WEIRD

TALES

Robert E. Howard
Edmond Hamilton*
Jack Williamson

Henry Kuttner

Hm.%iUgaaame

BIZARRE
UNUSUAL
 The Phantom of the Ether
The first warning of die stupendous cataclysm that be-
fell the earth in the fourth decade of the Twentieth
Century was recorded simultaneously in several parts
of America. At twelve minutes past 3 o’clock a. m.,
during a lull in the night’s aerial business., several of
the larger stations of the Western hemisphere began
picking up strange signals out of the ethe^\ They were
faint and ghostly, as if coming from a vast distance.
As far as anyone could learn, the signals originated no-
where upon the earth. It was as if some phantom were
whispering through the ether in the language of
another planet.

A Mysterious Message from the Ether 1

"To All Mankind:
"I am the dictator of human destiny. Through control of the earth's internal
forces I am master of every existing thing. can blot out all life — destroy the
I

globe itself. It is my intention to abolish all present governments and make my-

self emperor of the earth.

"Communicate this to the various governments of the earth:
"As a preliminary to the establishment of my sole rule throughout the world,
the following demands must be complied with:
"First: All standing armies shall be disbanded, and every implement of war-
fare, of whatsoever nature, destroyed.
"Second: All war vessels shall be assembled —
those of the Atlantic fleets mid-
way between New York and Gibraltar, those of the Pacific fleets midway between
San Francisco md Honolulu and sunk. —
"Third: One-half of all the monetary gold supply of the world shall be col-
lected and turned over to my agents at places to be announced later.
"kourth: At noon on the third day after the foregoing demands have been
complied ,vitb all existing governments shall resign and surrender their powers
to my agents, who will be on hand to receive them.
"In my next communication I will fix the date for the fulfillment of these
demands.
"The alternative is the destruction of the globe.
"KWO"

Thrillsl Mystery] Excitement]—"THE MOON TERROR"

Who was this mysterious "KWO," and was
message actually a momentous declaration to the
human race, or merely a hoax perpetrated by some
person with an over- vivid imagination.^
Newspapers and scientific journals began to spec-
ulate upon the matter, advancing all manner of
theories to account for this strange summons. In
his Europe, as well as in America, vast throngs of
excited people filled the streets in front of the
newspaper offices, watching the bulletin boards for
further developments. Was this really the begin-
ning of the dissolution of our planet?
While the supply lasts, you can get a copy of
this startlingbook at the special close-out price of
only 50c. Send your order today to:

POPULAR FICTION PUBLISHING COMPANY,

840 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, 111., U. S. A.
 1 !

‘wVf*-'

But ere the key-stane she could make,

The fient a tail she had to shake
For Nannie, far before the rest.
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi’ furious ettle.
—Burns: Tam o' Chanter.

T.— 513
,
 A MAGAZINE OF THE BIZARRE AND UNUSUAL

.REGISTERED IN U.S. PATENT OFFICE-

Volume 31 CONTENTS FOR MAY, 1938 Number 5

Cover Design M. Brundage

Illustrating a scene in "Goetterdaemmerun^'

Tam o’ Shanter Virgil Finlay 513

Pictorial interpretation of a poem by Robert Burns

Thunder in die Dawn Henry Kuttner 515

A story to stir the pulse—a tale of warlocks and wizards and valiant men of might in the far-off
olden time

Pigeons from Hell Robert E. Howard 534

A posthumous novelette of frightful death and three women whose bodies hung in a dreadful
room of horror
Goetterdaemmerung Seabury Quinn 554
There was a stunning impact as the car crashed, then a strange awakening — but what was the
inscription on the tombstone in that ancient graveyard?

[Where Once Poe Walked H. P. Lovecraft 578

An acrostic poem
The Secret of the Vault J.
Wesley Rosenquest 579
Vrhat dread mystery lurked in the charnel chamber beneath the house, and what impious rites
of lifeand death were performed there?

The Isle of the Sleeper Edmond Hamilton 588

If we are hut images in the dreams of some supernal being who slumbers, what will happen
when the Sleeper awakes?

Dreadful Sleep (end) Jack Williamson 598

A romantic and tragic novel about the fearsome beings that lay in slumber under the antarctic
ice, and the tragic doom that their awakening brought to the earth

Weird Story Reprint:

Medusa Royal W. Jimerson 624
A creepy story about the strangely alive hair of a beautiful American girl

The Eyrie 632

The readers of WEIRD TALES express their opinions

Published monthly by the Popular Fiction Publishing Company, 2457 East Washington Street, Indianapolis, Ind. Entered
fls second'Class matter March 20, 1923» at the post otHce at Indianapolis, Ind., under the act of March 3. 1879. Single copies^
25 cents. Subscribtwn ratrs: One year in the United States and possessions. Cuba, Mexico, South America. Spain, 12.50;
Canada, $2.75 ; elsewhere, $5.00. English office: Otis A. Kline, c/o John Paradise. 86 Strand, W. C. 2, London. The pu^
Ushers are not re^onsiblc for the loss of unsolicited manuscripts, although every care will be taken of such material while m
their possession. The contents of this magazine are fully protected by copyright and must not be reproduced either wholly or ia
part without permission from the publishers.
—
NOTE All manuscripts and communications should be addressed to the publishers' Chicago office at 840 North Michigaa
FARNSWORTH WRIGHT, Editor.
Avenue, Chicago, 111.
Copyright 1958, by the Popular Fiction Publishing Company.
COPYRIGHTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

WEIRD TALES ISSUED 1si OF EACH MONTH

514
 hunder in the Dawn
By HENRY KUTTNER
A story to stir the pulses —a tale of warlock and ivizard and valiant men of
might in the far-off olden time —a grippiitg tale of
Elak of Atlantis

1. Magic of the Druid from the sea tliat lapped restlessly against
the wharves of Poseidonia. A small, fat

T he tavern was ill-lighted

cloudy with smoke. Raucous oaths
and no
the place a bedlam.
less rough laughter made
From the open door
and man sitting alone in a booth was mutter-
ing to himself as he drank deeply of the
wine the innkeeper had placed before
him, and Lycon’s quick, furtive glances
II cold wind blew strongly, salt-scented searched the room, missing no detail.
515
516 WEIRD TALES
For Lycon was a little frightened, and neath an immense bald head was a hair-
this prevented him from getting drunk as less, toad-like face glistening with sweat.
quickly as usual. His tall friend and fel- These Druids, it was said, wielded im-
low adventurer, Elak, was hours overdue mense power secretly, and Lycon habit-
from a clandestine visit to a lady of noble ually distrusted priests of any order.
blood, the wife of a duke of Atlantis. Beside the Druid, Lycon watched a
This alone might not have troubled Ly- bearded giant whose skin showed traces
con, but he was remembering certain curi- of being darkened artificially, and whose
ous events of the past fortnight an in- — hair was probably dyed, as it showed blue
explicable feeling of being trailed, and" in the lamps’ glow. Casually the small
an encounter with masked soldiers in the adventurer touched the hilt of his sword.
forest beyond Poseidonia. Elak’s dexterity Somewhat reassured by the feel of its
with his rapier had saved them both, and, smooth metal, he banged his cup on the
Eiter, he had attributed the attack to the tableand yelled for more wine.
soldiers of Granicor, the Atlantean duke. "What watery swill is this?” he asked
Lycon was not so sure. Their opponents the innkeeper, a wizened oldster in a
had not been the swarthy, sinewy seamen liquor-stained tunic. "It’s fit for babes

of Poseidonia —
they had been yellow- and women. Bring me something a man
haired, fair-skinned giants such as were can drink, or — or
”

native to the northern shores of Atlantis. On the verge of uttering a grandilo-

j\nd for many moons Atlantis had been quent threat Lycon subsided, muttering
looking northward with apprehensive softly. "Gods!” he observed to himself
*
eyes. as the innkeeper moved away, "what’s
The island continent is, roughly, heart- got into me? These past weeks have
sliaped, split down the middle by a water- made me a coward. I’ll be jumping at
way which runs from a huge bay or in- shadows soon. Where in the Nine Hells
land sea at the north down to a lake near- is Elak?”
1\' at the southern extremity, thirty miles He paused to throw a gold piece on
from the seacoast city of Poseidonia. For the table and to lift a replenished cup to
a.i long as men could remember the north- his lips.That was but the first of many
ern shores had been harried by red-beard- cups, and presently Lycon’s apprehension
ed giants whose long black galleys had and worry had crystallized into belliger-
swept down from the frozen lands be- ency. The bearded giant was watching
yond the ocean. Dragon ships tliey were him, he saw.
called, and those who manned them were
Lycon drained his cup, set it down
—
Vikings sea-pirates, plunderers who left
—
with a crash and sprang to his feet,
ruin and desolation wherever they overturning the table. Dark faces were
Leached their craft. Lately rumors had turned to him; wary eyes gleamed in the
spread of a great influx of these North- lamplight.
—
men and in taverns and by campfires
men met and boasted and sharpened tlieir or Lycon was He
blades. F all his fatness
leaped over the table and headed for
agile.

There were two men in tlie brawling the giant, who had not moved, save to
clamor of the inn who had attracted Ly- set down his liquor.
con’s intent gaze — one, a gross, ugly fig- Lycon was, by this time, very drunk in-
ure clad in a shapeless brown robe, the deed. He paused to drag his sword from
traditional garb of the Druid priests. Be- its scabbard, but unfortunately it stude,^^
 THUNDER IN THE DAWN 517

marring the impressiveness of the gesture. and Lycon turned again to watch the
Nevertheless Lycon persisted, and pulled battle.

out the weapon at last. He flourished it The blackbeard v/as being forced back
beneath the other’s nose. by the rapidity of Elak’s onslaught. Few
"Am I a dog.?” he demanded, glaring could stand successfully against tlie elec-

malevolently at the giant, who shrugged. tric speed with which the adventurer
"You should know,” he said gruffly. wielded his rapier; already the giant was
"Go away before I slice off your ears with bleeding from a long cut along the fore-
that toy.” head. He cried, "Wait! Wait, Elak
Lycon gasped inarticulately. Speech re- And his sword came down, leaving his
turned with a rush. throat unprotected.
"Misbegotten spawn of a worm!” he But Elak also lowered his rapier. His
snarled. "Unsheathe your sword! I’ll wolfish face cracked in an ironic grin.
”
have your heart out for this "Had enough?” he taunted. "By Ish-
The blackbeard cast a swift glance tar, but you’ve little courage for your
around. He did not look frightened, but, size.”
oddly, annoyed, as though Lycon had The giant fumbled with tlie fastenings
interrupted some important project of his of his tunic. Abruptly he brought out
own. Yet he stood erect, and his blade something thin and dark and writhing
came out flashing. 'The innkeeper hurried coiled about his arm. He flung it at Elak.

up, clucking his annoyance. In one of his The rapier screamed through the air,

hands was a bungstarter, and watching but missed its mark. Elak sprang aside
his chance he brought this down toward just in time; the dark thing shot past him
Lycon’s head. and arched up to avoid the swinging cut
From the corner of his eye the little of Lycon’s sword. For a brief moment it

man saw the movement. He ducked, hung in empty air, while tlie silence of
whirled, felt his shoulder go numb be- stupefaction stilled the tavern’s clamor.
neath the blow. The giant’s sword swept It was a serpent —but a winged ser-
out at his unprotected throat. pent! A snake, with two wdibed, mem-
Something hit Lycon, sent him sprawl- branous wings sprouting from its body.
ing back, while razor-sharp steel raked Beady eyes glittered in tlie triangular
his cliest. He fought frantically to regain head as the monster hung aloft. Then
his footing.He came upright with his down it came, swift as an arrow’s flight.

back to the wall, sword in hand and — Chairs and tables crashed over, and
stood staring. the thunder of frantic feet sounded. Ly-
Elak had at last arrived. It was his con’s thrust almost spitted Elak. The
blow had hurled Lycon from the
tliat winged snake, unhurt, flashed away, but
path of the giant’s steel, and now the its fangs had grazed Elak’s shoulder. The

lean, wolf-faced adventurer’s rapier was brown leather of his tunic darkened swift-
engaging the blackbeard’s weapon in a ly, while a stench of foul corruption was

dazzling flash and shimmer of clanging strong in his nostrils.

”
metal, while Elak’s laughter brought fear "Bel!” he ground out. "I can’t
to his opponent’s eyes. The innkeeper Suddenly a bulky figure loomed before
crouched near by, the bungstarter gripped —
him the Druid, huge arms lifted, shield-
in his hand, and swiftly Lycon caught up ing tlie adventurer with his own body.
a heavy flagon and crashed it down on Elak made to thrust him aside. Then,
the man’s head. He fell, blood spurting, staring, he paused.
 —

518 WEIRD TALES

From the upthrust hands of the Druid "You should,” the Druid growled.
a pale flame was rising, twin fires that "Perhaps you know mine, then —Dalan.
burned fiercely, dwarfing the yellow glow Come on, we’ve no time to talk. The
of the lamps. Incredibly the flames guards will be here in a moment.”
swelled grew and abruptly took
and Lycon hesitated, shrank back. But Elak
flight. The winged serpent twisted in gripped his arm and urged him in the
midair, its wings whirring. But inexor- wake of the Druid.
ably the flames raced down upon it. "We can trust him,” he whispered.
They spread out lambent fingers, inter- "I’ve heard tales of this Dalan. And I
lacing, till around the monster revolved think ” There was a wry smile on
a sphere of silently glowing fire. The Elak’s lean face. "I think we’ll be safer
serpent was hidden from view by a globe with him than anywhere else.”
of flame. A wan moon hung lo^\J over Atlantis.
And it swiftly diminished, shrank to a Keeping in the shadows, the three cau-
tiny —
glowing point and vanished. Where tiously made their way along the water-
flame and serpent had been was nothing. front. Once they shrank back into a door-
A gray dust filtered slowly to the rough way while a troop of guards clatterc“d
planks of the floor. . . . past. And at last they came to a low hut
into which Dalan ushered them, barring
2. Northmen in Cyrena the door carefully before he turned to
take a lantern from a peg on the wall.
MAY all traitors die!” the Druid Even then he paused to lift a trap-door
said harshly. in the floor before setting the lantern on
He was staring at an outsprawled giant the rough table in the center of the bare,
figure that lay broken across a splintered gloomy room. "In case of surprize,” he
table, a man whose black-bearded, explained; "though I think we’re safe
swarthy face was upturned to the lamp- enough here.”
light. On brow a circle of reddened
his "In Bel’s name, what’s.this all about?
”

skin was burned and blistered, and blood Lycon demanded. The drink was wear-
bubbled in his throat. ing off, and he was trembling a little with
Before either Lycon or Elak could reaction. Gratefully he sank down in a
move, the Druid had bent above the dy- cliair the Druid indicated. "Did you kill

ing man, gripping his hair with rough that bearded swine? Winged snakes
fingers. —
magic fires haven’t you anything to
"Who sent you?” he snarled, his toad- drink in this cavern?”
like face aglisten with sweat. "Tell me, "You’ll need a clear head for what I’m
—
you dog or I’ll
”
going to tell you,” Dalan said. "There’s
"Mercy!” the wretch gasped, blood magic in it, yes, or at least a science you
gushing from his mouth. can’t understand. I slew that traitorous
"I’ll give you such mercy as will send dog with a power we Druids have had
your soul screaming down the Nine Hells! for ages —
a power over fire. And thus I
Who sent you? Tell these men!” slew Elf’s messenger.”
The man croaked, "Elf! He ”
"The snake? Who is —
this Elf?”
Callously the Druid turned away. A Dalan sent a somber glance toward
frown creased Elak’s brow as he saw the Elak, whose face was grim and cold. He
fear-glazed eyes roll up in death. "Elf?” asked, "This man —
does he know noth-
he repeated. "I know that name.” ing? Have you told him of Cyrena?”
 THUNDER IN THE DAWN 519

Elak shook his head. "Tell him, Da- Elak pulled him down. "Wait a mo-
lan.”
"Cyrena? The northermost kingdom Cyrena? To
—
ment. Dalan you w’ant me to return to
lead the armies against the
of Atlantis?” Lycon asked. "I know Vikings?”
Grander rules it, but that’s all.” The Druid nodded. "That’s why I’m
"A dozen years ago Norian ruled Cy- here. Elf caught me unawares, and he
rena,” the Druid said. "He had two step- has your brother captive. But if you’ll
sons, Grander and Zeulas. Zeulas killed come north, you’ll give Cyrena the leader
him.” it needs. My magic will aid you.”
Elak moved uneasily.
"To free Grander?”
"Zeulas killed him,” Dalan repeated,
"in fair fight, and both men had provoca-
"Yes. And to destroy Elf, to drive out

tion. Because of this, Zeulas, though he

the Northmen!” The toad face grew
hideous with rage. "They desecrate the
was the assume the crown.
elder, did not
Druid altars, crucify our priests! 'Tliey
He left Cyrena to wander, a homeless
worship Loki and Thor and Gdin, devils
vagabond, through Atlantis.”
Lycon turned to stare at Elak. "By Ish-
of the blackest abyss —
and they worship
” Elf’s evil gods, as well. By Mider!” Da-
tar! You don’t mean
lan’s hand moved in a strange quick ges-
"He is Zeulas,” the Druid said. "His
ture as he named the Druids’ greatest
brother. Grander, rules over Cyrena. Gr
—did rule.”
deity.
Zeulas
"You’ll come you must come,
— —
Elak whatever you name your-
—
"The Vikings?” Elak asked.
self now!”
"Yes. They’ve invaded the land, with
the aid of Elf the warlock. Elf has always Elak stood up. "Yes, I’ll come. I’d

hated your brother, who would never sworn never to enter Cyrena again, but
give him the freedom he wanted for his this is a different thing.”

black sorcery and human sacrifice. So Elf "And I’ll go with you,” Lycon put in.
made a pact with the Northmen to de- "You’ll need a strong sword in the for-
stroy Grander, inexchange for power and ests. It’s a far distance to Cyrena.”
for the victims he needs for his necrom-
"Good!” Dalan’s great hands swept
ancy.” down, gripped Lycon’s shoulders. "You
"Did he
a cold fire
” Elak did not finish, but

blazed in his eyes.

—
have courage and you’ll need it. But
we’ll not go through the forests. Look.”
"He couldn’t kill Grander; my magic
was too strong for that. But he has taken
He bent to scrawl, with a bit of char-

him captive and left the armies of Cy-

coal, a rough map on the table’s top.

rena without a head. So the chiefs argue

"Here we are at Poseidonia. We go in-
land thirty miles to the Central Lake,
and battle among themselves, and the
where I’ve a ship waiting. Then north,
Vikings slay them at leisure.”
Lycon was nearly sober now. A smok-
down the river through the heart of At-
lantis, into the Inland Sea that touches
ing oath came from his throat. "Your
Cyrena. We’ll go with the current, and
kingdom, Elak? This is your kingdom?
And the Northmen and this stinking wiz- my oarsmen are strong.”

— — "And we start ” Lycon’s face was

ard rule it? Dalan” he stood erect, tee-
tering a little "we head north tomor- eager.

row — tonight! I’ll slit this Elf’s throat "Tomorrow, at dawn. You’ll stay here
like a p%’s.” with me tonight.”
520 WEIRD TALES
"Dalan, we may not
E lak hesitated.
return.
there’s a girl
And
have to see tonight.”
I’ll
I promised well, —
perfumed blossoms of the garden
reached the
dow.
trellis beneath Velia’s win-
till he

"Velia?” Lycon asked. "Duke Grani- He had climbed it often before, and it
cor’s wife? I should think you’d had gave no trouble now. lire girl came
enough of her by now. And, by the way, upon the balcony as he softly called her
what kept you tonight?” name. He was briefly silent, studying her
"Her kis.ses,” Elak .said frankly. ”1 golden beauty in the moonlight.
told her I’d see her before leaving Posei-
Her transparent robe concealed little;
donia.”
” she seemed like an amber statue draped
Dalan grunted, "The guards in gauze. Bronze hair fell disheveled
"I can evade them.”
about an oval, elfin face; amber eyes were
"What about the man I killed in the
upturned questioningly to Elak’s. With-
tavern tonight — messenger?
.and Elf’s I
out a word he drew her close.
tell you, Zeulas —or Elak— Elf you. fears
"I’m leaving Poseidonia,” he said after
He knows I came to Poseidonia to bring
a time. "I may not see you again for a
you north to fight him, and he knows,
while.”
too, that if you’re dead, the Vikings will
sweep unopposed over Cyrena. He has
She clung to him. "Elak, I wish — I’ll

servants besides the Northmen — ren-

go with you!”
”
egades, traitors!”
'No. You
"I see Velia tonight,” Elak said stub-
"I will! I can’t stand it here with

bornly. He turned toward the door.

Granicor. He’s a beast, Elak —a devil.

"Wait.” Dalan’s huge hand spun him

You know how he bought me from my
about. "There’s no need to take unneces-
father —I’m little better than a slave to

sary risk. We’ll leave tonight —and, on him. —

I I’d have killed myself if I

hadn’t met you.”

the way, you can stop for a kiss or two
with this w’ench. But you’re a fool to "Don’t be a little fool,” Elak said
do it.” gruffly. "You’ll get used to him in time.

"It isn’t the first time women have Though, by Ishtar, his face is enough to
”
made a fool of Elak,” Lycon said, grin- frighten babies! Well
ning. "But Dalan’s right. We’d better "You’re frank, at least, vagabond,” a
leave Poseidonia now. I’ll feel safer in new voice growled. "And you’ll be
the forest.” franker on the rack, with this harlot be-
Elak shrugged and waited while the side you!”
Druid hastily erased the map from the Elak released the girl and swung about
table. Tliat done, the three cautiously let quickly to face the man who came on to
themselves out into the moonlit alley. . . . the balcony from the shadows. Duke
Granicor was smiling, baring stained, dis-

T he palace of
whitely, towering
Poseidonia. To
Duke Granicor shone

tlie
on a hillock above
southeast the ocean
colored teeth through a gray-shot beard.
In his silks and velvets he looked incon-
gruously bedecked, a huge ape masquer-
swept out to a dim horizon. In the other ading in borrowed finery. Bloodshot small
direction was the forest, dark, menacing. eyes glared at Elak from little pits of
In tire shadow of a gate Lycon and Dalan gristle.

waited while Elak dcxtrously mounted "You skulking dog!” Duke Granicor
the wall. He moved cjuietly through the roared, lifting a dagger. "Your face’ll
 THUNDER IN THE DAWN 521

frighten soldiers when I’m through with ears the sound of men’s voices shouting.
you!” Into a narrow hall —
down a steep wind-
From the garden below came the clash ing staircase. . . .

of armor, and the swift thud-thud of rac- Elak gripped a heavy iron door, flung
ing feet. it open. Someone rose up before him,
startledand m.cnacing; armor glinted in
3. Through the Black Forest the moonlight. But the slim rapier
sheathed itself in flesh, and blood spurt-

E i.ak had no time, to

before Granicor was upon him.
draw his rapier
He
ed from a pierced throat as the guard
sank down groaning. They hurdled his
twisted lithcly beneath the dagger’s blow, body and raced into the garden.
felt the blade tear and scrape along his Blades shimmered frostily; shadows
ribs. Tlien he closed with his opponent, closed in on them. Elak saw Granicor,
grimly silent. his face blood-smeared and horrible, one
Granicor’ s arm rose up, blade red and arm dangling uselessly, bellowing com-
dripping, but before it could descend mands to his men. But surprize was in
Velia had gripped it. Before the duke their favor, and they made the gate
could wrench his weapon free the girl safely.
had bent swiftly, set her teeth in hair)’ To their surprize it was open. Elak
flesh. Granicor roared on oatli; but the pushed the girl through and turned to
dagger dropped, went clattering over the find the pack yelling at his heels.
rail to the garden below. Huge hands gripped him; he was
Someone was climbing the trellis. Elak drawn through the gateway. Metal
dropped swiftly beneath Granicor’ s en- clanged. The gross figure of the Druid
circling arms, and his own sinewy arms stood briefly between him and the sol-
went about the duke’s knees, gripping diers. Then, without warning, a tongue
them tightly. With one swift movement of fire licked up from the ground. It
he hurled himself up and back, sent his spread and lifted, filling the gateway
opponent crashing over the marble bal- with its red blaze. Dalan turned.
ustrade, hurtling dow'n into the shadows. "That will stop them,” he grunted,
A yell of alarm and a scrambling in the "for a time, anyway. Hurry!”
foliage, ending in a smashing thud, told Lycon came out of the shadows, and
of a guard wrenched from his perch by the four raced into the dimness, seeking
Granicor’s descending body. shelter in a near-by grove of trees before
Elak seized Velia’s hand. "Come on,” Granicor remembered to use arrows. As
he snapped, and dragged her from the they came panting among the shielding
balcony within the room. A glance told trunks a menacing roar came from the
him that there were no enemies here. palace, and a rout of men, armor glitter-

Apparently the duke had been alone, save ing,came pouring down the hill.
for his cohorts in the garden. "More than one gate,” Elak muttered.
Now Velia took the lead. "I know the "Well, shall we fight or run?" —
palace,” she said swiftly. "There’s a door "Run,” Lycon advised. "I'll stay here
Granicor may have overlooked. If there’s and hold them, for a while, ,at least. You
” ’’
no guard can
They sped along dimly-lit halls, draped The Druid whispered, "Come. I know
with tapestries and rugs of somber mag- the forests. Follow me —and they’ll never
nificence. Faintly there came to Elak’s find us. You too, Lycon.”
522 WEIRD TALES

V
shadow
ELU’S hand was warm
they silently trailed Dalan.
for all his
in Elak’s as

gross bulk the Druid

Like a
lay across

furled, waiting.
its surface.
not far away was a long galley,
Floating at anchor
sails

slipped from tree to tree, taking advan- Sand crunched beneath their sandaled
tage of every bush and shrub, till at last feet as the four hurried to the water’s
the noise of pursuit died in the distance. edge. Dalan made a speaking-tube of his
Only then did he pause to wipe the sweat hands and bellowed lustily till a small
from his ugly face. boat left the galley, heading shoreward.
"No enemy can find a Druid in the "That’s done, at least,” Lycon said with
forests,” he informed the others. "If satisfaction. "My poor feet!”
necessar)', our magic can send the trees He sat down and rubbed them tenderly.
marching against those who follow.” His own sandals had gone to protect Ve-
Elak grunted skeptically. "Well, I’ve lia’s feet, but the girl’s flimsy nightrobe
let us in for something now. Velia’s com- had been ripped to shreds by thorns and
ing with us. I’m not going to leave her branches. She kicked off the sandals,
here to be skinned alive by Granicor.” slipped out of her garment, and ran into
She pressed closer to him, and Elak’s the lake, laughing with pleasure as the
arm went about her warm slimness. cool water caressed her aching muscles.
"It’s no hardship,” Lycon said, glanc- Lycon eyed her enviously. "I’d join
ing slyly at the girl. "And my sword is her, if I had time,” he observed. "Well,
yours to command.” a few buckets of water will do the trick
Velia thanked him with a glance, and on deck. Here’s the boat.”
the little man expanded visibly. Elak’s Two oarsmen rowed it; Dalan greeted
expression was none too cordial. them and quickly clambered aboard, his
"Let’s get started,” he said. "We’ve a brown robe fluttering in the breeze. The
long march to the Central Lake and others joined him; Lycon and Elak and
your ship, Dalan.” Velia, who, after a few abortive attempts
The Druid nodded and took the lead. to adjust her robe, gave up the effort and
They set out through the moonlit for- made it into a brief kirtle.
est. , "You may swim along the shore,” the
Presently the moon sank, but Dalan Druid warned her, "but not out where
guided them unerringly, even in the the waters are deeper. 'This lake goes
vague starlight, where they would have down I think, and there are
to hell itself,
been separated had they not joined hands. devils below its surface.”
Weird noises came out of the night; the Lycon stared curiously around, appar-
shrill calling of birds and the rustle of ently disappointed because no devils ap-
underbrush. Once the ground shook be- peared. 'Then he fell to polishing his
neath the tread of some giant beast that sword. . . ,

lumbered past unseen in the gloom. And In the galley’s pit men lounged on
once Elak spitted with his rapier a spider benches. Brawny, half-naked oarsmen,
as large as his hand, which squirted not slaves, for they were not shackled to
venom a dozen feet as it writhed and the benches. Dalan shouted an order as
died. he climbed on board. Men scrambled to
As dawn came they reached the Central obey, settling in disciplined order, grip-
Lake, a chill blue expanse whose depths ping their oars. A tall, broad-shouldered
had never been plumbed. Zones of sap- man with a golden collar mounted a plat-
phire and aquamarine and deeper blue form. He gestured, cried a command..
 —

THUNDER IN THE DAWN 523

TIic oars swept down, cleaving the blue bered passing only a day before. He
waters of Central Lake. The galley looked up quickly.
”
sprang forward, plunging north. "Wind? But our sails
North to Cyrena! "Calm follows our galley, but Elf’s
magic speeds Granicor’s. We’re nearly in
4. Power of the Warlock the Inland Sea now, though, and wait!” —
Something was happening within the
o THE strong oars dipped and plunged, ciystal.The sharply-defined image shook
S and the galley ran northward to where and wavered, like a reflection in water.
two shores converged in the river that It misted and faded and changed and a —
cleft the heart of Atlantis, rushing be- face swam into view: the face of a youth,
tween granite precipices, lazing through rounded as a diild’s. Blue eyes, clear
sunlit meadows, thundering swiftly and with candor, met Elak’s; soft flaxen hair
more swiftly toward the Inland Sea and fell about the man’s shoulders. And, for
Cyrena. And these days seemed the hap- all the innocence of that cool gaze, Elak
piest of all to Elak and Velia; while Ly- subtly sensed an ageless, malefic evil that
con divided his time between drinking dwelt within the blue eyes, a black horror
steadily and arguing with the overseer utterly incongruous with the beauty of the
about navigation, a subject of which he face.

knew nothing. Only over Dalan a shad- "Mider!” the Druid snarled. "Elf
”
ow seemed to hang, and this grew darker watches us! He
as they swept north. When the sails w'ere Tlie red lips parted in a singularly
unfurled they hung loose and useless, sweet smile. Dalan thrust his face down
though stormclouds gathered each night close to the crystal.
to the southward. At last Dalan called "Elf!” he roared. "Hear me! Ho, you
Elak to the cabin. stinking spawn of devils hear me! Not —
"Elf works magic,” he said grimly. all your foul wizardry can keep me from
"Duke Granicor has not given up the pur- Cyrena, or the man I bring with me.
suit. He sails after us, with Elf’s wizardry Tell Gutlirum that! Let him pray to Odin
helping him.” and Thor —and I’ll grind their faces in
Elak whistled between his teeth. the dust as I’ll grind yours.” He airsed
"That’s not so good. How do you the warlock bitterly, foully, while Elak
know?” watched fascinated.
Dalan lifted a dark cloth from a pedes- The smile did not leave Elf’s face. The
tal; light glinted from a cr)'.stal sphere crystal dimmed, grew cloudy and was —
large as Elak’s head. "Look,” he said. transparent. The vision had gone before
"I’ve known this for days. ...” Dalan paused in his tirade.
At first Elak saw only the transparent Sweating, he mopped at his gross face.
dcptlis of the crystal, and very slowly, "Well, you’ve seen Elf now. For tlie first
very gradually, they clouded and became time, eh?”
translucent. Light images began to flash Elak nodded.
before his eyes, a vague succession of^ "What do you think of him?”
darting colors . . . and these crystallized "I — scarcely know. He has my brother
into a scene, a tiny picture within the captive?”
sphere: a gallq', sails set and straining, "He holds Grander. And Guthrum,
racing between shores which Elak remem- the Viking king, does as Elf wishes. You
 —

524 WEIRD TALES

must fight Guthmm, Elak, as I Elf. And swords at their sides. Granicor’s ship
Granicor’s galley comes swiftly.” lowered sail, but double banks of oars
”I don’t see why you fear him,” Elak propelled it swiftly forward.
”
said. "Your own powers "They mean to ram,” Dalan muttered.
“Are limited. And Mider knows what "Well, two can play at that game. Ready,
”
magic aids Granicor. D’you see that now
storm.^” He gestured toward a port-hole. He roared an order into the gale. Oars
Black clouds were drifting up from the were lifted; the ship came around, and
south. "All winds of hell are there
tlie timbers cracked and groaned and shud-
yet our sails hang without a breeze to lift dered at the shock as the galleys scraped
them. Look.” almost prow to prow.
He turned to north. "See tliat
tlie "Up oars!” Dalan bellowed. "Cast off
land, far distant.^ Crenos Isle, a place
It’s grappling-irons!”
best shunned. We
go past Crenos to Cy- His intention had
been to cripple
rena —
but I think Granicor will find us Granicor’s galley by smashing one bank
first.” of oars, but he was too late. A dozen
hooks snaked out, were drawn taut. The
—
D alan was right. The long
the duke swiftly drove before the
storm, and just off the southern extremity
galley of ships were locked togetlier and a wave
of shouting, blood-hungry men came
pouring over the gunwales.
of Crenos Isle the two ships met. "Get in the cabin,” Elak commanded
"One thing’s in our favor,” Dalan Velia, but she did not heed; there was a
grunted, issuing weapons to the oarsmen. slim blade in her hand, and she stood
"Slaves man But ours are men,
their oars. coolly at hisDalan and Lycon
side.
—
and warriors men from Cyrena who’ll flanked the two. The oarsmen seized
not ask for quarter. But we have no their weapons, met the invaders. Swords
fighting crew, and Granicor has.” clashed blindingly.
"It’s my fault,” Elak said morosely. "Stay here, Lycon,” Elak said sud-
"If I hadn’t got the duke on our denly. "Guard Velia.” He sprang down
”
trail into the pit among the mob of yelling
"Forget it!” Lycon swaggered up, swordsmen. A few arrows fell, but the
brandishing his sword and exuding a galleys swayed and pitched so that accu-
strong aroma of spirits. "We’ll run that rate marksmanship was impossible. Still
dog up by the heels at his own masthead. stronger came the storm wind, darker
Besides, Velia’s a girl worth fighting for, grew the clouds.
"
by Ishtar!” ’Ware, Elak!” Lycon’s voice.
Velia, looking like a slim youth in her The tall adventurer ducked a sweep of
soft tunic, laughed almost gayly. "Thanks, steel tliat came out of nowhere, saw a
Lycon. At least I’ll not have to go back grinning swarthy face rise up behind him.
to Granicor. There are many ways to die The rapier danced into a dazzling shim-
here — to die easily.” mer and the man went down coughing
’’None o’ that,” Elak told her; "though blood. Then Elak caught sight of Grani-
I suppose you’re right. You can’t enjoy cor fighting his way toward him, gray
life with your skin off. And tliat’s the beard blood-spattered, shouting furious
duke’s favorite torture.” oaths. He sprang to meet the duke.
The sky darkened. Wind buffeted The ships heeled, rocked sickeningly
them. The oarsmen bent to tlieir oars, in the trough of the waves. From the
 —

THUNDER IN THE DAWN 525

corner of his eye Elak saw a flicker of red pering on a slate-dark beach. He tried to
fire, realized that Dalan was battling too. sit up, and discovered that his arms were
The Druid’s magic turned the tide. bound tightly.
Cold steel men could battle, but not He turned to see tall rocks hemming
this searing flame that sprang out of him in, monolithic eidolons that rose up
empty air to leave blistered corpses in its in all directions save seaward. His atten-
wake. The struggle went back to the gun- tion was drawn by a flicker of movement
wales, back and back to Granicor’s gal- to a slab of rock that towered twenty feet
ley, carrying Elak and the duke with it. above him; there was a very' narrow crev-
Dimly Elak heard Dalan’s exultant shout, ice splitting it, and from it came a man.
the shrill cry of Velia. . . . Elak could not repress a start. Before
Without warning disaster struck. A him was a Pikht— a member of the almost
blast of frigid, resistless air, a maelstrom legendary race that had held Atlantis so
of wind that smashed down on the two many eons ago that tlieir very existence
craft and ripped them asunder, sent them had almost been forgotten. White men
plunging through waters gone insane. from the cast had warred upon the Pikhts,
Elak saw Dalan’s galley being swept exterminating them ruthlessly, imtil, on
away, heard Granicor roaring in triumph Crenos Isle, there dwelt what was prob-
as he plunged forward. He tensed for a ably the last sur\'ival of the race.
leap, realizing as he sprang that he would The man was dark-skinned and very
fall short. short — scarcely five feet in height —and
Salt water drove into his nostrils, chok- hairless. Not even his pale eyes were
ing him. He went down like a plummet, fringed by lashes. He wore no more than
clinging grimly to his sword. Somehow a loin-cloth, and great muscles crawled
he held his breath, fighting up toward a beneath the smooth skin. His somber face
dim, hazily translucent green light. And had an indefinably bestial cast — and Elak
somehow he kept afloat in a madness of thought suddenly of tales he had heard
racing seas, hanging to tlie fragment of of the kinship of Pikhts to the beasts
an oar that drifted within his reach . . . that these men were the first beings who
but at last darkness took him, and he went had possessed the true human form, and
down into the shadows. who had possessed powers lost to those of
Shadows that whispered, mocking him. a higher stage of evolution.
Dim shadows, with cool blue eyes of Elf, The Pikht bent over Elak, a knife in
moving swiftly in errands of mystery . . . his hand. His voice was thick, guttural,
vague visions of strangeness and of and Elak could scarcely understand the
magic .and the faces of Velia and
. . Atlantean tongue he spoke. "Get up,
Lycon and the Druid, anxious and afraid. stranger. Slowly!”
They were searching for him, he knew, some effort, got to his feet,
Elak, with
and he tried to call a reassuring message. careful to make no hasty movement. His
But the dreams faded and were gone. . . ,
rapier, he saw with regret, was gone.
Also his legs were bound together by a
5. The DiveHers on the Isle thong about a foot long.
The Piklit urged him toward the crev-

E lak awoke very slowly, conscious of a

dull pain in his chest.
sky lowered above him
A sullen gray
he opened ach-
ice in the rock.
broad shoulders scraped the
widened
Tt narrowed until
sides,
his
then
as as he led down. Elak debated
ing eyes. Near by waves crawled up whis- the advantage of trying to take his captor
 —

526 WEIRD TALES

unaware, but, bound and unarmed as he the iron slab began to swing outsv’ard.
was, he knew only death would result. A man crept into the cell. His emaci-
Presently he felt stairs beneath his feet, ated body was clad in a tattered jerkin,
invisible in the shrouding darkness. and tangled, yellow hair hung about a
"
’Ware!” It was the Pikht’s harsh bearded, pain-ravaged face. His eyes
voice. "Not too fast!” were vaaious, filmed with a blue glaze.
Obediently Elak slackened his pace. Spittle drooled from the slack mouth. Be-
Before him aslit of light widened, and hind him the door swung silently shut as
he looked down a corridor cut out of Elak sprang forward. He had only a
solid rock. flashing glimpse of a gray corridor no —
Perhaps two hundred feet long it was, more.
litby bronze lamps that stood in niclies The man huddled in a corner, shudder-
in the wall. Iron doors, with barred win- ing and moaning. Elak looked down at
dows set in them, broke the monotony of him with pity.

gray rock on one side; the other side was "Who are you.^” he asked. "Can you
blank, roughly chiseled stone. Elak understand me?”
paused. "Yes yes, I can understand. The
. . .

The Piklit’s blade gouged skin from Shadow took Halfgar, my son. The
Glancing around, Elak
his captive’s back. Shadow on the pool .” . .

saw that behind the dark-skinned dwarf The bearded face w'as contorted with
were two otlier men, replicas of his cap- grief and horror. Elak cast a swift glance
tor, hairless and smooth-skinned and at the iron door, cryptically shut. What
dark. They carried long blades, longer talk was this of— a Shadow?
than themselves. The blue stare focussed on Elak. "Elf
Elak let himself be prodded along the the warlock gave me to the Pikhts, and
passage. As he passed the barred doors my son Halfgar went with me becaluse he
he realized that they guarded captives, fought at my side against Elf’s men.
”
Atlanteans all, some clad in leather or They
armor, others in furry skins. In the silent Elak leaned forw'ard tensely. "Elf?
faces that watched him Elak saw fear These dwarf,s —Pikhts—know him?”
fear so great that none spoke aloud. In "Yes; they' serve him. They give him
whispers men cursed the Pikhts, and the magic in return for strong men whom
dwarfs smiled mockingly, tlieir eyes cold- they sacrifice to their god. For ages
ly alight with malicious amusement. they’ve dwelt on Crenos Isle worship-
At a door near the end of the tunnel ping ” The man’s voice dropped to
the Pikht halted. He gestured, and one a thin reedy whisper, and madness crept
of his companions lifted a great metal bar into his eyes. "The Shadow took my son.
that locked the panel. The iron door was The door opened, and I w'ent out into the
swung open, and Elak was thrust across passage w'here the pool was. I saw' w'ater
the threshold. below me, and a Shadow lying upon it.
Metal clanged; the bar was thrust into The Shadow leaped up at me, and as I
its socket. The cell, cut from solid rock, drew back it touched my brow ... it w'as
held nothing; but in the further wall was not hungry then. It had just fed on Half-
another door —an iron slab whose smooth gar ... it took him from my side as I

surface was featureless and unbroken. slept . . . there are doors w'hich are not
Elak heard the Pikhts go padding to be opened. ...”
along the passage. And, very slowly. The whisper stopped. The man’s eyes
 —

THUNDER IN THE DAWN 527

widened. He
sprang to his feet, clawing "Praise Ishtar!” Lycon said. "Is he
”
at his breast with ripping fingernails, far? I’ll go after him
tearing away skin and flesh in long rib- "Wait,” the Druid commanded. "I
bons. He screamed, a frightful, agonized know that beach. Elf’s allies, the Pikhts,

shriek that resounded through the cell. have an underground temple there. And
And he fell, a boneless huddle in the
— look!”

corner. His bearded face stared up blind- Velia gave a soft little cry. There was
ly, and Elak saw that he was dead. movement within the crystal; a man
emerged from a cleft in one of the tali
A soft rustling made him Very
turn.
rocks and approached Elak’s prostrate fig-
slowly, very gently, the iron door was
ure. As they watched they saw Elak prod-
swinging outward. From the vagueness
ded to his feet by the Piklit, urged into
beyond the portal a misty gray light crept
the darkness of the fissure. For a second
into the cell.
the sphere was a ball of jet; then it
Elak heard the lapping of water . , .

brightened and showed a long corridor

cut out of solid rock. Three dark-skinned

D ALAN’S black galley lay beached on

Crenos Isle, battered and bruised by
the storm. The same gale that had flung
dwarfs tlirust Elak forward.
"Mider!” Dalan said tonelessly. "He’s
. . .

in the temple! And that means he’s to be

the ship ashore had sent Duke Granicor’s ”
sacrificed to
craft driving northward till it had been
lost to view in the scud. Now the oars-
"Not if I know it!” Lycon snapped.
men were busy calking seams, mending "How far is this temple? The crew have
the ruin the tempest had wrought.
swords, and know how to use them. Tell

But Dalan, in the cabin, crouched over

me how to go, Dalan north or south?” —
He was at the door, grinning unpleasantly
his crystal globe, his ugly face set in harsh
as he fingered the hilt of his blade. "I’ll
lines. Velia and Lycon stood beside him,
butcher those little devils for you!”
curiously eyeing the sphere, watching the
flashing images that swept through its
"Good! Go south, Lycon —and swiftly.
You’ll know the place?”
depths.
"I’ll know it. How far have we to go?”
"Elf’s magic is strong,” the Druid mut-
"Half an hour’s march, if you travel
tered. "He battles me at every step.
” fast.” The Druid turned to his globe.
But
"I’ll stay here. You must fight the Pikhts

"Why
"Is Elak alive?” Velia asked anxiously.
won’t you tell me?”
— but I battle Elf. And ” His huge

hands swept down, gripped the crystal.

"Because I don’t know. Keep quiet,
"Hurry, Lycon! Elak’s in danger now
girl! Elf’s spells war with mine, and I deadly danger!”
see nothing — ^yet.” Lycon thrust the door open, sprang on
He peered into the shimmering sphere. deck. His shrill voice shattered the morn-
Lycon squeezed Velia’s arm reassuringly. ing calm. And in response the crew
And, suddenly, Dalan expelled a long leaped to obey, dropping oar and ham-
breath of relief. mer, taking up sword and ax, dropping
"So! He lives — see?” over the rail to the beach. A half-naked,
Within the crystal a picture grew, a villainous-looking band, they trotted
tiny image of a beach flanked by towering south, urged on by Lycon’s searing oaths
gray rocks. On the slope a man lay bound and the flat of his blade.
and unconscious. And with them came Velia, keeping
 1

528 WEIRD TALES

always at Lycon’s side, eyes flashing with 6. The Night of Gods
battle-hunger, lips parted in a smile that
lak stepped through
was not pleasant to see.
swiftly that they readied their destination
They went so
E the portal and
found himself in a narrow passage.
before the time Dalan had allotted. Rec- Gray light bathed him. In the distance he
ognizing the black deft in the stone, Ly- saw a sparkling surface that rippled in the
cold glow.
con halted his men to take the lead.
And suddenly he heard Dalan’s voice.
He stepped into the darkness with a
It came softly from empty air, urgent,
strange crawling of unc'asiness, sword peremptor}', calling his name.
bared, blinking in an attempt to pierce
"Elak! Elak!”
the gloom. Som.ething moved, and he cut
Searching the bare walls with incred-
at a menace he sensed rather than heard.
ulous eyes, Elak whispered, "Dalan.^
Steel gashed his thigh, but he felt his
'Where are you?”
blade rip through flesh and grind against The Druid’s voice rang out sharply.
Ixine. A squealing, scarcely human cry "No —
time now, Elak -the Shadow comes
soimded. In a frenzy of loathing he as I speak. Leap into the pool dive into
”
—
struckand struck again, cutting his way it,now! At the end of the passage
forward against soft bodies that resisted Still Elak hesitated. "But where are
”
briefly and then broke and retreated under you
his onslaught. "There’s no time to talk now!
”
The oarsmen poured into the cleft, led
Hurry
by Velia, and in the darkness the Pikhts
The stark urgency of Dalan’s words
spurred Elak to action, sent him racing
rallied and came at them, snarling rage.
For a little while there was a black mad-
along the corridor. He cliecked himself
sharply on the brink of a square basin.
ness of battle, a chaos of yells and oaths
Little menace in that, or in the blue-green
and death cries. In the end Lycon won
water that filled it. But within the pool
through, and the Pikhts scattered like rats
dwelt horror. A Shadow lay upon it.
before the sweep of thirst}' blades.
The shadow of a man, cast by —noth-
Before Lycon now was a dim-lit corri- ing! An opaque outline that lay incred-
dor, one wall set with barred doors. He ibly on the surface of the pool. And it
cut down a screaming dwarf that plunged darkened into blackness, while the gray
at him, dagger bared, and left the rest to luminescence of the corridor dimmed.
"
Velia and the crew. Swiftly he raced ’Ware, Elak!”
along the passage, casting hasty glances Dalan’s voice, loud in warning! Elak
into each cell as he passed. Captives whirled, saw a dark-skinned dwarf almost

stretched out imploring hands, begging upon him, pale eyes blazing, bestial face
for release, but Elak w'as not among them. menacing. In the Pikht’s hand was a dag-
ger.
Near the end of the corridor, one door
The two men smashed together on the
was open. Lycon sprang over the thresh-
pool’s brink, went down, clutching and
old, saw a bare, empty cell with an iron
tearing, the oily body of the dwarf
slab ajar in the opposite wall. He went squirming like a snake in Elak’s grasp.
forward, sword dripping red on the
Steel grated on the stones. Elak’s fingers
stones as he lifted it.
closed relentlessly on his opponent’s
Water was lapping softly near by. . . . knife-wrist.
\V. T.—
 2

THUNDER IN THE DAWN 529

With powerful lunge the Pikht

a met in oily flesh. Tendons stood out like
brought his dagger down, its point touch- rigid wire's; there came a brittle cracking
ing Elak’s chest. The two rolled over, sound. A bubbling scream of agony died
snarling oaths, and —dropped into empti- in the dwarf’s throat before it could
ness! emerge.
The pool took them dragged them — The pale eyes glazed. Tlic .stunted
down into water icy as polar seas, blue as body went limp.
turquoise. Elak could see nothing but Elak stood up, bracing himself. He
that illimitable blueness as he went down, stared in sheer astonishment.
choking for breath, battling against blind- It was no eartlily landscape which he
ing panic. Was the pool bottomless? saw'. Obscure color-patterns, shifting and
The sapphire tint deepened to indigo, dancing strangely, w’eaved in the cool air

foamed in fantastic patterns before Elak’s all about him. He thought of the shad-
eyes. He realized abruptly that this was ow's of trees painted on white rock, flick-
not water surrounding him —could not ering arabesques of dandng leaves flut-

be, or he would have drowned minutes tering in the wind.Yet the weird pattern
ago. There was a swift accelerating rush, was not only on tlie pale clay-colored
and abruptly frightful cold, incredible plain on w'hich he stood, but rather all
agony, tore at the citadel of Elak’s brain. about him in the air. He stood alone in
He was conscious of a change. a fantastic w’eave of somber shadows.
Air rushed into his lungs — air stale Colorless shadows, dancing. Or were
and dead, as though it had never been they colorless? He did not know, nor
breathed, yet curiously refreshing. Dim, was he ever to know, the color of the gro-
flickering shadows were all about him. tesque weavings that laced him in a web
And the swarthy devil-mask of the Pikht’s of magic, for while his mind told him
face swam into view’ from the vagueness. that he saw colors, his eyes denied it.

