GOOD-BY TO ARITE
Once inside he went swiftly to the room where they had left their
water-bottles and other paraphernalia. He found them without difficulty,
and retraced his steps to the door he had entered. Depositing his load
near it, he went back towards the room which Lylda had described to him,
and in which the food was stored.
Walking along this silent hallway, listening to the echoes of his own
footsteps on its stone floor, the Very Young Man found himself oppressed
by a feeling of impending danger. He looked back over his shoulder--once
he stood quite still and listened. But he heard nothing; the house was
quite silent, and smiling at his own fear he went on again.
Selecting the food they needed for the trip took him but a moment. He
left the storeroom, his arms loaded, and started back toward the garden
door. Several doorways opened into the hall below, and all at once the
Very Young Man found himself afraid as he passed them. He was within
sight of the garden door, not more than twenty feet away, when he
hesitated. Just ahead, at his right, an archway opened into a room
beside the hall. The Very Young Man paused only an instant; then,
ashamed of his fear, started slowly forward. He felt an impulse to run,
but he did not. And then, from out of the silence, there came a low,
growling cry that made his heart stand still, and the huge gray figure
of a man leaped upon him and bore him to the ground.
As he went down, with the packages of food flying in all directions, the
Very Young Man gripped the naked body of his antagonist tightly. He
twisted round as he fell and lay with his foe partly on top of him. He
knew instinctively that his situation was desperate. The man's huge
torso, with its powerful muscles that his arms encircled, told him that
in a contest of strength such as this, inevitably he would find himself
overcome.
The man raised his fist to strike, and the Very Young Man caught him by
the wrist. Over his foe's shoulder now he could see the open doorway
leading into the garden, not more than six or eight feet away. Beyond it
lay safety; that he knew. He gave a mighty lunge and succeeded in
rolling over toward the doorway. But he could not stay above his
opponent, for the man's greater strength lifted him up and over, and
again pinned him to the floor.
He was nearer the door now, and just beyond it he caught a glimpse of
the white flesh of Aura's ankle as she stood beside the house. The man
put a hand on the Very Young Man's throat. The Very Young Man caught it
by the wrist, but he could feel the growing pressure of its fingers
cutting off his breath. He tried to pull the hand back, but could not;
he tried to twist his body free, but the weight of his foe held him
tightly against the floor. A great roaring filled his ears; the hallway
began fading from his sight. With a last despairing breath, he gave a
choking cry: "Aura! Aura!"
The man's fingers at his throat loosened a little; he drew another
breath, and his head cleared. His eyes were fixed on the strip of garden
he could see beyond the doorway. Suddenly Aura's enormous body came into
view, as she stooped and then lay prone upon the ground. Her face was
close to the door; she was looking in. The Very Young Man gave another
cry, half stifled. And then into the hallway he saw come swiftly a huge
hand, whose fingers gripped him and his antagonist and jerked them
hurriedly down the hall and out into the garden.
As they lay struggling on the ground outside, the Very Young Man felt
himself held less closely. He wrenched himself free and sprang to his
feet, standing close beside Aura's face. The man was up almost as
quickly, preparing again to spring upon his victim. Something moved
behind the Very Young Man, and he looked up into the air hurriedly. The
Big Business Man stood behind him; the Very Young Man met his anxious
glance.
"I'm all right," he shouted. His antagonist leaped forward and at the
same instant a huge, flat object, that was the Big Business Man's foot,
swept through the air and mashed the man down into the dirt of the
garden. The Very Young Man turned suddenly sick as he heard the agonized
shriek and the crunching of the breaking bones. The Big Business Man
lifted his foot, and the mangled figure lay still. The Very Young Man
sat down suddenly in the garden path and covered his face with his
hands.
When he raised his head his friends were all standing round him,
crowding the garden. The body of the man who had attacked him had
disappeared. The Very Young Man looked up into Aura's face--she was on
her feet now with the others and tried to smile.
"I'm all right," he repeated. "I'll go get the food and things."
In a few minutes more he had made himself as large as his companions,
and had brought with him most of the food. There still remained in the
smaller size the water-bottles, some of the food, the belts with which
to carry it, and a few other articles they needed for the trip.
"I'll get them," said the Big Business Man; "you sit down and rest."
The Very Young Man was glad to do as he was told, and sat beside Aura in
the garden, while the Big Business Man brought up to their size the
remainder of the supplies.
When they had divided the food, and all were equipped for the journey,
they started at once for the tunnels. Lylda's eyes again filled with
tears as she left so summarily, and probably for the last time, this
home in which she had been so happy.
As they passed the last houses of the city, heading towards the tunnel
entrances that the Chemist had selected, the Big Business Man and the
Chemist walked in front, the others following close behind them. A crowd
of Oroids watched them leave, and many others were to be seen ahead; but
these scattered as the giants approached. Occasionally a few stood their
ground, and these the Big Business Man mercilessly trampled under foot.
"It's the only way; I'm sorry," he said, half apologetically. "We cannot
take any chances now; we must get out."
"It's shorter through these tunnels I'm taking," the Chemist said after
a moment.
