All-Story Weekly, March 1, 1919 — page 127: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

were clasped O’Keefe’s. ee —— a® — me, to refer. The ashen-gold of the maiden priestesses’ hair was wound about their brows in shining coronals. The pale locks - of the youths were clustered within circlets of translucent, glimmering gems like moon- stones. And then, crystal globe alternately before and harp alternately held by youth and maid, they began to sing. What was that song, I do not know— nor ever shall. Archaic, ancient beyond thought, it seemed—not with the ancient- ness of things that for uncounted ages have been but wind-driven dust. Rather was it the ancientness of the golden youth of the world, love lilts of earth younglings, with light of new-born suns drenching them, chorals of young stars mating in space; murmurings of April gods and goddesses. A languor stole through me. The rosy lights upon the tripods began to die away, and as they faded the milky globes gleamed forth brighter, ever brighter. Yolara rose, stretched a hand to Larry, led him through the sextuple groups, and stood face to face with him in the center of their circle. The rose-light died; all that immense chamber was black, save for the circle of the glowing spheres. Within this their milky radiance grew brighter — brighter. , The song whispered away. A _ throbbing arpeggio dripped from the harps, and as the notes pulsed out, up from the globes, as though striving to follow, pulsed with them tips of moon-fire cones, such as I had seen before Yolara’s altar. Weirdly, caress- ingly, compellingly the harp notes throbbed in repeated, re-repeated theme, holding within itself the same archaic golden quality I had noted in the singing. And over the moon flame pinnacles.rose higher! Yolara lifted her‘arms; within her hands She raised them above their two heads and slowly, slowly drew him with her into a circling, graceful, step, tendrilings, delicate as the slow spiral- ings of twilight mist upon some still stream. As they swayed the rippling arpeggios grew louder, and suddenly the slender pin- nacles of moon fire bent, dipped, flowed to the floor, crept in a shining ring around those two—and began to rise, a gleaming, glimmering, enchanted barrier—rising, ever rising—hiding them! THE CONQUEST OF THE MOON POOL. With one swift movement Yolara uns bound her circlet of pale sapphires, shook loose the waves of her silken hair. It fell, a rippling, wondrous cascade, veiling both = her and O’Keefe to their girdles+-and now the shining coils of moon fire had crept to their knees—was circling higher—higher. And .ever despair grew deeper in my soul! What was that! I started to my feet, and all around me in the blackness I heard startled motion. Frem without came a blaring of trumpets, the sound of running men, loud murmurings. The tumult drew closer. I heard cries of “ Lakla! Lakla!” Now it was at the very threshold and with- . in it, oddly, as though—punctuating—the clamor, a deep-toned, almost abyssmal, booming sound — thunderously bass and reverberant. Abruptly the harpings ceased; the moon fires shuddered, fell, and began to sweep back into the crystal globes; Yolara’s sway- ing form grew rigid, every atom of it seem- ing to be listening with intensity so great = She threw that it was itself like clamor. aside the veiling cloud of hair, and in the gleam of the last retreating spirals I saw her face glare out like some old Greek mask of tragedy. The sweet lips that, even at their sweet- est could never lose their delicate cruelty, had no sweetness now. They were drawn into a square— inhuman as that~of the — : : Medusa; in her eyes were the fires of the pit, and her hair seemed to writhe like the serpent locks of that Gorgon, whose mouth she had borrowed; all her beauty was trans- formed into a nameless thing—hideous, in- human, blasting! If this was the true soul of Yolara springing to her face, then, I thought, God help us in very deed! I wrested my gaze away to O’Keefe. All . drunkenness gone, himself again, he was staring down at that hellish sight, and in his . eyes were loathing and horror unutterable, So they stood—and the light fled. | Only for a moment did the darkness hold. With lightning swiftness the black- : ness that was the chamber’s other wall — = a vanished. Through a portal, open between gray screens, the silver sparkling light poured. : —— + Be