Pale eyes glared into Elak’s; the dag-

ger came down
viciously and buried itself UDDENLY darkness swept down, en-
in the groundas he writhed aside. He S gulfing him. And very faintly a thud-
clutched at the dwarf s wrist, missed, and ding sounded, and swiftly grew louder.
flung himself bodily upon the Piklit, bear- With a giant pounding of q'clopean feet
man dowm by his weight.
ing the smaller something strode past Elak in the black-
But he could not maintain a hold upon ness, something that shook the plain w'ith
the muscular, oily body. the thunder of its passing. There w'as no
Snarling, the dwarf lunged forward, other sound s.'ive for the tremendous
teeth bared. Elak smashed his forehead booming tlmds of tlie titan feet.
into the Pikht’s face, felt blood spurt into They died in the distance; the darkness
his q'cs, blinding him. He shook tlie lifted. Again the flickering shadow pat-

scarlet drops away. terns grew in tlie air. And again they
Abruptly be released the Pikht’s wrist. darkened into blackness.
His hands shot up and gripped the The sound of wdngs came to Elak.
dwarf’s* thro.at —
sinewy hands that had Something was flying far overhead, some-
been trained on battle-ax and rapier. The thing that wailed endlessly and mourn-
knife bit into his body, ripped flesh from fully, keening the cry of one lost and
his breast as he twisted desperately. But w'andering in eternal night. A sense of
the Pikht had struck too late. overpow’ering aw-e touched Elak, and hor-
Elak’s tapering browm fingers almost ror beyond all im.agination —the horror
W. T.—
 —

530 WEIRD TALES

one feels in the presence of a thing, so The power of my harp keeps him from
alien that the flesh of mankind instinc- your side.”
tively shrinks and shudders. Elak knew, Very faintly Dalan name.
called Elak’s
somehow, that he had entered a land in Once again he called, and was silent
which men had not been intended to Shifting shadows moved through the dim
exist. air. hand went involuntarily to his
Elak’s
"Elak . . side. Remembering that he was weapon-

Faintly, from very far away, the thin less, he stooped and pried the dagger

w hisper came — Dalan’s voice. Elak whis- from the Pikht’s cold fingers. But de-
pered the Druid’s name as the darkness spair was mounting within him. How
changed into the vague shadow-patterns. could he fight Elf, alone in this lost hell,
The distant voice came again. without Dalan to aid him?
"You are in a perilous place, Elak, but "Your doom comes,” Elf murmured,
you live. Lycon’s swordsmen slay the and the harp-string twanged eerily, laden
Pikhts now, the crj’stal tells me . .
.
you with bitter sweetness. "You live, Elak,
are very far aw'ay, Elak, but I come and there is no life in Ragnarok. Only
swiftly. Mider aids me. . . the dead gods, and the dust of the souls
Blackness again, and a roaring as of of men.”
great winds. Pow-er unimaginable shud- The dancing shadow-patterns slowed
dered through Elak’s body like a spear their fluttering and became motionless.
shattering on a shield. And it passed, and The sound of Elf’s harp died; it was ut-
the darkness lightened to the crawling terly silent.
shadows. And, far in the distance and gigantic,
"You are v/ith the gods, Elak,” came towering above the horizon, a Shadow be-
Dalan’s far whisper. "You are no longer gan to form in the air. In form it was
in Atlantis, or even on earth. You are in human, but from its darkening nucleus
a far land. And with you are those the there breathed chill horror that made
Sliadow has engulfed the gods! Not the — Elak grip his dagger with desperate fin-
gods of Atlantis, nor the Viking gods, but gers. Fear shook him — the fear that at-
the gods that have died. Around you tacks the citadel of man’s soul when it

move those whose flesh is not our flesh, faces the Unknown.
whose lives are alien to ours. I come,
Elak. . .
.” 7. Solonala —md Mider
Piercingly sweet, throbbing almost ar-
ticulately,

the gloom.
lence,
a harp-string murmured through
Dalan’s voice faded into
and again the note sobbed out.
si- A SOUND behind him made Elak
swiftly, his weapon ready. What he
saw made him pause in wonder. Even in
turn

Above it a soft-toned song lifted in the the shadowy gloom he sensed something
w'ords Elak knew were in no earthly lan- fantastically unreal about the figure that
guage. came stealing out of the dusk with curi-
Startled, apprehensive, Druid the ously rocking gait.
called, "Elak! Elf’s magic battles mine But there was friendliness in the ges-
—he ”
ture with which the half-seen being beck-
Then silence, till a gentle voice spoke. oned. It glanced beyond Elak to where
"Dalan,” it whispered. "Dalan, Elak the Shadow grew and darkened on the
. . . my enemies. Now you shall die, horizon, and then swiftly bent above the
Elak, for the Druid cannot reach you. dead Pikht. Dark hands moved quickly
 —

THUNDER IN THE DAWN 531

and suddenly the dwarf moved, raised flat-topped boulder guarded the entrance
himself stiffly to his feet and stood mo- of the tunnel mouth, and behind this
tionless as an automaton! companion stepped swiftly.
Elak’s
—
The Piklit had died that Elak knew. "Come,” she urged. "W'e can hide
Even now the bald, misshapen head lolled here — for a time at least.”
monstrously on one sagging shoulder. But Elak had reached her side —had
Elak could scarcely see the dwarf’s .face, gripped her slim arms with fingers ren-
but he knew intuitively that the shallow dered cruel by his amaaement. He stared
eyes held no life. An icy shudder shook at tire girl in v*onder, knowing that she
him. sprang from no earthly race.
The Pikht turned. Swaying, the squat A satyr-girl! A faun-maiden, slender
figure raced forward, past Elalc, toward and white and virginal as cool marble,
the Shadow that loomed in black horror round-breasted, with red-golden hair that
in the distance. A soft hand was thrust hung in velvet coils about the smooth
in Elak’s, and he looked down to see a shoulders. To her waist she was human.
white girl-face peering anxiously up at Below that all semblance of humanity
him. ended, and sheer fantasy began.
He felt himself being tugged along, Her legs were golden-furred and
and yielded, smiling a little wryly. After crooked like those of a beast —not un-
all, into what worse hell could he be gainly goat-legs, but rather the limbs of
guided.^ The patterns flickered all around some graceful deer, ending in tiny hoofs
them as they moved, and presently Elak that glinted golden in the dim light. Her
heard a low voice say: face was as unearthly as her nether limbs,
"We should be safe now.” for all its classic beauty. No earth-girl
"You speak Atlantean?” he asked in- had ever possessed golden eyes — e^-es like

voluntarily, and quiet laughter mocked flaky pools of pure gold, without white
him. or pupil, that stared at Elak as unwink-
"I speak my own tongue. All lan- ingly as those of a cat. Her face was
guages are one here. Just as the Shadow curiously feline in contour as she smiled
appears differently to everj'one, and yet at Elak, looking up at him fearlessly.
is the same to everj'one after being "I am strange to you?” she asked. "But
taken — so do all tongues seem alike here. you are strange too. There arc many
The world from which came I is far from worlds besides your own, Elak.”
yours. How are you named?” "So it seems,” the Atlantean gasped.
"Elak. The— Shadow?” "By Bel! Uiis must be some mad dream
"It has faded. See?” I’m havirjg!”
Elak glanced over his shoulder, but Tlie girl urged hum further into the
could make out nothing but the dancing cave. A dim light irradiated its further
patterns of alien color. The invisible girl recesses, v^hich were draped with violet
went on, "I put life into the dead being samite that hid the rough rock walls.
and sent him to the Shadow, so tliat we Cushions carpeted and hid the ground.
could escape while the Shadow fed. We "I am Solonala,” the faun-girl told
are safe for a little while, Elak.” Elak, relaxing gracefully in a little nest
She paused as the air lighted; they of .soft pillows. "Elas Elf’s magic sent
stood before a cave that opened into the you here, too?”
side of a rampart which towered up until Elak did not answer; his eyes watched
it was lost in the dimness. A misshapen, the eery golden-furred legs in fascinated
532 WEIRD TALES
wonder. Solonala glanced down, smiling, The harp-string throbbed on, blanket-
and clicked her hoofs gently together. ing Elak in drowsiness. As he w'ent down
"We are made in different patterns, into slumber he was conscious of Solo-
you and I.” nala leaning toward him, cat-face puzzled
Elak nodded. "Yes. Though Elf, — . . . and then darkness. . . .

you say.^ D’you know him?’’ He He dreamed of the black

dreamed.
"I know him, and I fought him. The galley’s cabin, and of Dalan, crouching
land where I once ruled is far from here, over his crystal globe. Within the sphere
and far from your own earth. But Elf’s a flame rose up like a blossoming flower.
powers enable him to go from world to It grew and lifted till it towered above
world, and when he came to mine I saw the Druid’s glistening bald head.
that he was evil, and tried to destroy Its scarlet tip bent down, expanded into
him. He was the stronger.” a lambent rose of fire. It swayed and
She shrugged slender shoulders. "So trembled in midair. Dalan prayed.
I came here, or rather Elf exiled me here. "Mider, hear me. God of the Druids,
He couldn’t kill me, for I’m not human, Lord of Flame, let your hand draw back
as you are —decay cannot touch my flesh, this man from the Shadow
”

as it will touch yours in time. But he The vision faded. The dim murmur
imprisoned me in this land, where in of a harp-string put a period to it. Vague-
time I’ll be taken by the Shadow. .” . . ly Elak saw Solonala’s face swimming in
"What is this Shadow?” silver mistiness, her lips parted.
Golden eyes watched Elak, luminous in Again the harp sent its sorcerous whis-
the glow. "You saw it as a man’s shad- pering into Elak’s sleeping mind — Elf’s
—
ow eh? A man such as yourself? But harp, fraught with deadly magic!
I saw it as Solonala’s shadow. Every be- "Elak!”
ing sees the Shadow as his own. For it Dalan’s voice!
is his own. It is the ultimate death. It The harp-string twanged angrily.
is destruction. This land is its home, but Above its noisecame a harsh cry.
it can come to other worlds when gate- "Elak! Mider aid me Elak! Hear —
ways have been opened.” me!”
—
Gateways such as the pool in tire The tall adventurer sprang to full
Fikhts’ underground deni wakefulness, his hand racing to the dag-
"And it is come
here that the gods ger at his belt. A low murmuring sound-
when they die, Elak.” Her voice was ed from without the cave. Elak got quiet-
hushed. "You heard them pass, I think. ly to his feet and moved toward the

1 darkness always comes when the dead portal.

gods go by, for they wander this lost land There he paused, his eyes wide. On
alone in eternal night. . .
.” the flat rock before the cave mouth
crouched Solonala, her white body gleam-
I^AiNT, infinitely far away, there sound- ing in the shifting shadow-patterns, and
A ed a thin murmur the hum of a— all about her, genuflecting and abjecting
plucked harp-string. Dim and drowsy, themselves in ghastly worship, was a
it stole into Elak’s mind until, scarcely horde of tiny, hideous white things that
aware he heard it, he realized that he moved so swiftly Elak could not clearly
was nodding sleepily. Solonala watched define their outlines. Indeed, he had no
him alertly out of great golden eyes. chance, for as he appeared Solonala lifted
"I hear magic,” she said. her head, saw him, and flung out a slim
 THUNDER IN THE DAWN 533

arm commandingly. The white beings first manifested itself Elak did not under-
streamed away and were lost in the dis- stand, but he realized that no longer was
tance. he being absorbed into the Shadow.
Now Elak saw w'hat had previously Something was pulling him back lifting —
escaped him. Towering to the sky be- him from the sucking void that was an-
yond Solonala, menacing and terrible, nihilation.
—
loomed the Shadow! He heard the Druid’s voice, strained,
The girl let her arm drop to her side. triumphant. "Mider! Save him, Mider —
”
Without moving she watched Elak. god of oak and fire

"Elf’s magic brought the Shadow here Light flashed out all around —warm,
while you slept,” she said. "I could not rose-tinted, luminous flame. In its fierce

waken you, though I tried. Those little glow was revealed the figure of Solonala,
ones — I made them.
Living things, to unearthly in her beauty —and also the in-
appease the Shadow’s hunger while we credible thing on which the two stood.
flee. Perhaps we can escape.” She paused It was a hand.
doubtfully. Eight-fingered, colossal, it was no
From empty air roared the voice of earthly hand. The hand of Mider him-
Dalan. self, reaching down into the hell of the
"Courage, Elak! I come —and with Shadow at the Druid’s prayer. The titan
aid!” hand swept upward, carrying Elak and
And the voice of Elf, disembodied, Solonala.
—mocking.
. . .

gentle
It checked itself. Blackness crept back,
"What can Mider do against the Shad-
A
dimming the rosy flame-walls. sea of
ow, Druid.^ Your god lives and there — shadow rose like a and the hand be-
tide,
is no life in Ragnarok.”
gan to sink down, slowly at first, and then
The immense Shadow on the horizon
with ever-increasing speed.
grew darker. The flickering patterns in
Dalan’s cry came, despairing, inarticu-
the air seemed to weave faster, troubled.
Without warning Elak saw the Shadow
late. And Elf’s soft laughter.

fold down tremendously and swoop upon Solonala knelt beside Elak. She put
him. He felt Solonala’s soft body shud- her arms around his neck; tender lips

dering against his, and his arms went in- brushed Then, before he could
his.

stinctively about her. The faun-girl cried move, she sprang away and flung herself
out—and her voice was clipped off into into the void. For an intolerable, age-

utter silence. Blackness abysmal and un- long second her white-and-gold-figure

earthly smothered them. loomed against blackness —and was gone.

They were one with the Shadow. A cry, gull-plaintive, drifted to Elak’s

They were nothingness — annihilation, cars as he started forward.

complete and final emptiness. And yet He was too late. The hand of the god
Elak was dreadfully conscious of a feel- swept up. Elak fell to his knees, strug-
—
ing of power cosmic power, terrible in gling to drag himself to where Solonala
its illimitable vastness. Aside from this, had vanished and then there was only
. . .

nothing existed for him. Solonala’s body darkness around him, and the howling
no longer pressed against his. He felt and shrieking of great winds. . . .

the fortress of his soul, his mind, crumb- You will not want to mi>s the stirring and exciting and
inexpressibly weird chapters that bring this fascinating
ling under the assault of the Shadow. story to an end in next month’s TALES. WEIRD We
And, suddenly, hope came. How it
suggest that you icscryc your copy at your magazine deal*
now.
 c^(
igeons From Hell
By ROBERT E. HOWARD
A fearsome story of frightful death, a whistle in the dark, and three women
whose bodies hung in that dreadful room of horrors —
by a late great master of weird fiction

1. The Whistler in the Dark The dream had begun, abruptly, as he

and John Branner came in sight of the

G RISWELL awoke

tion of
suddenly, every
nerve tingling with a premoni-
imminent peril.

stared about wildly, unable at first to re-

He
house where they now lay. They had
come rattling and bouncing over the
stumpy, uneven old road that led through
the pinelands, he and John Branner, wan-
member where he was, or what he was dering far afield from their New Eng-
doing there. Moonlight filtered in land home, in search of vacation pleasure.
through the dusty windows, and the great They had sighted the old house with its

empty room with its lofty ceiling and balustraded galleries rising amidst a wil-
gaping black fireplace was spectral and derness of weeds and bushes, just as the
unfamiliar. Then as he emerged from sun was setting behind it. It dominated
the clinging cobwebs of his recent sleep, their fancy, rearing Black and stark and
he remembered where he was and how gaunt against the low lurid rampart of
he came to be there. He twisted his head sunset, barred by the black pines.
and stared at his companion, sleeping on They were tired, sick of biunping and
the floor near him. John Branner was but pounding all day over woodland roads.
a vaguely bulking shape in the darkness The old deserted house stimulated their
that the moon scarcely grayed. imagination with its suggestion of ante-
Griswell tried to remember what had bellum splendor and ultimate decay. They
awakened him. There w'as no sound in left the automobile beside the rutty road,
the house, no sound outside except tlie and as they went up the winding walk of
mournful hoot of an owl, far away in the crumbling bricks, almost lost in tlie
piny woods. Now he had captured tlie tangle of rank growth, pigeons rose from
illusive memory. It was a dream, a night- the balustrades in a fluttering, feathery
mare so filled with dim terror that it crowd and swept away with a low
had frightened him awake. Recollection thunder of beating wings.
flooded back, vividly etching the abomi- The oaken door sagged on broken
nable vi.sion.
hinges. Dust lay thickon the floor of the
Or was it Certainly it must
a dream? wide, dim hallv/ay,on the broad steps
have been, but had blended so curiously
it of the stair that mounted up from the
witli recent actual events that it was dif- hall. They turned into a door opposite the
ficult to know where reality left off and landing, and entered a large room, empty,
fantasy began. dusty, withcobwebs shining thickly in the
Dreaming, he had seemed to relive his corners. Dust lay thick over the ashes in
pastfew waking hours, in accurate detail. the great fireplace.
534
 PIGEONS FROM HELL 535

They discussed gathering wood and Branner came up the shattered walk. He
building a fire, but decided against it. As saw the dim room in which they presently
the sun sank, darkness came quickly, the lay, and he saw the two forms that were

thick, black, absolute darkness of the himself and his companion, lying
pinelands. They knew that rattlesnakes wrapped in their blankets on the dusty
and copperheads haunted Southern for- floor. Then from that point his dream

ests, and they did not care to go groping altered subtly, passed out of the realm of
for firewood in the dark. They ate frugal- the commonplace and became tinged with
ly from tins, then rolled in their blankets fear. He was looking into a vague,
fully clad before the empty fireplace, and shadowy chamber, lit by the gray light of
went instantly to sleep. themoon which streamed in from some
This, in part, was what Griswell had obscure source. For there was no window
dreamed. He saw again the gaunt house in that room. But in tlie gray light he
looming stark against the crimson sunset; saw three silent shapes that hung sus-
saw the flight of the pigeons as he and pended in a row, and their stillness and
536 WEIRD TALES
their outlines woke diill horror in his lips. He had meant to —to
shout tell

soul. There was no sound, no word, but Branner that there was somebody up-
he sensed a Presence of fear and lunacy stairs,somebody who could mean them
crouching in a dark corner. Abruptly . . . no good; that they must leave the house
he was back in the dust}’, high-ceilinged at once. But his voice died dr}'ly in his
room, before the great fireplace. throat.
Branner had risen. His boots clumped

H e was lying in his blankets, staring

tensely through the
across tlie shadowy hall,
dim door and
to where a beam
on the floor as he moved toward the
door. He stalked leisurely into the hall
and made for the lower landing, merg-
of moonlight fell across the balustraded ing with the shadows that clustered black
stair, some seven steps up from the land- about the stair.

ing. .And there was something on the
stair, a bent, misshapen, shadowy thing
tliat never moved fully into the beam of
light. But a dim yellow blur that might
have been a face was turned toward him,
as if something crouched on the stair, re-
garding him and his companion. Fright
crept chilly through his veins, and it was
Griswell lay incapable of movement,
hismind a whirl of bewilderment. Who
was that whistling upstairs? Wliy was
Branner going up those stairs? Griswell
saw him pass the spot where the moon-
light rested, saw his head tilted back as
if he were looking at something Gris-
well could not see, above and beyond the

—
then that he awoke if indeed he had stair. But his face was like that of a sleep-

bec-n asleep. walker. He moved across the bar of

He blinked his The beam of
ey’es. moonlight and vanished from Griswell’s
moonlight fell across the stair just as he view, even as the latter tried to shout to
had dreamed it did; but no figure lurked him to come back. A ghastly whisper was
there. Yet his flesh still crawled from the tlie only result of his effort.

fear the dream or vision had roused in
him; his legs felt as if they had been
plunged in ice-water. He made an invol-
untary movement to av/aken his compan-
ion, when
a sudden sound paralyzed him.
was the sound of w’histling on the
It
floor above. Eery and sweet it rose, not
carrying any tune, but piping shrill and
melodious. Such a sound in a supposedly
The whistling sank to a lower note,
died out. Griswell heard the stairs creak-
ing under Branner’s measured tread.
Now he had reached the hallway above,
for Griswell heard the clump of his feet
moving along it. Suddenly the footfalls
halted, and the whole night seemed to
hold its breath. 'Then an awful scream
split the stillness, and Griswell started

deserted house w’as alarming enough; but up, echoing the cry.
it was more than the fear of a physiail The strange paralysis that had held
invader that held Griswell frozen. He him was broken. He took a step toward
could not himself have defined the hor- the door, then checked himself. The foot-
ror tliat gripped him. But Branner’s fallswere resumed. Branner was coming
blankets rustled, and Griswell saw he was back. He was not running. The tread was
sitting upright. His figure bulked dimly even more deliberate and measured tlian
in the soft darkness, the head turned before. Now the stairs began to creak
toward the stair as if the man were listen- again. A groping hand, moving along the
ing intently. More sweetly and more balustrade, came into the bar of moon-
subtly evil rose that weird whistling. light; then another, and a ghastly thrill

"Jolin!” whi.spered Griswell from dry went through Griswell as he saw that the
 — —

PIGEONS FROM HELL 537

other hand gripped a hatchet —a hatchet he saw something loping after him
which dripped blackly. W'oj that Bran- wolf or dog, he could not tell which,
ner who was coming down that stair? but its eyes glowed like balls of green
Yes! The figure had moved into the fire. With a gasp he increased his speed,

bar of moonlight now, and Grisw'ell reeled around a bend in the road, and
recognized it. Then he saw Branner’s heard a horse snort; saw it rear and heard
face, and a shriek burst from Griswell’s its rider curse; saw the gleam of blue

lips. Branner’s face was bloodless, corpse- steel in the man’s lifted hand.

like; gouts of blood dripped darkly down He staggered and fell, catching at the
it; his eyes set, and blood
were glassy and rider’s stirrup.

oozed from the great gash which cleft the "For God’s sake, help me!’’ he panted.
crown of his head! "'The thing! It killed Branner it’s com- —
ing after me! Look!”

G riswell never remembered exactly

how he got out of that accursed
house. Afterward he retained a mad, The
Twin balls of

rider swore again,

fire gleamed
fringe of bushes at the turn of the road.
and on the heels
in the

confused impression of smashing his way of his profanity came tlie smashing report
through a dusty cobwebbed window, of of his six-shooter —
again and yet again.
stumbling blindly across the weed-choked The fire-sparks vanished, and the rider,
lawn, gibbering his frantic horror. He jerking his stirrup free from Griswell’s
saw the black wall of the pines, and tlie grasp, spurred his horse at the bend.
moon floating in a blood-red mist in Griswell staggered up, shaking in every
which there was neither sanity nor reason. limb. The
rider was out of sight only a
Some shred of sanity returned to him moment; then he came galloping back.
as he .saw tire automobile beside the road. "Took to the bru.sh. Timber wolf, I
In a world gone suddenly mad, that was reckon, though I never heard of one
an object reflecting prosaic reality; but chasin’ a man before. Do you know what
even as he reached for tlie door, a dry it was?”
chillingwhir sounded in his ears, and he Griswell could only shake his head
recoiled from the swaying undulating weakly.
shape that arclied up from its scaly coils 'The rider, etched in the moonlight,
on the driver’s seat and hissed sibilantly looked down at him, smoking pistol still

at him, darting a forked tongue in the lifted in his right hand. He was a com-
moonlight. pactly-built man of medium height, and
With a sob of horror he turned and his broad-brimmed planter’s hat and his
fled down the road, as a man runs in a boots marked him as a native of the
nightmare. He ran v/ithout purpose or country as definitely as Criswell’s garb
reason. His numbed brain was incapable stamped him as a stranger.
of conscious thought. He merely obeyed "What’s all tliis about, anyway?”
the blind primitive urge to run —run "I don’t know,” Griswell answered
run until he fell exhausted. helplessly. "My name’s Griswell. John
'Tlie black walls of the pines flowed —
Branner my friend who was traveling
endlessly past him; so he was seized with with me —we stopped at a deserted house
the illusion that he was getting nowhere. back down
the road to spend the night.
But presently a sound penetrated the fog Something ” at the m.emory he was
of his terror — tlie steady, inexorable pat- choked by a tush of horror. "My God!”
ter of feet behind him. Turning his head. he saeamed. "I must be mad! Something
538 WEIRD TALES
came and looked over the balustrade of ner ” he choked again. "We must
the stair —something with a yellow face! find his body. My God!” he cried, un-
I thought I dreamed must have
it, but it manned by the abysmal horror of the
been real. Then somebody began thing; "what will we find? If a dead man
whistling upstairs, and Branner rose and walks, what
went up the stairs walking like a man in "We’ll see.” The sheriff caught the
his sleep, or hypnotized. I heard him reins in the crook of his left elbow and
scream —or someone screamed; then he began filling the empty chambers of his
came down the stair again with a bloody big blue pistol as they walked along.
hatchet in his hand —
and my God, sir, he
was dead! His head had been split open. As THEY made the turn Griswell’s
I saw brains and clotted blood oozing •TA. blood was ice at the thought of
down his face, and his face was that of a what they might see lumbering up the
dead man. But he came down the stair! road with bloody, grinning death-mask,
As God is my witness, John Branner was but they saw only the house looming
murdered in that dark upper hallway, and spectrally among the pines, down the
then his dead body came stalking down road. A strong shudder shook Griswell.
the stairs with a hatchet in its hand to — "God, how evilhouse looks,
that
kill me!” against those black pines! It looked sin-
The rider made no reply; he sat his ister —
from the very first when we went
horse like a statue, outlined against the up broken walk and saw those
the
”
stars,and Griswell could not read his ex- pigeons fly up from the porch

pression, his face shadowed by his hat- "Pigeons?” Buckner cast him a quick
brim. glance. "You saw the pigeons?”
"You think I’m mad,” he said hope- "Why, yes! Scores of them perching
lessly. "Perhaps I am.” on the porch railing.”
"I don’t know what to think,” an- They strode on for a moment in
swered the rider. "If it was any house but silence, before Buckner said abruptly;
the old Blassenville Manor — ^well, we’ll "I’ve lived in this country all my life.

see. My name’s Buckner. I’m sheriff of I’ve passed the old Blassenville place a
this county. Took a nigger over to the thousand times, I reckon, at allhours of
county-seat in the next county and was the day and night. But I never saw a
ridin’ back late.” pigeon anywhere around it, or anywhere

He swung off his horse and stood be- else in these woods.”
side Griswell, shorter than the lanky New "There were scores of them,” repeated
Englander, but much harder knit. There Griswell, bewildered.
was a natural manner of decision and cer- "I’ve seen men who swore they’d seen
tainty about him, and it was easy to be- a flock of pigeons perched along the
lieve that he would be a dangerous man sundown,” said Buckner
balusters just at
in any sort of a fight. slowly. "Niggers, all of them except one
"Are you afraid to go back to the man. A tramp. He was buildin’ a fire in
house?” he asked, and Griswell shud- the yard, aimin’ to camp there that night.
dered, but shook his head, the dogged I passed along there about dark, and he
tenacity of Puritan ancestors asserting told me I came back
about the pigeons.
itself. by there the next momin’. The ashes of
'"rhe thought of facing that horror his firewere there, and his tin cup, and
again turns me sick. But poor Bran- skillet where he’d fried pork, and his
 a

PIGEONS FROM HELL 539

blankets looked like they’d been slept in. tion houses that hid forgotten secrets of
Nobody ever saw him again. That was slavery and bloody pride and mysterious
twelve years ago. The niggers say they intrigues.He had thought of the South
can see the pigeons, but no nigger would as a lazy land washed by soft
sunny,
pass along this road between simdown breezes laden with spice and warm blos-
and sun-up. They say the pigeons are soms, where life ran tranquilly to tlie
the souls of the Blassenvilles, let out of rhythm of black folk singing in sun-
hell at sunset. The niggers say tlie red bathed cottonfields. But now he had dis-
glare in the west is the light from hell, covered another, unsuspected side—
because then the gates of hell are open, dark, brooding, fear-haunted side, and
and the Blassenvilles fly out.” the discovery repelled him.
"Who were the Blassenvilles.^” asked The oaken door sagged as it had be-
Griswell, shivering. fore. The blackness of the interior was
"They owned all this land here. intensified by the beam of Buckner’s light
French-English family. Came here from playing on the sill. That beam sliced
the West Indies before the Louisiana Pur- through the darkness of the hallway and
chase. The Civil War ruined them, like roved up the stair, and Griswell held his
it did so many. Some were killed in the breath, clenching his fists. But no shape
War; most of the others died out. No- of lunacy leered down at them. Buckner
body’s lived in the Manor since 1890 went in, walking light as a cat, torch in
when Miss Elizabeth Blassenville, the last one hand, gun in the other.
of the line, fled from the old house one As he swung his light into the room
night like it was a plague spot, and never across from the stairway, Griswell cried
—
came back to it this your auto?” —
out and cried out again, almost faint-
They halted beside the car, and Gris- ing with the intolerable sickness at what
well stared morbidly at the grim house. he saw. A trail of blood drops led across
Its dusty panes were empty and blank; the floor, crossing the blankets Branner
but tliey did not seem blind to him. It had occupied, which lay between the door
seemed to him that ghastly eyes were and those in which Griswell had lain.
fixed hungrily on him through those And Griswell’s blankets had a terrible
darkened panes. Buckner repeated his occupant. John Branner lay there, face
question. down, his cleft head revealed in merciless
"Yes. Be careful. Tlrere’s a snake on clarity in tire steady light. His out-
the seat — or there was.” stretched hand still gripped the haft of
"Not there now,” grunted Buckner, a hatchet, and the blade was imbedded
tying his horse and pulling an electric deep in the blanket and the floor beneath,
torch out of the saddle-bag. "Well, let’s just where Griswell’ s head had lain when
have a look.” he slept tlicre.
He strodeup the broken brick-walk as
matter-of-factly as if he were paying a
social call on friends. Griswell followed
close at his heels, his heart pounding suf-
A
that
MOMENTARY rusli of blackness en-
gulfed Griswell. He was not av/are
he staggered, or that Buckner caught
focatingly. A scent of decay and molder- him. When he could see and hear again,
ing vegetation blew on the faint wind, he was violently sick and hung his head
and Griswell grew faint with nausea, against the mantel, retching miserably.
that rose from a frantic abhorrence of Buckner turned the light full on him,
these black woods, these ancient planta- making him blink. Buckner’s voice came
540 WEIRD TALES
from behind the blinding radiance, the well. "I have no intention of pleading
man himself unseen. self-defense.”
"Griswell, you’ve told me a yarn that’s "That’s what puzzles me,” Buckner ad-
hard to believe. I saw something chasin’ mitted frankly, straightening. "What
you, but it might have been a timber murderer would rig up such a crazy story
wolf, or a mad dog. as you’ve told me, to prove his innocence?
"If you’re holdin’ back anything, you Average killer would have told a logical
better spill it. What you told me won’t yarn, at least. Hmmm! Blood drops
hold up in any court. You’re bound to be leadin’ from the door. The body was
accused of killin’ your partner. I’ll have dragged — no, couldn’t have been
to arrest you. If you’ll give me the dragged. The floor isn’t smeared. You
straight goods now, it’ll make it easier. must have carried it here, after killin’ him
Now, didn’t you kill this fellow, Bran- in some other place. But in that case,
ner? why isn’t there any blood on your
"Wasn’t it something like this: you clothes? Of course you could have
quarreled, he grabbed a hatchet and changed clothes and washed your hands.
swung at you, but you dodged and then But the fellow hasn’t been dead long.”
let him have it?’’ "He walked downstairs and across the
Griswell sank down and hid his face room,” said Griswell hopelessly. "He
in his hands, his head swimming. came to kill me. I knew he was coming to
"Great God, man, I didn’t murder kill me when I saw him lurching down
John! Why, we’ve been friends ever since the stair. He struck where I would have
we were children in school together. I’ve been, if I hadn’t awakened. That window
told you the truth. I don’t blame you for — I burst out at it. You see it’s broken.”
not believing me. But God help me, it "I see. But if he walked then, why
is the tmth!” isn’t he walkin’ now?”
The light swung back to the gory head
"I don’t know! I’m too sick to think
again, and Griswell closed his eyes.
straight. I’ve been fearing that he’d rise
He heard Buckner grunt.
where he lies and come
up from the floor
"I believe this hatchet in his hand is
at me When I heard that wolf
again.
the one he was killed with. Blood and
running up the road after me, I thought
brains plastered on the blade, and hairs
stickin’ to it —
hairs exactly the same color
itwas John chasing me John, running —
through the night with his bloody ax and
as his. ’This makes it tough for you, Gris-
his bloody head, and his death-grin!”
well.’’
His teeth chattered as he lived that
"How so?” the New Englander asked
horror over again.
dully.
"Knocks any plea of self-defense in Buckner let his light play across the

the head. Branner couldn’t have swung floor.

at you with this hatchet after you split "The blood drops lead into the hall.

his skull with it. You must have pulled Come on. We’ll follow them.”

the ax out of his head, stuck it into the Griswell cringed. "They lead upstairs.”
floor and clamped his fingers on it to Buckner’s eyes were fixed hard on him.
make it look like he’d attacked you. And "Are you afraid to go upstairs, with
it would have been damned clever — if me?”
you’d used another hatchet.” Griswell’s face was gray.

"But I didn’t kill him,” groaned Gris- "Yes. But I’m going, with you or with-
 — — —

PIGEONS FROM HELL 541

out you.
may still
The thing that killed poor John
be hiding up there.” T hey came out into the upper hall-
way, a vast, empty space of dust and
shadows where time-crusted windows re-
"Stay behind me,” ordered Buckner.
pelled the moonlight and the ring of
"If anything jumps us. I’ll take care of
Buckner’s torch seemed inadequate. Gris-
it. But for your own sake, I warn you
well trembled like a leaf. Here, in dark-
that I shoot quicker than a cat jumps,
ness and horror, John Branner had died.
and I don’t often miss. If you’ve got any
"Somebody whistled up here,” he mut-
ideas of layih’ me out from behind, for-
tered. "John came, as if he were being
get them.”
called.”
"Don’t be a fool!” Resentment got the Buckner’s eyes were blazing strangely
better of his apprehension, and this out- in the light.
burst seemed to reassure Buckner more "The footprints lead down the hall,”
than any of his protestations of inno- he muttered. "Same as on the stair one —
cence. set going, one coming. Same prints
Judas!”
"I want to be fair,” he said quietly.
Behind him Griswell stifled a cry, for
"I haven’t indicted and condemned you
he had seen what prompted Buckner’s
in my mind already. If only half of what
exclamation. A few feet from the head
you’re tellin’ me is the truth, you’ve been
of the stair Branner’s footprints stopped
through a hell of an experience, and I
abruptly, then returned, treading almost
don’t want hard on you. But
to be too
in the other tracks. And where the trail
you can see how hard it is for me to halted there was a great splash of blood
believe all you’ve told me.”
on the dusty floor —and other tracks met
Griswell wearily motioned for him to it —tracks of bare feet, narrow but with
lead the way, unspeaking. They went out splayed toes. They too receded in a
into the hall, paused at the landing. A second line from the spot.
thin string of crimson drops, distinct in Buckner bent over them, swearing.
the thick dust, led up tlie steps. "The trades meet! And where they
"Man’s tracks in the dust,” grunted
meet there’s blood and brains on the
floor! Branner must have been killed on
Buckner. "Go slow. I’ve got to be sure
of what I see, because we’re obliteratin’
that spot —
with a blow from a hatchet.

them as we go up. Hmmm! One set goin’ Bare feet coming out of the darkness to
up, one cornin’ down. Same man. Not —
meet shod feet then both turned away
again; the shod feet went downstairs, the
your tracks. Branner was a bigger man
bare feet went back down the hall.” He
than you are. Blood drops all the way
blood on the bannisters like a man had directed his light down the hall. 'The

laid his bloody hand there — a smear of

”
footprints faded into darkness, beyond
the reach of the beam. On either hand
stuff that looks brains. Now what
the closed doors of chambers were cryptic
"He walked down the stair, a dead portals of mystery.
man,” shuddered Griswell. "Groping "Suppose your crazy tale was true,”
—
with one hand the other gripping the
Buckner muttered, half to himself.
hatchet that killed him.”
"These aren’t your tracks. They look like
"Or was carried,” muttered the sheriff. a woman’s. Suppose somebody did
"But if somebody carried him — where whistle, and Branner went upstairs to in-
are the tracks?’’ vestigate. Suppose somebody met him
 —

542 WEIRD TALES

here in the dark and split his head. The into mad flight. A ghastly thought
signs and tracks v^ould have been, in that brought icy sweat out on his flesh. Sup-
case, just as they really are.But if that’s pose the dead man were creeping up the
so, why isn’t Branner lyin’ here where he behind them in the dark, face frozen
stair
was killed? Could he have lived long in the death-grin, blood-caked hrUchet
enough to take the hatchet away from lifted to strike?
whoever killed him, and stagger down- This possibility so overpowered him
stairs with it?” that he was scarcely aware when his feet
"No, no!” Recollection gagged Gris- struck the level of the lower hallway,
well. "I saw him on the stair. He was and he was only then aw'are that the light
dead. No man could live a minute after had grown brighter as they descended,
receiving such a wound.” until it now gleamed with its full power
"I believe it,” muttered Buckner. "But — but when Buckner turned it back up
— it’s madness! Or else it’s too clever the stairway, it failed to illuminate the
yet,what sane man would think up and darkness that hung like a tangible fog at
work out such an elaborate and utterly the head of the stair.

insane plan to esecape punishment for "lire damn thing w'as conjured,” mut-
murder, when a simple plea of self- tered Buckner. "Nothin’ else. It couldn’t
defense would have been so much more act like that naturally.”
effective? No court would recognize that "Turn the light into the room,”
story. Well, let’s follow these other begged Griswell. "See if John — if John
tracks. They lead down the hall — here, is
”

what’s this?” He could not put the ghastly thought

With an icy clutch at his soul, Gris- into words, but Buckner understood.
well saw tlie light was beginning to grow He swung the beam around, and Gris-
dim. well had never dreamed that the sight of
"This battery is new,” muttered Buck- the gory body of a murdered man could
ner, and for the first time Griswell caught bring such relief.

an edge of fear in his voice. "Come on "He’s still there,” grunted Buckner.
out of here quick!” "If he walked after he was killed, he .

”
The light had faded to a faint red hasn’t walked since. But that tiling
glow. 'The darkness seemed straining into Again he turned the light up the stair,
them, creeping with black cat-feet. Buck- and stood chev/ing his lip and scowling.
ner retreated, pushing Griswell stumbling Three times he half lifted his gun. Gris-
behind him as he walked backward, pistol well read his mind. The sheriff was
cocked and lifted, down down the dark tempted to plunge back up that stair,
hall. In the growing darkness Griswell take his chance with the unknown. But
heard what sounded like the stealthy common sense held him back.
opening of a door. And suddenly the "I have a chance in the
wouldn’t
blackness about them was vibrant with dark,” he muttered. "And I’ve got a
menace. Grisw'cll knew Buckner sensed hunch the light would go out again.”
it as well as he, for the sheriff’s hard body He turned and faced Griswell squarely.
was tense and taut as a stalking panther’s. "There’s no use dodgin’ the question.
But without haste he worked his way There’s somethin’ hellish in this house,
to the stair and backed down it, Gris- and I believe I have an inklin’ of what
well preceding him, and fighting the it is. I don’t believe you killed Branner.
panic that urged him to saeam and burst Whatever killed him is up there —now.
 PIGEONS FROM HELL 543

There’s a lot about your yarn that don’t where Branner’s tracks ended; swept into
sound sane; but there’s nothin’ sane about corners. No chance of trackin’ anything
a flashlight goin’ out like this one did. I there now. Something obliterated those
don’t believe that thing upstairs is tracks while we sat here, and I didn’t
human. I never met anything I was afraid hear a soimd. I’ve gone through the
to tackle in the dark before, but I’m not whole house. Not a sign of anything.”
goin’ up there until daylight. It’s not long Griswell shuddered at the thought of
until dawn. We’ll wait for it out there himself sleeping alone on the porch while
on that gallery.” Buckner conducted his exploration.
"What shall we do?” he asked list-

T he stars were already paling when

they came out on the broad porch.
Buckner seated himself on the balustrade,
lessly.

goes
story.”
my
"With those
only
tracks gone,
chance of proving
there
my

facing the door, his pistol dangling in his "We’ll take Branner’s body into the
fingers. Griswell sat down near him and county-seat,” answered Buckner. "Let me
leaned back against a crumbling pillar. do the talkin’. If the authorities knew the
He shut his eyes, grateful for the faint facts as they appear, they’d insist on you
breeze that seemed to cool his throbbing being confined and indicted. I don’t be-
brain. He experienced a dull sense of lieve you killed —
Branner but neither a
unreality.He was a stranger in a strange district attorney, judge nor jury would be-
land, a land that had become suddenly lieve what you told me, or what happened
imbued with black horror. The shadow to us last night. I’m handlin’ this thing
of the noose hovered above him, and in my own way. I’m not goin’ to arrest you
that dark house lay John Branner, with until I’ve exhausted every other possi-
his butchered head — like the figments of bility.

a dream these facts spun and eddied in "Say nothin’ about what’s happened
his brain until all merged in a gray twi- here, when we get to town. I’ll simply
light as sleep came uninvited to his weary tell the district attorney that John Bran-
soul. ner was killed by a party or parties un-
He awoke to a cold white dawn and known, and that I’m workin’ on tlie case.
full memory of the horrors of the night. "Are you game to come back with me
Mists curled about the stems of the pines, to this house and spend the night here,
crawled in smoky wisps up the broken sleepin’ in that room as you and Branner
walk. Buckner was shaJcing him. slept last night?”
"Wake up! It’s daylight.” Griswell went white, but answered as
Griswell rose, wincing at the stiffness stoutly as his ancestors might have ex-
of his limbs. His face was gray and old. pressed their determination to hold their
"I’m ready. Let’s go upstairs.” cabins in the teeth of the Pequots; "I’ll
"I’ve already been!” Buckner’s eyes do it.”

burned in the early dawn. "I didn’t wake "Let’s go then; help me pack the body
you up. I went as soon as it was light. I out to your auto.”
found nothin’.” Griswell’s soul revolted at the sight of
”
"'The tracks of the bare feet John Branner’s bloodless face in the chill
"Gone!” white dawn, and the feel of his clammy
''Gone?" flesh. The gray fog wrapped wispy ten-
"Yes, gone! The dust had been dis- tacles about their feet as tliey carried
turbed all over the hall, from the point their grisly burden across the lawn.
 2

544 WEIRD TALES

2. The Snake’s Brother
A gain the shadows were lengthening
^ over the pinelands, and again two
men came bumping along the old road
in a car with a New England license
plate.
Buckner w’as driving. Griswell’s nerves
from somewhere in the West Indies,
where the whole family originally had its
—
roots a fine, handsome w’oman, they say,
in the early thirties. But she didn’t mix
with folks any more tlian the girls did.
She brought a mulatto maid with her, and
the Blassenville cruelty cropped out in
her treatment of this maid. I knew an

were too shattered for him to trust him- old nigger, years ago, who swore he saw
self at the wheel. He looked gaunt and Miss Celia tie this girl up to a tree, stark
haggard, and his face was still pallid. naked, and whip her with a horsewhip.
The strain of the day spent at the county- Nobody was surprized when she disap-
seat was added to the horror that still peared. Everybody figured she’d run
rode his soul like the shadow of a black- away, of course.
winged vulture. He had not slept, had "Well, one day in the spring of 1890
not tasted what he had eaten. Miss Elizabeth, the youngest girl, came in
"I told you I’d tell you about the Blas- to town for the first time in maybe a year.
senvilles,” said Buckner. "They were She came after supplies. Said the niggers
proud folks, haughty, and pretty damn had all left the place. Talked a little
ruthless when they wanted tlieir way. more, too, a bit wild. Said Miss Celia
They didn’t treat their niggers as well as had gone, without leaving any word.
the otlier planters did —got their ideas in Said her sisters thought she’d gone back
the West Indies, I reckon. There was a to the West Indies, but she believed her
streak of cruelty in them— Miss
c-specially aunt was still in the house. She didn’t say

Celia, die lastone of the family to come what she meant. Just got her supplies
to these parts. That was long after the and pulled out for the Manor.
slaves had been freed, but she used to "A month went past, and a nigger
whip her mulatto maid just like she was came into town and said that Miss Eliza-
a slave, the old folks say. . . . The nig- beth was livin’ at the Manor alone.
gers said when a Blassenville died, the Said her three sisters weren’t there any
devil was always waitin’ for him out in more, that they’d left one by one with-
the black pines. out givin’ any word or explanation. She
"Well, after the Civil War they died didn’t know where tliey’d gone, and was
off pretty fast, livin’ on the
in poverty afraid to stay tliere alone, but didn’t
plantation which to go to
was allowed know where else to go. She’d never
ruin. Finally only four girls were left, knov^n anything but the Manor, and had
sisters, livin’ in the old house and ekin’ neither relatives nor friends. But she was
out a bare livin’, with a few niggers livin’ in mortal terror of something. 'The nig-
in the old slave huts and workin’ the ger said she locked herself in her room at
fields on the share. ’They kept to them- night and kept candles burnin’ all

selves, bein’ proud, and ashamed of dieir night. . . .

poverty. Folks wouldn’t see them for "It was a stormy spring night when
months at a time. When they needed sup- Miss Elizabeth came tearin’ into town on
plies they sent a nigger to tow'n after the one horse she owned, nearly dead
them. from fright. She fell from her horse in
"But folks knew about it when Miss the square; when she could talk she said
Celia came to live with them. She came she’d found a secret room in the Manor
W. T.—
 3

PIGEONS FROM HELL 545

that had been forgotten hundred for a Blassenvilles by murderin’ Miss Celia
years. And she said that there she found and the three girls. They beat up the
her three sisters, dead, and bangin’ by woods with bloodhounds, but never
their necks from the ceilin’. She said found a trace of her. If there was a secret
something chased her and nearly brained room in the house, she might have been
her with an ax as she ran out the front hidin’ there —
if there was anything to

door, but somehow she got to the horse that theory.”

and got away. She was nearly crazy with "She couldn’t have been hiding there
fear, and didn’t know what it was that all these years,” muttered Griswell.
chased her — said it looked like a woman "Anyway, the thing in the house now
with a yellow face. isn’t human.”

