Gate To Hell Puzzle Solved By ScientistsLucerne, Switzerland (AP.)—Five Lucerne mountaineers have cleared up the mystery of the "Hellenloch," or "Gate to Hell," a cavernous hole in the Niederbauenalp.The cavern—from which the road of subterranean cataracts emerged—was discovered years ago by a party of Alpine climbers, but only a few days ago did scientists venture to descend into it. Using a rope 850 feet long, a windlass and crane, three of the party of five were lowered into the stygian hole. At a depth of 300 feet they found themselves in a "glacier-mill," or "giant's cauldron," said to be the largest ever discovered. It was an immense hollow 36 feet long and 23 feet wide with azure-colored walls thatwere smooth as glass and that shone weirdly in the glow of flashlights.
Gate To Hell Puzzle Solved By Scientists
Lucerne, Switzerland (AP.)—Five Lucerne mountaineers have cleared up the mystery of the "Hellenloch," or "Gate to Hell," a cavernous hole in the Niederbauenalp.
The cavern—from which the road of subterranean cataracts emerged—was discovered years ago by a party of Alpine climbers, but only a few days ago did scientists venture to descend into it. Using a rope 850 feet long, a windlass and crane, three of the party of five were lowered into the stygian hole. At a depth of 300 feet they found themselves in a "glacier-mill," or "giant's cauldron," said to be the largest ever discovered. It was an immense hollow 36 feet long and 23 feet wide with azure-colored walls thatwere smooth as glass and that shone weirdly in the glow of flashlights.
Four miles lay the Isle of Lanka from the mainland. Approximately an hour's march. When his wristwatch told him his force had reached the halfway mark, Ramey envisioned the scene transpiring on the lake's surface, perhaps above their very heads. Now, from the numerous wharves and docks, would be putting out a host of tiny craft filled with soldiers. A cry would rise from the citadel as these invaders were seen. Ravana's guards would be calling the alarm ... forces now besieging Vibhishana's tiny garrison might be diverted ... there might even put out from Lanka an opposing "navy"....
But he could not concern himself with these things. He and his followers had their own, allotted duty; upon their success or failure hung the whole campaign.
"On!" he said to Kohrisan. "Faster!"
And Lake O'Brien, irrepressible even under circumstances as vital as these, chuckled.
"'Sail on!'" he quoted extravagantly, "'and on! Sail on!'—Hey, Ramey, old Columbus must have been a bargain-hunter the way he kept yapping about a 'Sale on!'"
Still on they pressed, while moments winged by at a tempo set by the slur of marching feet. And finally came an interruption to their swift progress. The Burrower chattered something to Kohrisan, the ape-captain cried the command to halt. Ramey glanced at him curiously.
"What is it, Captain? Something wrong?"
"Nay, my Lord. But the moment for extra caution is come. Behold the torch in thy hand."
The torch, which had been spluttering illumination in smoky waves before them, was now flaring more brightly. Its resined wood was licked by hungry flames that seemed to leapforward.
"Fresh air!" said Ramey. "A draught. Are we nearly there, Kohrisan?"
"Very near, my Lord. It is time to extinguish the torches and move forward silently."
"But we can't see in this darkness," Lake demurred.
"There will be light enough. See?" Kohrisan smothered his own torch against a wall, passed word back that all other torch-bearers should do the same. Soon all the lights were crushed into ash—but still the passageway glowed with a dull, gray illumination emanating from a tiny circle dimly seen before them. "The end of the tunnel, my Lords," whispered Kohrisan. "The moment for attack is ripe."
"And where does the tunnel emerge?" asked Ramey.
But the Burrower's answer was unsatisfactory. "Inside the palace," was the only information Kohrisan got from him. Thus, unknowing whether the next few minutes would see them stepping forward to greet friends or foes—but with every likelihood pointing toward the latter—the tiny army of invasion again moved forward. This time lightless, voiceless, and on creeping feet.
But at least a portion of their caution was a waste of energies. They need not have spoken in whispers. For as they approached nearer and ever nearer the circle which was the tunnel's exit, there smote their ears in full, reverberant cry the clash and clamor of battle waging wildly! Shouts of men, alive and angry, wounded and in pain, dying and fearful ... the strident clang of metal upon metal ... thewhirr!of arrows seeking fleshy targets ... these were the sounds which greeted their arrival.
And as they gained the exit, Ramey saw whence originated this tumult. Also he saw, and with a sense of sick despair, why the Burrower ape had boasted his clan's tunnel was so well concealed from the search of men.
For it was bitter battle between troops of Vibhishana and Ravana's hordes upon which Ramey and his rescue squadlooked down! Down—from a tiny, frieze-embellished exit-hole near the roof of one of Lanka's highest chambers!
Fully fifty feetbelowthem waged the conflict ... a battle between forces hopelessly outmatched. At the front of the decimated rebel group Ramey recognized men he knew, men who had been his companions in the dungeon. His great bulk sturdier still in battle-mail, Tauthus of Cush headed a handful of men desperately striving to hold a narrow doorway. Left flank of this party was protected by soldiers in the livery of Videlia ... loyalists rallied by Thalakka, whose sword was among their own. Even as Ramey watched, an arrow shattered on the breastplate of the faithful guardsman, and Thalakka tottered and fell, driven to his knees by the sheer driving impact of that shaft.
A glowering foe, seeing Thalakka's plight, leaped forward, stabbing viciously at the fallen man. But as his sword lifted for the destroying blow, the young Martian who had opposed Tauthus yesterday in the gaol sprang forward to parry it with a thrust of his own. Thalakka's attacker fell, blood gushing from a great wound in his breast, and even as he rolled lifeless to the floor, Thalakka was on his feet again.
All this fifty feet below! And they, six fighting divisions, helpless to aid their friends! Ramey whirled to Kohrisan frantically.
"But how do we get down from here?"
Kohrisan grinned. There was fire in the ape-man's eye now. Ramey thought that never had Captain Kohrisan seemed less the man, more the jungle beast, than now. Battlelust seemed to have thickened even his speech; it was with difficulty he made the human words intelligible.
But his words were not directed to Ramey. He spoke to the warriors behind him. And they, obediently, sprang to their task. One wrapped his arms round a pillar standing at the lip of the exit. A second gripped the first ape's legs, and himself slipped over the ledge to dangle by his companion's heels. A third clambered over the body of his comrade to dangle a few more feet down the wall. A fourth ... a fifth....
Lake cried hoarsely, "A ladder! A ladder of flesh and blood, Ramey! Of course! It is part of their jungle heritage!"
"But—" said Ramey to Kohrisan—"if one of them be killed? Then the ladder is broken—"
"And it will be rebuilt, Lord Ramaíya!" retorted the captain. "There! Now it reaches the floor below. Forward!"
Ramey said no more. All warfare is a gamble. This was no more desperate a measure than that one nation should hurl the soft bodies of men against the adamant ramparts of machines. Eyes glinting, he let himself over the ledge and hand-over-hand down the living chain that dangled to the room below.
He was but one of many. For now there were other chains ... swarms of comrades flinging themselves down over the bodies of their brothers. And before his feet had touched the floor, he was surrounded by a force of more agile ape-warriors, turning to him for command. His voice could not be heard in the melee, but a gesture was enough.
"Forward!"
