The Metal Monster

other, white and wan

wn from it. The shimmering radiance suffusing it had thickened percep

ase, its forebodings growing ever stronger. Silently we repacked the

the level of the vale. Up toward us the gathering mists had been stea

wly; then swept, a dully lustrous six-foot cube, up the slope and came to rest almost at o

backs of sea monsters; like turrets of fantastic angled submarines from phosphorescent seas. One by one they skimmed s

fore us. Back from them, a pace,

mmobile-st

oated up behind them-Norhala. For an instant she was hidden behind their bulk; sud

als of gold and turquoise in their places. Pearl wh

he uttered no sound, but as at a signal the central cube sli

me," she sa

"Norhala, we must go with her. And this"

faraway voice chimed, "but

ur of the things moved, swirled in toward each other with a weird precision, with a mon

sighed

plessly at the she

f-wondering impatience

hed from us when the aurora beckoned she stood, holding the girl, upon the top of the single

mured again, loo

upon the edge of the quadruple; sprang. A myriad unseen hands ca

to me," I cal

e echoed, in

ray through the nightmare d

t; his shoulders heaved-and up shot the pony, laden as it was, landed softly upon four w

" cried

ing-bird's wing they were gripping me, swearing feebly. The unseen hold ang

w Ruth crouching, head bent, her arms around the knee

acing current, we, too, dipped be

d it not been for the sudden wind that had risen when first we had stirred, and that now beat st

e walked as though wading. I essayed to follow him; my feet I coul

hips I moved through a closely woven yet fluid mass of cobwebs. I had the fantastic idea that if I so willed I could slip

g ahead, striving, I knew, to pierce

face drawn with anxie

shook. "God-why did I ever let her go

explain. "Whatever it is we're bound for, wherever it is the woman's tak

o anything else? We haven't any control over this bird we're on.

ning with creatures that man's imagination never conceived-nor could conceive. And w

is consciousness concentra

e slipped fr

then tugged with both hand

o, the rifle might have been a part of the gleaming surface

hing at us!"

ing that shook me, as I saw it shake him. "Nonsense. These blocks

he said; "I mean those p

straightened. Our head shot above the mists like those of swi

s Norhala, red-gold tresses steaming; and close beside her were the brown curls of Ruth. A

toward it we were speeding. It was no ragged crevice, no natu

whispere

nts of round bodies like gigantic porpoises-the vapors seethed with them. Quickly the fins and rolling curves were all abou

s like a coverlet of cloud; the regal head of Norhala sweeping over them; the dull glint and gleam of

its thresho