CHAPTER XIV
_A Bag of Green Gas_
Under a tree on the edge of the open ground a notched stick hung. Sixsharply cut V's showed red through the white bark, then one that wasdeeper; another six and another deeper cut; more of them until the stickwas full: so passed the little days.
"Some time," Herr Kreiss had promised, "I shall determine with accuracythe length of our Dark Moon days; then we will convert these cruderecords into Earth time. It is good that we should not lose ourknowledge of the days on Earth." He made a ceremony each morning of thecutting of another notch.
Chet, too, had a bit of daily routine that was never neglected. Eachsunrise found him on the high divide; each morning he watched for theglint and sparkle of sunlight as it flashed from a metal ship; and eachmorning the reflected light came to him tinged with green, until he knewat last that it might never be different. The poisonous fumes filled thepocket at the end of the valley where the great ship rested. She wasindeed at the bottom of a sea.
Back at camp were other signs of the passing days. Around the top of theknoll a palisade had sprung up. Stakes buried in the ground, withsharpened ends pointing up and outward, were interwoven with tough vinesto make a barricade that would check any direct assault. And, within theenclosure, near the little hut that had been built for Diane, were othershelters. One black night of tropic rainstorm had taught the necessityfor roofs that would protect them from torrential downpours.
These did well enough for the present, these temporary shelters anddefenses, and they had kept Diane and the two men working like mad whenit was essential that they have something to do, something to think of,that they might not brood too long and deeply on their situation and thelife of exile they were facing.
* * * * *
For Kreiss this was not necessary. In Herr Kreiss, it seemed, were thequalities of the stoic. They were exiled--that was a fact; Herr Kreissaccepted it and put it aside. For, about him, were countless thingsanimate and inanimate of this new world, things which must be taken intohis thin hands, examined, classified and catalogued in his mind.
In the rocky outcrop at the top of their knoll he had found a cave withwhich this rock seemed honeycombed. Here, within the shelter of thebarricade, he had established what he called very seriously his"laboratory." And here he brought strange animals from thejungle--flying things that were more like bats than birds, yet coloredgorgeously. Chet found him one day quietly exultant over a wrinkledpiece of parchment. He was sharpening a quill into a pen, and acup-shaped stone held some dark liquid that was evidently ink.
"So much data to record," he said. "There will be others who will followus some day. Perhaps not during our lifetime, but they will come. Thesediscoveries are mine; I must have the records for them.... And later Iwill make paper," he added as an afterthought; "there is papyrus growingin the lake."
But on the whole, Kreiss kept strictly to himself. "He's a lone wolf,"Chet told the others, "and now that he is bringing in those heavy loadsof metals he is more exclusive than ever: won't let me into the back endof his cave."
"Does he think we will steal his gold?" Harkness asked moodily. "Whatgood is gold to us here?"
"He may have gold," Chet informed him, "but he has something morevaluable too. I saw some chunks that glowed in the dark. Rotten withradium, he told me. But even so, he is welcome to it: we can't use it.No, I don't think he suspects us of wanting his trophies; he's merelythe kind that flocks by himself. He was having a wonderful time todaypounding out some of his metals with a stone hammer; I heard him at itall day. He seems to have settled down in that cave for keeps."
* * * * *
Harkness threw another stick across the fire; its warmth was unneeded,but its dancing flames were cheering.
"And that is something we must make up our minds about," he said slowly:"are we to stay here, or should we move on?"
He dropped to the ground near where Diane was sitting, and took one ofher hands in his.
"Diane and I plan to 'set up housekeeping,'" he told Chet, and Chet sawhim smile whimsically at the words. Housekeeping on the Dark Moon wouldbe primitive indeed. "We are lacking in some of the customary featuresof a wedding; we seem to be just out of ministers or civil officials totie the knot."
"Elect me Mayor of Dianeville," Chet suggested with a grin, "and I'llmarry you--if you think those formalities are necessary here."
