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-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOICE FROM THE INNER WORLD

-***

-

-

-

-

-                     The Voice from the Inner World

-

-

-        Second Honorable Mention in the $500 Prize Cover Contest

-              Awarded to A. Hyatt Verrill, New York City,

-                  for “A Voice from the Inner World.”

-

-[Illustration: ... And it was evident that the others were equally

-afraid of me ... they stood regarding me with an odd mixture of wonder

-and terror on their huge faces.]

-

-                     The Voice from the Inner World

-

-                          by A. Hyatt Verrill

-

-Author of “The Plague of the Living Dead,” “Through the Crater’s Rim,” etc.

-

-

-    The author of this story, well known to our readers, in

-    submitting his prize story, adopts a treatment entirely

-    different from that of practically all the rest of the

-    winners. He has submitted a tale so characteristic and so

-    original that it holds your interest by sheer strength. That

-    there should be a cannibalistic race of females somewhere in

-    our world is, after all, not impossible nor improbable.

-    There are still cannibals at large, at the present writing,

-    and probably will be for many generations to come. While the

-    story has its gruesome moments, it also contains good

-    science and Mr. Verrill certainly knows how to treat his

-    subject and get the most from it. As a “different” sort of

-    story, we highly recommend it to your attention.

-

-On the eighteenth of October, the New York papers reported the

-appearance of a remarkable meteor which had been seen in mid-Pacific,

-and the far more startling announcement that it was feared that the

-amazing celestial visitor had struck and destroyed a steamship.

-

-“At eleven-fifteen last evening,” read the account in the _Herald_, “the

-Panama-Hawaiian Line steamship _Chiriqui_ reported by radio the

-appearance of an immense meteor which suddenly appeared above the

-horizon to the southeast, and which increased rapidly in size and

-brilliance. Within ten minutes from the time the phenomenon was first

-sighted, it appeared as a huge greenish sphere of dazzling brilliance

-high in the sky, and heading, apparently, directly for the _Chiriqui_.

-Almost at the same time as reported by the _Chiriqui_, several other

-ships, among them the Miners and Merchants Line _Vulcan_, and the

-Japanese liner _Fujiama Maru_ also reported the meteorite, although they

-were more than one thousand miles apart and equidistant from the

-position of the _Chiriqui_.

-

-“In the midst of a sentence describing the appearance of the rapidly

-approaching meteor, the _Chiriqui’s_ wireless message came to an abrupt

-end, and all attempts to get into further communication with her

-operator failed. The other vessels reported that a scintillating flash,

-like an explosion, was followed by the meteor’s disappearance, and it is

-feared that the immense aerolite may have struck the _Chiriqui_, and

-utterly destroyed her with all on board. As no S O S has been received,

-and as the ship’s radio broke off with the words: ‘It is very close and

-the sea is as bright as day. Below the immense mass of green fire are

-two smaller spheres of intense red. It is so near we can hear it roaring

-like a terrific wind. It is headed--’ It is probable that the vessel, if

-struck, was instantly destroyed. It has been suggested, however, that it

-is possible that the meteor or meteors were accompanied by electrical

-phenomena which may have put the _Chiriqui’s_ wireless apparatus out of

-commission and that the ship may be safe.”

-

-Later editions of the press announced that no word had been received

-from the _Chiriqui_, that other ships had reported the meteor, and that

-two of these had radioed that the aerolite, instead of exploding, had

-been seen to continue on its way and gradually disappear beyond the

-horizon. These reports somewhat allayed the fears that the _Chiriqui_

-had been struck by the meteor, and prominent scientists expressed the

-opinion that the supposed explosion had been merely an optical illusion

-caused by its passage through some dense or cloudy layer of air. They

-also quoted numerous cases of immense meteors having been seen by

-observers over immense distances, and declared their belief that the

-aerolite had not reached the earth, but had merely passed through the

-outer atmosphere. When asked regarding the possibility of the meteor

-having affected the ship’s wireless apparatus, experts stated that such

-might have been the case, although, hitherto, severe electrical

-disturbances had never been associated with the passage of meteors.

-Moreover, they declared that even if the wireless had been injured, it

-could have been repaired in a few hours, and that they could not explain

-the continued silence of the _Chiriqui_. Word also came from Panama that

-the naval commandant at Balboa had despatched a destroyer to search for

-the _Chiriqui_, or any survivors of the catastrophe if the ship had been

-destroyed.

-

-A few hours later, despatches were received from various points in

-Central and South America, reporting the meteor of the previous night.

-All of these agreed that the fiery mass had swept across the heavens in

-a wide arc and had vanished in the east beyond the summits of the Andes.

-

-It was, therefore, fairly certain that the _Chiriqui_ had not been

-struck by the meteor, and in a few days the incident was completely

-forgotten by the public at large.

-

-But when, ten days later, the warship reported that no sign of the

-missing ship could be found, and the officials of the Panama-Hawaiian

-Line admitted that the _Chiriqui_ was four days overdue, interest was

-again aroused. Then came the startling news, featured in screaming

-headlines, that the meteor or its twin had been again reported by

-various ships in the Pacific, and that the U. S. S. _McCracken_, which

-had been scouring the seas for traces of the missing _Chiriqui_, had

-sent in a detailed report of the meteor’s appearance, and that her

-wireless had gone “dead,” exactly as had that of the _Chiriqui_.

-

-And when, after every effort, no communication could be established with

-the war vessel, and when two weeks had elapsed without word from her, it

-was generally conceded that both ships had been destroyed by the amazing

-celestial visitor. For a time the double catastrophe filled the papers

-to the exclusion of nearly everything else, and such everyday features

-as scandals and murder trials were crowded to the back pages of the

-dailies to make room for long articles on meteors and missing ships and

-interviews with scientists. But as no more meteors appeared, and as no

-more ships vanished, the subject gradually lost interest and was no

-longer news.

-

-About three months after the first report of the green meteor appeared

-(on January fifteenth, to be exact) I was in Peru, visiting my daughter,

-when I received a communication of such an utterly amazing character

-that it appeared incredible, and yet was so borne out by facts and

-details that it had all the earmarks of truth. So astounding was this

-communication that, despite the fact that it will unquestionably be

-scoffed at by the public, I feel that it should be given to the world.

-As soon as I had received the story I hurried with it to the American

-Minister in Lima, and related all that I had heard. He agreed with me

-that the authorities at Washington should be acquainted with the matter

-at once, and together we devoted many hours to coding the story which

-was cabled in the secret cipher of the State Department. The officials,

-however, were inclined to regard the matter as a hoax, and, as far as I

-am aware, no steps have yet been taken to follow out the suggestions

-contained in the communication which I received, and thus save humanity

-from a terrible fate. Personally, I am convinced that the amazing tale

-which came to me in such an astounding and unexpected manner is

-absolutely true, incredible as it may seem, but whether fact or fiction,

-my readers may decide for themselves.

-

-My son-in-law was intensely interested in radio, and devoted all of his

-spare time to devising and constructing receiving sets, and in his home

-in the delightful residential suburb of Miraflores, were a number of

-receiving sets of both conventional and original design. Having been

-closely in touch with the subject for several years, I was deeply

-interested in Frank’s experiments, and especially in a new type of

-hook-up which had given most remarkable results in selectivity and

-distance. Practically every broadcasting station in America, and many in

-Europe, had been logged by the little set, and on several occasions

-faint signals had been heard which, although recognizable as English,

-evidently emanated from a most remote station. These, oddly enough, had

-come in at the same hour each night, and each time had continued for

-exactly the same length of time.

-

-We were discussing this, and trying to again pick up the unintelligible

-and unidentified signals on that memorable January evening, when,

-without warning, and as clearly as though sent from the station at

-Buenos Ayres, came the most astounding communication which ever greeted

-human ears, and which, almost verbatim, was as follows:[1]

-

-“LISTEN! For God’s sake, I implore all who may hear my words to listen!

-And believe what I say no matter how unbelievable it may seem, for the

-fate of thousands of human beings, the fate of the human race may depend

-upon you who by chance may hear this message from another world. My name

-is James Berry, my home is Butte, Montana, my profession a mining

-engineer, and I am speaking through the short wave transmitter of the

-steamship _Chiriqui_ on which I was a passenger when the terrible, the

-incredible events occurred which I am about to relate. On the evening of

-October sixteenth[2] the _Chiriqui_ was steaming across the Pacific in

-calm weather when our attention was attracted by what appeared to be an

-unusually brilliant meteor of a peculiar greenish color. It first

-appeared above the horizon to the southeast, and very rapidly increased

-in size and brilliancy. At the time I was particularly struck by the

-fact that it left no trail of light or fire behind it, as is usual with

-large meteorites, but so rapidly did it approach that I had little time

-to wonder at this. Within a few moments from the time that it was first

-seen, the immense sphere of green incandescence had grown to the size of

-the moon, and the entire sea for miles about our ship was illuminated by

-a sickly green light. It appeared to be headed directly towards our

-ship, and, standing as I was on the bridge-deck near the wheel-house, I

-heard the chief officer cry out: ‘My God, it will strike us!’ By now the

-mass of fire had altered in appearance, and a short distance below the

-central green mass could be seen two smaller spheres of blinding red,

-like huge globes of molten metal. By now, too, the noise made by the

-meteor was plainly audible, sounding like the roar of surf or the sound

-of a tornado.

-

-“Everyone aboard the ship was panic-stricken; women screamed, men cursed

-and shouted, and the crew rushed to man the boats, as everyone felt that

-the _Chiriqui_ was doomed. What happened next I can scarcely describe,

-so rapidly did the events occur. As the meteor seemed about to hurl

-itself upon the ship, there was a blinding flash of light, a terrific

-detonation, and I saw men and women falling to the decks as if struck

-down by shell fire. The next instant the meteor vanished completely, and

-intense blackness followed the blinding glare. At the same moment, I was

-aware of a peculiar pungent, suffocating odor which, perhaps owing to my

-long experience with deadly gases in mining work, I at once recognized

-as some noxious gas. Almost involuntarily, and dully realizing that by

-some miracle the ship had escaped destruction, I dashed below and

-reached my cabin almost overcome by the fumes which now penetrated every

-portion of the ship. Among my possessions was a new type of gas-mask

-which had been especially designed for mine work, and my idea was to don

-this, for I felt sure that the meteor had exploded close to the ship and

-had released vast quantities of poisonous gases which might hang about

-for a long time.

-

-“Although almost overcome by the choking fumes, I managed to find and

-put on the apparatus, for one of its greatest advantages was the

-rapidity and ease with which it could be adjusted, it having been

-designed for emergency use. But before it was fairly in place over my

-face, the electric light in my room went out and I was in complete

-darkness. Also, the ship seemed strangely still, and as I groped my way

-to the stateroom door it suddenly dawned upon me that the engines had

-stopped, that there was no longer the whirr of dynamos from the depths

-of the hull. Not a light glimmered in the passageway, and twice, as I

-felt my way towards the social hall, I stumbled over the sprawled bodies

-of men, while in the saloon itself I several times stepped upon the soft

-and yielding flesh of passengers who lay where they had been struck down

-by the poisonous gas. In all probability, I thought, I was the sole

-survivor aboard the ship, unless some of the firemen and engineers

-survived, and I wondered how I would manage to escape, if the vessel

-should be sighted by some other ship, or if it should be my gruesome

-task to search the _Chiriqui_ from stem to stern, drag the bodies of the

-dead to the deck and cast them into the sea, and remain--perhaps for

-weeks--alone upon the ship until rescued by some passing vessel. But as

-I reached the door and stepped upon the deck all such thoughts were

-driven from my brain as I blinked my eyes and stared about in dumfounded

-amazement. I had stepped from Stygian darkness into dazzling light.

-Blinded for the moment, I closed my eyes, and when I again opened them I

-reeled to the rail with a cry of terror. Poised above the ship’s masts,

-and so enormous that it appeared to shut out half the sky, was the

-stupendous meteor like a gigantic globe of green fire, and seemingly

-less than one hundred feet above me. Still nearer, and hanging but a few

-yards above the bow and stern of the ship, were the two smaller spheres

-of glowing red. Cowering against the rail, expecting to be shrivelled

-into a charred cinder at any instant, I gazed transfixed and paralyzed

-at the titanic masses of flaming light above the ship.

-

-“Then reason came back to me. My only chance to escape was to leap into

-the sea, and I half clambered upon the rail prepared to take the plunge.

-A scream, like that of a madman, came from my lips. Below me was no sign

-of the waves, but a limitless void, while, immeasurably distant beneath

-the ship, I could dimly see the crinkled surface of the sea. The

-_Chiriqui_ was floating in space!

-

-“It was impossible, absolutely preposterous, and I felt convinced that I

-had gone mad, or that the small quantity of gas I had breathed had

-affected my brain and had induced the nightmarish vision. Perhaps, I

-thought, the meteors above the ship were also visionary, and I again

-stared upward. Then, I knew that I was insane. The spheres of green and

-red light were rushing upward as I could see by the brilliant stars

-studding the sky, and the ship upon which I stood was following in their

-wake! Weak, limp as a rag, I slumped to the deck and lay staring at the

-great globes above me. But the insanely impossible events which had

-crowded upon my overwrought senses were as nothing to the amazing

-discovery I now made.

-

-“As my eyes became accustomed to the glare of the immense green sphere,

-I saw that instead of being merely a ball of fire it had definite form.

-About its middle extended a broad band from which slender rods of light

-extended. Round or ovoid spots seemed placed in definite order about it,

-and from the extremities of its axes lines or cables, clearly outlined

-by the glare, extended downward to the red spheres above the ship. By

-now, I was so firmly convinced that I was irrational, that these new and

-absolutely stunning discoveries did not excite or surprise me in the

-least, and as if in a particularly vivid dream, I lay there gazing

-upward, and dully, half consciously speculating on what it all meant.

-Gradually, too, it dawned upon me that the huge sphere with its

-encircling band of duller light was rotating. The circular markings,

-which I thought were marvelously like the ports of a ship, were

-certainly moving from top to bottom of the sphere, and I could

-distinctly hear a low, vibrant humming.

-

-“The next second I jerked upright with a start and my scalp tingled.

-Reason had suddenly returned to me. The thing was no meteor, no

-celestial body, but some marvelous machine, some devilish invention of

-man, some gigantic form of airship which--God only knew why--had by some

-incredible means captured the _Chiriqui_, had lifted the twenty thousand

-ton ship into the air and was bearing her off with myself, the only

-survivor of all the ship’s company, witnessing the miraculous happening!

-It was the most insane thought that had yet entered my brain, but I knew

-now for a certainty that I was perfectly sane, and, oddly enough, now

-that I was convinced that the catastrophe which had overtaken the

-_Chiriqui_ was the devilish work of human beings, I was no longer

-frightened and my former nightmarish terror of things unknown, gave

-place to the most intense anger and an inexpressible hatred of the

-fiends who, without warning or reason, had annihilated hundreds of men

-and women by means of this new and irresistible engine of destruction.

-But I was helpless. Alone upon the stolen and stricken ship I could do

-nothing. By what tremendous force the spherical airship was moving

-through space, by what unknown power it was lifting the ship and

-carrying it,--slung like the gondola of a Zeppelin beneath the

-sphere,--were matters beyond my comprehension. Calmly, now that I felt

-assured that I was rational and was the victim of my fellow

-men--fiendish as they might be,--I walked aft to where one red sphere

-hung a few yards above the ship’s deck.

-

-                   *       *       *       *       *

-

-“There seemed no visible connection between it and the vessel, but I

-noticed that everything movable upon the deck, the iron cable, the wire

-ropes, the coiled steel lines of the after derrick, all extended upward

-from the deck, as rigid as bars of metal, while crackling blue sparks

-like electrical discharges scintillated from the ship’s metal work below

-the red sphere. Evidently, I decided, the red mass was actuated by some

-form of electrical energy or magnetism, and I gave the area beneath it a

-wide berth. Retracing my way to the bow of the ship, I found similar

-conditions there. As I walked towards the waist of the ship again I

-mounted the steps to the bridge, hoping from that height to get a better

-view of the monstrous machine holding the _Chiriqui_ captive. I knew

-that in the chart-house I would find powerful glasses with which to

-study the machine. Upon the bridge the bodies of the quartermaster, the

-first officer and an apprentice lay sprawled grotesquely, and across the

-chart-house door lay the captain. Reaching down I lifted him by the

-shoulders to move him to one side, and to my amazement I discovered that

-he was not dead. His heart beat, his pulse, though slow and faint, was

-plain, he was breathing and his face, still ruddy, was that of a

-sleeping man rather than of a corpse.

-

-“A wild thought rushed through my brain, and hastily I rushed to the

-other bodies. There was no doubt of it. All were alive and merely

-unconscious. The gas had struck them down, but had not killed them, and

-it came to me as a surprise, though I should long before have realized

-it, that the fumes had been purposely discharged by the beings who had

-captured the vessel. Possibly, I mentally decided, they had made a

-mistake and had failed in their intention to destroy the persons upon

-the ship, or again, was it not possible that they had intentionally

-rendered the ship’s company unconscious, and had not intended to destroy

-their lives? Forgetting my original purpose in visiting the bridge, I

-worked feverishly to resuscitate the captain, but all to no purpose.

-Many gases, I knew, would render a man unconscious without actually

-injuring him, and I was also aware, that when under the influence of

-some of these, the victims could not be revived until the definite

-period of the gases’ effect had passed. So, feeling certain that in due

-time the captain and the others would come to of their own accord, I

-entered the chartroom and, securing the skipper’s binoculars, I again

-stepped upon the bridge. As I could not conveniently use the glasses

-with my gas-mask in place, and as I felt sure there was no longer any

-danger from the fumes, I started to remove the apparatus. But no sooner

-did a breath of the air enter my mouth than I hastily readjusted the

-contrivance, for the gas which had struck down everyone but myself was

-as strong as ever. Indeed, the mere whiff of the fumes made my head reel

-and swim, and I was forced to steady myself by grasping the bridge-rail

-until the dizzy spell passed.

-

-“Once more myself, I focussed the glasses as best I could upon the

-whirling sphere above the ship. But I could make out little more than by

-my naked eyes. The band about the center or equator of the globular

-thing was, I could now see, divided into segments, each of which bore a

-round, slightly convex, eye-like object from the centers of which

-extended slender rods which vibrated with incalculable speed. Indeed,

-the whole affair reminded me of the glass models of protozoans which I

-had seen in the American Museum of Natural History. These minute marine

-organisms I knew, moved with great rapidity by means of vibrating,

-hair-like appendages or cilia, and I wondered if the enormous spherical

-machine at which I was gazing, might not move through space in a similar

-manner by means of vibrating rods moving with such incredible speed

-that, slender as they were, they produced enormous propulsive power.

-Also, I could now see that the two extremities of the sphere, or as I

-may better express it, the axes, were equipped with projecting bosses or

-shafts to which the cables supporting the red spheres were attached. And

-as I peered through the glasses at the thing, the huge green sphere,

-which had been hitherto traveling on an even keel, or, in other words,

-with the central band vertical, now shifted its position and one end

-swung sharply upward, throwing the band about the centre at an acute

-angle. Involuntarily I grasped the rail of the bridge expecting to be

-thrown from my feet by the abrupt uptilting of the ship. But to my utter

-amazement the _Chiriqui_ remained on an even plane and I then saw that

-as the sphere tilted, the cable at the uppermost axis ran rapidly out so

-that the two red spheres, which evidently supported the captive ship,

-remained, in their original relative horizontal position. No sign of

-life was visible upon the machine above me, and I surmised that whoever

-might be handling the thing was within the sphere.

-

-“Wondering how high we had risen above the sea, I stepped to the

-starboard end of the bridge and glanced down, and an involuntary

-exclamation escaped my lips. Far beneath the ship and clearly visible

-through the captain’s glasses was land! I could distinguish the white

-line marking surf breaking on a rocky shore, and ahead I could make out

-the cloud-topped, serried summits of a mighty range of mountains. Not

-until then did I realize the terrific speed at which the machine and

-captive vessel were traveling. I had been subconsciously aware that a

-gale had been blowing, but I had not stopped to realize that this was no

-ordinary wind, but was the rush of air caused by the rapidity of motion.

-But as I peered at the mountains through the binoculars, and saw the

-distant surface of the earth whizzing backward far beneath the

-_Chiriqui’s_ keel, I knew that we were hurtling onward with the speed of

-the fastest scout airplane.

-

-“Even as I gazed, the mountains seemed to rush towards me until, in a

-few minutes after I had first seen them, they appeared almost directly

-under the ship. Then the gigantic machine above me suddenly altered its

-course, it veered sharply to one side and swept along the range of

-summits far beneath. For some reason, just why I cannot explain, I

-dashed to the binnacle and saw that we were traveling to the south, and

-it flashed across my mind, that I had a dim recollection of noticing,

-when I first realized the nature of the machine which had been mistaken

-for a meteor, that by the stars, we were moving eastward. In that case,

-my suddenly alert mind told me, the land below must be some portion of

-America, and if so, judging by the altitude of the mountains, that they

-must be the Andes. All of this rushed through my brain instantly, and in

-the brief lapse of time in which I sprang to the binnacle and back to my

-observation point at the bridge-rail.

-

-“Now, I saw, we were rapidly descending, and focussing my glasses upon

-the mountains, I made out an immense conical peak in the top of which

-was a gigantic black opening. Without doubt it was the crater of some

-stupendous extinct volcano, and, with a shock, I realized that the

-machine and the ship were headed directly for the yawning opening in the

-crater. The next instant we were dropping with lightning speed towards

-it, and so terrified and dumfounded had I become that I could not move

-from where I stood. Even before I could grasp the fact, the _Chiriqui_

-was enclosed by towering, rocky walls, inky blackness surrounded me,

-there was an upward breath-taking rush of air, a roar as of a thousand

-hurricanes. The _Chiriqui_ rocked and pitched beneath my feet, as if in

-a heavy sea; I clung desperately to the bridge-rail for support and I

-felt sure that the ship had been dropped into the abysmal crater, that

-the next instant the vessel would crash into fragments as it struck

-bottom, or worse, that it would sink into the molten incandescent lava

-which might fill the depths of the volcano. For what seemed hours, the

-awful fall continued, though like as not the terrible suspense lasted

-for only a few minutes, and then, without warning, so abruptly that I

-lost my balance and was flung to the bridge, the ship ceased falling, an

-indescribable blue light succeeded the blackness, and unable to believe

-my senses I found the ship floating motionless, still suspended from the

-giant mechanism overhead, above a marvelous landscape.

-

-                   *       *       *       *       *

-

-“On every hand, as far as I could see, stretched jagged rocks, immense

-cliffs, stupendous crags and rugged knife-ridged hills of the most

-dazzling reds, yellows and purples. Mile-deep canons cut the forbidding

-plains, which here and there showed patches of dull green, and in one

-spot I saw a stream of emerald-hued water pouring in a foaming cataract

-into a fathomless rift in the rock. But I gave little attention to these

-sights at the time. My gaze was riveted upon a strange, weird city which

-capped the cliffs close to the waterfall, and almost directly beneath

-the _Chiriqui_. Slowly we were dropping towards it, and I could see that

-the buildings which at first sight had appeared of immense height and

-tower-like form, were in reality gigantic basaltic columns capped with

-superimposed edifices of gleaming yellow.

-

-“The next second the glasses dropped from my shaking, nerveless hands.

-Gathered on an open space of greenish plain were hundreds of human

-beings! But were they human? In form and features, as nearly as I could

-judge at that distance, they were human, but in color they were scarlet,

-and surmounting the head and extending along the arms to the elbows on

-every individual was a whitish, membraneous frill, which at first sight,

-reminded me of an Indian’s war bonnet. The beings appeared to be of

-average height, but as the _Chiriqui’s_ keel touched solid ground and,

-keeling to one side, she rested upon one of her bilges, I saw with a

-shock, that the scarlet creatures were of gigantic size, fully thirty

-feet in height, and that, without exception, all were females! All were

-stark naked; but despite the frills upon their heads and shoulders,

-despite their bizarre scarlet skins, despite their gigantic proportions,

-they were unquestionably human beings, women without doubt, and of the

-most perfect proportions, the most graceful forms and the most regular

-and even handsome features. Beside the stranded ship, they loomed as

-giants; but against the stupendous proportions of their land and city,

-they appeared no larger than ordinary mortals. By now they were

-streaming from their houses and even in the surprise and excitement of

-that moment I noticed that the giant rocky columns were perforated by

-windows and doors, and had obviously been hollowed out to form

-dwellings. Meantime, too, the huge machine which had captured the

-_Chiriqui_ had descended and was lying at rest, and no longer emitting

-its green light, upon a cradle erected near the waterfall, and from

-openings in its central band several of the scarlet, giant Amazons were

-emerging. How long, I wondered, would I remain undiscovered? How long

-would it be before one of the female giants spied me? And then, what

-would be my fate? Why had they captured the ship? Where was I? What was

-this strange land reached through a crater?

-

-“All these thoughts rushed through my brain as I peered cautiously down

-at the giant women who swarmed about the ship. But I had not long to

-wait for an answer to my first mental question. With a sudden spring,

-one of the women leaped to the _Chiriqui’s_ anchor, with a second bound

-she was on the fore deck, and close at her heels came a score of others.

-Standing upon the deck with her head fringed by its erect vibrating

-membrane level with the boat-deck, she gazed about for an instant. Then,

-catching sight of the form of a sailor sprawled upon the deck, she

-uttered a shrill, piercing cry, leaped forward, and, before my

-unbelieving, horror-stricken eyes, tore the still living, palpitating

-body to pieces and ravenously devoured it.

