No one thought of sleep. They all stood watching the fire, wondering how far it would spread. What lay on the far side of the planetoid they did not 'wow. If it happened to be rock or sand, the flames, they supposed, would be checked. Some-one made a remark to that effect.
The Professor scooped up a handful of sand and squeezed it through his fingers. I'm by no means sure of that,' he startled Rex by saying. 'If this sand doesn't contain oil I've never felt oil-bearing deposits. Given enough heat it will burn. That field of old lava, which Rex called pumice-stone, has so far saved us.'
Nothing more was said. There appeared to be nothing more to say. It was obvious that they had started a fire which nothing could put out. Whether it would die of its own accord, or burn the surface off the globe, only time would show. And after one reek of smoke had come their way it was equally obvious that only the early return. of the ship could save them.
Dawn revealed a black smouldering plain between them and the massif, the flames having passed on beyond it. What had become of the monkeys was a matter for surmise.
That they would continue to flee before the conflagration was certain, so their survival would appear to depend on their finding an area where the fire had nothing to consume.
The Professor thought that if such a place existed they would know of it.
Meanwhile they watched, with what apprehension can be imagined, the smoke-haze thickening above them. They also surveyed the horizon opposite from the one toward which the fire had sped, in case, having circumnavigated the globe, it should come back on them from that direction.
And that in fact was what was about to happen, as a pillar of smoke rising above the skyline foretold.
I'm afraid this is it,' remarked Toby calmly, as the smoke began to drift towards them.
What made Rex look up he did not know, for his attention, like that of the others, had been concentrated on the horizon. A triumphant yell broke from his lips as he saw the Tavana just over their heads, dropping towards them. Even the taciturn Andoans smiled.
'You were only just in time,' Vargo told Borron, as the doors opened and he stepped down.
Borron replied to the effect that he had seen from afar off that something was wrong and hardly expected to find them alive. What had happened?
'You can tell him about it on the way home,' the Professor advised Vargo.
'Let us waste no more time here.'
In a few minutes the Tavona was beyond the reach of danger. Rex observed that quite a large area which looked like rock had escaped the disaster, and it was there, he hoped, that the monkeys had found refuge.
15 The man eater of Mars
The journey back to Miino was made without trouble of any sort, and with the planetoid swiftly growing larger as they dropped towards it the voyagers had reason to suppose that their adventures were at an end; for while they were not exactly 'home' there would be no more landings on strange new worlds not on this occasion, anyway. Only Mars now lay on their route to Earth. Moreover, the Professor had stated his intention of returning to Glensalich Castle forth-with, as he was anxious to develop his photographs and write up his notes while events were still fresh in his mind. The only reason they had looked in on Mino, apart from putting off the Andoans, was to collect certain equipment and per-sonal baggage which had been left there.
A little crowd had collected to see the Tavona land, for until Borron's belated return for stores, the ship, long over-due, had been given up for lost, to the grief of Morino, who was among those present to greet the explorers.
Two days it was thought would be ample time to complete their business on Mino. They would then, it was arranged, proceed home in the Tavona, calling at Mars on the way to see how the work of restoration was going on. After the things that had happened to them this all sounded very simple, but like so many simple projects it did not work out according to plan.
The first piece of information Morino gave Rex was that Rolto was also on the missing list. He had departed without orders for an unknown destination and had not been heard of since. The High Council were very angry about it. Rex, somewhat rashly as it transpired, said he couldn't care less.
The second item of news seemed much more important. The work of reconstruction on Mars had been held up by the appearance of a monstrous white beast the like of which no man had ever seen before. Its savage nature was exceeded only by its appetite. Making its home in the forest near Utopia, having killed the imported poultry, it emerged every day to carry off one of the workers, torturing its victim before killing and eating him.
Things had come to such a pass that no one dare go out. The beast was as active by night as by day. At night everyone bolted himself in one of the houses while the monster prowled the streets making the most blood-curdling noises. In, short, Mars was going through a Reign of Terror.
Sounds like the Maneater of Tsavo all over again,' re-marked the Professor. You may remember how the con-struction of the Cape to Cairo railway was actually brought to a standstill by man-eating lions which carried off victims night after night until Colonel Patterson tackled the brutes single-handed and disposed of them one by one. He afterwards wrote a book about it the classic of all big game hunt-ing stories. It rather looks, my dear Group-Captain, as if you have been provided with an opportunity of indulging in your favourite sport by following in the footsteps of the gallant Colonel.'
I'll certainly see what I can do about it,' promised Tiger. 'I'd say the whole thing has been exaggerated.'
