Prisoners on the Electron
_By Robert H. Leitfred_
[Sidenote: Fate throws two young Earthians into desperate conflictwith the primeval monsters of an electron's savage jungles.]
_The gaping mouth jerked forward._]
The blood-red glow of a slanting sun bathed the towers of New York'sserrated skyline, then dropped into a molten sea beyond the winterhorizon. Friday, the last day of Jupiter, the thirteenth month of theearth's new calendar, had drawn to a close. In a few hours the year of1999 would end--at midnight, to be exact.
Far below the towers stretched well lighted canyons teeming withhumanity. At an upper level where once the elevated trains had roaredand rumbled in an antiquated period long past, an orderly mass ofworkers and shoppers was borne at an incredible speed from lowerManhattan to towering apartments that stretched northward toPeekskill. The northbound traffic was heaviest at this hour and themoving sidewalk bands were jammed to their capacity.
Street cars, now obsolete, had vanished from the streets under the neworder of things as had also passenger cars, taxis and trucks. Speedpredominated. Noise had practically been eliminated. Except for thegentle throb of giant motors far underground, the city was cloaked insilence.
At regular intervals along the four-speed moving bands that formed thetransportation of the great metropolis, huge circular shafts of steelmounted upward beyond the roofs of the tallest buildings. Within theseshafts, swift elevators carried passengers who lived in the outlyingdistricts to the level of the station platforms of the interstateoperating transport planes.
* * * * *
Close to the entrance of one of the steel shafts stood a young man alittle above medium height. His deep-sunken eyes were those of adreamer, a searcher. They were the eyes of a man who had seen strangeand startling things. At present they were staring into the pulsingwave of humanity flowing northward on the endless steel bands beyondthe platform.
Quite suddenly they lighted with pleasure as a man and a girl detachedthemselves from the swift moving river of people and hurried to thespot where he stood.
"Think we were never coming?" Karl Danzig's eyes were much like thoseof Aaron Carruthers. Just now they sparkled with suppressedexcitement.
Aaron Carruthers smiled in turn. "No, Karl. Any man but you. Icouldn't imagine you being late." He turned his attention to the slim,dark haired girl. "Nanette," he murmured, extending his hand, "Ididn't think you'd come."
Dazzling white teeth caught the glow of the blue-white incandescentsalong the platform, and became under the bow of her red lips a stringof priceless pearls.
"I had to come, Aaron. Karl has done nothing but talk of your amazingdiscovery. The experiment fairly frightens me at times especially whenI recall the sad fate of your friend, the missing Professor Dahlgren.I wish you boys would give up the idea--"
"Nan, be still," broke in Karl, with brotherly rudeness. Turning toCarruthers. "Everything all ready, Aaron?" he asked.
* * * * *
Carruthers nodded. "As far as humanly possible. The element of erroris always present. I've checked and re-checked my calculations. I'veaugmented the vacuum tubes by installing three super-dimensionalinverse power tubes." He clasped the girl's arm. "The street is noplace to talk. Let's go to the laboratory."
They crossed the moving bands by an overhead bridge and cut down anarrow canyon to the entrance of a crosstown series of bands. Theystepped onto the first band. The speed was moderate. From there theymoved over to the second. Carruthers was in a hurry. He guided thegirl and her brother across the third to the fourth band of movingsteel.
Buildings slid past them like wraiths in the electric light. They feltno winter chill, for the streets and platforms were heated by aconstant flow of warm air from slots ingeniously arranged in the bandof swift moving metal upon which they stood. Within a few minutes theyhad arrived at their destination. Quickly they reversed their pathacross the moving bands until they reached the disembarking platform.A short distance from the station they came to the entrance of a hugetower building.
Carruthers nodded to the doorman and they were admitted into a marblehallway. A silent, unattended lift bore them swiftly to theseventy-fifth floor. Down a deep carpeted hallway they moved.Carruthers touched his door. It opened. He stood to one side as theother two entered.
* * * * *
Nanette cried with delight at the luxurious splendor of the place."Why, Aaron, I never dreamed the night view could be quite sodelightful! I do believe that if the horrid government had not takendown that little Statue of Liberty and substituted the Shaft Triumphin its place, that I could easily see her fingers clasping the torchshe was reputed to hold.
"Progress, dear girl," shrugged Carruthers, holding out his hands forher cape. "By the way, have you folks eaten?"
"Not in a week," said Karl.
"Von Sternberger's food tablets," informed the girl.
Carruthers nodded. His deep-set eyes regarded them appraisingly. "Anyill effects?"
"None whatever," spoke Danzig. "Neither of us have the slightestcraving for food."
"Good. Did you bring any with you?"
"A whole carton."
"Then I guess we're already to make the experiment. You're sure.Nanette, that you're not afraid of...."
"Don't be silly, Aaron. I haven't grown up with Karl for nothing. He'salways used me for the disagreeable end of his crazy experiments. Andbesides," she smiled on both men. "I have a woman's curiosity for theunknown."
"Very well," said Carruthers gravely. From his waistcoat pocket hetook a ring of keys and inserted one of them into the lock of animmense steel door. "Our laboratory," he announced, swinging the doorwide.
* * * * *
Nanette's eyes opened wide at the paneled whiteness of the room. Mostof the far side was taken up with electrical machines, dynamos,generators and glass enclosed motors of an advanced type. Overhead,concealed lights made the room as light as day. A heavy glass railingshielded a square spot in the exact center of the room.
"What's that for?" asked the girl.
Danzig and Carruthers both regarded it with troubled eyes. It wasCarruthers who spoke.
"That railing marks the spot where Professor Dahlgren stood when therays of our atomic machine struck him."
"You mean," breathed the girl, "that he never moved from that spotafter the rays touched his body? What happened?"
Karl had already divested himself of his coat and was checking thecopper cables leading into a strange machine.
"It was rather curious," remarked Carruthers. "The moment the raytouched him his body began to dwindle. But evidently he suffered nopain. As a matter of fact his mind remained quite clear."
"How did you know?"
"As he dwindled in size," continued Carruthers, "he shouted warninglythat the rays had become confused and for us to cut the switch. Butthe warning came a fraction of a second too late. Even as my fingersopened the contact, his body dwindled to a mere speck and disappearedentirely from sight."
* * * * *
Nanette gazed with staring eyes at the ill-fated spot. Her face hadgrown steadily paler. "Oh, Aaron! It's awful! What do you supposehappened?"
Carruthers eyes glowed strangely. "I didn't exactly know at the time,Nanette. I'm not sure that I know even now. But I've got a theory andKarl has helped me to build a second machine to flash a restoring rayon the square spot. What will take place I cannot even conjecture."
"Let's get on with the experiment," interrupted Karl. "Nanette can beshown later what she is to do."
Carruthers turned to Danzig. "All right. Karl. Draw up a chair to yourmachine. And you, Nanette, sit close to this switch. It's off now. Toturn it on, simply push it forward until the copper plates slide intoeach other. To turn the current off, you pull sharply out. However, wearen't quite ready."
