The Fire People Read online

  CHAPTER XX.

  IN THE TWILIGHT COUNTRY.

  Mercer sat on the rear end of the platform and waved good-by vigorously ashe was carried swiftly up and out over the water. Under him was a pile ofblankets and a coat, and beside him a box of baked dough-like bread--thefood he was to turn over to Tao's emissaries when he set them free.

  Anina flew at his side, at intervals smiling up at him reassuringly.Before him on the platform his captives huddled. Although all of them weretrussed up securely, he menacingly kept his little wooden revolver pointedat them from the level of his knee.

  He chuckled as he thought of the fight at the bayou. Everything wasworking out all right; it was surprising what one could do with hisphysical strength here on Mercury.

  The girls had carried the platform up some five hundred feet above thesea. Mercer turned and looked back. The shore had already dropped almostto the rim of the close-encircling horizon. He leaned over toward Anina,resting one hand on the bamboo handle she was holding. "How long will ittake us to get there, Anina?"

  He knew the girl would understand his words, but he did not realize shehad little basis for comparing time in his language.

  "Long time," she answered, smiling. "But we go quickly now."

  He sat back again and waited. It seemed like hours--it _was_ hoursprobably, three or four--and still they swept onward straight as an arrow.

  After another interminable interval Anina raised one hand and pointedahead.

  "Twilight Country--there," she said.

  Mercer saw, coming up over the horizon, the dim outlines of a rocky landsparsely covered with trees. It spread out rapidly before him as hewatched, fascinated. It seemed a desolate land, a line of low, barrenhills off to one side, and a forest of stunted, naked-looking trees infront. The platform swept on over the shore line, a rocky beach on whichthe calm sea rolled up in tiny white lines of breakers. Then in a greatcurve the girls circled to one side.

  "Where are we going?" Mercer asked.

  "A trail--near us somewhere. A trail to the Lone City. There we land."

  Mercer saw the trail in a moment. It came out of the woods and struck theshore by a little bight where boats could land. The girls swoopeddownward, and in a moment more the platform was lying motionless on thebeach.

  Mercer looked around. It was light enough to see objects in the immediateforeground--a gray twilight. The forest came almost to the water's edge.He saw now the trees might have been firs, but with small, twisted trunks,few branches except near the top, and very few leaves. They seemed somehowvery naked and starved--indeed, it surprised him that they could grow atall in such a rocky waste. The end of the trail was close before him. Itappeared merely an opening in the trees with the fallen logs andunderbrush cleared away.

  The girls were obviously cold, standing idle now after their long flight.Mercer lost no time in preparing for the return journey. He tumbled hiscaptives unceremoniously off the platform and set the box of food andblankets beside them.

  "What's this, Anina?"

  He was holding in his palm a tiny metal cylinder.

  Anina took it from him.

  "For fire, see?"

  She picked up a bit of driftwood, and, holding the end of the cylinderagainst it, pressed a little button. A curl of smoke rose from the wood,and in a moment a wisp of flame.

  "A light-ray!" Mercer exclaimed.

  "The ray--but different."

  She tossed the blazing bit of wood aside, and held her hand a foot or soin front of the cylinder.

  "No danger! See?" She brought her hand closer. "Heat here--close--no heatfar away."

  Mercer understood then that this was not a light-ray projector, but amethod of producing heat with the property of radiation, but not ofprojection--a different and harmless form of the ray.

  He took the little cylinder from the girl, inspected it curiously, thenlaid it on the blankets.

  "They'll need it, I guess, if it's any colder where they're going."

  He set one of the captives free.

  "Anina, tell him to sit quiet until we've gone. Then he can cut the othersloose." He tossed a knife into the box. "Come on, Anina; let's get away."

  They were about ready to start back, when Mercer suddenly decided he washungry. He hopped off the platform. "They don't need all that food."

  He gathered some of the little flat cakes of dough in his hands. "Wantsome?" He offered them to the girls, who smilingly refused.

  "All right. I do. I'm hungry. Might as well take a blanket, too. It'sdevilish cold."

