AN UNDERGROUND CITY.
Grandon's plan of escape entailed no inconsiderable degree of caution,
as well as an immense amount of physical labor.
The room adjoining the dormitory in which he and his men were quartered
was used for storing the dried fungi which, when mixed with the sticky
milk of the green creatures, constituted the food of the slaves. These
fungi were dumped in great heaps about the room without any semblance
of order, and as one of the heaps effectually concealed a corner, one
side of which was formed by the outer wall, it was Grandon's purpose
to dig a tunnel from this point to a spot he had marked about fifty
feet from the hut, where he could emerge under a large surface root.
The entrance to his tunnel would thus be hidden by the pile of fungi,
while the exit might easily be covered with one of the huge leaves, a
profusion of which lay everywhere about the hut.
Night after night he labored, digging with bare hands and the knife
he had brought from the airship, for he had no tools of any kind. His
fingernails wore down to the quick, his hands were raw and bleeding and
his arms ached. Nevertheless he went doggedly to his task each night
after the others had retired.
After many nights of arduous toil he had completed a slanting tunnel
about eight feet deep, and was digging in a horizontal direction toward
the point where he had calculated the root would be, when his labor was
brought to a sudden, and somewhat painful termination. The floor of his
burrow gave way with startling abruptness. He fell, first striking some
object that gave off a metallic clang, then alighting on a hard, smooth
surface with considerable force.
Dazed for a moment by the violence of his fall, Grandon lay there in
the pitchy darkness with no inkling of what had happened. At length he
essayed to sit up and, meeting with success, arose stiffly to his feet,
for he was badly bruised though fortunately no bones were broken. He
bethought himself now of the flash light which he had kept concealed in
his clothing since the day he had examined the abandoned airship.
The beating of his heart was momentarily stilled by the sight which
greeted his eyes when he turned on the light, for directly in front of
him stood what appeared to be a huge warrior, attired in armor from
head to foot. Closer scrutiny, however, revealed the fact that he faced
an empty suit of armor, for a mailed gauntlet clutching a heavy ax had
fallen from one of the arms, disclosing the empty sleeve. It was this
which had caused the clanging sound he had heard when he struck the
extended arm in falling.
The armor was skillfully wrought of a brownish metal which he at first
took for bronze on account of its appearance, but later discovered
could not be bronze on account of its exceeding hardness. It was of a
pattern unlike anything he had ever seen or heard of, and strikingly
decorated with designs of inlaid gold set with brilliant jewels.
Sharp metal spines projected from the top and back of the grotesque
headpiece, while two large green jewels sparkled just above the
movable visor like the eyes of some multi-horned reptile. In the visor
itself, the true eyeholes were of a hard, thick crystal, and below
them were small perforations to admit air. A huge broadsword hung from
one side of the belt and a short club with a heavy spiked knob dangled
from the other.
On the floor before the figure lay a quantity of loose earth which had
been carried with Grandon in his fall. He flashed the light upward and
its rays revealed a ceiling nearly ten feet above his head, supported
by heavy timbers. He had broken through between two of the large
timbers at a point where the cross pieces were completely rotted away.
* * * * *
Upon examining his surroundings he found that he was in a corridor
about thirty feet in width, and extending in both directions as far as
he could see. A double row of hexagonal columns supported the heavy
ceiling-beams, and before each column stood a figure similar to the
one he had examined, with the exception that every alternate figure
held a long, broad-bladed spear instead of an ax in the extended right
gauntlet.
The Earth-man was in a quandary. He could not return via the opening
through which he had fallen, nor had he any idea into what dangers the
corridor might lead him. From his fellow slaves he had heard legends
of an ancient race of men called Albines, who were said to have at one
time been masters of the sabits.
These Albines, so the legend ran, wore suits of mail which effectually
protected them from the creatures, and made slaves of whole colonies
by raiding them and making prisoners of the queen and king sabits, for
the soldiers and workers, being ever subject to the commands of their
rulers, immediately became docile when the lives of their superiors
were threatened. The Albines had vanished many years before, no one
knew how or why, and the sabits had thenceforth turned the tables on
man by enslaving the marsh-people.
That he had fallen into a structure once used by these people, Grandon
could not doubt, but the question that most concerned him was whether
or not the underground chambers were known to and frequented by the
sabits.