He shifted his position
until he stood before a third machineslightly smaller than the other two. His fingers clicked a switch. Thedial of the instrument glowed whitely.
"It's important," continued Carruthers, "that we first locate ourinterference. We have here, Nanette, a common television receivingapparatus capable of picking up news and pictures from any corner ofthe globe. Ready, Karl?"
Danzig clicked on the switch before his own machine and turned one ofthe many dials mounted on the panel in front of him. A faint humfilled the room as the generator settled to its task.
* * * * *
Carruthers reached up and dimmed the overhead lights. A screen of whatlooked like frosted glass set in the wall glowed luminously. Theinterior of a famous broadcasting studio became mirrored in the glassscreen. Into it stepped the master of ceremonies. He spoke briefly ofthe New Year's activities that would soon take place when thetwenty-eighth day of Jupiter ended at midnight.
"Boston," said Carruthers. "Too near."
"Try Frisco," suggested Karl. "The tubes ought to be sufficientlyheated by this time."
The dial whirled beneath Carruthers slender fingers. The picturesframed in the frosted panel faded. Another took its place. SanFrancisco--an afternoon concert. Carruthers saw and listened for amoment, then moved thousands of miles out to sea.
Shanghai drifted into the panel, announcing in sing-song accents theweather reports. Following this came reports of various uprisingsalong the Manchurian border.
While yet the three listeners and watchers bent their heads toward thepanel in the wall, a strange thing occurred. The silver frostiness ofthe screen became violently agitated with what looked like tiny sparksdarting in and about each other like miniature solar systems.Shanghai faded from the picture. All that remained visible now was thejumbled mass of needle-pointed sparks of luminosity.
"Careful," warned Carruthers. "Slow up the speed of your reflector,Karl. There, that's better. Watch the meter reading. I'm going to stepup the power of the dimensional tubes. Steady!"
* * * * *
From an invisible reproducer came a sharp, metallic crackling likemachine-gun bullets rattling on a tin roof. The sparks on the screenbecame violently agitated, pushing around in erratic circles andellipses. They glowed constantly in shades of bright green through theblues into the deep violets of the color scale.
"What do you read?" asked Carruthers.
"Point seven six nine," answered Karl.
"Shift it back towards the blue, about two points lower on the scale."
Danzig twisted two dials at the same time with minute exactness."Point seven six eleven," he intoned.
"Hold it," ordered Carruthers. "Blue should predominate." He turnedhis eyes on the dancing sparks on the screen. They glowed now a deepindigo blue. "Lock your dials against accidental turning. We're tunedto the vanishing point."
Danzig rose to his feet. "What will we use?"
Carruthers looked hastily around the room. "Most anything will do."His eyes rested on a glass test tube. Quickly he rose to his feet andremoved it from the wall rack. Then bending over the glass railingthat enclosed the mysterious square he placed it on the floor. Heturned now to the girl.
"Quiet, now, Nanette, and don't under any condition leave the chair.The path of the ray should pass within two feet of you, having a widemargin of safety. All right, Karl. Set the dials of the inversedimensional tubes at point seven six eleven, and switch the power tothe Roentgen tube."
Through the dimly lighted laboratory came a spurt of bluish flame thattwisted and squirmed with slow undulations around the cathodeelectrode.
"Fine," enthused Carruthers, "The cathode emanations coincide exactlywith the interference chart. Watch your meter gauges, Karl, while Iswitch to the atomic ray."
* * * * *
His fingers closed over a switch. The indigo points of flame bathingthe electrode gathered themselves into a ring and began to revolvearound an invisible nucleus located near the electrode. Carruthersstudied the revolving flame for a moment, then switched off thetelevision machine. It was no longer needed.
Carefully, for the atomic ray was still a mysterious force toCarruthers, he opened a small door in the panel and drew out thefocusing machine. It was shaped very much like a camera except thatthe lens protruded several inches beyond the machine proper.
With infinite patience he made the final adjustments and moved awayfrom the front of the lens. "Ready?"
Danzig nodded and threw on the full power of the inverse dimensionaltubes. A low clear hum filled the quiet room of the laboratory. Fromthe lens of the focusing machine shot a pale, amber beam. It struckthe glass test tube squarely in the center and glowed against itssmooth sides.
Carruthers reached across his own machine and turned the final switch.The amber beam emanating from the lens increased in intensity. And asit increased it took on a deep violet color.
Nanette cried out in muffled alarm. But even as Vincent raised hisvoice to quiet her fears the test tube suddenly shrunk to nothingnessand vanished into the ether.
"Aaron!" whispered the girl, awesomely. "It ... it's gone!"
Carruthers nodded. Beads of sweat stood out upon his forehead. Wouldthe returning ray work? He had made the test tube follow the sameroute as that taken by Professor Dahlgren. Both were gone. He clickedoff the switch and the beam faded.
* * * * *
With a deliberate calmness that in no way matched the inner tumultbrought on by the experiment, he turned the dials of the machine heand Danzig had worked out together. A second switch clicked under hisfingers. From the lense of the focusing machine shot the reverseatomic beam. As it struck the center of the square it turned a brightvermilion. For several seconds it played upon empty space, then themiracle unfolded before their eyes.
Something like a glass sliver reflected the beam. It grew and enlargedunder their startled eyes until it had achieved its former size, thenthe power that had brought it back switched itself off automatically.
Together both men examined the test tube. It appeared in no wayharmed, nor did it feel either warm or cold from its trip through theelements.
"It works!" marveled Danzig. "Let's try it again with somethinglarger."
"I've got a better idea," said Carruthers, rising to his feet. Hecrossed the laboratory and went to another part of his rooms.Presently he returned holding a small pink rat in his hands. Therodent was young, having been born only a week before. "Now we'll seewhat happens."
"Oh, it's torture to the poor thing," burst out Nanette.
"It won't hurt it," growled Karl. "Aaron knows what he's doing."
Carruthers placed the little rat in the center of the square. It laythere, very quiet and unblinking. Again the switches clicked as thecontacts were closed.
Came once more the beam of amber colored light followed closely by theviolet. The rat dwindled to the size of an insect, then disappearedinto space. The three watchers held their breaths. Carruthers' handtrembled the least bit as he threw on the switch controlling theanimal's return to the world.
* * * * *
A vermilion shaft of light pierced the semi-darkened rooms. The animalhad been gone from sight not more than a minute. Abruptly somethinggrayish white unfolded in the reflector's beam. It rapidly expandedunder three pairs of bulging eyes--not the small, pinkish rat that haddisappeared but sixty seconds previous, but a full grown rat, scarredand tailless as if from innumerable battles with other rats.
As the current clicked off Aaron Carruthers bent forward. Too late.The rat scurried from the laboratory with a squeal of alarm.Carruthers returned to his seat before the atomic machine and satdown. His face was worried. Dark thoughts stormed his reason. The rathe had placed within the atomic ray had aged nearly two years duringthe minute it was out of mortal sight. Two years!
