The dwarf made a curiously expressive pleading gesture. O’Keefe abruptly took the garments; passed into the room of the fountain.
“The Shining One dances not again?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “No”— he hesitate —“it is the usual feast that follows the sacrament! Lugur — and Double Tongue, who came with you, will be there,” he added slowly.
“Lugur —” I gasped in astonishment. “After what happened — he will be there?”
“Perhaps because of what happened, Goodwin, my friend,” he answered — his eyes again full of malice; “and there will be others — friends of Yolara — friends of Lugur — and perhaps another”— his voice was almost inaudible —“one whom they have not called —” He halted, half-fearfully, glancing at the globe; put finger to lips and spread himself out upon one of the couches.
“Strike up the band”— came O’Keefe’s voice —“here comes the hero!”
He strode into the room. I am bound to say that the admiration in Rador’s eyes was reflected in my own, and even, if involuntarily, in Olaf’s.
“A son of Siyana!” whispered Rador.
He knelt, took from his girdle-pouch a silk-wrapped something, unwound it — and, still kneeling, drew out a slender poniard of gleaming white metal, hilted with the blue stones; he thrust it into O’Keefe’s girdle; then gave him again the rare salute.
“Come,” he ordered and took us to the head of the pathway.
“Now,” he said grimly, “let the Silent Ones show their power — if they still have it!”
And with this strange benediction, be turned back.
“For God’s sake, Larry,” I urged as we approached the house of the priestess, “you’ll be careful!”
He nodded — but I saw with a little deadly pang of apprehension in my heart a puzzled, lurking doubt within his eyes.
As we ascended the serpent steps Marakinoff appeared. He gave a signal to our guards — and I wondered what influence the Russian had attained, for promptly, without question, they drew aside. At me he smiled amiably.
“Have you found your friends yet?” he went on — and now I sensed something deeply sinister in him. “No! It is too bad! Well, don’t give up hope.” He turned to O’Keefe.
“Lieutenant, I would like to speak to you — alone!”
“I’ve no secrets from Goodwin,” answered O’Keefe.
“So?” queried Marakinoff, suavely. He bent, whispered to Larry.
The Irishman started, eyed him with a certain shocked incredulity, then turned to me.
“Just a minute, Doc!” he said, and I caught the suspicion of a wink. They drew aside, out of ear-shot. The Russian talked rapidly. Larry was all attention. Marakinoff’s earnestness became intense; O’Keefe interrupted — appeared to question. Marakinoff glanced at me and as his gaze shifted from O’Keefe, I saw a flame of rage and horror blaze up in the latter’s eyes. At last the Irishman appeared to consider gravely; nodded as though he had arrived at some decision, and Marakinoff thrust his hand to him.
And only I could have noticed Larry’s shrinking, his microscopic hesitation before he took it, and his involuntary movement, as though to shake off something unclean, when the clasp had ended.
Marakinoff, without another look at me, turned and went quickly within. The guards took their places. I looked at Larry inquiringly.
“Don’t ask a thing now, Doc!” he said tensely. “Wait till we get home. But we’ve got to get damned busy and quick — I’ll tell you that now —”
1. I have no space here even to outline the eschatology of this people, nor to catalogue their pantheon. Siya and Siyana typified worldly love. Their ritual was, however, singularly free from those degrading elements usually found in love-cults. Priests and priestesses of all cults dwelt in the immense seven-terraced structure, of which the jet amphitheatre was the water side. The symbol, icon, representation, of Siya and Siyana — the globe and the up-striving figures — typified earthly love, feet bound to earth, but eyes among the stars. Hell or heaven I never heard formulated, nor their equivalents; unless that existence in the Shining One’s domain could serve for either. Over all this was Thanaroa, remote; unheeding, but still maker and ruler of all — an absentee First Cause personified! Thanaroa seemed to be the one article of belief in the creed of the soldiers — Rador, with his reverence for the Ancient Ones, was an exception. Whatever there was, indeed, of high, truly religious impulse among the Murians, this far, High God had. I found this exceedingly interesting, because it had long been my theory — to put the matter in the shape of a geometrical formula — that the real attractiveness of gods to man increases uniformly according to the square of their distance — W. T. G.
2. I find that I have neglected to explain the working of these interesting mechanisms that were telephonic, dictaphonic, telegraphic in one. I must assume that my readers are familiar with the receiving apparatus of wireless telegraphy, which must be “tuned” by the operator until its own vibratory quality is in exact harmony with the vibrations — the extremely rapid impacts — of those short electric wavelengths we call Hertzian, and which carry the wireless messages. I must assume also that they are familiar with the elementary fact of physics that the vibrations of light and sound are interchangeable. The hearing-talking globes utilize both these principles, and with consummate simplicity. The light with which they shone was produced by an atomic “motor” within their base, similar to that which activated the merely illuminating globes. The composition of the phonic spheres gave their surfaces an acute sensitivity and resonance. In conjunction with its energizing power, the metal set up what is called a “field of force,” which linked it with every particle of its kind no matter how distant. When vibrations of speech impinged upon the resonant surface its rhythmic light-vibrations were broken, just as a telephone transmitter breaks an electric current. Simultaneously these light-vibrations were changed into sound — on the surfaces of all spheres tuned to that particular instrument. The “crawling” colours which showed themselves at these times were literally the voice of the speaker in its spectrum equivalent. While usually the sounds produced required considerable familiarity with the apparatus to be understood quickly, they could, on occasion, be made startlingly loud and clear — as I was soon to realize — W. T. G.
CHAPTER XX
THE TEMPTING OF LARRY
We paused before thick curtains, through which came the faint murmur of many voices. They parted; out came two — ushers, I suppose, they were — in cuirasses and kilts that reminded me somewhat of chain-mail — the first armour of any kind here that I had seen. They held open the folds.
The chamber, on whose threshold we stood, was far larger than either anteroom or hall of audience. Not less than three hundred feet long and half that in depth, from end to end of it ran two huge semi-circular tables, paralleling each other, divided by a wide aisle, and heaped with flowers, with fruits, with viands unknown to me, and glittering with crystal flagons, beakers, goblets of as many hues as the blooms. On the gay-cushioned couches that flanked the
