Supposed to +have lived about six million years ago." + +"Hell Creek's in Montana," said Sinclair. "I used to punch cows +in Wyoming, an' I've heard of Hell Creek. Do you s'pose that +there thing's six million years old?" His tone was skeptical. + +"No," replied Bradley; "But it would indicate that the island +of Caprona has stood almost without change for more than six +million years." + +The conversation and Bradley's assurance that the creature was +not of supernatural origin helped to raise a trifle the spirits +of the men; and then came another diversion in the form of +ravenous meat-eaters attracted to the spot by the uncanny sense +of smell which had apprised them of the presence of flesh, killed +and ready for the eating. + +It was a constant battle while they dug a grave and consigned all +that was mortal of John Tippet to his last, lonely resting-place. +Nor would they leave then; but remained to fashion a rude head- +stone from a crumbling out-cropping of sandstone and to gather +a mass of the gorgeous flowers growing in such great profusion +around them and heap the new-made grave with bright blooms. +Upon the headstone Sinclair scratched in rude characters the words: + + +HERE LIES JOHN TIPPET + ENGLISHMAN +KILLED BY TYRANNOSAURUS + 10 SEPT. A.D. 1916 + R.I.P. + +and Bradley repeated a short prayer before they left their +comrade forever. + +For three days the party marched due south through forests and +meadow-land and great park-like areas where countless herbivorous +animals grazed--deer and antelope and bos and the little ecca, +the smallest species of Caspakian horse, about the size of a rabbit. +There were other horses too; but all were small, the largest being +not above eight hands in height. Preying continually upon the +herbivora were the meat-eaters, large and small--wolves, hyaenadons, +panthers, lions, tigers, and bear as well as several large and +ferocious species of reptilian life. + +On September twelfth the party scaled a line of sandstone cliffs +which crossed their route toward the south; but they crossed them +only after an encounter with the tribe that inhabited the numerous +caves which pitted the face of the escarpment. That night they +camped upon a rocky plateau which was sparsely wooded with jarrah, +and here once again they were visited by the weird, nocturnal +apparition that had already filled them with a nameless terror. + +As on the night of September ninth the first warning came +from the sentinel standing guard over his sleeping companions. +A terror-stricken cry punctuated by the crack of a rifle brought +Bradley, Sinclair and Brady to their feet in time to see James, +with clubbed rifle, battling with a white-robed figure that +hovered on widespread wings on a level with the Englishman's head. +As they ran, shouting, forward, it was obvious to them that the +weird and terrible apparition was attempting to seize James; but +when it saw the others coming to his rescue, it desisted, +flapping rapidly upward and away, its long, ragged wings giving +forth the peculiarly dismal notes which always characterized the +sound of its flying. + +Bradley fired at the vanishing menacer of their peace and safety; +but whether he scored a hit or not, none could tell, though, +following the shot, there was wafted back to them the same +piercing wail that had on other occasions frozen their marrow. + +Then they turned toward James, who lay face downward upon the +ground, trembling as with ague. For a time he could not even +speak, but at last regained sufficient composure to tell them +how the thing must have swooped silently upon him from above +and behind as the first premonition of danger he had received +was when the long, clawlike fingers had clutched him beneath +either arm. In the melee his rifle had been discharged and he +had broken away at the same instant and turned to defend himself +with the butt. The rest they had seen. + +From that instant James was an absolutely broken man. +He maintained with shaking lips that his doom was sealed, that +the thing had marked him for its own, and that he was as good as +dead, nor could any amount of argument or raillery convince him +to the contrary. He had seen Tippet marked and claimed and now +he had been marked. Nor were his constant reiterations of this +belief without effect upon the rest of the party. Even Bradley +felt depressed, though for the sake of the others he managed to +hide it beneath a show of confidence he was far from feeling. + +And on the following day William James was killed by a +saber-tooth tiger--September 13, 1916. Beneath a jarrah tree on +the stony plateau on the northern edge of the Sto-lu country in +the land that Time forgot, he lies in a lonely grave marked by a +rough headstone. + +Southward from his grave marched three grim and silent men. +To the best of Bradley's reckoning they were some twenty-five +miles north of Fort Dinosaur, and that they might reach the fort +on the following day, they plodded on until darkness overtook them. +With comparative safety fifteen miles away, they made camp at last; +but there was no singing now and no joking. In the bottom of his +heart each prayed that they might come safely through just this +night, for they knew that during the morrow they would make the +final stretch, yet the nerves of each were taut with strained +anticipation of what gruesome thing might flap down upon them from +the black sky, marking another for its own. Who would be the next? + +As was their custom, they took turns at guard, each man doing two +hours and then arousing the next. Brady had gone on from eight +to ten, followed by Sinclair from ten to twelve, then Bradley had +been awakened. Brady would stand the last guard from two to +four, as they had determined to start the moment that it became +light enough to insure comparative safety upon the trail. + +The snapping of a twig aroused Brady out of a dead sleep, and as +he opened his eyes, he saw that it was broad daylight and that at +twenty paces from him stood a huge lion. As the man sprang to +his feet, his rifle ready in his hand, Sinclair awoke and took in +the scene in a single swift glance. The fire was out and Bradley +was nowhere in sight. For a long moment the lion and the men +eyed one another. The latter had no mind to fire if the beast +minded its own affairs--they were only too glad to let it go its +way if it would; but the lion was of a different mind. + +Suddenly the long tail snapped stiffly erect, and as though it +had been attached to two trigger fingers the two rifles spoke in +unison, for both men knew this signal only too well--the +immediate forerunner of a deadly charge. As the brute's head had +been raised, his spine had not been visible; and so they did what +they had learned by long experience was best to do. Each covered +a front leg, and as the tail snapped aloft, fired. With a +hideous roar the mighty flesh-eater lurched forward to the ground +with both front legs broken. It was an easy accomplishment in +the instant before the beast charged--after, it would have been +well-nigh an impossible feat. Brady stepped close in and finished +him with a shot in the base of the brain lest his terrific +roarings should attract his mate or others of their kind. + +Then the two men turned and looked at one another. "Where is +Lieutenant Bradley?" asked Sinclair. They walked to the fire. +Only a few smoking embers remained. A few feet away lay +Bradley's rifle. There was no evidence of a struggle. The two +men circled about the camp twice and on the last lap Brady +stooped and picked up an object which had lain about ten yards +beyond the fire--it was Bradley's cap. Again the two looked +questioningly at one another, and then, simultaneously, both +pairs of eyes swung upward and searched the sky. A moment later +Brady was examining the ground about the spot where Bradley's cap +had lain. It was one of those little barren, sandy stretches +that they had found only upon this stony plateau. Brady's own +footsteps showed as plainly as black ink upon white paper; but +his was the only foot that had marred the smooth, windswept +surface--there was no sign that Bradley had crossed the spot +upon the surface of the ground, and yet his cap lay well +toward the center of it. + +Breakfastless and with shaken nerves the two survivors plunged +madly into the long day's march. Both were strong, courageous, +resourceful men; but each had reached the limit of human nerve +endurance and each felt that he would rather die than spend +another night in the hideous open of that frightful land. +Vivid in the mind of each was a picture of Bradley's end, for +though neither had witnessed the tragedy, both could imagine almost +precisely what had occurred. They did not discuss it--they did +not even mention it--yet all day long the thing was uppermost in +the mind of each and mingled with it a similar picture with himself +as victim should they fail to make Fort Dinosaur before dark. + +And so they plunged forward at reckless speed, their clothes, +their hands, their faces torn by the retarding underbrush that +reached forth to hinder them. Again and again they fell; but be +it to their credit that the one always waited and helped the +other and that into the mind of neither entered the thought or +the temptation to desert his companion--they would reach the fort +together if both survived, or neither would reach it. + +They encountered the usual number of savage beasts and reptiles; +but they met them with a courageous recklessness born of desperation, +and by virtue of the very madness of the chances they took, they +came through unscathed and with the minimum of delay. + +Shortly after noon they reached the end of the plateau. +Before them was a drop of two hundred feet to the valley beneath. +To the left, in the distance, they could see the waters of the +great inland sea that covers a considerable portion of the area +of the crater island of Caprona and at a little lesser distance +to the south of the cliffs they saw a thin spiral of smoke arising +above the tree-tops. + +The landscape was familiar--each recognized it immediately +and knew that that smoky column marked the spot where Dinosaur +had stood. Was the fort still there, or did the smoke arise +from the smoldering embers of the building they had helped to +fashion for the housing of their party? Who could say! + +Thirty precious minutes that seemed as many hours to the +impatient men were consumed in locating a precarious way from the +summit to the base of the cliffs that bounded the plateau upon +the south, and then once again they struck off upon level ground +toward their goal. The closer they approached the fort the +greater became their apprehension that all would not be well. +They pictured the barracks deserted or the small company +massacred and the buildings in ashes. It was almost in a frenzy +of fear that they broke through the final fringe of jungle and +stood at last upon the verge of the open meadow a half-mile from +Fort Dinosaur. + +"Lord!" ejaculated Sinclair. "They are still there!" And he fell +to his knees, sobbing. + +Brady trembled like a leaf as he crossed himself and gave silent +thanks, for there before them stood the sturdy ramparts of +Dinosaur and from inside the inclosure rose a thin spiral of +smoke that marked the location of the cook-house. All was well, +then, and their comrades were preparing the evening meal! + +Across the clearing they raced as though they had not already +covered in a single day a trackless, primeval country that +might easily have required two days by fresh and untired men. +Within hailing distance they set up such a loud shouting that +presently heads appeared above the top of the parapet and soon +answering shouts were rising from within Fort Dinosaur. A moment +later three men issued from the inclosure and came forward to +meet the survivors and listen to the hurried story of the eleven +eventful days since they had set out upon their expedition to the +barrier cliffs. They heard of the deaths of Tippet and James and +of the disappearance of Lieutenant Bradley, and a new terror +settled upon Dinosaur. + +Olson, the Irish engineer, with Whitely and Wilson constituted +the remnants of Dinosaur's defenders, and to Brady and Sinclair +they narrated the salient events that had transpired since Bradley +and his party had marched away on September 4th. They told them +of the infamous act of Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and his +German crew who had stolen the U-33, breaking their parole, and +steaming away toward the subterranean opening through the barrier +cliffs that carried the waters of the inland sea into the open +Pacific beyond; and of the cowardly shelling of the fort. + +They told of the disappearance of Miss La Rue in the night of +September 11th, and of the departure of Bowen Tyler in search of +her, accompanied only by his Airedale, Nobs. Thus of the +original party of eleven Allies and nine Germans that had +constituted the company of the U-33 when she left English waters +after her capture by the crew of the English tug there were but +five now to be accounted for at Fort Dinosaur. Benson, Tippet, +James, and one of the Germans were known to be dead. It was +assumed that Bradley, Tyler and the girl had already succumbed to +some of the savage denizens of Caspak, while the fate of the +Germans was equally unknown, though it might readily be believed +that they had made good their escape. They had had ample time to +provision the ship and the refining of the crude oil they had +discovered north of the fort could have insured them an ample +supply to carry them back to Germany. + + + +Chapter 2 + + +When bradley went on guard at midnight, September 14th, his +thoughts were largely occupied with rejoicing that the night +was almost spent without serious mishap and that the morrow +would doubtless see them all safely returned to Fort Dinosaur. +The hopefulness of his mood was tinged with sorrow by recollection +of the two members of his party who lay back there in the savage +wilderness and for whom there would never again be a homecoming. + +No premonition of impending ill cast gloom over his anticipations +for the coming day, for Bradley was a man who, while taking every +precaution against possible danger, permitted no gloomy +forebodings to weigh down his spirit. When danger threatened, he +was prepared; but he was not forever courting disaster, and so it +was that when about one o'clock in the morning of the fifteenth, +he heard the dismal flapping of giant wings overhead, he was +neither surprised nor frightened but idly prepared for an attack +he had known might reasonably be expected. + +The sound seemed to come from the south, and presently, low above +the trees in that direction, the man made out a dim, shadowy form +circling slowly about. Bradley was a brave man, yet so keen was +the feeling of revulsion engendered by the sight and sound of +that grim, uncanny shape that he distinctly felt the gooseflesh +rise over the surface of his body, and it was with difficulty +that he refrained from following an instinctive urge to fire upon +the nocturnal intruder. Better, far better would it have been +had he given in to the insistent demand of his subconscious +mentor; but his almost fanatical obsession to save ammunition +proved now his undoing, for while his attention was riveted upon +the thing circling before him and while his ears were filled with +the beating of its wings, there swooped silently out of the black +night behind him another weird and ghostly shape. With its huge +wings partly closed for the dive and its white robe fluttering in +its wake, the apparition swooped down upon the Englishman. + +So great was the force of the impact when the thing struck +Bradley between the shoulders that the man was half stunned. +His rifle flew from his grasp; he felt clawlike talons of great +strength seize him beneath his arms and sweep him off his feet; +and then the thing rose swiftly with him, so swiftly that his cap +was blown from his head by the rush of air as he was borne +rapidly upward into the inky sky and the cry of warning to his +companions was forced back into his lungs. + +The creature wheeled immediately toward the east and was at once +joined by its fellow, who circled them once and then fell in +behind them. Bradley now realized the strategy that the pair +had used to capture him and at once concluded that he was in the +power of reasoning beings closely related to the human race if +not actually of it. + +Past experience suggested that the great wings were a part of +some ingenious mechanical device, for the limitations of the +human mind, which is always loath to accept aught beyond its own +little experience, would not permit him to entertain the idea +that the creatures might be naturally winged and at the same time +of human origin. From his position Bradley could not see the +wings of his captor, nor in the darkness had he been able to +examine those of the second creature closely when it circled +before him. He listened for the puff of a motor or some other +telltale sound that would prove the correctness of his theory. +However, he was rewarded with nothing more than the constant +flap-flap. + +Presently, far below and ahead, he saw the waters of the inland +sea, and a moment later he was borne over them. Then his captor +did that which proved beyond doubt to Bradley that he was in the +hands of human beings who had devised an almost perfect scheme of +duplicating, mechanically, the wings of a bird--the thing spoke +to its companion and in a language that Bradley partially +understood, since he recognized words that he had learned from +the savage races of Caspak. From this he judged that they were +human, and being human, he knew that they could have no natural +wings--for who had ever seen a human being so adorned! +Therefore their wings must be mechanical. Thus Bradley reasoned-- +thus most of us reason; not by what might be possible; but by what +has fallen within the range of our experience. + +What he heard them say was to the effect that having covered +half the distance the burden would now be transferred from one +to the other. Bradley wondered how the exchange was to +be accomplished. He knew that those giant wings would not +permit the creatures to approach one another closely enough +to effect the transfer in this manner; but he was soon to +discover that they had other means of doing it. + +He felt the thing that carried him rise to a greater altitude, +and below he glimpsed momentarily the second white-robed figure; +then the creature above sounded a low call, it was answered from +below, and instantly Bradley felt the clutching talons release +him; gasping for breath, he hurtled downward through space. + +For a terrifying instant, pregnant with horror, Bradley fell; +then something swooped for him from behind, another pair of +talons clutched him beneath the arms, his downward rush was +checked, within another hundred feet, and close to the surface +of the sea he was again borne upward. As a hawk dives for a +songbird on the wing, so this great, human bird dived for Bradley. +It was a harrowing experience, but soon over, and once again +the captive was being carried swiftly toward the east and what +fate he could not even guess. + +It was immediately following his transfer in mid-air that Bradley +made out the shadowy form of a large island far ahead, and not +long after, he realized that this must be the intended +destination of his captors. Nor was he mistaken. Three quarters +of an hour from the time of his seizure his captors dropped +gently to earth in the strangest city that human eye had ever +rested upon. Just a brief glimpse of his immediate surroundings +vouchsafed Bradley before he was whisked into the interior of one +of the buildings; but in that momentary glance he saw strange +piles of stone and wood and mud fashioned into buildings of all +conceivable sizes and shapes, sometimes piled high on top of one +another, sometimes standing alone in an open court-way, but +usually crowded and jammed together, so that there were no +streets or alleys between them other than a few which ended +almost as soon as they began. The principal doorways appeared to +be in the roofs, and it was through one of these that Bradley was +inducted into the dark interior of a low-ceiled room. Here he +was pushed roughly into a corner where he tripped over a thick +mat, and there his captors left him. He heard them moving about +in the darkness for a moment, and several times he saw their +large luminous eyes glowing in the dark. Finally, these +disappeared and silence reigned, broken only by the breathing of +the creature which indicated to the Englishman that they were +sleeping somewhere in the same apartment. + +It was now evident that the mat upon the floor was intended for +sleeping purposes and that the rough shove that had sent him to +it had been a rude invitation to repose. After taking stock of +himself and finding that he still had his pistol and ammunition, +some matches, a little tobacco, a canteen full of water and a +razor, Bradley made himself comfortable upon the mat and was soon +asleep, knowing that an attempted escape in the darkness without +knowledge of his surroundings would be predoomed to failure. + +When he awoke, it was broad daylight, and the sight that met his +eyes made him rub them again and again to assure himself that +they were really open and that he was not dreaming. A broad +shaft of morning light poured through the open doorway in the +ceiling of the room which was about thirty feet square, or +roughly square, being irregular in shape, one side curving +outward, another being indented by what might have been the +corner of another building jutting into it, another alcoved by +three sides of an octagon, while the fourth was serpentine +in contour. Two windows let in more daylight, while two doors +evidently gave ingress to other rooms. The walls were partially +ceiled with thin strips of wood, nicely fitted and finished, +partially plastered and the rest covered with a fine, woven cloth. +Figures of reptiles and beasts were painted without regard to +any uniform scheme here and there upon the walls. A striking +feature of the decorations consisted of several engaged columns +set into the walls at no regular intervals, the capitals of +each supporting a human skull the cranium of which touched the +ceiling, as though the latter was supported by these grim +reminders either of departed relatives or of some hideous tribal +rite--Bradley could not but wonder which. + +Yet it was none of these things that filled him with greatest +wonder--no, it was the figures of the two creatures that had +captured him and brought him hither. At one end of the room a +stout pole about two inches in diameter ran horizontally from +wall to wall some six or seven feet from the floor, its ends +securely set in two of the columns. Hanging by their knees from +this perch, their heads downward and their bodies wrapped in +their huge wings, slept the creatures of the night before--like +two great, horrid bats they hung, asleep. + +As Bradley gazed upon them in wide-eyed astonishment, he saw +plainly that all his intelligence, all his acquired knowledge +through years of observation and experience were set at naught by +the simple evidence of the fact that stood out glaringly before +his eyes--the creatures' wings were not mechanical devices but as +natural appendages, growing from their shoulderblades, as were +their arms and legs. He saw, too, that except for their wings +the pair bore a strong resemblance to human beings, though +fashioned in a most grotesque mold. + +As he sat gazing at them, one of the two awoke, separated his +wings to release his arms that had been folded across his breast, +placed his hands upon the floor, dropped his feet and stood erect. +For a moment he stretched his great wings slowly, solemnly +blinking his large round eyes. Then his gaze fell upon Bradley. +The thin lips drew back tightly against yellow teeth in a grimace +that was nothing but hideous. It could not have been termed a +smile, and what emotion it registered the Englishman was at a +loss to guess. No expression whatever altered the steady gaze +of those large, round eyes; there was no color upon the pasty, +sunken cheeks. A death's head grimaced as though a man long +dead raised his parchment-covered skull from an old grave. + +The creature stood about the height of an average man but +appeared much taller from the fact that the joints of his long +wings rose fully a foot above his hairless head. The bare arms +were long and sinewy, ending in strong, bony hands with clawlike +fingers--almost talonlike in their suggestiveness. The white +robe was separated in front, revealing skinny legs and the +further fact that the thing wore but the single garment, which +was of fine, woven cloth. From crown to sole the portions of +the body exposed were entirely hairless, and as he noted this, +Bradley also noted for the first time the cause of much of the +seeming expressionlessness of the creature's countenance--it had +neither eye-brows or lashes. The ears were small and rested flat +against the skull, which was noticeably round, though the face +was quite flat. The creature had small feet, beautifully arched +and plump, but so out of keeping with every other physical +attribute it possessed as to appear ridiculous. + +After eyeing Bradley for a moment the thing approached him. +"Where from?" it asked. + +"England," replied Bradley, as briefly. + +"Where is England and what?" pursued the questioner. + +"It is a country far from here," answered the Englishman. + +"Are your people cor-sva-jo or cos-ata-lu?" + +"I do not understand you," said Bradley; "and now suppose you +answer a few questions. Who are you? What country is this? +Why did you bring me here?" + +Again the sepulchral grimace. "We are Wieroos--Luata is our father. +Caspak is ours. This, our country, is called Oo-oh. We brought +you here for (literally) Him Who Speaks for Luata to gaze upon +and question. He would know from whence you came and why; but +principally if you be cos-ata-lu." + +"And if I am not cos--whatever you call the bloomin' beast-- +what of it?" + +The Wieroo raised his wings in a very human shrug and waved his +bony claws toward the human skulls supporting the ceiling. +His gesture was eloquent; but he embellished it by remarking, +"And possibly if you are." + +"I'm hungry," snapped Bradley. + +The Wieroo motioned him to one of the doors which he threw open, +permitting Bradley to pass out onto another roof on a level lower +than that upon which they had landed earlier in the morning. +By daylight the city appeared even more remarkable than in the +moonlight, though less weird and unreal. The houses of all +shapes and sizes were piled about as a child might pile blocks of +various forms and colors. He saw now that there were what might +be called streets or alleys, but they ran in baffling turns and +twists, nor ever reached a destination, always ending in a dead +wall where some Wieroo had built a house across them. + +Upon each house was a slender column supporting a human skull. +Sometimes the columns were at one corner of the roof, sometimes +at another, or again they rose from the center or near the +center, and the columns were of varying heights, from that of +a man to those which rose twenty feet above their roofs. +The skulls were, as a rule, painted--blue or white, or in +combinations of both colors. The most effective were painted +blue with the teeth white and the eye-sockets rimmed with white. + +There were other skulls--thousands of them--tens, hundreds +of thousands. They rimmed the eaves of every house, they were +set in the plaster of the outer walls and at no great distance +from where Bradley stood rose a round tower built entirely of +human skulls. And the city extended in every direction as far +as the Englishman could see. + +All about him Wieroos were moving across the roofs or winging +through the air. The sad sound of their flapping wings rose and +fell like a solemn dirge. Most of them were appareled all in +white, like his captors; but others had markings of red or blue +or yellow slashed across the front of their robes. + +His guide pointed toward a doorway in an alley below them. +"Go there and eat," he commanded, "and then come back. +You cannot escape. If any question you, say that you belong +to Fosh-bal-soj. There is the way." And this time he pointed +to the top of a ladder which protruded above the eaves of the +roof near-by. Then he turned and reentered the house. + +Bradley looked about him. No, he could not escape--that +seemed evident. The city appeared interminable, and beyond the +city, if not a savage wilderness filled with wild beasts, there +was the broad inland sea infested with horrid monsters. No wonder +his captor felt safe in turning him loose in Oo-oh--he wondered if +that was the name of the country or the city and if there were +other cities like this upon the island. + +Slowly he descended the ladder to the seemingly deserted alley +which was paved with what appeared to be large, round cobblestones. +He looked again at the smooth, worn pavement, and a rueful grin +crossed his features--the alley was paved with skulls. "The City +of Human Skulls," mused Bradley. "They must have been collectin' +'em since Adam," he thought, and then he crossed and entered the +building through the doorway that had been pointed out to him. + +Inside he found a large room in which were many Wieroos seated +before pedestals the tops of which were hollowed out so that +they resembled the ordinary bird drinking- and bathing-fonts so +commonly seen on suburban lawns. A seat protruded from each of +the four sides of the pedestals--just a flat board with a support +running from its outer end diagonally to the base of the pedestal. + +As Bradley entered, some of the Wieroos espied him, and a dismal +wail arose. Whether it was a greeting or a threat, Bradley did +not know. Suddenly from a dark alcove another Wieroo rushed out +toward him. "Who are you?" he cried. "What do you want?" + +"Fosh-bal-soj sent me here to eat," replied Bradley. + +"Do you belong to Fosh-bal-soj?" asked the other. + +"That appears to be what he thinks," answered the Englishman. + +"Are you cos-ata-lu?" demanded the Wieroo. + +"Give me something to eat or I'll be all of that," replied Bradley. + +The Wieroo looked puzzled. "Sit here, jaal-lu," he snapped, +and Bradley sat down unconscious of the fact that he had been +insulted by being called a hyena-man, an appellation of contempt +in Caspak. + +The Wieroo had seated him at a pedestal by himself, and as he sat +waiting for what was next to transpire, he looked about him at +the Wieroo in his immediate vicinity. He saw that in each font +was a quantity of food, and that each Wieroo was armed with a +wooden skewer, sharpened at one end; with which they carried +solid portions of food to their mouths. At the other end of the +skewer was fastened a small clam-shell. This was used to scoop +up the smaller and softer portions of the repast into which all +four of the occupants of each table dipped impartially. The Wieroo +leaned far over their food, scooping it up rapidly and with much +noise, and so great was their haste that a part of each mouthful +always fell back into the common dish; and when they choked, by +reason of the rapidity with which they attempted to bolt their +food, they often lost it all. Bradley was glad that he had a +pedestal all to himself. + +Soon the keeper of the place returned with a wooden bowl filled +with food. This he dumped into Bradley's "trough," as he already +thought of it. The Englishman was glad that he could not see +into the dark alcove or know what were all the ingredients that +constituted the mess before him, for he was very hungry. + +After the first mouthful he cared even less to investigate the +antecedents of the dish, for he found it peculiarly palatable. +It seemed to consist of a combination of meat, fruits, +vegetables, small fish and other undistinguishable articles of +food all seasoned to produce a gastronomic effect that was at +once baffling and delicious. + +When he had finished, his trough was empty, and then he commenced +to wonder who was to settle for his meal. As he waited for the +proprietor to return, he fell to examining the dish from which he +had eaten and the pedestal upon which it rested. The font was of +stone worn smooth by long-continued use, the four outer edges +hollowed and polished by the contact of the countless Wieroo +bodies that had leaned against them for how long a period of time +Bradley could not even guess. Everything about the place carried +the impression of hoary age. The carved pedestals were black +with use, the wooden seats were worn hollow, the floor of stone +slabs was polished by the contact of possibly millions of naked +feet and worn away in the aisles between the pedestals so that +the latter rested upon little mounds of stone several inches +above the general level of the floor. + +Finally, seeing that no one came to collect, Bradley arose and +started for the doorway. He had covered half the distance when +he heard the voice of mine host calling to him: "Come back, +jaal-lu," screamed the Wieroo; and Bradley did as he was bid. +As he approached the creature which stood now behind a large, +flat-topped pedestal beside the alcove, he saw lying upon the +smooth surface something that almost elicited a gasp of +astonishment from him--a simple, common thing it was, or would +have been almost anywhere in the world but Caspak--a square bit +of paper! + +And on it, in a fine hand, written compactly, were many strange +hieroglyphics! These remarkable creatures, then, had a written as +well as a spoken language and besides the art of weaving cloth +possessed that of paper-making. Could it be that such grotesque +beings represented the high culture of the human race within the +boundaries of Caspak? Had natural selection produced during the +countless ages of Caspakian life a winged monstrosity that +represented the earthly pinnacle of man's evolution? + +Bradley had noted something of the obvious indications of a +gradual evolution from ape to spearman as exemplified by the +several overlapping races of Alalus, club-men and hatchet-men +that formed the connecting links between the two extremes with +which he, had come in contact. He had heard of the Krolus and +the Galus--reputed to be still higher in the plane of evolution-- +and now he had indisputable evidence of a race possessing +refinements of civilization eons in advance of the spear-men. +The conjectures awakened by even a momentary consideration of the +possibilities involved became at once as wildly bizarre as the +insane imagings of a drug addict. + +As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the Wieroo held out +a pen of bone fixed to a wooden holder and at the same time made +a sign that Bradley was to write upon the paper. It was +difficult to judge from the expressionless features of the Wieroo +what was passing in the creature's mind, but Bradley could not +but feel that the thing cast a supercilious glance upon him as +much as to say, "Of course you do not know how to write, you +poor, low creature; but you can make your mark." + +Bradley seized the pen and in a clear, bold hand wrote: "John +Bradley, England." The Wieroo showed evidences of consternation +as it seized the piece of paper and examined the writing with +every mark of incredulity and surprise. Of course it could make +nothing of the strange characters; but it evidently accepted them +as proof that Bradley possessed knowledge of a written language +of his own, for following the Englishman's entry it made a few +characters of its own. + +"You will come here again just before Lua hides his face behind +the great cliff," announced the creature, "unless before that you +are summoned by Him Who Speaks for Luata, in which case you will +not have to eat any more." + +"Reassuring cuss," thought Bradley as he turned and left +the building. + +Outside were several Wieroos that had been eating at the +pedestals within. They immediately surrounded him, asking all +sorts of questions, plucking at his garments, his ammunition-belt +and his pistol. Their demeanor was entirely different from what +it had been within the eating-place and Bradley was to learn that +a house of food was sanctuary for him, since the stern laws of +the Wieroos forbade altercations within such walls. Now they +were rough and threatening, as with wings half spread they +hovered about him in menacing attitudes, barring his way to the +ladder leading to the roof from whence he had descended; but the +Englishman was not one to brook interference for long. He attempted +at first to push his way past them, and then when one seized his +arm and jerked him roughly back, Bradley swung upon the creature +and with a heavy blow to the jaw felled it. + +Instantly pandemonium reigned. Loud wails arose, great wings +opened and closed with a loud, beating noise and many clawlike +hands reached forth to clutch him. Bradley struck to right +and left. He dared not use his pistol for fear that once they +discovered its power he would be overcome by weight of numbers +and relieved of possession of what he considered his trump card, +to be reserved until the last moment that it might be used to aid +in his escape, for already the Englishman was planning, though +almost hopelessly, such an attempt. + +A few blows convinced Bradley that the Wieroos were arrant +cowards and that they bore no weapons, for after two or three had +fallen beneath his fists the others formed a circle about him, +but at a safe distance and contented themselves with threatening +and blustering, while those whom he had felled lay upon the +pavement without trying to arise, the while they moaned and +wailed in lugubrious chorus. + +Again Bradley strode toward the ladder, and this time the circle +parted before him; but no sooner had he ascended a few rungs than +he was seized by one foot and an effort made to drag him down. +With a quick backward glance the Englishman, clinging firmly to +the ladder with both hands, drew up his free foot and with all +the strength of a powerful leg, planted a heavy shoe squarely in +the flat face of the Wieroo that held him. Shrieking horribly, +the creature clapped both hands to its face and sank to the +ground while Bradley clambered quickly the remaining distance to +the roof, though no sooner did he reach the top of the ladder +than a great flapping of wings beneath him warned him that the +Wieroos were rising after him. A moment later they swarmed about +his head as he ran for the apartment in which he had spent the +early hours of the morning after his arrival. + +It was but a short distance from the top of the ladder to the +doorway, and Bradley had almost reached his goal when the door +flew open and Fosh-bal-soj stepped out. Immediately the pursuing +Wieroos demanded punishment of the jaal-lu who had so +grievously maltreated them. Fosh-bal-soj listened to their +complaints and then with a sudden sweep of his right hand seized +Bradley by the scruff of the neck and hurled him sprawling +through the doorway upon the floor of the chamber. + +So sudden was the assault and so surprising the strength of the +Wieroo that the Englishman was taken completely off his guard. +When he arose, the door was closed, and Fosh-bal-soj was standing +over him, his hideous face contorted into an expression of rage +and hatred. + +"Hyena, snake, lizard!" he screamed. "You would dare lay your +low, vile, profaning hands upon even the lowliest of the Wieroos-- +the sacred chosen of Luata!" + +Bradley was mad, and so he spoke in a very low, calm voice while +a half-smile played across his lips but his cold, gray eyes +were unsmiling. + +"What you did to me just now," he said, "--I am going to kill +you for that," and even as he spoke, he launched himself at the +throat of Fosh-bal-soj. The other Wieroo that had been asleep +when Bradley left the chamber had departed, and the two were alone. +Fosh-bal-soj displayed little of the cowardice of those that had +attacked Bradley in the alleyway, but that may have been because +he had so slight opportunity, for Bradley had him by the throat +before he could utter a cry and with his right hand struck him +heavily and repeatedly upon his face and over his heart--ugly, +smashing, short-arm jabs of the sort that take the fight out of +a man in quick time. + +But Fosh-bal-soj was of no mind to die passively. He clawed and +struck at Bradley while with his great wings he attempted to +shield himself from the merciless rain of blows, at the same time +searching for a hold upon his antagonist's throat. Presently he +succeeded in tripping the Englishman, and together the two fell +heavily to the floor, Bradley underneath, and at the same instant +the Wieroo fastened his long talons about the other's windpipe. + +Fosh-bal-soj was possessed of enormous strength and he was +fighting for his life. The Englishman soon realized that the +battle was going against him. Already his lungs were pounding +painfully for air as he reached for his pistol. It was with +difficulty that he drew it from its holster, and even then, with +death staring him in the face, he thought of his precious ammunition. +"Can't waste it," he thought; and slipping his fingers to the +barrel he raised the weapon and struck Fosh-bal-soj a terrific +blow between the eyes. Instantly the clawlike fingers released +their hold, and the creature sank limply to the floor beside +Bradley, who lay for several minutes gasping painfully in an +effort to regain his breath. + +When he was able, he rose, and leaned close over the Wieroo, +lying silent and motionless, his wings dropping limply and his +great, round eyes staring blankly toward the ceiling. A brief +examination convinced Bradley that the thing was dead, and with +the conviction came an overwhelming sense of the dangers which +must now confront him; but how was he to escape? + +His first thought was to find some means for concealing the +evidence of his deed and then to make a bold effort to escape. +Stepping to the second door he pushed it gently open and peered +in upon what seemed to be a store room. In it was a litter of +cloth such as the Wieroos' robes were fashioned from, a number +of chests painted blue and white, with white hieroglyphics +painted in bold strokes upon the blue and blue hieroglyphics upon +the white. In one corner was a pile of human skulls reaching +almost to the ceiling and in another a stack of dried Wieroo wings. +The chamber was as irregularly shaped as the other and had but a +single window and a second door at the further end, but was +without the exit through the roof and, most important of all, +there was no creature of any sort in it. + +As quickly as possible Bradley dragged the dead Wieroo through +the doorway and closed the door; then he looked about for a place +to conceal the corpse. One of the chests was large enough to +hold the body if the knees were bent well up, and with this idea +in view Bradley approached the chest to open it. The lid was +made in two pieces, each being hinged at an opposite end of the +chest and joining nicely where they met in the center of the +chest, making a snug, well-fitting joint. There was no lock. +Bradley raised one half the cover and looked in. With a smothered +"By Jove!" he bent closer to examine the contents--the chest +was about half filled with an assortment of golden trinkets. +There were what appeared to be bracelets, anklets and brooches +of virgin gold. + +Realizing that there was no room in the chest for the body of the +Wieroo, Bradley turned to seek another means of concealing the +evidence of his crime. There was a space between the chests and +the wall, and into this he forced the corpse, piling the +discarded robes upon it until it was entirely hidden from sight; +but now how was he to make good his escape in the bright glare of +that early Spring day? + +He walked to the door at the far end of the apartment and +cautiously opened it an inch. Before him and about two feet away +was the blank wall of another building. Bradley opened the door +a little farther and looked in both directions. There was no one +in sight to the left over a considerable expanse of roof-top, and +to the right another building shut off his line of vision at +about twenty feet. Slipping out, he turned to the right and in +a few steps found a narrow passageway between two buildings. +Turning into this he passed about half its length when he saw a +Wieroo appear at the opposite end and halt. The creature was not +looking down the passageway; but at any moment it might turn its +eyes toward him, when he would be immediately discovered. + +To Bradley's left was a triangular niche in the wall of one of +the houses and into this he dodged, thus concealing himself from +the sight of the Wieroo. Beside him was a door painted a vivid +yellow and constructed after the same fashion as the other Wieroo +doors he had seen, being made up of countless narrow strips of +wood from four to six inches in length laid on in patches of +about the same width, the strips in adjacent patches never +running in the same direction. The result bore some resemblance +to a crazy patchwork quilt, which was heightened when, as in one +of the doors he had seen, contiguous patches were painted +different colors. The strips appeared to have been bound +together and to the underlying framework of the door with gut or +fiber and also glued, after which a thick coating of paint had +been applied. One edge of the door was formed of a straight, +round pole about two inches in diameter that protruded at top and +bottom, the projections setting in round holes in both lintel and +sill forming the axis upon which the door swung. An eccentric +disk upon the inside face of the door engaged a slot in the frame +when it was desired to secure the door against intruders. + +As Bradley stood flattened against the wall waiting for the +Wieroo to move on, he heard the creature's wings brushing against +the sides of the buildings as it made its way down the narrow +passage in his direction. As the yellow door offered the only +means of escape without detection, the Englishman decided to risk +whatever might lie beyond it, and so, boldly pushing it in, he +crossed the threshold and entered a small apartment. + +As he did so, he heard a muffled ejaculation of surprise, and +turning his eyes in the direction from whence the sound had come, +he beheld a wide-eyed girl standing flattened against the +opposite wall, an expression of incredulity upon her face. At a +glance he saw that she was of no race of humans that he had come +in contact with since his arrival upon Caprona--there was no +trace about her form or features of any relationship to those low +orders of men, nor was she appareled as they--or, rather, she did +not entirely lack apparel as did most of them. + +A soft hide fell from her left shoulder to just below her left +hip on one side and almost to her right knee on the other, a +loose girdle was about her waist, and golden ornaments such as he +had seen in the blue-and-white chest encircled her arms and legs, +while a golden fillet with a triangular diadem bound her heavy +hair above her brows. Her skin was white as from long confinement +within doors; but it was clear and fine. Her figure, but partially +concealed by the soft deerskin, was all curves of symmetry and +youthful grace, while her features might easily have been the envy +of the most feted of Continental beauties. + +If the girl was surprised by the sudden appearance of Bradley, +the latter was absolutely astounded to discover so wondrous +a creature among the hideous inhabitants of the City of +Human Skulls. For a moment the two looked at one another in +unconcealed consternation, and then Bradley spoke, using to +the best of his poor ability, the common tongue of Caspak. + +"Who are you," he asked, "and from where do you come? Do not tell +me that you are a Wieroo." + +"No," she replied, "I am no Wieroo." And she shuddered slightly as +she pronounced the word. "I am a Galu; but who and what are you? +I am sure that you are no Galu, from your garments; but you are +like the Galus in other respects. I know that you are not of +this frightful city, for I have been here for almost ten moons, +and never have I seen a male Galu brought hither before, nor are +there such as you and I, other than prisoners in the land of +Oo-oh, and these are all females. Are you a prisoner, then?" + +He told her briefly who and what he was, though he doubted if she +understood, and from her he learned that she had been a prisoner +there for many months; but for what purpose he did not then +learn, as in the midst of their conversation the yellow door +swung open and a Wieroo with a robe slashed with yellow entered. + +At sight of Bradley the creature became furious. "Whence came +this reptile?" it demanded of the girl. "How long has it been +here with you?" + +"It came through the doorway just ahead of you," Bradley answered +for the girl. + +The Wieroo looked relieved. "It is well for the girl that +this is so," it said, "for now only you will have to die." +And stepping to the door the creature raised its voice in +one of those uncanny, depressing wails. + +The Englishman looked toward the girl. "Shall I kill it?" he +asked, half drawing his pistol. "What is best to do?--I do not +wish to endanger you." + +The Wieroo backed toward the door. "Defiler!" it screamed. +"You dare to threaten one of the sacred chosen of Luata!" + +"Do not kill him," cried the girl, "for then there could be no +hope for you. That you are here, alive, shows that they may not +intend to kill you at all, and so there is a chance for you if +you do not anger them; but touch him in violence and your +bleached skull will top the loftiest pedestal of Oo-oh." + +"And what of you?" asked Bradley. + +"I am already doomed," replied the girl; "I am cos-ata-lo." + +"Cos-ata-lo! cos-ata-lu!" What did these phrases mean that +they were so oft repeated by the denizens of Oo-oh? Lu and +lo, Bradley knew to mean man and woman; ata; was +employed variously to indicate life, eggs, young, reproduction +and kindred subject; cos was a negative; but in combination +they were meaningless to the European. + +"Do you mean they will kill you?" asked Bradley. + +"I but wish that they would," replied the girl. "My fate is to +be worse than death--in just a few nights more, with the coming +of the new moon." + +"Poor she-snake!" snapped the Wieroo. "You are to become sacred +above all other shes. He Who Speaks for Luata has chosen you +for himself. Today you go to his temple--"the Wieroo used a +phrase meaning literally High Place--"where you will receive +the sacred commands." + +The girl shuddered and cast a sorrowful glance toward Bradley. +"Ah," she sighed, "if I could but see my beloved country once again!" + +The man stepped suddenly close to her side before the Wieroo +could interpose and in a low voice asked her if there was no +way by which he might encompass her escape. She shook her +head sorrowfully. "Even if we escaped the city," she replied, +"there is the big water between the island of Oo-oh and the +Galu shore." + +"And what is beyond the city, if we could leave it?" pursued Bradley. + +"I may only guess from what I have heard since I was brought +here," she answered; "but by reports and chance remarks I take it +to be a beautiful land in which there are but few wild beasts and +no men, for only the Wieroos live upon this island and they dwell +always in cities of which there are three, this being the largest. +The others are at the far end of the island, which is about three +marches from end to end and at its widest point about one march." + +From his own experience and from what the natives on the mainland +had told him, Bradley knew that ten miles was a good day's march +in Caspak, owing to the fact that at most points it was a +trackless wilderness and at all times travelers were beset by +hideous beasts and reptiles that greatly impeded rapid progress. + +The two had spoken rapidly but were now interrupted by the advent +through the opening in the roof of several Wieroos who had come +in answer to the alarm it of the yellow slashing had uttered. + +"This jaal-lu," cried the offended one, "has threatened me. +Take its hatchet from it and make it fast where it can do no +harm until He Who Speaks for Luata has said what shall be done +with it. It is one of those strange creatures that Fosh-bal-soj +discovered first above the Band-lu country and followed back toward +the beginning. He Who Speaks for Luata sent Fosh-bal-soj to fetch +him one of the creatures, and here it is. It is hoped that it may +be from another world and hold the secret of the cos-ata-lus." + +The Wieroos approached boldly to take Bradley's "hatchet" from +him, their leader having indicated the pistol hanging in its +holster at the Englishman's hip, but the first one went reeling +backward against his fellows from the blow to the chin which +Bradley followed up with a rush and the intention to clean up the +room in record time; but he had reckoned without the opening in +the roof. Two were down and a great wailing and moaning was +arising when reinforcements appeared from above. Bradley did not +see them; but the girl did, and though she cried out a warning, +it came too late for him to avoid a large Wieroo who dived +headforemost for him, striking him between the shoulders and +bearing him to the floor. Instantly a dozen more were piling on +top of him. His pistol was wrenched from its holster and he was +securely pinioned down by the weight of numbers. + +At a word from the Wieroo of the yellow slashing who evidently +was a person of authority, one left and presently returned with +fiber ropes with which Bradley was tightly bound. + +"Now bear him to the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," directed the +chief Wieroo, "and one take the word of all that has passed to +Him Who Speaks for Luata." + +Each of the creatures raised a hand, the back against its face, +as though in salute. One seized Bradley and carried him through +the yellow doorway to the roof from whence it rose upon its +wide-spread wings and flapped off across the roof-tops of Oo-oh +with its heavy burden clutched in its long talons. + +Below him Bradley could see the city stretching away to a +distance on every hand. It was not as large as he had imagined, +though he judged that it was at least three miles square. +The houses were piled in indescribable heaps, sometimes to a +height of a hundred feet. The streets and alleys were short +and crooked and there were many areas where buildings had been +wedged in so closely that no light could possibly reach the +lowest tiers, the entire surface of the ground being packed +solidly with them. + +The colors were varied and startling, the architecture amazing. +Many roofs were cup or saucer-shaped with a small hole in the +center of each, as though they had been constructed to catch +rain-water and conduct it to a reservoir beneath; but nearly all +the others had the large opening in the top that Bradley had seen +used by these flying men in lieu of doorways. At all levels were +the myriad poles surmounted by grinning skulls; but the two most +prominent features of the city were the round tower of human +skulls that Bradley had noted earlier in the day and another and +much larger edifice near the center of the city. As they +approached it, Bradley saw that it was a huge building rising a +hundred feet in height from the ground and that it stood alone in +the center of what might have been called a plaza in some other +part of the world. Its various parts, however, were set together +with the same strange irregularity that marked the architecture +of the city as a whole; and it was capped by an enormous +saucer-shaped roof which projected far beyond the eaves, having +the appearance of a colossal Chinese coolie hat, inverted. + +The Wieroo bearing Bradley passed over one corner of the open +space about the large building, revealing to the Englishman grass +and trees and running water beneath. They passed the building +and about five hundred yards beyond the creature alighted on the +roof of a square, blue building surmounted by seven poles bearing +seven skulls. This then, thought Bradley, is the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls. + +Over the opening in the roof was a grated covering, and this the +Wieroo removed. The thing then tied a piece of fiber rope to one +of Bradley's ankles and rolled him over the edge of the opening. +All was dark below and for an instant the Englishman came as near +to experiencing real terror as he had ever come in his life before. +As he rolled off into the black abyss he felt the rope tighten +about his ankle and an instant later he was stopped with a sudden +jerk to swing pendulumlike, head downward. Then the creature +lowered away until Bradley's head came in sudden and painful +contact with the floor below, after which the Wieroo let loose +of the rope entirely and the Englishman's body crashed to the +wooden planking. He felt the free end of the rope dropped +upon him and heard the grating being slid into place above him. + + + +Chapter 3 + + +Half-stunned, Bradley lay for a minute as he had fallen and then +slowly and painfully wriggled into a less uncomfortable position. +He could see nothing of his surroundings in the gloom about him +until after a few minutes his eyes became accustomed to the dark +interior when he rolled them from side to side in survey of his prison. + +He discovered himself to be in a bare room which was windowless, +nor could he see any other opening than that through which he had +been lowered. In one corner was a huddled mass that might have +been almost anything from a bundle of rags to a dead body. + +Almost immediately after he had taken his bearings Bradley +commenced working with his bonds. He was a man of powerful +physique, and as from the first he had been imbued with a belief +that the fiber ropes were too weak to hold him, he worked on +with a firm conviction that sooner or later they would part to +his strainings. After a matter of five minutes he was positive +that the strands about his wrists were beginning to give; but he +was compelled to rest then from exhaustion. + +As he lay, his eyes rested upon the bundle in the corner, and +presently he could have sworn that the thing moved. With eyes +straining through the gloom the man lay watching the grim and +sinister thing in the corner. Perhaps his overwrought nerves +were playing a sorry joke upon him. He thought of this and also +that his condition of utter helplessness might still further have +stimulated his imagination. He closed his eyes and sought to +relax his muscles and his nerves; but when he looked again, he +knew that he had not been mistaken--the thing had moved; now it +lay in a slightly altered form and farther from the wall. It was +nearer him. + +With renewed strength Bradley strained at his bonds, his +fascinated gaze still glued upon the shapeless bundle. No longer +was there any doubt that it moved--he saw it rise in the center +several inches and then creep closer to him. It sank and arose +again--a headless, hideous, monstrous thing of menace. Its very +silence rendered it the more terrible. + +Bradley was a brave man; ordinarily his nerves were of steel; but +to be at the mercy of some unknown and nameless horror, to be +unable to defend himself--it was these things that almost +unstrung him, for at best he was only human. To stand in the +open, even with the odds all against him; to be able to use his +fists, to put up some sort of defense, to inflict punishment upon +his adversary--then he could face death with a smile. It was not +death that he feared now--it was that horror of the unknown that +is part of the fiber of every son of woman. + +Closer and closer came the shapeless mass. Bradley lay +motionless and listened. What was that he heard! Breathing? +He could not be mistaken--and then from out of the bundle of rags +issued a hollow groan. Bradley felt his hair rise upon his head. +He struggled with the slowly parting strands that held him. +The thing beside him rose up higher than before and the Englishman +could have sworn that he saw a single eye peering at him from +among the tumbled cloth. For a moment the bundle remained +motionless--only the sound of breathing issued from it, then +there broke from it a maniacal laugh. + +Cold sweat stood upon Bradley's brow as he tugged for liberation. +He saw the rags rise higher and higher above him until at last +they tumbled upon the floor from the body of a naked man--a thin, +a bony, a hideous caricature of man, that mouthed and mummed and, +wabbling upon its weak and shaking legs, crumpled to the floor +again, still laughing--laughing horribly. + +It crawled toward Bradley. "Food! Food!" it screamed. +"There is a way out! There is a way out!" + +Dragging itself to his side the creature slumped upon the +Englishman's breast. "Food!" it shrilled as with its bony +fingers and its teeth, it sought the man's bare throat. + +"Food! There is a way out!" Bradley felt teeth upon his jugular. +He turned and twisted, shaking himself free for an instant; but +once more with hideous persistence the thing fastened itself +upon him. The weak jaws were unable to send the dull teeth through +the victim's flesh; but Bradley felt it pawing, pawing, pawing, +like a monstrous rat, seeking his life's blood. + +The skinny arms now embraced his neck, holding the teeth to his +throat against all his efforts to dislodge the thing. Weak as it +was it had strength enough for this in its mad efforts to eat. +Mumbling as it worked, it repeated again and again, "Food! Food! +There is a way out!" until Bradley thought those two expressions +alone would drive him mad. + +And all but mad he was as with a final effort backed by almost +maniacal strength he tore his wrists from the confining bonds and +grasping the repulsive thing upon his breast hurled it halfway +across the room. Panting like a spent hound Bradley worked at +the thongs about his ankles while the maniac lay quivering and +mumbling where it had fallen. Presently the Englishman leaped to +his feet--freer than he had ever before felt in all his life, +though he was still hopelessly a prisoner in the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls. + +With his back against the wall for support, so weak the reaction +left him, Bradley stood watching the creature upon the floor. +He saw it move and slowly raise itself to its hands and knees, +where it swayed to and fro as its eyes roved about in search of +him; and when at last they found him, there broke from the drawn +lips the mumbled words: "Food! Food! There is a way out!" +The pitiful supplication in the tones touched the Englishman's heart. +He knew that this could be no Wieroo, but possibly once a man like +himself who had been cast into this pit of solitary confinement +with this hideous result that might in time be his fate, also. + +And then, too, there was the suggestion of hope held out by the +constant reiteration of the phrase, "There is a way out." +Was there a way out? What did this poor thing know? + +"Who are you and how long have you been here?" Bradley +suddenly demanded. + +For a moment the man upon the floor made no response, then +mumblingly came the words: "Food! Food!" + +"Stop!" commanded the Englishman--the injunction might have been +barked from the muzzle of a pistol. It brought the man to a +sitting posture, his hands off the ground. He stopped swaying to +and fro and appeared to be startled into an attempt to master his +faculties of concentration and thought. + +Bradley repeated his questions sharply. + +"I am An-Tak, the Galu," replied the man. "Luata alone knows how +long I have been here--maybe ten moons, maybe ten moons three +times"--it was the Caspakian equivalent of thirty. "I was young +and strong when they brought me here. Now I am old and very weak. +I am cos-ata-lu--that is why they have not killed me. +If I tell them the secret of becoming cos-ata-lu they will +take me out; but how can I tell them that which Luata alone knows? + +"What is cos-ata-lu?" demanded Bradley. + +"Food! Food! There is a way out!" mumbled the Galu. + +Bradley strode across the floor, seized the man by his shoulders +and shook him. + +"Tell me," he cried, "what is cos-ata-lu?" + +"Food!" whimpered An-Tak. + +Bradley bethought himself. His haversack had not been taken +from him. In it besides his razor and knife were odds and ends +of equipment and a small quantity of dried meat. He tossed a small +strip of the latter to the starving Galu. An-Tak seized upon it +and devoured it ravenously. It instilled new life in the man. + +"What is cos-ata-lu?" insisted Bradley again. + +An-Tak tried to explain. His narrative was often broken by +lapses of concentration during which he reverted to his plaintive +mumbling for food and recurrence to the statement that there was +a way out; but by firmness and patience the Englishman drew out +piece-meal a more or less lucid exposition of the remarkable +scheme of evolution that rules in Caspak. In it he found +explanations of the hitherto inexplicable. He discovered why he +had seen no babes or children among the Caspakian tribes with +which he had come in contact; why each more northerly tribe +evinced a higher state of development than those south of them; +why each tribe included individuals ranging in physical and +mental characteristics from the highest of the next lower race to +the lowest of the next higher, and why the women of each tribe +immersed themselves morning for an hour or more in the warm pools +near which the habitations of their people always were located; +and, too, he discovered why those pools were almost immune from +the attacks of carnivorous animals and reptiles. + +He learned that all but those who were cos-ata-lu came up +cor-sva-jo, or from the beginning. The egg from which +they first developed into tadpole form was deposited, with +millions of others, in one of the warm pools and with it a +poisonous serum that the carnivora instinctively shunned. +Down the warm stream from the pool floated the countless billions +of eggs and tadpoles, developing as they drifted slowly toward +the sea. Some became tadpoles in the pool, some in the sluggish +stream and some not until they reached the great inland sea. +In the next stage they became fishes or reptiles, An-Tak was not +positive which, and in this form, always developing, they swam +far to the south, where, amid the rank and teeming jungles, some +of them evolved into amphibians. Always there were those whose +development stopped at the first stage, others whose development +ceased when they became reptiles, while by far the greater +proportion formed the food supply of the ravenous creatures of +the deep. + +Few indeed were those that eventually developed into baboons and +then apes, which was considered by Caspakians the real beginning +of evolution. From the egg, then, the individual developed +slowly into a higher form, just as the frog's egg develops through +various stages from a fish with gills to a frog with lungs. +With that thought in mind Bradley discovered that it was not +difficult to believe in the possibility of such a scheme-- +there was nothing new in it. + +From the ape the individual, if it survived, slowly developed +into the lowest order of man--the Alu--and then by degrees to +Bo-lu, Sto-lu, Band-lu, Kro-lu and finally Galu. And in each +stage countless millions of other eggs were deposited in the warm +pools of the various races and floated down to the great sea to +go through a similar process of evolution outside the womb as +develops our own young within; but in Caspak the scheme is much +more inclusive, for it combines not only individual development +but the evolution of species and genera. If an egg survives it +goes through all the stages of development that man has passed +through during the unthinkable eons since life first moved upon +the earth's face. + +The final stage--that which the Galus have almost attained and +for which all hope--is cos-ata-lu, which literally, means +no-egg-man, or one who is born directly as are the young of the +outer world of mammals. Some of the Galus produce cos-ata-lu +and cos-ata-lo both; the Weiroos only cos-ata-lu--in +other words all Wieroos are born male, and so they prey upon the +Galus for their women and sometimes capture and torture the Galu +men who are cos-ata-lu in an endeavor to learn the secret +which they believe will give them unlimited power over all other +denizens of Caspak. + +No Wieroos come up from the beginning--all are born of the Wieroo +fathers and Galu mothers who are cos-ata-lo, and there are +very few of the latter owing to the long and precarious stages +of development. Seven generations of the same ancestor must come +up from the beginning before a cos-ata-lu child may be born; +and when one considers the frightful dangers that surround the +vital spark from the moment it leaves the warm pool where it has +been deposited to float down to the sea amid the voracious creatures +that swarm the surface and the deeps and the almost equally +unthinkable trials of its effort to survive after it once becomes +a land animal and starts northward through the horrors of the +Caspakian jungles and forests, it is plainly a wonder that even +a single babe has ever been born to a Galu woman. + +Seven cycles it requires before the seventh Galu can complete the +seventh danger-infested circle since its first Galu ancestor +achieved the state of Galu. For ages before, the ancestors of +this first Galu may have developed from a Band-lu or Bo-lu egg +without ever once completing the whole circle--that is from a +Galu egg, back to a fully developed Galu. + +Bradley's head was whirling before he even commenced to grasp the +complexities of Caspakian evolution; but as the truth slowly +filtered into his understanding--as gradually it became possible +for him to visualize the scheme, it appeared simpler. In fact, +it seemed even less difficult of comprehension than that with +which he was familiar. + +For several minutes after An-Tak ceased speaking, his voice +having trailed off weakly into silence, neither spoke again. +Then the Galu recommenced his, "Food! Food! There is a way out!" +Bradley tossed him another bit of dried meat, waiting patiently +until he had eaten it, this time more slowly. + +"What do you mean by saying there is a way out?" he asked. + +"He who died here just after I came, told me," replied An-Tak. +"He said there was a way out, that he had discovered it but was +too weak to use his knowledge. He was trying to tell me how to +find it when he died. Oh, Luata, if he had lived but a moment more!" + +"They do not feed you here?" asked Bradley. + +"No, they give me water once a day--that is all." + +"But how have you lived, then?" + +"The lizards and the rats," replied An-Tak. "The lizards are not +so bad; but the rats are foul to taste. However, I must eat them +or they would eat me, and they are better than nothing; but of +late they do not come so often, and I have not had a lizard for +a long time. I shall eat though," he mumbled. "I shall eat now, +for you cannot remain awake forever." He laughed, a cackling, dry +laugh. "When you sleep, An-Tak will eat." + +It was horrible. Bradley shuddered. For a long time each sat +in silence. The Englishman could guess why the other made no +sound--he awaited the moment that sleep should overcome his victim. +In the long silence there was born upon Bradley's ears a faint, +monotonous sound as of running water. He listened intently. +It seemed to come from far beneath the floor. + +"What is that noise?" he asked. "That sounds like water running +through a narrow channel." + +"It is the river," replied An-Tak. "Why do you not go to sleep? +It passes directly beneath the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. It runs +through the temple grounds, beneath the temple and under the city. +When we die, they will cut off our heads and throw our bodies into +the river. At the mouth of the river await many large reptiles. +Thus do they feed. The Wieroos do likewise with their own dead, +keeping only the skulls and the wings. Come, let us sleep." + +"Do the reptiles come up the river into the city?" asked Bradley. + +"The water is too cold--they never leave the warm water of the +great pool," replied An-Tak. + +"Let us search for the way out," suggested Bradley. + +An-Tak shook his head. "I have searched for it all these moons," +he said. "If I could not find it, how would you?" + +Bradley made no reply but commenced a diligent examination of the +walls and floor of the room, pressing over each square foot +and tapping with his knuckles. About six feet from the floor +he discovered a sleeping-perch near one end of the apartment. +He asked An-Tak about it, but the Galu said that no Weiroo +had occupied the place since he had been incarcerated there. +Again and again Bradley went over the floor and walls as high +up as he could reach. Finally he swung himself to the perch, +that he might examine at least one end of the room all the way +to the ceiling. + +In the center of the wall close to the top, an area about three +feet square gave forth a hollow sound when he rapped upon it. +Bradley felt over every square inch of that area with the tips of +his fingers. Near the top he found a small round hole a trifle +larger in diameter than his forefinger, which he immediately +stuck into it. The panel, if such it was, seemed about an +inch thick, and beyond it his finger encountered nothing. +Bradley crooked his finger upon the opposite side of the panel +and pulled toward him, steadily but with considerable force. +Suddenly the panel flew inward, nearly precipitating the man to +the floor. It was hinged at the bottom, and when lowered the +outer edge rested upon the perch, making a little platform +parallel with the floor of the room. + +Beyond the opening was an utterly dark void. The Englishman +leaned through it and reached his arm as far as possible into the +blackness but touched nothing. Then he fumbled in his haversack +for a match, a few of which remained to him. When he struck it, +An-Tak gave a cry of terror. Bradley held the light far into the +opening before him and in its flickering rays saw the top of a +ladder descending into a black abyss below. How far down it +extended he could not guess; but that he should soon know +definitely he was positive. + +"You have found it! You have found the way out!" screamed An-Tak. +"Oh, Luata! And now I am too weak to go. Take me with you! +Take me with you!" + +"Shut up!" admonished Bradley. "You will have the whole flock of +birds around our heads in a minute, and neither of us will escape. +Be quiet, and I'll go ahead. If I find a way out, I'll come back +and help you, if you'll promise not to try to eat me up again." + +"I promise," cried An-Tak. "Oh, Luata! How could you blame me? +I am half crazed of hunger and long confinement and the horror of +the lizards and the rats and the constant waiting for death." + +"I know," said Bradley simply. "I'm sorry for you, old top. +Keep a stiff upper lip." And he slipped through the opening, +found the ladder with his feet, closed the panel behind him, and +started downward into the darkness. + +Below him rose more and more distinctly the sound of running water. +The air felt damp and cool. He could see nothing of his +surroundings and felt nothing but the smooth, worn sides and +rungs of the ladder down which he felt his way cautiously lest a +broken rung or a misstep should hurl him downward. + +As he descended thus slowly, the ladder seemed interminable and +the pit bottomless, yet he realized when at last he reached the +bottom that he could not have descended more than fifty feet. +The bottom of the ladder rested on a narrow ledge paved with what +felt like large round stones, but what he knew from experience to +be human skulls. He could not but marvel as to where so many +countless thousands of the things had come from, until he paused +to consider that the infancy of Caspak dated doubtlessly back +into remote ages, far beyond what the outer world considered the +beginning of earthly time. For all these eons the Wieroos might +have been collecting human skulls from their enemies and their +own dead--enough to have built an entire city of them. + +Feeling his way along the narrow ledge, Bradley came presently to +a blank wall that stretched out over the water swirling beneath +him, as far as he could reach. Stooping, he groped about with +one hand, reaching down toward the surface of the water, and +discovered that the bottom of the wall arched above the stream. +How much space there was between the water and the arch he could +not tell, nor how deep the former. There was only one way in +which he might learn these things, and that was to lower himself +into the stream. For only an instant he hesitated weighing +his chances. Behind him lay almost certainly the horrid fate of +An-Tak; before him nothing worse than a comparatively painless +death by drowning. Holding his haversack above his head with one +hand he lowered his feet slowly over the edge of the narrow platform. +Almost immediately he felt the swirling of cold water about his +ankles, and then with a silent prayer he let himself drop gently +into the stream. + +Great was Bradley's relief when he found the water no more +than waist deep and beneath his feet a firm, gravel bottom. +Feeling his way cautiously he moved downward with the current, +which was not so strong as he had imagined from the noise of +the running water. + +Beneath the first arch he made his way, following the winding +curvatures of the right-hand wall. After a few yards of progress +his hand came suddenly in contact with a slimy thing clinging to +the wall--a thing that hissed and scuttled out of reach. What it +was, the man could not know; but almost instantly there was a +splash in the water just ahead of him and then another. + +On he went, passing beneath other arches at varying distances, +and always in utter darkness. Unseen denizens of this great +sewer, disturbed by the intruder, splashed into the water ahead +of him and wriggled away. Time and again his hand touched them +and never for an instant could he be sure that at the next step +some gruesome thing might not attack him. He had strapped his +haversack about his neck, well above the surface of the water, +and in his left hand he carried his knife. Other precautions +there were none to take. + +The monotony of the blind trail was increased by the fact that +from the moment he had started from the foot of the ladder he had +counted his every step. He had promised to return for An-Tak if +it proved humanly possible to do so, and he knew that in the +blackness of the tunnel he could locate the foot of the ladder in +no other way. + +He had taken two hundred and sixty-nine steps--afterward he knew +that he should never forget that number--when something bumped +gently against him from behind. Instantly he wheeled about and +with knife ready to defend himself stretched forth his right hand +to push away the object that now had lodged against his body. +His fingers feeling through the darkness came in contact with +something cold and clammy--they passed to and fro over the thing +until Bradley knew that it was the face of a dead man floating +upon the surface of the stream. With an oath he pushed his +gruesome companion out into mid-stream to float on down toward +the great pool and the awaiting scavengers of the deep. + +At his four hundred and thirteenth step another corpse bumped +against him--how many had passed him without touching he could +not guess; but suddenly he experienced the sensation of being +surrounded by dead faces floating along with him, all set in +hideous grimaces, their dead eyes glaring at this profaning alien +who dared intrude upon the waters of this river of the dead--a +horrid escort, pregnant with dire forebodings and with menace. + +Though he advanced very slowly, he tried always to take steps of +about the same length; so that he knew that though considerable +time had elapsed, yet he had really advanced no more than four +hundred yards when ahead he saw a lessening of the pitch-darkness, +and at the next turn of the stream his surroundings became +vaguelydiscernible. Above him was an arched roof and on either +hand walls pierced at intervals by apertures covered with +wooden doors. Just ahead of him in the roof of the aqueduct +was a round, black hole about thirty inches in diameter. +His eyes still rested upon the opening when there shot downward +from it to the water below the naked body of a human being which +almost immediately rose to the surface again and floated off down +the stream. In the dim light Bradley saw that it was a dead +Wieroo from which the wings and head had been removed. A moment +later another headless body floated past, recalling what An-Tak +had told him of the skull-collecting customs of the Wieroo. +Bradley wondered how it happened that the first corpse he had +encountered in the stream had not been similarly mutilated. + +The farther he advanced now, the lighter it became. The number +of corpses was much smaller than he had imagined, only two more +passing him before, at six hundred steps, or about five hundred +yards, from the point he had taken to the stream, he came to the +end of the tunnel and looked out upon sunlit water, running +between grassy banks. + +One of the last corpses to pass him was still clothed in the +white robe of a Wieroo, blood-stained over the headless neck that +it concealed. + +Drawing closer to the opening leading into the bright daylight, +Bradley surveyed what lay beyond. A short distance before him a +large building stood in the center of several acres of grass and +tree-covered ground, spanning the stream which disappeared +through an opening in its foundation wall. From the large +saucer-shaped roof and the vivid colorings of the various +heterogeneous parts of the structure he recognized it as the +temple past which he had been borne to the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls. + +To and fro flew Wieroos, going to and from the temple. +Others passed on foot across the open grounds, assisting +themselves with their great wings, so that they barely skimmed +the earth. To leave the mouth of the tunnel would have been +to court instant discovery and capture; but by what other +avenue he might escape, Bradley could not guess, unless he +retraced his steps up the stream and sought egress from the +other end of the city. The thought of traversing that dark +and horror-ridden tunnel for perhaps miles he could not +entertain--there must be some other way. Perhaps after dark +he could steal through the temple grounds and continue on +downstream until he had come beyond the city; and so he stood +and waited until his limbs became almost paralyzed with cold, +and he knew that he must find some other plan for escape. + +A half-formed decision to risk an attempt to swim under water to +the temple was crystallizing in spite of the fact that any chance +Wieroo flying above the stream might easily see him, when again +a floating object bumped against him from behind and lodged +across his back. Turning quickly he saw that the thing was what +he had immediately guessed it to be--a headless and wingless +Wieroo corpse. With a grunt of disgust he was about to push it +from him when the white garment enshrouding it suggested a bold +plan to his resourceful brain. Grasping the corpse by an arm he +tore the garment from it and then let the body float downward +toward the temple. With great care he draped the robe about him; +the bloody blotch that had covered the severed neck he arranged +about his own head. His haversack he rolled as tightly as +possible and stuffed beneath his coat over his breast. Then he +fell gently to the surface of the stream and lying upon his back +floated downward with the current and out into the open sunlight. + +Through the weave of the cloth he could distinguish large objects. +He saw a Wieroo flap dismally above him; he saw the banks of the +stream float slowly past; he heard a sudden wail upon the right- +hand shore, and his heart stood still lest his ruse had been +discovered; but never by a move of a muscle did he betray that +aught but a cold lump of clay floated there upon the bosom of the +water, and soon, though it seemed an eternity to him, the direct +sunlight was blotted out, and he knew that he had entered beneath +the temple. + +Quickly he felt for bottom with his feet and as quickly stood +erect, snatching the bloody, clammy cloth from his face. On both +sides were blank walls and before him the river turned a sharp +corner and disappeared. Feeling his way cautiously forward he +approached the turn and looked around the corner. To his left +was a low platform about a foot above the level of the stream, +and onto this he lost no time in climbing, for he was soaked from +head to foot, cold and almost exhausted. + +As he lay resting on the skull-paved shelf, he saw in the center +of the vault above the river another of those sinister round +holes through which he momentarily expected to see a headless +corpse shoot downward in its last plunge to a watery grave. +A few feet along the platform a closed door broke the blankness of +the wall. As he lay looking at it and wondering what lay behind, +his mind filled with fragments of many wild schemes of escape, it +opened and a white robed Wieroo stepped out upon the platform. +The creature carried a large wooden basin filled with rubbish. +Its eyes were not upon Bradley, who drew himself to a squatting +position and crouched as far back in the corner of the niche in +which the platform was set as he could force himself. The Wieroo +stepped to the edge of the platform and dumped the rubbish into +the stream. If it turned away from him as it started to retrace +its steps to the doorway, there was a small chance that it might +not see him; but if it turned toward him there was none at all. +Bradley held his breath. + +The Wieroo paused a moment, gazing down into the water, then it +straightened up and turned toward the Englishman. Bradley did +not move. The Wieroo stopped and stared intently at him. +It approached him questioningly. Still Bradley remained as +though carved of stone. The creature was directly in front +of him. It stopped. There was no chance on earth that it would +not discover what he was. + +With the quickness of a cat, Bradley sprang to his feet and with +all his great strength, backed by his heavy weight, struck the +Wieroo upon the point of the chin. Without a sound the thing +crumpled to the platform, while Bradley, acting almost +instinctively to the urge of the first law of nature, rolled the +inanimate body over the edge into the river. + +Then he looked at the open doorway, crossed the platform and +peered within the apartment beyond. What he saw was a large +room, dimly lighted, and about the side rows of wooden vessels +stacked one upon another. There was no Wieroo in sight, so the +Englishman entered. At the far end of the room was another door, +and as he crossed toward it, he glanced into some of the vessels, +which he found were filled with dried fruits, vegetables and fish. +Without more ado he stuffed his pockets and his haversack full, +thinking of the poor creature awaiting his return in the gloom +of the Place of Seven Skulls. + +When night came, he would return and fetch An-Tak this far at +least; but in the meantime it was his intention to reconnoiter in +the hope that he might discover some easier way out of the city +than that offered by the chill, black channel of the ghastly +river of corpses. + +Beyond the farther door stretched a long passageway from +which closed doorways led into other parts of the cellars of +the temple. A few yards from the storeroom a ladder rose from +the corridor through an aperture in the ceiling. Bradley paused +at the foot of it, debating the wisdom of further investigation +against a return to the river; but strong within him was the +spirit of exploration that has scattered his race to the four +corners of the earth. What new mysteries lay hidden in the +chambers above? The urge to know was strong upon him though his +better judgment warned him that the safer course lay in retreat. +For a moment he stood thus, running his fingers through his hair; +then he cast discretion to the winds and began the ascent. + +In conformity with such Wieroo architecture as he had already +observed, the well through which the ladder rose continually +canted at an angle from the perpendicular. At more or less +regular stages it was pierced by apertures closed by doors, none +of which he could open until he had climbed fully fifty feet from +the river level. Here he discovered a door already ajar opening +into a large, circular chamber, the walls and floors of which +were covered with the skins of wild beasts and with rugs of many +colors; but what interested him most was the occupants of the +room--a Wieroo, and a girl of human proportions. She was +standing with her back against a column which rose from the +center of the apartment from floor to ceiling--a hollow column +about forty inches in diameter in which he could see an opening +some thirty inches across. The girl's side was toward Bradley, +and her face averted, for she was watching the Wieroo, who was +now advancing slowly toward her, talking as he came. + +Bradley could distinctly hear the words of the creature, who was +urging the girl to accompany him to another Wieroo city. "Come with +me," he said, "and you shall have your life; remain here and He Who +Speaks for Luata will claim you for his own; and when he is done +with you, your skull will bleach at the top of a tall staff while +your body feeds the reptiles at the mouth of the River of Death. +Even though you bring into the world a female Wieroo, your fate +will be the same if you do not escape him, while with me you shall +have life and food and none shall harm you." + +He was quite close to the girl when she replied by striking him +in the face with all her strength. "Until I am slain," she cried, +"I shall fight against you all." From the throat of the Wieroo +issued that dismal wail that Bradley had heard so often in the +past--it was like a scream of pain smothered to a groan--and then +the thing leaped upon the girl, its face working in hideous +grimaces as it clawed and beat at her to force her to the floor. + +The Englishman was upon the point of entering to defend her when +a door at the opposite side of the chamber opened to admit a huge +Wieroo clothed entirely in red. At sight of the two struggling +upon the floor the newcomer raised his voice in a shriek of rage. +Instantly the Wieroo who was attacking the girl leaped to his +feet and faced the other. + +"I heard," screamed he who had just entered the room. "I heard, +and when He Who Speaks for Lu-ata shall have heard--" He paused +and made a suggestive movement of a finger across his throat. + +"He shall not hear," returned the first Wieroo as, with a +powerful motion of his great wings, he launched himself upon the +red-robed figure. The latter dodged the first charge, drew a +wicked-looking curved blade from beneath its red robe, spread its +wings and dived for its antagonist. Beating their wings, wailing +and groaning, the two hideous things sparred for position. +The white-robed one being unarmed sought to grasp the other by +the wrist of its knife-hand and by the throat, while the latter +hopped around on its dainty white feet, seeking an opening for a +mortal blow. Once it struck and missed, and then the other +rushed in and clinched, at the same time securing both the holds +it sought. Immediately the two commenced beating at each other's +heads with the joints of their wings, kicking with their soft, +puny feet and biting, each at the other's face. + +In the meantime the girl moved about the room, keeping out of the +way of the duelists, and as she did so, Bradley caught a glimpse +of her full face and immediately recognized her as the girl of +the place of the yellow door. He did not dare intervene now +until one of the Wieroo had overcome the other, lest the two +should turn upon him at once, when the chances were fair that he +would be defeated in so unequal a battle as the curved blade of +the red Wieroo would render it, and so he waited, watching the +white-robed figure slowly choking the life from him of the red robe. +The protruding tongue and the popping eyes proclaimed that the +end was near and a moment later the red robe sank to the floor +of the room, the curved blade slipping from nerveless fingers. +For an instant longer the victor clung to the throat of his +defeated antagonist and then he rose, dragging the body after +him, and approached the central column. Here he raised the body +and thrust it into the aperture where Bradley saw it drop +suddenly from sight. Instantly there flashed into his memory the +circular openings in the roof of the river vault and the corpses +he had seen drop from them to the water beneath. + +As the body disappeared, the Wieroo turned and cast about the +room for the girl. For a moment he stood eying her. "You saw," +he muttered, "and if you tell them, He Who Speaks for Luata will +have my wings severed while still I live and my head will be +severed and I shall be cast into the River of Death, for thus it +happens even to the highest who slay one of the red robe. You saw, +and you must die!" he ended with a scream as he rushed upon the girl. + +Bradley waited no longer. Leaping into the room he ran for the +Wieroo, who had already seized the girl, and as he ran, he +stooped and picked up the curved blade. The creature's back was +toward him as, with his left hand, he seized it by the neck. +Like a flash the great wings beat backward as the creature +turned, and Bradley was swept from his feet, though he still +retained his hold upon the blade. Instantly the Wieroo was +upon him. Bradley lay slightly raised upon his left elbow, his +right arm free, and as the thing came close, he cut at the hideous +face with all the strength that lay within him. The blade struck +at the junction of the neck and torso and with such force as to +completely decapitate the Wieroo, the hideous head dropping to +the floor and the body falling forward upon the Englishman. +Pushing it from him he rose to his feet and faced the wide-eyed girl. + +"Luata!" she exclaimed. "How came you here?" + +Bradley shrugged. "Here I am," he said; "but the thing now is to +get out of here--both of us." + +The girl shook her head. "It cannot be," she stated sadly. + +"That is what I thought when they dropped me into the Blue Place +of Seven Skulls," replied Bradley. "Can't be done. I did it.