The Land of the Changing Sun Part 9

His foot dislodged a stone. With a crash it fell upon a lower ledge and bounded off and went whizzing down into the depths. Both men listened.

They heard the stone bounding from ledge to ledge till the sound was lost in the internal roaring.

"It is mighty deep," said Johnston.

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

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

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

"I can see the other side, and am going to jump." An instant later, the American heard the clatter of the Alphian's shoes on the rock, and his grunt of satisfaction. Then Branasko called out: "Come on; crawl out till 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 canopy of nothingness. Slowly he advanced on hands and knees, every moment feeling the sharp rock growing narrower, till finally he reached the end. He looked ahead. He could but faintly see the ledge and Branasko's tall form silhouetted upon it.

"See, this is where you have to alight," cried the Alphian. "Jump, I will 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 cannot reach 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 he sprang toward the opposite ledge with all his might. Branasko caught him.

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

"Now here we are, the chasm is a little wider, but the ledge on the other side is broader." As he spoke he released Johnston's arm and prepared to jump. He filled his lungs two or three times. But he seemed to hesitate. "Pshaw, watching you back there has made me nervous. I never 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 held his breath in horror, for Branasko's foot had slipped as he jumped.

The Alphian had struck the opposite ledge, but not with his feet, as he 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,--too terrified to reply,--heard the poor fellow's hands slipping from the rock, causing a quant.i.ty of loose stones to go rattling down below. With a low cry Branasko fell. An instant later Johnston heard him strike the ledge beneath, and heard him cry out in pain. Then all was still except the echoes of Branasko's cry, which bounded and rebounded from side to side of the chasm, and grew fainter and fainter, till it was submerged in the roaring below. Then there was a rattle of stones, and Branasko's voice sounded: "A narrow escape!" he said faintly. "I am on another ledge"--then after a slight pause, "it is much wider, I don't know how wide. Are you listening?"

"Yes, but are you hurt?"

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

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

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

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

Fifteen minutes pa.s.sed. The lone American could no longer hear Branasko's footsteps. Johnston was becoming uneasy and the hot air was causing his head to swim. He was thinking of trying to retrace his footsteps to a place of more security when he heard footsteps, and then the 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 a pool of fish besides. I have saved some for you. I was so hungry I had to eat. Now, you must jump over to me."

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

Branasko laughed. "I did not leap in the right direction. It is this point 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 the verge of the chasm and prepared to jump. His head felt more dizzy as he thought of the fathomless depths beneath, and the rush of hot air up the side of the cliff took his breath away, but he braced himself and said calmly: "All right, I am coming." The next instant he sprang forward.

Branasko caught him into his arms and they both rolled back on the level stone.

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

"Where shall we go now?" asked Johnston, regaining his feet and feeling of 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 to understand it. But you must first eat this fish. It is delicious. They are 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 raw fish eagerly. Presently they came to a deep pool of water, and both men threw themselves down on their stomachs and drank freely. After this they proceeded slowly for several hundred yards, and finally reached the entrance to the cave in which Branasko had seen the light. At that distance it looked like the light of some great conflagration reflected from the face of a cliff.

They entered the cave and made good progress toward the light, for it showed them the dangerous fissures, sharp boulders and stalact.i.tes. They had walked along in silence for several minutes when the Alphian stopped abruptly and turned to his companion. "What is the matter?" asked Johnston.

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

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

"Let's go on," said Branasko; and in his tone and hesitating manner Johnston detected the first appearance of superst.i.tious fear that he had seen in the brawny Alphian.

Chapter VIII.

As Thornd.y.k.e watched the flying machine that was bearing his friend away a genuine feeling of pity went over him. Poor Johnston! He had been haunted all day with the belief that he was to meet with some misfortune from which Thornd.y.k.e was to be spared, and Thornd.y.k.e had ridiculed his fears. When the air-ship had become a mere speck in the sky, the Englishman turned back into the palace and strolled about in the vast crowd.

A handsome young man in uniform approached and touched his hat:

"Are you the comrade of the fellow they are just sending away?" he asked.

"Yes. Where are they taking him?"

"To the 'Barrens,' of course; where do you suppose they would take such a man? He couldn't pa.s.s his examination. You are not a great physical success yourself, but they say you pleased the king with your tongue."

"To the Barrens," repeated Thornd.y.k.e, too much concerned over the fate of his comrade to notice the speaker's tone of contempt; "what are they, where are they?"

The Alphian officer changed countenance, as he looked him over with widening eyes.

"Your accent is strange; are you from the other world?"