David Franklin Powell

“ Stepping out on to the wet and glistening deck, Silas moored the vessel securely by her stern cable to a projecting pinnacle of ice, then turned and gazed about them.
Above rose the heights of the barrier range, towering peak above peak for thousands of feet into the splendour of the Arctic sky; before him, silent and deserted as a sea of the dead, rolled the mighty waters of the Polar Sea.
“Glorious!” breathed Mervyn rapturously. “Glorious!” and he shaded his eyes from the glare of the sun, as he gazed in an ecstasy of enthusiasm across the shimmering wave-crests. ”

“ Another instant and Rahee the terrible would have been no more; but, ere the baronet could fire, Silas gripped his arm.
“Don’t plug the brute,” he cried sharply, “it’s the only thing that’ll keep those fiends back when they tumble to our game. I’m goin’ down.”
Ere Seymour could restrain him, Silas had laid down his rifle, swung himself over the edge, and, with a cheery shout to Mervyn, commenced the descent. From ledge to ledge the wiry American descended, as cool and collected as though it were an everyday matter for him to venture into the den of a giant spider. ”

“ Cut and thrust alike fell harmless; their spears shivered themselves to fragments against the Ayuti’s shield. At every sweeping stroke of the great axe a savage crashed to earth.
Amid the hideous, misshapen forms of the wolf-men the Ayuti towered as a god among demons, and ever and anon a thrilling war-cry pealed from his lips, ringing clear as a bell above the din. Not all their ferocious courage could serve Nordhu’s savages now, nor could their cunning aid them. ”

“ For awhile my rage and despair knew no bounds, and I raced up and down the beach like a madman, feeling that I was hopelessly lost in this subterranean world. Presently I grew calmer, and began to look at my position from the standpoint of common-sense. It was terrible enough in all conscience. Alone, entirely defenceless—for I had lost my revolver when I fell into the hands of the savages—in a land inhabited by monstrous beasts and wolf-like men, it was a situation, you will admit, that would have tried the stoutest heart. ”

“ Further and further the three friends drew from the wolf-men. Then suddenly they rounded a bend in the tunnel, which bore them out of sight of the savages, and on the instant a swelling roar like the sound of many waters, came to their ears. The spell which had held the wolf-men was broken. They were sweeping forward in pursuit.
“Run!” roared Chenobi, and, flinging Nordhu over his shoulder, he turned and leapt forward like a deer. After him went the others at their topmost speed, Seymour, for all the weight of his armour, getting over the ground at an astonishing pace. ”

“ Boom! A thunderous explosion reverberated down the canyon, shaking the instruments in the turret lockers, and a burst of flame leapt up some distance ahead, its vivid crimson glow paling the beams of the great searchlight.
It died away in a moment,
“A volcano!” gasped the scientist. Then the Seal, narrowly escaping collision with the rocky wall, swept out of the gorge.
Before them, seen dimly through the falling ashes, lay the black and silent waters of a great lake; and, in the midst, its fiery crest glowing like the mouth of the Pit, towered a mighty volcano. ”

“ A moment later a vast cloud of blinding mist rolled down upon the vessel, blotting out the surface of the water and enveloping pursued and pursuer in a thick white veil.
“Thank God!” the engineer cried fervently, as the Seal raced on into the friendly shelter of the mist.
Gradually the sound of the reptile’s paddles grew fainter. Like a hunted hare the submarine twisted and doubled, ever drawing away from her monstrous foe; yet, even when all sound of the brute had ceased, Wilson still held on, determined not to fall foul again of the peril he had so narrowly escaped. ”

“ Gripping their weapons firmly, his comrades advanced to complete the work which the elk had begun. But Muswani was before them. While yet the reptile strove to rise, the king’s gallant steed hurled itself again upon him, the terrible antlers tearing deep into the monster’s vitals. A scream of agony burst from the huge brute’s throat, and he grabbed savagely at his agile enemy with his sickle-like claws. At that moment Chenobi’s axe swept downward, almost severing the monster’s left fore-limb, while the adventurers, rushing in, plunged their spears deep into his gleaming white belly. ”

“ Better that he should be torn to pieces by these fearsome brutes than that he should be the primary cause of arming them with the weapons of civilised warfare. Should the brutes ever find their way to the upper world, they would overwhelm the whole globe.
“No,” he returned, drawing himself up, “I will not show ye the secret of the fire-weapons. Do with me as thou wilt.”
“So,” snarled the priest, “ye defy me. Bolder wills than thine have I overcome. ’Tis an evil moment for ye when ye cross Nordhu.”
He bent his piercing eyes upon Mervyn, and his look seemed to sear the scientist’s very soul. ”