With this contingency in mind, Grandon selected a suit of armor which
appeared to be his size, and after a considerable struggle with the
unfamiliar fastenings, succeeded in donning it. He had expected to
feel stiff and awkward in his metal suit, and was therefore agreeably
surprised when he found it both light and pliable, for though
exceedingly hard and strong, the metal was as light as aluminum and so
fashioned that the interlocking plates easily adjusted themselves to
every movement of his body.
He felt both wonder at, and admiration for the skill of the ancient
craftsmen who had wrought so cunningly. Armed with sword, ax and club,
he set out to explore the subterranean passageway, walking between the
two rows of pillars that were guarded by the silent sentinels of a
vanished race, and flashing his light in a semicircle before him.
As he passed along, he noticed that the stone walls on both sides of
him were carved at intervals with scenes and hieroglyphics. The scenes,
for the most part, represented men attired in armor such as he wore,
battling with sabits. He noticed, also, that in nearly every instance,
the figures were pictured as striking the sabits between the eyes with
spiked clubs, although a few used axes, and one was represented as
severing a soldier sabit's head from its body with a broadsword.
One scene that particularly interested him depicted a group of Albines
in the act of capturing a queen sabit while their comrades fought off
her guards. They were fastening huge manacles on her neck and legs
while she struggled desperately.
It seemed that he had walked for more than a mile along the corridor,
and passed several thousand armored figures, when he arrived at a
great circular chamber that, for elegance and richness of decoration,
surpassed anything he had ever seen.
From the base of the walls to the peak of the domelike ceiling, it was
a mass of grotesque bas-reliefs and mural paintings in bright pigments,
while gracefully sculptured statues of men and women occupied niches
set at intervals of about fifteen feet all about the room. The floor
was of varicolored blocks of clearest crystal, fitted together so
skillfully that they presented a surface as smooth as that of a mirror,
while forming beautiful tesselated patterns of exquisite design.
When he turned his light on the floor it sent forth a myriad
reflections that lit up the entire room. He was amazed by this
phenomenon until he discovered that the base of each block had been cut
and silvered so each beam of light was multiplied a thousandfold.
* * * * *
In the center of the room a fountain babbled musically, evidently fed
by an artesian well, for it could not otherwise have continued in
operation for hundreds of years without attention. As he walked toward
the fountain he saw a round bulk, which he had at first mistaken for a
shadow, suddenly leap back and then scamper for a broad doorway at the
left.
The thing had short legs armed with huge claws that rattled on the
polished floor, and a barrel-shaped body covered with tiny, fishlike
scales. It had been drinking at the fountain when frightened by the
sudden appearance of man and light. Grandon recognized it as one of
those large, burrowing rodents which the omnivorous sabits prized so
highly as an article of food.
Several times he had seen them feeding on fungi and grasses in the
woods, and the thought came that if this creature were herbivorous it
must needs have access to the outer world to live, consequently there
must undoubtedly be a means of egress near by which he himself could
use, for where so thick-bodied a rodent could go, he could easily
follow.
He entered the doorway in quick pursuit and found himself in a
passageway similar to the one he had just vacated. The circular chamber
was evidently a sort of hub from which these passageways radiated as
spokes in all directions.
The rodent had disappeared, but its trail was not hard to follow, for
it had left thousands of muddy footprints during its many excursions
to the fountain. The trail terminated at a gaping black hole in the
wall where a portion of the sculptured stone had broken away. Drawing
his sword and pointing the light before him, he entered the dark,
winding burrow, crawling on knees and elbows. It led upward in a
slanting, irregular spiral which he thought would never come to an end.
There were many cross burrows and chambers, in one of which he saw an
abandoned nest, but he kept to the upward path, breathing as lightly as
possible because of the sickening musklike stench of the rodents.
At length the welcome scent of fresh air came to his nostrils and
he emerged from the burrow at the base of a huge tree. He shut off
his light and, standing erect, inhaled breath after breath of the
invigorating night air.
As he paused there in the darkness, Grandon fancied he heard the
distant murmur of human voices. He listened intently for a moment, then
clambered up on a large surface root. Several hundred yards distant he
saw two torches flickering before the gateway of a circular wall about
ten feet high which surrounded a tall, conical structure.
