They ranged in size from shapes yard-high to giants of thirty feet or more. They paid no heed8 to us, did not stop; streaming on, engrossed9 in whatever mysterious business was summoning them. And after a time their numbers lessened10; thinned down to widely separate groups, to stragglers; then ceased. The hall was empty of them.
As far as the eye could reach the columned spaces stretched. I was conscious once more of that unusual flow of energy through every vein11 and nerve.
“Follow the crowd!” said Drake. “Do you feel just full of pep and ginger12, by the way?”
“I am aware of the most extraordinary vigor,” I answered.
“Some weird joint13,” he mused14, looking about him. “Wonder if they have any windows? This whole place looked solid to me — what I could see of it. Wonder if we’ll get up against it for air? These Things don’t need it, that’s sure. Wonder —”
He broke off staring fascinatedly at the pillar behind us.
“Look here, Goodwin!” There was a tremor15 in his voice. “What do you make of THIS?”
I followed his pointing finger; looked at him inquiringly.
“The eyes!” he said impatiently. “Don’t you see them? The eyes in the column!”
And now I saw them. The pillar was a pale metallic16 blue, in color a trifle darker than the Metal Folk. All within it were the myriads17 of tiny crystalline points that we had grown to know were the receptors of some strange sense of sight. But they did not sparkle as did those others; they were dull, lifeless. I touched the surface. It was smooth, cool — with none of that subtle, warm vitality18 that pulsed through all the Things with which I had come in contact. I shook my head, realizing as I did so what a shock the incredible possibility he had suggested had given me.
“No,” I said. “There is a resemblance, yes. But there is no force about this — stuff; no life. Besides, such a thing is utterly19 incredible.”
“They might be — dormant,” he suggested stubbornly. “Can you see any mark of their joining — if they ARE the cubes?”
Together we scanned the pillar minutely. The faces seemed unbroken, continuous; there was no trace of those thin and shining lines that marked the juncture20 of the cubes when they had clicked together to form the bridge of the abyss or that had gleamed, crosslike, upon the back of the combined four upon which we had followed Norhala.
“It’s a sheer impossibility. It’s madness to think such a thing, Drake!” I exclaimed, and wondered at my own vehemence21 of denial.
“Maybe,” he shook his head doubtfully. “Maybe — but — well — let’s be on our way.”
We strode on, following the direction the Metal Folk had gone. Clearly Drake was still doubtful; at each pillar he hesitated, scanning it closely with troubled eyes.
But I, having determinedly23 dismissed the idea, was more interested in the fantastic lights that flooded this columned hall with their buttercup radiance. They were still and unwinking; not disks, I could see now, but globes. Great and small, they floated motionless, their rays extending rigidly25 and as still as the orb26 that shed them.
Yet rigid24 as they were there was nothing about either rays or orbs27 that suggested either hardness or the metallic. They were vaporous, soft as St. Elmo’s fire, the witch lights that cling at times to the spars of ships, weird gleaming visitors from the invisible ocean of atmospheric28 electricity.
When they disappeared, as they did frequently, it was instantaneously, completely, with a disconcerting sleight-of-hand finality. I noted29, though, that when they did vanish, immediately close to where they had been other orbs swam forth30 with that same astonishing abruptness31; sometimes only one, larger it might be than that which had gone; sometimes a cluster of smaller globes, their frozen, crocused rays impinging.
What could they be, I wondered — how fixed33, and what the source of their light? Products of electro-magnetic currents and born of the interpenetration of such streams flowing above us? Such a theory might account for their disappearance34, and reappearance, shiftings of the flows that changed the light producing points of contact. Wireless35 lights? If so here was an idea that human science might elaborate if ever we returned to —
“Now which way?” Drake broke in upon my musing36. The hall had ended. We stood before a blank wall vanishing into the soft mists hiding the roof of the chamber37.
“I thought we had been going along the way They went,” I said in amazement38.
“So did I,” he answered. “We must have circled. They never went through THAT unless — unless —” He hesitated.
“Unless what?” I asked sharply.
“Unless it opened and let them through,” he said. “Have you forgotten those great ovals — like cat’s eyes that opened in the outer walls?” he added quietly.
I HAD forgotten. I looked again at the wall. Certainly it was smooth, lineless. In one unbroken, shining surface it rose, a facade39 of polished metal. Within it the deep set points of light were duller even than they had been in the pillars; almost indeed indistinguishable.
“Go on to the left,” I said none too patiently. “And get that absurd notion out of your head.”
