The Washington times., 1910-07-27
ACOLUMBUS OF SPACE
By GARRETT P. SERVISS
Copyright. The Frank A sluasey Co

1 the reports crashed through the heavy
/ air you should have seen the crowd van
| ISL down the holei The sight made me
/ vince when / thought that they must
/ have gone down Ike cataract. all
/ heaped together.
] But they were tough, and I trust that
I no heads were broken The effect on our
! twelve fellows on the sleds came near
/ being disastrous. / thought that they
/ would leap of and run, and no doubt
| they would have done SO but for the
/ fact that Edmund put on so much speed
Z that q new terror instantly took the
place OF the old one
/ Instinct taught them not to jump
/ when the ground was spinning away
/ under them at the rate OF sixty miles
! an hour Edmund brought Jack sharp
/ u to book for his thOughtlessness.
| Give me your pistol, he said, in his
! old masterful way, which nobody that
/ 7 ever saw could stand against.
/ Jack was almost twice his size. but he
/ handed over the pistol Ike rebuked
/ schO0lboy.
when you learn how TO use it I'll
( give IL back 10 YOU said Edmund and
| that closed the incident.
The plan OF the sleds worked Ike
magic.
/ AFTER their nrst fear had vanished the
natives began immensely TO enjoy the
I new sensation Edmund worked I'D the
! speed, as he had promised, 10 100 miles
I an hour, and even for us in the car Il
/ was glorious spin
But there was one danger that had TO
/ be guarded against-the mouths OF the
/ csverns.
As / have told you, the natives were
divided into tribes. each tribe being IN
I possession Of a group OF cayerus. These
CayeruS were undoubtedly OF natural
I origin. but why they were not more
uniformly distributed over the surface 1
cannot say.
Anyhow. the fact was that perhaps
/ forty OF nifty pits would be found scat
| tered over a mile or two OF ground, and
! many or them connected by under
I ground passages, and then there would
I De long distance without any caFeII1s-
I All seemed 10 be- Inhabited, and 10 that
fact we owed in a great measure the
safety OF the sleus.
The shafts OF light Issuing from the
/ Cayerns were so many Deacons IN the
/ endless night, telling rs where the IN
GergI 1und settlements lay, and so we
/ avoided running the sleds into the
/ holes. although we had one or two
narrow escapes as it was
Twice Edmund insisted on stopping
at group OF cayerls 70 make Jle &C
qaalnLaDCs or their inhabitants On
both occasions we descended into the
caves and round me creatures AT
home. Whether they would have re-
C-lEed us so ClElL-y u we had not
taken Juba aIouE ! can't say
luVarIa bly, he acted as 1uterCessor
ana lnlefpTeleE ana guess OlE lepl-
latlOu SuueTed no pelitt-eInent rom
his accounts Of our pTgUsSs- 1t was
evident. Edmund Safcf that there were
differences or dialect In the lang
Ju5a somewhat but he also said tnat
lac was now convinced mat there eN-
l@led amOns these people an IneA-
ptained power OF cOInnln catlol
though which had no connection with
the uLJerauce or sounds
II wasn't a. sign language ike that
% deaf mites, either The mystery
{ vas not solved until We got round on
the daylight SIDE OF Venus, but Il
turned Out 20 be one OF tle most IN
cLeILp-e OF an our 0-ScgFef-es IN ina
strange world you'll hear about u
when j come 20 II
We continued TO guide our course BY
the stars-aud they were certainly
magnificent with the earth for d
{ very queen OF germs set IN the midst
o. mem -Al gu We L--o tIdFe-eu some
{ 400 miles ali the time OF course ap-
{ preaching the edge OF the sunWard
hemisphere
And now a new phenomenon struck
us For some riTIes along the horizon
ahead, had str -tchsd faint streak.
3 l-he the hrst Ent OF dawn
Look said Edmund. there lie the
s7;nlancs OF venus Although the sun
never rises on this part Of the planet
f f. VIII rise for US because we are ap-
There was nothing TO surprise Us in
al this but as we drew nearer and
the arc or dawn rose higher in the
sky and ElCWec more softly beautiful
there appeared At its base those same
many CoiO--d flames which had aston
isEec us on cur approach 10 the
planet after we had got into its
shadow and begun To see its atugs-
phere as a greaC ring Of light around
IT, the sun being behind The reap
pCc-aDCe Of these flames startled US
They We got something 20 do with
the SUNRISE Edmund declared, but L
can't make out what It is
Don't run US into a coDfaSrzIiln.' %
. said Jack We've had enough 20 do 10
. stand the cold here, and 20 put up with
the company OF these furry beasts. but
/ object 20 being rushed next into a
land OF SalauauCers- They probably are
Ire-eaLers on the other side II YOU can
show Us some temperate or not too .Cr-
I'd land. where the people are as beau
on world called Venus, I'm with you
with all my heart"
That's nos fire. replied Edmund.
Why not inquire Of Juba2'' 7 asked.
"a Eery good idea I'll try" said Ed
U1uld stopped the car JUba, as he had
already been taught 20 DO whenever we
stopped. Immediately Jumped OF his
sled and came running 10 us Edmund
took his match box from his rocket
struck a match, and. while attracting
JUDAS attention, pointed alternately 70
the match, fame and the fiery objects
Juba understood at once, and vigor-
CUSly shook his head. while his big
luminous eyes almost seemed to speak
n We could have understood their mean
ing PlOSrhOreSCeut waves appeared TO
chase one another In their depths, and
Edmund asserted that It certainly was
q to-t-s lages expressed without sounds.
If IL was a language, I positively zhink
that Edmund had begun TO understand
T. for after q few minutes, during which
he and Juba EeSuCUIated and mOtionad
and stared in each others faces, Ed
Uu1C turned TO Js and said
4 ought to have fOreSeen this. and [
am ashamed Of myself because L didn't
Those seeming flames on the horizon
are due tO-What do YOU think? Noun
tains Of cTystal27'
The Continuation Of This Story VIII
BE Found In TOmOrrovv's
Issue or The Times.
HILL 0TDEET nnOnE