Land of the Changing Sun

by Will N. Harben

  Chapter VII.

  Johnston followed his guide to a flying machine outside. He hesitatedan instant, as the officer was holding the door open, and looked backtoward the conservatory; but he could not see Thorndyke.

  "Where are you taking me?" he asked desperately. But the officer did notseem to hear the question. He was motioning to a tall man of athleticbuild who wore a dark blue uniform and who came hastily forward andpushed the American into the machine. Through the open door Johnston sawThorndyke's anxious face as the Englishman emerged from the conservatoryand strode toward them. The two officers entered and closed the glassdoor.

  Then the machine rose and Johnston's spirits sank as they shot upwardand floated easily over the humming crowd into the free white lightabove the smokeless city. The poor captive leaned on the window-silland looked out. There was no breeze, and no current of air except thatcaused by their rapid passage through the atmosphere.

  Up, up, they went, till the city seemed a blur of mingled white andgray, and then the color below changed to a vague blue as they flew overthe fields of the open country.

  The first officer took a glass and a decanter from a receptacle under aseat, and, pouring a little red fluid into the glass, offered it to theAmerican.

  "Drink it," he said, "it will put you to sleep for a time."

  "I don't want to be drugged."

  "The journey will try your nerves. It is harmless."

  "I don't want it; if I take it, you will have to pour it down mythroat."

  The officer smiled as he put the glass and decanter away. Faster andfaster flew the machine. They had to put the window down, for thecurrent of air had become too strong and cool to be pleasant. The colorof the sunlight changed to green, and then at noon, from the zenith,a glorious red light shimmered down and veiled the earth with such abeautiful translucent haze that the poor American for a moment almostforgot his trouble.

  The afternoon came on. The sunlight became successively green, white,blue, lavender, rose and gray. The sun was no longer in sight and thegray in the west was darkening into purple, the last hour of the day.Night was at hand. Johnston's limbs were growing stiff from inaction,and he had a strong desire to speak or to hear one of the officers saysomething, but they were dozing in their respective corners. The moonhad risen and hung far out in space overhead, but they seemed to beleaving it behind. Later he felt sure of this, for its lightgradually became dimmer and dimmer till at last they were in totaldarkness--darkness pierced only by the powerful search-light which threwits dazzling, trumpet-shaped rays far ahead. But, search as he wouldin the direction they were going, the unfortunate American could seenothing but the ever-receding wall of blackness.

  Suddenly they began to descend. The officers awoke and stretchedthemselves and yawned. One of them opened the window and Johnston hearda far-off, roaring sound like that of a multitude of skaters on a vastsheet of ice.

  Down, down, they dropped. Johnston's heart was in his mouth.

  The machine suddenly slackened in its speed and then hung poised inmid-air. The rays of the search-light were directed downward and slowlyshifted from point to point. Looking down, the American caught glimpsesof rugged rocks, sharp cliffs and yawning chasms.

  "How is it?" asked the first officer, through a speaking-tube, of thedriver.

  "A good landing!" was the reply.

  "Well, go down." And a moment later the machine settled on the unevenground.

  The same officer opened the door, and gently pushed Johnston out.Johnston expected them to follow him, but the door of the machine closedbehind him.

  "Stand out of the way," cried out the officer through the window; "youmay get struck as we rise."

  Involuntarily Johnston obeyed. There was a sound of escaping air frombeneath the machine, a fierce commotion in the atmosphere which suckedhim toward the machine, and then the dazzling search-light blinded him,as the air-ship bounded upward and sailed back over the course it hadcome.

  Johnston stood paralyzed with fear. "My God, this is awful!" heexclaimed in terror, and his knees gave way beneath him and he sank tothe rock. "They have left me here to starve in this hellish darkness!"He remained there for a moment, his face covered with his hands, thenhe sprang up desperately, and started to grope through the darkness,he knew not whither. He stumbled at almost every step, and ran againstboulders which bruised his hands and face, and went on till his strengthwas gone. Then he paused and looked back toward the direction from whichhe had come. It seemed to him that he could see the straight line ofmighty black wall above which there was a faint appearance of light. Alump rose in the throat of the poor fellow, and tears sprang into hiseyes.

  But what was that? Surely it was a sound. It could not have been thewind, for the air was perfectly still. The sound was repeated. It waslike the moaning of a human voice far away in the dark. Could it be someone in distress, some poor unfortunate, banished being, like himself?Again he heard the sound, and this time, it was like the voice of someone talking.