-

-“Unable to stir through the very repulsiveness of the scene, realizing

-that my turn might be next, I gazed fascinated. But the giant cannibal

-female was not to feast in peace. As her companions reached the deck,

-they rushed upon her and fought viciously for a portion of the reeking

-flesh. The struggle of these awful giants, as smeared with human blood,

-scratching and clawing, uttering shrill cries of rage, they rolled and

-fought on the deck, was indescribably terrible and disgusting. But it

-came to an abrupt end. With a bound, a giantess of giantesses, a

-powerfully-muscled female, appeared, and like cowed beasts, the others

-drew aside, licking their chops, the membranes on their heads rising and

-falling in excitement, like the frills on an iguana lizard, and watching

-the newly-arrived giantess with furtive eyes. Evidently she was the

-leader or chieftainess, and in curt but strangely shrill and, of course,

-to me, utterly unintelligible words, she gave orders to the others.

-Instantly, the horde of women began swarming over the ship, searching

-every nook and corner, and, wherever they discovered the inert bodies of

-the ship’s company, dragged them on deck and piled them in heaps.

-Shaking with abject terror, I crouched back of the bridge, and racked my

-brains for thought of some safe spot in which to hide. But before I

-could make up my mind, one of the terrifying, monstrous females sprang

-upon the bridge and rushed towards me. With a maniacal scream, I turned

-and fled. Then, before me, blocking my way, there appeared another of

-the creatures. And then a most marvelous and surprising thing happened.

-Instead of falling upon me as I expected her to do, the giantess turned,

-and with a scream that equalled my own, leaped over the rail and fled to

-the uttermost extremity of the deck.

-

-“I forgot my terror in my amazement. Why should this giant, cannibal

-woman fear me? Why should she run from me when, a few moments before,

-she had been fighting over a meal of an unconscious sailor? And it was

-evident that the others were equally afraid of me, for at her cry, and

-my appearance, all had rushed as far from me as possible, and stood

-regarding me with an odd mixture of wonder and terror on their huge

-faces. And then it occurred to me that their fear was, perhaps, due to

-my gas-mask, to the apparatus that transformed me from a human being to

-a weird-looking monster. At any rate, I was evidently safe from

-molestation for the time being, and thanking my lucky stars that I had

-on the mask, I descended from the bridge, the giantesses retreating as I

-advanced. I entered the captain’s cabin and locked the door.

-

-“Here I breathed more freely, for even if the women overcame their fear

-of me and attempted to capture me, the steel doors and walls of the

-cabin would be impregnable defenses. Moreover, upon the wall above the

-bunk, was a rifle, in a drawer of the dresser was a loaded revolver, and

-a short search revealed a plentiful supply of cartridges. Yes, if I were

-attacked, I could give a good account of myself, and I determined, if

-worst came to the worst, that I would blow out my brains rather than

-fall a victim to the female cannibal horde.

-

-“Dully, through the thick walls of the cabin, I could hear the sounds of

-the women on the deck, but I had no desire to witness what was going on,

-and seated upon the captain’s chair, I thought over the events which had

-transpired during the past few hours and tried to find a reasonable

-solution to the incredible happenings.

-

-“That I was within the earth seemed certain, though utterly fantastic,

-but who the giant women were, why they had captured the _Chiriqui_ or by

-what unknown, tremendous power their marvelous airship was operated,

-were all utterly beyond my comprehension. But I must hurry on and relate

-the more important matters, for my time is limited and the important

-thing is to let the world know how the human race may be saved from the

-terrible fate which has befallen me and all those upon the _Chiriqui_,

-and upon the destroyer _McCracken_, for that vessel, too, has fallen a

-victim to these horrible cannibalistic giantesses here within the centre

-of the earth.

-

-                   *       *       *       *       *

-

-“Hunger and thirst drove me at last from my refuge in the captain’s

-cabin, and armed with the loaded rifle and revolver, I cautiously peered

-out and stepped upon the deck. Only one woman was in sight, and

-instantly, at sight of me, she fled away. Not a body of the hundreds of

-men and women aboard the ship was visible, and feeling relieved that I

-was for a time safe, I stepped to the ship’s rail and peered over.

-Scores of the women were carrying the inert forms of the unconscious men

-and women towards the nearby city. Stealthily I hurried below in search

-of food and drink. Fears assailed me that the women had, in all

-probability, preceded me and carried off everything edible. But I need

-not have worried about food. I was yet to learn the horrible truth and

-the gruesome habits of these red giantesses. The saloon, the corridors,

-the staterooms, everything, had been searched, and every person upon the

-vessel removed. In the pantry I found an abundance of food, and quickly

-satisfied my hunger and thirst. I pondered on my next move. The

-skipper’s cabin seemed my safest refuge. I placed a supply of provisions

-within it, and locked myself in the little room again. For several days

-nothing of great importance occurred. I say days, but there are no days

-in this terrible place. There is no sun, no moon, no stars and no

-darkness. The whole place is illuminated by a brilliant, greenish light

-that issues from a distant mountain range, and which seems to be of the

-same character as that which emanated from the spherical air machine.

-Fortunately I had presence of mind enough to keep my watch going, as

-well as the captain’s chronometer, for otherwise I would have had no

-knowledge of the passage of time. Once or twice the scarlet women

-visited the ship, but seemed nervous and wary, and made no effort to

-approach or molest me, merely gazed about as if searching for

-something--perhaps for me--and then retiring. Several times, too, I

-ventured on deck, and peered over the ship’s side, but saw none of the

-giantesses, although with the glasses I could see crowds of the beings

-about the city in the distance.

-

-“Also, I noticed among them, several individuals who were much smaller

-than the rest, and who appeared to be men, although I could not be sure.

-I also discovered, and almost lost my life in the discovery, that the

-atmosphere of this place is unfit for human beings to breathe, and is

-thick with sulphurous fumes. Close to the ground these fumes are so

-dense that a person would succumb in a few moments, but at the height of

-the _Chiriqui’s_ decks, nearly seventy feet above the rocky bed on which

-she rests, the air is breathable, although it causes one to choke and

-cough after a few minutes. And I am sure that the houses of these giant

-beings have been built on the summits of the basalt columns in order to

-avoid the suffocating fumes of the lower levels. Later, too, I learned

-that the membrane-like frills upon these creatures are a sort of gills,

-or as I might say, natural gas-masks, which by some means enable the

-beings to breathe the sulphur-laden air. But even with these, they avoid

-the lower areas where the fumes are the worst, and only visit them when

-necessity arises, which accounts for my being left in peace, with none

-of the horrible women near the ship, for days at a time. I discovered

-the presence of the sulphur gas on the first day when, attempting to

-eat, I removed my gas-mask. Suffocating as I found the fumes, I was

-compelled to endure them, and gradually I became slightly accustomed to

-them, so that now I have little trouble in breathing during the short

-time it takes me to eat my meals. At all other times I must wear the

-apparatus, and I thank God that this is so, for I know now that it is

-the gas-mask which so far has preserved my life.

-

-“On the tenth day after my arrival I noticed a number of the giantesses

-gathering about the huge, spherical airship which still rested on its

-cradle near the _Chiriqui_, but which, I have forgotten to state, ceased

-to emit its green or red lights after it had landed. Lying there it

-resembled nothing so much as a gigantic can-buoy or a floating mine, if

-one can imagine a buoy two hundred yards in diameter.

-

-“On the day I mentioned, all interests seemed to be centered on the

-thing, and cautiously peering from the shelter of the deck-house, I

-watched the proceedings. Presently several of the women entered the

-sphere through an opening in its middle band; the aperture closed behind

-them, and immediately there was a low, humming sound as of machinery. As

-the sounds issued from the sphere, the cables to which were attached the

-smaller spheres (which glowed red when carrying the _Chiriqui_ through

-the air) were drawn in until the two smaller spheres were resting in

-recesses at the axes of the large sphere, and where they appeared merely

-as hemi-spherical projections. Then, slowly at first, but with ever

-increasing speed, the slender rods about the large sphere began to move

-back and forth, or rather in an oscillating manner, until they were

-vibrating with such rapidity that they appeared merely rays of light.

-Slowly, majestically, the immense globe rose from its cradle, and

-gathering headway, leaped upward to an immense height. Then, tilting at

-an angle, it passed over the city and headed for an immense pinnacle of

-rock, which, fully seven miles from where I stood, reminded me of a

-gigantic chimney or funnel.

-

-“Although it was barely visible to the naked eye, I could see it

-distinctly through the glasses, and I watched it with the most intense

-and concentrated interest. For a few moments it remained, poised a

-hundred feet or so above the pinnacle. Then, from the towering, tapering

-rock, a terrific jet of steam roared forth, and striking the great

-spherical machine above it, hurled it upward and beyond my vision. Give

-close heed to these words, whoever may, by God’s grace, be listening to

-what I say, for upon them may hinge the fate of the human race. Only by

-this means, by being shot upward by this titanic jet of steam, can the

-airship leave this subterranean land and emerge through the crater by

-which it entered bearing the _Chiriqui_. Within this place it can sail

-at will; once above the crater opening it can travel anywhere, although

-it cannot land; but by some unknown force or magnetic attraction or

-freak of gravitation the machine cannot ascend through the crater,

-although, when over it, it will drop like a plummet through the opening.

-And herein--for the sake of humanity, listen to this and remember my

-words--lies a means of destroying the machine, for by surrounding the

-crater with powerful guns the sphere can be shelled as it emerges and

-utterly destroyed. To attempt to do so as it returns to the crater would

-be suicidal, for once in the outer air, it emanates vast quantities of

-most poisonous gas, and all living things within a radius of several

-miles would be struck down unconscious, as were my companions on the

-_Chiriqui_. Even if gas-masks were worn, it would be most difficult to

-destroy the machine as it descended, for it travels with incredible

-speed in its descent and, moreover, the terrible creatures who man the

-thing would see that enemies lurked near and would find some means of

-destroying them, or by the mysterious magnet force they control, would

-draw even the heaviest cannon to the machine as an ordinary magnet draws

-needles or iron filings. So if the thing is to be destroyed, it must be

-done as the machine emerges from the crater. Would to God that I could

-tell where the crater is, but beyond feeling sure it is at the summit of

-an Andean peak, I have no means of locating it.

-

-“But I was telling of what occurred on that tenth day when the spherical

-airship was projected from my sight by the blast of steam. As the

-machine vanished, the women who had watched its departure, returned to

-their city, and I swept the landscape with my glasses, wondering at the

-bleak, terrible scenery and bizarre colors.

-

-                   *       *       *       *       *

-

-“As I focussed the binoculars upon a level plateau, perhaps a mile from

-where the _Chiriqui_ rested, I gasped in surprise. Clearly defined, lay

-the remnants of what had once been a steamship! Had I given the matter

-thought, I might have known that the _Chiriqui_ was not the first vessel

-to have fallen a victim to these awful beings; but the sight of another

-ship’s skeleton came to me as a terrific shock. As nearly as I could

-judge, the vessel had been dismantled, for only the great steel frame

-remained, with the mighty boilers and other portions of the ship

-scattered about, and gruesomely like some mammoth creature lying

-disemboweled upon the earth.

-

-“I was consumed with a mad desire to visit that pathetic wreck, but I

-knew not to what dangers I would be exposed, once I left the security of

-my ship. Not a being was in sight, however, and carefully I studied the

-land, visually measuring the relative distances between myself and the

-wreck, and between the city and the route I must traverse. Having

-already observed that the giantesses moved slowly and cumbrously on

-foot, I at last decided that even if they attempted to intercept me I

-could regain the _Chiriqui_ before I was overtaken, so I threw caution

-to the winds and prepared to undertake my hazardous journey. Slinging

-the loaded rifle on my back, with the revolver at my belt, and still

-further arming myself with a keen-edged fireaxe, I hunted up the pilot’s

-ladder, lowered it over the lowest side of the ship,--which was also the

-side farthest from the city,--and clambering down the _Chiriqui’s_ lofty

-sides, leaped down upon the ground. To my amazement, I landed in a dense

-jungle of dry, tough vegetation which rose to my shoulders. From the

-deck, looking directly downwards, I had thought this dull-green growth a

-short, wiry grass, and, of course, in its relative proportion to the

-gigantic women, it was no higher than ordinary grass to a normal human

-being. It was a wonderful example of the theory of relativity, but my

-mind was not interested in scientific matters at the time, and I merely

-gave thanks that the miniature jungle,--which I saw was composed of

-giant lichens--would afford me cover through which I might sneak in

-safety, and with little chance of detection.

-

-“Without much difficulty I made my way to the other vessel, and found

-her even more dissected than I had supposed. Why the denizens of the

-place had torn her to bits I did not then know, but certain portions of

-her machinery and fittings had been left intact, and, as I examined

-these, I made another and most astounding discovery. Deeply engraved

-upon a brass plate was the ship’s name ‘_U. S. S. Cyclops!_’ For a space

-I stood staring, scarcely able to believe my eyes. Here then was the

-solution to that mystery of the sea, the disappearance of the collier,

-as laden with manganese, she vanished without word or trace when off the

-Barbados during the World War. No doubt, I thought, many a mystery of

-the sea had been caused by the damnable work of these beings with their

-infernal machine. But why, for what reason, did they capture ships? Why

-did they carry off the unconscious persons upon the vessels? And why did

-they tear the vessels apart? It was all a mystery which, in all its

-horrible, gruesome, ghoulish details I was soon to solve.

-

-“There was nothing more to be learned from the remains of the _Cyclops_,

-and in safety I returned to the _Chiriqui_ to find, to my surprise and

-terror, that a gang of the monstrous females had boarded the ship in my

-absence and were stripping her of everything. But as they caught sight

-of me, all threw down whatever they had and fled precipitately, leaving

-me once more in undisputed possession of the ship. I was relieved at

-this, for it was obvious that I had no need to fear the creatures. By

-now, too, I had formulated a theory to account for this strange dread of

-a being who was a puny, miserable thing compared to them. Unquestionably

-my gas-mask rendered me a most grotesque and unknown creature in their

-eyes. My remaining alive and active while all others upon the ship had

-succumbed to the noxious gas had probably caused them to think that I

-was a supernatural being. The fact that I could go about and breathe the

-sulphur-laden air would cause them to regard me with even greater wonder

-and superstition, and, as I found later, the fact that I was never seen

-to eat, confirmed their belief that I was some mysterious being against

-whom their gases and their deviltries were of no avail.

-

-“I had not much time to devote to such matters, however. Soon after

-regaining the _Chiriqui_ I heard excited cries from the land, and

-looking over the ship’s rails, I found an immense crowd had gathered

-near the empty cradle of the airship, and that all were gazing upward.

-Following their example, I stared into the greenish void and instantly

-understood. Descending rapidly towards the plain, came the great sphere,

-and, suspended below it, was the hull of another captive ship. And as I

-focussed my glasses upon this, I rubbed my eyes and gaped. The dull gray

-color, the lines, the raking funnels, the barbettes and gun muzzles left

-no room for doubt. Incredible as it seemed, the captive vessel was a

-warship! What hope then had my fellow men upon earth? What chance was

-there if these giant creatures could send forth their flaming machine,

-and by it, capture the fastest, most powerful war-vessels--all within

-the space of a few hours?

-

-“Rapidly the machine and its burden approached, and presently descended

-gently dropping the war vessel close to the _Chiriqui_. My worst fears

-were confirmed. The vessel was an American destroyer, the _McCracken_,

-and I knew that scores of my countrymen must lie unconscious upon her,

-and in a few moments would be carried off to some unknown horrible fate.

-What that fate was I had already surmised. That first demonstration of

-the ferocious cannibalism of the giantesses upon the _Chiriqui’s_ deck

-had been enough to make my blood run cold.

-

-“But I had not yet guessed even a fraction of the true horror of it.

-Scarcely had the _McCracken_ been dropped upon the earth, when the women

-swarmed upon her, and once more I saw the creatures gathering the inert

-forms of men and carrying them to the city. And rapidly, too, they

-commenced dismantling and tearing the destroyer into bits. How they had

-accomplished this with the _Cyclops_ had puzzled me, but now I witnessed

-the process close at hand. From the vicinity of the waterfall, lines or

-pipes were led to the vessel’s side; presently there was the roaring

-sound of steam; dense clouds of vapor arose from the cataract; the water

-ceased to flow, and from the extremities of the lines or tubes

-twenty-foot jets of blinding flame shot out. As easily as though made of

-wax, the steel sides, the massive beams, the armored barbettes of the

-warship melted and were cut by these jets, and as the pieces fell apart,

-the spherical airship took a position above the vessel, and by its

-magnetic power, lifted tons of the fragments, then sailing off,

-deposited them in some spot beyond the city. It was then, as I saw the

-ship rapidly dissolving before my eyes, that the inspiration came to me

-which may make it possible for me to communicate with the outside world

-and may, if God wills, serve to warn my fellow men of the fate which

-will overtake them if these terrible creatures are allowed to follow out

-their plans. As the jets of flame cut through the _McCracken’s_

-superstructure, and the radio antennae fell in a tangled mass across the

-deck, I forgot all else and rushed to the wireless room of the

-_Chiriqui_. Here was my chance. If the ship’s radio transmitter was

-still in working order; if the auxiliary battery was still charged, I

-might send out messages which, small as the chances were, might reach

-the ears of some of the countless thousands of persons who listened each

-night at their receiving sets. I trembled with fear that I would find

-the transmitter injured or dismantled. I shook with dread that the

-battery might be dead. I felt faint with apprehension that the message,

-if sent, might never penetrate the sulphur-laden atmosphere or might

-never reach the outer world. And I realized, with a sickening sinking of

-my heart, that even if heard my communication might be regarded as a

-hoax, and no attention would be given it. But I would do my best. The

-radio set had not been molested. Everything was in working order, and I

-set myself the task of transmitting my story each night at the same

-hour, repeating it over and over again, until the storage batteries are

-exhausted, for to get up steam and start the dynamos is beyond my

-powers. Had I knowledge of Morse I would send my story by that code, but

-I have not, and so--I must cease. For the love of your race and of your

-dear ones listen, I beseech you, until I can resume.”

-

-                   *       *       *       *       *

-

-Here the message broke off abruptly, and Frank and I sat staring at each

-other, fearing to speak lest we might interrupt or miss the words which

-might come, and listening with straining ears at the head-sets. For an

-hour we sat there and then, once more the voice spoke.

-

-“The doom that I feared is approaching. I have been here for three

-months and this will, I know, be my final message. Oh that I could only

-be sure that someone has heard my words, that my fate has not been in

-vain but has served to warn my fellow beings. But I must hurry on. I

-have learned everything of importance. I have watched, studied and have

-even learned to understand much of the language of these beings. I found

-that there were men. They are puny beings compared to the women, though

-ten-foot giants compared to normal men, and they are cowed, abject, mere

-slaves of the females. Only enough male children are permitted to

-survive to propagate the race. All others are killed.

-

-“As they reach manhood only those males of super-intelligence, strength

-and virility are permitted to live. The others are destroyed and--yes,

-horrible as it sounds, their bodies, like those of the murdered infants

-and of the aged, sick or infirm, are devoured. And as fast as the males

-attain middle age their lives are forfeited. Long ago these beings

-subsisted upon the few wild creatures which roamed their land; but long

-ago all these were exhausted and human flesh became the only meat. There

-is no vegetable food, and for a time the sacrificed surplus males, and

-the aged, provided food for the race. But gradually the male births

-decreased, female children preponderated, and with the increased

-population resulting, the males were too few to nourish the others.

-Then, through what damnable accident or design I do not know, the

-creatures went forth in their airship and discovered the teeming

-millions of human beings on earth.

-

-“But the bulk of humanity was and still is safe from them, at least

-until new means of attacking mankind are devised, for the globular

-airship cannot approach the land. The very power it uses to lift the

-greatest steamships and carry them off, draws the machine to the earth

-and holds it fast. But above water, which acts as an insulator

-apparently, the apparatus can operate at will. And they have a two-fold

-purpose in capturing ships. All the available metal in this land was

-exhausted in constructing two of the spherical machines. One of these

-never returned from its first trip, and only the one remains. To

-construct more, these giant women plan to use the metal salvaged from

-captured ships, until a vast fleet of the infernal things is ready to go

-forth and wipe the seas clean of ships and human beings. And the bodies

-of the men and women, struck down by the gas, are to serve as food for

-these demons in human form.

-

-“This is the most horrible, blood-curdling thing of all. Rendered

-unconscious by the gas, the victims remain in a state of suspended

-animation indefinitely, exactly as do grubs, spiders and insects when

-stung by certain species of wasps and placed in their nests to provide

-food for their young. Stacked in great storage vaults these breathing,

-living, but paralyzed human beings are kept, and as needed, are taken

-out.

-

-“Already they have a supply on hand sufficient to last them for over a

-year. Some of the _Cyclops_ company are still preserved; there are over

-three hundred from the _Chiriqui_, hundreds from other ships, and the

-entire crew of the _McCracken_.

-

-“All these things I learned little by little, and mainly through a

-friend, for marvelous as it may seem, I have a friend--if friend he can

-be called, a miserable, trembling, terrified male, who, doomed to death,

-sought to escape his fate and sought refuge with me, dreading my

-presence less than his doom, and hoping that such a feared and almost

-reverenced being as myself might protect him. For two months he has been

-my companion, but he cannot eat anything but meat and the supply of meat

-upon the ship is getting low, and sooner or later he must succumb. And

-the women, maddened at his escape from their clutches, though not yet

-daring to approach too closely to me, are getting bolder. Some time, at

-some unguarded moment, they will find the poor fellow alone and will

-fall upon him. And in his terror, in an effort to buy his life, he will,

-I know, reveal to them that I am but an ordinary mortal, a man who eats

-and drinks and who survived the gas by mechanical and not supernatural

-means. But I will not be taken alive by these fearful female cannibals.

-When the time comes, as I know it will, I will blow my brains out, and

-though they may devour my body they will not rend me alive. No more

-ships have been brought in here since the _McCracken_ was captured. But

-this I know is due to the fact that all the energies of these creatures

-are being devoted to building additional air machines. This work goes on

-in a vast cavern beyond the city where tremendous forces, furnaces with

-heat beyond human conception and machines of which we know nothing, are

-controlled by the internal steam, the radiant energy and the magnetic

-powers of the earth’s core.

-

-“And now, again let me implore any and all who may hear my words to give

-close attention to what I say, for here again is a means by which

-humanity may combat and destroy these ghastly, gigantic cannibals. The

-spherical air-machines are helpless from above. Their magnetic or

-electrical forces extend only downwards. The gasses they throw out are

-heavier than air and descend but cannot ascend, and by means of swift

-planes, huge bombs and machine guns, the things can be easily destroyed.

-And they cannot travel without throwing off the dazzling green light.

-Only when motionless are they dark. And so they will offer easy marks

-and can be readily detected. So, I beseech you who may hear, that the

-governments are notified and warned and that a fleet or many fleets of

-airplanes properly equipped patrol the seas, and at first sight of one

-of the green meteors rise above it and utterly destroy it without mercy.

-

-“Wait! I hear a terrified scream.... I am back again at the transmitter.

-It was the fellow who has been with me. Poor devil! He has met his fate,

-but after all it was the custom of his people, and, moreover, he would

-have starved to death in a few days. For that matter I, too, face

-starvation. The ship’s stock is running low; all the food upon the

-_McCracken_ was destroyed in cutting up that vessel, and unless another

-ship is captured I will have no food after two weeks more. What a

-strange thought! How terrible an idea! That the awful fate of hundreds

-of my fellows would be my salvation! But I will never live to die from

-hunger. I can hear the terrible screams of my late companion on the deck

-outside. God! It is the end! The fellow must have told the enraged

-females. His body has been torn to shreds. With bloody hands and reeking

-lips they are rushing towards the upper deck where I sit. They are here!

-This is my last word! God grant that I have been heard! I am about

-to----”

-

-Crashing in our ears came the report of a pistol.

-

-                                The End

-

-

------

-

-[1] The message as it came in, was halting, and interrupted, with many

-unintelligible words and repetitions, as if the sender were laboring

-under an intense strain or was an amateur. For the sake of clarity and

-continuity, the communication has been edited and filled in, but not

-altered in any detail.

-

-[2] The metropolitan papers reported the meteor on the eighteenth and

-stated it was observed by those on the _Chiriqui_ on the evening of the

-seventeenth, but it must be remembered that the _Chiriqui_ was in the

-western Pacific and hence had gained a day in time.

-

-[Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the July 1927 issue of

-Amazing Stories Magazine.]