And to the relief of the beleaguered loyalists, like a great brown flood of strength, surged the monkey-soldiers. From the rear they struck, and there were scores of Videlians who fell without ever knowing what hand had struck them down. When finally they whirled to see this new danger descending upon them, already they were outnumbered. It scarcely mattered that one courageous archer broke a chain by piercing the key-man on the ledge. Though a dozen tumbled headlong to the granite floor, instantly a new chain was forged. And in a trice, the complexion of the battle had changed. Now it was Ravana's men, instead of the loyalists, who were on the defensive. Hard-pressed, they withdrew from the doorway they had been attacking. But the moment their pressure was withdrawn, Thalakka and Tauthus roared their followers forward.
Thus, trapped between two forces, attacked alike by fresh and weary troops, the Videlians fell. Though giants in stature, they were no match for the squat little 'new men' of Chitrakuta. And at length, when the floor of the huge hall ran slippery-red, when the bodies of dead and dying formed a dreadful tapestry on crimsoned stone, the remnants of the doomed battalion surrendered.
Then it was that Ramey, his heart great with gladness, raced to seek those whom strife and a common cause had already bound him into a brotherhood as strong as that of birth.
To the grinning Copt he cried, "Well done, Tauthus of Cush! This is a mighty battle you have won this day!"
And the tall man chuckled in reply, "The credit is thine, Ramaíya. You spoke the truth. There is more joy in this than in squabbling with these few Videlians who are our friends."
Said Thalakka soberly, "You came in the nick of time, my friend. We were hard-pressed. Nor is the battle yet won. Only this small corner of Lanka is now ours to hold. Ravana has yet thousands at his command elsewhere in the citadel."
"And we have thousands more on the way," Ramey promised him. "Ah, my Lord Vibhishana! Have your guards watched the lakefront? Are our troops on the water?"
The elderly ex-ruler of Lanka nodded gravely.
"Their boats hover outside bow-range, Ramaíya. The fleet of Ravana dared not attack Sugriva's larger force, but they are held in deadlock unless we can win them a landing-place. Is that thy plan?"
"That is the plan. Thalakka ... Tauthus ... Kohrisan! I leave its accomplishment to you. Somehow you must succeed in winning some section of the beach where our reinforcements may land."
"And you, Lord Ramaíya?" asked Tauthus anxiously.
"Where I go," Ramey told him grimly, "one man must go alone. I am going after the Bow of Rudra, fuel for which I have found. And I have—another reason. Lord Vibhishana, point me the way to Ravana's private chambers."
"Us!" corrected a lone voice.
Ramey turned to find Lake O'Brien at his shoulder. There was determination in the twin's eyes.
"That's right," Lake repeated, "Us! I'm declaring myself in again, Ramey. And shut up! Damned if you're not the arguingest guy I ever met!"
Ramey said firmly, "No, Lake! I was glad you came along with us through the tunnel. But this ismyjob. Because not only is the Bow in Ravana's quarters but—Sheila is there, too. You won't understand, but—she means more than anything else to me."
Lake returned his gaze quietly. For once there was no smile on his lips. He said, "But I do understand, Ramey. Perfectly. Because, you see,Ihave known Sheila Aiken for a long time, too."
"But you don't feel—" began Ramey hotly. Then he stopped, comprehension finally drawing upon him, sympathy and embarrassment suddenly warm upon his cheeks. "Oh! So it—it's that way? I'm sorry, Lake. I didn't realize—"
"Neither does she," said Lake O'Brien. "But that's the way it is, Ramey. And always has been."
Tauthus of Cush was staring at them curiously. Now he said, "I do not quite understand, Lord Ramaíya. What are you going to do?"
And Ramey Winters answered, "It is a two man job we face. Lake and I are both going...."
The Love of Lady Rakshasi
In the period that ensued, Ramey had reason to be glad that Lake O'Brienhadinsisted on accompanying him.
True, the Lord Vibhishana had given him instructions for finding Ravana's chambers. Had Lanka been other than in a state of siege, Ramey could have reached his objective in simple fashion. But it had been impossible to take into account the constant stream of Videlians racing hither and thither through the corridors of the citadel ... the guards ... the messengers ... the armed companies marching to take their emergency battle-posts.
More than once, Ramey and Lake were forced to take refuge in whatever places of concealment offered. More than once they were forced to desert entirely the path they had been following, choose a new route altogether toward their objective. And with each devious turning, Vibhishana's directions became more obscure and confused, until Ramey, at last, knew neither where Ravana's chambers lay nor, indeed, where he himself was!
It was then that Lake O'Brien proved himself an indispensable ally. Educated in architecture, trained in the hard and practical school of active archeology, he displayed an almost psychic sense of location. With fine discernment hereasonedhis way through the tumultuous labyrinth which was Lanka. Up two levels—"The Regent's quarters are always in mid-palace, Ramey"—to a series of marble halls, left to that side of the citadel facing the ferry-ports—"stands to reason his apartment would face the docks, you know"—and finally, justifying the precepts of pure logic, into chambers more sumptuous than any Ramey had laid eyes on since he confronted Ravana in the throne-room.
The passage was swift, but not entirely unimpeded. It was their good fortune, though, that such Videlians as they met along the way were either traveling in groups—in which case the clank of their accoutrement served as noisy warning, sending the two to cover—or were single guards, set to watch over a strategic doorway. And as is ever the case where strong walls lend a sense of false security, the guards had grown careless. This was an error for which two who fought paid with their lives. Three more were left gagged and bound in places where they would not easily be discovered.
So, at last, came Ramey and Lake to their destination. And reaching there, they experienced the greatest surprise of their entire, hazardous journey. For the doors of Ravana's quarters, which they had fully expected would be guarded by not one man but a whole detachment, were not only without guard—but half ajar!
Ramey said exultantly, "Our army must have him in a dither! He's gone out to supervise the fight and left home-plate unguarded!"
Lake said, "It looks that way, but—it's not logical. Ravana's the kind of guy who looks after his own skin when the going gets tough. If the battle were going against him, he'd be locked in here with a whole damned army at the doors to protect his precious hide. I don't like it!"
Ramey chuckled. "Well, I'll be dog-goned! And all this time I thought you were Lake. Hyah, Syd!"
Lake grinned. "Okay. I guess I do sound like the old gloom-monger at that. Well—let's get moving!"
And cautiously they crept through the doorway into the first of a series of connecting chambers which comprised the inner sanctum of Lanka's regent.
All the great courts lay silent. From afar, as if muted by granite blankets, still fitfully came to them the sound of distant fighting. But no footstep, no voice, marred the quiet of this refuge—No!—Therewasthe murmur of voices! Ramey gripped his comrade's arm, whispered:
"In there! It sounds like—"
Lake nodded, eyes glinting. "Yes! Sheila!"
Feverishly, they crossed the last open space to the doorway beyond which they had heard the girl's voice. Revolvers drawn and ready, they inched open this ultimate barrier. As they did so, the faintly-heard drone turned into speech. Ringing defiance in Sheila's sweet, familiar tones.
"No! If I were the last Earth woman left alive and your brother the last male of a thousand worlds, still would my answer be the same! I want no part of Lord Ravana!"
Came the voice of another, a slow, throbbing voice Ramey Winters knew only too well. It was a voice which at once cajoled and taunted.
"Because there is—another, O Lady Sheilacita?"
"Perhaps."
"But if this one were to turn away from thee, and seek his pleasure in another? Say, for example—" In his mind's eye Ramey, though those who spoke were still invisible to him because of a heavy arras veiling the half-open doorway, could envision the languorous lids of the Lady Rakshasi drooping with heavy suggestion—"for example, myself? Then would your faithfulness waver?"
