The Washington times., 1910-07-26
Copyright. The Frank 4. s1unsey co.

7 or these fellows along when we start
Tor the daylight ride Of the planet ]
an nld my way wei enough with the
AID OF the stars, but these creatures
may be useful to US in other WAYS.
B4l we can take them in the car.
winch IS fuil enough already Luckily,
{ the poWe- OF the ear Is practically IN
limited. and IL could draw a whole
LIalns II necessary. NOW. I'm going to
larry them along In sieds, dragged
after the car, and III make the sieds
: Of iron. since there's no wood ID be
/ had It's another lucky thing that this
part OF venus IS almost a dead level, a
sort Of rolling prairie, as you have OBJ
served. covered with a kind of lev shin
gle, which Is just suited for runners
Trees cant grow here. and IL there
/ were ever any rivers they became
frozen sold ages ago.
But why not make the fellows
waIk2'' asked Jack. They've got good
legs"
walk said Edmund. why, man,
we've got at least 5000 miles 10 go be
. fore We reach the edge OF the sunlit
hemisphere, and 7 don't propose to
spend several months on the way.
With the sledS drawn after the car. we
. can make the journey at the rate Of 100
miles an hour"
'-Au right" said Jack The sooner
you start the better, as far as I'm con
Cerned- want 10 ind the gOod-IOOking
people Of Venus. These don't, suit my
Henry. after his manner. said moth
ms. buC as I saw him looking about /
got the impression that he was CalcU-
lating the millions that might be made
out or these Eron mines on Venus. Ed
mund never reached n decision without
starting Immediately 20 put & into
practice he now began his prepare
tons for che journey 70 the other side.
But they were quickly Interrupted in a
most dramatic fashion.
While we were occupied in the smithy.
as CT H. showing the native smiths
parts OF the proposed sIeds, we were in
terrupted By some one coming ia and
calling our assistants away from US
They all ran out and v n after them
on arriving In the priuCIr al cavern we
found a singular scene
Two natives. whom we did not recog-
ME as having made th' ir appearance
before were evlCsntly in charge OF
some kiTi OF ceremony They wore tan.
coEical -aus Of polished metz. covered
with curious nleroglEpnlcE. and mad
slaves OF Iron in their hands They mar
slalcd all the others numbering SeVeTll
hundreds, into a long column and then
began q slow solemn march up the
steps The TWO leaders kr0duced q
ends Of their slaves Women were min
gled with men. and even the children
were not excluded. We followed at the
tail OF the procession. our curiosity al
At he rate we went it must have
taken nearly an hour 20 mount the
steps. As we emerged into the open air
the cold struck % our marrow Inc U1-
tlves covered with FUR. didn't seem 10
mind iC. but We ran back 70 the shelf
where we had left our ArCuC CuJlLS-
ard pur them on Then we ascended
again and emerged INTO the night. mo
ing the crowd assembled not far from
the entrance 20 the cavern. The frosty
sky was ablaze with stars and directly
overhead shone q huEe' 9rll-la-nL pane ~. {
OF amazing beauty and close beside II q
EU7a Ter one
.sThc earth said Edmund, pointing
upward. sand the moon"
It was indeed. our planet and her
s7reTfre. I can't describe the feeling
that came over me at the sight But IN
a moment Edmund interrupted my
meditation
Look at THAR he said
The natives had formed themselves IN
a great circle under the starlight. with
the two leaders standing in the center
All the others dropped on their knees.
and the leaders raised their long arms
toward the sky and CaZed I'D at the
zenith at the same tire utter.nE q kind
Of chant IN their queer. Subdued voices
by LrEe- Lhe- TO WOTSllDins me
earlhrr ezcIaiu1ed Edmund
Indeed. she looked worth vEorshlpinE-
Never had 7 seen so amazingly splendid
an object She was twenty times IS
brilliant as the brightest planet Jha-
any terrestrial astronomer ever Dene-u-
And the moon glowing beside her Ike
beauty OF che sight
--It's lust the tine q the coujunc-
ficn.- said Edmund This IS their re-
IfCfon- Those fellows are their priests.
It all now 7 woUldn't have missed this
for 2 world"
Suddenly She two priests BEGAN 20
-i-oue-te AS they vhfrfed more and
made uhosporesceut circles in the gloom.
like those that had alarmed ard fas-
riuated us when we first met the Cre7-
t1res IN the -averu- They eyrated round
the ring Of worshipers with astonishing
speed. and all those creatures fell un-
der the fascination and dropped to the
ground. with eyes fixed ia evident help
less1e=s upon che two performer
Now. for the first time caught sight
o. q square object that seemed to be q
stone, rising q couple OF feet above the
ground, in the center Of the circle.
At this instant the spinning priests,
having drawn close 70 the ring OF fas-
ci1alet WCrS1-pe-s- made a dive. and
each caught q native in his arms and
ran with him toward the square object
that 7 have described
It's @ SaCrificidl .StoDe-' cried Edmund.
They're going 20 LII them as an offer
Ing 90 the earth and the moon"
The truth flashed into my mind. and
frOze me with horror. But Just as the
second priest reached the altar, where
the other had already pinned his victim
with a stroke Of the sharp point OF his
star. his captive, suddenly recovering
his senses and terrified by the awful
fate that confronted him, uttered cry.
wrenched himself loose, and, running
like the wind. IeaDed over the circle and
disappeared in the darkness. The fugf-
tive passed close to US, AMI Jack shout
&c, as he 6arted by.
Good bGy-r
The enraEed priest was after him ike
lightning As he came uelr his his aw-
ful eyes seemed TO emit actual flames.
but the runner had already vanished
without an iustant's hesitation the
priest shot out his long arm and caught
ne By the throat. IN another second I
felt myself carried, in a bound, as If
tiger. had seized me. over the drOopinz
heads of the wOrshipers, and toward the
horrible altar.
The Continuation Of This Story VIII
BE Found in TOmOrrow-s