CHAPTER IV
The First Vanishings
"We carried Thora back, down to where Edith was waiting. We told herwhat had happened and what we had found. She listened gravely, and aswe finished Thora sighed and opened her eyes.
"'I would like to see the stone,' she said. 'Charles, you stay herewith Thora.' We passed through the outer court silently--and stoodbefore the rock. She touched it, drew back her hand as I had; thrustit forward again resolutely and held it there. She seemed to belistening. Then she turned to me.
"'David,' said my wife, and the wistfulness in her voice hurtme--'David, would you be very, very disappointed if we went fromhere--without trying to find out any more about it--would you?'
"Walter, I never wanted anything so much in my life as I wanted tolearn what that rock concealed. Nevertheless, I tried to master mydesire, and I answered--'Edith, not a bit if you want us to do it.'
"She read my struggle in my eyes. She turned back toward the greyrock. I saw a shiver pass through her. I felt a tinge of remorse andpity!
"'Edith,' I exclaimed, 'we'll go!'
"She looked at me again. 'Science is a jealous mistress,' she quoted.'No, after all it may be just fancy. At any rate, you can't run away.No! But, Dave, I'm going to stay too!'
"And there was no changing her decision. As we neared the others shelaid a hand on my arm.
"'Dave,' she said, 'if there should be something--well--inexplicabletonight--something that seems--too dangerous--will you promise to goback to our own islet tomorrow, if we can--and wait until the nativesreturn?'
"I promised eagerly--the desire to stay and see what came with thenight was like a fire within me.
"We picked a place about five hundred feet away from the steps leadinginto the outer court.
"The spot we had selected was well hidden. We could not be seen, andyet we had a clear view of the stairs and the gateway. We settled downjust before dusk to wait for whatever might come. I was nearest thegiant steps; next me Edith; then Thora, and last Stanton.
"Night fell. After a time the eastern sky began to lighten, and weknew that the moon was rising; grew lighter still, and the orb peepedover the sea; swam into full sight. I glanced at Edith and then atThora. My wife was intently listening. Thora sat, as she had since wehad placed ourselves, elbows on knees, her hands covering her face.
"And then from the moonlight flooding us there dripped down on me agreat drowsiness. Sleep seemed to seep from the rays and fall upon myeyes, closing them--closing them inexorably. Edith's hand in minerelaxed. Stanton's head fell upon his breast and his body swayeddrunkenly. I tried to rise--to fight against the profound desire forslumber that pressed on me.
"And as I fought, Thora raised her head as though listening; andturned toward the gateway. There was infinite despair in her face--andexpectancy. I tried again to rise--and a surge of sleep rushed overme. Dimly, as I sank within it, I heard a crystalline chiming; raisedmy lids once more with a supreme effort.
"Thora, bathed in light, was standing at the top of the stairs.
"Sleep took me for its very own--swept me into the heart of oblivion!
"Dawn was breaking when I wakened. Recollection rushed back; I thrusta panic-stricken hand out toward Edith; touched her and my heart gavea great leap of thankfulness. She stirred, sat up, rubbing dazed eyes.Stanton lay on his side, back toward us, head in arms.
"Edith looked at me laughingly. 'Heavens! What sleep!' she said.Memory came to her.
"'What happened?' she whispered. 'What made us sleep like that?'
"Stanton awoke.
"'What's the matter!' he exclaimed. 'You look as though you've beenseeing ghosts.'
"Edith caught my hands.
"'Where's Thora?' she cried. Before I could answer she had run outinto the open, calling.
"'Thora was taken,' was all I could say to Stanton, 'together we wentto my wife, now standing beside the great stone steps, looking upfearfully at the gateway into the terraces. There I told them what Ihad seen before sleep had drowned me. And together then we ran up thestairs, through the court and to the grey rock.
"The slab was closed as it had been the day before, nor was theretrace of its having opened. No trace? Even as I thought this Edithdropped to her knees before it and reached toward something lying atits foot. It was a little piece of gay silk. I knew it for part of thekerchief Thora wore about her hair. She lifted the fragment. It hadbeen cut from the kerchief as though by a razor-edge; a few threadsran from it--down toward the base of the slab; ran on to the base ofthe grey rock and--under it!