“All right.” He flushed. “But you don’t think I’m afraid, do you?”
“If what you’re thinking were true, you’d have a right to be,” I replied tartly40. “And I want to tell you I’D be afraid. Damned afraid.”
For perhaps two hundred paces we skirted the base of the wall. We came abruptly41 to an opening, an oblong passageway fully22 fifty foot wide by twice as high. At its entrance the mellow42, saffron light was cut off as though by an invisible screen. The tunnel itself was filled with a dim grayish blue luster32. For an instant we contemplated44 it.
“I wouldn’t care to be caught in there by any rush,” I hesitated.
“There’s not much good in thinking of that now,” said Drake, grimly. “A few chances more or less in a joint of this kind is nothing between friends, Goodwin; take it from me. Come on.”
We entered. Walls, floor and roof were composed of the same substance as the great pillars, the wall of the outer chamber; filled like them with dimmed replicas45 of the twinkling eye points.
“Odd that all the places in here are square,” muttered Drake. “They don’t seem to have used any spherical46 or pyramidal ideas in their building — if it is a building.”
It was true. All was mathematically straight up and down and across. It was strange — still we had seen little as yet.
There was a warmth about this passageway we trod; a difference in the air of it. The warmth grew, a dry and baking heat; but stimulative47 rather than oppressive. I touched the walls; the warmth did not come from them. And there was no wind. Yet as we went on the heat increased.
The passageway turned at a right angle, continuing in a corridor half its former dimensions. Far away shone a high bar of pale yellow radiance, rising like a pillar of light from floor to roof. Toward it, perforce, we trudged48. Its brilliancy grew greater.
A few paces away from it we stopped. The yellow luminescence streamed through a slit49 not more than a foot wide in the wall. We were in a cul-de-sac for the opening was not wide enough for either Drake or me to push through. Through it with the light gushed50 the curious heat enveloping51 us.
Drake walked to the opening, peered through. I joined him.
At first all that I could see was a space filled with the saffron lambency. Then I saw that this was splashed with tiny flashes of the jewel fires; little lances and javelin52 thrusts of burning emeralds and rubies53; darting54 gem55 hard flames rose scarlet56 and pale sapphire57; quick flares58 of violet.
Into my sight through the irised, crocus mist swam the radiant body of Norhala!
She stood naked, clad only in the veils of her hair that glowed now like spun59 silk of molten copper60, her strange eyes wide and smiling, the galaxies61 of tiny stars sparkling through their gray depths.
And all about her swirled62 a countless63 host of the Little Things!
From them came the gem fires piercing the aureate mists. They played and frolicked about her in scores of swiftly forming, swiftly changing, goblin shapes. They circled her feet in shining, elfin rings; then opening into flaming disks and stars, shot up and spun about the white miracle of her body in great girdles of multi-colored living fires. Mingled64 with disk and star were tiny crosses gleaming with sullen65, deep crimsons66 and smoky orange.
A flash of blue incandescence67 and a slender pillared shape leaped from the floor; became a coronet, a whirling, flashing halo toward which streamed up the flaming tendrilings of her tresses. Other halos circled her arms and breasts; they spun like bracelets68 about the outstretched arms.
Then like a swiftly rushing wave a host of the Little Things thrust themselves up, covered her, hid her in a coruscating69 cloud.
I saw an exquisite70 arm thrust itself from their clinging, wave gaily71; saw her glorious head emerge from the incredible, the seething72 draperies of living jewels. I heard her laughter, sweet and golden and far away.
Goddess of the Inexplicable73! Madonna of the Metal Babes!
The Nursery of the Metal People!
Norhala was gone, blotted74 out from our sight! Gone too were the bar of light and the chamber into which we had been peering. We stared at a smooth, blank wall. With that same ensorcelled swiftness the wall had closed even as we had stared through it; closed so quickly that we had not seen its motion.
I gripped Drake; shrank with him into the farthest corner — for on the other side of us the wall was opening. First it was only a crack; then rapidly it widened. There stretched another passageway, luminous75 and long; far down it we glimpsed movement. Closer that movement came, grew plainer. Out of the mistily76 luminous distances, three abreast77 and filling the corridor from side to side, raced upon us a company of the great spheres!
Back we cowered78 from their approach — back and back; arms outstretched, pressing against the barrier, flattening79 ourselves against the shock of the destroying impact menacing.
