Avon Murder Mystery Monthly No. 41 — page 153: what you’re looking at

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

A. MERRITT 155 yon walls. Between them for two hundred feet on high stretched the reast. - And this was a shifting, weaving mass of the Metal Things; they formed into gigantic cuirasses, giant bucklers, corselets of living mail. From them as they moved—nay, from all the monster—came the wail- ings. Like a headless Sphinx it crouched—and as we stood it surged for- ward as though it sprang a step to greet us. “Hai!” shouted Norhala, battle buglings ringing through the golden voice. “Haz! my companies!” -Qur from the summit of the breast shot a tremendous trunk of cubes and spinning globes. And like a trunk it nuzzled us, caught us up, swept us to the crest. An instant I tottered dizzily; was held; stood be- side Norhala upon a little, level twinkling eyed platform; upon her other side swayed Drake. ~ Now through the monster I felt a throbbing, an eager and impatient pulse. I turned my head. Still like some huge and grotesque beast the back of the clustered Things ran for half a mile at least behind, tapering to a dragon tail that coiled and twisted another full mile toward the Pit. And from this back uprose and fell immense spiked and fan-shaped ruffs, thickets of spikes, whipping knouts of bristling tentacles, fanged crests. They thrust and waved, whipped and fell constantly; and con- -stantly the great tail lashed and snapped, fantastic, long and living. — “Hai!” shouted Norhala once more. From her lifted throat came again the golden chanting—but now a relentless, ruthless song of slaughter. Up reared the monstrous bulk. Into it ran the dragon tail. Into it poured the fanged and bristling back. | Up, up we were thrust—three hundred feet, four hundred, five hun- ‘dred. Over the blue globe of Norhala’s house bent a gigantic leg. Spider- like out from each side of the monster thrust half a score of others. Overhead the dawn began to break. Through it with ever increasing speed we moved, straight to the’ line of the cliffs behind which lay the city of the armored men—and Ruth and Ventnor. CHAPTER XXIV Ruszark MOOTHLY moved the colossal'shape; on it we rode as easily as though cradled. It did not glide—it strode. The columned legs raised themselves, bending from a thousand joints. GOGO .S (GO)