“ Rising, his friends followed. With a sharp word of command to his steed and hounds, the Ayuti commenced the ascent. Allowing a few moments to elapse, Mervyn followed, then in turn came Wilson and the American, Seymour bringing up the rear. Upward they toiled, their eyes strained to catch the gleam from Chenobi’s jewel, their only guide amid the gloom.
Slowly Muswani and the hounds—left to their own devices at the foot of the steps—faded from view. Then the plain itself vanished, seeming to give place to an illimitable black void. And afar off, miles and miles away, a silver haze hovered. ”

“ Hereafter silence fell upon the trio. Each man’s thoughts were busy with the things of the future. Would they ever find a way out of this underworld, or were they doomed to wander in its ghostly wilds until death released them? At the moment their prospect was not an alluring one!
Without any settled plan for the future, save to put as great a distance as possible between themselves and the wolf-men, they seemed helpless. Haverly’s active mind revolved all the expedients which presented themselves, yet, even to him, the case seemed almost hopeless. ”

“ So brilliant was the glow that it paled the light of the priest’s stone, and, for a few seconds, Mervyn was compelled to veil his eyes with his manacled hands. Presently, as they became accustomed to the glare, he was able to take note of his surroundings.
He was standing in a vast natural amphitheatre in the heart of the mountain range. Around him, ledge upon ledge, terrace after terrace, rose the cliffs, and every cranny of the towering walls was crowded with fungi. Everywhere the luminous growths flourished, the floor of the amphitheatre alone being free from them. ”

“ The perilous position of the struggling figures unnerved all but Chenobi. He, with a cry of rage, leapt to earth and sprang to the baronet’s assistance. But, ere he could reach the scene of the struggle Seymour and the savage pitched over the brink of the abyss, and, still grappling madly, hurtled into the gloomy depths below.
“Great Heaven!” Mervyn burst out despairingly; “he is lost! My poor friend!”
Haverly’s eyes blazed with a terrible hate.
“Say, Mervyn,” he snapped, “we don’t stir a peg out of this devil’s hole of a country till we’ve avenged poor Seymour. ”

“ Like the wail of a soul in torment, the despairing cry trembled from the captive scientist’s lips as the sacred beast emerged from the cavern.
Never in all his wildest dreams had he imagined that so hideous a creature could exist. Long afterwards the terror of the brute haunted him. Its glaring eyes seemed to be ever before him, and the gnashing of its jaws dinned in his ears for days.
With a stealthy, sidelong motion the spider-like brute crept towards its fascinated victim. Every hair on its great, brown body bristled with fury ”

“ What if the base of the great ice barrier rested upon the ocean bed? What if it were not a floating chain of ice mountains, as he believed, but an immovable line of cliffs, their icy feet gripping the sandy bed of the Polar Sea?
Such might easily be the case; and if so, what then?
Ay! what then?
The scientist answered the question for himself.
A humiliating retreat from the barrier which had battled them; a still more humiliating return to their native shore, there to endure the scoffs and sneers of every dabbler in science who could put pen to paper. ”

“ The rifle butts rose and fell with sickening monotony, and at each stroke a wolf-man crashed to earth. The knives flashed like lightning through the crimson glare as Wilson and the scientist flung themselves pell-mell into the combat.
The engineer, plunging his weapon into the breast of a savage, tore the spear from his grasp, and fell to with this new tool with tremendous energy. Back and forth the struggling group swayed, one moment perilously close to the brink of the fire gulf, the next many yards away. ”

“ On either hand towered the palaces of the Ayutis, now, alas, tottering to decay. Built of some dazzling white stone, they gleamed through the twilight as though bathed in a flood of moonlight; the effect—accentuated by the silence of the whole place—being indescribably weird. The footsteps of the adventurers raised a volley of echoes from the deserted streets as they moved over the pavement, and from ahead at intervals came the muffled baying of hounds.
The Ayuti was strangely silent as he strode beside Muswani, the elk—he had not mounted since raising the drawbridge. ”

“ Like a flash he darted across the deck, no trace of a limp apparent in his movements. Past Haverly and Mervyn—both of whom were standing somewhat apart from the rest—he dashed; but unwilling to let him escape, the scientist grabbed at his robe. Like the wolf he was at heart, Nordhu swung round, and a weapon flashed from beneath his mantle.
With a hoarse cry of warning, the Yankee leapt forward. The next instant the report of a revolver rang out, and Haverly dropped with a sob, the blood welling up from a wound in his breast. ”