He pulled a pad from his pocket and calculated the time that hadelapsed since Pro
fessor Dahlgren had vanished from that same spot.Nearly forty hours. That would mean....
Nanette stirred in her chair. "What happened to the little rat,Aaron?"
Carruthers, busy making calculations, did not hear the question.
She turned to her brother. "Karl, what's the meaning of this? Thesecond experiment didn't turn out like the first one. What became ofthat little rat?"
"I don't know what happened, Nan," spoke Karl. "Now don't bother mewith your silly questions. You saw the same thing I did."
* * * * *
Carruthers raised his head and spoke quietly. "That rat you sawmaterialize under the atomic rays was the same rat you saw me placewithin the square."
"But it couldn't be," protested the girl.
"Nevertheless," shrugged Carruthers. "It was the same animal--only ithad aged nearly two years during the brief time interval it was offfrom our planet."
"It's preposterous," cried the girl.
"Nothing is preposterous nowadays, Nanette."
"That's the woman of it," spoke Karl. "Always doubting."
"You boys are playing tricks on me," retorted the girl sharply. "Ishouldn't have come to your old laboratory. Just because I'm agirl...."
"Don't," pleaded Carruthers, looking up from his pad of figures."We're trying to solve the mystery underlying the forces which we havecreated." He replaced the test tube within the center of the squareand returned to the atomic machine.
Through the twilight shadows of the room glowed the strange new ray.Faintly the generator hummed. Lights sparkled and twisted around thecathode in serpentine swirls.
"You needn't trouble to explain your silly experiment again," finishedNanette, rising abruptly to her feet. "I'm going home and dress forthe New Year's party."
"Watch your switch like I asked you to," spoke Carruthers.
"Sit down," added Karl. "Don't put the rest of us in danger!"
"Oh-h-h!" gasped the girl as she inadvertently stepped squarely intothe atomic ray of amber-colored light.
* * * * *
Carruthers leaped impatiently to his feet. An inarticulate cry ofhorror froze upon his lips. Forgetful that he himself was directly inline of the atomic ray he lunged forward, his mind centering on asingle act--to drag the protesting and now thoroughly frightened girlout of the path of the penetrating ray.
But even as he started forward Nanette tripped over the glass railingaround the square. Carruthers moved quickly. Yet his movements wereslow and ungainly as compared to the speed of the light ray. He sawthe figure of Nanette decrease in size before his eyes, heard themuffled expression of alarm and fear in Danzig's voice; then the roomsuddenly began to extend itself upward with the speed of a meteor.
What once had been walls and bare furniture resolved themselves into arange of hills, then mountains. The twilight gloom of the room becamea dark void of empty space that seemed to rush past his ears like amoaning wind.
He had the sensation of falling through infinite space as if he hadbeen propelled from the world and hurled out into the vastness ofinterplanetary space. Something brushed against him--something softand fluttering. He grasped it like a drowning man would clutch astraw. "Nanette!"
The name echoed and re-echoed through his mind yet never seemed to getbeyond his tightly clenched lips. He felt something cool close overhis hand. Instinctively he grasped it. Her hand. Together they clungto each other as they felt themselves being hurled through endlessspace.
The twilight changed swiftly to black night that rushed past the twoclinging figures and enveloped them in a wall of silence. Then out ofthe mysterious fastness came the dull glow of what looked like adistant planet. It grew and enlarged till it reached the size of asilver dollar. Little pin-points of light soon began to appear on allsides of it, very much like stars.
* * * * *
Carruthers attempted to reassure Nanette that all was well, and theywere out on the streets of the great metropolis. But even as hewrenched his tightly locked lips apart he saw that the shining discfar out into space was not what he had first thought it was--theearth's moon.
He shook his head to clear it of the perplexing cobwebs. What was thematter with his mind? He couldn't think or reason. All he knew wasthat he had erred. This strange planet looming in the sky heldnothing familiar in markings nor in respect to its relations to thestars beyond it.
While yet he groped in the darkness for something tangible, his mindreverted to the girl at his side. She was clinging to him like afrightened child. He could feel the pressure of her body against hisand it thrilled him immeasurably. No longer was he the cold,calculating young man of science.
How long they remained in state of suspension while strange worlds andplanets flashed into a new sky before their startled eyes, AaronCarruthers didn't know. At times it seemed like hours, years, ages.And when he thought of the tender nearness of the girl he held sotightly within his arms, it seemed like a few minutes.
Gradually the sensation of speed and space falling began to wear off,as if they were nearing earth or some solid substance once more. Theair about them grew heavier. Then all movement through space ceased.
Carruthers was surprised to find what felt like earth beneath hisfeet. For long minutes he stood there, unmoving, still holdingpossessively to the girl.
"Aaron!" The name came out of the void like a faint caress.
"Nanette."
Reassured of each other's presence they stood perfectly still, lost inthe vast silence of their isolation.
* * * * *
Presently the girl spoke. "Oh, Aaron, I'm frightened!"
"There's nothing to be alarmed at, dearest." The endearing term camefor the first time from the man's lips. As long as he had knownNanette Danzig, love had never been mentioned between them. If it hadever existed, the feeling had not been expressed.
"You shouldn't call me that, Aaron."
His voice sounded curiously far-off when he answered. "I couldn't helpit, Nan. Our nearness, the strange darkness, and the fact that we arealone together brought strange emotions to my heart. At this momentyou are the dearest--"
Bump, thump! Bump, thump!
"What's that noise?" breathed Nanette.
Carruthers turned his head to listen. To his ears came the pound ofsome heavy object striking the ground at well-regulated intervals.
Nanette, who had started to free herself from Carruthers violentembrace, suddenly ceased to struggle. "Oh, what is it? What is it?"she whispered fearfully.
Carruthers sniffed the night air. A musky odor assailed his nostrils,strange and unfamiliar. "It's beyond me, Nanette. Let's move away fromthis spot. Perhaps we can find shelter for the rest of the night."
But the Stygian blackness successfully hid any form of shelter. Tiredfrom their search they sat down.
"We might build a fire," suggested Carruthers, "only there doesn'tseem to be any wood around. Nothing but bare rock."
"Perhaps it's just as well," spoke the girl. "The flames might attractprowlers."
"Maybe you're right," agreed Carruthers.
* * * * *
A silence fell between them. After a long time Nanette spoke.
"I don't suppose, Aaron, that anything I can do or say will helpmatters any. I know that our being where we are is my own fault. I'msorry. Truly I am."
"The harm is done," said Carruthers. "Don't say anything more aboutit."
Nanette pointed at the disc of light shining high in the heavens."These stars are as strange to me, Aaron, as if I had never seen thembefore. Saturn is the evening star at this time of year. It isn'tvisible. Even the familiar craters and mountains of the moon lookdifferent. And it glows strangely."
"I'd rather not talk about it, Nan."
Nanette placed a hand upon his arm. "I'm not a child, Aaron. I'm agrown woman. Fear comes through not knowing. Tell me the truth."
; "Let's sit down."