-

-*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOICE FROM THE INNER WORLD

+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOICE FROM THE INNER WORLD
+***
+
+
+
+
+                     The Voice from the Inner World
+
+
+        Second Honorable Mention in the $500 Prize Cover Contest
+              Awarded to A. Hyatt Verrill, New York City,
+                  for “A Voice from the Inner World.”
+
+[Illustration: ... And it was evident that the others were equally
+afraid of me ... they stood regarding me with an odd mixture of wonder
+and terror on their huge faces.]
+
+                     The Voice from the Inner World
+
+                          by A. Hyatt Verrill
+
+Author of “The Plague of the Living Dead,” “Through the Crater’s Rim,” etc.
+
+
+    The author of this story, well known to our readers, in
+    submitting his prize story, adopts a treatment entirely
+    different from that of practically all the rest of the
+    winners. He has submitted a tale so characteristic and so
+    original that it holds your interest by sheer strength. That
+    there should be a cannibalistic race of females somewhere in
+    our world is, after all, not impossible nor improbable.
+    There are still cannibals at large, at the present writing,
+    and probably will be for many generations to come. While the
+    story has its gruesome moments, it also contains good
+    science and Mr. Verrill certainly knows how to treat his
+    subject and get the most from it. As a “different” sort of
+    story, we highly recommend it to your attention.
+
+On the eighteenth of October, the New York papers reported the
+appearance of a remarkable meteor which had been seen in mid-Pacific,
+and the far more startling announcement that it was feared that the
+amazing celestial visitor had struck and destroyed a steamship.
+
+“At eleven-fifteen last evening,” read the account in the _Herald_, “the
+Panama-Hawaiian Line steamship _Chiriqui_ reported by radio the
+appearance of an immense meteor which suddenly appeared above the
+horizon to the southeast, and which increased rapidly in size and
+brilliance. Within ten minutes from the time the phenomenon was first
+sighted, it appeared as a huge greenish sphere of dazzling brilliance
+high in the sky, and heading, apparently, directly for the _Chiriqui_.
+Almost at the same time as reported by the _Chiriqui_, several other
+ships, among them the Miners and Merchants Line _Vulcan_, and the
+Japanese liner _Fujiama Maru_ also reported the meteorite, although they
+were more than one thousand miles apart and equidistant from the
+position of the _Chiriqui_.
+
+“In the midst of a sentence describing the appearance of the rapidly
+approaching meteor, the _Chiriqui’s_ wireless message came to an abrupt
+end, and all attempts to get into further communication with her
+operator failed. The other vessels reported that a scintillating flash,
+like an explosion, was followed by the meteor’s disappearance, and it is
+feared that the immense aerolite may have struck the _Chiriqui_, and
+utterly destroyed her with all on board. As no S O S has been received,
+and as the ship’s radio broke off with the words: ‘It is very close and
+the sea is as bright as day. Below the immense mass of green fire are
+two smaller spheres of intense red. It is so near we can hear it roaring
+like a terrific wind. It is headed--’ It is probable that the vessel, if
+struck, was instantly destroyed. It has been suggested, however, that it
+is possible that the meteor or meteors were accompanied by electrical
+phenomena which may have put the _Chiriqui’s_ wireless apparatus out of
+commission and that the ship may be safe.”
+
+Later editions of the press announced that no word had been received
+from the _Chiriqui_, that other ships had reported the meteor, and that
+two of these had radioed that the aerolite, instead of exploding, had
+been seen to continue on its way and gradually disappear beyond the
+horizon. These reports somewhat allayed the fears that the _Chiriqui_
+had been struck by the meteor, and prominent scientists expressed the
+opinion that the supposed explosion had been merely an optical illusion
+caused by its passage through some dense or cloudy layer of air. They
+also quoted numerous cases of immense meteors having been seen by
+observers over immense distances, and declared their belief that the
+aerolite had not reached the earth, but had merely passed through the
+outer atmosphere. When asked regarding the possibility of the meteor
+having affected the ship’s wireless apparatus, experts stated that such
+might have been the case, although, hitherto, severe electrical
+disturbances had never been associated with the passage of meteors.
+Moreover, they declared that even if the wireless had been injured, it
+could have been repaired in a few hours, and that they could not explain
+the continued silence of the _Chiriqui_. Word also came from Panama that
+the naval commandant at Balboa had despatched a destroyer to search for
+the _Chiriqui_, or any survivors of the catastrophe if the ship had been
+destroyed.
+
+A few hours later, despatches were received from various points in
+Central and South America, reporting the meteor of the previous night.
+All of these agreed that the fiery mass had swept across the heavens in
+a wide arc and had vanished in the east beyond the summits of the Andes.
+
+It was, therefore, fairly certain that the _Chiriqui_ had not been
+struck by the meteor, and in a few days the incident was completely
+forgotten by the public at large.
+
+But when, ten days later, the warship reported that no sign of the
+missing ship could be found, and the officials of the Panama-Hawaiian
+Line admitted that the _Chiriqui_ was four days overdue, interest was
+again aroused. Then came the startling news, featured in screaming
+headlines, that the meteor or its twin had been again reported by
+various ships in the Pacific, and that the U. S. S. _McCracken_, which
+had been scouring the seas for traces of the missing _Chiriqui_, had
+sent in a detailed report of the meteor’s appearance, and that her
+wireless had gone “dead,” exactly as had that of the _Chiriqui_.
+
+And when, after every effort, no communication could be established with
+the war vessel, and when two weeks had elapsed without word from her, it
+was generally conceded that both ships had been destroyed by the amazing
+celestial visitor. For a time the double catastrophe filled the papers
+to the exclusion of nearly everything else, and such everyday features
+as scandals and murder trials were crowded to the back pages of the
+dailies to make room for long articles on meteors and missing ships and
+interviews with scientists. But as no more meteors appeared, and as no
+more ships vanished, the subject gradually lost interest and was no
+longer news.
+
+About three months after the first report of the green meteor appeared
+(on January fifteenth, to be exact) I was in Peru, visiting my daughter,
+when I received a communication of such an utterly amazing character
+that it appeared incredible, and yet was so borne out by facts and
+details that it had all the earmarks of truth. So astounding was this
+communication that, despite the fact that it will unquestionably be
+scoffed at by the public, I feel that it should be given to the world.
+As soon as I had received the story I hurried with it to the American
+Minister in Lima, and related all that I had heard. He agreed with me
+that the authorities at Washington should be acquainted with the matter
+at once, and together we devoted many hours to coding the story which
+was cabled in the secret cipher of the State Department. The officials,
+however, were inclined to regard the matter as a hoax, and, as far as I
+am aware, no steps have yet been taken to follow out the suggestions
+contained in the communication which I received, and thus save humanity
+from a terrible fate. Personally, I am convinced that the amazing tale
+which came to me in such an astounding and unexpected manner is
+absolutely true, incredible as it may seem, but whether fact or fiction,
+my readers may decide for themselves.
+
+My son-in-law was intensely interested in radio, and devoted all of his
+spare time to devising and constructing receiving sets, and in his home
+in the delightful residential suburb of Miraflores, were a number of
+receiving sets of both conventional and original design. Having been
+closely in touch with the subject for several years, I was deeply
+interested in Frank’s experiments, and especially in a new type of
+hook-up which had given most remarkable results in selectivity and
+distance. Practically every broadcasting station in America, and many in
+Europe, had been logged by the little set, and on several occasions
+faint signals had been heard which, although recognizable as English,
+evidently emanated from a most remote station. These, oddly enough, had
+come in at the same hour each night, and each time had continued for
+exactly the same length of time.
+
+We were discussing this, and trying to again pick up the unintelligible
+and unidentified signals on that memorable January evening, when,
+without warning, and as clearly as though sent from the station at
+Buenos Ayres, came the most astounding communication which ever greeted
+human ears, and which, almost verbatim, was as follows:[1]
+
+“LISTEN! For God’s sake, I implore all who may hear my words to listen!
+And believe what I say no matter how unbelievable it may seem, for the
+fate of thousands of human beings, the fate of the human race may depend
+upon you who by chance may hear this message from another world. My name
+is James Berry, my home is Butte, Montana, my profession a mining
+engineer, and I am speaking through the short wave transmitter of the
+steamship _Chiriqui_ on which I was a passenger when the terrible, the
+incredible events occurred which I am about to relate. On the evening of
+October sixteenth[2] the _Chiriqui_ was steaming across the Pacific in
+calm weather when our attention was attracted by what appeared to be an
+unusually brilliant meteor of a peculiar greenish color. It first
+appeared above the horizon to the southeast, and very rapidly increased
+in size and brilliancy. At the time I was particularly struck by the
+fact that it left no trail of light or fire behind it, as is usual with
+large meteorites, but so rapidly did it approach that I had little time
+to wonder at this. Within a few moments from the time that it was first
+seen, the immense sphere of green incandescence had grown to the size of
+the moon, and the entire sea for miles about our ship was illuminated by
+a sickly green light. It appeared to be headed directly towards our
+ship, and, standing as I was on the bridge-deck near the wheel-house, I
+heard the chief officer cry out: ‘My God, it will strike us!’ By now the
+mass of fire had altered in appearance, and a short distance below the
+central green mass could be seen two smaller spheres of blinding red,
+like huge globes of molten metal. By now, too, the noise made by the
+meteor was plainly audible, sounding like the roar of surf or the sound
+of a tornado.
+
+“Everyone aboard the ship was panic-stricken; women screamed, men cursed
+and shouted, and the crew rushed to man the boats, as everyone felt that
+the _Chiriqui_ was doomed. What happened next I can scarcely describe,
+so rapidly did the events occur. As the meteor seemed about to hurl
+itself upon the ship, there was a blinding flash of light, a terrific
+detonation, and I saw men and women falling to the decks as if struck
+down by shell fire. The next instant the meteor vanished completely, and
+intense blackness followed the blinding glare. At the same moment, I was
+aware of a peculiar pungent, suffocating odor which, perhaps owing to my
+long experience with deadly gases in mining work, I at once recognized
+as some noxious gas. Almost involuntarily, and dully realizing that by
+some miracle the ship had escaped destruction, I dashed below and
+reached my cabin almost overcome by the fumes which now penetrated every
+portion of the ship. Among my possessions was a new type of gas-mask
+which had been especially designed for mine work, and my idea was to don
+this, for I felt sure that the meteor had exploded close to the ship and
+had released vast quantities of poisonous gases which might hang about
+for a long time.
+
+“Although almost overcome by the choking fumes, I managed to find and
+put on the apparatus, for one of its greatest advantages was the
+rapidity and ease with which it could be adjusted, it having been
+designed for emergency use. But before it was fairly in place over my
+face, the electric light in my room went out and I was in complete
+darkness. Also, the ship seemed strangely still, and as I groped my way
+to the stateroom door it suddenly dawned upon me that the engines had
+stopped, that there was no longer the whirr of dynamos from the depths
+of the hull. Not a light glimmered in the passageway, and twice, as I
+felt my way towards the social hall, I stumbled over the sprawled bodies
+of men, while in the saloon itself I several times stepped upon the soft
+and yielding flesh of passengers who lay where they had been struck down
+by the poisonous gas. In all probability, I thought, I was the sole
+survivor aboard the ship, unless some of the firemen and engineers
+survived, and I wondered how I would manage to escape, if the vessel
+should be sighted by some other ship, or if it should be my gruesome
+task to search the _Chiriqui_ from stem to stern, drag the bodies of the
+dead to the deck and cast them into the sea, and remain--perhaps for
+weeks--alone upon the ship until rescued by some passing vessel. But as
+I reached the door and stepped upon the deck all such thoughts were
+driven from my brain as I blinked my eyes and stared about in dumfounded
+amazement. I had stepped from Stygian darkness into dazzling light.
+Blinded for the moment, I closed my eyes, and when I again opened them I
+reeled to the rail with a cry of terror. Poised above the ship’s masts,
+and so enormous that it appeared to shut out half the sky, was the
+stupendous meteor like a gigantic globe of green fire, and seemingly
+less than one hundred feet above me. Still nearer, and hanging but a few
+yards above the bow and stern of the ship, were the two smaller spheres
+of glowing red. Cowering against the rail, expecting to be shrivelled
+into a charred cinder at any instant, I gazed transfixed and paralyzed
+at the titanic masses of flaming light above the ship.
+
+“Then reason came back to me. My only chance to escape was to leap into
+the sea, and I half clambered upon the rail prepared to take the plunge.
+A scream, like that of a madman, came from my lips. Below me was no sign
+of the waves, but a limitless void, while, immeasurably distant beneath
+the ship, I could dimly see the crinkled surface of the sea. The
+_Chiriqui_ was floating in space!
+
+“It was impossible, absolutely preposterous, and I felt convinced that I
+had gone mad, or that the small quantity of gas I had breathed had
+affected my brain and had induced the nightmarish vision. Perhaps, I
+thought, the meteors above the ship were also visionary, and I again
+stared upward. Then, I knew that I was insane. The spheres of green and
+red light were rushing upward as I could see by the brilliant stars
+studding the sky, and the ship upon which I stood was following in their
+wake! Weak, limp as a rag, I slumped to the deck and lay staring at the
+great globes above me. But the insanely impossible events which had
+crowded upon my overwrought senses were as nothing to the amazing
+discovery I now made.
+
+“As my eyes became accustomed to the glare of the immense green sphere,
+I saw that instead of being merely a ball of fire it had definite form.
+About its middle extended a broad band from which slender rods of light
+extended. Round or ovoid spots seemed placed in definite order about it,
+and from the extremities of its axes lines or cables, clearly outlined
+by the glare, extended downward to the red spheres above the ship. By
+now, I was so firmly convinced that I was irrational, that these new and
+absolutely stunning discoveries did not excite or surprise me in the
+least, and as if in a particularly vivid dream, I lay there gazing
+upward, and dully, half consciously speculating on what it all meant.
+Gradually, too, it dawned upon me that the huge sphere with its
+encircling band of duller light was rotating. The circular markings,
+which I thought were marvelously like the ports of a ship, were
+certainly moving from top to bottom of the sphere, and I could
+distinctly hear a low, vibrant humming.
+
+“The next second I jerked upright with a start and my scalp tingled.
+Reason had suddenly returned to me. The thing was no meteor, no
+celestial body, but some marvelous machine, some devilish invention of
+man, some gigantic form of airship which--God only knew why--had by some
+incredible means captured the _Chiriqui_, had lifted the twenty thousand
+ton ship into the air and was bearing her off with myself, the only
+survivor of all the ship’s company, witnessing the miraculous happening!
+It was the most insane thought that had yet entered my brain, but I knew
+now for a certainty that I was perfectly sane, and, oddly enough, now
+that I was convinced that the catastrophe which had overtaken the
+_Chiriqui_ was the devilish work of human beings, I was no longer
+frightened and my former nightmarish terror of things unknown, gave
+place to the most intense anger and an inexpressible hatred of the
+fiends who, without warning or reason, had annihilated hundreds of men
+and women by means of this new and irresistible engine of destruction.
+But I was helpless. Alone upon the stolen and stricken ship I could do
+nothing. By what tremendous force the spherical airship was moving
+through space, by what unknown power it was lifting the ship and
+carrying it,--slung like the gondola of a Zeppelin beneath the
+sphere,--were matters beyond my comprehension. Calmly, now that I felt
+assured that I was rational and was the victim of my fellow
+men--fiendish as they might be,--I walked aft to where one red sphere
+hung a few yards above the ship’s deck.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+“There seemed no visible connection between it and the vessel, but I
+noticed that everything movable upon the deck, the iron cable, the wire
+ropes, the coiled steel lines of the after derrick, all extended upward
+from the deck, as rigid as bars of metal, while crackling blue sparks
+like electrical discharges scintillated from the ship’s metal work below
+the red sphere. Evidently, I decided, the red mass was actuated by some
+form of electrical energy or magnetism, and I gave the area beneath it a
+wide berth. Retracing my way to the bow of the ship, I found similar
+conditions there. As I walked towards the waist of the ship again I
+mounted the steps to the bridge, hoping from that height to get a better
+view of the monstrous machine holding the _Chiriqui_ captive. I knew
+that in the chart-house I would find powerful glasses with which to
+study the machine. Upon the bridge the bodies of the quartermaster, the
+first officer and an apprentice lay sprawled grotesquely, and across the
+chart-house door lay the captain. Reaching down I lifted him by the
+shoulders to move him to one side, and to my amazement I discovered that
+he was not dead. His heart beat, his pulse, though slow and faint, was
+plain, he was breathing and his face, still ruddy, was that of a
+sleeping man rather than of a corpse.
+
+“A wild thought rushed through my brain, and hastily I rushed to the
+other bodies. There was no doubt of it. All were alive and merely
+unconscious. The gas had struck them down, but had not killed them, and
+it came to me as a surprise, though I should long before have realized
+it, that the fumes had been purposely discharged by the beings who had
+captured the vessel. Possibly, I mentally decided, they had made a
+mistake and had failed in their intention to destroy the persons upon
+the ship, or again, was it not possible that they had intentionally
+rendered the ship’s company unconscious, and had not intended to destroy
+their lives? Forgetting my original purpose in visiting the bridge, I
+worked feverishly to resuscitate the captain, but all to no purpose.
+Many gases, I knew, would render a man unconscious without actually
+injuring him, and I was also aware, that when under the influence of
+some of these, the victims could not be revived until the definite
+period of the gases’ effect had passed. So, feeling certain that in due
+time the captain and the others would come to of their own accord, I
+entered the chartroom and, securing the skipper’s binoculars, I again
+stepped upon the bridge. As I could not conveniently use the glasses
+with my gas-mask in place, and as I felt sure there was no longer any
+danger from the fumes, I started to remove the apparatus. But no sooner
+did a breath of the air enter my mouth than I hastily readjusted the
+contrivance, for the gas which had struck down everyone but myself was
+as strong as ever. Indeed, the mere whiff of the fumes made my head reel
+and swim, and I was forced to steady myself by grasping the bridge-rail
+until the dizzy spell passed.
+
+“Once more myself, I focussed the glasses as best I could upon the
+whirling sphere above the ship. But I could make out little more than by
+my naked eyes. The band about the center or equator of the globular
+thing was, I could now see, divided into segments, each of which bore a
+round, slightly convex, eye-like object from the centers of which
+extended slender rods which vibrated with incalculable speed. Indeed,
+the whole affair reminded me of the glass models of protozoans which I
+had seen in the American Museum of Natural History. These minute marine
+organisms I knew, moved with great rapidity by means of vibrating,
+hair-like appendages or cilia, and I wondered if the enormous spherical
+machine at which I was gazing, might not move through space in a similar
+manner by means of vibrating rods moving with such incredible speed
+that, slender as they were, they produced enormous propulsive power.
+Also, I could now see that the two extremities of the sphere, or as I
+may better express it, the axes, were equipped with projecting bosses or
+shafts to which the cables supporting the red spheres were attached. And
+as I peered through the glasses at the thing, the huge green sphere,
+which had been hitherto traveling on an even keel, or, in other words,
+with the central band vertical, now shifted its position and one end
+swung sharply upward, throwing the band about the centre at an acute
+angle. Involuntarily I grasped the rail of the bridge expecting to be
+thrown from my feet by the abrupt uptilting of the ship. But to my utter
+amazement the _Chiriqui_ remained on an even plane and I then saw that
+as the sphere tilted, the cable at the uppermost axis ran rapidly out so
+that the two red spheres, which evidently supported the captive ship,
+remained, in their original relative horizontal position. No sign of
+life was visible upon the machine above me, and I surmised that whoever
+might be handling the thing was within the sphere.
+
+“Wondering how high we had risen above the sea, I stepped to the
+starboard end of the bridge and glanced down, and an involuntary
+exclamation escaped my lips. Far beneath the ship and clearly visible
+through the captain’s glasses was land! I could distinguish the white
+line marking surf breaking on a rocky shore, and ahead I could make out
+the cloud-topped, serried summits of a mighty range of mountains. Not
+until then did I realize the terrific speed at which the machine and
+captive vessel were traveling. I had been subconsciously aware that a
+gale had been blowing, but I had not stopped to realize that this was no
+ordinary wind, but was the rush of air caused by the rapidity of motion.
+But as I peered at the mountains through the binoculars, and saw the
+distant surface of the earth whizzing backward far beneath the
+_Chiriqui’s_ keel, I knew that we were hurtling onward with the speed of
+the fastest scout airplane.
+
+“Even as I gazed, the mountains seemed to rush towards me until, in a
+few minutes after I had first seen them, they appeared almost directly
+under the ship. Then the gigantic machine above me suddenly altered its
+course, it veered sharply to one side and swept along the range of
+summits far beneath. For some reason, just why I cannot explain, I
+dashed to the binnacle and saw that we were traveling to the south, and
+it flashed across my mind, that I had a dim recollection of noticing,
+when I first realized the nature of the machine which had been mistaken
+for a meteor, that by the stars, we were moving eastward. In that case,
+my suddenly alert mind told me, the land below must be some portion of
+America, and if so, judging by the altitude of the mountains, that they
+must be the Andes. All of this rushed through my brain instantly, and in
+the brief lapse of time in which I sprang to the binnacle and back to my
+observation point at the bridge-rail.
+
+“Now, I saw, we were rapidly descending, and focussing my glasses upon
+the mountains, I made out an immense conical peak in the top of which
+was a gigantic black opening. Without doubt it was the crater of some
+stupendous extinct volcano, and, with a shock, I realized that the
+machine and the ship were headed directly for the yawning opening in the
+crater. The next instant we were dropping with lightning speed towards
+it, and so terrified and dumfounded had I become that I could not move
+from where I stood. Even before I could grasp the fact, the _Chiriqui_
+was enclosed by towering, rocky walls, inky blackness surrounded me,
+there was an upward breath-taking rush of air, a roar as of a thousand
+hurricanes. The _Chiriqui_ rocked and pitched beneath my feet, as if in
+a heavy sea; I clung desperately to the bridge-rail for support and I
+felt sure that the ship had been dropped into the abysmal crater, that
+the next instant the vessel would crash into fragments as it struck
+bottom, or worse, that it would sink into the molten incandescent lava
+which might fill the depths of the volcano. For what seemed hours, the
+awful fall continued, though like as not the terrible suspense lasted
+for only a few minutes, and then, without warning, so abruptly that I
+lost my balance and was flung to the bridge, the ship ceased falling, an
+indescribable blue light succeeded the blackness, and unable to believe
+my senses I found the ship floating motionless, still suspended from the
+giant mechanism overhead, above a marvelous landscape.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+“On every hand, as far as I could see, stretched jagged rocks, immense
+cliffs, stupendous crags and rugged knife-ridged hills of the most
+dazzling reds, yellows and purples. Mile-deep canons cut the forbidding
+plains, which here and there showed patches of dull green, and in one
+spot I saw a stream of emerald-hued water pouring in a foaming cataract
+into a fathomless rift in the rock. But I gave little attention to these
+sights at the time. My gaze was riveted upon a strange, weird city which
+capped the cliffs close to the waterfall, and almost directly beneath
+the _Chiriqui_. Slowly we were dropping towards it, and I could see that
+the buildings which at first sight had appeared of immense height and
+tower-like form, were in reality gigantic basaltic columns capped with
+superimposed edifices of gleaming yellow.
+
+“The next second the glasses dropped from my shaking, nerveless hands.
+Gathered on an open space of greenish plain were hundreds of human
+beings! But were they human? In form and features, as nearly as I could
+judge at that distance, they were human, but in color they were scarlet,
+and surmounting the head and extending along the arms to the elbows on
+every individual was a whitish, membraneous frill, which at first sight,
+reminded me of an Indian’s war bonnet. The beings appeared to be of
+average height, but as the _Chiriqui’s_ keel touched solid ground and,
+keeling to one side, she rested upon one of her bilges, I saw with a
+shock, that the scarlet creatures were of gigantic size, fully thirty
+feet in height, and that, without exception, all were females! All were
+stark naked; but despite the frills upon their heads and shoulders,
+despite their bizarre scarlet skins, despite their gigantic proportions,
+they were unquestionably human beings, women without doubt, and of the
+most perfect proportions, the most graceful forms and the most regular
+and even handsome features. Beside the stranded ship, they loomed as
+giants; but against the stupendous proportions of their land and city,
+they appeared no larger than ordinary mortals. By now they were
+streaming from their houses and even in the surprise and excitement of
+that moment I noticed that the giant rocky columns were perforated by
+windows and doors, and had obviously been hollowed out to form
+dwellings. Meantime, too, the huge machine which had captured the
+_Chiriqui_ had descended and was lying at rest, and no longer emitting
+its green light, upon a cradle erected near the waterfall, and from
+openings in its central band several of the scarlet, giant Amazons were
+emerging. How long, I wondered, would I remain undiscovered? How long
+would it be before one of the female giants spied me? And then, what
+would be my fate? Why had they captured the ship? Where was I? What was
+this strange land reached through a crater?
+
+“All these thoughts rushed through my brain as I peered cautiously down
+at the giant women who swarmed about the ship. But I had not long to
+wait for an answer to my first mental question. With a sudden spring,
+one of the women leaped to the _Chiriqui’s_ anchor, with a second bound
+she was on the fore deck, and close at her heels came a score of others.
+Standing upon the deck with her head fringed by its erect vibrating
+membrane level with the boat-deck, she gazed about for an instant. Then,
+catching sight of the form of a sailor sprawled upon the deck, she
+uttered a shrill, piercing cry, leaped forward, and, before my
+unbelieving, horror-stricken eyes, tore the still living, palpitating
+body to pieces and ravenously devoured it.
+
+“Unable to stir through the very repulsiveness of the scene, realizing
+that my turn might be next, I gazed fascinated. But the giant cannibal
+female was not to feast in peace. As her companions reached the deck,
+they rushed upon her and fought viciously for a portion of the reeking
+flesh. The struggle of these awful giants, as smeared with human blood,
+scratching and clawing, uttering shrill cries of rage, they rolled and
+fought on the deck, was indescribably terrible and disgusting. But it
+came to an abrupt end. With a bound, a giantess of giantesses, a
+powerfully-muscled female, appeared, and like cowed beasts, the others
+drew aside, licking their chops, the membranes on their heads rising and
+falling in excitement, like the frills on an iguana lizard, and watching
+the newly-arrived giantess with furtive eyes. Evidently she was the
+leader or chieftainess, and in curt but strangely shrill and, of course,
+to me, utterly unintelligible words, she gave orders to the others.
+Instantly, the horde of women began swarming over the ship, searching
+every nook and corner, and, wherever they discovered the inert bodies of
+the ship’s company, dragged them on deck and piled them in heaps.
+Shaking with abject terror, I crouched back of the bridge, and racked my
+brains for thought of some safe spot in which to hide. But before I
+could make up my mind, one of the terrifying, monstrous females sprang
+upon the bridge and rushed towards me. With a maniacal scream, I turned
+and fled. Then, before me, blocking my way, there appeared another of
+the creatures. And then a most marvelous and surprising thing happened.
+Instead of falling upon me as I expected her to do, the giantess turned,
+and with a scream that equalled my own, leaped over the rail and fled to
+the uttermost extremity of the deck.
+
+“I forgot my terror in my amazement. Why should this giant, cannibal
+woman fear me? Why should she run from me when, a few moments before,
+she had been fighting over a meal of an unconscious sailor? And it was
+evident that the others were equally afraid of me, for at her cry, and
+my appearance, all had rushed as far from me as possible, and stood
+regarding me with an odd mixture of wonder and terror on their huge
+faces. And then it occurred to me that their fear was, perhaps, due to
+my gas-mask, to the apparatus that transformed me from a human being to
+a weird-looking monster. At any rate, I was evidently safe from
+molestation for the time being, and thanking my lucky stars that I had
+on the mask, I descended from the bridge, the giantesses retreating as I
+advanced. I entered the captain’s cabin and locked the door.
+
+“Here I breathed more freely, for even if the women overcame their fear
+of me and attempted to capture me, the steel doors and walls of the
+cabin would be impregnable defenses. Moreover, upon the wall above the
+bunk, was a rifle, in a drawer of the dresser was a loaded revolver, and
+a short search revealed a plentiful supply of cartridges. Yes, if I were
+attacked, I could give a good account of myself, and I determined, if
+worst came to the worst, that I would blow out my brains rather than
+fall a victim to the female cannibal horde.
+
+“Dully, through the thick walls of the cabin, I could hear the sounds of
+the women on the deck, but I had no desire to witness what was going on,
+and seated upon the captain’s chair, I thought over the events which had
+transpired during the past few hours and tried to find a reasonable
+solution to the incredible happenings.
+
+“That I was within the earth seemed certain, though utterly fantastic,
+but who the giant women were, why they had captured the _Chiriqui_ or by
+what unknown, tremendous power their marvelous airship was operated,
+were all utterly beyond my comprehension. But I must hurry on and relate
+the more important matters, for my time is limited and the important
+thing is to let the world know how the human race may be saved from the
+terrible fate which has befallen me and all those upon the _Chiriqui_,
+and upon the destroyer _McCracken_, for that vessel, too, has fallen a
+victim to these horrible cannibalistic giantesses here within the centre
+of the earth.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+“Hunger and thirst drove me at last from my refuge in the captain’s
+cabin, and armed with the loaded rifle and revolver, I cautiously peered
+out and stepped upon the deck. Only one woman was in sight, and
+instantly, at sight of me, she fled away. Not a body of the hundreds of
+men and women aboard the ship was visible, and feeling relieved that I
+was for a time safe, I stepped to the ship’s rail and peered over.
+Scores of the women were carrying the inert forms of the unconscious men
+and women towards the nearby city. Stealthily I hurried below in search
+of food and drink. Fears assailed me that the women had, in all
+probability, preceded me and carried off everything edible. But I need
+not have worried about food. I was yet to learn the horrible truth and
+the gruesome habits of these red giantesses. The saloon, the corridors,
+the staterooms, everything, had been searched, and every person upon the
+vessel removed. In the pantry I found an abundance of food, and quickly
+satisfied my hunger and thirst. I pondered on my next move. The
+skipper’s cabin seemed my safest refuge. I placed a supply of provisions
+within it, and locked myself in the little room again. For several days
+nothing of great importance occurred. I say days, but there are no days
+in this terrible place. There is no sun, no moon, no stars and no
+darkness. The whole place is illuminated by a brilliant, greenish light
+that issues from a distant mountain range, and which seems to be of the
+same character as that which emanated from the spherical air machine.
+Fortunately I had presence of mind enough to keep my watch going, as
+well as the captain’s chronometer, for otherwise I would have had no
+knowledge of the passage of time. Once or twice the scarlet women
+visited the ship, but seemed nervous and wary, and made no effort to
+approach or molest me, merely gazed about as if searching for
+something--perhaps for me--and then retiring. Several times, too, I
+ventured on deck, and peered over the ship’s side, but saw none of the
+giantesses, although with the glasses I could see crowds of the beings
+about the city in the distance.
+
+“Also, I noticed among them, several individuals who were much smaller
+than the rest, and who appeared to be men, although I could not be sure.
+I also discovered, and almost lost my life in the discovery, that the
+atmosphere of this place is unfit for human beings to breathe, and is
+thick with sulphurous fumes. Close to the ground these fumes are so
+dense that a person would succumb in a few moments, but at the height of
+the _Chiriqui’s_ decks, nearly seventy feet above the rocky bed on which
+she rests, the air is breathable, although it causes one to choke and
+cough after a few minutes. And I am sure that the houses of these giant
+beings have been built on the summits of the basalt columns in order to
+avoid the suffocating fumes of the lower levels. Later, too, I learned
+that the membrane-like frills upon these creatures are a sort of gills,
+or as I might say, natural gas-masks, which by some means enable the
+beings to breathe the sulphur-laden air. But even with these, they avoid
+the lower areas where the fumes are the worst, and only visit them when
+necessity arises, which accounts for my being left in peace, with none
+of the horrible women near the ship, for days at a time. I discovered
+the presence of the sulphur gas on the first day when, attempting to
+eat, I removed my gas-mask. Suffocating as I found the fumes, I was
+compelled to endure them, and gradually I became slightly accustomed to
+them, so that now I have little trouble in breathing during the short
+time it takes me to eat my meals. At all other times I must wear the
+apparatus, and I thank God that this is so, for I know now that it is
+the gas-mask which so far has preserved my life.
+
+“On the tenth day after my arrival I noticed a number of the giantesses
+gathering about the huge, spherical airship which still rested on its
+cradle near the _Chiriqui_, but which, I have forgotten to state, ceased
+to emit its green or red lights after it had landed. Lying there it
+resembled nothing so much as a gigantic can-buoy or a floating mine, if
+one can imagine a buoy two hundred yards in diameter.
+
+“On the day I mentioned, all interests seemed to be centered on the
+thing, and cautiously peering from the shelter of the deck-house, I
+watched the proceedings. Presently several of the women entered the
+sphere through an opening in its middle band; the aperture closed behind
+them, and immediately there was a low, humming sound as of machinery. As
+the sounds issued from the sphere, the cables to which were attached the
+smaller spheres (which glowed red when carrying the _Chiriqui_ through
+the air) were drawn in until the two smaller spheres were resting in
+recesses at the axes of the large sphere, and where they appeared merely
+as hemi-spherical projections. Then, slowly at first, but with ever
+increasing speed, the slender rods about the large sphere began to move
+back and forth, or rather in an oscillating manner, until they were
+vibrating with such rapidity that they appeared merely rays of light.
+Slowly, majestically, the immense globe rose from its cradle, and
+gathering headway, leaped upward to an immense height. Then, tilting at
+an angle, it passed over the city and headed for an immense pinnacle of
+rock, which, fully seven miles from where I stood, reminded me of a
+gigantic chimney or funnel.
+
+“Although it was barely visible to the naked eye, I could see it
+distinctly through the glasses, and I watched it with the most intense
+and concentrated interest. For a few moments it remained, poised a
+hundred feet or so above the pinnacle. Then, from the towering, tapering
+rock, a terrific jet of steam roared forth, and striking the great
+spherical machine above it, hurled it upward and beyond my vision. Give
+close heed to these words, whoever may, by God’s grace, be listening to
+what I say, for upon them may hinge the fate of the human race. Only by
+this means, by being shot upward by this titanic jet of steam, can the
+airship leave this subterranean land and emerge through the crater by
+which it entered bearing the _Chiriqui_. Within this place it can sail
+at will; once above the crater opening it can travel anywhere, although
+it cannot land; but by some unknown force or magnetic attraction or
+freak of gravitation the machine cannot ascend through the crater,
+although, when over it, it will drop like a plummet through the opening.
+And herein--for the sake of humanity, listen to this and remember my
+words--lies a means of destroying the machine, for by surrounding the
+crater with powerful guns the sphere can be shelled as it emerges and
+utterly destroyed. To attempt to do so as it returns to the crater would
+be suicidal, for once in the outer air, it emanates vast quantities of
+most poisonous gas, and all living things within a radius of several
+miles would be struck down unconscious, as were my companions on the
+_Chiriqui_. Even if gas-masks were worn, it would be most difficult to
+destroy the machine as it descended, for it travels with incredible
+speed in its descent and, moreover, the terrible creatures who man the
+thing would see that enemies lurked near and would find some means of
+destroying them, or by the mysterious magnet force they control, would
+draw even the heaviest cannon to the machine as an ordinary magnet draws
+needles or iron filings. So if the thing is to be destroyed, it must be
+done as the machine emerges from the crater. Would to God that I could
+tell where the crater is, but beyond feeling sure it is at the summit of
+an Andean peak, I have no means of locating it.
+
+“But I was telling of what occurred on that tenth day when the spherical
+airship was projected from my sight by the blast of steam. As the
+machine vanished, the women who had watched its departure, returned to
+their city, and I swept the landscape with my glasses, wondering at the
+bleak, terrible scenery and bizarre colors.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+“As I focussed the binoculars upon a level plateau, perhaps a mile from
+where the _Chiriqui_ rested, I gasped in surprise. Clearly defined, lay
+the remnants of what had once been a steamship! Had I given the matter
+thought, I might have known that the _Chiriqui_ was not the first vessel
+to have fallen a victim to these awful beings; but the sight of another
+ship’s skeleton came to me as a terrific shock. As nearly as I could
+judge, the vessel had been dismantled, for only the great steel frame
+remained, with the mighty boilers and other portions of the ship
+scattered about, and gruesomely like some mammoth creature lying
+disemboweled upon the earth.
+
+“I was consumed with a mad desire to visit that pathetic wreck, but I
+knew not to what dangers I would be exposed, once I left the security of
+my ship. Not a being was in sight, however, and carefully I studied the
+land, visually measuring the relative distances between myself and the
+wreck, and between the city and the route I must traverse. Having
+already observed that the giantesses moved slowly and cumbrously on
+foot, I at last decided that even if they attempted to intercept me I
+could regain the _Chiriqui_ before I was overtaken, so I threw caution
+to the winds and prepared to undertake my hazardous journey. Slinging
+the loaded rifle on my back, with the revolver at my belt, and still
+further arming myself with a keen-edged fireaxe, I hunted up the pilot’s
+ladder, lowered it over the lowest side of the ship,--which was also the
+side farthest from the city,--and clambering down the _Chiriqui’s_ lofty
+sides, leaped down upon the ground. To my amazement, I landed in a dense
+jungle of dry, tough vegetation which rose to my shoulders. From the
+deck, looking directly downwards, I had thought this dull-green growth a
+short, wiry grass, and, of course, in its relative proportion to the
+gigantic women, it was no higher than ordinary grass to a normal human
+being. It was a wonderful example of the theory of relativity, but my
+mind was not interested in scientific matters at the time, and I merely
+gave thanks that the miniature jungle,--which I saw was composed of
+giant lichens--would afford me cover through which I might sneak in
+safety, and with little chance of detection.
+
+“Without much difficulty I made my way to the other vessel, and found
+her even more dissected than I had supposed. Why the denizens of the
+place had torn her to bits I did not then know, but certain portions of
+her machinery and fittings had been left intact, and, as I examined
+these, I made another and most astounding discovery. Deeply engraved
+upon a brass plate was the ship’s name ‘_U. S. S. Cyclops!_’ For a space
+I stood staring, scarcely able to believe my eyes. Here then was the
+solution to that mystery of the sea, the disappearance of the collier,
+as laden with manganese, she vanished without word or trace when off the
+Barbados during the World War. No doubt, I thought, many a mystery of
+the sea had been caused by the damnable work of these beings with their
+infernal machine. But why, for what reason, did they capture ships? Why
+did they carry off the unconscious persons upon the vessels? And why did
+they tear the vessels apart? It was all a mystery which, in all its
+horrible, gruesome, ghoulish details I was soon to solve.
+
+“There was nothing more to be learned from the remains of the _Cyclops_,
+and in safety I returned to the _Chiriqui_ to find, to my surprise and
+terror, that a gang of the monstrous females had boarded the ship in my
+absence and were stripping her of everything. But as they caught sight
+of me, all threw down whatever they had and fled precipitately, leaving
+me once more in undisputed possession of the ship. I was relieved at
+this, for it was obvious that I had no need to fear the creatures. By
+now, too, I had formulated a theory to account for this strange dread of
+a being who was a puny, miserable thing compared to them. Unquestionably
+my gas-mask rendered me a most grotesque and unknown creature in their
+eyes. My remaining alive and active while all others upon the ship had
+succumbed to the noxious gas had probably caused them to think that I
+was a supernatural being. The fact that I could go about and breathe the
+sulphur-laden air would cause them to regard me with even greater wonder
+and superstition, and, as I found later, the fact that I was never seen
+to eat, confirmed their belief that I was some mysterious being against
+whom their gases and their deviltries were of no avail.
+
+“I had not much time to devote to such matters, however. Soon after
+regaining the _Chiriqui_ I heard excited cries from the land, and
+looking over the ship’s rails, I found an immense crowd had gathered
+near the empty cradle of the airship, and that all were gazing upward.
+Following their example, I stared into the greenish void and instantly
+understood. Descending rapidly towards the plain, came the great sphere,
+and, suspended below it, was the hull of another captive ship. And as I
+focussed my glasses upon this, I rubbed my eyes and gaped. The dull gray
+color, the lines, the raking funnels, the barbettes and gun muzzles left
+no room for doubt. Incredible as it seemed, the captive vessel was a
+warship! What hope then had my fellow men upon earth? What chance was
+there if these giant creatures could send forth their flaming machine,
+and by it, capture the fastest, most powerful war-vessels--all within
+the space of a few hours?
+
+“Rapidly the machine and its burden approached, and presently descended
+gently dropping the war vessel close to the _Chiriqui_. My worst fears
+were confirmed. The vessel was an American destroyer, the _McCracken_,
+and I knew that scores of my countrymen must lie unconscious upon her,
+and in a few moments would be carried off to some unknown horrible fate.
+What that fate was I had already surmised. That first demonstration of
+the ferocious cannibalism of the giantesses upon the _Chiriqui’s_ deck
+had been enough to make my blood run cold.
+
+“But I had not yet guessed even a fraction of the true horror of it.
+Scarcely had the _McCracken_ been dropped upon the earth, when the women
+swarmed upon her, and once more I saw the creatures gathering the inert
+forms of men and carrying them to the city. And rapidly, too, they
+commenced dismantling and tearing the destroyer into bits. How they had
+accomplished this with the _Cyclops_ had puzzled me, but now I witnessed
+the process close at hand. From the vicinity of the waterfall, lines or
+pipes were led to the vessel’s side; presently there was the roaring
+sound of steam; dense clouds of vapor arose from the cataract; the water
+ceased to flow, and from the extremities of the lines or tubes
+twenty-foot jets of blinding flame shot out. As easily as though made of
+wax, the steel sides, the massive beams, the armored barbettes of the
+warship melted and were cut by these jets, and as the pieces fell apart,
+the spherical airship took a position above the vessel, and by its
+magnetic power, lifted tons of the fragments, then sailing off,
+deposited them in some spot beyond the city. It was then, as I saw the
+ship rapidly dissolving before my eyes, that the inspiration came to me
+which may make it possible for me to communicate with the outside world
+and may, if God wills, serve to warn my fellow men of the fate which
+will overtake them if these terrible creatures are allowed to follow out
+their plans. As the jets of flame cut through the _McCracken’s_
+superstructure, and the radio antennae fell in a tangled mass across the
+deck, I forgot all else and rushed to the wireless room of the
+_Chiriqui_. Here was my chance. If the ship’s radio transmitter was
+still in working order; if the auxiliary battery was still charged, I
+might send out messages which, small as the chances were, might reach
+the ears of some of the countless thousands of persons who listened each
+night at their receiving sets. I trembled with fear that I would find
+the transmitter injured or dismantled. I shook with dread that the
+battery might be dead. I felt faint with apprehension that the message,
+if sent, might never penetrate the sulphur-laden atmosphere or might
+never reach the outer world. And I realized, with a sickening sinking of
+my heart, that even if heard my communication might be regarded as a
+hoax, and no attention would be given it. But I would do my best. The
+radio set had not been molested. Everything was in working order, and I
+set myself the task of transmitting my story each night at the same
+hour, repeating it over and over again, until the storage batteries are
+exhausted, for to get up steam and start the dynamos is beyond my
+powers. Had I knowledge of Morse I would send my story by that code, but
+I have not, and so--I must cease. For the love of your race and of your
+dear ones listen, I beseech you, until I can resume.”
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+Here the message broke off abruptly, and Frank and I sat staring at each
+other, fearing to speak lest we might interrupt or miss the words which
+might come, and listening with straining ears at the head-sets. For an
+hour we sat there and then, once more the voice spoke.
+
+“The doom that I feared is approaching. I have been here for three
+months and this will, I know, be my final message. Oh that I could only
+be sure that someone has heard my words, that my fate has not been in
+vain but has served to warn my fellow beings. But I must hurry on. I
+have learned everything of importance. I have watched, studied and have
+even learned to understand much of the language of these beings. I found
+that there were men. They are puny beings compared to the women, though
+ten-foot giants compared to normal men, and they are cowed, abject, mere
+slaves of the females. Only enough male children are permitted to
+survive to propagate the race. All others are killed.
+
+“As they reach manhood only those males of super-intelligence, strength
+and virility are permitted to live. The others are destroyed and--yes,
+horrible as it sounds, their bodies, like those of the murdered infants
+and of the aged, sick or infirm, are devoured. And as fast as the males
+attain middle age their lives are forfeited. Long ago these beings
+subsisted upon the few wild creatures which roamed their land; but long
+ago all these were exhausted and human flesh became the only meat. There
+is no vegetable food, and for a time the sacrificed surplus males, and
+the aged, provided food for the race. But gradually the male births
+decreased, female children preponderated, and with the increased
+population resulting, the males were too few to nourish the others.
+Then, through what damnable accident or design I do not know, the
+creatures went forth in their airship and discovered the teeming
+millions of human beings on earth.
+
+“But the bulk of humanity was and still is safe from them, at least
+until new means of attacking mankind are devised, for the globular
+airship cannot approach the land. The very power it uses to lift the
+greatest steamships and carry them off, draws the machine to the earth
+and holds it fast. But above water, which acts as an insulator
+apparently, the apparatus can operate at will. And they have a two-fold
+purpose in capturing ships. All the available metal in this land was
+exhausted in constructing two of the spherical machines. One of these
+never returned from its first trip, and only the one remains. To
+construct more, these giant women plan to use the metal salvaged from
+captured ships, until a vast fleet of the infernal things is ready to go
+forth and wipe the seas clean of ships and human beings. And the bodies
+of the men and women, struck down by the gas, are to serve as food for
+these demons in human form.
+
+“This is the most horrible, blood-curdling thing of all. Rendered
+unconscious by the gas, the victims remain in a state of suspended
+animation indefinitely, exactly as do grubs, spiders and insects when
+stung by certain species of wasps and placed in their nests to provide
+food for their young. Stacked in great storage vaults these breathing,
+living, but paralyzed human beings are kept, and as needed, are taken
+out.
+
+“Already they have a supply on hand sufficient to last them for over a
+year. Some of the _Cyclops_ company are still preserved; there are over
+three hundred from the _Chiriqui_, hundreds from other ships, and the
+entire crew of the _McCracken_.
+
+“All these things I learned little by little, and mainly through a
+friend, for marvelous as it may seem, I have a friend--if friend he can
+be called, a miserable, trembling, terrified male, who, doomed to death,
+sought to escape his fate and sought refuge with me, dreading my
+presence less than his doom, and hoping that such a feared and almost
+reverenced being as myself might protect him. For two months he has been
+my companion, but he cannot eat anything but meat and the supply of meat
+upon the ship is getting low, and sooner or later he must succumb. And
+the women, maddened at his escape from their clutches, though not yet
+daring to approach too closely to me, are getting bolder. Some time, at
+some unguarded moment, they will find the poor fellow alone and will
+fall upon him. And in his terror, in an effort to buy his life, he will,
+I know, reveal to them that I am but an ordinary mortal, a man who eats
+and drinks and who survived the gas by mechanical and not supernatural
+means. But I will not be taken alive by these fearful female cannibals.
+When the time comes, as I know it will, I will blow my brains out, and
+though they may devour my body they will not rend me alive. No more
+ships have been brought in here since the _McCracken_ was captured. But
+this I know is due to the fact that all the energies of these creatures
+are being devoted to building additional air machines. This work goes on
+in a vast cavern beyond the city where tremendous forces, furnaces with
+heat beyond human conception and machines of which we know nothing, are
+controlled by the internal steam, the radiant energy and the magnetic
+powers of the earth’s core.
+
+“And now, again let me implore any and all who may hear my words to give
+close attention to what I say, for here again is a means by which
+humanity may combat and destroy these ghastly, gigantic cannibals. The
+spherical air-machines are helpless from above. Their magnetic or
+electrical forces extend only downwards. The gasses they throw out are
+heavier than air and descend but cannot ascend, and by means of swift
+planes, huge bombs and machine guns, the things can be easily destroyed.
+And they cannot travel without throwing off the dazzling green light.
+Only when motionless are they dark. And so they will offer easy marks
+and can be readily detected. So, I beseech you who may hear, that the
+governments are notified and warned and that a fleet or many fleets of
+airplanes properly equipped patrol the seas, and at first sight of one
+of the green meteors rise above it and utterly destroy it without mercy.
+
+“Wait! I hear a terrified scream.... I am back again at the transmitter.
+It was the fellow who has been with me. Poor devil! He has met his fate,
+but after all it was the custom of his people, and, moreover, he would
+have starved to death in a few days. For that matter I, too, face
+starvation. The ship’s stock is running low; all the food upon the
+_McCracken_ was destroyed in cutting up that vessel, and unless another
+ship is captured I will have no food after two weeks more. What a
+strange thought! How terrible an idea! That the awful fate of hundreds
+of my fellows would be my salvation! But I will never live to die from
+hunger. I can hear the terrible screams of my late companion on the deck
+outside. God! It is the end! The fellow must have told the enraged
+females. His body has been torn to shreds. With bloody hands and reeking
+lips they are rushing towards the upper deck where I sit. They are here!
+This is my last word! God grant that I have been heard! I am about
+to----”
+
+Crashing in our ears came the report of a pistol.
+
+                                The End
+
+
+-----
+
+[1] The message as it came in, was halting, and interrupted, with many
+unintelligible words and repetitions, as if the sender were laboring
+under an intense strain or was an amateur. For the sake of clarity and
+continuity, the communication has been edited and filled in, but not
+altered in any detail.
+
+[2] The metropolitan papers reported the meteor on the eighteenth and
+stated it was observed by those on the _Chiriqui_ on the evening of the
+seventeenth, but it must be remembered that the _Chiriqui_ was in the
+western Pacific and hence had gained a day in time.
+
+[Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the July 1927 issue of
+Amazing Stories Magazine.]
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOICE FROM THE INNER WORLD
 ***
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-<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOICE FROM THE INNER WORLD ***</div>