Sheila's answer was steadfast, unshaken, scornful.
"You speak of impossibilities, woman of Videlia."
"Okay!" Ramey nudged Lake. "Now!" And he brushed aside the drape, slipped forward into the retiring chamber where conversed the two women. "Well spoken, Sheila! Maybe her Ladyship will wise up to the fact that Earthmen aren't bought and sold with promises—after a while! Don't move!"
He rapped this last to the Lady Rakshasi as, amber cheeks crimsoning she stirred to rise.
"Stay where you are!" he commanded. "Sheila, come over here. That's right. Now, Rakshasi—where is the Bow your brother stole from me? Speak up! Or by the gods—"
But his answer did not come from the half-open lips of the Videlian princess. It came from a double source; the eyes of Sheila Aiken leaping open in sudden alarm, her cry, "Ramey! Behind you! Look out!"—and from a mocking voice accosting him from the chambers through which he had lately come.
"You want the Bow, Lord Ramaíya? It is right here in my hands—charged and eager to speak! Would you care to hear its message?"
Ramey whirled. Smiling mirthlessly, the Bow drawn to his shoulder, advancing toward him was Lord Ravana!
Ramey cried, "He's bluffing, Lake! That Bow's not fueled! Rush him!"
And he ducked into a crouch, leaped a step toward the overlord of Lanka. But Ravana's sharp command was not delivered in the voice of one who tries a ruse. It stopped him short, because it was strident and heavy with assurance.
"Hold!Another step and you die! Not only you but your companions, also!"
Indecision trembled through Ramey. Then, measuring his chances, he took the path of caution. There was still a chance Ravana was pulling a fast one, but—Sheila! He must not needlessly imperil her life, or that of Lake. He stood still. But he said,
"The Bow is not munitioned, Ravana. If it were you would long since have turned it against those who storm your citadel. You would not waste it upon three individuals."
The grim lord of Lanka smiled at him sourly.
"I have said before, Earthmen, you are clever. You are half right in your conjecture. I cannot use the Bow on those who vainly attack Lanka—and for a reason not hard to explain. So far I have been able to obtain but a minute particle of the precious element. Such a scrap would not hinder an army. But mark me well! It is more than enough to dispose of you and those others who lead the uprising. So dare not my patience!Seshana!" He called the name, and at the farther end of the chamber whence he had come appeared that captain whom Ramey had once met on the mainland shore.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"Have a crier call word to my brother, Vibhishana, and to the Gaanelian, Sugriva, skulking off Lanka's shores in a draggle-tailed navy of rafts, that I hold as prisoners not only the Lady Sheilacita but also Lord Ramaíya and the laughing one, Lakshmana. If they bring not an end to these mad hostilities within the hour, warn them these hostages die!"
"Yes, Sire!" Seshana vanished.
Comprehension overwhelmed Ramey Winters, leaving a bitterness on his palate.
"Then it was a trap. The unguarded doors ... the open way to these chambers...."
Ravana laughed. "Aye, a trap, dog of Earth. Sometimes I fear you children of the green planet are all fools! Imagine a warrior idiot enough to leave in his wake an enemy unslain, merely bound! Long since we discovered one you had tied and hidden, learned your intention. The pathway was cleared that you might readier walk into our midst. And now—stand aside, Rakshasi! I will dispose of these creatures who have thrice pitted themselves against me."
Sheila sprang forward with a little cry.
"Dispose! You—you mean you're going to kill them? After having named them hostages against the surrender of our forces?"
"Even so, my Lady," replied Ravana mockingly. "It is notmyfolly to leave unharmed those who have proven dangerous to me."
"But your word, Lord Ravana! Your word of honor!"
"What Ravana does is to be judged by no man," said the Videlian haughtily.
"You dirty rat!" rasped Lake savagely. "Trick our friends into surrendering to save us, then shoot us anyway. Well—"
His sidelong glance at Ramey was sign enough. It meant what Ramey had been thinking. That if they separated, rushed Ravana simultaneously, one of them might reach him. Ramey's muscles tensed, his lips framed the starting word. But even as he would have cried it, a warmth brushed by him. The Lady Rakshasi, a great, golden panther of a woman, strode past him to confront her brother boldly.
"A moment, my kinsman!" she pleaded. "You cannot do this thing! Have you forgotten our agreement? You pledged me the life of this Earthman, Ramaíya!"
"Stand aside, sister!" ordered Ravana curtly. "No longer do old pledges obtain. Since we struck that pact much has happened. The man has roused the rabble from my dungeons against me ... threatened my citadel ... invaded my own private quarters. He must die!"
"He must live!" cried Rakshasi. "Even as you hunger for the Lady Sheilacita, so do I demand this human for myself! For the other I care not; wreak thy vengeance upon him if you will. But—"
And there would never, saw Ramey Winters suddenly, be a better opportunity than this! For sultry-faced, angry, the Lord Ravana had let the Bow slip from his shoulder. His eyes were upon his sister, his grip on the weapon insecure. Ramey's voice was like the crashing of a cymbal.
"Now, Lake!"
With the word, he leaped forward, head low, shoulders driving for the Videlian's legs as they had driven at the legs of opposing linesmen years ago. Beside him he felt the reassuring bulk of Lake O'Brien.
Then everything happened at once! His hands met ... gripped ... tightened about flesh. The body of the giant Martian seemed to totter above him; a shod foot lashed viciously into his temple, and great stars sprang from sudden darkness to whirl dazzingly before his eyes. He was aware of his own harsh, grating breath sobbing through his teeth ... a roar of rage strangely mingled with terror ... then a violent blast of flame mushrooming before him. Hot, searing flame that crisped the very perspiration from his brow, leaving his flesh baked and raw.
Then the solid thud of a fist meeting flesh ... Lake O'Brien howling desperately, "My eyes, Ramey! I can't see!" And another soul-sickening sound. That of a woman's voice screaming in shrill, animal agony ... dying abruptly in a low, choked, ominous gurgle.
Bruised and shaken, burned and dazed, Ramey staggered to his feet. All before him was still a blazing sheen of light, but now this dulled, and he saw that Ravana, still clutching a now-useless Bow, was fleeing across the chamber.
Ramey's automatic was heavy in his blistered palm. He fired it once ... twice ... after the rapidly disappearing figure. But in vain. Ravana had scuttled through the door, clanging it closed behind him.
Then, and only then, had Ramey time to look at the others. Lake was still beside him, was even now striving to rise, pawing before him as one who stumbles through a mist. He was groaning, "My eyes, Ramey! Sheila—I can't see!"
Ramey sprang to his side, lifted him.
"Easy, old boy! You'll be all right in a sec. The Bow going off in our faces, that's what did it—" But as he stared into his companion's face, saw that Lake's eyes were wide open, the entire cornea that covered his eyeballs a fog of smoky-blue, he realized all too well what had happened.
Lake had looked directly into the flame of the Bow when its charge was released! And its incandescence flaming before him had blinded him as surely as if his eyes had been gouged from his head. Perhaps soaked up—as it had dried every ounce of moisture from Ramey's skin—the aqueous humor of his eyes. Only Ravana's kick, flattening Ramey, closing his eyes, had kept the young airman from sharing an identical fate!
And—Rakshasi?