They sat upon the ground and both stared out at the night heavens thatarched into infinity above them. Presently Carruthers took the girl'shand from his arm and held it gently between his own. "You've guessedrightly, Nan. The orb shining upon us is not our moon. I'll try andmake it clear."
* * * * *
The girl smiled reassuringly in the darkness. "I'm waiting."
"Strange as it must seem," began Carruthers, "you and I are stillwithin the room of my laboratory. But we might as well be a millionmiles away for all the good it does us. Karl sits in his chair in thesame position as when we disappeared in the violet glow of the atomicray. His eyes are bulging with fear and horror. For days and dayshe'll continue to sit on that chair, his mind not yet attuned to whatactually took place. What has happened? He doesn't know yet, Nan."
"Oh, it's incredible," sobbed Nanette.
"I know, but it's so obviously true that I won't even trouble to checkmy calculations." He pointed at the silver disc hanging low in thestrange sky. "That, Nan, is not our moon. It is nothing more than aplanetary electron very much like the one we are on at the presentmoment. The firmament is filled with them. From where we sit we cansee but the half nearest to us. The glowing portion is illuminatedfrom distant light rays shot off from the nucleus of the atom itself.That atom is going to be our light and heat for weeks, months, perhapsyears to come. We're prisoners on an electron, and as such we aredestined to rush through infinite space for the remainder of our livesunless...."
"Unless what?"
Aaron Carruthers hesitated for a bare fraction of a second. "Karl!" hewhispered. "Our lives depend on him. Time flies fast for us, Nan.Already it is growing light. But not on our earth. Karl still sitsupon his chair staring incredulously at the miracle of ourdisappearing bodies. It will take weeks of time, as it affects us, forthe initial shock to travel along his nerves to the center of hisbrain."
* * * * *
His voice shook with emotion quite contrary to his usual calm nature."Oh, I know it's hard to understand, Nan. I was a fool to meddle withlaws of which I know so little compared to what there is yet to know."
"Then it's all true, Aaron. The little rat that came out from underthe ray as an old rat was one and the same animal."
Carruthers nodded. "Time has changed in proportion to our size. We'removing so much faster than the earth that we must of necessity bebound to the universe of which we are now an integral part."
For a long time they remained silent, each immersed in dark, troubledthoughts. Nanette broke the silence.
"You don't suppose, Aaron, by any chance that Professor Dahlgren isstill alive and on our planet?"
Carruthers shook his head negatively. "It's beyond human reason, Nan.He was lost in the ray for over forty hours. Translated into minuteshe's been gone twenty-four hundred minutes. Since the mouse we placedwithin the light ray aged approximately two years in the space of oneminute, Professor Dahlgren would, if he were alive, be about fourthousand, eight hundred years old."
Nanette rose abruptly to her feet. "Oh bother the figures. My head'sswimming with them. It's getting light now, and I'm hungry."
"Eat one of your food tablets," suggested Carruthers.
"Please don't get funny," said Nanette. "Karl has them in his coatpocket."
"Hum-m-m!" coughed Carruthers, following her example by rising to hisfeet. "Looks as though we'd have to rustle our food. I've got nothingon my person but a knife, a pencil, a fountain pen and some pieces ofpaper. Nothing very promising in any of them."
* * * * *
At that moment the sky became fused with reddish light. Over thehorizon appeared a shining orb. Far-away hills and valleys leaped intosight. Then for the first time Carruthers noted the high plateau uponwhich he had spent the night. Had they ventured a hundred yardsfarther during the night they would have plunged into the rocky floorof a canyon a thousand feet below.
"Let's see if we can find a way down to the valley," he suggested. "Ifwe get anything to eat it will have to come from trees. This plateauis barren of any form of vegetable matter."
They found a winding descent leading downward. It looked like a paththat had been worn by the passage of many feet.
"Someone's been here before us," he exclaimed. "The ground is too wellworn to be accidental."
"Look! Look!" pointed Nanette. Her face had become pale from theexcitement of her discovery. "What is it, Aaron?"
Carruthers bent forward to examine the strange footprint. It wasnearly two feet across and divided in the center, as if the animalthat made it had but two toes.
"From the size of the tracks and the length of the animal's stride, Ishould say it was some form of an amphibious dinosaur long extinct inour own world."
"Are they dangerous?"
"It all depends upon the species. Some of them are pure vegetarians;others are carnivorous. The heavy tramping we heard during the nightevidently came from the beast who left these footprints."
* * * * *
They had come upon the footprints where the path made a turn, leadinginto a dense growth of trees and underbrush. And as Carruthers kneltbeside the path he heard a rustle as of something moving directlybehind him. Wonderingly, he turned his head to trace the disturbance.But the woods seemed empty. "Strange," he murmured. "Did you hearsomething moving in back of us, Nan?"
Nan shook her head. "You don't think we're in any danger from thesebeasts, do you?"
Carruthers said nothing for the moment. Instead, he looked sharply inall directions and saw nothing. "Let's push on till we come to somekind of a shelter. Perhaps we'll find people much like ourselves."
Down the path they hurried, glancing curiously right and left atunknown flowers and trees. A bird with brilliant feathers skimmedabove their heads, uttering shrill cries. Other voices from the birdsand animals in the woods took up the cry. The woods grew denser asthey pushed into the unknown.
In the woods at their right a rodent squeaked as some larger animalpounced upon it. Presently they came to a pool of water roughlyseventy feet across. While they knelt to quench their thirst they sawtwo young deer eyeing them from the far side. Soft feet patteredbehind the kneeling couple. Carruthers half whirled as he rose to hisfeet and peered into the jungle behind him.
A blur of reddish brown vanished behind a tree. Man or animalCarruthers couldn't determine. He grasped Nanette by the arm andpulled her back to the path.
"Quick!" he whispered. "There's someone or something following us. I'msure of it now."
* * * * *
Nanette's voice trembled slightly. "What is it, Aaron?"
"I don't know." He turned his head again. This time he saw the thingthat was following. A low ejaculation of alarm escaped his lips. Agigantic ape! The mouth of the creature sagged grotesquely, revealingtwo rows of yellow fangs. And its orange colored eyes were burningcoals set close together. Carruthers sucked in a deep breath.
"Run, Nan," he gritted. "I'll try and scare him away."
Simultaneously with the scream of fright from the startled girl, ahuge mountain of grayish flesh and bones blocked the downward slope ofthe path. Carruthers paled as he turned and faced the new menace.
Coming directly toward them he saw an immense animal so great in sizethat it seemed to shut out the light. A prehistoric dinosaur! It cameslowly and leisurely, swinging its great red mouth from side to side.Other denizens in the woods, sensing the presence of the huge killer,fled in a panic of alarm. Their shrill cries increased the terror thatfroze the hearts of the two earth people.
Nanette clung to her companion in abject terror, unable to move. Herfear stricken eyes were wild and staring as the mountain of fleshpushed towards them.
The animal's long neck arched far in front of its body, and its long,pointed tail remained out of sight within the trees.
