_The Struggle_
"As I watched the unfolding of the terrible scene in the chamber, I
found myself wondering what I would do if Sands actually attempted to
fight his way through the death-dealing rays of the Jovians. My hand
accidentally touched my gun butt and for the first time since I had
used the weapon back in the first tunnel, I remembered that I still
possessed it. I felt somewhat heartened at the reassuring touch but
how useless it was in fighting the grotesque frog-men from the distant
world! Surely it could not kill or disable them for hadn't I thumbed a
slug into the bony features of one of them? That slug would have killed
a man instantly, but the Jovian had no more than croaked as the lead
tore through his head!
"I patted the gun affectionately and inspected the cylinder. Reloading
I snapped it back into its holster with a grim determination that I
would use it! Better had Allie Lane, her father and Driftin' Sands rest
in peace on this earth, than in mortal terror forever on Jupiter, I
thought!
"Suddenly my eyes were brought back to the chamber by a curdling
scream. Allie had fainted as Sands sprang at the bull-like throat of
Abaris, upsetting him in the suddenness of his attack. Lane stood
petrified, Allie lay unmolested and unaided upon the floor.
"Just inside the chamber near the entrance, Sands and Abaris seemed
locked in a terrible embrace of death. Chest to chest they lay on
the floor, Sands on top, holding in his powerful hands the thin,
rubber-like arms of the hideous, bestial-visaged ruler of the Jovians!
Sands grunted as he strained hard to hold Abaris' flexible arms to
prevent him from bringing into play the terrible weapon that seemed to
be concealed in the sucker-like tips at their ends. It seemed like the
conflict of two great forces--man and beast--in a terrible battle for
supremacy--like good and evil, angel and demon. I was thrilled at the
great heroism of Sands and my heart swelled with the pride of having
his loyal friendship. Slowly I edged my way toward the chamber, keeping
well against the wall, for a closer view of the struggle. As uneven as
it seemed, Sands, I thought, was the better of the two physically. But
how could he hope to win such an unequal combat, unarmed, and against
the terrible green death rays of Abaris? White man and planetarial
beast! No greater contrast could be imagined.
"The muscles in Sands' neck bulged as he labored to hold the tough,
flexible arms of Abaris. The Jovian's skinny legs, unjointed and
stilt-like kicked spasmodically, poor protection against Sands'
powerful limbs. From a better point of vantage I watched the struggle.
Which of the two would win the terrible battle of physical forces?
"Suddenly Abaris gave a great heave that cast Sands clear from his
barrel-like body! But Sands held, with bull dog tenacity, onto the
writhing arms of the Jovian leader, struggling vainly to prevent
Abaris from aiming his pencil-thin emerald rays of destruction. Once
Abaris shot his terrible ray and a Jovian near him vanished entirely
in a puff of acrid smoke! A ray struck one of the huge chairs and it
crumbled. This combat, I felt, would be more like a wrestling match
due to the fact that it seemed impossible for Abaris to rise on his
stilt-like legs. That much in favor of Sands! But what would happen
to him if Abaris succeeded in striking him with a green ray shot with
uncontrollable anger?
"I studied Abaris' bestial features to see how he was accepting the
terrific throttling he was receiving. His owlish orbs gleamed, flaming
red, and stared bestially into Sands' set features, his terrible power
of will burning into the man's brain. I cast a quick glance at Allie.
She was just recovering from her faint and her father was at her side.
From behind fluttering lids, Allie looked at the struggling figures,
thrashing about on the chamber floor. She groaned softly and hid her
face, sobbing.
"Watching them my muscles involuntarily became tense. My breath came in
gasps born of sheer sympathy for Sands and his long lost sweetheart.
"Slowly, very slowly, the dominating will power of Abaris overcame the
struggling physical force of Sands. Gradually he eased his terrible
grip on the Jovian's writhing arms, and steadily Abaris was bringing
their sucker-like tips toward his antagonist. Realizing his waning
strength, Sands made a desperate effort to tear his eyes from the
blazing, relentless orbs of Abaris, turning his head to the side. But
struggle as he would, with all the physical strength at his command, he
could not check the gradual domination of brain-power and will that was
slowly but surely smothering him to submission.
"Presently Sands' muscles relaxed and finally the terrific power of
Abaris' dominating will swept into the core of his brain, overpowering
him. I cursed softly and hid my face in my hands for a second.