He glanced about him wildly ... found her ... and turned away, shuddering. The Lady Rakshasi, great, golden panther whose every movement had been a lure and a temptation, would move no more. For upon her lithe and vital body had spent itself the full strength of the discharging Bow. That which remained of her once breathtaking loveliness was a blackened—something—not pleasant to look upon.
Nauseated, Ramey covered his eyes. Then Sheila was in his arms, crying, "Ramey! Oh, Ramey, she—she saved your life! Tried to tear the Bow from Ravana—Lake!"
Lake said dazedly, frightenedly, "Sheila—I can't see you! Where are you? Everything is black!"
Then a new sound rang clear in the farther chamber; the scuff of hurrying footsteps, the clank of mail. Winters spun to Sheila swiftly.
"Sheila, is there another way out of these chambers—a way leading down to the waterfront? Yes? Good! We've got to get out of here—and quick. Take Lake's other arm. All right, Lake, old boy, hold tight. We're going to get you to Doc Aiken if it's humanly possible!"
And huddled together like three fleeing the storm god's wrath, they raced in the direction that Sheila pointed.
Stalemate
Many sensations unfamiliar to a man whose work was purely a man's work had Ramey Winters experienced in regard to Sheila Aiken. From that hour long ago when she had dragged him from the wreckage of his burning Curtis on the plain beside Angkor Vat, he had admired her. Then, beneath the mellow moon of Chitrakuta, he had learned to love her. Now as they fled, side by side, through the avenues of Lanka, he discovered that admiration and love were not the only emotions she roused within him. There was another and stranger bond between them—a bond of fellowship! Sheila Aiken was no soft, comfortable creature to be fondled and amused. No clinging-vine, demanding lavish attention. She was a man's woman—a fighting man's woman—giving as well as receiving, daring the same risks that confronted her mate. Ready as he to fight—and if need be, to die—for the cause they had made their own.
And realizing this, noting the cool, earnest haste with which she directed their passage out of danger, seeing in her white hand the automatic she had taken from the now helpless Lake O'Brien, Ramey Winters felt surging through him a sharp, bright glory that this woman should be his!
He knew, now, that his final doubt had been swept away. Freely, when this travail was ended, he could ask Sheila Aiken to share life's future with him. For whatever that future might hold in store, he knew she would be a strong and steadfast companion.
These were but instincts, scarcely thoughts, racing through his brain as they hurried down corridors of escape toward that section of Lanka which—if the gods were kind—their friends still held. This was neither the time nor the place to speak of such things. Strength must be husbanded, breath saved, for any danger which might arise. Such as—
Such asthis! The sound of footsteps in a passageway crossing at right angles before them. Videlian guards, mayhap. Or worse still, a detachment of the fighting force!
Again, as several times before, Ramey motioned the girl to silence, forced her and the quiescent Lake to a spot of concealment until this new threat should pass. He sought a place wherefrom he might view those who passed. There was no way of knowing, in this crisis, what fragment of information might prove of later value. It was wise to learn any and all details of the Videlian strength, location of troops, designs....
Thus he lifted his head cautiously from behind the tremendous vase behind which they crouched as the footsteps drew nearer. And thus it was he saw that which broke a cry of gladness from his lips.
"Tauthus!"
The Copt chieftain pivoted. He marched not at the head of an Earthling party, but beside Kohrisan and before a group of the ape-human's warriors.
"Lord Ramaíya! You have found the Lady Sheilacita? And—the Bow?"
Ramey shook his head. "Ravana escaped with it, and with his life. But it is not charged. Nor will it be very soon; that much we have learned."
The monkey-captain moved forward querulously. It was not easy to detect emotion on his simian features, but a note of apprehension was in his voice.
"And the gay one, Lakshmana? He is wounded?"
"Blinded," said Ramey succinctly. "He looked into the Bow's discharging gorge. But—this is not all that remains of our land-force?" He looked with sudden fear on the handful of men led by his two comrades.
Kohrisan shook his head. "Nay, my Lord. We are but a scouting party. Lord Vibhishana and Thalakka have pressed Ravana's hordes back to the vital wharves. Soon these will be ours, and our reserves can safely land."
"I'm going with you," decided Ramey swiftly. "Someone must take Lake and Sheila back to Vibhishana, though. One of your men will show them the way, Kohrisan?"
"I will do so myself, my Lord. With Tauthus and thyself in command, my company is well led. And there is much information I can bear to the others."
"Good! But have a care, my Captain. Ravana's men are spread somewhere between you and our main force. You run a gauntlet of danger."
Kohrisan said staunchly, "I shall be watchful, Lord Ramaíya. We of the 'new men' know how to face danger."
Ramey Winters could never have dreamed—what man could?—that one day his hand should press the hairy shoulder of a talking ape in firm companionship. But that is what he did now. And he said, "New men, indeed, are you and your comrades, Captain. And as worthy of the name as any."
Plainly, the move was not to Sheila's liking. But she was too good a soldier to demur. And it was evident that Lake must be taken to a place of safety. So she turned with Kohrisan; they disappeared, and Ramey pressed on with Tauthus and the ape-warriors.
As they marched, Tauthus pointed out the purpose of their move.
"Our forces have rolled back Ravana's men at every point so far," he said. "We hold the northern chambers of the citadel and all levels below the fourth. Their heaviest concentration, though, is in the southern sector of the isle. This we cannot storm until our reinforcements land. Our boats cannot dock until the wharves are ours. Therefore the wharves must be taken."
"And our fleet?" queried Ramey. "How close does it lie to Lanka's shores?"
But Tauthus answered that question in the easiest of fashions—by pointing. For they had come to the end of the corridor, and stepped through a gateway out onto a balcony. With a start, Ramey realized where they were. On that same ledge from which the Lady Rakshasi had seen and exposed him!
Scarce thirty feet below them lay the wharves. And beyond these, bobbing flakes of black against the sun-silver surface of the lake, thick as skating-bugs on a stagnant bog, hovered the skiffs and rafts which bore the bulk of Sugriva's army.
Studying the salient, Ramey saw with dread despair the insurmountable difficulties his allies had to overcome. From the water, the wharves were invulnerable. Defenseless soldiers creeping into land on slow-moving skiffs would be scythed down mercilessly by the bows of the enemy. Nor was there any safe approach to the walled court wherein huddled the dock's defenders. Two high and sturdy walls stretched from the citadel itself down across the beach to the quais. Behind these ramparts a handful of men could withstand an army forever. And the Videlians numbered no mean handful. They swarmed the walls darkly. And at their beck and call, should they find need of additional hands to do their bidding, were the slaves. Two full pens of Earth's natives, locked like cattle in runways adjoining the courtyard.
Ramey said, "There's only one place to establish an offensive against the wharves—and that is from our present vantage-point. But it would be suicidal for us to try it. Maybe if we went back, gathered a stronger force—"
An astonished rumble from the throat of his comrade stopped him.
"Now, by my faith—!" swore Tauthus of Cush.
"What is it?"
"That captain. Look at him! Look closely!"
A small detachment, perhaps a dozen Videlians, had just marched from the interior of the citadel to join the besieged force. Neatly, swiftly, precisely, they swept across the courtyard. None rose to question them. The defenders had other things to think of, for from the southern end of the isle Vibhishana's attackers maintained a steady barrage of bowfire.
Ramey stared at the squad leader, eyes widening.
"It—it's Thalakka! But why—?"
"Traitor!" growled Tauthus deep in his throat. "I knew we should never place faith in a cursed Videlian. But Tauthus of Cush knows how to deal with traitors!" His hand flashed to his shoulder, he drew an arrow from his quiver, set it to bowstring, aimed....