-<h1>The Voice from the Inner World</h1>

-

-<div class='ce'>

-<div style='font-size:0.9em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Second Honorable Mention in the $500 Prize Cover Contest</span> </div>

-<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>Awarded to A. Hyatt Verrill, New York City, </div>

-<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>for “A Voice from the Inner World.”</div>

-</div>

-<div id='001' class='mt01 mb01 w001'>

-  <img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='frontispiece' style='width:100%'>

-  <p class='caption'>... And it was evident that the others were equally afraid of me ... they stood regarding me with an odd mixture of wonder and terror on their huge faces.</p>

-</div>

-<div class='ce'>

-<div style='font-size:1.2em;margin-bottom:0.3em;'>The Voice from the Inner World</div>

-<div style='margin-bottom:0.4em;'>by A. Hyatt Verrill</div>

-<div style='font-size:0.8em;margin-bottom:1.2em;'>Author of “The Plague of the Living Dead,” “Through the Crater’s Rim,” etc.</div>

-</div>

-<blockquote>

-<p style='text-indent:0'>The author of this story, well known to our readers, in submitting his

-prize story, adopts a treatment entirely different from that of

-practically all the rest of the winners. He has submitted a tale so

-characteristic and so original that it holds your interest by sheer

-strength. That there should be a cannibalistic race of females somewhere

-in our world is, after all, not impossible nor improbable. There are

-still cannibals at large, at the present writing, and probably will be

-for many generations to come. While the story has its gruesome moments,

-it also contains good science and Mr. Verrill certainly knows how to

-treat his subject and get the most from it. As a “different” sort of

-story, we highly recommend it to your attention.</p>

-

-</blockquote>

-<p style='text-indent:0'>On the eighteenth of October, the New York papers reported the

-appearance of a remarkable meteor which had been seen in mid-Pacific,

-and the far more startling announcement that it was feared that the

-amazing celestial visitor had struck and destroyed a steamship.</p>

-

-<p>“At eleven-fifteen last evening,” read the account in the <i>Herald</i>, “the

-Panama-Hawaiian Line steamship <i>Chiriqui</i> reported by radio the

-appearance of an immense meteor which suddenly appeared above the

-horizon to the southeast, and which increased rapidly in size and

-brilliance. Within ten minutes from the time the phenomenon was first

-sighted, it appeared as a huge greenish sphere of dazzling brilliance

-high in the sky, and heading, apparently, directly for the <i>Chiriqui</i>.