"About a hundred men rode out there, Buckner wrenched the wheel around
right aw'ay. They searched the house from and turned into a dim trace that left tlie
top to bottom, but they didn’t find any main road and meandered off through the
secretroom, or the remains of the sisters. pines.
But they did find a hatchet stickin’ in the "Where are you going?”
doorjamb downstairs, with some of Miss "There’s an old nigger that lives off
Elizabeth’s hairs stuck on it, just as she’d this way a few miles. I want to talk to
said. She wouldn’t go bade there and him. We’re up against something that
show them how to find the secret door; takes more than white man’s sense. The
almost went crazy when they suggested black people know more than we do
it. about some things. This old man is nearly
"When she was able to travel, the a hundred years old. His master educated
people made up some money and loaned him when he was a boy, and after he was
it to her —she was still too proud to ac- freed he traveled more extensively than
cept charity —and she went to California. most white men do. They say he’s a voo-
She never came back, but later it was doo man.”
learned,when she sent back to repay the Griswell shivered at the phrase, star-

money they’d loaned her, that she’d mar- ing uneasily at the green forest walls that
ried out there. shut them in. The scent of tlie pines was
"Nobody ever bought the house. It mingled with the odors of unfamiliar
stood there just as she’d left it, and as plants and blossoms. But underlying all
the years passed folks stole all the was a reek of rot and decay. Again a
furnishings out of it, poor white trash, I sick abhorrence of these dark mysterious
reckon. A nigger wouldn’t go about it. woodlands almost overpowered him.
But they came after sun-up and left long "Voodoo!” he muttered. "I’d forgotten
before sundown.’’ about that — I never could think of black
magic in connection with the South. To
"TT T HAT did the people think about me witchcraft was always associated with
tT Miss Elizabeth’s story asked old crooked streets in waterfront towns,
Griswell. overhung by gabled roofs that were old
"Well, most folks thought she’d gone when they were hanging witches in
a little crazy, livin’ in that old house Salem; dark musty alleys where black cats
alone. But some people believed that and other things might steal at night.
mulatto girl, Joan, didn’t run away, after Witdreraft always meant the old towns
all. They believed she’d hidden in the of New England, to me —but all this is

woods, and glutted her hatred of the more terrible than any New England
W. T.—
 —

546 WEIRD TALES

legend — these somber pines, old deserted grew misty as if clouds of extreme age
houses, lost plantations, mysterious black drifted across his brittle mind.
people, old tales of madness and horror "The Blassenvilles,”he murmured,
—God, what frightful, ancient terrors and his voice was mellow and rich, his
there are on this continent fools call speech not the patois of the piny woods
'young’!” darky."They were proud people, sirs
"Here’s old Jacob’s hut,” announced proud and cruel. Some died in the war,
Buckner, bringing the automobile to a some were killed in duels the men- —
halt. folks, sirs. Some died in the Manor —the
Griswell saw a clearing and a small
old Manor ”His voice trailed off into
unintelligible mumblings.
cabin squatting under the shadows of the
huge trees. There pines gave way to oaks "What of the Manor. asked Buckner
patiently.
and cypresses, bearded with gray trailing
"Miss Celia was tlie proudest of them
moss, and behind the cabin lay the edge
of a swamp that ran away under the
all,” the old man muttered. "The proud-
dimness of the trees, choked with rank
est and the cruelest. The black people
hated her; Joan most of all. Joan had
vegetation. A thin wisp of blue smoke
white blood in her, and she was proud,
curled up from the stick-and-mud
too. Miss Celia whipped her like a slave.”
chimney.
"What is the secret of Blassenville
He followed Buckner to the tiny stoop,
Manor?” persisted Buckner.
where the sheriff pushed open the leather-
The film faded from the old man’s
hinged door and strode in. Griswell
eyes; they were dark as moonlit wells.
blinked in the comparative dimness of
"What secret, sir? I do not under-
the interior. A single small window let
stand.”
in a little daylight. An old negro
"Yes, you do. For years that old house
crouched beside the hearth, watching a
has stood there with its mystery. You
pot stew over the open fire. He looked
know the key to its riddle.”
up as they entered, but did not rise. He
The old man stirred the stew. He
seemed incredibly old. His face was a
seemed perfectly rational now.
mass of wrinkles, and his eyes, dark and
"Sir, life is sweet, even to an old black
vital, were filmed momentarily at times
man.”
as if his mind wandered.
"You mean somebody would kill you
Buckner motioned Griswell to sit down if you told me?”
in a string-bottomed chair, and himself
But the old man was mumbling again,
took a rudely-made bench near the his eyes clouded.
hearth, facing the old man.
"Not somebody. No human. No hu-
"Jacob,” he said bluntly, "the time’s man being. The black gods of the
come for you to talk. I know you know swamps. My secret is inviolate, guarded
the secret of Blassenville Manor. I’ve by the Big Serpent, the god above all
never questioned you about it, because it gods. He would send a little brother to
wasn’t in my
But a man was mur-
line. kiss me with his cold lips —
a little brother
dered there and this man here
last night, with a white crescent moon on his head.
may hang for tell me what
it, unless you my soul to the Big Serpent when he
I sold
haunts that old house of the Blassen- made me maker of zuvembies "
villes.” Buckner stiffened.
The old man’s eyes gleamed, then "I heard that word once before,” he
 I

PIGEONS FROM HELL 547

said "from the lips of a dying

softly, shook him. "You gave a brew to make a
black man, when I was a child. What woman a zuvembie what is a zu- —
does it mean?” vembie?"
Fear filled the eyes of old Jacob. The old man stirred resentfully and
"What have I said? No — no! I said muttered drowsily.
nothing.”
"A zuvembie is no longer human. It
"Zuvembies,” prompted Buckner. knows neither relatives nor friends. It is
"Zuvevibies," mechanically repeated
one with the people of the Black World.
tiie

bie
old man, his eyes vacant.
was once a woman —on
"A zuvem-
the Slave
It commands the natural demons — owls,
bats, snakes and werewolves, and can
Coast they know of them. The drums fetch darkness to blot out a little light.
that whisper by night in the hills of It can be slain by lead or steel, but unless
Haiti tell of them. The makers of zuvem- it is slain thus, it lives for ever, and it
bies are honored of the people of Dam- eats no such food as humans eat. It
ballah. It is death to speak of it to a dwells like a bat in a cave or an old
white man — it is one of the Snake God’s house. Time means naught to the zuvem-
forbidden secrets.” bie; an hour, a day, a year, all is one. It

cannot speak human words, nor think as

"'\r ou speak of the zuvembies,” said a human thinks, but it can hypnotize the
Ji- Buckner softly. sound of its voice, and
living by tlie
*'I must not speak of it,” mumbled the
when it slays a man, it can command his
old man, and Griswell realized that he As
lifeless body until the flesh is cold.
was thinking aloud, too far gone in his long as the blood flows, the corpse is its
dotage to be aware that he was speaking
slave. Its pleasure lies in the slaughter of
at all. "No white man must know that I
human beings.”
danced in the Black Ceremony of the
"And why should one become a zu-
voodoo, and was made a maker of zombies
vembie?” asked Buckner softly.
and zuvembies. The Big Snake punishes
"Hate,” whispered the old man.
loose tongues with death.”
"Hate! Revenge!”
"A zuvembie is a w'oman?” prompted
Buckner. "Was her name Joan?” murmured
"Was
a woman,” the old negro mut- Buckner.
tered. "She knew I was a maker of zu- It was as if the name penetrated the
—
vembies she came and stood in my hut fogs of senility that clouded the voodoo-

and asked for the aw'ful brew the brew — man’s mind. He shook himself and the
of ground snake-bones, and the blood of film faded from his eyes, leaving them

vampire bats, and the dew from a night- hard and gleaming as wet black marble.
hawk’s wings, and other elements un- "Joan?” he said slowly. "I have not
namable. She had danced in the Black heard that name for the span of a gen-
—
Ceremony she was ripe to become a eration. I seem to have been sleeping,
—
zuvembie the Black Brew was all that gentlemen; I do not remember I ask —
—
was needed the other was beautiful — your pardon. Old men fall asleep before
could not refuse her.” the fire, like old dogs. You asked me of
"Who?” demanded Buckner tensely, Blassenville Manor? Sir, if I were to tell

but the old man’s head was sunk on his you why I cannot answ'er you, you would
withered breast, and he did not reply. deem it mere superstition. Yet tlie white
”
He seemed to slumber as he sat. Buckner man’s God be my witness
548 WEIRD TALES
As he spoke he was reaching across the them. It crawled in and coiled up among
hearth for a piece of firewood, groping that firewood. Old Jacob disturbed it, and
among the heaps of sticks there. And it bit him. Nothin’ supernatural about
his voice broke in a scream, as he jerked that.” After a short silence he said, in a
back his arm convulsively. And a hor- different voice, "That was the first time I
rible, thrashing, trailing thing came with ever saw a rattler strike without singin’;
it. Around the voodoo-man’s arm a mot- and the first time I ever saw a snake with
tled length of that shape was wrapped, a xuhite crescent moon on its head.”
and a wicked wedge-shaped head struck They were turning in to the main road
again in silent fury. before either spoke again.
The old manon the hearth, scream-
fell "You think that the mulatto Joan has
ing, upsetting the simmering pot and scat- skulked in the house all these years?”
tering the embers, and then Buckner Criswell asked.
caught up a billet of firewood and crushed "You heard what old Jacob said,” an-
that flat head. Cursing, he kicked aside
swered Buckner grimly. "Time means
the knotting, twisting trunk, glaring brief- nothin’ to a zuvembie.”
ly at themangled head. Old Jacob had
As they made the last turn in the road,
ceased screaming and writhing; he lay
Criswell braced himself against the sight
still, staring glassily upward.
of Blassenville Manor looming black
"Dead?” whispered Criswell. against the red sunset. When it came
"Dead as Judas Iscariot,” snapped into view he bit his lip to keep from
Buckner, frowning at the twitching rep- shrieking. The suggestion of cryptic hor-
tile. "That infernal snake crammed ror came back in all its power.
enough poison into his veins to kill a "Look!” he whispered from dry lips as
dozen men his age. But I think it was the they came to a halt beside the road. Buck-
sliock and fright that killed him.” ner grunted.
"What shall we do?” asked Criswell, From the balustrades of the gallery rose
shivering.
a whirling cloud of pigeons that swept
"Leave the body on that bunk. Noth- away into the sunset, black against the
in’ can hurt it, if we bolt the door so the
lurid glare. . . .

wild hogs can’t get in, or any cat. We’ll

carry it into town tomorrow. We’ve got
3. The Call of Zuvembie
work to do tonight. Let’s get goin’.”
Criswell from touching the
shrank oth men few moments
corpse, but he helped Buckner lift it on
the rude bunk, and then stumbled hastily
B after the pigeons
sat rigid for a
had flown.
"Well, I’ve seen them at last,” mut-
out of the hut. The sun was hovering tered Buckner.
above the horizon, visible in dazzling red "Only the doomed see them, perhaps,’*
flame through the black stems of the trees. whispered Criswell. ’"That tramp saw
”
They climbed into the car in silence, them
and went bumping back along the stumpy "Well, we’ll see,” returned the South-
train. erner tranquilly, as he climbed out of the
"He said the Big Snake would send one car, but Criswell noticed him uncon-
of his brothers,” muttered Criswell. sciously hitch forward his scabbarded gun.
"Nonsense!” snorted Buckner. "Snakes The oaken door sagged on broken
like warmth, and that swamp is full of hinges. Their feet edioed on the broken
 PIGEONS FROM HELL 549

brick walk. The blind windows reflected like a diary. The pages are covered with
the sunset in sheets of flame. As they writing —but the ink is so faded, and the
came saw the
into the broad hall Griswell paper is in such a state of decay that I

string of black marks that ran across the can’t tell much about it. How do you sup-
floor and into the chamber, marking the pose it came in the fireplace, without be-
path of a dead man. ing burned up?”
Buckner had brought blankets out of "Thrown in long after the fire was
the automobile. He spread them before out,” surmised Buckner. "Probably found
the fireplace. and tossed in the fireplace by somebody
"I’ll lie next to the door,’’ he said. who was in here stealin’ furniture. Like-
"You lie where you did last night.” ly somebody who couldn’t read.”
"Shall we light a fire in the grate?”
Griswell fluttered the crumbling leaves
asked Griswell, dreading the thought of straining his eyes in the fading
listlessly,
the blackness that would cloak the woods
light over tlie yellowed scrawls. Then he
W'hen the brief tw’ilight had died.
stiffened.
"No. You’ve got a flashlight and so "Here’s an entry that’s legible! Lis-
have I. We’ll lie here in the dark and see ten!” He read:
what happens. Can you use that gim I "
'I know someone is in the house be-
gave you?” sides myself. I can hear someone prowl-
"I suppose so. I never fired a revolver, ing about at night when the sun has set
but I know how it’s done.” and the pines are black outside. Often in
"Well, leave the shootin’ to me, if pos- the night I hear it fumbling at my door.
sible.” The sheriff seated himself cross- Who is it? Is it one of my sisters? Is it
legged on his blankets and emptied the Aunt Celia? If it is either of these, why
cylinder of his big blue Colt, inspecting does she steal so subtly about tlie house?
each cartridge with a critical eye before Why does she tug at my door, and glide
he replaced it. away when I call to her? Shall I open the
Griswell prowled nervously back and door and go out to her? No, no! I dare
forth, begrudging the slow fading of the not! I am afraid. Oh God, what shall I
light as a miser begrudges the waning of do? I dare not stay
”
—
here but where am I
his gold. He leaned with one hand to go?’

against the mantelpiece, staring down into "By God!” ejaculated Buckner. "That
the dust-covered ashes. The fire that pro- must be Elizabeth Blasscnville’s diary!
duced those ashes must have been builded Go on!”
by Elizabeth Blassenville, more than forty "I can’t make out tlie rest of the page,”
years before. The thought was depres- answered Griswell. "But a few pages fur-
sing. Idly he stirred the dusty ashes with ther on I can make out some lines.” He
his toe. Something came to view among read:
the charred debris —a bit of paper, stained "
'Why did the negroes all run away
and yellowed. Still idly he bent and drew when Aunt Celia disappeared? My sisters
itout of the ashes. It was a note-book
are dead. I know they are dead. I seem
with moldering cardboard backs.
to sense that they died horribly, in fear
"What have you found?” asked Buck- and agony. But why? Why? If someone
ner, squinting down the gleaming barrel murdered Aunt Celia, why should that
of his gun. person murder my poor sisters? They
"Nothing but an old note-book. Looks were always kind to the black people.
 —

550 WEIRD TALES

Joan
’
” He paused, scowling fu- would have gotten Elizabeth but for
tilely. chance. She’s been lurkin’ in this old
"A piece of the page is torn out. house all these years, like a snake in a
Here’s another entry under another date ruin.”
— at least I judge it’s a date; I can’t make "But why should she murder a
it out for sure. stranger?”
the awful thing that the old ne- "You heard what old Jacob said," re-
gress hinted at?She named Jacob Blount, minded Buckner. "A zuvembie finds sat-
and Joan, but she would not speak plain- isfaction in the slaughter of humans. She
ly; perhaps she feared to ’
Part of it called Branner up the stair and split his
gone here; then: 'No, no! How can it be? head and stuck the hatchet in his hand,
—
She is dead or gone away. Yet she — and sent him downstairs to murder you.
was born and raised in the West Indies, No court will ever believe that, but if we
and from hints she let fall in the past, I can produce her body, that will be evi-
know she delved into the mysteries of the dence enough to prove your innocence.
voodoo. I believe she even danced in one My word will be taken, that she murdered
of their horrible ceremonies —how could Branner. Jacob said a zuvembie could be
she have been such a beast? And this killed... in reporting this affair I don’t
this horror. God, can sucli things be? I have to be too accurate in detail,”
know not what to think. If it is she who "She came and peered over the balus-
roams the house at night, who fumbles at trade of the stair at us,” muttered Gris-
my door, who whistles so weirdly and well. "But why didn’t we find her tracks
sweetly — no, no, I must be going mad. on the stair?”
If I stay here alone I shall die as hideous-
"Maybe you dreamed it. Maybe a zu-
ly as

I am
my sisters

convinced.’
must have
”
died. Of that
vembie can project her spirit hell! why —
something that’s outside
try to rationalize
the bounds of rationality? Let’s begin our

T he incoherent chronicle ended as ab-

ruptly as it had begun. Griswell was
so engrossed in deciphering the scraps
watch.”
"Don’t turn out the light!” exclaimed

that he was not aware that darkness had

Griswell involuntarily. Then he added;
"Of Turn it out. We must be in
stolen upon them, hardly aware that
Buckner was holding his electric torch for
course.
the dark as” — —
he gagged a bit "as Bran-
ner and I were.”
him to read by. Waking from his abstrac-
tion he started and darted a quick glance But fear like a physical sickness as-

at the black hallway. sailed him when the room was plunged in
"What do you make of it?” darkness. He lay trembling and his heart
"What I’ve suspected all the time,” an- beat so heavily he felt as if he would suf-
swered Buckner. "That mulatto maid focate.

Joan turned zuvembie to avenge herself '"rhe West Indies must be the plague
on Miss Celia. Probably hated the whole spot of the world,” muttered Buckner, a
family as much as she did her mistress. blur on his blankets. zom-
"I’ve heard of
She’d taken part in voodoo ceremonies on bies. Never knew before what a zuvem-
her native island until she was ’ripe,’ as bie was. Evidently some drug concocted
old Jacob said. All she needed was the by the voodoo-men to induce madness in
Black Brew —he supplied tliat. She killed v/omen. That doesn’t explain the other
Miss Celia and the three older girls, and things, though: tlie hypnotic powers^ the
 —

PIGEONS FROM HELL 551

abnormal longevity, the ability to control above them rose a sound of weird, sweet
corpses —
no, a zuvembie can’t be merely whistling. . . .

a madwoman. It’s a monster, something Criswell’s control snapped, plunging

more and less than a human being, cre-
ated by the magic that spawns in black
—
swamps and jungles well, we’ll see.”
His voice ceased, and in the silence
his brain into darkness deeper than the
physical blackness which engulfed him.
There was a period of absolute blankness,
in which a realization of motion was his

Criswell heard the pounding of his own first sensation of awakening conscious-
heart. Outside in the black woods a wolf ness. He w'as running, madly, stumbling
howled eerily, and owls hooted. Then si- over an incredibly rough road. All was
lence fell again like a black fog. darkness about him, and he ran blindly.
Vaguely he realized that he must have
Criswell forced himself to lie still on
bolted from the house, and fled for per-
his blankets. Time seemed at a standstill.
haps miles before his overwrought brain
He he were choking. The sus-
felt as if
pense was growing unendurable; the ef-
began to function. He did not care; dy-
fort he made to control his crumbling
ing on the gallows for a murder he never
committed did not terrify him half as
nerves bathed his limbs in sweat. He
clenched his teeth until his jaws ached
much as the thought of returning to that

and almost house of horror. He was overpowered by

locked, and the nails of his
fingers bit deeply into his palms.
the urge to run — —
run run as he was run-
ning now, blindly, until he reached the
He did not know what he was expect-
end of The mist had not
ing. The fiend would strike again —but his endurance.
yet fully liftedfrom his brain, but he was
how? Would it be a horrible, sweet
aware of a dull w'onder that he could not
whistling, bare feet stealing down the
see the stars through the black branches.
creaking steps, or a sudden hatchet-stroke
He wished vaguely that he could sec
in the dark? Would it choose him or
where he was going. He believed he must
Buckner? Was Buckner already dead?
be climbing a hill, and that w'as strange,
He could see nothing in the blackness,
for he knew there were no hills within
but he heard the man’s steady breathing.
miles of the Manor. Then above and
The Southerner must have nerves of steel.
ahead of him a dim glow began.
Or was that Buckner breathing beside
him, separated by a narrow strip of dark-
ness?
lence,
Had the fiend already struck in
and taken the sheriff’s place, there
si-
H e scrambled toward it, over ledge-
like projections that were more and
more taking on a disquieting symmetry.
to lie in ghoulish glee until it was ready Then he was horror-stricken to realize
to strike? — a thousand hideous fancies as-
that a sound was impacting on his ears
sailed Criswell tooth and claw. a tveird mocking whistle. The sound
He began to he would go mad
feel that swept the mists away. Why, what was
if he did not leap to his feet, screaming, this? Where was he? Awakening and
and burst frenziedly out of that accursed realization came like the stunning stroke
house —not even the of the gallows
fear of a butcher’s maul. He was not fleeing
could keep him lying the dark-
there in along a road, or climbing a hill; he was
ness any longer —the rhythm of Buckner’s mounting a stair. He was still in Blas-
breathing was suddenly broken, and Cris- senville Manor! And he was climbing the
well felt as if a bucket of ice-water had stair!

been poured over him. From somewhere An inhuman scream burst from his
552 WEIRD TALES
lips. Above it the mad whistling rose in A light in his eyes blinded him. He
a ghoulish piping of demoniac triumph. blinked, shaded his eyes, looked up into
He tried to stop — to turn back —even to Buckner’s face, bending at the rim of the
fling himself over the balustrade. His circle of light. The sheriff was pale.
shrieking rang unbearably in his own "Are you hurt? God, man, are you
ears. But his will-power was shattered to hurt? There’s a butcher knife there on
”
bits. It did not exist. He had no will. the floor
He had dropped his flashlight, and he "I’m not hurt,” mumbled Griswell.
had forgotten the gun in his pocket. He "You fired just in time — the fiend!
could not command his own body. His Where is it? Where did it go?”
legs, moving stiffly, worked like pieces of "Listen!”
mechanism detached from his brain, obey- Somewhere in the house there sounded
ing an outside will. Clumping methodi-
a sickening flopping and flapping as of
cally they carried him shrieking up the
something that thrashed and struggled in
stair toward the witch-fire glow shimmer-
its death convulsions.
ing above him.
"Jacob was right,” said Buckner grim-
"Buckner!” he screamed. "Buckner! ly. "Lead can kill them. I hit her, all
Help, for God’s sake!” right. Didn’t dare use my flashh'ght, but

His voice strangled in his throat. He there enough light. When that
was
had reached the upper landing. He was whistlin’ started you almost walked over
tottering down the hallway. The whist-
me gettin’ out. I knew you were hypno-
tized, or whatever it is. I followed you
ling sank and ceased, but its impulsion
still drove him on. He could not see from up the stairs. I w'as right behind you, but
crouchin’ low so she wouldn't see me, and
what source the dim glow came. It
seemed to emanate from no central focus. maybe get away again. I almost waited
But he saw a vague figure shambling to- too long before I fired —but the sight of

ward him. It looked like a woman, but her almost paralyzed me. Look!”'

no human w'oman ever walked with that He flashed his light down the hall, and

skulking gait, and no human woman ever

had that face of horror, that leering yel-
—
low blur of lunaq' he tried to scream at
tlie sight of tliat face, at the glint of keen
now it shone bright and clear. And it
shone on an aperture gaping in the wall
where no door had showed before.
"The secret panel Miss Elizabeth

steel in the uplifted claw-like hand but — found!” Buckner snapped. "Come on!”
He ran across the hallway and Griswell
his tongue was frozen.
followed him dazedly. The flopping and
Then something crashed deafeningly thrashing came from beyond that mysteri-
behind him; the shadows were split by a
ous door, and now the sounds had ceased.
tongue of flame which lit a hideous fig-
ure falling backward. Hard on the heels
of tlie report rang an inliuman squawk.

In the darkness that followed the flash

T he
like
light revealed a narrow, tunnel-
corridor
tlirough one of the thick walls.
that evidently led
Buckner
Griswfll fell to his knees and covered his plunged into it without hesitation.
face with his hands. He did not hear "Maybe it couldn’t think like a hu-

Buckner’s voice. The Southerner’s hand man,” he muttered, shining his light
on his shoulder shook him out of his ahead of him. "But it had sense enough
swoon. to erase its tracks last night so we couldn’t
 —

PIGEONS FROM HELL 553

trail it to that point in the wall and maybe '"This has been her lair for over forty
find the secret panel. There’s a room years,” muttered Buckner, brooding over
ahead — the secret room of the Blassen- the grinning grisly thing sprawling in the
villes!” corner. "This clears you, Griswell — a

And Griswell cried out: ”My God! crazy woman with a hatcliet — tliat’s all

It’s the windowless chamber I saw in my the authorities need to know. God, what
dream, with the three bodies hanging a revenge! —what a foul revenge! Yet
ahhhhh!” what a bestial nature she must have had,
Buckner’s light playing about the
in the beginnin’, to delve into voodoo as
cir-
”
she must have done
cular chamber became suddenly motion-
less. In that wide ring of light three
"The mulatto woman?” wliispered
Griswell, dimly sensing a horror that
figures appeared, three dried, shriveled,
mummy-like overshadowed all the rest of the terror.
shapes, still clad in the
Buckner shook his head. "We mis-
moldering garments of the last century.
understood old Jacob’s maunderin’s, and
Their slippers were clear of tlie floor as
they hung by their withered necks from the things Miss Elizabeth wrote she —
must have known, but family pride sealed
chains suspended from the ceiling.
her lips. Griswell, I understand now; the
'”rhe three Blassenville sisters!” mut-
mulatto woman had her revenge, but not
tered Buckner. "Miss Elizabeth wasn’t
as we’d supposed. She didn’t drink the
crazy, after all.”
Black Brew old Jacob fixed for her. It
"Look!” Griswell could barely make was for somebody else, to be given se-
his voice intelligible. "There —over there
cretly in her food, or coffee, no doubt.
in the corner!”
Then Joan ran away, leavin’ the seeds
The light moved, halted. of the hell she’d sowed to grow.”
"Was that thing a woman once?” whis- "That —that’s not the mulatto wo-
pered Griswell. "God, look at that face, man?” whispered Griswell.
even in death. Look at those claw-like "When I saw her out there in the hall-
hands, with black talons like those of a way I knew she was no mulatto. And
beast. Yes, it was human, though —even those distorted features still reflect a fam-
the rags of an old ballroom gown. Why ily likeness. I’ve seen her portrait, and I

should a mulatto maid wear such a dress, can’t be mistaken. There lies the aeature
I wonder?” that was once Celia Blassenville.”
 C^^etterdaemmerung
By SEABURY QUINN
There was a moment of stunning impact as the tivo cars crashed together, then
—
a strange awakening but what was the inscription on the
tombstone in that ancient graveyard?

T he
predawn chill was in the air
and wisps of vapor indistinct and
intangible as dreams dreamt in
another dream were spiraling and swirl-
forty miles of road between him and an
hour or two in bed, a hot bath and cold
shower, an ice massage and careful toilet,
then St. Dunstan’s and the oh-ing and the
ing from the Hudson’s slowly heaving ah-jng of the crowd when the organ
surface as Stacy passed the barricades started playing Lohengrin and Emily and
which marked the Jersey terminal of the Mr. Taylor started up the aisle with the
George Washington Bridge. Behind him bridesmaids pacing stiffly as automatons
reared the topless minarets and spires of before them. Fumes of Scotch and Irish
New York, dull black as sharply serrated mixed with bourbon clouded through his
basalt cliffs with only here and there a brain, and he smiled tlie fatuous grin of
firefly jet of light to show where jan- the half drunken as he urged the car to
itresses labored late to clean the miles greater speed.
of checkered corridors that floored the Eighty — eighty-five, the indicator
tow'ering office buildings, or bookkeepers registered. "Turn — turn — te-tum,” he
worked tired eyes to exhaustion to make hummed the opening bar of Wagner’s
their reports ready for the morning. Bridal Chorus
—"here comes the bride
Against the crenelated skyline the east . . . dearly beloved, we are gathered to-
turned tawny gray, then steel, lightened gether here . . . sw'ell condition you’ll be
to pale, cold blue. To his left lay Palisade, in to go through with it, you half-baked,
Coytsville on the right, and straight ahead drunken lout ... so what? Who cares?
the long, smooth ribbon of the concrete What’ll be the difference two hundred
’’
road. years from now
He pressed his foot on the accelerator The red light swinging from the
as he cleared the Port Authority police stalled truck’s tail came at him with a
booths and the pointer on the dial of his breathless rush. Like a meteor, a comet, a
speedometer swung in a sharp arc, forty, world gone blazing from its orbit it
sixty, then eighty. The party that the boys dashed at him, red as flames reflected in
had given him had been a grand success; a pool of blazing oil, red as hell-fire lick-
cocktails, sherry, sauterne, burgundy, ing at a sinful soul, red as the blood that
finally champagne with dinner; brandy seemed already spurting from his face to
and Chartreuse with coffee, then the meet the smashing impact of collision.
evening’s serious drinking. "All very "O, God have mercy!” he exclaimed, and
w'ell, my boy; quite the thing for bache- his voice though scarce above a whisper
lors, but tomorrow — no, today! —your had the knife-edged sharpness of a shrill-
”
bachelor days axe done.’’ There were ing scream. "O, God
554
 GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 555

T he voices
ation,
had an oddly alien inton-
not quite English, not quite
any foreign speech, but puzzlingly
him with professional cheerfulness, but
underneath the bandages he knew his
body would be maimed and broken like a
mixed, thick-tongued, queerly slurred, china doll dropped from a tower. Crip-
yet understandable. Stacy set his teeth pled for life, probably; bed-bound,
and shut his eyes more tightly. The pain tethered to a wheel chair, helpless as a six
would be upon him any moment now! weeks’ babe. . . .

Presently the anodyne of shock or drugs "You like get up now; mebbe so. Mis-
would wear away, and he’d begin to feel ter, please.^’’ the softly slurring, slight-
the torment of mashed bones and man- ly gloomy
hissing intonation broke his
gled flesh in every nerve. Dully, he re- mental monolog. "Long time you lie
membered the collision. He must have here like one piece dead man. You all
struck that stalled van like a cannon ball. right now, mebbe so?"
Lucky to be alive ... or was he.^ When Slowly, lid by cautious doubtful lid,

he raised his lids he’d see ’em standing Stacy’s eyes came open. This was no
over him, nurse and doctor, looking at sterile-walled hospital room he lay in.

'’What nameless horror sat en-

throned upon a face that must be
hidden from the eyes of men?"
556 WEIRD TALES
nor were these people nurse and doctor. The small, queer-looking men assisted
He lay upon a bank of rankly growing him, one on either side, and as he spread
grass flecked here and there with brilliant his arms out, resting them upon his help-
trumpet-runner blossoms, and across the ers’ shoulders, he noticed that they wore
heaving mounds of sward-upholstered a costume which combined the Orient
earth there sprawled a jungle growth of and Occident grotesquely. Tight trousers
wild blackberry bushes. Oak and pine cased their legs, and short jackets with
and poplar trees grew clustering on the wide sleeves and round necks sheathed
row of hills that cut his vision on the their upper bodies. Upon their heads
west; eastward rose another thickly mat- they wore round caps of knitted fabric,
ted forest, its tree-trunks bound together while their feet were shod with heavy
by an undergrowth as unkempt as a knitted socks and sandals made of plaited
giant’s beard. straw. Each had a girdle belted round his
The men who bent above him w'ere as waist and in it was a short, curved-bladed
hard to place as the wild countryside. sword. One had a bow and quiverful of
They were short and thickly built, and arrows slung across his back; the other
while their skin was w'hite it had a sallow bore a long spear which he used now as
tint that hinted at an underlay of tan. a staff, leaning on it heavily as Stacy’s
Their hair was straight and black and weight pressed on his shoulder.
coarse, their eyes dark brown and slant- Their path wound up a thickly wooded
ing upward at the outer corners, their hillside, and as they mounted, Stacy’s

noses short and rather flat, with flaring strength revived. By the time they
nostrils. Vaguely Stacy tried to catalog reached the crest he walked alone, draw-
them. White skins with Mongoloid fea- ing back to let his helpers lead the way.
tures. Finns, perhaps? But this, it seemed, they had no mind to
Resolutely he reclosed his eyes. do. When he motioned them to take the
’Tisn’t so,” he muttered. "Can’t be. I lead they stared at him, not hostilely, but,
hit that truck ten miles outside of Hack- it seemed to him, suspiciously, then shook
ensack; so if they didn’t take me to a their heads decidedly. Finally a compro-
hospital I’d be lying by the road. There’s mise was reached and
spearmanthe
no road here, and I’m dam’ sure this is stepped aliead while the archer dropped
no hospital. I’m still under. That’s it, they back several paces, pointing down the
gave me ether when they operated, and path which wound between the cluster-
I’m still under it. Go away, little men,” ing pine trees. Stacy motioned him to
he waved a hand impatiently. "You’re come abreast, but the fellow laid his hand
not really here. You’re just the figments upon his sword and scowled.
of a fantasy. Pretty soon I’ll wake up and "O. K., brother,” Stacy answered. "If
begin to hurt like hell. I’d like to sleep I’m to be brought in under guard it’s
tillthen. Go away, please.” quite all right with me. But don’t prod
The little men looked at him stolidly, me with that sticker or you’ll wake me
showing neither pleasure nor displeasure up; then you’d both go glimmering back
at his words. They seemed more inquisi- to dreamland’s storehouse.”
tive than friendly as the smaller of them As they crossed the little brook that
asked again, "You like get up now, trickled through the valley, Stacy saw the
mebbe, please? You come along us?” tracks of deer pressed in the sand, and an
"Anything to be obliging,” Stacy an- eery feeling rippled up his spine as, close
swered as he got unsteadily upon his feet. beside a pool made by the brooklet’s sud-
 —

GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 557 ,

den winding, he noted larger paw-prints. "Great Scott,” breathed Stacy, "pagodas
Mountain lion tracks, he recognized them and a torii. Japan in Jersey! What
”
from his western hunting-trips. Farther the
on, a tree showed ragged gashes on its
bark, and a tuft or two of brown-black
fur. Bear! This was tlie wildest dream a
fellow ever had, no matter how much
H
guards.
IS question broke upon a scream,
echoed by a shout of terror from his
In the sun-splashed foreground
he’d been drinking. Less than thirty miles of the taller of the two pagodas stood a
from New York, and a country wild as female figure, rigid as if carved of stone,
California in Kit Carson’s day, with deer and before sunbeams burnishing its
it,

and bear and mountain lion roaming tawny scales shone like polished
until they
tlirough the woods! copper, coiled a six-foot rattlesnake, head
They followed the rough track across reared for a stroke, its little fork-tipped
another hill, dipped down into a deeper tongue alive with flickering menace.
valley, then began a steep ascent. On the
'The fellow with the bow reached Into
summit of the hill he saw a group of his quiver for an arrow, but the spearman
buildings set against the sky, and drew
waved him back. "No shoot,” he ordered
his breath in sudden wonder. The nearer
hoarsely. "If arrow miss, the Singing
structures were no more than huts, low,
One bites Holiness! Pray!” And down
single-storied cabins with swooping over-
upon their knees they went, striking fore-
hanging eaves; foundationless, set flat heads to the earth and gabbling frenzied
upon the ground. Arranged in circular prayers so fast their words seemed strung
formation, they clustered round a knot of
together in a rosary of unintelligible syl-
larger buildings reared on the summit of
lables.
the hill. Tliese were surrounded by a dry
Stacy ripped his topcoat off and held
ditch six feet deep and possibly twelve
it by the shoulders, draped curtainwise
wide; an earthen bank sloped upward
before him. "Hi!” he yelled, stamping
from its inner rim, set with a palisade of
on the hard-packed earth till little puffs
pointed stakes. A wide gateway with
of dust came up around his feet. "Hi-
massive overhanging roof led through the
yah!” The reptile’s tongue shot out again
crude outwork. Within the compound
with death-tipped menace as it swung its
was a group of low, ignoble- looking
head inquiringly in his direction, but it
houses, larger than the huts outside, but
made no move toward him.
still from impressive, and rising like
far
skyscrapers from the meaner buildings Slowly, step by cautious, shuffling step,
were two pagodas, one two floors high, Stacy advanced toward the snake. Now
the other three, the upward sweep of their he was twenty feet away, now fifteen
veranda roofs described in crudely chis- ten. The distance seemed incalculable,
eled puncheons, their sides rough logs. his progress like the heavy-footed motion

As they passed through the gate Stacy of one who tries to run while held fast
noted that the earth before the taller struc- in the clutches of a nightmare. Two more
tures had been scraped free of grass, and feet nearer to the snake, another.

that a doorless gateway stood before the Again he shouted as he drove his heel
higher one. It was a simple thing of logs, against the earth, and this time action fol-
two uprights with a projecting crossbar lowed. Like a lance of summer lightning
at the top, and underneath a shorter hori- darting from a gravid cloud the serpent
zontal beam witli unprojecting ends. struck at him and the impact of its ar-
558 WEIRD TALES
mored head against the fabric nearly the order, slipped her clumsy wooden
jerked the topcoat from his hands. clogs off and preceded him into the lamp-
He threw the garment forward, blan- lit dimness of the building.
keting the reptile’s coils, gathered up the The place was larger thanhe had ex-
edges till the squirming deadly thing lay pected. The lower story seemed to be a
bagged within it, then swung it high single room hexagonal in shape with
above his head, beating it against the walls of carefully smoothed planks and
hard-packed earth with stroke on flailing ceiling beamed with rough squared logs.
stroke, finally flinging it down with all his What the floor w'as made of he could not
might and stamping on it till the writh- determine, for it was entirely covered
ing billows underneath the coat’s folds with a smooth straw matting on which
ceased. were laid round mats of softer straw some
With a grin he turned to reassure the three feet in diameter. Lanterns made
rescued woman, but a shouted order of parchment dangled from the ceiling
sounded in his ears and he felt himself beams, giving off a soft dim light which
seized in a flying tackle. "Down! Down made the great room even larger in ap-
and kiss the earth before the feet of Holi- pearance. As he looked about him curi-
ness! It is the law that none may stand ously he was surprized to see the place
before her till she gives permission!’’ contained no article of furniture except
Strong arms wound round his legs, the round straw mats. On one of these
strong hands pressed on his shoulders, his guide had dropped down to her knees,
and as he stumbled to his knees a hand tucked her feet demurely under her, then
upon his neck forced his face down until rocked back till she sat on them. Now
his forehead bumped against the earth. she regarded him with bright-eyed curi-
"Holiness!” The spearman’s voice was osity as she motioned him to seat himself
hoarse with terror. "This one did not upon a near-by mat.
know the law! We kill him now if you He tried to kneel, but found the pos-
”
will give permission ture tiring,then thrust his feet before
"Silence, you wooden thing, you less him, only to be made aware that sitting
than nothing!” the sharp command cut so without a back support was most un-
off the spearman’s "Unloose the
offer. comfortable. Finally he compromised by
stranger who me from
risked life to save squatting in tailor fashion on the soft
the singing serpent, and get you to the straw disk, and:
guard room. When the tribe assembles "How are you called, and from what
I will deal with you who would have let tribe do you come?” she asked as he com-
me be a victim to the singing snake while pleted his experiments and faced her with
you had weapons in your hands.” The a rather shamefaced grin.
men rose trembling and the voice con- He had an idea she was laughing at

tinued: him, for her long blue eyes were bright

"Come, stranger. Come with me, and beneath the lanterns’ mellow glow, but
we shall talk.” he could not tell certainly, for from the
Obediently, Stacy followed through the eyes down a veil of heavy cloth obscured
torii’sopen gateway to the log pagoda’s her features, leaving only brow and eyes
entrance. His guide turned for an instant and base of nose exposed to view. For
at the doorw'ay and commanded: "Off the rest she wore a woolen mantle of a
shoes before you enter in the place of dark plum purple embroidered round the
Holiness,” and, suiting her own action to hem and bottoms of the sleeves with wor-
 GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 559

sted of a lighter shade of the same color. York, then” —he spread his hands and
—
In general outline it was like a kimono, broke off with a cliuckle "first thing I

and the Japanese effect was heightened by knew your little playmates were inviting

the broad band of soft woolen stuff that me and come witli them, and here
to rise
circled three times around her waist and I am. What’s your name?”
tied in a cocjuettish bow in back. Her "What is your tribe, your nation?” her
hands and what he could see of her face eyes came up to his with something more
were almost ivory pale, her hair red- of seriousness in them. "Are you from
brown and glowing, "like embers burn- across the high hills?”
ing in a bed of autumn leaves,” he Something, some flickering threat in
thought. She wore it piled in heavy coils her blue eyes, perhaps, warned him to be
around her head with strands of bright careful in his answer. "No, I’m from
blue worsted plaited in it, and the general New York,” he replied. "Just a poor boy
”
effect was like a crown of rose gold set from the little town
with sapphires. The eyes above the pur- "New Yowork” — like the men who
ple veil were blue, sea blue which seemed brought him in, she seemed to have some
to deepen as they looked at him, long and trouble in pronouncing tliough her
slightly lifted at the outer corners like an speech was not as thick as theirs
r’s,
— "I do
Oriental’s. Her feet were naked, for she not know that tribe.”
wore no stockings and her wooden clogs She looked at him in silence till:
were left outside the door. He gazed "What’s your name?” he repeated.
embarrassedly at her. There was some- "I ask, I do not answer questions,
thing strange in those long eyes that had Boob.”
a trick of lingering on his a second longer —
“But oh, come, be clubby, what do
tlian he had expected, something preg- they call you?”
nant with a knowledge far beyond her "I am the Holiness.”
years, something which showed learning "Holiness? That’s an odd name. Who
in the lore of things which he could only wished it on you?”
guess at. "I am the Holiness, the priestess-serv-
"How do they call you, stranger, and ant of the Great One, the mouth through
from what tribe do you come?” the ques- which He speaks. My wish is law, my
tionwas repeated softly, but the tone be- whim is life or death, all must kiss the
tokened one whose habit was to have an dust before me, none may stand or sit

instant answer to her questions. until I give permission. My words declare

"Stacy is the name, Robert Atwood the Great One’s will.” She did not make
Stacy, attorneyand counsellor at law,” he the statement boastfully or arrogantly, she
answered with a smile, "but my friends said it quietly and evenly, a statement of
all call me Bob.” fact as it existed.
"Boob?” she repeated tentatively. "My word, you are important in the
"I hope not. Bob, you know, as in bob- social register,” grinned Stacy; then as
bing for apples at Halloween.” she answered nothing: "Now that we’re
"Boob,” she decided firmly. "Whence duly introduced and have our hair down,
come you. Boob?” how about removing the appendage?”
"H’m,” he rubbed his chin. "I wish "Ap-den-dage?” she echoed tentatively.
I knew the answer. An hour ago this — "The masquerade, the veil, you know.”
—
morning maybe it was yesterday I was — "No man may look upon the Holiness
on the road to Hackensack from New unveiled and live.”
560 WEIRD TALES

coy.
and
"Oh, come,” he urged.