"Wait!" Ramey's hand tensed about the Copt's arm. "This is no treachery but a most courageous deed. See! At the slave-pens—"
For suddenly the intention of Captain Thalakka was clear. Full across the courtyard had he and his men marched unchallenged ... past posts they might have taken ... and up to the gates of the slave-pens. And now the little detachment whirled, formed a tight circle before the gates—and a cry rose as Thalakka gripped the sole guardian of those gates, hurled him to the ground, and wrenched the keys from his belt!
In an instant, all was bedlam! Too late the Videlian guards realized what had happened, identified this enemy in their very midst. Men turned from the walls, a hundred bows turned on the tiny knot of venturers. Feathered death spangled the court.
But the key had grated in the lock! And the gates were open. And Thalakka's voice was raising in clarion cry.
"Earthmen! Rise! Freedom awaits the bold—"
His cry ended in midsentence, his mouth formed a round O of astonishment ... a circle from which, suddenly, a flood of crimson gushed. His hands leaped to his breast and tore at a shaft buried there almost to its feathered end ... then he sank to his knees, rolled over, and lay still.
But not in vain had Captain Thalakka died. For at his words a tremendous surge, like the lifting of high sea-waters, swelled through the prison-pens. And scarce had he fallen than a prisoner had whipped the sword from his hands to spring forward. Another ... and another ... and the slaves were plunging through the gates like an unleashed flood.
In vain, now, the arrows of the defenders hurtled into the roaring throng. Where one man fell, there were a dozen to charge forward over his body. This was no trained army, crisp, cool, efficient. This was a mob, a mob of men who had tasted slavery—and were now free to turn on their foes with naked hands and claws.
Like beasts they smashed across the courtyard to the ramparts, crushing beneath them all who strove to stay their passage. Like animals they clambered up the walls, flung the Videlians from their posts down to blood-lusting fellows below who literally ripped the Martian guards into bits.
And—the ramparts fell! Nor did Vibhishana give his enemy time to recuperate from this mortal below. Cheers rose from the loyalist camp, and up the beach stormed the followers of the former regent. Fighting side-by-side with the rebel slaves, they smashed the last, feeble resistance of Ravana's garrison. Then a guidon raised aloft, calling urgent invitation. The host of skating-bugs stirred into motion. And within the space of minutes, the first Gaanelian craft had moored at the docks of Lanka!
Not at all surprisingly, it was Red Barrett—the scrapping old redhead himself—who sprang from the first of the skiffs to dock. Close behind him came Syd O'Brien. The two were met and greeted by Ramey Winters who, with Tauthus, had scorned any slower method of gaining the scene of victory than to clamber headlong and recklessly down the rough walls from the balcony.
Thus, for the first time since ever war's hot flame had breathed over Lanka, met face to face all the captains. In triumphant conclave they gathered, all those who actively led fighting forces. Vibhishana and Tauthus of Cush, Ramey and Red Barrett, Syd O'Brien. Yet was their joy not complete. For there was one of their number fallen—Thalakka. And yet another whose part in the battle was ended.
"It's all right, Syd," repeated Lake O'Brien. "It's all right, I tell you. I—I don't feel any pain. It's just that I can't see."
Syd O'Brien's face was a thunder-cloud of rage. "We will find him, Lake," he promised. "And when we do—" His strong, freckled hands whitened on the butt of his revolver. Here was one from whom the Lord Ravana could expect no grain of mercy should their paths ever cross.
Vibhishana said, "Lord Lakshmana must return to the mainland shore. If anyone can repair his vision, that one is the Lord Sugriva. And it were best the girl return, too."
"Me?" cried Sheila indignantly. "I will not! I—"
"Listen, Miss Sheilacita—" Barrett stopped, grinned embarrassedly. "Golly, listen to that! These guys gotmetalking thataway now, too! I mean, MissSheila—I wish you would go on back and tell Toots I'm okay. She'll kind of be worrying about me, I reckon. Tell her we'll all be coming home as soon as we clean up the rest of this mess."
Ramey said, "Yes, Sheila—please go. Because from now on, I'm afraid this fight isn't going to be very pleasant. Especially—" His eyes were cold—"for His Nibs!"
So Sheila and Lake returned to the mainland. Kohrisan, having completed the rally of his scattered forces, now came to join the conclave. And they took stock of their situation.
"We hold now, my Lords," reported Captain Kohrisan, "all the northern half of Lanka's isle and citadel down to the Sounding Tower which is in the exact middle of the fortress. The wharves which feed to the Chitrakuta mainland are in our hands, too. Ravana still holds the upper levels of the fort, and all the southern sector, as well as the docks which feed to the opposite shore. But these are valueless to him, since the major portion of his fleet was captured by our men."
"Then there's no escape for him," grunted Syd. "We have him bottled up here, eh? Good!"
"But," interposed Vibhishana, "though we continue as the aggressors, he hasusas effectively bottled as we him. We dare not leave the island nor relax our vigilance in any of the sectors we hold. He still numbers amongst his followers thousands.
"From now on, it appears to me that the battle must settle into a state of siege. From chamber to chamber, from corridor to corridor, through every room and avenue of Lanka must our forces battle for every new inch of ground."
"And that—" mused Ramey thoughtfully—"is tough going. Suicidal business, as a punk named Adolph in our age is finding out! A deadly stalemate, eh, Lord Vibhishana?"
"I am afraid so, Ramaíya."
Barrett said, "But, lookit here—why can't we just pull stakes off the island entirely? Leave him here to stew in his own gravy, throw a cordon around the lake and make sure he never gets off to pester nobody again—"
Syd O'Brien shook his head.
"That won't do either, Red. Tonlé Sap is too big a lake. Seventy miles long. It would take ten times as many men as we have at our command to maintain a guard about its borders. Sooner or later, Ravana and his soldiers would get away. And, besides—" He glanced at Vibhishana—"there's always the possibility he may succeed in fueling the Bow once more. This time effectively. And if he does, we're licked. Isn't that right?"
"Unhappily," agreed the older man, "it is. No, our effort must be directed toward breaking the deadlock that now exists, somehow rooting him out of his lair."
Ramey said, "This 'Sounding Tower' you spoke of, Kohrisan—what is it?"
"The needle-which-speaks, my Lord."
"The which?"
"Kohrisan," explained Vibhishana, "has given it the name used by the natives. It is really a tower from the top-most chamber of which one can address the entire populace of Lanka in a normal voice, and have his message reach every ear in full, rolling tones. You have seen the talking idols of Chitrakuta?"
"Seen 'em?" chuckled Red. "We was their voice!"
Ramey said, "I understand now. A sort of magnified 'whispering gallery,' eh? But, say—that gives me an idea! Lord Vibhishana, did not Thalakka often say that there were many who would rally to your cause if they knew you had been freed?"
"Aye, even so, Ramaíya."
"And I'll bet a hair," continued Ramey excitedly, "there are plenty of soldiers fighting for Ravanaright nowwho would lay down their arms if they knew who they were being forced to fight! They've been obeying him blindly simply because they don't know what's going on. If we could reach the Sounding Tower—"
"—and tell them the truth—" broke in Vibhishana, "it would shatter the morale of his soldiers. Split them into separate camps. Create rebellion within his very ranks. Aye, Ramaíya, I believe you are right! It is a far stronger likelihood, at any rate, than that we can overwhelm the isle without losing much of our own man-power."
