OCR Text |
Show S JM2ei? G O c e s CIlIIele o G c o o c By Edwin Balmer o and Philip Wylie 0 o Copyright, 1SK, by Edwin BulmerA fbilip WjrlU WND Servlo. G But he had accomplished nothing with any of then wheo Eliot came back. That dosed, Tecy." fc reported soberly. Tony started. "You d:dnt close It?" "No." "All rtebtr Tony almost yelled. "Go ahead. Kay ltl" "Say wbatr "What you're thinking. Remote con trol of some sort! Somebody saw us, go on." opened the door, let us walk in, closed "Why go on?" demanded Eliot it again." James. "We're got to get Into one of "Somebody!" said Eliot. "Let's be these buildings somewhere. We might sensible, Tony." "All right" said Tony. Jittering. as well begin here." S6 together they attacked the door, "Tou be! . . . D n it. look at that which, like those they had pushed and door. Look at It! That's opening pulled at before, showed no lock, yet now!" was secure. For a door at the farther edge of m The door evidently was designed to this room now slowly was rising. "Were yu working at It?" Eliot lift; It should rise and slip Into the metal wall overhanging It; but no wbisitered. "Yes." pushing or straining at It. no hammering and pounding, could cause It to Then, that's It You started an budge. And the glass In It the panel other counterbalance working." of transparent metal was not to be "Sure." said Tony. "Sure." broken. They stepped to the opening. Utter Weary and sweating from their darkness dropped below them. There straining at It Tony and Eliot was a oliaft, there a shaft which, un der other circumstances, might have stepped back. Itepeatedly, while they had worked at showed machinery. Now it was empty. the door, each of them had spun about Tony and Kliot James knelt side by for a glance over his shoulder. The side at Its edge. They shouted, and metal seemed so new some one must no voice came back to them. be about this city standing all In such Tony took a cartridge and dropped order. it For so long did it fall silently that Now, as the two men from Earth they were sure, as they listened, that It stood side by side staring about them, must have struck something which the slightest of sounds reached them; gave no sound; then they heard It and a door not the door at which strike. Tony dropped another, and they had pushed and pounded, but a they timed it One more they timed. door some twenty steps beyond be"Half a mile below!" said Eliot They stepped back from the shaft's gan rising. Tony and Eliot shrank closer to- threshold carefully. "There's some control to these d n gether. They pulled out their pistols, which they had reloaded. Up, up doors," said Tony, "that probably made steadily, slowly, the metal door was It easy to operate them when every lifted. thing was working. You maybe merely "Counterbalanced I" exclaimed Tony bad to stand before them, and some to his companion; but his voice was electric gadget would work that's husky. "It was counterbalanced, of Jammed now because the power Isn't These doors can't all be to course! Our pounding affected some on. shafts." mechanism Inside!" About fifteen minuets later, they had "They're human, anyway," whispered Eliot James. opened another that exposed a circular "Yes," said Tony, his eyes fastened passage, leading both upward and on the aperture under the rising door. downward. "Ah I" said Eliot. "This Is the stuff. "See anything?" "There's nobody there," argued No machinery. They probably had it Eliot with himself as much as with for emergencies." e e e e e e his comrade. "They all died they all died a million years ago." rubbed Tony, awakening, stretched, "Tea," agreed Tony. The door was his eyes and gazed up at the celling. ceasing to rise; It had reached Its limit He still did not fully recollect where Not the CsDcastatw not the Mongolian; not the Ethiopian, surely; not the Indian. She was of no race upon earth; but she was human. "So," said Eliot James, who Erst succeeded In speaking, "so they were human I By G d, you feel you'd like to know her." Tony relaxed his hands, which had clenched. "Where did she live, do yon suppose, Eliot? Did she live op behind one of these windows? Let's ooooooooooooo SYNOPSIS Under the leadership of Cole Hendron, noted America u scientist, over 100 persona escape Id two Space Ships Just before a cosmic collision wiped out the earth, and land on lironsoa Beta. Giant meteors, fragments of the earth's moon, fall Id their vicinity, but none f Uenaron's colonists Is hurt. A river bottom green with vegetation Is found, ana treat foresta of dead treea, preserved for a million rears by the absolute eold of space. An airplane, which disappears almost Immediately, (Ilea ever the camp, making-- no attempt