-- +Here! You're mussing up the floor something awful, you." This last +to the dead Wieroo as he stooped and dragged the corpse to the +central shaft, where he raised it to the aperture and let it +slip into the tube. Then he picked up the head and tossed it +after the body. "Don't be so glum," he admonished the former as +he carried it toward the well; "smile!" + +"But how can he smile?" questioned the girl, a half-puzzled, +half-frightened look upon her face. "He is dead." + +"That's so," admitted Bradley, "and I suppose he does feel a bit +cut up about it." + +The girl shook her head and edged away from the man--toward the door. + +"Come!" said the Englishman. "We've got to get out of here. +If you don't know a better way than the river, it's the river then." + +The girl still eyed him askance. "But how could he smile when he +was dead?" + +Bradley laughed aloud. "I thought we English were supposed to +have the least sense of humor of any people in the world," he +cried; "but now I've found one human being who hasn't any. +Of course you don't know half I'm saying; but don't worry, little +girl; I'm not going to hurt you, and if I can get you out of +here, I'll do it. + +Even if she did not understand all he said, she at least read +something in his smiling, countenance--something which reassured her. +"I do not fear you," she said; "though I do not understand all +that you say even though you speak my own tongue and use words +that I know. But as for escaping"--she sighed--"alas, how can +it be done?" + +"I escaped from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," Bradley +reminded her. "Come!" And he turned toward the shaft and +the ladder that he had ascended from the river. "We cannot +waste time here." + +The girl followed him; but at the doorway both drew back, for +from below came the sound of some one ascending. + +Bradley tiptoed to the door and peered cautiously into the well; +then he stepped back beside the girl. "There are half a dozen of +them coming up; but possibly they will pass this room." + +"No," she said, "they will pass directly through this room--they +are on their way to Him Who Speaks for Luata. We may be able to +hide in the next room--there are skins there beneath which we +may crawl. They will not stop in that room; but they may stop in +this one for a short time--the other room is blue." + +"What's that go to do with it?" demanded the Englishman. + +"They fear blue," she replied. "In every room where murder has +been done you will find blue--a certain amount for each murder. +When the room is all blue, they shun it. This room has much +blue; but evidently they kill mostly in the next room, which is +now all blue." + +"But there is blue on the outside of every house I have seen," +said Bradley. + +"Yes, " assented the girl, "and there are blue rooms in each of +those houses--when all the rooms are blue then the whole outside +of the house will be blue as is the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. +There are many such here." + +"And the skulls with blue upon them?" inquired Bradley. +"Did they belong to murderers?" + +"They were murdered--some of them; those with only a small amount +of blue were murderers--known murderers. All Wieroos are murderers. +When they have committed a certain number of murders without being +caught at it, they confess to Him Who Speaks for Luata and are +advanced, after which they wear robes with a slash of some color-- +I think yellow comes first. When they reach a point where the +entire robe is of yellow, they discard it for a white robe with a +red slash; and when one wins a complete red robe, he carries such +a long, curved knife as you have in your hand; after that comes +the blue slash on a white robe, and then, I suppose, an all blue robe. +I have never seen such a one." + +As they talked in low tones they had moved from the room of the +death shaft into an all blue room adjoining, where they sat down +together in a corner with their backs against a wall and drew a +pile of hides over themselves. A moment later they heard a +number of Wieroos enter the chamber. They were talking together +as they crossed the floor, or the two could not have heard them. +Halfway across the chamber they halted as the door toward which +they were advancing opened and a dozen others of their kind +entered the apartment. + +Bradley could guess all this by the increased volume of sound and +the dismal greetings; but the sudden silence that almost +immediately ensued he could not fathom, for he could not know +that from beneath one of the hides that covered him protruded one +of his heavy army shoes, or that some eighteen large Wieroos with +robes either solid red or slashed with red or blue were standing +gazing at it. Nor could he hear their stealthy approach. + +The first intimation he had that he had been discovered was when +his foot was suddenly seized, and he was yanked violently from +beneath the hides to find himself surrounded by menacing blades. +They would have slain him on the spot had not one clothed all in +red held them back, saying that He Who Speaks for Luata desired +to see this strange creature. + +As they led Bradley away, he caught an opportunity to glance back +toward the hides to see what had become of the girl, and, to his +gratification, he discovered that she still lay concealed beneath +the hides. He wondered if she would have the nerve to attempt +the river trip alone and regretted that now he could not +accompany her. He felt rather all in, himself, more so than +he had at any time since he had been captured by the Wieroo, +for there appeared not the slightest cause for hope in his +present predicament. He had dropped the curved blade beneath the +hides when he had been jerked so violently from their fancied security. +It was almost in a spirit of resigned hopelessness that he quietly +accompanied his captors through various chambers and corridors +toward the heart of the temple. + + + +Chapter 4 + + +The farther the group progressed, the more barbaric and the more +sumptuous became the decorations. Hides of leopard and tiger +predominated, apparently because of their more beautiful +markings, and decorative skulls became more and more numerous. +Many of the latter were mounted in precious metals and set with +colored stones and priceless gems, while thick upon the hides +that covered the walls were golden ornaments similar to those +worn by the girl and those which had filled the chests he had +examined in the storeroom of Fosh-bal-soj, leading the Englishman +to the conviction that all such were spoils of war or theft, +since each piece seemed made for personal adornment, while in so +far as he had seen, no Wieroo wore ornaments of any sort. + +And also as they advanced the more numerous became the Wieroos +moving hither and thither within the temple. Many now were the +solid red robes and those that were slashed with blue--a +veritable hive of murderers. + +At last the party halted in a room in which were many Wieroos who +gathered about Bradley questioning his captors and examining him +and his apparel. One of the party accompanying the Englishman +spoke to a Wieroo that stood beside a door leading from the room. +"Tell Him Who Speaks for Luata," he said, "that Fosh-bal-soj we +could not find; but that in returning we found this creature +within the temple, hiding. It must be the same that Fosh-bal-soj +captured in the Sto-lu country during the last darkness. +Doubtless He Who Speaks for Luata would wish to see and question +this strange thing." + +The creature addressed turned and slipped through the doorway, +closing the door after it, but first depositing its curved blade +upon the floor without. Its post was immediately taken by +another and Bradley now saw that at least twenty such guards +loitered in the immediate vicinity. The doorkeeper was gone but +for a moment, and when he returned, he signified that Bradley's +party was to enter the next chamber; but first each of the +Wieroos removed his curved weapon and laid it upon the floor. +The door was swung open, and the party, now reduced to Bradley +and five Wieroos, was ushered across the threshold into a large, +irregularly shaped room in which a single, giant Wieroo whose +robe was solid blue sat upon a raised dais. + +The creature's face was white with the whiteness of a corpse, its +dead eyes entirely expressionless, its cruel, thin lips tight-drawn +against yellow teeth in a perpetual grimace. Upon either side of +it lay an enormous, curved sword, similar to those with which some +of the other Wieroos had been armed, but larger and heavier. +Constantly its clawlike fingers played with one or the other of +these weapons. + +The walls of the chamber as well as the floor were entirely +hidden by skins and woven fabrics. Blue predominated in all +the colorations. Fastened against the hides were many pairs of +Wieroo wings, mounted so that they resembled long, black shields. +Upon the ceiling were painted in blue characters a bewildering +series of hieroglyphics and upon pedestals set against the walls +or standing out well within the room were many human skulls. + +As the Wieroos approached the figure upon the dais, they leaned +far forward, raising their wings above their heads and stretching +their necks as though offering them to the sharp swords of the +grim and hideous creature. + +"O Thou Who Speakest for Luata!" exclaimed one of the party. +"We bring you the strange creature that Fosh-bal-soj captured +and brought thither at thy command." + +So this then was the godlike figure that spoke for divinity! +This arch-murderer was the Caspakian representative of God on Earth! +His blue robe announced him the one and the seeming humility of his +minions the other. For a long minute he glared at Bradley. Then he +began to question him--from whence he came and how, the name and +description of his native country, and a hundred other queries. + +"Are you cos-ata-lu?" the creature asked. + +Bradley replied that he was and that all his kind were, as well +as every living thing in his part of the world. + +"Can you tell me the secret?" asked the creature. + +Bradley hesitated and then, thinking to gain time, replied in +the affirmative. + +"What is it?" demanded the Wieroo, leaning far forward and +exhibiting every evidence of excited interest. + +Bradley leaned forward and whispered: "It is for your ears alone; +I will not divulge it to others, and then only on condition that +you carry me and the girl I saw in the place of the yellow door +near to that of Fosh-bal-soj back to her own country." + +The thing rose in wrath, holding one of its swords above its head. + +"Who are you to make terms for Him Who Speaks for Luata?" +it shrilled. "Tell me the secret or die where you stand!" + +"And if I die now, the secret goes with me," Bradley reminded him. +"Never again will you get the opportunity to question another of +my kind who knows the secret." Anything to gain time, to get the +rest of the Wieroos from the room, that he might plan some scheme +for escape and put it into effect. + +The creature turned upon the leader of the party that had +brought Bradley. + +"Is the thing with weapons?" it asked. + +"No," was the response. + +"Then go; but tell the guard to remain close by," commanded the +high one. + +The Wieroos salaamed and withdrew, closing the door behind them. +He Who Speaks for Luata grasped a sword nervously in his right hand. +At his left side lay the second weapon. It was evident that he +lived in constant dread of being assassinated. The fact that he +permitted none with weapons within his presence and that he +always kept two swords at his side pointed to this. + +Bradley was racking his brain to find some suggestion of a plan +whereby he might turn the situation to his own account. His eyes +wandered past the weird figure before him; they played about the +walls of the apartment as though hoping to draw inspiration from +the dead skulls and the hides and the wings, and then they came +back to the face of the Wieroo god, now working in anger. + +"Quick!" screamed the thing. "The secret!" + +"Will you give me and the girl our freedom?" insisted Bradley. + +For an instant the thing hesitated, and then it grumbled "Yes." +At the same instant Bradley saw two hides upon the wall directly +back of the dais separate and a face appear in the opening. +No change of expression upon the Englishman's countenance betrayed +that he had seen aught to surprise him, though surprised he was +for the face in the aperture was that of the girl he had but just +left hidden beneath the hides in another chamber. A white and +shapely arm now pushed past the face into the room, and in the +hand, tightly clutched, was the curved blade, smeared with blood, +that Bradley had dropped beneath the hides at the moment he had +been discovered and drawn from his concealment. + +"Listen, then," said Bradley in a low voice to the Wieroo. +"You shall know the secret of cos-ata-lu as well as do +I; but none other may hear it. Lean close--I will whisper +it into your ear." + +He moved forward and stepped upon the dais. The creature raised +its sword ready to strike at the first indication of treachery, +and Bradley stooped beneath the blade and put his ear close to +the gruesome face. As he did so, he rested his weight upon his +hands, one upon either side of the Wieroo's body, his right hand +upon the hilt of the spare sword lying at the left of Him Who +Speaks for Luata. + +"This then is the secret of both life and death," he whispered, +and at the same instant he grasped the Wieroo by the right wrist +and with his own right hand swung the extra blade in a sudden +vicious blow against the creature's neck before the thing could +give even a single cry of alarm; then without waiting an instant +Bradley leaped past the dead god and vanished behind the hides +that had hidden the girl. + +Wide-eyed and panting the girl seized his arm. "Oh, what have +you done?" she cried. "He Who Speaks for Luata will be avenged +by Luata. Now indeed must you die. There is no escape, for even +though we reached my own country Luata can find you out." + +"Bosh!" exclaimed Bradley, and then: "But you were going to knife +him yourself." + +"Then I alone should have died," she replied. + +Bradley scratched his head. "Neither of us is going to die," he +said; "at least not at the hands of any god. If we don't get out +of here though, we'll die right enough. Can you find your way +back to the room where I first came upon you in the temple?" + +"I know the way," replied the girl; "but I doubt if we can go +back without being seen. I came hither because I only met +Wieroos who knew that I am supposed now to be in the temple; +but you could go elsewhere without being discovered." + +Bradley's ingenuity had come up against a stone wall. +There seemed no possibility of escape. He looked about him. +They were in a small room where lay a litter of rubbish--torn +bits of cloth, old hides, pieces of fiber rope. In the center +of the room was a cylindrical shaft with an opening in its face. +Bradley knew it for what it was. Here the arch-fiend dragged his +victims and cast their bodies into the river of death far below. +The floor about the opening in the shaft and the sides of the +shaft were clotted thick with a dried, dark brown substance that +the Englishman knew had once been blood. The place had the +appearance of having been a veritable shambles. An odor of +decaying flesh permeated the air. + +The Englishman crossed to the shaft and peered into the opening. +All below was dark as pitch; but at the bottom he knew was +the river. Suddenly an inspiration and a bold scheme leaped to +his mind. Turning quickly he hunted about the room until he +found what he sought--a quantity of the rope that lay strewn here +and there. With rapid fingers he unsnarled the different lengths, +the girl helping him, and then he tied the ends together until he +had three ropes about seventy-five feet in length. He fastened +these together at each end and without a word secured one of the +ends about the girl's body beneath her arms. + +"Don't be frightened," he said at length, as he led her toward +the opening in the shaft. "I'm going to lower you to the river, +and then I'm coming down after you. When you are safe below, +give two quick jerks upon the rope. If there is danger there and +you want me to draw you up into the shaft, jerk once. Don't be +afraid--it is the only way." + +"I am not afraid," replied the girl, rather haughtily Bradley +thought, and herself climbed through the aperture and hung by her +hands waiting for Bradley to lower her. + +As rapidly as was consistent with safety, the man paid out the rope. +When it was about half out, he heard loud cries and wails suddenly +arise within the room they had just quitted. The slaying of their +god had been discovered by the Wieroos. A search for the slayer +would begin at once. + +Lord! Would the girl never reach the river? At last, just as he +was positive that searchers were already entering the room behind +him, there came two quick tugs at the rope. Instantly Bradley +made the rest of the strands fast about the shaft, slipped into +the black tube and began a hurried descent toward the river. +An instant later he stood waist deep in water beside the girl. +Impulsively she reached toward him and grasped his arm. +A strange thrill ran through him at the contact; but he only cut +the rope from about her body and lifted her to the little shelf +at the river's side. + +"How can we leave here?" she asked. + +"By the river," he replied; "but first I must go back to the +Blue Place of Seven Skulls and get the poor devil I left there. +I'll have to wait until after dark, though, as I cannot pass +through the open stretch of river in the temple gardens by day." + +"There is another way," said the girl. "I have never seen +it; but often I have heard them speak of it--a corridor that +runs beside the river from one end of the city to the other. +Through the gardens it is below ground. If we could find an +entrance to it, we could leave here at once. It is not safe here, +for they will search every inch of the temple and the grounds." + +"Come," said Bradley. "We'll have a look for it, anyway." And so +saying he approached one of the doors that opened onto the +skull-paved shelf. + +They found the corridor easily, for it paralleled the river, +separated from it only by a single wall. It took them beneath the +gardens and the city, always through inky darkness. After they +had reached the other side of the gardens, Bradley counted his +steps until he had retraced as many as he had taken coming down +the stream; but though they had to grope their way along, it was +a much more rapid trip than the former. + +When he thought he was about opposite the point at which he had +descended from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls, he sought and +found a doorway leading out onto the river; and then, still in +the blackest darkness, he lowered himself into the stream and +felt up and down upon the opposite side for the little shelf and +the ladder. Ten yards from where he had emerged he found them, +while the girl waited upon the opposite side. + +To ascend to the secret panel was the work of but a minute. +Here he paused and listened lest a Wieroo might be visiting the +prison in search of him or the other inmate; but no sound came from +the gloomy interior. Bradley could not but muse upon the joy of +the man on the opposite side when he should drop down to him with +food and a new hope for escape. Then he opened the panel and +looked into the room. The faint light from the grating above +revealed the pile of rags in one corner; but the man lay beneath +them, he made no response to Bradley's low greeting. + +The Englishman lowered himself to the floor of the room and +approached the rags. Stooping he lifted a corner of them. +Yes, there was the man asleep. Bradley shook him--there was +no response. He stooped lower and in the dim light examined +An-Tak; then he stood up with a sigh. A rat leaped from beneath +the coverings and scurried away. "Poor devil!" muttered Bradley. + +He crossed the room to swing himself to the perch preparatory to +quitting the Blue Place of Seven Skulls forever. Beneath the +perch he paused. "I'll not give them the satisfaction," he growled. +"Let them believe that he escaped." + +Returning to the pile of rags he gathered the man into his arms. +It was difficult work raising him to the high perch and dragging +him through the small opening and thus down the ladder; but +presently it was done, and Bradley had lowered the body into the +river and cast it off. "Good-bye, old top!" he whispered. + +A moment later he had rejoined the girl and hand in hand they +were following the dark corridor upstream toward the farther end +of the city. She told him that the Wieroos seldom frequented +these lower passages, as the air here was too chill for them; but +occasionally they came, and as they could see quite as well by +night as by day, they would be sure to discover Bradley and the girl. + +"If they come close enough," she said, "we can see their eyes +shining in the dark--they resemble dull splotches of light. +They glow, but do not blaze like the eyes of the tiger or the lion." + +The man could not but note the very evident horror with which she +mentioned the creatures. To him they were uncanny; but she had +been used to them for a year almost, and probably all her life +she had either seen or heard of them constantly. + +"Why do you fear them so?" he asked. "It seems more than any +ordinary fear of the harm they can do you." + +She tried to explain; but the nearest he could gather was that +she looked upon the Wieroo almost as supernatural beings. +"There is a legend current among my people that once the Wieroo +were unlike us only in that they possessed rudimentary wings. +They lived in villages in the Galu country, and while the two peoples +often warred, they held no hatred for one another. In those days +each race came up from the beginning and there was great rivalry +as to which was the higher in the scale of evolution. The Wieroo +developed the first cos-ata-lu but they were always male-- +never could they reproduce woman. Slowly they commenced to +develop certain attributes of the mind which, they considered, +placed them upon a still higher level and which gave them many +advantages over us, seeing which they thought only of mental +development--their minds became like stars and the rivers, moving +always in the same manner, never varying. They called this +tas-ad, which means doing everything the right way, or, in +other words, the Wieroo way. If foe or friend, right or wrong, +stood in the way of tas-ad, then it must be crushed. + +"Soon the Galus and the lesser races of men came to hate and +fear them. It was then that the Wieroos decided to carry +tas-ad into every part of the world. They were very +warlike and very numerous, although they had long since adopted +the policy of slaying all those among them whose wings did not +show advanced development. + +"It took ages for all this to happen--very slowly came the +different changes; but at last the Wieroos had wings they +could use. But by reason of always making war upon their neighbors +they were hated by every creature of Caspak, for no one wanted +their tas-ad, and so they used their wings to fly to this +island when the other races turned against them and threatened to +kill them all. So cruel had they become and so bloodthirsty that +they no longer had hearts that beat with love or sympathy; but +their very cruelty and wickedness kept them from conquering the +other races, since they were also cruel and wicked to one +another, so that no Wieroo trusted another. + +"Always were they slaying those above them that they might rise +in power and possessions, until at last came the more powerful +than the others with a tas-ad all his own. He gathered +about him a few of the most terrible Wieroos, and among them they +made laws which took from all but these few Wieroos every weapon +they possessed. + +"Now their tas-ad has reached a high plane among them. +They make many wonderful things that we cannot make. They think +great thoughts, no doubt, and still dream of greatness to come, +but their thoughts and their acts are regulated by ages of +custom--they are all alike--and they are most unhappy. + +As the girl talked, the two moved steadily along the dark +passageway beside the river. They had advanced a considerable +distance when there sounded faintly from far ahead the muffled +roar of falling water, which increased in volume as they moved +forward until at last it filled the corridor with a deafening sound. +Then the corridor ended in a blank wall; but in a niche to the +right was a ladder leading aloft, and to the left was a door +opening onto the river. Bradley tried the latter first and +as he opened it, felt a heavy spray against his face. The little +shelf outside the doorway was wet and slippery, the roaring of +the water tremendous. There could be but one explanation--they +had reached a waterfall in the river, and if the corridor +actually terminated here, their escape was effectually cut off, +since it was quite evidently impossible to follow the bed of the +river and ascend the falls. + +As the ladder was the only alternative, the two turned toward +it and, the man first, began the ascent, which was through a +well similar to that which had led him to the upper floors of +the temple. As he climbed, Bradley felt for openings in the sides +of the shaft; but he discovered none below fifty feet. The first +he came to was ajar, letting a faint light into the well. As he +paused, the girl climbed to his side, and together they looked +through the crack into a low-ceiled chamber in which were several +Galu women and an equal number of hideous little replicas of the +full-grown Wieroos with which Bradley was not quite familiar. + +He could feel the body of the girl pressed close to his tremble +as her eyes rested upon the inmates of the room, and involuntarily +his arm encircled her shoulders as though to protect her from some +danger which he sensed without recognizing. + +"Poor things," she whispered. "This is their horrible fate--to +be imprisoned here beneath the surface of the city with their +hideous offspring whom they hate as they hate their fathers. +A Wieroo keeps his children thus hidden until they are full-grown +lest they be murdered by their fellows. The lower rooms of the +city are filled with many such as these." + +Several feet above was a second door beyond which they found a +small room stored with food in wooden vessels. A grated window +in one wall opened above an alley, and through it they could see +that they were just below the roof of the building. Darkness was +coming, and at Bradley's suggestion they decided to remain hidden +here until after dark and then to ascend to the roof and reconnoiter. + +Shortly after they had settled themselves they heard something +descending the ladder from above. They hoped that it would +continue on down the well and fairly held their breath as the +sound approached the door to the storeroom. Their hearts sank as +they heard the door open and from between cracks in the vessels +behind which they hid saw a yellow-slashed Wieroo enter the room. +Each recognized him immediately, the girl indicating the fact of +her own recognition by a sudden pressure of her fingers on +Bradley's arm. It was the Wieroo of the yellow slashing whose +abode was the place of the yellow door in which Bradley had first +seen the girl. + +The creature carried a wooden bowl which it filled with dried +food from several of the vessels; then it turned and quit the room. +Bradley could see through the partially open doorway that it +descended the ladder. The girl told him that it was taking the +food to the women and the young below, and that while it might +return immediately, the chances were that it would remain for +some time. + +"We are just below the place of the yellow door," she said. +"It is far from the edge of the city; so far that we may not +hope to escape if we ascend to the roofs here." + +"I think," replied the man, "that of all the places in Oo-oh this +will be the easiest to escape from. Anyway, I want to return to +the place of the yellow door and get my pistol if it is there." + +"It is still there," replied, the girl. "I saw it placed in a chest +where he keeps the things he takes from his prisoners and victims." + +"Good!" exclaimed Bradley. "Now come, quickly. "And the two +crossed the room to the well and ascended the ladder a short +distance to its top where they found another door that opened +into a vacant room--the same in which Bradley had first met +the girl. To find the pistol was a matter of but a moment's +search on the part of Bradley's companion; and then, at the +Englishman's signal, she followed him to the yellow door. + +It was quite dark without as the two entered the narrow passage +between two buildings. A few steps brought them undiscovered to +the doorway of the storeroom where lay the body of Fosh-bal-soj. +In the distance, toward the temple, they could hear sounds as of +a great gathering of Wieroos--the peculiar, uncanny wailing +rising above the dismal flapping of countless wings. + +"They have heard of the killing of Him Who Speaks for Luata," +whispered the girl. "Soon they will spread in all directions +searching for us." + +"And will they find us?" + +"As surely as Lua gives light by day," she replied; "and when +they find us, they will tear us to pieces, for only the Wieroos +may murder--only they may practice tas-ad." + +"But they will not kill you," said Bradley. "You did not slay him." + +"It will make no difference," she insisted. "If they find us +together they will slay us both." + +"Then they won't find us together," announced Bradley decisively. +"You stay right here--you won't be any worse off than before I +came--and I'll get as far as I can and account for as many of the +beggars as possible before they get me. Good-bye! You're a mighty +decent little girl. I wish that I might have helped you." + +"No," she cried. "Do not leave me. I would rather die. I had +hoped and hoped to find some way to return to my own country. +I wanted to go back to An-Tak, who must be very lonely without me; +but I know that it can never be. It is difficult to kill hope, +though mine is nearly dead. Do not leave me." + +"An-Tak!" Bradley repeated. "You loved a man called An-Tak?" + +"Yes," replied the girl. "An-Tak was away, hunting, when the +Wieroo caught me. How he must have grieved for me! He also was +cos-ata-lu, twelve moons older than I, and all our lives we +have been together. + +Bradley remained silent. So she loved An-Tak. He hadn't the +heart to tell her that An-Tak had died, or how. + +At the door of Fosh-bal-soj's storeroom they halted to listen. +No sound came from within, and gently Bradley pushed open the door. +All was inky darkness as they entered; but presently their eyes +became accustomed to the gloom that was partially relieved by the +soft starlight without. The Englishman searched and found those +things for which he had come--two robes, two pairs of dead wings +and several lengths of fiber rope. One pair of the wings he +adjusted to the girl's shoulders by means of the rope. Then he +draped the robe about her, carrying the cowl over her head. + +He heard her gasp of astonishment when she realized the ingenuity +and boldness of his plan; then he directed her to adjust the other +pair of wings and the robe upon him. Working with strong, deft +fingers she soon had the work completed, and the two stepped out +upon the roof, to all intent and purpose genuine Wieroos. Besides his +pistol Bradley carried the sword of the slain Wieroo prophet, while +the girl was armed with the small blade of the red Wieroo. + +Side by side they walked slowly across the roofs toward the north +edge of the city. Wieroos flapped above them and several times +they passed others walking or sitting upon the roofs. From the +temple still rose the sounds of commotion, now pierced by +occasional shrill screams. + +"The murderers are abroad," whispered the girl. "Thus will +another become the tongue of Luata. It is well for us, since it +keeps them too busy to give the time for searching for us. +They think that we cannot escape the city, and they know that +we cannot leave the island--and so do I." + +Bradley shook his head. "If there is any way, we will find it," +he said. + +"There is no way," replied the girl. + +Bradley made no response, and in silence they continued until the +outer edge of roofs was visible before them. "We are almost +there," he whispered. + +The girl felt for his fingers and pressed them. He could feel +hers trembling as he returned the pressure, nor did he relinquish +her hand; and thus they came to the edge of the last roof. + +Here they halted and looked about them. To be seen attempting to +descend to the ground below would be to betray the fact that they +were not Wieroos. Bradley wished that their wings were attached +to their bodies by sinew and muscle rather than by ropes of fiber. +A Wieroo was flapping far overhead. Two more stood near a door a +few yards distant. Standing between these and one of the outer +pedestals that supported one of the numerous skulls Bradley made +one end of a piece of rope fast about the pedestal and dropped +the other end to the ground outside the city. Then they waited. + +It was an hour before the coast was entirely clear and then a +moment came when no Wieroo was in sight. "Now!" whispered +Bradley; and the girl grasped the rope and slid over the edge of +the roof into the darkness below. A moment later Bradley felt +two quick pulls upon the rope and immediately followed to the +girl's side. + +Across a narrow clearing they made their way and into a wood beyond. +All night they walked, following the river upward toward its source, +and at dawn they took shelter in a thicket beside the stream. At no +time did they hear the cry of a carnivore, and though many startled +animals fled as they approached, they were not once menaced by a +wild beast. When Bradley expressed surprise at the absence of the +fiercest beasts that are so numerous upon the mainland of Caprona, +the girl explained the reason that is contained in one of their +ancient legends. + +"When the Wieroos first developed wings upon which they could +fly, they found this island devoid of any life other than a +few reptiles that live either upon land or in the water and +these only close to the coast. Requiring meat for food the +Wieroos carried to the island such animals as they wished for +that purpose. They still occasionally bring them, and this +with the natural increase keeps them provided with flesh." + +"As it will us," suggested Bradley. + +The first day they remained in hiding, eating only the dried food +that Bradley had brought with him from the temple storeroom, and +the next night they set out again up the river, continuing +steadily on until almost dawn, when they came to low hills where +the river wound through a gorge--it was little more than rivulet +now, the water clear and cold and filled with fish similar to +brook trout though much larger. Not wishing to leave the stream +the two waded along its bed to a spot where the gorge widened +between perpendicular bluffs to a wooded acre of level land. +Here they stopped, for here also the stream ended. They had +reached its source--many cold springs bubbling up from the center +of a little natural amphitheater in the hills and forming a clear +and beautiful pool overshadowed by trees upon one side and +bounded by a little clearing upon the other. + +With the coming of the sun they saw they had stumbled upon a +place where they might remain hidden from the Wieroos for a long +time and also one that they could defend against these winged +creatures, since the trees would shield them from an attack from +above and also hamper the movements of the creatures should they +attempt to follow them into the wood. + +For three days they rested here before trying to explore the +neighboring country. On the fourth, Bradley stated that he was +going to scale the bluffs and learn what lay beyond. He told the +girl that she should remain in hiding; but she refused to be +left, saying that whatever fate was to be his, she intended to +share it, so that he was at last forced to permit her to come +with him. Through woods at the summit of the bluff they made +their way toward the north and had gone but a short distance when +the wood ended and before them they saw the waters of the inland +sea and dimly in the distance the coveted shore. + +The beach lay some two hundred yards from the foot of the hill +on which they stood, nor was there a tree nor any other form of +shelter between them and the water as far up and down the coast +as they could see. Among other plans Bradley had thought of +constructing a covered raft upon which they might drift to the +mainland; but as such a contrivance would necessarily be of +considerable weight, it must be built in the water of the sea, +since they could not hope to move it even a short distance overland. + +"If this wood was only at the edge of the water," he sighed. + +"But it is not," the girl reminded him, and then: "Let us make +the best of it. We have escaped from death for a time at least. +We have food and good water and peace and each other. What more +could we have upon the mainland?" + +"But I thought you wanted to get back to your own country!" +he exclaimed. + +She cast her eyes upon the ground and half turned away. "I do," +she said, "yet I am happy here. I could be little happier there." + +Bradley stood in silent thought. "`We have food and good water +and peace and each other!'" he repeated to himself. He turned +then and looked at the girl, and it was as though in the days +that they had been together this was the first time that he +had really seen her. The circumstances that had thrown them +together, the dangers through which they had passed, all the +weird and horrible surroundings that had formed the background of +his knowledge of her had had their effect--she had been but the +companion of an adventure; her self-reliance, her endurance, her +loyalty, had been only what one man might expect of another, and +he saw that he had unconsciously assumed an attitude toward her +that he might have assumed toward a man. Yet there had been a +difference--he recalled now the strange sensation of elation that +had thrilled him upon the occasions when the girl had pressed his +hand in hers, and the depression that had followed her announcement +of her love for An-Tak. + +He took a step toward her. A fierce yearning to seize her and +crush her in his arms, swept over him, and then there flashed +upon the screen of recollection the picture of a stately hall set +amidst broad gardens and ancient trees and of a proud old man +with beetling brows--an old man who held his head very high--and +Bradley shook his head and turned away again. + +They went back then to their little acre, and the days came +and went, and the man fashioned spear and bow and arrows and +hunted with them that they might have meat, and he made hooks +of fishbone and caught fishes with wondrous flies of his own +invention; and the girl gathered fruits and cooked the flesh +and the fish and made beds of branches and soft grasses. +She cured the hides of the animals he killed and made them +soft by much pounding. She made sandals for herself and for +the man and fashioned a hide after the manner of those worn +by the warriors of her tribe and made the man wear it, for his +own garments were in rags. + +She was always the same--sweet and kind and helpful--but always +there was about her manner and her expression just a trace of +wistfulness, and often she sat and looked at the man when he did +not know it, her brows puckered in thought as though she were +trying to fathom and to understand him. + +In the face of the cliff, Bradley scooped a cave from the rotted +granite of which the hill was composed, making a shelter for them +against the rains. He brought wood for their cook-fire which +they used only in the middle of the day--a time when there was +little likelihood of Wieroos being in the air so far from their +city--and then he learned to bank it with earth in such a way that +the embers held until the following noon without giving off smoke. + +Always he was planning on reaching the mainland, and never a day +passed that he did not go to the top of the hill and look out +across the sea toward the dark, distant line that meant for +him comparative freedom and possibly reunion with his comrades. +The girl always went with him, standing at his side and watching the +stern expression on his face with just a tinge of sadness on her own. + +"You are not happy," she said once. + +"I should be over there with my men," he replied. "I do not know +what may have happened to them." + +"I want you to be happy," she said quite simply; "but I should +be very lonely if you went away and left me here." + +He put his hand on her shoulder. "I would not do that, little +girl," he said gently. "If you cannot go with me, I shall not go. +If either of us must go alone, it will be you." + +Her face lighted to a wondrous smile. "Then we shall not be +separated," she said, "for I shall never leave you as long as we +both live." + +He looked down into her face for a moment and then: "Who was +An-Tak? " he asked. + +"My brother," she replied. "Why?" + +And then, even less than before, could he tell her. It was then +that he did something he had never done before--he put his arms +about her and stooping, kissed her forehead. "Until you find +An-Tak, he said, "I will be your brother." + +She drew away. "I already have a brother," she said, "and I do +not want another." + + + +Chapter 5 + + +Days became weeks, and weeks became months, and the months +followed one another in a lazy procession of hot, humid days and +warm, humid nights. The fugitives saw never a Wieroo by day +though often at night they heard the melancholy flapping of giant +wings far above them. + +Each day was much like its predecessor. Bradley splashed about +for a few minutes in the cold pool early each morning and after +a time the girl tried it and liked it. Toward the center it was +deep enough for swimming, and so he taught her to swim--she was +probably the first human being in all Caspak's long ages who had +done this thing. And then while she prepared breakfast, the man +shaved--this he never neglected. At first it was a source of +wonderment to the girl, for the Galu men are beardless. + +When they needed meat, he hunted, otherwise he busied himself +in improving their shelter, making new and better weapons, +perfecting his knowledge of the girl's language and teaching her +to speak and to write English--anything that would keep them +both occupied. He still sought new plans for escape, but with +ever-lessening enthusiasm, since each new scheme presented some +insurmountable obstacle. + +And then one day as a bolt out of a clear sky came that which +blasted the peace and security of their sanctuary forever. +Bradley was just emerging from the water after his morning +plunge when from overhead came the sound of flapping wings. +Glancing quickly up the man saw a white-robed Wieroo circling +slowly above him. That he had been discovered he could not +doubt since the creature even dropped to a lower altitude as +though to assure itself that what it saw was a man. Then it +rose rapidly and winged away toward the city. + +For two days Bradley and the girl lived in a constant state of +apprehension, awaiting the moment when the hunters would come for +them; but nothing happened until just after dawn of the third +day, when the flapping of wings apprised them of the approach +of Wieroos. Together they went to the edge of the wood and +looked up to see five red-robed creatures dropping slowly in +ever-lessening spirals toward their little amphitheater. With no +attempt at concealment they came, sure of their ability to +overwhelm these two fugitives, and with the fullest measure of +self-confidence they landed in the clearing but a few yards from +the man and the girl. + +Following a plan already discussed Bradley and the girl retreated +slowly into the woods. The Wieroos advanced, calling upon them +to give themselves up; but the quarry made no reply. Farther and +farther into the little wood Bradley led the hunters, permitting +them to approach ever closer; then he circled back again toward +the clearing, evidently to the great delight of the Wieroos, who +now followed more leisurely, awaiting the moment when they should +be beyond the trees and able to use their wings. They had opened +into semicircular formation now with the evident intention of +cutting the two off from returning into the wood. Each Wieroo +advanced with his curved blade ready in his hand, each hideous +face blank and expressionless. + +It was then that Bradley opened fire with his pistol--three +shots, aimed with careful deliberation, for it had been long +since he had used the weapon, and he could not afford to chance +wasting ammunition on misses. At each shot a Wieroo dropped; and +then the remaining two sought escape by flight, screaming and +wailing after the manner of their kind. When a Wieroo runs, his +wings spread almost without any volition upon his part, since +from time immemorial he has always used them to balance himself +and accelerate his running speed so that in the open they appear +to skim the surface of the ground when in the act of running. +But here in the woods, among the close-set boles, the spreading +of their wings proved their undoing--it hindered and stopped them +and threw them to the ground, and then Bradley was upon them +threatening them with instant death if they did not surrender-- +promising them their freedom if they did his bidding. + +"As you have seen," he cried, "I can kill you when I wish and at +a distance. You cannot escape me. Your only hope of life lies +in obedience. Quick, or I kill!" + +The Wieroos stopped and faced him. "What do you want of us?" +asked one. + +"Throw aside your weapons," Bradley commanded. After a moment's +hesitation they obeyed. + +"Now approach!" A great plan--the only plan--had suddenly come +to him like an inspiration. + +The Wieroos came closer and halted at his command. Bradley turned +to the girl. "There is rope in the shelter," he said. "Fetch it!" + +She did as he bid, and then he directed her to fasten one end of +a fifty-foot length to the ankle of one of the Wieroos and the +opposite end to the second. The creatures gave evidence of great +fear, but they dared not attempt to prevent the act. + +"Now go out into the clearing," said Bradley, "and remember that +I am walking close behind and that I will shoot the nearer one +should either attempt to escape--that will hold the other until +I can kill him as well." + +In the open he halted them. "The girl will get upon the back +of the one in front," announced the Englishman. "I will mount +the other. She carries a sharp blade, and I carry this weapon +that you know kills easily at a distance. If you disobey in +the slightest, the instructions that I am about to give you, you +shall both die. That we must die with you, will not deter us. +If you obey, I promise to set you free without harming you. + +"You will carry us due west, depositing us upon the shore of the +mainland--that is all. It is the price of your lives. Do you agree?" + +Sullenly the Wieroos acquiesced. Bradley examined the knots that +held the rope to their ankles, and feeling them secure directed +the girl to mount the back of the leading Wieroo, himself upon +the other. Then he gave the signal for the two to rise together. +With loud flapping of the powerful wings the creatures took to +the air, circling once before they topped the trees upon the hill +and then taking a course due west out over the waters of the sea. + +Nowhere about them could Bradley see signs of other Wieroos, nor +of those other menaces which he had feared might bring disaster +to his plans for escape--the huge, winged reptilia that are so +numerous above the southern areas of Caspak and which are often +seen, though in lesser numbers, farther north. + +Nearer and nearer loomed the mainland--a broad, parklike expanse +stretching inland to the foot of a low plateau spread out before them. +The little dots in the foreground became grazing herds of deer +and antelope and bos; a huge woolly rhinoceros wallowed in a +mudhole to the right, and beyond, a mighty mammoth culled the +tender shoots from a tall tree. The roars and screams and growls +of giant carnivora came faintly to their ears. Ah, this was Caspak. +With all of its dangers and its primal savagery it brought a +fullness to the throat of the Englishman as to one who sees and +hears the familiar sights and sounds of home after a long absence. +Then the Wieroos dropped swiftly downward to the flower-starred +turf that grew almost to the water's edge, the fugitives slipped +from their backs, and Bradley told the red-robed creatures they +were free to go. + +When he had cut the ropes from their ankles they rose with that +uncanny wailing upon their lips that always brought a shudder to +the Englishman, and upon dismal wings they flapped away toward +frightful Oo-oh. + +When the creatures had gone, the girl turned toward Bradley. +"Why did you have them bring us here?" she asked. "Now we are +far from my country. We may never live to reach it, as we are +among enemies who, while not so horrible will kill us just as +surely as would the Wieroos should they capture us, and we have +before us many marches through lands filled with savage beasts." + +"There were two reasons," replied Bradley. "You told me that +there are two Wieroo cities at the eastern end of the island. +To have passed near either of them might have been to have brought +about our heads hundreds of the creatures from whom we could not +possibly have escaped. Again, my friends must be near this spot-- +it cannot be over two marches to the fort of which I have told you. +It is my duty to return to them. If they still live we shall find +a way to return you to your people." + +"And you?" asked the girl. + +"I escaped from Oo-oh," replied Bradley. "I have accomplished +the impossible once, and so I shall accomplish it again--I shall +escape from Caspak." + +He was not looking at her face as he answered her, and so he +did not see the shadow of sorrow that crossed her countenance. +When he raised his eyes again, she was smiling. + +"What you wish, I wish," said the girl. + +Southward along the coast they made their way following the +beach, where the walking was best, but always keeping close +enough to trees to insure sanctuary from the beasts and reptiles +that so often menaced them. It was late in the afternoon when +the girl suddenly seized Bradley's arm and pointed straight ahead +along the shore. "What is that?" she whispered. "What strange +reptile is it?" + +Bradley looked in the direction her slim forefinger indicated. +He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then he seized her wrist +and drew her quickly behind a clump of bushes. + +"What is it?" she asked. + +"It is the most frightful reptile that the waters of the world +have ever known," he replied. "It is a German U-boat!" + +An expression of amazement and understanding lighted her features. +"It is the thing of which you told me," she exclaimed, "--the +thing that swims under the water and carries men in its belly!" + +"It is," replied Bradley. + +"Then why do you hide from it?" asked the girl. "You said that +now it belonged to your friends." + +"Many months have passed since I knew what was going on among my +friends," he replied. "I cannot know what has befallen them. +They should have been gone from here in this vessel long since, +and so I cannot understand why it is still here. I am going to +investigate first before I show myself. When I left, there were +more Germans on the U-33 than there were men of my own party at +the fort, and I have had sufficient experience of Germans to know +that they will bear watching--if they have not been properly +watched since I left." + +Making their way through a fringe of wood that grew a few yards +inland the two crept unseen toward the U-boat which lay moored to +the shore at a point which Bradley now recognized as being near +the oil-pool north of Dinosaur. As close as possible to the +vessel they halted, crouching low among the dense vegetation, and +watched the boat for signs of human life about it. The hatches +were closed--no one could be seen or heard. For five minutes +Bradley watched, and then he determined to board the submarine +and investigate. He had risen to carry his decision into effect +when there suddenly broke upon his ear, uttered in loud and +menacing tones, a volley of German oaths and expletives among +which he heard Englische schweinhunde repeated several times. +The voice did not come from the direction of the U-boat; but +from inland. Creeping forward Bradley reached a spot where, +through the creepers hanging from the trees, he could see a party +of men coming down toward the shore. + +He saw Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and six of his men--all +armed--while marching in a little knot among them were Olson, +Brady, Sinclair, Wilson, and Whitely. + +Bradley knew nothing of the disappearance of Bowen Tyler and Miss +La Rue, nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling the fort +and attempting to escape in the U-33; but he was in no way +surprised at what he saw before him. + +The little party came slowly onward, the prisoners staggering +beneath heavy cans of oil, while Schwartz, one of the German +noncommissioned officers cursed and beat them with a stick of +wood, impartially. Von Schoenvorts walked in the rear of the +column, encouraging Schwartz and laughing at the discomfiture of +the Britishers. Dietz, Heinz, and Klatz also seemed to enjoy the +entertainment immensely; but two of the men--Plesser and Hindle-- +marched with eyes straight to the front and with scowling faces. + +Bradley felt his blood boil at sight of the cowardly indignities +being heaped upon his men, and in the brief span of time occupied +by the column to come abreast of where he lay hidden he made his +plans, foolhardy though he knew them. Then he drew the girl +close to him. "Stay here," he whispered. "I am going out to +fight those beasts; but I shall be killed. Do not let them +see you. Do not let them take you alive. They are more cruel, +more cowardly, more bestial than the Wieroos." + +The girl pressed close to him, her face very white. "Go, if that +is right," she whispered; "but if you die, I shall die, for I +cannot live without you." He looked sharply into her eyes. +"Oh!" he ejaculated. "What an idiot I have been! Nor could I +live without you, little girl." And he drew her very close and +kissed her lips. "Good-bye." He disengaged himself from her +arms and looked again in time to see that the rear of the column +had just passed him. Then he rose and leaped quickly and +silently from the jungle. + +Suddenly von Schoenvorts felt an arm thrown about his neck and +his pistol jerked from its holster. He gave a cry of fright and +warning, and his men turned to see a half-naked white man holding +their leader securely from behind and aiming a pistol at them +over his shoulder. + +"Drop those guns!" came in short, sharp syllables and perfect +German from the lips of the newcomer. "Drop them or I'll put a +bullet through the back of von Schoenvorts' head." + +The Germans hesitated for a moment, looking first toward von +Schoenvorts and then to Schwartz, who was evidently second in +command, for orders. + +"It's the English pig, Bradley," shouted the latter, "and he's +alone--go and get him!" + +"Go yourself," growled Plesser. Hindle moved close to the side +of Plesser and whispered something to him. The latter nodded. +Suddenly von Schoenvorts wheeled about and seized Bradley's +pistol arm with both hands, "Now!" he shouted. "Come and take +him, quick!" + +Schwartz and three others leaped forward; but Plesser and Hindle +held back, looking questioningly toward the English prisoners. +Then Plesser spoke. "Now is your chance, Englander," he +called in low tones. "Seize Hindle and me and take our guns from +us--we will not fight hard." + +Olson and Brady were not long in acting upon the suggestion. +They had seen enough of the brutal treatment von Schoenvorts +accorded his men and the especially venomous attentions he +had taken great enjoyment in according Plesser and Hindle +to understand that these two might be sincere in a desire +for revenge. In another moment the two Germans were unarmed +and Olson and Brady were running to the support of Bradley; +but already it seemed too late. + +Von Schoenvorts had managed to drag the Englishman around so that +his back was toward Schwartz and the other advancing Germans. +Schwartz was almost upon Bradley with gun clubbed and ready to +smash down upon the Englishman's skull. Brady and Olson were +charging the Germans in the rear with Wilson, Whitely, and +Sinclair supporting them with bare fists. It seemed that Bradley +was doomed when, apparently out of space, an arrow whizzed, +striking Schwartz in the side, passing half-way through his body +to crumple him to earth. With a shriek the man fell, and at the +same time Olson and Brady saw the slim figure of a young girl +standing at the edge of the jungle coolly fitting another arrow +to her bow. + +Bradley had now succeeded in wrestling his arm free from von +Schoenvorts' grip and in dropping the latter with a blow from the +butt of his pistol. The rest of the English and Germans were +engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter. Plesser and Hindle standing +aside from the melee and urging their comrades to surrender and +join with the English against the tyranny of von Schoenvorts. +Heinz and Klatz, possibly influenced by their exhortation, were +putting up but a half-hearted resistance; but Dietz, a huge, +bearded, bull-necked Prussian, yelling like a maniac, sought to +exterminate the Englische schweinhunde with his bayonet, +fearing to fire his piece lest he kill some of his comrades. + +It was Olson who engaged him, and though unused to the long +German rifle and bayonet, he met the bull-rush of the Hun with +the cold, cruel precision and science of English bayonet-fighting. +There was no feinting, no retiring and no parrying that was not +also an attack. Bayonet-fighting today is not a pretty thing to +see--it is not an artistic fencing-match in which men give and +take--it is slaughter inevitable and quickly over. + +Dietz lunged once madly at Olson's throat. A short point, with +just a twist of the bayonet to the left sent the sharp blade over +the Englishman's left shoulder. Instantly he stepped close in, +dropped his rifle through his hands and grasped it with both +hands close below the muzzle and with a short, sharp jab sent his +blade up beneath Dietz's chin to the brain. So quickly was the +thing done and so quick the withdrawal that Olson had wheeled to +take on another adversary before the German's corpse had toppled +to the ground. + +But there were no more adversaries to take on. Heinz and Klatz +had thrown down their rifles and with hands above their heads +were crying "Kamerad! Kamerad!" at the tops of their voices. +Von Schoenvorts still lay where he had fallen. Plesser and +Hindle were explaining to Bradley that they were glad of the +outcome of the fight, as they could no longer endure the +brutality of the U-boat commander. + +The remainder of the men were looking at the girl who now +advanced slowly, her bow ready, when Bradley turned toward her +and held out his hand. + +"Co-Tan," he said, "unstring your bow--these are my friends, +and yours." And to the Englishmen: "This is Co-Tan. You who +saw her save me from Schwartz know a part of what I owe her." + +The rough men gathered about the girl, and when she spoke to them +in broken English, with a smile upon her lips enhancing the charm +of her irresistible accent, each and every one of them promptly +fell in love with her and constituted himself henceforth her +guardian and her slave. + +A moment later the attention of each was called to Plesser by a +volley of invective. They turned in time to see the man running +toward von Schoenvorts who was just rising from the ground. +Plesser carried a rifle with bayonet fixed, that he had snatched +from the side of Dietz's corpse. Von Schoenvorts' face was livid +with fear, his jaws working as though he would call for help; but +no sound came from his blue lips. + +"You struck me," shrieked Plesser. "Once, twice, three times, +you struck me, pig. You murdered Schwerke--you drove him insane +by your cruelty until he took his own life. You are only one of +your kind--they are all like you from the Kaiser down. I wish +that you were the Kaiser. Thus would I do!" And he lunged his +bayonet through von Schoenvorts' chest. Then he let his rifle +fall with the dying man and wheeled toward Bradley. "Here I am," +he said. "Do with me as you like. All my life I have been +kicked and cuffed by such as that, and yet always have I gone out +when they commanded, singing, to give up my life if need be to +keep them in power. Only lately have I come to know what a fool +I have been. But now I am no longer a fool, and besides, I am +avenged and Schwerke is avenged, so you can kill me if you wish. +Here I am." + +"If I was after bein' the king," said Olson, "I'd pin the V.C. on +your noble chist; but bein' only an Irishman with a Swede name, +for which God forgive me, the bist I can do is shake your hand." + +"You will not be punished," said Bradley. "There are four of you +left--if you four want to come along and work with us, we will +take you; but you will come as prisoners." + +"It suits me," said Plesser. "Now that the captain-lieutenant is +dead you need not fear us. All our lives we have known nothing +but to obey his class. If I had not killed him, I suppose I +would be fool enough to obey him again; but he is dead. Now we +will obey you--we must obey some one." + +"And you?" Bradley turned to the other survivors of the original +crew of the U-33. Each promised obedience. + +The two dead Germans were buried in a single grave, and then the +party boarded the submarine and stowed away the oil. + +Here Bradley told the men what had befallen him since the night +of September 14th when he had disappeared so mysteriously from +the camp upon the plateau. Now he learned for the first time +that Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., and Miss La Rue had been missing even +longer than he and that no faintest trace of them had been discovered. + +Olson told him of how the Germans had returned and waited in +ambush for them outside the fort, capturing them that they might +be used to assist in the work of refining the oil and later in +manning the U-33, and Plesser told briefly of the experiences of +the German crew under von Schoenvorts since they had escaped from +Caspak months before--of how they lost their bearings after +having been shelled by ships they had attempted to sneak farther +north and how at last with provisions gone and fuel almost +exhausted they had sought and at last found, more by accident +than design, the mysterious island they had once been so glad to +leave behind. + +"Now," announced Bradley, "we'll plan for the future. The boat +has fuel, provisions and water for a month, I believe you said, +Plesser; there are ten of us to man it. We have a last sad duty +here--we must search for Miss La Rue and Mr. Tyler. I say a sad +duty because we know that we shall not find them; but it is none +the less our duty to comb the shoreline, firing signal shells at +intervals, that we at least may leave at last with full knowledge +that we have done all that men might do to locate them." + +None dissented from this conviction, nor was there a voice raised +in protest against the plan to at least make assurance doubly +sure before quitting Caspak forever. + +And so they started, cruising slowly up the coast and firing an +occasional shot from the gun. Often the vessel was brought to a +stop, and always there were anxious eyes scanning the shore for +an answering signal. Late in the afternoon they caught sight of +a number of Band-lu warriors; but when the vessel approached the +shore and the natives realized that human beings stood upon the +back of the strange monster of the sea, they fled in terror +before Bradley could come within hailing distance. + +That night they dropped anchor at the mouth of a sluggish stream +whose warm waters swarmed with millions of tiny tadpolelike +organisms--minute human spawn starting on their precarious +journey from some inland pool toward "the beginning"--a journey +which one in millions, perhaps, might survive to complete. +Already almost at the inception of life they were being greeted +by thousands of voracious mouths as fish and reptiles of many +kinds fought to devour them, the while other and larger creatures +pursued the devourers, to be, in turn, preyed upon by some other +of the countless forms that inhabit the deeps of Caprona's +frightful sea. + +The second day was practically a repetition of the first. +They moved very slowly with frequent stops and once they landed +in the Kro-lu country to hunt. Here they were attacked by the +bow-and-arrow men, whom they could not persuade to palaver +with them. So belligerent were the natives that it became +necessary to fire into them in order to escape their persistent +and ferocious attentions. + +"What chance," asked Bradley, as they were returning to the boat +with their game, "could Tyler and Miss La Rue have had among such +as these?" + +But they continued on their fruitless quest, and the third day, +after cruising along the shore of a deep inlet, they passed a +line of lofty cliffs that formed the southern shore of the inlet +and rounded a sharp promontory about noon. Co-Tan and Bradley +were on deck alone, and as the new shoreline appeared beyond the +point, the girl gave an exclamation of joy and seized the man's +hand in hers. + +"Oh, look!" she cried. "The Galu country! The Galu country! +It is my country that I never thought to see again." + +"You are glad to come again, Co-Tan?" asked Bradley. + +"Oh, so glad!" she cried. "And you will come with me to my people? +We may live here among them, and you will be a great warrior--oh, +when Jor dies you may even be chief, for there is none so mighty +as my warrior. You will come?" + +Bradley shook his head. "I cannot, little Co-Tan," he answered. +"My country needs me, and I must go back. Maybe someday I +shall return. You will not forget me, Co-Tan?" + +She looked at him in wide-eyed wonder. "You are going away from +me?" she asked in a very small voice. "You are going away from Co-Tan?" + +Bradley looked down upon the little bowed head. He felt the soft +cheek against his bare arm; and he felt something else there too-- +hot drops of moisture that ran down to his very finger-tips and +splashed, but each one wrung from a woman's heart. + +He bent low and raised the tear-stained face to his own. +"No, Co-Tan," he said, "I am not going away from you--for you +are going with me. You are going back to my own country to be +my wife. Tell me that you will, Co-Tan." And he bent still lower +yet from his height and kissed her lips. Nor did he need more +than the wonderful new light in her eyes to tell him that she +would go to the end of the world with him if he would but take her. +And then the gun-crew came up from below again to fire a signal +shot, and the two were brought down from the high heaven of their +new happiness to the scarred and weather-beaten deck of the U-33. + +An hour later the vessel was running close in by a shore of +wondrous beauty beside a parklike meadow that stretched back a +mile inland to the foot of a plateau when Whitely called +attention to a score of figures clambering downward from the +elevation to the lowland below. The engines were reversed and +the boat brought to a stop while all hands gathered on deck to +watch the little party coming toward them across the meadow. + +"They are Galus," cried Co-Tan; "they are my own people. Let me +speak to them lest they think we come to fight them. Put me +ashore, my man, and I will go meet them." + +The nose of the U-boat was run close in to the steep bank; but +when Co-Tan would have run forward alone, Bradley seized her hand +and held her back. "I will go with you, Co-Tan," he said; and +together they advanced to meet the oncoming party. + +There were about twenty warriors moving forward in a thin line, +as our infantry advance as skirmishers. Bradley could not but +notice the marked difference between this formation and the +moblike methods of the lower tribes he had come in contact with, +and he commented upon it to Co-Tan. + +"Galu warriors always advance into battle thus," she said. +"The lesser people remain in a huddled group where they can scarce +use their weapons the while they present so big a mark to us that +our spears and arrows cannot miss them; but when they hurl theirs +at our warriors, if they miss the first man, there is no chance that +they will kill some one behind him. + +"Stand still now," she cautioned, "and fold your arms. They will +not harm us then." + +Bradley did as he was bid, and the two stood with arms folded as +the line of warriors approached. When they had come within some +fifty yards, they halted and one spoke. "Who are you and from +whence do you come?" he asked; and then Co-Tan gave a little, +glad cry and sprang forward with out-stretched arms. + +"Oh, Tan!" she exclaimed. "Do you not know your little Co-Tan?" + +The warrior stared, incredulous, for a moment, and then he, too, +ran forward and when they met, took the girl in his arms. It was +then that Bradley experienced to the full a sensation that was +new to him--a sudden hatred for the strange warrior before him +and a desire to kill without knowing why he would kill. He moved +quickly to the girl's side and grasped her wrist. + +"Who is this man?" he demanded in cold tones. + +Co-Tan turned a surprised face toward the Englishman and then of +a sudden broke forth into a merry peal of laughter. "This is my +father, Brad-lee," she cried. + +"And who is Brad-lee?" demanded the warrior. + +"He is my man," replied Co-Tan simply. + +"By what right?" insisted Tan. + +And then she told him briefly of all that she had passed through +since the Wieroos had stolen her and of how Bradley had rescued +her and sought to rescue An-Tak, her brother. + +"You are satisfied with him?" asked Tan. + +"Yes," replied the girl proudly. + +It was then that Bradley's attention was attracted to the edge of +the plateau by a movement there, and looking closely he saw a +horse bearing two figures sliding down the steep declivity. +Once at the bottom, the animal came charging across the meadowland +at a rapid run. It was a magnificent animal--a great bay stallion +with a white-blazed face and white forelegs to the knees, its +barrel encircled by a broad surcingle of white; and as it came to +a sudden stop beside Tan, the Englishman saw that it bore a man +and a girl--a tall man and a girl as beautiful as Co-Tan. When the +girl espied the latter, she slid from the horse and ran toward her, +fairly screaming for joy. + +The man dismounted and stood beside Tan. Like Bradley he was +garbed after the fashion of the surrounding warriors; but +there was a subtle difference between him and his companion. +Possibly he detected a similar difference in Bradley, for his +first question was, "From what country?" and though he spoke in +Galu Bradley thought he detected an accent. + +"England," replied Bradley. + +A broad smile lighted the newcomer's face as he held out his hand. +"I am Tom Billings of Santa Monica, California," he said. "I know +all about you, and I'm mighty glad to find you alive." + +"How did you get here?" asked Bradley. "I thought ours was the +only party of men from the outer world ever to enter Caprona." + +"It was, until we came in search of Bowen J. Tyler, Jr.," +replied Billings. "We found him and sent him home with his +bride; but I was kept a prisoner here." + +Bradley's face darkened--then they were not among friends +after all. "There are ten of us down there on a German sub +with small-arms and a gun," he said quickly in English. +"It will be no trick to get away from these people." + +"You don't know my jailer," replied Billings, "or you'd not be +so sure. Wait, I'll introduce you." And then turning to the girl +who had accompanied him he called her by name. "Ajor," he said, +"permit me to introduce Lieutenant Bradley; Lieutenant, Mrs. +Billings--my jailer!" + +The Englishman laughed as he shook hands with the girl. "You are +not as good a soldier as I," he said to Billings. "Instead of +being taken prisoner myself I have taken one--Mrs. Bradley, this +is Mr. Billings." + +Ajor, quick to understand, turned toward Co-Tan. "You are going +back with him to his country?" she asked. Co-Tan admitted it. + +"You dare?" asked Ajor. "But your father will not permit it-- +Jor, my father, High Chief of the Galus, will not permit it, for +like me you are cos-ata-lo. Oh, Co-Tan, if we but could! +How I would love to see all the strange and wonderful things of +which my Tom tells me!" + +Bradley bent and whispered in her ear. "Say the word and you may +both go with us." + +Billings heard and speaking in English, asked Ajor if she would go. + +"Yes," she answered, "If you wish it; but you know, my Tom, that +if Jor captures us, both you and Co-Tan's man will pay the +penalty with your lives--not even his love for me nor his +admiration for you can save you." + +Bradley noticed that she spoke in English--broken English like +Co-Tan's but equally appealing. "We can easily get you aboard +the ship," he said, "on some pretext or other, and then we can +steam away. They can neither harm nor detain us, nor will we +have to fire a shot at them." + +And so it was done, Bradley and Co-Tan taking Ajor and Billings +aboard to "show" them the vessel, which almost immediately raised +anchor and moved slowly out into the sea. + +"I hate to do it," said Billings. "They have been fine to me. +Jor and Tan are splendid men and they will think me an ingrate; +but I can't waste my life here when there is so much to be done +in the outer world." + +As they steamed down the inland sea past the island of Oo-oh, the +stories of their adventures were retold, and Bradley learned that +Bowen Tyler and his bride had left the Galu country but a +fortnight before and that there was every reason to believe that +the Toreador might still be lying in the Pacific not far off +the subterranean mouth of the river which emitted Caprona's +heated waters into the ocean. + +Late in the second day, after running through swarms of hideous +reptiles, they submerged at the point where the river entered +beneath the cliffs and shortly after rose to the sunlit surface +of the Pacific; but nowhere as far as they could see was sign of +another craft. Down the coast they steamed toward the beach +where Billings had made his crossing in the hydro-aeroplane and +just at dusk the lookout announced a light dead ahead. It proved +to be aboard the Toreador, and a half-hour later there was +such a reunion on the deck of the trig little yacht as no one +there had ever dreamed might be possible. Of the Allies there +were only Tippet and James to be mourned, and no one mourned any +of the Germans dead nor Benson, the traitor, whose ugly story was +first told in Bowen Tyler's manuscript. + +Tyler and the rescue party had but just reached the yacht +that afternoon. They had heard, faintly, the signal shots fired +by the U-33 but had been unable to locate their direction and so +had assumed that they had come from the guns of the Toreador. + +It was a happy party that sailed north toward sunny, southern +California, the old U-33 trailing in the wake of the Toreador +and flying with the latter the glorious Stars and Stripes +beneath which she had been born in the shipyard at Santa Monica. +Three newly married couples, their bonds now duly solemnized by +the master of the ship, joyed in the peace and security of the +untracked waters of the south Pacific and the unique honeymoon +which, had it not been for stern duty ahead, they could have +wished protracted till the end of time. + +And so they came one day to dock at the shipyard which Bowen +Tyler now controlled, and here the U-33 still lies while those +who passed so many eventful days within and because of her, have +gone their various ways. + + +The end of Project Gutenberg etext of "Out of Time's Abyss" + + +I have made the following changes to the text: + +PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO + 10 12 of or + 14 19 of animals life of animals + 31 26 is arms his arms + 37 14 above this above his + 37 23 Bradley, Bradley + 54 18 man man + 57 14 and of Oo-oh of Oo-oh + 62 18 spend spent + 63 31 and mumbled the mumbled + 64 9 things thing + 80 30 east cast + 104 16 proaching proached + 106 30 cos-at-lu cos-ata-lu + 126 17 not artistic not an artistic + 126 25 close below hands close below + 130 1 internals intervals + 132 9 than that + 132 10 splashes splashed + 134 3 know know not know + + +The end of Project Gutenberg etext of "Out of Time's Abyss" + diff --git a/old/ootma10.zip b/old/ootma10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe85e32 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma10.zip diff --git a/old/ootma10h.htm b/old/ootma10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1ffcca --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4304 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>Out of Time's Abyss</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {margin:10%; text-align:justify} +blockquote {font-size:14pt} +P {font-size:14pt} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<p>The Project Gutenberg Etext of Out of Time's Abyss by +Burroughs #14 in our series by Edgar Rice Burroughs #3 in the +Lost Continent series<br> +</p> + +<p>Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to +check the copyright laws for your country before posting these +files!!<br> +</p> + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* +<br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<br><br><br> +<h1>Out of Time's Abyss</h1> + +<br><br> +<h2>by Edgar Rice Burroughs </h2> +<br><br><br> + +<br> +<h1 id="ref_1">Chapter I</h1> + +<br> +This is the tale of Bradley after he left Fort Dinosaur upon the +west coast of the great lake that is in the center of the island. +<br> +<p>Upon the fourth day of September, 1916, he set out with four +companions, Sinclair, Brady, James, and Tippet, to search along +the base of the barrier cliffs for a point at which they might be +scaled.<br> +</p> + +Through the heavy Caspakian air, beneath the swollen sun, the +five men marched northwest from Fort Dinosaur, now waist-deep in +lush, jungle grasses starred with myriad gorgeous blooms, now +across open meadow-land and parklike expanses and again plunging +into dense forests of eucalyptus and acacia and giant arboreous +ferns with feathered fronds waving gently a hundred feet above +their heads. <br> +<p>About them upon the ground, among the trees and in the air +over them moved and swung and soared the countless forms of +Caspak's teeming life. Always were they menaced by some frightful +thing and seldom were their rifles cool, yet even in the brief +time they had dwelt upon Caprona they had become callous to +danger, so that they swung along laughing and chatting like +soldiers on a summer hike.<br> +</p> + +"This reminds me of South Clark Street," remarked Brady, who had +once served on the traffic squad in Chicago; and as no one asked +him why, he volunteered that it was "because it's no place for an +Irishman." <br> +<p>"South Clark Street and heaven have something in common, +then," suggested Sinclair. James and Tippet laughed, and then a +hideous growl broke from a dense thicket ahead and diverted their +attention to other matters.<br> +</p> + +"One of them behemoths of 'Oly Writ," muttered Tippet as they +came to a halt and with guns ready awaited the almost inevitable +charge. <br> +<p>"Hungry lot o' beggars, these," said Bradley; "always trying +to eat everything they see."<br> +</p> + +For a moment no further sound came from the thicket. "He may be +feeding now," suggested Bradley. "We'll try to go around him. +Can't waste ammunition. Won't last forever. Follow me." And he +set off at right angles to their former course, hoping to avert a +charge. They had taken a dozen steps, perhaps, when the thicket +moved to the advance of the thing within it, the leafy branches +parted, and the hideous head of a gigantic bear emerged. <br> +<p>"Pick your trees," whispered Bradley. "Can't waste +ammunition."<br> +</p> + +The men looked about them. The bear took a couple of steps +forward, still growling menacingly. He was exposed to the +shoulders now. Tippet took one look at the monster and bolted for +the nearest tree; and then the bear charged. He charged straight +for Tippet. The other men scattered for the various trees they +had selected--all except Bradley. He stood watching Tippet and +the bear. The man had a good start and the tree was not far away; +but the speed of the enormous creature behind him was something +to marvel at, yet Tippet was in a fair way to make his sanctuary +when his foot caught in a tangle of roots and down he went, his +rifle flying from his hand and falling several yards away. +Instantly Bradley's piece was at his shoulder, there was a sharp +report answered by a roar of mingled rage and pain from the +carnivore. Tippet attempted to scramble to his feet. <br> +<p>"Lie still!" shouted Bradley. "Can't waste ammunition."<br> +</p> + +The bear halted in its tracks, wheeled toward Bradley and then +back again toward Tippet. Again the former's rifle spit angrily, +and the bear turned again in his direction. Bradley shouted +loudly. "Come on, you behemoth of Holy Writ!" he cried. "Come on, +you duffer! Can't waste ammunition." And as he saw the bear +apparently upon the verge of deciding to charge him, he +encouraged the idea by backing rapidly away, knowing that an +angry beast will more often charge one who moves than one who +lies still. <br> +<p>And the bear did charge. Like a bolt of lightning he flashed +down upon the Englishman. "Now run!" Bradley called to Tippet and +himself turned in flight toward a nearby tree. The other men, now +safely ensconced upon various branches, watched the race with +breathless interest. Would Bradley make it? It seemed scarce +possible. And if he didn't! James gasped at the thought. Six feet +at the shoulder stood the frightful mountain of blood-mad flesh +and bone and sinew that was bearing down with the speed of an +express train upon the seemingly slow-moving man.<br> +</p> + +It all happened in a few seconds; but they were seconds that +seemed like hours to the men who watched. They saw Tippet leap to +his feet at Bradley's shouted warning. They saw him run, stooping +to recover his rifle as he passed the spot where it had fallen. +They saw him glance back toward Bradley, and then they saw him +stop short of the tree that might have given him safety and turn +back in the direction of the bear. Firing as he ran, Tippet raced +after the great cave bear--the monstrous thing that should have +been extinct ages before--ran for it and fired even as the beast +was almost upon Bradley. The men in the trees scarcely breathed. +It seemed to them such a futile thing for Tippet to do, and +Tippet of all men! They had never looked upon Tippet as a +coward--there seemed to be no cowards among that strangely +assorted company that Fate had gathered together from the four +corners of the earth--but Tippet was considered a cautious man. +Overcautious, some thought him. How futile he and his little +pop-gun appeared as he dashed after that living engine of +destruction! But, oh, how glorious! It was some such thought as +this that ran through Brady's mind, though articulated it might +have been expressed otherwise, albeit more forcefully. <br> +<p>Just then it occurred to Brady to fire and he, too, opened +upon the bear, but at the same instant the animal stumbled and +fell forward, though still growling most fearsomely. Tippet never +stopped running or firing until he stood within a foot of the +brute, which lay almost touching Bradley and was already +struggling to regain its feet. Placing the muzzle of his gun +against the bear's ear, Tippet pulled the trigger. The creature +sank limply to the ground and Bradley scrambled to his feet.<br> +</p> + +"Good work, Tippet," he said. "Mightily obliged to you--awful +waste of ammunition, really." <br> +<p>And then they resumed the march and in fifteen minutes the +encounter had ceased even to be a topic of conversation.<br> +</p> + +For two days they continued upon their perilous way. Already the +cliffs loomed high and forbidding close ahead without sign of +break to encourage hope that somewhere they might be scaled. Late +in the afternoon the party crossed a small stream of warm water +upon the sluggishly moving surface of which floated countless +millions of tiny green eggs surrounded by a light scum of the +same color, though of a darker shade. Their past experience of +Caspak had taught them that they might expect to come upon a +stagnant pool of warm water if they followed the stream to its +source; but there they were almost certain to find some of +Caspak's grotesque, manlike creatures. Already since they had +disembarked from the U-33 after its perilous trip through the +subterranean channel beneath the barrier cliffs had brought them +into the inland sea of Caspak, had they encountered what had +appeared to be three distinct types of these creatures. There had +been the pure apes--huge, gorillalike beasts--and those who +walked, a trifle more erect and had features with just a shade +more of the human cast about them. Then there were men like Ahm, +whom they had captured and confined at the fort--Ahm, the +club-man. "Well-known club-man," Tyler had called him. Ahm and +his people had knowledge of a speech. They had a language, in +which they were unlike the race just inferior to them, and they +walked much more erect and were less hairy: but it was +principally the fact that they possessed a spoken language and +carried a weapon that differentiated them from the others. <br> +<p>All of these peoples had proven belligerent in the extreme. In +common with the rest of the fauna of Caprona the first law of +nature as they seemed to understand it was to kill--kill--kill. +And so it was that Bradley had no desire to follow up the little +stream toward the pool near which were sure to be the caves of +some savage tribe, but fortune played him an unkind trick, for +the pool was much closer than he imagined, its southern end +reaching fully a mile south of the point at which they crossed +the stream, and so it was that after forcing their way through a +tangle of jungle vegetation they came out upon the edge of the +pool which they had wished to avoid.<br> +</p> + +Almost simultaneously there appeared south of them a party of +naked men armed with clubs and hatchets. Both parties halted as +they caught sight of one another. The men from the fort saw +before them a hunting party evidently returning to its caves or +village laden with meat. They were large men with features +closely resembling those of the African Negro though their skins +were white. Short hair grew upon a large portion of their limbs +and bodies, which still retained a considerable trace of apish +progenitors. They were, however, a distinctly higher type than +the Bo-lu, or club-men. <br> +<p>Bradley would have been glad to have averted a meeting; but as +he desired to lead his party south around the end of the pool, +and as it was hemmed in by the jungle on one side and the water +on the other, there seemed no escape from an encounter.<br> +</p> + +On the chance that he might avoid a clash, Bradley stepped +forward with upraised hand. "We are friends, " he called in the +tongue of Ahm, the Bolu, who had been held a prisoner at the +fort; "permit us to pass in peace. We will not harm you." <br> +<p>At this the hatchet-men set up a great jabbering with much +laughter, loud and boisterous. "No," shouted one, "you will not +harm us, for we shall kill you. Come! We kill! We kill!" And with +hideous shouts they charged down upon the Europeans.<br> +</p> + +"Sinclair, you may fire," said Bradley quietly." Pick off the +leader. Can't waste ammunition." <br> +<p>The Englishman raised his piece to his shoulder and took quick +aim at the breast of the yelling savage leaping toward them. +Directly behind the leader came another hatchet-man, and with the +report of Sinclair's rifle both warriors lunged forward in the +tall grass, pierced by the same bullet. The effect upon the rest +of the band was electrical. As one man they came to a sudden +halt, wheeled to the east and dashed into the jungle, where the +men could hear them forcing their way in an effort to put as much +distance as possible between themselves and the authors of this +new and frightful noise that killed warriors at a great +distance.<br> +</p> + +Both the savages were dead when Bradley approached to examine +them, and as the Europeans gathered around, other eyes were bent +upon them with greater curiosity than they displayed for the +victim of Sinclair's bullet. When the party again took up the +march around the southern end of the pool the owner of the eyes +followed them--large, round eyes, almost expressionless except +for a certain cold cruelty which glinted malignly from under +their pale gray irises. <br> +<p>All unconscious of the stalker, the men came, late in the +afternoon, to a spot which seemed favorable as a campsite. A cold +spring bubbled from the base of a rocky formation which overhung +and partially encircled a small inclosure. At Bradley's command, +the men took up the duties assigned them--gathering wood, +building a cook-fire and preparing the evening meal. It was while +they were thus engaged that Brady's attention was attracted by +the dismal flapping of huge wings. He glanced up, expecting to +see one of the great flying reptiles of a bygone age, his rifle +ready in his hand. Brady was a brave man. He had groped his way +up narrow tenement stairs and taken an armed maniac from a dark +room without turning a hair; but now as he looked up, he went +white and staggered back.<br> +</p> + +"Gawd!" he almost screamed. "What is it?" <br> +<p>Attracted by Brady's cry the others seized their rifles as +they followed his wide-eyed, frozen gaze, nor was there one of +them that was not moved by some species of terror or awe. Then +Brady spoke again in an almost inaudible voice. "Holy Mother +protect us--it's a banshee!"<br> +</p> + +Bradley, always cool almost to indifference in the face of +danger, felt a strange, creeping sensation run over his flesh, as +slowly, not a hundred feet above them, the thing flapped itself +across the sky, its huge, round eyes glaring down upon them. And +until it disappeared over the tops of the trees of a near-by wood +the five men stood as though paralyzed, their eyes never leaving +the weird shape; nor never one of them appearing to recall that +he grasped a loaded rifle in his hands. <br> +<p>With the passing of the thing, came the reaction. Tippet sank +to the ground and buried his face in his hands. "Oh, Gord," he +moaned. "Tyke me awy from this orful plice." Brady, recovered +from the first shock, swore loud and luridly. He called upon all +the saints to witness that he was unafraid and that anybody with +half an eye could have seen that the creature was nothing more +than "one av thim flyin' alligators" that they all were familiar +with.<br> +</p> + +"Yes," said Sinclair with fine sarcasm, "we've saw so many of +them with white shrouds on 'em." <br> +<p>"Shut up, you fool!" growled Brady. "If you know so much, tell +us what it was after bein' then."<br> +</p> + +Then he turned toward Bradley. "What was it, sor, do you think?" +he asked. <br> +<p>Bradley shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "It looked +like a winged human being clothed in a flowing white robe. Its +face was more human than otherwise. That is the way it looked to +me; but what it really was I can't even guess, for such a +creature is as far beyond my experience or knowledge as it is +beyond yours. All that I am sure of is that whatever else it may +have been, it was quite material--it was no ghost; rather just +another of the strange forms of life which we have met here and +with which we should be accustomed by this time."<br> +</p> + +Tippet looked up. His face was still ashy. "Yer cawn't tell me," +he cried. "Hi seen hit. Blime, Hi seen hit. Hit was ha dead man +flyin' through the hair. Didn't Hi see 'is heyes? Oh, Gord! +Didn't Hi see 'em?" <br> +<p>"It didn't look like any beast or reptile to me," spoke up +Sinclair. "It was lookin' right down at me when I looked up and I +saw its face plain as I see yours. It had big round eyes that +looked all cold and dead, and its cheeks were sunken in deep, and +I could see its yellow teeth behind thin, tight-drawn lips--like +a man who had been dead a long while, sir," he added, turning +toward Bradley.<br> +</p> + +"Yes!" James had not spoken since the apparition had passed over +them, and now it was scarce speech which he uttered--rather a +series of articulate gasps. "Yes--dead--a--long--while. It--means +something. It--come--for some--one. For one--of us. One--of us is +goin'-to die. I'm goin' to die!" he ended in a wail. <br> +<p>"Come! Come!" snapped Bradley. "Won't do. Won't do at all. Get +to work, all of you. Waste of time. Can't waste time."<br> +</p> + +His authoritative tones brought them all up standing, and +presently each was occupied with his own duties; but each worked +in silence and there was no singing and no bantering such as had +marked the making of previous camps. Not until they had eaten and +to each had been issued the little ration of smoking tobacco +allowed after each evening meal did any sign of a relaxation of +taut nerves appear. It was Brady who showed the first signs of +returning good spirits. He commenced humming "It's a Long Way to +Tipperary" and presently to voice the words, but he was well into +his third song before anyone joined him, and even then there +seemed a dismal note in even the gayest of tunes. <br> +<p>A huge fire blazed in the opening of their rocky shelter that +the prowling carnivora might be kept at bay; and always one man +stood on guard, watchfully alert against a sudden rush by some +maddened beast of the jungle. Beyond the fire, yellow-green spots +of flame appeared, moved restlessly about, disappeared and +reappeared, accompanied by a hideous chorus of screams and growls +and roars as the hungry meat-eaters hunting through the night +were attracted by the light or the scent of possible prey.<br> +</p> + +But to such sights and sounds as these the five men had become +callous. They sang or talked as unconcernedly as they might have +done in the bar-room of some publichouse at home. <br> +<p>Sinclair was standing guard. The others were listening to +Brady's description of traffic congestion at the Rush Street +bridge during the rush hour at night. The fire crackled cheerily. +The owners of the yellow-green eyes raised their frightful chorus +to the heavens. Conditions seemed again to have returned to +normal. And then, as though the hand of Death had reached out and +touched them all, the five men tensed into sudden rigidity.<br> +</p> + +Above the nocturnal diapason of the teeming jungle sounded a +dismal flapping of wings and over head, through the thick night, +a shadowy form passed across the diffused light of the flaring +camp-fire. Sinclair raised his rifle and fired. An eerie wail +floated down from above and the apparition, whatever it might +have been, was swallowed by the darkness. For several seconds the +listening men heard the sound of those dismally flapping wings +lessening in the distance until they could no longer be heard. +<br> +<p>Bradley was the first to speak. "Shouldn't have fired, +Sinclair," he said; "can't waste ammunition." But there was no +note of censure in his tone. It was as though he understood the +nervous reaction that had compelled the other's act.<br> +</p> + +"I couldn't help it, sir," said Sinclair. "Lord, it would take an +iron man to keep from shootin' at that awful thing. Do you +believe in ghosts, sir?" <br> +<p>"No," replied Bradley. "No such things."<br> +</p> + +"I don't know about that," said Brady. "There was a woman +murdered over on the prairie near Brighton--her throat was cut +from ear to ear, and--" <br> +<p>"Shut up," snapped Bradley.<br> +</p> + +"My grandaddy used to live down Coppington wy," said Tippet. +"They were a hold ruined castle on a 'ill near by, hand at +midnight they used to see pale blue lights through the windows an +'ear--" <br> +<p>"Will you close your hatch!" demanded Bradley. "You fools will +have yourselves scared to death in a minute. Now go to +sleep."<br> +</p> + +But there was little sleep in camp that night until utter +exhaustion overtook the harassed men toward morning; nor was +there any return of the weird creature that had set the nerves of +each of them on edge. <br> +<p>The following forenoon the party reached the base of the +barrier cliffs and for two days marched northward in an effort to +discover a break in the frowning abutment that raised its rocky +face almost perpendicularly above them, yet nowhere was there the +slightest indication that the cliffs were scalable.<br> +</p> + +Disheartened, Bradley determined to turn back toward the fort, as +he already had exceeded the time decided upon by Bowen Tyler and +himself for the expedition. The cliffs for many miles had been +trending in a northeasterly direction, indicating to Bradley that +they were approaching the northern extremity of the island. +According to the best of his calculations they had made +sufficient easting during the past two days to have brought them +to a point almost directly north of Fort Dinosaur and as nothing +could be gained by retracing their steps along the base of the +cliffs he decided to strike due south through the unexplored +country between them and the fort. <br> +<p>That night (September 9, 1916), they made camp a short +distance from the cliffs beside one of the numerous cool springs +that are to be found within Caspak, oftentimes close beside the +still more numerous warm and hot springs which feed the many +pools. After supper the men lay smoking and chatting among +themselves. Tippet was on guard. Fewer night prowlers threatened +them, and the men were commenting upon the fact that the farther +north they had traveled the smaller the number of all species of +animals became, though it was still present in what would have +seemed appalling plenitude in any other part of the world. The +diminution in reptilian life was the most noticeable change in +the fauna of northern Caspak. Here, however, were forms they had +not met elsewhere, several of which were of gigantic +proportions.<br> +</p> + +According to their custom all, with the exception of the man on +guard, sought sleep early, nor, once disposed upon the ground for +slumber, were they long in finding it. It seemed to Bradley that +he had scarcely closed his eyes when he was brought to his feet, +wide awake, by a piercing scream which was punctuated by the +sharp report of a rifle from the direction of the fire where +Tippet stood guard. As he ran toward the man, Bradley heard above +him the same uncanny wail that had set every nerve on edge +several nights before, and the dismal flapping of huge wings. He +did not need to look up at the white-shrouded figure winging +slowly away into the night to know that their grim visitor had +returned. <br> +<p>The muscles of his arm, reacting to the sight and sound of the +menacing form, carried his hand to the butt of his pistol; but +after he had drawn the weapon, he immediately returned it to its +holster with a shrug.<br> +</p> + +"What for?" he muttered. "Can't waste ammunition." Then he walked +quickly to where Tippet lay sprawled upon his face. By this time +James, Brady and Sinclair were at his heels, each with his rifle +in readiness. <br> +<p>"Is he dead, sir?" whispered James as Bradley kneeled beside +the prostrate form.<br> +</p> + +Bradley turned Tippet over on his back and pressed an ear close +to the other's heart. In a moment he raised his head. "Fainted," +he announced. "Get water. Hurry!" Then he loosened Tippet's shirt +at the throat and when the water was brought, threw a cupful in +the man's face. Slowly Tippet regained consciousness and sat up. +At first he looked curiously into the faces of the men about him; +then an expression of terror overspread his features. He shot a +startled glance up into the black void above and then burying his +face in his arms began to sob like a child. <br> +<p>"What's wrong, man?" demanded Bradley. "Buck up! Can't play +cry-baby. Waste of energy. What happened?"<br> +</p> + +"Wot 'appened, sir!" wailed Tippet. "Oh, Gord, sir! Hit came +back. Hit came for me, sir. Right hit did, sir; strite hat me, +sir; hand with long w'ite 'ands it clawed for me. Oh, Gord! Hit +almost caught me, sir. Hi'm has good as dead; Hi'm a marked man; +that's wot Hi ham. Hit was a-goin' for to carry me horf, sir." +<br> +<p>"Stuff and nonsense," snapped Bradley. "Did you get a good +look at it?"<br> +</p> + +Tippet said that he did--a much better look than he wanted. The +thing had almost clutched him, and he had looked straight into +its eyes--"dead heyes in a dead face," he had described them. +<br> +<p>"Wot was it after bein', do you think?" inquired Brady.<br> +</p> + +"Hit was Death," moaned Tippet, shuddering, and again a pall of +gloom fell upon the little party. <br> +<p>The following day Tippet walked as one in a trance. He never +spoke except in reply to a direct question, which more often than +not had to be repeated before it could attract his attention. He +insisted that he was already a dead man, for if the thing didn't +come for him during the day he would never live through another +night of agonized apprehension, waiting for the frightful end +that he was positive was in store for him. "I'll see to that," he +said, and they all knew that Tippet meant to take his own life +before darkness set in.