Chapter XIII.
Johnston and Branasko looked down at the great ball of light below themin silent wonder. Johnston was the first to speak. He pointed to thefour massive cables which supported the sun at each corner of theplatform and extended upward till they were enveloped in the darkness.
"They hold us up," he said, "where do they go to?"
"To the big trucks which run on the tracks near the roof of the cavern;the endless cables are up there, too, but we can not see them with thisglare about us."
"We can see nothing of Alpha from here," remarked Johnstondisappointedly, "we can see nothing beyond our circle of light."
"I should like to look down from this height at night," said theAlphian. "It would be a great view."
"What is this?" Johnston went to one side of the platform and laid hishand on the spokes of a polished metal wheel shaped like the pilot-wheelof a steamboat. Branasko hastened to him.
"Don't touch it," he warned. "It looks as if it were to turn theelectric connection off and on. If the sun should go out, theconsequences would be awful. The people of Alpha would go mad withfear."
The American withdrew his hand, and he and Branasko walked back to thecentre of the platform. Johnston uttered an exclamation of surprise."The light is changing."
And it was, for it was gradually fading into a purple that wasdelightfully soothing to the eye after the painful brightness of amoment before.
"I understand," said the Alphian, "we are running very slow and are onlynow about to approach the great wall, for purple is the color of thefirst morning hour."
"But how is the light changed?" asked Johnston curiously.
"By some shifting of glasses through which the rays shine, I presume,"returned the Alphian; "but the mechanism seems to be concealed in thewalls of the globe."
Not a word was spoken for an hour. They had lain down on the platformnear the iron railing which encompassed it, and Branasko was dozingintermittently. Again the light began to change gradually. This time itwas gray. Johnston put out his hand to touch Branasko, but the Alphianwas awake. He sat up and nodded smiling. "Wait till the next hour," hesaid; "it will be rose-color; that is the most beautiful."
Slowly the hours dragged by till the yellow light showed that it was thesixth hour. Branasko had been exploring the vast interior below and cameback to Johnston who was asleep on the floor of the platform.
"I have just thought of something," said Branasko. "This is the dayappointed by the king to entertain his subjects with a grand display ofthe elements."
"I do not understand," said Johnston.
"The king," explained the Alphian, "darkens the sun with clouds so thatall Alpha is blacker than night, and then he produces great storms inthe sky, and lightning and musical thunder. We may, perhaps, hear themusic, but we cannot witness the storm and electric display on accountof the light about us. It usually begins at this hour; so be silent andlisten."
After a few minutes there was a rumble from below like the roar of avolcano and an answering echo from the black dome overhead. This diedaway and was succeeded by a crash of musical thunder that thrilledJohnston's being to its very core. Branasko's face was aglow withenthusiasm.
"Grand, glorious!" he ejaculated, "but if only you could see thelightning and the dawn in the east you would remember it all your life.The sunlight is cut off from Alpha by the clouds, and there is no lightexcept the wonderful effects in the sky."
Johnston had gone back to the wheel and was examining it curiously.
"I have a mind to turn off the current for a moment anyway," he saiddoggedly; "if the sun is hidden they would not discover it."
Branasko came to him, a weird look of interest in his eyes. "Thatis true," he said; "besides, what matters it? We may not live to seeanother day."
Johnston acted on a sudden impulse. He intended only to frightenBranasko by moving the wheel slightly, and he had turned it barely aneighth of an inch, when, as if controlled by some powerful spring, itwhirled round at a great rate, making a loud rattling noise. To theirdismay the light went out.
"My God! what have I done?" gasped the American in alarm.
"Settled our fate, I have no doubt," muttered the Alphian from thedarkness.
Johnston had recoiled from the whirling wheel, and now cautiously gropedback to it, and attempted to turn it. It would not move.
"It has caught some way," he groaned under his breath.
"And we have no light to find the cause of the trouble," added theAlphian, who had knelt down and was feeling about the wheel. Presentlyhe rose.
"I give it up," he sighed, "I cannot understand it. The machinery issomewhere inside."
"It has grown colder," shuddered Johnston.
"We were warmed by the light, of course," remarked Branasko, "and now wefeel the dampness more. We are going at a frightful speed."
Just then there was a jar, and the sun swung so violently from side toside that the two men were prostrated on the floor. The speed seemed toslacken.
"I wonder if we are going to stop," groaned the American, and he satup and held to Branasko. "Perhaps they will draw us back to rectify themistake, and then----"
"It cannot be done," interrupted the Alphian. "The machinery runs onlyone way. We shall simply have to finish our journey in darkness."
"They may catch us on the other side before the sun starts back throughthe tunnel," suggested the American.
"Not unlikely," returned Branasko. "There, we are going ahead again. Onething in our favor is that we can more easily escape capture in darknessthan if the sun were shining."
"Does the sun stop before entering the tunnel?"
"I do not know," replied Branasko; "perhaps somebody will be there tosee what is wrong with the light. We must have our wits about us when weland."
Johnston was looking over the edge of the platform. "If the king'sdisplay is taking place down there I can see no sign of it."
"How stupid of us!" ejaculated Branasko. "Of course, clouds sufficientlydense to hide the sun from Alpha would also prevent us from seeing thedisplay below. I ought to----"
He was interrupted by a grand outburst of harmony. The whole earthseemed to vibrate with sublime melody. "Our blunder has not beendiscovered yet," finished Branasko, after a pause, "else the fete downbelow would have been over. I am cold; shall we go inside?"
Johnston's answer was taken out of his mouth by a loud rattlingbeneath the floor, near the wheel he had just turned; the sun shookspasmodically for an instant, and its entire surface was faintlyilluminated, but the light failed signally.
"It must have been an extra current of electricity sent to relight thelamps," remarked Johnston; and, as he concluded, the sun trembled again,and another flash and failure occurred. "Look," cried the American,"the clouds are thinning; see the lights below! They have discovered theaccident!"
They both leaned over the railing and looked below. As far as the eyecould reach, within the arc of their vision, they could see fitfullights flashing up, here and there, and going out again. And then theyheard faint sounds of crashing masonry and the condensed roar of humanvoices, which seemed to come from above rather than from below. TheAlphian turned. "I cannot stand the cold," he said.
Johnston followed him. The rapid motion of the swinging sphere made himdizzy, and he caught Branasko's arm to keep from falling.
"How can we tell when we go over the wall?" he asked anxiously.
"We shall have to guess at it," was the answer. "At any rate we must benear the lower door so as to get out quickly if it is necessary to do soto escape detection."
In the darkness they slowly made their way down the stairs to the greatroom.
"There ought to be some way of making a light," said the Alphian, andhis voice sounded loud and hollow in the empty chamber. After severalfailures to find the stairs they descended to the door they had entered.Branasko opened it a little, and a breeze came in. They sat down onthe stone, and after a while, in sheer fatigue, they fell asleep. Hourspassed.
Branasko rose with a start, and shook Johnston.
"Our speed is lessening," he exclaimed. "We must be going down. Be readyto jump out the instant we stop. There, let me open the door wider."
Land of the Changing Sun Page 13