"Then—" cried Ramey, rising eagerly, "why are we sitting here jabbering? There's a better place to talk from. Let's go! No—not all of us. You, my Lord Vibhishana, so the soldiers can hear your voice ... you, Red, and Kohrisan—"
"—and me," added Syd O'Brien. "There's a chance we might meet up with Ravana on the way."
"A New Man"
Like a needle of stone rising from the great, gaunt citadel of Lanka was the Sounding Tower. This saw Ramey before he and his companions deserted the open air and dipped once more into the castle itself, seeking the inner passage which led to the tower's base.
Swift was their passage at first, hurrying through ranks of their own men, sweeping through corridors and ways whose granite floors proved all too well the cost at which the advance had been made. Lord Vibhishana, shaking his head at sight of these grisly scenes, said sorrowfully, "Though we win our cause, yea, even though the last of my brother's hirelings pay in full for the havoc he has wrought, not in a thousand years shall the citadel of Lanka be cleansed of this horror, this blood and this disgrace. It is a shame upon my soul and on the name of Videlia that these dead lie about us."
Even the Captain Kohrisan, whose valor Ramey Winters knew well, seemed shaken by what he saw. He said puzzledly, "Would that the Lord Sugriva were here to advise me. I cannot understand. Ever it was my belief that men are kind and noble and good. They are the rulers, the Chosen Ones. Why, then, must they slay and be slain? Even we of the jungles do not wantonly kill. For our loins or bellies, for warmth and safety—for these things only do we attack other beasts."
Ramey answered him gravely, "In your time and in my own, Kohrisan, man has proven himself more the brute than the mute beasts over whom he claims superiority. Do not ask me why this is; I do not know. All I can hope is that you new men will bring to us something of your own jungle sense."
A spasm passed over the little ape-human's face. As ever, it was difficult to read what emotion he portrayed. He said anxiously, "You—you do not mock me, Lord Ramaíya?"
"Mock you?"
"The Lord Sugriva, who gave us human speech, human thought, told us we were, indeed, 'new men.' But ofttimes I wonder if this be true—or if he spoke only from kindness and sympathy. It was the habit of Lord Ravana to taunt me and my brethren. 'Parodies of man,' he called us. 'Poor imitations masquerading in human dress—'"
But his plaint was left unanswered. For now they had come to the opening at the base of the tower. A spiral staircase loomed before them, winding around and around the inner wall of the needle to its uppermost chamber. A swift estimate by Ramey placed the tower's height at approximately two hundred feet. It was hard to guess accurately, for the spiral staircase was interrupted now and again by platforms, rendering the top of the tower invisible from below. Shafts of light pierced openings at intervals, but for the most part the needle was shadowy and silent.
In single file, with Vibhishana leading, then Ramey, then Kohrisan and Syd, they started up the staircase. Past one stage ... then another. A third. At the fourth level the one-time regent of Lanka stopped wistfully for a moment to look down upon his isle through one of the openings. What he saw brought a gasp to his lips, and the others running to his side. He pointed an anxious finger.
"Below! See—warriors approaching the Tower. Was it Tauthus' plan to send a detachment after us, Ramaíya?"
"It was not!" said Ramey bluntly. He followed the direction of his friend's gaze, stared, and pulled back from the opening. "I don't like this."
"What's wrong, Ramey?"
"If I'm not mistaken, that is a detachment of Lord Ravana's men. They're heading for this tower. We're trapped in here!" He thought swiftly for a moment. "Well—no use standing here worrying about. There's only one thing to do. Get to the speaking room and let Vibhishana put on his little broadcast. If need be, we can call for assistance from topside. Tauthus will hear us and send a force to our relief. Come on!"
And at redoubled speed, he plunged forward up the staircase. Past the fifth level and the sixth. To the last chamber. At its entrance he halted triumphantly.
"We ought to be all right now. Let them enter if they want to. We can talk as long and loud as we wish, and they can't stop us. Moreover, if they try to rush us—"
A grating voice frombehindinterrupted him.
"I think they will not rush you, Lord Ramaíya. My guardsmen came to the tower's base for only one purpose. To bottle you within its walls."
And Vibhishana cried, "Ravana!"
The Lord Ravana smiled. It was a smile that had no amusement in it, and little of brotherly affection. He said, "Ah—it is my own blood-brother! Greetings, Lord Vibhishana. These are giddy heights, are they not, for one grown used to the cool depths of dungeons?Nay, Ramaíya!" His cry cracked like a whip. "Reach not for the weapon-which-thunders! Lord Ravana needs not experience the same danger twice to learn its nature. Hurl it to the floor! Aye, and you, too—"
He paused, his brow contracting swiftly as he looked into the face of Syd O'Brien. Something akin to awe broomed his dark features.
"But—but you are Lord Lakshmana! This cannot be! The Lord Lakshmana was blinded. By my own hands—"
Ravana was far from alone. Had he been so, Ramey's gun would long since have barked its lethal message. But behind him, at the entrance of the chamber they had sought, were ranged a detail of his bowmen, weapons poised and ready. Now Ramey said, "The Lord Lakshmana—"
"—needs not sight," interrupted Syd O'Brien suddenly, loudly, "to know that he stands before a dog whom even the lowest gutter might reject. Where are you, Ravana? My hands hunger for your throat—"
And a swift thrill coursed through Ramey as he realized how Syd O'Brien had spun to his advantage Ravana's error. For the sombre twin, eyes fixed and empty, was stumbling forward, groping aimlessly at vacant space.
Ravana laughed, and easily sidestepped Syd's hands. In his own hands dangled the useless Bow of Rudra. With this he jabbed the "blind man's" body tauntingly.
"It will take one with sharper eyes than thine to catch Ravana, Earthman," he gibed. "Aye, this is a curious web of fish my net has seined. A blind man, a weakling and an ape!"
"What are you doing up here, Ravana?" asked Ramey.
"What else but setting the trap for what logic told me would be your next move? It was your intention to speak to my warriors, was it not, brother Vibhishana? Appeal to them, perhaps, to lay down their arms? Well—you climbed these heights to speak, and speak you shall. But mine shall be the commands you relay. Ah—you would still play games with me, my little mole?" He chuckled and sidestepped again as Syd O'Brien, still lurching with arms outstretched before him like a sleepwalker, touched his sleeve. Deliberately he struck Syd across the cheeks, laughed and stepped back as Syd swung blindly toward him. "Come, brother! Address your soldiers. Bid them lay down their arms. Come—"
He crisped a command to his bowmen. They fell back to admit Vibhishana to the speaking-tower. Momentarily their weapons lowered. And as they did so....
"Quick, Ramey! Get the Bow!"
It was the "blind man," Syd O'Brien. Like a flash, he had sprung upon the Lord Ravana, gripped the giant's arms in a viselike clasp, spun him around so he was between the guards and his companions, a living barrier the Videlians dared not risk assaulting.
And instantly Ramey leaped forward. But fast as he moved, there was one even faster who raced before him. The small ape-human, Kohrisan. Like a darting streak of furry brown he was at Ravana's side, wrenching the Bow from the Videlian's hands, crying, "Back, Sidrughna! We have what we need! Back!"
He half-pushed, half-kicked Syd O'Brien away. His prehensile arms locked about the Lord of Lanka like bands of iron. "Back!" he cried again.