Carruthers backed off the path
into the underbrush, dragging the girlafter him. The jaws of the huge animal opened wide with anticipation.Lumberingly he turned from the path and followed. Trees crashed beforeits gigantic bulk. The woods became a bedlam of snapping branches.
The horrified scream of the girl ended in a gurgling sigh. She toppledto the ground in a dead faint. Carruthers flung himself beside hercrumpled body and gathered it into his arms. A quick glance he threwat the spot where he had last seen the gigantic ape. The animal was nolonger there. It had disappeared.
The man's lips became a hard, straight line. Even as he straightenedto his feet the leaves and branches of an overturned tree whipped hisface. The red mouthed dinosaur was perilously near. So close thatCarruthers could smell its great, glistening body. The odor was muskyand foul.
Stumbling blindly he attempted to widen the distance between himselfand his pursuer. But the hungry dinosaur pounded steadily on itscourse. There was no getting away from it. Its beady eyes sought outits prey and its keen smell told it exactly where the earth beingswere.
On and on staggered Carruthers. The extra burden of the girl hamperedhis movements. Unseen roots tripped him time and time again. Each timehe scrambled to his feet and picked up the unconscious girl. Briarstore at his clothing and stung his hands.
The underbrush was thickening. A warm, dank smell clung to thevegetation now almost tropical in nature. Beads of sweat rolled downthe man's forehead and into his eyes. But the horrible fear of thosered, dripping jaws spurred him to renewed efforts.
He doubled to the left, hoping to throw the animal off his tracks. Theundergrowth seemed to thin out at this point. Renewed hope flowedthrough the young scientist's blood. He stumbled on blindly, scarcewatching where his feet were taking him. A sigh of relief came to hislips. Ahead of him he saw a clearing. His stride lengthened and hebroke into a shambling run.
* * * * *
Then it was he saw, towering walls rising up on both sides ofhim--steep walls that he could never scale, even if alone. He tried tochange his course, but the huge bulk of the pursuing dinosaureffectively blocked his path. There was no alternative but to push onand pray for an opening in the rugged cliffs.
Abruptly a sigh of despair escaped his lips. The walls of the canyonnarrowed suddenly, and across it stretched a wall of bare rock. Herealized too late that he had returned to the base of the plateauwhere he had spent the night. The grim, towering walls hemmed him incompletely from three sides. At the fourth side bulked the dinosaur,coming slowly, ponderously.
Beady eyes peered down cunningly at the helpless man and woman.Confident now that its prey couldn't escape, it extended its huge bulkacross the narrow canyon for a leisurely killing.
Carruthers glared at the monster with fear-distended eyes. In hisheart he realized that there was no escape. He had no means ofdefense, no way to combat the huge monster but flight. And even thatwas now denied him.
Closer and closer inched the killer until its great, red mouthappeared like the fire box of a huge boiler. Hot breath fanned theman's cheek. The nauseous odor of the beast made his stomach wrench.He dropped to his knees close to the inert figure of the girl andglared vengefully into the beady eyes.
The gaping mouth at the end of a long, supple neck jerked forward.Carruthers dragged the girl away just in time to escape the gnashingteeth. The dinosaur stamped angrily.
Once again Carruthers felt its hot breath beating upon his face. Hecringed at the thought of this kind of death. No one would ever knowhow it happened. Not even his closest friend, Karl Danzig! What a messthings were. Why didn't the red mouth of the mighty dinosaur closeover him and crush out life? Why must he kneel in torture?
From near at hand a piercing scream rang through the air. A harshscream. A terrifying scream!
* * * * *
Carruthers raised his head. The dinosaur had twisted around to glarehatefully at the disturber of its meal. Other screams splintered theforest air. And as the kneeling man watched he saw the great red apewho had been dodging his footsteps a short time before, slouch betweenthe dinosaur's hulking body and the wall of the cliff. Behind it cameothers--black mammals with curving arms that dragged along the ground.
Their fangs were bared. They were in an ugly mood. Arriving in frontof the dinosaur and less than four feet from the earth man and woman,the leader silenced its followers with a low growl and turned inconcentrated fury upon the dinosaur. Its long arms drummed a throbbingtattoo upon its hairy chest.
The dinosaur bellowed protestingly against the attitude of the apesand gorillas. The ape leader protested with equal violence. Thedinosaur shifted uneasily, wagging its heavy head from side to side.On all sides came deep growls from the mammals.
Carruthers watched all this display torn between doubt and fear. Whichside would win? How could the apes and gorillas, huge as they were,hope to force the dinosaur away? But the apes were masters. This muchwas apparent. Inch by inch the dinosaur backed away, glaringvengefully. And having reached a spot where it could turn around itdid so. Presently the ground trembled as it made off through thesteaming jungle. The leader of the mammals turned and faced the earthpeople. Long, searching minutes passed. Its close set eyes seemed tobe studying them.
* * * * *
Nanette stirred and opened her eyes. The sight of the anthropoidscaused her to recoil.
"Steady, Nan," spoke Carruthers softly.
Other apes and gorillas gathered around the giant red animal. Theydisplayed no hostility, only an intense interest. One by one theysquatted before the earth people until they formed a half circle,reaching from the one wall of the rocky plateau to the other.
While they sat there it began to grow dark. Carruthers removed hiswatch and ventured a glance at it. Daylight had lasted less then threehours. An hour for twilight, then it would be dark. Evidently thecycle around the nucleus of the atom took approximately ten hours.
Nanette sat up. "Aaron!"
He answered without removing his eyes from the red ape less then fourfeet away. "Don't look at me, Nan. Concentrate on the big, red fellow.He's evidently in control. If we act the least bit frightened theymight decide to destroy us."
"What are they waiting for? Why don't they go away?"
"We'll know before long. I imagine they're trying to figure out who weare and what we are doing on their tiny planet."
Darkness descended rapidly. Overhead, a small moon rose majesticallyin the heavens and started its journey through the night. Its faintlight revealed the fact that the apes showed no intentions of leaving.They still squatted before the earth people, in a half circle ofstaring brown eyes.
Whatever fear Carruthers had felt towards the animals died away."They're harmless," he told Nanette. "Get some sleep if you can."
* * * * *
Long after the tired girl had drifted into slumber Carruthers sat withhis back against the wall, mentally trying to figure the whole thingout. The dinosaur was real enough. Yet the apemen had frightened itaway, in fact had compelled it to go without actually engaging incombat. No question about it. The anthropoids were in control. But whocontrolled them?
Quite suddenly his eyes snapped open. Daylight had come again. He musthave fallen asleep. The shrill chatter of the apeman came to his ears.The red ape leader shuffled to his feet and looked from the earthpeople to the spot in the jungle whence came the chatter. Abruptly heopened his mouth and emitted a flood of gibberish sounds.
The gorillas and apes at his side flattened their bodies against therocky walls in attitudes of expectant waiting.
"What's happening?" gasped the girl.
"There's no telling," whispered Aaron. "It must be someone orsomething of importance. Note the expressions of awe and reverence onthe faces of the apemen. My God, Nanette, look!"