“It’s all up,” muttered Drake. “No place to run. They’re bound to smash us. Stick close, Doc. Get back to Ruth. Maybe I can stop them!”
Before I could check him, he had leaped straight in the path of the rushing globes, now a scant80 twoscore yards away.
The globes stopped — halted a few feet from him. They seemed to contemplate43 us, astonished. They turned upon themselves, as though consulting. Slowly they advanced. We were pushed forward and lifted gently. Then as we hung suspended, held by that force which always I can liken only to myriads of tiny invisible hands, the shining arcs of their backs undulated beneath us.
Their files swung around the corner and marched down the passage by which we had come from the immense hall. And when the last rank had passed from under us we were dropped softly to our feet; stood swaying in their wake.
A curious frenzy81 of helpless indignation shook me, a rage of humiliation82 obscuring all gratitude83 I should have felt for our escape. Drake’s eyes blazed wrath84.
“The insolent85 devils!” He raised clenched86 fists. “The insolent, domineering devils!”
We stared after them.
Was the passage growing narrower — closing? Even as I gazed I saw it shrink; saw its walls slide silently toward each other. I pushed Drake into the newly opened way and sprang after him.
Behind us was an unbroken wall covering all that space in which but a moment before we had stood!
Is it to be wondered that a panic seized us; that we began to run crazily down the alley87 that still lay open before us, casting over our shoulders quick, fearful glances to see whether that inexorable, dreadful closing was continuing, threatening to crush us between these walls like flies in a vise of steel?
But they did not close. Unbroken, silent, the way stretched before us and behind us. At last, gasping88, avoiding each other’s gaze, we paused.
And at that very moment of pause a deeper tremor shook me, a trembling of the very foundations of life, the shuddering89 of one who faces the inconceivable knowing at last that the inconceivable — IS.
For, abruptly, walls and floor and roof broke forth into countless twinklings!
As though a film had been withdrawn90 from them, as though they had awakened91 from slumber92, myriads of little points of light shone forth upon us from the pale-blue surfaces — lights that considered us, measured us — mocked us.
The little points of living light that were the eyes of the Metal People!
This was no corridor cut through inert93 matter by mechanic art; its opening had been caused by no hidden mechanisms95! It was a living Thing — walled and floored and roofed by the living bodies — of the Metal People themselves.
Its opening, as had been the closing of that other passage, was the conscious, coordinate96 and voluntary action of the Things that formed these mighty97 walls.
An action that obeyed, was directed by, the incredibly gigantic, communistic will which, like the spirit of the hive, the soul of the formicary, animated98 every unit of them.
A greater realization99 swept us. If THIS were true, then those pillars in the vast hall, its towering walls — all this City was one living Thing!
Built of the animate bodies of countless millions! Tons upon countless tons of them shaping a gigantic pile of which every atom was sentient100, mobile — intelligent!
A Metal Monster!
Now I knew why it was that its frowning facade had seemed to watch us Argus-eyed as the Things had tossed us toward it. It HAD watched us!
That flood of watchfulness101 pulsing about us had been actual concentration of regard of untold102 billions of tiny eyes of the living block which formed the City’s cliff.
A City that Saw! A City that was Alive!
No secret mechanism94 then — back darted103 my mind to that first terror — had closed the wall, shutting from our sight Norhala at play with the Little Things. None had opened the way for, had closed the way behind, the coursing spheres. It had been done by the conscious action of the conscious Things of whose living bodies was built this whole tremendous thinking pile!
I think that for a moment we both went a little mad as that staggering truth came to us. I know we started to run once more, side by side, gripping like frightened children each other’s hands. Then Drake stopped.
“By all the HELL of this place,” he said, solemnly, “I’ll run no more. After all — we’re men. If they kill us, they kill us. But by the God who made me I’ll run from them no more. I’ll die standing104.”
His courage steadied me. Defiantly105 we marched on. Up from below us, down from the roof, out from the walls of our way the hosts of eyes gleamed and twinkled upon us.
“Who could have believed it?” he muttered, half to himself. “A living city of them! A living nest of them; a prodigious106 living nest of metal!”
“A nest?” I caught the word. What did it suggest? That was it — the nest of the army ants, the city of the army ants, that Beebe had studied in the South American jungles and once described to me. After all, was this more wonderful, more unbelievable than that — the city of ants which was formed by their living bodies precisely107 as this was of the bodies of the Cubes?