-Almost at the same time as reported by the <i>Chiriqui</i>, several other

-ships, among them the Miners and Merchants Line <i>Vulcan</i>, and the

-Japanese liner <i>Fujiama Maru</i> also reported the meteorite, although they

-were more than one thousand miles apart and equidistant from the

-position of the <i>Chiriqui</i>.</p>

-

-<p>“In the midst of a sentence describing the appearance of the rapidly

-approaching meteor, the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> wireless message came to an abrupt

-end, and all attempts to get into further communication with her

-operator failed. The other vessels reported that a scintillating flash,

-like an explosion, was followed by the meteor’s disappearance, and it is

-feared that the immense aerolite may have struck the <i>Chiriqui</i>, and

-utterly destroyed her with all on board. As no S&#160;O&#160;S has been received,

-and as the ship’s radio broke off with the words: ‘It is very close and

-the sea is as bright as day. Below the immense mass of green fire are

-two smaller spheres of intense red. It is so near we can hear it roaring

-like a terrific wind. It is headed—’ It is probable that the vessel, if

-struck, was instantly destroyed. It has been suggested, however, that it

-is possible that the meteor or meteors were accompanied by electrical

-phenomena which may have put the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> wireless apparatus out of

-commission and that the ship may be safe.”</p>

-

-<p>Later editions of the press announced that no word had been received

-from the <i>Chiriqui</i>, that other ships had reported the meteor, and that

-two of these had radioed that the aerolite, instead of exploding, had

-been seen to continue on its way and gradually disappear beyond the

-horizon. These reports somewhat allayed the fears that the <i>Chiriqui</i>

-had been struck by the meteor, and prominent scientists expressed the

-opinion that the supposed explosion had been merely an optical illusion

-caused by its passage through some dense or cloudy layer of air. They

-also quoted numerous cases of immense meteors having been seen by

-observers over immense distances, and declared their belief that the

-aerolite had not reached the earth, but had merely passed through the

-outer atmosphere. When asked regarding the possibility of the meteor

-having affected the ship’s wireless apparatus, experts stated that such

-might have been the case, although, hitherto, severe electrical

-disturbances had never been associated with the passage of meteors.

-Moreover, they declared that even if the wireless had been injured, it

-could have been repaired in a few hours, and that they could not explain

-the continued silence of the <i>Chiriqui</i>. Word also came from Panama that

-the naval commandant at Balboa had despatched a destroyer to search for

-the <i>Chiriqui</i>, or any survivors of the catastrophe if the ship had been

-destroyed.</p>

-

-<p>A few hours later, despatches were received from various points in

-Central and South America, reporting the meteor of the previous night.

-All of these agreed that the fiery mass had swept across the heavens in

-a wide arc and had vanished in the east beyond the summits of the Andes.</p>

-

-<p>It was, therefore, fairly certain that the <i>Chiriqui</i> had not been

-struck by the meteor, and in a few days the incident was completely

-forgotten by the public at large.</p>

-

-<p>But when, ten days later, the warship reported that no sign of the

-missing ship could be found, and the officials of the Panama-Hawaiian

-Line admitted that the <i>Chiriqui</i> was four days overdue, interest was

-again aroused. Then came the startling news, featured in screaming

-headlines, that the meteor or its twin had been again reported by

-various ships in the Pacific, and that the U.&#160;S.&#160;S.&#160;<i>McCracken</i>, which

-had been scouring the seas for traces of the missing <i>Chiriqui</i>, had

-sent in a detailed report of the meteor’s appearance, and that her

-wireless had gone “dead,” exactly as had that of the <i>Chiriqui</i>.</p>

-

-<p>And when, after every effort, no communication could be established with

-the war vessel, and when two weeks had elapsed without word from her, it

-was generally conceded that both ships had been destroyed by the amazing

-celestial visitor. For a time the double catastrophe filled the papers

-to the exclusion of nearly everything else, and such everyday features

-as scandals and murder trials were crowded to the back pages of the

-dailies to make room for long articles on meteors and missing ships and

-interviews with scientists. But as no more meteors appeared, and as no

-more ships vanished, the subject gradually lost interest and was no

-longer news.</p>

-

-<p>About three months after the first report of the green meteor appeared

-(on January fifteenth, to be exact) I was in Peru, visiting my daughter,

-when I received a communication of such an utterly amazing character

-that it appeared incredible, and yet was so borne out by facts and

-details that it had all the earmarks of truth. So astounding was this

-communication that, despite the fact that it will unquestionably be

-scoffed at by the public, I feel that it should be given to the world.

-As soon as I had received the story I hurried with it to the American

-Minister in Lima, and related all that I had heard. He agreed with me

-that the authorities at Washington should be acquainted with the matter

-at once, and together we devoted many hours to coding the story which

-was cabled in the secret cipher of the State Department. The officials,

-however, were inclined to regard the matter as a hoax, and, as far as I

-am aware, no steps have yet been taken to follow out the suggestions

-contained in the communication which I received, and thus save humanity

-from a terrible fate. Personally, I am convinced that the amazing tale

-which came to me in such an astounding and unexpected manner is

-absolutely true, incredible as it may seem, but whether fact or fiction,

-my readers may decide for themselves.</p>

-

-<p>My son-in-law was intensely interested in radio, and devoted all of his

-spare time to devising and constructing receiving sets, and in his home

-in the delightful residential suburb of Miraflores, were a number of

-receiving sets of both conventional and original design. Having been

-closely in touch with the subject for several years, I was deeply

-interested in Frank’s experiments, and especially in a new type of

-hook-up which had given most remarkable results in selectivity and

-distance. Practically every broadcasting station in America, and many in

-Europe, had been logged by the little set, and on several occasions

-faint signals had been heard which, although recognizable as English,

-evidently emanated from a most remote station. These, oddly enough, had

-come in at the same hour each night, and each time had continued for

-exactly the same length of time.</p>

-

-<p>We were discussing this, and trying to again pick up the unintelligible

-and unidentified signals on that memorable January evening, when,

-without warning, and as clearly as though sent from the station at

-Buenos Ayres, came the most astounding communication which ever greeted

-human ears, and which, almost verbatim, was as follows:<span style='vertical-align:super; font-size:0.7em'><a id='fn1' href='#fnt1'>1</a></span></p>

-

-<p>“LISTEN! For God’s sake, I implore all who may hear my words to listen!

-And believe what I say no matter how unbelievable it may seem, for the

-fate of thousands of human beings, the fate of the human race may depend

-upon you who by chance may hear this message from another world. My name

-is James Berry, my home is Butte, Montana, my profession a mining

-engineer, and I am speaking through the short wave transmitter of the

-steamship <i>Chiriqui</i> on which I was a passenger when the terrible, the

-incredible events occurred which I am about to relate. On the evening of

-October sixteenth<span style='vertical-align:super; font-size:0.7em'><a id='fn2' href='#fnt2'>2</a></span> the <i>Chiriqui</i> was steaming across the Pacific in

-calm weather when our attention was attracted by what appeared to be an

-unusually brilliant meteor of a peculiar greenish color. It first

-appeared above the horizon to the southeast, and very rapidly increased

-in size and brilliancy. At the time I was particularly struck by the

-fact that it left no trail of light or fire behind it, as is usual with

-large meteorites, but so rapidly did it approach that I had little time

-to wonder at this. Within a few moments from the time that it was first

-seen, the immense sphere of green incandescence had grown to the size of

-the moon, and the entire sea for miles about our ship was illuminated by

-a sickly green light. It appeared to be headed directly towards our

-ship, and, standing as I was on the bridge-deck near the wheel-house, I

-heard the chief officer cry out: ‘My God, it will strike us!’ By now the

-mass of fire had altered in appearance, and a short distance below the

-central green mass could be seen two smaller spheres of blinding red,

-like huge globes of molten metal. By now, too, the noise made by the

-meteor was plainly audible, sounding like the roar of surf or the sound

-of a tornado.</p>

-

-<p>“Everyone aboard the ship was panic-stricken; women screamed, men cursed

-and shouted, and the crew rushed to man the boats, as everyone felt that

-the <i>Chiriqui</i> was doomed. What happened next I can scarcely describe,

-so rapidly did the events occur. As the meteor seemed about to hurl

-itself upon the ship, there was a blinding flash of light, a terrific

-detonation, and I saw men and women falling to the decks as if struck

-down by shell fire. The next instant the meteor vanished completely, and

-intense blackness followed the blinding glare. At the same moment, I was

-aware of a peculiar pungent, suffocating odor which, perhaps owing to my

-long experience with deadly gases in mining work, I at once recognized

-as some noxious gas. Almost involuntarily, and dully realizing that by

-some miracle the ship had escaped destruction, I dashed below and

-reached my cabin almost overcome by the fumes which now penetrated every

-portion of the ship. Among my possessions was a new type of gas-mask

-which had been especially designed for mine work, and my idea was to don

-this, for I felt sure that the meteor had exploded close to the ship and

-had released vast quantities of poisonous gases which might hang about

-for a long time.</p>

-

-<p>“Although almost overcome by the choking fumes, I managed to find and

-put on the apparatus, for one of its greatest advantages was the

-rapidity and ease with which it could be adjusted, it having been

-designed for emergency use. But before it was fairly in place over my

-face, the electric light in my room went out and I was in complete

-darkness. Also, the ship seemed strangely still, and as I groped my way

-to the stateroom door it suddenly dawned upon me that the engines had

-stopped, that there was no longer the whirr of dynamos from the depths

-of the hull. Not a light glimmered in the passageway, and twice, as I

-felt my way towards the social hall, I stumbled over the sprawled bodies

-of men, while in the saloon itself I several times stepped upon the soft

-and yielding flesh of passengers who lay where they had been struck down

-by the poisonous gas. In all probability, I thought, I was the sole

-survivor aboard the ship, unless some of the firemen and engineers

-survived, and I wondered how I would manage to escape, if the vessel

-should be sighted by some other ship, or if it should be my gruesome

-task to search the <i>Chiriqui</i> from stem to stern, drag the bodies of the

-dead to the deck and cast them into the sea, and remain—perhaps for

-weeks—alone upon the ship until rescued by some passing vessel. But as

-I reached the door and stepped upon the deck all such thoughts were

-driven from my brain as I blinked my eyes and stared about in dumfounded

-amazement. I had stepped from Stygian darkness into dazzling light.

-Blinded for the moment, I closed my eyes, and when I again opened them I

-reeled to the rail with a cry of terror. Poised above the ship’s masts,

-and so enormous that it appeared to shut out half the sky, was the

-stupendous meteor like a gigantic globe of green fire, and seemingly

-less than one hundred feet above me. Still nearer, and hanging but a few

-yards above the bow and stern of the ship, were the two smaller spheres

-of glowing red. Cowering against the rail, expecting to be shrivelled

-into a charred cinder at any instant, I gazed transfixed and paralyzed

-at the titanic masses of flaming light above the ship.</p>

-

-<p>“Then reason came back to me. My only chance to escape was to leap into

-the sea, and I half clambered upon the rail prepared to take the plunge.

-A scream, like that of a madman, came from my lips. Below me was no sign

-of the waves, but a limitless void, while, immeasurably distant beneath

-the ship, I could dimly see the crinkled surface of the sea. The

-<i>Chiriqui</i> was floating in space!</p>

-

-<p>“It was impossible, absolutely preposterous, and I felt convinced that I

-had gone mad, or that the small quantity of gas I had breathed had

-affected my brain and had induced the nightmarish vision. Perhaps, I

-thought, the meteors above the ship were also visionary, and I again

-stared upward. Then, I knew that I was insane. The spheres of green and

-red light were rushing upward as I could see by the brilliant stars

-studding the sky, and the ship upon which I stood was following in their

-wake! Weak, limp as a rag, I slumped to the deck and lay staring at the

-great globes above me. But the insanely impossible events which had

-crowded upon my overwrought senses were as nothing to the amazing

-discovery I now made.</p>

-

-<p>“As my eyes became accustomed to the glare of the immense green sphere,

-I saw that instead of being merely a ball of fire it had definite form.

-About its middle extended a broad band from which slender rods of light

-extended. Round or ovoid spots seemed placed in definite order about it,

-and from the extremities of its axes lines or cables, clearly outlined

-by the glare, extended downward to the red spheres above the ship. By

-now, I was so firmly convinced that I was irrational, that these new and

-absolutely stunning discoveries did not excite or surprise me in the

-least, and as if in a particularly vivid dream, I lay there gazing

-upward, and dully, half consciously speculating on what it all meant.

-Gradually, too, it dawned upon me that the huge sphere with its

-encircling band of duller light was rotating. The circular markings,

-which I thought were marvelously like the ports of a ship, were

-certainly moving from top to bottom of the sphere, and I could

-distinctly hear a low, vibrant humming.</p>

-

-<p>“The next second I jerked upright with a start and my scalp tingled.

-Reason had suddenly returned to me. The thing was no meteor, no

-celestial body, but some marvelous machine, some devilish invention of

-man, some gigantic form of airship which—God only knew why—had by some

-incredible means captured the <i>Chiriqui</i>, had lifted the twenty thousand

-ton ship into the air and was bearing her off with myself, the only

-survivor of all the ship’s company, witnessing the miraculous happening!

-It was the most insane thought that had yet entered my brain, but I knew

-now for a certainty that I was perfectly sane, and, oddly enough, now

-that I was convinced that the catastrophe which had overtaken the

-<i>Chiriqui</i> was the devilish work of human beings, I was no longer

-frightened and my former nightmarish terror of things unknown, gave

-place to the most intense anger and an inexpressible hatred of the

-fiends who, without warning or reason, had annihilated hundreds of men

-and women by means of this new and irresistible engine of destruction.

-But I was helpless. Alone upon the stolen and stricken ship I could do

-nothing. By what tremendous force the spherical airship was moving

-through space, by what unknown power it was lifting the ship and

-carrying it,—slung like the gondola of a Zeppelin beneath the

-sphere,—were matters beyond my comprehension. Calmly, now that I felt

-assured that I was rational and was the victim of my fellow

-men—fiendish as they might be,—I walked aft to where one red sphere

-hung a few yards above the ship’s deck.</p>

-

-<div style='height:1em;'></div>

-<p style='text-indent:0'>“There seemed no visible connection between it and the vessel, but I

-noticed that everything movable upon the deck, the iron cable, the wire

-ropes, the coiled steel lines of the after derrick, all extended upward

-from the deck, as rigid as bars of metal, while crackling blue sparks

-like electrical discharges scintillated from the ship’s metal work below

-the red sphere. Evidently, I decided, the red mass was actuated by some

-form of electrical energy or magnetism, and I gave the area beneath it a

-wide berth. Retracing my way to the bow of the ship, I found similar

-conditions there. As I walked towards the waist of the ship again I

-mounted the steps to the bridge, hoping from that height to get a better

-view of the monstrous machine holding the <i>Chiriqui</i> captive. I knew

-that in the chart-house I would find powerful glasses with which to

-study the machine. Upon the bridge the bodies of the quartermaster, the

-first officer and an apprentice lay sprawled grotesquely, and across the

-chart-house door lay the captain. Reaching down I lifted him by the

-shoulders to move him to one side, and to my amazement I discovered that

-he was not dead. His heart beat, his pulse, though slow and faint, was

-plain, he was breathing and his face, still ruddy, was that of a

-sleeping man rather than of a corpse.</p>

-

-<p>“A wild thought rushed through my brain, and hastily I rushed to the

-other bodies. There was no doubt of it. All were alive and merely

-unconscious. The gas had struck them down, but had not killed them, and

-it came to me as a surprise, though I should long before have realized

-it, that the fumes had been purposely discharged by the beings who had

-captured the vessel. Possibly, I mentally decided, they had made a

-mistake and had failed in their intention to destroy the persons upon

-the ship, or again, was it not possible that they had intentionally

-rendered the ship’s company unconscious, and had not intended to destroy

-their lives? Forgetting my original purpose in visiting the bridge, I

-worked feverishly to resuscitate the captain, but all to no purpose.

-Many gases, I knew, would render a man unconscious without actually

-injuring him, and I was also aware, that when under the influence of

-some of these, the victims could not be revived until the definite

-period of the gases’ effect had passed. So, feeling certain that in due

-time the captain and the others would come to of their own accord, I

-entered the chartroom and, securing the skipper’s binoculars, I again

-stepped upon the bridge. As I could not conveniently use the glasses

-with my gas-mask in place, and as I felt sure there was no longer any

-danger from the fumes, I started to remove the apparatus. But no sooner

-did a breath of the air enter my mouth than I hastily readjusted the

-contrivance, for the gas which had struck down everyone but myself was

-as strong as ever. Indeed, the mere whiff of the fumes made my head reel

-and swim, and I was forced to steady myself by grasping the bridge-rail

-until the dizzy spell passed.</p>

-

-<p>“Once more myself, I focussed the glasses as best I could upon the

-whirling sphere above the ship. But I could make out little more than by

-my naked eyes. The band about the center or equator of the globular

-thing was, I could now see, divided into segments, each of which bore a

-round, slightly convex, eye-like object from the centers of which

-extended slender rods which vibrated with incalculable speed. Indeed,

-the whole affair reminded me of the glass models of protozoans which I

-had seen in the American Museum of Natural History. These minute marine

-organisms I knew, moved with great rapidity by means of vibrating,

-hair-like appendages or cilia, and I wondered if the enormous spherical

-machine at which I was gazing, might not move through space in a similar

-manner by means of vibrating rods moving with such incredible speed

-that, slender as they were, they produced enormous propulsive power.

-Also, I could now see that the two extremities of the sphere, or as I

-may better express it, the axes, were equipped with projecting bosses or

-shafts to which the cables supporting the red spheres were attached. And

-as I peered through the glasses at the thing, the huge green sphere,

-which had been hitherto traveling on an even keel, or, in other words,

-with the central band vertical, now shifted its position and one end

-swung sharply upward, throwing the band about the centre at an acute

-angle. Involuntarily I grasped the rail of the bridge expecting to be

-thrown from my feet by the abrupt uptilting of the ship. But to my utter

-amazement the <i>Chiriqui</i> remained on an even plane and I then saw that

-as the sphere tilted, the cable at the uppermost axis ran rapidly out so

-that the two red spheres, which evidently supported the captive ship,

-remained, in their original relative horizontal position. No sign of

-life was visible upon the machine above me, and I surmised that whoever

-might be handling the thing was within the sphere.</p>

-

-<p>“Wondering how high we had risen above the sea, I stepped to the

-starboard end of the bridge and glanced down, and an involuntary

-exclamation escaped my lips. Far beneath the ship and clearly visible

-through the captain’s glasses was land! I could distinguish the white

-line marking surf breaking on a rocky shore, and ahead I could make out

-the cloud-topped, serried summits of a mighty range of mountains. Not

-until then did I realize the terrific speed at which the machine and

-captive vessel were traveling. I had been subconsciously aware that a

-gale had been blowing, but I had not stopped to realize that this was no

-ordinary wind, but was the rush of air caused by the rapidity of motion.

-But as I peered at the mountains through the binoculars, and saw the

-distant surface of the earth whizzing backward far beneath the

-<i>Chiriqui’s</i> keel, I knew that we were hurtling onward with the speed of

-the fastest scout airplane.</p>

-

-<p>“Even as I gazed, the mountains seemed to rush towards me until, in a

-few minutes after I had first seen them, they appeared almost directly

-under the ship. Then the gigantic machine above me suddenly altered its

-course, it veered sharply to one side and swept along the range of

-summits far beneath. For some reason, just why I cannot explain, I

-dashed to the binnacle and saw that we were traveling to the south, and

-it flashed across my mind, that I had a dim recollection of noticing,

-when I first realized the nature of the machine which had been mistaken

-for a meteor, that by the stars, we were moving eastward. In that case,

-my suddenly alert mind told me, the land below must be some portion of

-America, and if so, judging by the altitude of the mountains, that they

-must be the Andes. All of this rushed through my brain instantly, and in

-the brief lapse of time in which I sprang to the binnacle and back to my

-observation point at the bridge-rail.</p>

-

-<p>“Now, I saw, we were rapidly descending, and focussing my glasses upon

-the mountains, I made out an immense conical peak in the top of which

-was a gigantic black opening. Without doubt it was the crater of some

-stupendous extinct volcano, and, with a shock, I realized that the

-machine and the ship were headed directly for the yawning opening in the

-crater. The next instant we were dropping with lightning speed towards

-it, and so terrified and dumfounded had I become that I could not move

-from where I stood. Even before I could grasp the fact, the <i>Chiriqui</i>

-was enclosed by towering, rocky walls, inky blackness surrounded me,

-there was an upward breath-taking rush of air, a roar as of a thousand

-hurricanes. The <i>Chiriqui</i> rocked and pitched beneath my feet, as if in

-a heavy sea; I clung desperately to the bridge-rail for support and I

-felt sure that the ship had been dropped into the abysmal crater, that

-the next instant the vessel would crash into fragments as it struck

-bottom, or worse, that it would sink into the molten incandescent lava

-which might fill the depths of the volcano. For what seemed hours, the

-awful fall continued, though like as not the terrible suspense lasted

-for only a few minutes, and then, without warning, so abruptly that I

-lost my balance and was flung to the bridge, the ship ceased falling, an

-indescribable blue light succeeded the blackness, and unable to believe

-my senses I found the ship floating motionless, still suspended from the

-giant mechanism overhead, above a marvelous landscape.</p>

-

-<div style='height:1em;'></div>

-<p style='text-indent:0'>“On every hand, as far as I could see, stretched jagged rocks, immense

-cliffs, stupendous crags and rugged knife-ridged hills of the most

-dazzling reds, yellows and purples. Mile-deep canons cut the forbidding

-plains, which here and there showed patches of dull green, and in one

-spot I saw a stream of emerald-hued water pouring in a foaming cataract

-into a fathomless rift in the rock. But I gave little attention to these

-sights at the time. My gaze was riveted upon a strange, weird city which

-capped the cliffs close to the waterfall, and almost directly beneath

-the <i>Chiriqui</i>. Slowly we were dropping towards it, and I could see that

-the buildings which at first sight had appeared of immense height and

-tower-like form, were in reality gigantic basaltic columns capped with

-superimposed edifices of gleaming yellow.</p>

-

-<p>“The next second the glasses dropped from my shaking, nerveless hands.

-Gathered on an open space of greenish plain were hundreds of human

-beings! But were they human? In form and features, as nearly as I could

-judge at that distance, they were human, but in color they were scarlet,

-and surmounting the head and extending along the arms to the elbows on

-every individual was a whitish, membraneous frill, which at first sight,

-reminded me of an Indian’s war bonnet. The beings appeared to be of

-average height, but as the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> keel touched solid ground and,

-keeling to one side, she rested upon one of her bilges, I saw with a

-shock, that the scarlet creatures were of gigantic size, fully thirty

-feet in height, and that, without exception, all were females! All were

-stark naked; but despite the frills upon their heads and shoulders,

-despite their bizarre scarlet skins, despite their gigantic proportions,

-they were unquestionably human beings, women without doubt, and of the

-most perfect proportions, the most graceful forms and the most regular

-and even handsome features. Beside the stranded ship, they loomed as

-giants; but against the stupendous proportions of their land and city,

-they appeared no larger than ordinary mortals. By now they were

-streaming from their houses and even in the surprise and excitement of

-that moment I noticed that the giant rocky columns were perforated by

-windows and doors, and had obviously been hollowed out to form

-dwellings. Meantime, too, the huge machine which had captured the

-<i>Chiriqui</i> had descended and was lying at rest, and no longer emitting

-its green light, upon a cradle erected near the waterfall, and from

-openings in its central band several of the scarlet, giant Amazons were

-emerging. How long, I wondered, would I remain undiscovered? How long

-would it be before one of the female giants spied me? And then, what

-would be my fate? Why had they captured the ship? Where was I? What was

-this strange land reached through a crater?</p>

-

-<p>“All these thoughts rushed through my brain as I peered cautiously down

-at the giant women who swarmed about the ship. But I had not long to

-wait for an answer to my first mental question. With a sudden spring,

-one of the women leaped to the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> anchor, with a second bound

-she was on the fore deck, and close at her heels came a score of others.

-Standing upon the deck with her head fringed by its erect vibrating

-membrane level with the boat-deck, she gazed about for an instant. Then,

-catching sight of the form of a sailor sprawled upon the deck, she

-uttered a shrill, piercing cry, leaped forward, and, before my

-unbelieving, horror-stricken eyes, tore the still living, palpitating

-body to pieces and ravenously devoured it.</p>

-

-<p>“Unable to stir through the very repulsiveness of the scene, realizing

-that my turn might be next, I gazed fascinated. But the giant cannibal

-female was not to feast in peace. As her companions reached the deck,

-they rushed upon her and fought viciously for a portion of the reeking

-flesh. The struggle of these awful giants, as smeared with human blood,

-scratching and clawing, uttering shrill cries of rage, they rolled and

-fought on the deck, was indescribably terrible and disgusting. But it

-came to an abrupt end. With a bound, a giantess of giantesses, a

-powerfully-muscled female, appeared, and like cowed beasts, the others

-drew aside, licking their chops, the membranes on their heads rising and

-falling in excitement, like the frills on an iguana lizard, and watching

-the newly-arrived giantess with furtive eyes. Evidently she was the

-leader or chieftainess, and in curt but strangely shrill and, of course,

-to me, utterly unintelligible words, she gave orders to the others.

-Instantly, the horde of women began swarming over the ship, searching

-every nook and corner, and, wherever they discovered the inert bodies of

-the ship’s company, dragged them on deck and piled them in heaps.

-Shaking with abject terror, I crouched back of the bridge, and racked my

-brains for thought of some safe spot in which to hide. But before I

-could make up my mind, one of the terrifying, monstrous females sprang

-upon the bridge and rushed towards me. With a maniacal scream, I turned

-and fled. Then, before me, blocking my way, there appeared another of

-the creatures. And then a most marvelous and surprising thing happened.

