Avon Murder Mystery Monthly No. 41 — page 66: what you’re looking at

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

68 THE METAL MONSTER and crouched listening at every door of sight and hearing to gather some clue to causes, some thread of understanding. Slowly now we were gliding through the forest of pillars; so effort- less, so smooth our flight that we seemed to be standing still, the tre- mendous columns flitting past us, turning and wheeling around us, dizzyingly. My head swam with the mirage motion, I closed my eyes. “Look,” Drake was shaking me. “Look. What do you make of that?” Half a mile ahead the pillars stopped at the edge of a shimmering, quivering curtain of green luminescence. High, high up past the pale gilt suns its smooth folds ran, into the golden amber mist that canopied the columns. | In its sparkling was more than a hint of the dancing corpuscles of the aurora; it was, indeed, as though woven of the auroral rays. And ‘all about it played shifting, tremulous shadows formed by the merging of | the golden light with the curtain’s emerald gleaming. oe Up to its base swept the cube that bore Ruth and -Norhala—and stopped. From it leaped the woman, and drew Ruth down beside her, then turned and gestured toward us, : ‘That upon which we rode drew close. I felt it quiver beneath me; felt on the instant, the magnetic grip drop from me, angle downward and leave me free. Shakily I arose from aching knees, and saw Ventnor flash down and run, rifle in hand, toward his sister. © Drake bent for his gun. I moved unsteadily toward the side of the clustered cubes. There came a curious pushing motion driving me to the edge. Sliding over upon me came Drake and the pony— The cube tilted, gently, playfully—and with the slightest of jars the three of us stood beside it on the floor, we two men gaping at it in renewed wonder, and the little beast stretching its legs, lifting its feet and whinnying with relief. | | _ Then abruptly the four blocks that had been our steed broke from — each other; that which had been the woman’s glided to them, The four clicked into place behind it and darted from sight. “Ruth!” Ventnor’s voice was vibrant with his fear. “Ruth! What is wrong with your What has she done to you?” We ran to his side. He stood clutchng her hands, searching her eyes. They were wide, unseeing, dream fi! ed. Upon Fer face the calm and stillness which were mirrored reflections of Norhala’s unearthly tran- quillity, had deepened. | “Brother.” The sweet voice seemed far away, drifting out of un- troubled space, an echo of Norhala’s golden chimings—“Brother, there is nothing wrong with me. Indeed—all is—well with me—brother.” He dropped the listless palms, faced the woman, tall figure tense, drawn with mingled rage and anguish. ECOMC OOO (GO)