ke angry
ghosts--before they reached us they were blown away as though by strong
winds streaming from beneath us.

On we went, blinded, deafened. Interminably, it seemed, poured forth the
hurricane of blue fire; interminably the thunder bellowed.

There came a louder clamor--volcanic, chaotic, dulling the thunders.
The sides of the cleft quivered, bent outward. They split; crashed down.
Bright daylight poured in upon us, a flood of light toward which the
billows of dust rushed as though seeking escape; out it poured like the
smoke of ten thousand cannon.

And the Blasting Thing shook--as though with laughter!

The stars closed. Back into the Shape ran globe and pyramid. It slid
toward us--joined the body from which it had broken away. Through
all the mass ran a wave of jubilation, a pulse of mirth--a colossal,
metallic--SILENT--roar of laughter.

We glided forward--out of the cleft. I felt a shifting movement.

Up and up we were thrust. Dazed I looked behind me. In the face of a
sky climbing wall of rock, smoked a wide chasm. Out of it the billowing
clouds of dust still streamed, pursuing, threatening us. The whole
granite barrier seemed to quiver with agony. Higher we rose and higher.

"Look," whispered Drake, and whirled me around.

Less than five miles away was Ruszark, the City of Cherkis. And it was
like some ancient city come into life out of long dead centuries. A
page restored from once conquering Persia's crumbled book. A city of the
Chosroes transported by Jinns into our own time.

Built around and upon a low mount, it stood within a valley but little
larger than the Pit. The plain was level, as though once it had been
the floor of some primeval lake; the hill of the City was its only
elevation.

Beyond, I caught the glinting of a narrow stream, meandering. The valley
was ringed with precipitous cliffs falling sheer to its floor.

Slowly we advanced.

The city was almost square, guarded by double walls of hewn stone. The
first raised itself a hundred feet on high, turreted and parapeted and
pierced with gates. Perhaps a quarter of a mile behind it the second
fortification thrust up.

The city itself I estimated covered about ten square miles. It ran
upward in broad terraces. It was very fair, decked with blossoming
gardens and green groves. Among the clustering granite houses, red and
yellow roofed, thrust skyward tall spires and towers. Upon the mount's
top was a broad, flat plaza on which wer