In the Armory
Carza stamped her foot with imperial authority. The Taunans grasped
Joan and lifted her in their arms.
“Hold! Drop the girl.”
Billy and Moawha, both of whom had grown anxious over the prolonged
absence of Epworth and Joan, thrust their faces through the hole in
the wall. The second Billy saw his friend he understood the situation,
and shouted loudly. But he was not satisfied with calling out.
Thrusting his chloroform gun through the wall he sprayed the six
Taunans who were carrying Joan toward the fire. The chloroform
stupified them instantly, and Joan fell to the floor. Immediately
Billy, Moawha and many Selinite soldiers crowded into the chamber.
Moawha and her soldiers used their guns on the dwarfs and while they
were doing this Billy rushed to the aid of Joan and Epworth. Slashing
the cords that held them he grabbed some gas masks from two of the
Selinite soldiers and brought them down over Epworth’s and Joan’s
heads.
This was an infinite relief to Epworth and Joan. Already they were
feeling the effects of the chlorine, and as soon as they experienced
the relief they sprang to their feet, and shot their eyes around in
search of Toplinsky and Queen Carza. They were in time to see the two
leaders dashing toward an open door.
“This way!” Epworth called out hurriedly. “Toplinsky and the queen are
rushing to organize the crickets. We must beat them to it.”
Followed by Joan and many Selinite soldiers Epworth pursued Toplinsky
and the queen. As they passed corridor after corridor of caves Queen
Carza sent out her chirping warning to the crickets.
While Epworth and Joan chased anxiously after Toplinsky, Billy and
Moawha stopped many of the Selinite soldiers, and began to pour
chloroform at the insects. But not all of the soldiers followed them.
Several thousand rushed after Epworth and Joan.
Suddenly Toplinsky and the queen, who had been dimly visible down the
corridor, disappeared. When Epworth and Joan arrived at the point
where they had disappeared they found themselves looking down a long
incline into an immense chamber. The moment he saw this chamber
Epworth realized that he was looking at the magazine and armory that
Toplinsky had prepared for the crickets. The space was teeming with
crickets, multiplied thousands of them. Toplinsky was standing on a
keg of powder bellowing commands, which were translated to the
crickets by the queen in the chirping voice of the crickets.
As Epworth stopped he looked behind him, and discovered that he was
followed by Selinite soldiers ready to attack the crickets. Already
Toplinsky was forming gun troops to shoot heavy cannon balls down the
corridor he was standing in. If Toplinsky could get his big guns into
operation he would annihilate the small army of Selinites in the
corridor.
Epworth was worried. What should he do? His entire scheme of surprise
had fallen flat before he could get his chloroform guns battering at
the center of the cricket population.
A blundering cricket solved his problem for him. A dwarf was
explaining to the cricket the method of firing a cannon with a torch.
The cricket fumbled the torch, and the flame fell on a powder fuse.
The fuse was Toplinsky’s fatal mistake.
He had placed it and connected it with all of the powder and
explosives he had made with the intention of trapping invaders in the
armory, and blowing them up. It was a good idea of defense properly
managed.
Now the torch fired the fuse, and the blaze spluttered along toward
the great magazine like a swiftly crawling snake. Toplinsky saw it,
and dashed recklessly at the fuse to stamp it out. He did not pause to
lower the queen, who was sitting on his shoulders.
He ran like the wind. Swiftly spluttered the fuse. Great beads of
sweat slipped out of the giant’s face. It was a race with death.
Faster and faster raced the fuse. Toplinsky, in his hurry, forgot the
gravity of the moon. He lifted his foot as if running in an Olympic
meet. The act caused him to topple over although it carried him nearer
the goal. Staggering to his feet, with the queen still clinging to his
shoulders, he made another attempt.
Now the spluttering fire was almost to the magazine. Epworth shuddered
and jerked Joan back. If Toplinsky failed——
The giant was almost on the fuse; he lifted his foot upward to stamp
out the fire. Again in his excitement he overlooked the moon’s light
gravity. His foot came down on the opposite side of the spluttering
fire.
There came a terrific explosion. It sounded like an inside volcano
blowing off the top of the moon.
Epworth and Joan were lucky. They were standing in a corridor
Toplinsky had set apart as a safety valve for the men who fired the
fuse if commanded. Crouching down they saw the interior of the
tremendous cavern shoot upward. Then rocks and debris began to fall
with loud crashes.
The sides and roof of the cavern had caved in, and the debris was
showering down like falling snow.
The vast horde of crickets that had been rushing around arming
themselves and pushing guns forward to drive out the Selinites
disappeared as if by magic.
Toplinsky, their scientific leader, had brought annihilation to
himself and his whole colony of crickets by his shrewd attempts to
slay others.
The living remnants of crickets, hidden in their secret nests, were
hunted down by the Selinite soldiers, who rooted them out forever.
Moawha, kind-hearted and troubled, granted amnesty to the Taunan
dwarfs when they pledged allegiance to the Selinite nation.