Wallace West

“ Stopping before a time-blackened bench, Jonathan picked up a piece of blue stone upon which a gaunt, stoop-shouldered young man was working.
The effect was instant and frightful. With a snarl like a dog from which one has snatched a bone, the laborer grabbed the jewel from the intruder's hand. Then, as he again began working upon it, his face resumed its previous vacant stare.
"You see, sir?" Tom said. "It's the same way in the mine. They've lost most human characteristics. Notice that one's fingers ... long and slender for delicate work. ”

“ He leaped to his feet, all his sleepy content shattered, as a wild-eyed horse charged into the courtyard and plunged to a stop before him, in a great lather of sweat. From its back slid a bleeding bundle of a man whom he recognized as the serf Gomar. “Oh, sir,” gabbled this one, in a mixture of Saxon and English which Gil still found hard to understand, “oh, sir; Lady Constance! I must to Lord Robert. Gray Henry, the Wolf, has stolen——”
Without pausing to finish, the serf started into the castle at a slouching, staggering run, and Couteau followed him, sword in hand. ”

“ Men ran in all directions. Food and other perishables not already aboard began to be loaded with hysterical speed.
At midnight on the fourteenth, the Champ nosed her way through the watertight lock of her caisson, climbed like leviathan through the miledeep cloud layer of Venus and, dripping water from her splendid sides, leaped into the ebony sky. On the bridge, Carlos, Fritz, Frank and Greta crouched over their instruments as the shadowy planet sank beneath them. Frank's heart was throbbing as he sought wildly for some method of stopping the invincible monster. He could shoot Carlos.... ”

“ First you must taste the horror of sinking into the long sleep. You have no more drug, nor can you obtain any. Those pitiful storage batteries will be exhausted by the time you have aroused the child. So you must sleep unless you have the courage to kill yourself. Doctor, I deeply regret that this has occurred, but you see that I must let you and June sleep too. When I have need of you I will recall you. That is all. Farewell. May God pity you, Baron. I will not."
He sprang through the door and, the tails of his black coat flapping like the wings of a gigantic bat, vanished down the stairs. ”

“ Then began a struggle, the remembrance of which would sometimes, even years later, wake Couteau from sleep, sweating with terror.
It was like no fight he had ever had, nor was it like the wolf-hunts and boar-stickings in which he had taken part. The loup-garou fought with human intelligence, dodging Gil’s swordthrusts with the speed of light, and always, always, parrying for a leap at his throat, which, if successful, would mean an instant end to the battle.
Gil’s long sword was almost an impediment in that crowded space. ”

“ We no can work. Kill him. Kill! Kill!"
This time Jock got the response he had been seeking. The workers—more than 500 of them—surged forward, snarling deep in their throats.
Jonathan took a step toward the mob but Tom pulled him back. "Wait, Mister Johnny. They know me. If anybody can check them, I can."
The old man clambered onto one of the few upright benches and shouted for silence. For a moment he got it. Then Jock hurled a chisel. The blade slashed Tom's cheek. At the sight of blood the crowd went wild and charged. ”

“ With a sigh Aunt Ellen rose and waddled after her.
Maw—she was still strong as an ox and could swing an axe like a man—backed through the door after awhile, holding Paw under the armpits. Aunt Ellen carried his feet as they brought him in.
"The old fool!" Maw was whimpering. "I knew they'd get him. The old fool! I told him not to stay so danged late."
Her eyes were dry and glittering.
After the funeral—Annette and I boasted at school that the Brown murderers had done for Paw although a stroke undoubtedly was responsible—the old cabin never felt quite like home again. ”

“ Solinski burst into a gale of fiendish laughter.
"An anarchist is merely a capitalist without money or power," he quoted.
"What do you want of us?" demanded Manthis, playing for time.
"Very simple. This: I intend soon to begin awakening those who will serve me, first in New York and then throughout the world. When I have a skeleton government built up, I will withdraw the wave and allow the people to revive. Clever, isn't it? Especially for such a madman as you think me." He snapped his fingers and leered cunningly at them.
The doctor choked but Jack's hand on his arm steadied him. ”

“ Here Sadie called a halt.
"Fellow Incors," she cried as she leaped onto a rock, "you're entering Wildoatia proper. From now on each one of us is on his own. You all know the laws here: Might makes right; dog eat dog; devil take the hindmost. No cooperation; no partnerships; no friendships. Even hand-shaking is illegal. If you are robbed or cheated, don't go running to the police. They'll laugh at you. Maybe they'll slap you in a concentration camp where you'll work a year to pay your fine.
"You get only three breaks in Wildoatia. ”