Leaping down from the root he approached the place cautiously, keeping
under cover as much as possible. As he drew nearer the sounds grew
more plain, and he could distinguish the voices of men raised in
altercation. He also heard the sound of blows, and thought he detected
the faint cry of a woman.
The torch-lit gateway was guarded by two powerful soldier sabits with
brown forceps, so he circled, keeping well out of sight, and brought
up at the base of the wall at a point that was not visible from the
gate. He leaped, hooked his fingers over the edge of the wall, and drew
himself up on its broad top. Then flattening his body on its surface,
he peered cautiously within.
* * * * *
The space inside the wall was illuminated by four torches, the
sharpened butts of which had been driven in the ground. Some twenty-odd
slaves, all big strapping fellows, were ranged in an irregular circle
about two of their comrades who were engaged in primitive combat. They
alternately clawed, bit and struck at each other, bellowing the while
like angry bulls.
Beneath one of the torches lay two other hairy men, stone dead; one
with his throat torn out and the other with his head twisted and bent
back in such a fashion as to indicate a broken neck.
Suddenly the taller of the two combatants leaped forward and locked
his arms about the head of the other, bearing him to the ground. Just
as they struck the earth he whirled, twisting the tightly gripped
head--there was a sickening snap, and the duel was ended.
The big fellow arose, panting heavily from his exertions, and faced the
others.
"You have seen the fate of those three fools," he growled. "Are there
any others who would match their strength with Tholto for this slave
woman?"
There was no response. Evidently his comrades were convinced of
Tholto's prowess.
"Bring me the woman, Oro," continued the victor. "Many precious moments
have I wasted in silencing these braggarts."
A great, hairy man, larger even than Tholto and superbly muscled,
went into a low door at his back, and emerged a moment later dragging
the half fainted Vernia by the wrist. He pushed her toward Tholto,
who seized her roughly and drew her to his side. There was a look of
infinite horror in the eyes of the girl as she struggled desperately
for release. A songbird might escape as easily from the jaws of a
serpent.
The slaves were startled by a clanking noise behind them, and upon
looking around beheld that which filled them with superstitious
awe--a man clad from head to foot in brown armor on which many jewels
glistened, his terrifying appearance enhanced by a spine-crested helmet
in which two emerald eyes sparkled, and by the businesslike weapons
that dangled from his belt.
Straight for the startled Tholto he rushed, and there were none to
block his path, for though no living marsh-man had ever seen an Albine,
they had been described in detail to all through the familiar legends
which held them to be a race of supermen; for were not the sabits
mightier than the marsh-men, and were not the Albines immeasurably more
mighty than the sabits?
"Release the girl," said a clear, commanding voice from the depths of
the helmet.
Tholto, though startled, was apparently unafraid.
"She belongs to me," he replied. "I will not release her, nor lives
there man or demon who can force me to do so."
"Release the girl or take the consequences, slave! I would not harm
you, for your actions are only what might be expected of one with your
intelligence and training."
For answer Tholto laughed a low, snarling laugh.
His mirth was suddenly cut short by the impact of a mailed fist with
the point of his jaw. A look of surprise came to his face, his arms
dropped, his knees sagged, and he sank limply to the ground.
[Illustration: _His mirth was suddenly cut short by the impact of a
mailed fist on the point of his jaw._]
Vernia reeled, and would have fallen had not Grandon caught her in his
arms. He raised his visor and, looking into the melting depths of twin
pools of flame, saw the soul of a woman.
"How I wished that you would come," she whispered, her arms about his
neck, her upturned face so close that the fragrance of her breath
intoxicated him, "wished without hope."
For answer he bent low over the yielding, tremulous lips to take that
tribute a woman gladly gives to the man who has stormed the portals of
her heart and won. But their moment of rapture was rudely broken into
by a shout from one of the slaves.
"The sabits! Run for your lives! The sabits come!"
Grandon wheeled and beheld two soldier sabits rushing toward them. The
slaves scattered, diving into the various doorways at the base of the
conelike structure. He pushed the girl into one of these and, lowering
his visor, tore the heavy spiked club from his belt and awaited the
onslaught.