  "Hello!" shouted the American, and a cold shudder went over him at thesound of his own husky voice. There was a dead silence, then, like anecho of his own cry, faintly came the word, "Hello!"

  Filled with superstitious fear, the American cautiously groped towardthe sound. "Hello, there, who are you?"

  "Help, help!" said the voice, and it was now much nearer.

  Johnston plunged forward precipitately. "Where are you?"

  "Here," and a human form loomed up before him.

  For a moment neither spoke, then the strange figure said: "I thoughtat first that you were some one sent to rescue me, but I see you arealone--damned like myself."

  "It looks that way," replied Johnston.

  "When did they bring you?"

  "Only a moment ago."

  "My God, it is awful! A week ago I did not dream of such a fate as this.I had enemies. The medical men were bribed to vote against me. Am I notstrong? Am I not muscular? Feel my arms and thighs."

  He held out an arm and Johnston felt of it. The muscles were like stone.

  "You are a giant."

  "Ah! you are right; but they reported that there was a taint in myblood. I was to marry Lallio, the most beautiful creature in ourvillage--Madryl, you know, the nearest hamlet to the home of the Sun. Iwas rich, and the best farmer there. But Lyngale wanted her. She hatedhim and spat at him when he spoke against me. He proved by others thatmy lungs were weak, and showed them the blood of a slain dog in myfields that they said had come from my lungs. Ah, they were curs! Mylungs weak! Strike my chest with all your might. Does it not sound likethe king's thunder? Strike, I say!" and as the enfeebled American struckhis bare breast he cried:--"Harder, harder! Pooh, you are a child, seethis, and this," and he emphasized his words with thunderous blows onhis resounding chest.

  "But it has been so for a century," he panted; "hundreds have beenunjustly buried alive here. The king thinks it is not murder becausethey die of starvation. I have stumbled over the bones of giants here inthe dark lands, and have met dying men that are stronger than the king'sathletes."

  "What, are there others here?" gasped the American.

  The Alphian was silent in astonishment.

  "Why, where did you come from?" he asked, after a pause.

  "From New York City."

  "I don't know of it, and yet I thought I knew of all the places insidethe great endless wall."

  Johnston was mystified in his turn. "It is not in your country--yourworld, or whatever you call it. It is far away."

  "Ah, under the white sun! In the 'Ocean Country,' and the world offierce winds and disease. And you are from there. I had heard of itbefore they banished me; but two days since I came across a dying man,away over there. He was huddled against the wall, and had fallen andkilled himself in his efforts to climb back to food and light.

  "I saw him die. He told me that he had come from your land when he was achild. His trouble was the lungs and he had fallen off to a skeleton. Hetalked to me of your wide ocean
land. Is it, indeed so great? And has itno walls about it?"

  "No, it is surrounded by water."

  "I cannot understand," and, after a pause, in which Johnston could hearthe great fellow's heart beating, he continued; "That must be the Heaventhe man spoke about. And beyond the water is it always dark like this,and do they banish people there as the king has us?"

  "No; beyond are other countries. But is there no chance for us to escapefrom here?"

  The Alphian laughed bitterly. "None. What were you banished for?"

  "I hardly know."

  "Hold out your arm. There," as he grasped Johnston's arm in a claspof iron, "I see; you are undeveloped, unfit--none but the healthy andstrong are allowed to live in Alpha. It is right, of course; but it ishard to bear. But I must lie down. I am wearied with constant rambling.I am nervous too. I fell asleep awhile ago and dreamt I heard all myfriends in a great clamoring body calling my name, 'Branasko!' and thenI awoke and cried for help."

  As he spoke he sank with a sigh to the ground and rested his head on hiselbows and knees and seemed asleep. The American sat down beside him,and, for a long time, neither spoke. Branasko broke the silence; heawoke with a start and eyed his companion in sleepy wonder.

  "Ugh, I dreamt again," he grunted, "are you asleep?"

  "No," was Johnston's reply. "I am hungry and thirsty and cannot sleep."

  "So am I, but we must wait till it is lighter, then we can go in searchof food. When I was a boy I learned to catch fish in pools with my handsand it has prolonged my life here. When the light comes again, I shallshow you how I do it."

  "Then the day does break? I thought it was eternally dark here."

  "It does not get very light, because we are behind the sun; but it islighter than now, for we get the sun's reflection, enough at least tokeep us from falling into the chasms."

  Branasko lowered his head to his knees and slept again, but theAmerican, though wearied, was wakeful. Several hours passed. The Alphianwas sleeping soundly, his breathing was very heavy and he had rolleddown on his side.