<br> +</p> + +Bradley tried to reason with him, in his short, crisp way, but +soon saw the futility of it; nor could he take the man's weapons +from him without subjecting him to almost certain death from any +of the numberless dangers that beset their way. <br> +<p>The entire party was moody and glum. There was none of the +bantering that had marked their intercourse before, even in the +face of blighting hardships and hideous danger. This was a new +menace that threatened them, something that they couldn't +explain; and so, naturally, it aroused within them superstitious +fear which Tippet's attitude only tended to augment. To add +further to their gloom, their way led through a dense forest, +where, on account of the underbrush, it was difficult to make +even a mile an hour. Constant watchfulness was required to avoid +the many snakes of various degrees of repulsiveness and enormity +that infested the wood; and the only ray of hope they had to +cling to was that the forest would, like the majority of +Caspakian forests, prove to be of no considerable extent.<br> +</p> + +Bradley was in the lead when he came suddenly upon a grotesque +creature of Titanic proportions. Crouching among the trees, which +here commenced to thin out slightly, Bradley saw what appeared to +be an enormous dragon devouring the carcass of a mammoth. From +frightful jaws to the tip of its long tail it was fully forty +feet in length. Its body was covered with plates of thick skin +which bore a striking resemblance to armor-plate. The creature +saw Bradley almost at the same instant that he saw it and reared +up on its enormous hind legs until its head towered a full +twenty-five feet above the ground. From the cavernous jaws issued +a hissing sound of a volume equal to the escaping steam from the +safety-valves of half a dozen locomotives, and then the creature +came for the man. <br> +<p>"Scatter!" shouted Bradley to those behind him; and all but +Tippet heeded the warning. The man stood as though dazed, and +when Bradley saw the other's danger, he too stopped and wheeling +about sent a bullet into the massive body forcing its way through +the trees toward him. The shot struck the creature in the belly +where there was no protecting armor, eliciting a new note which +rose in a shrill whistle and ended in a wail. It was then that +Tippet appeared to come out of his trance, for with a cry of +terror he turned and fled to the left. Bradley, seeing that he +had as good an opportunity as the others to escape, now turned +his attention to extricating himself; and as the woods seemed +dense on the right, he ran in that direction, hoping that the +close-set boles would prevent pursuit on the part of the great +reptile. The dragon paid no further attention to him, however, +for Tippet's sudden break for liberty had attracted its +attention; and after Tippet it went, bowling over small trees, +uprooting underbrush and leaving a wake behind it like that of a +small tornado.<br> +</p> + +Bradley, the moment he had discovered the thing was pursuing +Tippet, had followed it. He was afraid to fire for fear of +hitting the man, and so it was that he came upon them at the very +moment that the monster lunged its great weight forward upon the +doomed man. The sharp, three-toed talons of the forelimbs seized +poor Tippet, and Bradley saw the unfortunate fellow lifted high +above the ground as the creature again reared up on its hind +legs, immediately transferring Tippet's body to its gaping jaws, +which closed with a sickening, crunching sound as Tippet's bones +cracked beneath the great teeth. <br> +<p>Bradley half raised his rifle to fire again and then lowered +it with a shake of his head. Tippet was beyond succor--why waste +a bullet that Caspak could never replace? If he could now escape +the further notice of the monster it would be a wiser act than to +throw his life away in futile revenge. He saw that the reptile +was not looking in his direction, and so he slipped noiselessly +behind the bole of a large tree and thence quietly faded away in +the direction he believed the others to have taken. At what he +considered a safe distance he halted and looked back. Half hidden +by the intervening trees he still could see the huge head and the +massive jaws from which protrude the limp legs of the dead man. +Then, as though struck by the hammer of Thor, the creature +collapsed and crumpled to the ground. Bradley's single bullet, +penetrating the body through the soft skin of the belly, had +slain the Titan.<br> +</p> + +A few minutes later, Bradley found the others of the party. The +four returned cautiously to the spot where the creature lay and +after convincing themselves that it was quite dead, came close to +it. It was an arduous and gruesome job extricating Tippet's +mangled remains from the powerful jaws, the men working for the +most part silently. <br> +<p>"It was the work of the banshee all right," muttered Brady. +"It warned poor Tippet, it did."<br> +</p> + +"Hit killed him, that's wot hit did, hand hit'll kill some more +of us," said James, his lower lip trembling. <br> +<p>"If it was a ghost," interjected Sinclair, "and I don't say as +it was; but if it was, why, it could take on any form it wanted +to. It might have turned itself into this thing, which ain't no +natural thing at all, just to get poor Tippet. If it had of been +a lion or something else humanlike it wouldn't look so strange; +but this here thing ain't humanlike. There ain't no such thing +an' never was."<br> +</p> + +"Bullets don't kill ghosts," said Bradley, "so this couldn't have +been a ghost. Furthermore, there are no such things. I've been +trying to place this creature. Just succeeded. It's a +tyrannosaurus. Saw picture of skeleton in magazine. There's one +in New York Natural History Museum. Seems to me it said it was +found in place called Hell Creek somewhere in western North +America. Supposed to have lived about six million years ago." +<br> +<p>"Hell Creek's in Montana," said Sinclair. "I used to punch +cows in Wyoming, an' I've heard of Hell Creek. Do you s'pose that +there thing's six million years old?" His tone was skeptical.<br> +</p> + +"No," replied Bradley; "But it would indicate that the island of +Caprona has stood almost without change for more than six million +years." <br> +<p>The conversation and Bradley's assurance that the creature was +not of supernatural origin helped to raise a trifle the spirits +of the men; and then came another diversion in the form of +ravenous meat-eaters attracted to the spot by the uncanny sense +of smell which had apprised them of the presence of flesh, killed +and ready for the eating.<br> +</p> + +It was a constant battle while they dug a grave and consigned all +that was mortal of John Tippet to his last, lonely resting-place. +Nor would they leave then; but remained to fashion a rude +headstone from a crumbling out-cropping of sandstone and to +gather a mass of the gorgeous flowers growing in such great +profusion around them and heap the new-made grave with bright +blooms. Upon the headstone Sinclair scratched in rude characters +the words: <br> +<p>HERE LIES JOHN TIPPET ENGLISHMAN KILLED BY TYRANNOSAURUS 10 +SEPT. A.D. 1916 R.I.P.<br> +</p> + +and Bradley repeated a short prayer before they left their +comrade forever. <br> +<p>For three days the party marched due south through forests and +meadow-land and great park-like areas where countless herbivorous +animals grazed--deer and antelope and bos and the little ecca, +the smallest species of Caspakian horse, about the size of a +rabbit. There were other horses too; but all were small, the +largest being not above eight hands in height. Preying +continually upon the herbivora were the meat-eaters, large and +small--wolves, hyaenadons, panthers, lions, tigers, and bear as +well as several large and ferocious species of reptilian +life.<br> +</p> + +On September twelfth the party scaled a line of sandstone cliffs +which crossed their route toward the south; but they crossed them +only after an encounter with the tribe that inhabited the +numerous caves which pitted the face of the escarpment. That +night they camped upon a rocky plateau which was sparsely wooded +with jarrah, and here once again they were visited by the weird, +nocturnal apparition that had already filled them with a nameless +terror. <br> +<p>As on the night of September ninth the first warning came from +the sentinel standing guard over his sleeping companions. A +terror-stricken cry punctuated by the crack of a rifle brought +Bradley, Sinclair and Brady to their feet in time to see James, +with clubbed rifle, battling with a white-robed figure that +hovered on widespread wings on a level with the Englishman's +head. As they ran, shouting, forward, it was obvious to them that +the weird and terrible apparition was attempting to seize James; +but when it saw the others coming to his rescue, it desisted, +flapping rapidly upward and away, its long, ragged wings giving +forth the peculiarly dismal notes which always characterized the +sound of its flying.<br> +</p> + +Bradley fired at the vanishing menacer of their peace and safety; +but whether he scored a hit or not, none could tell, though, +following the shot, there was wafted back to them the same +piercing wail that had on other occasions frozen their marrow. +<br> +<p>Then they turned toward James, who lay face downward upon the +ground, trembling as with ague. For a time he could not even +speak, but at last regained sufficient composure to tell them how +the thing must have swooped silently upon him from above and +behind as the first premonition of danger he had received was +when the long, clawlike fingers had clutched him beneath either +arm. In the melee his rifle had been discharged and he had broken +away at the same instant and turned to defend himself with the +butt. The rest they had seen.<br> +</p> + +From that instant James was an absolutely broken man. He +maintained with shaking lips that his doom was sealed, that the +thing had marked him for its own, and that he was as good as +dead, nor could any amount of argument or raillery convince him +to the contrary. He had seen Tippet marked and claimed and now he +had been marked. Nor were his constant reiterations of this +belief without effect upon the rest of the party. Even Bradley +felt depressed, though for the sake of the others he managed to +hide it beneath a show of confidence he was far from feeling. +<br> +<p>And on the following day William James was killed by a +saber-tooth tiger--September 13, 1916. Beneath a jarrah tree on +the stony plateau on the northern edge of the Sto-lu country in +the land that Time forgot, he lies in a lonely grave marked by a +rough headstone.<br> +</p> + +Southward from his grave marched three grim and silent men. To +the best of Bradley's reckoning they were some twenty-five miles +north of Fort Dinosaur, and that they might reach the fort on the +following day, they plodded on until darkness overtook them. With +comparative safety fifteen miles away, they made camp at last; +but there was no singing now and no joking. In the bottom of his +heart each prayed that they might come safely through just this +night, for they knew that during the morrow they would make the +final stretch, yet the nerves of each were taut with strained +anticipation of what gruesome thing might flap down upon them +from the black sky, marking another for its own. Who would be the +next? <br> +<p>As was their custom, they took turns at guard, each man doing +two hours and then arousing the next. Brady had gone on from +eight to ten, followed by Sinclair from ten to twelve, then +Bradley had been awakened. Brady would stand the last guard from +two to four, as they had determined to start the moment that it +became light enough to insure comparative safety upon the +trail.<br> +</p> + +The snapping of a twig aroused Brady out of a dead sleep, and as +he opened his eyes, he saw that it was broad daylight and that at +twenty paces from him stood a huge lion. As the man sprang to his +feet, his rifle ready in his hand, Sinclair awoke and took in the +scene in a single swift glance. The fire was out and Bradley was +nowhere in sight. For a long moment the lion and the men eyed one +another. The latter had no mind to fire if the beast minded its +own affairs--they were only too glad to let it go its way if it +would; but the lion was of a different mind. <br> +<p>Suddenly the long tail snapped stiffly erect, and as though it +had been attached to two trigger fingers the two rifles spoke in +unison, for both men knew this signal only too well--the +immediate forerunner of a deadly charge. As the brute's head had +been raised, his spine had not been visible; and so they did what +they had learned by long experience was best to do. Each covered +a front leg, and as the tail snapped aloft, fired. With a hideous +roar the mighty flesh-eater lurched forward to the ground with +both front legs broken. It was an easy accomplishment in the +instant before the beast charged--after, it would have been +well-nigh an impossible feat. Brady stepped close in and finished +him with a shot in the base of the brain lest his terrific +roarings should attract his mate or others of their kind.<br> +</p> + +Then the two men turned and looked at one another. "Where is +Lieutenant Bradley?" asked Sinclair. They walked to the fire. +Only a few smoking embers remained. A few feet away lay Bradley's +rifle. There was no evidence of a struggle. The two men circled +about the camp twice and on the last lap Brady stooped and picked +up an object which had lain about ten yards beyond the fire--it +was Bradley's cap. Again the two looked questioningly at one +another, and then, simultaneously, both pairs of eyes swung +upward and searched the sky. A moment later Brady was examining +the ground about the spot where Bradley's cap had lain. It was +one of those little barren, sandy stretches that they had found +only upon this stony plateau. Brady's own footsteps showed as +plainly as black ink upon white paper; but his was the only foot +that had marred the smooth, windswept surface--there was no sign +that Bradley had crossed the spot upon the surface of the ground, +and yet his cap lay well toward the center of it. <br> +<p>Breakfastless and with shaken nerves the two survivors plunged +madly into the long day's march. Both were strong, courageous, +resourceful men; but each had reached the limit of human nerve +endurance and each felt that he would rather die than spend +another night in the hideous open of that frightful land. Vivid +in the mind of each was a picture of Bradley's end, for though +neither had witnessed the tragedy, both could imagine almost +precisely what had occurred. They did not discuss it--they did +not even mention it--yet all day long the thing was uppermost in +the mind of each and mingled with it a similar picture with +himself as victim should they fail to make Fort Dinosaur before +dark.<br> +</p> + +And so they plunged forward at reckless speed, their clothes, +their hands, their faces torn by the retarding underbrush that +reached forth to hinder them. Again and again they fell; but be +it to their credit that the one always waited and helped the +other and that into the mind of neither entered the thought or +the temptation to desert his companion--they would reach the fort +together if both survived, or neither would reach it. <br> +<p>They encountered the usual number of savage beasts and +reptiles; but they met them with a courageous recklessness born +of desperation, and by virtue of the very madness of the chances +they took, they came through unscathed and with the minimum of +delay.<br> +</p> + +Shortly after noon they reached the end of the plateau. Before +them was a drop of two hundred feet to the valley beneath. To the +left, in the distance, they could see the waters of the great +inland sea that covers a considerable portion of the area of the +crater island of Caprona and at a little lesser distance to the +south of the cliffs they saw a thin spiral of smoke arising above +the tree-tops. <br> +<p>The landscape was familiar--each recognized it immediately and +knew that that smoky column marked the spot where Dinosaur had +stood. Was the fort still there, or did the smoke arise from the +smoldering embers of the building they had helped to fashion for +the housing of their party? Who could say!<br> +</p> + +Thirty precious minutes that seemed as many hours to the +impatient men were consumed in locating a precarious way from the +summit to the base of the cliffs that bounded the plateau upon +the south, and then once again they struck off upon level ground +toward their goal. The closer they approached the fort the +greater became their apprehension that all would not be well. +They pictured the barracks deserted or the small company +massacred and the buildings in ashes. It was almost in a frenzy +of fear that they broke through the final fringe of jungle and +stood at last upon the verge of the open meadow a half-mile from +Fort Dinosaur. <br> +<p>"Lord!" ejaculated Sinclair. "They are still there!" And he +fell to his knees, sobbing.<br> +</p> + +Brady trembled like a leaf as he crossed himself and gave silent +thanks, for there before them stood the sturdy ramparts of +Dinosaur and from inside the inclosure rose a thin spiral of +smoke that marked the location of the cook-house. All was well, +then, and their comrades were preparing the evening meal! <br> +<p>Across the clearing they raced as though they had not already +covered in a single day a trackless, primeval country that might +easily have required two days by fresh and untired men. Within +hailing distance they set up such a loud shouting that presently +heads appeared above the top of the parapet and soon answering +shouts were rising from within Fort Dinosaur. A moment later +three men issued from the inclosure and came forward to meet the +survivors and listen to the hurried story of the eleven eventful +days since they had set out upon their expedition to the barrier +cliffs. They heard of the deaths of Tippet and James and of the +disappearance of Lieutenant Bradley, and a new terror settled +upon Dinosaur.<br> +</p> + +Olson, the Irish engineer, with Whitely and Wilson constituted +the remnants of Dinosaur's defenders, and to Brady and Sinclair +they narrated the salient events that had transpired since +Bradley and his party had marched away on September 4th. They +told them of the infamous act of Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts +and his German crew who had stolen the U-33, breaking their +parole, and steaming away toward the subterranean opening through +the barrier cliffs that carried the waters of the inland sea into +the open Pacific beyond; and of the cowardly shelling of the +fort. <br> +<p>They told of the disappearance of Miss La Rue in the night of +September 11th, and of the departure of Bowen Tyler in search of +her, accompanied only by his Airedale, Nobs. Thus of the original +party of eleven Allies and nine Germans that had constituted the +company of the U-33 when she left English waters after her +capture by the crew of the English tug there were but five now to +be accounted for at Fort Dinosaur. Benson, Tippet, James, and one +of the Germans were known to be dead. It was assumed that +Bradley, Tyler and the girl had already succumbed to some of the +savage denizens of Caspak, while the fate of the Germans was +equally unknown, though it might readily be believed that they +had made good their escape. They had had ample time to provision +the ship and the refining of the crude oil they had discovered +north of the fort could have insured them an ample supply to +carry them back to Germany.<br> +</p> + +<br> +<h1 id="ref_2">Chapter 2</h1> + +<br> +When bradley went on guard at midnight, September 14th, his +thoughts were largely occupied with rejoicing that the night was +almost spent without serious mishap and that the morrow would +doubtless see them all safely returned to Fort Dinosaur. The +hopefulness of his mood was tinged with sorrow by recollection of +the two members of his party who lay back there in the savage +wilderness and for whom there would never again be a homecoming. +<br> +<p>No premonition of impending ill cast gloom over his +anticipations for the coming day, for Bradley was a man who, +while taking every precaution against possible danger, permitted +no gloomy forebodings to weigh down his spirit. When danger +threatened, he was prepared; but he was not forever courting +disaster, and so it was that when about one o'clock in the +morning of the fifteenth, he heard the dismal flapping of giant +wings overhead, he was neither surprised nor frightened but idly +prepared for an attack he had known might reasonably be +expected.<br> +</p> + +The sound seemed to come from the south, and presently, low above +the trees in that direction, the man made out a dim, shadowy form +circling slowly about. Bradley was a brave man, yet so keen was +the feeling of revulsion engendered by the sight and sound of +that grim, uncanny shape that he distinctly felt the gooseflesh +rise over the surface of his body, and it was with difficulty +that he refrained from following an instinctive urge to fire upon +the nocturnal intruder. Better, far better would it have been had +he given in to the insistent demand of his subconscious mentor; +but his almost fanatical obsession to save ammunition proved now +his undoing, for while his attention was riveted upon the thing +circling before him and while his ears were filled with the +beating of its wings, there swooped silently out of the black +night behind him another weird and ghostly shape. With its huge +wings partly closed for the dive and its white robe fluttering in +its wake, the apparition swooped down upon the Englishman. <br> +<p>So great was the force of the impact when the thing struck +Bradley between the shoulders that the man was half stunned. His +rifle flew from his grasp; he felt clawlike talons of great +strength seize him beneath his arms and sweep him off his feet; +and then the thing rose swiftly with him, so swiftly that his cap +was blown from his head by the rush of air as he was borne +rapidly upward into the inky sky and the cry of warning to his +companions was forced back into his lungs.<br> +</p> + +The creature wheeled immediately toward the east and was at once +joined by its fellow, who circled them once and then fell in +behind them. Bradley now realized the strategy that the pair had +used to capture him and at once concluded that he was in the +power of reasoning beings closely related to the human race if +not actually of it. <br> +<p>Past experience suggested that the great wings were a part of +some ingenious mechanical device, for the limitations of the +human mind, which is always loath to accept aught beyond its own +little experience, would not permit him to entertain the idea +that the creatures might be naturally winged and at the same time +of human origin. From his position Bradley could not see the +wings of his captor, nor in the darkness had he been able to +examine those of the second creature closely when it circled +before him. He listened for the puff of a motor or some other +telltale sound that would prove the correctness of his theory. +However, he was rewarded with nothing more than the constant +flap-flap.<br> +</p> + +Presently, far below and ahead, he saw the waters of the inland +sea, and a moment later he was borne over them. Then his captor +did that which proved beyond doubt to Bradley that he was in the +hands of human beings who had devised an almost perfect scheme of +duplicating, mechanically, the wings of a bird--the thing spoke +to its companion and in a language that Bradley partially +understood, since he recognized words that he had learned from +the savage races of Caspak. From this he judged that they were +human, and being human, he knew that they could have no natural +wings--for who had ever seen a human being so adorned! Therefore +their wings must be mechanical. Thus Bradley reasoned-thus most +of us reason; not by what might be possible; but by what has +fallen within the range of our experience. <br> +<p>What he heard them say was to the effect that having covered +half the distance the burden would now be transferred from one to +the other. Bradley wondered how the exchange was to be +accomplished. He knew that those giant wings would not permit the +creatures to approach one another closely enough to effect the +transfer in this manner; but he was soon to discover that they +had other means of doing it.<br> +</p> + +He felt the thing that carried him rise to a greater altitude, +and below he glimpsed momentarily the second white-robed figure; +then the creature above sounded a low call, it was answered from +below, and instantly Bradley felt the clutching talons release +him; gasping for breath, he hurtled downward through space. <br> +<p>For a terrifying instant, pregnant with horror, Bradley fell; +then something swooped for him from behind, another pair of +talons clutched him beneath the arms, his downward rush was +checked, within another hundred feet, and close to the surface of +the sea he was again borne upward. As a hawk dives for a songbird +on the wing, so this great, human bird dived for Bradley. It was +a harrowing experience, but soon over, and once again the captive +was being carried swiftly toward the east and what fate he could +not even guess.<br> +</p> + +It was immediately following his transfer in mid-air that Bradley +made out the shadowy form of a large island far ahead, and not +long after, he realized that this must be the intended +destination of his captors. Nor was he mistaken. Three quarters +of an hour from the time of his seizure his captors dropped +gently to earth in the strangest city that human eye had ever +rested upon. Just a brief glimpse of his immediate surroundings +vouchsafed Bradley before he was whisked into the interior of one +of the buildings; but in that momentary glance he saw strange +piles of stone and wood and mud fashioned into buildings of all +conceivable sizes and shapes, sometimes piled high on top of one +another, sometimes standing alone in an open court-way, but +usually crowded and jammed together, so that there were no +streets or alleys between them other than a few which ended +almost as soon as they began. The principal doorways appeared to +be in the roofs, and it was through one of these that Bradley was +inducted into the dark interior of a low-ceiled room. Here he was +pushed roughly into a corner where he tripped over a thick mat, +and there his captors left him. He heard them moving about in the +darkness for a moment, and several times he saw their large +luminous eyes glowing in the dark. Finally, these disappeared and +silence reigned, broken only by the breathing of the creature +which indicated to the Englishman that they were sleeping +somewhere in the same apartment. <br> +<p>It was now evident that the mat upon the floor was intended +for sleeping purposes and that the rough shove that had sent him +to it had been a rude invitation to repose. After taking stock of +himself and finding that he still had his pistol and ammunition, +some matches, a little tobacco, a canteen full of water and a +razor, Bradley made himself comfortable upon the mat and was soon +asleep, knowing that an attempted escape in the darkness without +knowledge of his surroundings would be predoomed to failure.<br> +</p> + +When he awoke, it was broad daylight, and the sight that met his +eyes made him rub them again and again to assure himself that +they were really open and that he was not dreaming. A broad shaft +of morning light poured through the open doorway in the ceiling +of the room which was about thirty feet square, or roughly +square, being irregular in shape, one side curving outward, +another being indented by what might have been the corner of +another building jutting into it, another alcoved by three sides +of an octagon, while the fourth was serpentine in contour. Two +windows let in more daylight, while two doors evidently gave +ingress to other rooms. The walls were partially ceiled with thin +strips of wood, nicely fitted and finished, partially plastered +and the rest covered with a fine, woven cloth. Figures of +reptiles and beasts were painted without regard to any uniform +scheme here and there upon the walls. A striking feature of the +decorations consisted of several engaged columns set into the +walls at no regular intervals, the capitals of each supporting a +human skull the cranium of which touched the ceiling, as though +the latter was supported by these grim reminders either of +departed relatives or of some hideous tribal rite--Bradley could +not but wonder which. <br> +<p>Yet it was none of these things that filled him with greatest +wonder--no, it was the figures of the two creatures that had +captured him and brought him hither. At one end of the room a +stout pole about two inches in diameter ran horizontally from +wall to wall some six or seven feet from the floor, its ends +securely set in two of the columns. Hanging by their knees from +this perch, their heads downward and their bodies wrapped in +their huge wings, slept the creatures of the night before--like +two great, horrid bats they hung, asleep.<br> +</p> + +As Bradley gazed upon them in wide-eyed astonishment, he saw +plainly that all his intelligence, all his acquired knowledge +through years of observation and experience were set at naught by +the simple evidence of the fact that stood out glaringly before +his eyes--the creatures' wings were not mechanical devices but as +natural appendages, growing from their shoulderblades, as were +their arms and legs. He saw, too, that except for their wings the +pair bore a strong resemblance to human beings, though fashioned +in a most grotesque mold. <br> +<p>As he sat gazing at them, one of the two awoke, separated his +wings to release his arms that had been folded across his breast, +placed his hands upon the floor, dropped his feet and stood +erect. For a moment he stretched his great wings slowly, solemnly +blinking his large round eyes. Then his gaze fell upon Bradley. +The thin lips drew back tightly against yellow teeth in a grimace +that was nothing but hideous. It could not have been termed a +smile, and what emotion it registered the Englishman was at a +loss to guess. No expression whatever altered the steady gaze of +those large, round eyes; there was no color upon the pasty, +sunken cheeks. A death's head grimaced as though a man long dead +raised his parchment-covered skull from an old grave.<br> +</p> + +The creature stood about the height of an average man but +appeared much taller from the fact that the joints of his long +wings rose fully a foot above his hairless head. The bare arms +were long and sinewy, ending in strong, bony hands with clawlike +fingers--almost talonlike in their suggestiveness. The white robe +was separated in front, revealing skinny legs and the further +fact that the thing wore but the single garment, which was of +fine, woven cloth. From crown to sole the portions of the body +exposed were entirely hairless, and as he noted this, Bradley +also noted for the first time the cause of much of the seeming +expressionlessness of the creature's countenance--it had neither +eye-brows or lashes. The ears were small and rested flat against +the skull, which was noticeably round, though the face was quite +flat. The creature had small feet, beautifully arched and plump, +but so out of keeping with every other physical attribute it +possessed as to appear ridiculous. <br> +<p>After eyeing Bradley for a moment the thing approached him. +"Where from?" it asked.<br> +</p> + +"England," replied Bradley, as briefly. <br> +<p>"Where is England and what?" pursued the questioner.<br> +</p> + +"It is a country far from here," answered the Englishman. <br> +<p>"Are your people cor-sva-jo or cos-ata-lu?"<br> +</p> + +"I do not understand you," said Bradley; "and now suppose you +answer a few questions. Who are you? What country is this? Why +did you bring me here?" <br> +<p>Again the sepulchral grimace. "We are Wieroos--Luata is our +father. Caspak is ours. This, our country, is called Oo-oh. We +brought you here for (literally) Him Who Speaks for Luata to gaze +upon and question. He would know from whence you came and why; +but principally if you be cos-ata-lu."<br> +</p> + +"And if I am not cos--whatever you call the bloomin' beast-what +of it?" <br> +<p>The Wieroo raised his wings in a very human shrug and waved +his bony claws toward the human skulls supporting the ceiling. +His gesture was eloquent; but he embellished it by remarking, +"And possibly if you are."<br> +</p> + +"I'm hungry," snapped Bradley. <br> +<p>The Wieroo motioned him to one of the doors which he threw +open, permitting Bradley to pass out onto another roof on a level +lower than that upon which they had landed earlier in the +morning. By daylight the city appeared even more remarkable than +in the moonlight, though less weird and unreal. The houses of all +shapes and sizes were piled about as a child might pile blocks of +various forms and colors. He saw now that there were what might +be called streets or alleys, but they ran in baffling turns and +twists, nor ever reached a destination, always ending in a dead +wall where some Wieroo had built a house across them.<br> +</p> + +Upon each house was a slender column supporting a human skull. +Sometimes the columns were at one corner of the roof, sometimes +at another, or again they rose from the center or near the +center, and the columns were of varying heights, from that of a +man to those which rose twenty feet above their roofs. The skulls +were, as a rule, painted--blue or white, or in combinations of +both colors. The most effective were painted blue with the teeth +white and the eye-sockets rimmed with white. <br> +<p>There were other skulls--thousands of them--tens, hundreds of +thousands. They rimmed the eaves of every house, they were set in +the plaster of the outer walls and at no great distance from +where Bradley stood rose a round tower built entirely of human +skulls. And the city extended in every direction as far as the +Englishman could see.<br> +</p> + +All about him Wieroos were moving across the roofs or winging +through the air. The sad sound of their flapping wings rose and +fell like a solemn dirge. Most of them were appareled all in +white, like his captors; but others had markings of red or blue +or yellow slashed across the front of their robes. <br> +<p>His guide pointed toward a doorway in an alley below them. "Go +there and eat," he commanded, "and then come back. You cannot +escape. If any question you, say that you belong to Fosh-bal-soj. +There is the way." And this time he pointed to the top of a +ladder which protruded above the eaves of the roof near-by. Then +he turned and reentered the house.<br> +</p> + +Bradley looked about him. No, he could not escape--that seemed +evident. The city appeared interminable, and beyond the city, if +not a savage wilderness filled with wild beasts, there was the +broad inland sea infested with horrid monsters. No wonder his +captor felt safe in turning him loose in Oo-oh--he wondered if +that was the name of the country or the city and if there were +other cities like this upon the island. <br> +<p>Slowly he descended the ladder to the seemingly deserted alley +which was paved with what appeared to be large, round +cobblestones. He looked again at the smooth, worn pavement, and a +rueful grin crossed his features--the alley was paved with +skulls. "The City of Human Skulls," mused Bradley. "They must +have been collectin' 'em since Adam," he thought, and then he +crossed and entered the building through the doorway that had +been pointed out to him.<br> +</p> + +Inside he found a large room in which were many Wieroos seated +before pedestals the tops of which were hollowed out so that they +resembled the ordinary bird drinking- and bathing-fonts so +commonly seen on suburban lawns. A seat protruded from each of +the four sides of the pedestals--just a flat board with a support +running from its outer end diagonally to the base of the +pedestal. <br> +<p>As Bradley entered, some of the Wieroos espied him, and a +dismal wail arose. Whether it was a greeting or a threat, Bradley +did not know. Suddenly from a dark alcove another Wieroo rushed +out toward him. "Who are you?" he cried. "What do you want?"<br> +</p> + +"Fosh-bal-soj sent me here to eat," replied Bradley. <br> +<p>"Do you belong to Fosh-bal-soj?" asked the other.<br> +</p> + +"That appears to be what he thinks," answered the Englishman. +<br> +<p>"Are you cos-ata-lu?" demanded the Wieroo.<br> +</p> + +"Give me something to eat or I'll be all of that," replied +Bradley. <br> +<p>The Wieroo looked puzzled. "Sit here, jaal-lu," he snapped, +and Bradley sat down unconscious of the fact that he had been +insulted by being called a hyena-man, an appellation of contempt +in Caspak.<br> +</p> + +The Wieroo had seated him at a pedestal by himself, and as he sat +waiting for what was next to transpire, he looked about him at +the Wieroo in his immediate vicinity. He saw that in each font +was a quantity of food, and that each Wieroo was armed with a +wooden skewer, sharpened at one end; with which they carried +solid portions of food to their mouths. At the other end of the +skewer was fastened a small clam-shell. This was used to scoop up +the smaller and softer portions of the repast into which all four +of the occupants of each table dipped impartially. The Wieroo +leaned far over their food, scooping it up rapidly and with much +noise, and so great was their haste that a part of each mouthful +always fell back into the common dish; and when they choked, by +reason of the rapidity with which they attempted to bolt their +food, they often lost it all. Bradley was glad that he had a +pedestal all to himself. <br> +<p>Soon the keeper of the place returned with a wooden bowl +filled with food. This he dumped into Bradley's "trough," as he +already thought of it. The Englishman was glad that he could not +see into the dark alcove or know what were all the ingredients +that constituted the mess before him, for he was very hungry.<br> +</p> + +After the first mouthful he cared even less to investigate the +antecedents of the dish, for he found it peculiarly palatable. It +seemed to consist of a combination of meat, fruits, vegetables, +small fish and other undistinguishable articles of food all +seasoned to produce a gastronomic effect that was at once +baffling and delicious. <br> +<p>When he had finished, his trough was empty, and then he +commenced to wonder who was to settle for his meal. As he waited +for the proprietor to return, he fell to examining the dish from +which he had eaten and the pedestal upon which it rested. The +font was of stone worn smooth by long-continued use, the four +outer edges hollowed and polished by the contact of the countless +Wieroo bodies that had leaned against them for how long a period +of time Bradley could not even guess. Everything about the place +carried the impression of hoary age. The carved pedestals were +black with use, the wooden seats were worn hollow, the floor of +stone slabs was polished by the contact of possibly millions of +naked feet and worn away in the aisles between the pedestals so +that the latter rested upon little mounds of stone several inches +above the general level of the floor.<br> +</p> + +Finally, seeing that no one came to collect, Bradley arose and +started for the doorway. He had covered half the distance when he +heard the voice of mine host calling to him: "Come back, +jaal-lu," screamed the Wieroo; and Bradley did as he was bid. As +he approached the creature which stood now behind a large, +flat-topped pedestal beside the alcove, he saw lying upon the +smooth surface something that almost elicited a gasp of +astonishment from him--a simple, common thing it was, or would +have been almost anywhere in the world but Caspak--a square bit +of paper! <br> +<p>And on it, in a fine hand, written compactly, were many +strange hieroglyphics! These remarkable creatures, then, had a +written as well as a spoken language and besides the art of +weaving cloth possessed that of paper-making. Could it be that +such grotesque beings represented the high culture of the human +race within the boundaries of Caspak? Had natural selection +produced during the countless ages of Caspakian life a winged +monstrosity that represented the earthly pinnacle of man's +evolution?<br> +</p> + +Bradley had noted something of the obvious indications of a +gradual evolution from ape to spearman as exemplified by the +several overlapping races of Alalus, club-men and hatchet-men +that formed the connecting links between the two extremes with +which he, had come in contact. He had heard of the Krolus and the +Galus--reputed to be still higher in the plane of evolution-and +now he had indisputable evidence of a race possessing refinements +of civilization eons in advance of the spear-men. The conjectures +awakened by even a momentary consideration of the possibilities +involved became at once as wildly bizarre as the insane imagings +of a drug addict. <br> +<p>As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the Wieroo held +out a pen of bone fixed to a wooden holder and at the same time +made a sign that Bradley was to write upon the paper. It was +difficult to judge from the expressionless features of the Wieroo +what was passing in the creature's mind, but Bradley could not +but feel that the thing cast a supercilious glance upon him as +much as to say, "Of course you do not know how to write, you +poor, low creature; but you can make your mark."<br> +</p> + +Bradley seized the pen and in a clear, bold hand wrote: "John +Bradley, England." The Wieroo showed evidences of consternation +as it seized the piece of paper and examined the writing with +every mark of incredulity and surprise. Of course it could make +nothing of the strange characters; but it evidently accepted them +as proof that Bradley possessed knowledge of a written language +of his own, for following the Englishman's entry it made a few +characters of its own. <br> +<p>"You will come here again just before Lua hides his face +behind the great cliff," announced the creature, "unless before +that you are summoned by Him Who Speaks for Luata, in which case +you will not have to eat any more."<br> +</p> + +"Reassuring cuss," thought Bradley as he turned and left the +building. <br> +<p>Outside were several Wieroos that had been eating at the +pedestals within. They immediately surrounded him, asking all +sorts of questions, plucking at his garments, his ammunition-belt +and his pistol. Their demeanor was entirely different from what +it had been within the eating-place and Bradley was to learn that +a house of food was sanctuary for him, since the stern laws of +the Wieroos forbade altercations within such walls. Now they were +rough and threatening, as with wings half spread they hovered +about him in menacing attitudes, barring his way to the ladder +leading to the roof from whence he had descended; but the +Englishman was not one to brook interference for long. He +attempted at first to push his way past them, and then when one +seized his arm and jerked him roughly back, Bradley swung upon +the creature and with a heavy blow to the jaw felled it.<br> +</p> + +Instantly pandemonium reigned. Loud wails arose, great wings +opened and closed with a loud, beating noise and many clawlike +hands reached forth to clutch him. Bradley struck to right and +left. He dared not use his pistol for fear that once they +discovered its power he would be overcome by weight of numbers +and relieved of possession of what he considered his trump card, +to be reserved until the last moment that it might be used to aid +in his escape, for already the Englishman was planning, though +almost hopelessly, such an attempt. <br> +<p>A few blows convinced Bradley that the Wieroos were arrant +cowards and that they bore no weapons, for after two or three had +fallen beneath his fists the others formed a circle about him, +but at a safe distance and contented themselves with threatening +and blustering, while those whom he had felled lay upon the +pavement without trying to arise, the while they moaned and +wailed in lugubrious chorus.<br> +</p> + +Again Bradley strode toward the ladder, and this time the circle +parted before him; but no sooner had he ascended a few rungs than +he was seized by one foot and an effort made to drag him down. +With a quick backward glance the Englishman, clinging firmly to +the ladder with both hands, drew up his free foot and with all +the strength of a powerful leg, planted a heavy shoe squarely in +the flat face of the Wieroo that held him. Shrieking horribly, +the creature clapped both hands to its face and sank to the +ground while Bradley clambered quickly the remaining distance to +the roof, though no sooner did he reach the top of the ladder +than a great flapping of wings beneath him warned him that the +Wieroos were rising after him. A moment later they swarmed about +his head as he ran for the apartment in which he had spent the +early hours of the morning after his arrival. <br> +<p>It was but a short distance from the top of the ladder to the +doorway, and Bradley had almost reached his goal when the door +flew open and Fosh-bal-soj stepped out. Immediately the pursuing +Wieroos demanded punishment of the jaal-lu who had so grievously +maltreated them. Fosh-bal-soj listened to their complaints and +then with a sudden sweep of his right hand seized Bradley by the +scruff of the neck and hurled him sprawling through the doorway +upon the floor of the chamber.<br> +</p> + +So sudden was the assault and so surprising the strength of the +Wieroo that the Englishman was taken completely off his guard. +When he arose, the door was closed, and Fosh-bal-soj was standing +over him, his hideous face contorted into an expression of rage +and hatred. <br> +<p>"Hyena, snake, lizard!" he screamed. "You would dare lay your +low, vile, profaning hands upon even the lowliest of the +Wieroos-the sacred chosen of Luata!"<br> +</p> + +Bradley was mad, and so he spoke in a very low, calm voice while +a half-smile played across his lips but his cold, gray eyes were +unsmiling. <br> +<p>"What you did to me just now," he said, "--I am going to kill +you for that," and even as he spoke, he launched himself at the +throat of Fosh-bal-soj. The other Wieroo that had been asleep +when Bradley left the chamber had departed, and the two were +alone. Fosh-bal-soj displayed little of the cowardice of those +that had attacked Bradley in the alleyway, but that may have been +because he had so slight opportunity, for Bradley had him by the +throat before he could utter a cry and with his right hand struck +him heavily and repeatedly upon his face and over his +heart--ugly, smashing, short-arm jabs of the sort that take the +fight out of a man in quick time.<br> +</p> + +But Fosh-bal-soj was of no mind to die passively. He clawed and +struck at Bradley while with his great wings he attempted to +shield himself from the merciless rain of blows, at the same time +searching for a hold upon his antagonist's throat. Presently he +succeeded in tripping the Englishman, and together the two fell +heavily to the floor, Bradley underneath, and at the same instant +the Wieroo fastened his long talons about the other's windpipe. +<br> +<p>Fosh-bal-soj was possessed of enormous strength and he was +fighting for his life. The Englishman soon realized that the +battle was going against him. Already his lungs were pounding +painfully for air as he reached for his pistol. It was with +difficulty that he drew it from its holster, and even then, with +death staring him in the face, he thought of his precious +ammunition. "Can't waste it," he thought; and slipping his +fingers to the barrel he raised the weapon and struck +Fosh-bal-soj a terrific blow between the eyes. Instantly the +clawlike fingers released their hold, and the creature sank +limply to the floor beside Bradley, who lay for several minutes +gasping painfully in an effort to regain his breath.<br> +</p> + +When he was able, he rose, and leaned close over the Wieroo, +lying silent and motionless, his wings dropping limply and his +great, round eyes staring blankly toward the ceiling. A brief +examination convinced Bradley that the thing was dead, and with +the conviction came an overwhelming sense of the dangers which +must now confront him; but how was he to escape? <br> +<p>His first thought was to find some means for concealing the +evidence of his deed and then to make a bold effort to escape. +Stepping to the second door he pushed it gently open and peered +in upon what seemed to be a store room. In it was a litter of +cloth such as the Wieroos' robes were fashioned from, a number of +chests painted blue and white, with white hieroglyphics painted +in bold strokes upon the blue and blue hieroglyphics upon the +white. In one corner was a pile of human skulls reaching almost +to the ceiling and in another a stack of dried Wieroo wings. The +chamber was as irregularly shaped as the other and had but a +single window and a second door at the further end, but was +without the exit through the roof and, most important of all, +there was no creature of any sort in it.<br> +</p> + +As quickly as possible Bradley dragged the dead Wieroo through +the doorway and closed the door; then he looked about for a place +to conceal the corpse. One of the chests was large enough to hold +the body if the knees were bent well up, and with this idea in +view Bradley approached the chest to open it. The lid was made in +two pieces, each being hinged at an opposite end of the chest and +joining nicely where they met in the center of the chest, making +a snug, well-fitting joint. There was no lock. Bradley raised one +half the cover and looked in. With a smothered "By Jove!" he bent +closer to examine the contents--the chest was about half filled +with an assortment of golden trinkets. There were what appeared +to be bracelets, anklets and brooches of virgin gold. <br> +<p>Realizing that there was no room in the chest for the body of +the Wieroo, Bradley turned to seek another means of concealing +the evidence of his crime. There was a space between the chests +and the wall, and into this he forced the corpse, piling the +discarded robes upon it until it was entirely hidden from sight; +but now how was he to make good his escape in the bright glare of +that early Spring day?<br> +</p> + +He walked to the door at the far end of the apartment and +cautiously opened it an inch. Before him and about two feet away +was the blank wall of another building. Bradley opened the door a +little farther and looked in both directions. There was no one in +sight to the left over a considerable expanse of roof-top, and to +the right another building shut off his line of vision at about +twenty feet. Slipping out, he turned to the right and in a few +steps found a narrow passageway between two buildings. Turning +into this he passed about half its length when he saw a Wieroo +appear at the opposite end and halt. The creature was not looking +down the passageway; but at any moment it might turn its eyes +toward him, when he would be immediately discovered. <br> +<p>To Bradley's left was a triangular niche in the wall of one of +the houses and into this he dodged, thus concealing himself from +the sight of the Wieroo. Beside him was a door painted a vivid +yellow and constructed after the same fashion as the other Wieroo +doors he had seen, being made up of countless narrow strips of +wood from four to six inches in length laid on in patches of +about the same width, the strips in adjacent patches never +running in the same direction. The result bore some resemblance +to a crazy patchwork quilt, which was heightened when, as in one +of the doors he had seen, contiguous patches were painted +different colors. The strips appeared to have been bound together +and to the underlying framework of the door with gut or fiber and +also glued, after which a thick coating of paint had been +applied. One edge of the door was formed of a straight, round +pole about two inches in diameter that protruded at top and +bottom, the projections setting in round holes in both lintel and +sill forming the axis upon which the door swung. An eccentric +disk upon the inside face of the door engaged a slot in the frame +when it was desired to secure the door against intruders.<br> +</p> + +As Bradley stood flattened against the wall waiting for the +Wieroo to move on, he heard the creature's wings brushing against +the sides of the buildings as it made its way down the narrow +passage in his direction. As the yellow door offered the only +means of escape without detection, the Englishman decided to risk +whatever might lie beyond it, and so, boldly pushing it in, he +crossed the threshold and entered a small apartment. <br> +<p>As he did so, he heard a muffled ejaculation of surprise, and +turning his eyes in the direction from whence the sound had come, +he beheld a wide-eyed girl standing flattened against the +opposite wall, an expression of incredulity upon her face. At a +glance he saw that she was of no race of humans that he had come +in contact with since his arrival upon Caprona--there was no +trace about her form or features of any relationship to those low +orders of men, nor was she appareled as they--or, rather, she did +not entirely lack apparel as did most of them.<br> +</p> + +A soft hide fell from her left shoulder to just below her left +hip on one side and almost to her right knee on the other, a +loose girdle was about her waist, and golden ornaments such as he +had seen in the blue-and-white chest encircled her arms and legs, +while a golden fillet with a triangular diadem bound her heavy +hair above her brows. Her skin was white as from long confinement +within doors; but it was clear and fine. Her figure, but +partially concealed by the soft deerskin, was all curves of +symmetry and youthful grace, while her features might easily have +been the envy of the most feted of Continental beauties. <br> +<p>If the girl was surprised by the sudden appearance of Bradley, +the latter was absolutely astounded to discover so wondrous a +creature among the hideous inhabitants of the City of Human +Skulls. For a moment the two looked at one another in unconcealed +consternation, and then Bradley spoke, using to the best of his +poor ability, the common tongue of Caspak.<br> +</p> + +"Who are you," he asked, "and from where do you come? Do not tell +me that you are a Wieroo." <br> +<p>"No," she replied, "I am no Wieroo." And she shuddered +slightly as she pronounced the word. "I am a Galu; but who and +what are you? I am sure that you are no Galu, from your garments; +but you are like the Galus in other respects. I know that you are +not of this frightful city, for I have been here for almost ten +moons, and never have I seen a male Galu brought hither before, +nor are there such as you and I, other than prisoners in the land +of Oo-oh, and these are all females. Are you a prisoner, +then?"<br> +</p> + +He told her briefly who and what he was, though he doubted if she +understood, and from her he learned that she had been a prisoner +there for many months; but for what purpose he did not then +learn, as in the midst of their conversation the yellow door +swung open and a Wieroo with a robe slashed with yellow entered. +<br> +<p>At sight of Bradley the creature became furious. "Whence came +this reptile?" it demanded of the girl. "How long has it been +here with you?"<br> +</p> + +"It came through the doorway just ahead of you," Bradley answered +for the girl. <br> +<p>The Wieroo looked relieved. "It is well for the girl that this +is so," it said, "for now only you will have to die." And +stepping to the door the creature raised its voice in one of +those uncanny, depressing wails.<br> +</p> + +The Englishman looked toward the girl. "Shall I kill it?" he +asked, half drawing his pistol. "What is best to do?--I do not +wish to endanger you." <br> +<p>The Wieroo backed toward the door. "Defiler!" it screamed. +"You dare to threaten one of the sacred chosen of Luata!"<br> +</p> + +"Do not kill him," cried the girl, "for then there could be no +hope for you. That you are here, alive, shows that they may not +intend to kill you at all, and so there is a chance for you if +you do not anger them; but touch him in violence and your +bleached skull will top the loftiest pedestal of Oo-oh." <br> +<p>"And what of you?" asked Bradley.<br> +</p> + +"I am already doomed," replied the girl; "I am cos-ata-lo." <br> +<p>"Cos-ata-lo! cos-ata-lu!" What did these phrases mean that +they were so oft repeated by the denizens of Oo-oh? Lu and lo, +Bradley knew to mean man and woman; ata; was employed variously +to indicate life, eggs, young, reproduction and kindred subject; +cos was a negative; but in combination they were meaningless to +the European.<br> +</p> + +"Do you mean they will kill you?" asked Bradley. <br> +<p>"I but wish that they would," replied the girl. "My fate is to +be worse than death--in just a few nights more, with the coming +of the new moon."<br> +</p> + +"Poor she-snake!" snapped the Wieroo. "You are to become sacred +above all other shes. He Who Speaks for Luata has chosen you for +himself. Today you go to his temple--"the Wieroo used a phrase +meaning literally High Place--"where you will receive the sacred +commands." <br> +<p>The girl shuddered and cast a sorrowful glance toward Bradley. +"Ah," she sighed, "if I could but see my beloved country once +again!"<br> +</p> + +The man stepped suddenly close to her side before the Wieroo +could interpose and in a low voice asked her if there was no way +by which he might encompass her escape. She shook her head +sorrowfully. "Even if we escaped the city," she replied, "there +is the big water between the island of Oo-oh and the Galu shore." +<br> +<p>"And what is beyond the city, if we could leave it?" pursued +Bradley.<br> +</p> + +"I may only guess from what I have heard since I was brought +here," she answered; "but by reports and chance remarks I take it +to be a beautiful land in which there are but few wild beasts and +no men, for only the Wieroos live upon this island and they dwell +always in cities of which there are three, this being the +largest. The others are at the far end of the island, which is +about three marches from end to end and at its widest point about +one march." <br> +<p>From his own experience and from what the natives on the +mainland had told him, Bradley knew that ten miles was a good +day's march in Caspak, owing to the fact that at most points it +was a trackless wilderness and at all times travelers were beset +by hideous beasts and reptiles that greatly impeded rapid +progress.<br> +</p> + +The two had spoken rapidly but were now interrupted by the advent +through the opening in the roof of several Wieroos who had come +in answer to the alarm it of the yellow slashing had uttered. +<br> +<p>"This jaal-lu," cried the offended one, "has threatened me. +Take its hatchet from it and make it fast where it can do no harm +until He Who Speaks for Luata has said what shall be done with +it. It is one of those strange creatures that Fosh-bal-soj +discovered first above the Band-lu country and followed back +toward the beginning. He Who Speaks for Luata sent Fosh-bal-soj +to fetch him one of the creatures, and here it is. It is hoped +that it may be from another world and hold the secret of the +cos-ata-lus."<br> +</p> + +The Wieroos approached boldly to take Bradley's "hatchet" from +him, their leader having indicated the pistol hanging in its +holster at the Englishman's hip, but the first one went reeling +backward against his fellows from the blow to the chin which +Bradley followed up with a rush and the intention to clean up the +room in record time; but he had reckoned without the opening in +the roof. Two were down and a great wailing and moaning was +arising when reinforcements appeared from above. Bradley did not +see them; but the girl did, and though she cried out a warning, +it came too late for him to avoid a large Wieroo who dived +headforemost for him, striking him between the shoulders and +bearing him to the floor. Instantly a dozen more were piling on +top of him. His pistol was wrenched from its holster and he was +securely pinioned down by the weight of numbers. <br> +<p>At a word from the Wieroo of the yellow slashing who evidently +was a person of authority, one left and presently returned with +fiber ropes with which Bradley was tightly bound.<br> +</p> + +"Now bear him to the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," directed the +chief Wieroo, "and one take the word of all that has passed to +Him Who Speaks for Luata." <br> +<p>Each of the creatures raised a hand, the back against its +face, as though in salute. One seized Bradley and carried him +through the yellow doorway to the roof from whence it rose upon +its wide-spread wings and flapped off across the roof-tops of +Oo-oh with its heavy burden clutched in its long talons.<br> +</p> + +Below him Bradley could see the city stretching away to a +distance on every hand. It was not as large as he had imagined, +though he judged that it was at least three miles square. The +houses were piled in indescribable heaps, sometimes to a height +of a hundred feet. The streets and alleys were short and crooked +and there were many areas where buildings had been wedged in so +closely that no light could possibly reach the lowest tiers, the +entire surface of the ground being packed solidly with them. <br> +<p>The colors were varied and startling, the architecture +amazing. Many roofs were cup or saucer-shaped with a small hole +in the center of each, as though they had been constructed to +catch rain-water and conduct it to a reservoir beneath; but +nearly all the others had the large opening in the top that +Bradley had seen used by these flying men in lieu of doorways. At +all levels were the myriad poles surmounted by grinning skulls; +but the two most prominent features of the city were the round +tower of human skulls that Bradley had noted earlier in the day +and another and much larger edifice near the center of the city. +As they approached it, Bradley saw that it was a huge building +rising a hundred feet in height from the ground and that it stood +alone in the center of what might have been called a plaza in +some other part of the world. Its various parts, however, were +set together with the same strange irregularity that marked the +architecture of the city as a whole; and it was capped by an +enormous saucer-shaped roof which projected far beyond the eaves, +having the appearance of a colossal Chinese coolie hat, +inverted.<br> +</p> + +The Wieroo bearing Bradley passed over one corner of the open +space about the large building, revealing to the Englishman grass +and trees and running water beneath. They passed the building and +about five hundred yards beyond the creature alighted on the roof +of a square, blue building surmounted by seven poles bearing +seven skulls. This then, thought Bradley, is the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls. <br> +<p>Over the opening in the roof was a grated covering, and this +the Wieroo removed. The thing then tied a piece of fiber rope to +one of Bradley's ankles and rolled him over the edge of the +opening. All was dark below and for an instant the Englishman +came as near to experiencing real terror as he had ever come in +his life before. As he rolled off into the black abyss he felt +the rope tighten about his ankle and an instant later he was +stopped with a sudden jerk to swing pendulumlike, head downward. +Then the creature lowered away until Bradley's head came in +sudden and painful contact with the floor below, after which the +Wieroo let loose of the rope entirely and the Englishman's body +crashed to the wooden planking. He felt the free end of the rope +dropped upon him and heard the grating being slid into place +above him.<br> +</p> + +<br> +<h1 id="ref_3">Chapter 3</h1> + +<br> +Half-stunned, Bradley lay for a minute as he had fallen and then +slowly and painfully wriggled into a less uncomfortable position. +He could see nothing of his surroundings in the gloom about him +until after a few minutes his eyes became accustomed to the dark +interior when he rolled them from side to side in survey of his +prison. <br> +<p>He discovered himself to be in a bare room which was +windowless, nor could he see any other opening than that through +which he had been lowered. In one corner was a huddled mass that +might have been almost anything from a bundle of rags to a dead +body.<br> +</p> + +Almost immediately after he had taken his bearings Bradley +commenced working with his bonds. He was a man of powerful +physique, and as from the first he had been imbued with a belief +that the fiber ropes were too weak to hold him, he worked on with +a firm conviction that sooner or later they would part to his +strainings. After a matter of five minutes he was positive that +the strands about his wrists were beginning to give; but he was +compelled to rest then from exhaustion. <br> +<p>As he lay, his eyes rested upon the bundle in the corner, and +presently he could have sworn that the thing moved. With eyes +straining through the gloom the man lay watching the grim and +sinister thing in the corner. Perhaps his overwrought nerves were +playing a sorry joke upon him. He thought of this and also that +his condition of utter helplessness might still further have +stimulated his imagination. He closed his eyes and sought to +relax his muscles and his nerves; but when he looked again, he +knew that he had not been mistaken--the thing had moved; now it +lay in a slightly altered form and farther from the wall. It was +nearer him.<br> +</p> + +With renewed strength Bradley strained at his bonds, his +fascinated gaze still glued upon the shapeless bundle. No longer +was there any doubt that it moved--he saw it rise in the center +several inches and then creep closer to him. It sank and arose +again--a headless, hideous, monstrous thing of menace. Its very +silence rendered it the more terrible. <br> +<p>Bradley was a brave man; ordinarily his nerves were of steel; +but to be at the mercy of some unknown and nameless horror, to be +unable to defend himself--it was these things that almost +unstrung him, for at best he was only human. To stand in the +open, even with the odds all against him; to be able to use his +fists, to put up some sort of defense, to inflict punishment upon +his adversary--then he could face death with a smile. It was not +death that he feared now--it was that horror of the unknown that +is part of the fiber of every son of woman.<br> +</p> + +Closer and closer came the shapeless mass. Bradley lay motionless +and listened. What was that he heard! Breathing? He could not be +mistaken--and then from out of the bundle of rags issued a hollow +groan. Bradley felt his hair rise upon his head. He struggled +with the slowly parting strands that held him. The thing beside +him rose up higher than before and the Englishman could have +sworn that he saw a single eye peering at him from among the +tumbled cloth. For a moment the bundle remained motionless--only +the sound of breathing issued from it, then there broke from it a +maniacal laugh. <br> +<p>Cold sweat stood upon Bradley's brow as he tugged for +liberation. He saw the rags rise higher and higher above him +until at last they tumbled upon the floor from the body of a +naked man--a thin, a bony, a hideous caricature of man, that +mouthed and mummed and, wabbling upon its weak and shaking legs, +crumpled to the floor again, still laughing--laughing +horribly.<br> +</p> + +It crawled toward Bradley. "Food! Food!" it screamed. "There is a +way out! There is a way out!" <br> +<p>Dragging itself to his side the creature slumped upon the +Englishman's breast. "Food!" it shrilled as with its bony fingers +and its teeth, it sought the man's bare throat.<br> +</p> + +"Food! There is a way out!" Bradley felt teeth upon his jugular. +He turned and twisted, shaking himself free for an instant; but +once more with hideous persistence the thing fastened itself upon +him. The weak jaws were unable to send the dull teeth through the +victim's flesh; but Bradley felt it pawing, pawing, pawing, like +a monstrous rat, seeking his life's blood. <br> +<p>The skinny arms now embraced his neck, holding the teeth to +his throat against all his efforts to dislodge the thing. Weak as +it was it had strength enough for this in its mad efforts to eat. +Mumbling as it worked, it repeated again and again, "Food! Food! +There is a way out!" until Bradley thought those two expressions +alone would drive him mad.<br> +</p> + +And all but mad he was as with a final effort backed by almost +maniacal strength he tore his wrists from the confining bonds and +grasping the repulsive thing upon his breast hurled it halfway +across the room. Panting like a spent hound Bradley worked at the +thongs about his ankles while the maniac lay quivering and +mumbling where it had fallen. Presently the Englishman leaped to +his feet--freer than he had ever before felt in all his life, +though he was still hopelessly a prisoner in the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls. <br> +<p>With his back against the wall for support, so weak the +reaction left him, Bradley stood watching the creature upon the +floor. He saw it move and slowly raise itself to its hands and +knees, where it swayed to and fro as its eyes roved about in +search of him; and when at last they found him, there broke from +the drawn lips the mumbled words: "Food! Food! There is a way +out!" The pitiful supplication in the tones touched the +Englishman's heart. He knew that this could be no Wieroo, but +possibly once a man like himself who had been cast into this pit +of solitary confinement with this hideous result that might in +time be his fate, also.<br> +</p> + +And then, too, there was the suggestion of hope held out by the +constant reiteration of the phrase, "There is a way out." Was +there a way out? What did this poor thing know? <br> +<p>"Who are you and how long have you been here?" Bradley +suddenly demanded.<br> +</p> + +For a moment the man upon the floor made no response, then +mumblingly came the words: "Food! Food!" <br> +<p>"Stop!" commanded the Englishman--the injunction might have +been barked from the muzzle of a pistol. It brought the man to a +sitting posture, his hands off the ground. He stopped swaying to +and fro and appeared to be startled into an attempt to master his +faculties of concentration and thought.<br> +</p> + +Bradley repeated his questions sharply. <br> +<p>"I am An-Tak, the Galu," replied the man. "Luata alone knows +how long I have been here--maybe ten moons, maybe ten moons three +times"--it was the Caspakian equivalent of thirty. "I was young +and strong when they brought me here. Now I am old and very weak. +I am cos-ata-lu--that is why they have not killed me. If I tell +them the secret of becoming cos-ata-lu they will take me out; but +how can I tell them that which Luata alone knows?<br> +</p> + +"What is cos-ata-lu?" demanded Bradley. <br> +<p>"Food! Food! There is a way out!" mumbled the Galu.<br> +</p> + +Bradley strode across the floor, seized the man by his shoulders +and shook him. <br> +<p>"Tell me," he cried, "what is cos-ata-lu?"<br> +</p> + +"Food!" whimpered An-Tak. <br> +<p>Bradley bethought himself. His haversack had not been taken +from him. In it besides his razor and knife were odds and ends of +equipment and a small quantity of dried meat. He tossed a small +strip of the latter to the starving Galu. An-Tak seized upon it +and devoured it ravenously. It instilled new life in the man.<br> +</p> + +"What is cos-ata-lu?" insisted Bradley again. <br> +<p>An-Tak tried to explain. His narrative was often broken by +lapses of concentration during which he reverted to his plaintive +mumbling for food and recurrence to the statement that there was +a way out; but by firmness and patience the Englishman drew out +piece-meal a more or less lucid exposition of the remarkable +scheme of evolution that rules in Caspak. In it he found +explanations of the hitherto inexplicable. He discovered why he +had seen no babes or children among the Caspakian tribes with +which he had come in contact; why each more northerly tribe +evinced a higher state of development than those south of them; +why each tribe included individuals ranging in physical and +mental characteristics from the highest of the next lower race to +the lowest of the next higher, and why the women of each tribe +immersed themselves morning for an hour or more in the warm pools +near which the habitations of their people always were located; +and, too, he discovered why those pools were almost immune from +the attacks of carnivorous animals and reptiles.<br> +</p> + +He learned that all but those who were cos-ata-lu came up +cor-sva-jo, or from the beginning. The egg from which they first +developed into tadpole form was deposited, with millions of +others, in one of the warm pools and with it a poisonous serum +that the carnivora instinctively shunned. Down the warm stream +from the pool floated the countless billions of eggs and +tadpoles, developing as they drifted slowly toward the sea. Some +became tadpoles in the pool, some in the sluggish stream and some +not until they reached the great inland sea. In the next stage +they became fishes or reptiles, An-Tak was not positive which, +and in this form, always developing, they swam far to the south, +where, amid the rank and teeming jungles, some of them evolved +into amphibians. Always there were those whose development +stopped at the first stage, others whose development ceased when +they became reptiles, while by far the greater proportion formed +the food supply of the ravenous creatures of the deep. <br> +<p>Few indeed were those that eventually developed into baboons +and then apes, which was considered by Caspakians the real +beginning of evolution. From the egg, then, the individual +developed slowly into a higher form, just as the frog's egg +develops through various stages from a fish with gills to a frog +with lungs. With that thought in mind Bradley discovered that it +was not difficult to believe in the possibility of such a +scheme-there was nothing new in it.<br> +</p> + +From the ape the individual, if it survived, slowly developed +into the lowest order of man--the Alu--and then by degrees to +Bo-lu, Sto-lu, Band-lu, Kro-lu and finally Galu. And in each +stage countless millions of other eggs were deposited in the warm +pools of the various races and floated down to the great sea to +go through a similar process of evolution outside the womb as +develops our own young within; but in Caspak the scheme is much +more inclusive, for it combines not only individual development +but the evolution of species and genera. If an egg survives it +goes through all the stages of development that man has passed +through during the unthinkable eons since life first moved upon +the earth's face. <br> +<p>The final stage--that which the Galus have almost attained and +for which all hope--is cos-ata-lu, which literally, means +no-egg-man, or one who is born directly as are the young of the +outer world of mammals. Some of the Galus produce cos-ata-lu and +cos-ata-lo both; the Weiroos only cos-ata-lu--in other words all +Wieroos are born male, and so they prey upon the Galus for their +women and sometimes capture and torture the Galu men who are +cos-ata-lu in an endeavor to learn the secret which they believe +will give them unlimited power over all other denizens of +Caspak.<br> +</p> + +No Wieroos come up from the beginning--all are born of the Wieroo +fathers and Galu mothers who are cos-ata-lo, and there are very +few of the latter owing to the long and precarious stages of +development. Seven generations of the same ancestor must come up +from the beginning before a cos-ata-lu child may be born; and +when one considers the frightful dangers that surround the vital +spark from the moment it leaves the warm pool where it has been +deposited to float down to the sea amid the voracious creatures +that swarm the surface and the deeps and the almost equally +unthinkable trials of its effort to survive after it once becomes +a land animal and starts northward through the horrors of the +Caspakian jungles and forests, it is plainly a wonder that even a +single babe has ever been born to a Galu woman. <br> +<p>Seven cycles it requires before the seventh Galu can complete +the seventh danger-infested circle since its first Galu ancestor +achieved the state of Galu. For ages before, the ancestors of +this first Galu may have developed from a Band-lu or Bo-lu egg +without ever once completing the whole circle--that is from a +Galu egg, back to a fully developed Galu.<br> +</p> + +Bradley's head was whirling before he even commenced to grasp the +complexities of Caspakian evolution; but as the truth slowly +filtered into his understanding--as gradually it became possible +for him to visualize the scheme, it appeared simpler. In fact, it +seemed even less difficult of comprehension than that with which +he was familiar. <br> +<p>For several minutes after An-Tak ceased speaking, his voice +having trailed off weakly into silence, neither spoke again. Then +the Galu recommenced his, "Food! Food! There is a way out!" +Bradley tossed him another bit of dried meat, waiting patiently +until he had eaten it, this time more slowly.<br> +</p> + +"What do you mean by saying there is a way out?" he asked. <br> +<p>"He who died here just after I came, told me," replied An-Tak. +"He said there was a way out, that he had discovered it but was +too weak to use his knowledge. He was trying to tell me how to +find it when he died. Oh, Luata, if he had lived but a moment +more!"<br> +</p> + +"They do not feed you here?" asked Bradley. <br> +<p>"No, they give me water once a day--that is all."<br> +</p> + +"But how have you lived, then?" <br> +<p>"The lizards and the rats," replied An-Tak. "The lizards are +not so bad; but the rats are foul to taste. However, I must eat +them or they would eat me, and they are better than nothing; but +of late they do not come so often, and I have not had a lizard +for a long time. I shall eat though," he mumbled. "I shall eat +now, for you cannot remain awake forever." He laughed, a +cackling, dry laugh. "When you sleep, An-Tak will eat."<br> +</p> + +It was horrible. Bradley shuddered. For a long time each sat in +silence. The Englishman could guess why the other made no +sound--he awaited the moment that sleep should overcome his +victim. In the long silence there was born upon Bradley's ears a +faint, monotonous sound as of running water. He listened +intently. It seemed to come from far beneath the floor. <br> +<p>"What is that noise?" he asked. "That sounds like water +running through a narrow channel."<br> +</p> + +"It is the river," replied An-Tak. "Why do you not go to sleep? +It passes directly beneath the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. It +runs through the temple grounds, beneath the temple and under the +city. When we die, they will cut off our heads and throw our +bodies into the river. At the mouth of the river await many large +reptiles. Thus do they feed. The Wieroos do likewise with their +own dead, keeping only the skulls and the wings. Come, let us +sleep." <br> +<p>"Do the reptiles come up the river into the city?" asked +Bradley.<br> +</p> + +"The water is too cold--they never leave the warm water of the +great pool," replied An-Tak. <br> +<p>"Let us search for the way out," suggested Bradley.<br> +</p> + +An-Tak shook his head. "I have searched for it all these moons," +he said. "If I could not find it, how would you?" <br> +<p>Bradley made no reply but commenced a diligent examination of +the walls and floor of the room, pressing over each square foot +and tapping with his knuckles. About six feet from the floor he +discovered a sleeping-perch near one end of the apartment. He +asked An-Tak about it, but the Galu said that no Weiroo had +occupied the place since he had been incarcerated there. Again +and again Bradley went over the floor and walls as high up as he +could reach. Finally he swung himself to the perch, that he might +examine at least one end of the room all the way to the +ceiling.<br> +</p> + +In the center of the wall close to the top, an area about three +feet square gave forth a hollow sound when he rapped upon it. +Bradley felt over every square inch of that area with the tips of +his fingers. Near the top he found a small round hole a trifle +larger in diameter than his forefinger, which he immediately +stuck into it. The panel, if such it was, seemed about an inch +thick, and beyond it his finger encountered nothing. Bradley +crooked his finger upon the opposite side of the panel and pulled +toward him, steadily but with considerable force. Suddenly the +panel flew inward, nearly precipitating the man to the floor. It +was hinged at the bottom, and when lowered the outer edge rested +upon the perch, making a little platform parallel with the floor +of the room. <br> +<p>Beyond the opening was an utterly dark void. The Englishman +leaned through it and reached his arm as far as possible into the +blackness but touched nothing. Then he fumbled in his haversack +for a match, a few of which remained to him. When he struck it, +An-Tak gave a cry of terror. Bradley held the light far into the +opening before him and in its flickering rays saw the top of a +ladder descending into a black abyss below. How far down it +extended he could not guess; but that he should soon know +definitely he was positive.<br> +</p> + +"You have found it! You have found the way out!" screamed An-Tak. +"Oh, Luata! And now I am too weak to go. Take me with you! Take +me with you!" <br> +<p>"Shut up!" admonished Bradley. "You will have the whole flock +of birds around our heads in a minute, and neither of us will +escape. Be quiet, and I'll go ahead. If I find a way out, I'll +come back and help you, if you'll promise not to try to eat me up +again."<br> +</p> + +"I promise," cried An-Tak. "Oh, Luata! How could you blame me? I +am half crazed of hunger and long confinement and the horror of +the lizards and the rats and the constant waiting for death." +<br> +<p>"I know," said Bradley simply. "I'm sorry for you, old top. +Keep a stiff upper lip." And he slipped through the opening, +found the ladder with his feet, closed the panel behind him, and +started downward into the darkness.<br> +</p> + +Below him rose more and more distinctly the sound of running +water. The air felt damp and cool. He could see nothing of his +surroundings and felt nothing but the smooth, worn sides and +rungs of the ladder down which he felt his way cautiously lest a +broken rung or a misstep should hurl him downward. <br> +<p>As he descended thus slowly, the ladder seemed interminable +and the pit bottomless, yet he realized when at last he reached +the bottom that he could not have descended more than fifty feet. +The bottom of the ladder rested on a narrow ledge paved with what +felt like large round stones, but what he knew from experience to +be human skulls. He could not but marvel as to where so many +countless thousands of the things had come from, until he paused +to consider that the infancy of Caspak dated doubtlessly back +into remote ages, far beyond what the outer world considered the +beginning of earthly time. For all these eons the Wieroos might +have been collecting human skulls from their enemies and their +own dead--enough to have built an entire city of them.<br> +</p> + +Feeling his way along the narrow ledge, Bradley came presently to +a blank wall that stretched out over the water swirling beneath +him, as far as he could reach. Stooping, he groped about with one +hand, reaching down toward the surface of the water, and +discovered that the bottom of the wall arched above the stream. +How much space there was between the water and the arch he could +not tell, nor how deep the former. There was only one way in +which he might learn these things, and that was to lower himself +into the stream. For only an instant he hesitated weighing his +chances. Behind him lay almost certainly the horrid fate of +An-Tak; before him nothing worse than a comparatively painless +death by drowning. Holding his haversack above his head with one +hand he lowered his feet slowly over the edge of the narrow +platform. Almost immediately he felt the swirling of cold water +about his ankles, and then with a silent prayer he let himself +drop gently into the stream. <br> +<p>Great was Bradley's relief when he found the water no more +than waist deep and beneath his feet a firm, gravel bottom. +Feeling his way cautiously he moved downward with the current, +which was not so strong as he had imagined from the noise of the +running water.<br> +</p> + +Beneath the first arch he made his way, following the winding +curvatures of the right-hand wall. After a few yards of progress +his hand came suddenly in contact with a slimy thing clinging to +the wall--a thing that hissed and scuttled out of reach. What it +was, the man could not know; but almost instantly there was a +splash in the water just ahead of him and then another. <br> +<p>On he went, passing beneath other arches at varying distances, +and always in utter darkness. Unseen denizens of this great +sewer, disturbed by the intruder, splashed into the water ahead +of him and wriggled away. Time and again his hand touched them +and never for an instant could he be sure that at the next step +some gruesome thing might not attack him. He had strapped his +haversack about his neck, well above the surface of the water, +and in his left hand he carried his knife. Other precautions +there were none to take.<br> +</p> + +The monotony of the blind trail was increased by the fact that +from the moment he had started from the foot of the ladder he had +counted his every step. He had promised to return for An-Tak if +it proved humanly possible to do so, and he knew that in the +blackness of the tunnel he could locate the foot of the ladder in +no other way. <br> +<p>He had taken two hundred and sixty-nine steps--afterward he +knew that he should never forget that number--when something +bumped gently against him from behind. Instantly he wheeled about +and with knife ready to defend himself stretched forth his right +hand to push away the object that now had lodged against his +body. His fingers feeling through the darkness came in contact +with something cold and clammy--they passed to and fro over the +thing until Bradley knew that it was the face of a dead man +floating upon the surface of the stream. With an oath he pushed +his gruesome companion out into mid-stream to float on down +toward the great pool and the awaiting scavengers of the +deep.<br> +</p> + +At his four hundred and thirteenth step another corpse bumped +against him--how many had passed him without touching he could +not guess; but suddenly he experienced the sensation of being +surrounded by dead faces floating along with him, all set in +hideous grimaces, their dead eyes glaring at this profaning alien +who dared intrude upon the waters of this river of the dead--a +horrid escort, pregnant with dire forebodings and with menace. +<br> +<p>Though he advanced very slowly, he tried always to take steps +of about the same length; so that he knew that though +considerable time had elapsed, yet he had really advanced no more +than four hundred yards when ahead he saw a lessening of the +pitch-darkness, and at the next turn of the stream his +surroundings became vaguelydiscernible. Above him was an arched +roof and on either hand walls pierced at intervals by apertures +covered with wooden doors. Just ahead of him in the roof of the +aqueduct was a round, black hole about thirty inches in diameter. +His eyes still rested upon the opening when there shot downward +from it to the water below the naked body of a human being which +almost immediately rose to the surface again and floated off down +the stream. In the dim light Bradley saw that it was a dead +Wieroo from which the wings and head had been removed. A moment +later another headless body floated past, recalling what An-Tak +had told him of the skull-collecting customs of the Wieroo. +Bradley wondered how it happened that the first corpse he had +encountered in the stream had not been similarly mutilated.<br> +</p> + +The farther he advanced now, the lighter it became. The number of +corpses was much smaller than he had imagined, only two more +passing him before, at six hundred steps, or about five hundred +yards, from the point he had taken to the stream, he came to the +end of the tunnel and looked out upon sunlit water, running +between grassy banks. <br> +<p>One of the last corpses to pass him was still clothed in the +white robe of a Wieroo, blood-stained over the headless neck that +it concealed.<br> +</p> + +Drawing closer to the opening leading into the bright daylight, +Bradley surveyed what lay beyond. A short distance before him a +large building stood in the center of several acres of grass and +tree-covered ground, spanning the stream which disappeared +through an opening in its foundation wall. From the large +saucer-shaped roof and the vivid colorings of the various +heterogeneous parts of the structure he recognized it as the +temple past which he had been borne to the Blue Place of Seven +Skulls. <br> +<p>To and fro flew Wieroos, going to and from the temple. Others +passed on foot across the open grounds, assisting themselves with +their great wings, so that they barely skimmed the earth. To +leave the mouth of the tunnel would have been to court instant +discovery and capture; but by what other avenue he might escape, +Bradley could not guess, unless he retraced his steps up the +stream and sought egress from the other end of the city. The +thought of traversing that dark and horror-ridden tunnel for +perhaps miles he could not entertain--there must be some other +way. Perhaps after dark he could steal through the temple grounds +and continue on downstream until he had come beyond the city; and +so he stood and waited until his limbs became almost paralyzed +with cold, and he knew that he must find some other plan for +escape.<br> +</p> + +A half-formed decision to risk an attempt to swim under water to +the temple was crystallizing in spite of the fact that any chance +Wieroo flying above the stream might easily see him, when again a +floating object bumped against him from behind and lodged across +his back. Turning quickly he saw that the thing was what he had +immediately guessed it to be--a headless and wingless Wieroo +corpse. With a grunt of disgust he was about to push it from him +when the white garment enshrouding it suggested a bold plan to +his resourceful brain. Grasping the corpse by an arm he tore the +garment from it and then let the body float downward toward the +temple. With great care he draped the robe about him; the bloody +blotch that had covered the severed neck he arranged about his +own head. His haversack he rolled as tightly as possible and +stuffed beneath his coat over his breast. Then he fell gently to +the surface of the stream and lying upon his back floated +downward with the current and out into the open sunlight. <br> +<p>Through the weave of the cloth he could distinguish large +objects. He saw a Wieroo flap dismally above him; he saw the +banks of the stream float slowly past; he heard a sudden wail +upon the righthand shore, and his heart stood still lest his ruse +had been discovered; but never by a move of a muscle did he +betray that aught but a cold lump of clay floated there upon the +bosom of the water, and soon, though it seemed an eternity to +him, the direct sunlight was blotted out, and he knew that he had +entered beneath the temple.<br> +</p> + +Quickly he felt for bottom with his feet and as quickly stood +erect, snatching the bloody, clammy cloth from his face. On both +sides were blank walls and before him the river turned a sharp +corner and disappeared. Feeling his way cautiously forward he +approached the turn and looked around the corner. To his left was +a low platform about a foot above the level of the stream, and +onto this he lost no time in climbing, for he was soaked from +head to foot, cold and almost exhausted. <br> +<p>As he lay resting on the skull-paved shelf, he saw in the +center of the vault above the river another of those sinister +round holes through which he momentarily expected to see a +headless corpse shoot downward in its last plunge to a watery +grave. A few feet along the platform a closed door broke the +blankness of the wall. As he lay looking at it and wondering what +lay behind, his mind filled with fragments of many wild schemes +of escape, it opened and a white robed Wieroo stepped out upon +the platform. The creature carried a large wooden basin filled +with rubbish. Its eyes were not upon Bradley, who drew himself to +a squatting position and crouched as far back in the corner of +the niche in which the platform was set as he could force +himself. The Wieroo stepped to the edge of the platform and +dumped the rubbish into the stream. If it turned away from him as +it started to retrace its steps to the doorway, there was a small +chance that it might not see him; but if it turned toward him +there was none at all. Bradley held his breath.<br> +</p> + +The Wieroo paused a moment, gazing down into the water, then it +straightened up and turned toward the Englishman. Bradley did not +move. The Wieroo stopped and stared intently at him. It +approached him questioningly. Still Bradley remained as though +carved of stone. The creature was directly in front of him. It +stopped. There was no chance on earth that it would not discover +what he was. <br> +<p>With the quickness of a cat, Bradley sprang to his feet and +with all his great strength, backed by his heavy weight, struck +the Wieroo upon the point of the chin. Without a sound the thing +crumpled to the platform, while Bradley, acting almost +instinctively to the urge of the first law of nature, rolled the +inanimate body over the edge into the river.<br> +</p> + +Then he looked at the open doorway, crossed the platform and +peered within the apartment beyond. What he saw was a large room, +dimly lighted, and about the side rows of wooden vessels stacked +one upon another. There was no Wieroo in sight, so the Englishman +entered. At the far end of the room was another door, and as he +crossed toward it, he glanced into some of the vessels, which he +found were filled with dried fruits, vegetables and fish. Without +more ado he stuffed his pockets and his haversack full, thinking +of the poor creature awaiting his return in the gloom of the +Place of Seven Skulls. <br> +<p>When night came, he would return and fetch An-Tak this far at +least; but in the meantime it was his intention to reconnoiter in +the hope that he might discover some easier way out of the city +than that offered by the chill, black channel of the ghastly +river of corpses.<br> +</p> + +Beyond the farther door stretched a long passageway from which +closed doorways led into other parts of the cellars of the +temple. A few yards from the storeroom a ladder rose from the +corridor through an aperture in the ceiling. Bradley paused at +the foot of it, debating the wisdom of further investigation +against a return to the river; but strong within him was the +spirit of exploration that has scattered his race to the four +corners of the earth. What new mysteries lay hidden in the +chambers above? The urge to know was strong upon him though his +better judgment warned him that the safer course lay in retreat. +For a moment he stood thus, running his fingers through his hair; +then he cast discretion to the winds and began the ascent. <br> +<p>In conformity with such Wieroo architecture as he had already +observed, the well through which the ladder rose continually +canted at an angle from the perpendicular. At more or less +regular stages it was pierced by apertures closed by doors, none +of which he could open until he had climbed fully fifty feet from +the river level. Here he discovered a door already ajar opening +into a large, circular chamber, the walls and floors of which +were covered with the skins of wild beasts and with rugs of many +colors; but what interested him most was the occupants of the +room--a Wieroo, and a girl of human proportions. She was standing +with her back against a column which rose from the center of the +apartment from floor to ceiling--a hollow column about forty +inches in diameter in which he could see an opening some thirty +inches across. The girl's side was toward Bradley, and her face +averted, for she was watching the Wieroo, who was now advancing +slowly toward her, talking as he came.<br> +</p> + +Bradley could distinctly hear the words of the creature, who was +urging the girl to accompany him to another Wieroo city. "Come +with me," he said, "and you shall have your life; remain here and +He Who Speaks for Luata will claim you for his own; and when he +is done with you, your skull will bleach at the top of a tall +staff while your body feeds the reptiles at the mouth of the +River of Death. Even though you bring into the world a female +Wieroo, your fate will be the same if you do not escape him, +while with me you shall have life and food and none shall harm +you." <br> +<p>He was quite close to the girl when she replied by striking +him in the face with all her strength. "Until I am slain," she +cried, "I shall fight against you all." From the throat of the +Wieroo issued that dismal wail that Bradley had heard so often in +the past--it was like a scream of pain smothered to a groan--and +then the thing leaped upon the girl, its face working in hideous +grimaces as it clawed and beat at her to force her to the +floor.