The Washington times., 1910-07-26
CHAPTER ".
lie CaVerns of Venus-


they looked Ike fun moons, they were
50 DIG, so round, and so LUMINOSITY yell
low II was the phosphorescent yellow,
snOt with green, that You sometimes
see IN the eyes OF q cat or q wild beast
Its great, hairy head was black, but its
snort stocky body was as white as that
OF a Polar bear. Its arms were long.
Ike an apes, and Il had look Of ina
nlense strength and activity.
Edmund was the first 20 recover from
me surprise, and then he did thing
tAaL seems absurd when I recall II
" ell halo, your he called out, in
a voice that made us lump as II Il had
/ been a thUuder-clap- In that heavy at
mospheTre the. sounds struck the ear
drums like trip-hammers
The effect on the creature was cleo
Jrlc, A film shot across his big eyes. he
I made q sudden movement uttered a
queer squeak that seemed ridiculous.
| coming from an animal OF such size,
| ana. IN an instant more, he had diSaD-
| peared, stumbling and tumoIing down
"Hurrahr' shouted Edmund. We've
/ conquered a Hemisphere
/ In tacrs the evident terror OF the crea-
Jure immediately hearteued Us all Our
rear vanished, and. following Edmund,
! We rushed for the hole and BEGAN a hIr-
ned chase down the steps.
I We noticed that the air was decidedly
/ warmer around the mouth Of the Dit,
and as we descended the tsu3geratJ1rc
I rose After while we pulled of our
/ AEcLlG toys and LETT them on g shelf or
I the rock, out We didn't leave the auto
matte pistols. Then we proceeded down
( &aru- X was an awful hole for Eeuth
/ TIE steps rUcely cut wound round and
I Over except mat the shape Of the pit
] was not regular II looked Ike a nat
1 ul'al formation. Perhaps, thought. the
I t--lo1L OF an extinct Volcano though
! there being no mountain, that didn't
/ seem probable either. But the steps
1 were certainly or artificial origin
! When We had descended several hun
/ Stied Leet we emerged suddenly into q
/ broad cavern The teuDeraL ure had
l f,Cen rising all the time, and here II
/ vas as warm as in an ordinary room
/ twenty yards broad and eight TO ten
/ rect IN height with faI roof. over
] "a corner / saw q hole down which
Lle steps continued There was not a
l living thing visible, but there was light
! coming from what looked Ike a heap OF
1 coal burning with great briIIiLuce In
I the center OF the floor.
A strange but not unpleasant of0r
I IllieG the place and as we paused to
I consult We all spoke OF the curious ex-
/ hlisratiCn which we had experienced
I almost from the moment OF setting foot
1 on the planet Edmund said IL was due
% the dense atmosphere. which un-
/ ccubtediy was heavy with oxygen Il
certainly mad good deal 10 do with
/ our rising courage and our i1seusibfl-
ltF 20 fatigue. NOLWlL SSEa-dinz the
/ preclpttaDcy Of our long descent, we did
4 ed about us seeing no one Edmund de-
( cLared that It was necessary 10 20 on.
/ we can't give II up he said
[ " We got 70 ind the lDnz BitaTrS and
I now that we have seen one OF them. we
I know pretty vel wla- 60 expect Come
along
he led the way down the steps IN the
/ corner They wound round just ike the
Others, and again we descended a long
{ distance uernauS as much as go feet.
/ Then we reached second cavern,
I .a-n~a- and 1nfrrEr than ~
[ there we found them
/ There never was such a sIEht1 Tt made
[ OUT blood run cold again. DOCWirbStau6-
[ Ing our initial triumph. which had been
Z 50 cheapIy won.
/ Ranged along the farther side Of the
7 cavern visible by fae night Of another
L-sa2 OF oI.5hL Goa, were twenty or
/ thirty Of those creatures standing
/ shoulder to shoulder. with their great
I eyes glazing ike bulTs-eye lanterns. But
the most fr4ghtful OF all were their mo-
tons.
You have read how huge cc5ra, rear
ing on its coils SEays its TERRIBLE head
from side 10 SIDE before SJf-k .uE-. well
al those black heads before Us, with
/ their lantern eyes, were swayInE in uni
son, only the motion was circular Three
times By the right. and then three times
by the left. those heads ci-CIed, IN
rhythmic caoeUce- while me luminous
I eyes made phOsp OresCent rings IA tle
air, interseCti1g one another in C0use-
QuenCe Of the rapid movement.
&
ever beheld in the widest dream II
was baIefull It was the charm of the
serpent paralyZing its terrified prey. We
felt II in an instant and our brains be-
can TO wnfr1 I found myself srazrer5na-
in spite OF all Ely efforts 70 stand firm,
and a kind OF paralysis ran through my
/ limbs Presently all moving together
and uttering o Kissing WllStllnE sound,
/ they began slowly 20 approach Us, keep
Z iDg IN line, each shaggy leg lifted high
at the same moment Ike 50 many sol
. - D.
tiuued to swing and the glowing eyes
/ TO cut linked circles in the air. But for
Edmund we should have been lost He
spoke 10 Us over his shoulder in
I whisper
Boys. take your pistols and XIII as
many as you can, but don't shoot IN
/ less they make rush I'll knock over
1.-THE leader, in the center and / think
I that'H be enough
/ So saying. he raised his pistol. but, as
! for the rest of US. we could no more
have stirred our arms than II We had
/ been marble statues
] As the creature approached another
! step Edmund blazed away The report
/ was Ike an earthquake Il shocked US
/ into our senses, and almost out Of them
/ again. The weight OF the atmosphere
/ and the confinement or the cavern
/ magnified and concentrated the sound
/ until L was awful The fellow in the
/ center. that Edmund had aimed at,
was hurled 20 the ground as II shot
] from q catapuIt The others fell as
/ fat as he. and all lay sTOveling, the
! big eyes filming ana swaylng wildly,
but no longer in unison
/ The charm was broken and, as we
/ saw our enemies PROSTATE, our courage
/ and nerve returned.
Il thought So said Edmund, cOOlIy-
/ It's the sound that they can't stand
1 I'm sorry I killed that fellow. for the
/ report alone would have been SUI
/ fcient- This atmosphere acts like a
micrOphone. You have heard the
/ voices OF these creatures, which are
hardly louder than whispers. Their
/ ears are evidently not made for sounds
Z Of any magnitude I shouldn't wonder
( If I had burst every ear-drum in the
I lot.
After an he continued after a mo-
ruents thought. 1t is perhaps as well
/ that I took one life Probably ii would
have had To come eventually and now
we have them thoroughly cowed If
they had ever reached as they would
have torn rs asunder in a moment with
those muscular arms
E-rTrr- - II r~