Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 4, 1925 — page 115: what you’re looking at

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

THE RADIO BEASTS. with hay which broke their fall. The first few of the company jumped, and then called to their companions that it was all right; but those above delayed in follow- ing, for fear of landing on those below. And, during this moment of indecision, those in the cell suddenly found themselves set upon from all sides, for quite a number of ant-men had fallen through with their lead- ers, and had remained behind to bar the passage. The fighting was in nearlv pitch dark- ness, but fortunately there was little danver of mistaking friends from foes, for huge ants ten feet long bear but little resem- blance to Cupian beings, even in the dark. Nevertheless, the sharp mandibles of the Formians proved effective weapons at close quarters. Those of the Cupians who had remained on the stands, hearing the shouts of the conflict below, poured into the hole with weapons poised, and struck home whenever they chanced to land upon an enemy. Finally all was silence, but whether the Formians had al! been slain or had merelv retired to some nook from which to rush out again and renew the conflict, could not be: told. There was no time, however, to stop and find out. | “ Quick!” shouted the earth-man, “ we must follow the usurper!” Whereat all the party started groping about to try and discover an exit. A shout of “ Here is the door!”’ from one of them, and all pressed in his direction. Cabot merely following with the crowd, since his antenne gave him no clew as to the source of the cry. The door opened into a passageway. In silence the party threaded the dim corridors beneath the sta- dium, until a sudden turn brought them out into the daylight, facing the city. And, as they debouched. they saw, just out of reach. a kerkool which bore Yuri, Formis and Lilla toward Kuana. Out of the other exits were pouring a fighting, seething crowd of Cupians and Formians, as on that other dav not so long ago, when Prince Yuri had assassinated King Kew at the Peace Day exercises, and had thus made himself king. But this time the red pennants of Kew outnumbered the 905 yellow of Yuri and the black of Formis combined. Other kerkools were standing beside the Stadium. Without awaiting the outcome of the fighting, Cabot and those with him seized the nearest cars and sped after the fleeing king. Straight for the palace drove Yuri, and Straight for the palace drove his pursuers. Yuri arrived there first, entered the capitol grounds and barred the gates, whereat the Kew faction surrounded the entire group of buildings on the top of Kuana‘ hill. They were speedily augmented by the victorious reds from the stadium. Then Cabot and a handful of the more intrepid of his faction battered down one of the palace gates and forced their way inside. As the door crashed in, the assaulting force was met bv a vollev of shots, but it had been a bit premature and so most of the bullets went wild. Within the door- way stood rank upon rank of the palace guard, Cupians of unquestioned lovalty to the usurper Yuri, his own personal body- guard, who had been recruited from tke un- speakables of the city by Trisp, the bar- mango of Kuana. They were armed with rifles. But before they could recover from their surprise sufficiently to fire a second round. the assaulting party swept in and engaged them in hand to hand combat. Some of the guard possessed revolvers as well as the longer weapon, and so were anle to defend themselves manfullv at close range, but thev were merely thugs who fought for the love of fighting, whereas the attackers were in- Spired by the enthusiasm of an ideal. the ideal of Cupian freedom which had been engendered by Cabot, the Minorian, in the first War of Liberation, and which now had been born anew in the second. Their onrush proved irresistible, and soon the few remaining survivors of Yuri’s guard had fled into the interior of the palace. Myles and his men stripped the dead of their arms and ammuniticn, and followed. The grip of an automatic in Cabot’s hand gave him new courage. “Forward for Princess Lilla!” he cried. And his followers echoed, “ For Princess Lilla! Death to the Formians!” Conn lDOOlK