The Washington times., 1910-08-18
A COLUMBUS OF SPACE By eARRETT ?; sERyIss


anywhere. and start for the earth at
the earliest possible moment"
Edmund unused a little while Then he
sid:
The day afte- tomorrow
The day after tomorrow I TeDIied,
impatiently. Why ITlde thUs2 You
know that there are no days and no to
rnorrOws in this land OF endless light
Edmund smiled
Count forty-eight hours by your
watch he said and al the end Of that
time premise you 10 start"
This promise heartened me immensely
But I did not know what that day
after tomorrow" had in store The blow
vas nearer falling Jnan I could have
suspected
u was hastened, without doubt. by an
occurrence which u0I-1f : COuld fCreSe
7 or govern, and which II il had hap
peued al the time OF our first arrival
would probably have had no mischief
Gus consequences for US
But. since that fatal interview N the
temple all was changed. and an event
more disastrous for Us than that wlli-h
have devised
1t was the opening Of the cloud
dome
/ have already told YOU that at Ger
tain unprotected times a rift appeared
IN the pearly vault Of the heavens
and the sun for a few minutes bIzzed
down through the opening in uncIOud
ed Spte1dor- 80 many years had
elapsed since the last occurrence OF
this phenomenon that for the younger
generation u was a tradition on which
the pagan religious SySteU-Of which
the eaSle-faced Sphinx IN the red
lighted temple was the head-center-
ives based. and its influence upon the
ie-t oraut and superStitioUS multitude
was dubotnded and irresistible.
This terrible priest, whose hatred OF
Us had. OF course. been stimulated by
Alas open defiance, had as 1 feared.
OcrUp-e the time OF our absence IN
poison ing as many minds as possible
against US, and his sacred character
hac enabled MIN 70 spread the venom
OF religious prejudice with amazing
rapidly EFeE II we had not wasted
time on our unfortunate expedition L
do not know that we could have done
much &c Counteract his perRiciOus in
nuenCe. but then. at least. we should
! havc been ready at an earlier date to
escape from his clutches
And who knows what Ala with her
great. popularity. might have accom-
plizhed # she had been on the ETOUnd
7 dio not doubt for a moment that
InSra was in the capital and thick in
Jht plO..
The opening OF the dome came very
great Shout rare COMMUNICATION
the people who happened 70 be on the
outer platforms Of the palace tower
We were al with Ala at the time,
Edmund being engaged IN trying TO
cecirher the curious characters in a
large book which she had brought
him.
Upon hearing the shout we all ran
cut.
The scene was one Of the most I'M
/ IoTEeJJable things that occurred in our
whole expedition. Excited people were
ClOWdlDE the platforms JCSciDE one an
other, JabbeTing. pushing and pointing
upward. some already on their knees.
others with looks Of the utmost coCster-
nation, throwing their arms wildly
above their heads while hundreds Of
aeroplaneS were CiTClinS like frightened
birds about the towers
I glanced upward, following the diTeC-
ton OF thousands Of eyes and was mo-
mentarily blinded By the fierce glare
Of The sun. pouring its uumitIgated rays
straight down through a narrow rift II
/ the clOud-dOme-
The sold and jewels that decorated
the tower made II blaze with a spIen-
tree struck by the morning rays after
a winter nights ice storm It was too
I dazzling TO look upon
Then there was q movement in the
vast throng, space cleared itself. and
the gigantic aUECr, wearing great
black inter flaming with circles OF
TUbies and CarbuuCiss, appeared, his
strange beak projecting on1inoUsly and
his black eyes aglOW-
Thousands instantly dropped or their
knees as he slowly advanced With one
long arm carrying a sort Of crOzier- re
pointed alOft. while ne UUttered q chant
that fell Ike a charm upon the super
StitiOuS multitude
I glanced at Ala
She did not stir, and felt nv heart
give an exultant bound. with the con-
victiOn which flashed over me that her
! active, penetrating mind had flung OF
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