Out of the depths of the jungle emerged seven white beings--human oranimal it was impossible to tell. They were huge creatures with thebodies of men.
Erect of carriage, almost human in looks, theycontrasted strangely with the red apes and the black gorillas. Six ofthem appeared to act as bodyguard for the seventh.
As they reached the space in front of the two earth people, thebodyguard stepped aside. The seventh white one came to a dead stop.Long and intently he stared at the man and girl crouched against thewall. And the scrutiny seemed to please him, for he smiled.
Carruthers eyed the figure uneasily. He saw what seemed to be a mandressed in a long, fibrous garment. With white hair and beard, it wasa strange figure indeed for an apeman. He saw also that the eyes werewell spaced, a mark of intelligence. The forehead was high and broad.And as Carruthers mentally studied the creature, strange and bizarrethoughts crossed his mind.
* * * * *
The mouth of the white apeman twitched as if he were going to speak.The heavy lips parted. A single word came to Carruthers' ear--"Man?"
Carruthers nodded. "We are from the earth."
The lips of the apeman moved painfully as if speech came with theutmost of difficulty. "The prophecy of the Great One has beenfulfilled even as it has been written."
The red apes and black gorillas allowed their eyes to wander fromtheir white leader to the two earth people. And their faces reflectedthe supernatural awe with which they regarded the earth people.
"It's uncanny that an animal can speak our language," breathedNanette.
As if he hadn't heard her, Carruthers spoke again. "We are from theearth," he repeated. "We have been on your world many hours, and weare both hungry and thirsty."
"Words come hard," came from the lips of the white bearded one. "Ihave not used them for years."
"And who are you?" asked Carruthers.
The white bearded one paused as if to recall some distant echo fromthe past. "I am the last of the tribe of Esau. But come! This is noplace for speech. Long have I and my followers waited for this hour."
* * * * *
Without another word he swung around. The six guards enclosed his agedbody in a hollow square and the procession moved away. They came aftera short journey to a natural opening leading to the heart of theplateau. The apes and gorillas, with the exception of the red leader,remained outside. The remainder of the party pushed through a tortuoustunnel until they reached a cavernous opening directly beneath theplateau. Vertical openings in the walls furnished light and air. Thewhite chieftain spoke in a strange tongue to his followers, and theyinstantly prepared three couches in a far corner of the cavern.
As the earth people seated themselves on the skins that made up thecouch they were both conscious of a far-away rumbling like peals ofthunder. Not having seen any signs of a storm outside Carruthersturned inquiringly on the aged chieftain.
The old man's eyes were shadowed with grim foreboding. "I have orderedsomething to refresh you and your companion," he said. "Eat first, myfriends. We will talk later."
The six body-guards left the main cavern. Presently they returned withlarge trays made of fanlike leaves resembling the palmetto. Freshfruits and uncooked vegetables formed the bulk of the meal. In silencethey ate. After the litter had been cleared away the guards withdrewwith the exception of the giant red ape, who crouched near the openingto the tunnel.
"I am glad you have come," began the old chieftain, "but sorry, too.Our planet, or rather the higher forms of life upon it, are doomed."
* * * * *
Again there came to the ears of the earth people that far-off beat ofsound that seemed to shake the ground. They looked to the whitebearded leader for explanation.
"Ah, you hear it too," murmured the other. "For centuries, we of thegreat tribe of Esau have fought for the supremacy of our littleworld--ever since the Great One appeared in our midst and instructedus in world knowledge."
"And this Great One, as you call him," spoke Carruthers. "Who was he?"
"He was from your world. I never saw him. He comes to me as a legend.For years he toiled among us, teaching and instructing until wemastered his language. He called himself Dahlgren. Later he ruled allthe tribes. We of the Esau line he made into leaders because of ourhigher intelligence. The tribes of Zaku were trained for war. Perhapsyou have noticed the chief of all the Zakus. He is crouching nowbeside the entrance to our inner walls. He is Marbo, and his followerslive in the jungles."
"And does he talk as you do?"
The white chieftain shook his head. "No. Only we of the Esau tribehave mastered speech. Not counting the women of our tribe thatcomprise our numbers we are only seven in all."
"I owe Marbo my life as does also my companion," said Carruthers.
"Marbo looks upon you earth people as gods," spoke the old chieftain."He and his followers will protect you with their lives."
"And who rules over and beyond?" questioned Carruthers, waving his armto cover the remaining portion of the electron.
"There is no rule beyond except that of force. The Great One calledthem by name, Morosaurus, Diplodocus, the Horned Ceratosaurus, andmany others whose names I have long forgotten. They are our enemieswhom we cannot destroy. And their numbers increase from year to yearand are slowly backing us upon our last stronghold."
"Isn't there anything we can do?" asked Carruthers, feeling a quiverof apprehension along his spine.
* * * * *
Slowly, the old chieftain shook his head. "Nothing whatever. Marbo andhis followers can control one or two, but when the herds begin to pushon into our territory, we are doomed. Even now their rumblings andbellowings come through the jungles. Their thirst and hunger for fleshis enormous."
Carruthers turned upon the girl. "The old chief's words explaineverything, Nan. Professor Dahlgren has been here and gone. He lived alifetime in the span of a few hours earth-time. Now it looks as if wewere destined to follow in his footsteps."
"I'm not afraid," said the girl. "Nothing can be worse than what wehave already passed through." And her eyes softened as she placed hersmall hands within those of Carruthers. "We have each other, Aaron."
He smiled reassuringly and turned to the old chieftain. "I amCarruthers, a friend and assistant to Dahlgren. The girl here isNanette."
The chieftain smiled gravely. "And I am Zark. Welcome to my kingdom,Carruthers and Nanette. We need you here. Now tell me of your world,for long have I waited for a follower of the great Dahlgren to appearbefore my people."
Throughout the remainder of the day Carruthers talked. The shafts oflight paled at the end of the short day. Night came, bringing with ita sense of security against the increasing hordes that thundered andtrumpeted beyond the borders of the jungle.
In the morning Zark instructed Marbo to remain close to Carruthers atall times. So the young scientist left the cavern and ascended thepath leading to the top of the plateau. He looked at his watch andcompared the second hand with the nucleus atom sailing across theheavens to estimate its speed.
* * * * *
Days passed as he made his observations. Meanwhile he had searched andfound the exact spot wherein he and Nanette had first stepped footonto the electron. This spot he carefully marked off with a ring ofhuge boulders carried up by the followers of Marbo. Then he began tocalculate upon his pad. There must be no mistakes. He and Nanette mustbe within the magic circle at the estimated time.
Between times he helped Nanette construct their living quarters in thecavern. Zark had furnished them with skins and furs with which tocover the walls. Carruthers made a fireplace of stones and restoredthe lost art of fire to Zark, Marbo and their followers.
Days slipped by like minutes. Short days filled with excursions intothe jungles. Carruthers' face soon bristled with a stubble of beard.This lengthened with time. Sharp thorns tore their clothes to ribbons.Nanette, womanlike, cried many times during the nights because of thelack of a mirror and a comb for her untidy hair.