-Instead of falling upon me as I expected her to do, the giantess turned,

-and with a scream that equalled my own, leaped over the rail and fled to

-the uttermost extremity of the deck.</p>

-

-<p>“I forgot my terror in my amazement. Why should this giant, cannibal

-woman fear me? Why should she run from me when, a few moments before,

-she had been fighting over a meal of an unconscious sailor? And it was

-evident that the others were equally afraid of me, for at her cry, and

-my appearance, all had rushed as far from me as possible, and stood

-regarding me with an odd mixture of wonder and terror on their huge

-faces. And then it occurred to me that their fear was, perhaps, due to

-my gas-mask, to the apparatus that transformed me from a human being to

-a weird-looking monster. At any rate, I was evidently safe from

-molestation for the time being, and thanking my lucky stars that I had

-on the mask, I descended from the bridge, the giantesses retreating as I

-advanced. I entered the captain’s cabin and locked the door.</p>

-

-<p>“Here I breathed more freely, for even if the women overcame their fear

-of me and attempted to capture me, the steel doors and walls of the

-cabin would be impregnable defenses. Moreover, upon the wall above the

-bunk, was a rifle, in a drawer of the dresser was a loaded revolver, and

-a short search revealed a plentiful supply of cartridges. Yes, if I were

-attacked, I could give a good account of myself, and I determined, if

-worst came to the worst, that I would blow out my brains rather than

-fall a victim to the female cannibal horde.</p>

-

-<p>“Dully, through the thick walls of the cabin, I could hear the sounds of

-the women on the deck, but I had no desire to witness what was going on,

-and seated upon the captain’s chair, I thought over the events which had

-transpired during the past few hours and tried to find a reasonable

-solution to the incredible happenings.</p>

-

-<p>“That I was within the earth seemed certain, though utterly fantastic,

-but who the giant women were, why they had captured the <i>Chiriqui</i> or by

-what unknown, tremendous power their marvelous airship was operated,

-were all utterly beyond my comprehension. But I must hurry on and relate

-the more important matters, for my time is limited and the important

-thing is to let the world know how the human race may be saved from the

-terrible fate which has befallen me and all those upon the <i>Chiriqui</i>,

-and upon the destroyer <i>McCracken</i>, for that vessel, too, has fallen a

-victim to these horrible cannibalistic giantesses here within the centre

-of the earth.</p>

-

-<div style='height:1em;'></div>

-<p style='text-indent:0'>“Hunger and thirst drove me at last from my refuge in the captain’s

-cabin, and armed with the loaded rifle and revolver, I cautiously peered

-out and stepped upon the deck. Only one woman was in sight, and

-instantly, at sight of me, she fled away. Not a body of the hundreds of

-men and women aboard the ship was visible, and feeling relieved that I

-was for a time safe, I stepped to the ship’s rail and peered over.

-Scores of the women were carrying the inert forms of the unconscious men

-and women towards the nearby city. Stealthily I hurried below in search

-of food and drink. Fears assailed me that the women had, in all

-probability, preceded me and carried off everything edible. But I need

-not have worried about food. I was yet to learn the horrible truth and

-the gruesome habits of these red giantesses. The saloon, the corridors,

-the staterooms, everything, had been searched, and every person upon the

-vessel removed. In the pantry I found an abundance of food, and quickly

-satisfied my hunger and thirst. I pondered on my next move. The

-skipper’s cabin seemed my safest refuge. I placed a supply of provisions

-within it, and locked myself in the little room again. For several days

-nothing of great importance occurred. I say days, but there are no days

-in this terrible place. There is no sun, no moon, no stars and no

-darkness. The whole place is illuminated by a brilliant, greenish light

-that issues from a distant mountain range, and which seems to be of the

-same character as that which emanated from the spherical air machine.

-Fortunately I had presence of mind enough to keep my watch going, as

-well as the captain’s chronometer, for otherwise I would have had no

-knowledge of the passage of time. Once or twice the scarlet women

-visited the ship, but seemed nervous and wary, and made no effort to

-approach or molest me, merely gazed about as if searching for

-something—perhaps for me—and then retiring. Several times, too, I

-ventured on deck, and peered over the ship’s side, but saw none of the

-giantesses, although with the glasses I could see crowds of the beings

-about the city in the distance.</p>

-

-<p>“Also, I noticed among them, several individuals who were much smaller

-than the rest, and who appeared to be men, although I could not be sure.

-I also discovered, and almost lost my life in the discovery, that the

-atmosphere of this place is unfit for human beings to breathe, and is

-thick with sulphurous fumes. Close to the ground these fumes are so

-dense that a person would succumb in a few moments, but at the height of

-the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> decks, nearly seventy feet above the rocky bed on which

-she rests, the air is breathable, although it causes one to choke and

-cough after a few minutes. And I am sure that the houses of these giant

-beings have been built on the summits of the basalt columns in order to

-avoid the suffocating fumes of the lower levels. Later, too, I learned

-that the membrane-like frills upon these creatures are a sort of gills,

-or as I might say, natural gas-masks, which by some means enable the

-beings to breathe the sulphur-laden air. But even with these, they avoid

-the lower areas where the fumes are the worst, and only visit them when

-necessity arises, which accounts for my being left in peace, with none

-of the horrible women near the ship, for days at a time. I discovered

-the presence of the sulphur gas on the first day when, attempting to

-eat, I removed my gas-mask. Suffocating as I found the fumes, I was

-compelled to endure them, and gradually I became slightly accustomed to

-them, so that now I have little trouble in breathing during the short

-time it takes me to eat my meals. At all other times I must wear the

-apparatus, and I thank God that this is so, for I know now that it is

-the gas-mask which so far has preserved my life.</p>

-

-<p>“On the tenth day after my arrival I noticed a number of the giantesses

-gathering about the huge, spherical airship which still rested on its

-cradle near the <i>Chiriqui</i>, but which, I have forgotten to state, ceased

-to emit its green or red lights after it had landed. Lying there it

-resembled nothing so much as a gigantic can-buoy or a floating mine, if

-one can imagine a buoy two hundred yards in diameter.</p>

-

-<p>“On the day I mentioned, all interests seemed to be centered on the

-thing, and cautiously peering from the shelter of the deck-house, I

-watched the proceedings. Presently several of the women entered the

-sphere through an opening in its middle band; the aperture closed behind

-them, and immediately there was a low, humming sound as of machinery. As

-the sounds issued from the sphere, the cables to which were attached the

-smaller spheres (which glowed red when carrying the <i>Chiriqui</i> through

-the air) were drawn in until the two smaller spheres were resting in

-recesses at the axes of the large sphere, and where they appeared merely

-as hemi-spherical projections. Then, slowly at first, but with ever

-increasing speed, the slender rods about the large sphere began to move

-back and forth, or rather in an oscillating manner, until they were

-vibrating with such rapidity that they appeared merely rays of light.

-Slowly, majestically, the immense globe rose from its cradle, and

-gathering headway, leaped upward to an immense height. Then, tilting at

-an angle, it passed over the city and headed for an immense pinnacle of

-rock, which, fully seven miles from where I stood, reminded me of a

-gigantic chimney or funnel.</p>

-

-<p>“Although it was barely visible to the naked eye, I could see it

-distinctly through the glasses, and I watched it with the most intense

-and concentrated interest. For a few moments it remained, poised a

-hundred feet or so above the pinnacle. Then, from the towering, tapering

-rock, a terrific jet of steam roared forth, and striking the great

-spherical machine above it, hurled it upward and beyond my vision. Give

-close heed to these words, whoever may, by God’s grace, be listening to

-what I say, for upon them may hinge the fate of the human race. Only by

-this means, by being shot upward by this titanic jet of steam, can the

-airship leave this subterranean land and emerge through the crater by

-which it entered bearing the <i>Chiriqui</i>. Within this place it can sail

-at will; once above the crater opening it can travel anywhere, although

-it cannot land; but by some unknown force or magnetic attraction or

-freak of gravitation the machine cannot ascend through the crater,

-although, when over it, it will drop like a plummet through the opening.

-And herein—for the sake of humanity, listen to this and remember my

-words—lies a means of destroying the machine, for by surrounding the

-crater with powerful guns the sphere can be shelled as it emerges and

-utterly destroyed. To attempt to do so as it returns to the crater would

-be suicidal, for once in the outer air, it emanates vast quantities of

-most poisonous gas, and all living things within a radius of several

-miles would be struck down unconscious, as were my companions on the

-<i>Chiriqui</i>. Even if gas-masks were worn, it would be most difficult to

-destroy the machine as it descended, for it travels with incredible

-speed in its descent and, moreover, the terrible creatures who man the

-thing would see that enemies lurked near and would find some means of

-destroying them, or by the mysterious magnet force they control, would

-draw even the heaviest cannon to the machine as an ordinary magnet draws

-needles or iron filings. So if the thing is to be destroyed, it must be

-done as the machine emerges from the crater. Would to God that I could

-tell where the crater is, but beyond feeling sure it is at the summit of

-an Andean peak, I have no means of locating it.</p>

-

-<p>“But I was telling of what occurred on that tenth day when the spherical

-airship was projected from my sight by the blast of steam. As the

-machine vanished, the women who had watched its departure, returned to

-their city, and I swept the landscape with my glasses, wondering at the

-bleak, terrible scenery and bizarre colors.</p>

-

-<div style='height:1em;'></div>

-<p style='text-indent:0'>“As I focussed the binoculars upon a level plateau, perhaps a mile from

-where the <i>Chiriqui</i> rested, I gasped in surprise. Clearly defined, lay

-the remnants of what had once been a steamship! Had I given the matter

-thought, I might have known that the <i>Chiriqui</i> was not the first vessel

-to have fallen a victim to these awful beings; but the sight of another

-ship’s skeleton came to me as a terrific shock. As nearly as I could

-judge, the vessel had been dismantled, for only the great steel frame

-remained, with the mighty boilers and other portions of the ship

-scattered about, and gruesomely like some mammoth creature lying

-disemboweled upon the earth.</p>

-

-<p>“I was consumed with a mad desire to visit that pathetic wreck, but I

-knew not to what dangers I would be exposed, once I left the security of

-my ship. Not a being was in sight, however, and carefully I studied the

-land, visually measuring the relative distances between myself and the

-wreck, and between the city and the route I must traverse. Having

-already observed that the giantesses moved slowly and cumbrously on

-foot, I at last decided that even if they attempted to intercept me I

-could regain the <i>Chiriqui</i> before I was overtaken, so I threw caution

-to the winds and prepared to undertake my hazardous journey. Slinging

-the loaded rifle on my back, with the revolver at my belt, and still

-further arming myself with a keen-edged fireaxe, I hunted up the pilot’s

-ladder, lowered it over the lowest side of the ship,—which was also the

-side farthest from the city,—and clambering down the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> lofty

-sides, leaped down upon the ground. To my amazement, I landed in a dense

-jungle of dry, tough vegetation which rose to my shoulders. From the

-deck, looking directly downwards, I had thought this dull-green growth a

-short, wiry grass, and, of course, in its relative proportion to the

-gigantic women, it was no higher than ordinary grass to a normal human

-being. It was a wonderful example of the theory of relativity, but my

-mind was not interested in scientific matters at the time, and I merely

-gave thanks that the miniature jungle,—which I saw was composed of

-giant lichens—would afford me cover through which I might sneak in

-safety, and with little chance of detection.</p>

-

-<p>“Without much difficulty I made my way to the other vessel, and found

-her even more dissected than I had supposed. Why the denizens of the

-place had torn her to bits I did not then know, but certain portions of

-her machinery and fittings had been left intact, and, as I examined

-these, I made another and most astounding discovery. Deeply engraved

-upon a brass plate was the ship’s name ‘<i>U. S. S. Cyclops!</i>’ For a space

-I stood staring, scarcely able to believe my eyes. Here then was the

-solution to that mystery of the sea, the disappearance of the collier,

-as laden with manganese, she vanished without word or trace when off the

-Barbados during the World War. No doubt, I thought, many a mystery of

-the sea had been caused by the damnable work of these beings with their

-infernal machine. But why, for what reason, did they capture ships? Why

-did they carry off the unconscious persons upon the vessels? And why did

-they tear the vessels apart? It was all a mystery which, in all its

-horrible, gruesome, ghoulish details I was soon to solve.</p>

-

-<p>“There was nothing more to be learned from the remains of the <i>Cyclops</i>,

-and in safety I returned to the <i>Chiriqui</i> to find, to my surprise and

-terror, that a gang of the monstrous females had boarded the ship in my

-absence and were stripping her of everything. But as they caught sight

-of me, all threw down whatever they had and fled precipitately, leaving

-me once more in undisputed possession of the ship. I was relieved at

-this, for it was obvious that I had no need to fear the creatures. By

-now, too, I had formulated a theory to account for this strange dread of

-a being who was a puny, miserable thing compared to them. Unquestionably

-my gas-mask rendered me a most grotesque and unknown creature in their

-eyes. My remaining alive and active while all others upon the ship had

-succumbed to the noxious gas had probably caused them to think that I

-was a supernatural being. The fact that I could go about and breathe the

-sulphur-laden air would cause them to regard me with even greater wonder

-and superstition, and, as I found later, the fact that I was never seen

-to eat, confirmed their belief that I was some mysterious being against

-whom their gases and their deviltries were of no avail.</p>

-

-<p>“I had not much time to devote to such matters, however. Soon after

-regaining the <i>Chiriqui</i> I heard excited cries from the land, and

-looking over the ship’s rails, I found an immense crowd had gathered

-near the empty cradle of the airship, and that all were gazing upward.

-Following their example, I stared into the greenish void and instantly

-understood. Descending rapidly towards the plain, came the great sphere,

-and, suspended below it, was the hull of another captive ship. And as I

-focussed my glasses upon this, I rubbed my eyes and gaped. The dull gray

-color, the lines, the raking funnels, the barbettes and gun muzzles left

-no room for doubt. Incredible as it seemed, the captive vessel was a

-warship! What hope then had my fellow men upon earth? What chance was

-there if these giant creatures could send forth their flaming machine,

-and by it, capture the fastest, most powerful war-vessels—all within

-the space of a few hours?</p>

-

-<p>“Rapidly the machine and its burden approached, and presently descended

-gently dropping the war vessel close to the <i>Chiriqui</i>. My worst fears

-were confirmed. The vessel was an American destroyer, the <i>McCracken</i>,

-and I knew that scores of my countrymen must lie unconscious upon her,

-and in a few moments would be carried off to some unknown horrible fate.

-What that fate was I had already surmised. That first demonstration of

-the ferocious cannibalism of the giantesses upon the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> deck

-had been enough to make my blood run cold.</p>

-

-<p>“But I had not yet guessed even a fraction of the true horror of it.

-Scarcely had the <i>McCracken</i> been dropped upon the earth, when the women

-swarmed upon her, and once more I saw the creatures gathering the inert

-forms of men and carrying them to the city. And rapidly, too, they

-commenced dismantling and tearing the destroyer into bits. How they had

-accomplished this with the <i>Cyclops</i> had puzzled me, but now I witnessed

-the process close at hand. From the vicinity of the waterfall, lines or

-pipes were led to the vessel’s side; presently there was the roaring

-sound of steam; dense clouds of vapor arose from the cataract; the water

-ceased to flow, and from the extremities of the lines or tubes

-twenty-foot jets of blinding flame shot out. As easily as though made of

-wax, the steel sides, the massive beams, the armored barbettes of the

-warship melted and were cut by these jets, and as the pieces fell apart,

-the spherical airship took a position above the vessel, and by its

-magnetic power, lifted tons of the fragments, then sailing off,

-deposited them in some spot beyond the city. It was then, as I saw the

-ship rapidly dissolving before my eyes, that the inspiration came to me

-which may make it possible for me to communicate with the outside world

-and may, if God wills, serve to warn my fellow men of the fate which

-will overtake them if these terrible creatures are allowed to follow out

-their plans. As the jets of flame cut through the <i>McCracken’s</i>

-superstructure, and the radio antennae fell in a tangled mass across the

-deck, I forgot all else and rushed to the wireless room of the

-<i>Chiriqui</i>. Here was my chance. If the ship’s radio transmitter was

-still in working order; if the auxiliary battery was still charged, I

-might send out messages which, small as the chances were, might reach

-the ears of some of the countless thousands of persons who listened each

-night at their receiving sets. I trembled with fear that I would find

-the transmitter injured or dismantled. I shook with dread that the

-battery might be dead. I felt faint with apprehension that the message,

-if sent, might never penetrate the sulphur-laden atmosphere or might

-never reach the outer world. And I realized, with a sickening sinking of

-my heart, that even if heard my communication might be regarded as a

-hoax, and no attention would be given it. But I would do my best. The

-radio set had not been molested. Everything was in working order, and I

-set myself the task of transmitting my story each night at the same

-hour, repeating it over and over again, until the storage batteries are

-exhausted, for to get up steam and start the dynamos is beyond my

-powers. Had I knowledge of Morse I would send my story by that code, but

-I have not, and so—I must cease. For the love of your race and of your

-dear ones listen, I beseech you, until I can resume.”</p>

-

-<div style='height:1em;'></div>

-<p style='text-indent:0'>Here the message broke off abruptly, and Frank and I sat staring at each

-other, fearing to speak lest we might interrupt or miss the words which

-might come, and listening with straining ears at the head-sets. For an

-hour we sat there and then, once more the voice spoke.</p>

-

-<p>“The doom that I feared is approaching. I have been here for three

-months and this will, I know, be my final message. Oh that I could only

-be sure that someone has heard my words, that my fate has not been in

-vain but has served to warn my fellow beings. But I must hurry on. I

-have learned everything of importance. I have watched, studied and have

-even learned to understand much of the language of these beings. I found

-that there were men. They are puny beings compared to the women, though

-ten-foot giants compared to normal men, and they are cowed, abject, mere

-slaves of the females. Only enough male children are permitted to

-survive to propagate the race. All others are killed.</p>

-

-<p>“As they reach manhood only those males of super-intelligence, strength

-and virility are permitted to live. The others are destroyed and—yes,

-horrible as it sounds, their bodies, like those of the murdered infants

-and of the aged, sick or infirm, are devoured. And as fast as the males

-attain middle age their lives are forfeited. Long ago these beings

-subsisted upon the few wild creatures which roamed their land; but long

-ago all these were exhausted and human flesh became the only meat. There

-is no vegetable food, and for a time the sacrificed surplus males, and

-the aged, provided food for the race. But gradually the male births

-decreased, female children preponderated, and with the increased

-population resulting, the males were too few to nourish the others.

-Then, through what damnable accident or design I do not know, the

-creatures went forth in their airship and discovered the teeming

-millions of human beings on earth.</p>

-

-<p>“But the bulk of humanity was and still is safe from them, at least

-until new means of attacking mankind are devised, for the globular

-airship cannot approach the land. The very power it uses to lift the

-greatest steamships and carry them off, draws the machine to the earth

-and holds it fast. But above water, which acts as an insulator

-apparently, the apparatus can operate at will. And they have a two-fold

-purpose in capturing ships. All the available metal in this land was

-exhausted in constructing two of the spherical machines. One of these

-never returned from its first trip, and only the one remains. To

-construct more, these giant women plan to use the metal salvaged from

-captured ships, until a vast fleet of the infernal things is ready to go

-forth and wipe the seas clean of ships and human beings. And the bodies

-of the men and women, struck down by the gas, are to serve as food for

-these demons in human form.</p>

-

-<p>“This is the most horrible, blood-curdling thing of all. Rendered

-unconscious by the gas, the victims remain in a state of suspended

-animation indefinitely, exactly as do grubs, spiders and insects when

-stung by certain species of wasps and placed in their nests to provide

-food for their young. Stacked in great storage vaults these breathing,

-living, but paralyzed human beings are kept, and as needed, are taken

-out.</p>

-

-<p>“Already they have a supply on hand sufficient to last them for over a

-year. Some of the <i>Cyclops</i> company are still preserved; there are over

-three hundred from the <i>Chiriqui</i>, hundreds from other ships, and the

-entire crew of the <i>McCracken</i>.</p>

-

-<p>“All these things I learned little by little, and mainly through a

-friend, for marvelous as it may seem, I have a friend—if friend he can

-be called, a miserable, trembling, terrified male, who, doomed to death,

-sought to escape his fate and sought refuge with me, dreading my

-presence less than his doom, and hoping that such a feared and almost

-reverenced being as myself might protect him. For two months he has been

-my companion, but he cannot eat anything but meat and the supply of meat

-upon the ship is getting low, and sooner or later he must succumb. And

-the women, maddened at his escape from their clutches, though not yet

-daring to approach too closely to me, are getting bolder. Some time, at

-some unguarded moment, they will find the poor fellow alone and will

-fall upon him. And in his terror, in an effort to buy his life, he will,

-I know, reveal to them that I am but an ordinary mortal, a man who eats

-and drinks and who survived the gas by mechanical and not supernatural

-means. But I will not be taken alive by these fearful female cannibals.

-When the time comes, as I know it will, I will blow my brains out, and

-though they may devour my body they will not rend me alive. No more

-ships have been brought in here since the <i>McCracken</i> was captured. But

-this I know is due to the fact that all the energies of these creatures

-are being devoted to building additional air machines. This work goes on

-in a vast cavern beyond the city where tremendous forces, furnaces with

-heat beyond human conception and machines of which we know nothing, are

-controlled by the internal steam, the radiant energy and the magnetic

-powers of the earth’s core.</p>

-

-<p>“And now, again let me implore any and all who may hear my words to give

-close attention to what I say, for here again is a means by which

-humanity may combat and destroy these ghastly, gigantic cannibals. The

-spherical air-machines are helpless from above. Their magnetic or

-electrical forces extend only downwards. The gasses they throw out are

-heavier than air and descend but cannot ascend, and by means of swift

-planes, huge bombs and machine guns, the things can be easily destroyed.

-And they cannot travel without throwing off the dazzling green light.

-Only when motionless are they dark. And so they will offer easy marks

-and can be readily detected. So, I beseech you who may hear, that the

-governments are notified and warned and that a fleet or many fleets of

-airplanes properly equipped patrol the seas, and at first sight of one

-of the green meteors rise above it and utterly destroy it without mercy.</p>

-

-<p>“Wait! I hear a terrified scream.... I am back again at the transmitter.

-It was the fellow who has been with me. Poor devil! He has met his fate,

-but after all it was the custom of his people, and, moreover, he would

-have starved to death in a few days. For that matter I, too, face

-starvation. The ship’s stock is running low; all the food upon the

-<i>McCracken</i> was destroyed in cutting up that vessel, and unless another

-ship is captured I will have no food after two weeks more. What a

-strange thought! How terrible an idea! That the awful fate of hundreds

-of my fellows would be my salvation! But I will never live to die from

-hunger. I can hear the terrible screams of my late companion on the deck

-outside. God! It is the end! The fellow must have told the enraged

-females. His body has been torn to shreds. With bloody hands and reeking

-lips they are rushing towards the upper deck where I sit. They are here!

-This is my last word! God grant that I have been heard! I am about

-to⸺”</p>

-

-<p>Crashing in our ears came the report of a pistol.</p>

-

-<div class='ce'>

-<div style='font-size:0.9em;margin-top:1em;font-variant:small-caps;'>The End </div>

-</div>

-<hr class='fnm'>

-<table id='fnt1' class='fn'><tr><td class='fnn'><a

-href='#fn1'>1</a></td><td style='font-size:0.8em;'> The message as it

-came in, was halting, and interrupted, with many unintelligible words

-and repetitions, as if the sender were laboring under an intense strain

-or was an amateur. For the sake of clarity and continuity, the

-communication has been edited and filled in, but not altered in any

-detail.

-</td></tr></table>

-<table id='fnt2' class='fn'><tr><td class='fnn'><a

-href='#fn2'>2</a></td><td style='font-size:0.8em;'> The metropolitan

-papers reported the meteor on the eighteenth and stated it was observed

-by those on the <i>Chiriqui</i> on the evening of the seventeenth, but it

-must be remembered that the <i>Chiriqui</i> was in the western Pacific and

-hence had gained a day in time.

