The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

by Robert Reed

  glass any sign of life or movement .

  He took back the glass in a hurry and looked again, and then he

  declared that he could no longer see any man . “And yet,” said he,

  “there was a man there, and he had on a long coat, and there was

  something odd and foreign in the look of him .”

  “Nonsense,” I said, “you could never tell that at such a distance

  and with such a glass .”

  “Well, one would think not,” he said, “and yet it was as I say .”

  I then went over my calculations with a view to determine where-

  abouts we were, but I could not by any means make our position far

  enough west to render it likely that we were near any settlement .

  We had no instrument by which we could make observations with

  any approach to accuracy . Our latitude was not much changed since

  we had left the wire; that much we could see from the stars . But our

  course had been so very zigzag that it was quite impossible to esti-

  mate our longtitude within a hundred or more miles . And even if our

  course had been due west all through I still could hardly hink that we

  were near the head waters of the western slope . After all, however, it

  seemed the wisest course to reconnoitre, first, this mountain or hill.

  If there was no one there it would be still Possible for us to return

  to where we were now, and to make a start eastward . Indeed, if the

  hill were not inhabited, that would be the only course that would be

  in the least degree hopeful . For certainly to strike westward without

  any guide er any knowledge of the way would be for us, and in such

  a country as Australia, to face certain death .

  We made up our minds, therefore, to explore the hill at once . We

  put together somehow the remains of our breakfast, enough for two

  very spare meals each. We took a good drink of water and filled

  with water a small fiask which would suffice to moisten our lips

  and threats in case we should find none at the hill. We reckoned

  that the hill was not quite ten miles away, and if that were all, we

  should get here in time to reconnoitre while it was still daylight, and

  if no prospect of help appeared we would return early in the morn-

  ing . Then we took our farewell of poor Gioro’s grave and set our

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  facts to the hill . The way was quite easy; there was but little timber

  and the grass, although thick, was short . There were still evidences

  about us that the past season had been wet, but we did not find the

  ground boggy, and the atmosphere was fresh, clear, and bright . As

  we marched forward the shape of the hill became better and better

  defined, and more striking. It stood quite alone in the plain, from

  which it seemed to rise sheer upward with little or no slope .

  It looked for all the world as if it had been dropped from the

  sky, so completely without connection was it with the surrounding

  landscape . As we drew nearer, it presented more the appearance of

  a huge irregular building which had become covered in the course

  of ages with vegetation . But, as we drear nearer still, these odd ap-

  pearances gradually wore away, and began to look not very unlike

  other lonely and precipitous rocks which I have seen in Australia .

  Such a rock, for example, as the Hanging Rock, near Woodend, only

  very much larger, or such a rock as that other one a little north of

  the Billabong, and south of the Murrumbidgee, near the railway be-

  tween Albury and Wagga .

  As we drew near the foot of the precipice we made for the shadi-

  est spot that we could find.

  The various crags of which the hill was formed were covered

  almost everywhere with a foliage which differed but little from

  the prevailing Australian type . There was abundance ef the sweet

  smelling shrub which is common along the shores of Port Phillip .

  I pressed and rubbed a few of the leaves and the smell was just the

  same . There was less of the blue gum and more of the lightwood

  than I had elsewhere seen, and there were a good many pines . There

  were also a few remarkable shrubs that I have not seen elsewhere,

  and a few large and queer-looking flowers of a bright red colour.

  We made for this particular spot not only because it was the shad-

  iest but because it seemed to have a fresher and greener look than

  the rest of the hill; and our delight was great when upon reaching it,

  and after poking about a little while, we found a large basin or pond

  of water surrounded and shut off by rocks . It was nearly elliptical

  in shape but rather elongated: about thirty feet by ten . The water

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  seemed at first as if it issued from the earth, but on closer inspection

  we had little doubt that it was due altogether to the rainfall percolat-

  ing through the cliffs from he heights above .

  Here we sat and refreshed ourselves for an hour or so before con-

  sulting as to our further progress .

  It was later than we had reckoned on, for the journey to the hill

  had taken a longer time than we thought it would take; so we re-

  solved to decide nothing further until the morning .

  We chose not to light a fire although we knew by experience that

  the middle of the night would be very cold . We told ourselves that

  though we had seen no sign of any more natives there were probably

  some about, and therefore that it was better not to light a fire. Our

  prevailing reason, however, was an indefinite sense of dread which

  had come upon us and which we confessed to one another as we sat

  and ate .

