Chapter 13

to and fro, but each footfall, echoing in the profound stillness, seemed to be an appealing cry for help. A premonition that a terrible danger hung over Zarlah came upon me, and, maddened by the thought that I remained inactive, whilst yet I might save her, I rushed out upon the balcony.

The sun was just rising, but in place of the gray light of dawn on Earth with its beautifully colored eastern sky, there appeared sharp contrasts of the blackest darkness and the most brilliant light, in the long shadows that were cast across the landscape. Without the diffusion of light which the denser atmosphere of Earth causes, night seemed to linger on the very footsteps of day. Though the remarkable effect of this Martian sunrise would have been pleasing under other circumstances, it now served only to increase my apprehension, warning me that I was in a strange world, and that I must be prepared to meet extraordinary emergencies.

I had but one thought, that of reaching Zarlah as speedily as possible and saving her from the awful fate which menaced her. What this fate was, I knew not, but I could feel its presence like the hot breath of some ferocious beast, as it stands over its prostrate victim. Greatly did I now deplore the loss of Zarlah's valuable instrument.

With eager hands I prepared the high-speed aerenoid for the journey, feeling that I must trust to Almos' knowledge of its operation to carry me through safely. Though I realized that the danger was increased a thousand times in an aerenoid capable of such terrific speed, the fear that even now I might be too late compelled me to make use of it.

Taking my place in the forward part of the car, I was greatly relieved to find that my hand instinctively sought the levers, and operated them with a judicious care that could result only from long experience.

Rising high enough to avoid small aerenoids, I proceeded at a considerable speed and soon came within sight of Zarlah's dwelling. The serene and peaceful appearance of this beautiful white marble villa, as the morning sun glorified it, quickly dispelled the fears that had brought me hither at such an early hour, and I gladly attributed them to overwrought nerves and the loss of a night's sleep.

Moreover, as I slowly circled over the lake that only a few hours before Zarlah and I had wistfully gazed upon together as we built a world of happiness for ourselves, I felt that I was near to her, should the danger of which I had been forewarned prove real. Here in the scene of our happiness I would wait through the early hours--the last hours of our separation.

Slowly descending, I brought the aerenoid to rest in a spot obscured by trees from the villa. A few feet away, the little brook sparkled merrily in the sunlight as it leaped along on its journey to the lake, and, as I opened the door of the car, its joyous song swelled upon the fragrant morning air, laughing at my forebodings in this world of peace, as it had laughed at my despair of the previous night.

As I stepped out into the warm sunlight and made my way toward the lake, a great joy filled my heart. It would not be long ere Zarlah shared with me the happiness of the knowledge that we need never again be separated.

"Poor Zarlah!" I murmured, as the memory of our last parting with its great anguish of a forlorn hope sent a pang to my heart. "The bitterness in thy cup was indeed great, but it is past. Oh, my beloved, awake to the light of a new day filled with gladness, and sorrow shall not again cross thy path!"

I paused, fancying I heard footsteps, and, glancing back, listened intently. All was still, and I was just about to proceed when again the sound came. This time I could not be mistaken; it was the sound of hurried footsteps some distance off and in the direction of the villa.

I was still hidden from the villa by the trees, but across the stream, some thirty yards away, was an opening from which a view of it could be had. Leaping the stream I hastened thither, anxious to learn the cause of the untimely activity. Another moment, and I should have been too late to see a slight figure, laden with what appeared to be wraps and other travelling equipment, hurry across the balcony and step into the large high-speed aerenoid that I had observed there the previous evening.

It was Zarlah! But what was the reason of this hasty departure at such an hour? Suddenly a frenzy seized me, and, rushing toward the villa, I frantically called to her, but it was too late. She had not seen me, and, before I had taken many steps, the aerenoid rose rapidly to a great height and disappeared over the trees.

Not a moment was to be lost. Turning, I dashed wildly back toward the aerenoid I had so foolishly left in concealment. Reaching the stream, I stumbled over an entanglement of vines and plunged headlong therein, only to scramble, dripping and bruised, up the opposite bank and continue my frantic efforts to reach the aerenoid, before Zarlah's car had disappeared from sight. What her intention was I knew not, but the early hour, the haste with which she had departed, and the absence of her brother, all conspired to arouse the fears that had beset me during the long hours of the night.

Arriving at the aerenoid at last, after a journey that seemed to consume hours, I jumped in and closed the door. Frantically I seized the lever that controlled the ascension and, pulling it so that the full repelling power was instantly exposed, the car bounded high into the air with terrific force.

The shock hurled me off my feet, but in an instant my eyes were again fixed upon a mere speck many miles distant, which I knew to be the aerenoid containing all that life possessed for me. As the car plunged forward at great speed, the speck disappeared, and I at once realized that Zarlah had reached a canal, into which she had turned her aerenoid. It was now impossible for me to see which direction she took, and unless I arrived at the canal within a few seconds, I felt that all hope of overtaking her would have vanished, as she would doubtless proceed at full speed and soon be lost to sight.

Opening to its fullest extent the valve that controlled the exhaustion of air in the chamber beneath, the velocity of the car soon became terrific, and, rising still higher as I sped along, I caught sight of Zarlah's aerenoid proceeding in a northerly direction.

With a disregard for all safety I swerved to the north, thus forming the third side of a triangle, of which the other sides were the course Zarlah had taken. This movement reduced the distance between the two aerenoids considerably, and upon turning into the speedway of the canal, I was greatly relieved to find that I was but a few miles in the rear. The hope that Zarlah might see the car speeding so close behind her, flashed through my mind, but instantly I realized the impossibility of such a thing, for a glance behind, even for a second, while travelling with such frightful velocity, would entail certain destruction by being dashed to pieces against the sides of the canal. My only chance lay in overtaking her and making some signal, and with my free hand I wrenched at the speed valve, endeavoring to open it wider.