I
I’ll

never saw a pretty girl

"Don’t be so
bet you’re pretty as a picture,
who didn’t
T win bonfires blazed at each
the stockade when
Stacy and his fellow prisoners from their
end of
the guards led

like to show her wares. Take the disguise dungeon. All afternoon he had lain in
off. Ho —Holiness!” He half rose from the prison, a well-like room with rough
the mat, putting out a playful hand to log sides and an open w'ooden grating at
liftthe shrouding mask, then paused inert its top, floored with earth and utterly de-

as though gripped by paralysis. void of furniture. Toward evening hun-

The pupils of her eyes seemed spread- ger had assailed him and a searing thirst
ing till the blue corners gleamed black as made his sufferings more acute, but no
polished onyx, and the rage in her was all one came to give him food or drink, and
at once a living thing, coiling venomously w’hen he shouted one or twice there was
behind her hate-filled stare. "Fool, I’ll no answer but the booming echoes of his
have you flayed alive for this outrage, aye, voice reverberating in the barrel-like en-
and the raw flesh rubbed with salt!” The closure and the whimperings of his fel-
threatwas scarcely louder than a whisper, low When he sought to talk to
convicts.
but he saw the violet veil that masked her these he had no answer but their hopeless
features flutter with the violence of her groans. Plainly, the fear of punishment
breath. was on them, and its poison penetrated
Before he knew what she designed she to the marrow. Gradually the cancellated
reached beneath a kneeling-mat and seized pattern of tlie sunlight sifting through
a metal disk strung from a length of cord. the dungeon’s latticed roof had moved
With one hand she swung the plate across the floor, climbed the rough log
before her till its keen edge whistled wall, and vanished. For an hour or more
through the air as though it were a lash- the condemned trio lay in utter darkness;

ing sword-blade; then, adeptly, she struck then a torch flare blinded tliem as guards
the knuckles of her free hand on the flung back the grating and dropped knot-
whirling circle. The metal shrieked as ted cords of plaited rawhide down to
if in torment; a living quality seemed them. Impatient at imprisonment, Stacy
in the sick, shrill cry of pain that issued seized the rope that dangled by his shoul-
from it and thinned into a high sharp der and was drawn up quickly, but his
wailing whine which hung upon the air fellows crouched in terror pn the damp
for second after agonizing second. Be- earth floor till guardsmen dropped
several
fore the shuddering echo of the metal’s into the hole and dragged them scream-
whining scream died a squad of men came ing to the room above. A dozen pairs of
boiling through the door. They dropped rough hands seized each culprit, ripped
upon their knees and struck their fore- his garments off and clothed him in a
heads to the floor, but they knelt four long loose robe of purple wool, bound
deep before the exit, and the long knives his hands securely with a twist of cord,
in their hands gave promise of their readi- finally dropped a steeple-shaped straw

ness to act. Stacy reconsidered his intent basket on his head; so that while he saw
to hurdle them in a wild dash for free- the ground before him dimly through
dom. the meshes of the hamper he could see
"Take him to the castle,” he heard the nothing at the sides and was, of course,
Holiness command. "Hold him there entirely masked from all who looked at
with those tw'O others work my will
till I him. Thus penitentially arrayed they were
on him.” led out.
 4

GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 561

Men
and women squatted kneeling in and green and yellow circling round her
the compound, and Stacy saw they wore waist and hips and fastened in the front
an oddly semi-Oriental dress, the men in with a half-knot; he thought tliat never
short, loose, full-sleeved jackets, long had he seen a thing as perfect as her pale,
tight trousers and straw sandals, the wo- slim body with its slender hips, its taper-
men in loose mantles fashioned like ki- ing legs and full, high, pointed breasts.
monos and belted at tire waist with wide, Oddly, she seemed more mysterious and
bright-colored scar\'es. aloof in the candor of her nakedness than
A had been set up before
sort of dais when bundled in voluminous robe and
the lower of the two pagodas, and on veil.

this squatted an old man whose brilliant Her veil. He had forgotten tliat. Now
red attire marked him as a personage of he might see her face. Eagerly he peered
some importance. Around him grouped between the basket’s criss-crossed straws.
a knot of spearmen. Across the com- Would it match her blue, mysterious eyes?

pound by the taller pagoda was another Would the lips be warm and soft and
dais, unoccupied, and at its foot there red, the nose sharp-ait and clearly mod-
stood a larger guard of men with bows eled, the chin ... an exclamation almost
and arrows. of dismay escaped him.
Whispers, strident but repressed, rose From throat to hair-line slie was
in mounting susurration as the con- masked in a false face which might have
demned trio made the circuit of the area, been the w'ork of a mad artist set afire
and it seemed to Stacy that the audience witli hashish. Surely, nothing quite so
looked more with pleased anticipation hideous was ever seen outside the frenzy
than with dread upon whatever lay in of a nightmare. White it was, bone-
store for him and his companions. white, as though itsmaker used a twice-
A deep-toned gong beat slowly some- bleached skull to fashion it, and on its

where in the tall pagoda, and as if it had hoary .surface had been painted writhing
been formed of puppets actuated by a sin- zebra stripes of staring black, swirling
gle string the whole concourse bent swift- upward in reversed interrogation points
ly forw'ard till every forehead rested on the above each eye, running vertically from
ground. Stacy stiffened resolutely, but a brow to nose, etching lines of age-old
spear-shaft struck him in the back and, cruelty and lustful hate about the mouth;
hand-fettered as he was, he stumbled till finally, upon the forw'ard- jutting chin, a

he stretched full length upon the ground great black disk was set in obscene simu-
beside his two prostrate companions. lation of a dimple. The thing was devil-
The gong reverberated twice again and, ish, a dreadful combination ofMelpom-
he raised his head and peered
turtle-like, ene’s tragic mask and one of those ap-
between the meshes of his basket helmet. palling horror-faces shaped by the olden
In the dark pagoda doorway stood a fig- sculptors of Japan. Despite the reassur-
ure white as sometliing carved of Parian ing realization that he dreamed, Stacy
marble in a niche of burnished on)n{. It felt a chill of terrified revulsion writhing
was the Holiness, he knew, for he recog- down his spine. What sort of creature
nized her red-gold hair, but the transfor- hid behind a mask like that, what name-
mation that was wrought in her was start- less, enthroned upon a
secret horror sat
ling. face that must be hidden from the eyes
She had laid aside her purple mantle and of men?
stood starkly nude save for a sash of red In her right hand she bore an eight-foot
W. T.—
562 WEIRD TALES
rod topped witli a hook-beaked halberd, tised unconcern. Before a dozen strokes
and this she lowered as she passed the were made it was apparent that the men
prostrate prisoners, tapping Stacy’s two who sawed the caskets’ lower ends worked
companions lightly witli the blade. The faster tlian their fellows. The. coffined
metal might have been white-hot, for as convicts would be sectioned at the knees
they feltit on their shoulders the wretched before the other blades could sever them
convicts writlied as if in agony unbearable at breast and throat. Now the screams
and uttered gasping, whimpering cries for of torment rose more shrilly and the
mercy. mounting piles of sawdust showed a rud-
dy tinge as drops of blood began to dye
LOWLY tlie Holiness made the drcuit the serrated teeth that gnawed inexorably
S of the compound, then mounted to at the writliing wretclies prisoned in the
the straw mats set upon the vacant dais chests. At last the gruesome bloody work
and squatted Buddlia-like with slim feet was done and the coffin sections with their
turned sole upward on her thighs, her grisly contents tossed into tlie leaping
halberd laid across bent knees. "People flames.
of the Sho-gin,” her voice though soft "Now it’s my turn,” Stacy gritted.
was vibrant, "I call you here to witness What had she promised him.? To be
judgment of the Holiness on cowards. flayed alive and have salt rubbed into his
Two of these less-than-nothings yonder raw and bleeding flesh? Please Heaven
saw the Holiness beset by the serpent that he’d not weaken too much as the flayers’
sings and made no move to save her, knives bit into him; only let him show
though they had weapons in their hands. these savages how a man could stand the
Behold the fate that waits tliose who torture!
would hesitate a breathing-space to give Now they had seized him by
the arms
their lives to guard the moutlipiece of the and set him on his feet before the dais
Great One!” where the Holiness was seated, and at a
Apparently the tribal custom gave no sign from her they took the basket from
right of hearing to the accused, for as the his face. "Look well, O people of the
woman finished speaking a dozen men Sho-gin,” the voice behind the skull mask
dashed forward, seized the prisoners by ordered. "What those craven ones with
their arms and dragged them screaming weapons dared not do this stranger did
midway between the fires where
to a spot bare-handed. Alone and weaponless he
two rough boxes had been placed. Into faced the singing serpent and did battle
and
these they thrust the luckless convicts, for the Holiness’ life. They had brought
with wooden mallets fixed tops upon the him in a prisoner, and he owed no duty
chests with dowels; then, while Stacy to the tribe, but when he saw the coiling
retdied and sickened at the sight, twelve death he did not hesitate, not even long
more men hastened up with long two- enough to arm himself, but did the need-
handed saws, took station at the boxes, ful with his naked hands. He is a hero
heads and feet and centers, and at a nod worthy of your homage, and I declare that
from the masked priestess bent their backs henceforth he shall wait on me and bear
and drew the blades across the chests' my spear and guard me while I sleep and
closed lids. wake. ’The Holiness has need of sucli as
Muffled cries came from the coffins he. I have spoken.”
as sharp metal bit into the soft pine "Not so!” 'The shrill denial sounded
planks, but the sawyers worked with prac- from the crowd of women gathered by
 GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 563

the fife that blazed before the smaller of savage despair, but her captors forced her
the two pagodas. "The law demands that toward the roaring flames, paused a sec-
strangers die by flame, lest spies come in ond, then, ranged each side of her,
among us and take news of us to enemies. marched straight into the fl;imcs without
Our men were put to death for lack of a backward glance. Her dying shriek still
courage, yet tliey dared not fight the thing echoed as the aged cliief, helped by two
that sings lest their movements anger it spearmen, descended from his throne,
and make it give the Holiness the kiss of liobbled through the firelight and cast
death. It was for the Holiness’ safety, himself upon the earth before the Holi-
not from fear, they held their hands. The ness’ dais where, obedient to her order,
stranger risked the Holiness’ life when he thrust his tongue out and began to lick
he approaclicd the singing serpent. For the ground.
that if for no other reason he should suf- "Enough!” the priestess gave him leave
fer death by fire. I have spoken!’’ to stopand waved him back. "You are
"And for the last time, worm!’’ The excused, old man, but see that you do not
Holiness’ voice was low and soft, but offend again. Next time I may not have
charged with anger till it trembled like a such patience with your insolence.” She
harp-string in the wind. "Cast her in the nodded her masked head toward Stacy,
fire, some of you. Such is the fate of and tw'o archers took him by the elbows
those who speak unbidden to the Holi- to lead him to the chief’s pagoda, where
ness.’’ they stripped his long robe off and clothed
Four archers leaped to execute the or- him in a jacket of deep purple edged
der, but the condemned woman cast her- with scarlet, a pair of almost skin-tight
selfon hands and knees before the dais trousers, coarse woolen socks and sandals
on whicli tlie red-robed chief was squat- made of plaited straw. Last of all they
ting. "The law, O Shu-gan; I ask the wound a yellow sash around his waist and
law!’’ she wailed. "Let me die the death thrust a sword into it.

by fire, as Holiness decrees, but let the "Humph, I must look like a chorus
stranger also sxiffer as the law demands!” man in The Mikado,” Stacy muttered
’File bowmen paused irresolute, and as he glanced down at his costume.
glanced back questioningly as the old "Haven’t you a fan? That would lend
chief nodded. "The law commands tliat the final, necessary touch.”
strangers suffer death,” he began hesi- The archers had not spoken as they
tantly, but; w'orked, but now one of them smiled.
would you too feel the
"Silence, beetle, "You like fan?” he asked. "O. K.”
flames’ caress? How dare you speak with- "What?” Stacy asked amazed. '"What
out permission?” the masked woman did you say?”
demanded. "The law? The Holiness’ "O. K.,” the other answered. "You
wishes are tlie law which none may ques- like forhave a fan. I get one.”
tion. Down, down upon your face and He shuffled off, returning in a moment
lick the earth before my feet, or die the with a folding fan and thrust it into
death! Stacy’s belt. "O. K.?” he queried.
"Throw that creeping slug into the "Where in blazes did you learn to say
fire,” she continued to the archers, "and 'O. K.,’ you blighted heathen?”
throw yourselves in after her, you who The fellow shrugged a shoulder. "Al-
dared delay or question my authority.” ways knew it, never had to learn,” he an-
The woman screamed and fought with swered. "You know what it means?”
 a

564 WEIRD TALES

"I’m hanged if I know do or not.
if I in a doze, confident he would be wakened
Nothing in this blasted place makes sense. by the rattle of the priestess’ ladder when
”
If she let it down
dawn. at
"Hurry,” bade the other archer nerv- "Good Lord,” he murmured drowsily,
ously. "The Holiness will not forgive de- "what wouldn’t I give for a regular bed
”
lay.” with a shower in the morning
"You’re a duly initiated member of Drowned in rising tides of sleepy weari-
the lodge, now, son,” Stacy told himself Bed or no bed,
ness, his voice trailed off.
as he crossed the compound with his shower or no shower, a whole night’s
guides; "you might as well go through rest would be a luxury. . . .

the ritual.” Accordingly, when tliey Something stirred upon his cliest, a
halted at the dais on which the priestess thing no warmer than the night-chilled
sat he dropped upon his knees and air, a thing that slid and slipped and
bumped his foreliead three times on tlie seemed to melt into itself.He put a hand
ground with business-like efficiency. up sleepily to brush itoff and the fluent
Taking cue from his companions he weight went rigid, hardening like the
rose when they did and at the summons knotted muscles in a boxer’s arm as they
of the priestess’ nod stepped forward. tighten for a blow. Instinct — there was
She leaned a little toward him, and he no time for reason —^warned him to lie

caught the glimmer of blue eyes behind still, and from half-closed lids he strove
the peepholes of her hideous mask as she to see the thing that rested on him. At
handed him her halberd. firsthe could not make it out; then, dis-
"Take this, my Boob,” she ordered. tinguished from the outlines of his
"It has been my staff of office; it shall woolen blouse, but only half distinguish-
be your symbol of authority, and under able, he saw flattened coils of body,
me you use itas you wish. With it I wedge-shaped head, smoothly undulating,
give my life and safety to your keeping. threatening length of upreared neck —
Come.” copperhead, silent cousin of the rattler,

furtive, lightning-quick and deadly. The

G uarding one whose

those of queen and goddess was no
onerous task. Bob found. The pagoda
which the priestess occupied was sacred
ground, and save for the women who
went over it with brooms of pine boughs
and small dusters made of knotted
feathers no one but the Holiness and he
set foot across the threshold.
slept on the upper floor,
dormitory shortly after dark and drawing
attributes were snake’s head swung across an arc; its quest-
ing tongue flashed like a lambent flame
between its fang-set jaws; finally, its evil
temper lulled by Stacy’s stillness, the
wicked, deadly head went down again
and came to rest upon the looping coils.
The minute hand of a run-down old
clock moves faster than Bob Stacy as he
The girl let his hands down to the floor, spread
mounting to her rigid fingers on the matting and with
infinite, slow patience bent his knees

the light ladder of spliced willow withes until his heels were braced. A deep
up after her. From dark till daybreak breath, taken slowly lest the rising of his
Bob rested on a bed of soft straw matting
with his halberd close at hand, and for
chest alarm the reptile, then quick! A
sidewise turn, a leap that brought him to
—
the first ten nights his chief concern was his feet, a frenzied jump that took him
staying wakeful. On the eleventh evening, out of reach of the mad, lashing death
wearied with his sinecure, he dropped off that coiled upon the matting, struck and
 GOFTTERDAEMMERUNG 565

coiled again, then struck once more, like keen, from the near-by woods tlie hunt-
a steel spring bent and loosed by some ing-parties and the workers in the fields
infernal mechanism. rushed like frightened chickens to the
Now he had tlie halberd in his hand, shelter of the brood-hen’s wings. Tlie
now he chopped it down across the ser- stockade gate was closed and barred and
pent’s circling folds. Then using the wide, earth-filled baskets piled behind it while
flat blade for shovel, he scooped the themen seized bow and lance and the
quivering segments up and flung them women scurried to the armory in the
through the temple door. chief’s pagoda for supplies of javelins
The sounded
scuff of shuffling sandals and arrows.
on the hard earth of the compound as he Stacy stood irresolute. Plainly an at-
threw the dead snake from the door, and tack was coming, but what would be his
a shaft of moonlight showed the shadow duties? Did the Holiness remain inside
of a figure darting round the angle of a the temple to make prayers for victory,
house. But when Stacy raced across the or did she lead the warriors of the tribe?
clearing there was nothing to be seen, In either case, what should he do?
and though he searched the unkempt His doubts were quickly set at rest.

streets between the rows of cabins there At the first throb of the drum the girl
was no sign of life in any of them, nor leaped from the mat on which she knelt
any gleam of light within the huts. while two serving-women combed her
"Probably the thing crawled on me to hair, bound her yard-long tresses in a
get warm,” he told himself as he retraced hurried knot and swung nimbly as a
his steps, but the memory of those fleeing monkey up the ladder leading to her
footsteps haunted him. Why should it be sleeping-room. In a few moments she
a copperhead rather than a rattler that was back, kimono doffed and a suit of
came seeking warmth? Snakes did crawl armor bound upon her. The breast and
into houses in the night, but the temple back guards were of hammered metal
door was raised a full yard from the laced together by long thongs of rawhide,
ground; could so small a snake have about her throat in place of gorget was a
climbed the entrance ladder, or would it strip of knotted wool, her arms were
have been likely to have gone to all that cased in tubes of leather fastened to the
trouble when the village houses were body with thong lacings, about her thighs
equipped with three-inch door-sills? and lower legs were other leather tubes,
"You’d better do your sleeping in the upon her head she wore a leather cap
daytime, son,” he muttered as he took with elongated back-peak like a fireman’s
his station in the temple’s lower room helmet. In the sash that wrapped her
again. waist was thrust an unsheathed sword,
while with both hands she held an oval

T he man bled from a dozen wounds,

and an arrow’s feathered butt pro-
truded from his shoulder as he stumbled
shield of wicker covered with a sheet of
rawhide. This she thrust at Stacy, motion-
ing him to hold it over her.
through the stockade gate. "Yoshi!” he A man crouched at the temple door-
gasped breatlilessly, hiccupped once and step and at sight of him the girl paused.
forward on the compound earth,
fell face "What do you here, Nashomo?” she de-
blood gushing from his punctured lung. manded. "You are our foremost fighting-
”
Signal drums beat thunderously, the man; get upon the wall
women raised a high-pitched, wailing "I come to bear your shield in battle,
566 WEIRD TALES
Holiness. It is my right as Shu-gan’s j'ou men or are you rabbits to run off
’
son because tlie Yoshi dogs have bared their
Above the veil that hid her face from teeth?”
eyes to chin formed in her
a furrow A lanceman of the Yoshi hurled his
smooth brow, and Stacy saw the darken- spear at her, but Stacy thrust the shield
ing in her eyes tliat told of sudden deadly before her so the weapon glanced aside,
rage. and a yell of fierce defiance sounded from
“Are you so tired of life that you the Sho-gin.
would quit it in the fire or by the saw?’’ Now the Yoshi leaped into the trench,
she asked. “Get to the walls, or by the hurling lances at the men upon the walls,
god whose will I speak I’ll have you sawn stabbing every time a face appeared,
apart as soon as we beat off the Yoshi shooting short, fish-hook barbed arrows
dogs!’’ from their bows and clattering their
“Bum me, Holiness, give me to the swords against their shields as a wild ac-
sawyers, let my skin be torn away with companiment to their war cries.

red-hot knives, but let me bear your shield Sho-gin soldiers answered dart for
in battle first!’’ the young man choked. dart, toppled boulders on the men who
"Do not let the str.anger take my ancient swarmed close packed in the dry moat,
right.” hurled great baskets filled with glowing
Heedless as though the crouching man charcoal down; finally, at a motion from
had been a log of rotting wood the girl the Holiness, brought closely w'oven
marched toward the walls, Stacy close be- hampers of stout wicker filled witli hiss-
hind her with his halberd in his left hand ing, writhing snakes and opened them
and the shield swung from his right arm. upon the Yoshi battling in the trench
Now they could see the Yoshi coming below.
at them, short, bandy-legged men, darker- Itwas their trump card. What neither
skinned than the Sho-gin, and as they steel nor fire could do the snakes did
neared it was apparent that their faces quickly, and the Yoshi scrambled from
were more Mongoloid. They cliarged in the moat with screams of horror as the
close formation, bent nearly double, long maddened reptiles struck them through
lances in their right hands, shields of their flimsy leggings or, fallen on their
rawhide in tlieir left. Arrows flew to meet shoulders, sank poison fangs in cheek or
them, but the Sho-gin bows were weak neck.
and their adversaries cunning in defense; The gates were opened and pursuit be-
so the darts fell harmlessly upon their gan, Yoshi and Sho-gin engaging in de-
targets as they crossed the space of cleared taclied combats, more, it seemed to Stacy,
ground by the moat, paused a moment, for tlie sake of taking prisoners than to
then, with a screaming battle cry, let fly kill off any number of the enemy. They
their lances. At the close range the exe- fought without much skill but with a
cution was terrific, and a dozen Sho-gin reckless bravery that astounded him, and
warriors fell impaled upon the long sharp when he saw an overwhelmed Yoshi turn
spears, while many who survived fell his sword upon himself he wondered at
from the walls demoralized. the pride that made a savage select sui-
“Stand firm, you men of Sho-gin; would cide in place of capture.
you burn upon the Yoshi altars?” cried It was not long before he understood.

the priestess, leaping to the stockade top That night the council fires lit up the
and brandishing her long sword. “Are Sho-gin stockade and tlie captured Yoshi
 GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 567

were paraded past the gathered tribe. a wishbone ready for the pulling. Nash-
With sticks and clods and filth the Sho-gin omo thrust a sharpened stake of pitch-
women pelted them. Some of the prison- pine in the bonfire nearest him, and
ers were thrown living in the fires, others when it flowered into flame walked
were encased in coffins to be sawn apart, slowly toward the pendent woman, wav-
‘still others were stripped naked and im- ing the bright burning torch to keep it

paled on blazing stakes. lighted.His horrible intent was obvious,

Among the captured Yoshi -was a and Stacy felt a wave of revulsion run
woman, bandy-legged and ill-favored like through him.
her tribesmen. Stacy marveled at the stoi- "Are you going to let him get away
cism which enabled her to watch tlie tor- with this?” he asked the priestess. "You
ment of her men-folk, but when her turn say your word is law around here, and
to die had come her iron, savage nerve you gave your word to spare her life.
gave way, and she sank upon her knees Now you let this dirty scoundrel make a
before the priestess. liar out of you. How long d’ye think
you can rule these savages if you let ’em
"I ask pity. Holiness,” she sobbed.
"You have had your flout your word like that?”
will of me, my man
lies crisping in the flames of yonder fire.

Let it be that
Something close akin
I may serve you as a slave.”

to pity, perhaps
B ehind the peepholes of her
monial skull mask he saw the
cere-
girl’s

eyes darken; then they softened momen-

the instinct that makes women merciful tarily. "You are right, my Boob,” she
to other women as the climax of their
answered. "I have passed my word that
being ngars, stirred in the priestess’ cold
she shall live. Have you courage to en-
eyes. "So be it,” she assented. "Let her force my orders?”
live.”
"I’ll say I have. I’ll stand off the whole
"Not so!” Nashomo the chief’s son bloody tribe if you’ll command it.”
raised his lance in protest. "I lost a The priestess raised her hand impera-
brother in the fight today and claim the tively. "Stop!”
right of blood-feud on the captured Nashomo halted in midstride and the
enemy. Mine is the right to give the death flame upon his blazing pine stick died
stroke —
now. What say you, men and as he forgot to fan it. Every eye within
women of the Sho-gin?” thefirelit circle turned upon the Holiness

"Let him give the death stroke in ac- and above the snap and crackle of the
cordance with the law!” the tribesmen blazing logs the rasp of quick-drawn,
roared. half-rebellious breathing sounded.
The Holiness inclined her head and a "It has come to me from the Great
pair of posts were set up in the earth God whose will I speak that I cannot re-
between the fires. They were about eight call my spoken word. have promised
I

feet apart and a rawhide thong hung life unto this woman. She must live at
”
from the top of each. Working with a least until

skill and speed that showed long practise, "Not so!” Nashomo shouted. "It is not
women of the Sho-gin stripped the the Holiness who speaks, my brothers,
wretched captive to the skin, then tied but the outland stranger who would have
her by the ankles to the dangling raw- her break our ancient laws, the stranger
hide thongs so she svi-ung head down- at whose bidding she refused to give the
ward, stretched between the uprights like ancient shield-right to the chieftain’s son.
568 WEIRD TALES
the stranger who according to our laws hunched, head forward, hands alert. A
should have died long since instead of heavy pulse was throbbing in his ears, a
being honored as the Holiness' guardian. quivering sensation ran through him, a
Men and women of the Sho-gin, I de- mist seemed hovering before him. Nash-
”
mand tlie right of blood-feud. I ask omo shuffled a step forward. His leering
"Will you wage battle for the woman’s face, vindictive, confident of victor)',

life with me.^’’ showed redly in the leaping firelight. The

mist in Stacy’s vision cleared as if a gong
"It is unlawful for a man to offer
violence to or even look upon the Holi- had sounded. He took a forward step,
ness unveiled. How then can I battle with
danced back upon his toes, raised his
you?” asked Nashomo.
right hand to guard and drew his left
fist back, then balanced waiting witli bent
champion in my stead.
"I appoint a
knees. "Close in at the first opening and
Boob, my and shield-bearer,
guardian
let him have it on the button,” he ad-
dares to you with all your
face you;
vised himself. "Don’t play with him, he’s
weapons, he with nothing but bare hands
dangerous, and whole dam’ pack’s behind
— do you consent, my Boob?” she added
him.”
in a whisper.
Nashomo whirled his lance around his
"To fight that swine bare-handed? I’d
head until it whistled through the air,
take on ten like him and never know
threw his arm back suddenly and
that I’d been working.”
whipped the weapon forw'ard, letting go
"O thou Nameless One, thou fountain- the handle as the point came lev^ with
head of might whose voice the thunder
Bob’s breast. The spear shot forward
is, whose lance the lightning and whose like a rocket, but as it left Nashomo’s
breath the tempest, choose between these
hand Bob threw himself face downward
two and say which fights for right and on the ground and rolled quickly to the
which for wrong!” apostrophized the The
right. lance struck quivering in the
priestess as she raised her hands above
ground where he had stood a second
her head and brought them down until
earlier. Bob snatched the weapon ere it
they touched the dais, then bent her
ceased to vibrate, jerked it from the earth
head until her forehead rested on the
and snapped the shaft across his knee as
mats between them.
if it were a reed.
"Aye, let the judgment of tlie Great
Contemptuously he threw the broken
One show itself!” the tribe roared, and
spear aside and leaped w'ith flailing fists
the diampions moved toward each other.
to meet Nashomo who was dragging at
Nashomo’s lance was eight feet long,
he sought to fit an arrow
his quiver as to
its staff a shaft of seasoned ash, its head
his bow.
a half-yard length of hand-forged metal,
needle-sharp at tip, razor-keen at edges,
Nashomo jumped back nimbly and
Bob’s savage right swing missed his cliin,
fitted with two fish-hook barbs at bottom.
but the blow had not been wasted, for
He tossed it in the air so that the firelight
dodging foeman’s
as his fist shot past his
glinted on the polished wood and glisten-
face Bob spread his fingers v/ide and
ing metal, caught it by the butt as it
closed them round the bowshaft. Nash-
flashed down and swung it round his

head as if it were a sword. omo jerked away, and with a whip-like

Stacy balanced on his toes, shifting his
crack the weapon parted in his hand.

weight from foot to foot, shoulders He let go of the ruined bow and
 GOIiTT£RD,\EMMERUNG 569

dropped his hand upon his sword-hilt, pears v.'ere tlirust butt downward in
but the long blade fouled in his sash and S the earth to form a circle, and in its

before he had a chance to free it Bob center squatted Nokomo the old chief,
struck up from the hip, landing a left the Holiness, Nashomo the chief’s son,
uppercut upon his cliin. and the elders of the Sho-gin. Stacy oc-

Muscles trained and hardened on the cupied his usual post behind the priest-
squash and handball courts backed up the ess. All the men wore their best cos-

blow, and behind them was contempt and tumes; save for skull mask and silk loin-
loathing powerful as dynamite. Nash- cloth the girl was ceremonially nude, for
omo’s teeth clicked like a snapping casta- this was a high council and the guidance
net. He fell back a pace, stepping slowly, of the god must be invoked and his
heavily, and a look of wonder spread protection sought.

across his face. Then his knees gave, and "Our store of metal has grown low
he went down backward on the hard- again, O Holiness,” the old chief said.

packed ground, folding in upon himself "Weapons lost in battle and the chase
so quickly that it seemed he must have have weakened us until our hoard is well-
been a rubber mannikin inflated and then nigh spent. We
must seek the ruins of
ripped to let the air come from him with the Old Ones ere another freezing-time

a rush. Atremor shook him; then he lay arrives or our fires shall lack for meat;

there quietly, as still as any of the Yoshi perchance our enemies may hear of our
upon whom he had worked his savage condition and swoop down on us.”
vengeance. "The Old Ones guard their metal
well. You know how they take toll of
"Behold, O people of the Sho-gin,”
life through pestilence each time we raid
judgment of the
cried the priestess, "the
their stores?” the girl returned. "Are we
Great One has been shown. Barehanded
prepared to pay the price?”
he I chose has vanquished your best
fighter with his weapons in his hands.
"We must, O Holiness. In all the vil-

lage we havescarce a hundred weapons

Let the Yoshi woman live. It is the judg-
in reserve, and every arrow lost or lance
ment of the Great One.”
left unrecovered on the battlefield reduces
Thqr cut the writhing captive from her our reserve. Twenty moons have passed
bonds between the posts, and presently, since last we spoiled the treasures of the
when she regained the strength to walk, Old Ones, and scarce a moon has passed
she tottered to the priestess’ dais and laid since then without a battle. Perhaps if we
herself face forward on the earth, sobbing make fitting offerings the Old Ones will
her thanks. be satisfied and forbear to lash us w'ith
When Stacy and the priestess came the scourge of pestilence this time.”
into the compound the next morning the "Perhaps,” the priestess echoed. "Let
first thing they beheld was the body of the drums be sounded and the people
the Yoshi woman laid before the temple w'arned to gather at the council fires to-
door-step. The eyes had been gouged night. Tomorrow I will lead the raiding
out with burning sticks, the lips and nose party to the Old Ones’ hoard.”
slicedfrom the face, the tongue cut out.
Transversely on her abdomen,
crude Cassarean section, there gaped a
raw-lipped wound a foot and
like

more
a

in
A BASKET half the height of a
was placed between the council fires
and by it stood a girl with bandaged
tall man

length. eyes. Slowly, fearfully, the people of

570 WEIRD TALES
the village filed past, everyone from line and took the trembling woman in
toddling child to doddering graybeard his arms.
and hobbling crone taking part in the 'The dreary lottery of death progressed
procession. As each readied the basket
until ten victims had been cliosen, men,
he held out his hand and the hood- women, even little cliildren being in the
winked girl drew a chip of wood from list.
the tall hamper and offered it to him.
Stacy watdied the drawings curiously.
The sacrifices took leave of their fami-
lieswith tears and lamentations, then
Fear was on each face in that parade, fear
formed tliemselves in line between the
so gripping and abysmal that he was
fires, with their heads out-
kneeling
minded of a verse of Oscar Wilde:
hands folded in their laps. Na-
stretched,
"And Horror stalked before each man. shomo, son of the Shu-gan,
first-born
And Terror crept behind.” strode down the line with his long sword,

Now a young woman paused beside paused behind each crouching victim and
the fateful basket and the girl with ban- witli a single blow struck off his head.
daged eyes reached out a chip. The Last of he came upon the married
all

woman’s scream was terrible. "No, no, couple, and he stopped behind the man
as

not me; I am but three months wed, I am a smile spread on his heavy features. Ten-
too young
’’
tatively he laid his sword-edge on his
prey’s bent neck, then drew back for the
"Not me go for her!”
so, let

a man’s voice, and a young warrior left

cried
stroke and —
missed. The steel shore
through the victim’s shoulder, striking
his place in the procession, snatdiing at
the chip the woman held. "O Holiness, almost to the collar-bone, but the neck

let me go in her stead,” he besought. "It

remained intact, and it was not until three
strokes were given that the head came
is my right. I am her husband and pro-
” off. The woman knelt with eyes tight
tector. Let it be that I go for her
shut, but she could hear the flailing of
The mask on the
eyes behind the skull
the purposeful skill-less strokes, and her
priestess’ seemed shining with a
face
body shook so that a soldier had to loose
softer light than was their wont, but her
her hair and wind his hands in its thick
voice was cold and even as she inter-
coils before her neck could be sufficiently
rupted:
extended for the death stroke. Nasho-
"Let be, O fool! Perhaps you, too,
mo’s helper dropped the girl’s long tresses
will draw the cross-marked chip. Seek
as the sword blade circled down, and the
not to meddle with the judgments of the
small head with its curling strands of
Great One. Go to your place in line!”
light brown hair boimcing on the
fell
Obediently he slunk back to his place, trodden earth until came to rest against
it
but his eyes were on the trembling girl tlie husband’s severed head and lay there,
who drew the cross-marked chip as she
lip to lip.
dropped out of nor did they leave
line,
"Better few should die than many!”
her face when he came level with the
basket. But when he glanced down at swelled the chant as Nashomo raised his

the chip the bound-eyed girl had handed bloody sword in a salutation to the Holi-
him he gave a shout of joy. "I, too, dear ness. "Accept these sacrifices, O ye Old
love! We go together!” As though he Ones; let them speak for us, and visit not
went to keep a lovers’ tryst he left the your pestilence upon us!”
 GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 571

”T T ERE we halt,” the Holiness com- "Let us rest on yonder hilltop. Boob,”
-B- mandccl as the party reached the the Holiness’ voice cut through his rev-
hill crest. "Make camp and wait for us, ciy; "the way is steep, but wiien we get
Nashomo. See to it that the firths are there we shall find soft grass and bright
ready and the water hot for us to bathe sunshine.”
when we return.” They clambered up the slope, and as
The chief’s son looked at her, sur- they came upon a place where wind-
prized. "Do not I go with you to brave felled trees formed an obstruction Bob
the Old Ones in their dwelling-places. automatically put out his hand to help
Holiness?” the girl across the barrier. She drew' back
"Not so. You watch the woods for from the outstretched palm as if it offered
sign of enemies, and hold your men in insult, then, as one who dares defy con
readiness for our return. Give Boob the ventions, laid her fingers in it. Her skin
food-bags and the sacred cords to drag was firm and cool, finc-textured, smooth,
the metal back when we have found it.” and he thrilled as it met his, for it seemed
'The way grew rougher with descent, a current of galvanic force ran from her
for here there v/as no path, and often Bob hand to his, quickening his pulses, quick-
was forced way witli his halberd
to beat a ening his breathing till a lump formed in
through the thick underbrush. Between his throat. Her eyes were on him stead-
tlie hills a little river gushed and they ily as he helped her from the fallen log;

turned down its bank, following the tiun- it was as if a lamp had flickered into life

bling torrent for a mile or more, cross- behind their somber velvet. Faint, but
ing on a reef of moss-bound rocks, then perceptible, a light flush tinctured tlie
fighting an ascent against the tangled bri- smooth brow above the veil.
ars and brush growth on the farther hill. "Give me to eat,” the girl commanded
Memory, quiet-footed as a cat, elusive as they sank down on the soft grass of the
as the shadow of a shadow, stirred in little clearing on tlie hill crest. Bob
Stacy’s brain. The hill was steep and opened one of the food-bags and pro-
overgrown, the gently rolling land be- duced a little bundle of baked meat
yond was dark with pine and oak and wrapped in birch bark and a pack of fat,
poplar, there was no sign of man, no hard bread-cakes. She took them from
faintest trace of cultivation or restraint in him, laid them in her lap, then broke
all the tangled wilderness, but somehow them, flinging half upon the grass.
he felt certain he had walked that land "None is here to sec that custom is ob-
before. Not in its present state. Not served my Boob,” she said; "you may
when weeds and briars and scrub pine feed upon the scraps I throw away before
choked it, but in another day, another I finish eating.”
time. He needed but to shut his eyes to "Er — tlianks for tlie concession,” he
see the landscape carpeted with fresh returned as he picked tlie scattered food
shorn turf, to hear the spat and whir of up from the grass.
golf balls driven down the fairway; there "Good Lord!” He paused, a piece of
was little need to call on memory to hear meat raised half-w'ay to his moutli. He
the hoot of distant motor horns or the had an answer to a puzzle, but one whicli
droning of an airplane overhead. There, posed another, and a harder query. Why,
to the left a quarter of a mile, should be he had wondered, was this plot of grass so
a low-eaved, wide-porched house where short and fresh-appearing, almost like a
one could rest witli a long drink. . . . lawn instead of being wild and weed-
572 WEIRD TALES
choked like the grass that overran the other of beasts which gave them food and milk,
clearings? As he leant to pick the food up and roads as hard as rock and wide as
he received his answer. It was not ordinary rivers joined the mighty cities where the
grass, but creeping bent, the hardy, wiry, buildings towered mountain-high and
short-leaved grass which roots itself so night was turned to day by some strange
firmly that it diokes out weeds and dande- light tliey had whicli glowed as brightly
lions. Bent, the pride of the green-keep- as tlie sun yet gave off neither smoke nor
er. How in heaven’s name did it come flame. They were very w'ise, those Old
here in this abysmal desert? Ones; they knew how to fly like eagles
She fed herself with dainty skill, hold- through the air, and when they rode upon
ing out her veil’s edge to permit her hand the earth they rode in strange things like
to reach her moutli. He watched her a moving house that traveled faster than
musingly. What sort of face was hidden the wind.
by that curtain which was never lifted, "But presently there rose a mighty war
even when she ate? among them, and other Old Ones, not so
"Who are these 'Old Ones’ that you wise, but fiercer, came upon them in their
talk about?’’ he asked. flying houses and dropped great thunder-
"S-s-sh, Boob, do not speak so here. bolts upon them so their mighty cities fell
It is perilous to call their names in this and broke like forest trees beneath the
place.” wind and lightning’s fire, and tumbled
"Why?” down in ruins. Then these invading Old
"Because they hate us, hate us for the Ones went through all this land with fire
things our fathers did, because we come and sword, and whenever they came on
to steal their precious metal and violate a man of the inhabitants they killed him,
their sleep.” whether he were young and strong or old
"Are they gods or demons?” and gray, or just an infant at the breast.
"Who can say? No man has ever seen And they burned and broke the houses
them, tliough once I saw one of their of the Old Ones so that in all the land no
”
dead dwelling-place was left intact, and they
"Their dead? How could that be?” broke the fine hard roads and burnt the
She glanced about half fearfully, then flying houses and the houses that ran
took the bread and meat remaining in her swiftly on the earth until the land was
lap and cast it .
from her. "Imake you desolate and ruined, with none to live in
sacrifice of this my food, you Old Ones,” it except the women who had run for
she exclaimed. "Forgive us if we speak shelter to the woods.
your names in this place, and do not send "Then the conquerors turned to go to
your pestilence upon us.” their own land, which some say lay across
The libation made, she turned to him: a mighty river called the ocean, but a pes-
"Long and long ago, when the world tilence fell on them, so they died by
was very young, a gods
race of men like scores and hundreds, and there were none
lived in this land. We know
of but little to work the mighty floating houses that
them, for none remembers them, and the they came in. They tried and tried again
little that we know is from tradition to get word to their homeland, but no
which is like a child’s tale thatgrows answer came, and some say that a mighty
greater with each telling. But we have earthquake came and struck that land
heard they tilled the land until in all the from which they came and sank it in the
country there were fertile fields and herds waters. We think it was the magic of the
 GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 573

Old Ones working, for they are very ter- the conquerors’ tongue, so their husbands
rible in vengeance. At any rate the pes- had to learn the Old Ones’ language.”
tilence they sent reached into every land, "But how’d you get your liorrible re-
so that it ran like fire among the brush- ligion? These Old Ones whom you speak
wood, and nearly all the people in the of must have passed beyond the point
world were killed by it. of human sacrifice, and Mongolians are
"Then these men who came to break either Buddliists, Taoists or Shintoists.
the Old Ones’ cities had to stay here; so How did such a cult grow up?”
they sought among the woods to find the
women who were
them to wife.
hidden

"Their leaders were all dead, and those

there, and took
H
my
er eyes came slowly up
under her long lashes.
mother’s people. When
to his
"It is

the small
from
from

remaining were all crude and untaught brown conquerors first set up their houses
men who could not duplicate the wonders in the wilderness there came a plague
that the Old Ones wrought; neither did among them, and it seemed the vengeance
they have the skill to build the ruined of the Old Ones would destroy them ut-
up again. Besides, there was a curse
cities terly. 'Then arose a woman of the con-

upon those places, and whoever tried to quered race who knew the secret of tlie
live in them, or even visitthem, took sick pestilence and how to stem its rising tide.
and died of pestilence. So the conquerors She wore a mask upon her face so none
built their villages in the waste spots of might see her nose or mouth or chin, and
the land and settled in them with the wo- she w'ent among those stricken by the
men they had taken for tlieir wives. plague in safety. "Do this or that,” she
"They were little men, these conquerors, told them, and those who followed her
their skins were brown as autumn leaves, instructions lived, while those who dis-
their eyes were not like those the Old Ones obeyed her died. Then when tire plague
had, so when their children came some was gone she told the people that the
looked much like their fathers, while spirit of the Old Ones w'as upon her, that

others were more like tlie women of the her words were theirs and her w’ill law',
Old Ones. Then a law was made and by and they w'ho disputed her must surely
it every man child who was like the Old die. At first they scoffed at her, but those
Ones was at once destroyed, while girls who mocked her died. Then they be-
were spared. So it was that there grew lieved, and from that day her lightest
up a race whose women seemed of a wish was law unalterable. It was she who
stock diflFerent from their men. Also, ordered human sacrifice, and it is said she
girl children took names from their moth- always chose her victims from the men
ers’ tongue, while all the boys were called and boys, but spared the girls and women.
by names their fathers knew.” We no longer have tliat custom, and those
"But you speak English,” Bob objected. whose lot it is to die as sacrifices bear
”
"How is it their fate, whatever be tlieir sex.
"English? What is English?” "When the years came on this wise old
"The language that you speak. From woman, she chose a young girl from the
what you’ve said I think these conquer- tribe and took her to a place where once
ors might have been Mongols; certainly the Old Ones dwelt. 'There she schooled
your dress and architecture hint at it, yet her in wonders of the olden days, and
tlie
”
you speak instructed her in government of the peo-
'"ITie captured women could not speak ple. When tills was done she veiled her
574 WEIRD TALES
pupil’s face and told her none must ever skinned alive, and then relented. It would
look upon it, for if a woman looked upoii h.ave been safer to get me out of the way,
the Holinc-ss unveiled her eyes must be especially when your sparing me almost
put out; the m.ui who looked on her must brought on mutiny.”
surely die before he told what he had "Listen carefully, my Boob. When I
seen. If the Holiness unveils her face to was being taught by her who wore the
any man both she and he must suffer veil beforeme I was told about the Old
death. Vs7hcn she had given these com- Ones while I lived in what remained of
mands she sent her pupil back to rule the a proud city. The Holiness who taught
village while she walked off into the me took me to a ruined temple where
ruined city of the Old Ones and was they worshipped in the ancient days and
never seen again.” there I saw the gods they reverenced, a
"But why must you obscure your fea- beautiful young man nailed naked to a
tures with a veil?” Bob asked. cross and a weeping woman kneeling at
Ihe shadow of a smile shone in her
his feet. Also, my Boob” —
her breath
came quicker and a look of fear came in
eyes,he knew her lips were smiling un-
her eyes, shadowing their cerulean blue as
derneath her mesh as she replied:
a drifting cloud obscures the noonday sky
"Men fear the thing they do not un- — "also I saw one like you!”
derstand. If Holiness walked like an or-
"Like me? Good heavens!”
dinary woman in their midst the people
would not fear her; they might even dare She nodded slowly. "He was in a
to disobey. I am but a girl so weak that small stone house which stood near by
any half-grown tribesman could bend me the temple. The conquerors’ thunderbolts
to his will with his bare hands, did he had broken it, but some of it remained,
but dare. They have no love for me, these and in it was a metal coffin with a crystal
people whom I treat like dirt beneath my top. The body of a man lay in it, not
feet, but they have fear of me. Do I not beautiful and young like you, my Boob,
order them to death by torment for the but old, with thin gray hair and a face
slightest fault? Do I not make their of strength and power. He lay there in
chiefs and headmen kiss the eartli before his endless sleep with hands crossed on
me? I cannot rule as king or warrior, I his breast and a string of beads in them.
cannot rule by love, they would not un- The clothes he wore were like your gar-
derstand it; but I can rule by fear. Have ments when you came into our village and
you not seen them tremble as I pass for saved me from tlie singing snake. Of all
fear that I may toucli them with my lance the people in the village I alone knew the
and order them to death? Had they not clothing that the Old Ones wore. Think
feared me as they fear tlie grave, could I you those others would have let you live
have made them break their ancient law if they had known?”
and let you live, my Boob?”
Bob stared at her in silence. 'There
'Tve wondered about that. Just why was a dizzy, baffled feeling in his brain,
me?”
did you spare
as if he had just landed from a tossing
"You saved me from the singing ship or stepped off of a whirling carousel.
”
snake The vague familiarity of the brush-grown
'"rhat’s true, but I almost tore your veil countryside . . . the ruins of a Qiristian
away that day; you were going to have me church ... a man long dead found in a
 GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 575

broken, long-forgotten tomb, dressed in bases were two rust-gnawed iron urns. A
modern dinner clothes. Something. . .
pile of twisted metal and broken stone

terrible, unformed and undescribable as marked the outline of a summerhouse.

the shadow of a specter seemed leering at Beyond, almost effaced by pine and oak
him from the ambush of a half-matured trees, stood a pair of shattered chimneys,

suspicion. ail that remained of a once stately man-

sion.
"The conquerors had little metal,” she
went on, "and without it they were help- Recollection beat against the doors
less; so they tookit from the ruins of the
of Stacy’s mind with muffled hammer
Old Ones' But the ancient race was
cities.
strokes. "Here — here — here ” it

jealous of its treasure, and for every ounce seemed repeating in an endless monody.
of metal tliat was stolen they took toll of "See — see!”

lives till none dared seek the precious A little patch of color showed among
stuff, and a law was passed that made it the straggling growth of weed and lichen
death to trespass past the boundaries of — phlox, marigold, larkspur. Beyond
the Old Ones’ ancient dwelling-places. thereshowed a dim white form, broken,
Only the Holiness who immune to the
is stained, leprous with a growth of rust-
swift death that visits those who dare the brown moss, but recognizable. It was the
Old Ones’ wrath may go beyond tlie marble image of a Naiad holding out
boundaries, and with her she may take a conch-shell from which there feebly
one man to bear the metal out. Under dribbled a small stream of water.
her protection he is safe, but any others Stacy’s lips were trembling, his teeth
who transgress the taboo are given tlie were chattering, little hummocks of hor-
flames, lest they infect the rest.” ripilation roughened on his forearms, he
felt the short hair bristling on his neck.

S
TACY His thoughts
scarcely heard her.
were busy with a question, yet he
He had to know —he had to!

dared not think the question through.

With a leap he cleared the circling
briars and scratched frantically with his
The answer might be . . . but he had to
dagger, stripping off the moss that scaled
know!
the fountain’s base. Dear God, if it were
"Let’s go,” he told her almost roughly.
tliere! . . .
"I’d like to see this ruined city.”
The thick moss flaked away, the pallid
They crossed a weed-grown field and
stone showed clear. Scratched into it with
climbed another slope. "Here is a dwell-
schoolboy crudity was a heart encircling
ing of the Old Ones,” she announced,
bending back a branch of pine to show
the initials: "ET and RAS —Emily Taylor
and Robert Atwood Stacy.”
the vestige of a path.
He followed her across the turf-ringed Fifteen years since, a century —God
flagstones of the ruined walk till the cir-
knew, it might have been a thousand
on a small clearing.
cling trees gave back years ago! —he scratched those letters in

Almost obscured by weeds and thick-
grown brambles curved
a concrete drive; here and there
the undergrowth a rosebush strug-
raflish
the stone when he wore knickerbockers
the remnants of
and Emily’s hair hung down in braids.
among His shriek of laughter split the quiet
of the little glade, mounting like a lick-

down by
gled like a thoroughbred pulled ing flame, higher, thinner, a scream of
mongrels. Leaning crazily from marble awful, macabre mirth which seemed to
 4 —

576 WEIRD TALES

mock the ghosts of long-forgotten years through his nerves like voltage through
that hovered roimd the place. "Goetter- electric wires and crashed against his brain
daemmerung!” he shouted while tears as with devastating force. He staggered back
hot as smelted metal coursed his cheeks. a step and felt himself go w'eak with de-
"Goetterdaemmerung! sire.

They say tlie lion and the lizard keep

"Holiness —O lovely little Holiness!”

The courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep. he gasped, tearing his lips free from her
red, clinging mouth. "In all this awful
”
"The gods are dead; the world is dead, barren world tliere’s only you and
and I remain! Ave tern pus Ccesar! Te ’The savage spat of a wild missile strik-
moritmi salutamus!” ing stone arrested him. In the little pool
"Boob, my
Boob,” her voice came soft- that gatliered at the fountain’s base an
ly through his scream of sharp hysteria. arrow lay, its head bent by its impact on
"Look, Boob, I show you something no the marble. The fretful zing of a bow-
man living ever saw before!” Witli a string sounded in the near-by thicket, and
wrench she tore her veil away and stepped with a rageful hornet’s whine another
toward him. arrow whipped toward them, burying it-

His geysering laughter stopped abrupt- self half shaft-length in the earth.
ly as he looked at her. She was lovely A crackling sounded in the shrouding
with an odd, uneven kind of beauty. circle of dark evergreens and a man
Very young, not more than eighteen, he stepped out into the glade, fitting a third
surmised, with a skin as fine and creamy arrow to his bow.
as a child’s. Beneath her long blue eyes,
"Nashomo!” cried the priestess. "What
deep-shadowed by their silky curling lash-
do you in this taboo place; how dare you
es, he saw her straight, proud, narrow
stand unbidden in my presence? Down,
nose, her red mouth chiseled in long lines,
down upon your face, you dog, or I will
her small, sharp cliin. Now her eyes were
have you sawn apart
”
languishing and passionate, inviting, teas-
"The Holiness who shows her face to
ing, promising. They seemed to probe
any man no longer speaks the Great One’s
his very heart’s depths. A quince-hued
will,” the fellow interrupted. "It is the
flush was on her cheeks, her throat, her
law that she must die, and he who looks
smooth, white brow. She smiled at him, ”
upon her naked face
a curious smile that added mystery to a
face instinct with mystery. The force of Stacy’s halberd, thrown
She made a foru'ard step, feet sound- w'ith all his weight behind it, drove him

lesson the moss around the fountain, and back upon his heels as though he had been

stood close to him. Then without warn-

pushed by a gigantic hand. The wide
ing she bent toward him, seized his cheeks blade sheared his breast-bone as if it had
Ixtween her palms and kissed him on the been butter. "Damn you, that’ll pay you
mouth, hungrily, greedily, with an avid- something on account,” cried Stacy, but
ness in which the sterile longings of her
the girl’s sharp warning stopped him:

years of isolation blazed like fire among "Run, run, my Boob, it is a mutiny
the trees in rainless August. they are surrounding us!”

His response was instinctive. Too He glanced around the clearing. From
quick for thought the man in him rose to behind the thick-grown pine trees heads
her siren clrallenge. The lure of her raced appeared, before them, to the right, the
W. T.—
 5 —

GOETTERDAEMMERUNG 577

left. An arrow whined at them, followed forehead, running down into his eyes and
by another, and another, and another. bhnding him. He felt the pressure of her
hand on his as she drew him forward,
"Run, make for the old temple,” the
then felt her fingers close with a convuls-
girl panted."That is a very taboo place.
ive grip. Dashing the ruddy film from his
They may not dare to enter it!”
eyes he saw her sway and stiffen. She
gave a dreadful, strangled cry. From her

C RASHING through the bracken, snatcli-

ing back their garments from the
clutching claws of bramble bushes, they
ran across the thickly wooded
out in another clearing, and hastened to-
ward another copse of pine and cedar.
As they ran they heard the view halloo
of their pursuers; the pack was circling,
cries were coming not alone from side and
rear, but from the front as well. An ar-
row whistled at them, clipped a pine
left breast an arrow’s feathered butt pro-
truded, and a gush of blood ran from the
corners of her mouth. "Boo ” tlie
slope, broke
gurgling welter of fresh blood drowned
out his name half uttered, and she
dropped limply to the ground. A glaze
as of thin isinglass was on her eyes, her
mouth fell open and her tongue pro-
truded slightly.
He bent and kissed her swiftly, not on

branch overhead and struck the tree-bole the bloody, gaping mouth, but on the
with a vicious pung. Another struck tlie brow, then stumbled on.

ground before them, a tliird came whiz- Arrows hissed at him, whining past his
zing past Bob’s face so close he felt the ears, striking little puffs of smoke-like
draft of it upon his cheek. Here and there dust up from the ground about his feet.
among the trees they saw flitting shadows Sometimes he felt a fresh burn in his arms
as the hunters closed their cordon. or shoulders, something like a streak of
white-hot iron passed across his neck, and
"Oh! I’m struck! Run, run on, my
the collar of his blouse went wet and
Boob, you may win through alone. I
”
cannot go — sticky with red soppiness.