  We chose to attribute this dread to he strange and threatening

  shape of the hill as we approached it . Yet as we looked about us

  now we could not but acknowledge that we had seen many more

  awful cliffs and precipices without any of he unreasonable feeling

  which we could not but confess to now . A little while before sunset

  I noticed something which I tried to tell myself was most likely

  nothing, but which, nevertheless, increased this indefinite fear into a

  sense almost of horror .

  The sky was perfectly cloudless, but for all that the shadow of a

  cloud fell on the ground quite near . The sun was very low and the

  shadows were nearly at their longest, and yet about this there was

  a shapeliness too definite for a cloud, a sort of shapeliness which

  might have reminded me at once of those other shadows of which

  I have told you, and yet it did not then remind me of them . It was

  the same sort of shadow, only elongated by the setting sun . I passed

  away very rapidly and I said nothing of it to my companion who

  was dozing .

  Indeed, I felt the same unaccountable unwillingness to speak of it

  that I felt when I had seen the like of it before .

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  Next morning we awoke early, and found to our great delight a

  second well of water higher up the cliff . It was very much smaller—

  only a few feet across, but it was purer; and we determined if we

  remained long here to reserve it for drinking and to bathe in the


  larger one .

  After we had bathed and had eaten the few scraps of food which

  remained to us, we began to reconnoitre, and we were both immedi-

  ately struck by the of the ground a few hundred yards to the south of

  where we had slept, but still at the foot of the cliff . The ground was

  worn away, it might be by water, it might be by some heavy mass

  being dragged along it .

  It had a curious air of something like regularity, which suggested,

  and yet which need not suggest, art or design . We saw, however, at

  once, that it was the termination of a sort of hole in the cliff, appar-

  ently coming from above .

  As this hole proved to be quite large enough for three or four men

  to stand up in it abreast, and as the ascent of it seemed not impracti-

  cable, we began to think of trying to ascend it .

  Jack thought that it might lead us to the top more easily than

  the surface of he hill . Certainly no part of the cliff, as far as we had

  seen, seemed at all practicable, but I saw no reason to suspect that

  we should find a readier passage upward here. Still I agreed with

  Jack that we might as well try it . I insisted, however, that only one

  of us should go up, and that the other should await either his return

  or some signal from he top, if that were possible .

  We agreed finally to cast lots to see who should stay behind, and

  the lot fell upon Jack . I immediately began the ascent, and found it

  very much easier than I had expected . The darkness increased only

  for a little while, and by and by it began to grow light, and I then

  discovered a sort of roadway with steps moulded out of the soil on

  either side .

  After perhaps an hour of this work I came suddenly to a level .

  The passage opened into a spacious cave, which was dimly lit by a

  large opening in the rock, across which there seemed to be growing

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  a thick scrub, not so thick, however, but that here and there the sun-

  shine came freely enough through .

  I had little doubt now that I was coming upon some hiding place

  of the blacks, and I proceeded with very great caution . I made slowly

  for the opening in the rock of which I had spoken, and when I had

  nearly reached it I saw that I could, without very much difficulty,

  force my way through the scrub . On a closer approach I observed

  with great astonishment that the scrub seemed to be arranged in two

  square pieces, which were certainly suggestive of a gateway .

  There was a framework of dead branches, or rather two frames,

  and the scrub was roughly twisted in and out upon these . I thought

  it best now to make some preliminary observation from behind the

  screen of leaves and branches .

  I soon found a small opening where I could see without any risk

  of being seen . I looked cautiously through . What I saw I will tell you

  in the next chapter .

  * * * *

  Note .—I have never been able to come to any decisive

  conclusion as to the origin and use of this cave or under-

  ground passage by which I made the ascent to the gateway

  as above described . It was in no way necessary, as far as I

  could see, to the people of whom you will read in the fol-

  lowing chapters . I should have thought it an old haunt of

  the blacks but for two reasons: If it had been so it must have

  been long disused by them, and yet it was evidently still, or

  quite recently, in use, but for what purpose I am unable even

  to guess. I tell you the facts as I find them.—R. E.

  CHAPTER VII

  THE CARS

  What I saw was this: a platform of rock extending before me a

  mile or nearly so, and about double the width of a very wide road .