With a mighty exultation in his heart, Ramey obeyed the monkey-captain's cry. Herding Vibhishana and Syd before him he whirled and tore for the steps ... hurtled down them at breakneck speed, ten, fifteen feet to the lower chamber. His free right hand, as he ran, tore at his jacket pocket. The pocket in which he carried that which would fuel the Bow....
Then they were in the midway chamber of the tower, and from both top and bottom of the edifice came the hoarse cries of Ravana's men. The chamber had no door. Ramey's gun and that of Syd still lay on the floor above. The Bow must be fueled! And within seconds—or it would be too late!
"Kohrisan!" cried Vibhishana. "Kohrisan!"
The tiny ape-warrior tumbled, rather than ran, down the last few steps, threw himself on the floor of the chamber. He was gasping for breath, crying weakly, "Fuel the Bow, O Ramaíya! Fuel and destroy—"
The cylinder was open. With reckless haste, Ramey pounded the aluminum objects into it, crammed closed the top. It did not matter, now, that the Bow was overcharged. Life hung by a tenuous hair on this next split-second of time. He roared, "Back from the doorway, Syd! Out of range!Back!"
And as Syd charged toward him, there loomed in the doorway Ravana. A raging-mad Ravana flanked by his bowmen. The Videlian's eyes were aflame with hatred, fury.
"This time, dogs," he screamed, "you die!"
To his bowmen he howled a command. The archers' arms drew back. And then—
Ramey pressed the release grip of Rudra's Bow!
What happened next transpired so swiftly that none afterward could find its vision in his memory. There was a whining scream that rose and tore at the eardrums of all who stood behind the Bow. Then a sheet of blue-white flame that sprayed from the Bow's wide arch with the speed of light. Then bursts of crimson, bright and horrible, where had stood men. A searing hiss ... a crumbling ... the crash of masonry ... a frightful gust of heat, the backwash of which blistered even those who stood behind the Bow. And then—silence!
Ramey's fingers fell from the trigger of the Bow as he stared before him dazed, shaken, uncomprehending. Where a moment before a horde of warriors had stood beside Ravana in the doorway, now there was neither Ravana, bowmen—nor doorway! Everything—everythinghad disappeared! Even the portion of the town wall beyond the doorway. A great, jagged hole, whose edges still dripped molten stone gaped where the Bow's tremendous flame had devoured all.
From the dimness below came howls of terror. There sounded also the blur of running footsteps as the vanguard of Ravana's army fled the base of the tower in stumbling panic.
Ramey cried in a voice that cracked with urgency, "Now, Lord Vibhishana! Now is the time to speak! Up swiftly to the sounding-chamber!"
The regent nodded, and was gone. Within the space of seconds his voice was rolling out over all Lanka, speaking words none could help but hear.
"Hark, Videlians ... Gaanelians ... Earthmen ... all who hear my voice. It is the Lord Vibhishana who speaks. Long lay I prisoner in the dungeons of Lanka. Now I am free—"
"Ramey!" called Syd O'Brien.
"Listen!" replied Ramey. "The sounds of battle below have ended! Everyone is listening to Vibhishana—"
"—Ravana is dead!" boomed the Videlian overlord. "My brother is slain, victim of his own lust for power and the dreadful Bow of Rudra. Lay down your arms, all you who followed him. Amnesty will be granted all those who—"
"It—it's Kohrisan, Ramey. He wants to talk to you."
Ramey turned. He had not realized until this moment that the squat ape-human had not risen from the chamber floor. Now, hurrying to Kohrisan's side, he understood why. The hairy captain held one fist clenched beneath his right breast. And from beneath the curiously manlike fingers of this hand oozed a sluggish stream of scarlet.
"Kohrisan!" cried Ramey. "The bowmen! One of them loosed his shaft before I pressed the grip—"
The small captain smiled feebly.
"Nay, my Lord," he choked. "It was even before that. In the chamber above. When I held Ravana...."
"Thatwemight escape! Well, hold on! We'll hurry you down to the citadel. Medical aid—"
"There is no need of that now," whispered Kohrisan. "It is too late for medical aid ... my Lord. I did what I could ... Ramaíya. It was what a man ... atrueman ... would have done. Was it not?"
A mist veiled Ramey's eyes, and a tight band knotted about his throat. He answered huskily, "And why should it be otherwise, Kohrisan? You, too, are a true man."
"Nay, my Lord! But anewman."
Then his eyes, contented and proud at the end, rolled suddenly back, thick, Simian lips drew back from bloodless gums, and Captain Kohrisan was gone. Ramey lowered the tiny body from his knee and stood up.
"There died," he whispered softly, "a human heart in a jungle body...."
Children of Legend
"But my Lord Sugriva," argued Ramey desperately, "I see no reason why you should leave Earthnow. Our battle is won. Ravana is dead, Vibhishana sits on the throne of Lanka and henceforth there will be peace between Gaanelians, Videlians, and the children of this planet. Your guidance and advice are needed if Earth's civilization is ever to attain great heights. Earth has need of you—"
But the blue-skinned Gaanelian shook his head sadly.
"No, Ramaíya. Earth needs no tutelage from an outside source. Vibhishana and I have pondered deeply, and our decisions agree. Our two planets established colonies here with the intention of sparing your young world the woes and hardships through which our civilizations passed.
"But our experiment was a failure—nor was this the fault of Earthmen, but ourselves. I was a weakling and a dreamer; one ambassador from Videlia proved himself a power-lusting tyrant. It was an evil example we set those whom we presumed to instruct. Therefore, we shall return to our own worlds, leaving Earth's children to work out their own destinies. With me shall go the 'new men,' for now, too late, I realize it was a dreadful wrong I did them when I made them neither man nor beast, but part one, part the other."
Vibhishana said soberly, "Sugriva speaks truly, my son. What great Plan governs the actions of all intelligent beings, I do not know. But this much is certain: that no one race should presume to set up rulership over all others. I am a son of cloud-cloaked Videlia, Sugriva of the desert world. To these planets, when the next spacevessel arrives some months hence, we shall return—forever. Nor shall men of our planets ever again set conquesting foot on Earth. That we pledge.
"Perhaps not again shall children of our three worlds meet until, in future ages, Earthmen have developed a culture equal to ours. Then, not as rulers and serfs but as equals all shall we form a solar trinity."
Ramey said, "It is not mine to argue with you. But what is your plan for us?"
"The decision is yours to make. You may stay here, if you so desire, or return to the future era whence you came. The time-machine waits below. You know the method of its operation."
Ramey stared at the huge idol standing on the dais before them. The great altar of Chitrakuta seemed to await his decision breathlessly, as did the girl whose hand touched his own. Ramey turned to Sheila. "Well?" he asked.
"We return," she said simply. "Isn't that what you want, Ramey?"
Ramey nodded. It was his own desire. To return to the world he knew best. He grinned and turned to the others.
"Well—that's it, then. All aboard, gang. Time-machine leaves on Track 3 in five minutes."
But curiously none stepped forward to join him and Sheila. Red stared at his companions impatiently.
"Well, what's the matter? Doc, are you ready?"
Dr. Aiken coughed apologetically.
"Sheila, my dear," he said to his daughter, "I—I am not returning with you. I am an old man. There is not a great deal of time remaining in the hourglass of my years. I would spend those last remaining sands seeing new things, learning secrets all men have longed to know. Sugriva has said I may return with him to Gaanelia. It is a temptation too great to resist. You—you understand, my dear?"
