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.They were apparently the remnants of several immense buildings, and bore the marks of some awful cataclysm that had carried away their super-structures and even much of the floor-work and foundations.One of the walls retained a doorway that was oddly high and narrow and was wider at top than at bottom.Also, there were some queer windows close to the ground.The men wondered at the physical characteristics of the race that had reared such edifices.From a human standpoint everything about the ruins was architecturally abnormal.Roverton approached one of the monoliths.It was square in shape, was forty feet high by seven in diameter, and had manifestly been taller at one time, for the top was riven and jagged where it had been broken off abruptly.It was wrought of the same material as the walls.A series of bas-reliefs, intermingled with columns of hieroglyphic letter-forms, had been carven about the base.The bas-reliefs depicted beings of a curious type, with long thin trunks terminating at each end in a multitude of many-jointed limbs.The heads of these creatures, or what appeared to be such, were at the nether extremity of the trunks, and had two mouths that were set above a double row of eyes.Ear-like appendages drooped from the chins.The lower limbs ended in bird-like claws and the upper in broad, umbrella-shaped webs whose use was beyond conjecture.Roverton exclaimed with amazement as he called Deming’s attention to these figures.Whether such beings represented an extinct race, or whether their prototypes were still to be found in this outré world, was of course an irresolvable problem.The men were too worn out with their herculean ordeals to devote much time and energy to speculation of this order.They found a sheltered place in the angle of one of the walls, and sat down.Perforce they had eaten nothing since the food provided by the pygmies at early dawn; and seemingly there was no immediate likelihood of finding anything edible.The whole outlook was supremely desolate and desperate.VIIThe sun had gone down, leaving an erubescent twilight that stained the soil, the ruins and the dead trees as with a deepening tide of blood.A preternatural silence prevailed—a silence fraught with the sense of foreign mystery, the burden of ultramundane antiquity that clung to those strange ruins.The men lay down and began to doze.They awoke simultaneously, without knowing for a brief moment what it was that had aroused them.The twilight had turned to a rich violet, thoughthe walls and trees were still clearly distinguishable.Somewhere in this twilight, there was a shrill, strident humming that grew louder momentarily.All at once the humming was near at hand, in mid-air.It soared to a deafening clamor.Roverton and Deming saw that a swarm of giant insects with curving five-inch bills were hovering about them as if uncertain whether or not to attack.There seemed to be hundreds of these formidable-looking creatures.One of them, bolder than the others, darted forward and stung Deming on the back of his left hand till its beak almost protruded from his palm.He cried out with the pain, and struck the insect with his other fist.It squashed beneath the blow and fell to the ground, emitting a nauseous stench.Roverton sprang to his feet and broke off a bough from one of the trees.This he waved at the swarm, which retreated a little but did not disperse.An idea came to him, and he thrust the bough into Deming’s hand, saying:“If you can keep them off, I’ll try to build a fire.”While Deming waved his ineffectual weapon at the hesitating army, Roverton broke off more of the dead, tentacle-like boughs, piled them, and crushed others into a heap of fine dust with his heel.Then, in the twilight, he found two small fragments of the metallic stone from which the buildings had been wrought; and striking the fragments together, he obtained a spark which fell into the dust-pile and ignited it.The stuff was highly combustible, for in less than a minute the heap of boughs was burning brightly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]