He ran mechanically. Right foot up,

He swung the girl up in his arms as
though she were a child. On on. . . .
leg forward, back — left foot up, leg for-
ward, back . . . somehow he
u-as still on
Something stung him in the shoulder,
his feet, but he had no idea how he kept
viciously. He winced witli pain but
on them. His breath was wheezing with
forged ahead. A high, thin, irritable
asthmatic rales. Presently he would fall
whine, as if a monster hornet drove at
down on his face, but he wouldn’t feel it;
him, was followed by a scaring pain in
he’d not feel anything again; just go to
his right arm. He stumbled, loosening
sleep— a long, sweet, dreamless sleep . . .
his hold upon the girl’s light form, cir-
that damned pain in his back, just under-
cled his left arm more tightly round her,
neath the shoulder-blade . . . now it was
and crashed ahead through the entangling
hurting in his chest. . . .

brush.
He diarged across a little clearing.
"Boob, put me down. I —think— that
Shouts came faintly to him — gleeful, sav-
— —can—run
I
age shouts. Something struck him on tire

He halted, breathing with deep, retch- shoulder, not painfully this time, but
ing sobs, and leant against a tree. Blood heartily, almost like a friendly slap.

was soaking through his trouser leg, blood Damn these creepers, they were tripping
dyed his sleeve, a steady trickle v/et his him . . . why no, there were no aeepers
W. T.—
578 WEIRD TALES
here, he was running over straggling, un- Taylor in her bridal gown. I’m going to
kempt grass. To right and left ran aisles marry her today no, it’s not Emily,
. . .

like streets, choked with dwarf trees here it’s the Holiness. She’s taken off her veil.
and there, but still discernible. Border- No man has ever seen her face before . . ,

ing them were stone erections, some she loves me.

straight, some leaning crazily this way or "Wh.at’s carved upon this stone? Some
that. Where was he, in a cemetery? Non- sort of epitaph:
sense, lie was running . . . why was he
running, anyway? What was there to be To the Glory of God
afraid of? And the Memory of Copt. Robert Atwood Stacy
Who Met a Hero’s Death Defending his
"Oh, here’s a fine big stone, just the Homeland
thing to lean against and rest. Rest, a From the Invasion of theMongol Horde
A. 1940—1972 D.
grand word, that. . . . Dtilce et Decorum est pro Patria Mori
"Who is that moving over there? A
girl in white, all in white, with a veil "That’s silly. This thing says I’m dead.
upon her head. She has a bouquet in her But I’m alive.

hand and orange blossoms in her hair. "Or am I?” he amended as the shout-

She’s coming nearer. Funny, I can’t see ing pack closed in and a storm of arrows
her face. Why, yes, it’s Emily. Emily swept him down.

m ere

Eternal brood
Once Poe Walked
By H.
All Acrostic Sonnet

tlie
P. LOVECRAFT

shadows on this ground.

Dreaming of centuries that have gone before;
Great elms rise solemnly by slab and mound,
Arcli’d high above a hidden world of yore.

Round all the scene a light of memory plays,

And dead leaves whisper of departed days.

Longing for sights and sounds that are no more.

Lonely and sad, a specter glides along

Aisles where of old his living footsteps fell;

No common glance discerns him, though his song

Peals down thiough time witli a mysterious spell.

Only the few who sorcery’s secret know,

Espy amidst these tombs tire shade of Poe.
Vhe
(2/ ecret of the Vault
By J.
WESLEY ROSENQUEST
What dread mystery lurked in that charnel chamber beneath the cellars of the
old house, and U’hat impious rites of life and death
ivere perfor7)ied there?

THINK it was in January that my cold deptlis a candle and missal, I pre-
sumed
I suspicions first

Prior to that, my
took form and grew.
uncle’s visits to the pious.
his intentions to
In all his words
be only the most
to me concerning
family burial vault had only the appear- the matters of the deceased, he exhibited
ance of actions natural to grief, and as on a tender reverence and profound respect
all occasions he carried witli him into the for those he called "the immortal spirits,”
579
580 WEIRD TALES
As he said, it was not until the recent flee in an instant, gazing fearsomely into
death and burial of his wife, my Aunt a darkness that defied my penetrating
Helena, that he became aware and fully stare. And I felt that my gaze was recip-
conscious of another world and the need rocated. I was above all things conscious
of the dead for prayer. This I believed. of a curious air of watchfulness that
Even had I suspected earlier, I could not seemed to justify my intuition of an un-
disprove his words, as out of a timid heart natural vitality residing in those who
I had never ventured into the mortuary dwelt there. ... I knew that there was
chambers deep below the cellar. not mere annihilation, but a transforma-
From childhood I had held in my mind tion into something that was neither an-
an image of supreme gruesomcness, in nihilation nor true life, a vitality that
which the antique burial vaults, in my oozed from and through the dissolving
childish imagination, yawned like some shells, thriving amidst decay and dark-

ravenous maw, into which all who van- ness with sickening tenacity.
ished never returned. In fanc}' I con- Then when some member of my once
structed a bottomless pit inwhich night- large family descended the narrow stair-
marish forms of darkness crept and grew, way, I stood with fixed and fascinated
a pit filled with forms instilled with a stare, straining to catch a glimpse of the
grim life that was an insult flung in the nitrous interior, but seeing only the damp,
face of God and nature. Death itself gray-gleaming walls of a passageway that
held no terrors for me, but only those led still further down. And always the
things which I conceived to be the off- feeble reflections of the taper would yield
spring of death, in the imagination-in- once more to darkness as the visitant pro-
fested region of my childhood, whicli I gressed into the vaults, so that it seemed

associated inseparably with the vaults. that the ravening maw was indeed filled,
During many of my earlier years I satisfied. . . .

dwelt morbidly on the subject of what As I grew older I witnessed the fateful
happens to the deceased. Perversely, I procession of my family into the vaults.
gave no thought to Paradise or the place So came about finally that those who
it

where flew the immortal spirit, but father frequented the grim limbo that filled my
reflected on the husk left Isehind, and the early years with a superstitious terror
possibility of an abnormal awareness, a failed to return from tlie black depths
sluggish and impotent life clinging there- below the basement. The living who had
to, defying time and dissolution, impotent descended so often to pray for the already
only in that it was static, and could not departed themselves surrendered to the
manifest itself. I filled my boyish mind encroachment of death on the domain of
with terrible subjects. Ihad — read I the living. I personified the vaults as a
think in my twelfth year —of suspended creeping form, a restless entity burrowing
animation, and wondered what was the beneath the big old house, waiting pa-
difference between death from which tiently for the stream of the living that
there was return, and death from which passed as inevitably into the still cham-
there was no return, and if there was an bers as the stars progressed in their
awareness of surroundings in the poor, courses.
crumbling shell. . . .

I would stand at the head of the nar- OFTEN wondered if we do not commit
row, steep, stone stairway, holding the I a terrible error by not cremating the
heavy oaken door wide open and ready to dead. Instead, thqr are placed in vaults
 I

THE SEOIET OF THE VAULT 581

and no longer animate,

coffins as things is then constantly radiating out into space,
without feeling or consciousness. They leaving its traces here and there, like the
are put away whole and intact, as they slimy trail left behind by the snail. Where
died, and time wreaks its will upon them. is immortality then? For when the re-
Perhaps we are mistaken to think that life straining vessel disintegrates, the fluid
departs abruptly and completely from the flows away in all directions and evapo-
mortal frame, and as greatly in error to at- rates.

tempt to draw a distinct line between or- My aunt was a fair, light-haired, blue-
ganic and inorganic, sentient and insenti-
eyed woman. Her features were fine and
ent, living and dead. There are certainly de- delicately proportioned and her form wil-
grees of life and vitality in human beings.
lowy. Therefore, when I speak of her
In all cases, then, does this vitality depart
abounding vitality, I think not of the
sharply and cleanly, instead of ebbing
crude strength of the peasant woman, but
away slowly after the abrupt slump called
the subtile radiations of the full moon,
death? The fact that the bodies of saints
the glow of subterranean fires, the con-
so often remain intact for long years has
cealed potency of the magnet and the in-
led me to suspect that they do not enjoy corporeal energy of the winds. She was
their heavenly reward as soon as might be the paragon of force and magnetism, of
expected after death. . , .
energy that was not born of bone or mus-
There are many cases of suspended ani-
cle. She emanated a persuasive magnet-
mation or catalepsy. At times the victims
ism that influenced all about her, a will
awake before they are interred, and are that bent all before her like w'ind in the
saved from live burial. Others are not so
wheat-fields. Life seemed to flow from
fortunate. Who can say where catalepsy
her high, white forehead and her slender
tapers off into deeper shades or tones of
finger-tips.
death? And howdeep may the deceased
descend into the clouded ahyss? If vital-
She was constantly in the best health,
ity is a fluid, how many drops cling to
and never seemed subject to the maladies
the interior of the vessel when it is
that sweep the frail human frame. Her
emptied? day was filled with activity from dawn to
My Aunt Helena was a vigorous wo- sunset. I remember her today not as she

man. appeared in the lily-glow about the bier,

She was not very tall, or heavy, or mus- but as she used to move about tbrough
cular, and yet she possessed that strange the house and in the gardens, leaving her
force or essence called vitality in super- impress on the very walls, her breath on
abundance. How can we define this? the flowers and shrubs.
Neither physiology nor chemistry could It was a great shock when she died sud-
ever explain what it was that she, more denly, on a drill December night, with-
than any one else I knew except my out warning and without apparent cause.
uncle, emanated continuously during her
busy life. I have heard that the human
The family physician ascribed her de-

organism emanates a fluid or force dead- mise to heart failure, but I believed —
ly to certain minute organisms and cap- knew — was a mockery.
that this verdict

able of affecting delicate instruments. I It was impossible that she had died from

wonder if this fluid is identical with what a heart ailment, as she had never shown
is called the soul. Horrible thought! If symptoms of such a malady. Later I was
this is so, the soul must be divisible. It to understand.
582 WEIRD TALES
F HER death was a shock to me, it was After her death I was again subjected

I an even greater shock to my uncle — so to the morbid fascination of my child-

it seemed, for she was the center of his hood I stood in fright and awe at
days.
universe. the head of the steep, narrow stone stair-
Where formerly there were three of us way, gazing into the well of darkness at
in the great house, there were now only the foot of the damp, mossy steps. I did
two. The house became suddenly and this often, the strange spellholding me
completely empty, cold, clieerless. Under with a grip of iron, and still I did not
my aunt’s hands it had slowly acquired dare to descend. I stood ready to flee in
during the years after the death of my an instant, holding the ponderous oaken
parents a warmth and vitality that it must door wide on its massive copper hinges,
certainly have absorbed from her. The powerless to descry anything in the
furniture gleamed, ornaments sparkled, gloomy recesses of the vaults and, indeed,
the fire burned with fierce joy in the great not knowing what I should expect to see.
fireplace. After her death the gleam and And I felt undeniably the presence of
the sparkle and the joy suddenly went out, Helena. As always, I felt where I could
like an extinguished candle, plunging the not see. . . .

house into a gloom that weighed down Uncle Henry seemed grief-stricken,
on the All the life and vitality that
roof. which was to be expected. Yet I say
ihe place had absorbed under Aunt Hel- "seemed.” I remember his iron compo-
ena’s care departed with her, was impris- sure at the funeral and at the placing of
—
oned in the coffin casting a last glow on the coffin in the vault, I watching on and
the massed white lilies and flowed away— not daring to follow the slow procession
into the burial vaults like water seeking of pall-bearers headed by my uncle, who
its lowest level, leaving its former level carried candelabra to light the precipitous
bleak and dry. Was it for this reason that descent and the murky path. Then later
after her death the vaults acquired a new I observed him in the library by the fire-

— shall we call it? — life? place, his head unbowed; the heavy odor
To
me, the pitch-black mortuary cham- of lilies filled the air, the wind whispered
bers below the cellar took on a new at- drearily outside the windows, light and
mosphere, a new significance. The dark- shadow writhed on the walls like a misty
ness squirmed, thrived with life, seemed simulacrum of Tartarean vistas; still he
to course fluidly through the grimly ten- .sat there, surrounded by a subtile aura of

anted, subterranean rooms. It was not the confidence, of expectation. How was I to
same pit of my childhood. Where for- guess so soon? . . .

merly I felt only a sluggish, terrible In the days that followed, in the weeks
awareness lurking abysmal ob-
in the thatgrew out of them, I obsers'ed with
scurity of the vaults, there was now an growing curiosity my uncle’s excessively
abounding vitality, a burning flame of un- frequent visits to the tomb, always with
exampled brightness, as the torch dims the missal and single candle. As often as
the glow of the ignis fatuus.
fitful It was once each day I saw his heavy, muscular
Aunt Helena who— I knew ^u’as — resist- form descending into the blackness with
ing somehow the sharp fang of the con- slow and steady steps.
queror worm
with the superhuman vital In the weeks following the death of his
force that must have dwelt latent, not wife, my uncle’s bearing and demeanor
destroyed, in her still form, pushing out- became more and more confident and ex-
ward against its concrete prison. pectant, quite different from his earlier.
 THE SECRET OF THE VAULT 585

assumed air of resignation to the will of Words cannot express my shock, my be-
God. His vigils beside the tomb of Hel- wilderment, my
doubt upon examining
ena were frequent, as I have said; yet he the numerous volumes. Many were in-
returned each time from the vaults with scribed in Latin and were of great antiq-
the utmost composure, with ill-concealed uity. Those I could not read, however,

confidence on his rugged face, although usually contained remarkable and gro-
I did not perceive this immediately. In tesque diagrams and drawings; interlaced
the latter days of January he was almost triangles, squares and circles, and charts
dieerful. He moved with a brisk step, yet of the human anatomy covered w’ith astro-
witli a great air of mystery. Still I sus- logical and kabalistic symbols appeared
pected nothing, for whenever we spoke frequently in tliese works. Then, too,
with each otlier, the restrained, sadness- there were those books that I could read,
tinged tones of his voice dispelled such and I proceeded to do so at the cost of
perplexity as had grown from observa- completely lost equilibrium.
tion of his actions. Picking out a heavy, leather-bound vol-
ume, I opened it and began to read. My
T he
received
first intimation of horror that I
came to
the hushed atmosphere of his private
me one evening in
li-
fright w'as great.
the following:
"It is said
Consider, for example,

among the Greeks,” said the

brary, to which no one but him and Aunt paragraph (it was apparently translated

Helena had ever had access. from Latin), "that in an impenetrable

He had always spent a considerable mountain fastness in the northeast, where
part of each day in his room and in his Rome’s legions have not yet penetrated,
library. On two occasions only had I ever dwells a scattered people whose priests
caught a glimpse of the ceiling-high and physicians are unexcelled in necro-
shelves; a glimpse and no more. Natu- mancy and the control of tlie elements.
rally, I had always felt curiosity about Frightened and starved travelers have re-
the book-lined room. One day my curi- turned from this mountain region with
osity was to receive more satisfaction than strangely similar tales. Accounts of the
I had bargained for. . . . raising of the dead and of lightning and
It was on a Sunday, and I had already wind called out of the heavens are fre-
seen my imcle disappear down the slip- quent. It has also been said that these
pery steps into the strangely vibrant dark- people stand unclothed in bitter cold, and
ness. It was on my way to the study that melt ice and snow around them with the
I halted beside the door of Uncle Henry’s breath of their bodies. It seems that these
private library. Who can say what it was strange people, whoever they may be, are
that impelled me to try the door-knob? the custodians of a very great fund of
Perhaps it was the old curiosity; perhaps superhuman wisdom, and hold the keys
itwas caprice; or perhaps I was prompted to many arcana. 'The tree-worshipping
by something deeper. 'Then it was that I priests of Britannia and the black men of
received tlie first intimation, in that heav- the Southern Continent hold no powers
ily silent environment. such as these. The soothsayers of the
On the shelves was a staggering collec- Greeks and the oracles of Delphi are ac-
tion of books, which, I perceived immedi- quainted with mere child’s games when
ately with growing apprehension, dealt one considers the many-times confirmed
with subjects I felt to be violently incom- accounts of the occult might of these
patible with his professed religious views. people.”
584 WEIRD TALES
The above, however, was the least of for, it is the terrifying truth, there is no
the abominations that I found. It took on other immortality. That which men call
the appearance of a mere dissertation on the immortality of tlie spirit is a dim
the customs of foreign peoples in strange dream, and the soul without a body
places, compared to that which next occu- flits like a wdll-o’ -the- wisp from star to
pied my dazed brain, next absorbed my star. . . .

horror-filled intensity of concentration. "Certain oriental peoples have a

Opening a large, leather-bound tome at method of arousing the dead, wherein
random, I read: the veins of the body are opened and the
"It is therefore apparent that each soul corpse is cudgeled violently with sticks

possesses inherent in itself to effect its and flogged with whips, so that a fran-
own resurrection, a capacity for the spe- tic,convulsive and temporary revivifica-
cial vital fluid possessed by the human tion is brought about This is hardly to

organism, a thousandfold greater than the be admired or, less yet, to be indulged
crude, earthy strength of the animal in; for it is not true immortality, and is

world. In the hiunan being alone is the a cruel disappointment to the eager, re-
Solar Force specialized, diflferentiated, into awakened entity to which the body be-
what might be called mental or spiritual longs.

vital force, in contradistinction to the phy- "There is a more subtile, sure method,
sical vitality of animals and the sluggish however, by which animation may be re-
animation of vegetable life. In this re- stored to the dead, provided that the
spect, men are the vessels of power, the period of latency in the tomb does not
most exalted receptacles of the precious exceed seven days, or slightly more or
fluid that flows from the plerium, of the less than that figure."
golden dew of Pleroma, otherwise known
The blasphemous
tract thereupon gave
to men as anima mundi.
minute directions for the raising of the
"Behold, then, how each man may res- dead. It spoke confidently, in the utmost
urrect his own body, according to the detail, about the necessary measures, the
archetype of Christos, and triumph over arrangement of censers and diagrams, of
tlie Destroyer of Forms. The secret lies candles and emblems around and above
in this, that he who aspires to unending the tomb, and the intricate, sonorous man-
length of days must invoke that Power tras to be intoned daily in the funereal
known as tlie Preserver, and tlie secret environs, accompanied by slow-traced dia-
is that each man is his own preserver. grams and signs in the air.
By knowledge of the proper means, there-
fore, one may overthrow the night-clothed CLOSED the book slowly, confusedly,
and ravening Devourer which forces its I my fingers trembling with a dawning
way into the most secret tomb, tlie most fear. Then I placed the volume back in
cleverly concealed vault, to gnaw at the its proper place, extinguished the light,
husk therein. The soul may wrench itself and fled from the library, closing the door
from the smothering embrace of night, swiftly, silently behind me. As I hurried
from the detestable bosom of decay, from to my room, I heard slow, heavy footsteps
the cold and slimy suck of chaos and . . . ascending the stairs from the cellar. I
radiant and triumphant, emerge from the considered myself fortunate, indeed, to
gaping entrance of its shattered prison, have escaped observation, as a terrible
invested with immortality of tlie body; suspicion had crept into my mind con-
 THE SECRET OF THE VAULT 585

ceming the true purpose of my uncle’s vaults? Truly, it was merciful that the
vigils in the vaults. trutlibecame known to me bit by bit,
rather than in one moment that would
In the seemingly endless days that fol-
have cost me my sanity.
lowed my intrusion into the locked library
of my uncle, it was only with almost First, there was his airlously confident,
superhuman exertion of will tliat I con- expectant air as he emerged daily from
cealed from him, in word or even general the vaults. Then followed the discovery
bearing, the fact that I had received the of the library and of the packages that he
first intimation of abnormality in his daily carried with him into tlic depths. And
actions, the fact that I had penetrated into finally, that last day, I found the diary,

the monstrous repository of occult knowl- which led to the ultimate climax of rev-
edge into which he withdrew daily for elation in the subterranean rooms into
study tliat did not pursue the conven- which I finally dared to descend.
tional paths of would not
learning. I

have succeeded in this deception had I ntering my uncle’s room unbidden,

known the measure in which he was suc-
ceeding in necromancy though it must
. . .
E while he was absorbed in his daily,
subterrene vigil, I found the diary on his
be understood that my suspicions were dresser. Without knowing what to ex-
still so unformed that I could not assign pect, I opened and read:
any definite purpose to his frequent de-
scents into the funereal chambers deep
"December 23 — It is now seven days
after the interment of Helena, and I have
below the house. begun the rites of preservation, whicli are
I observed my uncle’s actions thereafter necessary to preserve the Temple from
witti such intensity that his failure to feel destruction . . . for it will be many days
my gaze was miraculous. This concentra- before the marble chrysalis yields up its

tion brought to my attention things I had precious secret, before the final and glori-
failed to observe before, such as long ous resurrection of her who lies so pallid
bulges beneath his clothing betokening, but adamant within. I doubt that the rites

as I was later to discover, a candle made could recall her to me without her own
for ceremonial purposes, and small pack- innate power of resurrection. The force
ages that left in the air fragrant trails of she had in life she now has in death, sub-
sandalwood and frankincense. Always, dued and concealed, but flouting Con-
however, he carried with him the single queror Worm with sublime persistency.
candle, the weighty missal, whicli repeat- "How can I express the deep humility
ed action became obnoxious to me, as I I feel upon observing daily her imperish-
now knew that he had no need or use for able form, white and spotless, unmarked
a book of orthodox prayer. It seemed to by the tootli of time? In tender reverence
me at times that I could also hear faint and awe I am compelled to genuflect be-
echoes of my uncle’s voice in the depths fore her quiet immortality, her adamant
below, a voice whose timbre had acquired but subdued and gentle will-to-life. Her
a new significance. hair seems to flow like a golden river in
What was it that caused him. to become the darkness of the vault, and a faint
so negligent of his actions in those last nimbus clothes her resisting flesh in a
few days? What inspired the carelessness secret and unearthly glamor. Her blue-
that led to my ultimate discovery of the gem eyes are now softly veiled by white-
events that had been going on in the rose lids, but they shall soon open. I
 —

586 WEIRD TALES

tremble in passion like a leaf in a gale "January 2 —The super-mundane wind
as I stand daily in the circle of glowing again! I feel it flow from the shrouded
tapers, intoning magical syllables in the recesses of tlie vault, and yet the candles
hushed atmosphere, swinging the censer do not flicker, the plumes of incense do
rhythmically, while her still form is not waver. But I think I understand now.
wreathed in plumes of pungent frankin- It is the breath of anima mundi, it is the
cense and sandalwood. stirring of the breath of hfe. It is a

"What a strange passion I am filled psydiic wind, and has its origin nowhere
with when I view her dormant beauty! It on earth, altliough it flows through Hel-

seems to me that now she is more desir-

ena, who is a gate ajar to the interstellar
forces and the tlironging Multitudes be-
able, being for the moment beyond my
reach, and I, a humble votary, wreathe
yond the veil of matter. Hasten!
tlic marble goddess witli incense. What a —
"January 1 How long must I wait?
strange feeling! . I am sure she is aware of How long must we wait? Oh cruel time!
my presence, though she is truly dead. I thy fangs are sharp, they bite deeply.
feel some strange and supermundane And although thy strength is nothing
breath of air flow from the sepulclier, as against her, thy tooth has torn my heart.
out of vast spaces. Helena . . . doubt . . .
prayer . . . incan-
"A foolish tliought. It is as still as tations . . . waiting . . incense ming- .

death down there, as still as death can be. ling with tlie musty effluvium of the
Tliere is only silence and darkness, and tomb, pungent, aromatic . seven can- . .

Helena waits patiently in the midst of her and quietly burning . . colored
dles, tall .

gruesome company until the day shall ar- diagrams in chalk on dank, gray stone . . .

rive when she strides forth from the silence, silence, then the sonorous chant
tomb. The burning incense drops, for the of resurrection. When will it end? Per-
moment, a veil before her radiance. haps .
. but God preserve me, / dare
.

"December 21 — The past days have

not doubt. Until
but
now I have had nought
utmost confidence in the revela-
tire
been filled with a sweet anxiety, an ec-
tions of Ibn Khanu in his work. Death
static impatience. Although I repeat the
and Resurrection. Imust not now doubt
mantras precisely and trace the diagrams
the potency of tlie mantras and the sym-
unfailingly, seems to me that I am not
it
bols, nor Helena’s own indomitable will.
the occult scientist I thought myself, but
Long days and weeks have passed since
a bereaved spouse frantically imploring
her death, while I have spent every day
rather tlian demanding, the return of his
either beside her tomb or in my library,
loved one. At the end of the ceremony,
learning how to hasten the transformation
I unfailingly kneel in adoration before
of tlie human chrysalis, how to break the
the sepulcher, while my hot and quick-
sooner the marble and mortar cocoon.
ened breath congeals on the gray stone.
Endless incantations, dozens of cere-
Gray, gray! Gray stone, covered with
monial candles, a fortune in rare frankin-
sweat and niter, the enclosing darkness
cense,what are all these to the price
these I could not bear but for the presence
Helena and I would pay if I failed?
of Helena. Her calm demeanor soothes
and refreshes me immeasurably. How "Her sacrifice was sublime. She was
cosmic her thoughts must be, how super- not informed as Iwas in the occult lore
human and unearthly her mood as she lies of ages, she knew nothing of the greater
there! arcana; yet she consented so readily, so
 THE SECRET OF THE VAULT 587

willingly, with such sublime confidence Gone now was all the old terror of my
in my ability to bring her forth again childhood, replaced by an overwhelming,
from the tomb! Not the remon-
slightest torturing curiosity. Dazedly, hardly realiz-
strance, not the least doubt, and of fear ing what I was doing, I opened the
there was none. I but explained to her ponderous, oaken door slowly, silently, on

my intention, my glorious purpose of im- its well-oiled, copper hinges. With silent
mortality on earth, and though she did tread and with a pace of funereal slow-
not understand fully, she bowed her head ness and deliberation, descended the
I

and gave her consent sweetly. precipitous, gray, dank steps. Dark, wet
"She knew what she was to do that walls loomed up on cither side, and thick
night at the table, and she did it without blackness lay before me at the bottom
hesitation, faced death without fear. Two of the descent. A cold, clammy breath
brownish drops in the wine I placed, at blew in my face from the rambling
dinner, bitter. She drank it swiftly. chambers and corridors into which I was
Helena!” venturing at last, heavily laden with the

odor of freshly burned incense.

H ours
stairs,
later I
raced
stumbled up
in
through the empty house, through long,
engulfing
flights of
fear
And as
stone stairway,
I reached the bottom of the
and stood quivering in
the frigid exhalation of the vault, there
silent corridors that seemed without end,
beat against my ears the strangely arous-
through great hushed rooms wherein a
ing syllables of a low-pitched, vibrant
strange animation seemed to have sprung
chant. It roam.ed through the obscurity of
up, past fireplaces leaping w'ith fiery life
the chambers imd smote my attentive ears
and walls alive with writhing shadows,
with a peculiar, invigorating quality. Still
through portals that seemed to fly open
hardly realizing that I had made the fear-
before my
approach in a terror of their
some descent into this chill limbo, I pro-
own and out into the cold January air.
ceeded through the twisting corridor un-
Snow w'as falling outside, thick and
hesitatingly, as if my feetand legs were
fast. I fled up the side of a hill and,
inspired with a volition and animation of
readring the summit, paused there, while
their own.
my gaze rested on the huge, rambling
I came to a turn in the cor-
Suddenly
house below, from which I had just flung
myself in an overwhelming access of ter- ridor, and there spread before me the
ror. Beneath me it lay like a slumbering
first Within a circle of seven
room.
candles whose light beat in visible pulsa-
behemoth, while the dull grayness of the
tions against the inclosing darkness, with-
walls and the roof was transformed into
a living, gleaming white, and the light
in a complex diagram made with chalk
within blazed brazenly, triumphantly, out on the wet flagstones, wrapped in clouds
over the rime-blanketed earth. Lights
and plumes of incense arising from three
sprang into fiery life in every window, lit censers, knelt my uncle, gazing with a
fearful concentration into the recessed
by an unseen incendiary. Tire great, snow-
bleached structure became suddenly vi-
vault immediately in front of him. The
brant with light, life. Tlie howling night-
last syllables flowed from his lips, and
then he uttered softly, reverently yet pas-
wind shrieked triiunphantly, and my
mind projected sionately: "Helena, Helena!”
itself once more inside.
The pageant of past minutes rose up be- I had halted there at the turn in the
fore me. passageway, frozen in statuesque im-
588 WEIRD TALES
mobility, while comprehension dawned beneath me like a pimctured balloon. My
luridly on my dazed mind, while the consciousness reeled but, fortunately, did
blood withdrew violently from my face, not leave me, so that I was able to creep
the strength from my limbs, the first from the corridor to the stairs and up
courage from my sadly leaping heart. them to the silent quarters above in ab-
Myself unseen, I watched the mute un- ject fear. I heard my uncle’s expectant
folding of the ultimate climax. My ex-
cry and would have turned and fled. Too
tremities grew cold, my head flushed
late!
again with blood, then blanched once
Aunt Helena emerged from the vault
more; my pulse raced violently, swiftly. I
slowly, quietly, witli a queer delicacy.
seemed suddenly suspended in the outer
deptlis of space, while the earth dwindled I never returned to that house.

Uhe T
.isle of the Sleeper
By EDMOND HAMILTON

Jf we are but images in the dreams of some supernal being who slumbers, what
will happen when the Sleeper awakes? strange —A
and fantastic story

G
days,
arrison
life-raft and
cooking his brain.
his
lay face
felt
down on
the sun slowly
After
only sensations were of heat
the

four
gone
sank the
crew,
to swift death

all

gently drifting and

when
Mary D. Those
of them, were
the explosion
others of the
at
bumping down
peace now,
in the
and thirst; he was too dizzily sick to feel cool shadowed ooze of the bottom. It
hunger any more. The little raft rose was only he, jumping instinctively from
and sank on the long, lazy Pacific swells, the freighter deck as the explosion ripped
and each time it fell, the blue water it, who had been unfortunate enough to
gently smacked his face. live.

He knew dimly that he would not last Garrison began thinking of water
much longer. It was only a matter of again. He knew that was only hastening
hours now until he would give way and the end, but he couldn’t keep his weak-
gulp up the blue water that slapped so ened mind from doing it. Greedy visions
invitingly at his face, and tlien he would floated through his brain, of silver brooks
die rather horribly. Of course a sane man running over brown stones, of bubbling
wouldn’t drink sea-water, but then a man springs and placid rivers and blue lakes.
who has been floating in mid-Pacific four He saw crystal tumblers of ice-water,
days without food or drink is not quite beaded with frost. He sobbed, his face
sane. crushed against the hot, salt-crusted
He thought bitterly again that tlie canvas.
others were the lucky ones, those who had Hours had become eternities for him.
 THE ISLE OF THE SLEEPER 589

He did not realize the sun had gone in his deadened brain a vague desire to
down, until the furnace-blast scorching investigate. He raised himself, as slowly
him eased a little. Then he raised his and stiffly as a corpse coming alive, upon
head, opened bleared, red-rimmed eyes. his elbows. He stared numbly. Two feet
It was night, and the raft drifted on dark, in front of his facewas solid land.
lulling waters, the sky a jungle thick The life-raft had drifted onto the
with stars. Garrison let his face fall again. sandy beach of a dark island, and lay now
How many eternities later was it that a with one end grinding and rasping into
new, startlingly unfamiliar sound im- the sand. There was no other sound but
pinged on his dimmed consciousness.^ A the sucking of the surf. The wheeling
dull rasping and grinding, close to his companies of stars looked solemnly down.
ears. It began and ceased in roughly regu- The island stretched in front of Garrison,
lar rhythm. Rasp, rasp —then silence. a dark, unguessable mass.
And then the rasp, rasp. . . . "It’s land," he heard a dry voice croak.
The unfamiliarity of the soimd roused Then Garrison realized that the voice
590 WEIRD TALES
was own. He was conscious that some-
his vines grew enormous, orcliid-hke blooms,
how he had staggered to his feet. wonderful, tender-hued flowers that cas-

"Land,” his salt-crusted lips whispered caded in spilled beauty toward the green
again. turf.

Garrison stepped off the raft, and went Brilliant macaws and parrots flashed
to his knees on tlie sand. He hitched him- screeching through the flowers, and liquid
self up by a miracle of drunken effort, notes of bird-song tinkled sw'eetly. In
and unsteadily he started forward in a the long, hushed silences, a soft wind
blind, directionless run. wandered whispering through the trees,

He ran in a clumsy, stooping posture, laden with strange, spicy scents and
head sagging, thin hands hanging nerve- haunting undertones of exquisite per-
lessly. His dazed eyes could make out fume.
nothing in the darkness. He w'as like a Garrison stared dazedly. Then through
blinded, maddened animal, moving by in- the trees he saw a shining thread of
stinct rather than intelligence. water, a tiny, fern-fringed brook singing
He slipped in loose sand, and tripped through the woods. The crazed longing
over rocks, but went reeling on. Then of four days burst into raging life within
he tripped again and fell. And this time him. He ran weakly forward, with an
he did not get up. His tired body re- inarticulate cry. A minute later he was
laxed gratefully, luxuriously. His mind lying flat, crushing the ferns, his face
darkened, slipped into a shadowy dusk. buried in the cool crystal stream.
He was aw'are only of the holy, dusky It took all his will to force himself to
calm taking possession of his mind. stop drinking. He was trembling when
This, then, was death? He slipped into he raised his head from the water, and
darkness with the sigh of a tired child. his parched mouth and withered tongue
But later. Garrison awoke. That was a seemed slowly expanding. Tears twitched
strange thing, he thought as consciousness his eyelids.
first revived, to awake from death. But "I’m saved,” he sobbed hoarsely.
he knew suddenly that he was not dead. "Saved!”
For fierce thirst still burned his throat, Garrison forced himself to get up and
and how can a dead man feel thirst? He stumble away from the stream. He felt
w'renched open his gummed, swollen even yet no hunger, but he knew that he
c)'elids — to the dazzling splash of bright needed food.
sunshine. Close by he found it, a tall tree heavy
with round red fruit. Tire fruit looked
and
B y convulsive
ting position.
effort, he got
Then with numbed,
to a sit- had a hard,
tasted like an apple but
stone-like core. When he had eaten some
wild gaze he stared about him. His mind of it, he felt a little stronger. And he
was too dazed to appreciate the full im- saw now that he was in no danger of
pact of the surprize, and he felt only a star\dng, for there were many trees with
vague w'onder at w'hat he saw. fruit.

Around him rose a thick forest of un- Also, there was plenty of life evident
earthly beauty. Huge, black-trunked trees in this hushed, faery forest. Brown hares
towered high above him, shutting out the bolted through the ferns, and flying squir-
sky with great masses of silvery foliage. rels shot in dizzy arcs from branch to
Their interlacing branches were twined branch, and monkeys chattered in the dis-
with dark, arboring vines. And on the tance.
 I

THE ISLE OF THE SLEEPER 591

"Lucky, to shunble on this island,” he Her eyes were steady on his face. They
mumbled. "Most islands in this part of were soft, wistfully tender black eyes, in
the Pacific are just bare rock. Probably which doubt mixed with glad eagerness.
isn’t very big —and doesn’t look in- Her red-ripe lips were parted a little in
habited at all.” excitement. Black silky hair was combed
He started in an unsteady tramp back in a soft mass from her broad, low
toward the distant boom of the surf. He brow.
was astounded, as he went, by the variety "Myrrha?” Garrison repeated dazedly.
of life he glimpsed. Two spotted leop- "From in the forest, I saw you here,”
ards, bounding up a distant tree. Grunt- she said, with a quick gesture of slim
ing wild pigs rooting in thickets. He fingers. Excitement w'as eager in her eyes
heard a hyena somewhere near him, bark- as she added, "I was so glad that at last
ing in the brush. Deer in large number, there is somebody else.”
swift and beautiful. It seemed incredible "You mean that you and I are the
to find such life on a small Pacific island. only people on the island?” Garrison
Then he emerged from the thick woods cried."That you’ve been here alone?”
onto a narrow, sandy beach. The white Myrrha nodded. "Yes, except for the
blob of the life-raft lay on the sand where Sleeper, of course.”

the tide had left Sweeping his gaze

it.
"The Sleeper?” Garrison could not
along the shore. Garrison saw that the comprehend her. He cried, "How long
island was five miles long, and two have you been on the island?”
across. It was all blanketed by the thick "Ever since I can remember, of
forest, a green isle sleeping on the vast course,” she said, looking at him wonder-
bosom of the sea. There were no signs ingly.

whatever tliat humans had ever been "But how did you get here?” he ex-
here. claimed.
Garrison started trudging along the "I don’t understand you,” Myrrha said
shore, for it was easier going on the perplexedly. "I have been here from the
beach than in the forest. He had gone first. I am part of the dream, the same as
less than a half-mile when out of the you and everything else here.”
woods beside him suddenly stepped the "Part of the dream?” Garrison echoed.
girl. She appeared so startlingly that he "What in the world do you mean by
stood frozen, staring at her. that?”
"Lord above!” he exclaimed. "Where
did -jou come
She smiled.
said.
from.^”
"My name is Myrrha,” she M
wonder
yrrha’s puzzlement increased. She
looked at
in her clear eyes.
him with astonished

—
She was a white girl ^he saw that first. "You mean, you don’t understand it?”
Then his stunned brain perceived that she asked. "Why, that is strange —
this girl was young and lovely. He understood it all from the first. Though
”
doubted if she was more than seventeen. I don’t know just how I did

—
Her dress was queer a scanty tunic of "Will you quit talking riddles and ex-
soft w'hite cloth, belted with a jeweled plain?” Garrison demanded. Then he
girdle. Her ivory shoulders were left bare saw the hurt in her child-like eyes and
by it, and its skirt stopped short of her awkwardly tempered his speech. "I’m
rounded knees. sorry. I’m just excited, impatient. What
 3

392 WEIRD TALES

did you mean by saying you were part arm hooked through Garrison’s with con-
of die dream?” fident affection.
Her answer stunned him. "So the Sleeper dreamed me, did he?”
"Everything here is just a dream,” Garrison said amusedly. "I’d like to see
Myrrha said, with the eager quickness of this Sleeper.”

a diild trying to explain something. "This The awe came back on Myrrha’s face
island really just barren rock, and the
is and she answered slowly.
forest and animals and you and I are "I can take you to see him. But you
only a dream. They all seem real to us, of m.ust promise not to go near him.”
course, since we too are part of the And quite simply, she started to lead
dream.” the way off the beach into the woods,
"Why— you’re cra2 y!” Garrison ex- following an invisible trail of her own
ploded. "Tliis forest —the animals —you that led deviously toward tlie center of
— a dream? And I, too?” tlie forested island.
"Of course,” Myrrha said earnestly. Parrots and monkeys scolded them as
"You are part of the dream, the same as they trod the green turf between aisles
I am.” of giant, flower-decked trees. The soft
Garrison repressed a strong desire to wind swept them with spicy, perfumed
swear. Then he felt pity for the girl. breath. In the air hummed a myriad of
She believed what she was saying, he gorgeous insects.

saw. She must, he thought, have grown Myrrha was like a gay little wood-
up here alone, and somehow evolved this nymph at his side, laughing up at the
wild theory. scolding birds, plucking a great blue
"Whose dream is it w'e’re part of, bloom from a vine to thrust in her black
Myrrha?” he asked, humoring her. "Who hair, dancing along on little bare white
dreamt us?” feet. But once she held Garrison suddenly
"Tlie Slc-eper, of course,” she said in- back, and he saw the dangerously beauti-
stantly. ful shape of a leopard fade into the
Garrison felt a strong desire to laugh. foliage ahead.

This was, surely, the most insane adven- "I could wish that the Sleeper hadn’t

ture he had ever had. dreamed them,” Garrison said dryly.

"And who is the Sleeper?” he asked. "Those are only his bad dreams,”
Myrrha said earnestly. "He has dreamed
Myrrha’s soft face sobered with a
touch of awe. "He is just —the Sleeper.
many beautiful tilings
times he dreams too of evil things.”
here, but some-

He lies in the depths of the forest, sleep-

ing, never waking. And whatev’cr he "Logical enough,” Garrison laughed.
dreams has reality on this island. The "How did you figure all that out?”

Sleeper dreamed the forests and brooks Myrrha smiled back as she shook her
you see around you. He dreamed the ani- head. "I don’t know. It was in my mind,
mals, and tlie birds. He dreamed me — somehov/, when tlie Sleeper dreamed
and I was suddenly here. Since I have me.”
been here, he has dreamed many other They had threaded through more than
animals, but no other people until you. a mile of the faery forest, and now
I am glad he dreamed you. I was lonely!” entered a long glade of tall, tremendous
And Myrrha’s dark eyes broke into a trees, a natural cathedral of green gloom
dancing smile of pleasure. Her soft, bare and hushed silence. Myrrha pressed
W. T.—
 6

THE ISLE OF THE SLEEPER 593

against Garrison a little timidly as they But Myrrha held him, clinging
went on. frantically, her face chalk-white with
terror.
"We are near the Sleeper,” she
whispered. "Make no loud sound. All
"No, you must not! If you awaken tire
life on the island fears to go near him,
Sleeper, his dream will end we and —
and even I I am— afraid.”
everything else he has dreamed into being
on the island will perish!”
"Nonsense,” he said, but she held to

C
in
URIOSITY stirred in Garrison
went forward. Then as they stopped
a moment, sharp wonder replaced it.
as they
him.
"Remember, you promised you would
not go near him!” There was frantic
They stood edge of a perfectly
at the
horror and heartbreak in her voice.
circular clear space in thehushed green Garrison softened at sight of the girl’s
glade. it like an emerald
Grass covered terrified emotion.
carpet. Out there in the center of the
"All right,” he told her. 'Til let him
circle, in the sunlight there was inset in
alone.”
the grass a low, square dais of dazzling
Myrrha drew him fearfully back out
crystal.
of the sunlit clearing into the glade. She
On the crystal dais stood a low copper led hastily back the way they had come,
couch, with strangely carv'ed sides. And looking apprehensively behind her.
on the wrapped in a robe of
couch, "Had you awakened him, you would
golden cloth ornamented with black fig- have destroyed us all,” she told him, a
ures, lay the motionless figure of a man. catch in her voice. "That is why all the
He lay quite unmoving, upon his side, animals, even, do not go near the Sleep-
one bare arm flung across his down- er —somehow they sense that.”
turned head. As Garrison went closer, Garrison felt he understood all this.
Myrrha fearfully trying to keep him back, There must once have been a civilized
he saw that the man’s hair was dark, his race on this unknown island, one that had
skin white. Nothing else could be seen, embalmed the dead man so perfectly
shrouded as he was in the golden robe. that he had lain indefinitely on his copper
"'The Sleeper,” whispered Myrrha. She couch, unchanged. The animals, fearing
had halted him with plucking fingers, a the dead, would avoid him.
dozen feet from the crystal dais. Her And was natural that Myrrha, grow-
it

dark eyes were wdde with awe as she ing up alone on the island, would think
stared at the recumbent figure. the corpse a sleeper and evolve her weird
"Good Lord, this must be a corpse laid belief tliat everything on the island w'as
here for burial by some unknown race, the Sleeper’s dream. For Garrison had no
long ago!” Garrison exclaimed. "But how doubt now that Myrrha was a castaway
it has been preserved perfectly for so like himself, grown up here from child-
”
long, lying here in the open hood.
"No, he is not dead, only sleeping,” She was happy now with child-like re-
murmured Myrrha. "Speak not so loudly, lief as they left the glade of the Sleeper
lest you awaken him.” behind them.
'Tm going to examine that body,” "I take you now to my home, Gair’-
Garrison muttered with intense interest, son,” she said, trying to repeat his name
starting forward. as he had told it to her.
W. T.—
594 WEIRD TALES
Garrison looked bade thoughtfully and And somehow then he was holding her
said, "I’d like to have a doser look at tliat tighter, fragrant red lips against his own
body sometime.” hungry ones, silkiest of perfumed black
Instantly the panic flashed back on hair against his hand.
”
"Myrrha —Myr-
Myrrha’s face. She dung to him, desper- rha
ate entreaty in her eyes. So began Garrison’s life w'ith Myrrha
"Gair’son, you must never touch the on the island. It w'as a fantastic life, and
Sleeper! It is as I said — he ever awakes,
if yet it was more real to him in the next
we who are only his dream will meet our few days tlian all his past life in the busy,

end. Promise me you’ll never touch him!” bustling world.

He could feel her heart hammer with was Myrrha who made it so warmly
It
terror. "All right, Myrrha,” he said real for him. It seemed to him tliat he had
sootliingly. "I promise not to touch him.” never known w’hat love was until he met
this girl, so child-like in her utter sim-

T hey came soon to Myrrha’s home. It

was on a wooded slope at the north
end of the island, amid great trees. A
plicity
in
him.
of mind, so wonderfully yvomanly
her soft loveliness and devotion to

foaming little stream rushed down there, He wondered much how Myrrha had
and right beside it snuggled a dainty come to the island, how she had survived
bow'er of twisted green withes, thatched and grown here. And she was able to tell
with velvety moss. him but little. Her notions of time were
Myrrha showed him how she had made vague. She had been on the island just
a door of boughs that could be closed at as now, she said, ever since the Sleeper
night against the animals. And she dreamed her.
showed him and nuts she had col-
fruit
And when Myrrha talked so earnestly
lected for food, and the soft couch she
of the Sleeper, Garrison would smile and
had made of fragrant ferns.
draw her fondly closer. He made no more
"It will not be lonely now, with you
attempts to disillusion her of her belief,
here, Gair’son,” she said fondly.
for he saw that nothing could shake her
"But I can’t live in this too,” he ob-
queer faith. But Garrison wondered much
jected.
about that lifelessform on the copper
"Why not?” Myrrha asked, clear eyes couch.
puzzled. "It is big enough for both of
us.”

Garrison tried aw'kwardly to explain.