Sheila cried, "But if you don't return, daddy, then neither will we. Ramey and I will remain with you—"
"No!" the archeologist's voice was firm. "No, youmustreturn! Someone must carry back to the Twentieth Century a knowledge of what we have seen and done here in a forgotten age. You bear precious knowledge, vital information, to Earth's scientists. You alone can read the cipher of Angkor Vat, tell men whence it came and why, and where vanished its once mighty populace."
Ramey said, "We alone? But you speak as if Sheila and I were the only ones returning!"
Syd O'Brien spoke for the twins. He said, "I can't take Lake back to our time now, Ramey. The machine would set us in a desolate spot, perhaps in danger. And he is blind. Here he can receive medical care. Perhaps, later on, after Sugriva has lifted the veil from Lake's eyes—as he has said he can and will—we will join you again. But for the time being—Well, you see how it is."
"Then you, Red? You're surely coming with us?"
Red Barrett shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"Well, keed—I think maybe I'd better not. I asked Sugriva about Toots, here. He tells me she couldn't take a ride in the time-machine without being—well, without having happen to her what happened to Rudra. You see, she wouldn't have no true existence in the future. So—so I think I'll just stick around for a while. Me and Evavne is going back to Britain, where she come from. Maybe I can be some help to them folks of her'n. Like—" he grinned suddenly—"like teaching 'em to talk good English instead of that stuff they talk now."
"And you, Sheng-ti?"
Thebonzesaid quietly, "When Sugriva leaves, Ramey Winters, departs from Earth for many centuries the light of wisdom, peace and truth. These people, though they were born in a different era, are still my people. Someone must stay at Chitrakuta to help them re-establish themselves on a new footing. It is my clear and simple duty to be this one."
"Were the choice mine, Ramaíya," said Tauthus, "Iwould visit that future world of thine. But I cannot. So, like Sheng-ti, I shall go to my people. Much have I learned here at Chitrakuta; much more will the Lord Sugriva teach me. Then will I hie westward to bring something of the Gaanelian culture to my race."
Thus told each member of the party his intentions. Nor would argument sway any from his decision. And so it was that, some time later, Sheila and Ramey stood alone beside the trap-way to the time-machine of Rudra. Their last farewells had been made, the last hand shaken. Unless in years to come others should make the journey.
"When you return," Dr. Aiken bade them anxiously, "read well and carefully the wall-graven scripts at Angkor Vat. Before we leave Chitrakuta we shall see that all this history is carven on the walls. That and much other knowledge, lest your memories fail you. Remember!"
"We will remember," promised Ramey. Then he handed Sheila into the metal cube out of which—was it days, weeks or a lifetime ago?—they had risen into the strange, stirring world of the past. The trapdoor closed above them with aclang!of finality. Ramey moved to the lever which hurled the machine through Time ... pressed it....
When the needle had at last traversed the dial, betokening the end of their journey, Ramey climbed once again to the trapdoor which was the machine's exit. Cautiously he lifted it an inch ... then a foot ... then threw it back with a cry of gay relief.
"Empty, Sheila! The Japs have gone. I guess they got tired looking for us." He chuckled. "No wonder. After all, we were there a couple of weeks. Coming?"
He helped her from the cubicle. Then, remembering Sugriva's last instructions, he set the dial of the machine to its return position, hooked a length of fine wire about the control lever and spun the length of the wire through the trapdoor into the altar room wherein they stood.
"This is our key," he said, "to them. And theirs to us. The doorway to Chitrakuta is always open so long as it remains."
And he pulled the wire. They heard no sound, felt no tremor, but as if it were a wraith dissolving in weaving mists, the outline of the time-cube thinned ... wavered ... and disappeared. Only a length of fine wire, whose dangling end hung curiously taut in midair, lent reassurance that the way to another world was still open. Ramey coiled the wire and concealed it beneath the pediment of a statue. Then he rose, emotions strangely chaotic. A sadness was upon him at leaving comrades beside whom he had fought and laughed and lived a great adventure. But he was glad, too, to be back in a world he knew, a world he could understand....
A call from Sheila roused him from his brief reverie. "See, Ramey? This was one of the carvings which always puzzled us most. Its meaning was obscure—then. But now it is simple to read."
And she pointed to one of the huge scenes carven on the temple walls. The scene of a frightful battle, a battle being waged by apes strangely garbed in the habiliments of men and towering giants. One corner of the great stone tapestry showed a fleet of crowded ships rushing in to a harbor, still another showed an ape-human dying with a great wound in his breast, while beside him, loosing a lightning bolt from a gigantic bow, stood a man....
"Then theydidcarve the record!" said Ramey hallowedly. "It—it gives me the creeps, Sheila. We just left them. We know they're still alive, and that this artistry is not yet even planned. But here it is—and here it has been for five thousand years. The story of the battle for Lanka."
"And its hero?" queried Sheila oddly. "Ramey—do you know the full meaning of this story? The earth legend which has grown up about it?"
"Legend? You mean there is a legend aboutthis?"
"Aboutus!" Comprehension, which had been dawning slowly in Sheila's eyes, now flamed sudden and complete. "I see it all now! All! But surely daddy must have—Yes! He did—at the end. That is why he insisted we must return to our time. To clear up the ancient mystery—"
"What legend?" repeated Ramey perplexedly. "It's all over my head, Sheila. I don't get it at all."
"Then listen! Does this make sense to you, Ramey? 'And there were in those days four companions, Rama, Bharata, and the twins, Lakshmana and Satrughna—'"
"Hey! Those sound like the whacky handles we were tagged with at Chitrakuta! They called me 'Ramaíya,' and Lake was 'Lakshmana'—the smiling one—while Syd was 'Sidrughna'—the frowning one—"
"There would be slight changes," agreed the girl excitedly, "over a period of centuries. Pronunciation and spelling would change, of course. The legend goes on: 'Rama, by possession of an enormous Bow, formerly the dreaded weapon of the god Rudra, wins for a wife Sita, daughter of Janaka. Rama attracts the attention of a female demon, Rakshasi, and infuriated by his rejection of her advances, she inspires her brother Ravana with love for Sita.
"'In consequence of this, the latter is carried off by him to his capital, Lanka. Rama sets out with his companions to her rescue. After numerous adventures they enter into an agreement with Sugriva, king of the monkeys, and with the monkey-general, 'Anuman—'"[14]
"'Anuman!" repeated Ramey. "A new man!So in the legend his fondest dream becomes hisname? But whatisthis legend, Sheila? An obscure folk-tale—?"
"It goes on," half-laughed, half-sobbed the girl, "to tell of the attack on Lanka ... the bridge built by the monkeys ... Ravana's death at Rama's hands! Everything is in it, Ramey—everything we have known and lived! An obscure folk-tale! It is anything but that. It is a tale from theRamayana—one of the Sacred Books of the Hindu religion!
"You are—or were—the prototype of a hero worshipped by a quarter of a billion humans in our day ... the third greatest religion in the world. You, Ramey, are the god Rama!"
Ramey stared at her dazedly. "You mean," he said, "that the adventures through which we have just lived were not of our own making? That they happened before, ages ago in Man's history?"[15]
"Yes, Ramey. Don't you see—that adventure hasalwayshappened! This solves the argument daddy and Syd had about the immutability of Time. What things are,were, and always will be. Centuries ago, into ancient Chitrakuta came seven strangers from a future world. Having found their way into a Time which was not theirs, it had to be that when their Time came they must return to fulfill adventures written in the book of used-to-be.