city so suddenly?" Steve asked. Gerry
shrugged.

"I suppose some mist hid it."

"There wasn't any mist," Steve said flatly, "anyway--we could see the
low hills on shore just as clearly after the city disappeared as before.
Anyway...."

"Listen!" Gerry interrupted.

Now they could again hear the sound of bells coming across the water.
Half the time the sound was swept away by the night breeze, half the
time they could just hear it. The bells were of many blended tones and
notes, an immense carillon. They were singing some outland melody that
was full of the surge of ocean breezes and the cries of the sea birds.
It rose, and swelled, and died away again.

"The city's there, all right," Gerry said slowly. "Though I can't
imagine why we don't see any lights with the sound of the bells that
close. But we'll see in the morning."

"I tell you there is no city," Closana said, her voice troubled. "We
have often sailed ships into these waters from the Savissan coast, and
we know that none of these Outer Isles are inhabited. What you have
heard must be the ghosts of the Old Ones, ancient phantoms speeding
through the skies. There is a legend that the bells of their phantom
ships can sometimes be heard off the coast at night."

"Ghosts or no ghosts, we're going ashore there in the morning!" Gerry
said stubbornly.

* * * * *

All night the _Viking_ rode to a crude anchor that Angus had improvised
from some spare parts on board. The space-ship's designers had never
expected her to lie in water. Most of the crew were on deck as soon as
it grew light enough to see. Ahead of them, less than half a mile away,
stretched a sandy shore backed by a line of low hills. The island had a
wealth of the yellow vegetation typical of the mainland of Venus, so
that it had a more friendly appearance than the other specks of land
which dotted the Great Sea and were only bare rock, but there was no
sign of life. Certainly there was no trace of any city! There was not
even an indication of human habitation at all. As the dawn-mists cleared
away they could see that another range of hills stretched along the
horizon some miles behind. Their greenish-yellow slopes were clear and
sharp against the cloudy sky beyond, and they were located well in the
rear of where the city had appeared to be in that hasty glimpse the
night before.

"Ready the landing party!" Gerry commanded. "Full armor and equipment!"

They gent