to communicate with ita people, who realise that they are not alone on the new planet and that their visitors may be enemies. Tony Drake and Eliot Jamea, la an exploration airplane flight, come upon a wondroua city, enclosed undor what seems like half an Iridescent gjlasa bubble six miles wide and half a mile high at Its center. CHAPTER IV Continued 5 "They swept It before they left or died in here," Eliot replied. "They drew their fa tea and shut out the wind. After they left or died what else could disturb It I But, my 0 d, they were neat No rubbish, no Utter." "And everything locked," Tony said, having halted to try a door. The order of everything, and the utter stillness, was getting his nerves again. EH lot James had run ahead. "Tables !" he called. "Tables and chairs I This was a restaurant!" His nose was pressed against the glass, and Tony swiftly Joined hint. Within stood rows of metal tables and What were, unquestionably, chairs of metaL All bare; and all, of course, empty. It resembled nothing so much as a restaurant; and looking In, no one from earth could doubt that that was what It had been. The place looked Immaculate, as If put In order an hour ago and then deserted. "Where are they?" Eliot James ap"Oh, Tony, where did pealed again they go?" "What were they?" Tony countered. "That's what I want to know. Were they huge ants? Were they human-brainereptiles? Were they " "They sat In chairs," said Eliot James. "The ate at tables. They ran car that steered by pedals and a wheel Their equipment would fit as; their floors and steps are on our scale. Let's break In here." lie tried the door, which was fitted with a handle; but this did not turn or budge, however pulled or pressed. There was no keyhole; no locking device was anywhere apparent; but the door was to be moved no more than those that they had tried before. Tony looked about A shudder convulsed him. A thousand windows looked down on this stretch of the silent street; a thousand pairs of eyes once had looked down. It seemed to Tony that they must they must do It again. Eyes of what? Huge, sentient. Intelligent Insects? Reptiles of some strange, semi human sort? What lay dead by the tens of thousands In those silent rooms overhead? Tony was pulling at his pistol. Some-boIt reassured him to hold It In his band. He reversed It and beat the butt on the great glass pane behind which stood the strange metal tables and chairs. The glass did not give way. It twanged, not like glass but like nheet metal metal utterly transparent Tony caught the butt In his palm and pulled the trigger. The shot roared and But the metal pane was not pierced. The bullet be bad fired lay at Tony's feet Hysterically, he emptied his pistol. With the last shot he Jerked about again and stared op at the rows of windows. Did something up there d and stopped, leaving the way Into the he was, but be realized that he was lying on a couch of soft agreeable great metal building open. They approached the open doorway material. Then he saw Eliot James, together; and together, neither In ad- In trousers and shirt but without his vance or In the rear of the other; they coat, seated at a table, writing. And entered It pistols In hands. That was Tony remembered. Eliot ' and he were in the Sealed wholly Irrational; and both knew It; but neither could help himself. City the amazing, stupendous metropSo, side by side, revolvers ready, olis of the Other People, the People a they entered the door of the Million Million Years Dead. The amazement of their two days Years Dead. The walls of the ball In which they of exploration passed through Tony's found themselves were vermilion. mind like reviewing a dream; but There was no furniture; no covering they remained reality ; for Instead of upon the floor. Perhaps there never becoming dimmer and dimmer as he bad been one; the floor was smooth sought to recall them, they became and even and of agreeable texture. It only sharper and clearer. Moreover, stir? was not wood nor metal, but of some here before him in a heap upon one of Eliot James Jumped and pointed; composition. An open doorway In- the tables of the Other People were and Tony stiffened as he stared. vited to an apartment beyond; and the objects some of them understand fluttered a hundred side by side, but with their pistols able, more of them utterly Incompre Something yards, overhead and farther down the less at alert Eliot and Tony stepped henslble as to their purpose or utility which they had collected to carrj street; something light, like a cloth Into this. or a paper. One way, now another. It But this room also was empty. Tony with them back to Cole Hendron and fluttered as tt fell on