<br> +</p> + +The Englishman was upon the point of entering to defend her when +a door at the opposite side of the chamber opened to admit a huge +Wieroo clothed entirely in red. At sight of the two struggling +upon the floor the newcomer raised his voice in a shriek of rage. +Instantly the Wieroo who was attacking the girl leaped to his +feet and faced the other. <br> +<p>"I heard," screamed he who had just entered the room. "I +heard, and when He Who Speaks for Lu-ata shall have heard--" He +paused and made a suggestive movement of a finger across his +throat.<br> +</p> + +"He shall not hear," returned the first Wieroo as, with a +powerful motion of his great wings, he launched himself upon the +red-robed figure. The latter dodged the first charge, drew a +wicked-looking curved blade from beneath its red robe, spread its +wings and dived for its antagonist. Beating their wings, wailing +and groaning, the two hideous things sparred for position. The +white-robed one being unarmed sought to grasp the other by the +wrist of its knife-hand and by the throat, while the latter +hopped around on its dainty white feet, seeking an opening for a +mortal blow. Once it struck and missed, and then the other rushed +in and clinched, at the same time securing both the holds it +sought. Immediately the two commenced beating at each other's +heads with the joints of their wings, kicking with their soft, +puny feet and biting, each at the other's face. <br> +<p>In the meantime the girl moved about the room, keeping out of +the way of the duelists, and as she did so, Bradley caught a +glimpse of her full face and immediately recognized her as the +girl of the place of the yellow door. He did not dare intervene +now until one of the Wieroo had overcome the other, lest the two +should turn upon him at once, when the chances were fair that he +would be defeated in so unequal a battle as the curved blade of +the red Wieroo would render it, and so he waited, watching the +white-robed figure slowly choking the life from him of the red +robe. The protruding tongue and the popping eyes proclaimed that +the end was near and a moment later the red robe sank to the +floor of the room, the curved blade slipping from nerveless +fingers. For an instant longer the victor clung to the throat of +his defeated antagonist and then he rose, dragging the body after +him, and approached the central column. Here he raised the body +and thrust it into the aperture where Bradley saw it drop +suddenly from sight. Instantly there flashed into his memory the +circular openings in the roof of the river vault and the corpses +he had seen drop from them to the water beneath.<br> +</p> + +As the body disappeared, the Wieroo turned and cast about the +room for the girl. For a moment he stood eying her. "You saw," he +muttered, "and if you tell them, He Who Speaks for Luata will +have my wings severed while still I live and my head will be +severed and I shall be cast into the River of Death, for thus it +happens even to the highest who slay one of the red robe. You +saw, and you must die!" he ended with a scream as he rushed upon +the girl. <br> +<p>Bradley waited no longer. Leaping into the room he ran for the +Wieroo, who had already seized the girl, and as he ran, he +stooped and picked up the curved blade. The creature's back was +toward him as, with his left hand, he seized it by the neck. Like +a flash the great wings beat backward as the creature turned, and +Bradley was swept from his feet, though he still retained his +hold upon the blade. Instantly the Wieroo was upon him. Bradley +lay slightly raised upon his left elbow, his right arm free, and +as the thing came close, he cut at the hideous face with all the +strength that lay within him. The blade struck at the junction of +the neck and torso and with such force as to completely +decapitate the Wieroo, the hideous head dropping to the floor and +the body falling forward upon the Englishman. Pushing it from him +he rose to his feet and faced the wide-eyed girl.<br> +</p> + +"Luata!" she exclaimed. "How came you here?" <br> +<p>Bradley shrugged. "Here I am," he said; "but the thing now is +to get out of here--both of us."<br> +</p> + +The girl shook her head. "It cannot be," she stated sadly. <br> +<p>"That is what I thought when they dropped me into the Blue +Place of Seven Skulls," replied Bradley. "Can't be done. I did +it.-Here! You're mussing up the floor something awful, you." This +last to the dead Wieroo as he stooped and dragged the corpse to +the central shaft, where he raised it to the aperture and let it +slip into the tube. Then he picked up the head and tossed it +after the body. "Don't be so glum," he admonished the former as +he carried it toward the well; "smile!"<br> +</p> + +"But how can he smile?" questioned the girl, a half-puzzled, +half-frightened look upon her face. "He is dead." <br> +<p>"That's so," admitted Bradley, "and I suppose he does feel a +bit cut up about it."<br> +</p> + +The girl shook her head and edged away from the man--toward the +door. <br> +<p>"Come!" said the Englishman. "We've got to get out of here. If +you don't know a better way than the river, it's the river +then."<br> +</p> + +The girl still eyed him askance. "But how could he smile when he +was dead?" <br> +<p>Bradley laughed aloud. "I thought we English were supposed to +have the least sense of humor of any people in the world," he +cried; "but now I've found one human being who hasn't any. Of +course you don't know half I'm saying; but don't worry, little +girl; I'm not going to hurt you, and if I can get you out of +here, I'll do it.<br> +</p> + +Even if she did not understand all he said, she at least read +something in his smiling, countenance--something which reassured +her. "I do not fear you," she said; "though I do not understand +all that you say even though you speak my own tongue and use +words that I know. But as for escaping"--she sighed--"alas, how +can it be done?" <br> +<p>"I escaped from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," Bradley +reminded her. "Come!" And he turned toward the shaft and the +ladder that he had ascended from the river. "We cannot waste time +here."<br> +</p> + +The girl followed him; but at the doorway both drew back, for +from below came the sound of some one ascending. <br> +<p>Bradley tiptoed to the door and peered cautiously into the +well; then he stepped back beside the girl. "There are half a +dozen of them coming up; but possibly they will pass this +room."<br> +</p> + +"No," she said, "they will pass directly through this room--they +are on their way to Him Who Speaks for Luata. We may be able to +hide in the next room--there are skins there beneath which we may +crawl. They will not stop in that room; but they may stop in this +one for a short time--the other room is blue." <br> +<p>"What's that go to do with it?" demanded the Englishman.<br> +</p> + +"They fear blue," she replied. "In every room where murder has +been done you will find blue--a certain amount for each murder. +When the room is all blue, they shun it. This room has much blue; +but evidently they kill mostly in the next room, which is now all +blue." <br> +<p>"But there is blue on the outside of every house I have seen," +said Bradley.<br> +</p> + +"Yes, " assented the girl, "and there are blue rooms in each of +those houses--when all the rooms are blue then the whole outside +of the house will be blue as is the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. +There are many such here." <br> +<p>"And the skulls with blue upon them?" inquired Bradley. "Did +they belong to murderers?"<br> +</p> + +"They were murdered--some of them; those with only a small amount +of blue were murderers--known murderers. All Wieroos are +murderers. When they have committed a certain number of murders +without being caught at it, they confess to Him Who Speaks for +Luata and are advanced, after which they wear robes with a slash +of some color-I think yellow comes first. When they reach a point +where the entire robe is of yellow, they discard it for a white +robe with a red slash; and when one wins a complete red robe, he +carries such a long, curved knife as you have in your hand; after +that comes the blue slash on a white robe, and then, I suppose, +an all blue robe. I have never seen such a one." <br> +<p>As they talked in low tones they had moved from the room of +the death shaft into an all blue room adjoining, where they sat +down together in a corner with their backs against a wall and +drew a pile of hides over themselves. A moment later they heard a +number of Wieroos enter the chamber. They were talking together +as they crossed the floor, or the two could not have heard them. +Halfway across the chamber they halted as the door toward which +they were advancing opened and a dozen others of their kind +entered the apartment.<br> +</p> + +Bradley could guess all this by the increased volume of sound and +the dismal greetings; but the sudden silence that almost +immediately ensued he could not fathom, for he could not know +that from beneath one of the hides that covered him protruded one +of his heavy army shoes, or that some eighteen large Wieroos with +robes either solid red or slashed with red or blue were standing +gazing at it. Nor could he hear their stealthy approach. <br> +<p>The first intimation he had that he had been discovered was +when his foot was suddenly seized, and he was yanked violently +from beneath the hides to find himself surrounded by menacing +blades. They would have slain him on the spot had not one clothed +all in red held them back, saying that He Who Speaks for Luata +desired to see this strange creature.<br> +</p> + +As they led Bradley away, he caught an opportunity to glance back +toward the hides to see what had become of the girl, and, to his +gratification, he discovered that she still lay concealed beneath +the hides. He wondered if she would have the nerve to attempt the +river trip alone and regretted that now he could not accompany +her. He felt rather all in, himself, more so than he had at any +time since he had been captured by the Wieroo, for there appeared +not the slightest cause for hope in his present predicament. He +had dropped the curved blade beneath the hides when he had been +jerked so violently from their fancied security. It was almost in +a spirit of resigned hopelessness that he quietly accompanied his +captors through various chambers and corridors toward the heart +of the temple. <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_4">Chapter 4</h1> + +<br> +<p>The farther the group progressed, the more barbaric and the +more sumptuous became the decorations. Hides of leopard and tiger +predominated, apparently because of their more beautiful +markings, and decorative skulls became more and more numerous. +Many of the latter were mounted in precious metals and set with +colored stones and priceless gems, while thick upon the hides +that covered the walls were golden ornaments similar to those +worn by the girl and those which had filled the chests he had +examined in the storeroom of Fosh-bal-soj, leading the Englishman +to the conviction that all such were spoils of war or theft, +since each piece seemed made for personal adornment, while in so +far as he had seen, no Wieroo wore ornaments of any sort.<br> +</p> + +And also as they advanced the more numerous became the Wieroos +moving hither and thither within the temple. Many now were the +solid red robes and those that were slashed with blue--a +veritable hive of murderers. <br> +<p>At last the party halted in a room in which were many Wieroos +who gathered about Bradley questioning his captors and examining +him and his apparel. One of the party accompanying the Englishman +spoke to a Wieroo that stood beside a door leading from the room. +"Tell Him Who Speaks for Luata," he said, "that Fosh-bal-soj we +could not find; but that in returning we found this creature +within the temple, hiding. It must be the same that Fosh-bal-soj +captured in the Sto-lu country during the last darkness. +Doubtless He Who Speaks for Luata would wish to see and question +this strange thing."<br> +</p> + +The creature addressed turned and slipped through the doorway, +closing the door after it, but first depositing its curved blade +upon the floor without. Its post was immediately taken by another +and Bradley now saw that at least twenty such guards loitered in +the immediate vicinity. The doorkeeper was gone but for a moment, +and when he returned, he signified that Bradley's party was to +enter the next chamber; but first each of the Wieroos removed his +curved weapon and laid it upon the floor. The door was swung +open, and the party, now reduced to Bradley and five Wieroos, was +ushered across the threshold into a large, irregularly shaped +room in which a single, giant Wieroo whose robe was solid blue +sat upon a raised dais. <br> +<p>The creature's face was white with the whiteness of a corpse, +its dead eyes entirely expressionless, its cruel, thin lips +tight-drawn against yellow teeth in a perpetual grimace. Upon +either side of it lay an enormous, curved sword, similar to those +with which some of the other Wieroos had been armed, but larger +and heavier. Constantly its clawlike fingers played with one or +the other of these weapons.<br> +</p> + +The walls of the chamber as well as the floor were entirely +hidden by skins and woven fabrics. Blue predominated in all the +colorations. Fastened against the hides were many pairs of Wieroo +wings, mounted so that they resembled long, black shields. Upon +the ceiling were painted in blue characters a bewildering series +of hieroglyphics and upon pedestals set against the walls or +standing out well within the room were many human skulls. <br> +<p>As the Wieroos approached the figure upon the dais, they +leaned far forward, raising their wings above their heads and +stretching their necks as though offering them to the sharp +swords of the grim and hideous creature.<br> +</p> + +"O Thou Who Speakest for Luata!" exclaimed one of the party. "We +bring you the strange creature that Fosh-bal-soj captured and +brought thither at thy command." <br> +<p>So this then was the godlike figure that spoke for divinity! +This arch-murderer was the Caspakian representative of God on +Earth! His blue robe announced him the one and the seeming +humility of his minions the other. For a long minute he glared at +Bradley. Then he began to question him--from whence he came and +how, the name and description of his native country, and a +hundred other queries.<br> +</p> + +"Are you cos-ata-lu?" the creature asked. <br> +<p>Bradley replied that he was and that all his kind were, as +well as every living thing in his part of the world.<br> +</p> + +"Can you tell me the secret?" asked the creature. <br> +<p>Bradley hesitated and then, thinking to gain time, replied in +the affirmative.<br> +</p> + +"What is it?" demanded the Wieroo, leaning far forward and +exhibiting every evidence of excited interest. <br> +<p>Bradley leaned forward and whispered: "It is for your ears +alone; I will not divulge it to others, and then only on +condition that you carry me and the girl I saw in the place of +the yellow door near to that of Fosh-bal-soj back to her own +country."<br> +</p> + +The thing rose in wrath, holding one of its swords above its +head. <br> +<p>"Who are you to make terms for Him Who Speaks for Luata?" it +shrilled. "Tell me the secret or die where you stand!"<br> +</p> + +"And if I die now, the secret goes with me," Bradley reminded +him. "Never again will you get the opportunity to question +another of my kind who knows the secret." Anything to gain time, +to get the rest of the Wieroos from the room, that he might plan +some scheme for escape and put it into effect. <br> +<p>The creature turned upon the leader of the party that had +brought Bradley.<br> +</p> + +"Is the thing with weapons?" it asked. <br> +<p>"No," was the response.<br> +</p> + +"Then go; but tell the guard to remain close by," commanded the +high one. <br> +<p>The Wieroos salaamed and withdrew, closing the door behind +them. He Who Speaks for Luata grasped a sword nervously in his +right hand. At his left side lay the second weapon. It was +evident that he lived in constant dread of being assassinated. +The fact that he permitted none with weapons within his presence +and that he always kept two swords at his side pointed to +this.<br> +</p> + +Bradley was racking his brain to find some suggestion of a plan +whereby he might turn the situation to his own account. His eyes +wandered past the weird figure before him; they played about the +walls of the apartment as though hoping to draw inspiration from +the dead skulls and the hides and the wings, and then they came +back to the face of the Wieroo god, now working in anger. <br> +<p>"Quick!" screamed the thing. "The secret!"<br> +</p> + +"Will you give me and the girl our freedom?" insisted Bradley. +<br> +<p>For an instant the thing hesitated, and then it grumbled +"Yes." At the same instant Bradley saw two hides upon the wall +directly back of the dais separate and a face appear in the +opening. No change of expression upon the Englishman's +countenance betrayed that he had seen aught to surprise him, +though surprised he was for the face in the aperture was that of +the girl he had but just left hidden beneath the hides in another +chamber. A white and shapely arm now pushed past the face into +the room, and in the hand, tightly clutched, was the curved +blade, smeared with blood, that Bradley had dropped beneath the +hides at the moment he had been discovered and drawn from his +concealment.<br> +</p> + +"Listen, then," said Bradley in a low voice to the Wieroo. "You +shall know the secret of cos-ata-lu as well as do I; but none +other may hear it. Lean close--I will whisper it into your ear." +<br> +<p>He moved forward and stepped upon the dais. The creature +raised its sword ready to strike at the first indication of +treachery, and Bradley stooped beneath the blade and put his ear +close to the gruesome face. As he did so, he rested his weight +upon his hands, one upon either side of the Wieroo's body, his +right hand upon the hilt of the spare sword lying at the left of +Him Who Speaks for Luata.<br> +</p> + +"This then is the secret of both life and death," he whispered, +and at the same instant he grasped the Wieroo by the right wrist +and with his own right hand swung the extra blade in a sudden +vicious blow against the creature's neck before the thing could +give even a single cry of alarm; then without waiting an instant +Bradley leaped past the dead god and vanished behind the hides +that had hidden the girl. <br> +<p>Wide-eyed and panting the girl seized his arm. "Oh, what have +you done?" she cried. "He Who Speaks for Luata will be avenged by +Luata. Now indeed must you die. There is no escape, for even +though we reached my own country Luata can find you out."<br> +</p> + +"Bosh!" exclaimed Bradley, and then: "But you were going to knife +him yourself." <br> +<p>"Then I alone should have died," she replied.<br> +</p> + +Bradley scratched his head. "Neither of us is going to die," he +said; "at least not at the hands of any god. If we don't get out +of here though, we'll die right enough. Can you find your way +back to the room where I first came upon you in the temple?" <br> +<p>"I know the way," replied the girl; "but I doubt if we can go +back without being seen. I came hither because I only met Wieroos +who knew that I am supposed now to be in the temple; but you +could go elsewhere without being discovered."<br> +</p> + +Bradley's ingenuity had come up against a stone wall. There +seemed no possibility of escape. He looked about him. They were +in a small room where lay a litter of rubbish--torn bits of +cloth, old hides, pieces of fiber rope. In the center of the room +was a cylindrical shaft with an opening in its face. Bradley knew +it for what it was. Here the arch-fiend dragged his victims and +cast their bodies into the river of death far below. The floor +about the opening in the shaft and the sides of the shaft were +clotted thick with a dried, dark brown substance that the +Englishman knew had once been blood. The place had the appearance +of having been a veritable shambles. An odor of decaying flesh +permeated the air. <br> +<p>The Englishman crossed to the shaft and peered into the +opening. All below was dark as pitch; but at the bottom he knew +was the river. Suddenly an inspiration and a bold scheme leaped +to his mind. Turning quickly he hunted about the room until he +found what he sought--a quantity of the rope that lay strewn here +and there. With rapid fingers he unsnarled the different lengths, +the girl helping him, and then he tied the ends together until he +had three ropes about seventy-five feet in length. He fastened +these together at each end and without a word secured one of the +ends about the girl's body beneath her arms.<br> +</p> + +"Don't be frightened," he said at length, as he led her toward +the opening in the shaft. "I'm going to lower you to the river, +and then I'm coming down after you. When you are safe below, give +two quick jerks upon the rope. If there is danger there and you +want me to draw you up into the shaft, jerk once. Don't be +afraid--it is the only way." <br> +<p>"I am not afraid," replied the girl, rather haughtily Bradley +thought, and herself climbed through the aperture and hung by her +hands waiting for Bradley to lower her.<br> +</p> + +As rapidly as was consistent with safety, the man paid out the +rope. When it was about half out, he heard loud cries and wails +suddenly arise within the room they had just quitted. The slaying +of their god had been discovered by the Wieroos. A search for the +slayer would begin at once. <br> +<p>Lord! Would the girl never reach the river? At last, just as +he was positive that searchers were already entering the room +behind him, there came two quick tugs at the rope. Instantly +Bradley made the rest of the strands fast about the shaft, +slipped into the black tube and began a hurried descent toward +the river. An instant later he stood waist deep in water beside +the girl. Impulsively she reached toward him and grasped his arm. +A strange thrill ran through him at the contact; but he only cut +the rope from about her body and lifted her to the little shelf +at the river's side.<br> +</p> + +"How can we leave here?" she asked. <br> +<p>"By the river," he replied; "but first I must go back to the +Blue Place of Seven Skulls and get the poor devil I left there. +I'll have to wait until after dark, though, as I cannot pass +through the open stretch of river in the temple gardens by +day."<br> +</p> + +"There is another way," said the girl. "I have never seen it; but +often I have heard them speak of it--a corridor that runs beside +the river from one end of the city to the other. Through the +gardens it is below ground. If we could find an entrance to it, +we could leave here at once. It is not safe here, for they will +search every inch of the temple and the grounds." <br> +<p>"Come," said Bradley. "We'll have a look for it, anyway." And +so saying he approached one of the doors that opened onto the +skull-paved shelf.<br> +</p> + +They found the corridor easily, for it paralleled the river, +separated from it only by a single wall. It took them beneath the +gardens and the city, always through inky darkness. After they +had reached the other side of the gardens, Bradley counted his +steps until he had retraced as many as he had taken coming down +the stream; but though they had to grope their way along, it was +a much more rapid trip than the former. <br> +<p>When he thought he was about opposite the point at which he +had descended from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls, he sought and +found a doorway leading out onto the river; and then, still in +the blackest darkness, he lowered himself into the stream and +felt up and down upon the opposite side for the little shelf and +the ladder. Ten yards from where he had emerged he found them, +while the girl waited upon the opposite side.<br> +</p> + +To ascend to the secret panel was the work of but a minute. Here +he paused and listened lest a Wieroo might be visiting the prison +in search of him or the other inmate; but no sound came from the +gloomy interior. Bradley could not but muse upon the joy of the +man on the opposite side when he should drop down to him with +food and a new hope for escape. Then he opened the panel and +looked into the room. The faint light from the grating above +revealed the pile of rags in one corner; but the man lay beneath +them, he made no response to Bradley's low greeting. <br> +<p>The Englishman lowered himself to the floor of the room and +approached the rags. Stooping he lifted a corner of them. Yes, +there was the man asleep. Bradley shook him--there was no +response. He stooped lower and in the dim light examined An-Tak; +then he stood up with a sigh. A rat leaped from beneath the +coverings and scurried away. "Poor devil!" muttered Bradley.<br> +</p> + +He crossed the room to swing himself to the perch preparatory to +quitting the Blue Place of Seven Skulls forever. Beneath the +perch he paused. "I'll not give them the satisfaction," he +growled. "Let them believe that he escaped." <br> +<p>Returning to the pile of rags he gathered the man into his +arms. It was difficult work raising him to the high perch and +dragging him through the small opening and thus down the ladder; +but presently it was done, and Bradley had lowered the body into +the river and cast it off. "Good-bye, old top!" he whispered.<br> +</p> + +A moment later he had rejoined the girl and hand in hand they +were following the dark corridor upstream toward the farther end +of the city. She told him that the Wieroos seldom frequented +these lower passages, as the air here was too chill for them; but +occasionally they came, and as they could see quite as well by +night as by day, they would be sure to discover Bradley and the +girl. <br> +<p>"If they come close enough," she said, "we can see their eyes +shining in the dark--they resemble dull splotches of light. They +glow, but do not blaze like the eyes of the tiger or the +lion."<br> +</p> + +The man could not but note the very evident horror with which she +mentioned the creatures. To him they were uncanny; but she had +been used to them for a year almost, and probably all her life +she had either seen or heard of them constantly. <br> +<p>"Why do you fear them so?" he asked. "It seems more than any +ordinary fear of the harm they can do you."<br> +</p> + +She tried to explain; but the nearest he could gather was that +she looked upon the Wieroo almost as supernatural beings. "There +is a legend current among my people that once the Wieroo were +unlike us only in that they possessed rudimentary wings. They +lived in villages in the Galu country, and while the two peoples +often warred, they held no hatred for one another. In those days +each race came up from the beginning and there was great rivalry +as to which was the higher in the scale of evolution. The Wieroo +developed the first cos-ata-lu but they were always male-never +could they reproduce woman. Slowly they commenced to develop +certain attributes of the mind which, they considered, placed +them upon a still higher level and which gave them many +advantages over us, seeing which they thought only of mental +development--their minds became like stars and the rivers, moving +always in the same manner, never varying. They called this +tas-ad, which means doing everything the right way, or, in other +words, the Wieroo way. If foe or friend, right or wrong, stood in +the way of tas-ad, then it must be crushed. <br> +<p>"Soon the Galus and the lesser races of men came to hate and +fear them. It was then that the Wieroos decided to carry tas-ad +into every part of the world. They were very warlike and very +numerous, although they had long since adopted the policy of +slaying all those among them whose wings did not show advanced +development.<br> +</p> + +"It took ages for all this to happen--very slowly came the +different changes; but at last the Wieroos had wings they could +use. But by reason of always making war upon their neighbors they +were hated by every creature of Caspak, for no one wanted their +tas-ad, and so they used their wings to fly to this island when +the other races turned against them and threatened to kill them +all. So cruel had they become and so bloodthirsty that they no +longer had hearts that beat with love or sympathy; but their very +cruelty and wickedness kept them from conquering the other races, +since they were also cruel and wicked to one another, so that no +Wieroo trusted another. <br> +<p>"Always were they slaying those above them that they might +rise in power and possessions, until at last came the more +powerful than the others with a tas-ad all his own. He gathered +about him a few of the most terrible Wieroos, and among them they +made laws which took from all but these few Wieroos every weapon +they possessed.<br> +</p> + +"Now their tas-ad has reached a high plane among them. They make +many wonderful things that we cannot make. They think great +thoughts, no doubt, and still dream of greatness to come, but +their thoughts and their acts are regulated by ages of +custom--they are all alike--and they are most unhappy. <br> +<p>As the girl talked, the two moved steadily along the dark +passageway beside the river. They had advanced a considerable +distance when there sounded faintly from far ahead the muffled +roar of falling water, which increased in volume as they moved +forward until at last it filled the corridor with a deafening +sound. Then the corridor ended in a blank wall; but in a niche to +the right was a ladder leading aloft, and to the left was a door +opening onto the river. Bradley tried the latter first and as he +opened it, felt a heavy spray against his face. The little shelf +outside the doorway was wet and slippery, the roaring of the +water tremendous. There could be but one explanation--they had +reached a waterfall in the river, and if the corridor actually +terminated here, their escape was effectually cut off, since it +was quite evidently impossible to follow the bed of the river and +ascend the falls.<br> +</p> + +As the ladder was the only alternative, the two turned toward it +and, the man first, began the ascent, which was through a well +similar to that which had led him to the upper floors of the +temple. As he climbed, Bradley felt for openings in the sides of +the shaft; but he discovered none below fifty feet. The first he +came to was ajar, letting a faint light into the well. As he +paused, the girl climbed to his side, and together they looked +through the crack into a low-ceiled chamber in which were several +Galu women and an equal number of hideous little replicas of the +full-grown Wieroos with which Bradley was not quite familiar. +<br> +<p>He could feel the body of the girl pressed close to his +tremble as her eyes rested upon the inmates of the room, and +involuntarily his arm encircled her shoulders as though to +protect her from some danger which he sensed without +recognizing.<br> +</p> + +"Poor things," she whispered. "This is their horrible fate--to be +imprisoned here beneath the surface of the city with their +hideous offspring whom they hate as they hate their fathers. A +Wieroo keeps his children thus hidden until they are full-grown +lest they be murdered by their fellows. The lower rooms of the +city are filled with many such as these." <br> +<p>Several feet above was a second door beyond which they found a +small room stored with food in wooden vessels. A grated window in +one wall opened above an alley, and through it they could see +that they were just below the roof of the building. Darkness was +coming, and at Bradley's suggestion they decided to remain hidden +here until after dark and then to ascend to the roof and +reconnoiter.<br> +</p> + +Shortly after they had settled themselves they heard something +descending the ladder from above. They hoped that it would +continue on down the well and fairly held their breath as the +sound approached the door to the storeroom. Their hearts sank as +they heard the door open and from between cracks in the vessels +behind which they hid saw a yellow-slashed Wieroo enter the room. +Each recognized him immediately, the girl indicating the fact of +her own recognition by a sudden pressure of her fingers on +Bradley's arm. It was the Wieroo of the yellow slashing whose +abode was the place of the yellow door in which Bradley had first +seen the girl. <br> +<p>The creature carried a wooden bowl which it filled with dried +food from several of the vessels; then it turned and quit the +room. Bradley could see through the partially open doorway that +it descended the ladder. The girl told him that it was taking the +food to the women and the young below, and that while it might +return immediately, the chances were that it would remain for +some time.<br> +</p> + +"We are just below the place of the yellow door," she said. "It +is far from the edge of the city; so far that we may not hope to +escape if we ascend to the roofs here." <br> +<p>"I think," replied the man, "that of all the places in Oo-oh +this will be the easiest to escape from. Anyway, I want to return +to the place of the yellow door and get my pistol if it is +there."<br> +</p> + +"It is still there," replied, the girl. "I saw it placed in a +chest where he keeps the things he takes from his prisoners and +victims." <br> +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Bradley. "Now come, quickly. "And the two +crossed the room to the well and ascended the ladder a short +distance to its top where they found another door that opened +into a vacant room--the same in which Bradley had first met the +girl. To find the pistol was a matter of but a moment's search on +the part of Bradley's companion; and then, at the Englishman's +signal, she followed him to the yellow door.<br> +</p> + +It was quite dark without as the two entered the narrow passage +between two buildings. A few steps brought them undiscovered to +the doorway of the storeroom where lay the body of Fosh-bal-soj. +In the distance, toward the temple, they could hear sounds as of +a great gathering of Wieroos--the peculiar, uncanny wailing +rising above the dismal flapping of countless wings. <br> +<p>"They have heard of the killing of Him Who Speaks for Luata," +whispered the girl. "Soon they will spread in all directions +searching for us."<br> +</p> + +"And will they find us?" <br> +<p>"As surely as Lua gives light by day," she replied; "and when +they find us, they will tear us to pieces, for only the Wieroos +may murder--only they may practice tas-ad."<br> +</p> + +"But they will not kill you," said Bradley. "You did not slay +him." <br> +<p>"It will make no difference," she insisted. "If they find us +together they will slay us both."<br> +</p> + +"Then they won't find us together," announced Bradley decisively. +"You stay right here--you won't be any worse off than before I +came--and I'll get as far as I can and account for as many of the +beggars as possible before they get me. Good-bye! You're a mighty +decent little girl. I wish that I might have helped you." <br> +<p>"No," she cried. "Do not leave me. I would rather die. I had +hoped and hoped to find some way to return to my own country. I +wanted to go back to An-Tak, who must be very lonely without me; +but I know that it can never be. It is difficult to kill hope, +though mine is nearly dead. Do not leave me."<br> +</p> + +"An-Tak!" Bradley repeated. "You loved a man called An-Tak?" <br> +<p>"Yes," replied the girl. "An-Tak was away, hunting, when the +Wieroo caught me. How he must have grieved for me! He also was +cos-ata-lu, twelve moons older than I, and all our lives we have +been together.<br> +</p> + +Bradley remained silent. So she loved An-Tak. He hadn't the heart +to tell her that An-Tak had died, or how. <br> +<p>At the door of Fosh-bal-soj's storeroom they halted to listen. +No sound came from within, and gently Bradley pushed open the +door. All was inky darkness as they entered; but presently their +eyes became accustomed to the gloom that was partially relieved +by the soft starlight without. The Englishman searched and found +those things for which he had come--two robes, two pairs of dead +wings and several lengths of fiber rope. One pair of the wings he +adjusted to the girl's shoulders by means of the rope. Then he +draped the robe about her, carrying the cowl over her head.<br> +</p> + +He heard her gasp of astonishment when she realized the ingenuity +and boldness of his plan; then he directed her to adjust the +other pair of wings and the robe upon him. Working with strong, +deft fingers she soon had the work completed, and the two stepped +out upon the roof, to all intent and purpose genuine Wieroos. +Besides his pistol Bradley carried the sword of the slain Wieroo +prophet, while the girl was armed with the small blade of the red +Wieroo. <br> +<p>Side by side they walked slowly across the roofs toward the +north edge of the city. Wieroos flapped above them and several +times they passed others walking or sitting upon the roofs. From +the temple still rose the sounds of commotion, now pierced by +occasional shrill screams.<br> +</p> + +"The murderers are abroad," whispered the girl. "Thus will +another become the tongue of Luata. It is well for us, since it +keeps them too busy to give the time for searching for us. They +think that we cannot escape the city, and they know that we +cannot leave the island--and so do I." <br> +<p>Bradley shook his head. "If there is any way, we will find +it," he said.<br> +</p> + +"There is no way," replied the girl. <br> +<p>Bradley made no response, and in silence they continued until +the outer edge of roofs was visible before them. "We are almost +there," he whispered.<br> +</p> + +The girl felt for his fingers and pressed them. He could feel +hers trembling as he returned the pressure, nor did he relinquish +her hand; and thus they came to the edge of the last roof. <br> +<p>Here they halted and looked about them. To be seen attempting +to descend to the ground below would be to betray the fact that +they were not Wieroos. Bradley wished that their wings were +attached to their bodies by sinew and muscle rather than by ropes +of fiber. A Wieroo was flapping far overhead. Two more stood near +a door a few yards distant. Standing between these and one of the +outer pedestals that supported one of the numerous skulls Bradley +made one end of a piece of rope fast about the pedestal and +dropped the other end to the ground outside the city. Then they +waited.<br> +</p> + +It was an hour before the coast was entirely clear and then a +moment came when no Wieroo was in sight. "Now!" whispered +Bradley; and the girl grasped the rope and slid over the edge of +the roof into the darkness below. A moment later Bradley felt two +quick pulls upon the rope and immediately followed to the girl's +side. <br> +<p>Across a narrow clearing they made their way and into a wood +beyond. All night they walked, following the river upward toward +its source, and at dawn they took shelter in a thicket beside the +stream. At no time did they hear the cry of a carnivore, and +though many startled animals fled as they approached, they were +not once menaced by a wild beast. When Bradley expressed surprise +at the absence of the fiercest beasts that are so numerous upon +the mainland of Caprona, the girl explained the reason that is +contained in one of their ancient legends.<br> +</p> + +"When the Wieroos first developed wings upon which they could +fly, they found this island devoid of any life other than a few +reptiles that live either upon land or in the water and these +only close to the coast. Requiring meat for food the Wieroos +carried to the island such animals as they wished for that +purpose. They still occasionally bring them, and this with the +natural increase keeps them provided with flesh." <br> +<p>"As it will us," suggested Bradley.<br> +</p> + +The first day they remained in hiding, eating only the dried food +that Bradley had brought with him from the temple storeroom, and +the next night they set out again up the river, continuing +steadily on until almost dawn, when they came to low hills where +the river wound through a gorge--it was little more than rivulet +now, the water clear and cold and filled with fish similar to +brook trout though much larger. Not wishing to leave the stream +the two waded along its bed to a spot where the gorge widened +between perpendicular bluffs to a wooded acre of level land. Here +they stopped, for here also the stream ended. They had reached +its source--many cold springs bubbling up from the center of a +little natural amphitheater in the hills and forming a clear and +beautiful pool overshadowed by trees upon one side and bounded by +a little clearing upon the other. <br> +<p>With the coming of the sun they saw they had stumbled upon a +place where they might remain hidden from the Wieroos for a long +time and also one that they could defend against these winged +creatures, since the trees would shield them from an attack from +above and also hamper the movements of the creatures should they +attempt to follow them into the wood.<br> +</p> + +For three days they rested here before trying to explore the +neighboring country. On the fourth, Bradley stated that he was +going to scale the bluffs and learn what lay beyond. He told the +girl that she should remain in hiding; but she refused to be +left, saying that whatever fate was to be his, she intended to +share it, so that he was at last forced to permit her to come +with him. Through woods at the summit of the bluff they made +their way toward the north and had gone but a short distance when +the wood ended and before them they saw the waters of the inland +sea and dimly in the distance the coveted shore. <br> +<p>The beach lay some two hundred yards from the foot of the hill +on which they stood, nor was there a tree nor any other form of +shelter between them and the water as far up and down the coast +as they could see. Among other plans Bradley had thought of +constructing a covered raft upon which they might drift to the +mainland; but as such a contrivance would necessarily be of +considerable weight, it must be built in the water of the sea, +since they could not hope to move it even a short distance +overland.<br> +</p> + +"If this wood was only at the edge of the water," he sighed. <br> +<p>"But it is not," the girl reminded him, and then: "Let us make +the best of it. We have escaped from death for a time at least. +We have food and good water and peace and each other. What more +could we have upon the mainland?"<br> +</p> + +"But I thought you wanted to get back to your own country!" he +exclaimed. <br> +<p>She cast her eyes upon the ground and half turned away. "I +do," she said, "yet I am happy here. I could be little happier +there."<br> +</p> + +Bradley stood in silent thought. "`We have food and good water +and peace and each other!'" he repeated to himself. He turned +then and looked at the girl, and it was as though in the days +that they had been together this was the first time that he had +really seen her. The circumstances that had thrown them together, +the dangers through which they had passed, all the weird and +horrible surroundings that had formed the background of his +knowledge of her had had their effect--she had been but the +companion of an adventure; her self-reliance, her endurance, her +loyalty, had been only what one man might expect of another, and +he saw that he had unconsciously assumed an attitude toward her +that he might have assumed toward a man. Yet there had been a +difference--he recalled now the strange sensation of elation that +had thrilled him upon the occasions when the girl had pressed his +hand in hers, and the depression that had followed her +announcement of her love for An-Tak. <br> +<p>He took a step toward her. A fierce yearning to seize her and +crush her in his arms, swept over him, and then there flashed +upon the screen of recollection the picture of a stately hall set +amidst broad gardens and ancient trees and of a proud old man +with beetling brows--an old man who held his head very high--and +Bradley shook his head and turned away again.<br> +</p> + +They went back then to their little acre, and the days came and +went, and the man fashioned spear and bow and arrows and hunted +with them that they might have meat, and he made hooks of +fishbone and caught fishes with wondrous flies of his own +invention; and the girl gathered fruits and cooked the flesh and +the fish and made beds of branches and soft grasses. She cured +the hides of the animals he killed and made them soft by much +pounding. She made sandals for herself and for the man and +fashioned a hide after the manner of those worn by the warriors +of her tribe and made the man wear it, for his own garments were +in rags. <br> +<p>She was always the same--sweet and kind and helpful--but +always there was about her manner and her expression just a trace +of wistfulness, and often she sat and looked at the man when he +did not know it, her brows puckered in thought as though she were +trying to fathom and to understand him.<br> +</p> + +In the face of the cliff, Bradley scooped a cave from the rotted +granite of which the hill was composed, making a shelter for them +against the rains. He brought wood for their cook-fire which they +used only in the middle of the day--a time when there was little +likelihood of Wieroos being in the air so far from their +city--and then he learned to bank it with earth in such a way +that the embers held until the following noon without giving off +smoke. <br> +<p>Always he was planning on reaching the mainland, and never a +day passed that he did not go to the top of the hill and look out +across the sea toward the dark, distant line that meant for him +comparative freedom and possibly reunion with his comrades. The +girl always went with him, standing at his side and watching the +stern expression on his face with just a tinge of sadness on her +own.<br> +</p> + +"You are not happy," she said once. <br> +<p>"I should be over there with my men," he replied. "I do not +know what may have happened to them."<br> +</p> + +"I want you to be happy," she said quite simply; "but I should be +very lonely if you went away and left me here." <br> +<p>He put his hand on her shoulder. "I would not do that, little +girl," he said gently. "If you cannot go with me, I shall not go. +If either of us must go alone, it will be you."<br> +</p> + +Her face lighted to a wondrous smile. "Then we shall not be +separated," she said, "for I shall never leave you as long as we +both live." <br> +<p>He looked down into her face for a moment and then: "Who was +An-Tak? " he asked.<br> +</p> + +"My brother," she replied. "Why?" <br> +<p>And then, even less than before, could he tell her. It was +then that he did something he had never done before--he put his +arms about her and stooping, kissed her forehead. "Until you find +An-Tak, he said, "I will be your brother."<br> +</p> + +She drew away. "I already have a brother," she said, "and I do +not want another." <br> +<p><br> +</p> + +<h1 id="ref_5">Chapter 5</h1> + +<br> +<p>Days became weeks, and weeks became months, and the months +followed one another in a lazy procession of hot, humid days and +warm, humid nights. The fugitives saw never a Wieroo by day +though often at night they heard the melancholy flapping of giant +wings far above them.<br> +</p> + +Each day was much like its predecessor. Bradley splashed about +for a few minutes in the cold pool early each morning and after a +time the girl tried it and liked it. Toward the center it was +deep enough for swimming, and so he taught her to swim--she was +probably the first human being in all Caspak's long ages who had +done this thing. And then while she prepared breakfast, the man +shaved--this he never neglected. At first it was a source of +wonderment to the girl, for the Galu men are beardless. <br> +<p>When they needed meat, he hunted, otherwise he busied himself +in improving their shelter, making new and better weapons, +perfecting his knowledge of the girl's language and teaching her +to speak and to write English--anything that would keep them both +occupied. He still sought new plans for escape, but with +ever-lessening enthusiasm, since each new scheme presented some +insurmountable obstacle.<br> +</p> + +And then one day as a bolt out of a clear sky came that which +blasted the peace and security of their sanctuary forever. +Bradley was just emerging from the water after his morning plunge +when from overhead came the sound of flapping wings. Glancing +quickly up the man saw a white-robed Wieroo circling slowly above +him. That he had been discovered he could not doubt since the +creature even dropped to a lower altitude as though to assure +itself that what it saw was a man. Then it rose rapidly and +winged away toward the city. <br> +<p>For two days Bradley and the girl lived in a constant state of +apprehension, awaiting the moment when the hunters would come for +them; but nothing happened until just after dawn of the third +day, when the flapping of wings apprised them of the approach of +Wieroos. Together they went to the edge of the wood and looked up +to see five red-robed creatures dropping slowly in ever-lessening +spirals toward their little amphitheater. With no attempt at +concealment they came, sure of their ability to overwhelm these +two fugitives, and with the fullest measure of self-confidence +they landed in the clearing but a few yards from the man and the +girl.<br> +</p> + +Following a plan already discussed Bradley and the girl retreated +slowly into the woods. The Wieroos advanced, calling upon them to +give themselves up; but the quarry made no reply. Farther and +farther into the little wood Bradley led the hunters, permitting +them to approach ever closer; then he circled back again toward +the clearing, evidently to the great delight of the Wieroos, who +now followed more leisurely, awaiting the moment when they should +be beyond the trees and able to use their wings. They had opened +into semicircular formation now with the evident intention of +cutting the two off from returning into the wood. Each Wieroo +advanced with his curved blade ready in his hand, each hideous +face blank and expressionless. <br> +<p>It was then that Bradley opened fire with his pistol--three +shots, aimed with careful deliberation, for it had been long +since he had used the weapon, and he could not afford to chance +wasting ammunition on misses. At each shot a Wieroo dropped; and +then the remaining two sought escape by flight, screaming and +wailing after the manner of their kind. When a Wieroo runs, his +wings spread almost without any volition upon his part, since +from time immemorial he has always used them to balance himself +and accelerate his running speed so that in the open they appear +to skim the surface of the ground when in the act of running. But +here in the woods, among the close-set boles, the spreading of +their wings proved their undoing--it hindered and stopped them +and threw them to the ground, and then Bradley was upon them +threatening them with instant death if they did not +surrender-promising them their freedom if they did his +bidding.<br> +</p> + +"As you have seen," he cried, "I can kill you when I wish and at +a distance. You cannot escape me. Your only hope of life lies in +obedience. Quick, or I kill!" <br> +<p>The Wieroos stopped and faced him. "What do you want of us?" +asked one.<br> +</p> + +"Throw aside your weapons," Bradley commanded. After a moment's +hesitation they obeyed. <br> +<p>"Now approach!" A great plan--the only plan--had suddenly come +to him like an inspiration.<br> +</p> + +The Wieroos came closer and halted at his command. Bradley turned +to the girl. "There is rope in the shelter," he said. "Fetch it!" +<br> +<p>She did as he bid, and then he directed her to fasten one end +of a fifty-foot length to the ankle of one of the Wieroos and the +opposite end to the second. The creatures gave evidence of great +fear, but they dared not attempt to prevent the act.<br> +</p> + +"Now go out into the clearing," said Bradley, "and remember that +I am walking close behind and that I will shoot the nearer one +should either attempt to escape--that will hold the other until I +can kill him as well." <br> +<p>In the open he halted them. "The girl will get upon the back +of the one in front," announced the Englishman. "I will mount the +other. She carries a sharp blade, and I carry this weapon that +you know kills easily at a distance. If you disobey in the +slightest, the instructions that I am about to give you, you +shall both die. That we must die with you, will not deter us. If +you obey, I promise to set you free without harming you.<br> +</p> + +"You will carry us due west, depositing us upon the shore of the +mainland--that is all. It is the price of your lives. Do you +agree?" <br> +<p>Sullenly the Wieroos acquiesced. Bradley examined the knots +that held the rope to their ankles, and feeling them secure +directed the girl to mount the back of the leading Wieroo, +himself upon the other. Then he gave the signal for the two to +rise together. With loud flapping of the powerful wings the +creatures took to the air, circling once before they topped the +trees upon the hill and then taking a course due west out over +the waters of the sea.<br> +</p> + +Nowhere about them could Bradley see signs of other Wieroos, nor +of those other menaces which he had feared might bring disaster +to his plans for escape--the huge, winged reptilia that are so +numerous above the southern areas of Caspak and which are often +seen, though in lesser numbers, farther north. <br> +<p>Nearer and nearer loomed the mainland--a broad, parklike +expanse stretching inland to the foot of a low plateau spread out +before them. The little dots in the foreground became grazing +herds of deer and antelope and bos; a huge woolly rhinoceros +wallowed in a mudhole to the right, and beyond, a mighty mammoth +culled the tender shoots from a tall tree. The roars and screams +and growls of giant carnivora came faintly to their ears. Ah, +this was Caspak. With all of its dangers and its primal savagery +it brought a fullness to the throat of the Englishman as to one +who sees and hears the familiar sights and sounds of home after a +long absence. Then the Wieroos dropped swiftly downward to the +flower-starred turf that grew almost to the water's edge, the +fugitives slipped from their backs, and Bradley told the +red-robed creatures they were free to go.<br> +</p> + +When he had cut the ropes from their ankles they rose with that +uncanny wailing upon their lips that always brought a shudder to +the Englishman, and upon dismal wings they flapped away toward +frightful Oo-oh. <br> +<p>When the creatures had gone, the girl turned toward Bradley. +"Why did you have them bring us here?" she asked. "Now we are far +from my country. We may never live to reach it, as we are among +enemies who, while not so horrible will kill us just as surely as +would the Wieroos should they capture us, and we have before us +many marches through lands filled with savage beasts."<br> +</p> + +"There were two reasons," replied Bradley. "You told me that +there are two Wieroo cities at the eastern end of the island. To +have passed near either of them might have been to have brought +about our heads hundreds of the creatures from whom we could not +possibly have escaped. Again, my friends must be near this +spot-it cannot be over two marches to the fort of which I have +told you. It is my duty to return to them. If they still live we +shall find a way to return you to your people." <br> +<p>"And you?" asked the girl.<br> +</p> + +"I escaped from Oo-oh," replied Bradley. "I have accomplished the +impossible once, and so I shall accomplish it again--I shall +escape from Caspak." <br> +<p>He was not looking at her face as he answered her, and so he +did not see the shadow of sorrow that crossed her countenance. +When he raised his eyes again, she was smiling.<br> +</p> + +"What you wish, I wish," said the girl. <br> +<p>Southward along the coast they made their way following the +beach, where the walking was best, but always keeping close +enough to trees to insure sanctuary from the beasts and reptiles +that so often menaced them. It was late in the afternoon when the +girl suddenly seized Bradley's arm and pointed straight ahead +along the shore. "What is that?" she whispered. "What strange +reptile is it?"<br> +</p> + +Bradley looked in the direction her slim forefinger indicated. He +rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then he seized her wrist +and drew her quickly behind a clump of bushes. <br> +<p>"What is it?" she asked.<br> +</p> + +"It is the most frightful reptile that the waters of the world +have ever known," he replied. "It is a German U-boat!" <br> +<p>An expression of amazement and understanding lighted her +features. "It is the thing of which you told me," she exclaimed, +"--the thing that swims under the water and carries men in its +belly!"<br> +</p> + +"It is," replied Bradley. <br> +<p>"Then why do you hide from it?" asked the girl. "You said that +now it belonged to your friends."<br> +</p> + +"Many months have passed since I knew what was going on among my +friends," he replied. "I cannot know what has befallen them. They +should have been gone from here in this vessel long since, and so +I cannot understand why it is still here. I am going to +investigate first before I show myself. When I left, there were +more Germans on the U-33 than there were men of my own party at +the fort, and I have had sufficient experience of Germans to know +that they will bear watching--if they have not been properly +watched since I left." <br> +<p>Making their way through a fringe of wood that grew a few +yards inland the two crept unseen toward the U-boat which lay +moored to the shore at a point which Bradley now recognized as +being near the oil-pool north of Dinosaur. As close as possible +to the vessel they halted, crouching low among the dense +vegetation, and watched the boat for signs of human life about +it. The hatches were closed--no one could be seen or heard. For +five minutes Bradley watched, and then he determined to board the +submarine and investigate. He had risen to carry his decision +into effect when there suddenly broke upon his ear, uttered in +loud and menacing tones, a volley of German oaths and expletives +among which he heard Englische schweinhunde repeated several +times. The voice did not come from the direction of the U-boat; +but from inland. Creeping forward Bradley reached a spot where, +through the creepers hanging from the trees, he could see a party +of men coming down toward the shore.<br> +</p> + +He saw Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and six of his men--all +armed--while marching in a little knot among them were Olson, +Brady, Sinclair, Wilson, and Whitely. <br> +<p>Bradley knew nothing of the disappearance of Bowen Tyler and +Miss La Rue, nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling the +fort and attempting to escape in the U-33; but he was in no way +surprised at what he saw before him.<br> +</p> + +The little party came slowly onward, the prisoners staggering +beneath heavy cans of oil, while Schwartz, one of the German +noncommissioned officers cursed and beat them with a stick of +wood, impartially. Von Schoenvorts walked in the rear of the +column, encouraging Schwartz and laughing at the discomfiture of +the Britishers. Dietz, Heinz, and Klatz also seemed to enjoy the +entertainment immensely; but two of the men--Plesser and +Hindle-marched with eyes straight to the front and with scowling +faces. <br> +<p>Bradley felt his blood boil at sight of the cowardly +indignities being heaped upon his men, and in the brief span of +time occupied by the column to come abreast of where he lay +hidden he made his plans, foolhardy though he knew them. Then he +drew the girl close to him. "Stay here," he whispered. "I am +going out to fight those beasts; but I shall be killed. Do not +let them see you. Do not let them take you alive. They are more +cruel, more cowardly, more bestial than the Wieroos."<br> +</p> + +The girl pressed close to him, her face very white. "Go, if that +is right," she whispered; "but if you die, I shall die, for I +cannot live without you." He looked sharply into her eyes. "Oh!" +he ejaculated. "What an idiot I have been! Nor could I live +without you, little girl." And he drew her very close and kissed +her lips. "Good-bye." He disengaged himself from her arms and +looked again in time to see that the rear of the column had just +passed him. Then he rose and leaped quickly and silently from the +jungle. <br> +<p>Suddenly von Schoenvorts felt an arm thrown about his neck and +his pistol jerked from its holster. He gave a cry of fright and +warning, and his men turned to see a half-naked white man holding +their leader securely from behind and aiming a pistol at them +over his shoulder.<br> +</p> + +"Drop those guns!" came in short, sharp syllables and perfect +German from the lips of the newcomer. "Drop them or I'll put a +bullet through the back of von Schoenvorts' head." <br> +<p>The Germans hesitated for a moment, looking first toward von +Schoenvorts and then to Schwartz, who was evidently second in +command, for orders.<br> +</p> + +"It's the English pig, Bradley," shouted the latter, "and he's +alone--go and get him!" <br> +<p>"Go yourself," growled Plesser. Hindle moved close to the side +of Plesser and whispered something to him. The latter nodded. +Suddenly von Schoenvorts wheeled about and seized Bradley's +pistol arm with both hands, "Now!" he shouted. "Come and take +him, quick!"<br> +</p> + +Schwartz and three others leaped forward; but Plesser and Hindle +held back, looking questioningly toward the English prisoners. +Then Plesser spoke. "Now is your chance, Englander," he called in +low tones. "Seize Hindle and me and take our guns from us--we +will not fight hard." <br> +<p>Olson and Brady were not long in acting upon the suggestion. +They had seen enough of the brutal treatment von Schoenvorts +accorded his men and the especially venomous attentions he had +taken great enjoyment in according Plesser and Hindle to +understand that these two might be sincere in a desire for +revenge. In another moment the two Germans were unarmed and Olson +and Brady were running to the support of Bradley; but already it +seemed too late.<br> +</p> + +Von Schoenvorts had managed to drag the Englishman around so that +his back was toward Schwartz and the other advancing Germans. +Schwartz was almost upon Bradley with gun clubbed and ready to +smash down upon the Englishman's skull. Brady and Olson were +charging the Germans in the rear with Wilson, Whitely, and +Sinclair supporting them with bare fists. It seemed that Bradley +was doomed when, apparently out of space, an arrow whizzed, +striking Schwartz in the side, passing half-way through his body +to crumple him to earth. With a shriek the man fell, and at the +same time Olson and Brady saw the slim figure of a young girl +standing at the edge of the jungle coolly fitting another arrow +to her bow. <br> +<p>Bradley had now succeeded in wrestling his arm free from von +Schoenvorts' grip and in dropping the latter with a blow from the +butt of his pistol. The rest of the English and Germans were +engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter. Plesser and Hindle standing +aside from the melee and urging their comrades to surrender and +join with the English against the tyranny of von Schoenvorts. +Heinz and Klatz, possibly influenced by their exhortation, were +putting up but a half-hearted resistance; but Dietz, a huge, +bearded, bull-necked Prussian, yelling like a maniac, sought to +exterminate the Englische schweinhunde with his bayonet, fearing +to fire his piece lest he kill some of his comrades.<br> +</p> + +It was Olson who engaged him, and though unused to the long +German rifle and bayonet, he met the bull-rush of the Hun with +the cold, cruel precision and science of English +bayonet-fighting. There was no feinting, no retiring and no +parrying that was not also an attack. Bayonet-fighting today is +not a pretty thing to see--it is not an artistic fencing-match in +which men give and take--it is slaughter inevitable and quickly +over. <br> +<p>Dietz lunged once madly at Olson's throat. A short point, with +just a twist of the bayonet to the left sent the sharp blade over +the Englishman's left shoulder. Instantly he stepped close in, +dropped his rifle through his hands and grasped it with both +hands close below the muzzle and with a short, sharp jab sent his +blade up beneath Dietz's chin to the brain. So quickly was the +thing done and so quick the withdrawal that Olson had wheeled to +take on another adversary before the German's corpse had toppled +to the ground.<br> +</p> + +But there were no more adversaries to take on. Heinz and Klatz +had thrown down their rifles and with hands above their heads +were crying "Kamerad! Kamerad!" at the tops of their voices. Von +Schoenvorts still lay where he had fallen. Plesser and Hindle +were explaining to Bradley that they were glad of the outcome of +the fight, as they could no longer endure the brutality of the +U-boat commander. <br> +<p>The remainder of the men were looking at the girl who now +advanced slowly, her bow ready, when Bradley turned toward her +and held out his hand.<br> +</p> + +"Co-Tan," he said, "unstring your bow--these are my friends, and +yours." And to the Englishmen: "This is Co-Tan. You who saw her +save me from Schwartz know a part of what I owe her." <br> +<p>The rough men gathered about the girl, and when she spoke to +them in broken English, with a smile upon her lips enhancing the +charm of her irresistible accent, each and every one of them +promptly fell in love with her and constituted himself henceforth +her guardian and her slave.<br> +</p> + +A moment later the attention of each was called to Plesser by a +volley of invective. They turned in time to see the man running +toward von Schoenvorts who was just rising from the ground. +Plesser carried a rifle with bayonet fixed, that he had snatched +from the side of Dietz's corpse. Von Schoenvorts' face was livid +with fear, his jaws working as though he would call for help; but +no sound came from his blue lips. <br> +<p>"You struck me," shrieked Plesser. "Once, twice, three times, +you struck me, pig. You murdered Schwerke--you drove him insane +by your cruelty until he took his own life. You are only one of +your kind--they are all like you from the Kaiser down. I wish +that you were the Kaiser. Thus would I do!" And he lunged his +bayonet through von Schoenvorts' chest. Then he let his rifle +fall with the dying man and wheeled toward Bradley. "Here I am," +he said. "Do with me as you like. All my life I have been kicked +and cuffed by such as that, and yet always have I gone out when +they commanded, singing, to give up my life if need be to keep +them in power. Only lately have I come to know what a fool I have +been. But now I am no longer a fool, and besides, I am avenged +and Schwerke is avenged, so you can kill me if you wish. Here I +am."<br> +</p> + +"If I was after bein' the king," said Olson, "I'd pin the V.C. on +your noble chist; but bein' only an Irishman with a Swede name, +for which God forgive me, the bist I can do is shake your hand." +<br> +<p>"You will not be punished," said Bradley. "There are four of +you left--if you four want to come along and work with us, we +will take you; but you will come as prisoners."<br> +</p> + +"It suits me," said Plesser. "Now that the captain-lieutenant is +dead you need not fear us. All our lives we have known nothing +but to obey his class. If I had not killed him, I suppose I would +be fool enough to obey him again; but he is dead. Now we will +obey you--we must obey some one." <br> +<p>"And you?" Bradley turned to the other survivors of the +original crew of the U-33. Each promised obedience.<br> +</p> + +The two dead Germans were buried in a single grave, and then the +party boarded the submarine and stowed away the oil. <br> +<p>Here Bradley told the men what had befallen him since the +night of September 14th when he had disappeared so mysteriously +from the camp upon the plateau. Now he learned for the first time +that Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., and Miss La Rue had been missing even +longer than he and that no faintest trace of them had been +discovered.<br> +</p> + +Olson told him of how the Germans had returned and waited in +ambush for them outside the fort, capturing them that they might +be used to assist in the work of refining the oil and later in +manning the U-33, and Plesser told briefly of the experiences of +the German crew under von Schoenvorts since they had escaped from +Caspak months before--of how they lost their bearings after +having been shelled by ships they had attempted to sneak farther +north and how at last with provisions gone and fuel almost +exhausted they had sought and at last found, more by accident +than design, the mysterious island they had once been so glad to +leave behind. <br> +<p>"Now," announced Bradley, "we'll plan for the future. The boat +has fuel, provisions and water for a month, I believe you said, +Plesser; there are ten of us to man it. We have a last sad duty +here--we must search for Miss La Rue and Mr. Tyler. I say a sad +duty because we know that we shall not find them; but it is none +the less our duty to comb the shoreline, firing signal shells at +intervals, that we at least may leave at last with full knowledge +that we have done all that men might do to locate them."<br> +</p> + +None dissented from this conviction, nor was there a voice raised +in protest against the plan to at least make assurance doubly +sure before quitting Caspak forever. <br> +<p>And so they started, cruising slowly up the coast and firing +an occasional shot from the gun. Often the vessel was brought to +a stop, and always there were anxious eyes scanning the shore for +an answering signal. Late in the afternoon they caught sight of a +number of Band-lu warriors; but when the vessel approached the +shore and the natives realized that human beings stood upon the +back of the strange monster of the sea, they fled in terror +before Bradley could come within hailing distance.<br> +</p> + +That night they dropped anchor at the mouth of a sluggish stream +whose warm waters swarmed with millions of tiny tadpolelike +organisms--minute human spawn starting on their precarious +journey from some inland pool toward "the beginning"--a journey +which one in millions, perhaps, might survive to complete. +Already almost at the inception of life they were being greeted +by thousands of voracious mouths as fish and reptiles of many +kinds fought to devour them, the while other and larger creatures +pursued the devourers, to be, in turn, preyed upon by some other +of the countless forms that inhabit the deeps of Caprona's +frightful sea. <br> +<p>The second day was practically a repetition of the first. They +moved very slowly with frequent stops and once they landed in the +Kro-lu country to hunt. Here they were attacked by the +bow-and-arrow men, whom they could not persuade to palaver with +them. So belligerent were the natives that it became necessary to +fire into them in order to escape their persistent and ferocious +attentions.<br> +</p> + +"What chance," asked Bradley, as they were returning to the boat +with their game, "could Tyler and Miss La Rue have had among such +as these?" <br> +<p>But they continued on their fruitless quest, and the third +day, after cruising along the shore of a deep inlet, they passed +a line of lofty cliffs that formed the southern shore of the +inlet and rounded a sharp promontory about noon. Co-Tan and +Bradley were on deck alone, and as the new shoreline appeared +beyond the point, the girl gave an exclamation of joy and seized +the man's hand in hers.<br> +</p> + +"Oh, look!" she cried. "The Galu country! The Galu country! It is +my country that I never thought to see again." <br> +<p>"You are glad to come again, Co-Tan?" asked Bradley.<br> +</p> + +"Oh, so glad!" she cried. "And you will come with me to my +people? We may live here among them, and you will be a great +warrior--oh, when Jor dies you may even be chief, for there is +none so mighty as my warrior. You will come?" <br> +<p>Bradley shook his head. "I cannot, little Co-Tan," he +answered. "My country needs me, and I must go back. Maybe someday +I shall return. You will not forget me, Co-Tan?"<br> +</p> + +She looked at him in wide-eyed wonder. "You are going away from +me?" she asked in a very small voice. "You are going away from +Co-Tan?" <br> +<p>Bradley looked down upon the little bowed head. He felt the +soft cheek against his bare arm; and he felt something else there +too-hot drops of moisture that ran down to his very finger-tips +and splashed, but each one wrung from a woman's heart.<br> +</p> + +He bent low and raised the tear-stained face to his own. "No, +Co-Tan," he said, "I am not going away from you--for you are +going with me. You are going back to my own country to be my +wife. Tell me that you will, Co-Tan." And he bent still lower yet +from his height and kissed her lips. Nor did he need more than +the wonderful new light in her eyes to tell him that she would go +to the end of the world with him if he would but take her. And +then the gun-crew came up from below again to fire a signal shot, +and the two were brought down from the high heaven of their new +happiness to the scarred and weather-beaten deck of the U-33. +<br> +<p>An hour later the vessel was running close in by a shore of +wondrous beauty beside a parklike meadow that stretched back a +mile inland to the foot of a plateau when Whitely called +attention to a score of figures clambering downward from the +elevation to the lowland below. The engines were reversed and the +boat brought to a stop while all hands gathered on deck to watch +the little party coming toward them across the meadow.<br> +</p> + +"They are Galus," cried Co-Tan; "they are my own people. Let me +speak to them lest they think we come to fight them. Put me +ashore, my man, and I will go meet them." <br> +<p>The nose of the U-boat was run close in to the steep bank; but +when Co-Tan would have run forward alone, Bradley seized her hand +and held her back. "I will go with you, Co-Tan," he said; and +together they advanced to meet the oncoming party.<br> +</p> + +There were about twenty warriors moving forward in a thin line, +as our infantry advance as skirmishers. Bradley could not but +notice the marked difference between this formation and the +moblike methods of the lower tribes he had come in contact with, +and he commented upon it to Co-Tan. <br> +<p>"Galu warriors always advance into battle thus," she said. +"The lesser people remain in a huddled group where they can +scarce use their weapons the while they present so big a mark to +us that our spears and arrows cannot miss them; but when they +hurl theirs at our warriors, if they miss the first man, there is +no chance that they will kill some one behind him.<br> +</p> + +"Stand still now," she cautioned, "and fold your arms. They will +not harm us then." <br> +<p>Bradley did as he was bid, and the two stood with arms folded +as the line of warriors approached. When they had come within +some fifty yards, they halted and one spoke. "Who are you and +from whence do you come?" he asked; and then Co-Tan gave a +little, glad cry and sprang forward with out-stretched arms.<br> +</p> + +"Oh, Tan!" she exclaimed. "Do you not know your little Co-Tan?" +<br> +<p>The warrior stared, incredulous, for a moment, and then he, +too, ran forward and when they met, took the girl in his arms. It +was then that Bradley experienced to the full a sensation that +was new to him--a sudden hatred for the strange warrior before +him and a desire to kill without knowing why he would kill. He +moved quickly to the girl's side and grasped her wrist.<br> +</p> + +"Who is this man?" he demanded in cold tones. <br> +<p>Co-Tan turned a surprised face toward the Englishman and then +of a sudden broke forth into a merry peal of laughter. "This is +my father, Brad-lee," she cried.<br> +</p> + +"And who is Brad-lee?" demanded the warrior. <br> +<p>"He is my man," replied Co-Tan simply.<br> +</p> + +"By what right?" insisted Tan. <br> +<p>And then she told him briefly of all that she had passed +through since the Wieroos had stolen her and of how Bradley had +rescued her and sought to rescue An-Tak, her brother.<br> +</p> + +"You are satisfied with him?" asked Tan. <br> +<p>"Yes," replied the girl proudly.<br> +</p> + +It was then that Bradley's attention was attracted to the edge of +the plateau by a movement there, and looking closely he saw a +horse bearing two figures sliding down the steep declivity. Once +at the bottom, the animal came charging across the meadowland at +a rapid run. It was a magnificent animal--a great bay stallion +with a white-blazed face and white forelegs to the knees, its +barrel encircled by a broad surcingle of white; and as it came to +a sudden stop beside Tan, the Englishman saw that it bore a man +and a girl--a tall man and a girl as beautiful as Co-Tan. When +the girl espied the latter, she slid from the horse and ran +toward her, fairly screaming for joy. <br> +<p>The man dismounted and stood beside Tan. Like Bradley he was +garbed after the fashion of the surrounding warriors; but there +was a subtle difference between him and his companion. Possibly +he detected a similar difference in Bradley, for his first +question was, "From what country?" and though he spoke in Galu +Bradley thought he detected an accent.<br> +</p> + +"England," replied Bradley. <br> +<p>A broad smile lighted the newcomer's face as he held out his +hand. "I am Tom Billings of Santa Monica, California," he said. +"I know all about you, and I'm mighty glad to find you +alive."<br> +</p> + +"How did you get here?" asked Bradley. "I thought ours was the +only party of men from the outer world ever to enter Caprona." +<br> +<p>"It was, until we came in search of Bowen J. Tyler, Jr.," +replied Billings. "We found him and sent him home with his bride; +but I was kept a prisoner here."<br> +</p> + +Bradley's face darkened--then they were not among friends after +all. "There are ten of us down there on a German sub with +small-arms and a gun," he said quickly in English. "It will be no +trick to get away from these people." <br> +<p>"You don't know my jailer," replied Billings, "or you'd not be +so sure. Wait, I'll introduce you." And then turning to the girl +who had accompanied him he called her by name. "Ajor," he said, +"permit me to introduce Lieutenant Bradley; Lieutenant, Mrs. +Billings--my jailer!"<br> +</p> + +The Englishman laughed as he shook hands with the girl. "You are +not as good a soldier as I," he said to Billings. "Instead of +being taken prisoner myself I have taken one--Mrs. Bradley, this +is Mr. Billings." <br> +<p>Ajor, quick to understand, turned toward Co-Tan. "You are +going back with him to his country?" she asked. Co-Tan admitted +it.<br> +</p> + +"You dare?" asked Ajor. "But your father will not permit it-Jor, +my father, High Chief of the Galus, will not permit it, for like +me you are cos-ata-lo. Oh, Co-Tan, if we but could! How I would +love to see all the strange and wonderful things of which my Tom +tells me!" <br> +<p>Bradley bent and whispered in her ear. "Say the word and you +may both go with us."<br> +</p> + +Billings heard and speaking in English, asked Ajor if she would +go. <br> +<p>"Yes," she answered, "If you wish it; but you know, my Tom, +that if Jor captures us, both you and Co-Tan's man will pay the +penalty with your lives--not even his love for me nor his +admiration for you can save you."<br> +</p> + +Bradley noticed that she spoke in English--broken English like +Co-Tan's but equally appealing. "We can easily get you aboard the +ship," he said, "on some pretext or other, and then we can steam +away. They can neither harm nor detain us, nor will we have to +fire a shot at them." <br> +<p>And so it was done, Bradley and Co-Tan taking Ajor and +Billings aboard to "show" them the vessel, which almost +immediately raised anchor and moved slowly out into the sea.<br> +</p> + +"I hate to do it," said Billings. "They have been fine to me. Jor +and Tan are splendid men and they will think me an ingrate; but I +can't waste my life here when there is so much to be done in the +outer world." <br> +<p>As they steamed down the inland sea past the island of Oo-oh, +the stories of their adventures were retold, and Bradley learned +that Bowen Tyler and his bride had left the Galu country but a +fortnight before and that there was every reason to believe that +the Toreador might still be lying in the Pacific not far off the +subterranean mouth of the river which emitted Caprona's heated +waters into the ocean.<br> +</p> + +Late in the second day, after running through swarms of hideous +reptiles, they submerged at the point where the river entered +beneath the cliffs and shortly after rose to the sunlit surface +of the Pacific; but nowhere as far as they could see was sign of +another craft. Down the coast they steamed toward the beach where +Billings had made his crossing in the hydro-aeroplane and just at +dusk the lookout announced a light dead ahead. It proved to be +aboard the Toreador, and a half-hour later there was such a +reunion on the deck of the trig little yacht as no one there had +ever dreamed might be possible. Of the Allies there were only +Tippet and James to be mourned, and no one mourned any of the +Germans dead nor Benson, the traitor, whose ugly story was first +told in Bowen Tyler's manuscript. <br> +<p>Tyler and the rescue party had but just reached the yacht that +afternoon. They had heard, faintly, the signal shots fired by the +U-33 but had been unable to locate their direction and so had +assumed that they had come from the guns of the Toreador.<br> +</p> + +It was a happy party that sailed north toward sunny, southern +California, the old U-33 trailing in the wake of the Toreador and +flying with the latter the glorious Stars and Stripes beneath +which she had been born in the shipyard at Santa Monica. Three +newly married couples, their bonds now duly solemnized by the +master of the ship, joyed in the peace and security of the +untracked waters of the south Pacific and the unique honeymoon +which, had it not been for stern duty ahead, they could have +wished protracted till the end of time. <br> +<p>And so they came one day to dock at the shipyard which Bowen +Tyler now controlled, and here the U-33 still lies while those +who passed so many eventful days within and because of her, have +gone their various ways.<br> +</p> + +The end of Project Gutenberg etext of "Out of Time's Abyss" <br> +<p>I have made the following changes to the text:<br> +</p> + +PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO 10 12 of or 14 19 of animals life +of animals 31 26 is arms his arms 37 14 above this above his 37 +23 Bradley, Bradley 54 18 man man 57 14 and of Oo-oh of Oo-oh 62 +18 spend spent 63 31 and mumbled the mumbled 64 9 things thing 80 +30 east cast 104 16 proaching proached 106 30 cos-at-lu +cos-ata-lu 126 17 not artistic not an artistic 126 25 close below +hands close below 130 1 internals intervals 132 9 than that 132 +10 splashes splashed 134 3 know know not know <br> +<p>The end of Project Gutenberg etext of "Out of Time's +Abyss"<br> +</p> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/old/ootma10h.zip b/old/ootma10h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e568e4c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma10h.zip diff --git a/old/ootma10l.lit b/old/ootma10l.lit Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c32efa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma10l.lit diff --git a/old/ootma10l.zip b/old/ootma10l.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd60c55 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma10l.zip diff --git a/old/ootma10p.prc b/old/ootma10p.prc Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..19f4c7d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma10p.prc diff --git a/old/ootma10p.zip b/old/ootma10p.