How had Beebe phrased it —“the home, the nest, the hearth108, the nursery, the bridal suite109, the kitchen, the bed and board of the army ants.” Built of and occupied by those blind and dead and savage110 little insects which by the guidance of smell alone carried on the most intricate operations, the most complex activities. Nothing here was stranger than that, I reflected — if once one could rid the mind of the paralyzing influence of the shapes of the Metal Things. Whence came the stimuli111 that moved THEM, the stimuli to which THEY reacted?
* William Beebe, Atlantic Monthly, October, 1919.
Well then — whence and how came the orders to which the ANTS responded; that bade them open THIS corridor in their nest, close THAT, form this chamber, fill that one? Was one more mysterious than the other?
Breaking into my current of thoughts came consciousness that I was moving with increased speed; that my body was fast growing lighter112.
Simultaneously113 with this recognition I felt myself lifted from the floor of the corridor and levitated114 with considerable rapidity forward; looking down I saw that floor several feet below me. Drake’s arm wound itself around my shoulder.
“Closing up behind us,” he muttered. “They’re putting us — out.”
It was, indeed, as though the passageway had wearied of our deliberate progress. Had decided115 to — give us a lift. Rearward it was shutting. I noted with interest how accurately116 this motion kept pace with our own speed, and how fluidly the walls seemed to run together.
Our movement became accelerated. It was as though we floated buoyantly, weightless, upon some swift stream. The sensation was curiously117 pleasant, languorous118 — what was that word Ruth had used? — ELEMENTAL— and free. The supporting force seemed to flow equally from walls and floor; to reach down to us from the roof. It was slumberously even, and effortless. I saw that in advance of us the living corridor was opening even as behind us it was closing.
All around us the little eye points twinkled and — laughed.
There was no danger here — there could be none. Deeper and deeper dropped my mind into the depths of that alien tranquillity119. Faster and faster we floated — onward120.
Abruptly, ahead of us shone a blaze of daylight. We passed into it. The force holding us withdrew its grip; I felt solidity beneath my feet; stood and leaned back against a smooth wall.
The corridor had ended and — had shut us out from itself.
“Bounced!” exclaimed Drake.
And incongruous, flippant, colloquial121 as was that word, I know none that would better describe my own feelings.
We were BOUNCED out upon a turret122 jutting123 from the barrier. And before us lay spread the most amazing, the most extraordinary fantastic scene upon which, I think, the vision of man has rested since the advent124 of time.
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1
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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luminaries
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| n.杰出人物，名人（luminary的复数形式） | |
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animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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ginger
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| n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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determinedly
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| adv.决意地；坚决地，坚定地 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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orbs
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| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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atmospheric
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| adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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abruptness
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| n. 突然，唐突 | |
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luster
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| n.光辉；光泽，光亮；荣誉 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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facade
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| n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表 | |
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tartly
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| adv.辛辣地，刻薄地 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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replicas
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| n.复制品( replica的名词复数 ) | |
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46
spherical
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| adj.球形的；球面的 | |
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47
stimulative
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| n.刺激，促进因素adj.刺激的，激励的，促进的 | |
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trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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49
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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50
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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51
enveloping
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的现在分词 ) | |
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52
javelin
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| n.标枪，投枪 | |
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53
rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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54
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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55
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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56
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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57
sapphire
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| n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的 | |
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58
flares
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| n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开 | |
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59
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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60
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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galaxies
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| 星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物） | |
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62
swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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65
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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crimsons
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| 变为深红色（crimson的第三人称单数形式） | |
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67
incandescence
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| n.白热，炽热；白炽 | |
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68
bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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69
coruscating
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| v.闪光，闪烁( coruscate的现在分词 ) | |
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70
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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71
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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72
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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73
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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74
blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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76
mistily
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| adv.有雾地，朦胧地，不清楚地 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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78
cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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flattening
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| n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词 | |
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80
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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81
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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82
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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83
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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84
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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85
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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93
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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mechanisms
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| n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用 | |
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coordinate
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| adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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100
sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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101
watchfulness
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| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
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102
untold
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| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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103
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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104
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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106
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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107
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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108
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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109
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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110
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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111
stimuli
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| n.刺激（物） | |
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112
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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113
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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114
levitated
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| v.（使）升空，（使）漂浮( levitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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116
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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117
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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118
languorous
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| adj.怠惰的，没精打采的 | |
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119
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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120
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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121
colloquial
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| adj.口语的，会话的 | |
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122
turret
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| n.塔楼，角塔 | |
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123
jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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124
advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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