Avon Fantasy Reader No. 7 — page 100: what you’re looking at

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

a6 i se tae A. MERRITT The silence marched down the stairway. He heard again the quarreling of the little blue and yellow birds . .. then the shrieks of the parrots... ; Joan said, unsteadily: “It was time you did that, Barry. It was . . . doing things to me. Look, Barry—look ...!” : He followed her finger, pointing to the painted face of Kukulkan. For a breath he saw it .. . another face looking out from the wall. | | _ An ageless face . . . the nose long and curved and delicate. The lips full but sharply cut, archaically sensuous . . . hair as red as his own and eyes as blue as Joan’s. A face as devoid of human equivalence as it was timeless . . . yet human .. . as though the seed from which it had sprung into godhood had been human. Incalculable, unreadable . . . but still within it something that could be read up to that point where the humanness of it merged into the god ...might be read more plainly if the god would within it merge more fully into the humanness. Nothing of benevolence in it . . . but neither was there shade of malevolence, cruelty . . . humanless, in human’ mask. Barry thought: it 1s like that mountain peak in the City of Jade of which Joan spoke ... the peak shaped like the head of a man and all of clearest crystal to which the thoughts of men are drawn... all their thoughts ... and pass from its eyes and mouth cleansed of falsehood and of error, preju- dice and hatred and love .. . standing naked and stark before T’zan T’zao to be judged ... ; , : : Power was in the face, immense power . . . and something of wildness, of freedom ...the freedom of primaeval things... like the wind, the waves, the SoH. And then the face was: gone. Upon the wall was the tapir snout of Kukul- kan, the protruding lips, the fanged and feathered serpent. | His hand was clenching Joan’s wrist. She whispered: “You saw it! You’re hurting me!” He dropped her wrist. He said: “It is another painting beneath this one. An older painting. Some trick of the-light brought it out.” She said, doubtful: “Maybe. But I think it was Kukulkan as the first Mayans knew him. Kukulkan who came to them from still an older race. Kukulkan when he was worshipped with flowers and fruits and incense and prayer. Before his worship was debased and the cruel hunian sacrifices began. That was when and why he turned from the Mayans. And so their doom came swiftly upon them. For it was never he who came to them thereafter, Barry. It was an evil god hiding behind his mask and name” - . She hesitated, seemed listening: “But yes—he did come. Came even to the COMIGIOOKSAGO im