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Updated: June 3, 2025
From where they were crouched Johnston and Branasko caught a view of a little hall, a flight of stairs, and some pictures on the walls. Presently the man extinguished the light and came out. "They are removing their ladders from this side," said Branasko in a whisper. "Be ready; we must act quickly and without a particle of sound. Run straight for that door and climb up the steps immediately."
But Branasko was unable to grasp the full magnitude of the remark, for to him the world was simply a vast cavern lighted by human ingenuity. He fastened a narrow splinter of stone upright in the shallow water at his feet, and, lying down on his stomach with his eyes close to it, he studied it for several minutes. When he got up, a desperate gleam was in his dark eyes.
The American could not speak for exhaustion; but, as he looked at the departing craft with concern, Branasko laughed again: "Oh, you thought it had a crew; so did I at first, but it has no one aboard. It is drawn by a cable, and seems to be laden with coal." "Did they notice our fall up there?" panted Johnston, nodding toward the lights in the distance. "No, they are farther away than I thought."
Almost wild with terror, the American sprang toward the wheel, but Branasko pushed him away roughly. "Stand back," he ordered gruffly. "It is the heat; let me alone!" The American sank into his seat. The heat became more and more intense. Both men were purple in the face, and the perspiration was rolling from their bodies in streams. Down sank the machine.
Johnston put out his hand to touch Branasko, but the Alphian was awake. He sat up and nodded smiling. "Wait till the next hour," he said; "it will be rose-color; that is the most beautiful." Slowly the hours dragged by till the yellow light showed that it was the sixth hour. Branasko had been exploring the vast interior below and came back to Johnston who was asleep on the floor of the platform.
He moved a few steps forward and then happening to look over his shoulder he stopped abruptly, and uttered an exclamation of surprise. "What is it?" And Johnston followed the eyes of the Alphian. "Our shadows on the crystal cliff," said Branasko in an awed tone; "only the light from the changing sun could make them so."
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."
"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.
"If we have happened upon the home of the sun, only the spirit of the dead kings could tell what will become of us," said Branasko. "Puh! you are blindly superstitious," said Johnston; "what if we do come upon the sun? Let's go down there and look into the mystery." Branasko fell into the rear and the American stoutly pushed ahead toward the light which was every moment increasing.
We are going at a frightful speed." Just then there was a jar, and the sun swung so violently from side to side that the two men were prostrated on the floor. The speed seemed to slacken. "I wonder if we are going to stop," groaned the American, and he sat up and held to Branasko. "Perhaps they will draw us back to rectify the mistake, and then " "It cannot be done," interrupted the Alphian.
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