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b521646 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma10p.zip diff --git a/old/ootma11.txt b/old/ootma11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed889e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4353 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Out of Time's Abyss +by Edgar Rice Burroughs +(#3 in The Land that Time Forgot Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + + + + + + + +Created by Judith Boss, Omaha, Nebraska + + + + + +Out of Time's Abyss + +By Edgar Rice Burroughs + + + + + +Chapter I + + +This is the tale of Bradley after he left Fort Dinosaur upon the +west coast of the great lake that is in the center of the island. + +Upon the fourth day of September, 1916, he set out with four +companions, Sinclair, Brady, James, and Tippet, to search along +the base of the barrier cliffs for a point at which they might +be scaled. + +Through the heavy Caspakian air, beneath the swollen sun, the +five men marched northwest from Fort Dinosaur, now waist-deep +in lush, jungle grasses starred with myriad gorgeous blooms, now +across open meadow-land and parklike expanses and again plunging +into dense forests of eucalyptus and acacia and giant arboreous +ferns with feathered fronds waving gently a hundred feet above +their heads. + +About them upon the ground, among the trees and in the air over +them moved and swung and soared the countless forms of Caspak's +teeming life. Always were they menaced by some frightful thing +and seldom were their rifles cool, yet even in the brief time +they had dwelt upon Caprona they had become callous to danger, +so that they swung along laughing and chatting like soldiers on +a summer hike. + +"This reminds me of South Clark Street," remarked Brady, who had +once served on the traffic squad in Chicago; and as no one asked +him why, he volunteered that it was "because it's no place for +an Irishman." + +"South Clark Street and heaven have something in common, then," +suggested Sinclair. James and Tippet laughed, and then a hideous +growl broke from a dense thicket ahead and diverted their +attention to other matters. + +"One of them behemoths of 'Oly Writ," muttered Tippet as they came +to a halt and with guns ready awaited the almost inevitable charge. + +"Hungry lot o' beggars, these," said Bradley; "always trying to +eat everything they see." + +For a moment no further sound came from the thicket. "He may be +feeding now," suggested Bradley. "We'll try to go around him. +Can't waste ammunition. Won't last forever. Follow me." And he +set off at right angles to their former course, hoping to avert +a charge. They had taken a dozen steps, perhaps, when the +thicket moved to the advance of the thing within it, the leafy +branches parted, and the hideous head of a gigantic bear emerged. + +"Pick your trees," whispered Bradley. "Can't waste ammunition." + +The men looked about them. The bear took a couple of steps +forward, still growling menacingly. He was exposed to the +shoulders now. Tippet took one look at the monster and bolted +for the nearest tree; and then the bear charged. He charged +straight for Tippet. The other men scattered for the various +trees they had selected--all except Bradley. He stood watching +Tippet and the bear. The man had a good start and the tree was +not far away; but the speed of the enormous creature behind him +was something to marvel at, yet Tippet was in a fair way to make +his sanctuary when his foot caught in a tangle of roots and down +he went, his rifle flying from his hand and falling several +yards away. Instantly Bradley's piece was at his shoulder, there +was a sharp report answered by a roar of mingled rage and pain +from the carnivore. Tippet attempted to scramble to his feet. + +"Lie still!" shouted Bradley. "Can't waste ammunition." + +The bear halted in its tracks, wheeled toward Bradley and then +back again toward Tippet. Again the former's rifle spit angrily, +and the bear turned again in his direction. Bradley shouted +loudly. "Come on, you behemoth of Holy Writ!" he cried. "Come on, +you duffer! Can't waste ammunition." And as he saw the bear +apparently upon the verge of deciding to charge him, he +encouraged the idea by backing rapidly away, knowing that an +angry beast will more often charge one who moves than one who +lies still. + +And the bear did charge. Like a bolt of lightning he flashed +down upon the Englishman. "Now run!" Bradley called to Tippet +and himself turned in flight toward a nearby tree. The other +men, now safely ensconced upon various branches, watched the race +with breathless interest. Would Bradley make it? It seemed +scarce possible. And if he didn't! James gasped at the thought. +Six feet at the shoulder stood the frightful mountain of +blood-mad flesh and bone and sinew that was bearing down with the +speed of an express train upon the seemingly slow-moving man. + +It all happened in a few seconds; but they were seconds that +seemed like hours to the men who watched. They saw Tippet leap +to his feet at Bradley's shouted warning. They saw him run, +stooping to recover his rifle as he passed the spot where it +had fallen. They saw him glance back toward Bradley, and then they +saw him stop short of the tree that might have given him safety +and turn back in the direction of the bear. Firing as he ran, +Tippet raced after the great cave bear--the monstrous thing that +should have been extinct ages before--ran for it and fired even +as the beast was almost upon Bradley. The men in the trees +scarcely breathed. It seemed to them such a futile thing for +Tippet to do, and Tippet of all men! They had never looked upon +Tippet as a coward--there seemed to be no cowards among that +strangely assorted company that Fate had gathered together from +the four corners of the earth--but Tippet was considered a +cautious man. Overcautious, some thought him. How futile he and +his little pop-gun appeared as he dashed after that living engine +of destruction! But, oh, how glorious! It was some such thought +as this that ran through Brady's mind, though articulated it +might have been expressed otherwise, albeit more forcefully. + +Just then it occurred to Brady to fire and he, too, opened upon +the bear, but at the same instant the animal stumbled and fell +forward, though still growling most fearsomely. Tippet never +stopped running or firing until he stood within a foot of the +brute, which lay almost touching Bradley and was already +struggling to regain its feet. Placing the muzzle of his gun +against the bear's ear, Tippet pulled the trigger. The creature +sank limply to the ground and Bradley scrambled to his feet. + +"Good work, Tippet," he said. "Mightily obliged to you--awful +waste of ammunition, really." + +And then they resumed the march and in fifteen minutes the +encounter had ceased even to be a topic of conversation. + +For two days they continued upon their perilous way. Already the +cliffs loomed high and forbidding close ahead without sign of +break to encourage hope that somewhere they might be scaled. +Late in the afternoon the party crossed a small stream of warm +water upon the sluggishly moving surface of which floated +countless millions of tiny green eggs surrounded by a light scum +of the same color, though of a darker shade. Their past +experience of Caspak had taught them that they might expect to +come upon a stagnant pool of warm water if they followed the +stream to its source; but there they were almost certain to find +some of Caspak's grotesque, manlike creatures. Already since +they had disembarked from the U-33 after its perilous trip +through the subterranean channel beneath the barrier cliffs had +brought them into the inland sea of Caspak, had they encountered +what had appeared to be three distinct types of these creatures. +There had been the pure apes--huge, gorillalike beasts--and those +who walked, a trifle more erect and had features with just a +shade more of the human cast about them. Then there were men +like Ahm, whom they had captured and confined at the fort--Ahm, +the club-man. "Well-known club-man," Tyler had called him. Ahm +and his people had knowledge of a speech. They had a language, +in which they were unlike the race just inferior to them, and +they walked much more erect and were less hairy: but it was +principally the fact that they possessed a spoken language and +carried a weapon that differentiated them from the others. + +All of these peoples had proven belligerent in the extreme. In +common with the rest of the fauna of Caprona the first law of +nature as they seemed to understand it was to kill--kill--kill. +And so it was that Bradley had no desire to follow up the little +stream toward the pool near which were sure to be the caves of +some savage tribe, but fortune played him an unkind trick, for +the pool was much closer than he imagined, its southern end +reaching fully a mile south of the point at which they crossed +the stream, and so it was that after forcing their way through a +tangle of jungle vegetation they came out upon the edge of the +pool which they had wished to avoid. + +Almost simultaneously there appeared south of them a party of +naked men armed with clubs and hatchets. Both parties halted as +they caught sight of one another. The men from the fort saw +before them a hunting party evidently returning to its caves or +village laden with meat. They were large men with features +closely resembling those of the African Negro though their +skins were white. Short hair grew upon a large portion of their +limbs and bodies, which still retained a considerable trace of +apish progenitors. They were, however, a distinctly higher type +than the Bo-lu, or club-men. + +Bradley would have been glad to have averted a meeting; but as he +desired to lead his party south around the end of the pool, and +as it was hemmed in by the jungle on one side and the water on +the other, there seemed no escape from an encounter. + +On the chance that he might avoid a clash, Bradley stepped +forward with upraised hand. "We are friends, " he called in the +tongue of Ahm, the Bolu, who had been held a prisoner at the +fort; "permit us to pass in peace. We will not harm you." + +At this the hatchet-men set up a great jabbering with much +laughter, loud and boisterous. "No," shouted one, "you will not +harm us, for we shall kill you. Come! We kill! We kill!" +And with hideous shouts they charged down upon the Europeans. + +"Sinclair, you may fire," said Bradley quietly." Pick off +the leader. Can't waste ammunition." + +The Englishman raised his piece to his shoulder and took quick +aim at the breast of the yelling savage leaping toward them. +Directly behind the leader came another hatchet-man, and with the +report of Sinclair's rifle both warriors lunged forward in the +tall grass, pierced by the same bullet. The effect upon the rest +of the band was electrical. As one man they came to a sudden +halt, wheeled to the east and dashed into the jungle, where the +men could hear them forcing their way in an effort to put as much +distance as possible between themselves and the authors of this +new and frightful noise that killed warriors at a great distance. + +Both the savages were dead when Bradley approached to examine +them, and as the Europeans gathered around, other eyes were bent +upon them with greater curiosity than they displayed for the +victim of Sinclair's bullet. When the party again took up the +march around the southern end of the pool the owner of the eyes +followed them--large, round eyes, almost expressionless except +for a certain cold cruelty which glinted malignly from under +their pale gray irises. + +All unconscious of the stalker, the men came, late in the +afternoon, to a spot which seemed favorable as a campsite. +A cold spring bubbled from the base of a rocky formation which +overhung and partially encircled a small inclosure. At Bradley's +command, the men took up the duties assigned them--gathering +wood, building a cook-fire and preparing the evening meal. +It was while they were thus engaged that Brady's attention was +attracted by the dismal flapping of huge wings. He glanced up, +expecting to see one of the great flying reptiles of a bygone +age, his rifle ready in his hand. Brady was a brave man. He had +groped his way up narrow tenement stairs and taken an armed +maniac from a dark room without turning a hair; but now as he +looked up, he went white and staggered back. + +"Gawd!" he almost screamed. "What is it?" + +Attracted by Brady's cry the others seized their rifles as they +followed his wide-eyed, frozen gaze, nor was there one of them +that was not moved by some species of terror or awe. Then Brady +spoke again in an almost inaudible voice. "Holy Mother protect +us--it's a banshee!" + +Bradley, always cool almost to indifference in the face of +danger, felt a strange, creeping sensation run over his flesh, as +slowly, not a hundred feet above them, the thing flapped itself +across the sky, its huge, round eyes glaring down upon them. +And until it disappeared over the tops of the trees of a near-by +wood the five men stood as though paralyzed, their eyes never +leaving the weird shape; nor never one of them appearing to recall +that he grasped a loaded rifle in his hands. + +With the passing of the thing, came the reaction. Tippet sank to +the ground and buried his face in his hands. "Oh, Gord," he moaned. +"Tyke me awy from this orful plice." Brady, recovered from the +first shock, swore loud and luridly. He called upon all the +saints to witness that he was unafraid and that anybody with half +an eye could have seen that the creature was nothing more than +"one av thim flyin' alligators" that they all were familiar with. + +"Yes," said Sinclair with fine sarcasm, "we've saw so many of +them with white shrouds on 'em." + +"Shut up, you fool!" growled Brady. "If you know so much, tell +us what it was after bein' then." + +Then he turned toward Bradley. "What was it, sor, do you think?" +he asked. + +Bradley shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "It looked like +a winged human being clothed in a flowing white robe. Its face +was more human than otherwise. That is the way it looked to me; +but what it really was I can't even guess, for such a creature is +as far beyond my experience or knowledge as it is beyond yours. +All that I am sure of is that whatever else it may have been, it +was quite material--it was no ghost; rather just another of the +strange forms of life which we have met here and with which we +should be accustomed by this time." + +Tippet looked up. His face was still ashy. "Yer cawn't tell +me," he cried. "Hi seen hit. Blime, Hi seen hit. Hit was ha +dead man flyin' through the hair. Didn't Hi see 'is heyes? +Oh, Gord! Didn't Hi see 'em?" + +"It didn't look like any beast or reptile to me," spoke up Sinclair. +"It was lookin' right down at me when I looked up and I saw its +face plain as I see yours. It had big round eyes that looked all +cold and dead, and its cheeks were sunken in deep, and I could see +its yellow teeth behind thin, tight-drawn lips--like a man who had +been dead a long while, sir," he added, turning toward Bradley. + +"Yes!" James had not spoken since the apparition had passed over them, +and now it was scarce speech which he uttered--rather a series of +articulate gasps. "Yes--dead--a--long--while. It--means something. +It--come--for some--one. For one--of +us. One--of us is goin'-- +to die. I'm goin' to die!" he ended in a wail. + +"Come! Come!" snapped Bradley. "Won't do. Won't do at all. +Get to work, all of you. Waste of time. Can't waste time." + +His authoritative tones brought them all up standing, and +presently each was occupied with his own duties; but each worked +in silence and there was no singing and no bantering such as had +marked the making of previous camps. Not until they had eaten +and to each had been issued the little ration of smoking tobacco +allowed after each evening meal did any sign of a relaxation of +taut nerves appear. It was Brady who showed the first signs of +returning good spirits. He commenced humming "It's a Long Way to +Tipperary" and presently to voice the words, but he was well into +his third song before anyone joined him, and even then there +seemed a dismal note in even the gayest of tunes. + +A huge fire blazed in the opening of their rocky shelter that the +prowling carnivora might be kept at bay; and always one man stood +on guard, watchfully alert against a sudden rush by some maddened +beast of the jungle. Beyond the fire, yellow-green spots of +flame appeared, moved restlessly about, disappeared and +reappeared, accompanied by a hideous chorus of screams and growls +and roars as the hungry meat-eaters hunting through the night +were attracted by the light or the scent of possible prey. + +But to such sights and sounds as these the five men had +become callous. They sang or talked as unconcernedly as they +might have done in the bar-room of some publichouse at home. + +Sinclair was standing guard. The others were listening to +Brady's description of traffic congestion at the Rush Street +bridge during the rush hour at night. The fire crackled cheerily. +The owners of the yellow-green eyes raised their frightful chorus +to the heavens. Conditions seemed again to have returned to normal. +And then, as though the hand of Death had reached out and touched +them all, the five men tensed into sudden rigidity. + +Above the nocturnal diapason of the teeming jungle sounded a +dismal flapping of wings and over head, through the thick night, +a shadowy form passed across the diffused light of the flaring +camp-fire. Sinclair raised his rifle and fired. An eerie wail +floated down from above and the apparition, whatever it might +have been, was swallowed by the darkness. For several seconds +the listening men heard the sound of those dismally flapping wings +lessening in the distance until they could no longer be heard. + +Bradley was the first to speak. "Shouldn't have fired, +Sinclair," he said; "can't waste ammunition." But there was +no note of censure in his tone. It was as though he understood +the nervous reaction that had compelled the other's act. + +"I couldn't help it, sir," said Sinclair. "Lord, it would take +an iron man to keep from shootin' at that awful thing. Do you +believe in ghosts, sir?" + +"No," replied Bradley. "No such things." + +"I don't know about that," said Brady. "There was a woman +murdered over on the prairie near Brighton--her throat was cut +from ear to ear, and--" + +"Shut up," snapped Bradley. + +"My grandaddy used to live down Coppington wy," said Tippet. +"They were a hold ruined castle on a 'ill near by, hand at midnight +they used to see pale blue lights through the windows an 'ear--" + +"Will you close your hatch!" demanded Bradley. "You fools will +have yourselves scared to death in a minute. Now go to sleep." + +But there was little sleep in camp that night until utter +exhaustion overtook the harassed men toward morning; nor was +there any return of the weird creature that had set the nerves of +each of them on edge. + +The following forenoon the party reached the base of the barrier +cliffs and for two days marched northward in an effort to +discover a break in the frowning abutment that raised its rocky +face almost perpendicularly above them, yet nowhere was there the +slightest indication that the cliffs were scalable. + +Disheartened, Bradley determined to turn back toward the fort, as +he already had exceeded the time decided upon by Bowen Tyler and +himself for the expedition. The cliffs for many miles had been +trending in a northeasterly direction, indicating to Bradley that +they were approaching the northern extremity of the island. +According to the best of his calculations they had made +sufficient easting during the past two days to have brought them +to a point almost directly north of Fort Dinosaur and as nothing +could be gained by retracing their steps along the base of the +cliffs he decided to strike due south through the unexplored +country between them and the fort. + +That night (September 9, 1916), they made camp a short distance +from the cliffs beside one of the numerous cool springs that are +to be found within Caspak, oftentimes close beside the still +more numerous warm and hot springs which feed the many pools. +After supper the men lay smoking and chatting among themselves. +Tippet was on guard. Fewer night prowlers threatened them, and +the men were commenting upon the fact that the farther north they +had traveled the smaller the number of all species of animals +became, though it was still present in what would have seemed +appalling plenitude in any other part of the world. The diminution +in reptilian life was the most noticeable change in the fauna of +northern Caspak. Here, however, were forms they had not met +elsewhere, several of which were of gigantic proportions. + +According to their custom all, with the exception of the man on +guard, sought sleep early, nor, once disposed upon the ground for +slumber, were they long in finding it. It seemed to Bradley that +he had scarcely closed his eyes when he was brought to his feet, +wide awake, by a piercing scream which was punctuated by the +sharp report of a rifle from the direction of the fire where +Tippet stood guard. As he ran toward the man, Bradley heard +above him the same uncanny wail that had set every nerve on edge +several nights before, and the dismal flapping of huge wings. +He did not need to look up at the white-shrouded figure winging +slowly away into the night to know that their grim visitor +had returned. + +The muscles of his arm, reacting to the sight and sound of the +menacing form, carried his hand to the butt of his pistol; but +after he had drawn the weapon, he immediately returned it to its +holster with a shrug. + +"What for?" he muttered. "Can't waste ammunition." Then he +walked quickly to where Tippet lay sprawled upon his face. +By this time James, Brady and Sinclair were at his heels, each +with his rifle in readiness. + +"Is he dead, sir?" whispered James as Bradley kneeled beside the +prostrate form. + +Bradley turned Tippet over on his back and pressed an ear close +to the other's heart. In a moment he raised his head. +"Fainted," he announced. "Get water. Hurry!" Then he loosened +Tippet's shirt at the throat and when the water was brought, +threw a cupful in the man's face. Slowly Tippet regained +consciousness and sat up. At first he looked curiously into the +faces of the men about him; then an expression of terror +overspread his features. He shot a startled glance up into the +black void above and then burying his face in his arms began to +sob like a child. + +"What's wrong, man?" demanded Bradley. "Buck up! Can't play +cry-baby. Waste of energy. What happened?" + +"Wot 'appened, sir!" wailed Tippet. "Oh, Gord, sir! Hit came back. +Hit came for me, sir. Right hit did, sir; strite hat me, sir; +hand with long w'ite 'ands it clawed for me. Oh, Gord! Hit almost +caught me, sir. Hi'm has good as dead; Hi'm a marked man; that's +wot Hi ham. Hit was a-goin' for to carry me horf, sir." + +"Stuff and nonsense," snapped Bradley. "Did you get a good look +at it?" + +Tippet said that he did--a much better look than he wanted. +The thing had almost clutched him, and he had looked straight +into its eyes--"dead heyes in a dead face," he had described them. + +"Wot was it after bein', do you think?" inquired Brady. + +"Hit was Death," moaned Tippet, shuddering, and again a pall of +gloom fell upon the little party. + +The following day Tippet walked as one in a trance. He never +spoke except in reply to a direct question, which more often than +not had to be repeated before it could attract his attention. +He insisted that he was already a dead man, for if the thing didn't +come for him during the day he would never live through another +night of agonized apprehension, waiting for the frightful end +that he was positive was in store for him. "I'll see to that," +he said, and they all knew that Tippet meant to take his own life +before darkness set in. + +Bradley tried to reason with him, in his short, crisp way, but +soon saw the futility of it; nor could he take the man's weapons +from him without subjecting him to almost certain death from any +of the numberless dangers that beset their way. + +The entire party was moody and glum. There was none of the +bantering that had marked their intercourse before, even in the +face of blighting hardships and hideous danger. This was a new +menace that threatened them, something that they couldn't +explain; and so, naturally, it aroused within them superstitious +fear which Tippet's attitude only tended to augment. To add +further to their gloom, their way led through a dense forest, +where, on account of the underbrush, it was difficult to make +even a mile an hour. Constant watchfulness was required to avoid +the many snakes of various degrees of repulsiveness and enormity +that infested the wood; and the only ray of hope they had to +cling to was that the forest would, like the majority of +Caspakian forests, prove to be of no considerable extent. + +Bradley was in the lead when he came suddenly upon a grotesque +creature of Titanic proportions. Crouching among the trees, +which here commenced to thin out slightly, Bradley saw what +appeared to be an enormous dragon devouring the carcass of +a mammoth. From frightful jaws to the tip of its long tail it +was fully forty feet in length. Its body was covered with plates +of thick skin which bore a striking resemblance to armor-plate. +The creature saw Bradley almost at the same instant that he saw +it and reared up on its enormous hind legs until its head towered +a full twenty-five feet above the ground. From the cavernous +jaws issued a hissing sound of a volume equal to the escaping steam +from the safety-valves of half a dozen locomotives, and then the +creature came for the man. + +"Scatter!" shouted Bradley to those behind him; and all but +Tippet heeded the warning. The man stood as though dazed, and +when Bradley saw the other's danger, he too stopped and wheeling +about sent a bullet into the massive body forcing its way through +the trees toward him. The shot struck the creature in the belly +where there was no protecting armor, eliciting a new note which +rose in a shrill whistle and ended in a wail. It was then that +Tippet appeared to come out of his trance, for with a cry of +terror he turned and fled to the left. Bradley, seeing that he +had as good an opportunity as the others to escape, now turned his +attention to extricating himself; and as the woods seemed dense +on the right, he ran in that direction, hoping that the close-set +boles would prevent pursuit on the part of the great reptile. +The dragon paid no further attention to him, however, for Tippet's +sudden break for liberty had attracted its attention; and after +Tippet it went, bowling over small trees, uprooting underbrush +and leaving a wake behind it like that of a small tornado. + +Bradley, the moment he had discovered the thing was pursuing +Tippet, had followed it. He was afraid to fire for fear of +hitting the man, and so it was that he came upon them at the very +moment that the monster lunged its great weight forward upon the +doomed man. The sharp, three-toed talons of the forelimbs seized +poor Tippet, and Bradley saw the unfortunate fellow lifted high +above the ground as the creature again reared up on its hind +legs, immediately transferring Tippet's body to its gaping jaws, +which closed with a sickening, crunching sound as Tippet's bones +cracked beneath the great teeth. + +Bradley half raised his rifle to fire again and then lowered it +with a shake of his head. Tippet was beyond succor--why waste a +bullet that Caspak could never replace? If he could now escape +the further notice of the monster it would be a wiser act than to +throw his life away in futile revenge. He saw that the reptile +was not looking in his direction, and so he slipped noiselessly +behind the bole of a large tree and thence quietly faded away in +the direction he believed the others to have taken. At what he +considered a safe distance he halted and looked back. Half hidden +by the intervening trees he still could see the huge head and the +massive jaws from which protrude the limp legs of the dead man. +Then, as though struck by the hammer of Thor, the creature +collapsed and crumpled to the ground. Bradley's single bullet, +penetrating the body through the soft skin of the belly, had slain +the Titan. + +A few minutes later, Bradley found the others of the party. +The four returned cautiously to the spot where the creature lay +and after convincing themselves that it was quite dead, came close +to it. It was an arduous and gruesome job extricating Tippet's +mangled remains from the powerful jaws, the men working for the +most part silently. + +"It was the work of the banshee all right," muttered Brady. +"It warned poor Tippet, it did." + +"Hit killed him, that's wot hit did, hand hit'll kill some more +of us," said James, his lower lip trembling. + +"If it was a ghost," interjected Sinclair, "and I don't say as it +was; but if it was, why, it could take on any form it wanted to. +It might have turned itself into this thing, which ain't no +natural thing at all, just to get poor Tippet. If it had of been +a lion or something else humanlike it wouldn't look so strange; +but this here thing ain't humanlike. There ain't no such thing +an' never was." + +"Bullets don't kill ghosts," said Bradley, "so this couldn't have +been a ghost. Furthermore, there are no such things. I've been +trying to place this creature. Just succeeded. It's a tyrannosaurus. +Saw picture of skeleton in magazine. There's one in New York +Natural History Museum. Seems to me it said it was found in place +called Hell Creek somewhere in western North America. Supposed to +have lived about six million years ago." + +"Hell Creek's in Montana," said Sinclair. "I used to punch cows +in Wyoming, an' I've heard of Hell Creek. Do you s'pose that +there thing's six million years old?" His tone was skeptical. + +"No," replied Bradley; "But it would indicate that the island +of Caprona has stood almost without change for more than six +million years." + +The conversation and Bradley's assurance that the creature was +not of supernatural origin helped to raise a trifle the spirits +of the men; and then came another diversion in the form of +ravenous meat-eaters attracted to the spot by the uncanny sense +of smell which had apprised them of the presence of flesh, killed +and ready for the eating. + +It was a constant battle while they dug a grave and consigned all +that was mortal of John Tippet to his last, lonely resting-place. +Nor would they leave then; but remained to fashion a rude head- +stone from a crumbling out-cropping of sandstone and to gather +a mass of the gorgeous flowers growing in such great profusion +around them and heap the new-made grave with bright blooms. +Upon the headstone Sinclair scratched in rude characters the words: + + +HERE LIES JOHN TIPPET + ENGLISHMAN +KILLED BY TYRANNOSAURUS + 10 SEPT. A.D. 1916 + R.I.P. + +and Bradley repeated a short prayer before they left their +comrade forever. + +For three days the party marched due south through forests and +meadow-land and great park-like areas where countless herbivorous +animals grazed--deer and antelope and bos and the little ecca, +the smallest species of Caspakian horse, about the size of a rabbit. +There were other horses too; but all were small, the largest being +not above eight hands in height. Preying continually upon the +herbivora were the meat-eaters, large and small--wolves, hyaenadons, +panthers, lions, tigers, and bear as well as several large and +ferocious species of reptilian life. + +On September twelfth the party scaled a line of sandstone cliffs +which crossed their route toward the south; but they crossed them +only after an encounter with the tribe that inhabited the numerous +caves which pitted the face of the escarpment. That night they +camped upon a rocky plateau which was sparsely wooded with jarrah, +and here once again they were visited by the weird, nocturnal +apparition that had already filled them with a nameless terror. + +As on the night of September ninth the first warning came +from the sentinel standing guard over his sleeping companions. +A terror-stricken cry punctuated by the crack of a rifle brought +Bradley, Sinclair and Brady to their feet in time to see James, +with clubbed rifle, battling with a white-robed figure that +hovered on widespread wings on a level with the Englishman's head. +As they ran, shouting, forward, it was obvious to them that the +weird and terrible apparition was attempting to seize James; but +when it saw the others coming to his rescue, it desisted, +flapping rapidly upward and away, its long, ragged wings giving +forth the peculiarly dismal notes which always characterized the +sound of its flying. + +Bradley fired at the vanishing menacer of their peace and safety; +but whether he scored a hit or not, none could tell, though, +following the shot, there was wafted back to them the same +piercing wail that had on other occasions frozen their marrow. + +Then they turned toward James, who lay face downward upon the +ground, trembling as with ague. For a time he could not even +speak, but at last regained sufficient composure to tell them +how the thing must have swooped silently upon him from above +and behind as the first premonition of danger he had received +was when the long, clawlike fingers had clutched him beneath +either arm. In the melee his rifle had been discharged and he +had broken away at the same instant and turned to defend himself +with the butt. The rest they had seen. + +From that instant James was an absolutely broken man. +He maintained with shaking lips that his doom was sealed, that +the thing had marked him for its own, and that he was as good as +dead, nor could any amount of argument or raillery convince him +to the contrary. He had seen Tippet marked and claimed and now +he had been marked. Nor were his constant reiterations of this +belief without effect upon the rest of the party. Even Bradley +felt depressed, though for the sake of the others he managed to +hide it beneath a show of confidence he was far from feeling. + +And on the following day William James was killed by a +saber-tooth tiger--September 13, 1916. Beneath a jarrah tree on +the stony plateau on the northern edge of the Sto-lu country in +the land that Time forgot, he lies in a lonely grave marked by a +rough headstone. + +Southward from his grave marched three grim and silent men. +To the best of Bradley's reckoning they were some twenty-five +miles north of Fort Dinosaur, and that they might reach the fort +on the following day, they plodded on until darkness overtook them. +With comparative safety fifteen miles away, they made camp at last; +but there was no singing now and no joking. In the bottom of his +heart each prayed that they might come safely through just this +night, for they knew that during the morrow they would make the +final stretch, yet the nerves of each were taut with strained +anticipation of what gruesome thing might flap down upon them from +the black sky, marking another for its own. Who would be the next? + +As was their custom, they took turns at guard, each man doing two +hours and then arousing the next. Brady had gone on from eight +to ten, followed by Sinclair from ten to twelve, then Bradley had +been awakened. Brady would stand the last guard from two to +four, as they had determined to start the moment that it became +light enough to insure comparative safety upon the trail. + +The snapping of a twig aroused Brady out of a dead sleep, and as +he opened his eyes, he saw that it was broad daylight and that at +twenty paces from him stood a huge lion. As the man sprang to +his feet, his rifle ready in his hand, Sinclair awoke and took in +the scene in a single swift glance. The fire was out and Bradley +was nowhere in sight. For a long moment the lion and the men +eyed one another. The latter had no mind to fire if the beast +minded its own affairs--they were only too glad to let it go its +way if it would; but the lion was of a different mind. + +Suddenly the long tail snapped stiffly erect, and as though it +had been attached to two trigger fingers the two rifles spoke in +unison, for both men knew this signal only too well--the +immediate forerunner of a deadly charge. As the brute's head had +been raised, his spine had not been visible; and so they did what +they had learned by long experience was best to do. Each covered +a front leg, and as the tail snapped aloft, fired. With a +hideous roar the mighty flesh-eater lurched forward to the ground +with both front legs broken. It was an easy accomplishment in +the instant before the beast charged--after, it would have been +well-nigh an impossible feat. Brady stepped close in and finished +him with a shot in the base of the brain lest his terrific +roarings should attract his mate or others of their kind. + +Then the two men turned and looked at one another. "Where is +Lieutenant Bradley?" asked Sinclair. They walked to the fire. +Only a few smoking embers remained. A few feet away lay +Bradley's rifle. There was no evidence of a struggle. The two +men circled about the camp twice and on the last lap Brady +stooped and picked up an object which had lain about ten yards +beyond the fire--it was Bradley's cap. Again the two looked +questioningly at one another, and then, simultaneously, both +pairs of eyes swung upward and searched the sky. A moment later +Brady was examining the ground about the spot where Bradley's cap +had lain. It was one of those little barren, sandy stretches +that they had found only upon this stony plateau. Brady's own +footsteps showed as plainly as black ink upon white paper; but +his was the only foot that had marred the smooth, windswept +surface--there was no sign that Bradley had crossed the spot +upon the surface of the ground, and yet his cap lay well +toward the center of it. + +Breakfastless and with shaken nerves the two survivors plunged +madly into the long day's march. Both were strong, courageous, +resourceful men; but each had reached the limit of human nerve +endurance and each felt that he would rather die than spend +another night in the hideous open of that frightful land. +Vivid in the mind of each was a picture of Bradley's end, for +though neither had witnessed the tragedy, both could imagine almost +precisely what had occurred. They did not discuss it--they did +not even mention it--yet all day long the thing was uppermost in +the mind of each and mingled with it a similar picture with himself +as victim should they fail to make Fort Dinosaur before dark. + +And so they plunged forward at reckless speed, their clothes, +their hands, their faces torn by the retarding underbrush that +reached forth to hinder them. Again and again they fell; but be +it to their credit that the one always waited and helped the +other and that into the mind of neither entered the thought or +the temptation to desert his companion--they would reach the fort +together if both survived, or neither would reach it. + +They encountered the usual number of savage beasts and reptiles; +but they met them with a courageous recklessness born of desperation, +and by virtue of the very madness of the chances they took, they +came through unscathed and with the minimum of delay. + +Shortly after noon they reached the end of the plateau. +Before them was a drop of two hundred feet to the valley beneath. +To the left, in the distance, they could see the waters of the +great inland sea that covers a considerable portion of the area +of the crater island of Caprona and at a little lesser distance +to the south of the cliffs they saw a thin spiral of smoke arising +above the tree-tops. + +The landscape was familiar--each recognized it immediately +and knew that that smoky column marked the spot where Dinosaur +had stood. Was the fort still there, or did the smoke arise +from the smoldering embers of the building they had helped to +fashion for the housing of their party? Who could say! + +Thirty precious minutes that seemed as many hours to the +impatient men were consumed in locating a precarious way from the +summit to the base of the cliffs that bounded the plateau upon +the south, and then once again they struck off upon level ground +toward their goal. The closer they approached the fort the +greater became their apprehension that all would not be well. +They pictured the barracks deserted or the small company +massacred and the buildings in ashes. It was almost in a frenzy +of fear that they broke through the final fringe of jungle and +stood at last upon the verge of the open meadow a half-mile from +Fort Dinosaur. + +"Lord!" ejaculated Sinclair. "They are still there!" And he fell +to his knees, sobbing. + +Brady trembled like a leaf as he crossed himself and gave silent +thanks, for there before them stood the sturdy ramparts of +Dinosaur and from inside the inclosure rose a thin spiral of +smoke that marked the location of the cook-house. All was well, +then, and their comrades were preparing the evening meal! + +Across the clearing they raced as though they had not already +covered in a single day a trackless, primeval country that +might easily have required two days by fresh and untired men. +Within hailing distance they set up such a loud shouting that +presently heads appeared above the top of the parapet and soon +answering shouts were rising from within Fort Dinosaur. A moment +later three men issued from the inclosure and came forward to +meet the survivors and listen to the hurried story of the eleven +eventful days since they had set out upon their expedition to the +barrier cliffs. They heard of the deaths of Tippet and James and +of the disappearance of Lieutenant Bradley, and a new terror +settled upon Dinosaur. + +Olson, the Irish engineer, with Whitely and Wilson constituted +the remnants of Dinosaur's defenders, and to Brady and Sinclair +they narrated the salient events that had transpired since Bradley +and his party had marched away on September 4th. They told them +of the infamous act of Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and his +German crew who had stolen the U-33, breaking their parole, and +steaming away toward the subterranean opening through the barrier +cliffs that carried the waters of the inland sea into the open +Pacific beyond; and of the cowardly shelling of the fort. + +They told of the disappearance of Miss La Rue in the night of +September 11th, and of the departure of Bowen Tyler in search of +her, accompanied only by his Airedale, Nobs. Thus of the +original party of eleven Allies and nine Germans that had +constituted the company of the U-33 when she left English waters +after her capture by the crew of the English tug there were but +five now to be accounted for at Fort Dinosaur. Benson, Tippet, +James, and one of the Germans were known to be dead. It was +assumed that Bradley, Tyler and the girl had already succumbed to +some of the savage denizens of Caspak, while the fate of the +Germans was equally unknown, though it might readily be believed +that they had made good their escape. They had had ample time to +provision the ship and the refining of the crude oil they had +discovered north of the fort could have insured them an ample +supply to carry them back to Germany. + + + +Chapter 2 + + +When bradley went on guard at midnight, September 14th, his +thoughts were largely occupied with rejoicing that the night +was almost spent without serious mishap and that the morrow +would doubtless see them all safely returned to Fort Dinosaur. +The hopefulness of his mood was tinged with sorrow by recollection +of the two members of his party who lay back there in the savage +wilderness and for whom there would never again be a homecoming. + +No premonition of impending ill cast gloom over his anticipations +for the coming day, for Bradley was a man who, while taking every +precaution against possible danger, permitted no gloomy +forebodings to weigh down his spirit. When danger threatened, he +was prepared; but he was not forever courting disaster, and so it +was that when about one o'clock in the morning of the fifteenth, +he heard the dismal flapping of giant wings overhead, he was +neither surprised nor frightened but idly prepared for an attack +he had known might reasonably be expected. + +The sound seemed to come from the south, and presently, low above +the trees in that direction, the man made out a dim, shadowy form +circling slowly about. Bradley was a brave man, yet so keen was +the feeling of revulsion engendered by the sight and sound of +that grim, uncanny shape that he distinctly felt the gooseflesh +rise over the surface of his body, and it was with difficulty +that he refrained from following an instinctive urge to fire upon +the nocturnal intruder. Better, far better would it have been +had he given in to the insistent demand of his subconscious +mentor; but his almost fanatical obsession to save ammunition +proved now his undoing, for while his attention was riveted upon +the thing circling before him and while his ears were filled with +the beating of its wings, there swooped silently out of the black +night behind him another weird and ghostly shape. With its huge +wings partly closed for the dive and its white robe fluttering in +its wake, the apparition swooped down upon the Englishman. + +So great was the force of the impact when the thing struck +Bradley between the shoulders that the man was half stunned. +His rifle flew from his grasp; he felt clawlike talons of great +strength seize him beneath his arms and sweep him off his feet; +and then the thing rose swiftly with him, so swiftly that his cap +was blown from his head by the rush of air as he was borne +rapidly upward into the inky sky and the cry of warning to his +companions was forced back into his lungs. + +The creature wheeled immediately toward the east and was at once +joined by its fellow, who circled them once and then fell in +behind them. Bradley now realized the strategy that the pair +had used to capture him and at once concluded that he was in the +power of reasoning beings closely related to the human race if +not actually of it. + +Past experience suggested that the great wings were a part of +some ingenious mechanical device, for the limitations of the +human mind, which is always loath to accept aught beyond its own +little experience, would not permit him to entertain the idea +that the creatures might be naturally winged and at the same time +of human origin. From his position Bradley could not see the +wings of his captor, nor in the darkness had he been able to +examine those of the second creature closely when it circled +before him. He listened for the puff of a motor or some other +telltale sound that would prove the correctness of his theory. +However, he was rewarded with nothing more than the constant +flap-flap. + +Presently, far below and ahead, he saw the waters of the inland +sea, and a moment later he was borne over them. Then his captor +did that which proved beyond doubt to Bradley that he was in the +hands of human beings who had devised an almost perfect scheme of +duplicating, mechanically, the wings of a bird--the thing spoke +to its companion and in a language that Bradley partially +understood, since he recognized words that he had learned from +the savage races of Caspak. From this he judged that they were +human, and being human, he knew that they could have no natural +wings--for who had ever seen a human being so adorned! +Therefore their wings must be mechanical. Thus Bradley reasoned-- +thus most of us reason; not by what might be possible; but by what +has fallen within the range of our experience. + +What he heard them say was to the effect that having covered +half the distance the burden would now be transferred from one +to the other. Bradley wondered how the exchange was to +be accomplished. He knew that those giant wings would not +permit the creatures to approach one another closely enough +to effect the transfer in this manner; but he was soon to +discover that they had other means of doing it. + +He felt the thing that carried him rise to a greater altitude, +and below he glimpsed momentarily the second white-robed figure; +then the creature above sounded a low call, it was answered from +below, and instantly Bradley felt the clutching talons release +him; gasping for breath, he hurtled downward through space. + +For a terrifying instant, pregnant with horror, Bradley fell; +then something swooped for him from behind, another pair of +talons clutched him beneath the arms, his downward rush was +checked, within another hundred feet, and close to the surface +of the sea he was again borne upward. As a hawk dives for a +songbird on the wing, so this great, human bird dived for Bradley. +It was a harrowing experience, but soon over, and once again +the captive was being carried swiftly toward the east and what +fate he could not even guess. + +It was immediately following his transfer in mid-air that Bradley +made out the shadowy form of a large island far ahead, and not +long after, he realized that this must be the intended +destination of his captors. Nor was he mistaken. Three quarters +of an hour from the time of his seizure his captors dropped +gently to earth in the strangest city that human eye had ever +rested upon. Just a brief glimpse of his immediate surroundings +vouchsafed Bradley before he was whisked into the interior of one +of the buildings; but in that momentary glance he saw strange +piles of stone and wood and mud fashioned into buildings of all +conceivable sizes and shapes, sometimes piled high on top of one +another, sometimes standing alone in an open court-way, but +usually crowded and jammed together, so that there were no +streets or alleys between them other than a few which ended +almost as soon as they began. The principal doorways appeared to +be in the roofs, and it was through one of these that Bradley was +inducted into the dark interior of a low-ceiled room. Here he +was pushed roughly into a corner where he tripped over a thick +mat, and there his captors left him. He heard them moving about +in the darkness for a moment, and several times he saw their +large luminous eyes glowing in the dark. Finally, these +disappeared and silence reigned, broken only by the breathing of +the creature which indicated to the Englishman that they were +sleeping somewhere in the same apartment. + +It was now evident that the mat upon the floor was intended for +sleeping purposes and that the rough shove that had sent him to +it had been a rude invitation to repose. After taking stock of +himself and finding that he still had his pistol and ammunition, +some matches, a little tobacco, a canteen full of water and a +razor, Bradley made himself comfortable upon the mat and was soon +asleep, knowing that an attempted escape in the darkness without +knowledge of his surroundings would be predoomed to failure. + +When he awoke, it was broad daylight, and the sight that met his +eyes made him rub them again and again to assure himself that +they were really open and that he was not dreaming. A broad +shaft of morning light poured through the open doorway in the +ceiling of the room which was about thirty feet square, or +roughly square, being irregular in shape, one side curving +outward, another being indented by what might have been the +corner of another building jutting into it, another alcoved by +three sides of an octagon, while the fourth was serpentine +in contour. Two windows let in more daylight, while two doors +evidently gave ingress to other rooms. The walls were partially +ceiled with thin strips of wood, nicely fitted and finished, +partially plastered and the rest covered with a fine, woven cloth. +Figures of reptiles and beasts were painted without regard to +any uniform scheme here and there upon the walls. A striking +feature of the decorations consisted of several engaged columns +set into the walls at no regular intervals, the capitals of +each supporting a human skull the cranium of which touched the +ceiling, as though the latter was supported by these grim +reminders either of departed relatives or of some hideous tribal +rite--Bradley could not but wonder which. + +Yet it was none of these things that filled him with greatest +wonder--no, it was the figures of the two creatures that had +captured him and brought him hither. At one end of the room a +stout pole about two inches in diameter ran horizontally from +wall to wall some six or seven feet from the floor, its ends +securely set in two of the columns. Hanging by their knees from +this perch, their heads downward and their bodies wrapped in +their huge wings, slept the creatures of the night before--like +two great, horrid bats they hung, asleep. + +As Bradley gazed upon them in wide-eyed astonishment, he saw +plainly that all his intelligence, all his acquired knowledge +through years of observation and experience were set at naught by +the simple evidence of the fact that stood out glaringly before +his eyes--the creatures' wings were not mechanical devices but as +natural appendages, growing from their shoulderblades, as were +their arms and legs. He saw, too, that except for their wings +the pair bore a strong resemblance to human beings, though +fashioned in a most grotesque mold. + +As he sat gazing at them, one of the two awoke, separated his +wings to release his arms that had been folded across his breast, +placed his hands upon the floor, dropped his feet and stood erect. +For a moment he stretched his great wings slowly, solemnly +blinking his large round eyes. Then his gaze fell upon Bradley. +The thin lips drew back tightly against yellow teeth in a grimace +that was nothing but hideous. It could not have been termed a +smile, and what emotion it registered the Englishman was at a +loss to guess. No expression whatever altered the steady gaze +of those large, round eyes; there was no color upon the pasty, +sunken cheeks. A death's head grimaced as though a man long +dead raised his parchment-covered skull from an old grave. + +The creature stood about the height of an average man but +appeared much taller from the fact that the joints of his long +wings rose fully a foot above his hairless head. The bare arms +were long and sinewy, ending in strong, bony hands with clawlike +fingers--almost talonlike in their suggestiveness. The white +robe was separated in front, revealing skinny legs and the +further fact that the thing wore but the single garment, which +was of fine, woven cloth. From crown to sole the portions of +the body exposed were entirely hairless, and as he noted this, +Bradley also noted for the first time the cause of much of the +seeming expressionlessness of the creature's countenance--it had +neither eye-brows or lashes. The ears were small and rested flat +against the skull, which was noticeably round, though the face +was quite flat. The creature had small feet, beautifully arched +and plump, but so out of keeping with every other physical +attribute it possessed as to appear ridiculous. + +After eyeing Bradley for a moment the thing approached him. +"Where from?" it asked. + +"England," replied Bradley, as briefly. + +"Where is England and what?" pursued the questioner. + +"It is a country far from here," answered the Englishman. + +"Are your people cor-sva-jo or cos-ata-lu?" + +"I do not understand you," said Bradley; "and now suppose you +answer a few questions. Who are you? What country is this? +Why did you bring me here?" + +Again the sepulchral grimace. "We are Wieroos--Luata is our father. +Caspak is ours. This, our country, is called Oo-oh. We brought +you here for (literally) Him Who Speaks for Luata to gaze upon +and question. He would know from whence you came and why; but +principally if you be cos-ata-lu." + +"And if I am not cos--whatever you call the bloomin' beast-- +what of it?" + +The Wieroo raised his wings in a very human shrug and waved his +bony claws toward the human skulls supporting the ceiling. +His gesture was eloquent; but he embellished it by remarking, +"And possibly if you are." + +"I'm hungry," snapped Bradley. + +The Wieroo motioned him to one of the doors which he threw open, +permitting Bradley to pass out onto another roof on a level lower +than that upon which they had landed earlier in the morning. +By daylight the city appeared even more remarkable than in the +moonlight, though less weird and unreal. The houses of all +shapes and sizes were piled about as a child might pile blocks of +various forms and colors. He saw now that there were what might +be called streets or alleys, but they ran in baffling turns and +twists, nor ever reached a destination, always ending in a dead +wall where some Wieroo had built a house across them. + +Upon each house was a slender column supporting a human skull. +Sometimes the columns were at one corner of the roof, sometimes +at another, or again they rose from the center or near the +center, and the columns were of varying heights, from that of +a man to those which rose twenty feet above their roofs. +The skulls were, as a rule, painted--blue or white, or in +combinations of both colors. The most effective were painted +blue with the teeth white and the eye-sockets rimmed with white. + +There were other skulls--thousands of them--tens, hundreds +of thousands. They rimmed the eaves of every house, they were +set in the plaster of the outer walls and at no great distance +from where Bradley stood rose a round tower built entirely of +human skulls. And the city extended in every direction as far +as the Englishman could see. + +All about him Wieroos were moving across the roofs or winging +through the air. The sad sound of their flapping wings rose and +fell like a solemn dirge. Most of them were appareled all in +white, like his captors; but others had markings of red or blue +or yellow slashed across the front of their robes. + +His guide pointed toward a doorway in an alley below them. +"Go there and eat," he commanded, "and then come back. +You cannot escape. If any question you, say that you belong +to Fosh-bal-soj. There is the way." And this time he pointed +to the top of a ladder which protruded above the eaves of the +roof near-by. Then he turned and reentered the house. + +Bradley looked about him. No, he could not escape--that +seemed evident. The city appeared interminable, and beyond the +city, if not a savage wilderness filled with wild beasts, there +was the broad inland sea infested with horrid monsters. No wonder +his captor felt safe in turning him loose in Oo-oh--he wondered if +that was the name of the country or the city and if there were +other cities like this upon the island. + +Slowly he descended the ladder to the seemingly deserted alley +which was paved with what appeared to be large, round cobblestones. +He looked again at the smooth, worn pavement, and a rueful grin +crossed his features--the alley was paved with skulls. "The City +of Human Skulls," mused Bradley. "They must have been collectin' +'em since Adam," he thought, and then he crossed and entered the +building through the doorway that had been pointed out to him. + +Inside he found a large room in which were many Wieroos seated +before pedestals the tops of which were hollowed out so that +they resembled the ordinary bird drinking- and bathing-fonts so +commonly seen on suburban lawns. A seat protruded from each of +the four sides of the pedestals--just a flat board with a support +running from its outer end diagonally to the base of the pedestal. + +As Bradley entered, some of the Wieroos espied him, and a dismal +wail arose. Whether it was a greeting or a threat, Bradley did +not know. Suddenly from a dark alcove another Wieroo rushed out +toward him. "Who are you?" he cried. "What do you want?" + +"Fosh-bal-soj sent me here to eat," replied Bradley. + +"Do you belong to Fosh-bal-soj?" asked the other. + +"That appears to be what he thinks," answered the Englishman. + +"Are you cos-ata-lu?" demanded the Wieroo. + +"Give me something to eat or I'll be all of that," replied Bradley. + +The Wieroo looked puzzled. "Sit here, jaal-lu," he snapped, +and Bradley sat down unconscious of the fact that he had been +insulted by being called a hyena-man, an appellation of contempt +in Caspak. + +The Wieroo had seated him at a pedestal by himself, and as he sat +waiting for what was next to transpire, he looked about him at +the Wieroo in his immediate vicinity. He saw that in each font +was a quantity of food, and that each Wieroo was armed with a +wooden skewer, sharpened at one end; with which they carried +solid portions of food to their mouths. At the other end of the +skewer was fastened a small clam-shell. This was used to scoop +up the smaller and softer portions of the repast into which all +four of the occupants of each table dipped impartially. The Wieroo +leaned far over their food, scooping it up rapidly and with much +noise, and so great was their haste that a part of each mouthful +always fell back into the common dish; and when they choked, by +reason of the rapidity with which they attempted to bolt their +food, they often lost it all. Bradley was glad that he had a +pedestal all to himself. + +Soon the keeper of the place returned with a wooden bowl filled +with food. This he dumped into Bradley's "trough," as he already +thought of it. The Englishman was glad that he could not see +into the dark alcove or know what were all the ingredients that +constituted the mess before him, for he was very hungry. + +After the first mouthful he cared even less to investigate the +antecedents of the dish, for he found it peculiarly palatable. +It seemed to consist of a combination of meat, fruits, +vegetables, small fish and other undistinguishable articles of +food all seasoned to produce a gastronomic effect that was at +once baffling and delicious. + +When he had finished, his trough was empty, and then he commenced +to wonder who was to settle for his meal. As he waited for the +proprietor to return, he fell to examining the dish from which he +had eaten and the pedestal upon which it rested. The font was of +stone worn smooth by long-continued use, the four outer edges +hollowed and polished by the contact of the countless Wieroo +bodies that had leaned against them for how long a period of time +Bradley could not even guess. Everything about the place carried +the impression of hoary age. The carved pedestals were black +with use, the wooden seats were worn hollow, the floor of stone +slabs was polished by the contact of possibly millions of naked +feet and worn away in the aisles between the pedestals so that +the latter rested upon little mounds of stone several inches +above the general level of the floor. + +Finally, seeing that no one came to collect, Bradley arose and +started for the doorway. He had covered half the distance when +he heard the voice of mine host calling to him: "Come back, +jaal-lu," screamed the Wieroo; and Bradley did as he was bid. +As he approached the creature which stood now behind a large, +flat-topped pedestal beside the alcove, he saw lying upon the +smooth surface something that almost elicited a gasp of +astonishment from him--a simple, common thing it was, or would +have been almost anywhere in the world but Caspak--a square bit +of paper! + +And on it, in a fine hand, written compactly, were many strange +hieroglyphics! These remarkable creatures, then, had a written as +well as a spoken language and besides the art of weaving cloth +possessed that of paper-making. Could it be that such grotesque +beings represented the high culture of the human race within the +boundaries of Caspak? Had natural selection produced during the +countless ages of Caspakian life a winged monstrosity that +represented the earthly pinnacle of man's evolution? + +Bradley had noted something of the obvious indications of a +gradual evolution from ape to spearman as exemplified by the +several overlapping races of Alalus, club-men and hatchet-men +that formed the connecting links between the two extremes with +which he, had come in contact. He had heard of the Krolus and +the Galus--reputed to be still higher in the plane of evolution-- +and now he had indisputable evidence of a race possessing +refinements of civilization eons in advance of the spear-men. +The conjectures awakened by even a momentary consideration of the +possibilities involved became at once as wildly bizarre as the +insane imagings of a drug addict. + +As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the Wieroo held out +a pen of bone fixed to a wooden holder and at the same time made +a sign that Bradley was to write upon the paper. It was +difficult to judge from the expressionless features of the Wieroo +what was passing in the creature's mind, but Bradley could not +but feel that the thing cast a supercilious glance upon him as +much as to say, "Of course you do not know how to write, you +poor, low creature; but you can make your mark." + +Bradley seized the pen and in a clear, bold hand wrote: "John +Bradley, England." The Wieroo showed evidences of consternation +as it seized the piece of paper and examined the writing with +every mark of incredulity and surprise. Of course it could make +nothing of the strange characters; but it evidently accepted them +as proof that Bradley possessed knowledge of a written language +of his own, for following the Englishman's entry it made a few +characters of its own. + +"You will come here again just before Lua hides his face behind +the great cliff," announced the creature, "unless before that you +are summoned by Him Who Speaks for Luata, in which case you will +not have to eat any more." + +"Reassuring cuss," thought Bradley as he turned and left +the building. + +Outside were several Wieroos that had been eating at the +pedestals within. They immediately surrounded him, asking all +sorts of questions, plucking at his garments, his ammunition-belt +and his pistol. Their demeanor was entirely different from what +it had been within the eating-place and Bradley was to learn that +a house of food was sanctuary for him, since the stern laws of +the Wieroos forbade altercations within such walls. Now they +were rough and threatening, as with wings half spread they +hovered about him in menacing attitudes, barring his way to the +ladder leading to the roof from whence he had descended; but the +Englishman was not one to brook interference for long. He attempted +at first to push his way past them, and then when one seized his +arm and jerked him roughly back, Bradley swung upon the creature +and with a heavy blow to the jaw felled it. + +Instantly pandemonium reigned. Loud wails arose, great wings +opened and closed with a loud, beating noise and many clawlike +hands reached forth to clutch him. Bradley struck to right +and left. He dared not use his pistol for fear that once they +discovered its power he would be overcome by weight of numbers +and relieved of possession of what he considered his trump card, +to be reserved until the last moment that it might be used to aid +in his escape, for already the Englishman was planning, though +almost hopelessly, such an attempt. + +A few blows convinced Bradley that the Wieroos were arrant +cowards and that they bore no weapons, for after two or three had +fallen beneath his fists the others formed a circle about him, +but at a safe distance and contented themselves with threatening +and blustering, while those whom he had felled lay upon the +pavement without trying to arise, the while they moaned and +wailed in lugubrious chorus. + +Again Bradley strode toward the ladder, and this time the circle +parted before him; but no sooner had he ascended a few rungs than +he was seized by one foot and an effort made to drag him down. +With a quick backward glance the Englishman, clinging firmly to +the ladder with both hands, drew up his free foot and with all +the strength of a powerful leg, planted a heavy shoe squarely in +the flat face of the Wieroo that held him. Shrieking horribly, +the creature clapped both hands to its face and sank to the +ground while Bradley clambered quickly the remaining distance to +the roof, though no sooner did he reach the top of the ladder +than a great flapping of wings beneath him warned him that the +Wieroos were rising after him. A moment later they swarmed about +his head as he ran for the apartment in which he had spent the +early hours of the morning after his arrival. + +It was but a short distance from the top of the ladder to the +doorway, and Bradley had almost reached his goal when the door +flew open and Fosh-bal-soj stepped out. Immediately the pursuing +Wieroos demanded punishment of the jaal-lu who had so +grievously maltreated them. Fosh-bal-soj listened to their +complaints and then with a sudden sweep of his right hand seized +Bradley by the scruff of the neck and hurled him sprawling +through the doorway upon the floor of the chamber. + +So sudden was the assault and so surprising the strength of the +Wieroo that the Englishman was taken completely off his guard. +When he arose, the door was closed, and Fosh-bal-soj was standing +over him, his hideous face contorted into an expression of rage +and hatred. + +"Hyena, snake, lizard!" he screamed. "You would dare lay your +low, vile, profaning hands upon even the lowliest of the Wieroos-- +the sacred chosen of Luata!" + +Bradley was mad, and so he spoke in a very low, calm voice while +a half-smile played across his lips but his cold, gray eyes +were unsmiling. + +"What you did to me just now," he said, "--I am going to kill +you for that," and even as he spoke, he launched himself at the +throat of Fosh-bal-soj. The other Wieroo that had been asleep +when Bradley left the chamber had departed, and the two were alone. +Fosh-bal-soj displayed little of the cowardice of those that had +attacked Bradley in the alleyway, but that may have been because +he had so slight opportunity, for Bradley had him by the throat +before he could utter a cry and with his right hand struck him +heavily and repeatedly upon his face and over his heart--ugly, +smashing, short-arm jabs of the sort that take the fight out of +a man in quick time. + +But Fosh-bal-soj was of no mind to die passively. He clawed and +struck at Bradley while with his great wings he attempted to +shield himself from the merciless rain of blows, at the same time +searching for a hold upon his antagonist's throat. Presently he +succeeded in tripping the Englishman, and together the two fell +heavily to the floor, Bradley underneath, and at the same instant +the Wieroo fastened his long talons about the other's windpipe. + +Fosh-bal-soj was possessed of enormous strength and he was +fighting for his life. The Englishman soon realized that the +battle was going against him. Already his lungs were pounding +painfully for air as he reached for his pistol. It was with +difficulty that he drew it from its holster, and even then, with +death staring him in the face, he thought of his precious ammunition. +"Can't waste it," he thought; and slipping his fingers to the +barrel he raised the weapon and struck Fosh-bal-soj a terrific +blow between the eyes. Instantly the clawlike fingers released +their hold, and the creature sank limply to the floor beside +Bradley, who lay for several minutes gasping painfully in an +effort to regain his breath. + +When he was able, he rose, and leaned close over the Wieroo, +lying silent and motionless, his wings dropping limply and his +great, round eyes staring blankly toward the ceiling. A brief +examination convinced Bradley that the thing was dead, and with +the conviction came an overwhelming sense of the dangers which +must now confront him; but how was he to escape? + +His first thought was to find some means for concealing the +evidence of his deed and then to make a bold effort to escape. +Stepping to the second door he pushed it gently open and peered +in upon what seemed to be a store room. In it was a litter of +cloth such as the Wieroos' robes were fashioned from, a number +of chests painted blue and white, with white hieroglyphics +painted in bold strokes upon the blue and blue hieroglyphics upon +the white. In one corner was a pile of human skulls reaching +almost to the ceiling and in another a stack of dried Wieroo wings. +The chamber was as irregularly shaped as the other and had but a +single window and a second door at the further end, but was +without the exit through the roof and, most important of all, +there was no creature of any sort in it. + +As quickly as possible Bradley dragged the dead Wieroo through +the doorway and closed the door; then he looked about for a place +to conceal the corpse. One of the chests was large enough to +hold the body if the knees were bent well up, and with this idea +in view Bradley approached the chest to open it. The lid was +made in two pieces, each being hinged at an opposite end of the +chest and joining nicely where they met in the center of the +chest, making a snug, well-fitting joint. There was no lock. +Bradley raised one half the cover and looked in. With a smothered +"By Jove!" he bent closer to examine the contents--the chest +was about half filled with an assortment of golden trinkets. +There were what appeared to be bracelets, anklets and brooches +of virgin gold. + +Realizing that there was no room in the chest for the body of the +Wieroo, Bradley turned to seek another means of concealing the +evidence of his crime. There was a space between the chests and +the wall, and into this he forced the corpse, piling the +discarded robes upon it until it was entirely hidden from sight; +but now how was he to make good his escape in the bright glare of +that early Spring day? + +He walked to the door at the far end of the apartment and +cautiously opened it an inch. Before him and about two feet away +was the blank wall of another building. Bradley opened the door +a little farther and looked in both directions. There was no one +in sight to the left over a considerable expanse of roof-top, and +to the right another building shut off his line of vision at +about twenty feet. Slipping out, he turned to the right and in +a few steps found a narrow passageway between two buildings. +Turning into this he passed about half its length when he saw a +Wieroo appear at the opposite end and halt. The creature was not +looking down the passageway; but at any moment it might turn its +eyes toward him, when he would be immediately discovered. + +To Bradley's left was a triangular niche in the wall of one of +the houses and into this he dodged, thus concealing himself from +the sight of the Wieroo. Beside him was a door painted a vivid +yellow and constructed after the same fashion as the other Wieroo +doors he had seen, being made up of countless narrow strips of +wood from four to six inches in length laid on in patches of +about the same width, the strips in adjacent patches never +running in the same direction. The result bore some resemblance +to a crazy patchwork quilt, which was heightened when, as in one +of the doors he had seen, contiguous patches were painted +different colors. The strips appeared to have been bound +together and to the underlying framework of the door with gut or +fiber and also glued, after which a thick coating of paint had +been applied. One edge of the door was formed of a straight, +round pole about two inches in diameter that protruded at top and +bottom, the projections setting in round holes in both lintel and +sill forming the axis upon which the door swung. An eccentric +disk upon the inside face of the door engaged a slot in the frame +when it was desired to secure the door against intruders. + +As Bradley stood flattened against the wall waiting for the +Wieroo to move on, he heard the creature's wings brushing against +the sides of the buildings as it made its way down the narrow +passage in his direction. As the yellow door offered the only +means of escape without detection, the Englishman decided to risk +whatever might lie beyond it, and so, boldly pushing it in, he +crossed the threshold and entered a small apartment. + +As he did so, he heard a muffled ejaculation of surprise, and +turning his eyes in the direction from whence the sound had come, +he beheld a wide-eyed girl standing flattened against the +opposite wall, an expression of incredulity upon her face. At a +glance he saw that she was of no race of humans that he had come +in contact with since his arrival upon Caprona--there was no +trace about her form or features of any relationship to those low +orders of men, nor was she appareled as they--or, rather, she did +not entirely lack apparel as did most of them. + +A soft hide fell from her left shoulder to just below her left +hip on one side and almost to her right knee on the other, a +loose girdle was about her waist, and golden ornaments such as he +had seen in the blue-and-white chest encircled her arms and legs, +while a golden fillet with a triangular diadem bound her heavy +hair above her brows. Her skin was white as from long confinement +within doors; but it was clear and fine. Her figure, but partially +concealed by the soft deerskin, was all curves of symmetry and +youthful grace, while her features might easily have been the envy +of the most feted of Continental beauties. + +If the girl was surprised by the sudden appearance of Bradley, +the latter was absolutely astounded to discover so wondrous +a creature among the hideous inhabitants of the City of +Human Skulls. For a moment the two looked at one another in +unconcealed consternation, and then Bradley spoke, using to +the best of his poor ability, the common tongue of Caspak. + +"Who are you," he asked, "and from where do you come? Do not tell +me that you are a Wieroo." + +"No," she replied, "I am no Wieroo." And she shuddered slightly as +she pronounced the word. "I am a Galu; but who and what are you? +I am sure that you are no Galu, from your garments; but you are +like the Galus in other respects. I know that you are not of +this frightful city, for I have been here for almost ten moons, +and never have I seen a male Galu brought hither before, nor are +there such as you and I, other than prisoners in the land of +Oo-oh, and these are all females. Are you a prisoner, then?" + +He told her briefly who and what he was, though he doubted if she +understood, and from her he learned that she had been a prisoner +there for many months; but for what purpose he did not then +learn, as in the midst of their conversation the yellow door +swung open and a Wieroo with a robe slashed with yellow entered. + +At sight of Bradley the creature became furious. "Whence came +this reptile?" it demanded of the girl. "How long has it been +here with you?" + +"It came through the doorway just ahead of you," Bradley answered +for the girl. + +The Wieroo looked relieved. "It is well for the girl that +this is so," it said, "for now only you will have to die." +And stepping to the door the creature raised its voice in +one of those uncanny, depressing wails. + +The Englishman looked toward the girl. "Shall I kill it?" he +asked, half drawing his pistol. "What is best to do?--I do not +wish to endanger you." + +The Wieroo backed toward the door. "Defiler!" it screamed. +"You dare to threaten one of the sacred chosen of Luata!" + +"Do not kill him," cried the girl, "for then there could be no +hope for you. That you are here, alive, shows that they may not +intend to kill you at all, and so there is a chance for you if +you do not anger them; but touch him in violence and your +bleached skull will top the loftiest pedestal of Oo-oh." + +"And what of you?" asked Bradley. + +"I am already doomed," replied the girl; "I am cos-ata-lo." + +"Cos-ata-lo! cos-ata-lu!" What did these phrases mean that +they were so oft repeated by the denizens of Oo-oh? Lu and +lo, Bradley knew to mean man and woman; ata; was +employed variously to indicate life, eggs, young, reproduction +and kindred subject; cos was a negative; but in combination +they were meaningless to the European. + +"Do you mean they will kill you?" asked Bradley. + +"I but wish that they would," replied the girl. "My fate is to +be worse than death--in just a few nights more, with the coming +of the new moon." + +"Poor she-snake!" snapped the Wieroo. "You are to become sacred +above all other shes. He Who Speaks for Luata has chosen you +for himself. Today you go to his temple--"the Wieroo used a +phrase meaning literally High Place--"where you will receive +the sacred commands." + +The girl shuddered and cast a sorrowful glance toward Bradley. +"Ah," she sighed, "if I could but see my beloved country once again!" + +The man stepped suddenly close to her side before the Wieroo +could interpose and in a low voice asked her if there was no +way by which he might encompass her escape. She shook her +head sorrowfully. "Even if we escaped the city," she replied, +"there is the big water between the island of Oo-oh and the +Galu shore." + +"And what is beyond the city, if we could leave it?" pursued Bradley. + +"I may only guess from what I have heard since I was brought +here," she answered; "but by reports and chance remarks I take it +to be a beautiful land in which there are but few wild beasts and +no men, for only the Wieroos live upon this island and they dwell +always in cities of which there are three, this being the largest. +The others are at the far end of the island, which is about three +marches from end to end and at its widest point about one march." + +From his own experience and from what the natives on the mainland +had told him, Bradley knew that ten miles was a good day's march +in Caspak, owing to the fact that at most points it was a +trackless wilderness and at all times travelers were beset by +hideous beasts and reptiles that greatly impeded rapid progress. + +The two had spoken rapidly but were now interrupted by the advent +through the opening in the roof of several Wieroos who had come +in answer to the alarm it of the yellow slashing had uttered. + +"This jaal-lu," cried the offended one, "has threatened me. +Take its hatchet from it and make it fast where it can do no +harm until He Who Speaks for Luata has said what shall be done +with it. It is one of those strange creatures that Fosh-bal-soj +discovered first above the Band-lu country and followed back toward +the beginning. He Who Speaks for Luata sent Fosh-bal-soj to fetch +him one of the creatures, and here it is. It is hoped that it may +be from another world and hold the secret of the cos-ata-lus." + +The Wieroos approached boldly to take Bradley's "hatchet" from +him, their leader having indicated the pistol hanging in its +holster at the Englishman's hip, but the first one went reeling +backward against his fellows from the blow to the chin which +Bradley followed up with a rush and the intention to clean up the +room in record time; but he had reckoned without the opening in +the roof. Two were down and a great wailing and moaning was +arising when reinforcements appeared from above. Bradley did not +see them; but the girl did, and though she cried out a warning, +it came too late for him to avoid a large Wieroo who dived +headforemost for him, striking him between the shoulders and +bearing him to the floor. Instantly a dozen more were piling on +top of him. His pistol was wrenched from its holster and he was +securely pinioned down by the weight of numbers. + +At a word from the Wieroo of the yellow slashing who evidently +was a person of authority, one left and presently returned with +fiber ropes with which Bradley was tightly bound. + +"Now bear him to the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," directed the +chief Wieroo, "and one take the word of all that has passed to +Him Who Speaks for Luata." + +Each of the creatures raised a hand, the back against its face, +as though in salute. One seized Bradley and carried him through +the yellow doorway to the roof from whence it rose upon its +wide-spread wings and flapped off across the roof-tops of Oo-oh +with its heavy burden clutched in its long talons. + +Below him Bradley could see the city stretching away to a +distance on every hand. It was not as large as he had imagined, +though he judged that it was at least three miles square. +The houses were piled in indescribable heaps, sometimes to a +height of a hundred feet. The streets and alleys were short +and crooked and there were many areas where buildings had been +wedged in so closely that no light could possibly reach the +lowest tiers, the entire surface of the ground being packed +solidly with them. + +The colors were varied and startling, the architecture amazing. +Many roofs were cup or saucer-shaped with a small hole in the +center of each, as though they had been constructed to catch +rain-water and conduct it to a reservoir beneath; but nearly all +the others had the large opening in the top that Bradley had seen +used by these flying men in lieu of doorways. At all levels were +the myriad poles surmounted by grinning skulls; but the two most +prominent features of the city were the round tower of human +skulls that Bradley had noted earlier in the day and another and +much larger edifice near the center of the city. As they +approached it, Bradley saw that it was a huge building rising a +hundred feet in height from the ground and that it stood alone in +the center of what might have been called a plaza in some other +part of the world. Its various parts, however, were set together +with the same strange irregularity that marked the architecture +of the city as a whole; and it was capped by an enormous +saucer-shaped roof which projected far beyond the eaves, having +the appearance of a colossal Chinese coolie hat, inverted. + +The Wieroo bearing Bradley passed over one corner of the open +space about the large building, revealing to the Englishman grass +and trees and running water beneath. They passed the building +and about five hundred yards beyond the creature alighted on the +roof of a square, blue building surmounted by seven poles bearing +seven skulls. This then, thought Bradley, is the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls. + +Over the opening in the roof was a grated covering, and this the +Wieroo removed. The thing then tied a piece of fiber rope to one +of Bradley's ankles and rolled him over the edge of the opening. +All was dark below and for an instant the Englishman came as near +to experiencing real terror as he had ever come in his life before. +As he rolled off into the black abyss he felt the rope tighten +about his ankle and an instant later he was stopped with a sudden +jerk to swing pendulumlike, head downward. Then the creature +lowered away until Bradley's head came in sudden and painful +contact with the floor below, after which the Wieroo let loose +of the rope entirely and the Englishman's body crashed to the +wooden planking. He felt the free end of the rope dropped +upon him and heard the grating being slid into place above him. + + + +Chapter 3 + + +Half-stunned, Bradley lay for a minute as he had fallen and then +slowly and painfully wriggled into a less uncomfortable position. +He could see nothing of his surroundings in the gloom about him +until after a few minutes his eyes became accustomed to the dark +interior when he rolled them from side to side in survey of his prison. + +He discovered himself to be in a bare room which was windowless, +nor could he see any other opening than that through which he had +been lowered. In one corner was a huddled mass that might have +been almost anything from a bundle of rags to a dead body. + +Almost immediately after he had taken his bearings Bradley +commenced working with his bonds. He was a man of powerful +physique, and as from the first he had been imbued with a belief +that the fiber ropes were too weak to hold him, he worked on +with a firm conviction that sooner or later they would part to +his strainings. After a matter of five minutes he was positive +that the strands about his wrists were beginning to give; but he +was compelled to rest then from exhaustion. + +As he lay, his eyes rested upon the bundle in the corner, and +presently he could have sworn that the thing moved. With eyes +straining through the gloom the man lay watching the grim and +sinister thing in the corner. Perhaps his overwrought nerves +were playing a sorry joke upon him. He thought of this and also +that his condition of utter helplessness might still further have +stimulated his imagination. He closed his eyes and sought to +relax his muscles and his nerves; but when he looked again, he +knew that he had not been mistaken--the thing had moved; now it +lay in a slightly altered form and farther from the wall. It was +nearer him. + +With renewed strength Bradley strained at his bonds, his +fascinated gaze still glued upon the shapeless bundle. No longer +was there any doubt that it moved--he saw it rise in the center +several inches and then creep closer to him. It sank and arose +again--a headless, hideous, monstrous thing of menace. Its very +silence rendered it the more terrible. + +Bradley was a brave man; ordinarily his nerves were of steel; but +to be at the mercy of some unknown and nameless horror, to be +unable to defend himself--it was these things that almost +unstrung him, for at best he was only human. To stand in the +open, even with the odds all against him; to be able to use his +fists, to put up some sort of defense, to inflict punishment upon +his adversary--then he could face death with a smile. It was not +death that he feared now--it was that horror of the unknown that +is part of the fiber of every son of woman. + +Closer and closer came the shapeless mass. Bradley lay +motionless and listened. What was that he heard! Breathing? +He could not be mistaken--and then from out of the bundle of rags +issued a hollow groan. Bradley felt his hair rise upon his head. +He struggled with the slowly parting strands that held him. +The thing beside him rose up higher than before and the Englishman +could have sworn that he saw a single eye peering at him from +among the tumbled cloth. For a moment the bundle remained +motionless--only the sound of breathing issued from it, then +there broke from it a maniacal laugh. + +Cold sweat stood upon Bradley's brow as he tugged for liberation. +He saw the rags rise higher and higher above him until at last +they tumbled upon the floor from the body of a naked man--a thin, +a bony, a hideous caricature of man, that mouthed and mummed and, +wabbling upon its weak and shaking legs, crumpled to the floor +again, still laughing--laughing horribly. + +It crawled toward Bradley. "Food! Food!" it screamed. +"There is a way out! There is a way out!" + +Dragging itself to his side the creature slumped upon the +Englishman's breast. "Food!" it shrilled as with its bony +fingers and its teeth, it sought the man's bare throat. + +"Food! There is a way out!" Bradley felt teeth upon his jugular. +He turned and twisted, shaking himself free for an instant; but +once more with hideous persistence the thing fastened itself +upon him. The weak jaws were unable to send the dull teeth through +the victim's flesh; but Bradley felt it pawing, pawing, pawing, +like a monstrous rat, seeking his life's blood. + +The skinny arms now embraced his neck, holding the teeth to his +throat against all his efforts to dislodge the thing. Weak as it +was it had strength enough for this in its mad efforts to eat. +Mumbling as it worked, it repeated again and again, "Food! Food! +There is a way out!" until Bradley thought those two expressions +alone would drive him mad. + +And all but mad he was as with a final effort backed by almost +maniacal strength he tore his wrists from the confining bonds and +grasping the repulsive thing upon his breast hurled it halfway +across the room. Panting like a spent hound Bradley worked at +the thongs about his ankles while the maniac lay quivering and +mumbling where it had fallen. Presently the Englishman leaped to +his feet--freer than he had ever before felt in all his life, +though he was still hopelessly a prisoner in the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls. + +With his back against the wall for support, so weak the reaction +left him, Bradley stood watching the creature upon the floor. +He saw it move and slowly raise itself to its hands and knees, +where it swayed to and fro as its eyes roved about in search of +him; and when at last they found him, there broke from the drawn +lips the mumbled words: "Food! Food! There is a way out!" +The pitiful supplication in the tones touched the Englishman's heart. +He knew that this could be no Wieroo, but possibly once a man like +himself who had been cast into this pit of solitary confinement +with this hideous result that might in time be his fate, also. + +And then, too, there was the suggestion of hope held out by the +constant reiteration of the phrase, "There is a way out." +Was there a way out? What did this poor thing know? + +"Who are you and how long have you been here?" Bradley +suddenly demanded. + +For a moment the man upon the floor made no response, then +mumblingly came the words: "Food! Food!" + +"Stop!" commanded the Englishman--the injunction might have been +barked from the muzzle of a pistol. It brought the man to a +sitting posture, his hands off the ground. He stopped swaying to +and fro and appeared to be startled into an attempt to master his +faculties of concentration and thought. + +Bradley repeated his questions sharply. + +"I am An-Tak, the Galu," replied the man. "Luata alone knows how +long I have been here--maybe ten moons, maybe ten moons three +times"--it was the Caspakian equivalent of thirty. "I was young +and strong when they brought me here. Now I am old and very weak. +I am cos-ata-lu--that is why they have not killed me. +If I tell them the secret of becoming cos-ata-lu they will +take me out; but how can I tell them that which Luata alone knows? + +"What is cos-ata-lu?" demanded Bradley. + +"Food! Food! There is a way out!" mumbled the Galu. + +Bradley strode across the floor, seized the man by his shoulders +and shook him. + +"Tell me," he cried, "what is cos-ata-lu?" + +"Food!" whimpered An-Tak. + +Bradley bethought himself. His haversack had not been taken +from him. In it besides his razor and knife were odds and ends +of equipment and a small quantity of dried meat. He tossed a small +strip of the latter to the starving Galu. An-Tak seized upon it +and devoured it ravenously. It instilled new life in the man. + +"What is cos-ata-lu?" insisted Bradley again. + +An-Tak tried to explain. His narrative was often broken by +lapses of concentration during which he reverted to his plaintive +mumbling for food and recurrence to the statement that there was +a way out; but by firmness and patience the Englishman drew out +piece-meal a more or less lucid exposition of the remarkable +scheme of evolution that rules in Caspak. In it he found +explanations of the hitherto inexplicable. He discovered why he +had seen no babes or children among the Caspakian tribes with +which he had come in contact; why each more northerly tribe +evinced a higher state of development than those south of them; +why each tribe included individuals ranging in physical and +mental characteristics from the highest of the next lower race to +the lowest of the next higher, and why the women of each tribe +immersed themselves morning for an hour or more in the warm pools +near which the habitations of their people always were located; +and, too, he discovered why those pools were almost immune from +the attacks of carnivorous animals and reptiles. + +He learned that all but those who were cos-ata-lu came up +cor-sva-jo, or from the beginning. The egg from which +they first developed into tadpole form was deposited, with +millions of others, in one of the warm pools and with it a +poisonous serum that the carnivora instinctively shunned. +Down the warm stream from the pool floated the countless billions +of eggs and tadpoles, developing as they drifted slowly toward +the sea. Some became tadpoles in the pool, some in the sluggish +stream and some not until they reached the great inland sea. +In the next stage they became fishes or reptiles, An-Tak was not +positive which, and in this form, always developing, they swam +far to the south, where, amid the rank and teeming jungles, some +of them evolved into amphibians. Always there were those whose +development stopped at the first stage, others whose development +ceased when they became reptiles, while by far the greater +proportion formed the food supply of the ravenous creatures of +the deep. + +Few indeed were those that eventually developed into baboons and +then apes, which was considered by Caspakians the real beginning +of evolution. From the egg, then, the individual developed +slowly into a higher form, just as the frog's egg develops through +various stages from a fish with gills to a frog with lungs. +With that thought in mind Bradley discovered that it was not +difficult to believe in the possibility of such a scheme-- +there was nothing new in it. + +From the ape the individual, if it survived, slowly developed +into the lowest order of man--the Alu--and then by degrees to +Bo-lu, Sto-lu, Band-lu, Kro-lu and finally Galu. And in each +stage countless millions of other eggs were deposited in the warm +pools of the various races and floated down to the great sea to +go through a similar process of evolution outside the womb as +develops our own young within; but in Caspak the scheme is much +more inclusive, for it combines not only individual development +but the evolution of species and genera. If an egg survives it +goes through all the stages of development that man has passed +through during the unthinkable eons since life first moved upon +the earth's face. + +The final stage--that which the Galus have almost attained and +for which all hope--is cos-ata-lu, which literally, means +no-egg-man, or one who is born directly as are the young of the +outer world of mammals. Some of the Galus produce cos-ata-lu +and cos-ata-lo both; the Weiroos only cos-ata-lu--in +other words all Wieroos are born male, and so they prey upon the +Galus for their women and sometimes capture and torture the Galu +men who are cos-ata-lu in an endeavor to learn the secret +which they believe will give them unlimited power over all other +denizens of Caspak. + +No Wieroos come up from the beginning--all are born of the Wieroo +fathers and Galu mothers who are cos-ata-lo, and there are +very few of the latter owing to the long and precarious stages +of development. Seven generations of the same ancestor must come +up from the beginning before a cos-ata-lu child may be born; +and when one considers the frightful dangers that surround the +vital spark from the moment it leaves the warm pool where it has +been deposited to float down to the sea amid the voracious creatures +that swarm the surface and the deeps and the almost equally +unthinkable trials of its effort to survive after it once becomes +a land animal and starts northward through the horrors of the +Caspakian jungles and forests, it is plainly a wonder that even +a single babe has ever been born to a Galu woman. + +Seven cycles it requires before the seventh Galu can complete the +seventh danger-infested circle since its first Galu ancestor +achieved the state of Galu. For ages before, the ancestors of +this first Galu may have developed from a Band-lu or Bo-lu egg +without ever once completing the whole circle--that is from a +Galu egg, back to a fully developed Galu. + +Bradley's head was whirling before he even commenced to grasp the +complexities of Caspakian evolution; but as the truth slowly +filtered into his understanding--as gradually it became possible +for him to visualize the scheme, it appeared simpler. In fact, +it seemed even less difficult of comprehension than that with +which he was familiar. + +For several minutes after An-Tak ceased speaking, his voice +having trailed off weakly into silence, neither spoke again. +Then the Galu recommenced his, "Food! Food! There is a way out!" +Bradley tossed him another bit of dried meat, waiting patiently +until he had eaten it, this time more slowly. + +"What do you mean by saying there is a way out?" he asked. + +"He who died here just after I came, told me," replied An-Tak. +"He said there was a way out, that he had discovered it but was +too weak to use his knowledge. He was trying to tell me how to +find it when he died. Oh, Luata, if he had lived but a moment more!" + +"They do not feed you here?" asked Bradley. + +"No, they give me water once a day--that is all." + +"But how have you lived, then?" + +"The lizards and the rats," replied An-Tak. "The lizards are not +so bad; but the rats are foul to taste. However, I must eat them +or they would eat me, and they are better than nothing; but of +late they do not come so often, and I have not had a lizard for +a long time. I shall eat though," he mumbled. "I shall eat now, +for you cannot remain awake forever." He laughed, a cackling, dry +laugh. "When you sleep, An-Tak will eat." + +It was horrible. Bradley shuddered. For a long time each sat +in silence. The Englishman could guess why the other made no +sound--he awaited the moment that sleep should overcome his victim. +In the long silence there was born upon Bradley's ears a faint, +monotonous sound as of running water. He listened intently. +It seemed to come from far beneath the floor. + +"What is that noise?" he asked. "That sounds like water running +through a narrow channel." + +"It is the river," replied An-Tak. "Why do you not go to sleep? +It passes directly beneath the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. It runs +through the temple grounds, beneath the temple and under the city. +When we die, they will cut off our heads and throw our bodies into +the river. At the mouth of the river await many large reptiles. +Thus do they feed. The Wieroos do likewise with their own dead, +keeping only the skulls and the wings. Come, let us sleep." + +"Do the reptiles come up the river into the city?" asked Bradley. + +"The water is too cold--they never leave the warm water of the +great pool," replied An-Tak. + +"Let us search for the way out," suggested Bradley. + +An-Tak shook his head. "I have searched for it all these moons," +he said. "If I could not find it, how would you?" + +Bradley made no reply but commenced a diligent examination of the +walls and floor of the room, pressing over each square foot +and tapping with his knuckles. About six feet from the floor +he discovered a sleeping-perch near one end of the apartment. +He asked An-Tak about it, but the Galu said that no Weiroo +had occupied the place since he had been incarcerated there. +Again and again Bradley went over the floor and walls as high +up as he could reach. Finally he swung himself to the perch, +that he might examine at least one end of the room all the way +to the ceiling. + +In the center of the wall close to the top, an area about three +feet square gave forth a hollow sound when he rapped upon it. +Bradley felt over every square inch of that area with the tips of +his fingers. Near the top he found a small round hole a trifle +larger in diameter than his forefinger, which he immediately +stuck into it. The panel, if such it was, seemed about an +inch thick, and beyond it his finger encountered nothing. +Bradley crooked his finger upon the opposite side of the panel +and pulled toward him, steadily but with considerable force. +Suddenly the panel flew inward, nearly precipitating the man to +the floor. It was hinged at the bottom, and when lowered the +outer edge rested upon the perch, making a little platform +parallel with the floor of the room. + +Beyond the opening was an utterly dark void. The Englishman +leaned through it and reached his arm as far as possible into the +blackness but touched nothing. Then he fumbled in his haversack +for a match, a few of which remained to him. When he struck it, +An-Tak gave a cry of terror. Bradley held the light far into the +opening before him and in its flickering rays saw the top of a +ladder descending into a black abyss below. How far down it +extended he could not guess; but that he should soon know +definitely he was positive. + +"You have found it! You have found the way out!" screamed An-Tak. +"Oh, Luata! And now I am too weak to go. Take me with you! +Take me with you!" + +"Shut up!" admonished Bradley. "You will have the whole flock of +birds around our heads in a minute, and neither of us will escape. +Be quiet, and I'll go ahead. If I find a way out, I'll come back +and help you, if you'll promise not to try to eat me up again." + +"I promise," cried An-Tak. "Oh, Luata! How could you blame me? +I am half crazed of hunger and long confinement and the horror of +the lizards and the rats and the constant waiting for death." + +"I know," said Bradley simply. "I'm sorry for you, old top. +Keep a stiff upper lip." And he slipped through the opening, +found the ladder with his feet, closed the panel behind him, and +started downward into the darkness. + +Below him rose more and more distinctly the sound of running water. +The air felt damp and cool. He could see nothing of his +surroundings and felt nothing but the smooth, worn sides and +rungs of the ladder down which he felt his way cautiously lest a +broken rung or a misstep should hurl him downward. + +As he descended thus slowly, the ladder seemed interminable and +the pit bottomless, yet he realized when at last he reached the +bottom that he could not have descended more than fifty feet. +The bottom of the ladder rested on a narrow ledge paved with what +felt like large round stones, but what he knew from experience to +be human skulls. He could not but marvel as to where so many +countless thousands of the things had come from, until he paused +to consider that the infancy of Caspak dated doubtlessly back +into remote ages, far beyond what the outer world considered the +beginning of earthly time. For all these eons the Wieroos might +have been collecting human skulls from their enemies and their +own dead--enough to have built an entire city of them. + +Feeling his way along the narrow ledge, Bradley came presently to +a blank wall that stretched out over the water swirling beneath +him, as far as he could reach. Stooping, he groped about with +one hand, reaching down toward the surface of the water, and +discovered that the bottom of the wall arched above the stream. +How much space there was between the water and the arch he could +not tell, nor how deep the former. There was only one way in +which he might learn these things, and that was to lower himself +into the stream. For only an instant he hesitated weighing +his chances. Behind him lay almost certainly the horrid fate of +An-Tak; before him nothing worse than a comparatively painless +death by drowning. Holding his haversack above his head with one +hand he lowered his feet slowly over the edge of the narrow platform. +Almost immediately he felt the swirling of cold water about his +ankles, and then with a silent prayer he let himself drop gently +into the stream. + +Great was Bradley's relief when he found the water no more +than waist deep and beneath his feet a firm, gravel bottom. +Feeling his way cautiously he moved downward with the current, +which was not so strong as he had imagined from the noise of +the running water. + +Beneath the first arch he made his way, following the winding +curvatures of the right-hand wall. After a few yards of progress +his hand came suddenly in contact with a slimy thing clinging to +the wall--a thing that hissed and scuttled out of reach. What it +was, the man could not know; but almost instantly there was a +splash in the water just ahead of him and then another. + +On he went, passing beneath other arches at varying distances, +and always in utter darkness. Unseen denizens of this great +sewer, disturbed by the intruder, splashed into the water ahead +of him and wriggled away. Time and again his hand touched them +and never for an instant could he be sure that at the next step +some gruesome thing might not attack him. He had strapped his +haversack about his neck, well above the surface of the water, +and in his left hand he carried his knife. Other precautions +there were none to take. + +The monotony of the blind trail was increased by the fact that +from the moment he had started from the foot of the ladder he had +counted his every step. He had promised to return for An-Tak if +it proved humanly possible to do so, and he knew that in the +blackness of the tunnel he could locate the foot of the ladder in +no other way. + +He had taken two hundred and sixty-nine steps--afterward he knew +that he should never forget that number--when something bumped +gently against him from behind. Instantly he wheeled about and +with knife ready to defend himself stretched forth his right hand +to push away the object that now had lodged against his body. +His fingers feeling through the darkness came in contact with +something cold and clammy--they passed to and fro over the thing +until Bradley knew that it was the face of a dead man floating +upon the surface of the stream. With an oath he pushed his +gruesome companion out into mid-stream to float on down toward +the great pool and the awaiting scavengers of the deep. + +At his four hundred and thirteenth step another corpse bumped +against him--how many had passed him without touching he could +not guess; but suddenly he experienced the sensation of being +surrounded by dead faces floating along with him, all set in +hideous grimaces, their dead eyes glaring at this profaning alien +who dared intrude upon the waters of this river of the dead--a +horrid escort, pregnant with dire forebodings and with menace. + +Though he advanced very slowly, he tried always to take steps of +about the same length; so that he knew that though considerable +time had elapsed, yet he had really advanced no more than four +hundred yards when ahead he saw a lessening of the pitch-darkness, +and at the next turn of the stream his surroundings became +vaguelydiscernible. Above him was an arched roof and on either +hand walls pierced at intervals by apertures covered with +wooden doors. Just ahead of him in the roof of the aqueduct +was a round, black hole about thirty inches in diameter. +His eyes still rested upon the opening when there shot downward +from it to the water below the naked body of a human being which +almost immediately rose to the surface again and floated off down +the stream. In the dim light Bradley saw that it was a dead +Wieroo from which the wings and head had been removed. A moment +later another headless body floated past, recalling what An-Tak +had told him of the skull-collecting customs of the Wieroo. +Bradley wondered how it happened that the first corpse he had +encountered in the stream had not been similarly mutilated. + +The farther he advanced now, the lighter it became. The number +of corpses was much smaller than he had imagined, only two more +passing him before, at six hundred steps, or about five hundred +yards, from the point he had taken to the stream, he came to the +end of the tunnel and looked out upon sunlit water, running +between grassy banks. + +One of the last corpses to pass him was still clothed in the +white robe of a Wieroo, blood-stained over the headless neck that +it concealed. + +Drawing closer to the opening leading into the bright daylight, +Bradley surveyed what lay beyond. A short distance before him a +large building stood in the center of several acres of grass and +tree-covered ground, spanning the stream which disappeared +through an opening in its foundation wall. From the large +saucer-shaped roof and the vivid colorings of the various +heterogeneous parts of the structure he recognized it as the +temple past which he had been borne to the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls. + +To and fro flew Wieroos, going to and from the temple. +Others passed on foot across the open grounds, assisting +themselves with their great wings, so that they barely skimmed +the earth. To leave the mouth of the tunnel would have been +to court instant discovery and capture; but by what other +avenue he might escape, Bradley could not guess, unless he +retraced his steps up the stream and sought egress from the +other end of the city. The thought of traversing that dark +and horror-ridden tunnel for perhaps miles he could not +entertain--there must be some other way. Perhaps after dark +he could steal through the temple grounds and continue on +downstream until he had come beyond the city; and so he stood +and waited until his limbs became almost paralyzed with cold, +and he knew that he must find some other plan for escape. + +A half-formed decision to risk an attempt to swim under water to +the temple was crystallizing in spite of the fact that any chance +Wieroo flying above the stream might easily see him, when again +a floating object bumped against him from behind and lodged +across his back. Turning quickly he saw that the thing was what +he had immediately guessed it to be--a headless and wingless +Wieroo corpse. With a grunt of disgust he was about to push it +from him when the white garment enshrouding it suggested a bold +plan to his resourceful brain. Grasping the corpse by an arm he +tore the garment from it and then let the body float downward +toward the temple. With great care he draped the robe about him; +the bloody blotch that had covered the severed neck he arranged +about his own head. His haversack he rolled as tightly as +possible and stuffed beneath his coat over his breast. Then he +fell gently to the surface of the stream and lying upon his back +floated downward with the current and out into the open sunlight. + +Through the weave of the cloth he could distinguish large objects. +He saw a Wieroo flap dismally above him; he saw the banks of the +stream float slowly past; he heard a sudden wail upon the right- +hand shore, and his heart stood still lest his ruse had been +discovered; but never by a move of a muscle did he betray that +aught but a cold lump of clay floated there upon the bosom of the +water, and soon, though it seemed an eternity to him, the direct +sunlight was blotted out, and he knew that he had entered beneath +the temple. + +Quickly he felt for bottom with his feet and as quickly stood +erect, snatching the bloody, clammy cloth from his face. On both +sides were blank walls and before him the river turned a sharp +corner and disappeared. Feeling his way cautiously forward he +approached the turn and looked around the corner. To his left +was a low platform about a foot above the level of the stream, +and onto this he lost no time in climbing, for he was soaked from +head to foot, cold and almost exhausted. + +As he lay resting on the skull-paved shelf, he saw in the center +of the vault above the river another of those sinister round +holes through which he momentarily expected to see a headless +corpse shoot downward in its last plunge to a watery grave. +A few feet along the platform a closed door broke the blankness of +the wall. As he lay looking at it and wondering what lay behind, +his mind filled with fragments of many wild schemes of escape, it +opened and a white robed Wieroo stepped out upon the platform. +The creature carried a large wooden basin filled with rubbish. +Its eyes were not upon Bradley, who drew himself to a squatting +position and crouched as far back in the corner of the niche in +which the platform was set as he could force himself. The Wieroo +stepped to the edge of the platform and dumped the rubbish into +the stream. If it turned away from him as it started to retrace +its steps to the doorway, there was a small chance that it might +not see him; but if it turned toward him there was none at all. +Bradley held his breath. + +The Wieroo paused a moment, gazing down into the water, then it +straightened up and turned toward the Englishman. Bradley did +not move. The Wieroo stopped and stared intently at him. +It approached him questioningly. Still Bradley remained as +though carved of stone. The creature was directly in front +of him. It stopped. There was no chance on earth that it would +not discover what he was. + +With the quickness of a cat, Bradley sprang to his feet and with +all his great strength, backed by his heavy weight, struck the +Wieroo upon the point of the chin. Without a sound the thing +crumpled to the platform, while Bradley, acting almost +instinctively to the urge of the first law of nature, rolled the +inanimate body over the edge into the river. + +Then he looked at the open doorway, crossed the platform and +peered within the apartment beyond. What he saw was a large +room, dimly lighted, and about the side rows of wooden vessels +stacked one upon another. There was no Wieroo in sight, so the +Englishman entered. At the far end of the room was another door, +and as he crossed toward it, he glanced into some of the vessels, +which he found were filled with dried fruits, vegetables and fish. +Without more ado he stuffed his pockets and his haversack full, +thinking of the poor creature awaiting his return in the gloom +of the Place of Seven Skulls. + +When night came, he would return and fetch An-Tak this far at +least; but in the meantime it was his intention to reconnoiter in +the hope that he might discover some easier way out of the city +than that offered by the chill, black channel of the ghastly +river of corpses. + +Beyond the farther door stretched a long passageway from +which closed doorways led into other parts of the cellars of +the temple. A few yards from the storeroom a ladder rose from +the corridor through an aperture in the ceiling. Bradley paused +at the foot of it, debating the wisdom of further investigation +against a return to the river; but strong within him was the +spirit of exploration that has scattered his race to the four +corners of the earth. What new mysteries lay hidden in the +chambers above? The urge to know was strong upon him though his +better judgment warned him that the safer course lay in retreat. +For a moment he stood thus, running his fingers through his hair; +then he cast discretion to the winds and began the ascent. + +In conformity with such Wieroo architecture as he had already +observed, the well through which the ladder rose continually +canted at an angle from the perpendicular. At more or less +regular stages it was pierced by apertures closed by doors, none +of which he could open until he had climbed fully fifty feet from +the river level. Here he discovered a door already ajar opening +into a large, circular chamber, the walls and floors of which +were covered with the skins of wild beasts and with rugs of many +colors; but what interested him most was the occupants of the +room--a Wieroo, and a girl of human proportions. She was +standing with her back against a column which rose from the +center of the apartment from floor to ceiling--a hollow column +about forty inches in diameter in which he could see an opening +some thirty inches across. The girl's side was toward Bradley, +and her face averted, for she was watching the Wieroo, who was +now advancing slowly toward her, talking as he came. + +Bradley could distinctly hear the words of the creature, who was +urging the girl to accompany him to another Wieroo city. "Come with +me," he said, "and you shall have your life; remain here and He Who +Speaks for Luata will claim you for his own; and when he is done +with you, your skull will bleach at the top of a tall staff while +your body feeds the reptiles at the mouth of the River of Death. +Even though you bring into the world a female Wieroo, your fate +will be the same if you do not escape him, while with me you shall +have life and food and none shall harm you." + +He was quite close to the girl when she replied by striking him +in the face with all her strength. "Until I am slain," she cried, +"I shall fight against you all." From the throat of the Wieroo +issued that dismal wail that Bradley had heard so often in the +past--it was like a scream of pain smothered to a groan--and then +the thing leaped upon the girl, its face working in hideous +grimaces as it clawed and beat at her to force her to the floor. + +The Englishman was upon the point of entering to defend her when +a door at the opposite side of the chamber opened to admit a huge +Wieroo clothed entirely in red. At sight of the two struggling +upon the floor the newcomer raised his voice in a shriek of rage. +Instantly the Wieroo who was attacking the girl leaped to his +feet and faced the other. + +"I heard," screamed he who had just entered the room. "I heard, +and when He Who Speaks for Lu-ata shall have heard--" He paused +and made a suggestive movement of a finger across his throat. + +"He shall not hear," returned the first Wieroo as, with a +powerful motion of his great wings, he launched himself upon the +red-robed figure. The latter dodged the first charge, drew a +wicked-looking curved blade from beneath its red robe, spread its +wings and dived for its antagonist. Beating their wings, wailing +and groaning, the two hideous things sparred for position. +The white-robed one being unarmed sought to grasp the other by +the wrist of its knife-hand and by the throat, while the latter +hopped around on its dainty white feet, seeking an opening for a +mortal blow. Once it struck and missed, and then the other +rushed in and clinched, at the same time securing both the holds +it sought. Immediately the two commenced beating at each other's +heads with the joints of their wings, kicking with their soft, +puny feet and biting, each at the other's face. + +In the meantime the girl moved about the room, keeping out of the +way of the duelists, and as she did so, Bradley caught a glimpse +of her full face and immediately recognized her as the girl of +the place of the yellow door. He did not dare intervene now +until one of the Wieroo had overcome the other, lest the two +should turn upon him at once, when the chances were fair that he +would be defeated in so unequal a battle as the curved blade of +the red Wieroo would render it, and so he waited, watching the +white-robed figure slowly choking the life from him of the red robe. +The protruding tongue and the popping eyes proclaimed that the +end was near and a moment later the red robe sank to the floor +of the room, the curved blade slipping from nerveless fingers. +For an instant longer the victor clung to the throat of his +defeated antagonist and then he rose, dragging the body after +him, and approached the central column. Here he raised the body +and thrust it into the aperture where Bradley saw it drop +suddenly from sight. Instantly there flashed into his memory the +circular openings in the roof of the river vault and the corpses +he had seen drop from them to the water beneath. + +As the body disappeared, the Wieroo turned and cast about the +room for the girl. For a moment he stood eying her. "You saw," +he muttered, "and if you tell them, He Who Speaks for Luata will +have my wings severed while still I live and my head will be +severed and I shall be cast into the River of Death, for thus it +happens even to the highest who slay one of the red robe. You saw, +and you must die!" he ended with a scream as he rushed upon the girl. + +Bradley waited no longer. Leaping into the room he ran for the +Wieroo, who had already seized the girl, and as he ran, he +stooped and picked up the curved blade. The creature's back was +toward him as, with his left hand, he seized it by the neck. +Like a flash the great wings beat backward as the creature +turned, and Bradley was swept from his feet, though he still +retained his hold upon the blade. Instantly the Wieroo was +upon him. Bradley lay slightly raised upon his left elbow, his +right arm free, and as the thing came close, he cut at the hideous +face with all the strength that lay within him. The blade struck +at the junction of the neck and torso and with such force as to +completely decapitate the Wieroo, the hideous head dropping to +the floor and the body falling forward upon the Englishman. +Pushing it from him he rose to his feet and faced the wide-eyed girl. + +"Luata!" she exclaimed. "How came you here?" + +Bradley shrugged. "Here I am," he said; "but the thing now is to +get out of here--both of us." + +The girl shook her head. "It cannot be," she stated sadly. + +"That is what I thought when they dropped me into the Blue Place +of Seven Skulls," replied Bradley. "Can't be done. I did it.