But other and more important events soon cla
imed the attention of theearth people. Day by day the herds of dinosaurs and other monsters oflike breed edged closer and closer to the tiny civilization around theplateau. It worried Carruthers so much that he sought out Zark and hadhim bring the other six members of his tribe together for a council ofwar.
"A complete defensive system, Zark," he told them. "We must make afortress of the plateau and fill the caverns with food."
* * * * *
Zark shook his head. "No. It is quite useless. Followers of Marbo haverecently returned from over the beyond and report strange things. Ihave hesitated to speak of them for fear of alarming you. Our planetis breaking up. Violent eruptions have caused fires of stone and mud.The rumblings you have heard were not made entirely by our enemies.They came from the ground.
"An earthquake," murmured Carruthers, momentarily stunned by the news."But they are always of short duration, Zark. We have them on our ownplanet."
"Ah, but these are different. They cover the whole of our globe. Thegreat Dahlgren noted them while he was with us. He wrote many wordsand figures on paper concerning them. Only yesterday I unearthed theserecords. The life of our planet was doomed to destruction during thepresent year. What matter if the herds of dinosaurs overrun us anddestroy lives? In the end they, too, will be destroyed. It is fate. Wecan do nothing."
Even as the old chieftain spoke a gigantic rumbling, greater inintensity than any heretofore, shook the electron. Above the deeprolling disturbance underground rose the shrill cries of the apemen.
Carruthers leaped to his feet and raced through the tunnel. A herd ofdinosaurs choked the path leading to the outside entrance. Marbobrushed past him, shrilling in great excitement.
"Drive them away!" ordered Carruthers. "Like this!" He hurled a rockat the eye of the nearest animal.
The dinosaur bellowed and backed away. The apes, and gorillas, used tofighting only with their long arms, caught on to the stunt withsurprising quickness. Their powerful arms reached out. Stones andboulders began to hurtle from the mouth of the tunnel. They thuddedagainst the heads of the great monsters like hailstones.
Subdued and frightened by this sudden display of force, the monsterswithdrew down the path. But the apemen had discovered a new method ofwarfare. They found a childish delight in hurling stones. Within a fewminutes the slope was barren of rocks. The animals followed up theirmomentary advantage and ran screaming down the path. The dinosaursfled in panic.
* * * * *
AS soon as the enemy had been driven away, Carruthers pointed out toMarbo the advantage of gathering the stones up from the ground andreturning them to the space around the mouth of the tunnel so that heand his followers would be ready for a second repulse.
Zark appeared at this moment and helped with the explanation. Hiscrafty old eyes turned with new respect upon the earthman.
Carruthers toiled with them every day from then on, building andfortifying the plateau against further incursions of the monsters.Security and peace reigned for several weeks then hostilities brokeout afresh.
The rumblings of the electron had increased with each passing week.Volcanic eruptions poured fresh discharges of molten lava and fierysparks along the edges of the jungles.
"I don't want to needlessly alarm you, Nan," he told her that night,"but the fires have started. Zark was right. Unless we have rainbefore to-morrow morning the heat and smoke will drive us out intothe open."
"But we can go to the top of the plateau," suggested the girl. "Therearen't any trees--"
A concentrated bellowing cut off the rest of her words. Driven towardshigher ground by the heat of the flames, the dinosaurs were tramplingup the path leading to the tunnel.
Once again Carruthers rallied his army of apemen around him andattempted to drive the mammals away. As they reached the end of thetunnel a cloud of dense smoke stung their eyes. The apemen shrilled ina sudden panic and forgot all their previous training in driving offthe dinosaurs. Like scurrying rats they scattered.
* * * * *
Flames from the conflagration broke through the smoke--flames thatleaped and twisted skyward.
Carruthers flung off the fear that held him spellbound and startedalong up the path leading to the top of the plateau. A disheveledfigure appeared suddenly at his side--Nanette!
"Come," he whispered, hoarsely. "We've got to get out of this or we'llchoke to death."
"But Zark," breathed the girl, "He and his followers are still in thecavern. We can't leave them."
Like one demented of reason, Carruthers raced back along the tunnel tothe cavern. "Zark!" he shouted.
The sound of his voice was drowned in the welter of screaming bedlamcoming up from below as the dinosaurs and apes fought for thesupremacy of life. But of Zark and his six followers he foundabsolutely no sign. Quickly he hurried back to where he had leftNanette.
Even as he reached the spot he had a sudden premonition of danger. Agorilla, huge and black, brushed past him on the path, carrying a limpburden under his shaggy arm.
"Stop!" commanded Carruthers, hurrying after the animal.
A huge arm knocked him sprawling. Spitting blood Carruthers staggeredto his feet. Up to this time he had felt no fear of the gorillas. Theyhad been orderly and well behaved. Fearful that harm would come to thegirl he ran after the dark figure ahead. The red glow of flames sweptnearer. The gorilla came to a stop and faced its pursuer. Lust shonefrom its close-set eyes--lust and passion.
Carruthers stopped dead in his tracks. "Drop her!" he demanded.
The animal snarled hoarsely. There came the sound of ripping cloth.Nanette screamed--a terrifying scream that echoed and re-echoedthrough the electron night.
* * * * *
It was then that the thin cloak of civilization dropped from AaronCarruthers' back. He became in a single moment an animal fighting forhis mate. With a snarl equally vicious as that of the gorilla pawingat the helpless girl, he lunged forward.
Mouthing his rage, the gorilla flung the earth man to the ground.Carruthers came up frothing at the mouth. With grim intensity hefastened himself to the animal's free arm. The raging mammal staggeredhelplessly under the extra burden and dropped the girl to concentratehis fury on the man. It raised a hairy arm aloft for the smashingblow. Instinctively Carruthers released his hold.
At that very moment the electron lurched sickeningly, causing themboth to lose their footing. The violent upheaval sent Carruthers oneway and the gorilla the other. While the man stumbled to his feet toresume battle he saw the infuriated monster stagger over the edge ofthe plateau wall into a sheer drop of a thousand feet.
Starkly through the night came the growling roars of the giant beastsfrom the jungles below. Nanette fluttered to his side. Her dress wastorn and dragged on the ground. For all her disheveled appearance shewas still beautiful to look upon. Forgetful of the danger on all sidesof him, the animal in Carruthers saw in her pitifully half-clad bodythe same thing that the beast had desired. His head whirled hotly.
"Aaron!" she pleaded as his arm reached out to clutch her.
Hungrily he drew her to him. The pale light of the electron moonmingled with the roaring blast of the flames. Madness inflamed hisheart and pounded his blood.
"Don't, Aaron," protested the girl, trying to free herself.
* * * * *
Something in the quality of the girl's frightened tones brought theman back to normal. He fought against the overwhelming desire topossess with all the force of his nature. And the better halftriumphed. No longer was he an animal, but a reasoning human being.With a faint sigh he released her and wiped a hand across his drippingforehead.
"I'm sorry, Nan," he murmured. "That great brute drove me mad for aninstant. I'm all right now."