Her eyes filled with tears and her soft
O N THE third morning. Garrison
Myrrha went down the wooded
slope from the bower and stopped in—
and

mouth quivered. "You do not like me, surprize. A small lake had appeared at
Gair’son.” the foot of the hill — a blue, shining little

Hastily, he tried to soothe her. And as lake that had not been there the night
he held her, he was suddenly conscious before.

of the appeal of her soft beauty, of her Myrrha clapped her hands in glee.
rounded ivory body and graceful limbs "Gair’son, look! The Sleeper has dreamed
that the scanty tunic scarcely concealed, a lake!”
of the pure forehead and wide, hurt dark "You think the Sleeper dreamed this
eyes beneath her silky black hair. lake, too?” Garrison said, though he was
"Myrrha,” he muttered. himself surprized.
 —

THE ISLE OF THE SLEEPER 595

"Of course,” she said confidently. "I’ll keep my promise,” he reassured

He laughed. "Something happened to her.
dam up that little stream during the "I W'ill go with you,” Myrrha declared.

night — that’swhat did it.” "Don’t quite trust me, eh?” he smiled.
"It is not so,” Myrrha asserted. "It was "It is not that, Gair’son,” she said
the Sleeper’s dream.” earnestly."But we have been so happy
"
'We are sucli stuff as dreams are I fear something you do might
lest
made on,’ ” quoted Garrison, smiling. awake the Sleeper, and bring an end to
"No matter how it came here, it looks us and eveiy'thing else here.”
like a good place to swim. Come on!” This time his arm was about her waist
But in the next few days, there were as they went through the forest, and into
things that Garrison found harder to ex- that hu.shed and solemn glade of green
plain than the lake. gloom where no life seemed ever to ven-

There w'ere the elephants, for instance. ture. And he could feel her heart pound-
Garrison saw them one afternoon, tw'o ing as they came to that silent, circular
huge, humped gray shapes pushing pond- space of sunlight.
erously through the distant forest. He In its center still dazzzled the crystal
stood rooted in amazement. dais, and upon it still stood the copper
"Why didn’t you tell me there w'ere couch on which rested the body of the
elephants on the island?” Garrison ex- Sleeper. He lay as before, wrapped in the
claimed to the girl. shrouding golden robe, one arm across his
Myrrha shook her head. "There never down-turned head.
were any until now, Gair’son. The Sleep- "A miracle of preservation, that body,”
er must have just dreamed them.” Garrison muttered, staring. "Archeolo-
”
"Rubbish,” he said impatiently.
gists would go crazy to examine
He Myrrha had shuddered
'"They’ve been here —you just didn’t hap-
w'ildly
stopped, for
beside him. The girl gasped,
pen to see them before.”
Yet he had inw'ard doubts. He and
"Look —
the Sleeper stirs, and sighs!”
For a moment, Garrison almost thought
Myrrha had been over all the island in
he JicI see a faint movement of the body
the last few days, and had seen no ele-
under the golden shroud, almost thought
phants or tracks of any. Yet the great
he heard a low', singing groan. Tlien he
beasts were here now, beyond doubt.
dismissed the fantastic idea.
It was the same with the giant, three- "It was just the w'ind sighing, and
foot blue butterflies he saw the next day, stirring the robe, Myrrha,” he said. But
and the seals that appeared in the lake a her face was aghast with fear.
day later. They had not been there before
"Gair’son, let us leave here, quickly!
— they were there now'. And Myrrha said
The Sleeper is having bad dreams —and
quite simply the Sleeper had dreamed
that means evil on the island!”
them too.
As slie led him frantically back through
"Sleeper, my eye!” Garrison said im- the glade, the girl w'as quivering w'ith
patiently. He told her, "I’m going and terror.
look at that body again.” "I am afraid, Gair’son! The Sleeper
"You w'ill not go too near the Sleeper groaned and that means his dream was
— will not touch him?” Myrrha pleaded evil.”
anxiously. "Remember, you promised He held her trembling softness close
to him. "Don’t be afraid, Myrrha.”
 —

596 WEIRD TALES

But that night, fear came to Garrison "Listen!” Garrison suddenly exclaimed.
himself, for there came —
the beast-men. And they both heard an angry', diattering
He awoke in the little bower, Myrrha uproar drawing closer in the forest.

still sleeping in his arms, and heard "God, they’re trailing us!” cried Gar-
strange, heavy foot-steps outside, snuffling rison, aghast. "They want —
they want
grunts, a clumsy clawing at the door. you, Myrrha.”
Then the rude door was torn open, He wrenched a great branch from a
and against the starlit sky he saw the dark tree, and with the rude club in his hand,

silhouettes of the creatures outside. stumbled blindly on through the w'oods

Hunched, huge, hairy shapes of men w'ith Myrrha. And after tliem, veering to
nearer the animal than the human, with follow them, came the pursuit.
bowed, gorilla-like limbs and bestial Hour hour they dodged and fled
after
snouted faces out of which green eyes through the nighted forest, and always
blazed through the darkness at the frozen the chattering, unclean horde pursued.
Garrison. The paling dawn found them at the
"The things of evil that the Sleeper southern end of the island, Myrrha ex-
dreamed!’’ screamed Myrrha, awakening hausted and clinging pitiably to him.
at that moment. "We can’t run from them for ever,”
Garrison said hoarsely. "Sooner or later,

T he bestial figures started

unloosing a babel of chattering and
grunting as they heard the girl’s voice.
to enter, they’ll catch up to us.”
Then sudden hope lit his haggard
face. "Maybe they wouldn’t follow us to
Their hairy hands reached in the dark that clearing where the Sleeper lies! None
and then Garrison broke from the trance of the animals on the island ever go
tliathad held him, and went mad with there.”
terror and loathing. "No, let us not go there!” Myrrha
He smashed wild blows against the cried.
hairy bodies, yelling his horror. The But he overrode her protests, stumbled
dark hut,
creatures recoiled out of the desperately with her through the woods
running swiftly back on hunched legs to the hushed, solemn glade that lay silent
into the trees. as ever in the rising sun.
"Myrrha, we’ve got to get out of here He carried the fainting girl to w’ithin
before they come back!” Garrison cried a dozen feet of the crystal dais. On his
unsteadily. "Come on!” couch, the Sleeper’s dark, down-turned
He was half carrying her as he head was immobile under his up-
still

plunged out of the bower, and ran into flung arm and golden robe.
the dark forest. In a moment they heard "I am afraid,” Myrrha whispered,
the raging, chattering uproar of the beast- looking fearfully at the motionless form.
men, tearing the bower apart. "We’re safe here, I think,” Garrison
”
Garrison’s horror-clouded mind re- panted. "They won’t follow
covered itself only minutes later. His ''Gair’son!”
frantic flight had brought Myrrha and Out of the glade into the clearing had
him into a dark thicket of tall bushes. burst the unclean, hairy horde —the beast-
"Gair’son, they are wfflat the Sleeper men!
dreamed today as we watched!” cried Myrrha’s scream catapulted Garrison
Myrrha, shuddering w'ildly. "I knew his fiercely forward to meet them, to hold
dreams were evil.” them from her. His heavy club swung in
 THE ISLE OF THE SLEEPER 597

raging blows that crushed the skulls of glimpsed the Sleeper stirring wildly,
two of the creatures like eggshells. starting up to a sitting position. . . .

But the others came at him, with shrill A 'sudden mistiness came over every-
yells of animal rage, bestial, snouted faces thing. The trees, the grass, the dais and
slavering their rage, reaching for him couch, Myrrha’s white body and the
with incredibly powerful hands. He hairy beast-men — all seemed suddenly
slammed the club wildly against their fading, vanishing. And Garrison was
faces, crushing bone and muscle. Then aware that his own body, too, was van-
Myrrha screamed again. ishing, fading.

Garrison turned for a split second, and Through dimming sight, as his own
cried out hoarsely. Three of the beast- body disappeared, he saw the Sleeper sit-

men had left the attack on him, had ting up, opening his eyes. And in tlie

circled past him and had seized the girl. final moment before his body vanished,
Ivory body struggling in the grip of before everything vanished. Garrison saw
hairy arms — Garrison’s blood froze at the and recognized the Sleeper’s face.

sight. And before he could turn back, It was hts own face! He, Garrison, was
hands gripped him, too. vanishing like everything else —but the
"Myrrha!” he cried madly, struggling Sleeper was Garrison, too, and the Sleep-
to smash aside his own attackers, to er had awakened.
reach her side.
With that incredible realization, his
He glimpsed her white face, her hor- consciousness whirled into darkness. And
ror-dilated eyes. He heard her frantic then instantly he was conscious again.
cry. And he found himself sitting stiffly and
"Gair’son —wake the Sleeper! It’s bet- alone in the sunlight, Myrrha and the
ter for us all, for everything here to beast-men and all else gone. He, the
”
perish, than for us to die like this Sleeper, had awakened.
He couldn’t reach her. The clawing, Wildly, Garrison stared. He had been
hairy hands held him back, would have lying on bare rock, and around him
him down in a moment. stretched a lifeless, barren island of rock
"Wake the Sleeper, Gair’son! End without one spot of life, one speck of
”
e\'erything green. And Garrison sobbed aloud as
Tlie beast-men had him to his knees, he realized.

by now. His red-lit, tortured soul knew He, who had stumbled ashore and fal-
that there was no hope of saving Myrrha, len into exhausted slumber here, had been
no hope except the wild one that her cry the Sleeper. And his dream had created
had voiced. If he woke the Sleeper if — the forest and animals and Myrrha, and
that did end Myrrha, everything better — had even created a dream-Garrison like
for her to end that way. himself who had lived and loved in this
Garrison made a last eflfort against the domain of dream. And when he had
clutcliing, tearing claws. He swung his awakened, the dream had failed and van-
club wildly around his head, and threw ished.

it straight at tlie motionless form on the Something made him turn his sagging
copper coucli. He saw the club strike the head to tlie sea. The black speck of a
saw blood flow
Sleeper’s bare shoulder, ship was out there, heading for the
from the bruising wound. And then he island. . . .
 —

598 WEIRD TALES

T he
thetic
rescued, and
captain of the tanker felt sympa-
toward
who
this
lay now
castaway he had
in the berth
said.
"I do believe
And
"I believe that
his eyes
it, though,” Garrison
glimmered with tears.
met the only girl I’ll
I

of his lamplit cabin. He felt glad that his ever love in a dream that was real and
search for sur\'ivors of the Alary D., that solid while it lasted.

he had begun on receiving the doomed "How was the dream made real? I
freighter’s
saved
interrupted distress
one man. But the gray-
at least this
call, had don’t know — I don’t know. Maybe some
queer force impregnating that island, at-
haired seaman’s kindly face was troubled,
tuned to the mental force of the sub-
now', and he spoke reluctantly.
conscious mind. Whatever caused it, I
"I don’t doubt you had a wild dream
of some kind,” he said. "Lying delirious
know that it all was real. I know by —
this.”
—
on that rocky island who wouldn’t?”
And he
"It wasn’t just a delirious dream this — shoulder.
rolled up his sleeve, baring his
There was a fresh, angry wound
dream was a reality!” Garrison cried.
on it.
"Those things I dreamed, tire forest and
beasts and the girl and the other me "Thatis the wound the other Garrison,

they all had real existence, somehow', as the dream Garrison, made in the Sleeper’s
long as I lay dreaming them.” shoulder when he threw the club. I didn’t
"Oh, come now',” the captain told him. have that wound when I fell asleep on
"You’re too intelligent to believe that.” the island. I had it when I awoke.”

^^^readful Sleep
By JACK WILLIAMSON
A thrilling tale,a romantic and tragic tale, a weird-scientific story of the
awakening of the fearsome beings that lay in dreadful slumber
under the antarctic ice, and the strange doom
that befell the tvorld

The Story Thus Far queen, golden-furred and scarlet-crested,

w'ho dwelt somehow in a pylon of purple
APTAIN RON DUNBAR,
C polar explorer
at first refused
who
to
Aston Harding’s expedition to Antarctica
pilot
the
tells tlie story,

Doctor
crystal

She
on a mountain beyond the
show'ed him
dread invaders from Saturn, frozen be-
neath the ice. She had cast them into a
the
pole.

Tharshoon--

in I960 —
the fateful year of the weirdly space-time stasis, ages past, as they
terrible Time Fault. destroyed her people. She is afraid they
Maru-Mora came to him, and w'arned will be waked, now, to resume their con-
him not to go. She was a strange pre- quest of the planet.
human being, with the bust of an elfin Believing the warning merely a dream.
This story began In WEIRD TAUSS for March
 —

DREADFUL SLEEP 599

however, Ron went ahead — for the sake Mora — for, after all, she was no dream
of Merry Bell. Bell was found dead on the ice.
Bell had invented the atomic battery Tall gaunt Harding had seemed
with which they planned to thaw the ice. strangely changed. And now his wife dis-

Another discovery of his, a deadly bac- covered that he was not Harding —but
teriophage, stolen by his hunchbacked Mawson Kroll! For Kroll’s brain had
assistant, Mawson Kroll, and sold to the been transplanted to Harding’s body by
Asiatics, had killed a million Americans the skill of an Asiatic surgeon. It was the
in the last war. Bell was exonerated, innocent Harding that had died, while
Kroll convicted and executed. But Bell, Kroll’s mad brain lived on to plot new
still guilt-burdened, wished to make crimes.
atonement —by giving humanity a new For Kroll plans to exterminate man-
continent. kind. His spineless but brilliant hench-
They landed in Antarctica. Lured out man, Veering, has completed Bell’s ap-
of camp by tlie alien beauty of Maru- paratus and learned the secret of Maru-
600 WEIRD TALES
Mora’s stasis ray. He plans to thaw the had met us at the pole, up to the very
ice and wake the sleeping Tharshoon. flash of the stasis ray.
Fighting them, Ron is joined by Kara- The body that I could not feel was
lee, Maru-Mora’s beautiful ward, whom eternal crystal now, I knew, more than
he had seen and loved in the dream. She diamond-hard, perdurable. Permanent as
is really Carol Lee, he learns, daughter Time, it could endure unchanged for a
of the famous "Flying Lees,” Americans million years.
who were lost on a polar flight. She I wondered if I might live and be
promises Ron to go back wdth him if — awake for ever, and never able to move,
they win. even until this drifting continent sank
For Maru-Mora has sent the ancient beneath the sea again, and I was covered
treasure of her lost people, offering it to
with the ooze, and the mud
ocean’s
Kroll if he will give up his scheme and hardened to stone, and the stone crum-
depart.
pled upward again to form a new moun-
But Kroll refuses. tainous land, and the mountains eroded
And he turns upon Ron and Carol the and washed back into the sea again; so
stasis ray, congealing them to the hard- that in the end I should be left uncovered
ness of adamantine stone.
and alone, a luckless immortal, lying on
The storj' continues:
some dead frozen desert when the sun
went out.
At first I had had no physical aware-
14. The World Below the Ice
ness. But at last, as the black ages fled,
sensation began to return. Still my body

H ow long my mental being was

and featureless abyss,
in that black
Time
lost
was rigidly motionless. But faintly to my
deadened ears came some whisper of
outside of I have no certain
itself,

way of knowing. But consciousness, if it

—
sound it might be the crashing of some
volcanic eruption, I thought, after a mil-
failed at all, recovered long before my
lion years. And dimly, then, my fixed
body did.
eyes began to perceive a glow of light.
For timeless eternities, it seemed, I

dwelt alone in darkness. I had no aware-

I waited, and still millennia crept
away. Desperately I strained to move, to
my body, no fatigue or pain. Yet
ness of
my mind became clear. I knew that Carol hear, to see —
to wake, even if it shoxdd

and were petrified, the mercy of

be alone, on a dead world; even if Carol
I at
should be standing still beside me, a
Mawson Kroll. And the hatred of him
statue yet locked in that eternal sleep; or
lived and grew in me.
even if she had been waked, by I^oll,
Silent ages passed: eons of flat dark-
ness. I lived all my life again. Boyhood, and her body dust a million years. Des-
when I was first filled with the desire to wanted to know.
perately, I

fly. College years, when I was absorbed Still my body was rigid as iron. But
in the modern science of exploration. My the gray mist of light grew steadily

polar expeditions, and the small unsatis- stronger before my eyes. Vague shapes in
fying fame they won. Tlie first strange it slowly took form. And at last I was
dream of Maru-Mora, in which I saw able to see what lay straight ahead,
Carol, and loved her, and knew that I though I could not turn my eyes.

had glimpsed the supreme goal of my At first I thought that indeed I must
life. And all the weird grim tragedy that have survived to some far-off, fantastic
 —

DREADFUL SLEEP 601

future age. For my adamantine body, its my eye. And appalling recognition came
tense pose unchanged since Kroll had to me abruptly.
congealed it with the stasis ray, stood It was the ship of the Tharshoon — the
upon the barren summit of an unfamiliar same colossal macliine that Maru-Mora
lofty mountain. had shown me in the dream, locked be-
Before me, in tlie expanding cone of neath the ice! And that squat red city was
vision, a dark slope tumbled sharply the city of the monstrous invaders from
down. Beyond and below, for scores of Saturn. And now the ice was gone, ship
miles where the glaciers had lain a mile and city free again.
deep, spread a vast strange valley. Dimly, I thought, at the very edge of
On a gentle hill at the foot of that wild my vision, I saw black shapes moving
slope stood — the white city, a city like a about that Cyclopean ship.
garden of the sea. Its low walls were
Were all the hideous invaders, then,
milky mother-of-pearl. Its towered gates
awake.^
were graceful with the curves of racing
I could not be sure.
waves. Its lofty, wide-set buildings were
The first city, it came to me suddenly
great shells of opalescent white, lifting
— that canal-woven wonder of shell-
spiral cones
like shining sand.
and fluted domes from paves
Silver bridges arched
curved fairy white —had been a metrop-
olis of Maru-Mora’s ancient race. Its ex-
the flowing curves of a thousand wide
quisite beauty was dead because the in-
and mirror-like canals.
vaders had ruthlessly slain it.
But it was a dead city. Nothing moved
This was no world of the distant fu-
on pavement or bridge or canal. Gaps
ture, below me, but the world of the age-
loomed in the nacrous wall. Fallen
dead past. The atomic fire of that hot
bridges clogged the canals. Exquisite
blue orb had thawed the ice as I slept
opalescent buildings were shattered,
for weeks, perhaps, or even months; but
crushed — as if by millennia of abandon-
surely not for years or geologic ages
ment.
and the water had flowed down through
Itsdead white beauty set up an ache of the eastern pass, uncovering this ice-
grief in my heart. Trying in vain to look
locked valley of the forgotten past.
away from its silent desolation, I dis-

covered, bej'ond
It lay
— the other
beyond the area of my clear
vision, so that I had not observed it at
first, and now could not see it clearly.
city.

W
his
HERE,
Kroll.^
I

How
wondered, was Mawson
far had he gone with
monstrous plan to extirpate man-
kind.^ And what of Carol, whom the con-
But it was a low, dark city, built, it gealing ray had caught here at my side?
seemed, all of squat dome-shaped mounds My ears, then, caught the thunder of
of red-black earth. It was hideous, aero motors. Still my body could not
strangely repulsive, as the other had been move. But at last my own plane came
beautiful. into the fixed cone of my vision: the
And it, too, was dead — a necropolis of Austral Queen. It taxied to the end of a
evil. tiny level shelf that broke that rugged
Beside and almost beyond the cone
It, slope, and turned, ready for a take-off.

of my vision, loomed something red, tre- Aiding the motors were two monstrous
mendous, glittering darkly. I strained to things; headless swollen bodies, black-
distinguish its outline with the corner of scaled and belted with purple. They flew
602 WEIRD TALES
like balloons, tugging at the plane with stopped. I could see his eyes, hideous in
mighty triple tentacles. my old friend’s long ruddy face —one
Two! sharply contracted, its dark iris strangely
So I knew had waked
that Kroll flecked with evil red; the other dilated to
another besides the Watcher probably — a black well of horror.
all the invading horde. I felt his hand on my rigid shoulder.
was young Veering who stepped out
It I heard his voice — the familiar voice that
of the plane as the motors died. Mawson had belonged to genial Doctor Harding.
Kroll stalked down to meet him gaunt
and powerful. He stood on a ledge, giv-
— It was heavy with a mocking triumph.

"Well, Captain Dunbar, we’re going

ing orders, while Veering and the to say good-bye. You look almost as if

monsters loaded the plane. you could hear me, Captain. As if you
They first put aboard the dismantled could speak. But you won’t move or
tower and Bell’s atomic battery. Then speak, Dunbar, till the end of Time.”
one of the creatures came flying, carrying Chuckling thickly, he drummed his
in its tentacles the great golden chest knuckles on my iron-hard shoulder.
that Carol had brought: Maru-Mora’s "We’re going north, to take things
treasure. over. Your verminous breed is finished,
Kroll gesticulated. The monster laid Dunbar. I’m going to give the Saturnians
down the chest, and came sailing back, a chance. And if the stasis ever wears off,
directly at me, its tentacles dangling like you’ll wake in a different sort of world.
immense black pythons. It settled above "Because we’re leaving you for a sort
me. A black limb whipped in front of of statue. Captain. A memorial of error.”
my face. I thought it had come for me. His fingers ceased their idle tapping on
But when I could see it fully again, re- my shoulder. "A monument to the species
turning to the plane, it was carrying that failed.”
Carol. He turned and strolled back down the
Caught by the stasis ray, her limbs naked slope.
tense with dread, and horror a stark mask The sky was filled with a dim gray twi-
on her had been in-
lovely face, the girl light. Faintly, low above the northern
stantly congealed. She was a statue of horizon, I could see white Spica in the
consuming dread, executed by some Virgin. A rising, though my
wind was
master of terror. rigid body could not feel its cold. Clouds
Moving swiftly to Kroll’s harsh-toned were drifting from behind me, and snow
command. Veering opened the ancient began to fall over tire white fantastic city
treasure-chest. Dark tentacles dropped the in the valley below.
it: another jewel amid
petrified girl into Again I fought desperately to move my
the matchlessgems of Maru-Mora. petrified body. But I might as well have
Veering closed and locked the chest. set my will against the granite beneath
Living black cables swung it aboard the my feet.

plane. Veering clambered after it, as if Meantime, at last. Veering started the
to secure his cargo, and Kroll came stalk- motors again, let them thunder, one by
ing toward me up the barren slope, tall one,warming up. Kroll turned to wave
and haggard, almost gigantic in his stolen me a mocking farewell —
though he must
body. He still wore whites and pith hel- not have realized my awareness of the
met, although the sky had turned dark gesture —and climbed aboard.
and cold since the atomic ray had It would have been difficult for the
 DREADFUL SLEEP <503

laden ship to take off safely from that more terrible than death. For a time I

snow-swept shelf, alone. But the two had hoped that I was somehow slipping
black monsters wrapped their tentacles from the stasis. Now I was afraid that I
about the wings, flew forward with it, would exist for eternities, conscious, yet
helped to lift it. And it soared away over unable to move, unable even to die.
the valley, toward that titanic dark-red That huge red ship had been gone a
ship. —
long time hours or days, I do not know
Thickening storm-clouds sometimes —when the dark scene before me flick-

hid the ship from Saturn. And it was at ered again with the pale magenta of the
the very faint verge of my vision. But stasis ray. And again oblivion fell upon
dimly, at last, I saw the Austral Oueen me: a second shattering blow that blotted
drop like a white mote upon one of the out awareness.
vast flat vanes that extended from its hull. Ages of timeless blackness dragged
A port opened, closed again, and the again. Then sensation, as it had before,
plane was gone. came slowly back. No sound, this time,
Then long rods projecting all about reached my ears.But a gray mist came
the middle of that vast red hull began to into my eyes, and imperceptibly increased,
glow with an intense blue-violet incan- and at last I could see again.
descence. Tongues of blinding flame It was a world queerly changed and
flared from tliem, joined, until the ship still, in which I woke that second time.
was belted with purple fire. The wind had ceased to blow. The snow
Slowly, then, it lifted, with a grotesque no longer fell. The ragged, angry storm
seeming of heavy awkwardness oddly — clouds loomed against the night, dark
resembling, in flight, one of its monstrou.s and permanent as mountains. And a
crew. Swiftly gaining speed, it drifted terrible silence filled the world. Tliere
northward the abandoned red
above was no faintest whisper of sound.
mound and out of my sight.
city, A dread suspicion struck me suddenly,
Only after it had gone did its sound with a cold impact of horror. I remem-
come to me: a monstrous reverberation, bered KroH’s reckless boast, spoken when
crashing, roaring, hissing, that rolled up I stood like a statue before him. He must
the mountain like a crushing wave, have frozen all the world, I thought, with
thunderous and appalling. the stasis ray.
That concussion passed me and died. The life of all the planet congealed,
I was left alone, standing petrified on stopped! All mankind cast into rigid
that stark granite peak in the frigid polar sleep, defenseless — helpless prey to Kroll
world. The brief twilight was gone, and his fearful Dread of that
allies!

those two dead cities lost again in the vision numbed me, more piercing than
antarctic night. The clouds thickened. the congealing ray itself.

Snow fell steadily, blanketing the dark For a second interminable space I stood
slope below. The wind made an eery there, frozen in that silent frozen world.
whistling about my rigid body. No on the surface
single object before me
For still I could not move. of the planet moved or changed in any
way. I stared at a picture of eternal death.
1^. The Dreadful Calm But the brief twilight came and van-

A SLOW fear crept

there with
ping the snow about
tire
upon me,

my
as I stood
unfelt blizzard whip-
ankles: a dread
ished.
frozen clouds,
knew
Pale Spica crossed a

that the earth

and passed
still turned.
rift

it again.
in the
I
604 WEIRD TALES
Bitterly, I might be my
thought it scribed in scarlet with the Seeker’s spiral
fate to stand there, as the Watcher had emblem. Examining it, I slipped it off my
stood, rooted in the snow on the moun- wrist —
and at once a piercing numbness
tain, and count those same stars crossing warned me that without its precious con-
that same rift, a million times, or a mil- tact I should be petrified again, and for
lion million. ever.

But a prickling numbness was suddenly Swiftly replacing it, I discovered a

in my left hand. Itspread slowly up my along its edge.
little slide Its pale light
arm. I discovered —with amazed, incred- shone more brightly when I moved the
ulous delight — that I could wiggle my knob — ^which must, I knew, regulate its

fingers. power. It had been turned very low, I

Somehow, I was recovering. I could suppose to conserve its energy.
close die fingers. I could move the whole All my aching fatigue had come back
hand, from tlie wrist. That painful sting- in a blinding wave — for there was no
ing crept over all my body. I gasped a rest in the timeless sleep of the stasis.

deep breath, took a reeling step. I could Reeling, I looked about the mountain top.
walk again! Kroll had left the white tent standing,
I had come alive, in a dead world. and beside it lay Carol’s empty sledge.

For a little time I stood there on the

Everj'thing else was gone.
snow, incredulous, bewildered. For noth-
ing else had moved. The calm
terrible STAGGERED through that silent world
still ruled. In all the white world about 1 to the tent. Its fabric, when I first

me, there was no faintest sound or slight- touched it, was stiffer than metal, hard as
est motion. a diamond sheet. At first I tugged in vain
It was only I that lived. at the entrance flap. But it slowly softened
Wonderingly, still dazed and numb, I in my hand — as the fabric was restored
looked down at the left hand that had to its natural state by the radiation of the

first come to life, and started to see a pale little silver plaque.
lambent gleam —the luminescence of the I entered. The floor was littered with
little trinket that Carol had given me. rubbish and discarded clothing. Our extra
Then, with a sudden aching in my furs and sleeping-bags were piled there,
throat, I understood: it was that jewel against a great stack of tinned supplies. I
which had restored me! attacked a can of corned beef. It was un-
The stasis ray, I knew, had been Maru- yielding as a block of steel, until I held
Mora’s weapon. Naturally she had pre- it for afew moments near the shining
pared a shield against it. And knowing plaque. 'Then I was able to open it, and
that Kroll had found the secret of the eat. I drove the stasis from a sleeping-

ray,she had given the shield to Carol, to bag, in the same way, and crept gratefully
guard her on her mission. into it.

Carol had given it to me, made me I can claim no heroism for the resolve
promise to wear in token of our life
it that came to me before I slept: to follow
together, without revealing its wondrous Kroll and his monstrous allies nortliward,
property. Then it was because of me, I rescue Carol, and release the planet from
thought bitterly, that she was now petri- the stasis. Or to try. It seemed a com-
fied, amid the loot of Mawson Kroll. pletely hopeless thing; for I had no
Queer little brick of radiant silver, in- weapon against all the dread instrumen-
 DREADFUL SLEEP 605

talities his mad plan had gathered. I only sound in that dead world of absolute
didn’t even know where to find him. calm.
But there was nothing else to do. Running behind to steer the sledge, or
I woke, ate anotlier lonely meal, and riding sometimes when the surface was
went out to examine the sledge on which smooth enough, I descended the long
Carol had come down from Maru-Mora’s northward slope, and made camp on the
mountain. At fitst it failed to operate, for floor of that great valley that had lain so
it, too, was locked But
in the stasis. its long beneath the ice.

strange motive force was presently re- From the crown of a distant hill, the
stored by the radiation of Carol’s silver shattered white v.alls and the broken deli-
plaque. cate spires of the ancient city of Maru-
Carefully, then, I loaded it with crated Mora’s vanished race called to me, beck-
supplies. For thousands of miles of bar- oned me to explore tlie abandoned won-
ren ice and polar seas lay bc-tween me ders of its nacrous beauty. But I had no
and the first outpost of civilization. It time for that.
would be a hard march, at best, of many
weary montlis. At worst
I knew how ruthless the polar world
T
there
he second camp found me half-way
up the towering range beyond. And
I was halted. Carol had come down
could be. But I tried not to think of the
worst. The odds, I knew, were over- from Maru-Mora’s mountain on the
sledge. Since then, however, thousands of
whelmingly against me, at every turn of
feet of ice had been thawed from its
the game. But I had no choice except to

take them.
slopes. And above me towered the black
granite cliffs the glaciers had formed,
Still, however, I clung to one hope of
sheer, jutting out in knife-like salients,
aid: Maru-Mora. Much as I once had
utterly unscalable.
dreaded her alien beauty, Carol had con-
For two marches I skirted the base of
vinced me of her benignity. And I knew
thatawesome ice-carved precipice. But
she had shared my purpose to defeat
nowhere was its sheer frowning height
Kroll and his allies. Her strange omnis-
less than a thousand feet. Nowhere could
cient power, I thought, might somehow
I possibly ascend it.
aid or guide me.
Each time as I slept I had hoped that
When the sledge was loaded, there-
Maru-Mora would come to me, as once
fore, I turned it northward, in the direc-
she had come in what seemed a dream, to
tion of Maru-Mora’s mountain in the
guide or comfort me. But my dreams
distant Uranus Range. were no more than dreams or night- —
The glow of twilight lit the sky
brief mares of Kroll and the Saturnians tri-
ahead, as I was starting. The clouds piled umphant.
dark against its silver were all motionless No sign had come from her when
as stone. There was no longer any faint- I left that forbidding rampart and turned
est gleam of the aurora —
for the atomic eastward toward the passes. Looking back
change of the stasis had transformed at the end of the next day’s march, I
even the upper air. chanced to glimpse her pylon. It was a
The long bright runners of the sledge sharp-cut, tiny shape, on the rounded
rang musically upon the snow. But now summit of that unattainable mountain. It
they left no visible track upon its dia- looked black and dead, against the brief
mond surface. And their ringing was the glow of twilight.
606 WEIRD TALES
The Seeker herself might be fast in the w'orld across which I had been toiling for
stasis, I thought. Or perhaps the liberated so many days. Its vertical precipice fell
Tharshoon had already turned some an- two hundred feet. Ahead I could see for
nihilating weapon upon their ancient scores of miles across the fissured sea-ice
enemy. frozen before the stasis ray had congealed
This first attempt, in any event, had the world.
failed. I could expect no aid from Maru- What, I wondered, of the open water
Mora. I was alone, against all the beyond? Had the ray turned that to a
monstrous invaders and the mad human diamond plain? And dare I walk upon it?
renegade who ruled them. Or must I trust to drifting northward on
From that lonely camp, when I had a floe of ice?
slept and eaten, I turned the sledge down Such burning questions drove me ever
the unknown slope bej'ond the pass, northward, in a fever of hope and in-
toward the unthawed glaciers below, the credulity and dread. For two days I fol-
far-stretching ice-deserts and unconquered lowed the dizzy rim of the barrier, until
ranges of the Weddell Quadrant, and I found a sloping fracture and let the

die empty polar seas beyond. sledge go hurtling down its diamond
Alone, against the madman who had slide to the ice of Weddell’s Sea. And
stopped the world. for many days, again, I pressed forward
across it, until I came to the open polar
16 . The Frozen Ocean ocean.
Never had
shall I forget that view. I

T hat long marcli

strange and terrible time.
ation of Carol’s little
northward was a

plaque on
The
my
radi-
wrist
climbed up upon the last tumbled bul-
wark of the ice, shattered and piled back
upon itself by the might of that world-
restored motion to the air about me, so
girdling sea. Beyond, dark-blue and glit-
that I could breathe.But outside that
tering under the low northern sun, the
little sphere of safety in which I lived
vast smooth billows lay solidified, abso-
and toiled, nothing moved or changed.
lutely motionless.
There was no sound save the ringing
For a long time I stood there on the
of the sledge-runners. Tlie wind never
ice, staring across that heaving frozen
blew. There was no snow. The motion-
plain. A numbing apprehension choked
less clouds served as landmarks, like dark
me. To venture across that congealed sea
fantastic mountains in a ivorld gone mad.
with the sledge seemed fantastically
I drove the sledge northward until I
perilous.
was exhausted, rested briefly at a cheer-
It still seemed incredible that Kroll
less camp, and resumed the wear)' march.
Tlie advanced as went. The had petrified all the ocean. And there was
season I

lingering dawns were ever longer. The no assurance that he would keep it so.
feeble sun at last peered up above the
I might come to liquid water or the —
solidified waves might suddenly flow
white death of snow before me. Next
again, to swallow me.
day all its disk was visible. Every day it
was hi^er. Yet there was no other way.
A month, I suppose, had passed, when Cold with a numbing wonderment, I
I came to the edge of the continental ice. pushed the sledge over that wave-heaped
That was queerly startling: to come un- wall of ice, and down the slope of a sea
warned to the brink of that rugged ice beyond. The water was hard and smooth
 —

DREADFUL SLEEP 607

as polished diamond, blue and deep as figures of wax, stood about the har-
beneath me. poon gun on her foredeck. Her lean
The traction of the sledge was some- dark captain, on his bridge, was pointing
what impaired, and I found it difficult to intently ahead, mouth still open as if he
walk upon that glassy surface. Every had been bawling some command.
ascent was a desperate labor, every I clambered over tlie side and sought

descent an inglorious slide. out the galley. Thawing food with the
And a fantastic peril haunted me. The plaque, I made a badly needed meal; and
surface of the waves, so long as I kept in then went to sleep in the captain’s bed
motion, was diamond-hard. But after I — for once without fear that I would
had made camp as usual, eaten a scant wake up drowning.
meal from my dwindling rations, and
gone to sleep, I woke alarmed and gasp-
ing to find myself drenched, the sleeping-
bag floating in a pool of liquid brine
N
Before
ext morning
again, with food
I
I

departed, however,
loaded the sledge
and water
I
casks.
tried an

for the radiation of the plaque on my experiment. For I felt the desperate need

wrist had released from the stasis the of some ally in my attempt to wake the
water beneath me. world. The swarthy captain looked clean-
featured and intelligent. I determined to
Thereafter I slept lying on the sledge,
and kept that precious radiation adjusted
wake him and enlist his aid.

to the weakest power that would pre- What I needed most was merely to
vent my own body from growing solid
know where I was. The elevation of the
polar stars, rudely approximated with a
again. Even so, after a few hours of sleep
I had made from a pack-
sort of astrolabe
I would wake to find the sledge sinking

into an icy pool.

ing-box, gave me some idea of my lati-
tude. Without watch or chronometer,
Still I struggled northward, and the
however, I had no way of arriving at the
weary weeks dragged away. My carefully
longitude.
rationed supplies were at last exliausted.
My little magnetic compass was use-
For two days I had no food save tea
without sugar and a small tin of caviar
less —the magnetic field of the planet,
like everything else, must have been in
which I had left because I did not like
the grip of the Guided by sun and
stasis.
caviar.
stars, and a rough sort of dead reckoning,
On the third day I found a fish lying I had been trying to make for the main-
on the crystal surface — a tuna which must
land of South America. For all I knew,
have leapt at the very instant that Kroll’s
however, might be a thousand miles too
I
ray congealed the world. Avidly I re-
far east or west to strike the Horn, with
stored it to life by contact with the radiant only empty frozen seas ahead.
plaque, dispatched it again, and made
And the captain of the Esperanza must
several meals upon it.
have kept her log in his head, for I could
The day the fish was gone I came upon find no record that gave a clue to her
a ship. She was a small Chilean whaler, position. Her chronometer, of course,
the Esperanza, standing upon that frozen was frozen, useless in tliis world where
ocean silent and motionless as the poet’s Time itself had stopped.
painted ship. Hopefully, then, I turned up the power
She had been stopped In pursuit of a of Carol’s plaque, and held it against the
whale, evidently. For swarthy men, rigid captain’s swart brow. Suddenly he was
 6 —

608 WEIRD TALES

alive. His voice bellowed out the unintel- were slippery as glass. Sometimes I had
ligible remainder of the arrested com- to climb a towering sea on hands and
mand. knees. And the supplies I had been able
Widening then, his black eyes saw his to bring on the little sledge swiftly
ship and crew starkly motionless against vanished.
the frozen sea. They saw me — I must I found other fish —when I saw one
have seemed a gigantic, shaggy, haggard just bencatli the surface I could liquefy
apparition. His dark face drained to a the water about and catch it with my
it

yellow pallor, and terror contorted it. hands. But I had no source of fresh
"Madre de Dios!” he screamed. ”El water. Blue-black rain clouds towered
dtablo
” here and there, but no drop fell from
He whirled and sprang away from me, them in this arrested world.

in ungoverned fear, over the side of the Rationing the little water that remained
vessel. He sprawled on the adamantine in the cask, I toiled ahead. Each night
sea, scrambled to his feet, and started now using a sextant which I had taken

running across the waves, howling with from the w'haler — I took the altitude of
terror. the polar stars, and estimated the distance
Swiftly, however, the stasis returned to Cape Horn.
when he was beyond the radiation of the Then came the dreadful night when
plaque. Suddenly rigid as stone, he fell, the w'ater cask was empty, and my obser-

and slipped down a glassy billow beyond vation show'ed that I had crossed the
my sight. fifty-fifth parallel. I had missed the Horn.
knew, then, that the
I battle would be Should I turn to right or to left? The
wrong guess, I knew', meant death upon
mine to fight alone.
that diamond sea —and the failure of my
purpose.
T WAS four days after I had left the
I I w’oke with an appalling numbness in
whaler that the sledge failed. It began
to falter, ran on for a time with irregular
all my body: the forewarning of that
dread petrification. Yet the slide on the
spurts of pow'er, and then stopped alto-
gether.
plaque w'as set as usual. Hastily I moved
I had never understood its silent
it to increase the silvery radiation — realiz-

ing, with a cold shudder of apprehension,

motive power. Now I took down its
that its power was failing.
mechanism, hoping to repair it. The parts
Perhaps it contained some sort of
were few and simple. There was a hollow
atomic battery, which was running down.
transparent tube down each runner, whicli
Clearly, anyhow, my time w'as limited.
seemed to contain a trace of some lu-
I had but a few months, at most, to find
minous gas. Nothing seemed broken.
The fuel, I thought, must be exhausted.
Kroll, to strike —
or the rigor of the
stasis would catch me again, for ever.
Baffled, I had to leave the vehicle
which had carried me so far. I nailed
17. The Petrified World
together packing-boxes to build a smaller
sled, one that I could pull w'ith my own TOSSED a stray w'om dime I found in
strength, loaded it with supplies, and 1 my pocket — it seemed queerly incred-
w’ent on. ible that the fate of the w'orld might turn
My progress now, however, was heart- —
upon it and struck out toward the east.
rendingly slow. The solidified billows I had left the sled, making a little pack

W. T.—
 DREADFUL SLEEP 609

of my sleeping-bag and tlie few saaps of East Falkland, I decided. On the third
food tliat remained. day, traveling deliberately as I recuper-
As the sun rose higher, however, I was ated, Icame into the little town of Stan-
astonished to see a low blur of land in ley,on the south side of Stanley harbor.
the nortli. I turned toward it, struggled A silent village, peopled with unmov-
all that day toward its tantalizing ing statues. I collected supplies and
promise. Next morning, after a feverish equipment from the stores there, intend-
night of little rest, I threw away my pack ing to build another sledge and pull it
and stumbled on — toiling up endless westward toward South America.
hills of polished diamond, and sliding But in a hangar down by the docks I
down again. found a trim little Starling monoplane, a
My tongue was swollen in my mouth. two-place amphibian which must have be-
I was half delirious, still wondering if it longed to some spirited young officer at
might be hallucination or mirage, when I the Government house.
dragged myself over the ragged teeth of Tliat discovery elated me. I didn’t
frozen* breakers, and came to the shore. know whether the radiation of the plaque
was a low, dreary coast. Sheep graz-
It could shield so large an object from the
ing on the scant, marshy vegetation in- stasis, or whether a plane could fly in the
land had been turned to frozen blobs of motionless air. But I knew that I had no
wool. In the distance I saw a thatched time to search very far on foot for Maw-
cottage that might have stood in the son Kroll. I determined to make the
Hebrides. attempt.

I knew that I had come upon the Falk- With oil congealed in its bearings, the
land Islands. I had come up east of the motor was rigidly frozen. I turned the
Horn, rather than west. And but for the plaque up to full power wondering ap- —
chance glimpse of land, that eastward prehensively how fast that depleted its

trek could have led me only to death strange energy —and in twenty minutes
upon the frozen sea. it was possible to start the motor.

Wearily I stumbled up to the cottage, The solidified harbor supplied a flying-

and entered. The shepherd’s rudely clad field level as a sheet of glass. I tossed the
family had been congealed as they sat supplies I had collected into the machine,
about the dining-table, before a peat fire warmed it up, and took off.

— a fragment of emigrant Scotland, fixed It flew smoothly enough, for the air
in eternal tableau. was absolutely still. Owing to an in-
I did not disturb them, but restored the creased rcsist.ance, however, at full
w'ater in a tin pail to the liquid state, throttle I could make no more than
and drank thirstily. For a time I felt ninety miles an hour, when the normal
faint and ill. When I could eat, I helped cruising-speed of tire plane must have
myself to a leg of roast mutton and a been twice that.
plate of scones from the table, and then Happy, nevertheless, to be flying at all,

threw myself uninvited into the big four-
poster bed in the other end of the room.
I made another meal when I woke,
and then walked northward again, help-
ing myself by the way to such food and
clothing as I required. This island was
W. T.—7
I circled once over the gelid blue expanse
of Port William, and then flew westward
toward the mainland. Safely, an hour
before sunset, I landed at a drear little
village on the great plateau of Patagonia.
Obtaining gasoline at a filling-station
610 WEIRD TALES
there, I flew up the east coast next day, Brazilian military aviation depot, where
and by late afternoon landed on a broad I landed at Sao Paulo. With its smart
airport beside Buenos Aires. crew of six, its racks of bombs, it looked
Appropriating a motorcycle, I rode it, a splendid weapon. But I gave it up with
in the red light of sunset, into the silent a sigh, for all the power of the plaque
city and up the stately Avenida de Mayo. was now required to shield my own body
This was the first great metropolis I had and the tiny sport plane from the uni-
seen, and the sight was infinitely ap- versal stasis.

palling. The streets had been densely I did appropriate a ten-pound bomb,

crowded, when the stasis ray stopped however; and relieved one of the officers
everything. It w’as dreadful to see such of his automatic pistol, a fine pair of bi-
multitudes, starkly motionless. I think the noculars, and a powerful flashlight, won-
utter silence,when crowds and street- dering grimly what his reaction would be
cars and motors should have made a hum- if ever he woke.
ming din, was the most terrible thing. It was ten days later that the motor
walked into an expensive restaurant,
failed when I was circling over Havana.
I

lifted a tray from the rigid hands of a

I managed a pancake landing on tlie Pra-
do, and carried my w'eapons on a bicycle
waiter, and made myself an excellent
to the airport, where I was fortunate in
meal.
discovering a trim little low-wing Cord.
A singular feeling of elation came to
The steady weakening of the plaque,
me afterward, walking through the silent,
I found, had caused the accident. Cross-
darkening one man alive. It
streets, tiie
ing to Florida and proceeding up the At-
set my blood to pounding queerly to
lantic coast, I was forced to travel by hops
know that any object in the city was mine
of only a few hours, stopping to let the
for the taking, that any of these sleeping
precious little instrument recuperate at
millions w'as at my mercy. Grimly I set
minimum power.
my foot upon that feeling, for I knew it
I had found no trace at all of Mawson
was akin to the madness of Mawson
Kroll, until one late afternoon when the
Kroll.
towers of downtown Manhattan came into
And I knew that I dared not awaken
view, beyond Staten Island and the glassy
another to aid me, even if the plaque’s
upper bay; and I glimpsed dimly, far be-
shieldingpower had been ample for two. yond, a red and monstrous shape tower-
Whom could I trust, in a world where ing upon the Jersey Palisades.
law and all restraint were dead? was the
It sliip from Saturn.