-</td></tr></table>

-<div class="tn">

-<p>Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the

-July 1927 issue of <i>Amazing Stories Magazine</i>.</p>

-</div>

-<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOICE FROM THE INNER WORLD ***</div>

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+<body>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOICE FROM THE INNER WORLD ***</div>
+<h1>The Voice from the Inner World</h1>
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<div style='font-size:0.9em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Second Honorable Mention in the $500 Prize Cover Contest</span> </div>
+<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>Awarded to A. Hyatt Verrill, New York City, </div>
+<div style='font-size:0.8em;'>for “A Voice from the Inner World.”</div>
+</div>
+<div id='001' class='mt01 mb01 w001'>
+  <img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='frontispiece' style='width:100%'>
+  <p class='caption'>... And it was evident that the others were equally afraid of me ... they stood regarding me with an odd mixture of wonder and terror on their huge faces.</p>
+</div>
+<div class='ce'>
+<div style='font-size:1.2em;margin-bottom:0.3em;'>The Voice from the Inner World</div>
+<div style='margin-bottom:0.4em;'>by A. Hyatt Verrill</div>
+<div style='font-size:0.8em;margin-bottom:1.2em;'>Author of “The Plague of the Living Dead,” “Through the Crater’s Rim,” etc.</div>
+</div>
+<blockquote>
+<p style='text-indent:0'>The author of this story, well known to our readers, in submitting his
+prize story, adopts a treatment entirely different from that of
+practically all the rest of the winners. He has submitted a tale so
+characteristic and so original that it holds your interest by sheer
+strength. That there should be a cannibalistic race of females somewhere
+in our world is, after all, not impossible nor improbable. There are
+still cannibals at large, at the present writing, and probably will be
+for many generations to come. While the story has its gruesome moments,
+it also contains good science and Mr. Verrill certainly knows how to
+treat his subject and get the most from it. As a “different” sort of
+story, we highly recommend it to your attention.</p>
+
+</blockquote>
+<p style='text-indent:0'>On the eighteenth of October, the New York papers reported the
+appearance of a remarkable meteor which had been seen in mid-Pacific,
+and the far more startling announcement that it was feared that the
+amazing celestial visitor had struck and destroyed a steamship.</p>
+
+<p>“At eleven-fifteen last evening,” read the account in the <i>Herald</i>, “the
+Panama-Hawaiian Line steamship <i>Chiriqui</i> reported by radio the
+appearance of an immense meteor which suddenly appeared above the
+horizon to the southeast, and which increased rapidly in size and
+brilliance. Within ten minutes from the time the phenomenon was first
+sighted, it appeared as a huge greenish sphere of dazzling brilliance
+high in the sky, and heading, apparently, directly for the <i>Chiriqui</i>.
+Almost at the same time as reported by the <i>Chiriqui</i>, several other
+ships, among them the Miners and Merchants Line <i>Vulcan</i>, and the
+Japanese liner <i>Fujiama Maru</i> also reported the meteorite, although they
+were more than one thousand miles apart and equidistant from the
+position of the <i>Chiriqui</i>.</p>
+
+<p>“In the midst of a sentence describing the appearance of the rapidly
+approaching meteor, the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> wireless message came to an abrupt
+end, and all attempts to get into further communication with her
+operator failed. The other vessels reported that a scintillating flash,
+like an explosion, was followed by the meteor’s disappearance, and it is
+feared that the immense aerolite may have struck the <i>Chiriqui</i>, and
+utterly destroyed her with all on board. As no S&#160;O&#160;S has been received,
+and as the ship’s radio broke off with the words: ‘It is very close and
+the sea is as bright as day. Below the immense mass of green fire are
+two smaller spheres of intense red. It is so near we can hear it roaring
+like a terrific wind. It is headed—’ It is probable that the vessel, if
+struck, was instantly destroyed. It has been suggested, however, that it
+is possible that the meteor or meteors were accompanied by electrical
+phenomena which may have put the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> wireless apparatus out of
+commission and that the ship may be safe.”</p>
+
+<p>Later editions of the press announced that no word had been received
+from the <i>Chiriqui</i>, that other ships had reported the meteor, and that
+two of these had radioed that the aerolite, instead of exploding, had
+been seen to continue on its way and gradually disappear beyond the
+horizon. These reports somewhat allayed the fears that the <i>Chiriqui</i>
+had been struck by the meteor, and prominent scientists expressed the
+opinion that the supposed explosion had been merely an optical illusion
+caused by its passage through some dense or cloudy layer of air. They
+also quoted numerous cases of immense meteors having been seen by
+observers over immense distances, and declared their belief that the
+aerolite had not reached the earth, but had merely passed through the
+outer atmosphere. When asked regarding the possibility of the meteor
+having affected the ship’s wireless apparatus, experts stated that such
+might have been the case, although, hitherto, severe electrical
+disturbances had never been associated with the passage of meteors.
+Moreover, they declared that even if the wireless had been injured, it
+could have been repaired in a few hours, and that they could not explain
+the continued silence of the <i>Chiriqui</i>. Word also came from Panama that
+the naval commandant at Balboa had despatched a destroyer to search for
+the <i>Chiriqui</i>, or any survivors of the catastrophe if the ship had been
+destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>A few hours later, despatches were received from various points in
+Central and South America, reporting the meteor of the previous night.
+All of these agreed that the fiery mass had swept across the heavens in
+a wide arc and had vanished in the east beyond the summits of the Andes.</p>
+
+<p>It was, therefore, fairly certain that the <i>Chiriqui</i> had not been
+struck by the meteor, and in a few days the incident was completely
+forgotten by the public at large.</p>
+
+<p>But when, ten days later, the warship reported that no sign of the
+missing ship could be found, and the officials of the Panama-Hawaiian
+Line admitted that the <i>Chiriqui</i> was four days overdue, interest was
+again aroused. Then came the startling news, featured in screaming
+headlines, that the meteor or its twin had been again reported by
+various ships in the Pacific, and that the U.&#160;S.&#160;S.&#160;<i>McCracken</i>, which
+had been scouring the seas for traces of the missing <i>Chiriqui</i>, had
+sent in a detailed report of the meteor’s appearance, and that her
+wireless had gone “dead,” exactly as had that of the <i>Chiriqui</i>.</p>
+
+<p>And when, after every effort, no communication could be established with
+the war vessel, and when two weeks had elapsed without word from her, it
+was generally conceded that both ships had been destroyed by the amazing
+celestial visitor. For a time the double catastrophe filled the papers
+to the exclusion of nearly everything else, and such everyday features
+as scandals and murder trials were crowded to the back pages of the
+dailies to make room for long articles on meteors and missing ships and
+interviews with scientists. But as no more meteors appeared, and as no
+more ships vanished, the subject gradually lost interest and was no
+longer news.</p>
+
+<p>About three months after the first report of the green meteor appeared
+(on January fifteenth, to be exact) I was in Peru, visiting my daughter,
+when I received a communication of such an utterly amazing character
+that it appeared incredible, and yet was so borne out by facts and
+details that it had all the earmarks of truth. So astounding was this
+communication that, despite the fact that it will unquestionably be
+scoffed at by the public, I feel that it should be given to the world.
+As soon as I had received the story I hurried with it to the American
+Minister in Lima, and related all that I had heard. He agreed with me
+that the authorities at Washington should be acquainted with the matter
+at once, and together we devoted many hours to coding the story which
+was cabled in the secret cipher of the State Department. The officials,
+however, were inclined to regard the matter as a hoax, and, as far as I
+am aware, no steps have yet been taken to follow out the suggestions
+contained in the communication which I received, and thus save humanity
+from a terrible fate. Personally, I am convinced that the amazing tale
+which came to me in such an astounding and unexpected manner is
+absolutely true, incredible as it may seem, but whether fact or fiction,
+my readers may decide for themselves.</p>
+
+<p>My son-in-law was intensely interested in radio, and devoted all of his
+spare time to devising and constructing receiving sets, and in his home
+in the delightful residential suburb of Miraflores, were a number of
+receiving sets of both conventional and original design. Having been
+closely in touch with the subject for several years, I was deeply
+interested in Frank’s experiments, and especially in a new type of
+hook-up which had given most remarkable results in selectivity and
+distance. Practically every broadcasting station in America, and many in
+Europe, had been logged by the little set, and on several occasions
+faint signals had been heard which, although recognizable as English,
+evidently emanated from a most remote station. These, oddly enough, had
+come in at the same hour each night, and each time had continued for
+exactly the same length of time.</p>
+
+<p>We were discussing this, and trying to again pick up the unintelligible
+and unidentified signals on that memorable January evening, when,
+without warning, and as clearly as though sent from the station at
+Buenos Ayres, came the most astounding communication which ever greeted
+human ears, and which, almost verbatim, was as follows:<span style='vertical-align:super; font-size:0.7em'><a id='fn1' href='#fnt1'>1</a></span></p>
+
+<p>“LISTEN! For God’s sake, I implore all who may hear my words to listen!
+And believe what I say no matter how unbelievable it may seem, for the
+fate of thousands of human beings, the fate of the human race may depend
+upon you who by chance may hear this message from another world. My name
+is James Berry, my home is Butte, Montana, my profession a mining
+engineer, and I am speaking through the short wave transmitter of the
+steamship <i>Chiriqui</i> on which I was a passenger when the terrible, the
+incredible events occurred which I am about to relate. On the evening of
+October sixteenth<span style='vertical-align:super; font-size:0.7em'><a id='fn2' href='#fnt2'>2</a></span> the <i>Chiriqui</i> was steaming across the Pacific in
+calm weather when our attention was attracted by what appeared to be an
+unusually brilliant meteor of a peculiar greenish color. It first
+appeared above the horizon to the southeast, and very rapidly increased
+in size and brilliancy. At the time I was particularly struck by the
+fact that it left no trail of light or fire behind it, as is usual with
+large meteorites, but so rapidly did it approach that I had little time
+to wonder at this. Within a few moments from the time that it was first
+seen, the immense sphere of green incandescence had grown to the size of
+the moon, and the entire sea for miles about our ship was illuminated by
+a sickly green light. It appeared to be headed directly towards our
+ship, and, standing as I was on the bridge-deck near the wheel-house, I
+heard the chief officer cry out: ‘My God, it will strike us!’ By now the
+mass of fire had altered in appearance, and a short distance below the
+central green mass could be seen two smaller spheres of blinding red,
+like huge globes of molten metal. By now, too, the noise made by the
+meteor was plainly audible, sounding like the roar of surf or the sound
+of a tornado.</p>
+
+<p>“Everyone aboard the ship was panic-stricken; women screamed, men cursed
+and shouted, and the crew rushed to man the boats, as everyone felt that
+the <i>Chiriqui</i> was doomed. What happened next I can scarcely describe,
+so rapidly did the events occur. As the meteor seemed about to hurl
+itself upon the ship, there was a blinding flash of light, a terrific
+detonation, and I saw men and women falling to the decks as if struck
+down by shell fire. The next instant the meteor vanished completely, and
+intense blackness followed the blinding glare. At the same moment, I was
+aware of a peculiar pungent, suffocating odor which, perhaps owing to my
+long experience with deadly gases in mining work, I at once recognized
+as some noxious gas. Almost involuntarily, and dully realizing that by
+some miracle the ship had escaped destruction, I dashed below and
+reached my cabin almost overcome by the fumes which now penetrated every
+portion of the ship. Among my possessions was a new type of gas-mask
+which had been especially designed for mine work, and my idea was to don
+this, for I felt sure that the meteor had exploded close to the ship and
+had released vast quantities of poisonous gases which might hang about
+for a long time.</p>
+
+<p>“Although almost overcome by the choking fumes, I managed to find and
+put on the apparatus, for one of its greatest advantages was the
+rapidity and ease with which it could be adjusted, it having been
+designed for emergency use. But before it was fairly in place over my
+face, the electric light in my room went out and I was in complete
+darkness. Also, the ship seemed strangely still, and as I groped my way
+to the stateroom door it suddenly dawned upon me that the engines had
+stopped, that there was no longer the whirr of dynamos from the depths
+of the hull. Not a light glimmered in the passageway, and twice, as I
+felt my way towards the social hall, I stumbled over the sprawled bodies
+of men, while in the saloon itself I several times stepped upon the soft
+and yielding flesh of passengers who lay where they had been struck down
+by the poisonous gas. In all probability, I thought, I was the sole
+survivor aboard the ship, unless some of the firemen and engineers
+survived, and I wondered how I would manage to escape, if the vessel
+should be sighted by some other ship, or if it should be my gruesome
+task to search the <i>Chiriqui</i> from stem to stern, drag the bodies of the
+dead to the deck and cast them into the sea, and remain—perhaps for
+weeks—alone upon the ship until rescued by some passing vessel. But as
+I reached the door and stepped upon the deck all such thoughts were
+driven from my brain as I blinked my eyes and stared about in dumfounded
+amazement. I had stepped from Stygian darkness into dazzling light.
+Blinded for the moment, I closed my eyes, and when I again opened them I
+reeled to the rail with a cry of terror. Poised above the ship’s masts,
+and so enormous that it appeared to shut out half the sky, was the
+stupendous meteor like a gigantic globe of green fire, and seemingly
+less than one hundred feet above me. Still nearer, and hanging but a few
+yards above the bow and stern of the ship, were the two smaller spheres
+of glowing red. Cowering against the rail, expecting to be shrivelled
+into a charred cinder at any instant, I gazed transfixed and paralyzed
+at the titanic masses of flaming light above the ship.</p>
+
+<p>“Then reason came back to me. My only chance to escape was to leap into
+the sea, and I half clambered upon the rail prepared to take the plunge.
+A scream, like that of a madman, came from my lips. Below me was no sign
+of the waves, but a limitless void, while, immeasurably distant beneath
+the ship, I could dimly see the crinkled surface of the sea. The
+<i>Chiriqui</i> was floating in space!</p>
+
+<p>“It was impossible, absolutely preposterous, and I felt convinced that I
+had gone mad, or that the small quantity of gas I had breathed had
+affected my brain and had induced the nightmarish vision. Perhaps, I
+thought, the meteors above the ship were also visionary, and I again
+stared upward. Then, I knew that I was insane. The spheres of green and
+red light were rushing upward as I could see by the brilliant stars
+studding the sky, and the ship upon which I stood was following in their
+wake! Weak, limp as a rag, I slumped to the deck and lay staring at the
+great globes above me. But the insanely impossible events which had
+crowded upon my overwrought senses were as nothing to the amazing
+discovery I now made.</p>
+
+<p>“As my eyes became accustomed to the glare of the immense green sphere,
+I saw that instead of being merely a ball of fire it had definite form.
+About its middle extended a broad band from which slender rods of light
+extended. Round or ovoid spots seemed placed in definite order about it,
+and from the extremities of its axes lines or cables, clearly outlined
+by the glare, extended downward to the red spheres above the ship. By
+now, I was so firmly convinced that I was irrational, that these new and
+absolutely stunning discoveries did not excite or surprise me in the
+least, and as if in a particularly vivid dream, I lay there gazing
+upward, and dully, half consciously speculating on what it all meant.
+Gradually, too, it dawned upon me that the huge sphere with its
+encircling band of duller light was rotating. The circular markings,
+which I thought were marvelously like the ports of a ship, were
+certainly moving from top to bottom of the sphere, and I could
+distinctly hear a low, vibrant humming.</p>
+
+<p>“The next second I jerked upright with a start and my scalp tingled.
+Reason had suddenly returned to me. The thing was no meteor, no
+celestial body, but some marvelous machine, some devilish invention of
+man, some gigantic form of airship which—God only knew why—had by some
+incredible means captured the <i>Chiriqui</i>, had lifted the twenty thousand
+ton ship into the air and was bearing her off with myself, the only
+survivor of all the ship’s company, witnessing the miraculous happening!
+It was the most insane thought that had yet entered my brain, but I knew
+now for a certainty that I was perfectly sane, and, oddly enough, now
+that I was convinced that the catastrophe which had overtaken the
+<i>Chiriqui</i> was the devilish work of human beings, I was no longer
+frightened and my former nightmarish terror of things unknown, gave
+place to the most intense anger and an inexpressible hatred of the
+fiends who, without warning or reason, had annihilated hundreds of men
+and women by means of this new and irresistible engine of destruction.
+But I was helpless. Alone upon the stolen and stricken ship I could do
+nothing. By what tremendous force the spherical airship was moving
+through space, by what unknown power it was lifting the ship and
+carrying it,—slung like the gondola of a Zeppelin beneath the
+sphere,—were matters beyond my comprehension. Calmly, now that I felt
+assured that I was rational and was the victim of my fellow
+men—fiendish as they might be,—I walked aft to where one red sphere
+hung a few yards above the ship’s deck.</p>
+
+<div style='height:1em;'></div>
+<p style='text-indent:0'>“There seemed no visible connection between it and the vessel, but I
+noticed that everything movable upon the deck, the iron cable, the wire
+ropes, the coiled steel lines of the after derrick, all extended upward
+from the deck, as rigid as bars of metal, while crackling blue sparks
+like electrical discharges scintillated from the ship’s metal work below
+the red sphere. Evidently, I decided, the red mass was actuated by some
+form of electrical energy or magnetism, and I gave the area beneath it a
+wide berth. Retracing my way to the bow of the ship, I found similar
+conditions there. As I walked towards the waist of the ship again I
+mounted the steps to the bridge, hoping from that height to get a better
+view of the monstrous machine holding the <i>Chiriqui</i> captive. I knew
+that in the chart-house I would find powerful glasses with which to
+study the machine. Upon the bridge the bodies of the quartermaster, the
+first officer and an apprentice lay sprawled grotesquely, and across the
+chart-house door lay the captain. Reaching down I lifted him by the
+shoulders to move him to one side, and to my amazement I discovered that
+he was not dead. His heart beat, his pulse, though slow and faint, was
+plain, he was breathing and his face, still ruddy, was that of a
+sleeping man rather than of a corpse.</p>
+
+<p>“A wild thought rushed through my brain, and hastily I rushed to the
+other bodies. There was no doubt of it. All were alive and merely
+unconscious. The gas had struck them down, but had not killed them, and
+it came to me as a surprise, though I should long before have realized
+it, that the fumes had been purposely discharged by the beings who had
+captured the vessel. Possibly, I mentally decided, they had made a
+mistake and had failed in their intention to destroy the persons upon
+the ship, or again, was it not possible that they had intentionally
+rendered the ship’s company unconscious, and had not intended to destroy
+their lives? Forgetting my original purpose in visiting the bridge, I
+worked feverishly to resuscitate the captain, but all to no purpose.
+Many gases, I knew, would render a man unconscious without actually
+injuring him, and I was also aware, that when under the influence of
+some of these, the victims could not be revived until the definite
+period of the gases’ effect had passed. So, feeling certain that in due
+time the captain and the others would come to of their own accord, I
+entered the chartroom and, securing the skipper’s binoculars, I again
+stepped upon the bridge. As I could not conveniently use the glasses
+with my gas-mask in place, and as I felt sure there was no longer any
+danger from the fumes, I started to remove the apparatus. But no sooner
+did a breath of the air enter my mouth than I hastily readjusted the
+contrivance, for the gas which had struck down everyone but myself was
+as strong as ever. Indeed, the mere whiff of the fumes made my head reel
+and swim, and I was forced to steady myself by grasping the bridge-rail
+until the dizzy spell passed.</p>
+
+<p>“Once more myself, I focussed the glasses as best I could upon the
+whirling sphere above the ship. But I could make out little more than by
+my naked eyes. The band about the center or equator of the globular
+thing was, I could now see, divided into segments, each of which bore a
+round, slightly convex, eye-like object from the centers of which
+extended slender rods which vibrated with incalculable speed. Indeed,
+the whole affair reminded me of the glass models of protozoans which I
+had seen in the American Museum of Natural History. These minute marine
+organisms I knew, moved with great rapidity by means of vibrating,
+hair-like appendages or cilia, and I wondered if the enormous spherical
+machine at which I was gazing, might not move through space in a similar
+manner by means of vibrating rods moving with such incredible speed
+that, slender as they were, they produced enormous propulsive power.
+Also, I could now see that the two extremities of the sphere, or as I
+may better express it, the axes, were equipped with projecting bosses or
+shafts to which the cables supporting the red spheres were attached. And
+as I peered through the glasses at the thing, the huge green sphere,
+which had been hitherto traveling on an even keel, or, in other words,
+with the central band vertical, now shifted its position and one end
+swung sharply upward, throwing the band about the centre at an acute
+angle. Involuntarily I grasped the rail of the bridge expecting to be
+thrown from my feet by the abrupt uptilting of the ship. But to my utter
+amazement the <i>Chiriqui</i> remained on an even plane and I then saw that
+as the sphere tilted, the cable at the uppermost axis ran rapidly out so
+that the two red spheres, which evidently supported the captive ship,
+remained, in their original relative horizontal position. No sign of
+life was visible upon the machine above me, and I surmised that whoever
+might be handling the thing was within the sphere.</p>
+
+<p>“Wondering how high we had risen above the sea, I stepped to the
+starboard end of the bridge and glanced down, and an involuntary
+exclamation escaped my lips. Far beneath the ship and clearly visible
+through the captain’s glasses was land! I could distinguish the white
+line marking surf breaking on a rocky shore, and ahead I could make out
+the cloud-topped, serried summits of a mighty range of mountains. Not
+until then did I realize the terrific speed at which the machine and
+captive vessel were traveling. I had been subconsciously aware that a
+gale had been blowing, but I had not stopped to realize that this was no
+ordinary wind, but was the rush of air caused by the rapidity of motion.
+But as I peered at the mountains through the binoculars, and saw the
+distant surface of the earth whizzing backward far beneath the
+<i>Chiriqui’s</i> keel, I knew that we were hurtling onward with the speed of
+the fastest scout airplane.</p>
+
+<p>“Even as I gazed, the mountains seemed to rush towards me until, in a
+few minutes after I had first seen them, they appeared almost directly
+under the ship. Then the gigantic machine above me suddenly altered its
+course, it veered sharply to one side and swept along the range of
+summits far beneath. For some reason, just why I cannot explain, I
+dashed to the binnacle and saw that we were traveling to the south, and
+it flashed across my mind, that I had a dim recollection of noticing,
+when I first realized the nature of the machine which had been mistaken
+for a meteor, that by the stars, we were moving eastward. In that case,
+my suddenly alert mind told me, the land below must be some portion of
+America, and if so, judging by the altitude of the mountains, that they
+must be the Andes. All of this rushed through my brain instantly, and in
+the brief lapse of time in which I sprang to the binnacle and back to my
+observation point at the bridge-rail.</p>
+
+<p>“Now, I saw, we were rapidly descending, and focussing my glasses upon
+the mountains, I made out an immense conical peak in the top of which
+was a gigantic black opening. Without doubt it was the crater of some
+stupendous extinct volcano, and, with a shock, I realized that the
+machine and the ship were headed directly for the yawning opening in the
+crater. The next instant we were dropping with lightning speed towards
+it, and so terrified and dumfounded had I become that I could not move
+from where I stood. Even before I could grasp the fact, the <i>Chiriqui</i>
+was enclosed by towering, rocky walls, inky blackness surrounded me,
+there was an upward breath-taking rush of air, a roar as of a thousand
+hurricanes. The <i>Chiriqui</i> rocked and pitched beneath my feet, as if in
+a heavy sea; I clung desperately to the bridge-rail for support and I
+felt sure that the ship had been dropped into the abysmal crater, that
+the next instant the vessel would crash into fragments as it struck
+bottom, or worse, that it would sink into the molten incandescent lava
+which might fill the depths of the volcano. For what seemed hours, the
+awful fall continued, though like as not the terrible suspense lasted
+for only a few minutes, and then, without warning, so abruptly that I
+lost my balance and was flung to the bridge, the ship ceased falling, an
+indescribable blue light succeeded the blackness, and unable to believe
+my senses I found the ship floating motionless, still suspended from the
+giant mechanism overhead, above a marvelous landscape.</p>
+
+<div style='height:1em;'></div>
+<p style='text-indent:0'>“On every hand, as far as I could see, stretched jagged rocks, immense
+cliffs, stupendous crags and rugged knife-ridged hills of the most
+dazzling reds, yellows and purples. Mile-deep canons cut the forbidding
+plains, which here and there showed patches of dull green, and in one
+spot I saw a stream of emerald-hued water pouring in a foaming cataract
+into a fathomless rift in the rock. But I gave little attention to these
+sights at the time. My gaze was riveted upon a strange, weird city which
+capped the cliffs close to the waterfall, and almost directly beneath
+the <i>Chiriqui</i>. Slowly we were dropping towards it, and I could see that
+the buildings which at first sight had appeared of immense height and
+tower-like form, were in reality gigantic basaltic columns capped with
+superimposed edifices of gleaming yellow.</p>
+
+<p>“The next second the glasses dropped from my shaking, nerveless hands.
+Gathered on an open space of greenish plain were hundreds of human
+beings! But were they human? In form and features, as nearly as I could
+judge at that distance, they were human, but in color they were scarlet,
+and surmounting the head and extending along the arms to the elbows on
+every individual was a whitish, membraneous frill, which at first sight,
+reminded me of an Indian’s war bonnet. The beings appeared to be of
+average height, but as the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> keel touched solid ground and,
+keeling to one side, she rested upon one of her bilges, I saw with a
+shock, that the scarlet creatures were of gigantic size, fully thirty
+feet in height, and that, without exception, all were females! All were
+stark naked; but despite the frills upon their heads and shoulders,
+despite their bizarre scarlet skins, despite their gigantic proportions,
+they were unquestionably human beings, women without doubt, and of the
+most perfect proportions, the most graceful forms and the most regular
+and even handsome features. Beside the stranded ship, they loomed as
+giants; but against the stupendous proportions of their land and city,
+they appeared no larger than ordinary mortals. By now they were
+streaming from their houses and even in the surprise and excitement of
+that moment I noticed that the giant rocky columns were perforated by
+windows and doors, and had obviously been hollowed out to form
+dwellings. Meantime, too, the huge machine which had captured the
+<i>Chiriqui</i> had descended and was lying at rest, and no longer emitting
+its green light, upon a cradle erected near the waterfall, and from
+openings in its central band several of the scarlet, giant Amazons were
+emerging. How long, I wondered, would I remain undiscovered? How long
+would it be before one of the female giants spied me? And then, what
+would be my fate? Why had they captured the ship? Where was I? What was