Together they stood in the electron night and watched death creepcloser and closer. The plateau was entirely surrounded with flames nowand the heat was inc
reasing with each passing moment. As it increasedthey backed towards the center.
From under their feet came the choking cries of the apemen. They hadreturned to the cavern only to be overcome by smoke fumes. While yetthe earth people stood there waiting and watching the red death creepnearer, the path leading downward into the jungle became a mass ofmoving shadows.
"The dinosaurs!" cried Nanette. "Oh, Aaron! We are lost!"
"Steady, girl," soothed the man. "If we stand still they might not seeus in the dark. The smoke will destroy our scent."
But as the minutes passed the herd of monsters increased. They crowdedalong the path and spread out over the top of the plateau. Once againthe smell of their glistening bodies fouled the nostrils of the earthpeople.
Slowly Carruthers guided Nanette back towards the ring ofrocks--perhaps the barrier would serve to keep the animals away. Hescrambled across one of the boulders and pulled the girl after him. Ashe did so, a violent subterranean action shook the electron from oneend to the other.
* * * * *
Carruthers braced his feet against the ring of rocks to keep frompitching headlong to the ground. Nanette clung to him wordlessly. Allaround them the giant forces of nature raged sullenly. Twisting seamsappeared in the rocky floor of the plateau from which oozed gaseousvapors.
"Courage," soothed Carruthers as he held the quivering body of thefrightened girl close to his own. "This can't last."
But the ground continued to lurch and heave on its axis. Vivid lightscrossed and criss-crossed the atomic heavens. The fissures in theground appeared now as black canals. The lower part of the circle ofboulders disappeared. Off to the right came despairing screams. Whitebodies glowed for an instant against the background of flames.
"Zark!" shouted Carruthers, as he saw the leader of the tribe of Esauand his followers making their way along the plateau top.
Zark must have heard the earth-man's voice, for he started forward ata run. Simultaneously there appeared a herd of the greatest of all theprehistoric monsters--the Brontosaurus. They balked enormously againstthe flame-licked skies. Zark and his followers attempted to avoidthem. But fear of the scorching flames drove the monsters forward.There followed a maddening moment of unutterable pain for theremaining ones of the tribe of Esau, then the herd trampled themunderfoot and rumbled towards the half circle of rocks where the twoearth people were crouched.
The leader of the Brontosaurus herd trumpeted madly and barged for thehigher ground of safety. Too late did instinct warn it of the wideningfissure underfoot. Before it could stop the pressure of the herd droveit into the crevice.
* * * * *
Carruthers drew back to the extreme inside edge of the boulders tryingto still his ears against their insane bellowings. A cloud of heavy,choking smoke enveloped him for a moment then passed away. Then it wasthat he saw a new star in the atomic heavens,--a star that seemed toburn with the brilliance of a meteor. Even as he watched he wasconscious of it drawing closer.
The planet was now in a continuous uproar. The ground was heaving andtrembling as if from some inward strain. This was the end. Carruthersrealized it with a sinking heart. In another minute the electron woulddisintegrate into a flaming mass of matter and fling itself from itsorbit around the atom.
And then the light from the approaching star struck them in a blindingradiance of vermilion flames. Carruthers held his breath. Someinvisible force seemed to take possession of his body and that of thegirl at his side. The rocky plateau, now a boiling mass of rocks,dropped from under their feet. Clear, cold air enveloped their bodies.Then with the speed of light their bodies were hurled throughplanetary space, up, up, up into the vast reaches of the higher ether.
Darkness assailed them. The flames from the jungle fire vanished intonothingness. The electron moon paled to the size of a pin point, thenwent out.
Carruthers had the feeling of expansion and growth. It was as if hisbody was taking on the size of the whole world. It seemed to last forhours, days, ages. But all the while he clung fast to the slender,quivering body of Nanette.
* * * * *
Mountains and hills suddenly blazed before his eyes. Straight up anddown mountains. He tried to stir his sluggish mind into action. Whatdid they mean? Where had he seen them before? And while yet his mindstruggled with the problem the mountains dwindled like melting snow.The pressure around his body relaxed. A blinding glare of steady lightplayed upon his face. Then all was quietness and peace.
"Nan! Aaron!" The voice was Karl's.
Dazedly they looked around. What had once been mountains were nowdesks and chairs. They were back again in the laboratory. Severalagonizing minutes passed before either could grasp the startlingchange in things. The horror of the electronic disaster still filledtheir minds to overflowing.
Carruthers recovered first. He stepped from the railed inclosuremarking the spot where the atomic beam had restored them after theirspace flight, and guided the girl to a chair. Karl's face was drawnand white as his eyes rested on the two pitiful figures that hadmaterialized out of the ether.
"Don't ask us any questions yet," spoke Carruthers in a tired voice."We've passed through too many horrors. What was the matter, Karl?Couldn't you get the rays to work sooner?"
"Sooner?" Danzig's eyes were wide with wonder. He glanced at hiswatch. "It was a little difficult to control both machines all alone,but I switched off the ray from the inverse dimensional tubes andturned on the other immediately. All in all it must have taken mefifteen seconds."
"Fifteen seconds," repeated Carruthers, dazedly. "It's unbelievable."He dropped wearily into a chair and rested his forehead in the palmsof his hands. "How long have we been gone, Nan?"
* * * * *
Nanette pulled the ragged remnants of a dress around her knees andattempted a smile. "Almost four months, according to the passage oftime on the electron."
"Impossible!" whispered Danzig, shutting his eyes to the truth.
Aaron Carruthers pointed to his clothes, now ragged and torn. "Look,Karl! Everything I have on is worn out completely. Observe my hair andbeard, and the soles of my shoes. Human reason to the contrary,Nanette and I have lived like two animals for four months, and all inthe space of fifteen seconds earth time. How can you account for it?We figured it out on paper. And we've proved it with our bodies. Whatit will mean to future civilization I can't foretell. It's beyondimagination."
And the laboratory became silent as a tomb as the three people triedwith all the strength of their minds to grasp the miracle of thestrange and unfathomable atomic rays.
* * * * *
PRODUCING HEAT BY ARCTIC COLD
Producing heat by means of Arctic cold is a fantastic but none theless quite practicable idea evolved by Dr. H. Barjou of the FrenchAcademy of Science. Dr. Barjou says the water under the ice in theArctic region is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. While the air is manydegrees less, there may even be a difference of 50 degrees. Theunfrozen water could be pumped into a tank and permitted to freeze,thus generating heat, as freezing a cubic meter of ice liberates aboutas much heat as burning twenty-two pounds of coal. The heat producedwould vaporize a volatile hydrocarbon which would drive a turbine.For condensing the hydrocarbon again, Dr. Barjou says great blocks ofbrine could be used.
Not only would the Arctic regions become comfortably habitable bymeans of this utilization of energy, contends Dr. Barjou, but heatalso could be furnished for the rest of the world.
Now if some one only can discover how to make the Sahara Desert sendforth cooling waves, the world will be perfect, temperaturally.