live upon the new earth, must bow down to Oro and take him and

his seed to be their gods and kings."
When I heard this I was overwhelmed and could not answer. Also

I remembered a certain confused picture which Yva had shown to us
in the Temple of Nyo. But supported by his disbelief, Bickley

asked:
"And how often does the balance of which you speak come this

way, Lord Oro?"
"Once only in many years; the number is my secret, Bickley," he

replied.
"Then there is every reason to hope that it will not trouble

us," remarked Bickley with a suspicion of mockery in his voice.
"Do you think so, you learned Bickley?" asked Oro. "If so, I do

not. Unless my skill has failed me and my calculations have gone
awry, that Traveller of which I tell should presently be with us.

Hearken now! What is that sound we hear?"
As he spoke there reached our ears the first, far-off murmurs

of a dreadful music. I cannot describe it in words because that
is impossible, but it was something like to the buzz of a

thousand humming-tops such as are loved by children because of
their weird song.

"Back to the wall!" cried Oro triumphantly. "The time is
short!"

So back we went, Oro pausing a while behind and overtaking us
with long, determined strides. Yva led us, gliding at my side

and, as I thought, now and again glanced at my face with a look
that was half anxious and half pitiful. Also twice she stooped

and patted Tommy.
We reached the wall, though not quite at the spot whence we had

started to examine the grooved roads. at least I think this was
so, since now for the first time observed a kind of little window

in its rocky face. It stood about five feet from its floor level,
and was perhaps ten inches square, not more. In short, except for

its shape it resembled a ship's porthole rather than a window.
Its substance appeared to be talc, or some such material, and

inches thick, yet through it, after Oro had cast aside some sort
of covering, came a glare like that of a search-light. In fact it

was a search-light so far as concerned one of its purposes.
By this window or porthole lay a pile of cloaks, also four

objects which looked like Zulu battle shields cut in some unknown
metal or material. Very deftly, very quietly, Yva lifted these

cloaks and wrapped one of them about each of us, and while she
was thus employed I noticed that they were of a substance very

similar to that of the gown she wore, which I have described, but
harder. Next she gave one of the metal-like shields to each of

us, bidding us hold them in front of our bodies and heads, and
only to look through certain slits in them in which were

eyepieces that appeared to be of the same horny stuff as the
searchlight window. Further, she commanded us to stand in a row

with our backs against the rock wall, at certain spots which she
indicated with great precision, and whatever we saw or heard on

no account to move.
So there we stood, Bickley next to me, and beyond him Bastin.

Then Yva took the fourth shield, as I noted a much larger one
than ours, and placed herself between me and the search-light or

porthole. On the other side of this was Oro who had no shield.
These arrangements took some minutes and during that time

occupied all our attention. When they were completed, however,
our curiosity and fear began to reassert themselves. I looked

about me and perceived that Oro had his right hand upon what
seemed to be a rough stone rod, in shape not unlike that with

which railway points are moved. He shouted to us to stand still
and keep the shields over our faces. Then very gently he pressed

upon the lever. The porthole sank the fraction of an inch, and
instantly there leapt from it a most terrific blaze of lightning,

which shot across the blackness in front and, as lightning does,
revealed far, far away another wall, or rather cliff, like that

against which we leant.
"All works well," exclaimed Oro in a satisfied voice, lifting

his hand from the rod, "and the strength which I have stored will
be more than enough."

Meanwhile the humming noise came nearer and grew in volume.
"I say," said Bickley, "as you know, I have been sceptical, but

I don't like this business. Oro, what are you going to do?"
"Sink half the world beneath the seas," said Oro, "and raise up

that which I drowned more than two thousand centuries ago. But as
you do not believe that I have this power, Bickley, why do you

ask such questions?"
"I believe that you have it, which was why I tried to shoot you

yesterday," said Bastin. "For your soul's sake I beg you to
desist from an attempt which I am sure will not succeed, but

which will certainly involve your eternal damnation, since the
failure will be no fault of yours."

Then I spoke also, saying:
"I implore you, Lord Oro, to let this business be. I do not

know exactly how much or how little you can do, but I understand
that your object is to slay men by millions in order to raise up

another world of which you will be the absolute king, as you were
of some past empire that has been destroyed, either through your

agency or otherwise. No good can come of such ambitions. Like
Bastin, for your soul's sake I pray you to let them be."

"What Humphrey says I repeat," said Yva. "My Father, although
you know it not, you seek great evil, and from these hopes you

sow you will harvest nothing save a loss of which you do not
dream. Moreover, your plans will fail. Now I who am, like

yourself, of the Children of Wisdom, have spoken, for the first
and last time, and my words are true. I pray you give them

weight, my Father."
Oro heard, and grew furious.

"What!" he said. "Are you against me, every one, and my own
daughter also? I would lift you up, I would make you rulers of a

new world; I would destroy your vile civilisations which I have
studied with my eyes, that I may build better! To you, Humphrey,

I would give my only child in marriage that from you may spring a
divine race of kings! And yet you are against me and set up your

puny scruples as a barrier across my path of wisdom. Well, I
tread them down, I go on my appointed way. But beware how you try

to hold me back. If any one of you should attempt to come between
me and my ends, know that I will destroy you all. Obey or die."

"Well, he has had his chance and he won't take it," said Bastin
in the silence that followed. "The man must go to the devil his

own way and there is nothing more to be said."
I say the silence, but it was no more silent. The distant

humming grew to a roar, the roar to a hellish hurricane of sound
which presently drowned all attempts at ordinary speech.

Then bellowing like ten millions of bulls, at length far away
there appeared something terrible. I can only describe its

appearance as that of an attenuated mountain on fire. When it
drew nearer I perceived that it was more like a ballet-dancer

whirling round and round upon her toes, or rather all the
ballet-dancers in the world rolled into one and then multiplied a

million times in size. No, it was like a mushroom with two
stalks, one above and one below, or a huge top with a point on

which it spun, a swelling belly and another point above. But what