Diane broke in. "It's foolish of me, Chet, I know it; but don't laugh atme." He saw her lips tremble for an instant. "You see, we're so far awayfrom--from everything, and it seems that that if Walter and I could juststart our lives with a really and truly marriage--oh, I know it isfoolish--"
This time Chet interrupted. "After all you have been through, and afterthe bravery you've shown, I think you are entitled to a little'foolishness.' And you _shall_ be married with as good a knot as anyminister could tie: you see, that is one of the advantages of being aMaster Pilot. My warrant permits me to perform a marriage service in anylevel above the surface of the Earth. A left-over from the time whenship's captains had the same right. And although we are grounded forkeeps, if we are not above the surface of the Earth right now I don'tknow anything about altitudes. But," he added as if it were anafterthought, "my fee, although I hate to mention it, is five dollars."
* * * * *
Harkness gravely reached into the pocket of his ragged coat and broughtout a wallet. He tendered a five dollar bill to Chet. "I think you'rerobbing me," he complained, "but that's what happens when there is nocompetition. And we'll start building a house to-morrow."
"Will we?" Chet inquired. "Is this the best place? For my part I wouldfeel safer if there were more miles between us and that pyramid. Whatwas down in there, God knows. But there was something back of thathypnotized ape--something that knocked us for a crash landing with onelook from those eyes."
The night air was warm, where he lay before their huts, but a shiver ofapprehension gripped him at the thought of a mysterious Something thatwas beyond the power of his imagination, and that was an enemy theywould never want to face. Something inhuman in its cold brutality, yetsuperhuman too, if this mental force were an indication. A somethingdifferent from anything the people of Earth had ever known, bestial anddamnable!
"I am with you on that," Harkness agreed, "but what about the ship? Youhave had your eye on it every day; do we want to go where we could notsee it? If the gas cleared, if there was ever a season when the windchanged, think of what that would mean. Ammunition, food, supplies ofall kinds, and the ship as a place of refuge, too, would be lost. No, wecan't turn that over to Schwartzmann, Chet; we've got to stick around."
"I still wish we were farther away," Chet acknowledged, "but you areright, Walt; we could never be satisfied a single day if we thought theship could be reached. Then, too, Towahg seems to think this is O. K.
"As near as I can learn from his sign language and a dozen words, thisis about as good a spot as we can find. He says the ape-men never crossthe big divide; something spooky about it I judged. However, we mustremember this: the fact that Towahg came across shows that the rest ofthem would if they found it could be done."
"That was why he led us so far while we waded up that stream," offeredDiane. "Trailing Towahg would be like trying to follow the wake of anairship."
"And I asked him about the red vampires that jumped us down by theship," Chet continued. "He gave me the clear sign on that, too."
* * * * *
Diane was not anxious for more wanderings, as Chet could see. "There isgame here," she suggested, "and the edge of the jungle is simply anorchard of fruit, as you know. And having a lake to bathe in isimportant--oh, I must not try to influence you. We must do what isbest."
"No," said Chet, "our own wishes don't count; the ship's the decidingfactor. You had better build your house here, Walt. Happy Valley will beheadquarters for the expedition; we've got a
whale of a lot of countryto explore. And, of course, we will slip back and check up onSchwartzmann; find out where he went to--"
"Count me out;" Harkness interrupted; "count me out. You go and hunttrouble if you want to; Diane and I will have our hands full right here.Great heavens, man! We've got to learn to make clothes; and, by the way,that uniform you're wearing is no credit to your tailor. If we are tocall this home, we must do better than the savages. I intend to findsome bamboo, split it, make some troughs, and bring water down here fromthe spring. I've got to learn where Kreiss is getting his metal and findsome soft enough to hammer into dishes. We can't call the departmentstore by radiophone, you know, and have them shoot a bunch of stuff outby pneumatic tube."
"That's all right," Chet mocked; "by the time you have built a housewith only a stone ax in your tool kit, you'll think the rest of it issimple."
* * * * *
The barricade, or _chevaux de frise_ as Chet insisted upon calling it,to show his deep study of the wars of earlier days, was built in theform of a U. The knoll itself sloped on one side directly to the water'sedge: they had left that side open and carried their line of sharpstakes down to the water, that in the event of a siege they would not beconquered by thirst.