-- +Here! You're mussing up the floor something awful, you." This last +to the dead Wieroo as he stooped and dragged the corpse to the +central shaft, where he raised it to the aperture and let it +slip into the tube. Then he picked up the head and tossed it +after the body. "Don't be so glum," he admonished the former as +he carried it toward the well; "smile!" + +"But how can he smile?" questioned the girl, a half-puzzled, +half-frightened look upon her face. "He is dead." + +"That's so," admitted Bradley, "and I suppose he does feel a bit +cut up about it." + +The girl shook her head and edged away from the man--toward the door. + +"Come!" said the Englishman. "We've got to get out of here. +If you don't know a better way than the river, it's the river then." + +The girl still eyed him askance. "But how could he smile when he +was dead?" + +Bradley laughed aloud. "I thought we English were supposed to +have the least sense of humor of any people in the world," he +cried; "but now I've found one human being who hasn't any. +Of course you don't know half I'm saying; but don't worry, little +girl; I'm not going to hurt you, and if I can get you out of +here, I'll do it." + +Even if she did not understand all he said, she at least read +something in his smiling, countenance--something which reassured her. +"I do not fear you," she said; "though I do not understand all +that you say even though you speak my own tongue and use words +that I know. But as for escaping"--she sighed--"alas, how can +it be done?" + +"I escaped from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls," Bradley +reminded her. "Come!" And he turned toward the shaft and +the ladder that he had ascended from the river. "We cannot +waste time here." + +The girl followed him; but at the doorway both drew back, for +from below came the sound of some one ascending. + +Bradley tiptoed to the door and peered cautiously into the well; +then he stepped back beside the girl. "There are half a dozen of +them coming up; but possibly they will pass this room." + +"No," she said, "they will pass directly through this room--they +are on their way to Him Who Speaks for Luata. We may be able to +hide in the next room--there are skins there beneath which we +may crawl. They will not stop in that room; but they may stop in +this one for a short time--the other room is blue." + +"What's that go to do with it?" demanded the Englishman. + +"They fear blue," she replied. "In every room where murder has +been done you will find blue--a certain amount for each murder. +When the room is all blue, they shun it. This room has much +blue; but evidently they kill mostly in the next room, which is +now all blue." + +"But there is blue on the outside of every house I have seen," +said Bradley. + +"Yes, " assented the girl, "and there are blue rooms in each of +those houses--when all the rooms are blue then the whole outside +of the house will be blue as is the Blue Place of Seven Skulls. +There are many such here." + +"And the skulls with blue upon them?" inquired Bradley. +"Did they belong to murderers?" + +"They were murdered--some of them; those with only a small amount +of blue were murderers--known murderers. All Wieroos are murderers. +When they have committed a certain number of murders without being +caught at it, they confess to Him Who Speaks for Luata and are +advanced, after which they wear robes with a slash of some color-- +I think yellow comes first. When they reach a point where the +entire robe is of yellow, they discard it for a white robe with a +red slash; and when one wins a complete red robe, he carries such +a long, curved knife as you have in your hand; after that comes +the blue slash on a white robe, and then, I suppose, an all blue robe. +I have never seen such a one." + +As they talked in low tones they had moved from the room of the +death shaft into an all blue room adjoining, where they sat down +together in a corner with their backs against a wall and drew a +pile of hides over themselves. A moment later they heard a +number of Wieroos enter the chamber. They were talking together +as they crossed the floor, or the two could not have heard them. +Halfway across the chamber they halted as the door toward which +they were advancing opened and a dozen others of their kind +entered the apartment. + +Bradley could guess all this by the increased volume of sound and +the dismal greetings; but the sudden silence that almost +immediately ensued he could not fathom, for he could not know +that from beneath one of the hides that covered him protruded one +of his heavy army shoes, or that some eighteen large Wieroos with +robes either solid red or slashed with red or blue were standing +gazing at it. Nor could he hear their stealthy approach. + +The first intimation he had that he had been discovered was when +his foot was suddenly seized, and he was yanked violently from +beneath the hides to find himself surrounded by menacing blades. +They would have slain him on the spot had not one clothed all in +red held them back, saying that He Who Speaks for Luata desired +to see this strange creature. + +As they led Bradley away, he caught an opportunity to glance back +toward the hides to see what had become of the girl, and, to his +gratification, he discovered that she still lay concealed beneath +the hides. He wondered if she would have the nerve to attempt +the river trip alone and regretted that now he could not +accompany her. He felt rather all in, himself, more so than +he had at any time since he had been captured by the Wieroo, +for there appeared not the slightest cause for hope in his +present predicament. He had dropped the curved blade beneath the +hides when he had been jerked so violently from their fancied security. +It was almost in a spirit of resigned hopelessness that he quietly +accompanied his captors through various chambers and corridors +toward the heart of the temple. + + + +Chapter 4 + + +The farther the group progressed, the more barbaric and the more +sumptuous became the decorations. Hides of leopard and tiger +predominated, apparently because of their more beautiful +markings, and decorative skulls became more and more numerous. +Many of the latter were mounted in precious metals and set with +colored stones and priceless gems, while thick upon the hides +that covered the walls were golden ornaments similar to those +worn by the girl and those which had filled the chests he had +examined in the storeroom of Fosh-bal-soj, leading the Englishman +to the conviction that all such were spoils of war or theft, +since each piece seemed made for personal adornment, while in so +far as he had seen, no Wieroo wore ornaments of any sort. + +And also as they advanced the more numerous became the Wieroos +moving hither and thither within the temple. Many now were the +solid red robes and those that were slashed with blue--a +veritable hive of murderers. + +At last the party halted in a room in which were many Wieroos who +gathered about Bradley questioning his captors and examining him +and his apparel. One of the party accompanying the Englishman +spoke to a Wieroo that stood beside a door leading from the room. +"Tell Him Who Speaks for Luata," he said, "that Fosh-bal-soj we +could not find; but that in returning we found this creature +within the temple, hiding. It must be the same that Fosh-bal-soj +captured in the Sto-lu country during the last darkness. +Doubtless He Who Speaks for Luata would wish to see and question +this strange thing." + +The creature addressed turned and slipped through the doorway, +closing the door after it, but first depositing its curved blade +upon the floor without. Its post was immediately taken by +another and Bradley now saw that at least twenty such guards +loitered in the immediate vicinity. The doorkeeper was gone but +for a moment, and when he returned, he signified that Bradley's +party was to enter the next chamber; but first each of the +Wieroos removed his curved weapon and laid it upon the floor. +The door was swung open, and the party, now reduced to Bradley +and five Wieroos, was ushered across the threshold into a large, +irregularly shaped room in which a single, giant Wieroo whose +robe was solid blue sat upon a raised dais. + +The creature's face was white with the whiteness of a corpse, its +dead eyes entirely expressionless, its cruel, thin lips tight-drawn +against yellow teeth in a perpetual grimace. Upon either side of +it lay an enormous, curved sword, similar to those with which some +of the other Wieroos had been armed, but larger and heavier. +Constantly its clawlike fingers played with one or the other of +these weapons. + +The walls of the chamber as well as the floor were entirely +hidden by skins and woven fabrics. Blue predominated in all +the colorations. Fastened against the hides were many pairs of +Wieroo wings, mounted so that they resembled long, black shields. +Upon the ceiling were painted in blue characters a bewildering +series of hieroglyphics and upon pedestals set against the walls +or standing out well within the room were many human skulls. + +As the Wieroos approached the figure upon the dais, they leaned +far forward, raising their wings above their heads and stretching +their necks as though offering them to the sharp swords of the +grim and hideous creature. + +"O Thou Who Speakest for Luata!" exclaimed one of the party. +"We bring you the strange creature that Fosh-bal-soj captured +and brought thither at thy command." + +So this then was the godlike figure that spoke for divinity! +This arch-murderer was the Caspakian representative of God on Earth! +His blue robe announced him the one and the seeming humility of his +minions the other. For a long minute he glared at Bradley. Then he +began to question him--from whence he came and how, the name and +description of his native country, and a hundred other queries. + +"Are you cos-ata-lu?" the creature asked. + +Bradley replied that he was and that all his kind were, as well +as every living thing in his part of the world. + +"Can you tell me the secret?" asked the creature. + +Bradley hesitated and then, thinking to gain time, replied in +the affirmative. + +"What is it?" demanded the Wieroo, leaning far forward and +exhibiting every evidence of excited interest. + +Bradley leaned forward and whispered: "It is for your ears alone; +I will not divulge it to others, and then only on condition that +you carry me and the girl I saw in the place of the yellow door +near to that of Fosh-bal-soj back to her own country." + +The thing rose in wrath, holding one of its swords above its head. + +"Who are you to make terms for Him Who Speaks for Luata?" +it shrilled. "Tell me the secret or die where you stand!" + +"And if I die now, the secret goes with me," Bradley reminded him. +"Never again will you get the opportunity to question another of +my kind who knows the secret." Anything to gain time, to get the +rest of the Wieroos from the room, that he might plan some scheme +for escape and put it into effect. + +The creature turned upon the leader of the party that had +brought Bradley. + +"Is the thing with weapons?" it asked. + +"No," was the response. + +"Then go; but tell the guard to remain close by," commanded the +high one. + +The Wieroos salaamed and withdrew, closing the door behind them. +He Who Speaks for Luata grasped a sword nervously in his right hand. +At his left side lay the second weapon. It was evident that he +lived in constant dread of being assassinated. The fact that he +permitted none with weapons within his presence and that he +always kept two swords at his side pointed to this. + +Bradley was racking his brain to find some suggestion of a plan +whereby he might turn the situation to his own account. His eyes +wandered past the weird figure before him; they played about the +walls of the apartment as though hoping to draw inspiration from +the dead skulls and the hides and the wings, and then they came +back to the face of the Wieroo god, now working in anger. + +"Quick!" screamed the thing. "The secret!" + +"Will you give me and the girl our freedom?" insisted Bradley. + +For an instant the thing hesitated, and then it grumbled "Yes." +At the same instant Bradley saw two hides upon the wall directly +back of the dais separate and a face appear in the opening. +No change of expression upon the Englishman's countenance betrayed +that he had seen aught to surprise him, though surprised he was +for the face in the aperture was that of the girl he had but just +left hidden beneath the hides in another chamber. A white and +shapely arm now pushed past the face into the room, and in the +hand, tightly clutched, was the curved blade, smeared with blood, +that Bradley had dropped beneath the hides at the moment he had +been discovered and drawn from his concealment. + +"Listen, then," said Bradley in a low voice to the Wieroo. +"You shall know the secret of cos-ata-lu as well as do +I; but none other may hear it. Lean close--I will whisper +it into your ear." + +He moved forward and stepped upon the dais. The creature raised +its sword ready to strike at the first indication of treachery, +and Bradley stooped beneath the blade and put his ear close to +the gruesome face. As he did so, he rested his weight upon his +hands, one upon either side of the Wieroo's body, his right hand +upon the hilt of the spare sword lying at the left of Him Who +Speaks for Luata. + +"This then is the secret of both life and death," he whispered, +and at the same instant he grasped the Wieroo by the right wrist +and with his own right hand swung the extra blade in a sudden +vicious blow against the creature's neck before the thing could +give even a single cry of alarm; then without waiting an instant +Bradley leaped past the dead god and vanished behind the hides +that had hidden the girl. + +Wide-eyed and panting the girl seized his arm. "Oh, what have +you done?" she cried. "He Who Speaks for Luata will be avenged +by Luata. Now indeed must you die. There is no escape, for even +though we reached my own country Luata can find you out." + +"Bosh!" exclaimed Bradley, and then: "But you were going to knife +him yourself." + +"Then I alone should have died," she replied. + +Bradley scratched his head. "Neither of us is going to die," he +said; "at least not at the hands of any god. If we don't get out +of here though, we'll die right enough. Can you find your way +back to the room where I first came upon you in the temple?" + +"I know the way," replied the girl; "but I doubt if we can go +back without being seen. I came hither because I only met +Wieroos who knew that I am supposed now to be in the temple; +but you could go elsewhere without being discovered." + +Bradley's ingenuity had come up against a stone wall. +There seemed no possibility of escape. He looked about him. +They were in a small room where lay a litter of rubbish--torn +bits of cloth, old hides, pieces of fiber rope. In the center +of the room was a cylindrical shaft with an opening in its face. +Bradley knew it for what it was. Here the arch-fiend dragged his +victims and cast their bodies into the river of death far below. +The floor about the opening in the shaft and the sides of the +shaft were clotted thick with a dried, dark brown substance that +the Englishman knew had once been blood. The place had the +appearance of having been a veritable shambles. An odor of +decaying flesh permeated the air. + +The Englishman crossed to the shaft and peered into the opening. +All below was dark as pitch; but at the bottom he knew was +the river. Suddenly an inspiration and a bold scheme leaped to +his mind. Turning quickly he hunted about the room until he +found what he sought--a quantity of the rope that lay strewn here +and there. With rapid fingers he unsnarled the different lengths, +the girl helping him, and then he tied the ends together until he +had three ropes about seventy-five feet in length. He fastened +these together at each end and without a word secured one of the +ends about the girl's body beneath her arms. + +"Don't be frightened," he said at length, as he led her toward +the opening in the shaft. "I'm going to lower you to the river, +and then I'm coming down after you. When you are safe below, +give two quick jerks upon the rope. If there is danger there and +you want me to draw you up into the shaft, jerk once. Don't be +afraid--it is the only way." + +"I am not afraid," replied the girl, rather haughtily Bradley +thought, and herself climbed through the aperture and hung by her +hands waiting for Bradley to lower her. + +As rapidly as was consistent with safety, the man paid out the rope. +When it was about half out, he heard loud cries and wails suddenly +arise within the room they had just quitted. The slaying of their +god had been discovered by the Wieroos. A search for the slayer +would begin at once. + +Lord! Would the girl never reach the river? At last, just as he +was positive that searchers were already entering the room behind +him, there came two quick tugs at the rope. Instantly Bradley +made the rest of the strands fast about the shaft, slipped into +the black tube and began a hurried descent toward the river. +An instant later he stood waist deep in water beside the girl. +Impulsively she reached toward him and grasped his arm. +A strange thrill ran through him at the contact; but he only cut +the rope from about her body and lifted her to the little shelf +at the river's side. + +"How can we leave here?" she asked. + +"By the river," he replied; "but first I must go back to the +Blue Place of Seven Skulls and get the poor devil I left there. +I'll have to wait until after dark, though, as I cannot pass +through the open stretch of river in the temple gardens by day." + +"There is another way," said the girl. "I have never seen +it; but often I have heard them speak of it--a corridor that +runs beside the river from one end of the city to the other. +Through the gardens it is below ground. If we could find an +entrance to it, we could leave here at once. It is not safe here, +for they will search every inch of the temple and the grounds." + +"Come," said Bradley. "We'll have a look for it, anyway." And so +saying he approached one of the doors that opened onto the +skull-paved shelf. + +They found the corridor easily, for it paralleled the river, +separated from it only by a single wall. It took them beneath the +gardens and the city, always through inky darkness. After they +had reached the other side of the gardens, Bradley counted his +steps until he had retraced as many as he had taken coming down +the stream; but though they had to grope their way along, it was +a much more rapid trip than the former. + +When he thought he was about opposite the point at which he had +descended from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls, he sought and +found a doorway leading out onto the river; and then, still in +the blackest darkness, he lowered himself into the stream and +felt up and down upon the opposite side for the little shelf and +the ladder. Ten yards from where he had emerged he found them, +while the girl waited upon the opposite side. + +To ascend to the secret panel was the work of but a minute. +Here he paused and listened lest a Wieroo might be visiting the +prison in search of him or the other inmate; but no sound came from +the gloomy interior. Bradley could not but muse upon the joy of +the man on the opposite side when he should drop down to him with +food and a new hope for escape. Then he opened the panel and +looked into the room. The faint light from the grating above +revealed the pile of rags in one corner; but the man lay beneath +them, he made no response to Bradley's low greeting. + +The Englishman lowered himself to the floor of the room and +approached the rags. Stooping he lifted a corner of them. +Yes, there was the man asleep. Bradley shook him--there was +no response. He stooped lower and in the dim light examined +An-Tak; then he stood up with a sigh. A rat leaped from beneath +the coverings and scurried away. "Poor devil!" muttered Bradley. + +He crossed the room to swing himself to the perch preparatory to +quitting the Blue Place of Seven Skulls forever. Beneath the +perch he paused. "I'll not give them the satisfaction," he growled. +"Let them believe that he escaped." + +Returning to the pile of rags he gathered the man into his arms. +It was difficult work raising him to the high perch and dragging +him through the small opening and thus down the ladder; but +presently it was done, and Bradley had lowered the body into the +river and cast it off. "Good-bye, old top!" he whispered. + +A moment later he had rejoined the girl and hand in hand they +were following the dark corridor upstream toward the farther end +of the city. She told him that the Wieroos seldom frequented +these lower passages, as the air here was too chill for them; but +occasionally they came, and as they could see quite as well by +night as by day, they would be sure to discover Bradley and the girl. + +"If they come close enough," she said, "we can see their eyes +shining in the dark--they resemble dull splotches of light. +They glow, but do not blaze like the eyes of the tiger or the lion." + +The man could not but note the very evident horror with which she +mentioned the creatures. To him they were uncanny; but she had +been used to them for a year almost, and probably all her life +she had either seen or heard of them constantly. + +"Why do you fear them so?" he asked. "It seems more than any +ordinary fear of the harm they can do you." + +She tried to explain; but the nearest he could gather was that +she looked upon the Wieroo almost as supernatural beings. +"There is a legend current among my people that once the Wieroo +were unlike us only in that they possessed rudimentary wings. +They lived in villages in the Galu country, and while the two peoples +often warred, they held no hatred for one another. In those days +each race came up from the beginning and there was great rivalry +as to which was the higher in the scale of evolution. The Wieroo +developed the first cos-ata-lu but they were always male-- +never could they reproduce woman. Slowly they commenced to +develop certain attributes of the mind which, they considered, +placed them upon a still higher level and which gave them many +advantages over us, seeing which they thought only of mental +development--their minds became like stars and the rivers, moving +always in the same manner, never varying. They called this +tas-ad, which means doing everything the right way, or, in +other words, the Wieroo way. If foe or friend, right or wrong, +stood in the way of tas-ad, then it must be crushed. + +"Soon the Galus and the lesser races of men came to hate and +fear them. It was then that the Wieroos decided to carry +tas-ad into every part of the world. They were very +warlike and very numerous, although they had long since adopted +the policy of slaying all those among them whose wings did not +show advanced development. + +"It took ages for all this to happen--very slowly came the +different changes; but at last the Wieroos had wings they +could use. But by reason of always making war upon their neighbors +they were hated by every creature of Caspak, for no one wanted +their tas-ad, and so they used their wings to fly to this +island when the other races turned against them and threatened to +kill them all. So cruel had they become and so bloodthirsty that +they no longer had hearts that beat with love or sympathy; but +their very cruelty and wickedness kept them from conquering the +other races, since they were also cruel and wicked to one +another, so that no Wieroo trusted another. + +"Always were they slaying those above them that they might rise +in power and possessions, until at last came the more powerful +than the others with a tas-ad all his own. He gathered +about him a few of the most terrible Wieroos, and among them they +made laws which took from all but these few Wieroos every weapon +they possessed. + +"Now their tas-ad has reached a high plane among them. +They make many wonderful things that we cannot make. They think +great thoughts, no doubt, and still dream of greatness to come, +but their thoughts and their acts are regulated by ages of +custom--they are all alike--and they are most unhappy." + +As the girl talked, the two moved steadily along the dark +passageway beside the river. They had advanced a considerable +distance when there sounded faintly from far ahead the muffled +roar of falling water, which increased in volume as they moved +forward until at last it filled the corridor with a deafening sound. +Then the corridor ended in a blank wall; but in a niche to the +right was a ladder leading aloft, and to the left was a door +opening onto the river. Bradley tried the latter first and +as he opened it, felt a heavy spray against his face. The little +shelf outside the doorway was wet and slippery, the roaring of +the water tremendous. There could be but one explanation--they +had reached a waterfall in the river, and if the corridor +actually terminated here, their escape was effectually cut off, +since it was quite evidently impossible to follow the bed of the +river and ascend the falls. + +As the ladder was the only alternative, the two turned toward +it and, the man first, began the ascent, which was through a +well similar to that which had led him to the upper floors of +the temple. As he climbed, Bradley felt for openings in the sides +of the shaft; but he discovered none below fifty feet. The first +he came to was ajar, letting a faint light into the well. As he +paused, the girl climbed to his side, and together they looked +through the crack into a low-ceiled chamber in which were several +Galu women and an equal number of hideous little replicas of the +full-grown Wieroos with which Bradley was not quite familiar. + +He could feel the body of the girl pressed close to his tremble +as her eyes rested upon the inmates of the room, and involuntarily +his arm encircled her shoulders as though to protect her from some +danger which he sensed without recognizing. + +"Poor things," she whispered. "This is their horrible fate--to +be imprisoned here beneath the surface of the city with their +hideous offspring whom they hate as they hate their fathers. +A Wieroo keeps his children thus hidden until they are full-grown +lest they be murdered by their fellows. The lower rooms of the +city are filled with many such as these." + +Several feet above was a second door beyond which they found a +small room stored with food in wooden vessels. A grated window +in one wall opened above an alley, and through it they could see +that they were just below the roof of the building. Darkness was +coming, and at Bradley's suggestion they decided to remain hidden +here until after dark and then to ascend to the roof and reconnoiter. + +Shortly after they had settled themselves they heard something +descending the ladder from above. They hoped that it would +continue on down the well and fairly held their breath as the +sound approached the door to the storeroom. Their hearts sank as +they heard the door open and from between cracks in the vessels +behind which they hid saw a yellow-slashed Wieroo enter the room. +Each recognized him immediately, the girl indicating the fact of +her own recognition by a sudden pressure of her fingers on +Bradley's arm. It was the Wieroo of the yellow slashing whose +abode was the place of the yellow door in which Bradley had first +seen the girl. + +The creature carried a wooden bowl which it filled with dried +food from several of the vessels; then it turned and quit the room. +Bradley could see through the partially open doorway that it +descended the ladder. The girl told him that it was taking the +food to the women and the young below, and that while it might +return immediately, the chances were that it would remain for +some time. + +"We are just below the place of the yellow door," she said. +"It is far from the edge of the city; so far that we may not +hope to escape if we ascend to the roofs here." + +"I think," replied the man, "that of all the places in Oo-oh this +will be the easiest to escape from. Anyway, I want to return to +the place of the yellow door and get my pistol if it is there." + +"It is still there," replied, the girl. "I saw it placed in a chest +where he keeps the things he takes from his prisoners and victims." + +"Good!" exclaimed Bradley. "Now come, quickly. "And the two +crossed the room to the well and ascended the ladder a short +distance to its top where they found another door that opened +into a vacant room--the same in which Bradley had first met +the girl. To find the pistol was a matter of but a moment's +search on the part of Bradley's companion; and then, at the +Englishman's signal, she followed him to the yellow door. + +It was quite dark without as the two entered the narrow passage +between two buildings. A few steps brought them undiscovered to +the doorway of the storeroom where lay the body of Fosh-bal-soj. +In the distance, toward the temple, they could hear sounds as of +a great gathering of Wieroos--the peculiar, uncanny wailing +rising above the dismal flapping of countless wings. + +"They have heard of the killing of Him Who Speaks for Luata," +whispered the girl. "Soon they will spread in all directions +searching for us." + +"And will they find us?" + +"As surely as Lua gives light by day," she replied; "and when +they find us, they will tear us to pieces, for only the Wieroos +may murder--only they may practice tas-ad." + +"But they will not kill you," said Bradley. "You did not slay him." + +"It will make no difference," she insisted. "If they find us +together they will slay us both." + +"Then they won't find us together," announced Bradley decisively. +"You stay right here--you won't be any worse off than before I +came--and I'll get as far as I can and account for as many of the +beggars as possible before they get me. Good-bye! You're a mighty +decent little girl. I wish that I might have helped you." + +"No," she cried. "Do not leave me. I would rather die. I had +hoped and hoped to find some way to return to my own country. +I wanted to go back to An-Tak, who must be very lonely without me; +but I know that it can never be. It is difficult to kill hope, +though mine is nearly dead. Do not leave me." + +"An-Tak!" Bradley repeated. "You loved a man called An-Tak?" + +"Yes," replied the girl. "An-Tak was away, hunting, when the +Wieroo caught me. How he must have grieved for me! He also was +cos-ata-lu, twelve moons older than I, and all our lives we +have been together." + +Bradley remained silent. So she loved An-Tak. He hadn't the +heart to tell her that An-Tak had died, or how. + +At the door of Fosh-bal-soj's storeroom they halted to listen. +No sound came from within, and gently Bradley pushed open the door. +All was inky darkness as they entered; but presently their eyes +became accustomed to the gloom that was partially relieved by the +soft starlight without. The Englishman searched and found those +things for which he had come--two robes, two pairs of dead wings +and several lengths of fiber rope. One pair of the wings he +adjusted to the girl's shoulders by means of the rope. Then he +draped the robe about her, carrying the cowl over her head. + +He heard her gasp of astonishment when she realized the ingenuity +and boldness of his plan; then he directed her to adjust the other +pair of wings and the robe upon him. Working with strong, deft +fingers she soon had the work completed, and the two stepped out +upon the roof, to all intent and purpose genuine Wieroos. Besides his +pistol Bradley carried the sword of the slain Wieroo prophet, while +the girl was armed with the small blade of the red Wieroo. + +Side by side they walked slowly across the roofs toward the north +edge of the city. Wieroos flapped above them and several times +they passed others walking or sitting upon the roofs. From the +temple still rose the sounds of commotion, now pierced by +occasional shrill screams. + +"The murderers are abroad," whispered the girl. "Thus will +another become the tongue of Luata. It is well for us, since it +keeps them too busy to give the time for searching for us. +They think that we cannot escape the city, and they know that +we cannot leave the island--and so do I." + +Bradley shook his head. "If there is any way, we will find it," +he said. + +"There is no way," replied the girl. + +Bradley made no response, and in silence they continued until the +outer edge of roofs was visible before them. "We are almost +there," he whispered. + +The girl felt for his fingers and pressed them. He could feel +hers trembling as he returned the pressure, nor did he relinquish +her hand; and thus they came to the edge of the last roof. + +Here they halted and looked about them. To be seen attempting to +descend to the ground below would be to betray the fact that they +were not Wieroos. Bradley wished that their wings were attached +to their bodies by sinew and muscle rather than by ropes of fiber. +A Wieroo was flapping far overhead. Two more stood near a door a +few yards distant. Standing between these and one of the outer +pedestals that supported one of the numerous skulls Bradley made +one end of a piece of rope fast about the pedestal and dropped +the other end to the ground outside the city. Then they waited. + +It was an hour before the coast was entirely clear and then a +moment came when no Wieroo was in sight. "Now!" whispered +Bradley; and the girl grasped the rope and slid over the edge of +the roof into the darkness below. A moment later Bradley felt +two quick pulls upon the rope and immediately followed to the +girl's side. + +Across a narrow clearing they made their way and into a wood beyond. +All night they walked, following the river upward toward its source, +and at dawn they took shelter in a thicket beside the stream. At no +time did they hear the cry of a carnivore, and though many startled +animals fled as they approached, they were not once menaced by a +wild beast. When Bradley expressed surprise at the absence of the +fiercest beasts that are so numerous upon the mainland of Caprona, +the girl explained the reason that is contained in one of their +ancient legends. + +"When the Wieroos first developed wings upon which they could +fly, they found this island devoid of any life other than a +few reptiles that live either upon land or in the water and +these only close to the coast. Requiring meat for food the +Wieroos carried to the island such animals as they wished for +that purpose. They still occasionally bring them, and this +with the natural increase keeps them provided with flesh." + +"As it will us," suggested Bradley. + +The first day they remained in hiding, eating only the dried food +that Bradley had brought with him from the temple storeroom, and +the next night they set out again up the river, continuing +steadily on until almost dawn, when they came to low hills where +the river wound through a gorge--it was little more than rivulet +now, the water clear and cold and filled with fish similar to +brook trout though much larger. Not wishing to leave the stream +the two waded along its bed to a spot where the gorge widened +between perpendicular bluffs to a wooded acre of level land. +Here they stopped, for here also the stream ended. They had +reached its source--many cold springs bubbling up from the center +of a little natural amphitheater in the hills and forming a clear +and beautiful pool overshadowed by trees upon one side and +bounded by a little clearing upon the other. + +With the coming of the sun they saw they had stumbled upon a +place where they might remain hidden from the Wieroos for a long +time and also one that they could defend against these winged +creatures, since the trees would shield them from an attack from +above and also hamper the movements of the creatures should they +attempt to follow them into the wood. + +For three days they rested here before trying to explore the +neighboring country. On the fourth, Bradley stated that he was +going to scale the bluffs and learn what lay beyond. He told the +girl that she should remain in hiding; but she refused to be +left, saying that whatever fate was to be his, she intended to +share it, so that he was at last forced to permit her to come +with him. Through woods at the summit of the bluff they made +their way toward the north and had gone but a short distance when +the wood ended and before them they saw the waters of the inland +sea and dimly in the distance the coveted shore. + +The beach lay some two hundred yards from the foot of the hill +on which they stood, nor was there a tree nor any other form of +shelter between them and the water as far up and down the coast +as they could see. Among other plans Bradley had thought of +constructing a covered raft upon which they might drift to the +mainland; but as such a contrivance would necessarily be of +considerable weight, it must be built in the water of the sea, +since they could not hope to move it even a short distance overland. + +"If this wood was only at the edge of the water," he sighed. + +"But it is not," the girl reminded him, and then: "Let us make +the best of it. We have escaped from death for a time at least. +We have food and good water and peace and each other. What more +could we have upon the mainland?" + +"But I thought you wanted to get back to your own country!" +he exclaimed. + +She cast her eyes upon the ground and half turned away. "I do," +she said, "yet I am happy here. I could be little happier there." + +Bradley stood in silent thought. "`We have food and good water +and peace and each other!'" he repeated to himself. He turned +then and looked at the girl, and it was as though in the days +that they had been together this was the first time that he +had really seen her. The circumstances that had thrown them +together, the dangers through which they had passed, all the +weird and horrible surroundings that had formed the background of +his knowledge of her had had their effect--she had been but the +companion of an adventure; her self-reliance, her endurance, her +loyalty, had been only what one man might expect of another, and +he saw that he had unconsciously assumed an attitude toward her +that he might have assumed toward a man. Yet there had been a +difference--he recalled now the strange sensation of elation that +had thrilled him upon the occasions when the girl had pressed his +hand in hers, and the depression that had followed her announcement +of her love for An-Tak. + +He took a step toward her. A fierce yearning to seize her and +crush her in his arms, swept over him, and then there flashed +upon the screen of recollection the picture of a stately hall set +amidst broad gardens and ancient trees and of a proud old man +with beetling brows--an old man who held his head very high--and +Bradley shook his head and turned away again. + +They went back then to their little acre, and the days came +and went, and the man fashioned spear and bow and arrows and +hunted with them that they might have meat, and he made hooks +of fishbone and caught fishes with wondrous flies of his own +invention; and the girl gathered fruits and cooked the flesh +and the fish and made beds of branches and soft grasses. +She cured the hides of the animals he killed and made them +soft by much pounding. She made sandals for herself and for +the man and fashioned a hide after the manner of those worn +by the warriors of her tribe and made the man wear it, for his +own garments were in rags. + +She was always the same--sweet and kind and helpful--but always +there was about her manner and her expression just a trace of +wistfulness, and often she sat and looked at the man when he did +not know it, her brows puckered in thought as though she were +trying to fathom and to understand him. + +In the face of the cliff, Bradley scooped a cave from the rotted +granite of which the hill was composed, making a shelter for them +against the rains. He brought wood for their cook-fire which +they used only in the middle of the day--a time when there was +little likelihood of Wieroos being in the air so far from their +city--and then he learned to bank it with earth in such a way that +the embers held until the following noon without giving off smoke. + +Always he was planning on reaching the mainland, and never a day +passed that he did not go to the top of the hill and look out +across the sea toward the dark, distant line that meant for +him comparative freedom and possibly reunion with his comrades. +The girl always went with him, standing at his side and watching the +stern expression on his face with just a tinge of sadness on her own. + +"You are not happy," she said once. + +"I should be over there with my men," he replied. "I do not know +what may have happened to them." + +"I want you to be happy," she said quite simply; "but I should +be very lonely if you went away and left me here." + +He put his hand on her shoulder. "I would not do that, little +girl," he said gently. "If you cannot go with me, I shall not go. +If either of us must go alone, it will be you." + +Her face lighted to a wondrous smile. "Then we shall not be +separated," she said, "for I shall never leave you as long as we +both live." + +He looked down into her face for a moment and then: "Who was +An-Tak? " he asked. + +"My brother," she replied. "Why?" + +And then, even less than before, could he tell her. It was then +that he did something he had never done before--he put his arms +about her and stooping, kissed her forehead. "Until you find +An-Tak," he said, "I will be your brother." + +She drew away. "I already have a brother," she said, "and I do +not want another." + + + +Chapter 5 + + +Days became weeks, and weeks became months, and the months +followed one another in a lazy procession of hot, humid days and +warm, humid nights. The fugitives saw never a Wieroo by day +though often at night they heard the melancholy flapping of giant +wings far above them. + +Each day was much like its predecessor. Bradley splashed about +for a few minutes in the cold pool early each morning and after +a time the girl tried it and liked it. Toward the center it was +deep enough for swimming, and so he taught her to swim--she was +probably the first human being in all Caspak's long ages who had +done this thing. And then while she prepared breakfast, the man +shaved--this he never neglected. At first it was a source of +wonderment to the girl, for the Galu men are beardless. + +When they needed meat, he hunted, otherwise he busied himself +in improving their shelter, making new and better weapons, +perfecting his knowledge of the girl's language and teaching her +to speak and to write English--anything that would keep them +both occupied. He still sought new plans for escape, but with +ever-lessening enthusiasm, since each new scheme presented some +insurmountable obstacle. + +And then one day as a bolt out of a clear sky came that which +blasted the peace and security of their sanctuary forever. +Bradley was just emerging from the water after his morning +plunge when from overhead came the sound of flapping wings. +Glancing quickly up the man saw a white-robed Wieroo circling +slowly above him. That he had been discovered he could not +doubt since the creature even dropped to a lower altitude as +though to assure itself that what it saw was a man. Then it +rose rapidly and winged away toward the city. + +For two days Bradley and the girl lived in a constant state of +apprehension, awaiting the moment when the hunters would come for +them; but nothing happened until just after dawn of the third +day, when the flapping of wings apprised them of the approach +of Wieroos. Together they went to the edge of the wood and +looked up to see five red-robed creatures dropping slowly in +ever-lessening spirals toward their little amphitheater. With no +attempt at concealment they came, sure of their ability to +overwhelm these two fugitives, and with the fullest measure of +self-confidence they landed in the clearing but a few yards from +the man and the girl. + +Following a plan already discussed Bradley and the girl retreated +slowly into the woods. The Wieroos advanced, calling upon them +to give themselves up; but the quarry made no reply. Farther and +farther into the little wood Bradley led the hunters, permitting +them to approach ever closer; then he circled back again toward +the clearing, evidently to the great delight of the Wieroos, who +now followed more leisurely, awaiting the moment when they should +be beyond the trees and able to use their wings. They had opened +into semicircular formation now with the evident intention of +cutting the two off from returning into the wood. Each Wieroo +advanced with his curved blade ready in his hand, each hideous +face blank and expressionless. + +It was then that Bradley opened fire with his pistol--three +shots, aimed with careful deliberation, for it had been long +since he had used the weapon, and he could not afford to chance +wasting ammunition on misses. At each shot a Wieroo dropped; and +then the remaining two sought escape by flight, screaming and +wailing after the manner of their kind. When a Wieroo runs, his +wings spread almost without any volition upon his part, since +from time immemorial he has always used them to balance himself +and accelerate his running speed so that in the open they appear +to skim the surface of the ground when in the act of running. +But here in the woods, among the close-set boles, the spreading +of their wings proved their undoing--it hindered and stopped them +and threw them to the ground, and then Bradley was upon them +threatening them with instant death if they did not surrender-- +promising them their freedom if they did his bidding. + +"As you have seen," he cried, "I can kill you when I wish and at +a distance. You cannot escape me. Your only hope of life lies +in obedience. Quick, or I kill!" + +The Wieroos stopped and faced him. "What do you want of us?" +asked one. + +"Throw aside your weapons," Bradley commanded. After a moment's +hesitation they obeyed. + +"Now approach!" A great plan--the only plan--had suddenly come +to him like an inspiration. + +The Wieroos came closer and halted at his command. Bradley turned +to the girl. "There is rope in the shelter," he said. "Fetch it!" + +She did as he bid, and then he directed her to fasten one end of +a fifty-foot length to the ankle of one of the Wieroos and the +opposite end to the second. The creatures gave evidence of great +fear, but they dared not attempt to prevent the act. + +"Now go out into the clearing," said Bradley, "and remember that +I am walking close behind and that I will shoot the nearer one +should either attempt to escape--that will hold the other until +I can kill him as well." + +In the open he halted them. "The girl will get upon the back +of the one in front," announced the Englishman. "I will mount +the other. She carries a sharp blade, and I carry this weapon +that you know kills easily at a distance. If you disobey in +the slightest, the instructions that I am about to give you, you +shall both die. That we must die with you, will not deter us. +If you obey, I promise to set you free without harming you. + +"You will carry us due west, depositing us upon the shore of the +mainland--that is all. It is the price of your lives. Do you agree?" + +Sullenly the Wieroos acquiesced. Bradley examined the knots that +held the rope to their ankles, and feeling them secure directed +the girl to mount the back of the leading Wieroo, himself upon +the other. Then he gave the signal for the two to rise together. +With loud flapping of the powerful wings the creatures took to +the air, circling once before they topped the trees upon the hill +and then taking a course due west out over the waters of the sea. + +Nowhere about them could Bradley see signs of other Wieroos, nor +of those other menaces which he had feared might bring disaster +to his plans for escape--the huge, winged reptilia that are so +numerous above the southern areas of Caspak and which are often +seen, though in lesser numbers, farther north. + +Nearer and nearer loomed the mainland--a broad, parklike expanse +stretching inland to the foot of a low plateau spread out before them. +The little dots in the foreground became grazing herds of deer +and antelope and bos; a huge woolly rhinoceros wallowed in a +mudhole to the right, and beyond, a mighty mammoth culled the +tender shoots from a tall tree. The roars and screams and growls +of giant carnivora came faintly to their ears. Ah, this was Caspak. +With all of its dangers and its primal savagery it brought a +fullness to the throat of the Englishman as to one who sees and +hears the familiar sights and sounds of home after a long absence. +Then the Wieroos dropped swiftly downward to the flower-starred +turf that grew almost to the water's edge, the fugitives slipped +from their backs, and Bradley told the red-robed creatures they +were free to go. + +When he had cut the ropes from their ankles they rose with that +uncanny wailing upon their lips that always brought a shudder to +the Englishman, and upon dismal wings they flapped away toward +frightful Oo-oh. + +When the creatures had gone, the girl turned toward Bradley. +"Why did you have them bring us here?" she asked. "Now we are +far from my country. We may never live to reach it, as we are +among enemies who, while not so horrible will kill us just as +surely as would the Wieroos should they capture us, and we have +before us many marches through lands filled with savage beasts." + +"There were two reasons," replied Bradley. "You told me that +there are two Wieroo cities at the eastern end of the island. +To have passed near either of them might have been to have brought +about our heads hundreds of the creatures from whom we could not +possibly have escaped. Again, my friends must be near this spot-- +it cannot be over two marches to the fort of which I have told you. +It is my duty to return to them. If they still live we shall find +a way to return you to your people." + +"And you?" asked the girl. + +"I escaped from Oo-oh," replied Bradley. "I have accomplished +the impossible once, and so I shall accomplish it again--I shall +escape from Caspak." + +He was not looking at her face as he answered her, and so he +did not see the shadow of sorrow that crossed her countenance. +When he raised his eyes again, she was smiling. + +"What you wish, I wish," said the girl. + +Southward along the coast they made their way following the +beach, where the walking was best, but always keeping close +enough to trees to insure sanctuary from the beasts and reptiles +that so often menaced them. It was late in the afternoon when +the girl suddenly seized Bradley's arm and pointed straight ahead +along the shore. "What is that?" she whispered. "What strange +reptile is it?" + +Bradley looked in the direction her slim forefinger indicated. +He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then he seized her wrist +and drew her quickly behind a clump of bushes. + +"What is it?" she asked. + +"It is the most frightful reptile that the waters of the world +have ever known," he replied. "It is a German U-boat!" + +An expression of amazement and understanding lighted her features. +"It is the thing of which you told me," she exclaimed, "--the +thing that swims under the water and carries men in its belly!" + +"It is," replied Bradley. + +"Then why do you hide from it?" asked the girl. "You said that +now it belonged to your friends." + +"Many months have passed since I knew what was going on among my +friends," he replied. "I cannot know what has befallen them. +They should have been gone from here in this vessel long since, +and so I cannot understand why it is still here. I am going to +investigate first before I show myself. When I left, there were +more Germans on the U-33 than there were men of my own party at +the fort, and I have had sufficient experience of Germans to know +that they will bear watching--if they have not been properly +watched since I left." + +Making their way through a fringe of wood that grew a few yards +inland the two crept unseen toward the U-boat which lay moored to +the shore at a point which Bradley now recognized as being near +the oil-pool north of Dinosaur. As close as possible to the +vessel they halted, crouching low among the dense vegetation, and +watched the boat for signs of human life about it. The hatches +were closed--no one could be seen or heard. For five minutes +Bradley watched, and then he determined to board the submarine +and investigate. He had risen to carry his decision into effect +when there suddenly broke upon his ear, uttered in loud and +menacing tones, a volley of German oaths and expletives among +which he heard Englische schweinhunde repeated several times. +The voice did not come from the direction of the U-boat; but +from inland. Creeping forward Bradley reached a spot where, +through the creepers hanging from the trees, he could see a party +of men coming down toward the shore. + +He saw Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and six of his men--all +armed--while marching in a little knot among them were Olson, +Brady, Sinclair, Wilson, and Whitely. + +Bradley knew nothing of the disappearance of Bowen Tyler and Miss +La Rue, nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling the fort +and attempting to escape in the U-33; but he was in no way +surprised at what he saw before him. + +The little party came slowly onward, the prisoners staggering +beneath heavy cans of oil, while Schwartz, one of the German +noncommissioned officers cursed and beat them with a stick of +wood, impartially. Von Schoenvorts walked in the rear of the +column, encouraging Schwartz and laughing at the discomfiture of +the Britishers. Dietz, Heinz, and Klatz also seemed to enjoy the +entertainment immensely; but two of the men--Plesser and Hindle-- +marched with eyes straight to the front and with scowling faces. + +Bradley felt his blood boil at sight of the cowardly indignities +being heaped upon his men, and in the brief span of time occupied +by the column to come abreast of where he lay hidden he made his +plans, foolhardy though he knew them. Then he drew the girl +close to him. "Stay here," he whispered. "I am going out to +fight those beasts; but I shall be killed. Do not let them +see you. Do not let them take you alive. They are more cruel, +more cowardly, more bestial than the Wieroos." + +The girl pressed close to him, her face very white. "Go, if that +is right," she whispered; "but if you die, I shall die, for I +cannot live without you." He looked sharply into her eyes. +"Oh!" he ejaculated. "What an idiot I have been! Nor could I +live without you, little girl." And he drew her very close and +kissed her lips. "Good-bye." He disengaged himself from her +arms and looked again in time to see that the rear of the column +had just passed him. Then he rose and leaped quickly and +silently from the jungle. + +Suddenly von Schoenvorts felt an arm thrown about his neck and +his pistol jerked from its holster. He gave a cry of fright and +warning, and his men turned to see a half-naked white man holding +their leader securely from behind and aiming a pistol at them +over his shoulder. + +"Drop those guns!" came in short, sharp syllables and perfect +German from the lips of the newcomer. "Drop them or I'll put a +bullet through the back of von Schoenvorts' head." + +The Germans hesitated for a moment, looking first toward von +Schoenvorts and then to Schwartz, who was evidently second in +command, for orders. + +"It's the English pig, Bradley," shouted the latter, "and he's +alone--go and get him!" + +"Go yourself," growled Plesser. Hindle moved close to the side +of Plesser and whispered something to him. The latter nodded. +Suddenly von Schoenvorts wheeled about and seized Bradley's +pistol arm with both hands, "Now!" he shouted. "Come and take +him, quick!" + +Schwartz and three others leaped forward; but Plesser and Hindle +held back, looking questioningly toward the English prisoners. +Then Plesser spoke. "Now is your chance, Englander," he +called in low tones. "Seize Hindle and me and take our guns from +us--we will not fight hard." + +Olson and Brady were not long in acting upon the suggestion. +They had seen enough of the brutal treatment von Schoenvorts +accorded his men and the especially venomous attentions he +had taken great enjoyment in according Plesser and Hindle +to understand that these two might be sincere in a desire +for revenge. In another moment the two Germans were unarmed +and Olson and Brady were running to the support of Bradley; +but already it seemed too late. + +Von Schoenvorts had managed to drag the Englishman around so that +his back was toward Schwartz and the other advancing Germans. +Schwartz was almost upon Bradley with gun clubbed and ready to +smash down upon the Englishman's skull. Brady and Olson were +charging the Germans in the rear with Wilson, Whitely, and +Sinclair supporting them with bare fists. It seemed that Bradley +was doomed when, apparently out of space, an arrow whizzed, +striking Schwartz in the side, passing half-way through his body +to crumple him to earth. With a shriek the man fell, and at the +same time Olson and Brady saw the slim figure of a young girl +standing at the edge of the jungle coolly fitting another arrow +to her bow. + +Bradley had now succeeded in wrestling his arm free from von +Schoenvorts' grip and in dropping the latter with a blow from the +butt of his pistol. The rest of the English and Germans were +engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter. Plesser and Hindle standing +aside from the melee and urging their comrades to surrender and +join with the English against the tyranny of von Schoenvorts. +Heinz and Klatz, possibly influenced by their exhortation, were +putting up but a half-hearted resistance; but Dietz, a huge, +bearded, bull-necked Prussian, yelling like a maniac, sought to +exterminate the Englische schweinhunde with his bayonet, +fearing to fire his piece lest he kill some of his comrades. + +It was Olson who engaged him, and though unused to the long +German rifle and bayonet, he met the bull-rush of the Hun with +the cold, cruel precision and science of English bayonet-fighting. +There was no feinting, no retiring and no parrying that was not +also an attack. Bayonet-fighting today is not a pretty thing to +see--it is not an artistic fencing-match in which men give and +take--it is slaughter inevitable and quickly over. + +Dietz lunged once madly at Olson's throat. A short point, with +just a twist of the bayonet to the left sent the sharp blade over +the Englishman's left shoulder. Instantly he stepped close in, +dropped his rifle through his hands and grasped it with both +hands close below the muzzle and with a short, sharp jab sent his +blade up beneath Dietz's chin to the brain. So quickly was the +thing done and so quick the withdrawal that Olson had wheeled to +take on another adversary before the German's corpse had toppled +to the ground. + +But there were no more adversaries to take on. Heinz and Klatz +had thrown down their rifles and with hands above their heads +were crying "Kamerad! Kamerad!" at the tops of their voices. +Von Schoenvorts still lay where he had fallen. Plesser and +Hindle were explaining to Bradley that they were glad of the +outcome of the fight, as they could no longer endure the +brutality of the U-boat commander. + +The remainder of the men were looking at the girl who now +advanced slowly, her bow ready, when Bradley turned toward her +and held out his hand. + +"Co-Tan," he said, "unstring your bow--these are my friends, +and yours." And to the Englishmen: "This is Co-Tan. You who +saw her save me from Schwartz know a part of what I owe her." + +The rough men gathered about the girl, and when she spoke to them +in broken English, with a smile upon her lips enhancing the charm +of her irresistible accent, each and every one of them promptly +fell in love with her and constituted himself henceforth her +guardian and her slave. + +A moment later the attention of each was called to Plesser by a +volley of invective. They turned in time to see the man running +toward von Schoenvorts who was just rising from the ground. +Plesser carried a rifle with bayonet fixed, that he had snatched +from the side of Dietz's corpse. Von Schoenvorts' face was livid +with fear, his jaws working as though he would call for help; but +no sound came from his blue lips. + +"You struck me," shrieked Plesser. "Once, twice, three times, +you struck me, pig. You murdered Schwerke--you drove him insane +by your cruelty until he took his own life. You are only one of +your kind--they are all like you from the Kaiser down. I wish +that you were the Kaiser. Thus would I do!" And he lunged his +bayonet through von Schoenvorts' chest. Then he let his rifle +fall with the dying man and wheeled toward Bradley. "Here I am," +he said. "Do with me as you like. All my life I have been +kicked and cuffed by such as that, and yet always have I gone out +when they commanded, singing, to give up my life if need be to +keep them in power. Only lately have I come to know what a fool +I have been. But now I am no longer a fool, and besides, I am +avenged and Schwerke is avenged, so you can kill me if you wish. +Here I am." + +"If I was after bein' the king," said Olson, "I'd pin the V.C. on +your noble chist; but bein' only an Irishman with a Swede name, +for which God forgive me, the bist I can do is shake your hand." + +"You will not be punished," said Bradley. "There are four of you +left--if you four want to come along and work with us, we will +take you; but you will come as prisoners." + +"It suits me," said Plesser. "Now that the captain-lieutenant is +dead you need not fear us. All our lives we have known nothing +but to obey his class. If I had not killed him, I suppose I +would be fool enough to obey him again; but he is dead. Now we +will obey you--we must obey some one." + +"And you?" Bradley turned to the other survivors of the original +crew of the U-33. Each promised obedience. + +The two dead Germans were buried in a single grave, and then the +party boarded the submarine and stowed away the oil. + +Here Bradley told the men what had befallen him since the night +of September 14th when he had disappeared so mysteriously from +the camp upon the plateau. Now he learned for the first time +that Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., and Miss La Rue had been missing even +longer than he and that no faintest trace of them had been discovered. + +Olson told him of how the Germans had returned and waited in +ambush for them outside the fort, capturing them that they might +be used to assist in the work of refining the oil and later in +manning the U-33, and Plesser told briefly of the experiences of +the German crew under von Schoenvorts since they had escaped from +Caspak months before--of how they lost their bearings after +having been shelled by ships they had attempted to sneak farther +north and how at last with provisions gone and fuel almost +exhausted they had sought and at last found, more by accident +than design, the mysterious island they had once been so glad to +leave behind. + +"Now," announced Bradley, "we'll plan for the future. The boat +has fuel, provisions and water for a month, I believe you said, +Plesser; there are ten of us to man it. We have a last sad duty +here--we must search for Miss La Rue and Mr. Tyler. I say a sad +duty because we know that we shall not find them; but it is none +the less our duty to comb the shoreline, firing signal shells at +intervals, that we at least may leave at last with full knowledge +that we have done all that men might do to locate them." + +None dissented from this conviction, nor was there a voice raised +in protest against the plan to at least make assurance doubly +sure before quitting Caspak forever. + +And so they started, cruising slowly up the coast and firing an +occasional shot from the gun. Often the vessel was brought to a +stop, and always there were anxious eyes scanning the shore for +an answering signal. Late in the afternoon they caught sight of +a number of Band-lu warriors; but when the vessel approached the +shore and the natives realized that human beings stood upon the +back of the strange monster of the sea, they fled in terror +before Bradley could come within hailing distance. + +That night they dropped anchor at the mouth of a sluggish stream +whose warm waters swarmed with millions of tiny tadpolelike +organisms--minute human spawn starting on their precarious +journey from some inland pool toward "the beginning"--a journey +which one in millions, perhaps, might survive to complete. +Already almost at the inception of life they were being greeted +by thousands of voracious mouths as fish and reptiles of many +kinds fought to devour them, the while other and larger creatures +pursued the devourers, to be, in turn, preyed upon by some other +of the countless forms that inhabit the deeps of Caprona's +frightful sea. + +The second day was practically a repetition of the first. +They moved very slowly with frequent stops and once they landed +in the Kro-lu country to hunt. Here they were attacked by the +bow-and-arrow men, whom they could not persuade to palaver +with them. So belligerent were the natives that it became +necessary to fire into them in order to escape their persistent +and ferocious attentions. + +"What chance," asked Bradley, as they were returning to the boat +with their game, "could Tyler and Miss La Rue have had among such +as these?" + +But they continued on their fruitless quest, and the third day, +after cruising along the shore of a deep inlet, they passed a +line of lofty cliffs that formed the southern shore of the inlet +and rounded a sharp promontory about noon. Co-Tan and Bradley +were on deck alone, and as the new shoreline appeared beyond the +point, the girl gave an exclamation of joy and seized the man's +hand in hers. + +"Oh, look!" she cried. "The Galu country! The Galu country! +It is my country that I never thought to see again." + +"You are glad to come again, Co-Tan?" asked Bradley. + +"Oh, so glad!" she cried. "And you will come with me to my people? +We may live here among them, and you will be a great warrior--oh, +when Jor dies you may even be chief, for there is none so mighty +as my warrior. You will come?" + +Bradley shook his head. "I cannot, little Co-Tan," he answered. +"My country needs me, and I must go back. Maybe someday I +shall return. You will not forget me, Co-Tan?" + +She looked at him in wide-eyed wonder. "You are going away from +me?" she asked in a very small voice. "You are going away from Co-Tan?" + +Bradley looked down upon the little bowed head. He felt the soft +cheek against his bare arm; and he felt something else there too-- +hot drops of moisture that ran down to his very finger-tips and +splashed, but each one wrung from a woman's heart. + +He bent low and raised the tear-stained face to his own. +"No, Co-Tan," he said, "I am not going away from you--for you +are going with me. You are going back to my own country to be +my wife. Tell me that you will, Co-Tan." And he bent still lower +yet from his height and kissed her lips. Nor did he need more +than the wonderful new light in her eyes to tell him that she +would go to the end of the world with him if he would but take her. +And then the gun-crew came up from below again to fire a signal +shot, and the two were brought down from the high heaven of their +new happiness to the scarred and weather-beaten deck of the U-33. + +An hour later the vessel was running close in by a shore of +wondrous beauty beside a parklike meadow that stretched back a +mile inland to the foot of a plateau when Whitely called +attention to a score of figures clambering downward from the +elevation to the lowland below. The engines were reversed and +the boat brought to a stop while all hands gathered on deck to +watch the little party coming toward them across the meadow. + +"They are Galus," cried Co-Tan; "they are my own people. Let me +speak to them lest they think we come to fight them. Put me +ashore, my man, and I will go meet them." + +The nose of the U-boat was run close in to the steep bank; but +when Co-Tan would have run forward alone, Bradley seized her hand +and held her back. "I will go with you, Co-Tan," he said; and +together they advanced to meet the oncoming party. + +There were about twenty warriors moving forward in a thin line, +as our infantry advance as skirmishers. Bradley could not but +notice the marked difference between this formation and the +moblike methods of the lower tribes he had come in contact with, +and he commented upon it to Co-Tan. + +"Galu warriors always advance into battle thus," she said. +"The lesser people remain in a huddled group where they can scarce +use their weapons the while they present so big a mark to us that +our spears and arrows cannot miss them; but when they hurl theirs +at our warriors, if they miss the first man, there is no chance that +they will kill some one behind him. + +"Stand still now," she cautioned, "and fold your arms. They will +not harm us then." + +Bradley did as he was bid, and the two stood with arms folded as +the line of warriors approached. When they had come within some +fifty yards, they halted and one spoke. "Who are you and from +whence do you come?" he asked; and then Co-Tan gave a little, +glad cry and sprang forward with out-stretched arms. + +"Oh, Tan!" she exclaimed. "Do you not know your little Co-Tan?" + +The warrior stared, incredulous, for a moment, and then he, too, +ran forward and when they met, took the girl in his arms. It was +then that Bradley experienced to the full a sensation that was +new to him--a sudden hatred for the strange warrior before him +and a desire to kill without knowing why he would kill. He moved +quickly to the girl's side and grasped her wrist. + +"Who is this man?" he demanded in cold tones. + +Co-Tan turned a surprised face toward the Englishman and then of +a sudden broke forth into a merry peal of laughter. "This is my +father, Brad-lee," she cried. + +"And who is Brad-lee?" demanded the warrior. + +"He is my man," replied Co-Tan simply. + +"By what right?" insisted Tan. + +And then she told him briefly of all that she had passed through +since the Wieroos had stolen her and of how Bradley had rescued +her and sought to rescue An-Tak, her brother. + +"You are satisfied with him?" asked Tan. + +"Yes," replied the girl proudly. + +It was then that Bradley's attention was attracted to the edge of +the plateau by a movement there, and looking closely he saw a +horse bearing two figures sliding down the steep declivity. +Once at the bottom, the animal came charging across the meadowland +at a rapid run. It was a magnificent animal--a great bay stallion +with a white-blazed face and white forelegs to the knees, its +barrel encircled by a broad surcingle of white; and as it came to +a sudden stop beside Tan, the Englishman saw that it bore a man +and a girl--a tall man and a girl as beautiful as Co-Tan. When the +girl espied the latter, she slid from the horse and ran toward her, +fairly screaming for joy. + +The man dismounted and stood beside Tan. Like Bradley he was +garbed after the fashion of the surrounding warriors; but +there was a subtle difference between him and his companion. +Possibly he detected a similar difference in Bradley, for his +first question was, "From what country?" and though he spoke in +Galu Bradley thought he detected an accent. + +"England," replied Bradley. + +A broad smile lighted the newcomer's face as he held out his hand. +"I am Tom Billings of Santa Monica, California," he said. "I know +all about you, and I'm mighty glad to find you alive." + +"How did you get here?" asked Bradley. "I thought ours was the +only party of men from the outer world ever to enter Caprona." + +"It was, until we came in search of Bowen J. Tyler, Jr.," +replied Billings. "We found him and sent him home with his +bride; but I was kept a prisoner here." + +Bradley's face darkened--then they were not among friends +after all. "There are ten of us down there on a German sub +with small-arms and a gun," he said quickly in English. +"It will be no trick to get away from these people." + +"You don't know my jailer," replied Billings, "or you'd not be +so sure. Wait, I'll introduce you." And then turning to the girl +who had accompanied him he called her by name. "Ajor," he said, +"permit me to introduce Lieutenant Bradley; Lieutenant, Mrs. +Billings--my jailer!" + +The Englishman laughed as he shook hands with the girl. "You are +not as good a soldier as I," he said to Billings. "Instead of +being taken prisoner myself I have taken one--Mrs. Bradley, this +is Mr. Billings." + +Ajor, quick to understand, turned toward Co-Tan. "You are going +back with him to his country?" she asked. Co-Tan admitted it. + +"You dare?" asked Ajor. "But your father will not permit it-- +Jor, my father, High Chief of the Galus, will not permit it, for +like me you are cos-ata-lo. Oh, Co-Tan, if we but could! +How I would love to see all the strange and wonderful things of +which my Tom tells me!" + +Bradley bent and whispered in her ear. "Say the word and you may +both go with us." + +Billings heard and speaking in English, asked Ajor if she would go. + +"Yes," she answered, "If you wish it; but you know, my Tom, that +if Jor captures us, both you and Co-Tan's man will pay the +penalty with your lives--not even his love for me nor his +admiration for you can save you." + +Bradley noticed that she spoke in English--broken English like +Co-Tan's but equally appealing. "We can easily get you aboard +the ship," he said, "on some pretext or other, and then we can +steam away. They can neither harm nor detain us, nor will we +have to fire a shot at them." + +And so it was done, Bradley and Co-Tan taking Ajor and Billings +aboard to "show" them the vessel, which almost immediately raised +anchor and moved slowly out into the sea. + +"I hate to do it," said Billings. "They have been fine to me. +Jor and Tan are splendid men and they will think me an ingrate; +but I can't waste my life here when there is so much to be done +in the outer world." + +As they steamed down the inland sea past the island of Oo-oh, the +stories of their adventures were retold, and Bradley learned that +Bowen Tyler and his bride had left the Galu country but a +fortnight before and that there was every reason to believe that +the Toreador might still be lying in the Pacific not far off +the subterranean mouth of the river which emitted Caprona's +heated waters into the ocean. + +Late in the second day, after running through swarms of hideous +reptiles, they submerged at the point where the river entered +beneath the cliffs and shortly after rose to the sunlit surface +of the Pacific; but nowhere as far as they could see was sign of +another craft. Down the coast they steamed toward the beach +where Billings had made his crossing in the hydro-aeroplane and +just at dusk the lookout announced a light dead ahead. It proved +to be aboard the Toreador, and a half-hour later there was +such a reunion on the deck of the trig little yacht as no one +there had ever dreamed might be possible. Of the Allies there +were only Tippet and James to be mourned, and no one mourned any +of the Germans dead nor Benson, the traitor, whose ugly story was +first told in Bowen Tyler's manuscript. + +Tyler and the rescue party had but just reached the yacht +that afternoon. They had heard, faintly, the signal shots fired +by the U-33 but had been unable to locate their direction and so +had assumed that they had come from the guns of the Toreador. + +It was a happy party that sailed north toward sunny, southern +California, the old U-33 trailing in the wake of the Toreador +and flying with the latter the glorious Stars and Stripes +beneath which she had been born in the shipyard at Santa Monica. +Three newly married couples, their bonds now duly solemnized by +the master of the ship, joyed in the peace and security of the +untracked waters of the south Pacific and the unique honeymoon +which, had it not been for stern duty ahead, they could have +wished protracted till the end of time. + +And so they came one day to dock at the shipyard which Bowen +Tyler now controlled, and here the U-33 still lies while those +who passed so many eventful days within and because of her, have +gone their various ways. + + + + + + +I have made the following changes to the text: + +PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO + 10 12 of or + 14 19 of animals life of animals + 31 26 is arms his arms + 37 14 above this above his + 37 23 Bradley, Bradley + 54 18 man man + 57 14 and of Oo-oh of Oo-oh + 62 18 spend spent + 63 31 and mumbled the mumbled + 64 9 things thing + 80 30 east cast + 104 16 proaching proached + 106 30 cos-at-lu cos-ata-lu + 126 17 not artistic not an artistic + 126 25 close below hands close below + 130 1 internals intervals + 132 9 than that + 132 10 splashes splashed + 134 3 know know not know + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Out of Time's Abyss +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + diff --git a/old/ootma11.zip b/old/ootma11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e39365b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma11.zip diff --git a/old/ootma11h.htm b/old/ootma11h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd35975 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma11h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3959 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Mac OS X (vers 1st December 2004), see www.w3.org" /> +<meta http-equiv="content-type" content= +"text/html; charset=us-ascii" /> +<title>Out of Time’s Abyss, by Edgar Rice Burroughs.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + <!-- + body {font-family:Georgia,serif;margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;font-variant:small-caps;} + pre {font-family:Courier,monospaced;font-size: 0.8em;} + hr {width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + hr.short {width:25%;} + + ul {margin-left:35%;list-style-type:none;} + .returnTOC {text-align:right;font-size:.7em;} + .cen {text-align:center;} + a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Out of Time's Abyss +by Edgar Rice Burroughs +(#3 in The Land that Time Forgot Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + + + + + + + +Created by Judith Boss, Omaha, Nebraska +</pre> +<h1>Out of Time’s Abyss</h1> +<h2>By Edgar Rice Burroughs</h2> +<hr /> +<h3><a id="Contents" name="Contents"></a>Contents</h3> +<ul> +<li><a href="#Ch_1">Chapter 1</a></li> +<li><a href="#Ch_2">Chapter 2</a></li> +<li><a href="#Ch_3">Chapter 3</a></li> +<li><a href="#Ch_4">Chapter 4</a></li> +<li><a href="#Ch_5">Chapter 5</a></li> +</ul> +<hr /> +<h3><a id="Ch_1" name="Ch_1"></a>Chapter 1</h3> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>This is the tale of Bradley after he left Fort Dinosaur upon the +west coast of the great lake that is in the center of the +island.</p> +<p>Upon the fourth day of September, 1916, he set out with four +companions, Sinclair, Brady, James, and Tippet, to search along the +base of the barrier cliffs for a point at which they might be +scaled.</p> +<p>Through the heavy Caspakian air, beneath the swollen sun, the +five men marched northwest from Fort Dinosaur, now waist-deep in +lush, jungle grasses starred with myriad gorgeous blooms, now +across open meadow-land and parklike expanses and again plunging +into dense forests of eucalyptus and acacia and giant arboreous +ferns with feathered fronds waving gently a hundred feet above +their heads.</p> +<p>About them upon the ground, among the trees and in the air over +them moved and swung and soared the countless forms of +Caspak’s teeming life. Always were they menaced by some +frightful thing and seldom were their rifles cool, yet even in the +brief time they had dwelt upon Caprona they had become callous to +danger, so that they swung along laughing and chatting like +soldiers on a summer hike.</p> +<p>“This reminds me of South Clark Street,” remarked +Brady, who had once served on the traffic squad in Chicago; and as +no one asked him why, he volunteered that it was “because +it’s no place for an Irishman.”</p> +<p>“South Clark Street and heaven have something in common, +then,” suggested Sinclair. James and Tippet laughed, and then +a hideous growl broke from a dense thicket ahead and diverted their +attention to other matters.</p> +<p>“One of them behemoths of ’Oly Writ,” muttered +Tippet as they came to a halt and with guns ready awaited the +almost inevitable charge.</p> +<p>“Hungry lot o’ beggars, these,” said Bradley; +“always trying to eat everything they see.”</p> +<p>For a moment no further sound came from the thicket. “He +may be feeding now,” suggested Bradley. “We’ll +try to go around him. Can’t waste ammunition. Won’t +last forever. Follow me.” And he set off at right angles to +their former course, hoping to avert a charge. They had taken a +dozen steps, perhaps, when the thicket moved to the advance of the +thing within it, the leafy branches parted, and the hideous head of +a gigantic bear emerged.</p> +<p>“Pick your trees,” whispered Bradley. +“Can’t waste ammunition.”</p> +<p>The men looked about them. The bear took a couple of steps +forward, still growling menacingly. He was exposed to the shoulders +now. Tippet took one look at the monster and bolted for the nearest +tree; and then the bear charged. He charged straight for Tippet. +The other men scattered for the various trees they had +selected—all except Bradley. He stood watching Tippet and the +bear. The man had a good start and the tree was not far away; but +the speed of the enormous creature behind him was something to +marvel at, yet Tippet was in a fair way to make his sanctuary when +his foot caught in a tangle of roots and down he went, his rifle +flying from his hand and falling several yards away. Instantly +Bradley’s piece was at his shoulder, there was a sharp report +answered by a roar of mingled rage and pain from the carnivore. +Tippet attempted to scramble to his feet.</p> +<p>“Lie still!” shouted Bradley. “Can’t +waste ammunition.”</p> +<p>The bear halted in its tracks, wheeled toward Bradley and then +back again toward Tippet. Again the former’s rifle spit +angrily, and the bear turned again in his direction. Bradley +shouted loudly. “Come on, you behemoth of Holy Writ!” +he cried. “Come on, you duffer! Can’t waste +ammunition.” And as he saw the bear apparently upon the verge +of deciding to charge him, he encouraged the idea by backing +rapidly away, knowing that an angry beast will more often charge +one who moves than one who lies still.</p> +<p>And the bear did charge. Like a bolt of lightning he flashed +down upon the Englishman. “Now run!” Bradley called to +Tippet and himself turned in flight toward a nearby tree. The other +men, now safely ensconced upon various branches, watched the race +with breathless interest. Would Bradley make it? It seemed scarce +possible. And if he didn’t! James gasped at the thought. Six +feet at the shoulder stood the frightful mountain of blood-mad +flesh and bone and sinew that was bearing down with the speed of an +express train upon the seemingly slow-moving man.</p> +<p>It all happened in a few seconds; but they were seconds that +seemed like hours to the men who watched. They saw Tippet leap to +his feet at Bradley’s shouted warning. They saw him run, +stooping to recover his rifle as he passed the spot where it had +fallen. They saw him glance back toward Bradley, and then they saw +him stop short of the tree that might have given him safety and +turn back in the direction of the bear. Firing as he ran, Tippet +raced after the great cave bear—the monstrous thing that +should have been extinct ages before—ran for it and fired +even as the beast was almost upon Bradley. The men in the trees +scarcely breathed. It seemed to them such a futile thing for Tippet +to do, and Tippet of all men! They had never looked upon Tippet as +a coward—there seemed to be no cowards among that strangely +assorted company that Fate had gathered together from the four +corners of the earth—but Tippet was considered a cautious +man. Overcautious, some thought him. How futile he and his little +pop-gun appeared as he dashed after that living engine of +destruction! But, oh, how glorious! It was some such thought as +this that ran through Brady’s mind, though articulated it +might have been expressed otherwise, albeit more forcefully.</p> +<p>Just then it occurred to Brady to fire and he, too, opened upon +the bear, but at the same instant the animal stumbled and fell +forward, though still growling most fearsomely. Tippet never +stopped running or firing until he stood within a foot of the +brute, which lay almost touching Bradley and was already struggling +to regain its feet. Placing the muzzle of his gun against the +bear’s ear, Tippet pulled the trigger. The creature sank +limply to the ground and Bradley scrambled to his feet.</p> +<p>“Good work, Tippet,” he said. “Mightily +obliged to you—awful waste of ammunition, really.”</p> +<p>And then they resumed the march and in fifteen minutes the +encounter had ceased even to be a topic of conversation.</p> +<p>For two days they continued upon their perilous way. Already the +cliffs loomed high and forbidding close ahead without sign of break +to encourage hope that somewhere they might be scaled. Late in the +afternoon the party crossed a small stream of warm water upon the +sluggishly moving surface of which floated countless millions of +tiny green eggs surrounded by a light scum of the same color, +though of a darker shade. Their past experience of Caspak had +taught them that they might expect to come upon a stagnant pool of +warm water if they followed the stream to its source; but there +they were almost certain to find some of Caspak’s grotesque, +manlike creatures. Already since they had disembarked from the U-33 +after its perilous trip through the subterranean channel beneath +the barrier cliffs had brought them into the inland sea of Caspak, +had they encountered what had appeared to be three distinct types +of these creatures. There had been the pure apes—huge, +gorillalike beasts—and those who walked, a trifle more erect +and had features with just a shade more of the human cast about +them. Then there were men like Ahm, whom they had captured and +confined at the fort—Ahm, the club-man. “Well-known +club-man,” Tyler had called him. Ahm and his people had +knowledge of a speech. They had a language, in which they were +unlike the race just inferior to them, and they walked much more +erect and were less hairy: but it was principally the fact that +they possessed a spoken language and carried a weapon that +differentiated them from the others.