  He was back on the platform in a moment, sitting down with the blanketabout his knees and munching contentedly at the bread.

  "All right, Anina. Start her off."

  They swung up into the air and began the return flight.

  A few hours more and they would be back at the Great City. Then the realwork would begin. Mercer squared his shoulders unconsciously as he thoughtof all there was to do.

  But there was no danger to the Light Country from Tao, he thought withsatisfaction. At least, there would be none when the other cities were ridof Tao's men, as the Great City was now. The men would find their way backall right--

  At the sudden thought that came to him Mercer dropped his bit of bread andsat up in astonishment. Tao no longer a menace? He remembered my reasoningin the boat coming down the bayou. Of course, Tao would have no reason toattack the Light Country by force of arms until he was sure his propagandaamong the people had failed.

  My argument was sound enough, but the utter stupidity of what we had donenow dawned on Mercer with overwhelming force. Tao would await the resultsof his emissaries' work, of course. And here we had gone and sent themstraight back to their leader to report their efforts a failure! Ifanything were needed to precipitate an invasion from Tao, this very thingMercer had just finished doing was it. He cursed himself and me ferventlyas he thought what fools we had been.

  Then it occurred to him perhaps it was not too late to repair the damage.Not more than half an hour had passed since he had set the men free on theshore of the Twilight Country. He must go back at once. Under nocircumstances must they be allowed to reach Tao and tell him what hadoccurred.

  Anina was flying near Mercer as before. He leaned over the edge of theplatform to talk with her, but the wind of their forward flight and thenoise of the girls' wings made conversation difficult.

  "Anina! Come up here with me. Sit here. I want to talk to you. It'simportant. They don't need you flying now."

  Obediently the girl sat where he indicated, close beside him. And then ashe was about to begin telling her what was in his mind Mercer suddenlyremembered that they were still heading toward the Light Country, everymoment getting farther away from Tao's men, whose homeward journey he musthead off some way.

  "We must go back, Anina--back where we came from--at once. Tell them--now!Then I'll tell you why."

  The girl's eyes widened, but she did as he directed, and the platform,making a broad, sweeping turn, headed back toward the Twilight Countryshore.

  "Anina, how far is it to Tao's city from where we landed?"

  "The Lone City? A day, going fast."

  "But they won't go fast, will they? Some of them are pretty badly hurt."

  "Two days for them," the girl agreed.

  Mercer then told her what an error we had made. She listened quietly, buthe knew she understood, not only his words, but the whole situation as heviewed it then.

  "Most bad," she said solemnly when he paused.

  "That's what I want to tell you; it's bad," he declared. "We've got tohead them off some way; stop them somehow. I don't see how we're going tocapture them again--ten of them against me. But we've got to dosomething."

  Then he asked her about the lay of the country between the shore of thesea and the Lone City.

  Anina's English was put to severe test by her explanation; but she knewfar many more words than she had ever used, and now, with the interest ofwhat she had to say, she lost much of the diff
idence which before hadrestrained her.

  She told him that the trail led back through the forest for some distance,and then ran parallel with a swift flowing river. This river, sheexplained, emptied into the Narrow Sea a few miles below the end of thetrail. It was the direct water route to the Lone City.

  The trail, striking the river bank, followed it up into a mountainouscountry--a metallic waste where few trees grew. There was a place stillfarther up in a very wild, broken country, where the river ran through adeep, narrow gorge, and the trail followed a narrow ledge part way up oneof its precipitous sides.

  Anina's eyes sparkled with eagerness as she told of it.

  "There, my friend Ollie, we stop them. Many loose stones there are, andthe path is very narrow."

  Mercer saw her plan at once. They could bar the men's passage somewherealong this rocky trail, and with stones drive them back. He realized withsatisfaction that he could throw a stone fully twice as large and twice asfar as any of the men, and thus, out of range, bombard them until theywould be glad enough to turn back.

  His plan, then, was to land, and with Anina follow the men. The rest ofthe girls he would send back to me with the platform, to tell Miela and meto come over the next evening to the end of the trail.