"The grey rock was a door! And it had opened and Thora had passedthrough it!
"I think that for the next few minutes we all were a little insane.We beat upon that portal with our hands, with stones and sticks. Atlast reason came back to us.
"Goodwin, during the next two hours we tried every way in our power toforce entrance through the slab. The rock resisted our drills. Wetried explosions at the base with charges covered by rock. They madenot the slightest impression on the surface, expending their force, ofcourse, upon the slighter resistance of their coverings.
"Afternoon found us hopeless. Night was coming on and we would haveto decide our course of action. I wanted to go to Ponape for help. ButEdith objected that this would take hours and after we had reachedthere it would be impossible to persuade our men to return with usthat night, if at all. What then was left? Clearly only one of twochoices: to go back to our camp, wait for our men, and on their returntry to persuade them to go with us to Nan-Tauach. But this would meanthe abandonment of Thora for at least two days. We could not do it; itwould have been too cowardly.
"The other choice was to wait where we were for night to come; to waitfor the rock to open as it had the night before, and to make a sortiethrough it for Thora before it could close again.
"Our path lay clear before us. We had to spend that night onNan-Tauach!
"We had, of course, discussed the sleep phenomena very fully. If ourtheory that lights, sounds, and Thora's disappearance were linked withsecret religious rites of the natives, the logical inference was thatthe slumber had been produced by them, perhaps by vapours--you know aswell as I, what extraordinary knowledge these Pacific peoples have ofsuch things. Or the sleep might have been simply a coincidence andproduced by emanations either gaseous or from plants, natural causeswhich had happened to coincide in their effects with the othermanifestations. We made some rough and ready but effectiverespirators.
"As dusk fell we looked over our weapons. Edith was an excellent shotwith both rifle and pistol. We had decided that my wife was to remainin the hiding-place. Stanton would take up a station on the far sideof the stairway and I would place myself opposite him on the side nearEdith. The place I picked out was less than two hundred feet from her,and I could reassure myself now and then as to her safety as it lookeddown upon the hollow wherein she crouched. From our respectivestations Stanton and I could command the gateway entrance. Hisposition gave him also a glimpse of the outer courtyard.
"A faint glow in the sky heralded the moon. Stanton and I took ourplaces. The moon dawn increased rapidly; the disk swam up, and in amoment it was shining in full radiance upon ruins and sea.
"As it rose there came a curious little sighing sound from the innerterrace. Stanton straightened up and stared intently through thegateway, rifle ready.
"'Stanton, what do you see?' I called cautiously. He waved asilencing hand. I turned my head to look at Edith. A shock ran throughme. She lay upon her side. Her face, grotesque with its nose and mouthcovered by the respirator, was turned full toward the moon. She wasagain in deepest sleep!
"As I turned again to call to Stanton, my eyes swept the head of thesteps and stopped, fascinated. For the moonlight had thickened. Itseemed to be--curdled--there; and through it ran little gleams andveins of shimmering white fire. A languor passed through me. It wasnot the ineffable drowsiness of the preceding night. It was a sappingof all will to move. I tried to
cry out to Stanton. I had not even thewill to move my lips. Goodwin--I could not even move my eyes!
"Stanton was in the range of my fixed vision. I watched him leap upthe steps and move toward the gateway. The curdled radiance seemed toawait him. He stepped into it--and was lost to my sight.
"For a dozen heart beats there was silence. Then a rain of tinklingsthat set the pulses racing with joy and at once checked them with tinyfingers of ice--and ringing through them Stanton's voice from thecourtyard--a great cry--a scream--filled with ecstasy insupportableand horror unimaginable! And once more there was silence. I strove toburst the bonds that held me. I could not. Even my eyelids were fixed.Within them my eyes, dry and aching, burned.
"Then Goodwin--I first saw the--inexplicable! The crystalline musicswelled. Where I sat I could take in the gateway and its basaltportals, rough and broken, rising to the top of the wall forty feetabove, shattered, ruined portals--unclimbable. From this gateway anintenser light began to flow. It grew, it gushed, and out of it walkedStanton.
"Stanton! But--God! What a vision!"
A deep tremor shook him. I waited--waited.