was in his mouth.

The machine suddenly slackened in its speed and then hung poised in
mid-air. The rays of the search-light were directed downward and slowly
shifted from point to point. Looking down, the American caught glimpses
of rugged rocks, sharp cliffs and yawning chasms.

"How is it?" asked the first officer, through a speaking-tube, of the
driver.

"A good landing!" was the reply.

"Well, go down." And a moment later the machine settled on the uneven
ground.

The same officer opened the door, and gently pushed Johnston out.
Johnston expected them to follow him, but the door of the machine closed
behind him.

"Stand out of the way," cried out the officer through the window; "you
may get struck as we rise."

Involuntarily Johnston obeyed. There was a sound of escaping air from
beneath the machine, a fierce commotion in the atmosphere which sucked
him toward the machine, and then the dazzling search-light blinded him,
as the air-ship bounded upward and sailed back over the course it had
come.

Johnston stood paralyzed with fear. "My God, this is awful!" he
exclaimed in terror, and his knees gave way beneath him and he sank to
the rock. "They have left me here to starve in this hellish darkness!"
He remained there for a moment, his face covered with his hands, then
he sprang up desperately, and started to grope through the darkness,
he knew not whither. He stumbled at almost every step, and ran against
boulders which bruised his hands and face, and went on till his strength
was gone. Then he paused and looked back toward the direction from which
he had come. It seemed to him that he could see the straight line of
mighty black wall above which there was a faint appearance of light. A
lump rose in the throat of the poor fellow, and tears sprang into his
eyes.

But what was that? Surely it was a sound. It could not have been the
wind, for the air was perfectly still. The sound was repeated. It was
like the moaning of a human voice far away in the dark. Could it be some
one in distress, some poor unfortunate, banished being, like himself?
Again he heard the sound, and this time, it was like the voice of some
one talking.

"Hello!" shouted the American, and a cold shudder went over him at the
sound of his own husky voice. There was a dead silence, then, like an
echo of his own cry, faintly came the word, "Hello!"

Filled with superstitious fear, the American cautiously groped toward
the sound. "Hello, t