+this strange land reached through a crater?</p>
+
+<p>“All these thoughts rushed through my brain as I peered cautiously down
+at the giant women who swarmed about the ship. But I had not long to
+wait for an answer to my first mental question. With a sudden spring,
+one of the women leaped to the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> anchor, with a second bound
+she was on the fore deck, and close at her heels came a score of others.
+Standing upon the deck with her head fringed by its erect vibrating
+membrane level with the boat-deck, she gazed about for an instant. Then,
+catching sight of the form of a sailor sprawled upon the deck, she
+uttered a shrill, piercing cry, leaped forward, and, before my
+unbelieving, horror-stricken eyes, tore the still living, palpitating
+body to pieces and ravenously devoured it.</p>
+
+<p>“Unable to stir through the very repulsiveness of the scene, realizing
+that my turn might be next, I gazed fascinated. But the giant cannibal
+female was not to feast in peace. As her companions reached the deck,
+they rushed upon her and fought viciously for a portion of the reeking
+flesh. The struggle of these awful giants, as smeared with human blood,
+scratching and clawing, uttering shrill cries of rage, they rolled and
+fought on the deck, was indescribably terrible and disgusting. But it
+came to an abrupt end. With a bound, a giantess of giantesses, a
+powerfully-muscled female, appeared, and like cowed beasts, the others
+drew aside, licking their chops, the membranes on their heads rising and
+falling in excitement, like the frills on an iguana lizard, and watching
+the newly-arrived giantess with furtive eyes. Evidently she was the
+leader or chieftainess, and in curt but strangely shrill and, of course,
+to me, utterly unintelligible words, she gave orders to the others.
+Instantly, the horde of women began swarming over the ship, searching
+every nook and corner, and, wherever they discovered the inert bodies of
+the ship’s company, dragged them on deck and piled them in heaps.
+Shaking with abject terror, I crouched back of the bridge, and racked my
+brains for thought of some safe spot in which to hide. But before I
+could make up my mind, one of the terrifying, monstrous females sprang
+upon the bridge and rushed towards me. With a maniacal scream, I turned
+and fled. Then, before me, blocking my way, there appeared another of
+the creatures. And then a most marvelous and surprising thing happened.
+Instead of falling upon me as I expected her to do, the giantess turned,
+and with a scream that equalled my own, leaped over the rail and fled to
+the uttermost extremity of the deck.</p>
+
+<p>“I forgot my terror in my amazement. Why should this giant, cannibal
+woman fear me? Why should she run from me when, a few moments before,
+she had been fighting over a meal of an unconscious sailor? And it was
+evident that the others were equally afraid of me, for at her cry, and
+my appearance, all had rushed as far from me as possible, and stood
+regarding me with an odd mixture of wonder and terror on their huge
+faces. And then it occurred to me that their fear was, perhaps, due to
+my gas-mask, to the apparatus that transformed me from a human being to
+a weird-looking monster. At any rate, I was evidently safe from
+molestation for the time being, and thanking my lucky stars that I had
+on the mask, I descended from the bridge, the giantesses retreating as I
+advanced. I entered the captain’s cabin and locked the door.</p>
+
+<p>“Here I breathed more freely, for even if the women overcame their fear
+of me and attempted to capture me, the steel doors and walls of the
+cabin would be impregnable defenses. Moreover, upon the wall above the
+bunk, was a rifle, in a drawer of the dresser was a loaded revolver, and
+a short search revealed a plentiful supply of cartridges. Yes, if I were
+attacked, I could give a good account of myself, and I determined, if
+worst came to the worst, that I would blow out my brains rather than
+fall a victim to the female cannibal horde.</p>
+
+<p>“Dully, through the thick walls of the cabin, I could hear the sounds of
+the women on the deck, but I had no desire to witness what was going on,
+and seated upon the captain’s chair, I thought over the events which had
+transpired during the past few hours and tried to find a reasonable
+solution to the incredible happenings.</p>
+
+<p>“That I was within the earth seemed certain, though utterly fantastic,
+but who the giant women were, why they had captured the <i>Chiriqui</i> or by
+what unknown, tremendous power their marvelous airship was operated,
+were all utterly beyond my comprehension. But I must hurry on and relate
+the more important matters, for my time is limited and the important
+thing is to let the world know how the human race may be saved from the
+terrible fate which has befallen me and all those upon the <i>Chiriqui</i>,
+and upon the destroyer <i>McCracken</i>, for that vessel, too, has fallen a
+victim to these horrible cannibalistic giantesses here within the centre
+of the earth.</p>
+
+<div style='height:1em;'></div>
+<p style='text-indent:0'>“Hunger and thirst drove me at last from my refuge in the captain’s
+cabin, and armed with the loaded rifle and revolver, I cautiously peered
+out and stepped upon the deck. Only one woman was in sight, and
+instantly, at sight of me, she fled away. Not a body of the hundreds of
+men and women aboard the ship was visible, and feeling relieved that I
+was for a time safe, I stepped to the ship’s rail and peered over.
+Scores of the women were carrying the inert forms of the unconscious men
+and women towards the nearby city. Stealthily I hurried below in search
+of food and drink. Fears assailed me that the women had, in all
+probability, preceded me and carried off everything edible. But I need
+not have worried about food. I was yet to learn the horrible truth and
+the gruesome habits of these red giantesses. The saloon, the corridors,
+the staterooms, everything, had been searched, and every person upon the
+vessel removed. In the pantry I found an abundance of food, and quickly
+satisfied my hunger and thirst. I pondered on my next move. The
+skipper’s cabin seemed my safest refuge. I placed a supply of provisions
+within it, and locked myself in the little room again. For several days
+nothing of great importance occurred. I say days, but there are no days
+in this terrible place. There is no sun, no moon, no stars and no
+darkness. The whole place is illuminated by a brilliant, greenish light
+that issues from a distant mountain range, and which seems to be of the
+same character as that which emanated from the spherical air machine.
+Fortunately I had presence of mind enough to keep my watch going, as
+well as the captain’s chronometer, for otherwise I would have had no
+knowledge of the passage of time. Once or twice the scarlet women
+visited the ship, but seemed nervous and wary, and made no effort to
+approach or molest me, merely gazed about as if searching for
+something—perhaps for me—and then retiring. Several times, too, I
+ventured on deck, and peered over the ship’s side, but saw none of the
+giantesses, although with the glasses I could see crowds of the beings
+about the city in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>“Also, I noticed among them, several individuals who were much smaller
+than the rest, and who appeared to be men, although I could not be sure.
+I also discovered, and almost lost my life in the discovery, that the
+atmosphere of this place is unfit for human beings to breathe, and is
+thick with sulphurous fumes. Close to the ground these fumes are so
+dense that a person would succumb in a few moments, but at the height of
+the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> decks, nearly seventy feet above the rocky bed on which
+she rests, the air is breathable, although it causes one to choke and
+cough after a few minutes. And I am sure that the houses of these giant
+beings have been built on the summits of the basalt columns in order to
+avoid the suffocating fumes of the lower levels. Later, too, I learned
+that the membrane-like frills upon these creatures are a sort of gills,
+or as I might say, natural gas-masks, which by some means enable the
+beings to breathe the sulphur-laden air. But even with these, they avoid
+the lower areas where the fumes are the worst, and only visit them when
+necessity arises, which accounts for my being left in peace, with none
+of the horrible women near the ship, for days at a time. I discovered
+the presence of the sulphur gas on the first day when, attempting to
+eat, I removed my gas-mask. Suffocating as I found the fumes, I was
+compelled to endure them, and gradually I became slightly accustomed to
+them, so that now I have little trouble in breathing during the short
+time it takes me to eat my meals. At all other times I must wear the
+apparatus, and I thank God that this is so, for I know now that it is
+the gas-mask which so far has preserved my life.</p>
+
+<p>“On the tenth day after my arrival I noticed a number of the giantesses
+gathering about the huge, spherical airship which still rested on its
+cradle near the <i>Chiriqui</i>, but which, I have forgotten to state, ceased
+to emit its green or red lights after it had landed. Lying there it
+resembled nothing so much as a gigantic can-buoy or a floating mine, if
+one can imagine a buoy two hundred yards in diameter.</p>
+
+<p>“On the day I mentioned, all interests seemed to be centered on the
+thing, and cautiously peering from the shelter of the deck-house, I
+watched the proceedings. Presently several of the women entered the
+sphere through an opening in its middle band; the aperture closed behind
+them, and immediately there was a low, humming sound as of machinery. As
+the sounds issued from the sphere, the cables to which were attached the
+smaller spheres (which glowed red when carrying the <i>Chiriqui</i> through
+the air) were drawn in until the two smaller spheres were resting in
+recesses at the axes of the large sphere, and where they appeared merely
+as hemi-spherical projections. Then, slowly at first, but with ever
+increasing speed, the slender rods about the large sphere began to move
+back and forth, or rather in an oscillating manner, until they were
+vibrating with such rapidity that they appeared merely rays of light.
+Slowly, majestically, the immense globe rose from its cradle, and
+gathering headway, leaped upward to an immense height. Then, tilting at
+an angle, it passed over the city and headed for an immense pinnacle of
+rock, which, fully seven miles from where I stood, reminded me of a
+gigantic chimney or funnel.</p>
+
+<p>“Although it was barely visible to the naked eye, I could see it
+distinctly through the glasses, and I watched it with the most intense
+and concentrated interest. For a few moments it remained, poised a
+hundred feet or so above the pinnacle. Then, from the towering, tapering
+rock, a terrific jet of steam roared forth, and striking the great
+spherical machine above it, hurled it upward and beyond my vision. Give
+close heed to these words, whoever may, by God’s grace, be listening to
+what I say, for upon them may hinge the fate of the human race. Only by
+this means, by being shot upward by this titanic jet of steam, can the
+airship leave this subterranean land and emerge through the crater by
+which it entered bearing the <i>Chiriqui</i>. Within this place it can sail
+at will; once above the crater opening it can travel anywhere, although
+it cannot land; but by some unknown force or magnetic attraction or
+freak of gravitation the machine cannot ascend through the crater,
+although, when over it, it will drop like a plummet through the opening.
+And herein—for the sake of humanity, listen to this and remember my
+words—lies a means of destroying the machine, for by surrounding the
+crater with powerful guns the sphere can be shelled as it emerges and
+utterly destroyed. To attempt to do so as it returns to the crater would
+be suicidal, for once in the outer air, it emanates vast quantities of
+most poisonous gas, and all living things within a radius of several
+miles would be struck down unconscious, as were my companions on the
+<i>Chiriqui</i>. Even if gas-masks were worn, it would be most difficult to
+destroy the machine as it descended, for it travels with incredible
+speed in its descent and, moreover, the terrible creatures who man the
+thing would see that enemies lurked near and would find some means of
+destroying them, or by the mysterious magnet force they control, would
+draw even the heaviest cannon to the machine as an ordinary magnet draws
+needles or iron filings. So if the thing is to be destroyed, it must be
+done as the machine emerges from the crater. Would to God that I could
+tell where the crater is, but beyond feeling sure it is at the summit of
+an Andean peak, I have no means of locating it.</p>
+
+<p>“But I was telling of what occurred on that tenth day when the spherical
+airship was projected from my sight by the blast of steam. As the
+machine vanished, the women who had watched its departure, returned to
+their city, and I swept the landscape with my glasses, wondering at the
+bleak, terrible scenery and bizarre colors.</p>
+
+<div style='height:1em;'></div>
+<p style='text-indent:0'>“As I focussed the binoculars upon a level plateau, perhaps a mile from
+where the <i>Chiriqui</i> rested, I gasped in surprise. Clearly defined, lay
+the remnants of what had once been a steamship! Had I given the matter
+thought, I might have known that the <i>Chiriqui</i> was not the first vessel
+to have fallen a victim to these awful beings; but the sight of another
+ship’s skeleton came to me as a terrific shock. As nearly as I could
+judge, the vessel had been dismantled, for only the great steel frame
+remained, with the mighty boilers and other portions of the ship
+scattered about, and gruesomely like some mammoth creature lying
+disemboweled upon the earth.</p>
+
+<p>“I was consumed with a mad desire to visit that pathetic wreck, but I
+knew not to what dangers I would be exposed, once I left the security of
+my ship. Not a being was in sight, however, and carefully I studied the
+land, visually measuring the relative distances between myself and the
+wreck, and between the city and the route I must traverse. Having
+already observed that the giantesses moved slowly and cumbrously on
+foot, I at last decided that even if they attempted to intercept me I
+could regain the <i>Chiriqui</i> before I was overtaken, so I threw caution
+to the winds and prepared to undertake my hazardous journey. Slinging
+the loaded rifle on my back, with the revolver at my belt, and still
+further arming myself with a keen-edged fireaxe, I hunted up the pilot’s
+ladder, lowered it over the lowest side of the ship,—which was also the
+side farthest from the city,—and clambering down the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> lofty
+sides, leaped down upon the ground. To my amazement, I landed in a dense
+jungle of dry, tough vegetation which rose to my shoulders. From the
+deck, looking directly downwards, I had thought this dull-green growth a
+short, wiry grass, and, of course, in its relative proportion to the
+gigantic women, it was no higher than ordinary grass to a normal human
+being. It was a wonderful example of the theory of relativity, but my
+mind was not interested in scientific matters at the time, and I merely
+gave thanks that the miniature jungle,—which I saw was composed of
+giant lichens—would afford me cover through which I might sneak in
+safety, and with little chance of detection.</p>
+
+<p>“Without much difficulty I made my way to the other vessel, and found
+her even more dissected than I had supposed. Why the denizens of the
+place had torn her to bits I did not then know, but certain portions of
+her machinery and fittings had been left intact, and, as I examined
+these, I made another and most astounding discovery. Deeply engraved
+upon a brass plate was the ship’s name ‘<i>U. S. S. Cyclops!</i>’ For a space
+I stood staring, scarcely able to believe my eyes. Here then was the
+solution to that mystery of the sea, the disappearance of the collier,
+as laden with manganese, she vanished without word or trace when off the
+Barbados during the World War. No doubt, I thought, many a mystery of
+the sea had been caused by the damnable work of these beings with their
+infernal machine. But why, for what reason, did they capture ships? Why
+did they carry off the unconscious persons upon the vessels? And why did
+they tear the vessels apart? It was all a mystery which, in all its
+horrible, gruesome, ghoulish details I was soon to solve.</p>
+
+<p>“There was nothing more to be learned from the remains of the <i>Cyclops</i>,
+and in safety I returned to the <i>Chiriqui</i> to find, to my surprise and
+terror, that a gang of the monstrous females had boarded the ship in my
+absence and were stripping her of everything. But as they caught sight
+of me, all threw down whatever they had and fled precipitately, leaving
+me once more in undisputed possession of the ship. I was relieved at
+this, for it was obvious that I had no need to fear the creatures. By
+now, too, I had formulated a theory to account for this strange dread of
+a being who was a puny, miserable thing compared to them. Unquestionably
+my gas-mask rendered me a most grotesque and unknown creature in their
+eyes. My remaining alive and active while all others upon the ship had
+succumbed to the noxious gas had probably caused them to think that I
+was a supernatural being. The fact that I could go about and breathe the
+sulphur-laden air would cause them to regard me with even greater wonder
+and superstition, and, as I found later, the fact that I was never seen
+to eat, confirmed their belief that I was some mysterious being against
+whom their gases and their deviltries were of no avail.</p>
+
+<p>“I had not much time to devote to such matters, however. Soon after
+regaining the <i>Chiriqui</i> I heard excited cries from the land, and
+looking over the ship’s rails, I found an immense crowd had gathered
+near the empty cradle of the airship, and that all were gazing upward.
+Following their example, I stared into the greenish void and instantly
+understood. Descending rapidly towards the plain, came the great sphere,
+and, suspended below it, was the hull of another captive ship. And as I
+focussed my glasses upon this, I rubbed my eyes and gaped. The dull gray
+color, the lines, the raking funnels, the barbettes and gun muzzles left
+no room for doubt. Incredible as it seemed, the captive vessel was a
+warship! What hope then had my fellow men upon earth? What chance was
+there if these giant creatures could send forth their flaming machine,
+and by it, capture the fastest, most powerful war-vessels—all within
+the space of a few hours?</p>
+
+<p>“Rapidly the machine and its burden approached, and presently descended
+gently dropping the war vessel close to the <i>Chiriqui</i>. My worst fears
+were confirmed. The vessel was an American destroyer, the <i>McCracken</i>,
+and I knew that scores of my countrymen must lie unconscious upon her,
+and in a few moments would be carried off to some unknown horrible fate.
+What that fate was I had already surmised. That first demonstration of
+the ferocious cannibalism of the giantesses upon the <i>Chiriqui’s</i> deck
+had been enough to make my blood run cold.</p>
+
+<p>“But I had not yet guessed even a fraction of the true horror of it.
+Scarcely had the <i>McCracken</i> been dropped upon the earth, when the women
+swarmed upon her, and once more I saw the creatures gathering the inert
+forms of men and carrying them to the city. And rapidly, too, they
+commenced dismantling and tearing the destroyer into bits. How they had
+accomplished this with the <i>Cyclops</i> had puzzled me, but now I witnessed
+the process close at hand. From the vicinity of the waterfall, lines or
+pipes were led to the vessel’s side; presently there was the roaring
+sound of steam; dense clouds of vapor arose from the cataract; the water
+ceased to flow, and from the extremities of the lines or tubes
+twenty-foot jets of blinding flame shot out. As easily as though made of
+wax, the steel sides, the massive beams, the armored barbettes of the
+warship melted and were cut by these jets, and as the pieces fell apart,
+the spherical airship took a position above the vessel, and by its
+magnetic power, lifted tons of the fragments, then sailing off,
+deposited them in some spot beyond the city. It was then, as I saw the
+ship rapidly dissolving before my eyes, that the inspiration came to me
+which may make it possible for me to communicate with the outside world
+and may, if God wills, serve to warn my fellow men of the fate which
+will overtake them if these terrible creatures are allowed to follow out
+their plans. As the jets of flame cut through the <i>McCracken’s</i>
+superstructure, and the radio antennae fell in a tangled mass across the
+deck, I forgot all else and rushed to the wireless room of the
+<i>Chiriqui</i>. Here was my chance. If the ship’s radio transmitter was
+still in working order; if the auxiliary battery was still charged, I
+might send out messages which, small as the chances were, might reach
+the ears of some of the countless thousands of persons who listened each
+night at their receiving sets. I trembled with fear that I would find
+the transmitter injured or dismantled. I shook with dread that the
+battery might be dead. I felt faint with apprehension that the message,
+if sent, might never penetrate the sulphur-laden atmosphere or might
+never reach the outer world. And I realized, with a sickening sinking of
+my heart, that even if heard my communication might be regarded as a
+hoax, and no attention would be given it. But I would do my best. The
+radio set had not been molested. Everything was in working order, and I
+set myself the task of transmitting my story each night at the same
+hour, repeating it over and over again, until the storage batteries are
+exhausted, for to get up steam and start the dynamos is beyond my
+powers. Had I knowledge of Morse I would send my story by that code, but
+I have not, and so—I must cease. For the love of your race and of your
+dear ones listen, I beseech you, until I can resume.”</p>
+
+<div style='height:1em;'></div>
+<p style='text-indent:0'>Here the message broke off abruptly, and Frank and I sat staring at each
+other, fearing to speak lest we might interrupt or miss the words which
+might come, and listening with straining ears at the head-sets. For an
+hour we sat there and then, once more the voice spoke.</p>
+
+<p>“The doom that I feared is approaching. I have been here for three
+months and this will, I know, be my final message. Oh that I could only
+be sure that someone has heard my words, that my fate has not been in
+vain but has served to warn my fellow beings. But I must hurry on. I
+have learned everything of importance. I have watched, studied and have
+even learned to understand much of the language of these beings. I found
+that there were men. They are puny beings compared to the women, though
+ten-foot giants compared to normal men, and they are cowed, abject, mere
+slaves of the females. Only enough male children are permitted to
+survive to propagate the race. All others are killed.</p>
+
+<p>“As they reach manhood only those males of super-intelligence, strength
+and virility are permitted to live. The others are destroyed and—yes,
+horrible as it sounds, their bodies, like those of the murdered infants
+and of the aged, sick or infirm, are devoured. And as fast as the males
+attain middle age their lives are forfeited. Long ago these beings
+subsisted upon the few wild creatures which roamed their land; but long
+ago all these were exhausted and human flesh became the only meat. There
+is no vegetable food, and for a time the sacrificed surplus males, and
+the aged, provided food for the race. But gradually the male births
+decreased, female children preponderated, and with the increased
+population resulting, the males were too few to nourish the others.
+Then, through what damnable accident or design I do not know, the
+creatures went forth in their airship and discovered the teeming
+millions of human beings on earth.</p>
+
+<p>“But the bulk of humanity was and still is safe from them, at least
+until new means of attacking mankind are devised, for the globular
+airship cannot approach the land. The very power it uses to lift the
+greatest steamships and carry them off, draws the machine to the earth
+and holds it fast. But above water, which acts as an insulator
+apparently, the apparatus can operate at will. And they have a two-fold
+purpose in capturing ships. All the available metal in this land was
+exhausted in constructing two of the spherical machines. One of these
+never returned from its first trip, and only the one remains. To
+construct more, these giant women plan to use the metal salvaged from
+captured ships, until a vast fleet of the infernal things is ready to go
+forth and wipe the seas clean of ships and human beings. And the bodies
+of the men and women, struck down by the gas, are to serve as food for
+these demons in human form.</p>
+
+<p>“This is the most horrible, blood-curdling thing of all. Rendered
+unconscious by the gas, the victims remain in a state of suspended
+animation indefinitely, exactly as do grubs, spiders and insects when
+stung by certain species of wasps and placed in their nests to provide
+food for their young. Stacked in great storage vaults these breathing,
+living, but paralyzed human beings are kept, and as needed, are taken
+out.</p>
+
+<p>“Already they have a supply on hand sufficient to last them for over a
+year. Some of the <i>Cyclops</i> company are still preserved; there are over
+three hundred from the <i>Chiriqui</i>, hundreds from other ships, and the
+entire crew of the <i>McCracken</i>.</p>
+
+<p>“All these things I learned little by little, and mainly through a
+friend, for marvelous as it may seem, I have a friend—if friend he can
+be called, a miserable, trembling, terrified male, who, doomed to death,
+sought to escape his fate and sought refuge with me, dreading my
+presence less than his doom, and hoping that such a feared and almost
+reverenced being as myself might protect him. For two months he has been
+my companion, but he cannot eat anything but meat and the supply of meat
+upon the ship is getting low, and sooner or later he must succumb. And
+the women, maddened at his escape from their clutches, though not yet
+daring to approach too closely to me, are getting bolder. Some time, at
+some unguarded moment, they will find the poor fellow alone and will
+fall upon him. And in his terror, in an effort to buy his life, he will,
+I know, reveal to them that I am but an ordinary mortal, a man who eats
+and drinks and who survived the gas by mechanical and not supernatural
+means. But I will not be taken alive by these fearful female cannibals.
+When the time comes, as I know it will, I will blow my brains out, and
+though they may devour my body they will not rend me alive. No more
+ships have been brought in here since the <i>McCracken</i> was captured. But
+this I know is due to the fact that all the energies of these creatures
+are being devoted to building additional air machines. This work goes on
+in a vast cavern beyond the city where tremendous forces, furnaces with
+heat beyond human conception and machines of which we know nothing, are
+controlled by the internal steam, the radiant energy and the magnetic
+powers of the earth’s core.</p>
+
+<p>“And now, again let me implore any and all who may hear my words to give
+close attention to what I say, for here again is a means by which
+humanity may combat and destroy these ghastly, gigantic cannibals. The
+spherical air-machines are helpless from above. Their magnetic or
+electrical forces extend only downwards. The gasses they throw out are
+heavier than air and descend but cannot ascend, and by means of swift
+planes, huge bombs and machine guns, the things can be easily destroyed.
+And they cannot travel without throwing off the dazzling green light.
+Only when motionless are they dark. And so they will offer easy marks
+and can be readily detected. So, I beseech you who may hear, that the
+governments are notified and warned and that a fleet or many fleets of
+airplanes properly equipped patrol the seas, and at first sight of one
+of the green meteors rise above it and utterly destroy it without mercy.</p>
+
+<p>“Wait! I hear a terrified scream.... I am back again at the transmitter.
+It was the fellow who has been with me. Poor devil! He has met his fate,
+but after all it was the custom of his people, and, moreover, he would
+have starved to death in a few days. For that matter I, too, face
+starvation. The ship’s stock is running low; all the food upon the
+<i>McCracken</i> was destroyed in cutting up that vessel, and unless another
+ship is captured I will have no food after two weeks more. What a
+strange thought! How terrible an idea! That the awful fate of hundreds
+of my fellows would be my salvation! But I will never live to die from
+hunger. I can hear the terrible screams of my late companion on the deck
+outside. God! It is the end! The fellow must have told the enraged
+females. His body has been torn to shreds. With bloody hands and reeking
+lips they are rushing towards the upper deck where I sit. They are here!
+This is my last word! God grant that I have been heard! I am about
+to⸺”</p>
+
+<p>Crashing in our ears came the report of a pistol.</p>
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<div style='font-size:0.9em;margin-top:1em;font-variant:small-caps;'>The End </div>
+</div>
+<hr class='fnm'>
+<table id='fnt1' class='fn'><tr><td class='fnn'><a
+href='#fn1'>1</a></td><td style='font-size:0.8em;'> The message as it
+came in, was halting, and interrupted, with many unintelligible words
+and repetitions, as if the sender were laboring under an intense strain
+or was an amateur. For the sake of clarity and continuity, the
+communication has been edited and filled in, but not altered in any
+detail.
+</td></tr></table>
+<table id='fnt2' class='fn'><tr><td class='fnn'><a
+href='#fn2'>2</a></td><td style='font-size:0.8em;'> The metropolitan
+papers reported the meteor on the eighteenth and stated it was observed
+by those on the <i>Chiriqui</i> on the evening of the seventeenth, but it
+must be remembered that the <i>Chiriqui</i> was in the western Pacific and
+hence had gained a day in time.
+</td></tr></table>
+<div class="tn">
+<p>Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the
+July 1927 issue of <i>Amazing Stories Magazine</i>.</p>
+</div>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOICE FROM THE INNER WORLD ***</div>
+</body>
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