"Sands' head dropped to one side, his powerful arms hung limply. Blood
streamed from his nostrils, caused by his tremendous physical efforts.
I caught a glimpse of his eyes as his head fell. They were stark,
unseeing eyes! His body shuddered convulsively as it slipped inertly to
the chamber floor. Abaris was hoisted erect by two of his Jovians, his
tubes waving victoriously, a cackling laugh in his throat.
"Allie Lane screamed and her father stroked her shaking head gently as
Abaris strode, wobbling like a duck, toward them. I looked at Sands.
His breathing was heavy and irregular. Abaris, I thought, had not
killed him outright, nor had he brought into play his terrible rays.
His great mental power alone had completely subdued him.
"Slowly my hand stole to the butt of my gun. With a jerk I snapped the
weapon out of its holster, holding back the hammer with my thumb. In a
space of several seconds I could have hurled five slugs at Allie and
her father and the inert form of Sands. The sixth, I had planned, was
to crash through my own brain. I levelled the gun at Allie's temple
exposed through a wisp of her soft, brown hair, but I could not find
the heart to release my thumb from the hammer. Suddenly I felt a wave
of great remorse surge deep within me for not sending a half dozen
shots into the owlish eyes of Abaris. Why hadn't I shot him as he lay
there on the ground struggling under Sands, and clipped the writhing
arms from his body? Was I actually the kind of a coward who would stand
by, hiding like a frightened jack-rabbit while the life was being
crushed out of my dearest and most loyal friends?
"A terrible rage filled me. What would my wife think of me back at
Balch if she learned that I had stood idly by like a whipped cur and
permitted those uncouth freaks to commit a wrong against Allie and her
lover? How could my children ever live down the cowardice of their
father! It was with these thoughts in my maddened brain that I suddenly
dashed out of the tunnel, gun in hand, and blocked Abaris' passage
toward Allie and her father. I felt a terrible urge to kill--to spill
the blood or whatever it was that coursed through the veins of the
frog-faced beasts!
"'Stop, Abaris,' I shouted hysterically. 'Stop where you are! I'll kill
you if you move!'
"He stared at me through flaming, owlish orbs. His frog-like mouth
opened and there came from his cavernous throat the mocking, cackling
laugh. It was maddening--his cackling indifference! Suddenly
remembering that it was within the power of these strange creatures to
render my weapon useless, causing it to heat and burn my hand, I lifted
the barrel from my hip and let fly. Swiftly and with the flaming desire
to kill pounding at my brain I thumbed the hammer of my gun! In a row,
six round, green holes appeared just above Abaris' flaming eyes! He
tottered for an instant and then recovered himself. An emerald green
liquid poured from the holes and ran down into his owlish eyes.
"So rapidly were the slugs hurled from my gun that the Jovians did not
instantly grasp their significance. Then abruptly the entire chamber
seemed alive with thin green rays that played with deadly precision
around me. Abaris, suddenly ill from the effect of the six slugs
passing through his head, made a weak attempt to lift a tentacle-like
arm. It was with an effort that he brought it up. I made a leap at him
but I was too late. A ray shot from the tip of his fiendish arm! I felt
a tingle on my left side, just over the heart. The chamber floor seemed
to rush up as I fell, heavily. For several seconds I lay there, in full
command of my faculties but unable to move a muscle. My head swam and
I had a feeling that I was being hurled through space at a terrific
speed. Then a terrible blackness overcame me and I seemed to be falling
into a yawning abyss.
"How long I lay there I do not know. For ages, it seemed, I lay on my
back making no attempt to move, but staring into an inky blackness
overhead. What had caused the chamber to become dark, I wondered?
Were my eyes really open? I pinched myself. I was not dead after all!
I listened attentively for some sound to indicate the presence of
someone. I heard nothing. The silence was awful. Then I wondered if I
had succeeded in killing Abaris. If so, he should be lying at my feet.
With an effort I wiggled a leg in an attempt to feel the floor near it.
Perhaps Abaris had crawled away, or his men had removed him from the
room, I thought. Then I remembered the futility of trying to kill a
Jovian!