the still air of and Eliot James went on. the camp. that strange sealed city. It reached Eliot was writing so Intently and "How do you feel?" demanded Tony, the street and lay there. after they had entered the fifth great absorbedly that he did not know that "We'll go see what that Is." Tony room In gay colors, with marvelous Tony was awake, and Tony lay quiet said to Eliot James, wetting bis dry decoration, but empry. watching his companion attempting to "Feel?" repeated Eliot "It feels deal through words with the wonders lips so be could speak. But before they gained the object to me that we're In a building that they had encountered. What could a man say that would they forgot tt A window, evidently never was used, Into which they never the vltrlne of a gallery of art con- moved." be adequate? fronted them; within the glass was a Eliot halted his writing and arose; "Perhaps," said Tony, "that goes for and glancing at Tony, saw be was the whole city." portrait "Too soon to say, much too soon to awake. Simultaneously, Tony and Eliot saw "Hello." It They stopped as If they were say. How do you go up, d'you sup"Hello. How long you been up?" struck; and their breath left them. pose?" Breath of relief, and wonder I "Elevators behind one of these "Quite a while." "You would be," complained Tony They looked at the likeness of a doors, probably. No sign of stairs." woman I "Hew do you open the doors? How admiringly. It ad been late In the She was a young woman, strange about the one we opened V said Eliot long night, and both had been utterly exhausted when they lay down to and fascinating. She was noi fair; "Is It still up. d'jou suppose?" was she d.irk of skin. Her hair "What'd lower It?" sleep. "It's the third day. Isn't It? anu brows were blHck- - hn'r arranged "What lifted It?" returned Eliot We ought to go back now." with an air ths: might be individual "I'll go back and look. Want to go "Yes," agreed Eliot "I suppose so. Cut how can we?" it which, these discoverers of her with me?" "No: I'll stay here and try some of foit was fnt laL ' Tony was s'ttlng up. "How enn we "Hut also, how can leave?" he Ann ot wh"i rni-e- ) those" ' nr , They Stopped as If They Were Struck; and Their Breath Left Them. Breath of Relief, and Wonder. They Looked at the Likeness of a Womanl She Was a Young Woman, Strange and Fascinating. Hendros we stay -- without letting Cole and the rest of them fcnoT" -We can come back, of course, Eliot James reluctantly absented. ot -Or we may find anuiliM city something eii-.- " else.' do you meats "By the place where they' all wefct Tony? Where Tuny, d esn't it 8 them-- nor of one Not did they go? the bones of one of tlitm: auu " this left in order." In He stood at tLe table and sifted bis lingers the kernels of a strange not nee grain. Not w heat nor corn, a starchy but nor barley nor rye; kernel. They both had lasted it "There's millions ot bushels of this, Tonv. Should we say 'bushels' or, l;ke the Pible. 'measuresr Well, we know there's millions of measures of this that we've already found. If it's food and what else could it be we've insolved our problem of provender have to foolish And it's definitely. 'Burnt-thin- our people improvising shelter and to do Is equipment when all e have Here's equipment to move into this. we never dreamed of!" -Yes." But he "Yes," said Tony. remembered that contest that already had divided the camp. Did the emi move grants from the earth dare to into the city when found? Also, could the people from the earth sustain themselves on this grain or other supplies left by the vanished people? Though the kernels might have been preserved through the epoch of utter cold, had the vitamins essential to life remained? But that was a matter lor the exdeperts of the camp to test and to cide. Tony could not doubt his duty to report the tremendous discovery. "We'll leave today. Tony," Eliot pleaded, "but not until later. Let's look about ence more." And Tony agreed! for he too could not bear yet to abandon the amazements of the Sealed City. It was later than they had planned when at last they had loaded their ship with the objects comprehensible and Incomprehensible which they had chosen to carry back to Hendron and his comrades. "Let's not fly back to the camp by the path we came," said Eliot James. "No," agreed Tony. "Iet's loop to the south before we cut back to the seacoast" Toward morning they were planning to alight and rest before continuing their adventures, when suddenly they were transfixed. Not In the east where tne first gray bars of the rising sun might be expected to appear, but ahead of them, to the south, a single finger f light pointed upward to the sky the only