</p> +<p>All of these peoples had proven belligerent in the extreme. In +common with the rest of the fauna of Caprona the first law of +nature as they seemed to understand it was to +kill—kill—kill. And so it was that Bradley had no +desire to follow up the little stream toward the pool near which +were sure to be the caves of some savage tribe, but fortune played +him an unkind trick, for the pool was much closer than he imagined, +its southern end reaching fully a mile south of the point at which +they crossed the stream, and so it was that after forcing their way +through a tangle of jungle vegetation they came out upon the edge +of the pool which they had wished to avoid.</p> +<p>Almost simultaneously there appeared south of them a party of +naked men armed with clubs and hatchets. Both parties halted as +they caught sight of one another. The men from the fort saw before +them a hunting party evidently returning to its caves or village +laden with meat. They were large men with features closely +resembling those of the African Negro though their skins were +white. Short hair grew upon a large portion of their limbs and +bodies, which still retained a considerable trace of apish +progenitors. They were, however, a distinctly higher type than the +Bo-lu, or club-men.</p> +<p>Bradley would have been glad to have averted a meeting; but as +he desired to lead his party south around the end of the pool, and +as it was hemmed in by the jungle on one side and the water on the +other, there seemed no escape from an encounter.</p> +<p>On the chance that he might avoid a clash, Bradley stepped +forward with upraised hand. “We are friends, ” he +called in the tongue of Ahm, the Bolu, who had been held a prisoner +at the fort; “permit us to pass in peace. We will not harm +you.”</p> +<p>At this the hatchet-men set up a great jabbering with much +laughter, loud and boisterous. “No,” shouted one, +“you will not harm us, for we shall kill you. Come! We kill! +We kill!” And with hideous shouts they charged down upon the +Europeans.</p> +<p>“Sinclair, you may fire,” said Bradley +quietly.” Pick off the leader. Can’t waste +ammunition.”</p> +<p>The Englishman raised his piece to his shoulder and took quick +aim at the breast of the yelling savage leaping toward them. +Directly behind the leader came another hatchet-man, and with the +report of Sinclair’s rifle both warriors lunged forward in +the tall grass, pierced by the same bullet. The effect upon the +rest of the band was electrical. As one man they came to a sudden +halt, wheeled to the east and dashed into the jungle, where the men +could hear them forcing their way in an effort to put as much +distance as possible between themselves and the authors of this new +and frightful noise that killed warriors at a great distance.</p> +<p>Both the savages were dead when Bradley approached to examine +them, and as the Europeans gathered around, other eyes were bent +upon them with greater curiosity than they displayed for the victim +of Sinclair’s bullet. When the party again took up the march +around the southern end of the pool the owner of the eyes followed +them—large, round eyes, almost expressionless except for a +certain cold cruelty which glinted malignly from under their pale +gray irises.</p> +<p>All unconscious of the stalker, the men came, late in the +afternoon, to a spot which seemed favorable as a campsite. A cold +spring bubbled from the base of a rocky formation which overhung +and partially encircled a small inclosure. At Bradley’s +command, the men took up the duties assigned them—gathering +wood, building a cook-fire and preparing the evening meal. It was +while they were thus engaged that Brady’s attention was +attracted by the dismal flapping of huge wings. He glanced up, +expecting to see one of the great flying reptiles of a bygone age, +his rifle ready in his hand. Brady was a brave man. He had groped +his way up narrow tenement stairs and taken an armed maniac from a +dark room without turning a hair; but now as he looked up, he went +white and staggered back.</p> +<p>“Gawd!” he almost screamed. “What is +it?”</p> +<p>Attracted by Brady’s cry the others seized their rifles as +they followed his wide-eyed, frozen gaze, nor was there one of them +that was not moved by some species of terror or awe. Then Brady +spoke again in an almost inaudible voice. “Holy Mother +protect us—it’s a banshee!”</p> +<p>Bradley, always cool almost to indifference in the face of +danger, felt a strange, creeping sensation run over his flesh, as +slowly, not a hundred feet above them, the thing flapped itself +across the sky, its huge, round eyes glaring down upon them. And +until it disappeared over the tops of the trees of a near-by wood +the five men stood as though paralyzed, their eyes never leaving +the weird shape; nor never one of them appearing to recall that he +grasped a loaded rifle in his hands.</p> +<p>With the passing of the thing, came the reaction. Tippet sank to +the ground and buried his face in his hands. “Oh, +Gord,” he moaned. “Tyke me awy from this orful +plice.” Brady, recovered from the first shock, swore loud and +luridly. He called upon all the saints to witness that he was +unafraid and that anybody with half an eye could have seen that the +creature was nothing more than “one av thim flyin’ +alligators” that they all were familiar with.</p> +<p>“Yes,” said Sinclair with fine sarcasm, +“we’ve saw so many of them with white shrouds on +’em.”</p> +<p>“Shut up, you fool!” growled Brady. “If you +know so much, tell us what it was after bein’ +then.”</p> +<p>Then he turned toward Bradley. “What was it, sor, do you +think?” he asked.</p> +<p>Bradley shook his head. “I don’t know,” he +said. “It looked like a winged human being clothed in a +flowing white robe. Its face was more human than otherwise. That is +the way it looked to me; but what it really was I can’t even +guess, for such a creature is as far beyond my experience or +knowledge as it is beyond yours. All that I am sure of is that +whatever else it may have been, it was quite material—it was +no ghost; rather just another of the strange forms of life which we +have met here and with which we should be accustomed by this +time.”</p> +<p>Tippet looked up. His face was still ashy. “Yer +cawn’t tell me,” he cried. “Hi seen hit. Blime, +Hi seen hit. Hit was ha dead man flyin’ through the hair. +Didn’t Hi see ’is heyes? Oh, Gord! Didn’t Hi see +’em?”</p> +<p>“It didn’t look like any beast or reptile to +me,” spoke up Sinclair. “It was lookin’ right +down at me when I looked up and I saw its face plain as I see +yours. It had big round eyes that looked all cold and dead, and its +cheeks were sunken in deep, and I could see its yellow teeth behind +thin, tight-drawn lips—like a man who had been dead a long +while, sir,” he added, turning toward Bradley.</p> +<p>“Yes!” James had not spoken since the apparition had +passed over them, and now it was scarce speech which he +uttered—rather a series of articulate gasps. +“Yes—dead—a—long—while. +It—means something. It—come—for some—one. +For one—of us. One—of us is goin’— to die. +I’m goin’ to die!” he ended in a wail.</p> +<p>“Come! Come!” snapped Bradley. “Won’t +do. Won’t do at all. Get to work, all of you. Waste of time. +Can’t waste time.”</p> +<p>His authoritative tones brought them all up standing, and +presently each was occupied with his own duties; but each worked in +silence and there was no singing and no bantering such as had +marked the making of previous camps. Not until they had eaten and +to each had been issued the little ration of smoking tobacco +allowed after each evening meal did any sign of a relaxation of +taut nerves appear. It was Brady who showed the first signs of +returning good spirits. He commenced humming “It’s a +Long Way to Tipperary” and presently to voice the words, but +he was well into his third song before anyone joined him, and even +then there seemed a dismal note in even the gayest of tunes.</p> +<p>A huge fire blazed in the opening of their rocky shelter that +the prowling carnivora might be kept at bay; and always one man +stood on guard, watchfully alert against a sudden rush by some +maddened beast of the jungle. Beyond the fire, yellow-green spots +of flame appeared, moved restlessly about, disappeared and +reappeared, accompanied by a hideous chorus of screams and growls +and roars as the hungry meat-eaters hunting through the night were +attracted by the light or the scent of possible prey.</p> +<p>But to such sights and sounds as these the five men had become +callous. They sang or talked as unconcernedly as they might have +done in the bar-room of some publichouse at home.</p> +<p>Sinclair was standing guard. The others were listening to +Brady’s description of traffic congestion at the Rush Street +bridge during the rush hour at night. The fire crackled cheerily. +The owners of the yellow-green eyes raised their frightful chorus +to the heavens. Conditions seemed again to have returned to normal. +And then, as though the hand of Death had reached out and touched +them all, the five men tensed into sudden rigidity.</p> +<p>Above the nocturnal diapason of the teeming jungle sounded a +dismal flapping of wings and over head, through the thick night, a +shadowy form passed across the diffused light of the flaring +camp-fire. Sinclair raised his rifle and fired. An eerie wail +floated down from above and the apparition, whatever it might have +been, was swallowed by the darkness. For several seconds the +listening men heard the sound of those dismally flapping wings +lessening in the distance until they could no longer be heard.</p> +<p>Bradley was the first to speak. “Shouldn’t have +fired, Sinclair,” he said; “can’t waste +ammunition.” But there was no note of censure in his tone. It +was as though he understood the nervous reaction that had compelled +the other’s act.</p> +<p>“I couldn’t help it, sir,” said Sinclair. +“Lord, it would take an iron man to keep from shootin’ +at that awful thing. Do you believe in ghosts, sir?”</p> +<p>“No,” replied Bradley. “No such +things.”</p> +<p>“I don’t know about that,” said Brady. +“There was a woman murdered over on the prairie near +Brighton—her throat was cut from ear to ear, +and—”</p> +<p>“Shut up,” snapped Bradley.</p> +<p>“My grandaddy used to live down Coppington wy,” said +Tippet. “They were a hold ruined castle on a ’ill near +by, hand at midnight they used to see pale blue lights through the +windows an ’ear—”</p> +<p>“Will you close your hatch!” demanded Bradley. +“You fools will have yourselves scared to death in a minute. +Now go to sleep.”</p> +<p>But there was little sleep in camp that night until utter +exhaustion overtook the harassed men toward morning; nor was there +any return of the weird creature that had set the nerves of each of +them on edge.</p> +<p>The following forenoon the party reached the base of the barrier +cliffs and for two days marched northward in an effort to discover +a break in the frowning abutment that raised its rocky face almost +perpendicularly above them, yet nowhere was there the slightest +indication that the cliffs were scalable.</p> +<p>Disheartened, Bradley determined to turn back toward the fort, +as he already had exceeded the time decided upon by Bowen Tyler and +himself for the expedition. The cliffs for many miles had been +trending in a northeasterly direction, indicating to Bradley that +they were approaching the northern extremity of the island. +According to the best of his calculations they had made sufficient +easting during the past two days to have brought them to a point +almost directly north of Fort Dinosaur and as nothing could be +gained by retracing their steps along the base of the cliffs he +decided to strike due south through the unexplored country between +them and the fort.</p> +<p>That night (September 9, 1916), they made camp a short distance +from the cliffs beside one of the numerous cool springs that are to +be found within Caspak, oftentimes close beside the still more +numerous warm and hot springs which feed the many pools. After +supper the men lay smoking and chatting among themselves. Tippet +was on guard. Fewer night prowlers threatened them, and the men +were commenting upon the fact that the farther north they had +traveled the smaller the number of all species of animals became, +though it was still present in what would have seemed appalling +plenitude in any other part of the world. The diminution in +reptilian life was the most noticeable change in the fauna of +northern Caspak. Here, however, were forms they had not met +elsewhere, several of which were of gigantic proportions.</p> +<p>According to their custom all, with the exception of the man on +guard, sought sleep early, nor, once disposed upon the ground for +slumber, were they long in finding it. It seemed to Bradley that he +had scarcely closed his eyes when he was brought to his feet, wide +awake, by a piercing scream which was punctuated by the sharp +report of a rifle from the direction of the fire where Tippet stood +guard. As he ran toward the man, Bradley heard above him the same +uncanny wail that had set every nerve on edge several nights +before, and the dismal flapping of huge wings. He did not need to +look up at the white-shrouded figure winging slowly away into the +night to know that their grim visitor had returned.</p> +<p>The muscles of his arm, reacting to the sight and sound of the +menacing form, carried his hand to the butt of his pistol; but +after he had drawn the weapon, he immediately returned it to its +holster with a shrug.</p> +<p>“What for?” he muttered. “Can’t waste +ammunition.” Then he walked quickly to where Tippet lay +sprawled upon his face. By this time James, Brady and Sinclair were +at his heels, each with his rifle in readiness.</p> +<p>“Is he dead, sir?” whispered James as Bradley +kneeled beside the prostrate form.</p> +<p>Bradley turned Tippet over on his back and pressed an ear close +to the other’s heart. In a moment he raised his head. +“Fainted,” he announced. “Get water. +Hurry!” Then he loosened Tippet’s shirt at the throat +and when the water was brought, threw a cupful in the man’s +face. Slowly Tippet regained consciousness and sat up. At first he +looked curiously into the faces of the men about him; then an +expression of terror overspread his features. He shot a startled +glance up into the black void above and then burying his face in +his arms began to sob like a child.</p> +<p>“What’s wrong, man?” demanded Bradley. +“Buck up! Can’t play cry-baby. Waste of energy. What +happened?”</p> +<p>“Wot ’appened, sir!” wailed Tippet. “Oh, +Gord, sir! Hit came back. Hit came for me, sir. Right hit did, sir; +strite hat me, sir; hand with long w’ite ’ands it +clawed for me. Oh, Gord! Hit almost caught me, sir. Hi’m has +good as dead; Hi’m a marked man; that’s wot Hi ham. Hit +was a-goin’ for to carry me horf, sir.”</p> +<p>“Stuff and nonsense,” snapped Bradley. “Did +you get a good look at it?”</p> +<p>Tippet said that he did—a much better look than he wanted. +The thing had almost clutched him, and he had looked straight into +its eyes—“dead heyes in a dead face,” he had +described them.</p> +<p>“Wot was it after bein’, do you think?” +inquired Brady.</p> +<p>“Hit was Death,” moaned Tippet, shuddering, and +again a pall of gloom fell upon the little party.</p> +<p>The following day Tippet walked as one in a trance. He never +spoke except in reply to a direct question, which more often than +not had to be repeated before it could attract his attention. He +insisted that he was already a dead man, for if the thing +didn’t come for him during the day he would never live +through another night of agonized apprehension, waiting for the +frightful end that he was positive was in store for him. +“I’ll see to that,” he said, and they all knew +that Tippet meant to take his own life before darkness set in.</p> +<p>Bradley tried to reason with him, in his short, crisp way, but +soon saw the futility of it; nor could he take the man’s +weapons from him without subjecting him to almost certain death +from any of the numberless dangers that beset their way.</p> +<p>The entire party was moody and glum. There was none of the +bantering that had marked their intercourse before, even in the +face of blighting hardships and hideous danger. This was a new +menace that threatened them, something that they couldn’t +explain; and so, naturally, it aroused within them superstitious +fear which Tippet’s attitude only tended to augment. To add +further to their gloom, their way led through a dense forest, +where, on account of the underbrush, it was difficult to make even +a mile an hour. Constant watchfulness was required to avoid the +many snakes of various degrees of repulsiveness and enormity that +infested the wood; and the only ray of hope they had to cling to +was that the forest would, like the majority of Caspakian forests, +prove to be of no considerable extent.</p> +<p>Bradley was in the lead when he came suddenly upon a grotesque +creature of Titanic proportions. Crouching among the trees, which +here commenced to thin out slightly, Bradley saw what appeared to +be an enormous dragon devouring the carcass of a mammoth. From +frightful jaws to the tip of its long tail it was fully forty feet +in length. Its body was covered with plates of thick skin which +bore a striking resemblance to armor-plate. The creature saw +Bradley almost at the same instant that he saw it and reared up on +its enormous hind legs until its head towered a full twenty-five +feet above the ground. From the cavernous jaws issued a hissing +sound of a volume equal to the escaping steam from the +safety-valves of half a dozen locomotives, and then the creature +came for the man.</p> +<p>“Scatter!” shouted Bradley to those behind him; and +all but Tippet heeded the warning. The man stood as though dazed, +and when Bradley saw the other’s danger, he too stopped and +wheeling about sent a bullet into the massive body forcing its way +through the trees toward him. The shot struck the creature in the +belly where there was no protecting armor, eliciting a new note +which rose in a shrill whistle and ended in a wail. It was then +that Tippet appeared to come out of his trance, for with a cry of +terror he turned and fled to the left. Bradley, seeing that he had +as good an opportunity as the others to escape, now turned his +attention to extricating himself; and as the woods seemed dense on +the right, he ran in that direction, hoping that the close-set +boles would prevent pursuit on the part of the great reptile. The +dragon paid no further attention to him, however, for +Tippet’s sudden break for liberty had attracted its +attention; and after Tippet it went, bowling over small trees, +uprooting underbrush and leaving a wake behind it like that of a +small tornado.</p> +<p>Bradley, the moment he had discovered the thing was pursuing +Tippet, had followed it. He was afraid to fire for fear of hitting +the man, and so it was that he came upon them at the very moment +that the monster lunged its great weight forward upon the doomed +man. The sharp, three-toed talons of the forelimbs seized poor +Tippet, and Bradley saw the unfortunate fellow lifted high above +the ground as the creature again reared up on its hind legs, +immediately transferring Tippet’s body to its gaping jaws, +which closed with a sickening, crunching sound as Tippet’s +bones cracked beneath the great teeth.</p> +<p>Bradley half raised his rifle to fire again and then lowered it +with a shake of his head. Tippet was beyond succor—why waste +a bullet that Caspak could never replace? If he could now escape +the further notice of the monster it would be a wiser act than to +throw his life away in futile revenge. He saw that the reptile was +not looking in his direction, and so he slipped noiselessly behind +the bole of a large tree and thence quietly faded away in the +direction he believed the others to have taken. At what he +considered a safe distance he halted and looked back. Half hidden +by the intervening trees he still could see the huge head and the +massive jaws from which protrude the limp legs of the dead man. +Then, as though struck by the hammer of Thor, the creature +collapsed and crumpled to the ground. Bradley’s single +bullet, penetrating the body through the soft skin of the belly, +had slain the Titan.</p> +<p>A few minutes later, Bradley found the others of the party. The +four returned cautiously to the spot where the creature lay and +after convincing themselves that it was quite dead, came close to +it. It was an arduous and gruesome job extricating Tippet’s +mangled remains from the powerful jaws, the men working for the +most part silently.</p> +<p>“It was the work of the banshee all right,” muttered +Brady. “It warned poor Tippet, it did.”</p> +<p>“Hit killed him, that’s wot hit did, hand +hit’ll kill some more of us,” said James, his lower lip +trembling.</p> +<p>“If it was a ghost,” interjected Sinclair, +“and I don’t say as it was; but if it was, why, it +could take on any form it wanted to. It might have turned itself +into this thing, which ain’t no natural thing at all, just to +get poor Tippet. If it had of been a lion or something else +humanlike it wouldn’t look so strange; but this here thing +ain’t humanlike. There ain’t no such thing an’ +never was.”</p> +<p>“Bullets don’t kill ghosts,” said Bradley, +“so this couldn’t have been a ghost. Furthermore, there +are no such things. I’ve been trying to place this creature. +Just succeeded. It’s a tyrannosaurus. Saw picture of skeleton +in magazine. There’s one in New York Natural History Museum. +Seems to me it said it was found in place called Hell Creek +somewhere in western North America. Supposed to have lived about +six million years ago.”</p> +<p>“Hell Creek’s in Montana,” said Sinclair. +“I used to punch cows in Wyoming, an’ I’ve heard +of Hell Creek. Do you s’pose that there thing’s six +million years old?” His tone was skeptical.</p> +<p>“No,” replied Bradley; “But it would indicate +that the island of Caprona has stood almost without change for more +than six million years.”</p> +<p>The conversation and Bradley’s assurance that the creature +was not of supernatural origin helped to raise a trifle the spirits +of the men; and then came another diversion in the form of ravenous +meat-eaters attracted to the spot by the uncanny sense of smell +which had apprised them of the presence of flesh, killed and ready +for the eating.</p> +<p>It was a constant battle while they dug a grave and consigned +all that was mortal of John Tippet to his last, lonely +resting-place. Nor would they leave then; but remained to fashion a +rude head- stone from a crumbling out-cropping of sandstone and to +gather a mass of the gorgeous flowers growing in such great +profusion around them and heap the new-made grave with bright +blooms. Upon the headstone Sinclair scratched in rude characters +the words:</p> +<p class="cen">HERE LIES JOHN TIPPET<br /> +ENGLISHMAN<br /> +KILLED BY TYRANNOSAURUS<br /> +10 SEPT. A.D. 1916<br /> +R.I.P.</p> +<p>and Bradley repeated a short prayer before they left their +comrade forever.</p> +<p>For three days the party marched due south through forests and +meadow-land and great park-like areas where countless herbivorous +animals grazed—deer and antelope and bos and the little ecca, +the smallest species of Caspakian horse, about the size of a +rabbit. There were other horses too; but all were small, the +largest being not above eight hands in height. Preying continually +upon the herbivora were the meat-eaters, large and +small—wolves, hyaenadons, panthers, lions, tigers, and bear +as well as several large and ferocious species of reptilian +life.</p> +<p>On September twelfth the party scaled a line of sandstone cliffs +which crossed their route toward the south; but they crossed them +only after an encounter with the tribe that inhabited the numerous +caves which pitted the face of the escarpment. That night they +camped upon a rocky plateau which was sparsely wooded with jarrah, +and here once again they were visited by the weird, nocturnal +apparition that had already filled them with a nameless terror.</p> +<p>As on the night of September ninth the first warning came from +the sentinel standing guard over his sleeping companions. A +terror-stricken cry punctuated by the crack of a rifle brought +Bradley, Sinclair and Brady to their feet in time to see James, +with clubbed rifle, battling with a white-robed figure that hovered +on widespread wings on a level with the Englishman’s head. As +they ran, shouting, forward, it was obvious to them that the weird +and terrible apparition was attempting to seize James; but when it +saw the others coming to his rescue, it desisted, flapping rapidly +upward and away, its long, ragged wings giving forth the peculiarly +dismal notes which always characterized the sound of its +flying.</p> +<p>Bradley fired at the vanishing menacer of their peace and +safety; but whether he scored a hit or not, none could tell, +though, following the shot, there was wafted back to them the same +piercing wail that had on other occasions frozen their marrow.</p> +<p>Then they turned toward James, who lay face downward upon the +ground, trembling as with ague. For a time he could not even speak, +but at last regained sufficient composure to tell them how the +thing must have swooped silently upon him from above and behind as +the first premonition of danger he had received was when the long, +clawlike fingers had clutched him beneath either arm. In the melee +his rifle had been discharged and he had broken away at the same +instant and turned to defend himself with the butt. The rest they +had seen.</p> +<p>From that instant James was an absolutely broken man. He +maintained with shaking lips that his doom was sealed, that the +thing had marked him for its own, and that he was as good as dead, +nor could any amount of argument or raillery convince him to the +contrary. He had seen Tippet marked and claimed and now he had been +marked. Nor were his constant reiterations of this belief without +effect upon the rest of the party. Even Bradley felt depressed, +though for the sake of the others he managed to hide it beneath a +show of confidence he was far from feeling.</p> +<p>And on the following day William James was killed by a +saber-tooth tiger—September 13, 1916. Beneath a jarrah tree +on the stony plateau on the northern edge of the Sto-lu country in +the land that Time forgot, he lies in a lonely grave marked by a +rough headstone.</p> +<p>Southward from his grave marched three grim and silent men. To +the best of Bradley’s reckoning they were some twenty-five +miles north of Fort Dinosaur, and that they might reach the fort on +the following day, they plodded on until darkness overtook them. +With comparative safety fifteen miles away, they made camp at last; +but there was no singing now and no joking. In the bottom of his +heart each prayed that they might come safely through just this +night, for they knew that during the morrow they would make the +final stretch, yet the nerves of each were taut with strained +anticipation of what gruesome thing might flap down upon them from +the black sky, marking another for its own. Who would be the +next?</p> +<p>As was their custom, they took turns at guard, each man doing +two hours and then arousing the next. Brady had gone on from eight +to ten, followed by Sinclair from ten to twelve, then Bradley had +been awakened. Brady would stand the last guard from two to four, +as they had determined to start the moment that it became light +enough to insure comparative safety upon the trail.</p> +<p>The snapping of a twig aroused Brady out of a dead sleep, and as +he opened his eyes, he saw that it was broad daylight and that at +twenty paces from him stood a huge lion. As the man sprang to his +feet, his rifle ready in his hand, Sinclair awoke and took in the +scene in a single swift glance. The fire was out and Bradley was +nowhere in sight. For a long moment the lion and the men eyed one +another. The latter had no mind to fire if the beast minded its own +affairs—they were only too glad to let it go its way if it +would; but the lion was of a different mind.</p> +<p>Suddenly the long tail snapped stiffly erect, and as though it +had been attached to two trigger fingers the two rifles spoke in +unison, for both men knew this signal only too well—the +immediate forerunner of a deadly charge. As the brute’s head +had been raised, his spine had not been visible; and so they did +what they had learned by long experience was best to do. Each +covered a front leg, and as the tail snapped aloft, fired. With a +hideous roar the mighty flesh-eater lurched forward to the ground +with both front legs broken. It was an easy accomplishment in the +instant before the beast charged—after, it would have been +well-nigh an impossible feat. Brady stepped close in and finished +him with a shot in the base of the brain lest his terrific roarings +should attract his mate or others of their kind.</p> +<p>Then the two men turned and looked at one another. “Where +is Lieutenant Bradley?” asked Sinclair. They walked to the +fire. Only a few smoking embers remained. A few feet away lay +Bradley’s rifle. There was no evidence of a struggle. The two +men circled about the camp twice and on the last lap Brady stooped +and picked up an object which had lain about ten yards beyond the +fire—it was Bradley’s cap. Again the two looked +questioningly at one another, and then, simultaneously, both pairs +of eyes swung upward and searched the sky. A moment later Brady was +examining the ground about the spot where Bradley’s cap had +lain. It was one of those little barren, sandy stretches that they +had found only upon this stony plateau. Brady’s own footsteps +showed as plainly as black ink upon white paper; but his was the +only foot that had marred the smooth, windswept surface—there +was no sign that Bradley had crossed the spot upon the surface of +the ground, and yet his cap lay well toward the center of it.</p> +<p>Breakfastless and with shaken nerves the two survivors plunged +madly into the long day’s march. Both were strong, +courageous, resourceful men; but each had reached the limit of +human nerve endurance and each felt that he would rather die than +spend another night in the hideous open of that frightful land. +Vivid in the mind of each was a picture of Bradley’s end, for +though neither had witnessed the tragedy, both could imagine almost +precisely what had occurred. They did not discuss it—they did +not even mention it—yet all day long the thing was uppermost +in the mind of each and mingled with it a similar picture with +himself as victim should they fail to make Fort Dinosaur before +dark.</p> +<p>And so they plunged forward at reckless speed, their clothes, +their hands, their faces torn by the retarding underbrush that +reached forth to hinder them. Again and again they fell; but be it +to their credit that the one always waited and helped the other and +that into the mind of neither entered the thought or the temptation +to desert his companion—they would reach the fort together if +both survived, or neither would reach it.</p> +<p>They encountered the usual number of savage beasts and reptiles; +but they met them with a courageous recklessness born of +desperation, and by virtue of the very madness of the chances they +took, they came through unscathed and with the minimum of +delay.</p> +<p>Shortly after noon they reached the end of the plateau. Before +them was a drop of two hundred feet to the valley beneath. To the +left, in the distance, they could see the waters of the great +inland sea that covers a considerable portion of the area of the +crater island of Caprona and at a little lesser distance to the +south of the cliffs they saw a thin spiral of smoke arising above +the tree-tops.</p> +<p>The landscape was familiar—each recognized it immediately +and knew that that smoky column marked the spot where Dinosaur had +stood. Was the fort still there, or did the smoke arise from the +smoldering embers of the building they had helped to fashion for +the housing of their party? Who could say!</p> +<p>Thirty precious minutes that seemed as many hours to the +impatient men were consumed in locating a precarious way from the +summit to the base of the cliffs that bounded the plateau upon the +south, and then once again they struck off upon level ground toward +their goal. The closer they approached the fort the greater became +their apprehension that all would not be well. They pictured the +barracks deserted or the small company massacred and the buildings +in ashes. It was almost in a frenzy of fear that they broke through +the final fringe of jungle and stood at last upon the verge of the +open meadow a half-mile from Fort Dinosaur.</p> +<p>“Lord!” ejaculated Sinclair. “They are still +there!” And he fell to his knees, sobbing.</p> +<p>Brady trembled like a leaf as he crossed himself and gave silent +thanks, for there before them stood the sturdy ramparts of Dinosaur +and from inside the inclosure rose a thin spiral of smoke that +marked the location of the cook-house. All was well, then, and +their comrades were preparing the evening meal!</p> +<p>Across the clearing they raced as though they had not already +covered in a single day a trackless, primeval country that might +easily have required two days by fresh and untired men. Within +hailing distance they set up such a loud shouting that presently +heads appeared above the top of the parapet and soon answering +shouts were rising from within Fort Dinosaur. A moment later three +men issued from the inclosure and came forward to meet the +survivors and listen to the hurried story of the eleven eventful +days since they had set out upon their expedition to the barrier +cliffs. They heard of the deaths of Tippet and James and of the +disappearance of Lieutenant Bradley, and a new terror settled upon +Dinosaur.</p> +<p>Olson, the Irish engineer, with Whitely and Wilson constituted +the remnants of Dinosaur’s defenders, and to Brady and +Sinclair they narrated the salient events that had transpired since +Bradley and his party had marched away on September 4th. They told +them of the infamous act of Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and his +German crew who had stolen the U-33, breaking their parole, and +steaming away toward the subterranean opening through the barrier +cliffs that carried the waters of the inland sea into the open +Pacific beyond; and of the cowardly shelling of the fort.</p> +<p>They told of the disappearance of Miss La Rue in the night of +September 11th, and of the departure of Bowen Tyler in search of +her, accompanied only by his Airedale, Nobs. Thus of the original +party of eleven Allies and nine Germans that had constituted the +company of the U-33 when she left English waters after her capture +by the crew of the English tug there were but five now to be +accounted for at Fort Dinosaur. Benson, Tippet, James, and one of +the Germans were known to be dead. It was assumed that Bradley, +Tyler and the girl had already succumbed to some of the savage +denizens of Caspak, while the fate of the Germans was equally +unknown, though it might readily be believed that they had made +good their escape. They had had ample time to provision the ship +and the refining of the crude oil they had discovered north of the +fort could have insured them an ample supply to carry them back to +Germany.</p> +<h3><a id="Ch_2" name="Ch_2"></a>Chapter 2</h3> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>When bradley went on guard at midnight, September 14th, his +thoughts were largely occupied with rejoicing that the night was +almost spent without serious mishap and that the morrow would +doubtless see them all safely returned to Fort Dinosaur. The +hopefulness of his mood was tinged with sorrow by recollection of +the two members of his party who lay back there in the savage +wilderness and for whom there would never again be a +homecoming.</p> +<p>No premonition of impending ill cast gloom over his +anticipations for the coming day, for Bradley was a man who, while +taking every precaution against possible danger, permitted no +gloomy forebodings to weigh down his spirit. When danger +threatened, he was prepared; but he was not forever courting +disaster, and so it was that when about one o’clock in the +morning of the fifteenth, he heard the dismal flapping of giant +wings overhead, he was neither surprised nor frightened but idly +prepared for an attack he had known might reasonably be +expected.</p> +<p>The sound seemed to come from the south, and presently, low +above the trees in that direction, the man made out a dim, shadowy +form circling slowly about. Bradley was a brave man, yet so keen +was the feeling of revulsion engendered by the sight and sound of +that grim, uncanny shape that he distinctly felt the gooseflesh +rise over the surface of his body, and it was with difficulty that +he refrained from following an instinctive urge to fire upon the +nocturnal intruder. Better, far better would it have been had he +given in to the insistent demand of his subconscious mentor; but +his almost fanatical obsession to save ammunition proved now his +undoing, for while his attention was riveted upon the thing +circling before him and while his ears were filled with the beating +of its wings, there swooped silently out of the black night behind +him another weird and ghostly shape. With its huge wings partly +closed for the dive and its white robe fluttering in its wake, the +apparition swooped down upon the Englishman.</p> +<p>So great was the force of the impact when the thing struck +Bradley between the shoulders that the man was half stunned. His +rifle flew from his grasp; he felt clawlike talons of great +strength seize him beneath his arms and sweep him off his feet; and +then the thing rose swiftly with him, so swiftly that his cap was +blown from his head by the rush of air as he was borne rapidly +upward into the inky sky and the cry of warning to his companions +was forced back into his lungs.</p> +<p>The creature wheeled immediately toward the east and was at once +joined by its fellow, who circled them once and then fell in behind +them. Bradley now realized the strategy that the pair had used to +capture him and at once concluded that he was in the power of +reasoning beings closely related to the human race if not actually +of it.</p> +<p>Past experience suggested that the great wings were a part of +some ingenious mechanical device, for the limitations of the human +mind, which is always loath to accept aught beyond its own little +experience, would not permit him to entertain the idea that the +creatures might be naturally winged and at the same time of human +origin. From his position Bradley could not see the wings of his +captor, nor in the darkness had he been able to examine those of +the second creature closely when it circled before him. He listened +for the puff of a motor or some other telltale sound that would +prove the correctness of his theory. However, he was rewarded with +nothing more than the constant flap-flap.</p> +<p>Presently, far below and ahead, he saw the waters of the inland +sea, and a moment later he was borne over them. Then his captor did +that which proved beyond doubt to Bradley that he was in the hands +of human beings who had devised an almost perfect scheme of +duplicating, mechanically, the wings of a bird—the thing +spoke to its companion and in a language that Bradley partially +understood, since he recognized words that he had learned from the +savage races of Caspak. From this he judged that they were human, +and being human, he knew that they could have no natural +wings—for who had ever seen a human being so adorned! +Therefore their wings must be mechanical. Thus Bradley +reasoned— thus most of us reason; not by what might be +possible; but by what has fallen within the range of our +experience.</p> +<p>What he heard them say was to the effect that having covered +half the distance the burden would now be transferred from one to +the other. Bradley wondered how the exchange was to be +accomplished. He knew that those giant wings would not permit the +creatures to approach one another closely enough to effect the +transfer in this manner; but he was soon to discover that they had +other means of doing it.</p> +<p>He felt the thing that carried him rise to a greater altitude, +and below he glimpsed momentarily the second white-robed figure; +then the creature above sounded a low call, it was answered from +below, and instantly Bradley felt the clutching talons release him; +gasping for breath, he hurtled downward through space.</p> +<p>For a terrifying instant, pregnant with horror, Bradley fell; +then something swooped for him from behind, another pair of talons +clutched him beneath the arms, his downward rush was checked, +within another hundred feet, and close to the surface of the sea he +was again borne upward. As a hawk dives for a songbird on the wing, +so this great, human bird dived for Bradley. It was a harrowing +experience, but soon over, and once again the captive was being +carried swiftly toward the east and what fate he could not even +guess.</p> +<p>It was immediately following his transfer in mid-air that +Bradley made out the shadowy form of a large island far ahead, and +not long after, he realized that this must be the intended +destination of his captors. Nor was he mistaken. Three quarters of +an hour from the time of his seizure his captors dropped gently to +earth in the strangest city that human eye had ever rested upon. +Just a brief glimpse of his immediate surroundings vouchsafed +Bradley before he was whisked into the interior of one of the +buildings; but in that momentary glance he saw strange piles of +stone and wood and mud fashioned into buildings of all conceivable +sizes and shapes, sometimes piled high on top of one another, +sometimes standing alone in an open court-way, but usually crowded +and jammed together, so that there were no streets or alleys +between them other than a few which ended almost as soon as they +began. The principal doorways appeared to be in the roofs, and it +was through one of these that Bradley was inducted into the dark +interior of a low-ceiled room. Here he was pushed roughly into a +corner where he tripped over a thick mat, and there his captors +left him. He heard them moving about in the darkness for a moment, +and several times he saw their large luminous eyes glowing in the +dark. Finally, these disappeared and silence reigned, broken only +by the breathing of the creature which indicated to the Englishman +that they were sleeping somewhere in the same apartment.</p> +<p>It was now evident that the mat upon the floor was intended for +sleeping purposes and that the rough shove that had sent him to it +had been a rude invitation to repose. After taking stock of himself +and finding that he still had his pistol and ammunition, some +matches, a little tobacco, a canteen full of water and a razor, +Bradley made himself comfortable upon the mat and was soon asleep, +knowing that an attempted escape in the darkness without knowledge +of his surroundings would be predoomed to failure.</p> +<p>When he awoke, it was broad daylight, and the sight that met his +eyes made him rub them again and again to assure himself that they +were really open and that he was not dreaming. A broad shaft of +morning light poured through the open doorway in the ceiling of the +room which was about thirty feet square, or roughly square, being +irregular in shape, one side curving outward, another being +indented by what might have been the corner of another building +jutting into it, another alcoved by three sides of an octagon, +while the fourth was serpentine in contour. Two windows let in more +daylight, while two doors evidently gave ingress to other rooms. +The walls were partially ceiled with thin strips of wood, nicely +fitted and finished, partially plastered and the rest covered with +a fine, woven cloth. Figures of reptiles and beasts were painted +without regard to any uniform scheme here and there upon the walls. +A striking feature of the decorations consisted of several engaged +columns set into the walls at no regular intervals, the capitals of +each supporting a human skull the cranium of which touched the +ceiling, as though the latter was supported by these grim reminders +either of departed relatives or of some hideous tribal +rite—Bradley could not but wonder which.</p> +<p>Yet it was none of these things that filled him with greatest +wonder—no, it was the figures of the two creatures that had +captured him and brought him hither. At one end of the room a stout +pole about two inches in diameter ran horizontally from wall to +wall some six or seven feet from the floor, its ends securely set +in two of the columns. Hanging by their knees from this perch, +their heads downward and their bodies wrapped in their huge wings, +slept the creatures of the night before—like two great, +horrid bats they hung, asleep.</p> +<p>As Bradley gazed upon them in wide-eyed astonishment, he saw +plainly that all his intelligence, all his acquired knowledge +through years of observation and experience were set at naught by +the simple evidence of the fact that stood out glaringly before his +eyes—the creatures’ wings were not mechanical devices +but as natural appendages, growing from their shoulderblades, as +were their arms and legs. He saw, too, that except for their wings +the pair bore a strong resemblance to human beings, though +fashioned in a most grotesque mold.</p> +<p>As he sat gazing at them, one of the two awoke, separated his +wings to release his arms that had been folded across his breast, +placed his hands upon the floor, dropped his feet and stood erect. +For a moment he stretched his great wings slowly, solemnly blinking +his large round eyes. Then his gaze fell upon Bradley. The thin +lips drew back tightly against yellow teeth in a grimace that was +nothing but hideous. It could not have been termed a smile, and +what emotion it registered the Englishman was at a loss to guess. +No expression whatever altered the steady gaze of those large, +round eyes; there was no color upon the pasty, sunken cheeks. A +death’s head grimaced as though a man long dead raised his +parchment-covered skull from an old grave.</p> +<p>The creature stood about the height of an average man but +appeared much taller from the fact that the joints of his long +wings rose fully a foot above his hairless head. The bare arms were +long and sinewy, ending in strong, bony hands with clawlike +fingers—almost talonlike in their suggestiveness. The white +robe was separated in front, revealing skinny legs and the further +fact that the thing wore but the single garment, which was of fine, +woven cloth. From crown to sole the portions of the body exposed +were entirely hairless, and as he noted this, Bradley also noted +for the first time the cause of much of the seeming +expressionlessness of the creature’s countenance—it had +neither eye-brows or lashes. The ears were small and rested flat +against the skull, which was noticeably round, though the face was +quite flat. The creature had small feet, beautifully arched and +plump, but so out of keeping with every other physical attribute it +possessed as to appear ridiculous.</p> +<p>After eyeing Bradley for a moment the thing approached him. +“Where from?” it asked.</p> +<p>“England,” replied Bradley, as briefly.</p> +<p>“Where is England and what?” pursued the +questioner.</p> +<p>“It is a country far from here,” answered the +Englishman.</p> +<p>“Are your people cor-sva-jo or cos-ata-lu?”</p> +<p>“I do not understand you,” said Bradley; “and +now suppose you answer a few questions. Who are you? What country +is this? Why did you bring me here?”</p> +<p>Again the sepulchral grimace. “We are Wieroos—Luata +is our father. Caspak is ours. This, our country, is called Oo-oh. +We brought you here for (literally) Him Who Speaks for Luata to +gaze upon and question. He would know from whence you came and why; +but principally if you be cos-ata-lu.”</p> +<p>“And if I am not cos—whatever you call the +bloomin’ beast— what of it?”</p> +<p>The Wieroo raised his wings in a very human shrug and waved his +bony claws toward the human skulls supporting the ceiling. His +gesture was eloquent; but he embellished it by remarking, +“And possibly if you are.”</p> +<p>“I’m hungry,” snapped Bradley.</p> +<p>The Wieroo motioned him to one of the doors which he threw open, +permitting Bradley to pass out onto another roof on a level lower +than that upon which they had landed earlier in the morning. By +daylight the city appeared even more remarkable than in the +moonlight, though less weird and unreal. The houses of all shapes +and sizes were piled about as a child might pile blocks of various +forms and colors. He saw now that there were what might be called +streets or alleys, but they ran in baffling turns and twists, nor +ever reached a destination, always ending in a dead wall where some +Wieroo had built a house across them.</p> +<p>Upon each house was a slender column supporting a human skull. +Sometimes the columns were at one corner of the roof, sometimes at +another, or again they rose from the center or near the center, and +the columns were of varying heights, from that of a man to those +which rose twenty feet above their roofs. The skulls were, as a +rule, painted—blue or white, or in combinations of both +colors. The most effective were painted blue with the teeth white +and the eye-sockets rimmed with white.</p> +<p>There were other skulls—thousands of them—tens, +hundreds of thousands. They rimmed the eaves of every house, they +were set in the plaster of the outer walls and at no great distance +from where Bradley stood rose a round tower built entirely of human +skulls. And the city extended in every direction as far as the +Englishman could see.</p> +<p>All about him Wieroos were moving across the roofs or winging +through the air. The sad sound of their flapping wings rose and +fell like a solemn dirge. Most of them were appareled all in white, +like his captors; but others had markings of red or blue or yellow +slashed across the front of their robes.</p> +<p>His guide pointed toward a doorway in an alley below them. +“Go there and eat,” he commanded, “and then come +back. You cannot escape. If any question you, say that you belong +to Fosh-bal-soj. There is the way.” And this time he pointed +to the top of a ladder which protruded above the eaves of the roof +near-by. Then he turned and reentered the house.</p> +<p>Bradley looked about him. No, he could not escape—that +seemed evident. The city appeared interminable, and beyond the +city, if not a savage wilderness filled with wild beasts, there was +the broad inland sea infested with horrid monsters. No wonder his +captor felt safe in turning him loose in Oo-oh—he wondered if +that was the name of the country or the city and if there were +other cities like this upon the island.</p> +<p>Slowly he descended the ladder to the seemingly deserted alley +which was paved with what appeared to be large, round cobblestones. +He looked again at the smooth, worn pavement, and a rueful grin +crossed his features—the alley was paved with skulls. +“The City of Human Skulls,” mused Bradley. “They +must have been collectin’ ‘em since Adam,” he +thought, and then he crossed and entered the building through the +doorway that had been pointed out to him.</p> +<p>Inside he found a large room in which were many Wieroos seated +before pedestals the tops of which were hollowed out so that they +resembled the ordinary bird drinking- and bathing-fonts so commonly +seen on suburban lawns. A seat protruded from each of the four +sides of the pedestals—just a flat board with a support +running from its outer end diagonally to the base of the +pedestal.</p> +<p>As Bradley entered, some of the Wieroos espied him, and a dismal +wail arose. Whether it was a greeting or a threat, Bradley did not +know. Suddenly from a dark alcove another Wieroo rushed out toward +him. “Who are you?” he cried. “What do you +want?”</p> +<p>“Fosh-bal-soj sent me here to eat,” replied +Bradley.</p> +<p>“Do you belong to Fosh-bal-soj?” asked the +other.</p> +<p>“That appears to be what he thinks,” answered the +Englishman.</p> +<p>“Are you cos-ata-lu?” demanded the Wieroo.</p> +<p>“Give me something to eat or I’ll be all of +that,” replied Bradley.</p> +<p>The Wieroo looked puzzled. “Sit here, jaal-lu,” he +snapped, and Bradley sat down unconscious of the fact that he had +been insulted by being called a hyena-man, an appellation of +contempt in Caspak.</p> +<p>The Wieroo had seated him at a pedestal by himself, and as he +sat waiting for what was next to transpire, he looked about him at +the Wieroo in his immediate vicinity. He saw that in each font was +a quantity of food, and that each Wieroo was armed with a wooden +skewer, sharpened at one end; with which they carried solid +portions of food to their mouths. At the other end of the skewer +was fastened a small clam-shell. This was used to scoop up the +smaller and softer portions of the repast into which all four of +the occupants of each table dipped impartially. The Wieroo leaned +far over their food, scooping it up rapidly and with much noise, +and so great was their haste that a part of each mouthful always +fell back into the common dish; and when they choked, by reason of +the rapidity with which they attempted to bolt their food, they +often lost it all. Bradley was glad that he had a pedestal all to +himself.</p> +<p>Soon the keeper of the place returned with a wooden bowl filled +with food. This he dumped into Bradley’s +“trough,” as he already thought of it. The Englishman +was glad that he could not see into the dark alcove or know what +were all the ingredients that constituted the mess before him, for +he was very hungry.</p> +<p>After the first mouthful he cared even less to investigate the +antecedents of the dish, for he found it peculiarly palatable. It +seemed to consist of a combination of meat, fruits, vegetables, +small fish and other undistinguishable articles of food all +seasoned to produce a gastronomic effect that was at once baffling +and delicious.</p> +<p>When he had finished, his trough was empty, and then he +commenced to wonder who was to settle for his meal. As he waited +for the proprietor to return, he fell to examining the dish from +which he had eaten and the pedestal upon which it rested. The font +was of stone worn smooth by long-continued use, the four outer +edges hollowed and polished by the contact of the countless Wieroo +bodies that had leaned against them for how long a period of time +Bradley could not even guess. Everything about the place carried +the impression of hoary age. The carved pedestals were black with +use, the wooden seats were worn hollow, the floor of stone slabs +was polished by the contact of possibly millions of naked feet and +worn away in the aisles between the pedestals so that the latter +rested upon little mounds of stone several inches above the general +level of the floor.</p> +<p>Finally, seeing that no one came to collect, Bradley arose and +started for the doorway. He had covered half the distance when he +heard the voice of mine host calling to him: “Come back, +jaal-lu,” screamed the Wieroo; and Bradley did as he was bid. +As he approached the creature which stood now behind a large, +flat-topped pedestal beside the alcove, he saw lying upon the +smooth surface something that almost elicited a gasp of +astonishment from him—a simple, common thing it was, or would +have been almost anywhere in the world but Caspak—a square +bit of paper!</p> +<p>And on it, in a fine hand, written compactly, were many strange +hieroglyphics! These remarkable creatures, then, had a written as +well as a spoken language and besides the art of weaving cloth +possessed that of paper-making. Could it be that such grotesque +beings represented the high culture of the human race within the +boundaries of Caspak? Had natural selection produced during the +countless ages of Caspakian life a winged monstrosity that +represented the earthly pinnacle of man’s evolution?</p> +<p>Bradley had noted something of the obvious indications of a +gradual evolution from ape to spearman as exemplified by the +several overlapping races of Alalus, club-men and hatchet-men that +formed the connecting links between the two extremes with which he, +had come in contact. He had heard of the Krolus and the +Galus—reputed to be still higher in the plane of +evolution— and now he had indisputable evidence of a race +possessing refinements of civilization eons in advance of the +spear-men. The conjectures awakened by even a momentary +consideration of the possibilities involved became at once as +wildly bizarre as the insane imagings of a drug addict.</p> +<p>As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the Wieroo held out +a pen of bone fixed to a wooden holder and at the same time made a +sign that Bradley was to write upon the paper. It was difficult to +judge from the expressionless features of the Wieroo what was +passing in the creature’s mind, but Bradley could not but +feel that the thing cast a supercilious glance upon him as much as +to say, “Of course you do not know how to write, you poor, +low creature; but you can make your mark.”</p> +<p>Bradley seized the pen and in a clear, bold hand wrote: +“John Bradley, England.” The Wieroo showed evidences of +consternation as it seized the piece of paper and examined the +writing with every mark of incredulity and surprise. Of course it +could make nothing of the strange characters; but it evidently +accepted them as proof that Bradley possessed knowledge of a +written language of his own, for following the Englishman’s +entry it made a few characters of its own.</p> +<p>“You will come here again just before Lua hides his face +behind the great cliff,” announced the creature, +“unless before that you are summoned by Him Who Speaks for +Luata, in which case you will not have to eat any more.”</p> +<p>“Reassuring cuss,” thought Bradley as he turned and +left the building.</p> +<p>Outside were several Wieroos that had been eating at the +pedestals within. They immediately surrounded him, asking all sorts +of questions, plucking at his garments, his ammunition-belt and his +pistol. Their demeanor was entirely different from what it had been +within the eating-place and Bradley was to learn that a house of +food was sanctuary for him, since the stern laws of the Wieroos +forbade altercations within such walls. Now they were rough and +threatening, as with wings half spread they hovered about him in +menacing attitudes, barring his way to the ladder leading to the +roof from whence he had descended; but the Englishman was not one +to brook interference for long. He attempted at first to push his +way past them, and then when one seized his arm and jerked him +roughly back, Bradley swung upon the creature and with a heavy blow +to the jaw felled it.</p> +<p>Instantly pandemonium reigned. Loud wails arose, great wings +opened and closed with a loud, beating noise and many clawlike +hands reached forth to clutch him. Bradley struck to right and +left. He dared not use his pistol for fear that once they +discovered its power he would be overcome by weight of numbers and +relieved of possession of what he considered his trump card, to be +reserved until the last moment that it might be used to aid in his +escape, for already the Englishman was planning, though almost +hopelessly, such an attempt.</p> +<p>A few blows convinced Bradley that the Wieroos were arrant +cowards and that they bore no weapons, for after two or three had +fallen beneath his fists the others formed a circle about him, but +at a safe distance and contented themselves with threatening and +blustering, while those whom he had felled lay upon the pavement +without trying to arise, the while they moaned and wailed in +lugubrious chorus.</p> +<p>Again Bradley strode toward the ladder, and this time the circle +parted before him; but no sooner had he ascended a few rungs than +he was seized by one foot and an effort made to drag him down. With +a quick backward glance the Englishman, clinging firmly to the +ladder with both hands, drew up his free foot and with all the +strength of a powerful leg, planted a heavy shoe squarely in the +flat face of the Wieroo that held him. Shrieking horribly, the +creature clapped both hands to its face and sank to the ground +while Bradley clambered quickly the remaining distance to the roof, +though no sooner did he reach the top of the ladder than a great +flapping of wings beneath him warned him that the Wieroos were +rising after him. A moment later they swarmed about his head as he +ran for the apartment in which he had spent the early hours of the +morning after his arrival.</p> +<p>It was but a short distance from the top of the ladder to the +doorway, and Bradley had almost reached his goal when the door flew +open and Fosh-bal-soj stepped out. Immediately the pursuing Wieroos +demanded punishment of the jaal-lu who had so grievously maltreated +them. Fosh-bal-soj listened to their complaints and then with a +sudden sweep of his right hand seized Bradley by the scruff of the +neck and hurled him sprawling through the doorway upon the floor of +the chamber.</p> +<p>So sudden was the assault and so surprising the strength of the +Wieroo that the Englishman was taken completely off his guard. When +he arose, the door was closed, and Fosh-bal-soj was standing over +him, his hideous face contorted into an expression of rage and +hatred.</p> +<p>“Hyena, snake, lizard!” he screamed. “You +would dare lay your low, vile, profaning hands upon even the +lowliest of the Wieroos— the sacred chosen of +Luata!”</p> +<p>Bradley was mad, and so he spoke in a very low, calm voice while +a half-smile played across his lips but his cold, gray eyes were +unsmiling.</p> +<p>“What you did to me just now,” he said, +“—I am going to kill you for that,” and even as +he spoke, he launched himself at the throat of Fosh-bal-soj. The +other Wieroo that had been asleep when Bradley left the chamber had +departed, and the two were alone. Fosh-bal-soj displayed little of +the cowardice of those that had attacked Bradley in the alleyway, +but that may have been because he had so slight opportunity, for +Bradley had him by the throat before he could utter a cry and with +his right hand struck him heavily and repeatedly upon his face and +over his heart—ugly, smashing, short-arm jabs of the sort +that take the fight out of a man in quick time.</p> +<p>But Fosh-bal-soj was of no mind to die passively. He clawed and +struck at Bradley while with his great wings he attempted to shield +himself from the merciless rain of blows, at the same time +searching for a hold upon his antagonist’s throat. Presently +he succeeded in tripping the Englishman, and together the two fell +heavily to the floor, Bradley underneath, and at the same instant +the Wieroo fastened his long talons about the other’s +windpipe.</p> +<p>Fosh-bal-soj was possessed of enormous strength and he was +fighting for his life. The Englishman soon realized that the battle +was going against him. Already his lungs were pounding painfully +for air as he reached for his pistol. It was with difficulty that +he drew it from its holster, and even then, with death staring him +in the face, he thought of his precious ammunition. +“Can’t waste it,” he thought; and slipping his +fingers to the barrel he raised the weapon and struck Fosh-bal-soj +a terrific blow between the eyes. Instantly the clawlike fingers +released their hold, and the creature sank limply to the floor +beside Bradley, who lay for several minutes gasping painfully in an +effort to regain his breath.</p> +<p>When he was able, he rose, and leaned close over the Wieroo, +lying silent and motionless, his wings dropping limply and his +great, round eyes staring blankly toward the ceiling. A brief +examination convinced Bradley that the thing was dead, and with the +conviction came an overwhelming sense of the dangers which must now +confront him; but how was he to escape?</p> +<p>His first thought was to find some means for concealing the +evidence of his deed and then to make a bold effort to escape. +Stepping to the second door he pushed it gently open and peered in +upon what seemed to be a store room. In it was a litter of cloth +such as the Wieroos’ robes were fashioned from, a number of +chests painted blue and white, with white hieroglyphics painted in +bold strokes upon the blue and blue hieroglyphics upon the white. +In one corner was a pile of human skulls reaching almost to the +ceiling and in another a stack of dried Wieroo wings. The chamber +was as irregularly shaped as the other and had but a single window +and a second door at the further end, but was without the exit +through the roof and, most important of all, there was no creature +of any sort in it.</p> +<p>As quickly as possible Bradley dragged the dead Wieroo through +the doorway and closed the door; then he looked about for a place +to conceal the corpse. One of the chests was large enough to hold +the body if the knees were bent well up, and with this idea in view +Bradley approached the chest to open it. The lid was made in two +pieces, each being hinged at an opposite end of the chest and +joining nicely where they met in the center of the chest, making a +snug, well-fitting joint. There was no lock. Bradley raised one +half the cover and looked in. With a smothered “By +Jove!” he bent closer to examine the contents—the chest +was about half filled with an assortment of golden trinkets. There +were what appeared to be bracelets, anklets and brooches of virgin +gold.</p> +<p>Realizing that there was no room in the chest for the body of +the Wieroo, Bradley turned to seek another means of concealing the +evidence of his crime. There was a space between the chests and the +wall, and into this he forced the corpse, piling the discarded +robes upon it until it was entirely hidden from sight; but now how +was he to make good his escape in the bright glare of that early +Spring day?</p> +<p>He walked to the door at the far end of the apartment and +cautiously opened it an inch. Before him and about two feet away +was the blank wall of another building. Bradley opened the door a +little farther and looked in both directions. There was no one in +sight to the left over a considerable expanse of roof-top, and to +the right another building shut off his line of vision at about +twenty feet. Slipping out, he turned to the right and in a few +steps found a narrow passageway between two buildings. Turning into +this he passed about half its length when he saw a Wieroo appear at +the opposite end and halt. The creature was not looking down the +passageway; but at any moment it might turn its eyes toward him, +when he would be immediately discovered.</p> +<p>To Bradley’s left was a triangular niche in the wall of +one of the houses and into this he dodged, thus concealing himself +from the sight of the Wieroo. Beside him was a door painted a vivid +yellow and constructed after the same fashion as the other Wieroo +doors he had seen, being made up of countless narrow strips of wood +from four to six inches in length laid on in patches of about the +same width, the strips in adjacent patches never running in the +same direction. The result bore some resemblance to a crazy +patchwork quilt, which was heightened when, as in one of the doors +he had seen, contiguous patches were painted different colors. The +strips appeared to have been bound together and to the underlying +framework of the door with gut or fiber and also glued, after which +a thick coating of paint had been applied. One edge of the door was +formed of a straight, round pole about two inches in diameter that +protruded at top and bottom, the projections setting in round holes +in both lintel and sill forming the axis upon which the door swung. +An eccentric disk upon the inside face of the door engaged a slot +in the frame when it was desired to secure the door against +intruders.</p> +<p>As Bradley stood flattened against the wall waiting for the +Wieroo to move on, he heard the creature’s wings brushing +against the sides of the buildings as it made its way down the +narrow passage in his direction. As the yellow door offered the +only means of escape without detection, the Englishman decided to +risk whatever might lie beyond it, and so, boldly pushing it in, he +crossed the threshold and entered a small apartment.</p> +<p>As he did so, he heard a muffled ejaculation of surprise, and +turning his eyes in the direction from whence the sound had come, +he beheld a wide-eyed girl standing flattened against the opposite +wall, an expression of incredulity upon her face. At a glance he +saw that she was of no race of humans that he had come in contact +with since his arrival upon Caprona—there was no trace about +her form or features of any relationship to those low orders of +men, nor was she appareled as they—or, rather, she did not +entirely lack apparel as did most of them.</p> +<p>A soft hide fell from her left shoulder to just below her left +hip on one side and almost to her right knee on the other, a loose +girdle was about her waist, and golden ornaments such as he had +seen in the blue-and-white chest encircled her arms and legs, while +a golden fillet with a triangular diadem bound her heavy hair above +her brows. Her skin was white as from long confinement within +doors; but it was clear and fine. Her figure, but partially +concealed by the soft deerskin, was all curves of symmetry and +youthful grace, while her features might easily have been the envy +of the most feted of Continental beauties.</p> +<p>If the girl was surprised by the sudden appearance of Bradley, +the latter was absolutely astounded to discover so wondrous a +creature among the hideous inhabitants of the City of Human Skulls. +For a moment the two looked at one another in unconcealed +consternation, and then Bradley spoke, using to the best of his +poor ability, the common tongue of Caspak.</p> +<p>“Who are you,” he asked, “and from where do +you come? Do not tell me that you are a Wieroo.”</p> +<p>“No,” she replied, “I am no Wieroo.” And +she shuddered slightly as she pronounced the word. “I am a +Galu; but who and what are you? I am sure that you are no Galu, +from your garments; but you are like the Galus in other respects. I +know that you are not of this frightful city, for I have been here +for almost ten moons, and never have I seen a male Galu brought +hither before, nor are there such as you and I, other than +prisoners in the land of Oo-oh, and these are all females. Are you +a prisoner, then?”</p> +<p>He told her briefly who and what he was, though he doubted if +she understood, and from her he learned that she had been a +prisoner there for many months; but for what purpose he did not +then learn, as in the midst of their conversation the yellow door +swung open and a Wieroo with a robe slashed with yellow +entered.</p> +<p>At sight of Bradley the creature became furious. “Whence +came this reptile?” it demanded of the girl. “How long +has it been here with you?”</p> +<p>“It came through the doorway just ahead of you,” +Bradley answered for the girl.</p> +<p>The Wieroo looked relieved. “It is well for the girl that +this is so,” it said, “for now only you will have to +die.” And stepping to the door the creature raised its voice +in one of those uncanny, depressing wails.</p> +<p>The Englishman looked toward the girl. “Shall I kill +it?” he asked, half drawing his pistol. “What is best +to do?—I do not wish to endanger you.”</p> +<p>The Wieroo backed toward the door. “Defiler!” it +screamed. “You dare to threaten one of the sacred chosen of +Luata!”</p> +<p>“Do not kill him,” cried the girl, “for then +there could be no hope for you. That you are here, alive, shows +that they may not intend to kill you at all, and so there is a +chance for you if you do not anger them; but touch him in violence +and your bleached skull will top the loftiest pedestal of +Oo-oh.”</p> +<p>“And what of you?” asked Bradley.</p> +<p>“I am already doomed,” replied the girl; “I am +cos-ata-lo.”</p> +<p>“Cos-ata-lo! cos-ata-lu!” What did these phrases +mean that they were so oft repeated by the denizens of Oo-oh? Lu +and lo, Bradley knew to mean man and woman; ata; was employed +variously to indicate life, eggs, young, reproduction and kindred +subject; cos was a negative; but in combination they were +meaningless to the European.</p> +<p>“Do you mean they will kill you?” asked Bradley.</p> +<p>“I but wish that they would,” replied the girl. +“My fate is to be worse than death—in just a few nights +more, with the coming of the new moon.”</p> +<p>“Poor she-snake!” snapped the Wieroo. “You are +to become sacred above all other shes. He Who Speaks for Luata has +chosen you for himself. Today you go to his temple—“the +Wieroo used a phrase meaning literally High +Place—“where you will receive the sacred +commands.”</p> +<p>The girl shuddered and cast a sorrowful glance toward Bradley. +“Ah,” she sighed, “if I could but see my beloved +country once again!”</p> +<p>The man stepped suddenly close to her side before the Wieroo +could interpose and in a low voice asked her if there was no way by +which he might encompass her escape. She shook her head +sorrowfully. “Even if we escaped the city,” she +replied, “there is the big water between the island of Oo-oh +and the Galu shore.”</p> +<p>“And what is beyond the city, if we could leave it?” +pursued Bradley.</p> +<p>“I may only guess from what I have heard since I was +brought here,” she answered; “but by reports and chance +remarks I take it to be a beautiful land in which there are but few +wild beasts and no men, for only the Wieroos live upon this island +and they dwell always in cities of which there are three, this +being the largest. The others are at the far end of the island, +which is about three marches from end to end and at its widest +point about one march.”</p> +<p>From his own experience and from what the natives on the +mainland had told him, Bradley knew that ten miles was a good +day’s march in Caspak, owing to the fact that at most points +it was a trackless wilderness and at all times travelers were beset +by hideous beasts and reptiles that greatly impeded rapid +progress.</p> +<p>The two had spoken rapidly but were now interrupted by the +advent through the opening in the roof of several Wieroos who had +come in answer to the alarm it of the yellow slashing had +uttered.</p> +<p>“This jaal-lu,” cried the offended one, “has +threatened me. Take its hatchet from it and make it fast where it +can do no harm until He Who Speaks for Luata has said what shall be +done with it. It is one of those strange creatures that +Fosh-bal-soj discovered first above the Band-lu country and +followed back toward the beginning. He Who Speaks for Luata sent +Fosh-bal-soj to fetch him one of the creatures, and here it is. It +is hoped that it may be from another world and hold the secret of +the cos-ata-lus.”</p> +<p>The Wieroos approached boldly to take Bradley’s +“hatchet” from him, their leader having indicated the +pistol hanging in its holster at the Englishman’s hip, but +the first one went reeling backward against his fellows from the +blow to the chin which Bradley followed up with a rush and the +intention to clean up the room in record time; but he had reckoned +without the opening in the roof. Two were down and a great wailing +and moaning was arising when reinforcements appeared from above. +Bradley did not see them; but the girl did, and though she cried +out a warning, it came too late for him to avoid a large Wieroo who +dived headforemost for him, striking him between the shoulders and +bearing him to the floor. Instantly a dozen more were piling on top +of him. His pistol was wrenched from its holster and he was +securely pinioned down by the weight of numbers.</p> +<p>At a word from the Wieroo of the yellow slashing who evidently +was a person of authority, one left and presently returned with +fiber ropes with which Bradley was tightly bound.</p> +<p>“Now bear him to the Blue Place of Seven Skulls,” +directed the chief Wieroo, “and one take the word of all that +has passed to Him Who Speaks for Luata.”</p> +<p>Each of the creatures raised a hand, the back against its face, +as though in salute. One seized Bradley and carried him through the +yellow doorway to the roof from whence it rose upon its wide-spread +wings and flapped off across the roof-tops of Oo-oh with its heavy +burden clutched in its long talons.</p> +<p>Below him Bradley could see the city stretching away to a +distance on every hand. It was not as large as he had imagined, +though he judged that it was at least three miles square. The +houses were piled in indescribable heaps, sometimes to a height of +a hundred feet. The streets and alleys were short and crooked and +there were many areas where buildings had been wedged in so closely +that no light could possibly reach the lowest tiers, the entire +surface of the ground being packed solidly with them.</p> +<p>The colors were varied and startling, the architecture amazing. +Many roofs were cup or saucer-shaped with a small hole in the +center of each, as though they had been constructed to catch +rain-water and conduct it to a reservoir beneath; but nearly all +the others had the large opening in the top that Bradley had seen +used by these flying men in lieu of doorways. At all levels were +the myriad poles surmounted by grinning skulls; but the two most +prominent features of the city were the round tower of human skulls +that Bradley had noted earlier in the day and another and much +larger edifice near the center of the city. As they approached it, +Bradley saw that it was a huge building rising a hundred feet in +height from the ground and that it stood alone in the center of +what might have been called a plaza in some other part of the +world. Its various parts, however, were set together with the same +strange irregularity that marked the architecture of the city as a +whole; and it was capped by an enormous saucer-shaped roof which +projected far beyond the eaves, having the appearance of a colossal +Chinese coolie hat, inverted.</p> +<p>The Wieroo bearing Bradley passed over one corner of the open +space about the large building, revealing to the Englishman grass +and trees and running water beneath. They passed the building and +about five hundred yards beyond the creature alighted on the roof +of a square, blue building surmounted by seven poles bearing seven +skulls. This then, thought Bradley, is the Blue Place of Seven +Skulls.</p> +<p>Over the opening in the roof was a grated covering, and this the +Wieroo removed. The thing then tied a piece of fiber rope to one of +Bradley’s ankles and rolled him over the edge of the opening. +All was dark below and for an instant the Englishman came as near +to experiencing real terror as he had ever come in his life before. +As he rolled off into the black abyss he felt the rope tighten +about his ankle and an instant later he was stopped with a sudden +jerk to swing pendulumlike, head downward. Then the creature +lowered away until Bradley’s head came in sudden and painful +contact with the floor below, after which the Wieroo let loose of +the rope entirely and the Englishman’s body crashed to the +wooden planking. He felt the free end of the rope dropped upon him +and heard the grating being slid into place above him.</p> +<h3><a id="Ch_3" name="Ch_3"></a>Chapter 3</h3> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Half-stunned, Bradley lay for a minute as he had fallen and then +slowly and painfully wriggled into a less uncomfortable position. +He could see nothing of his surroundings in the gloom about him +until after a few minutes his eyes became accustomed to the dark +interior when he rolled them from side to side in survey of his +prison.</p> +<p>He discovered himself to be in a bare room which was windowless, +nor could he see any other opening than that through which he had +been lowered. In one corner was a huddled mass that might have been +almost anything from a bundle of rags to a dead body.</p> +<p>Almost immediately after he had taken his bearings Bradley +commenced working with his bonds. He was a man of powerful +physique, and as from the first he had been imbued with a belief +that the fiber ropes were too weak to hold him, he worked on with a +firm conviction that sooner or later they would part to his +strainings. After a matter of five minutes he was positive that the +strands about his wrists were beginning to give; but he was +compelled to rest then from exhaustion.</p> +<p>As he lay, his eyes rested upon the bundle in the corner, and +presently he could have sworn that the thing moved. With eyes +straining through the gloom the man lay watching the grim and +sinister thing in the corner. Perhaps his overwrought nerves were +playing a sorry joke upon him. He thought of this and also that his +condition of utter helplessness might still further have stimulated +his imagination. He closed his eyes and sought to relax his muscles +and his nerves; but when he looked again, he knew that he had not +been mistaken—the thing had moved; now it lay in a slightly +altered form and farther from the wall. It was nearer him.</p> +<p>With renewed strength Bradley strained at his bonds, his +fascinated gaze still glued upon the shapeless bundle. No longer +was there any doubt that it moved—he saw it rise in the +center several inches and then creep closer to him. It sank and +arose again—a headless, hideous, monstrous thing of menace. +Its very silence rendered it the more terrible.</p> +<p>Bradley was a brave man; ordinarily his nerves were of steel; +but to be at the mercy of some unknown and nameless horror, to be +unable to defend himself—it was these things that almost +unstrung him, for at best he was only human. To stand in the open, +even with the odds all against him; to be able to use his fists, to +put up some sort of defense, to inflict punishment upon his +adversary—then he could face death with a smile. It was not +death that he feared now—it was that horror of the unknown +that is part of the fiber of every son of woman.</p> +<p>Closer and closer came the shapeless mass. Bradley lay +motionless and listened. What was that he heard! Breathing? He +could not be mistaken—and then from out of the bundle of rags +issued a hollow groan. Bradley felt his hair rise upon his head. He +struggled with the slowly parting strands that held him. The thing +beside him rose up higher than before and the Englishman could have +sworn that he saw a single eye peering at him from among the +tumbled cloth. For a moment the bundle remained +motionless—only the sound of breathing issued from it, then +there broke from it a maniacal laugh.</p> +<p>Cold sweat stood upon Bradley’s brow as he tugged for +liberation. He saw the rags rise higher and higher above him until +at last they tumbled upon the floor from the body of a naked +man—a thin, a bony, a hideous caricature of man, that mouthed +and mummed and, wabbling upon its weak and shaking legs, crumpled +to the floor again, still laughing—laughing horribly.</p> +<p>It crawled toward Bradley. “Food! Food!” it +screamed. “There is a way out! There is a way out!”</p> +<p>Dragging itself to his side the creature slumped upon the +Englishman’s breast. “Food!” it shrilled as with +its bony fingers and its teeth, it sought the man’s bare +throat.</p> +<p>“Food! There is a way out!” Bradley felt teeth upon +his jugular. He turned and twisted, shaking himself free for an +instant; but once more with hideous persistence the thing fastened +itself upon him. The weak jaws were unable to send the dull teeth +through the victim’s flesh; but Bradley felt it pawing, +pawing, pawing, like a monstrous rat, seeking his life’s +blood.</p> +<p>The skinny arms now embraced his neck, holding the teeth to his +throat against all his efforts to dislodge the thing. Weak as it +was it had strength enough for this in its mad efforts to eat. +Mumbling as it worked, it repeated again and again, “Food! +Food! There is a way out!” until Bradley thought those two +expressions alone would drive him mad.</p> +<p>And all but mad he was as with a final effort backed by almost +maniacal strength he tore his wrists from the confining bonds and +grasping the repulsive thing upon his breast hurled it halfway +across the room. Panting like a spent hound Bradley worked at the +thongs about his ankles while the maniac lay quivering and mumbling +where it had fallen. Presently the Englishman leaped to his +feet—freer than he had ever before felt in all his life, +though he was still hopelessly a prisoner in the Blue Place of +Seven Skulls.</p> +<p>With his back against the wall for support, so weak the reaction +left him, Bradley stood watching the creature upon the floor. He +saw it move and slowly raise itself to its hands and knees, where +it swayed to and fro as its eyes roved about in search of him; and +when at last they found him, there broke from the drawn lips the +mumbled words: “Food! Food! There is a way out!” The +pitiful supplication in the tones touched the Englishman’s +heart. He knew that this could be no Wieroo, but possibly once a +man like himself who had been cast into this pit of solitary +confinement with this hideous result that might in time be his +fate, also.</p> +<p>And then, too, there was the suggestion of hope held out by the +constant reiteration of the phrase, “There is a way +out.” Was there a way out? What did this poor thing know?</p> +<p>“Who are you and how long have you been here?” +Bradley suddenly demanded.</p> +<p>For a moment the man upon the floor made no response, then +mumblingly came the words: “Food! Food!”</p> +<p>“Stop!” commanded the Englishman—the +injunction might have been barked from the muzzle of a pistol. It +brought the man to a sitting posture, his hands off the ground. He +stopped swaying to and fro and appeared to be startled into an +attempt to master his faculties of concentration and thought.</p> +<p>Bradley repeated his questions sharply.</p> +<p>“I am An-Tak, the Galu,” replied the man. +“Luata alone knows how long I have been here—maybe ten +moons, maybe ten moons three times”—it was the +Caspakian equivalent of thirty. “I was young and strong when +they brought me here. Now I am old and very weak. I am +cos-ata-lu—that is why they have not killed me. If I tell +them the secret of becoming cos-ata-lu they will take me out; but +how can I tell them that which Luata alone knows?</p> +<p>“What is cos-ata-lu?” demanded Bradley.</p> +<p>“Food! Food! There is a way out!” mumbled the +Galu.</p> +<p>Bradley strode across the floor, seized the man by his shoulders +and shook him.</p> +<p>“Tell me,” he cried, “what is +cos-ata-lu?”</p> +<p>“Food!” whimpered An-Tak.</p> +<p>Bradley bethought himself. His haversack had not been taken from +him. In it besides his razor and knife were odds and ends of +equipment and a small quantity of dried meat. He tossed a small +strip of the latter to the starving Galu. An-Tak seized upon it and +devoured it ravenously. It instilled new life in the man.</p> +<p>“What is cos-ata-lu?” insisted Bradley again.</p> +<p>An-Tak tried to explain. His narrative was often broken by +lapses of concentration during which he reverted to his plaintive +mumbling for food and recurrence to the statement that there was a +way out; but by firmness and patience the Englishman drew out +piece-meal a more or less lucid exposition of the remarkable scheme +of evolution that rules in Caspak. In it he found explanations of +the hitherto inexplicable. He discovered why he had seen no babes +or children among the Caspakian tribes with which he had come in +contact; why each more northerly tribe evinced a higher state of +development than those south of them; why each tribe included +individuals ranging in physical and mental characteristics from the +highest of the next lower race to the lowest of the next higher, +and why the women of each tribe immersed themselves morning for an +hour or more in the warm pools near which the habitations of their +people always were located; and, too, he discovered why those pools +were almost immune from the attacks of carnivorous animals and +reptiles.</p> +<p>He learned that all but those who were cos-ata-lu came up +cor-sva-jo, or from the beginning. The egg from which they first +developed into tadpole form was deposited, with millions of others, +in one of the warm pools and with it a poisonous serum that the +carnivora instinctively shunned. Down the warm stream from the pool +floated the countless billions of eggs and tadpoles, developing as +they drifted slowly toward the sea. Some became tadpoles in the +pool, some in the sluggish stream and some not until they reached +the great inland sea. In the next stage they became fishes or +reptiles, An-Tak was not positive which, and in this form, always +developing, they swam far to the south, where, amid the rank and +teeming jungles, some of them evolved into amphibians. Always there +were those whose development stopped at the first stage, others +whose development ceased when they became reptiles, while by far +the greater proportion formed the food supply of the ravenous +creatures of the deep.</p> +<p>Few indeed were those that eventually developed into baboons and +then apes, which was considered by Caspakians the real beginning of +evolution. From the egg, then, the individual developed slowly into +a higher form, just as the frog’s egg develops through +various stages from a fish with gills to a frog with lungs. With +that thought in mind Bradley discovered that it was not difficult +to believe in the possibility of such a scheme— there was +nothing new in it.</p> +<p>From the ape the individual, if it survived, slowly developed +into the lowest order of man—the Alu—and then by +degrees to Bo-lu, Sto-lu, Band-lu, Kro-lu and finally Galu. And in +each stage countless millions of other eggs were deposited in the +warm pools of the various races and floated down to the great sea +to go through a similar process of evolution outside the womb as +develops our own young within; but in Caspak the scheme is much +more inclusive, for it combines not only individual development but +the evolution of species and genera. If an egg survives it goes +through all the stages of development that man has passed through +during the unthinkable eons since life first moved upon the +earth’s face.</p> +<p>The final stage—that which the Galus have almost attained +and for which all hope—is cos-ata-lu, which literally, means +no-egg-man, or one who is born directly as are the young of the +outer world of mammals. Some of the Galus produce cos-ata-lu and +cos-ata-lo both; the Weiroos only cos-ata-lu—in other words +all Wieroos are born male, and so they prey upon the Galus for +their women and sometimes capture and torture the Galu men who are +cos-ata-lu in an endeavor to learn the secret which they believe +will give them unlimited power over all other denizens of +Caspak.</p> +<p>No Wieroos come up from the beginning—all are born of the +Wieroo fathers and Galu mothers who are cos-ata-lo, and there are +very few of the latter owing to the long and precarious stages of +development. Seven generations of the same ancestor must come up +from the beginning before a cos-ata-lu child may be born; and when +one considers the frightful dangers that surround the vital spark +from the moment it leaves the warm pool where it has been deposited +to float down to the sea amid the voracious creatures that swarm +the surface and the deeps and the almost equally unthinkable trials +of its effort to survive after it once becomes a land animal and +starts northward through the horrors of the Caspakian jungles and +forests, it is plainly a wonder that even a single babe has ever +been born to a Galu woman.</p> +<p>Seven cycles it requires before the seventh Galu can complete +the seventh danger-infested circle since its first Galu ancestor +achieved the state of Galu. For ages before, the ancestors of this +first Galu may have developed from a Band-lu or Bo-lu egg without +ever once completing the whole circle—that is from a Galu +egg, back to a fully developed Galu.</p> +<p>Bradley’s head was whirling before he even commenced to +grasp the complexities of Caspakian evolution; but as the truth +slowly filtered into his understanding—as gradually it became +possible for him to visualize the scheme, it appeared simpler. In +fact, it seemed even less difficult of comprehension than that with +which he was familiar.</p> +<p>For several minutes after An-Tak ceased speaking, his voice +having trailed off weakly into silence, neither spoke again. Then +the Galu recommenced his, “Food! Food! There is a way +out!” Bradley tossed him another bit of dried meat, waiting +patiently until he had eaten it, this time more slowly.</p> +<p>“What do you mean by saying there is a way out?” he +asked.</p> +<p>“He who died here just after I came, told me,” +replied An-Tak. “He said there was a way out, that he had +discovered it but was too weak to use his knowledge. He was trying +to tell me how to find it when he died. Oh, Luata, if he had lived +but a moment more!”</p> +<p>“They do not feed you here?” asked Bradley.</p> +<p>“No, they give me water once a day—that is +all.”</p> +<p>“But how have you lived, then?”</p> +<p>“The lizards and the rats,” replied An-Tak. +“The lizards are not so bad; but the rats are foul to taste. +However, I must eat them or they would eat me, and they are better +than nothing; but of late they do not come so often, and I have not +had a lizard for a long time. I shall eat though,” he +mumbled. “I shall eat now, for you cannot remain awake +forever.” He laughed, a cackling, dry laugh. “When you +sleep, An-Tak will eat.”</p> +<p>It was horrible. Bradley shuddered. For a long time each sat in +silence. The Englishman could guess why the other made no +sound—he awaited the moment that sleep should overcome his +victim. In the long silence there was born upon Bradley’s +ears a faint, monotonous sound as of running water. He listened +intently. It seemed to come from far beneath the floor.</p> +<p>“What is that noise?” he asked. “That sounds +like water running through a narrow channel.”</p> +<p>“It is the river,” replied An-Tak. “Why do you +not go to sleep? It passes directly beneath the Blue Place of Seven +Skulls. It runs through the temple grounds, beneath the temple and +under the city. When we die, they will cut off our heads and throw +our bodies into the river. At the mouth of the river await many +large reptiles. Thus do they feed. The Wieroos do likewise with +their own dead, keeping only the skulls and the wings. Come, let us +sleep.”</p> +<p>“Do the reptiles come up the river into the city?” +asked Bradley.</p> +<p>“The water is too cold—they never leave the warm +water of the great pool,” replied An-Tak.</p> +<p>“Let us search for the way out,” suggested +Bradley.</p> +<p>An-Tak shook his head. “I have searched for it all these +moons,” he said. “If I could not find it, how would +you?”</p> +<p>Bradley made no reply but commenced a diligent examination of +the walls and floor of the room, pressing over each square foot and +tapping with his knuckles. About six feet from the floor he +discovered a sleeping-perch near one end of the apartment. He asked +An-Tak about it, but the Galu said that no Weiroo had occupied the +place since he had been incarcerated there. Again and again Bradley +went over the floor and walls as high up as he could reach. Finally +he swung himself to the perch, that he might examine at least one +end of the room all the way to the ceiling.</p> +<p>In the center of the wall close to the top, an area about three +feet square gave forth a hollow sound when he rapped upon it. +Bradley felt over every square inch of that area with the tips of +his fingers. Near the top he found a small round hole a trifle +larger in diameter than his forefinger, which he immediately stuck +into it. The panel, if such it was, seemed about an inch thick, and +beyond it his finger encountered nothing. Bradley crooked his +finger upon the opposite side of the panel and pulled toward him, +steadily but with considerable force. Suddenly the panel flew +inward, nearly precipitating the man to the floor. It was hinged at +the bottom, and when lowered the outer edge rested upon the perch, +making a little platform parallel with the floor of the room.</p> +<p>Beyond the opening was an utterly dark void. The Englishman +leaned through it and reached his arm as far as possible into the +blackness but touched nothing. Then he fumbled in his haversack for +a match, a few of which remained to him. When he struck it, An-Tak +gave a cry of terror. Bradley held the light far into the opening +before him and in its flickering rays saw the top of a ladder +descending into a black abyss below. How far down it extended he +could not guess; but that he should soon know definitely he was +positive.</p> +<p>“You have found it! You have found the way out!” +screamed An-Tak. “Oh, Luata! And now I am too weak to go. +Take me with you! Take me with you!”</p> +<p>“Shut up!” admonished Bradley. “You will have +the whole flock of birds around our heads in a minute, and neither +of us will escape. Be quiet, and I’ll go ahead. If I find a +way out, I’ll come back and help you, if you’ll promise +not to try to eat me up again.”</p> +<p>“I promise,” cried An-Tak. “Oh, Luata! How +could you blame me? I am half crazed of hunger and long confinement +and the horror of the lizards and the rats and the constant waiting +for death.”</p> +<p>“I know,” said Bradley simply. “I’m +sorry for you, old top. Keep a stiff upper lip.” And he +slipped through the opening, found the ladder with his feet, closed +the panel behind him, and started downward into the darkness.