  Far away in the east the darkness gradually faded into purple, and theninto gray, and slowly hints of pink appeared in the skies. It was dawn.Johnston touched his companion. The man awoke and looked at him from hisgreat swollen eyes.

  "It is day," he yawned, rising and stretching himself.

  "But the sun is not in sight."

  "No; it shows itself only in the middle of the day, and then but for afew minutes. We must go now and search for food. I will show you how tocatch the eyeless fish in the black caverns over there." And he led theAmerican into the blackness behind them. Every now and then, as theystumbled along, Johnston would look longingly back toward the faint pinklight that shone above the high black wall. But Branasko hastened on.

  Presently they came to the edge of a black chasm and the American wasfilled with awe, for, from the seemingly fathomless depths, came a greatroaring sound like that of a mighty wind and the air that came from itwas hot, though pure and free from the odor of gas.

  "What is this?" he asked.

  "They are everywhere," answered Branasko, "if it were not for their hotbreathing the Land of the Changing Sun would be cold and damp."

  "Then the sun does not give out heat?"

  "No."

  "It is cold?"

  "I believe so, I have never thought much about it."

  The American was mystified, but he did not question farther, forBranasko was carefully lowering himself into the hot gulf.

  "Follow me," he said; "we must cross it to reach the caves. I will guideyou. I have been over this way before."

  "But can we stand the heat?"

  "Oh, yes; when we get used to it, it is invigorating. I perspire instreams, but I feel better afterward. Come on."

  Branasko's head only was above the ground. "I am standing on a ledge,"he said. "Get down beside me. Fear nothing. It is solid; besides, whatdoes it matter? You can die but once, and it would really be better tofall down there into the internal fires than to starve slowly."

  Johnston shuddered convulsively as he let himself down beside Branasko.His foot dislodged a stone. With a crash it fell upon a lower ledge andbounded off and went whizzing down into the depths. Both men listened.They heard the stone bounding from ledge to ledge till the sound waslost in the internal roaring.

  "It is mighty deep," said Johnston.

  "Yes, but follow me; we cannot stop here; we must go along this ledgetill we get to the point where the chasm is narrow enough to jumpacross. I have done it."

  "The American held to his companion with one hand and the rock with theother, and they slowly made their way along the narrow ledge, pausingevery now and then to rest. At every step the path grew more perilousand narrower, and the cliff on their left rose higher and higher, tillthe reflected light of the sun had entirely disappeared. At certainpoints the hot wind dashed upon them as furiously as the whirling mistin 'The Cave of Winds' at Niagara Falls. Once Johnston's foot slippedand he fell, but was drawn back to safety by the strong arm of theAlphian.

  "Be careful; hold to the cliff's face," warned Branasko indifferently,and he moved onward as if nothing unusual had occurred. Presently theyreached a point where a narrow boulder jutted out over the chasm towardthe opposite side, and Branasko cautiously crawled out upon it. Whenhe had got to its end, Johnston could not see him in the gloom, but hisvoice came to him out of the roaring of the chasm.

  "I can see the other side, and am going to jump." An instant later, theAmerican heard the clatter of the Alphian's shoes on the rock, and hisgrunt of satisfaction. Then Branasko called out: "Come on; crawl outtill you feel the end of the rock, and then you can see me."

  In great trepidation the American slowly crawled out on the narrow rock.Below him yawned the hot darkness, above hung that black ominous canopyof nothingness. Slowly he advanced on hands and knees, every momentfeeling the sharp rock growing narrower, till finally he reached theend. He looked ahead. He could but faintly see the ledge and Branasko'stall form silhouetted upon it.

  "See, this is where you have to alight," cried the Alphian. "Jump, Iwill catch you!"

  "I am afraid I shall topple over when I stand up," replied the American."The rock is narrow and my head is already swimming. I fear I cannotreach you. It is no use."

  "Tut, tut!" exclaimed Branasko. "Stand up quickly, and jump at once.Don't stop to think about it."

  Johnston obeyed. He felt his feet firmly braced on the rock and hesprang toward the opposite ledge with all his might. Branasko caughthim.

  "Good," he grunted. "There is another place, we must jump again. Itis further on." Along this ledge they went for some distance, Branaskoleading the way and holding the arm of the American.

  "Now here we are, the chasm is a little wider, but the ledge on theother side is broader." As he spoke he released Johnston's arm andprepared to jump. He filled his lungs two or three times. But he seemedto hesitate. "Pshaw, watching you back there has made me nervous. Inever cared before. If I should happen to fall, go back to where we met,it is safer there without a guide than here."