light except their own, and except the weird Inhuman Illumination of the great domed city, which they had seen on the surface of the planet. "What do Tony turned to James: you think It is?" "It looks like a searchlight pointed straight up In the air." "There seems to be a ridge between us and where !t comes from." Tony made a gesture which outlined the process of landing the plane, and James nodded. Now the plane was .skimming low over the empty desert, and In the light of their abruptly swltched-obeacon, they could make out racing beneath them, a flat aridity. There was no choice of spots on which to land. The thunder of the tubes had been cut off as Tony turned a switch, and his voice sounded very loud when he said: "How about It?" "Let 'er go!" James answered, and an Instant later they were racing over the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust that had been undisturbed for millennia. They stopped. They stepped out The night around them was warm and clear. Its distant darknesses were weaving with the perpetual aurora of Bronson Beta. Far ahead of the waste in which the plane lay, the single finger of light pointed unwaveringly toward the stars. "Shall we wait for day?" Tony asked. Eliot James looked at the Illuminated dial of bis wrist-watc"It'll be several hours In coming yet" he said after a pause. Tony was staring at the light "I should say, from the way It spreads. It must come together In some sort of lens or reflector a couple of hundred feet below the other side of the ridge. If there's anybody around the base of It I don't think they saw or beard us coming. If they saw anything, It could easily be mistaken for a meteor. I wonder have we got time to get there and back before it's light?" "Meaning the top of the ridge?" "Exactly." James squinted at the barren black edge of land traced upon the brief width of the light beam. "Plenty." Tony made no further comment but started walking through the night They walked for half an hour before the flat plain, the arid waste, began to rise. Presently the upward pitch became steep, and they realized that they were traversing a series of bare undulant ledges. They went more cautiously then. In their Imaginings and their fears, not daring to use flashlights, but feeling for each even moving upward with the aid of their hands. A breeze fanned their faces. They stepped up over the last rocky surface, and unconsciously moving on tiptoe, crossed It so they could look Intc the valley beyond. Because neither of them was conventionally religious, because both of them were thunderstruck by what they saw, they cursed, fluently and In the night on the ridge. slbllantly. step-some- times TO BSS CONTINUED. Mosquitoes' Eggs Mosquito eggs may hatch out tout or five years after they have been laid, j j Uncommon Sense e j j Bril S)Pdifl i f i- John Blake WNf 6erle fr-n- Bos. The prelate's real ambition was to run the country and the king and everybody else. Anl the king, being able to do his own thinking, preferred to conduct the affairs of the country as he saw fit Of course he went a little bit too far when he began killing off wives, but he still was a great man, and bad it not been for bis ambition, nobody would remember him for anything but one of the Henrys who had been on the throne of England for - , Mann f 9f4ti , ,"-- t;-- J Ll .i powder Specialists who his When Cardinal Wolsey charged fling Oiiver- -to Cn.UieIl-u- ot j away ambition, he was giving very Ambition bad advice. The old gentlebad" with Henry 'In had who got man, the Eighth was ou his way out of the picture. n Dut it was the wrong kind of which got him into trouble with the Big - make nothing but bak- ing powder under of expert supervision chemists. ALWAYS Kill Same price today us an years ago. 35 sscei far 2So FULL PACK NO SLACK FILLING rt;aevjaav-- i while. a Keep your ambition working. You will need it. It is a stimulant to effort, It Is a men to promoter of thought. It leads do more than they are expected to do. No great man has been without it. The necessity of It ought to be dwelt upon In the schools. Young people ought to be urged to be somebody and do something out of the common run. If all men and women were content to follow the old tracks, to do whatever Is done In the same way that it had always been done, they would be about as progressive as a hill of ants, and about as useful. You live here only once, as far as you know. Make as long of a stay In It as you can. and do as much work as you can. e e e e e I don't mean Just ordinary plodding work. I mean new original work. You can't cherish any ambition to be a king today. Those jobs are all arranged for in advance. The only way you