“ God knows what Gray Henry may try to do. I will keep Gomar with me, since he knows the country roundabout. We will keep a watch together. Come,” he called to the serf. Together they wheeled and disappeared into the dusk.
The others rode in silence. The path under the trees grew darker at each moment. Besides the shuffle of the horses over the fallen leaves there was no sound except now and then the twitter of a sleeping bird, or the far-off howling of a lonely wolf.
“I like it not, Gil,” said the knight, drawing his horse close to that of the Frenchman. ”

“ The elements of horror are as many and varied as the threads in a Gobelin tapestry—with special stimuli for each of us. Perhaps terror lies in the howl of a coyote, in the noises of an old house, in a blaze of fire. Or perhaps it responds to the mournful creak of wheels on a gravel road, to moonlight reflected from a huge old mirror. ”

“ He swung the beam to disclose a naked horror which was scrabbling at the end of the tunnel with a crowbar. The creature snarled through a matted beard and hid its eyes.
"The miners only come out after dark," said Tom. "They've almost lost the power of sight.... Look out—here comes an ore car." He dragged his master aside as a loaded car trundled out of the depths and skittered by them on rickety wheels, pushed by another monster.
"Good Lord," panted Jonathan. ”

“ If Wildoatia ever gets cleaned up, the Incors in the Underground will have to do the job themselves. The Patrol's work is to police Venusport and see that tender-foot Incors get an even break until they head into the bush."
"But why, Tom? Confound it...."
"Didn't you learn at school," the bartender interrupted, "that the state of Wildoatia is the safety valve for United Stars? The people who go there voluntarily—and the ones who are sent there—don't want to live under a decent government. They're incorrigibles who hate and abominate a peaceful, well-ordered civilization. ”

“ I glanced back at Eta. She had risen and was moving slowly toward us. Buhu was whispering vehemently to several of the natives. As I watched, Eta approached, and, without warning, placed her glossy back tight against the loudspeaker’s mouth. The spell was broken. The orator’s voice died to a murmur, completely blocked by the obstruction.
“Suddenly Eta’s voice rang out, speaking in purest native dialect, which I understood fairly well, but which Markley had never cared to learn.
“ ‘Oh, my people,’ she cried, lifting her arms high. ‘This man is an impostor. ”

“ Aunt Ellen was out of the house on one of the chores to which she now condescended to put her white hands and Maw was occupying the old rocker before the mirror. But what frightened me was the chatter in two distinct voices which still continued.
"Maw," I gulped. "Who—who you talking to?"
"Why, with Mrs.—Mrs. Jones here, of course." She laughed although her eyes refused to meet mine. "Mrs. Jones, this is my grandson I was telling you about. Take off your cap, son, and say—"
"But Maw," I gulped. "There's no one there. It's just your reflection in the looking glass." ”

“ By the evening of the third day they had left the wave bands which could be measured in meters and were exploring those strange and almost wholly uncharted depths of the ether which must be calculated in centimeters. There at last luck favored them. It was Jack who caught a strange pulsating tone on the three-centimeter band. It rose and fell, rose and fell, then died away like the keening of a lost soul.
"Listen," he whispered. "Plug in here. I've found something."
June and the doctor followed his instructions. Delicately fingering the coils, Baron picked up the sound again, only to lose it. ”

“ For a long while Jonathan stared at the pages. The singing of the canaries—their cages occupied every corner of the bedroom—finally roused him.
"Tom!"
"Yes sir." The old man had been waiting outside the door.
"Turn all these damned birds loose."
"But you'll need them to test the air in the mine, sir; the gas gets bad at times."
"Turn them loose, I said. At once!"
"Yes sir." Quietly the Negro went about the room, opening cage doors. Jonathan followed his progress with growing horror. The birds, so long accustomed to captivity, refused freedom. ”

“ Gray Henry had the fingers of his right hand injured years ago in the wars. This makes it hard for him to wield a sword, though on account of his giant stature no man could stand against him in his youth.
“Think well over these things, my boy, and do as you think best, but remember that the werewolf has killed my uncle and now my son, two of the best swordsmen of the country.”
That afternoon Gil Couteau sat again in the courtyard with his sword across his knees while the people of the castle stared wonderingly at his set face and fixed expression. ”

“ That was always Suspenso's after-effect, along with a ravening hunger and thirst. Sage reached for the canned tomatoes which spacemen favor in getting their starving, dehydrated bodies back to normal. Then he recalled the comb-shaped vessel and squinted blearily through the blister above his hammock. The black sky was empty of everything except gigantic sun, unwinking stars and the blank and shining disc of Venus. ”