“ At once the pursuers became watchful. What card was Nordhu about to play? they wondered. What devilish trick was he about to perform? The priest’s face puckered up into a savage grin as he noted the hesitation of his enemies.
“Why do ye not come on?” he cried ironically; “art afraid? I have waited to bid ye farewell, thinking perchance ye might grieve did I leave you without.”
Seymour’s face was distorted with fury as he gazed upon the priest. Scarcely could he control the mad passion which bade him rush forward and grip the grinning fiend. ”

“ Their long, fearfully-distorted limbs, their hideous feet and hands, armed with talon-like nails, their lean, emaciated bodies, covered with coarse, brown hair; their low, receding foreheads, flat noses, and immense, protruding, wolf-like fangs—all this, crowned by a mass of thickly-matted hair, which hung almost to the loins, seen in the dim, ghostly twilight of the underworld, made up a picture of diabolical horror such as would be difficult, if not impossible, to beat. ”

“ Quickly the rumbling grew into the pounding of giant hoofs, and the ground shook beneath the fugitives’ feet.
“A stampede!” the baronet cried. “The devils have stampeded a herd of animals! Run for your lives!”
But his friends needed no urging. They ran as men with the fear of death upon them, gazing eagerly to right and left in hope of finding some cave or cleft in the cliffs in which they might hide. ”

“ With a shock which flung the occupants of her turret to the floor, the Seal struck the beach immediately below the crater, burying her prow deep in the yielding sand.
As her quivering hull came to a standstill, another booming explosion burst from the volcano, and once more a lurid flash of flame leapt from its glowing mouth, far into the sulphur-laden air above.
“Great Heaven!” cried Seymour, “we’re done now for sure!”
As the words left his lips Garth entered the turret.
“The engines are absolutely useless,” he said gloomily. ”

“ At present they had perforce to be content to look on, and the sight aroused their keenest admiration, while satisfying the lust for vengeance which burned within them.
Like ripened grain the wolf-men fell away before that terrible axe, and still Chenobi was untouched. Every spear-thrust or stab of knife fell harmless upon his great shield. His arm seemed tireless, as he wielded the mighty weapon which a man of average strength could barely lift. Still the carnage went on, still the pile of dead grew, until but five of the attackers remained. ”

“ What beings were they who could span this fearful gulf with a structure that would have reflected credit upon the finest engineer in the civilised world? Not the wolf-men, of a certainty! Creatures of their brutish intellect could never have planned and carried out so stupendous an enterprise; and if not they, then what other beings dwelt in this wild and ghostly land?
“Look!” cried Seymour suddenly, “it is a drawbridge! The centre span is drawn up.” ”

“ Terror-stricken as they were, the adventurers gazed with a kind of fascination upon the reptile. There was something so devilish about him as he stood there in the full glare of the fungi, the scaly plates of his hide shimmering like a silver sea with every move he made, and his sabre-like teeth gnashing with fury, that they could do naught but stare. Not one could lift a weapon, save the Ayuti. He alone had not succumbed to the paralysing fascination of the creature. ”

“ The submarine had crept round a great out-jutting spur of the ice-cliffs, and before her, in the face of the glittering wall, loomed a monstrous archway, full one hundred feet in width and almost as much in height.
Before this enormous cavern the millionaire brought the Seal to, with her brow pointing directly into the darkness, which even the rays of the searchlight failed to dispel for more than a few yards distant.
“I reckon we might do worse than try this,” he suggested.
“Take her in,” Mervyn said eagerly; “there is a chance. We can but return, should it prove to be a cul-de-sac.” ”

“ A few paces farther and a great, black chasm yawned before them, splitting the plain in twain. At its depth they could only guess, but in width it appeared to be about thirty feet, and from its black depths arose the roar of a mighty torrent.
“See!” cried the baronet, “the ‘wolf-men,’ as you call them, must have crossed here.”
He pointed to where a frail, hide rope bridge—formed by two long strands united by numerous cross-ties after the manner of a rope ladder—swayed giddily above the abyss. ”

“ Another hour went by, and still the dual tracks of Garth’s captors and the great Triceratops stretched before them.
The plain grew more and more gloomy as they advanced, the fungi failing entirely, so that the two had to grope their way as best they could through the dim twilight of this subterranean world; and, though haste was so necessary, Haverly dared not use his lantern, save occasionally, when the trail grew indistinct, lest the light would attract some of the hideous creatures whom he had well named “Wolf-men.” ”