Out of Time's Abyss

the decorations. Hides of leopard and tiger predominated, apparently because of th

ents similar to those worn by the girl and those which had filled the chests he had examined in the storeroom of Fosh-bal-soj, leading the Englishman to the convictio

hither and thither within the temple. Many now were the solid red robe

e to a Wieroo that stood beside a door leading from the room. "Tell Him Who Speaks for Luata," he said, "that Fosh-bal-soj we could not find; but that in returning we found this creature within the

rds loitered in the immediate vicinity. The doorkeeper was gone but for a moment, and when he returned, he signified that Bradley's party was to enter the next chamber; but first each of the Wieroos removed his curved weapon and laid it upon t

gainst yellow teeth in a perpetual grimace. Upon either side of it lay an enormous, curved sword, similar to those with which some of t

against the hides were many pairs of Wieroo wings, mounted so that they resembled long, black shields. Upon the ceiling were painted in blue cha

rd, raising their wings above their heads and stretching their necks as t

party. "We bring you the strange creature that Fosh-

His blue robe announced him the one and the seeming humility of his minions the other. For a long minute he glared at Bradley. The

ata-lu?" the

all his kind were, as well as every l

the secret?" as

, thinking to gain time, r

leaning far forward and exhibiting

e it to others, and then only on condition that you carry me and the girl I saw in

h, holding one of its

Speaks for Luata?" it shrilled. "Tell

portunity to question another of my kind who knows the secret." Anything to gain time, to get the r

the leader of the party

g with weapo

as the

uard to remain close by,

ght hand. At his left side lay the second weapon. It was evident that he lived in constant dread of being assassinated. The

es wandered past the weird figure before him; they played about the walls of the apartment as though hoping to draw inspiratio

med the thing.

d the girl our freed

man's countenance betrayed that he had seen aught to surprise him, though surprised he was for the face in the aperture was that of the girl he had but just left hidden beneath the hides in another chamber. A white and shapely ar

shall know the secret of cos-ata-lu as well as do I; but none

Bradley stooped beneath the blade and put his ear close to the gruesome face. As he did so, he rested his weight upon his hands, one

h his own right hand swung the extra blade in a sudden vicious blow against the creature's neck before the thing could give even a singl

. "He Who Speaks for Luata will be avenged by Luata. Now indeed must you die. Ther

and then: "But you were g

hould have died

at the hands of any god. If we don't get out of here though, we'll die right enoug

ng seen. I came hither because I only met Wieroos who knew that I am supposed

of the room was a cylindrical shaft with an opening in its face. Bradley knew it for what it was. Here the arch-fiend dragged his victims and cast their bodies into the river of death far below. The floor about the opening in the shaft

quickly he hunted about the room until he found what he sought-a quantity of the rope that lay strewn here and there. With rapid fingers he unsnarled the different lengths, the girl helping him, and then h

o the river, and then I'm coming down after you. When you are safe below, give two quick jerks upon the rope. If t

radley thought, and herself climbed through the apertur

, he heard loud cries and wails suddenly arise within the room they had just quitted. The slayi

e the rest of the strands fast about the shaft, slipped into the black tube and began a hurried descent toward the river. An instant later he stood waist deep in water beside the girl. Impulsivel

leave here

ulls and get the poor devil I left there. I'll have to wait until after dark, thoug

beside the river from one end of the city to the other. Through the gardens it is below ground. If we could find an entra

, anyway." And so saying he approached one of t

he city, always through inky darkness. After they had reached the other side of the gardens, Bradley counted his steps until he had retraced

leading out onto the river; and then, still in the blackest darkness, he lowered himself into the stream and felt up and down upon the opposi

from the gloomy interior. Bradley could not but muse upon the joy of the man on the opposite side when he should drop down to him with food and a new hope for escape. Then he opened the p

, there was the man asleep. Bradley shook him-there was no response. He stooped lower and in the dim light examined An-Ta

e Blue Place of Seven Skulls forever. Beneath the perch he paused. "I'll not

e high perch and dragging him through the small opening and thus down the ladder; but presently it was d

f the city. She told him that the Wieroos seldom frequented these lower passages, as the air here was too chill for them; but oc

hining in the dark-they resemble dull splotches of light. They

creatures. To him they were uncanny; but she had been used to them for a year al

d. "It seems more than any ordinar

those days each race came up from the beginning and there was great rivalry as to which was the higher in the scale of evolution. The Wieroo developed the first cos-ata-lu but they were always male-never could they reproduce woman. Slowly they commenced to develop certain attributes of the mind which, they considered, placed them upon a still higher level and which gav

d to carry tas-ad into every part of the world. They were very warlike and very numerous, although they had

aspak, for no one wanted their tas-ad, and so they used their wings to fly to this island when the other races turned against them and threatened to kill them all. So cruel had they become and so bloodthirsty that they no

the more powerful than the others with a tas-ad all his own. He gathered about him a few of the most terrible

not make. They think great thoughts, no doubt, and still dream of greatness to come, but their tho

afening sound. Then the corridor ended in a blank wall; but in a niche to the right was a ladder leading aloft, and to the left was a door opening onto the river. Bradley tried the latter first and as he opened it, felt a heavy spray against his face. The little shelf outside the doorway was wet and