"My idea," said the Big Business man, "is that we should go through the
tunnels that are the largest. They're not all the same size, are they?"
"No," the Chemist answered; "some are a little larger."
"You see," the Big Business Man continued, "I figure we are going to
have a fight. They're following us. Look at that crowd over there.
They'll never let us out if they can help it. When we get into the
tunnels, naturally we'll have to be small enough to walk through them.
The larger we are the better; so let's take the very biggest."
"These are," the Chemist answered. "We can make it at about so high." He
held his hand about the level of his waist.
"That won't be so bad," the Big Business Man commented.
Meanwhile the Very Young Man, walking with Aura behind the leaders, was
talking to her earnestly. He was conscious of a curious sense of
companionship with this quiet girl--a companionship unlike anything he
had ever felt for a girl before. And now that he was taking her with
him, back to his own world----
"Climb out on to the surface of the ring," he was saying, "and then, in
a few minutes more, we'll be there. Aura, you cannot realize how
wonderful it will be."
The girl smiled her quiet smile; her face was sad with the memory of
what she was leaving, but full of youthful, eager anticipation of that
which lay ahead.
"So much has happened, and so quickly, I cannot realize it yet, I know,"
she answered. "But that it will be very wonderful, up there above, I do
believe. And I am glad that we are going, only----"
The Very Young Man took her hand, holding it a moment. "Don't, Aura. You
mustn't think of that." He spoke gently, with a tender note in his
voice.
"Don't think of the past, Aura," he went on earnestly. "Think only of
the future--the great cities, the opera, the poetry I am going to teach
you."
The girl laid her hand on his arm. "You are so kind, my friend Jack. You
will have much to teach me, will you not? Is it sure you will want to? I
shall be like a little child up there in your great world."
An answer sprang to the Very Young Man's lips--words the thinking of
which made his heart leap into his throat. But before he could voice
them Loto ran up to him from behind, crying. "I want to walk by you,
Jack; _mamita_ talks of things I know not."
The Very Young Man put his arm across the child's shoulders. "Well,
little boy," he said laughing, "how do you like this adventure?"
"Never have I been in the Great Forests," Loto answered, turning his
big, serious eyes up to his friend's face. "I shall not be afraid--with
my father, and _mamita_, and with you."
"The Great Forests won't seem very big, Loto, after a little while," the
Very Young Man said. "And of course you won't be afraid of anything.
You're going to see many things, Loto--very many strange and wonderful
things for such a little boy."
They reached the entrance to the tunnel in a few moments more, and
stopped before it. As they approached, a number of little figures darted
into its luminous blackness and disappeared. There were none others in
sight now, except far away towards Arite, where perhaps a thousand stood
watching intently.
The tunnel entrance, against the side of a hill, stood nearly breast
high.
"I'm wrong," said the Chemist, as the others came up. "It's not so high
all the way through. We shall have to make ourselves much smaller than
this."
"This is a good time to eat," suggested the Very Young Man. The others
agreed, and without making themselves any smaller--the Big Business Man
objected to that procedure--they sat down before the mouth of the tunnel
and ate a somewhat frugal meal.
"Have you any plans for the trip up?" asked the Doctor of the Chemist
while they were eating.
"I have," interjected the Big Business Man, and the Chemist answered:
"Yes, I am sure I can make it far easier than it was for me before. I'll
tell you as we go up; the first thing is to get through the tunnels."
"I don't anticipate much difficulty in that," the Doctor said. "Do you?"
The Chemist shook his head. "No, I don't."
"But we mustn't take any chances," put in the Big Business Man quickly.
"How small do you suppose we should make ourselves?"
The Chemist looked at the tunnel opening. "About half that," he replied.
"Not at the start," said the Big Business Man. "Let's go in as large as
possible; we can get smaller when we have to."
It took them but a few minutes to finish the meal. They were all tired
from the exciting events of the day, but the Big Business Man would not
hear of their resting a moment more than was absolutely necessary.
"It won't be much of a trip up to the forests," he argued. "Once we get
well on our way and into one of the larger sizes, we can sleep safely.
But not now; it's too dangerous."
They were soon ready to start, and in a moment more all had made
themselves small enough to walk into the tunnel opening. They were, at
this time, perhaps six times the normal height of an adult Oroid. The
city of Arite, apparently much farther away now, was still visible up
against the distant horizon. As they were about to start, Lylda, with
Aura close behind her, turned to face it.
"Good-by to our own world now we must say, my sister," she said sadly.
"The land that bore us--so beautiful a world, and once so kindly. We
have been very happy here. And I cannot think it is right for me to
leave."
"Your way lies with your husband," Aura said gently. "You yourself have
said it, and it is true."
Lylda raised her arms up towards the far-away city with a gesture almost
of benediction.
"Good future to you, land that I love." Her voice trembled. "Good future
to you, for ever and ever."
The Very Young Man, standing behind them with Loto, was calling:
"They're started; come on."
With one last sorrowful glance Lylda turned slowly, and, walking with
her arm about her sister, followed the others into the depths of the
tunnel.