SLEPT that night in the lonely silence

18 The City of Doom
I of a great hotel, and next morning,
.

when had serviced the plane, flew across

I DROPPED the plane at once Into the
the glassy Plata to Montevideo, and then I shelter of Staten Island, on the dia-
northward up the coast. I planned to mond floor of Raritan Bay. Now that I

search all the world, trying first the more had found the enemy, consternation stag-
important cities, until I found Mawson gered me. What was next?
Kroll and his Saturnian allies — or until I had hoped to rescue Carol, overcome
the stasis seized me again. Kroll and his allies, unlock the stasis that
I cast longing eyes upon a fine new held the earth. But how was such a pro-
American-built bombing-plane, at the gram to be carried out? The obstacles.
 DREADFUL SLEEP 611

when now I came face to face with them, the sleeping towers, rose again, and
appeared overwhelming. soared back toward the Palisades.
The weapons I had the ten-pound — Shuddering with the elemental dread
—
bomb and a pistol were nothing against those other- world entities never failed to
the terrific scientific instrumentalities com- rouse, I crouched back in an entry and
manded by Kroll and the Saturnians. I fearfully lifted the binoculars to watch.
ladced information, moreover, to plan Cold horror came witli the impact of what
any effective campaign. I saw.
Did Kroll live aboard the interplanet- For the monsters came like black bal-
ary ship, or had he perhaps taken pos- loons, with limbs retracted. But eacli black

session of some luxurious penthouse tentacle was extended when they returned,
apartment? Where would he keep Maru- each wrapped about a rigid human body!
Mora’s treasure chest, and Carol if her — The Tharshoon were carrying away the

petrified body were still in it? Where was sleeping people. Why? But one answer
the projector that maintained the earth- came to me, and tliat was unthinkable.
wide stasis? How could I gain access to Keeping fearfully to the shadows, I
it, or get the skill to reverse its force? hurried back from the river. A Western
What possible weapon lay to be discov- Union messenger stood congealed at the
ered, against all the power of the enemy? curb, beside his bicycle. That seemed a
silent and inconspicuous mode of trans-
Waiting apprehensively for the shelter
port. I commandeered the wheel and
of the night, I pondered those questions
rode northward through the Jersey towns,
and many more, and found no certain an-
trj'ing to avoid the moonlight.
swer. I could go nearer, try to sec and
It must have been after midnight when
not be seen. That was all.
I passed the low gray building of the
Using the binoculars as I waited, I saw
Planet Research Foundation, where the
dark specks moving above the skyline
modern chapter of this weirdly grim trag-
ahead, dropping toward New York and
edy had begun. I followed the lonely
soaring away again. The Saturnians, I
road past its wooded grounds.
Icnew. But what was their business in the
The moon shone with an eery opales-
steeping city?
cence on the fairy shapes of high frozen
The long dusk came at last — I had clouds. It glittered in crystalline splendor
come from one winter to meet another.
on the bright emerald leaves of trees
In the brief dark hour before the waning turned to stone. I had turned into Alpine
moon should rise, I took off again, flew Park, beyond the Foundation, when a
across Staten Island and the upper bay thing happened that stopped me, tense
and as far up the Hudson as I dared. I with involuntary dread.
landed hastily when I saw moving lights A cricket had chirped.
in the sky ahead, and taxied across the
It was the first sound, other than those
solid river to the Hoboken docks.
of my own
making, tliat I had heard for
Carrying the bomb, I left the plane many months. It was queerly startling,
and hastened up into the shelter of the unnerving.
frozen streets. The Cyclopean ship still

lay twenty miles away. But, across above EAVING the cycle, I slipped forward
Manhattan, I could see the Saturnians. I -<r through the park. The vegetation
Immense black-armored spheroids, belted here was no longer diamond-hard and
with purple fire, they dropped iunong diamond-sharp, but soft and yielding.
612 WEIRD TALES
natural. had come, I realized, into a
I Suddenly, behind me, a shoe scraped
zone shielded from the stasis. on the gravel. Turning swiftly, I saw a
I pushed through an oddly murmurous man standing in the shadow of a tree. A
grove, and came once more in view of faint steely gleam betrayed his gun. A
that colossal red-black ship and the city — low voice rasped:
of the Tharshoon. "Drop it. Captain Dunbar.”
Squat and repellent, dark in the moon- The bomb, without the fuse in place,
light, low mud walls rose before me. was quite useless. I dropped it obediently
The invading ship, resting in the center —and snapped a quick shot from the hip.
of the park, had been surrounded with a It struck the gleam of that level gun, sent
city of low domed mounds — like the hid- theweapon spinning into the shadows.
eous city I had seen beyond the pole. The gasping curse had a familiar flat
In its midst, looming incredibly vast nasal intonation.
against the moon-flushed sky, that dark "'Stand still. Veering,” I said. 'Tm go-
long hull surrounded with its enigmatic ing to ask some questions.”
rods and vanes suggested some hideous But I saw the glint of metal at his
alien creature crouching. mouth, and a whistle shrilled out.
”
Above saw scores
the city and the ship I •'Quiet
of the Saturnians, soaring away south- Behind me, suddenly, another sound
ward, returning laden witb stiffened hu- bellowed out: a deep and hideous baying.
man forms, dropping with them into I had not heard the cry of the Tharshoon

those flat mud domes. before. I spun, and consternation struck

What horror waited there? me powerless.
I crept as near as I dared, and lay in a For a monstrous fire-banded shape had
clump of brush, studying ship and city lifted above a mass of trees behind me.
through the powerful night glasses. High A great triangular eye opened its baleful
in that tremendous hull, lights came on window of lambent green flame. And a
beyond a row of triangular ports. Shad- queer, numbing shudder ran through me.
ows moved against them. I watched, and I swung up the automatic, tried to pull

at last glimpsed briefly a gaunt unmistak- the trigger. But the green fire of that eye
able outline. was suddenly intense, painful. A freezing
The shadow of Mawson Kroll! greenish cloud began to obscure my vi-
So he was still aboard. Tlie next mat- sion. Sudden screaming agony flashed
ter was But how? How
to reach him. through my limbs, and tlie gun dropped
cross those walling mounds, and evade out of my fingers.
the monsters wheeling above? How find I must have been within an instant of
undetected entrance to that great ship? annihilation by that consuming orb. But,
Or find my way through its colossal mys- faintly, I heard tw'o short blasts on Veer-
tery, to Kroll’s apartment? and that deadly mist van-
ing’s whistle,
I didn’t know how. But I was prepared ished from about me.
to try. I staggered back, reeling, blinded. I
Waiting until the moon had gone be- felt faint and sick. The
fearful cold of
hind a black pillar of the motionless that annihilating was still in my
ray
cloud, I got silently to my feet, dug into bones, yet my body was drenched with
my pcckc-t for the detonator for the bomb, hot perspiration.
and started to screw it into place, prepar- Veering whistled again. A tentacle
ing for action. darted like an immense black snake from
 —

DREADFUL SLEEP 615

Its armored receptacle, ran toward me, quavered. "Walk straight ahead. Doctor
whipped about my middle. Its strong, Kroll will want to see you.”
indescribable earthy pungence made me Fighting for time, for any possible ad-
suddenly and violently ill. vantage:
Yet I knew that another tentacle had "Wait a minute. Tommy,” I said. "You
lifted Veering, at his command, set him are afraid. What are you afraid of? Tell
on top of that headless body. The whistle me.”
shrilled above, and the great creature His flat laugh had a dry bri*:tle ring.

lifted, carrying me dangling in that ten- "You are the one to be afraid, Dunbar,
tacle. if Doctor them take you down
ICroll lets
In the intervals of vertiginous sickness, to feed the grubs.” Menace edged his
I saw that we were soaring over that low voice. "Get on! Straight ahead.”
wall of clustered dome-shaped mounds. His shaking gun made an imperative
Each dome, I saw, had a black central ori- gesture, but I stood still in front of it

fice, through which the flying monsters if I lost now, it would be for ever.
came and went. "I’ve known you a long time. Tommy,”
Then the crimson-black hull of the ship I said, keeping my voice as low and
was beneath us, vast as an ocean liner’s, steady as I could. "I first heard of you
supported hundreds of feet above the when you had a paper route. You were
ground on the limb-like struts of its land- delivering papers to old Judge Ware.
ing-gear. We sank toward it. The black And Jerry found out how you wanted to
tentacles dropped me unceremoniously be an engineer, how you were saving
into a sort of hatchway. I fell through money for books and experiments.
musty darkness, and sprawled on a bare "She told Doctor Harding about you
metal floor. that was long before they were married.
And Harding gave you a chance. He paid
19. The Emperor of Terror your way through tech, and made you a
place in the Foundation.”
T WAS a cold dank space into which I
I me with a bright anger in his
Staring at
had fallen. The biting pungence of the
eyes. Veering caught a gasping breatli and
Tharshoon was sickeningly strong. As my
started to speak. But I went on:
eyes became accustomed to the darkness,
"This man Kroll killed Doctor Hard-
I saw a great ophidian tentacle setting
ing, Tommy. And stole his body, his
Veering down beside me. He held my
position, his wife.Tommy, don’t you re-
own pistol in a bleeding hand.
member Jerry Ware? Can you serve the
"Stand back from me, Dunbar.” His man who tricked and murdered her?”
voice was high, quavering. "Make an-
Veering licked his quivering lips. The
other play, and I’ll kill you.”
gun gestured again. Dry and hard, his
He moved into the beam of moonlight
voice rasped:
saw that he
that fell through the hatch. I
was very haggard. His skin had an un- "Don’t talk, Dunbar. Move ahead! Or
”
else
healthy, yellowish pallor. His hollow eyes
were deeply sunken. His thin hand shook Standing in front of the wavering gun:
with the gun. "You’re a human being, Tommy,” I

He looked a man consumed, half told him. "Your parents lived in the
Cfa2ed, with fear. Bronx. Your father was born Verensky.
"Come along, Dunbar,” his nasal voice He had a little tailor shop. He’s in it now
 : —

614 WEIRD TALES

— frozen—waiting for these monsters to
”
of the earth are to be used up for food,
take him. The others left petrified untilthey are needed.”
Shuddering, he bit through his lip. Veering tried to control his sobbing,
"You had a sister, Tommy — Jerry told looked fearfully behind him.
me about her. Nada w'as her name. You "Doctor Kroll —he bullies me all the
loved her. She w'ent to live with a man time. He threatens that he will let them
you hated, a gunman named Ricci. That take me. I have to obey — there isno
killed your mother. You haven’t seen choice. And in tlie end he will send me
your sister again. Tommy. You’ve tried to anyhow —he said he w'ould!
put her out of your mind. But you love "I don’t want to kill you. Captain. But
her still. And she’s out there, petrified.” there’s nothing we could do. All the
Tears burst out of his bright, sunken creatures obey him —they know he would
eyes. turn them back to stone if they didn’t.
”
"Shut up!” his hard voice whipped at There’s no use
me. "By God, I’ll drill you! Get going!” "But there is,” I broke in. "Wecando
I stood still in front of him, in the reek- something.” And I demanded: "Where’s
ing, mysterious darkness of that colossal the stasis ray projector? If we could get
hold. Inside, I was sick and cold with to that, reverse it!”
fear. But I tried to keep it out of my "That’s no good,” Veering insisted.
voice. "It’s in his laboratory, aft where he is, —
"Go aliead and kill me. Tommy,” I now. He won’t let me in it, any more.
said. "Kill your father, and Nada. Kill He has one of them to guard it. "We can’t
your dead mother’s last hope. Kill the go there.”
”
last chance that mankind has My voice stuck on the next question
Tlie gun came up, unsteadily. The bore "Tommy, where where is — Carol? The
of it was like a terrible round eye. It girl who came with me, back at the pole?
stared at me. I was cold all over, waiting Is she still
”
in the chest? Or is —has
for the hard impact of death. But sud- she
denly and Veering’s face drew into
it fell, Thinking of those stiff victims carried
a white, quivering mask. down into the mounds, I couldn’t finish.
"You win, Dunbar,” his choked voice I felt a vast relief, when:

sobbed. "I can’t kill you. And don’t "She is still in the chest,” Veering said.
think that I wanted to be Kroll’s slave. "He is keeping her under the stasis. But
But I — I’m afraid of him. He threatens we can’t go there. Doctor Kroll told me
”
me.” that if he found me there

His slight body shuddered to gasping
sobs.
"You saw the mud
Well,
the things lay eggs there under the
ground. They carry people, and revive
them, and seal them up in the burrows.
And when the grubs hatch,
"When they are grown,
dergo a metamorphosis, and come out as
mature creatures. They will be sent out,
to establishnew colonies. All the people
"Come on,” I said. "Perhaps she can
help.”
city, outside. "We can’t do anything,” Veering whis-
pered. "Doctor Kroll is the Emperor of
the World. He makes me kiss his feet.”
But, although trembling with fear, he
there is food. showed me the way through that vast
the grubs un- gloomy compartment. It had been planned
for no puny human beings. We climbed
a ladder to a circular passage.Veering
manipulated a combination lock to open
 DREADFUL SLEEP 615

the way to another vast dark room —the of her face, the white, icy column of her
Saturnians, of course, made their own throat.
light wherever they went. "Carol! my darling. Wake!”
Remembering myself, I moved the
**^"T^here is a stasis here,” said Veering. slide to turn the silver plaque up to full
A "Wemust use the reactor.” power, held it against her breast.
He fumbled with a little metal device "Quick!” Veering muttered fearfully
—
he wore on his wrist it was oddly similar beside me. "We can’t stay!”
to the plaque that Carol had given me. The power of the plaque, I knew, had
"Hold my hand,” he said. been ebbing. For a long time, Carol made
He snapped on a flashlight, and we no motion. Was it too weak to rouse her.^
walked into that huge, silent room. Great Then I thought she stirred.
piles of casks, boxes, drums, and bags, "Carol!” I sobbed. "Can you hear.?
cast fantastic shadows. Vast stacks of Wake — Carol!”
tinned food. Bales of clothing. Crates of I heard Veering’s breathless gasp of
books and scientific equipment. Heaped horror beside me, and then, behind us, a
golden bars, currency, furs, furniture, pic- hideous deep ululation, like the baying of
tures. a monstrous hound.
The loot of New York! Paralyzed with dread, I turned, and
"Doctor Kroll and I used to walk saw in the circle of the doorway, the tall
through the city,” Veering said, "taking gaunt figure of Mawson Kroll, and, be-
what we wanted.” He added: "He sent hind him, staring at us with a green tri-
me to the Foundation today, to look up angular eye, one of the black Saturnians.
references for him in the scientific library
there. I happened to see you riding past 20. The Chamber of the Worm
on your bicycle.”
"TJon dunbar!”
His darting light had picked out the -1^ It was Carol’s low, bewildered
yellow gleam of Maru-Mora’s ancient
cry. For she was alive again. She sat up
chest. I ran to it eagerly. The key was in
suddenly in that great yellow chest, amid
the lock. I turned it, and Veering helped
the strange heirlooms of Maru-Mora. Her
me lift the massive lid. blue eyes stared about the great dark
He gasped with awe as his light shone room, startled. Seeing Kroll and the mon-
on the gems and
treasure within: pearls; ster she stiffened again, with one hand on
precious wrought by the dead
metals my arm, almost as if she were back in the
genius of Maru-Mora’s people into a stasis.
thousand unfamiliar shapes, all of haunt- Kroll came stalking into the room,
ing beauty; the heavy jeweled sword of with the invader floating like a black
yellow metal; and, lying rigid amid that cloud beside him. White and sick with
ancient splendor — Carol. terror. Tommy Veering flung himself
Or Karalee, as I first had known her, down on the floor in front of them.
strange lovely castaway of the antarctic. "It was Dunbar, Doctor Kroll,” he
Beautiful and white, she lay still in that sobbed frantically. "He made me do it.
rigid pose of horror in which I had seen He got the drop. For God’s sake, sir,
”
her frozen, months before. On my knees don’t let them
beside the chest, I kissed the diamond That haggard face, beneath Harding’s
hardness of her lips, the frightened oval yellowish hair, smiled with an unspeak-
 —

616 WEIRD TALES

able mockery of Harding’s old warm the ancient blade with all my strength.
smile —
made dreadful by the black, mis- Its bright edge came whistling against the
mated ej'cs of Mawson Kroll. tentacle, half severed it.

Speaking no word, Kroll made some Ghastly white blood gushed from the
quidc gesture to the thing beside him wound. The ophidian limb jerked back.*
I think it was the Watcher, that I had I flung myself at Mawson Kroll, the

seen brooding over the ice — and then heavy yellow blade whirled above my
pointed to the groveling man on the floor. head again. One more instant, and it
A long thick black tentacle ran like a might have split those mad brains.
serpent out of the fire-belted spheroid, But Kroll’s long fingers had snatched
toward Tommy Veering. Reduced by ter- something off of his belt, a little black
ror to a shuddering, abject thing, he be- box like a small movie camera his hand —
gan to shriek: projector of the stasis ray. Its thin beam
"Emperor! Lord of tire earth! Exalted flashed at me, a painful sword of pale
’’
majesty! Have mercy magenta.
With a quickness terrible to see, the A crashing wall of darkness struck me.
tentacle ran round and round his body,_, I knew, in the last split second of aware-
tightened, swung him off the floor and ness,that my body was petrified again,
toward the black balloon. The breath and Carol’s. We were once more at the
came out of him in a long bubbling mercy of Mawson Kroll.
scream of ultimate horror, and he was
limp and still. Awareness, as before, came back to

Carol had not moved again, or spoken.

me slowly. I was in absolute dark-

Her rigid hand quivered on my arm, as

ness. The air was close, stifling. The
earthy, acrid fetor of the invaders was
Kroll stalked toward us. His black, fear-
overpowering in my nostrils. I thought
ful gaze surveyed us. Harding’s big
I was alone until Carol moved beside me,
mouth twisted suddenly.
fearfully whispered my name.
"Well, Dunbar,” came that Ironic,
"Here I am, Carol.”
queerly altered voice, "I had meant to
She found my hand, gripped it with the
leave you two as monuments to the lost
unconscious strength of desperation.
race. But you have forfeited that eternal
"It’s so dark, Ron!” came her dry urg-
honor. We shall select another couple for ent whisper. "Where are we? What is
the museum. You may go with Veer-
” this dreadful odor?”
ing
Anxiously, I had been feeling about us.
He gestured again to the monster, and
We were in a little cylindrical cell, eight
the tw’o remaining tentacles came racing feet high, perhaps, and eight feet across.
out of their sockets, to seize us. This was
Tlie walls were rough, hardened mud.
the last instant, the last possible chance. I
Beside us on the floor, my feet found
fought the paralysis of fear that held me.
a stiff rugged thing. I bent apprehensive-
I had come weaponless into the room. ly in the darkness to feel it. It was longer
But before me, in the chest, was Maru- and heavier than my body. Muffled stir-
Mora’s golden blade. I reached behind ring sounds came from within it. It
Carol, seized it, and hurled myself for- reeked with that nauseating fetor.
ward. Carol gasped suddenly with horror,
The black whip of that limb came up and her hand closed hard again on my
in my face like a striking python. I swung fingers.
 DREADFUL SLEEP 617

"We are under the ground, Ron,” her Meriden Bell, whom I myself had buried
dry whisper came at last. 'We are sealed many months before in a shallow grave

up in a little space like a grave. But what of ice.

is this with us —moving?” "We hastened your waking, Ron,” it

I had to swallow twice before my fear- said. "I, and the Seeker. To give you
dried throatwould speak. warning, against the worm.”
"I don’t know,” I said. I knew Bell was dead. But I had
tliat

But the dread knowledge was already no time ponder the uncanny wonder of
to
cold in me; and Carol shared it, for she that for the dry clicking sound
voice,
said huskily: came again from the long rough thing at
"But I know, Ron. For Maru-Mora our feet. It writhed and tossed in its
has told me about tlie 'Tharshoon. They crackling leathery envelope, flung itself
make cells underground, and seal up food against my legs. I drew the girl be-
with their eggs. The eggs hatch into hind me.
shining white-fanged worms, and the "It is hatching,” she gasped. "The
”
food is ready for them. We are in an egg worm
cell, Ron. This thing will hatch into a Suddenly, with a loud rending sound,
shining worm.” the thing burst along one side. The split

With my bare hands, desperately, I at- was a line of lurid white fire. It widened
tacked the clay that walled us in. But it swiftly. With a writhing, convulsive ef-
had been hardened, perhaps with some fort, the great worm hurled itself out of
secretion of its builders. The rough sur- its tough integument.
face broke my nails, shredded flesh from The thing was longer and thicker than
my fingers. I accomplished nothing: we a man, and inordinately fat. Shining with
were trapped. —
a cold white light ghastly white as the
In the utter darkness we could see blood of the Tharshoon the smooth skin —
nothing, but the long malodorous thing hung in swollen folds.
on the floor stirred again, and a sharp, The head alone showed any kinship to
clicking sound came from it — like great the adult invaders. It was black. The
fangs snapping. hideous spear of its projecting snout was
a triple jaw. Blazing balefully behind
"Let me see the gift I gave you,” Carol
each segment was an ice-green, triangular
w'hispered. "It gives off a little light.”
eye.
I felt at my wrist for the little silver
On the back of it, behind that fright-
plaque. Cold fear stabbed through me
ful head, was a small oval dark spot. Not
when I found that it was gone.
quite black, it shone faintly with the same
"Kroll has taken it,” I gasped, shud-
purple light that came from the radiant
dering. "Now there is nothing to keep
belts v/hose unguessed power of levitation
us from turning to stone again, for ever.”
carried the adult Saturnians.
"Better that than to be eaten by the The creature writhed about on the floor.
worm,” breathed Carol. "But it is gone.” Itsghostly light shone pale against the
Then suddenly she asked: "If that is narrow dark walls that trapped us. Then
gone, what wakened us? For we had been its shining eyes discovered us. And they
frozen by the ray.” shared the deadly power of the eyes of
Then it seemed to me that another the grown Tharshoon — for a cold pene-
voice spoke beside us in that tiny buried trating numbness paralyzed me, so that I

chamber. It was the voice of Doctor could not move.

618 WEIRD TALES
T CAME toward us, across the narrow or thought I did, the outlined figure of
I floor. Slowly, awkwardly, its gross dead Merry Bell, whose advice and touch
shining mass climbed over the barrier of had saved me in the battle with the worm.
its own empty husk. "Ron,” it said, "do you hear me?”
The triple jaw opened. Three terrible
fangs snapped together, hungrily. They 21. Those Eternal
were white and shining, terrible. They
snapped again, nearer. They grazed my CIENTIFIC training, I think, has made
knee. And still I couldn’t move. S me as free of superstition as most
Then once more, strangely, I thought I men. But there is in every man, I believe,

heard the voice of Merry Bell. a deep-rooted horror of the Unknown

"The purple spot, Ron!” it seemed to which no rational materialism can eradi-
cry. "The worm is vulnerable there.” cate. Even though I knew that our lives

"But I can’t move,” I gasped. were due to that intangible presence, I

I thought I felt a cold touch, then, as was shuddering to an elemental dread.
if a ghostly hand had brushed my shoul- "Yes, Merry,” I managed to whisper.

der. And I was free from that dread "I can hear you. But you are —dead.”
paralysis. Catching my breath, I strove to "Yes, my body Ron,” that pale form
is,

put down panic fear. With bare hands I said —and I knew that its words were not
flung myself upon the shining worm. actual sound, but somehow projected into
The white fangs slashed again. The my mind. "You know that, for you buried

thing writhed to escape my hands. Some- it. But I through the agency of a
survive,

how, rat-like, hideously, it squeaked. science greater than man has dreamed of.

My fingers groped vainly for the "Of that —and a love beyond under-
purple oval. The fangs caught my leg, standing.
dragged me down. 'The worm flung itself you a letter, Ron, before I
"I wrote

about, twisted, fought to guard that pur- died, and left it for you on the trail. I
ple spot. told you how Maru-Mora had come to
Desperately clung to the thing, sick
me many times, had taken me three times
J
out of my body to the pylon where she
with its Fangs slashed clothing
stench.
dwelt. I tried to tell you of our love,
and But my fingers found that vital
skin.
oval, gouged into its soft shining jelly,
—
Ron a thing deeper and purer tlian any
physical bond.”
ripped and tore.
"I found the letter. Merry,” I said.
And the worm suddenly stopped its
"Maru-Mora had come for me again,”
wild thrashing. It made a low moaning
that soundless voice went on. "She knew
sound, like the cry of a hurt child, and
what Kroll was planning. She knew that
stiffened, and at last lay still, with the
he meant to learn the secret of the atomic
luminescence fading slowly from its skin.
ray, and then to murder me. She asked
On my knees beside it, with that phos-
me to come with her.
phorescent jelly still dripping from my "To die. And to live In her dwelling,
fingers, I looked up. Pale and anguished,
for ever.”
Carol stood above me in that tiny, stifling
Actual doubt, I had none. But wonder
space, sobbing:
sent the burning question to my lips:
"Ron! Oh, Ron, are you hurt?” "If you are dead. Merry, how can you
But I couldn’t speak to answer. For be alive?”
beside her, tenuous and gray, I could see. "Still the scientist, Ron!” The dim
 —

DREADFUL SLEEP 619

—
form smiled briefly in my own mind, I "Tliere was one task to do, before we
thought, and not actually before my ey'es. could follow the eternal paths of knowl-
"I can’t tell you much, for time is press- edge and delight opened by her science.
ing. You must try to escape, while there Kroll must be destroyed. We tried to
is a chance. readi you, Ron, to guide you. But Maru-
"But I must tell you something, to put Mora’s own weapon had been turned
your mind at ease. You saw Maru-Mora. against her. We could not penetrate the
She was born a hundred million years stasis, until, awakening Carol Lee, you
ago. Her strange people cared more for re-established an old rapport.
the art of living than for knowledge. But "And even now,” finished the sound-
she was different. She was a seeker of less voice of Merry Bell, "we may not be
truth. Physical lifewas too short to learn able to reach you long. You must hasten
all slie wished to know. I have ever felt to escape, and to strike.”
the same tiling — that burning thirst to That eery communication had come
know is a thing we hold in common. swift as thought. I stood up, now, beside
"She yearned to live for ever. And she Carol, in that suffocating clay-walled cell,

knew that her body could not. So she the dead worm at our feet, its white
perfected a means to divorce mind and radiance swiftly departing. Desperately
body. seeking some weapon, my eyes fell upon
"We were materialists, Ron. But you the fangs in the open triple jaw of the
will admit a distinction between mind worm. I kicked and tugged at one of
and matter. What others would term a them until it came loose: a nine-inch
spirit or a soul, is to the psychologist a blade of ivory. Vainly, again, I began to
synaptic configuration, to the biologist a search for some opening in the hard mud
function of intramolecular dipolar mo- wall.
ments and electrostatic tensions. Briefly, "Above your head,” that still voice
mind is merely an energy pattern associ- spoke in my brain. "Try the middle of
ated with living protoplasm. the roof.”
"The science of Maru-Mora was able to I stepped upon the worm, drove my fist

free that pattern from the original bodily upward. A thin shell of clay shattered to
atoms, as a stable energy vortex in the the blow. Fragments showered upon us.
structure of space itself. Her dwelling It was a sort of plug, left thin to be bro-

the pier of purple crystal that you saw up- ken by the emerging creature.
on the mountain —was designed to shelter Swiftly I broke the plug away, swung
that abstracted vital pattern,to feed it myself up through the circular opening
with the energy of radioactive materials into a passage dark as the cell had been
fused into the crystal. before the hatching of the worm. I

"She had entered it, before the Saturni- caught Carol’s hands, lifted her up be-
ans came. All her people had been de- side me.
stroyed, before she stopped the invaders "To the right,” came the urgent warn-
with the stasis ray. She has been alone, ing voice. —
"And hasten one of the mon-
for a hundred million years, and lonely. sters is coming from the entrance.”
When she first came to me, a bond sprang
between us: a thing too deep, too wonder-
ful, to be defined. But we loved. I fol-

lowed her. My body died. But she took

me into her dwelling, for ever.
W STARTED running through the
E
of the tunnel. It was
stale fetor
cylindrical,some eight feet in diameter.
'The darkness was absolute. We followed
620 ^X^EIRD TALES
it only by the feel of the curving wall be- "They are coming,” she whispered.
neath our feet. I redoubled my efforts. A tliin pale
"Remember, we can give you no physi- line of light zigzagged across the wall. I

cal aid,” the voice of Merry Bell warned drove the fang wedge-like into the crack,
again. "Through Maru-Mora’s mastery kicked and tugged at it. 'The wall shat-
of space, we can see you, speak to you, tered. Fragments clattered down. Fresh
even share the illusion of our senses with air, incredibly delicious, struck our faces.
you. But that is all, for the bridge is men- Carol was helping. We worked furi-
tal alone.” ously. The baying had come terribly near.
Avague purple glow began to shine But the opening at last was large enough
on the cur\dng walls, from behind us. for our bodies. I lifted Carol, helped her
"Hasten,” urged the voice. "The aea- through, squirmed after her.
ture is coming to wake you, to feed the Wetumbled together on the ground.
larva. Soon it will discover what you have Overhead the stars were shining. The
done.” hole we had broken yawned behind us in
Carol gripped my hand. We ran on, the low curving wall of the mound-city.
gasping in that foul air. The tunnel We were outside its circle.
sloped upward, ran level for a space, "Run!” Bell’s voice cried again to my
turned upward again. Once the door of mind. "Go to my old laboratory in the
another egg chamber shattered beneath Foundation building. You must reach it
my foot. Almost I fell in upon a shining before they can overtake you.”
worm wallowing amid gnawed human I lifted Carol to her feet. Holding
fragments. White fangs slashed upward hands, we ran away from that city of
at my foot. But I regained my balance, horror, toward the frozen silence of the

lifted Carol over the reeking pit. We petrified wood and the low gray building
ran on. beyond.

"Here — stop!” Merry Bell’s voice

Behind us the dark purple-belted
loons of the Saturnians were flying on
bal-

commanded suddenly. "You must break

through the wall, on the left. Quickly!” their usual errands about the flat mud
domes and the ship that bulked so vast
I hammered my fists against the hard-
against the stars. Soon again, however, I
ened clay, kicked. This was no thin plug,
heard that fearful baying taken up by
however, but a heavy wall. The effort
many. They sank close to the ground,
made no impression.
and spread out, searching.
Behind us, suddenly, I heard a deep
Running desperately, we came out into
terrible baying ululation. My blood ran
the stasis. The wood was strangely still.
cold. Shuddering, I must have bitten
The grass was no longer soft beneath our
through my lip, for a salt sweetness of
feet, but rigidly sharp as diamond blades.
blood was in my mouth.
And I felt the numbing chill of the stasis
"It has found the dead larva,” Bell’s ray sinking into my body.
voice said.
Desperately began to chisel
I at the
22. The Drops of Doom
clay with the worm’s white fang. A dim shield I gave you Is gone,”
purple reflection flickered on the walls of A Carol was sobbing as she ran.
the tunnel. That hideous baying was "We’ll be turned to stone again.”
louder. Carol’s trembling hand touched Swiftly our limbs were stiffening, as
my shoulder. if we had come to some invisible gelid
 WEIRD TALES \
621

barrier. But then, again, I felt a queer,

tingling toudi. And I heard the voiceless
words of Merry Bell:
"This is Maru-Mora’s power. For the
stasis ray was hers. Go on. You must
reach the laboratory. We can guard you
— for a time."
. THE FORBIDDEN
That paralyzing numbness was abated,
KNOWLEDGE OF TIBET
although it did not completely go. We What strcmge secrets of nature ere
locked within the mountain fast-
ran on, through the frozen night. The ness of Tibet? What control over
waning moon the forces of the Universe do these
glittered on the leaves of dioistered sages exercise? For cen-
turies the world has sought to know
a crystal forest. There was no sound save the source of their power—-to learn
their mastery oflije^ and their faculty
the gasping of our breath and the baying for otercomirxg problems with which
the masses of mankind still
of the hunting Tharshoon behind. struggle. Have they sel-
deprived humanity
My lungs were seared with pain, I was fishly
of these rare teachings?
half carrying Carol, when we staggered WRITE FOR THIS
across the lawn to the Foundation build- FREE BOOK
Like the streams that
ing. We stumbled through the laboratory trickle from the Him-
alayan heights to the
entrance. plateaus below, the
greaitruths of these
"Lock the door,” that still voice said, brotherhoods have
'
descended through tlie
"and I will tell you what to do.” 'ages. One
of the preserv-
ers of this wisdom of the
The long laboratory’ benches, with their sages is the Rosicrucian
Brotherhood (not a re-
orderly rows of gleaming bottles, racks of ligiousorganization). They
inoite yo u to write teday for
glassware, delicate balances and great mi- their FREE
Sealed B<^k,

croscopes — all stood neat, silent, petrified.

with its amazing revela-
tions about these mys-
teries of life. Address:
Through whatever power had reached us Scribe O.W.H.

from the pole, however, everything was Ube ROSICRUCIANS

AMOftC
restored to normal at our touch. SanJose,CalIf.

Together, Carol and U.S.A.

I hurried to obey (ft.

the swift commands that came to us:

sterilizing and setting up equipment for
some elaborate biochemical process. Not
a very good chemist, I soon realized how-
ever that we were preparing for the syn-
The Cream of
thesis of a group of complex proteins and Weird Fiction
polypeptids.
• Weird Tales prints the best weird
Meantime, through the high north fiction in the world today. The high
windows, I could see the fire-banded sphe- literary quality of its stories is evi-
roids of the Saturnians flying against the denced by the comparatively large

stars, searching. I had begun to hope

number of from Weird Tales
stories
that have been reprinted or awarded
that they would not discover us. But
honorable mention in annual best fic-
their awesome baying came suddenly tion anthologies. You are assured of
near. reading the best when you read Weird
A glass beaker dropped from Carol’s Tales, The Unique Magazine.
fingers.
"Look!” she gasped. "Oh, Ron^* it is

~-he!" Subscribe to Weird Tales

622 WEIRD TALES
She had pointed, and I saw one of the Suddenly, as that dread voice spoke, I
monsters drop past the window. Stand- remembered a long-past afternoon in tliis
ing upon its black-scaled body was the same room, when Merry Bell had show'ed
gaunt tremendous figure of Mawson me —before the of Mawson
staring eyes
Kroll. Kroll — few brown drops of dead-
the his
In a few moments there was a pound- ly bacteriophage.
ing at the door, and Kroll’s harsh voice "Yes, Ron,” that still voice told me, so
demanded: much swifter than audible speech, "this is
"Come out, Dunbar — or die.” the bacteriophage.” Then its command
Still obeying the bodiless voice of was desperately urgent: ''Throw th-e
Merry Bell, I took a flask from a steam- tuber
ing water bath, poured its black contents
For already in Kroll’s hand was the
into afilter. Slow brown drops began to
black projector of the stasis ray. Its pale
one by one, into a test-tube beneath.
fall,
magenta beam flickered out, probed my
Carol touched my arm. Her lovely face
body with its terrible chill. My last act of
had drained white. Voiceless witli dread, consciousness was the effort to hurl that
again she pointed.
test-tube straight at Mawson Kroll. But
A greenish mist had gathered about the
I did not know if the impulse ever
locked door. It thickened, obscured the
reached my fingers, for darkness came
metal panels — as had seen the same
once I
down like a toppling mountain.
green mist hide tlie wreck of a plane on
tlie polar ice. It settled. It was gone.
A WARENESS came back, as always, slow-
And a vast ragged opening yawned in -tX ly. And while I hung in that queer
tlie wall, where the door had been!
state of timeless suspension, there hap-
Through it swept a black, monstrous pened one of the strangest things of all.
spheroid. Blazing above its belt of purple
I had been alone in the darkness, but two
fire was tlie green triangular eye whose bright figures came slowdy into being be-
annihilating ray had destroyed the door.
fore me.
Beneath
that
it stalked the tall gaunt body

had been Doctor Harding’s, the bkack

Merry Bell came toward me trans- —
figured! Unencumbered, his tall body
dissimilar eyes of Mawson Kroll burning
looked youthful and straight. His lean
from its leering face with a light of hell-
face wore a smile that I had not seen for
ish triumph.
many years. In his blue eyes was seren-
"Well, Dunbar;” rasped that hideously
” ity, ineffable, complete.
altered voice. "Die
A lean commanding arm lifted to tliat
Beside him was —Maru-Mora!
creature we had called the Watcher, and Golden queen of elf-land, flying in an
the Cyclopean eye bent its green destroy- opalescent shell. Her white pointed face,

ing stare upon us. beneath yellow carapace and scarlet crest,

But then the voice of Merry Bell spoke was radiantly alight. Fler great purple
again, soundless, yet more arresting than eyes were warm with a supernal joy, all

any sound I ever heard: their agony gone. One slender arm, gold-

"Maw’son Kroll, you killed a million en-furred, reached over the shell’s bright

with tliis thing you stole. You killed me lip. And her tiny seven-fingered hand
with it, more terribly. You have turned held the hand of Merry Bell.
another discovery of mine against all the Terribly, in the darlcness, I struggled to
world. Therefore, tliis thing I do is just.” speak. I could not, but Merry Bell
 : —

WEIRD TALES 62 %

seemed to sense the question that burned

in me, and he answered
"You moved in time, Ron. The bac-
teriophage splashed Kroll and the Watch-
Man Can Now
er. And the Seeker’s knowledge had gone

into it, with mine; it was a thousand times

more swift and deadly than the old. Talk With God
"Kroll perished where he stood I am — SAYS NOTED PSYCHOLOGIST
glad that you and Carol did not see. And
"A new and revolutionary religious teaching
Doctor Harding’s body can be desecrated based entirely on the misunderstood sayings of the
no longer. Galilean Carpenter, and designed to show how we
may find, understand and use the same identical
"But the Watcher, before it died, car-
power which Jesus used in performing His so-
ried death back to the rest. Seeking safe- called Miracles," is attracting world wide attention
ty, they drove the ship back into space. to its founder. Dr. Frank B. Robinson, noted
psychologist, author and lectxirer.
But the virus was a passenger. Now the
"Psychiana,” this new psychological religion,
ship is an empty hulk, drifting on an
believes and teaches that it is today possible for
eternal orbit that will carry it for ever every normal human being, understanding spiritual
around the earth like a second moon law as Christ understood it, "to duplicate every

and still it carries Maru-Mora’s treasure.

work that the Carpenter of Galilee ever did" it —
believes and teaches that when He said, "the
'"The virus, before it expired, swept the things that I do shall ye do also," He meant what

city. It penetrated the deepest burrow. It

He said and meant it literally to all mankind,
through all tlie ages.
destroyed every living thing in the vicin-
ity — all except those held in the safety of
Dr. Robinson has prepared a 6000 word treatise
on "Psychiana," in which he tells about his long
the stasis ray. searcli for the Truth, how he finally came to the
full realization of an Unseen Power or force "so
"Now the menace is ended. The
dynamic in itself that all other powers and forces
Sleepers are dead. We are ready to lift
—
fade into insignificance beside it" how he learned
the stasis and let the world go on but — to commune directly with the Living God, using
this mighty, never-failing power to demonstrate
little harmed by the horror that passed
health, happiness and financial success, and how
while it slept.” any normal being may find and use it as Jesus did.
Tears shone in Bell’s clear eyes. He is now offering this treatise free to every
reader of this magazine who writes him.
"All my guilt is absolved, Ron. My
old debt is paid. Now I can go ahead. you want to read this "highly interesting,
If
revolutionary and fascinating story of the discov-
Thank you, Ron. And good-bye.” ery of a great Tntth," just send your name and
Beside him in the darkness, Maru- address to Dr. Frank B. Robinson, 418 5th St.,
Moscow, Idaho. It will be sent free and postpaid
Mora’s tiny face seemed almost to smile.
without cost or obligation. Write the Doctor
From crimson lips came the eery music of today. —
Copyright, 1935, Dr. Frank B. Robinson.
her piping.
"She says farewell,” Bell told me. "To
you, and to Carol.” A new thriller by *

The darkness around them, suddenly,

was no longer black but purple. I saw
SEABURY QUINN appears J

that they were in the crystal depths of in WEIRD TALES

^

that purple pylon, on the summit beyond i

the pole. And they fled away from me, every month i

into infinite distance.

Then I woke up in the laboratory. My
(Please turn to page 640) Subscribe to Weird Tales
 7

By ROYAL W. JIMERSON
N DEFIANCE of fashion and her maced at the thought of his wife’s ob-
husband, Marian livion to his presence, then with an effort
I tlie
Bardwell
yard-long, tropical luxuriance of
nursed
erased the somber frown that lined his
her blue-black hair, stedfastly refusing lean, handsome features. He turned as if

to have it bobbed. No coiffeuse ever pro- to leave, but paused, fascinated by that
faned its twining, serpentine profusion; ceremonial brushing. The lustrous amber
no hands but her own were equal to the disk and its golden bristles gleamed and
ritual of the 4 o’clock brushing that stirred like a gigantic beetle as she moved
Marian performed with the dreamy-eyed it slowly through the abysmal darkness of
reverence of a devotee who with mystic, her hair. Her movements were rhythmic,
ceremonious pass and gesture invokes the supple, richly rounded; in some unbeliev-

deity of some dusky shrine. able w'ay her arm glided in a series of

Before the dressing-table of her bou- convolutions whose sinister grace made
doir she sat, confronted by boxes of pow- Bardwell shudder.
der, pots of rouge, lotions and rarely "That damned hair!” he repeated as he
blended essences; but these she ignored, wrenched himself from tlie fascination of
having selected from a bewildering assort- the ritual. And then: "Why don’t you
ment of brushes her favorite, amber- cut out all this nonsense and be human?
handled, amber-backed, and cunningly Have your hair bobbed, buy up a bunch
carved in the nude, gracious curves of a of new clothes, and we’ll take a second
Medusa w'hose serpentine tresses crept honeymoon in Florida next month. We
about and enclosed the oval that the Gor- can afford it now, you know. And . . .

gon’s upraised, slender arms supported. we both need a change of scene,” con-
Bardwell through the door
entered cluded Bardwell irrelevantly, knowing
connecting his room with Marian’s. well that no change of scene could ever
"At it again! That damned hair!” veil the aura of age-old evil that clung to
Bardwell shrugged his shoulders, gri- the serpentine blackness of Marian’s hair.
• From WEIRD TALES for April, 1928.
The cliilly, repellent opulence of that
624 W. T.—
 8 —

WEIRD TALES 625

somberly gleaming, iridescent coiffure you. Win. Still do. Always shall. But
”
haunted Bardwell, distracting his hours I can’t

of waking and making his sleep a confu- "But you must!” flared Bardwell.
sion of reptilian nightmares. The living, "No, I can not. Please don’t be un-
creeping coldness of those profuse tresses kind to me,” she pleaded. "All my life
had in four years frozen an indefinable I’ve been different from other women. I
"
terror into his soul. An age-old horror worried my mother into her grave
nightly twined itself on Marian’s pillow, "And now I’m in line,” despaired
”
separating tliem as might a limitless ex- Bardwell. "Marian
pansion of steaming, evil-haunted jungle. But even as she spoke, tlie animation
"I’ll never cut my hair,” declared Mar- faded from the exquisite oval of her face;
ian with the passionless certitude of one she picked up tlie amber brush and again
pronouncing a law of nature. "Never languidly stroked the coiling darkness
again mention such a tiling!” that hung heavily on her white shoulders,
Then she set aside her mirror and, spelling the wordless syllable of an ever-
after a final lingering reverent caress with lasting prayer to the deity Bardwell hated
the Medusa-handled brush, turned in her and feared.
low chair to face Bardwell. "We’ll take a second honeymoon to
"Win, can’t you take me as I am and Florida,” he had said. But he knew that
be content to leave me as I am.^You it was no honeymoon but rather the fan-

knew when you married me that there tastic hope that the warmth and unfailing
was something strange about me. I loved sunlight of Florida might sear to extinc-

GOING FASTI
If you liave not read the April, 1934, issue of “Weird Tales”
we are giving you this last opportunity to procure a copy.

A few of the superb stories in this issue are:

SATAN'S GARDEN, by E. Hoffmann Price. The story of a terrific adventure

in Bayonne, two ravishingly beemtiful girls, occult evil and sudden
death in the lair of the hasheesh-eaters.
BLACK THIRST, by C. L. Moore. A fascinating story about a weird charac-
ter called the Alendar, whose every move is cloaked in mystery.
SHADOWS IN THE MOONLIGHT, by Robert E. Howard. A colossal tale
about gigantic iron statues that stood in a ghastly row in the moonlight.
THE DEATH OF MALYGRIS, by Clark Ashton Smith. Even in death, the
mighty wizard proved himself greater than his peers a story of weird —
sorcery.

BEHIND THE SCREEN, by Dale Clark. The tale of a doomed man who ex-
perienced a terrible awakening in a curious shop in Chinatown.

Because of the limited supply, we urge you to send in your

order at once, if you desire to obtain a copy. Price 25 cents.

WEIRD TALES, 840 N. Altchigau Ave., Chicago, niinois

W. T.—
 626 WEIRD TALES
tion the living, chilly blackness before "Now, by the Lord, this is too much!”
whose shrine Marian worshiped with he snarled, as he seized her by the hand,
measured, languid passes of an amber thrust her into their car, and carried her,
brush. still dazed and half asleep, back to their

Drawn by a compelling sorcery, at- hotel. Once in the privacy of their suite,
tracted in spite of himself, Bardwell drew he continued, "'This damned nonsense
closer, catching the sound of the brush must stop! And I’ll stop it, here and
that caressed Marian’s waist-long hair, now!
strands that blended and writhed, curled Bardwell seized a pair of scissors and,
and intertwined independently of the repugnance, grasped a handful
stifling his

golden bristles. He gently laid his fingers
on a strand, hoping against hope
shivered . muttered
. . then turned
. .
and strode from the room.
Marian’s movements became slower,
more and more torpid, more languid,
until finally, succumbing to the tropical,
of that serpentine, black hair. And then
. . . he dropped the gleaming steel, recoiling
. before the chilly flame that came to life
in Marian’s smoldering eyes.
"Win Bardwell,” she began in a calm
voice whose deadliness matched the light
in her eyes, "tliis is going too far. What-

overheated atmosphere of her Riverside ever else you may wish to do, at least stop
Drive boudoir, she carefully placed the short of mutilating me and killing your-
amber brush on the table and, mustering self.”
her ebbing vitality, picked her way to "What.^” demanded Bardwell. "Muti-
bed.
The black, tentacular strands disposed
late you? Kill myself —
good Lord, Mar-
ian, this is getting worse every day!
themselves about the pillow, dark ser- What’s going to become of us?”
pents basking on silver-white sand. . . . The venom faded from her voice, and
tlie from her eyes, as she replied:
fire
2 "Win, you a thousand times I
I’ve told
arasota, rather than glittering Mi- can’t help being what I am. Can’t you
S ami or Palm Beach, appealed to Bard- remember the old days when my strange
well as being the most suitable field on ways didn’t annoy you?”
which to make his final play against that And Bardwell recalled the first week
which hung over him like tire mantle of —
of their marriage mad, ecstatic nights
an oppressive doom. And there he and dream-filled days. 'The chill contact
sought to inveigle Marian into play and of Marian’s hair, even then, had carried
festivity, to entice her from the somno- the faint suggestion of some ancient evil
lent ritual of everlasting hair-combing, to that always blended in their love-making,
revive the gayety of their earlier days. He adding piquancy to Bardwell’s pleasure,
succeeded, for a few days; but on the first suggesting to him that he had found Eve
morning of tire second w'eek he found and Lilith in one person. He had loved
Marian before her mirror, amber Medusa the dank chill of her hair, cold strands
in hand, and lost in the impenetrable sor- that burned like creeping living fire; and
cery that had made his life a vortex of a curious, pagan fascination lay in that
madness. queer gesture, so like an archaic, dimly
'That same afternoon found her asleep remembered ritual, with which Marian
at the edge of a steaming lagoon, her hair would toss the great braids about her
spread fan wise about her, basking in that back and shoulders, where they clung and
i
fierce damp heat. twined. ,
 WEIRD TALES 627

"Win,” continued Marian, "have you BACK COPIES

changed, or have I? Leave me if you
A BIVAI. FKOM THE Gn.WT!, by Seabury Quinn
wish. You needn’t stay. I’ll play fair
to a
—
(January 193(5) A tale of creepy horror that rises
climax of sheer terror. Also fascinating stories
with you if you wish to leave me. Only by August W. Derleth, Paul Ernst, C. L. Moore, Rob-
ert E. Howard, Richard H. Hart, J. Wesley Rosen-
. . promise me you’ll never again at-
.
quest, Robert Barbour Johnson, and H. P. Lovecraft.

tempt to cut my hair. Promise me, and
I’ll forgive you. And if you can ... try
to remember.”
Bardwell remembered, and promised.
And that night, and many nights
after, Bardwell held stony-eyed commu-
nion with bottles branded with three
marked with the name of Martel.
Yet hope was not entirely gone; for
Bardwell would occasionally vary his rou-
tine, emerge from the haze, and in the
YVAI.A, by C. L. Moore (February 193()> The —
story of a gloriously beautiful woman, as cruel and
dangerous as a flame from Hell. Also. Paul Ernst,
Forbes Parkhill, Frank Owen, Robert E. Howard, Li-
reve Monet, Loretta Burrough, Theodore Tinsley,
Andrew Daw, and II. P. Lovecraft.
there- THE ALBINO DEATHS, by Ronal Kayser (March
19.'i6) —
A grim weird story of torture on the Wheel
of Death in a fantastic dungeon. Also, Eando Binder,
Paul Ernst, Clark Ashlon Smith, Robert E. Howard,
stars Edmond Hiunillon, A. J. Mordtmann, Henry Kuttner,
Jay Wilmer Benjamin, and Jean Richepin.
THE ruler of fate, by Jack Williamson (April
1936) — A romantic story about a weird being that
rules Earth from a cavern of horror on the Moon.
Also, Carl Jacobi, Arlton Eadie, August W. Derleth,
Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Chandler H. Whip-
ple. Ronal Kayser, and E. Hoffmann Price.

calmness of evening seek anew the means THE ROOM OF SHADOWS, by Arthur J. Burks
of overcoming that which oppressed him. —
(May 1936) This story will send icy fingers up your
spine, as the ghastly horror unfolds itself. Also, Paul
Ernst, Jack Williamson, Robert Bloch, Seabury Quinn,
And thus it was that wandering at ran- Edmond Hamilton, Manly Wade Wellman,
Renier
Wyers, August W. Derleth, and Donald Wandrei.
dom he met old Doctor Berg, who dur-
ing the many years previous to his retire- LOOT OF THE VAMPIRE, by Thorp McClusky
—
(June 1936) An eery, spine- freezing story that will
ment from active practise had attended hold your fa.scinated interest. Also, Robert E. How-
ard, Hugh Davidson, August W. Derleth, Robert
Marian and Marian’s parents. Bloch, Jack Williamson, A. V. Milycr, Harold G.
Shane, M. J. Bardine, Norman E. Hammerstrom, and
"Doctor Berg! Strike me blind, but it Richard F. Scuright.

is good to see you!” RED NAII.S, by Robert E. Howard (July 19.36)—

A fascinating tale of a weird roofed city, the black
In the pleasure of this unexpected en- lotus, and the queerest people ever spawned. Also,
Clark Ashlon Smith, Edmond Hamilton, Ronal Kayser,
counter, Win Bardwell for the moment Thorp McClusky, C!. L. Moore, August W. Derleth,
Renier Wyers, Manly Wade Wellman, Bobo Wildberg,
forgot that which the undying sun of and A. Conan Doyle.
Florida had not eradicated.
THE DOOR INTO INFINITY, by Edmond Hamilton
"And just as good to see you. Win. —
(September 1936) An amazing weird mystery story,
packed with thrills, danger and startling events. Also,
What in the world brings you to Sara- Paul Ernst, G. G. Pendarves, Pearl Norton Swet.
Robert E. Howard, August W. Derleth, Paul Compton,
sota?” Ronal Kayser, and Victor Rowan.