</p> +<p>Below him rose more and more distinctly the sound of running +water. The air felt damp and cool. He could see nothing of his +surroundings and felt nothing but the smooth, worn sides and rungs +of the ladder down which he felt his way cautiously lest a broken +rung or a misstep should hurl him downward.</p> +<p>As he descended thus slowly, the ladder seemed interminable and +the pit bottomless, yet he realized when at last he reached the +bottom that he could not have descended more than fifty feet. The +bottom of the ladder rested on a narrow ledge paved with what felt +like large round stones, but what he knew from experience to be +human skulls. He could not but marvel as to where so many countless +thousands of the things had come from, until he paused to consider +that the infancy of Caspak dated doubtlessly back into remote ages, +far beyond what the outer world considered the beginning of earthly +time. For all these eons the Wieroos might have been collecting +human skulls from their enemies and their own dead—enough to +have built an entire city of them.</p> +<p>Feeling his way along the narrow ledge, Bradley came presently +to a blank wall that stretched out over the water swirling beneath +him, as far as he could reach. Stooping, he groped about with one +hand, reaching down toward the surface of the water, and discovered +that the bottom of the wall arched above the stream. How much space +there was between the water and the arch he could not tell, nor how +deep the former. There was only one way in which he might learn +these things, and that was to lower himself into the stream. For +only an instant he hesitated weighing his chances. Behind him lay +almost certainly the horrid fate of An-Tak; before him nothing +worse than a comparatively painless death by drowning. Holding his +haversack above his head with one hand he lowered his feet slowly +over the edge of the narrow platform. Almost immediately he felt +the swirling of cold water about his ankles, and then with a silent +prayer he let himself drop gently into the stream.</p> +<p>Great was Bradley’s relief when he found the water no more +than waist deep and beneath his feet a firm, gravel bottom. Feeling +his way cautiously he moved downward with the current, which was +not so strong as he had imagined from the noise of the running +water.</p> +<p>Beneath the first arch he made his way, following the winding +curvatures of the right-hand wall. After a few yards of progress +his hand came suddenly in contact with a slimy thing clinging to +the wall—a thing that hissed and scuttled out of reach. What +it was, the man could not know; but almost instantly there was a +splash in the water just ahead of him and then another.</p> +<p>On he went, passing beneath other arches at varying distances, +and always in utter darkness. Unseen denizens of this great sewer, +disturbed by the intruder, splashed into the water ahead of him and +wriggled away. Time and again his hand touched them and never for +an instant could he be sure that at the next step some gruesome +thing might not attack him. He had strapped his haversack about his +neck, well above the surface of the water, and in his left hand he +carried his knife. Other precautions there were none to take.</p> +<p>The monotony of the blind trail was increased by the fact that +from the moment he had started from the foot of the ladder he had +counted his every step. He had promised to return for An-Tak if it +proved humanly possible to do so, and he knew that in the blackness +of the tunnel he could locate the foot of the ladder in no other +way.</p> +<p>He had taken two hundred and sixty-nine steps—afterward he +knew that he should never forget that number—when something +bumped gently against him from behind. Instantly he wheeled about +and with knife ready to defend himself stretched forth his right +hand to push away the object that now had lodged against his body. +His fingers feeling through the darkness came in contact with +something cold and clammy—they passed to and fro over the +thing until Bradley knew that it was the face of a dead man +floating upon the surface of the stream. With an oath he pushed his +gruesome companion out into mid-stream to float on down toward the +great pool and the awaiting scavengers of the deep.</p> +<p>At his four hundred and thirteenth step another corpse bumped +against him—how many had passed him without touching he could +not guess; but suddenly he experienced the sensation of being +surrounded by dead faces floating along with him, all set in +hideous grimaces, their dead eyes glaring at this profaning alien +who dared intrude upon the waters of this river of the dead—a +horrid escort, pregnant with dire forebodings and with menace.</p> +<p>Though he advanced very slowly, he tried always to take steps of +about the same length; so that he knew that though considerable +time had elapsed, yet he had really advanced no more than four +hundred yards when ahead he saw a lessening of the pitch-darkness, +and at the next turn of the stream his surroundings became +vaguelydiscernible. Above him was an arched roof and on either hand +walls pierced at intervals by apertures covered with wooden doors. +Just ahead of him in the roof of the aqueduct was a round, black +hole about thirty inches in diameter. His eyes still rested upon +the opening when there shot downward from it to the water below the +naked body of a human being which almost immediately rose to the +surface again and floated off down the stream. In the dim light +Bradley saw that it was a dead Wieroo from which the wings and head +had been removed. A moment later another headless body floated +past, recalling what An-Tak had told him of the skull-collecting +customs of the Wieroo. Bradley wondered how it happened that the +first corpse he had encountered in the stream had not been +similarly mutilated.</p> +<p>The farther he advanced now, the lighter it became. The number +of corpses was much smaller than he had imagined, only two more +passing him before, at six hundred steps, or about five hundred +yards, from the point he had taken to the stream, he came to the +end of the tunnel and looked out upon sunlit water, running between +grassy banks.</p> +<p>One of the last corpses to pass him was still clothed in the +white robe of a Wieroo, blood-stained over the headless neck that +it concealed.</p> +<p>Drawing closer to the opening leading into the bright daylight, +Bradley surveyed what lay beyond. A short distance before him a +large building stood in the center of several acres of grass and +tree-covered ground, spanning the stream which disappeared through +an opening in its foundation wall. From the large saucer-shaped +roof and the vivid colorings of the various heterogeneous parts of +the structure he recognized it as the temple past which he had been +borne to the Blue Place of Seven Skulls.</p> +<p>To and fro flew Wieroos, going to and from the temple. Others +passed on foot across the open grounds, assisting themselves with +their great wings, so that they barely skimmed the earth. To leave +the mouth of the tunnel would have been to court instant discovery +and capture; but by what other avenue he might escape, Bradley +could not guess, unless he retraced his steps up the stream and +sought egress from the other end of the city. The thought of +traversing that dark and horror-ridden tunnel for perhaps miles he +could not entertain—there must be some other way. Perhaps +after dark he could steal through the temple grounds and continue +on downstream until he had come beyond the city; and so he stood +and waited until his limbs became almost paralyzed with cold, and +he knew that he must find some other plan for escape.</p> +<p>A half-formed decision to risk an attempt to swim under water to +the temple was crystallizing in spite of the fact that any chance +Wieroo flying above the stream might easily see him, when again a +floating object bumped against him from behind and lodged across +his back. Turning quickly he saw that the thing was what he had +immediately guessed it to be—a headless and wingless Wieroo +corpse. With a grunt of disgust he was about to push it from him +when the white garment enshrouding it suggested a bold plan to his +resourceful brain. Grasping the corpse by an arm he tore the +garment from it and then let the body float downward toward the +temple. With great care he draped the robe about him; the bloody +blotch that had covered the severed neck he arranged about his own +head. His haversack he rolled as tightly as possible and stuffed +beneath his coat over his breast. Then he fell gently to the +surface of the stream and lying upon his back floated downward with +the current and out into the open sunlight.</p> +<p>Through the weave of the cloth he could distinguish large +objects. He saw a Wieroo flap dismally above him; he saw the banks +of the stream float slowly past; he heard a sudden wail upon the +right- hand shore, and his heart stood still lest his ruse had been +discovered; but never by a move of a muscle did he betray that +aught but a cold lump of clay floated there upon the bosom of the +water, and soon, though it seemed an eternity to him, the direct +sunlight was blotted out, and he knew that he had entered beneath +the temple.</p> +<p>Quickly he felt for bottom with his feet and as quickly stood +erect, snatching the bloody, clammy cloth from his face. On both +sides were blank walls and before him the river turned a sharp +corner and disappeared. Feeling his way cautiously forward he +approached the turn and looked around the corner. To his left was a +low platform about a foot above the level of the stream, and onto +this he lost no time in climbing, for he was soaked from head to +foot, cold and almost exhausted.</p> +<p>As he lay resting on the skull-paved shelf, he saw in the center +of the vault above the river another of those sinister round holes +through which he momentarily expected to see a headless corpse +shoot downward in its last plunge to a watery grave. A few feet +along the platform a closed door broke the blankness of the wall. +As he lay looking at it and wondering what lay behind, his mind +filled with fragments of many wild schemes of escape, it opened and +a white robed Wieroo stepped out upon the platform. The creature +carried a large wooden basin filled with rubbish. Its eyes were not +upon Bradley, who drew himself to a squatting position and crouched +as far back in the corner of the niche in which the platform was +set as he could force himself. The Wieroo stepped to the edge of +the platform and dumped the rubbish into the stream. If it turned +away from him as it started to retrace its steps to the doorway, +there was a small chance that it might not see him; but if it +turned toward him there was none at all. Bradley held his +breath.</p> +<p>The Wieroo paused a moment, gazing down into the water, then it +straightened up and turned toward the Englishman. Bradley did not +move. The Wieroo stopped and stared intently at him. It approached +him questioningly. Still Bradley remained as though carved of +stone. The creature was directly in front of him. It stopped. There +was no chance on earth that it would not discover what he was.</p> +<p>With the quickness of a cat, Bradley sprang to his feet and with +all his great strength, backed by his heavy weight, struck the +Wieroo upon the point of the chin. Without a sound the thing +crumpled to the platform, while Bradley, acting almost +instinctively to the urge of the first law of nature, rolled the +inanimate body over the edge into the river.</p> +<p>Then he looked at the open doorway, crossed the platform and +peered within the apartment beyond. What he saw was a large room, +dimly lighted, and about the side rows of wooden vessels stacked +one upon another. There was no Wieroo in sight, so the Englishman +entered. At the far end of the room was another door, and as he +crossed toward it, he glanced into some of the vessels, which he +found were filled with dried fruits, vegetables and fish. Without +more ado he stuffed his pockets and his haversack full, thinking of +the poor creature awaiting his return in the gloom of the Place of +Seven Skulls.</p> +<p>When night came, he would return and fetch An-Tak this far at +least; but in the meantime it was his intention to reconnoiter in +the hope that he might discover some easier way out of the city +than that offered by the chill, black channel of the ghastly river +of corpses.</p> +<p>Beyond the farther door stretched a long passageway from which +closed doorways led into other parts of the cellars of the temple. +A few yards from the storeroom a ladder rose from the corridor +through an aperture in the ceiling. Bradley paused at the foot of +it, debating the wisdom of further investigation against a return +to the river; but strong within him was the spirit of exploration +that has scattered his race to the four corners of the earth. What +new mysteries lay hidden in the chambers above? The urge to know +was strong upon him though his better judgment warned him that the +safer course lay in retreat. For a moment he stood thus, running +his fingers through his hair; then he cast discretion to the winds +and began the ascent.</p> +<p>In conformity with such Wieroo architecture as he had already +observed, the well through which the ladder rose continually canted +at an angle from the perpendicular. At more or less regular stages +it was pierced by apertures closed by doors, none of which he could +open until he had climbed fully fifty feet from the river level. +Here he discovered a door already ajar opening into a large, +circular chamber, the walls and floors of which were covered with +the skins of wild beasts and with rugs of many colors; but what +interested him most was the occupants of the room—a Wieroo, +and a girl of human proportions. She was standing with her back +against a column which rose from the center of the apartment from +floor to ceiling—a hollow column about forty inches in +diameter in which he could see an opening some thirty inches +across. The girl’s side was toward Bradley, and her face +averted, for she was watching the Wieroo, who was now advancing +slowly toward her, talking as he came.</p> +<p>Bradley could distinctly hear the words of the creature, who was +urging the girl to accompany him to another Wieroo city. +“Come with me,” he said, “and you shall have your +life; remain here and He Who Speaks for Luata will claim you for +his own; and when he is done with you, your skull will bleach at +the top of a tall staff while your body feeds the reptiles at the +mouth of the River of Death. Even though you bring into the world a +female Wieroo, your fate will be the same if you do not escape him, +while with me you shall have life and food and none shall harm +you.”</p> +<p>He was quite close to the girl when she replied by striking him +in the face with all her strength. “Until I am slain,” +she cried, “I shall fight against you all.” From the +throat of the Wieroo issued that dismal wail that Bradley had heard +so often in the past—it was like a scream of pain smothered +to a groan—and then the thing leaped upon the girl, its face +working in hideous grimaces as it clawed and beat at her to force +her to the floor.</p> +<p>The Englishman was upon the point of entering to defend her when +a door at the opposite side of the chamber opened to admit a huge +Wieroo clothed entirely in red. At sight of the two struggling upon +the floor the newcomer raised his voice in a shriek of rage. +Instantly the Wieroo who was attacking the girl leaped to his feet +and faced the other.</p> +<p>“I heard,” screamed he who had just entered the +room. “I heard, and when He Who Speaks for Lu-ata shall have +heard—” He paused and made a suggestive movement of a +finger across his throat.</p> +<p>“He shall not hear,” returned the first Wieroo as, +with a powerful motion of his great wings, he launched himself upon +the red-robed figure. The latter dodged the first charge, drew a +wicked-looking curved blade from beneath its red robe, spread its +wings and dived for its antagonist. Beating their wings, wailing +and groaning, the two hideous things sparred for position. The +white-robed one being unarmed sought to grasp the other by the +wrist of its knife-hand and by the throat, while the latter hopped +around on its dainty white feet, seeking an opening for a mortal +blow. Once it struck and missed, and then the other rushed in and +clinched, at the same time securing both the holds it sought. +Immediately the two commenced beating at each other’s heads +with the joints of their wings, kicking with their soft, puny feet +and biting, each at the other’s face.</p> +<p>In the meantime the girl moved about the room, keeping out of +the way of the duelists, and as she did so, Bradley caught a +glimpse of her full face and immediately recognized her as the girl +of the place of the yellow door. He did not dare intervene now +until one of the Wieroo had overcome the other, lest the two should +turn upon him at once, when the chances were fair that he would be +defeated in so unequal a battle as the curved blade of the red +Wieroo would render it, and so he waited, watching the white-robed +figure slowly choking the life from him of the red robe. The +protruding tongue and the popping eyes proclaimed that the end was +near and a moment later the red robe sank to the floor of the room, +the curved blade slipping from nerveless fingers. For an instant +longer the victor clung to the throat of his defeated antagonist +and then he rose, dragging the body after him, and approached the +central column. Here he raised the body and thrust it into the +aperture where Bradley saw it drop suddenly from sight. Instantly +there flashed into his memory the circular openings in the roof of +the river vault and the corpses he had seen drop from them to the +water beneath.</p> +<p>As the body disappeared, the Wieroo turned and cast about the +room for the girl. For a moment he stood eying her. “You +saw,” he muttered, “and if you tell them, He Who Speaks +for Luata will have my wings severed while still I live and my head +will be severed and I shall be cast into the River of Death, for +thus it happens even to the highest who slay one of the red robe. +You saw, and you must die!” he ended with a scream as he +rushed upon the girl.</p> +<p>Bradley waited no longer. Leaping into the room he ran for the +Wieroo, who had already seized the girl, and as he ran, he stooped +and picked up the curved blade. The creature’s back was +toward him as, with his left hand, he seized it by the neck. Like a +flash the great wings beat backward as the creature turned, and +Bradley was swept from his feet, though he still retained his hold +upon the blade. Instantly the Wieroo was upon him. Bradley lay +slightly raised upon his left elbow, his right arm free, and as the +thing came close, he cut at the hideous face with all the strength +that lay within him. The blade struck at the junction of the neck +and torso and with such force as to completely decapitate the +Wieroo, the hideous head dropping to the floor and the body falling +forward upon the Englishman. Pushing it from him he rose to his +feet and faced the wide-eyed girl.</p> +<p>“Luata!” she exclaimed. “How came you +here?”</p> +<p>Bradley shrugged. “Here I am,” he said; “but +the thing now is to get out of here—both of us.”</p> +<p>The girl shook her head. “It cannot be,” she stated +sadly.</p> +<p>“That is what I thought when they dropped me into the Blue +Place of Seven Skulls,” replied Bradley. “Can’t +be done. I did it.— Here! You’re mussing up the floor +something awful, you.” This last to the dead Wieroo as he +stooped and dragged the corpse to the central shaft, where he +raised it to the aperture and let it slip into the tube. Then he +picked up the head and tossed it after the body. “Don’t +be so glum,” he admonished the former as he carried it toward +the well; “smile!”</p> +<p>“But how can he smile?” questioned the girl, a +half-puzzled, half-frightened look upon her face. “He is +dead.”</p> +<p>“That’s so,” admitted Bradley, “and I +suppose he does feel a bit cut up about it.”</p> +<p>The girl shook her head and edged away from the man—toward +the door.</p> +<p>“Come!” said the Englishman. “We’ve got +to get out of here. If you don’t know a better way than the +river, it’s the river then.”</p> +<p>The girl still eyed him askance. “But how could he smile +when he was dead?”</p> +<p>Bradley laughed aloud. “I thought we English were supposed +to have the least sense of humor of any people in the world,” +he cried; “but now I’ve found one human being who +hasn’t any. Of course you don’t know half I’m +saying; but don’t worry, little girl; I’m not going to +hurt you, and if I can get you out of here, I’ll do +it.”</p> +<p>Even if she did not understand all he said, she at least read +something in his smiling, countenance—something which +reassured her. “I do not fear you,” she said; +“though I do not understand all that you say even though you +speak my own tongue and use words that I know. But as for +escaping”—she sighed—“alas, how can it be +done?”</p> +<p>“I escaped from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls,” +Bradley reminded her. “Come!” And he turned toward the +shaft and the ladder that he had ascended from the river. “We +cannot waste time here.”</p> +<p>The girl followed him; but at the doorway both drew back, for +from below came the sound of some one ascending.</p> +<p>Bradley tiptoed to the door and peered cautiously into the well; +then he stepped back beside the girl. “There are half a dozen +of them coming up; but possibly they will pass this +room.”</p> +<p>“No,” she said, “they will pass directly +through this room—they are on their way to Him Who Speaks for +Luata. We may be able to hide in the next room—there are +skins there beneath which we may crawl. They will not stop in that +room; but they may stop in this one for a short time—the +other room is blue.”</p> +<p>“What’s that go to do with it?” demanded the +Englishman.</p> +<p>“They fear blue,” she replied. “In every room +where murder has been done you will find blue—a certain +amount for each murder. When the room is all blue, they shun it. +This room has much blue; but evidently they kill mostly in the next +room, which is now all blue.”</p> +<p>“But there is blue on the outside of every house I have +seen,” said Bradley.</p> +<p>“Yes, ” assented the girl, “and there are blue +rooms in each of those houses—when all the rooms are blue +then the whole outside of the house will be blue as is the Blue +Place of Seven Skulls. There are many such here.”</p> +<p>“And the skulls with blue upon them?” inquired +Bradley. “Did they belong to murderers?”</p> +<p>“They were murdered—some of them; those with only a +small amount of blue were murderers—known murderers. All +Wieroos are murderers. When they have committed a certain number of +murders without being caught at it, they confess to Him Who Speaks +for Luata and are advanced, after which they wear robes with a +slash of some color— I think yellow comes first. When they +reach a point where the entire robe is of yellow, they discard it +for a white robe with a red slash; and when one wins a complete red +robe, he carries such a long, curved knife as you have in your +hand; after that comes the blue slash on a white robe, and then, I +suppose, an all blue robe. I have never seen such a one.”</p> +<p>As they talked in low tones they had moved from the room of the +death shaft into an all blue room adjoining, where they sat down +together in a corner with their backs against a wall and drew a +pile of hides over themselves. A moment later they heard a number +of Wieroos enter the chamber. They were talking together as they +crossed the floor, or the two could not have heard them. Halfway +across the chamber they halted as the door toward which they were +advancing opened and a dozen others of their kind entered the +apartment.</p> +<p>Bradley could guess all this by the increased volume of sound +and the dismal greetings; but the sudden silence that almost +immediately ensued he could not fathom, for he could not know that +from beneath one of the hides that covered him protruded one of his +heavy army shoes, or that some eighteen large Wieroos with robes +either solid red or slashed with red or blue were standing gazing +at it. Nor could he hear their stealthy approach.</p> +<p>The first intimation he had that he had been discovered was when +his foot was suddenly seized, and he was yanked violently from +beneath the hides to find himself surrounded by menacing blades. +They would have slain him on the spot had not one clothed all in +red held them back, saying that He Who Speaks for Luata desired to +see this strange creature.</p> +<p>As they led Bradley away, he caught an opportunity to glance +back toward the hides to see what had become of the girl, and, to +his gratification, he discovered that she still lay concealed +beneath the hides. He wondered if she would have the nerve to +attempt the river trip alone and regretted that now he could not +accompany her. He felt rather all in, himself, more so than he had +at any time since he had been captured by the Wieroo, for there +appeared not the slightest cause for hope in his present +predicament. He had dropped the curved blade beneath the hides when +he had been jerked so violently from their fancied security. It was +almost in a spirit of resigned hopelessness that he quietly +accompanied his captors through various chambers and corridors +toward the heart of the temple.</p> +<h3><a id="Ch_4" name="Ch_4"></a>Chapter 4</h3> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>The farther the group progressed, the more barbaric and the more +sumptuous became the decorations. Hides of leopard and tiger +predominated, apparently because of their more beautiful markings, +and decorative skulls became more and more numerous. Many of the +latter were mounted in precious metals and set with colored stones +and priceless gems, while thick upon the hides that covered the +walls were golden ornaments similar to those worn by the girl and +those which had filled the chests he had examined in the storeroom +of Fosh-bal-soj, leading the Englishman to the conviction that all +such were spoils of war or theft, since each piece seemed made for +personal adornment, while in so far as he had seen, no Wieroo wore +ornaments of any sort.</p> +<p>And also as they advanced the more numerous became the Wieroos +moving hither and thither within the temple. Many now were the +solid red robes and those that were slashed with blue—a +veritable hive of murderers.</p> +<p>At last the party halted in a room in which were many Wieroos +who gathered about Bradley questioning his captors and examining +him and his apparel. One of the party accompanying the Englishman +spoke to a Wieroo that stood beside a door leading from the room. +“Tell Him Who Speaks for Luata,” he said, “that +Fosh-bal-soj we could not find; but that in returning we found this +creature within the temple, hiding. It must be the same that +Fosh-bal-soj captured in the Sto-lu country during the last +darkness. Doubtless He Who Speaks for Luata would wish to see and +question this strange thing.”</p> +<p>The creature addressed turned and slipped through the doorway, +closing the door after it, but first depositing its curved blade +upon the floor without. Its post was immediately taken by another +and Bradley now saw that at least twenty such guards loitered in +the immediate vicinity. The doorkeeper was gone but for a moment, +and when he returned, he signified that Bradley’s party was +to enter the next chamber; but first each of the Wieroos removed +his curved weapon and laid it upon the floor. The door was swung +open, and the party, now reduced to Bradley and five Wieroos, was +ushered across the threshold into a large, irregularly shaped room +in which a single, giant Wieroo whose robe was solid blue sat upon +a raised dais.</p> +<p>The creature’s face was white with the whiteness of a +corpse, its dead eyes entirely expressionless, its cruel, thin lips +tight-drawn against yellow teeth in a perpetual grimace. Upon +either side of it lay an enormous, curved sword, similar to those +with which some of the other Wieroos had been armed, but larger and +heavier. Constantly its clawlike fingers played with one or the +other of these weapons.</p> +<p>The walls of the chamber as well as the floor were entirely +hidden by skins and woven fabrics. Blue predominated in all the +colorations. Fastened against the hides were many pairs of Wieroo +wings, mounted so that they resembled long, black shields. Upon the +ceiling were painted in blue characters a bewildering series of +hieroglyphics and upon pedestals set against the walls or standing +out well within the room were many human skulls.</p> +<p>As the Wieroos approached the figure upon the dais, they leaned +far forward, raising their wings above their heads and stretching +their necks as though offering them to the sharp swords of the grim +and hideous creature.</p> +<p>“O Thou Who Speakest for Luata!” exclaimed one of +the party. “We bring you the strange creature that +Fosh-bal-soj captured and brought thither at thy +command.”</p> +<p>So this then was the godlike figure that spoke for divinity! +This arch-murderer was the Caspakian representative of God on +Earth! His blue robe announced him the one and the seeming humility +of his minions the other. For a long minute he glared at Bradley. +Then he began to question him—from whence he came and how, +the name and description of his native country, and a hundred other +queries.</p> +<p>“Are you cos-ata-lu?” the creature asked.</p> +<p>Bradley replied that he was and that all his kind were, as well +as every living thing in his part of the world.</p> +<p>“Can you tell me the secret?” asked the +creature.</p> +<p>Bradley hesitated and then, thinking to gain time, replied in +the affirmative.</p> +<p>“What is it?” demanded the Wieroo, leaning far +forward and exhibiting every evidence of excited interest.</p> +<p>Bradley leaned forward and whispered: “It is for your ears +alone; I will not divulge it to others, and then only on condition +that you carry me and the girl I saw in the place of the yellow +door near to that of Fosh-bal-soj back to her own +country.”</p> +<p>The thing rose in wrath, holding one of its swords above its +head.</p> +<p>“Who are you to make terms for Him Who Speaks for +Luata?” it shrilled. “Tell me the secret or die where +you stand!”</p> +<p>“And if I die now, the secret goes with me,” Bradley +reminded him. “Never again will you get the opportunity to +question another of my kind who knows the secret.” Anything +to gain time, to get the rest of the Wieroos from the room, that he +might plan some scheme for escape and put it into effect.</p> +<p>The creature turned upon the leader of the party that had +brought Bradley.</p> +<p>“Is the thing with weapons?” it asked.</p> +<p>“No,” was the response.</p> +<p>“Then go; but tell the guard to remain close by,” +commanded the high one.</p> +<p>The Wieroos salaamed and withdrew, closing the door behind them. +He Who Speaks for Luata grasped a sword nervously in his right +hand. At his left side lay the second weapon. It was evident that +he lived in constant dread of being assassinated. The fact that he +permitted none with weapons within his presence and that he always +kept two swords at his side pointed to this.</p> +<p>Bradley was racking his brain to find some suggestion of a plan +whereby he might turn the situation to his own account. His eyes +wandered past the weird figure before him; they played about the +walls of the apartment as though hoping to draw inspiration from +the dead skulls and the hides and the wings, and then they came +back to the face of the Wieroo god, now working in anger.</p> +<p>“Quick!” screamed the thing. “The +secret!”</p> +<p>“Will you give me and the girl our freedom?” +insisted Bradley.</p> +<p>For an instant the thing hesitated, and then it grumbled +“Yes.” At the same instant Bradley saw two hides upon +the wall directly back of the dais separate and a face appear in +the opening. No change of expression upon the Englishman’s +countenance betrayed that he had seen aught to surprise him, though +surprised he was for the face in the aperture was that of the girl +he had but just left hidden beneath the hides in another chamber. A +white and shapely arm now pushed past the face into the room, and +in the hand, tightly clutched, was the curved blade, smeared with +blood, that Bradley had dropped beneath the hides at the moment he +had been discovered and drawn from his concealment.</p> +<p>“Listen, then,” said Bradley in a low voice to the +Wieroo. “You shall know the secret of cos-ata-lu as well as +do I; but none other may hear it. Lean close—I will whisper +it into your ear.”</p> +<p>He moved forward and stepped upon the dais. The creature raised +its sword ready to strike at the first indication of treachery, and +Bradley stooped beneath the blade and put his ear close to the +gruesome face. As he did so, he rested his weight upon his hands, +one upon either side of the Wieroo’s body, his right hand +upon the hilt of the spare sword lying at the left of Him Who +Speaks for Luata.</p> +<p>“This then is the secret of both life and death,” he +whispered, and at the same instant he grasped the Wieroo by the +right wrist and with his own right hand swung the extra blade in a +sudden vicious blow against the creature’s neck before the +thing could give even a single cry of alarm; then without waiting +an instant Bradley leaped past the dead god and vanished behind the +hides that had hidden the girl.</p> +<p>Wide-eyed and panting the girl seized his arm. “Oh, what +have you done?” she cried. “He Who Speaks for Luata +will be avenged by Luata. Now indeed must you die. There is no +escape, for even though we reached my own country Luata can find +you out.”</p> +<p>“Bosh!” exclaimed Bradley, and then: “But you +were going to knife him yourself.”</p> +<p>“Then I alone should have died,” she replied.</p> +<p>Bradley scratched his head. “Neither of us is going to +die,” he said; “at least not at the hands of any god. +If we don’t get out of here though, we’ll die right +enough. Can you find your way back to the room where I first came +upon you in the temple?”</p> +<p>“I know the way,” replied the girl; “but I +doubt if we can go back without being seen. I came hither because I +only met Wieroos who knew that I am supposed now to be in the +temple; but you could go elsewhere without being +discovered.”</p> +<p>Bradley’s ingenuity had come up against a stone wall. +There seemed no possibility of escape. He looked about him. They +were in a small room where lay a litter of rubbish—torn bits +of cloth, old hides, pieces of fiber rope. In the center of the +room was a cylindrical shaft with an opening in its face. Bradley +knew it for what it was. Here the arch-fiend dragged his victims +and cast their bodies into the river of death far below. The floor +about the opening in the shaft and the sides of the shaft were +clotted thick with a dried, dark brown substance that the +Englishman knew had once been blood. The place had the appearance +of having been a veritable shambles. An odor of decaying flesh +permeated the air.</p> +<p>The Englishman crossed to the shaft and peered into the opening. +All below was dark as pitch; but at the bottom he knew was the +river. Suddenly an inspiration and a bold scheme leaped to his +mind. Turning quickly he hunted about the room until he found what +he sought—a quantity of the rope that lay strewn here and +there. With rapid fingers he unsnarled the different lengths, the +girl helping him, and then he tied the ends together until he had +three ropes about seventy-five feet in length. He fastened these +together at each end and without a word secured one of the ends +about the girl’s body beneath her arms.</p> +<p>“Don’t be frightened,” he said at length, as +he led her toward the opening in the shaft. “I’m going +to lower you to the river, and then I’m coming down after +you. When you are safe below, give two quick jerks upon the rope. +If there is danger there and you want me to draw you up into the +shaft, jerk once. Don’t be afraid—it is the only +way.”</p> +<p>“I am not afraid,” replied the girl, rather +haughtily Bradley thought, and herself climbed through the aperture +and hung by her hands waiting for Bradley to lower her.</p> +<p>As rapidly as was consistent with safety, the man paid out the +rope. When it was about half out, he heard loud cries and wails +suddenly arise within the room they had just quitted. The slaying +of their god had been discovered by the Wieroos. A search for the +slayer would begin at once.</p> +<p>Lord! Would the girl never reach the river? At last, just as he +was positive that searchers were already entering the room behind +him, there came two quick tugs at the rope. Instantly Bradley made +the rest of the strands fast about the shaft, slipped into the +black tube and began a hurried descent toward the river. An instant +later he stood waist deep in water beside the girl. Impulsively she +reached toward him and grasped his arm. A strange thrill ran +through him at the contact; but he only cut the rope from about her +body and lifted her to the little shelf at the river’s +side.</p> +<p>“How can we leave here?” she asked.</p> +<p>“By the river,” he replied; “but first I must +go back to the Blue Place of Seven Skulls and get the poor devil I +left there. I’ll have to wait until after dark, though, as I +cannot pass through the open stretch of river in the temple gardens +by day.”</p> +<p>“There is another way,” said the girl. “I have +never seen it; but often I have heard them speak of it—a +corridor that runs beside the river from one end of the city to the +other. Through the gardens it is below ground. If we could find an +entrance to it, we could leave here at once. It is not safe here, +for they will search every inch of the temple and the +grounds.”</p> +<p>“Come,” said Bradley. “We’ll have a look +for it, anyway.” And so saying he approached one of the doors +that opened onto the skull-paved shelf.</p> +<p>They found the corridor easily, for it paralleled the river, +separated from it only by a single wall. It took them beneath the +gardens and the city, always through inky darkness. After they had +reached the other side of the gardens, Bradley counted his steps +until he had retraced as many as he had taken coming down the +stream; but though they had to grope their way along, it was a much +more rapid trip than the former.</p> +<p>When he thought he was about opposite the point at which he had +descended from the Blue Place of Seven Skulls, he sought and found +a doorway leading out onto the river; and then, still in the +blackest darkness, he lowered himself into the stream and felt up +and down upon the opposite side for the little shelf and the +ladder. Ten yards from where he had emerged he found them, while +the girl waited upon the opposite side.</p> +<p>To ascend to the secret panel was the work of but a minute. Here +he paused and listened lest a Wieroo might be visiting the prison +in search of him or the other inmate; but no sound came from the +gloomy interior. Bradley could not but muse upon the joy of the man +on the opposite side when he should drop down to him with food and +a new hope for escape. Then he opened the panel and looked into the +room. The faint light from the grating above revealed the pile of +rags in one corner; but the man lay beneath them, he made no +response to Bradley’s low greeting.</p> +<p>The Englishman lowered himself to the floor of the room and +approached the rags. Stooping he lifted a corner of them. Yes, +there was the man asleep. Bradley shook him—there was no +response. He stooped lower and in the dim light examined An-Tak; +then he stood up with a sigh. A rat leaped from beneath the +coverings and scurried away. “Poor devil!” muttered +Bradley.</p> +<p>He crossed the room to swing himself to the perch preparatory to +quitting the Blue Place of Seven Skulls forever. Beneath the perch +he paused. “I’ll not give them the satisfaction,” +he growled. “Let them believe that he escaped.”</p> +<p>Returning to the pile of rags he gathered the man into his arms. +It was difficult work raising him to the high perch and dragging +him through the small opening and thus down the ladder; but +presently it was done, and Bradley had lowered the body into the +river and cast it off. “Good-bye, old top!” he +whispered.</p> +<p>A moment later he had rejoined the girl and hand in hand they +were following the dark corridor upstream toward the farther end of +the city. She told him that the Wieroos seldom frequented these +lower passages, as the air here was too chill for them; but +occasionally they came, and as they could see quite as well by +night as by day, they would be sure to discover Bradley and the +girl.</p> +<p>“If they come close enough,” she said, “we can +see their eyes shining in the dark—they resemble dull +splotches of light. They glow, but do not blaze like the eyes of +the tiger or the lion.”</p> +<p>The man could not but note the very evident horror with which +she mentioned the creatures. To him they were uncanny; but she had +been used to them for a year almost, and probably all her life she +had either seen or heard of them constantly.</p> +<p>“Why do you fear them so?” he asked. “It seems +more than any ordinary fear of the harm they can do you.”</p> +<p>She tried to explain; but the nearest he could gather was that +she looked upon the Wieroo almost as supernatural beings. +“There is a legend current among my people that once the +Wieroo were unlike us only in that they possessed rudimentary +wings. They lived in villages in the Galu country, and while the +two peoples often warred, they held no hatred for one another. In +those days each race came up from the beginning and there was great +rivalry as to which was the higher in the scale of evolution. The +Wieroo developed the first cos-ata-lu but they were always +male— never could they reproduce woman. Slowly they commenced +to develop certain attributes of the mind which, they considered, +placed them upon a still higher level and which gave them many +advantages over us, seeing which they thought only of mental +development—their minds became like stars and the rivers, +moving always in the same manner, never varying. They called this +tas-ad, which means doing everything the right way, or, in other +words, the Wieroo way. If foe or friend, right or wrong, stood in +the way of tas-ad, then it must be crushed.</p> +<p>“Soon the Galus and the lesser races of men came to hate +and fear them. It was then that the Wieroos decided to carry tas-ad +into every part of the world. They were very warlike and very +numerous, although they had long since adopted the policy of +slaying all those among them whose wings did not show advanced +development.</p> +<p>“It took ages for all this to happen—very slowly +came the different changes; but at last the Wieroos had wings they +could use. But by reason of always making war upon their neighbors +they were hated by every creature of Caspak, for no one wanted +their tas-ad, and so they used their wings to fly to this island +when the other races turned against them and threatened to kill +them all. So cruel had they become and so bloodthirsty that they no +longer had hearts that beat with love or sympathy; but their very +cruelty and wickedness kept them from conquering the other races, +since they were also cruel and wicked to one another, so that no +Wieroo trusted another.</p> +<p>“Always were they slaying those above them that they might +rise in power and possessions, until at last came the more powerful +than the others with a tas-ad all his own. He gathered about him a +few of the most terrible Wieroos, and among them they made laws +which took from all but these few Wieroos every weapon they +possessed.</p> +<p>“Now their tas-ad has reached a high plane among them. +They make many wonderful things that we cannot make. They think +great thoughts, no doubt, and still dream of greatness to come, but +their thoughts and their acts are regulated by ages of +custom—they are all alike—and they are most +unhappy.”</p> +<p>As the girl talked, the two moved steadily along the dark +passageway beside the river. They had advanced a considerable +distance when there sounded faintly from far ahead the muffled roar +of falling water, which increased in volume as they moved forward +until at last it filled the corridor with a deafening sound. Then +the corridor ended in a blank wall; but in a niche to the right was +a ladder leading aloft, and to the left was a door opening onto the +river. Bradley tried the latter first and as he opened it, felt a +heavy spray against his face. The little shelf outside the doorway +was wet and slippery, the roaring of the water tremendous. There +could be but one explanation—they had reached a waterfall in +the river, and if the corridor actually terminated here, their +escape was effectually cut off, since it was quite evidently +impossible to follow the bed of the river and ascend the falls.</p> +<p>As the ladder was the only alternative, the two turned toward it +and, the man first, began the ascent, which was through a well +similar to that which had led him to the upper floors of the +temple. As he climbed, Bradley felt for openings in the sides of +the shaft; but he discovered none below fifty feet. The first he +came to was ajar, letting a faint light into the well. As he +paused, the girl climbed to his side, and together they looked +through the crack into a low-ceiled chamber in which were several +Galu women and an equal number of hideous little replicas of the +full-grown Wieroos with which Bradley was not quite familiar.</p> +<p>He could feel the body of the girl pressed close to his tremble +as her eyes rested upon the inmates of the room, and involuntarily +his arm encircled her shoulders as though to protect her from some +danger which he sensed without recognizing.</p> +<p>“Poor things,” she whispered. “This is their +horrible fate—to be imprisoned here beneath the surface of +the city with their hideous offspring whom they hate as they hate +their fathers. A Wieroo keeps his children thus hidden until they +are full-grown lest they be murdered by their fellows. The lower +rooms of the city are filled with many such as these.”</p> +<p>Several feet above was a second door beyond which they found a +small room stored with food in wooden vessels. A grated window in +one wall opened above an alley, and through it they could see that +they were just below the roof of the building. Darkness was coming, +and at Bradley’s suggestion they decided to remain hidden +here until after dark and then to ascend to the roof and +reconnoiter.</p> +<p>Shortly after they had settled themselves they heard something +descending the ladder from above. They hoped that it would continue +on down the well and fairly held their breath as the sound +approached the door to the storeroom. Their hearts sank as they +heard the door open and from between cracks in the vessels behind +which they hid saw a yellow-slashed Wieroo enter the room. Each +recognized him immediately, the girl indicating the fact of her own +recognition by a sudden pressure of her fingers on Bradley’s +arm. It was the Wieroo of the yellow slashing whose abode was the +place of the yellow door in which Bradley had first seen the +girl.</p> +<p>The creature carried a wooden bowl which it filled with dried +food from several of the vessels; then it turned and quit the room. +Bradley could see through the partially open doorway that it +descended the ladder. The girl told him that it was taking the food +to the women and the young below, and that while it might return +immediately, the chances were that it would remain for some +time.</p> +<p>“We are just below the place of the yellow door,” +she said. “It is far from the edge of the city; so far that +we may not hope to escape if we ascend to the roofs +here.”</p> +<p>“I think,” replied the man, “that of all the +places in Oo-oh this will be the easiest to escape from. Anyway, I +want to return to the place of the yellow door and get my pistol if +it is there.”</p> +<p>“It is still there,” replied, the girl. “I saw +it placed in a chest where he keeps the things he takes from his +prisoners and victims.”</p> +<p>“Good!” exclaimed Bradley. “Now come, quickly. +“And the two crossed the room to the well and ascended the +ladder a short distance to its top where they found another door +that opened into a vacant room—the same in which Bradley had +first met the girl. To find the pistol was a matter of but a +moment’s search on the part of Bradley’s companion; and +then, at the Englishman’s signal, she followed him to the +yellow door.</p> +<p>It was quite dark without as the two entered the narrow passage +between two buildings. A few steps brought them undiscovered to the +doorway of the storeroom where lay the body of Fosh-bal-soj. In the +distance, toward the temple, they could hear sounds as of a great +gathering of Wieroos—the peculiar, uncanny wailing rising +above the dismal flapping of countless wings.</p> +<p>“They have heard of the killing of Him Who Speaks for +Luata,” whispered the girl. “Soon they will spread in +all directions searching for us.”</p> +<p>“And will they find us?”</p> +<p>“As surely as Lua gives light by day,” she replied; +“and when they find us, they will tear us to pieces, for only +the Wieroos may murder—only they may practice +tas-ad.”</p> +<p>“But they will not kill you,” said Bradley. +“You did not slay him.”</p> +<p>“It will make no difference,” she insisted. +“If they find us together they will slay us both.”</p> +<p>“Then they won’t find us together,” announced +Bradley decisively. “You stay right here—you +won’t be any worse off than before I came—and +I’ll get as far as I can and account for as many of the +beggars as possible before they get me. Good-bye! You’re a +mighty decent little girl. I wish that I might have helped +you.”</p> +<p>“No,” she cried. “Do not leave me. I would +rather die. I had hoped and hoped to find some way to return to my +own country. I wanted to go back to An-Tak, who must be very lonely +without me; but I know that it can never be. It is difficult to +kill hope, though mine is nearly dead. Do not leave me.”</p> +<p>“An-Tak!” Bradley repeated. “You loved a man +called An-Tak?”</p> +<p>“Yes,” replied the girl. “An-Tak was away, +hunting, when the Wieroo caught me. How he must have grieved for +me! He also was cos-ata-lu, twelve moons older than I, and all our +lives we have been together.”</p> +<p>Bradley remained silent. So she loved An-Tak. He hadn’t +the heart to tell her that An-Tak had died, or how.</p> +<p>At the door of Fosh-bal-soj’s storeroom they halted to +listen. No sound came from within, and gently Bradley pushed open +the door. All was inky darkness as they entered; but presently +their eyes became accustomed to the gloom that was partially +relieved by the soft starlight without. The Englishman searched and +found those things for which he had come—two robes, two pairs +of dead wings and several lengths of fiber rope. One pair of the +wings he adjusted to the girl’s shoulders by means of the +rope. Then he draped the robe about her, carrying the cowl over her +head.</p> +<p>He heard her gasp of astonishment when she realized the +ingenuity and boldness of his plan; then he directed her to adjust +the other pair of wings and the robe upon him. Working with strong, +deft fingers she soon had the work completed, and the two stepped +out upon the roof, to all intent and purpose genuine Wieroos. +Besides his pistol Bradley carried the sword of the slain Wieroo +prophet, while the girl was armed with the small blade of the red +Wieroo.</p> +<p>Side by side they walked slowly across the roofs toward the +north edge of the city. Wieroos flapped above them and several +times they passed others walking or sitting upon the roofs. From +the temple still rose the sounds of commotion, now pierced by +occasional shrill screams.</p> +<p>“The murderers are abroad,” whispered the girl. +“Thus will another become the tongue of Luata. It is well for +us, since it keeps them too busy to give the time for searching for +us. They think that we cannot escape the city, and they know that +we cannot leave the island—and so do I.”</p> +<p>Bradley shook his head. “If there is any way, we will find +it,” he said.</p> +<p>“There is no way,” replied the girl.</p> +<p>Bradley made no response, and in silence they continued until +the outer edge of roofs was visible before them. “We are +almost there,” he whispered.</p> +<p>The girl felt for his fingers and pressed them. He could feel +hers trembling as he returned the pressure, nor did he relinquish +her hand; and thus they came to the edge of the last roof.</p> +<p>Here they halted and looked about them. To be seen attempting to +descend to the ground below would be to betray the fact that they +were not Wieroos. Bradley wished that their wings were attached to +their bodies by sinew and muscle rather than by ropes of fiber. A +Wieroo was flapping far overhead. Two more stood near a door a few +yards distant. Standing between these and one of the outer +pedestals that supported one of the numerous skulls Bradley made +one end of a piece of rope fast about the pedestal and dropped the +other end to the ground outside the city. Then they waited.</p> +<p>It was an hour before the coast was entirely clear and then a +moment came when no Wieroo was in sight. “Now!” +whispered Bradley; and the girl grasped the rope and slid over the +edge of the roof into the darkness below. A moment later Bradley +felt two quick pulls upon the rope and immediately followed to the +girl’s side.</p> +<p>Across a narrow clearing they made their way and into a wood +beyond. All night they walked, following the river upward toward +its source, and at dawn they took shelter in a thicket beside the +stream. At no time did they hear the cry of a carnivore, and though +many startled animals fled as they approached, they were not once +menaced by a wild beast. When Bradley expressed surprise at the +absence of the fiercest beasts that are so numerous upon the +mainland of Caprona, the girl explained the reason that is +contained in one of their ancient legends.</p> +<p>“When the Wieroos first developed wings upon which they +could fly, they found this island devoid of any life other than a +few reptiles that live either upon land or in the water and these +only close to the coast. Requiring meat for food the Wieroos +carried to the island such animals as they wished for that purpose. +They still occasionally bring them, and this with the natural +increase keeps them provided with flesh.”</p> +<p>“As it will us,” suggested Bradley.</p> +<p>The first day they remained in hiding, eating only the dried +food that Bradley had brought with him from the temple storeroom, +and the next night they set out again up the river, continuing +steadily on until almost dawn, when they came to low hills where +the river wound through a gorge—it was little more than +rivulet now, the water clear and cold and filled with fish similar +to brook trout though much larger. Not wishing to leave the stream +the two waded along its bed to a spot where the gorge widened +between perpendicular bluffs to a wooded acre of level land. Here +they stopped, for here also the stream ended. They had reached its +source—many cold springs bubbling up from the center of a +little natural amphitheater in the hills and forming a clear and +beautiful pool overshadowed by trees upon one side and bounded by a +little clearing upon the other.</p> +<p>With the coming of the sun they saw they had stumbled upon a +place where they might remain hidden from the Wieroos for a long +time and also one that they could defend against these winged +creatures, since the trees would shield them from an attack from +above and also hamper the movements of the creatures should they +attempt to follow them into the wood.</p> +<p>For three days they rested here before trying to explore the +neighboring country. On the fourth, Bradley stated that he was +going to scale the bluffs and learn what lay beyond. He told the +girl that she should remain in hiding; but she refused to be left, +saying that whatever fate was to be his, she intended to share it, +so that he was at last forced to permit her to come with him. +Through woods at the summit of the bluff they made their way toward +the north and had gone but a short distance when the wood ended and +before them they saw the waters of the inland sea and dimly in the +distance the coveted shore.</p> +<p>The beach lay some two hundred yards from the foot of the hill +on which they stood, nor was there a tree nor any other form of +shelter between them and the water as far up and down the coast as +they could see. Among other plans Bradley had thought of +constructing a covered raft upon which they might drift to the +mainland; but as such a contrivance would necessarily be of +considerable weight, it must be built in the water of the sea, +since they could not hope to move it even a short distance +overland.</p> +<p>“If this wood was only at the edge of the water,” he +sighed.</p> +<p>“But it is not,” the girl reminded him, and then: +“Let us make the best of it. We have escaped from death for a +time at least. We have food and good water and peace and each +other. What more could we have upon the mainland?”</p> +<p>“But I thought you wanted to get back to your own +country!” he exclaimed.</p> +<p>She cast her eyes upon the ground and half turned away. “I +do,” she said, “yet I am happy here. I could be little +happier there.”</p> +<p>Bradley stood in silent thought. “`We have food and good +water and peace and each other!’” he repeated to +himself. He turned then and looked at the girl, and it was as +though in the days that they had been together this was the first +time that he had really seen her. The circumstances that had thrown +them together, the dangers through which they had passed, all the +weird and horrible surroundings that had formed the background of +his knowledge of her had had their effect—she had been but +the companion of an adventure; her self-reliance, her endurance, +her loyalty, had been only what one man might expect of another, +and he saw that he had unconsciously assumed an attitude toward her +that he might have assumed toward a man. Yet there had been a +difference—he recalled now the strange sensation of elation +that had thrilled him upon the occasions when the girl had pressed +his hand in hers, and the depression that had followed her +announcement of her love for An-Tak.</p> +<p>He took a step toward her. A fierce yearning to seize her and +crush her in his arms, swept over him, and then there flashed upon +the screen of recollection the picture of a stately hall set amidst +broad gardens and ancient trees and of a proud old man with +beetling brows—an old man who held his head very +high—and Bradley shook his head and turned away again.</p> +<p>They went back then to their little acre, and the days came and +went, and the man fashioned spear and bow and arrows and hunted +with them that they might have meat, and he made hooks of fishbone +and caught fishes with wondrous flies of his own invention; and the +girl gathered fruits and cooked the flesh and the fish and made +beds of branches and soft grasses. She cured the hides of the +animals he killed and made them soft by much pounding. She made +sandals for herself and for the man and fashioned a hide after the +manner of those worn by the warriors of her tribe and made the man +wear it, for his own garments were in rags.</p> +<p>She was always the same—sweet and kind and +helpful—but always there was about her manner and her +expression just a trace of wistfulness, and often she sat and +looked at the man when he did not know it, her brows puckered in +thought as though she were trying to fathom and to understand +him.</p> +<p>In the face of the cliff, Bradley scooped a cave from the rotted +granite of which the hill was composed, making a shelter for them +against the rains. He brought wood for their cook-fire which they +used only in the middle of the day—a time when there was +little likelihood of Wieroos being in the air so far from their +city—and then he learned to bank it with earth in such a way +that the embers held until the following noon without giving off +smoke.</p> +<p>Always he was planning on reaching the mainland, and never a day +passed that he did not go to the top of the hill and look out +across the sea toward the dark, distant line that meant for him +comparative freedom and possibly reunion with his comrades. The +girl always went with him, standing at his side and watching the +stern expression on his face with just a tinge of sadness on her +own.</p> +<p>“You are not happy,” she said once.</p> +<p>“I should be over there with my men,” he replied. +“I do not know what may have happened to them.”</p> +<p>“I want you to be happy,” she said quite simply; +“but I should be very lonely if you went away and left me +here.”</p> +<p>He put his hand on her shoulder. “I would not do that, +little girl,” he said gently. “If you cannot go with +me, I shall not go. If either of us must go alone, it will be +you.”</p> +<p>Her face lighted to a wondrous smile. “Then we shall not +be separated,” she said, “for I shall never leave you +as long as we both live.”</p> +<p>He looked down into her face for a moment and then: “Who +was An-Tak? ” he asked.</p> +<p>“My brother,” she replied. “Why?”</p> +<p>And then, even less than before, could he tell her. It was then +that he did something he had never done before—he put his +arms about her and stooping, kissed her forehead. “Until you +find An-Tak,” he said, “I will be your +brother.”</p> +<p>She drew away. “I already have a brother,” she said, +“and I do not want another.”</p> +<h3><a id="Ch_5" name="Ch_5"></a>Chapter 5</h3> +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of +Contents</a></p> +<p>Days became weeks, and weeks became months, and the months +followed one another in a lazy procession of hot, humid days and +warm, humid nights. The fugitives saw never a Wieroo by day though +often at night they heard the melancholy flapping of giant wings +far above them.</p> +<p>Each day was much like its predecessor. Bradley splashed about +for a few minutes in the cold pool early each morning and after a +time the girl tried it and liked it. Toward the center it was deep +enough for swimming, and so he taught her to swim—she was +probably the first human being in all Caspak’s long ages who +had done this thing. And then while she prepared breakfast, the man +shaved—this he never neglected. At first it was a source of +wonderment to the girl, for the Galu men are beardless.</p> +<p>When they needed meat, he hunted, otherwise he busied himself in +improving their shelter, making new and better weapons, perfecting +his knowledge of the girl’s language and teaching her to +speak and to write English—anything that would keep them both +occupied. He still sought new plans for escape, but with +ever-lessening enthusiasm, since each new scheme presented some +insurmountable obstacle.</p> +<p>And then one day as a bolt out of a clear sky came that which +blasted the peace and security of their sanctuary forever. Bradley +was just emerging from the water after his morning plunge when from +overhead came the sound of flapping wings. Glancing quickly up the +man saw a white-robed Wieroo circling slowly above him. That he had +been discovered he could not doubt since the creature even dropped +to a lower altitude as though to assure itself that what it saw was +a man. Then it rose rapidly and winged away toward the city.</p> +<p>For two days Bradley and the girl lived in a constant state of +apprehension, awaiting the moment when the hunters would come for +them; but nothing happened until just after dawn of the third day, +when the flapping of wings apprised them of the approach of +Wieroos. Together they went to the edge of the wood and looked up +to see five red-robed creatures dropping slowly in ever-lessening +spirals toward their little amphitheater. With no attempt at +concealment they came, sure of their ability to overwhelm these two +fugitives, and with the fullest measure of self-confidence they +landed in the clearing but a few yards from the man and the +girl.</p> +<p>Following a plan already discussed Bradley and the girl +retreated slowly into the woods. The Wieroos advanced, calling upon +them to give themselves up; but the quarry made no reply. Farther +and farther into the little wood Bradley led the hunters, +permitting them to approach ever closer; then he circled back again +toward the clearing, evidently to the great delight of the Wieroos, +who now followed more leisurely, awaiting the moment when they +should be beyond the trees and able to use their wings. They had +opened into semicircular formation now with the evident intention +of cutting the two off from returning into the wood. Each Wieroo +advanced with his curved blade ready in his hand, each hideous face +blank and expressionless.</p> +<p>It was then that Bradley opened fire with his pistol—three +shots, aimed with careful deliberation, for it had been long since +he had used the weapon, and he could not afford to chance wasting +ammunition on misses. At each shot a Wieroo dropped; and then the +remaining two sought escape by flight, screaming and wailing after +the manner of their kind. When a Wieroo runs, his wings spread +almost without any volition upon his part, since from time +immemorial he has always used them to balance himself and +accelerate his running speed so that in the open they appear to +skim the surface of the ground when in the act of running. But here +in the woods, among the close-set boles, the spreading of their +wings proved their undoing—it hindered and stopped them and +threw them to the ground, and then Bradley was upon them +threatening them with instant death if they did not +surrender— promising them their freedom if they did his +bidding.</p> +<p>“As you have seen,” he cried, “I can kill you +when I wish and at a distance. You cannot escape me. Your only hope +of life lies in obedience. Quick, or I kill!”</p> +<p>The Wieroos stopped and faced him. “What do you want of +us?” asked one.</p> +<p>“Throw aside your weapons,” Bradley commanded. After +a moment’s hesitation they obeyed.</p> +<p>“Now approach!” A great plan—the only +plan—had suddenly come to him like an inspiration.</p> +<p>The Wieroos came closer and halted at his command. Bradley +turned to the girl. “There is rope in the shelter,” he +said. “Fetch it!”</p> +<p>She did as he bid, and then he directed her to fasten one end of +a fifty-foot length to the ankle of one of the Wieroos and the +opposite end to the second. The creatures gave evidence of great +fear, but they dared not attempt to prevent the act.</p> +<p>“Now go out into the clearing,” said Bradley, +“and remember that I am walking close behind and that I will +shoot the nearer one should either attempt to escape—that +will hold the other until I can kill him as well.”</p> +<p>In the open he halted them. “The girl will get upon the +back of the one in front,” announced the Englishman. “I +will mount the other. She carries a sharp blade, and I carry this +weapon that you know kills easily at a distance. If you disobey in +the slightest, the instructions that I am about to give you, you +shall both die. That we must die with you, will not deter us. If +you obey, I promise to set you free without harming you.</p> +<p>“You will carry us due west, depositing us upon the shore +of the mainland—that is all. It is the price of your lives. +Do you agree?”</p> +<p>Sullenly the Wieroos acquiesced. Bradley examined the knots that +held the rope to their ankles, and feeling them secure directed the +girl to mount the back of the leading Wieroo, himself upon the +other. Then he gave the signal for the two to rise together. With +loud flapping of the powerful wings the creatures took to the air, +circling once before they topped the trees upon the hill and then +taking a course due west out over the waters of the sea.</p> +<p>Nowhere about them could Bradley see signs of other Wieroos, nor +of those other menaces which he had feared might bring disaster to +his plans for escape—the huge, winged reptilia that are so +numerous above the southern areas of Caspak and which are often +seen, though in lesser numbers, farther north.</p> +<p>Nearer and nearer loomed the mainland—a broad, parklike +expanse stretching inland to the foot of a low plateau spread out +before them. The little dots in the foreground became grazing herds +of deer and antelope and bos; a huge woolly rhinoceros wallowed in +a mudhole to the right, and beyond, a mighty mammoth culled the +tender shoots from a tall tree. The roars and screams and growls of +giant carnivora came faintly to their ears. Ah, this was Caspak. +With all of its dangers and its primal savagery it brought a +fullness to the throat of the Englishman as to one who sees and +hears the familiar sights and sounds of home after a long absence. +Then the Wieroos dropped swiftly downward to the flower-starred +turf that grew almost to the water’s edge, the fugitives +slipped from their backs, and Bradley told the red-robed creatures +they were free to go.</p> +<p>When he had cut the ropes from their ankles they rose with that +uncanny wailing upon their lips that always brought a shudder to +the Englishman, and upon dismal wings they flapped away toward +frightful Oo-oh.</p> +<p>When the creatures had gone, the girl turned toward Bradley. +“Why did you have them bring us here?” she asked. +“Now we are far from my country. We may never live to reach +it, as we are among enemies who, while not so horrible will kill us +just as surely as would the Wieroos should they capture us, and we +have before us many marches through lands filled with savage +beasts.”</p> +<p>“There were two reasons,” replied Bradley. +“You told me that there are two Wieroo cities at the eastern +end of the island. To have passed near either of them might have +been to have brought about our heads hundreds of the creatures from +whom we could not possibly have escaped. Again, my friends must be +near this spot— it cannot be over two marches to the fort of +which I have told you. It is my duty to return to them. If they +still live we shall find a way to return you to your +people.”</p> +<p>“And you?” asked the girl.</p> +<p>“I escaped from Oo-oh,” replied Bradley. “I +have accomplished the impossible once, and so I shall accomplish it +again—I shall escape from Caspak.”</p> +<p>He was not looking at her face as he answered her, and so he did +not see the shadow of sorrow that crossed her countenance. When he +raised his eyes again, she was smiling.</p> +<p>“What you wish, I wish,” said the girl.</p> +<p>Southward along the coast they made their way following the +beach, where the walking was best, but always keeping close enough +to trees to insure sanctuary from the beasts and reptiles that so +often menaced them. It was late in the afternoon when the girl +suddenly seized Bradley’s arm and pointed straight ahead +along the shore. “What is that?” she whispered. +“What strange reptile is it?”</p> +<p>Bradley looked in the direction her slim forefinger indicated. +He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then he seized her wrist +and drew her quickly behind a clump of bushes.</p> +<p>“What is it?” she asked.</p> +<p>“It is the most frightful reptile that the waters of the +world have ever known,” he replied. “It is a German +U-boat!”</p> +<p>An expression of amazement and understanding lighted her +features. “It is the thing of which you told me,” she +exclaimed, “—the thing that swims under the water and +carries men in its belly!”</p> +<p>“It is,” replied Bradley.</p> +<p>“Then why do you hide from it?” asked the girl. +“You said that now it belonged to your friends.”</p> +<p>“Many months have passed since I knew what was going on +among my friends,” he replied. “I cannot know what has +befallen them. They should have been gone from here in this vessel +long since, and so I cannot understand why it is still here. I am +going to investigate first before I show myself. When I left, there +were more Germans on the U-33 than there were men of my own party +at the fort, and I have had sufficient experience of Germans to +know that they will bear watching—if they have not been +properly watched since I left.”</p> +<p>Making their way through a fringe of wood that grew a few yards +inland the two crept unseen toward the U-boat which lay moored to +the shore at a point which Bradley now recognized as being near the +oil-pool north of Dinosaur. As close as possible to the vessel they +halted, crouching low among the dense vegetation, and watched the +boat for signs of human life about it. The hatches were +closed—no one could be seen or heard. For five minutes +Bradley watched, and then he determined to board the submarine and +investigate. He had risen to carry his decision into effect when +there suddenly broke upon his ear, uttered in loud and menacing +tones, a volley of German oaths and expletives among which he heard +Englische schweinhunde repeated several times. The voice did not +come from the direction of the U-boat; but from inland. Creeping +forward Bradley reached a spot where, through the creepers hanging +from the trees, he could see a party of men coming down toward the +shore.</p> +<p>He saw Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and six of his +men—all armed—while marching in a little knot among +them were Olson, Brady, Sinclair, Wilson, and Whitely.</p> +<p>Bradley knew nothing of the disappearance of Bowen Tyler and +Miss La Rue, nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling the fort +and attempting to escape in the U-33; but he was in no way +surprised at what he saw before him.</p> +<p>The little party came slowly onward, the prisoners staggering +beneath heavy cans of oil, while Schwartz, one of the German +noncommissioned officers cursed and beat them with a stick of wood, +impartially. Von Schoenvorts walked in the rear of the column, +encouraging Schwartz and laughing at the discomfiture of the +Britishers. Dietz, Heinz, and Klatz also seemed to enjoy the +entertainment immensely; but two of the men—Plesser and +Hindle— marched with eyes straight to the front and with +scowling faces.</p> +<p>Bradley felt his blood boil at sight of the cowardly indignities +being heaped upon his men, and in the brief span of time occupied +by the column to come abreast of where he lay hidden he made his +plans, foolhardy though he knew them. Then he drew the girl close +to him. “Stay here,” he whispered. “I am going +out to fight those beasts; but I shall be killed. Do not let them +see you. Do not let them take you alive. They are more cruel, more +cowardly, more bestial than the Wieroos.”</p> +<p>The girl pressed close to him, her face very white. “Go, +if that is right,” she whispered; “but if you die, I +shall die, for I cannot live without you.” He looked sharply +into her eyes. “Oh!” he ejaculated. “What an +idiot I have been! Nor could I live without you, little +girl.” And he drew her very close and kissed her lips. +“Good-bye.” He disengaged himself from her arms and +looked again in time to see that the rear of the column had just +passed him. Then he rose and leaped quickly and silently from the +jungle.</p> +<p>Suddenly von Schoenvorts felt an arm thrown about his neck and +his pistol jerked from its holster. He gave a cry of fright and +warning, and his men turned to see a half-naked white man holding +their leader securely from behind and aiming a pistol at them over +his shoulder.</p> +<p>“Drop those guns!” came in short, sharp syllables +and perfect German from the lips of the newcomer. “Drop them +or I’ll put a bullet through the back of von +Schoenvorts’ head.”</p> +<p>The Germans hesitated for a moment, looking first toward von +Schoenvorts and then to Schwartz, who was evidently second in +command, for orders.</p> +<p>“It’s the English pig, Bradley,” shouted the +latter, “and he’s alone—go and get +him!”</p> +<p>“Go yourself,” growled Plesser. Hindle moved close +to the side of Plesser and whispered something to him. The latter +nodded. Suddenly von Schoenvorts wheeled about and seized +Bradley’s pistol arm with both hands, “Now!” he +shouted. “Come and take him, quick!”</p> +<p>Schwartz and three others leaped forward; but Plesser and Hindle +held back, looking questioningly toward the English prisoners. Then +Plesser spoke. “Now is your chance, Englander,” he +called in low tones. “Seize Hindle and me and take our guns +from us—we will not fight hard.”</p> +<p>Olson and Brady were not long in acting upon the suggestion. +They had seen enough of the brutal treatment von Schoenvorts +accorded his men and the especially venomous attentions he had +taken great enjoyment in according Plesser and Hindle to understand +that these two might be sincere in a desire for revenge. In another +moment the two Germans were unarmed and Olson and Brady were +running to the support of Bradley; but already it seemed too +late.</p> +<p>Von Schoenvorts had managed to drag the Englishman around so +that his back was toward Schwartz and the other advancing Germans. +Schwartz was almost upon Bradley with gun clubbed and ready to +smash down upon the Englishman’s skull. Brady and Olson were +charging the Germans in the rear with Wilson, Whitely, and Sinclair +supporting them with bare fists. It seemed that Bradley was doomed +when, apparently out of space, an arrow whizzed, striking Schwartz +in the side, passing half-way through his body to crumple him to +earth. With a shriek the man fell, and at the same time Olson and +Brady saw the slim figure of a young girl standing at the edge of +the jungle coolly fitting another arrow to her bow.</p> +<p>Bradley had now succeeded in wrestling his arm free from von +Schoenvorts’ grip and in dropping the latter with a blow from +the butt of his pistol. The rest of the English and Germans were +engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter. Plesser and Hindle standing +aside from the melee and urging their comrades to surrender and +join with the English against the tyranny of von Schoenvorts. Heinz +and Klatz, possibly influenced by their exhortation, were putting +up but a half-hearted resistance; but Dietz, a huge, bearded, +bull-necked Prussian, yelling like a maniac, sought to exterminate +the Englische schweinhunde with his bayonet, fearing to fire his +piece lest he kill some of his comrades.</p> +<p>It was Olson who engaged him, and though unused to the long +German rifle and bayonet, he met the bull-rush of the Hun with the +cold, cruel precision and science of English bayonet-fighting. +There was no feinting, no retiring and no parrying that was not +also an attack. Bayonet-fighting today is not a pretty thing to +see—it is not an artistic fencing-match in which men give and +take—it is slaughter inevitable and quickly over.</p> +<p>Dietz lunged once madly at Olson’s throat. A short point, +with just a twist of the bayonet to the left sent the sharp blade +over the Englishman’s left shoulder. Instantly he stepped +close in, dropped his rifle through his hands and grasped it with +both hands close below the muzzle and with a short, sharp jab sent +his blade up beneath Dietz’s chin to the brain. So quickly +was the thing done and so quick the withdrawal that Olson had +wheeled to take on another adversary before the German’s +corpse had toppled to the ground.</p> +<p>But there were no more adversaries to take on. Heinz and Klatz +had thrown down their rifles and with hands above their heads were +crying “Kamerad! Kamerad!” at the tops of their voices. +Von Schoenvorts still lay where he had fallen. Plesser and Hindle +were explaining to Bradley that they were glad of the outcome of +the fight, as they could no longer endure the brutality of the +U-boat commander.</p> +<p>The remainder of the men were looking at the girl who now +advanced slowly, her bow ready, when Bradley turned toward her and +held out his hand.</p> +<p>“Co-Tan,” he said, “unstring your +bow—these are my friends, and yours.” And to the +Englishmen: “This is Co-Tan. You who saw her save me from +Schwartz know a part of what I owe her.”</p> +<p>The rough men gathered about the girl, and when she spoke to +them in broken English, with a smile upon her lips enhancing the +charm of her irresistible accent, each and every one of them +promptly fell in love with her and constituted himself henceforth +her guardian and her slave.</p> +<p>A moment later the attention of each was called to Plesser by a +volley of invective. They turned in time to see the man running +toward von Schoenvorts who was just rising from the ground. Plesser +carried a rifle with bayonet fixed, that he had snatched from the +side of Dietz’s corpse. Von Schoenvorts’ face was livid +with fear, his jaws working as though he would call for help; but +no sound came from his blue lips.</p> +<p>“You struck me,” shrieked Plesser. “Once, +twice, three times, you struck me, pig. You murdered +Schwerke—you drove him insane by your cruelty until he took +his own life. You are only one of your kind—they are all like +you from the Kaiser down. I wish that you were the Kaiser. Thus +would I do!” And he lunged his bayonet through von +Schoenvorts’ chest. Then he let his rifle fall with the dying +man and wheeled toward Bradley. “Here I am,” he said. +“Do with me as you like. All my life I have been kicked and +cuffed by such as that, and yet always have I gone out when they +commanded, singing, to give up my life if need be to keep them in +power. Only lately have I come to know what a fool I have been. But +now I am no longer a fool, and besides, I am avenged and Schwerke +is avenged, so you can kill me if you wish. Here I am.”</p> +<p>“If I was after bein’ the king,” said Olson, +“I’d pin the V.C. on your noble chist; but bein’ +only an Irishman with a Swede name, for which God forgive me, the +bist I can do is shake your hand.”</p> +<p>“You will not be punished,” said Bradley. +“There are four of you left—if you four want to come +along and work with us, we will take you; but you will come as +prisoners.”</p> +<p>“It suits me,” said Plesser. “Now that the +captain-lieutenant is dead you need not fear us. All our lives we +have known nothing but to obey his class. If I had not killed him, +I suppose I would be fool enough to obey him again; but he is dead. +Now we will obey you—we must obey some one.”</p> +<p>“And you?” Bradley turned to the other survivors of +the original crew of the U-33. Each promised obedience.</p> +<p>The two dead Germans were buried in a single grave, and then the +party boarded the submarine and stowed away the oil.</p> +<p>Here Bradley told the men what had befallen him since the night +of September 14th when he had disappeared so mysteriously from the +camp upon the plateau. Now he learned for the first time that Bowen +J. Tyler, Jr., and Miss La Rue had been missing even longer than he +and that no faintest trace of them had been discovered.</p> +<p>Olson told him of how the Germans had returned and waited in +ambush for them outside the fort, capturing them that they might be +used to assist in the work of refining the oil and later in manning +the U-33, and Plesser told briefly of the experiences of the German +crew under von Schoenvorts since they had escaped from Caspak +months before—of how they lost their bearings after having +been shelled by ships they had attempted to sneak farther north and +how at last with provisions gone and fuel almost exhausted they had +sought and at last found, more by accident than design, the +mysterious island they had once been so glad to leave behind.</p> +<p>“Now,” announced Bradley, “we’ll plan +for the future. The boat has fuel, provisions and water for a +month, I believe you said, Plesser; there are ten of us to man it. +We have a last sad duty here—we must search for Miss La Rue +and Mr. Tyler. I say a sad duty because we know that we shall not +find them; but it is none the less our duty to comb the shoreline, +firing signal shells at intervals, that we at least may leave at +last with full knowledge that we have done all that men might do to +locate them.”</p> +<p>None dissented from this conviction, nor was there a voice +raised in protest against the plan to at least make assurance +doubly sure before quitting Caspak forever.</p> +<p>And so they started, cruising slowly up the coast and firing an +occasional shot from the gun. Often the vessel was brought to a +stop, and always there were anxious eyes scanning the shore for an +answering signal. Late in the afternoon they caught sight of a +number of Band-lu warriors; but when the vessel approached the +shore and the natives realized that human beings stood upon the +back of the strange monster of the sea, they fled in terror before +Bradley could come within hailing distance.</p> +<p>That night they dropped anchor at the mouth of a sluggish stream +whose warm waters swarmed with millions of tiny tadpolelike +organisms—minute human spawn starting on their precarious +journey from some inland pool toward “the +beginning”—a journey which one in millions, perhaps, +might survive to complete. Already almost at the inception of life +they were being greeted by thousands of voracious mouths as fish +and reptiles of many kinds fought to devour them, the while other +and larger creatures pursued the devourers, to be, in turn, preyed +upon by some other of the countless forms that inhabit the deeps of +Caprona’s frightful sea.</p> +<p>The second day was practically a repetition of the first. They +moved very slowly with frequent stops and once they landed in the +Kro-lu country to hunt. Here they were attacked by the +bow-and-arrow men, whom they could not persuade to palaver with +them. So belligerent were the natives that it became necessary to +fire into them in order to escape their persistent and ferocious +attentions.</p> +<p>“What chance,” asked Bradley, as they were returning +to the boat with their game, “could Tyler and Miss La Rue +have had among such as these?”</p> +<p>But they continued on their fruitless quest, and the third day, +after cruising along the shore of a deep inlet, they passed a line +of lofty cliffs that formed the southern shore of the inlet and +rounded a sharp promontory about noon. Co-Tan and Bradley were on +deck alone, and as the new shoreline appeared beyond the point, the +girl gave an exclamation of joy and seized the man’s hand in +hers.</p> +<p>“Oh, look!” she cried. “The Galu country! The +Galu country! It is my country that I never thought to see +again.”</p> +<p>“You are glad to come again, Co-Tan?” asked +Bradley.</p> +<p>“Oh, so glad!” she cried. “And you will come +with me to my people? We may live here among them, and you will be +a great warrior—oh, when Jor dies you may even be chief, for +there is none so mighty as my warrior. You will come?”</p> +<p>Bradley shook his head. “I cannot, little Co-Tan,” +he answered. “My country needs me, and I must go back. Maybe +someday I shall return. You will not forget me, Co-Tan?”</p> +<p>She looked at him in wide-eyed wonder. “You are going away +from me?” she asked in a very small voice. “You are +going away from Co-Tan?”</p> +<p>Bradley looked down upon the little bowed head. He felt the soft +cheek against his bare arm; and he felt something else there +too— hot drops of moisture that ran down to his very +finger-tips and splashed, but each one wrung from a woman’s +heart.</p> +<p>He bent low and raised the tear-stained face to his own. +“No, Co-Tan,” he said, “I am not going away from +you—for you are going with me. You are going back to my own +country to be my wife. Tell me that you will, Co-Tan.” And he +bent still lower yet from his height and kissed her lips. Nor did +he need more than the wonderful new light in her eyes to tell him +that she would go to the end of the world with him if he would but +take her. And then the gun-crew came up from below again to fire a +signal shot, and the two were brought down from the high heaven of +their new happiness to the scarred and weather-beaten deck of the +U-33.</p> +<p>An hour later the vessel was running close in by a shore of +wondrous beauty beside a parklike meadow that stretched back a mile +inland to the foot of a plateau when Whitely called attention to a +score of figures clambering downward from the elevation to the +lowland below. The engines were reversed and the boat brought to a +stop while all hands gathered on deck to watch the little party +coming toward them across the meadow.</p> +<p>“They are Galus,” cried Co-Tan; “they are my +own people. Let me speak to them lest they think we come to fight +them. Put me ashore, my man, and I will go meet them.”</p> +<p>The nose of the U-boat was run close in to the steep bank; but +when Co-Tan would have run forward alone, Bradley seized her hand +and held her back. “I will go with you, Co-Tan,” he +said; and together they advanced to meet the oncoming party.</p> +<p>There were about twenty warriors moving forward in a thin line, +as our infantry advance as skirmishers. Bradley could not but +notice the marked difference between this formation and the moblike +methods of the lower tribes he had come in contact with, and he +commented upon it to Co-Tan.</p> +<p>“Galu warriors always advance into battle thus,” she +said. “The lesser people remain in a huddled group where they +can scarce use their weapons the while they present so big a mark +to us that our spears and arrows cannot miss them; but when they +hurl theirs at our warriors, if they miss the first man, there is +no chance that they will kill some one behind him.</p> +<p>“Stand still now,” she cautioned, “and fold +your arms. They will not harm us then.”</p> +<p>Bradley did as he was bid, and the two stood with arms folded as +the line of warriors approached. When they had come within some +fifty yards, they halted and one spoke. “Who are you and from +whence do you come?” he asked; and then Co-Tan gave a little, +glad cry and sprang forward with out-stretched arms.</p> +<p>“Oh, Tan!” she exclaimed. “Do you not know +your little Co-Tan?”</p> +<p>The warrior stared, incredulous, for a moment, and then he, too, +ran forward and when they met, took the girl in his arms. It was +then that Bradley experienced to the full a sensation that was new +to him—a sudden hatred for the strange warrior before him and +a desire to kill without knowing why he would kill. He moved +quickly to the girl’s side and grasped her wrist.</p> +<p>“Who is this man?” he demanded in cold tones.</p> +<p>Co-Tan turned a surprised face toward the Englishman and then of +a sudden broke forth into a merry peal of laughter. “This is +my father, Brad-lee,” she cried.</p> +<p>“And who is Brad-lee?” demanded the warrior.</p> +<p>“He is my man,” replied Co-Tan simply.</p> +<p>“By what right?” insisted Tan.</p> +<p>And then she told him briefly of all that she had passed through +since the Wieroos had stolen her and of how Bradley had rescued her +and sought to rescue An-Tak, her brother.</p> +<p>“You are satisfied with him?” asked Tan.</p> +<p>“Yes,” replied the girl proudly.</p> +<p>It was then that Bradley’s attention was attracted to the +edge of the plateau by a movement there, and looking closely he saw +a horse bearing two figures sliding down the steep declivity. Once +at the bottom, the animal came charging across the meadowland at a +rapid run. It was a magnificent animal—a great bay stallion +with a white-blazed face and white forelegs to the knees, its +barrel encircled by a broad surcingle of white; and as it came to a +sudden stop beside Tan, the Englishman saw that it bore a man and a +girl—a tall man and a girl as beautiful as Co-Tan. When the +girl espied the latter, she slid from the horse and ran toward her, +fairly screaming for joy.</p> +<p>The man dismounted and stood beside Tan. Like Bradley he was +garbed after the fashion of the surrounding warriors; but there was +a subtle difference between him and his companion. Possibly he +detected a similar difference in Bradley, for his first question +was, “From what country?” and though he spoke in Galu +Bradley thought he detected an accent.</p> +<p>“England,” replied Bradley.</p> +<p>A broad smile lighted the newcomer’s face as he held out +his hand. “I am Tom Billings of Santa Monica, +California,” he said. “I know all about you, and +I’m mighty glad to find you alive.”</p> +<p>“How did you get here?” asked Bradley. “I +thought ours was the only party of men from the outer world ever to +enter Caprona.”</p> +<p>“It was, until we came in search of Bowen J. Tyler, +Jr.,” replied Billings. “We found him and sent him home +with his bride; but I was kept a prisoner here.”</p> +<p>Bradley’s face darkened—then they were not among +friends after all. “There are ten of us down there on a +German sub with small-arms and a gun,” he said quickly in +English. “It will be no trick to get away from these +people.”</p> +<p>“You don’t know my jailer,” replied Billings, +“or you’d not be so sure. Wait, I’ll introduce +you.” And then turning to the girl who had accompanied him he +called her by name. “Ajor,” he said, “permit me +to introduce Lieutenant Bradley; Lieutenant, Mrs. Billings—my +jailer!”</p> +<p>The Englishman laughed as he shook hands with the girl. +“You are not as good a soldier as I,” he said to +Billings. “Instead of being taken prisoner myself I have +taken one—Mrs. Bradley, this is Mr. Billings.”</p> +<p>Ajor, quick to understand, turned toward Co-Tan. “You are +going back with him to his country?” she asked. Co-Tan +admitted it.</p> +<p>“You dare?” asked Ajor. “But your father will +not permit it— Jor, my father, High Chief of the Galus, will +not permit it, for like me you are cos-ata-lo. Oh, Co-Tan, if we +but could! How I would love to see all the strange and wonderful +things of which my Tom tells me!”</p> +<p>Bradley bent and whispered in her ear. “Say the word and +you may both go with us.”</p> +<p>Billings heard and speaking in English, asked Ajor if she would +go.</p> +<p>“Yes,” she answered, “If you wish it; but you +know, my Tom, that if Jor captures us, both you and Co-Tan’s +man will pay the penalty with your lives—not even his love +for me nor his admiration for you can save you.”</p> +<p>Bradley noticed that she spoke in English—broken English +like Co-Tan’s but equally appealing. “We can easily get +you aboard the ship,” he said, “on some pretext or +other, and then we can steam away. They can neither harm nor detain +us, nor will we have to fire a shot at them.”</p> +<p>And so it was done, Bradley and Co-Tan taking Ajor and Billings +aboard to “show” them the vessel, which almost +immediately raised anchor and moved slowly out into the sea.</p> +<p>“I hate to do it,” said Billings. “They have +been fine to me. Jor and Tan are splendid men and they will think +me an ingrate; but I can’t waste my life here when there is +so much to be done in the outer world.”</p> +<p>As they steamed down the inland sea past the island of Oo-oh, +the stories of their adventures were retold, and Bradley learned +that Bowen Tyler and his bride had left the Galu country but a +fortnight before and that there was every reason to believe that +the Toreador might still be lying in the Pacific not far off the +subterranean mouth of the river which emitted Caprona’s +heated waters into the ocean.</p> +<p>Late in the second day, after running through swarms of hideous +reptiles, they submerged at the point where the river entered +beneath the cliffs and shortly after rose to the sunlit surface of +the Pacific; but nowhere as far as they could see was sign of +another craft. Down the coast they steamed toward the beach where +Billings had made his crossing in the hydro-aeroplane and just at +dusk the lookout announced a light dead ahead. It proved to be +aboard the Toreador, and a half-hour later there was such a reunion +on the deck of the trig little yacht as no one there had ever +dreamed might be possible. Of the Allies there were only Tippet and +James to be mourned, and no one mourned any of the Germans dead nor +Benson, the traitor, whose ugly story was first told in Bowen +Tyler’s manuscript.</p> +<p>Tyler and the rescue party had but just reached the yacht that +afternoon. They had heard, faintly, the signal shots fired by the +U-33 but had been unable to locate their direction and so had +assumed that they had come from the guns of the Toreador.</p> +<p>It was a happy party that sailed north toward sunny, southern +California, the old U-33 trailing in the wake of the Toreador and +flying with the latter the glorious Stars and Stripes beneath which +she had been born in the shipyard at Santa Monica. Three newly +married couples, their bonds now duly solemnized by the master of +the ship, joyed in the peace and security of the untracked waters +of the south Pacific and the unique honeymoon which, had it not +been for stern duty ahead, they could have wished protracted till +the end of time.</p> +<p>And so they came one day to dock at the shipyard which Bowen +Tyler now controlled, and here the U-33 still lies while those who +passed so many eventful days within and because of her, have gone +their various ways.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<pre> +I have made the following changes to the text: + +PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO + 10 12 of or + 14 19 of animals life of animals + 31 26 is arms his arms + 37 14 above this above his + 37 23 Bradley, Bradley + 54 18 man man + 57 14 and of Oo-oh of Oo-oh + 62 18 spend spent + 63 31 and mumbled the mumbled + 64 9 things thing + 80 30 east cast + 104 16 proaching proached + 106 30 cos-at-lu cos-ata-lu + 126 17 not artistic not an artistic + 126 25 close below hands close below + 130 1 internals intervals + 132 9 than that + 132 10 splashes splashed + 134 3 know know not know + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Out of Time's Abyss +by Edgar Rice Burroughs + + +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/ootma11h.zip b/old/ootma11h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4835a51 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ootma11h.zip |