  He and Anina meanwhile would keep close behind the men, and then when thecanyon was neared, get around in front of them, and bar their fartheradvance. This would be easy since he could walk and run much faster thanthey, and Anina could fly. He would drive them back out of the gorge, sendAnina to keep the appointment with me and bring me up to him with thegirls and the platform.

  They reached the shore and landed within a few feet of where they had beenan hour before. The men were not in sight; nothing remained to show theyhad been there, save pieces of cut cord lying about.

  Anina now instructed the girls what to tell me, and in a moment more, withthe blanket and a few pieces of bread, she and Mercer were left standingalone on the rocky beach. Anina was cold. He took off his fur jacket andwrapped it about her shoulders.

  She made a quaint little picture standing there, with her two long braidsof golden hair, and her blue-feathered wings which the jacket only partlycovered. They started up the trail together. It was almost dark in thewoods, but soon their eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, and theycould see a little better. They walked as rapidly, as Anina was able, forthe men had nearly an hour's start, and Mercer concluded they would be farahead.

  They had gone perhaps a mile, climbing along over fallen logs, walkingsometimes on the larger tree trunks lying prone--rude bridges by which thetrail crossed some ravine--when Anina said: "I fly now. You wait here,Ollie, and I find where they are."

  She handed him the coat and flew up over the treetops, disappearing almostimmediately in the darkness. Mercer slung the coat around him and sat downto wait. He sat there perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes, staring up at thesilent, motionless treetops, and thinking all sorts of vague, impossibledangers impending. Then he heard her wings flapping and saw her flittingdown through the trees.

  "Very near, they are," she said as soon as she reached the ground. "Afire--they have--and they are ready now to sleep."

  They went on slowly along the trail, and soon saw the glimmer of a fireahead. "A camp for the night," whispered Mercer.

  "It must be nearly morning now."

  He looked about him and smiled as he realized that no light would comewith the morning. Always this same dim twilight here--and eternal darknesson ahead. "Good Lord, what a place to live!" he muttered.

  They crept on cautiously until they were within sight of the camp. A largefire was burning briskly. Most of the men were wrapped in their blankets,apparently asleep; three were sitting upright, on guard. Mercer and Aninacrept away.

  "We'd better camp, too," Mercer said when they were well out of hearing."They will probably stay there four or five hours, anyway. Lord, I'mtired." He laid his hand on her shoulder gently, almost timidly. "Aren'tyou tired, too, little girl?"

  "Yes," she answered simply, and met his eyes with her gentle little smile."Oh, yes--I tired. Very much."

  They did not dare light a fire, nor had they any means of doing so. Theywent back from the trail a short distance, finding a little recess betweentwo fallen logs, where the ground was soft with a heavy moss. Here theydecided to sleep for a few hours.

  A small pool of water had collected on a barren surface of rock near by,and from this they drank. Then they sat down, together and ate about halfthe few remaining pieces of bread which Mercer was carrying in the pocketsof his jacket. They were both tired out. Anina particularly was verysleepy.

  When they had finished eating Anina lay down, and Mercer covered her withthe blanket. She smiled up at him.

  "Good night, Anina."

  "Good night, my friend Ollie."

  She closed her eyes, snuggling closer under the blanket with a contentedlittle sigh. Mercer put on his jacket and sat down beside her, his chincupped in his hand. It seemed colder now. His trousers were thin, his legsfelt numb and stiff from his recent exertion.

  He sat quiet, staring at the sleeping girl. She was very beautiful andvery sweet, lying there with her golden hair framing her face, her littlehead pillowed on her arms, a portion of one blue-feathered wing peepingout from under the blanket. All at once Mercer bent over and kissed herlightly, brushing her lips with his, as one kisses a sleeping child.

  She stirred, then opened her eyes and smiled up at him again.

  "You cold, Ollie," she said accusingly. She lifted an edge of the blanket."Here--you sleep, too."

  He stretched himself beside her, and she flung a corner of the blanketover him; and thus, like two children lost in the woods and huddledtogether for warmth under a fallen log, they slept.