The doctor paused, hesitating to in- ISI,E OF THE UNDEAD, by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach
quire as to Bardwell’s wife, yet knowing
—
(October 19.36) An uncanny tale of the fate that
befell a yachting party on the awful island of living
dead men. Also, Robert Bloch, Dorothy Quick, Earl
that such inquiry must be forthcoming Peirce, Jr., C. L. Moore, Robert E. Howard, Arthur
B, Waltermire, Henry Kuttner, and Ailhur Conan
from him. Bardwell’s next remark Doyle.
bridged the gap. WITCH-HOUSE, by Seabury (^inn (November
"I know you’ve retired. Doctor,” he —An intriguing and thrilling story
19.36) about Jules
de Grandin, master of the supernatural. Also, Robert
began, "but I want to have a word with E. How'ard, Thorp McClusky, Paul Ernst, Robert
Bloch, Bassett Morgan, R. B. Johnson, Gordon Philip
you. In private. And at once, if you’re England, Chandler II. Whipple, and H. P. Lovecraft.

not engaged.” THE FIRE OF ASSHURRANIPAL, by Robert E. How-

Doctor Berg nodded acquiescence.
cab carried them to the doctor’s apart-
ment.
A ard —
(December 19361 A tale about a skeleton that
sat upon a throne, and a gem that shone with living
fire. Also, Granville S. IIoss, II. P. Lovecraft, John
Russell Fearn, Robert Bloch, August W. Derleth,
Amelia Reynohls Long, Manly Wade Wellman. Henry
Kuttner, Otis Adelbert Kline and E. Hoffmann Price.

"Either I’m utterly loco,” declared

” THE PRICE ON ATX BACK ISSUES IS 25 CENTS A
Bardwell, "or else COPY, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. M.\IL ALL
ORDERS TO! WEIRD TALES, 840 N. MICHIGAN
"No, lad,” interrupted the white- AVE., CiliC.YGO, ILli., U. H, A.
628 WUl&D TALES
haired medico, "you’re not loco. It killed "No, Win, don’t do that. Her mother
her mother; and It has made me wonder, tried it, once. Leave her if you can’t
and pass quite beyond the borders of rea- stand it any longer. But don’t kill her.
”
son and science. In a word, Win, it’s Or yourself
that deadly poison coldness of Marian’s "What? You, too? What in thunder
hair. ...” —
do you mean kill her, or myself?” de-
The doctor shivered. manded Bardwell, recovering himself,
"Yes,” agreed Bardwell. "It’s driving and drawing animation from the incred-
me nutty. She won’t have it cut. She ible words the doctor had just spoken in
spends hours brushing it. Like some paraphrase of Marian’s outlandish speech.
fakir sitting before a heathen god and "Are you as nutty as she is, and I shall
thinking himself into the silence. Lord ”
be? For God’s sake
in heaven, but I often wonder if she’s
"Steady, lad. She isn’t, and I’m not,
human! The touch of a single strand of
and you’re not, yet. Listen. .”
. .

it drives me wdld. And at the same time,

'The doctor drew from
his desk a leath-
I think the world of her. That’s the
er-bound, loose-leaf notebook, turned a
worst of it!”
few pages, remarking as he did so, "He-
redity is a curious thing. Marian’s out-

T he old doctor poured a slug of Ba-

Bardwell swallowed the am-
cardi.
ber flame and continued, "Either I’m ab-
landish hair inspired
ter in
me
general and in particular.
to study the mat-
I’ve
never dared publish my thoughts and
solutely bughouse, or something is totally
findings. Like Rabelais, I prefer to die
wrong with Marian. One of us should be
before I am cremated. But I’ll tell you as
sewed up in a sack and dropped into the
much as I can. It may help you. For we
Gulf. If she’s okay, then I’m due for a
lose fear of that which we understand,
padded cell; or if I’m right, then that girl
even if but partly.”
is a monstrosity . . . oh, hell! What do
you make of it. Doc?”
The doctor paused; pinched the end

make exactly nothing of it,” replied

from a long black cigar; sought, found,
"I
Doctor Berg. "Nothing that any sane
but forgot to strike his match. And then

man he read, intoning solemnly, like a judge

of science could accept. Her parents
pronouncing sentence.
told me a similar story, when she was
about six years old — told me of the ghast- '’Atavism is an outcropping of tenden-
ly, snaky coldness and clamminess of cies and characteristics that have skipped
Marian’s heavy hair. I laughed and called two generations^ or more. Such outcrop-
it nerves. But when I touched the kid’s pings are rare enough, though usually not
unusually long hair, I nearly passed out, startling. But what of tendencies that
used as I was to grotesque and repellent have lain dormant, skipping thousands of
deformities. It was as though I had generations, reappearing only after hun-
thrust my hand into a nest of serpents all dreds of centuries of extinction?
clinging together for warmth.” "Your wife. Win. . . . For twenty years
Bardwell lifted his face from his I’ve studied this matter, ever since at her
hands. mother’s insistence I touched that living,
"This madness has to stop. I’ll clip snaky hair.”
that poisonous jungle she nurses day and "For God’s sake, Doctor, what do you
night. Promised her I wouldn’t, but mean?”
promises be damned!” "Just what I said. One thing at a time.
 .WEIRD TALES 629

You'll finally grasp what you’re up him; look at those eyes, those cheek-
against.” bones, the contour of his skull, and see
The doctor struck his match, touched the stamp of the Mongol. Look at the
light to the lean, dark cigar, then contin- way he sits his horse, crouching like some
ued: "You’ve played polo, and witnessed squat demon riding into battle. He might
many polo matclies. Remember Captain be the Grand Khan himself. That is ata-
Eric von Ostenburg?” vism, but on a small scale. Merely a
"Yes. Fierce, heathen sort of fellow. dozen odd generations.”
Wonderful player. But what the Bardwell was too much puzzled to in-
”
devil terrupt.
"One thing at a time. Win. Have pa- "Some Tartar of the hordes of Genghis
tience and let me put it across bit by bit, Khan grafted himself onto the family tree
groping with you even as I myself have of the house of Ostenburg. And now,
groped in the dark. He resembles not centuries later, we have Captain Erich.
one of his relatives, distant or near; nor But this,” repeated the doctor, "is atavism
does he resemble any one of his ancestors on a small scale. Listen again.”
for ten generations back, if the private And from his notes the doctor read,
rogues’ gallery, as he calls the family por- "It was Herbert Spencer, greatest of all
means anything at all. That fellow
traits, rationalists, who pointed out that there is

is a Tartar, pure and simple; a throw- a foundation of fact for every legend and
back to some obscure ancestor who rode superstition of mankind. Was there then
in the trace of Genghis Khan, Look at a race, back in the mists, that shrouded

LIMITED SUPPLY!
If you have not read the July, 1934, issue of “Weird Tales”
we are offering you this final chance to obtain a copy.
A few of the excellent stories in this issue are:

THROUGH THE GATES OF THE SILVER KEY. by H. P. Lovecraft & E. Hoff-

mcmn Price. A brilliant story, cosmic in its scope, by two acknowledged
masters of weird fiction.

THE DISINTERMENT OF VENUS, by Qcirk Ashton Smith. Strange yearn-

ings beset a brotherhood of monks when the statue of a pagan goddess
was dug up in the abbey garden.
THE THUNDERSTONES OF NUFLO. by Ralph Allen Long. A grim story of
Haitian Voodoo, of revivified corpses, and the gruesome death that
stalked the deck of the yacht Oberon.

THE ILLUSION OF FLAME, by Paul Ernst. A withered stranger from far-off

Tibet shows a bit of terrifying magic.
THE MASTER OF SOULS, by Harold Wco-d. A gripping tale of a Satcmist, to
whom murder was a commonplace and who wallowed in human
misery.
As these copies will go fast, we urge you to order imme-
diately, if you desire to procure a copy. Price 25 cents.

WEIRD TALES, 840 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ulinois

 — )

630 WEIRD TALES

the prehistoric reptilian slime, whose lovely, pallid girl whose great dark braids
physical attributes supplied the fact basis of hair clung and twined about his shoul-
for the Medusa myth, the legend of the ders,adding piquancy to his pleasure; so
Gorgons?” that one night Bardwell, deciding that
Bardwell stared, blinked, wondered while he could not grin, he might at least
whether or not he had heard aright tlie bear it, thrust aside the pale green mad-
madness which dripped from the white- ness that turned milky white as the melt-
mustachcd lips of the old doctor. Then ing ice diluted it, and sought Marian’s
Bardwell remembered all too well the boudoir.
serpentine, clinging coldness of Marian’s A shaft of moonlight filtered in
hair and knew that he had indeed mar- through the thinly draped French win-
ried a Medusa whose type for a thousand dow and enriched the pale features and
centuries had been, and would today, but argentine shoulders of his sleeping wife.
for some ghastly jest of nature, be ex- Her long hair somberly enshrouded the
tinct. loveliness of her face and spread fanwise
3 across both pillows. A faint, acrid odor
mingled itself with the perfume of the

D ay after
carved
day the amber brush with
Medusa flicked
monstrous golden beetle as Marian, se-
like
its

some
sleeping madonna; and apart from, but
somehow a part of her even breathing,
came the vague sound of things that crept
cure in the shelter of Bardwell’s promise, not quite noiselessly, and their sibilant
devoted more and more of her time to hissing.
the now endless caressing of the coiling, As Bardwell stared fixedly, the sable
midnight madness that crowned her pal- strands moved, stirred, animated by an
jlid features, enshrouded her shoulders, independent life: black serpents awaken-
and reached almost to her knees. ing from their slumber on silver-white
Small, swift boats brought Bardwell sands. For the first time he saw that
solace from Bimini: Martel, and Bacardi, which he had suspected, and feared.
and the deadly, pale green Pernod From the pocket of his brocaded
wormwood distilled with madness. Sub- lounge robe he drew the final solution,
stitution: serpents for serpents. And the companion of endless nights of grief:
through the haze gleamed a pair of long- a pair of long-bladed coupon shears.
bladed coupon shears. Martel and Per-
nod and promises mingle curiously. 4
Doctor Berg watclied from a distance,
resigned himself to the futility of further “ T UST across tlie hall from 6l4? Yes,
effort, and confined his pity to a slow,
V sir. I’ll look into it right away,” re-

sorrowful shake of his w'hite head. His plied the night clerk. And then, slam-

words were unvarying: "Don’t attempt ming the receiver, he addressed the house

to cut her hair. Her mother tried it, once. detective: "Dawson, for the love of Mike
. .Grin and bear it, or else leave her.
.
see who’s got the heebie-jeebies in 640.”

But forget those scissors, and remember Whereat the night clerk yawned and
your promise. ...” prepared to resume his nap while await-
Martel and Pernod and promises mingle ing Dawson’s report as to the cause of
curiously. Yet through it all persisted the that prolonged scream of anguish, the

memory of ancient days, of mad, ecstatic voice of a man and w'oman mingled in an
nights and dream-filled days, and of a ( Please turn to page 632
 WEIRD TALES 631

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632 WEIRD TALES

from page 630
( Continued thousand tiny, livid punctures which had
awful cry of horror and despair, the pierced the skin. Nor was it any easier

ghastly disturbance whereof the guest in to account for tlie monstrous black coil,
6l4 had complained. wrist-thick, w'hich encircled Bardwell’s
But the nap was interrupted ere it w'as body, and stranglingly closed about his
resumed. throat: frosty cold, midnight black, iri-
"I’ll be eternally damned!’’ gasped descent hair the like of which came .from
the night clerk, paused a moment, then no man or beast . . . but which must have
started in pursuit of the house detective come from the head of the woman who
who had in three bounds cleared the lob- lay dead on the bed beside Bardwell.

by and gained the street. Doctor Berg saw, but wisely refrained
A patrolman on the beat several blocks from venturing an opinion. On return-
from the hotel collared the frenzied man ing to his apartment, he drew from his
and clubbed him into a state of compara- desk a loose-leaf, indexed notebook,
tive calmness. Investigation verified the turned to the page ending, "Was there a
house detective’s outrageous story, thus race in the mists that shroud the emer-
keeping him clear of a padded cell; but gence of humanity from prehistoric, rep-
investigation came to a dead standstill tilian slime, whose physical attributes
when confronted by the scarlet, excoriated supplied the fact basis for the Medusa
mask of what had once been Win Bard- myth?” and completed in a few words
well’s lean, handsome features, and tlie his commentary on atavism.

VTIRY time Weird Tales prints a
E story by Nictzin Dyalhis, the editor
4 of this magazine receives letters ask-
ing where that talented author got such a
bizarre "pen name.” These inquirers may
be surprized to learn that Nictzin Dyalhis is
not a pen name at all, but is the actual name
of a very real person. Dyalhis is one of the
oldest of English surnames, as it came
England with the Romans, whose priest
Jupiter was known as fiamen dialis.
father of Nictzin Dyalliis was an English
sea captain. He married a lady from Central
America, who mingled in her veins both
the blood of Castile and the proud Toltecs,
whose civilization amazed the Spanish Con-
quistadores that came into contaa with that
amazing race. She bestowed on her infant
son a name of her own people: Nictzin.
into
Better and Better
of Grant V. Wallace writes from Berkeley,
'The California: "Our magazine is getting better
and better as the years go by, even thou^
 —

WEIRD TALES 633

wc have suffereJ seemingly irreparable losses

BACK COPIES
ia the deatlis of some of our outstanding
authors. Clifford Ball is well on the way
AriUL
Moore,
1934— Stories by:
Edmond Hamilton, Robert
E. Hoffmann
E. Howard, Clark
Price, C. L.

toward replacing Conan with his character Ashton Smitii, Dale Clark, Carl Jacobi, and ArUiur

—
Raid if he will only cause his hero to pull
J.

MAV
Burks.

—
1934 Stories by: Roiiert E. Howard, A. W.
in his neck just a little when his friends arc Bernal, C. L. Moore, Carl Jacobi, E. Hoffmann Price,
trying to help him, instead of going off Anthony Rud, Clark Ashton Smith, and Loual B.
Suiiarman.
half-cocked as he does with Ating in The
Goddess Awakens. Conan was an out-and-
JULY —
1934 Stories by: Ariton Eadio, Harold Ward,
Paul Ernst, August W. Derleth, Ralph Allen Lang,
out roughneck, but not thankless." Clark Ashton Smith, Elliott O’Donnell, Jay Wilmer
Benjamin, Willard E. Hawkins, H. P. Lovecraft, ajid
E. Hoffmann Price.
Roads
SEPTFMBEU 1934—Stories by: Robert E. Howard.
EarlLeaston Bell writes from Augusta, Seabury Quinn, Mindrcl I.A)rd, Greye La Spina, How-
ard Wandrei, Julius Long, Bram Stoker, and August
Georgia: "As a former contributor to W. Derleth.
Weird Tales, I wish to laud you, and OCTOBER 1934—Stories by; C. L. Moore. Clark
through you Seabury Quinn, for his most Ashton Smith, Paul Ernst, II. Bedford- Jones, S. Gor-
don Gurwit, Julius Long, Manly Wade Wellman, and
excellent story in the January issue Roads. Ronal Kayser.
I’m not low-rating WT, of course, when I NOV'EMBER 1934— Stories by: E. Hoffmann Price,
say a story as great as Quinn’s should have S. Gordon Gunvit, I’aul Ernst, Kirk Masiiburn, Au-
gust W. Derleth, John Flanders, and H. P. lAivecraft.
b^n top-copy for any big magazine in Amer-
ica. I wonder if he tried to place it with
DECEMBER 1934—Stories by: Robert E. Howard.
Bassett Morgan, C. L. Moore, John Flanders, Clark
the 'slicks’ before forwarding it to you. A.shton Smith, Brooke Byrne, August W. Derleth, and

—
My idea is that he did but that it was not
sloppy enough for them. My vote is for
Roads for the month’s first."
Howard’s Early Stories
F. T. Torbett writes from Marlin, Texas:
"I want to add my voice to those who
requesting reprints of Robert E. Howard’s
early stories.I am asking this solely because
of the merit of Howard’s stories and not
because he was for some years one of the
best friends I ever had. His was a powerful
personality, of a type diat can never be for-
gotten. I never knew a man more devoted
to home and family, or more loyal to his
friends, or more honest and upright. I miss
his companionsliip more than I can say. I
am sure that the future of Weird Tales
will be a bright one, for the quality of the
stories is steadily improving.”
Oogy
Frank Owen.
MARCH 1935—Stories by: Otis Adelbert Kline. Har-
old Ward, Robert E. Howai’d, C. L. Moore, Paul
Ernst, L/Oretta BuiTough, Richard F. Searight, and
Bram Stoker.
—
APRIL 1935 Stories by: Arthur William Bernal,
Howard Wandrei. Eando Binder, Clark Ashton Smith,
Hazel Heaid, John Flanders, L. E. Frailey, and Evcrll
Worrell.
arc
—
MAY 1935 Stories by: Arthur B. Reeve, Robert H.
Leitfred, Richard H. Hart, Robert E. Howard, Clark
Ashton Smith, August W. Derleth, Robert Bloch, and
H. P. Lovecraft.
JUNE —
1935 Stories by: Dorothy Quick, Arthur Wil-
liam Bernal, Amelia Reynolds Long, Donald Wan-
drei, John Scott Douglas, Robert Bloch, Walker G.
Everett, Ida M. Kier, and Otis Adelbert Kline.
JULY 1935 —
Stories by: Edmond Hamilton, Paul
Ernst, C. L. Moore, Captain S. P. Meek, Aalla Zaata,
Roy Temple House, Wallace J. Knapp, Gustav Aley-
rink, and Fitz-James O’Brien.
—
Al^GUST 1935 Stories by: Paul Ernst, John Scott
Douglas, Seabury Quinn, L. M. Montgomery, Frances
Bragg Middleton, Clark Ashton Smith, Claude Farrere,
and John Martin Leahy.
SEPTEMBER 1935—Stories by: John Scott Douglas.
Ariton Eadle, Paul Ernst, Clark Ashton Smith, Rob-
ert Bloch. Ethel Helene Coen, Kirk Mashburn. Ed-
mond Hamilton, and Kenneth P. Wood.

Gertrude Hemkcn writes from Chicago:

OCTOBER —
1935 Stories by: Edmond Hamilton, Paul
Ernst, C. L. Moore, Seabury Quinn, John Flanders,
"Starting with the ver’ beginning —
tliat col- Eando
Machen.
Binder, Robert Leonard Russell, and Arthur
orful front cover of the March —we
issue
NOVEMBER 1935— Storie.s by: Robert E. Howard,
will pause to comment only lightly. The pic- Paul Ernst, E. Hoffmann Price, Paul Frederick Stem,
ture a fine temptation to look inside for the
is Leslie F. Slone, Tarleton Collier, and August W. Der-
leth.
tale. Somehow, one feels that only an abom-
inable incense could be burned inside a
DECEMBER 1935—Stories by: Robert E. Howard,
Paul Ernst, Clark Ashton Smith, Edmond Hamilton,
skull. ’Tis a foine pleasure to be r’adin’ Harold Ward, Alfred I. Tof»ke, Robert Barbour John-
son, and Edward Lucas Wliite.
of our ould friend Deteaive Sergeant Cos-
tello along with our sidekick Jules (bless The price on nil back Issues is 35 cents a copy, any-
\%here in the world. Mail all orders direct to: U'EIRD
his heart!). The yarn was well -spun and 1 TAI.ES, 840 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IllinoiSf
enjoyed every bit of it, for there v/as notli- I’. S. A.
 —

634 WEIRD TALES

ing really malignant about it, other than the 1 fancy, will be dodging thunder blasted at
meeting of the devil-worshippers in the early him from every side; so in anticipation, I
part of the story. Po’r gal! I’d get mighty wish to second the motion he introduced. It
tired going around in dripping waters for is high time that someone said what he so

twenty years, too. Thorp McClusky can

. . . well said. True, some of the Poe-ish yarns
make an old theme so intensely interesting that have appeared in WT were great in
and I just dote on his descriptions, such as spite of their admitted modelling after Poe.
Stepan’s condition upon the death of his And whatever can rightly be charged to Poe
master. 'Oogy’ is no word for it. Finlay’s in how much more can be
over-writing,
portrayal of this Dmitri resembles so closely heaped on the heads of the pseudo-Poes,
a fat man I know. Hm
Mr. Jack William-
! who have not even the justification of living
son is doing a nice job with this Dreadful in an age (as Poe did) when all literary
Sleep —
I sincerely trust the following install- work was tinged with super-heaviness of
ments will be equally exciting. Uh-huh . . . verbiage and overloading! Me, I consider
I sorta figgercd it was Doc Zoberg who be- the greatest weird tales of our time to be
—
came the Hairy One I dunno, but when I those un-Poe-ish classics such as The Woman
read of those muscular wrists of his I jus’ of the Wood. And this in spite of my great
sez to m’self: 'I betcha that’s the guy that’s personal esteem and personal appreciation of
making all the trouble.’ Now The Girl from many of the stories of the pseudo-Poe school
Samarcand is more to my style of course, I — — which were great yarns in spite of their
couldn’t stand anyone being such a fanatic modelling, not because of it.”
—
over rugs but even so, the tale was some-
—
what unusual to me alluring as the Orient Counter-Attack
— fascinating and somehow restful. I liked C. A. Butz writes from Lancaster, Penn-
it very mucli. ... I found sumpin in the sylvania: "J. Mackay Tait of Bridgetown
Eyrie that I did not like someone seems to— has some important things to say anent Poe
have mistaken our magazine for wot she and the rationale of horror, and I quite
isn’t. Guess most of us, including Ye Edi- share his liking for Seabury Quinn and Rob-
tor, have explained the purpo.se of Weird ert E. Howard. Howard’s passing was a
Tales is to bring to the public a selection hard blow to those who had grown to love
of unusual tales that are really weird some — his Conan stories. But I can’t endorse Mr.
folks have an idea we should have science- T’s belittlement of Poe as an out-of-date
fiaion —
but I still howl ’No’ to that.” hack once popular because nobody knew any
better. To talk thus brands one as a veritable
Tlie Piper from Bhutan neophyte, a malinstruit, a superficial connois-
L. JashnoflF writesfrom Cambridge, Mas- seur, an immature addia of the horrible, in
sachusetts: found David Bernard’s The
"I short a mere parvenu, like the fellow who
Piper from Bhutan quite the most interesting complained that Shakespeare was just a
and novel tale in the current issue. One bundi of quotations! Dig up your Novem-
criticism suggests itself, however, and moves ber 1936 copy of WT, Mr. T, and re-read
me to write; would the narrator of the story what H. P. Lovecraft has to say in para-
actually be threatened with expulsion be- graphs 6 and 7 of Pickman’s Model. Love-
cause of his disagreement with Professor Du craft knew whereof he spoke! Mr. T de-
Bois? To one schooled to the notion of aca- plores 'the atmosphere of gloom and im-
demic freedom, this phase of the yarn pending evil’ that char.acterizes some of the
seemed not very convincing. But I believe finest examples of weird fiaion. It belongs
the story was excellent in idea and presenta- only to 'diseased minds,’ but horror being
tion, and I am looking forward to more of always of the abnormal — if not, it is not
this author’s work.” horror —
then certainly the abnormality of
certain apparently pathological mental states
In Defense of Tail is legitimate, nay, even appropriate, as 'hor-
E. Hoffmann Price writes from Redwood ror’ resides not in external incidents alone
City, California: “I must applaud J. Mackay but almost wholly in the minds perceiving
Tait, Bridgetown, Nova Scotia, for his con- them. Mr. Tsays that horror occurs 'unex-
tribution to the Eyrie in the March issue, pectedly’ in real life — but a tale is not real
re Poe and his school of writing. Mr. Tait, life, and the tedinique of short story forbids
 WEIRD TALES 635

the unheralded as unconvincing. There must
always be a build-up, suggestion, unity of
tone, or the tale falls flat. This is as notable
in Seabury Quinn’s stories as it is in Poe’s,
the difference being that Poe’s tales are pure
studies in horror whereas Quinn’s blend a
large element of adventure. While Mr. Tait
is carving up Poe, he might as well get busy
on Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Blodi or
H. P. Lovecraft and a few other contribut-
tors to WT, who know, or knew, that the
horror story differs in its genre as widely as
it docs in possible modes of treatment. If
Mr. T does not tliink The Cask of Amontil-
lado, Some Facts in the Case of Al. Vaide-
mar and The Alasque of the Red Death hor-
rible and superb, then there is every indica-
tion that his sense of the horrible is jaded
or atrophied. Lastly, the Poe-Epstein com-
parison is palpably absurd. "Tliis is sacri-
lege,’ he adds, 'but I can’t help it.’ Maybe
he can’t! I hope, Mr. Editor, you will be
kind enough to print diis."
The Old Ones.
Gerald Card writes from Leichardt, Aus-
tralia: "It is a matter of wonder to me that
you continue to secure so much material pos-
sessed of the elements of true eerincss, writ-
ten reasonably well and not violating the
primary rules of literary composition. The
recent demise of Lovecraft —
undoubtedly
—
your finest contributor will certainly add to
your problems in this respect. My personal
preference is for talcs of tlie abysmal, ut-
terly ab-human type — the field which Love-
craft made so peailiarly his own. Despite
rather slighting references that have appeared
in tlie Eyrie of late to the persistent intrusion
into your pages of the Old Ones, Elder Gods,
Nyarlathotep and their train, I, for one, feel
that we need plenty of this world of the
outre and unutterable. Pleasing, too, are
stories of uncanny suggestion, where the
horror or terror is not so much stated as
hinted, thereby gaining an added power. As
one who has made a deep study, from a
purely literary angle, of the supernatural in
English fiction, I find tliat the gravest and
most frequently encountered defea in so-
called weird fiction is the too-literal presen-
tation of supernatural horrors. The very
definiteness employed in treating them brings
them down to the level of the material.

BACK COPIES
Weird Tales, the publishers do their best
Because of the many requests for back issues of
to keep a sufficient supply on hand to meet
all demands. This magazine was established early
on the supply of back copies ever since. At present,
in 1923 and there has been a steady drain
we have the following back numbers on hand for sale:
1934 1935 1936 1937 1938
Jan. Jan. Jan.
Feb. Feb. Feb.
Mar. Mar. Meir. Mar. Mar.
Apr, Apr. Apr. Apr. Apr.
May May May May
June June June June
July July July July
Aug. Aug.
^pt. Sept. Sept Sept.
Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct.
Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov.
Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec.

These back numbers contain many fascinating stories. If you are interested in obtaining
any of the back copies on this list please hurry your order because we can not guarantee that
the list will be as complete as it now is within the next 30 days. The price on all back issues
is 25c per copy. Mail all orders to:

WEIRD TALES
840 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A.
636
They lose in eery power through being pre-
sented in too concrete terms. How much
more effeaive they become when more sug-
gestion and less of objeaive reality is em-
ployed! The spiritual horror which broods
like an unholy atmosphere over Lovecraft’s
work is the type of thing that makes for a
real sense of the weird in the reader’s mind.
No more forcible contrast could be imag-
ined than that between tlie sheer artistry of
tales like The Thing on the Door-Step and
die disgustingly over-drawn Isle of the Un-
dead (which latter I am pleased to see sev-
eral of your correspondents denounced!).”
Say It in Verse
Seymour Kapetansky writes from Detroit:
"I just got around to my February WT, hav-
ing been very busy with an accumulation of
back issues which I unearthed in a musty
bookstore, and lo and behold (to coin a
platitude) there on the cover is a defiant,
flaming, Brundage nude. And a nude that
is a nude. Which prompts this:
''
'Please foreswear the cover nudes,’
Some say, in dubbing them obscene.
Others call these complainants prudes
And say, ’tis they who be unclean!
The latter folk go on to say,
'The nudes are an integral part
Of Weird —How do you get
Those Brundage nudes are art!'
I’ve read the comments in this feud
And enter not the fight;
I pity Ye Ed as I conclude,
Td rather NOT be Wright!'"
Price’s Grand Yarn
B. M. Reynolds writes from North Adams,
Massachusetts: "Many thanks for reprinting
Price’s grand yarn. The Girl From Samar-
cand. It represents, I think, one of the
pieces of weird writing ever to grace the
pages of any magazine. I derived just as
much pleasure from reading it this time as
I did when it was first published some nine
years ago. That story has glamor and the
mellowness of a rare old wine. While on
the subject of reprints, please don’t overlook
the faa that Bimini, now at least ten years
old, is another splendid tale and well worth
running again. In the current issue, I was
greatly pleased with Jack Williamson’s new
novel. Dreadful Sleep. This seems, in truth,
a worthy successor to Golden Blood. For
consistently good pure-fantasy, Williamson
stands second only to A. Merritt in that
His plots are unique, his style smootli
WEIRD TALES
vivid, and his imagination like Merritt’s,
rich and fertile. I sincerely hope to find
him much more often in future issues. Be-
yond the Wall of Sleep, by H. P. Lovecraft,
is one of his finest yarns, thought-provoking
and weirdly beautiful. Perhaps, in this story,
he has really solved the great riddle of
Death. Who knows At least, his concep-
tion is unique, and not so impossible as to
pass the bounds of credibility. Henry Kutt-
ner served us with something decidedly dif-
ferent in his Shadow on the Screen. 'That
boy seems to have several novel ideas either
up his sleeve or in his cranium. Keep up
the good work, Henry; my hat would be
off to you, only I never wear one.”
Poetic Magnificence
Bryce M. Walton writes from Twin Falls,
Idaho: "What utterly mystic beauty; what
haunting, dream-like lines; what perfeaion
in the region of ever lingering refrain!
Who else but Howard Phillips Lovecraft
could have penned such poetic magnificence
as The Canal, symbol of some distant place
in the long-lost age beyond recall? 'The best
story in the February issue was World’s
End by Henry Kuttner, with Quinn’s Frozen
Beauty running a close second.”
that way?
Out of Place
Marian Shortess writes from San Francis-
co: "I notice that all of the letters in the
Eyrie praise Weird Tales, and I want to
say that I usually like most of the stories,
too. But I did not care for Roads by Sea-
bury Quinn in the January issue. I think
that the story of Christ and His mother is
out of place in the pages of a magazine de-
finest voted to witches, werewolves, ghosts and
vampires, and particularly when one consid-
ers the treatment given to these subjeas at
times. And as for Santa Klaus, I hardly
think that his origin needs any fictional ex-
planation.”
Tenuous Nebulosity
J. Chapman Miske
writes from Cleveland:
'"Iliere four good reasons why I am
are
writing this letter, and one very vehement
bad one. I tliink that the best course would
be to get the bad one disposed of, and then
devote the rest of the letter to tilings more
enjoyable to both of us. Why do you in-
field. sist upon printing stories that have no more
and weirdness to them tlian a chunk of tenuous
 WEIRD TALES 637

nebulosity? I am not’ going to mention the

name of the story which so irritates me, but
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
please don’t take any story that is handed
SMALL ADS WORTH WATCHING
to you merely because it was written by a Agents W anted
staff author and concerns popular characters. MEXICAN.^ CURIOS —
Tremendous money-makers!
After all, you know, you have been warned Samples 10c. MAHQUEZ-E, Apartado 1176, Mexico
aty.
repeatedly about the same author and char-
acters before. Now, for the really impor- Authors^ Service
tant reason for writing tiiis. The story by MANCSCRII'TS WANTED. Books, Stories, Plays and
Articles for placement in U. S. and foreign countries.
William Lumley entitled The Diary of Motion picture rights placed. Circular T-53S describ-
ing UNIFIED SALES PLAN
free on request. OTIS
Alonzo Typer is a real weird masterpiece, ADELBEUT KLINE, Authors' and Publishers* Rep-
and it is a tribute to your judgment and resentative. 430 W. 34th St.. New York City.

work that such a magnificent story is pre-

Back Copies
sented. It is reminiscent of the work of the
READERS! Old "Weird Tales" bought and sold.
real masters. I can only fers’ently hope Charles H. Bert, 545 North Fifth, Philadc-lphia, Pa.
that Mr. Lumley will endow us witii more
Books
equally as good. Thanks a lot, Mr. Wright,
for the most enjoyable half-hour that Weird A midsummer NIGHT'S DREAM—Illustrated by
Virgil Finlay. Containing twenty-five exquisite illus-
Tales has given me for quite a while. I trations. A beautiful edition you will he proud to
own. Price 35 cents. WRIGHT'S SHAKESPEARE
also enjoyed very much Mr. Ball's story. LIBRARY, 840 N. Michigan Ave., Cliicago.
The Goddess Awakes. Raid is very, very THE MOON TERROR—A stupendous weird-sclentlflc
reminiscent of the late Robert E. Howard’s novel of Oriental intrigue to gain control of the world!
Cloth-bound with handsome colored jacket 50 cents —
famous charaaer, Conan the Cimmerian; as postpaid. WEIRD TALES, 840 N. Michigan Ave.,
Chicago.
a matter of fact, though, when Raid is com-
bined with Thwaine, I think I like him bet- Business Opportunities
ter. The story was very well told, and held
NEWSPAI'ER clippings pay. Write: Goodall Com
my interest all the way through although it pany, 742 Market St., San Francisco.
was not what personally would term a
I
Indian Relics
weird story. only weak spot that made
The
INDIAN RELICS. Beadwork. Coins. Stamps. Min-
itself manifest to me was his explanation erals. Books. Old West Photos. Weapons. Curios.
Temple Mound Birdpoint 15c. Knife, ancient, 15
of how Hess was killed. It gave me the Catalogue 5c. Indian Museum, Northbranch, Kansa.^.
.

impression that Ball had placed the heroes

in a predicament that he couldn’t get them Magazines
out of, and had to resort to almost anything. ORIENTAL STORIES (Vol. 1. No. 1) Fascinating
stories by Robert E. Howard, Frank Owen, G. G. Peu-
Right, Mr. Ball? H. P. Love-craft’s short darves, Paul Ernst, OtLs Adelbert Kline, and otluT
favorite writers. Price 25 cents. ORIENTAL STO-
gem was, as are all his stories, very vivid RIES MAGAZINE, 840 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago,
and most weird. I realize, of course, that lU., U. S. A.

these short stories of his are in the main Magic Tricks

inferior to his longer stories; that they are
FREE! Magic catalog 500 tricks. Amaze, mystify
the product of a single idea to which too friends. Write today! LYLE DOUGLAS, StaUon A-19.
Dallas, Texas.
mucli time was not given. However, every-
thing he turned out bore his inimitable Miscellaneous
touch, and needs no apologizing for. The
PEOPLE having lost hope or whose doctor has given
translation of Farrere’s story was the fourth up, who desire absent metaphysical help, write to:
ABSENT METAPHYSICAL HELP, Box 441, Ban
fiction highlight of the issue. It was very Diego, California.
good, I thought.”
WHO IS 'THE MYSTERIOUS "KWO"? The solution
to this baflling mystery is thrlllingly told in one of the
Fifteenth Anniversary most startling stories ever written — THE MOON
TERROR. In bf)Ok foiTn. Price 50c. WEIRD
TALES,
Richard H. Jamison writes from "Valley 840 North Michigan, Chicago, Illinois.

Park, Missouri: "Congrats on Weird’s fif-

teenth anniversary! You really started some-
thing with that March 1923 issue, for with
that issue the first (and best) of the fan-
tastics was born. Tliere’s been a world of
improvement in the lusty youngster since he
first saw the light of day fifteen years ago.
DID YOU KNOW
that 34 per cent of the subscriptions received
by WEIRD 'TALES are for a period of three
years?
The reason is that a 3-year subscription repre-
sents a sound money-saving investment.
638
Tlie first had rough edges, no interior
issue
illustrations, and many of the stories were
pure and simple detective stories. But now
we have smooth edges, the best illustrated
magazine on the market, and the stories are
uniformly good weird tales with quite a
number of little masterpieces among them.
I noticed a letter in the Eyrie in which the
writer asked who had written the most sto-
ries for WT.
Seabury Quinn has that dis-
tinaion, having contributed no less than
ninety-two stories since his first appeared
in October 1923. He has also had two sto-
ries reprinted. His closest competitor is
August Derleth witii sixty-nine stories, no
reprints.”
A Reasouahle Request
Robert J.
Hoyer writes from Giicago:
"Can’t you do something so that we readers
of only five years or less can get to read
some of Robert E. Howard’s earlier works?
I’ve read all his Conan stories, but never
have I delighted these old eyes with a tale
of King Kull or Solomon Kane. I’ve heard
so much about both of these characters that
I’m dying to read about them. And I’ll bet
many others of the newer readers are too.
Couldn’t you put out a book containing the
best stories of all three of Howard’s favorite
heroes? How about it? Or at least reprint
some. Huh?”
A Whole Banquet
Margaret Gray writes from Steubenville,
Ohio; "I cannot praise too much. For WT
several years I have read various 'weird-
scientific’ magazines, but since discovering
WT I have read no others. Enough is as
good as a feast, say I, and
banquet.”
Attack
T. Gelbert writes from Niagara,
York: "It is certainly poor
editor of a magazine ranked high as good
WEIRD TALES
Weirdness and Horror
P. Cole Emers writes from Baltimore: "I
have been an unremitting reader of your
magazine for over four years. I find it ca-
ters to one of the more subtle appetites of
man for genuinely strange and eery fiction.
All of us, if we be energetically alive, have
a powerful curiosity about things beyond the
realm of prosaic and normal experience.
This yearning is generated from the same ac-
tive human dynamo tliat makes inventors,
and creators of all kinds. Basically,
artists,
they must be curious dreamers of things un-
known. As this is my first communication to
the Eyrie, I do not feel obliged to say any-
thing definite about any specific story. Tliey
are pleasingly varied in content, but always
subordinated to the important qualities of
weirdne-ss and horror.”
Back ill 1923
Arthur Lincoln Brown writes from Dal-
las: "For a number of years now I have been
reluctant to write you this letter, but today
it rived its fetters and escaped to you. Back
in 1923, when your magazine first made its
appearance on the news stands, it was pri-
marily a magazine daring to open the way
to the inexhaustible field of weird fiction. I
have watched it grow, expand, and improve
until now it has reached the acme of weird
fiction. In my estimation, it is today at tlie
pinnacle of success. Weird Tales is a piece
of literary art founded on the genius of its
—
authors on the co-operation of its readers
— on the receptiveness tlie editor holds for
each new suggestion of improvement. Read-
ers of fiction sometimes are fortunate to dis-
WT is a whole cover Weird Tales early; others must ad-
vance, explore and read their way through
numerous clieap and pulpy magazines that
litter news stands before they discover
the
New Weird Tales. By this I mean that some of
policy for an us have had to graduate to it before we be-
came satisfied but once we have perused our
;

literature, to print inflammatory letters of first copy we are enmeshed within its realm
the type written by J. Mackay Tait. His of weird narratives. It has finally reached
tirade against Poe is entirely illogical and the summit of weird fiction, and may we
uncalled for. You, as editor, should consign keep it always superb in its unequaled
allsuch letters to the trash-container. By his uniqueness.”
own admittance, J. Mackay Tait has read
only three or four of Poe’s tales, yet consid- The Biggest Sian
ers himself an authority on his work. If his J.
T. Holton writes from New York City:
outburst was less vindictive, it would be "Concerning your mysterious new novelist.
laughable.” Cans T. Field, he was pointed out to me at
 — —

WEIRD TALES 639

a recent reception by Doctor John D. Clark.

Mr. Field is one of the biggest men I have
ever seen outside of a circus, and might be
mXT MONTH
his own Judge Pursuivant except that he is
dark and not blond. I understand he is a Suicide Chapel
war vet, a world traveler, and has one of the
finest private libraries on witdicraft, demon- By Seabury Quinn
that Field not his real

O
olatry, etc. also, is
;
NE by one tliey disappeared,
name!”
young, beautiful girls, with every-
A Tribute to Lovecraft
thing to live for, and prospects of a
Jeffrey St.John Casserly writes from Kla- joyous and happy life ahead of them.
math National Forest, Oregon: "It is
One was found dead beneath her own
strange, indeed, that I, who have been a
reader of your unique magazine for nearly
window', killed by the fall. The others
fourteen years, and who during that period were found later, in that sinister chap-
deeply enjoyed the splendid writings of H. el in the w'oods, where a giant ape
P. Lovecraft, should for the first time, moved but you will have to read the story
by the untimely passing of that master of the
yourself to sense its full horror and
outre, undertake to express my humble ap-
mystery.
preciation now that it is too late. ... In my
opinion, Lovecraft ranked first among the
five greatest masters of the realm of the un- F YOU are already acquainted with
known, and I think that you may agree with I that suave occultist and scientific de-
me when I state that Dunsany, Poe, Machen tective, Jules de Grandin, you w'ill need
and Blackwood acknowledge no peers in the
English language in their field save only
no invitation to read about the latest

Lovecraft. Oddly enough, the man’s very exploit of the mercurial Frenchman. If
name was indicative of the quality of his you have not yet made his acquaint-
work, for if ever a man loved an inimitable ance, you have a treat in store for you
style and W’as satisfied with only the finest of
in "Suicide Chapel.” This intriguing
polished craftsmanship, that man was he
novelette will be published complete
whose passing leaves a place which can
never again be filled. We
say that he is
in the June issue of
dead; but surely his personality can never
be obliterated, nor his memory fade. His
work lives on, while perhaps by now he WEffiD TALES
knows the answers to all of that which he
so splendidly endeavored, as much as mortal on sale May 1st
man can, to bring to the world.”
To avoidmissing your copy, clip and mail this
No Stinking Suburb coupon today for SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION
Clifton Hall writes from Los Angeles: OFFER. ( iiiffTl (You Save 25c)
"I would like to criticize a remark made by
Johns Harrington in The Teakwood Box.
He refers to a 'stinking suburb of Los An- WEIRD TALES
840 N. Michigan Ave.
geles.’ Los Angeles is justly proud of its Chicago, 111.
suburbs, which include such cities as Holly- Enclosed find $1.00, for which send the next me
wood, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and Glen- live issues of WEIRDTALES, to begin with the
June issue. (Special offer void unless remittance
dale. Certainly none of them can be de- is accompanied by coupon.)
scribed as ’stinking.’ Harrington might at
least visit our city before he writes about it. Name
Henry Kuttner, for example, fills his Holly-
wood with authentic local color.”
yarns Addrest
[Mr. Harrington lives in one of the suburbs
City State
of Los Angeles. ^The Editor.}
 ) — 8

640 WEIRD TALES

Concise Comments James E. 'Thomas writes from Portsmouth,
England: "May I say just a couple of words
A. H. Hitchcock writes from Cleveland; re Gertrude Hemken of Chicago, whose let-
"Thanks for your continued high standards. ters to the Eyrie are so refreshing? 'Dat
The Eyrie is always most interesting, espe-
cially Ae letters of Trudy. Thanks also
gal sure knows her onions’ —but instead of
. . .
onions, orchids to my lady. Cheerio!”
for the reprint, The Girl From Samarcaml."
Seabury Quinn writes from Washington,
James N. Mooney writes from Palms, D. C. "The Hairy Ones Shall Dance is
:

California; "I greatly enjoyed Quinn’s one of the best stories of the kind I ever
Roads of WT, and in the
in the last issue read. It has just about everything, though
current William Lumlcy’s story (I’m
i.ssue I think the author’s restrained style of narra-
not sure about his first name, because I’ve tion is probably its greatest charm.”
loaned my copy of WT to a friend) takes
first place in my estimation.” Most Popular Story
Irene Harville writes from National City, Readers, which story do you like best in
California; "Weird Tales is coming into this issue? Three stories ran neck and neck
its again at last. Not since Hugh Ran-
own in popular favor in our March issue, as
kin was the illustrator in years long past has sl^own by your votes and letters. These v/ere
it been so fine. Clark Ashton Smith’s
. . . Incense of Abomination by Seabury Quinn,
The Death of Ilalotha is one of the greatest The Girl from Samarcand by E. Hoffmann
weird tales ever written, ranking with Love- Price, and the closing installment of The
craft’s The Outsider.” Hairy Ones Shall Dance by Cans T. Field.

We came out of the half-demolished

Dreadful Sleep laboratory, into a winter’s dawn.
Northward, upon the Palisades, we
( Continued from page 623
found a strange broad circle of desolation,
right hand finished an over-arm sweep from which the bacteriophage had oblit-
the arrested gesture that had hurled the erated all life. Piled in the center of it
deadly tube. The force of it carried me were low crumbling mounds of clay,
around, and I saw Carol, waking. was
It
where tire hideous city had stood.
odd to watch her lovely face change from
But beyond that circle of doom, and
frozen horror to swift, incredulous de-
all about us, was a world alive again. The
light.
south wind was warm as spring. Noisy
"Ron!” she whispered eagerly. "You
saw them, too? You heard them Doctor — larks soared on it, unconcerned, to greet
the belated sun. The distant humming of
Bell and Maru-Mora?”
bewildered New York was a vast and
need to speak. She came into my
Little
comforting sound.
arms, and I kissed her. It was good to
feel the supple warmth of her body,
The great silence was ended.
when it had been so stiff and cold; good Carol took my hand like an eager
- to feel the tremulous softness of her lips, child, and we walked toward the golden
when they had been diamond-hard. towers of the city awake in the dawn.

[THE END]

W.T.—
COMING NEXT MONTH
H e was the last in the line. Six million and more of the metal-bodied, mineral-
brained creatures had preceded him. The brain-units of each of them had been de-
stroyed after the precious capsule of activating radium had been removed. The ra-
dium was to be added to the stores aboard the space-ship.
Tumilten saw them open the hinged receptacle in the head of the robot in front of him,
take out the small radium-phial, and then reduce the brain-unit to a molten blob with a
sharp ray of heat. He shuddered mentally. That was death A
sudden erasure almost un-
!

known among his people, except at rare times like this. Ordinarily one lived on and on,
for thousands of years, till the final last "fading out,” when the brain-unit had burned
itself completely out with radium.
The operator of the heat ray turned his multiple eyes on Tumilten. He telepathized,
"Come, you. You are the last.” ;

No sympathy, no slightest spark of feeling. The operator had been ordered by the
Council to destroy six million brain-units, and there could be no such thing as pity for
those doomed. The thing the Council had stressed was that they be sure to retrieve every
fadiufti-capsule before using the heat ray.
Tumilten took one step forward, then two backward. The operator looked at him with
what might have been surprize.
"Tumilten does not want to 'be rayed out!” said Tumilten.
"What nonsense returned the operator. "The Council commands
is this.?” it. You have
the cross-mark of the frontlet. Come here and be rayed.”
Unchosen on your
Tumilten spoke for himself again: "Why should Tumilten be rayed out? He wants to
live!”
"Why? Why?” snapped back the operator impatiently. "Foolish one, because there is a
shortage of radium. In that long journey through space in search of a new home, only the
Chosen few can be supplied with radium. These six million capsules will help to keep
them renewed till they find a haven.”
The telepathized voice seemed to soften a trifle from its metallic indifference, ''it is
nothing. Younger. A fleeting moment of heat and it is over. You were created and now
you are to be uncreated. After you are rayed, the ray will be turned on its operator, who is
”
also of the Unchosen. Come
But Tumilten was thinking otherwise. With a click of internal machinery he whirled,
and ran ran with the smooth speed of high-powered machinery.
; . . .

This utterly strange tale, about a race of reasoning robots with radium brains, is a
thought-inspiring novelette about the origin of the human race on Earth. It will be pub-
lished complete in next month’s issue of Weird Tales:

FROM THE BEGINNING

By Eando Binder
Also
SONG OF DEATH
By A. W. Calder
Over the ether waves rode an alluring and sensuous song
that carried death to those who listened to it —a unique
weird-scientific story of radio broadcasting.

SUICIDE CHAPEL THE BLACK DRAMA

By Seabury Quinn By Cans T. Field
A story of fearful murders, lovely girls, and a A strange story about the eery personality called
herd of giant apes from the African jungles —
an Varduk, who claimed descent from Lord Byron, and
sxploit of Jules de Grandin. the hideous doom that stalked in his wake.

SLAVE OF THE FLAMES

By Robert Bloch
A weird tale of the great Chicago fire.

June Issue WEIRD TALES Out May 1

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AN ADVENTURE IN THE FOURTH I

City State