John Martin Leahy

“ Rhodes said, "we'll soon have it again!"
And we soon did—the strong, mystic, and yet strangely misty, light pervading the mysterious and dreadful wood, the flickerings and flashes overhead soon opalescent and beautiful as ever.
We at once (Narkus and Thumbra having drawn their arrows from the body of the cat) left that spot, to make our way deeper and deeper into that weird forest, which harbored enemies so terrible and so treacherous.
"Why," I queried, "didn't we camp up there on the rocks, where it would have been impossible (save in darkness) for anything to approach us unseen? ”

“ I asked, my voice a whisper.
"Who," said Rhodes, "would ever have dreamed of such a thing as that?"
"I'm afraid," I told him, a shudder passing through my heart, "that our revolvers can't hurt a thing like this. It seems to be watching us. Look! Aren't those eyes—eyes staring at us, moving?"
"Eyes? Watching us? Oh, Lord, Bill!" said Rhodes.
"As for sending a bullet into it, don't," he added, "do anything so foolish."
He arose, stepped over and awoke Narkus. The monster was still hovering over the spot. The Droman bestowed upon that ghost but a cursory, careless look, then yawned sleepily. ”

“ For a few seconds her look rested upon Rhodes and me, and it was as though across those strange, wondrous pale eyes of hers a shadow had fallen.
As for the high priest, he had instantly, and with a fierceness that he could not bridle, turned to Drorathusa.
How Rhodes and I, as we sat there, wished that we could understand the words being spoken!
"Always, O Drorathusa," said Brendaldoombro, "has your spirit been strange and wayward. Always have you been a seeker after that which is dark and mysterious. And, of a truth, dark and mysterious is the evil which you have now brought upon Drome. ”

“ I exclaimed, and it was as though unseen things, phantom beings, so eery were the echoes, repeated the words in mockery and in gloating. "Why should men create such a Gorgonic nightmare? And worship it—worship the monster of their own creating? Look at that stone there in the center of the platform. Ugh! The things that must have taken place in that spot—the thought makes the flesh creep and the blood itself turn cold in one's veins!"
"What a dark and fearsome cavern, after all, is the skull of man," said Milton Rhodes, "a place where bats flit and blind shapes creep and crawl!" ”

“ A moment, and he was beside the Dromans, his light turned full upon the wall.
"Look at that, Bill!" said he.
I moved to his side, and we stood there gazing, for some moments motionless and silent.
"Well, Bill," he queried at last, "what do you think of that? We are not the first humans to stand in this spot."
"But probably thousands of years have passed since any human being stood here and gazed upon that entrance—went into it. I wonder what it leads to. Why should men have cut that passage into the living rock? In such a horrible place!" ”

“ Down this enormous cavern, the eye could range for three or four miles, at which distance the misty light drew its veil over the forest, the dark walls, and the roof arching across.
At times the light quivered and shook, and there were strange flickerings and dartings of opalescent streaks through it—streaks ineffably beautiful and yet, strangely enough, terrible too, terrible as the blades of plunging swords in hands savage and murderous.
Once more Drorathusa raised a hand and pointed into the misty distance. ”

“ The rays grew stronger, casting long shadows—shadows swaying, shaking, crawling. Then of a sudden the light itself appeared and a tall figure came gliding out of the passage.
"Drorathusa!" exclaimed Milton Rhodes.
This sudden lurch from agonized suspense and Gorgonic imagination to glad reality left me for some seconds speechless.
"Well, well," laughed Milton Rhodes, pressing the button and flooding the place with light, "isn't imagination a wonderful thing?"
"But," said I, "what on earth does this mean?"
"Look there, Bill, look!" cried Rhodes. "Look at that!" ”

“ That grave look left his face, and he smiled at me,
"And, besides, Billy me lad, maybe we won 't ever want to return to that world we have left—that world so full of ignorance, and yet so full of knowledge and science too; that world so cruel, and yet sometimes so strangely kind; that world so full of hate and mad passion, and yet with ideals and aspirations so very noble and lofty. Yes, who knows, Bill? It is possible that we may not want to return."
Was it significant, or was it purely casual? I could not decide. But Rhodes' gaze was now on the angel. ”

“ A dark form, with a gleam of something white, rose into the air and came driving straight toward us. I sprang aside and turned to fire but did not do so for fear of hitting the Dromans or Rhodes. There was a heavy, sickening thud; a piercing shriek from Drorathusa, the sound of rending cloth. The monster had her!
I leaped toward it and emptied the revolver into its side, whilst Narkus and Thumbra sent each an arrow into the body. That of the former was driven with such force that the feathered end of the shaft must have been half-way through the lungs. ”

