“Shall I not have one also?” rather anxiously asked the latter.
“When you need it you’ll get it,” answered O’Keefe. “I’ll tell you frankly1, though, Professor, that you’ll have to show me before I trust you with a gun. You shoot too straight — from cover.”
The flash of anger in the Russian’s eyes turned to a cold consideration.
“You say always just what is in your mind, Lieutenant2 O’Keefe,” he mused3. “Da — that I shall remember!” Later I was to recall this odd observation — and Marakinoff was to remember indeed.
In single file, O’Keefe at the head and Olaf bringing up the rear, we passed through the portal. Before us dropped a circular shaft4, into which the light from the chamber5 of the oval streamed liquidly; set in its sides the steps spiralled, and down them we went, cautiously. The stairway ended in a circular well; silent — with no trace of exit! The rounded stones joined each other evenly — hermetically. Carved on one of the slabs8 was one of the five flowered vines. I pressed my fingers upon the calyxes, even as Larry had within the Moon Chamber.
A crack — horizontal, four feet wide — appeared on the wall; widened, and as the sinking slab7 that made it dropped to the level of our eyes, we looked through a hundred-feet-long rift9 in the living rock! The stone fell steadily10 — and we saw that it was a Cyclopean wedge set within the slit11 of the passageway. It reached the level of our feet and stopped. At the far end of this tunnel, whose floor was the polished rock that had, a moment before, fitted hermetically into its roof, was a low, narrow triangular12 opening through which light streamed.
“Nowhere to go but out!” grinned Larry. “And I’ll bet Golden Eyes is waiting for us with a taxi!” He stepped forward. We followed, slipping, sliding along the glassy surface; and I, for one, had a lively apprehension13 of what our fate would be should that enormous mass rise before we had emerged! We reached the end; crept out of the narrow triangle that was its exit.
We stood upon a wide ledge14 carpeted with a thick yellow moss15. I looked behind — and clutched O’Keefe’s arm. The door through which we had come had vanished! There was only a precipice16 of pale rock, on whose surfaces great patches of the amber6 moss hung; around whose base our ledge ran, and whose summits, if summits it had, were hidden, like the luminous17 cliffs, in the radiance above us.
“Nowhere to go but ahead — and Golden Eyes hasn’t kept her date!” laughed O’Keefe — but somewhat grimly.
We walked a few yards along the ledge and, rounding a corner, faced the end of one of the slender bridges. From this vantage point the oddly shaped vehicles were plain, and we could see they were, indeed, like the shell of the Nautilus and elfinly beautiful. Their drivers sat high upon the forward whorl. Their bodies were piled high with cushions, upon which lay women half-swathed in gay silken webs. From the pavilioned gardens smaller channels of glistening18 green ran into the broad way, much as automobile19 runways do on earth; and in and out of them flashed the fairy shells.
There came a shout from one. Its occupants had glimpsed us. They pointed20; others stopped and stared; one shell turned and sped up a runway — and quickly over the other side of the bridge came a score of men. They were dwarfed21 — none of them more than five feet high, prodigiously23 broad of shoulder, clearly enormously powerful.
“Trolde!” muttered Olaf, stepping beside O’Keefe, pistol swinging free in his hand.
But at the middle of the bridge the leader stopped, waved back his men, and came toward us alone, palms outstretched in the immemorial, universal gesture of truce24. He paused, scanning us with manifest wonder; we returned the scrutiny25 with interest. The dwarf22’s face was as white as Olaf’s — far whiter than those of the other three of us; the features clean-cut and noble, almost classical; the wide set eyes of a curious greenish grey and the black hair curling over his head like that on some old Greek statue.
Dwarfed though he was, there was no suggestion of deformity about him. The gigantic shoulders were covered with a loose green tunic26 that looked like fine linen27. It was caught in at the waist by a broad girdle studded with what seemed to be amazonites. In it was thrust a long curved poniard resembling the Malaysian kris. His legs were swathed in the same green cloth as the upper garment. His feet were sandalled.
My gaze returned to his face, and in it I found something subtly disturbing; an expression of half-malicious gaiety that underlay28 the wholly prepossessing features like a vague threat; a mocking deviltry that hinted at entire callousness29 to suffering or sorrow; something of the spirit that was vaguely30 alien and disquieting31.
He spoke32 — and, to my surprise, enough of the words were familiar to enable me clearly to catch the meaning of the whole. They were Polynesian, the Polynesian of the Samoans which is its most ancient form, but in some indefinable way — archaic33. Later I was to know that the tongue bore the same relation to the Polynesian of today as does NOT that of Chaucer, but of the Venerable Bede, to modern English. Nor was this to be so astonishing, when with the knowledge came the certainty that it was from it the language we call Polynesian sprang.
“From whence do you come, strangers — and how found you your way here?” said the green dwarf.
I waved my hand toward the cliff behind us. His eyes narrowed incredulously; he glanced at its drop, upon which even a mountain goat could not have made its way, and laughed.
“We came through the rock,” I answered his thought. “And we come in peace,” I added.
“And may peace walk with you,” he said half-derisively —“if the Shining One wills it!”
He considered us again.
“Show me, strangers, where you came through the rock,” he commanded. We led the way to where we had emerged from the well of the stairway.
“It was here,” I said, tapping the cliff.
“But I see no opening,” he said suavely35.
“It closed behind us,” I answered; and then, for the first time, realized how incredible the explanation sounded. The derisive34 gleam passed through his eyes again. But he drew his poniard and gravely sounded the rock.
“You give a strange turn to our speech,” he said. “It sounds strangely, indeed — as strange as your answers.” He looked at us quizzically. “I wonder where you learned it! Well, all that you can explain to the Afyo Maie.” His head bowed and his arms swept out in a wide salaam36. “Be pleased to come with me!” he ended abruptly37.