On the highest point of the knoll, some few weeks later, a house wasbeing built--a more pretentious structure, this, than the other littlehuts. The aerial roots that the white trees dropped from theirhigh-flung branches were not impossible to cut with their crudeimplements; they made good building material for a house whose frameworkmust be tied together with vines and tough roots. This would be the homeof Harkness and Diane.
The two had been insistent that this structure would be incompletewithout a room for Chet, but the pilot only laughed at that suggestion.
"It's an old saying," he told them, "that one house isn't big enough fortwo families. I think the remark is as old as the institution ofmarriage, just about. And it's as true on the Dark Moon as it is onEarth. And, besides, I intend to build some bachelor apartments thatwill make this place of yours look pretty cheap, that is, if I ever findtime. I am going to be pretty busy just roaming around this little worldseeing what I can see. Even Herr Kreiss has got the wanderlust, you willnotice."
"He has been gone four days," said Diane. Her tone was frankly worried.Chet finished tying a sapling to a row of uprights and slid to theground.
* * * * *
"Don't be alarmed about Kreiss," he reassured her. "He has beenall-fired mysterious for the past several weeks. He's been working onsomething in that cave of his, and visitors have not been admitted. Whenhe left he told me he would be gone for some time, and he looked at melike an owl when he said it: his mysterious secret was making his eyespop out. He has a surprise up his sleeve."
"Wedding present for Diane," Harkness suggested.
"Well, he showed me some darn nice sapphires," Chet agreed. "Probablyfound some way to cut them and he's setting them in a bracelet of softgold: that's my guess."
"I wish he were here," Diane insisted.
And Chet nodded across the clearing as he said fervently: "I wish Icould get all my wishes as quickly as that. There he comes now with hisbow in one hand and a bag of something in the other."
The tall figure moved wearily across the open ground, but straightenedand came briskly toward them as he drew near. He seemed more gaunt thanusual, as if he had finished a long journey and had slept but little.But his eyes behind their heavy spectacles were big with pride.
"You have--what do you Americans say?--'poked fun' at my helplessness inthe forest," he told Chet. "And now see. Alone and without help I havemade a great journey, a most important journey." He held up a bladder,translucent, filled with something palely green.
"The gas!" he said proudly.
"Why, Herr Kreiss," Diane exclaimed, amazed, "you can't mean that you'vebeen to Fire Valley; that that is the gas from about the ship!... Andwhy did you want it? What earthly use...."
* * * * *
She had looked from the proud face of the scientist to that of Harkness;then turned toward Chet. Her voice died away, her question unfinished,at sight of the expression in those other eyes.
"From--the ship? You mean that you've been there--Fire Valley? Thatyou've come back here?" Chet was asking on behalf of Harkness as well:his companion added nothing to the words of the pilot--words spoken in acuriously quiet, strained tone.
"But yes!" Herr Kreiss assured him. His gaze was still proudly fixedupon the bladder of green gas. "I needed some for an experiment--a mostimportant experiment." And not till then did he glance up and let histhin face wrinkle in amazed wonder at the look on the pilot's face.
Chet had raised one end of another stick as Kreiss approached. He hadintended to place it against the frame they were building: it fellheavily to the ground instead. He regarded Harkness with eyes that weresomber with hopeless despair, yet that somehow crinkled with a whimsicalsmile.
"Well, I said he had a surprise up his sleeve," he reminded them. "It isnearly night; I can't do anything now. I'll go to-morrow; take Towahg. Idon't know that there's anything we can do, but we'll try.
"You will stay here with Diane," he told Harkness. And Harkness acceptedthe order as he would from one who was in command.
"It's up to you now," he told Chet. "I'll stay here and hold the fort.You're running the job from now on."
But the pilot only nodded. Herr Kreiss was sputtering a barrage of how'sand why's; he demanded to know why his success in so hazardous a tripshould have this result.
But Chet Bullard did not answer. He walked slowly away, his eyes on theground, as one who is trying to plan; driving his thoughts in an effortto find some escape from a danger that seemed to hover threateningly.