“ For a space we stood there in silence looking at that dark mass which reared itself up, like a temple in ruins I thought, in the midst of the crevassed ice.
Then I said: "Who, looking at that pile, would ever dream that there was anything mysterious and weird about it—anything scientific?"
"The place," Mil ton returned, "certainly has an innocent look; but looks, you know, are often deceiving. And how deceiving in this instance, that we know full well. Besides Scranton, yourself and me, not a living soul knows how weird and fearful was the death of that poor girl." ”

“ I understood that now—they were guided by the wonderful instinct of the ape-bat. How truly wonderful that instinct is, we were yet to learn. Little wonder that Drorathusa mourned the loss of her dear, beloved and hideous demon!
The bat has in all ages been the personification of repulsiveness, gloom and horror; and yet it is in many ways a very wonderful creature. For instance, it can fly through intricate passages with ease and certitude when blinded, avoiding any obstacle in or across its way as though in possession of perfect vision. ”

“ The thing is so strange, though, that I didn't know whether to believe my eyes or not."
"And so dim," I observed, "that it may be nothing of the kind. A bridge? Now, who on earth would build a bridge across this frightful chasm? And why?"
"Quién sabe, Bill?" said Milton Rhodes.
The next moment we were moving toward it.
"Look!" ejaculated Rhodes suddenly. "It goes clear across!"
"Yes," I said, stopping and gazing at that strange dim mass; "it goes clear across. And that's the place, over there on the other side—that's where they are waiting for us!" ”

“ And so it was that we reached, there in the palace of the Droman queen, our journey's end—certainly a stranger journey than any I ever have heard of and one that ought to prove of even greater interest to science than to the world in general. If, however, what they tell of the region is true, an expedition to the mysterious land that the Dromans call Grawngrograr would make our fearful journey to Drome look like a promenade to fairyland. ”

“ We worked our way forward, twisting and turning. Slowly but steadily we advanced, drawing nearer and nearer to that dark, frowning, broken mass, wondering (at any rate, I was) about the secrets we should find there—unless, indeed, we were too late. What had Milton meant by that? How on earth could the apparition of the angel and the demon lie in any manner contingent upon the movement of the ice?
Well, we were very near now—so near, in fact, that, if there was anyone, anything lurking there in the rocks, it could hear us. ”

“ Well, that ancient world, too, had its science, some of which science, I fear (though this thought would have brought a pooh-pooh from Milton Rhodes) man has lost to his sorrow. And, like that ancient world, so perhaps had this strange underground world which we had entered—or, rather, were trying to enter. And perhaps of that science or some phases of it, this angel before us had fearful command. ”

“ And the Unknown was calling, calling and calling for me to come. To what? Perhaps to wonders the like of which Science never has dreamed. Perhaps to horrors and mysteries from which the imagination of even a Dante or a Doré would shrink and flee in mad terror—things nameless, worse than a thousand deaths.
But I wanted to go. Yes, I would go. I would go into that fearful Land of Grawngrograr—discover its mysteries or perish in the attempt.
And I am going, too. That journey has not been abandoned, only delayed. ”

“ The meanest Droman, indeed, would never dream of kneeling before his queen. A Droman kneels to no man or woman, but to God only. The sovereign does not owe her queendom to birth; but to merit, or to that which the Dromans deem as such. She is chosen, and she is chosen queen for life. I say she, and I mean she. The Salic law excluded a woman from the throne of France; the Salic law of Drome excludes the man—or, as the Dromans are wont to put it, "no man may be queen"—a proposition that even the most Socratical Droman philosopher has never been known to dispute! ”

“ The change was magical. You should have seen those fellows! Whether it was the report of the weapon or whether it was that hole through which the water came spouting in, I do not know; but the taming of those wild men was swift and complete. As soon as they had recovered their wits, round flew the bow of their boat and away they went toward the shore. Our Dromans burst into laughter, even Drorathusa. And that was the last that we saw of those three fanatics.
But why had they done it? Wherefore were Rhodes and I the objects of a hatred so fierce and insensate? ”

“ Just how wide it was there we could not tell, what with the uncertain light that struggled to the spot; but we saw enough to know that that way which we should have to cross was a very narrow one indeed; and on either side the black chasm yawning to receive us. And just beyond, dim and ghostly as though seen in a dream, stupendous columns rose up and were involved in the darkness of the lofty cavern. ”