“In peace?” I asked.
“In peace,” he replied — then slowly —“with me at least.”
“Oh, come on, Doc!” cried Larry. “As long as we’re here let’s see the sights. Allons mon vieux!” he called gaily38 to the green dwarf. The latter, understanding the spirit, if not the words, looked at O’Keefe with a twinkle of approval; turned then to the great Norseman and scanned him with admiration39; reached out and squeezed one of the immense biceps.
“Lugur will welcome you, at least,” he murmured as though to himself. He stood aside and waved a hand courteously40, inviting41 us to pass. We crossed. At the base of the span one of the elfin shells was waiting.
Beyond, scores had gathered, their occupants evidently discussing us in much excitement. The green dwarf waved us to the piles of cushions and then threw himself beside us. The vehicle started off smoothly42, the now silent throng43 making way, and swept down the green roadway at a terrific pace and wholly without vibration44, toward the seven-terraced tower.
As we flew along I tried to discover the source of the power, but I could not — then. There was no sign of mechanism45, but that the shell responded to some form of energy was certain — the driver grasping a small lever which seemed to control not only our speed, but our direction.
We turned abruptly and swept up a runway through one of the gardens, and stopped softly before a pillared pavilion. I saw now that these were much larger than I had thought. The structure to which we had been carried covered, I estimated, fully46 an acre. Oblong, with its slender, vari-coloured columns spaced regularly, its walls were like the sliding screens of the Japanese — shoji.
The green dwarf hurried us up a flight of broad steps flanked by great carved serpents, winged and scaled. He stamped twice upon mosaicked stones between two of the pillars, and a screen rolled aside, revealing an immense hall scattered47 about with low divans48 on which lolled a dozen or more of the dwarfish49 men, dressed identically as he.
They sauntered up to us leisurely50; the surprised interest in their faces tempered by the same inhumanly51 gay malice52 that seemed to be characteristic of all these people we had as yet seen.
“The Afyo Maie awaits them, Rador,” said one.
The green dwarf nodded, beckoned53 us, and led the way through the great hall and into a smaller chamber whose far side was covered with the opacity54 I had noted55 from the aerie of the cliff. I examined the — blackness — with lively interest.
It had neither substance nor texture56; it was not matter — and yet it suggested solidity; an entire cessation, a complete absorption of light; an ebon veil at once immaterial and palpable. I stretched, involuntarily, my hand out toward it, and felt it quickly drawn57 back.
“Do you seek your end so soon?” whispered Rador. “But I forget — you do not know,” he added. “On your life touch not the blackness, ever. It —”
He stopped, for abruptly in the density58 a portal appeared; swinging out of the shadow like a picture thrown by a lantern upon a screen. Through it was revealed a chamber filled with a soft rosy59 glow. Rising from cushioned couches, a woman and a man regarded us, half leaning over a long, low table of what seemed polished jet, laden60 with flowers and unfamiliar61 fruits.
About the room — that part of it, at least, that I could see — were a few oddly shaped chairs of the same substance. On high, silvery tripods three immense globes stood, and it was from them that the rose glow emanated62. At the side of the woman was a smaller globe whose roseate gleam was tempered by quivering waves of blue.
“Enter Rador with the strangers!” a clear, sweet voice called.
Rador bowed deeply and stood aside, motioning us to pass. We entered, the green dwarf behind us, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the doorway63 fade as abruptly as it had appeared and again the dense64 shadow fill its place.
“Come closer, strangers. Be not afraid!” commanded the bell-toned voice.
We approached.
The woman, sober scientist that I am, made the breath catch in my throat. Never had I seen a woman so beautiful as was Yolara of the Dweller65’s city — and none of so perilous66 a beauty. Her hair was of the colour of the young tassels67 of the corn and coiled in a regal crown above her broad, white brows; her wide eyes were of grey that could change to a cornflower blue and in anger deepen to purple; grey or blue, they had little laughing devils within them, but when the storm of anger darkened them — they were not laughing, no! The silken webs that half covered, half revealed her did not hide the ivory whiteness of her flesh nor the sweet curve of shoulders and breasts. But for all her amazing beauty, she was — sinister68! There was cruelty about the curving mouth, and in the music of her voice — not conscious cruelty, but the more terrifying, careless cruelty of nature itself.
The girl of the rose wall had been beautiful, yes! But her beauty was human, understandable. You could imagine her with a babe in her arms — but you could not so imagine this woman. About her loveliness hovered69 something unearthly. A sweet feminine echo of the Dweller was Yolara, the Dweller’s priestess — and as gloriously, terrifyingly evil!
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1
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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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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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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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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amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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slabs
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| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
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rift
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| n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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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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18
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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dwarfed
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| vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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underlay
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| v.位于或存在于（某物）之下( underlie的过去式 )；构成…的基础（或起因），引起n.衬垫物 | |
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callousness
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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32
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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archaic
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| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
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derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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suavely
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salaam
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| n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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40
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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44
vibration
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| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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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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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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48
divans
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| n.（可作床用的）矮沙发( divan的名词复数 )；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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49
dwarfish
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| a.像侏儒的，矮小的 | |
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50
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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51
inhumanly
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| adv.无人情味地，残忍地 | |
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52
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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53
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
opacity
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| n.不透明；难懂 | |
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55
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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56
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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57
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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58
density
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| n.密集，密度，浓度 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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60
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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61
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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62
emanated
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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63
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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65
dweller
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| n.居住者，住客 | |
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66
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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67
tassels
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| n.穗( tassel的名词复数 )；流苏状物；（植物的）穗；玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰 | |
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68
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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69
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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