"I felt no pain although the blood pounded at my temples and I felt
terribly weak and nauseated. My left side seemed numb--deadened where
Abaris' ray had struck. Presently as I lay in the darkness, my ears
caught a low moaning sound. Increasing in volume, the sound soon became
a high-pitched wail like that which we had heard when we beheld the
sphere whirling on the column in the center of the radium pool. My ear
drums pounded under the force of the shriek and I placed my hands over
them to shut out the maddening sound.
"Suddenly the whole earth seemed to tremble! A rumble filled the
room as though the world were in the tumultuous throes of some great
upheaval! With an ominous roar the floor under me shuddered and
cracked. I lay panic-stricken, thinking that a terrible earthquake had
swept over the Valley of Death. Crashing earth-slides roared around
me as I lay helpless. Overhead I could see a thin streak of light
penetrating through a fissure that was slowly widening! The chamber was
becoming brighter under the glare of light that entered it from the
fissure. I stood upon my feet and braced myself to keep from falling
under the swaying movements of the earth. I looked around quickly.
The chamber was entirely vacant. Not a sign remained of Abaris, his
Jovians, Allie or any of them! They were gone! At my feet I noticed
a spreading pool of green liquid. I cursed Abaris and his hideous
followers roundly.
"Presently as I stood staring down at the liquid that must have poured
from the wounds I had inflicted upon Abaris, I heard a terrific roar
coming from somewhere near. The floor of the chamber rolled like the
surface of an angry sea. I was dashed against the wall where I lay. I
expected momentarily to see the chamber close up and crush me to death,
sealing me in a living tomb deep beneath the Manalava Plain!
"There came a terrific, thunderous crash, the impact of which caused
me to rise from the ground and fall again yards away! With the crash
came the blinding flash of some terrible explosion. A great, hissing
sound reached my ears and then I heard a loud, ear-splitting shriek.
I looked overhead at the fissure in the earth through which filtered
the soul-gladdening sunlight. I caught a glimpse of a great sphere
travelling at a terrific speed into the sky! As it sped away, the
shriek of its passing became less discernible and soon died out
altogether. The Jovians had departed for their own planet, taking Allie
Lane, her father and Driftin' Sands with them! Gradually the earth
roar ceased and with it ceased the earth's heaving.
"I stared around me now able to see the entire chamber. Not an object
remained in it--not a fragment of any of the beautiful purple and gold
drapes that had decorated the room which had been Allie Lane's. The
Jovians had removed every object while I lay on the floor, apparently
dead. Abaris' ray could not have struck me squarely, or else he had
been too feeble and weak as the result of his wounds, to do more than
stun me temporarily. In my rapid search of the room I discovered that
the upheaval caused by the departure of the great interplanetary
traveler, had sealed the tunnel in which I had hidden during the
conflict between Sands and Abaris. The tunnel through which Abaris had
suddenly appeared was likewise closed with massive rocks.
"As a last resort to escape from the underground world I began to
study the possibility of crawling to the surface of the Manalava Plain
through the wide fissure overhead. The opening was too high for me to
reach up and obtain enough of a handhold to support my weight. I spent
hours, working constantly, piling some of the broken rocks from the
tunnels under the fissure. Eventually I succeeded in grasping a sharp
rock protruding from the side of the crevice and hoisted myself up. It
was hard, that climb to the outer world.
"Presently after what seemed hours of back-breaking labor I reached the
surface. How good it was to breathe the pure air of Death Valley again!
The atmosphere, in spite of the terrific heat of the Manalava Plain,
was sweet and beautiful. My lungs, long since taxed with the foul,
nauseating atmosphere of the tunnels and caverns deep below me, pumped
madly, as I breathed in the delightful air of my own world!
"The Manalava Plain as far as I could see had strangely become ruffled
and strewn with broken rocks. Wide fissures and crevices were visible
at every hand and on several occasions as I picked my way off the Plain
I was forced to leap over them or make wide detours in order to pass.
After terrible torture I eventually reached the spring in the little
hidden canyon. There I drank deeply of the water that had previously
been pale green in color and was now strangely colorless. I looked
around the weather-broken wagons and searched the old trunk that Sands
had found before we started to follow the phantom wagon with its two
mysterious humans, but failed to find anything in which I could carry
a supply of water. After rolling in the spring I struck off across the
Valley. It was hell, friends, and I would have lain down many times
to die, but the ever present vision of my wife and youngsters over at
Balch, constantly beckoned me to continue. So here I am and I thank
you, gentlemen, for saving my life!"