Bradley felt for openings in the sides of the shaft; but he discovered none below fifty feet. The first he came to was ajar, letting a faint light into the well. As he paused, the girl climbed to his side, and

ed upon the inmates of the room, and involuntarily his arm encircled her shoulde

their hideous offspring whom they hate as they hate their fathers. A Wieroo keeps his children thus hidden until they

ne wall opened above an alley, and through it they could see that they were just below the roof of the building. Darkness was comi

e storeroom. Their hearts sank as they heard the door open and from between cracks in the vessels behind which they hid saw a yellow-slashed Wieroo enter the room. Each recognized him immediately, the girl indicatin

Bradley could see through the partially open doorway that it descended the ladder. The girl told him that it was taking the food

id. "It is far from the edge of the city; so far that we

s will be the easiest to escape from. Anyway, I want to return t

w it placed in a chest where he keeps the thi

p where they found another door that opened into a vacant room-the same in which Bradley had first met the girl. To find the pistol was a m

d to the doorway of the storeroom where lay the body of Fosh-bal-soj. In the distance, toward the temple, they could hear s

ks for Luata," whispered the girl. "Soon they w

l they f

when they find us, they will tear us to pieces, for onl

l you," said Bradley.

he insisted. "If they find us t

orse off than before I came-and I'll get as far as I can and account for as many of the beggars as possib

turn to my own country. I wanted to go back to An-Tak, who must be very lonely without me; but I kn

peated. "You loved a

caught me. How he must have grieved for me! He also was cos-ata-lu,

ed An-Tak. He hadn't the heart to t

eyes became accustomed to the gloom that was partially relieved by the soft starlight without. The Englishman searched and found those things for which he had come-two robes, two pairs of de

he robe upon him. Working with strong, deft fingers she soon had the work completed, and the two stepped out upon the roof, to all intent and purpose ge

flapped above them and several times they passed others walking or sitting upon the roofs. F

It is well for us, since it keeps them too busy to give the time for searching for us. They t

"If there is any way, we

way," repli

tinued until the outer edge of roofs was visible

hers trembling as he returned the pressure, nor did he relinqu

d to their bodies by sinew and muscle rather than by ropes of fiber. A Wieroo was flapping far overhead. Two more stood near a door a few yards distant. Standing between these and one of the ou

!" whispered Bradley; and the girl grasped the rope and slid over the edge of the roof into the darkness be

ide the stream. At no time did they hear the cry of a carnivore, and though many startled animals fled as they approached, they were not once menaced by a wild beast. When Bradley expr

live either upon land or in the water and these only close to the coast. Requiring meat for food the Wieroos carried to the island such anim

us," sugge

it was little more than rivulet now, the water clear and cold and filled with fish similar to brook trout though much larger. Not wishing to leave the stream the two waded along its bed to a spot where the gorge widened between perpendicular bluffs to a wooded acre of level land. Here t

a long time and also one that they could defend against these winged creatures, since the trees would shield them fro

ould remain in hiding; but she refused to be left, saying that whatever fate was to be his, she intended to share it, so that he was at last forced to permit her to come with him. Through woods at the summ

up and down the coast as they could see. Among other plans Bradley had thought of constructing a covered raft upon which they might drift to the mainland; but as such

ly at the edge of th

it. We have escaped from death for a time at least. We have food and good

d to get back to your ow

turned away. "I do," she said, "yet I am ha

ers through which they had passed, all the weird and horrible surroundings that had formed the background of his knowledge of her had had their effect-she had been but the companion of an adventure; her self-reliance, her endurance, her loyalty, had been only what one man might expect of another, and he saw that he had unco

hed upon the screen of recollection the picture of a stately hall set amidst broad gardens and ancient trees and of a pr

es with wondrous flies of his own invention; and the girl gathered fruits and cooked the flesh and the fish and made beds of branches and soft grasses. She cured the hides of the animals he killed and made them

expression just a trace of wistfulness, and often she sat and looked at the man when he did not

He brought wood for their cook-fire which they used only in the middle of the day-a time when there was little likelihood of Wieroos being in the air

ross the sea toward the dark, distant line that meant for him comparative freedom and possibly reunion with his comrades. The gir

t happy," s

men," he replied. "I do not know

ite simply; "but I should be very lon

tle girl," he said gently. "If you cannot go with me, I sh

e shall not be separated," she said, "for I s

ce for a moment and then:

," she repl

omething he had never done before-he put his arms about her and stooping, kis

ave a brother," she said, "