could get one would be to buy some little South Sea island and pay the natives to make you a king. But want to do something that hasn't been done before. Whether It Is In science or politics or missionary work doesn't matter. Don't be satisfied with a little temporary success. Try to get yourself a Job that will give you Influence, and use your Influence for progress. That Is open to the objection that It entails a great deal of work, but one rarely hears of a healthy man hurting himself by work. e e e e e I have never known a successful man or woman who did not possess a high degree of will power. The Big If cant oe Boss your own boss, you can't be anybody's boss. Neither can you do anything imsweat-producin- g yn art Whv co you spray?. kl FOR RESULTS 4 Will a cheao Quality snrav do the job .'...it win not vWhat trie anw0r?i k REFUSE SUBSTITUTES Demand a ma FlY-TO- X DO you suffer burning, scanty or frequent urination; backache, headache, dizziness, swollen feet and ankles? Are you tired, nervous feel all unstrung and don't know what is wrong? Then give some thought to your kidneys. Be sure they function proper. ly,for functional kidney disorder per mits excess waste to stay in the blood, and to poison and upset the whole system. Use Doan'a Pills. Doan's are for the kidneys only. They are recommended the world over. You can get the gen d Doan'i at any drug uine, store. time-teste- SWEETEN Sour Stomach by chewing one or more Miinesia Wafers Vbu can obtain a full size 20c package of Miinesia Wafers containing twelve full sdult doses by furnishing us with the name of your local druggist if he does not happen to carry Miinesia Wafers in stock, by enclosing 10c in coin or postage stamps. Address portant and useful. And if you lack Importance and usefulness you are not going to have very easy time In the world. PRODUCTS. INC. Laziness is natural to most people. SELECT 4402 23rd St, Long Island City.N.T. So Is procrastination, which Is the M) Name it child of laziness. Street Addrea . No matter what your job is, you Town & State must learn to keep at it until you master it, or some other fellow is going to My Druggist's Nme is... 7 get far ahead of you in the race for Street Address independence and security in life. Trail & State Cultivate your will power. Force yourself to stick to your work long after the demon of laziness whispers In your ear that you are tired and need a rest. ....................... ........ e e Don't worry about wearing yourself out. Worry may do that. Work will not Establish some objective, and try to maintain it. Pick out something that Is worth and which is within the limits of possibility. Without an ear for music, you can never be a uvisician. Without an artist's eye you can never become a painter or a sculptor. Without unusual physical strength and a good sound heart you can not become an athlete. But there Is something that you can do, and do wed. If you have average common sense and the will to keep everlastingly at the task yoi have set yourself. Find out what It Is. Do not choose It because you think it may bring you popularity. You'll get popularity If you succeed, and you won't need to look around for It. worth rctficmfcerW 20 do-In- g, at see lit aching, bum- For hot, tired, , i. ing xeei, a ugni appiii" Cutleura Ointment, tly rubbed in, after bathing feet in a suds of warm water Cmticcra Soap relieve tired muscles, soothes the skin gives comfort and rest. SALT LAKE'S NEWEST At-- gen- the and the and HOSTELRY Our lobby is delightfully air cooled daring the summer months Radio tor Every Room 200 Rooms 200 BaUis When you undertake anything, keep and carry it through. If, when studying, you find yourself turning page after page of a book, all the printed lines, and not following noting anything that Is there, there Is something the matter with your will. Keep that will at work. Train it to be your boss. By and by it will keep you at uork, and then you can begin to think rt A"Fooi-iiot- e a7 Hi It, about doing great things. But If the will Isn't exercised. It will refuse to work, and you will go through lire accomplishing about half as much as ynu ought to accomplish, and which yon must accomplish If you want to be anything hut Just an arernge hry ' unsuccessful human being. There are too many of such people in the world now. Much too many; Dn't bp one of them. P.o Vnur i,w boss as far as It Is pn ij m If f m Mni'sm i HOTEL Temple Square Rtm Sl.SOtQ $3.00 Hotrl h" bighlr d.lr.bl, Tample Sqnara PhmCYou will always find The lm"5 -thoroughly aarr.ahl.V .n;!n for understand why this RECOMMENDED HIGHLY Yon ean also appreciate why i ot dMtnctlon to iop If s a.amar aa.2 aVaaWsful hoaWlfJ VI SWW |