On we sped in our wild career over the planet's surface. Hundreds of miles were quickly swept beneath us, but not one foot did I seem to gain. Vainly did I strive to put from my mind the fears that lurked there, by seeking a plausible reason for Zarlah's strange action.

On, on we flew, each aerenoid going at its maximum speed; surely Zarlah had gone far enough north; she must slacken her speed soon to turn down a branch canal, and I would then be able to run alongside of her car and signal my presence. There was a gleam of hope in this, and to it I clung like a drowning man to a straw.

The air in the car, which had steadily grown colder, was now biting in its sharpness, and as I clutched the steering apparatus with numbed hands, a white object loomed up in the distance and in a second flew beneath me--another came, then another, and another, and as they appeared in greater numbers, I observed that they were huge blocks of ice. The sight filled me with grave apprehension. It was now impossible to stop our terrific momentum, yet in spite of this great danger, on and on we sped, still farther north.

What could be the reason for this perilous journey? Did Zarlah not realize the danger to which she was exposed, rushing thus madly into the wilds of the North--the region of the Repelling Pole--without the means of stopping?

Suddenly I shrank in horror as a fearful thought entered my mind. My senses reeled, and a strange sensation swept over me, as of an awful Presence in the car with me. "No, no," I muttered between clenched teeth; "it cannot be! She surely realizes that it would be going to a certain and terrible death!" And as I frantically wrenched at the valve in an effort to get more speed, a strange hollow voice echoed through my brain, laughing at my unutterable agony, and crying with fiendish glee, "Your love has no thought of stopping; she hastens to her bridegroom, Death!"

As hot irons scorching the living flesh, the words burned into my brain, setting it on fire. It was the voice of Death--which voice no living mortal can mistake--and I recognized it also as the fury of the storm which was abroad when I departed from Earth, and the echo of the stream's song of peace in the midst of danger. Had Death thus followed me from the world in which he thrived to wreak this vengeance upon me, by tempting my bride into his arms, believing that she hastened to her love?

On, on we rushed into the region of the dreaded Pole. All signs of the canal had disappeared, and before us lay only a vast uninhabitable field of ice. I stood at the levers, frozen rigid with the intense cold, but with my eyes ever on the flying object before me, while visions of my beloved one, now so close to death, passed rapidly through my fevered brain. As if Death had thus planned to torture me, before tearing my loved one from my very arms, I seemed to stand impersonally apart and watch two lovers--Zarlah and myself. Bending over her, I tried to console her with a false hope--a story of impossible fulfillment. I succeeded; and now I saw that I had laid the trap which Death had placed in my hands to draw her toward him, and, with a cry of horror, I tried to wrench my hand from the lever to which it was frozen, so that I might shut such a scene from my sight--

I realized the meaning of it all now. Zarlah, unable to obtain the repelling force necessary to carry her off Mars, was rushing toward the Repelling Pole to be hurled off the planet, risking all in the hope of being drawn to Earth, which was in opposition. It was a vain hope--alas, I knew this too well. She was rushing to her death--a death that I had lured her to, and my hands would be stained with the blood of my beloved.

Desperately I wrenched at my frozen hands to free them from the metal to which they adhered, with a wild idea of smashing the window and calling loudly to Zarlah. The skin tore from the flesh like paper at the fury of my efforts, and I freed my hands at last, only to find that my arms hung lifeless at my side.

In a frenzy of grief and despair at my utter helplessness, I fell on my knees, crying aloud, "Oh, my God! Save her from this awful death!"

A sudden gloom filled the car, and, struggling to my feet, I found that we had entered the belt of semi-darkness that covers the polar caps in their winter season. Our doom was near at hand--nothing could save Zarlah now, and only by swerving my car around instantly and returning could I preserve myself. But life was nought to me without Zarlah--I preferred death to such an empty existence. Condemned by Fate to be separated in life, we would meet death together.

I could dimly see Zarlah's car outlined against the white snow beyond, but, even as I stood now helplessly and silently awaiting the end, a dark line rapidly spread over this field of white. Beyond, all was black, and as this sharp-cut boundary line rapidly approached Zarlah's car, my blood froze in my veins, for in this vast area of bare black rock I recognized the terrible power of the North Repelling Pole. There was another moment in which my heart refused to beat, then a groan of great anguish escaped my lips, as Zarlah's car was hurled upwards into space with frightful velocity.

Shutting my eyes I awaited death. For an instant it seemed to me that I heard Zarlah's voice call to me in clear accents, then came a terrific shock which hurled me to the far end of the aerenoid, amid a confusion of furniture, books, and instruments that had been torn from their fastenings. Frozen into a state of utter helplessness, my senses fast leaving me, I lay unable to extricate myself from the heavy mass.

In this comatose condition I remained totally ignorant of the lapse of time, until, feeling the terrible pressure diminish, I opened my eyes and dreamily beheld the heavy instruments and pieces of furniture move gently away, and bump against one another as they floated lightly about within the car.

Relieved of the great weight, I now breathed more freely. My senses grew clearer, and soon I became conscious of a loud hissing noise close at hand. Drowsily I turned my head in the direction of the sound, and discovered that it came from the door in the side of the aerenoid. In an instant the full faculty of my senses returned, as with intense horror I realized the cause--the air of the car was escaping into the void of the universe without! Desperately I struggled to gain my feet, but being without weight, the effort resulted only in my drifting helplessly about the car, until, gasping for air, I realized that the end had come.

A moment's consciousness of being drawn gently to the floor of the car again, while the furniture and other articles that had been drifting about piled lightly upon me without any perceptible weight; a slight shock, then, as the suffocating sensation became more intense, a blackness rushed in upon me, and my senses reeled--

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