  Without another word Branasko hurled himself forward. Johnston heldhis breath in horror, for Branasko's foot had slipped as he jumped.The Alphian had struck the opposite ledge, but not with his feet, ashe intended. He clutched it with his hands and hung there for a moment,struggling to get a foothold in the emptiness beneath him.

  "It's no use, I am falling; I can hold no longer!" And Johnston,--tooterrified to reply,--heard the poor fellow's hands slipping from therock, causing a quantity of loose stones to go rattling down below. Witha low cry Branasko fell. An instant later Johnston heard him strike theledge beneath, and heard him cry out in pain. Then all was still exceptthe echoes of Branasko's cry, which bounded and rebounded from side toside of the chasm, and grew fainter and fainter, till it was submergedin the roaring below. Then there was a rattle of stones, and Branasko'svoice sounded: "A narrow escape!" he said faintly. "I am on anotherledge"--then after a sligh
t pause, "it is much wider, I don't know howwide. Are you listening?"

  "Yes, but are you hurt?"

  "Not at all. Simply knocked the breath out of me for a moment. There isa cave behind me, and (for a moment there was silence) I can see a lightahead in the cave. I think it must be the reflection of the internalfire. Come down to me and we will explore the cavern, and see where thelight comes from."

  "I can't get down there!" shouted Johnston, to make himself heard abovea sudden increase in the roaring in the chasm, "there is no way."

  "Wait a moment!" came from the Alphian. "This ledge seems to inclineupward."

  Johnston stood perfectly motionless, afraid to move from the ledgeeither to right or to left, and heard Branasko's footsteps along therock beneath. "All right so far," he called up, and his voice showedthat he had gone to a considerable distance to the left, "the ledgeseems to be still leading gradually upward. I think I can reach you."

  Fifteen minutes passed. The lone American could no longer hearBranasko's footsteps. Johnston was becoming uneasy and the hot airwas causing his head to swim. He was thinking of trying to retrace hisfootsteps to a place of more security when he heard footsteps, and thenthe cheery voice of Branasko nearly opposite him across the chasm:

  "Are you there?"

  "Yes."

  "It is well; I have discovered a good pathway down to the cave, and apool of fish besides. I have saved some for you. I was so hungry I hadto eat. Now, you must jump over to me."

  "I cannot," declared the American. "I cannot jump so far; besides, youfailed."

  Branasko laughed. "I did not leap in the right direction. It is thispoint on which I am now standing that I should have tried to reach.Come, I will catch you."

  Johnston could not bear to be considered cowardly, so he stepped to theverge of the chasm and prepared to jump. His head felt more dizzy as hethought of the fathomless depths beneath, and the rush of hot air up theside of the cliff took his breath away, but he braced himself and saidcalmly: "All right, I am coming." The next instant he sprang forward.Branasko caught him into his arms and they both rolled back on the levelstone.

  "Good," cried the Alphian, trying to catch his breath, which Johnstonhad knocked out of him by the fall. "You did better than I; you arelighter."

  "Where shall we go now?" asked Johnston, regaining his feet and feelingof his legs and arms to see if he had broken any bones.

  "Down this winding path to the place where I saw that light. I want tounderstand it. But you must first eat this fish. It is delicious. Theyare swarming in the pools below."

  "And water?" said Johnston.

  "An abundance of it, and as cold as ice."

  As Branasko preceded him down the tortuous path, Johnston ate the rawfish eagerly. Presently they came to a deep pool of water, and both menthrew themselves down on their stomachs and drank freely. After thisthey proceeded slowly for several hundred yards, and finally reachedthe entrance to the cave in which Branasko had seen the light. At thatdistance it looked like the light of some great conflagration reflectedfrom the face of a cliff.

  They entered the cave and made good progress toward the light, for itshowed them the dangerous fissures, sharp boulders and stalactites. Theyhad walked along in silence for several minutes when the Alphianstopped abruptly and turned to his companion. "What is the matter?" askedJohnston.

  "It cannot come from the internal fires," replied Branasko, "for theatmosphere grows cooler as we get nearer the light and away from thechasm."

  Johnston was too much puzzled to formulate a reply, and he simply waitedfor the Alphian to continue.

  "Let's go on," said Branasko; and in his tone and hesitating mannerJohnston detected the first appearance of superstitious fear that he hadseen in the brawny Alphian.