“ By millions of millions the creatures of earth slow and drop when their time-sense is mysteriously paralyzed.
"There is no doubt of it!" The little chemist pushed steel-bowed spectacles up on his high forehead and peered at his dinner guest with excited blue eyes. "Time will come to an end at six o'clock this morning."
Jack Baron, young radio engineer at the Rothafel Radio laboratories, and protégé of Dr. Manthis, his host, laughed heartily.
"What a yarn you spin, Doctor," he said. "Write it for the movies."
"But it's true," insisted the older man. "Something is paralyzing our time-sense. ”

“ Years slip past like water when one is young. We hardly noticed, Annette and I, that the bend in Maw's back was growing more pronounced and that Paw stopped oftener for breath when he plowed our stubby fields or sawed the endless cords of wood which still could not keep the living room warm when wintry winds swept down from some place that he called Medicine Hat. ”

“ Sir Robert realized there was no use appealing to the king in far-away London, and prepared to take the law into his own hands, although he well knew that Castle Barnecan was better garrisoned than his own stronghold. Weapons were overhauled, equipment inspected and the fighting men given instructions.
The castle had sunk into comparative quiet at sunrise, but was immediately roused by a shouting at the drawbridge. Rushing to a turret they saw Gomar, his clothes again in ribbons, clinging to his horse’s neck to steady himself and doing his best to attract the attention of the guards. ”

“ He is a great magician who holds the god in his power, even as the wicked snake which charms the singing bird. Know also that I have discovered by watching closely how to break the spell and release the voice from its prison. It has promised me to make the people of Tolo the greatest on the river. Away with the white witch doctor,’ she shrieked. ‘I will be its priestess.’
“I realized that Eta must have been using her eyes closely during the last months. She knew how to operate Markley’s radio and this whole affair was a plot to take it from us.
“ ‘Kill the white men,’ Eta screamed in a frenzy. ”

“ Moments later a patrol ship disappeared in a flash which temporarily blinded the watcher.
That had been only a fission torp, he knew. But what if that crazy Carlos decided to chance one of the new disintegrators? A hit on one of the attackers would destroy the whole fleet. On the other hand, a miss.... As his sight returned he stared down at Venus in growing horror. If Hans had been right, a miss would explode the planet and might make the whole solar system go Nova! ”

“ She ran on without a word, as he had sometimes seen school-children run when they were tardy—her face puckered as though to cry; her breath short and rapid.
At the factory door he caught and tried to hold her. She beat her fists against his breast and sobbed in a wild burst of hysteria. At last she twisted herself free and rushed to her bench. There, almost magically, her face resumed its sweet serenity as she began her accustomed task. ”

“ His hands shook pitifully.
"This then is the end," he whispered hoarsely.
"Is there none of the drug left?" Jack shook him out of his lethargy.
"Enough for a half portion for all of us," sighed the doctor. "But what use of that? Better we poisoned ourselves now and escaped that demon."
"Nonsense. A half portion means twelve hours of life. In that time I can rig up the big transmitter. Perhaps there is still time to revive New York. Solinski won't know we have a generator until we turn on the power. Quick. Poor June must be nearly frightened to death at our shouting." ”

“ As a slow lightening of the cloud blanket indicated dawn, Sadie and Frank took places among some fifty Incors who were heading out from Venusport into Wildoatia. Like the others, they were dressed in heavy coveralls. Each carried a Tommygun, a knapsack stuffed with food and necessities, and a money belt containing the five thousand gold dollars without which no man or woman was allowed to cross the last frontier.
The Incors were a wild lot; mostly young, high-spirited or spoiled people who rebelled at the strict moral standards of United Stars. ”

“ Aunt Ellen more and more ceded her place before the mirror as she helped Annette and me do the lighter chores and even some of the cooking.
Bill Pailey came over every day now—Maw never paraded her shadows when he was around, knowing that the bluff farmer was somehow not to be trusted with such dream stuff. And the money which aunts and uncles contributed, willingly or grudgingly, was more and more needed to fill the gaps in our finances.
"Tommy," Annette said to me one afternoon as we were plodding home from school along the muddy dogwood-bordered road. "What happens to people when they die?" ”

“ You are the only hope I have now, and I ask your aid.”
“Sir,” replied Gil, “I will give my life gladly to help you. Also you must know that I have loved Lady Constance since first we met. Therefore I am doubly bound. Command me.” He stood, tall and dark, before Sir Robert.
“I would that we might storm that cursed castle,” continued the old man, “but we are not strong enough to try, except as a last resort. Besides, many whom I love would be killed. Therefore, let us use strategy. Do you know aught of werewolves?”
“A little,” replied Gil briefly. ”