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  This platform ended in the cliff, which there bent suddenly into a

  line almost at right angles with the line of the platform . That was not

  straight but followed the slighter bends of the cliff . There were three

  flights of stone steps descending towards the valley, one of them at

  least, the broadest, reaching the whole way down . The valley itself

  seemed to be filled with houses and rows of trees, and certain en-

  closures that looked like gardens . The houses were odd-looking but

  unpretentious . One saw at a glance that their oddity was in the main

  owing to their lack of size, and to the absence of chimneys . One

  could not suppose them to be of much use for living in, and yet the

  whole appearance of the scene quite forbade one from accounting

  for their size by the poverty of the builders or from any other lack

  of resource .

  But the scene closer at hand arrested my attention so forcibly that

  the more distant view left but a faint and general impression on my

  mind . On one side of the platform, the side next the valley, there

  were a number of men engaged at work of some sort, but their backs

  were just then turned to me: and I cannot tell you why, but the sight

  of men, probably civilised men, by no means gave me such hope or

  pleasure as our desolate condition would have justified.

  On the other side of the platform, the side next the cliff, there

  were a number of objects which I must try to describe even at the

  risk of being tedious, as they proved to have a very decisive effect

  upon the progress and sequel of our adventures . They presented a

  most uncouth and bizarre appearance, and although they were all

  of one kind, almost identical in every detail, it was not until after

  several minutes’ view of them that the fact of their likeness became

  apparent . Then I perceived that they were all some sort of convey-

  ance consisting of an upper and lower framework . Here I saw a

  very odd-looking car resting on nothing at a distance of a few feet

  from the ground, and there I saw an elaborately constructed support

  which supported nothing . I saw, further, that the height of the sup-

  ports was about as great as the distance of the cars from the ground,

  and I thought for a moment that by some unaccountable distortion

  of sight, the supports got the appearance of being separated from the

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  things which were supported . But almost immediately I saw that this

  could not be the case, for in some instances it seemed as if the body

  of the car were cut into two parts, part only remaining and resting

  upon a complete frame; and then again, the body of the car was all

  there, and rested, for about half of its mass, on a supporting frame,

  half of which appeared to have been removed, while the other half

  of the body of the car appeared to be resting on nothing . A longer

  look at the scene offered an explanation, but it was an explanation

  which most urgently needed to be itself explained . At each of these

  objects a man stood, as it would seem, painting them, and he seemed

  to dip what I thought to be a brush in a bucket beside him . And at

  first I thought that he was painting the whole object, car and sup-

  porting framework, but presently I perceived that the brush which

  he was using and which
showed a very irregular and jagged edge,

  never touched, or never at least was seen to touch anything at all, but

  that what it passed over disappeared . I watched the operation with

  breathless attention, and I saw the body of the car which had seemed

  to hang in he air gradually disappear as the brush passed over it, until

  nothing was left either above or below . I watched another which was

  complete in all parts until nearly the whole of the supporting frame-

  work disappeared beneath the brush . It looked for all the world as

  if some sort of invisible paint were being smeared over the convey-

  ances . That they were conveyances of some sort I felt no doubt, but

  whether they were meant to travel on land or water I doubted . I saw

  no wheels, but these might be hidden by the framework, and there

  were things attached to each which might be said to have a remote

  resemblance to the screw of a steamboat . I may as well say at once

  that they proved to be carriages for travelling through the air .

  Just then, some of the men who were working on the other side

  of the platform turned their faces towards me, and one of them, who

  seemed to be a sort of director or superintendent, came from behind

  them moving in the same direction . All kept moving towards where

  I stood until they were so near that I could clearly distinguish their

  features and their dress . The costume of all was exactly the same but

  unlike anything that I had ever seen . Each wore a low hat of a light

  THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 477

  colour and a broadish brim, a coat or smock reaching to the knee

  and fastened with a girdle, and some kind of shoe or sandal for the

  feet . That was all . As I noticed these points, the leader took a half-

  turn to the left and the men to the right, so that they and he stood

  facing one another with their side faces towards me . All the men

  were about as unlike one another as the same number of men picked

  up anywhere at random, excepting for one point . They had all an

  expression of malignity which was horrible to look upon, and which

  was worse, if possible, in the side face than in the full face . Not that

  there was anything deformed about their countenances; quite the

  contrary . Every feature considered by itself, whether from the front

  or side-view, was remarkably well formed . Eyes, mouth, nose, teeth,

  and hair, were of just the size, shape, and colour that you would say