“ I asked, "didn't Grandfather Scranton say that the eyes of the demon burned with a greenish fire?"
Rhodes nodded.
"Of course, though," he said, "light has to reach them, or the eyes can't shine. In absolute darkness they would not do so."
"That eye shone, though ghostly, for the light that reaches that spot is dim. And so the angel at least—and heaven only knows what besides—is waiting there with her demon!"
"Yes, Bill; there can be no doubt that the eye which you saw belonged to a demon. The prospect is certainly a sinister one, I admit." ”

“ At length the light no longer lay in streams and rifts in the darkness, but the darkness, instead, lay in streams through the light. The Dromans quickened their already hurried pace, and there were exclamations of "Drome! Drome!"
"Drome!" echoed Milton. Rhodes. "I wonder what we are going to find."
"Something wonderful," said I, "or something worse, perhaps, than anything that we have seen."
Rhodes laughed, and I saw Drorathusa (Narkus was leading the way) turn and send a curious glance in our direction. ”

“ We are prone, some of us, to think the record of the intellect a shabby one; but, after all, the record is not, all things considered, so bad as it may seem at a first glance. It might have been better; but we should rejoice that it is not worse, that the mind, the hope of the world, has made even the slight advance that it has. Mind is on his way at last! And, with Science on his right hand and Invention on his left, he can not fail to conquer the ape and the tiger—to win to a future brighter even than the most beautiful of our brightest dreams. ”

“ I peered with straining eyes but could see nothing there. A few moments passed, and nothing was seen. I then turned to Rhodes to ask him what it was; but the words I was about to speak were never uttered. Instead, I gave something like a cry and whirled round. For a sound had come from out the fungoid growth and the darkness behind us—a sound as of a slimy thing moving, slipping. ”

“ That we might at any moment find a demon or a dozen demons driving at us—well, that was a possibility which never left our thoughts for one single second. And, in those narrow places, where the ledge contracted to a mere ribbon of rock, it was all one wanted to do to hug the wall and make sure of his footing. A frightful place, truly, in which to meet, even with a revolver, the attack of even one of those winged monsters; and we might find ourselves attacked by a dozen. ”

“ Maybe things in other directions too!"
"Well," said Rhodes complacently as he followed along in my wake, "we have our revolvers."
"Revolvers? Just see what your revolver has done! A revolver is only a revolver, while that thing—who knows what that monster is?"
"The Dromans know—or think that they do."
"And look at the Dromans! Fear has them. Did you ever see fear like that before? See how they are signing to us to come on. Even Drorathusa is shaken to the very soul." ”

“ His look, one of baffled fury, then became fierce and defiant.
"So!" said Lathendra Lepraylya. "What madness is this that I see What blood-howl is this that I hear? No woman or man in Drome may be deprived of liberty or life without fair trial; and yet you, yes, even you, O Brendaldoombro, are here striving to make a shambles of the very throne itself!"
She raised a hand and pointed toward us.
"If these men are indeed——"
"They are not men!" the old villain shouted. "They are demons who have taken the human shape, to attain here in Drome some fell purpose. Death, I say! ”

“ Who knows what message they bring to us? Now they stand silent; but, when they will have learned our language, then we shall learn that which is now so dark and mysterious."
"Dark and mysterious indeed!" cried the high priest. "Signs and portents have been given us, warning us of what is to follow if we harbor these demons amongst us. And I tell you, O Lathendra Lepraylya, you and all Drome shall rue this day if you heed not the dread warnings of the wrath divine. ”

“ I should have explained that we had turned aside from the edge of the canyon, had crossed that little stream mentioned by Grandfather Scranton and had begun to climb that steep rocky mass he spoke of.
"What the deuce," said I, "is that fellow whistling like that for? It can't be to us."
"That," Milton Rhodes smiled, "isn't a man, Bill."
"Not a man!"
"It's a marmot," Milton told me. "A marmot? Well," said I, "we live and we learn. I could have sworn, Milton, that it was a human being."
The ascent was a steep one, and we climbed in silence. ”

“ I looked at Milton Rhodes, and on the instant I knew that he too had been noticing all these things. Had the same thoughts come to him also?
"Everything is still now," I observed. "That sound might have been only a fancy."
He nodded slowly. "Or it might been made by the glacier. No telling, though, Bill. It might have been real enough and something else. We mustn't forget that."
"I am not likely to do so. However, what do you make of this?"
"It may be the way to—the way to Drome. And it may be nothing of the kind. They easily could have vanished into this crevasse." ”