How wrong he was in this opinion was in due course to be demonstrated.
The third and final incident on Mino was more distressing than alarming.
When they came to pack their kit certain items were found to be missing, notably Tiger's spare suit of clothes and some shoes. Some books could not be found.
This discovery was all the more painful because it had always been understood that on Mino theft was unknown. When Vargo was told of it he at first refused to believe it, and when proof was provided his astonishment and disappointment was as great as theirs.
Nothing could be done about it. There were no police to make enquiries.
Tiger glossed over the affair, saying that as they were going home the matter was un-important, so rather than make a fuss that would embarrass everyone, including the High Council, he was prepared to forget about it.
The puzzling thing was why anyone should want his clothes, for it would be impossible for the thief to wear them without betraying himself.
In the light of subsequent events it may seem strange that no one guessed the solution to the mystery; but the fact remains, no one did.
Anyway, in due course farewells were said, with more tears from Morino, although Rex assured her that he would soon be coming back. The Andoans tried to persuade them to go home with them and see the wonders of their world, assuring them of a warm welcome. The Professor declined the invita-tion with reluctance, saying that at the moment he hadn't time for such a long trip; but he accepted it for some future date. So, with friendly wishes for a safe journey and a quick return still ringing in their ears the visitors took their places in the ship that had carried them so far and were soon watch-ing the big planetoid drop away below.
When they arrived on Mars it was at once evident that even if the size of the Terror had been exaggerated its effect on the morale of the workmen had not, for there wasn't a soul in sight, either at the canal or in the town. Some men came out when the ship landed, however, and in a long conversa-tion gave Vargo a detailed description of the menace and its behaviour. This he passed on to the others.
The beast, he said, had four legs, was nearly as tall as a man and covered with white fur. It had terrible teeth and claws, and its strength was such that it could not only carry a man in its mouth but gallop away with him. It lived in the forest and was never far away. It was afraid of nothing. But then, as Tiger pointed out, as the workmen were unarmed the beast had nothing to be afraid of. A heavy soft-nosed bullet should give it
other ideas.
'It still sounds a pretty tall story to me,' he concluded sceptically, as he picked up his rifle and put some cartridges in his pocket.
Just a minute,' put in Rex, taking Vargo by the arm and pointing.
'Forgive me for changing the subject but isn't that Rolto's blue-starred ship over there? In the next square.
'
'Yes,' replied Vargo, looking puzzled. 'That is his ship. What can he be doing here?'
'He was reported missing. It looks as if he might have been here all the time.'
'What I would like to know is why he came here,' said Vargo, looking around. 'Where is he? He must have seen us land. Why is he keeping out of sight? Has he another mad scheme in his head? But I see some of his crew over there. I will go and have a word with them While Tiger is hunting this alleged monster.'
Tiger's method of dealing with the beast was the normal one. With the loaded rifle in the crook of his arm he started walking cautiously towards the forest, his eyes alert for the first sign of movement.
Actually, as he said afterwards, he did not expect the animal to show itself.
The Professor did not share his confidence. 'Be careful,' he warned.
'Don't let us have an accident, just as we are going home.'
I'm not going into the timber, if that's what you mean,' returned Tiger.
'That would be asking for trouble. At the moment I'm merely hoping that the creature will give us a glimpse of itself, so that I shall know what I have to deal with.'
The others followed for a little distance but then Tiger asked them to stop. They might get in the way. It would be better if they remained within reach of the buildings just in case the creature turned nasty. So they waited in a group, watching, while he walked on alone.
For a little while it looked as if they were going to be dis-appointed.
Then Rex spotted a white object moving slowly in the undergrowth, just inside the forest, and knew it could only be the Terror. But, as he remarked, as Tiger also saw it and turned towards it, it was nothing like as tall as a man. The description had been exaggerated, as descriptions so often are. As far as it was possible to judge the thing was no taller than a dog.
But when suddenly the beast rose up and bounded into the open he gasped, realizing that it must have been crouching in a stalking attitude. It was a colossal cat.
What the animal actually was must have been apparent to all of them, but it was Rex who cried in a strangled voice: It's the kitten the kitten I was taking to Morino grown enormous. I lost it here and left it behind.
It must have caught the same disease as—'
His voice trailed away to silence as the monster settled itself down in the familiar manner of a house cat about to spring on a bird or a mouse.
But there the resemblance to a tame cat ended. Its eyes blazed and its lips parted showing fangs that a lion might have envied.
To say that Rex was shaken would hardly describe his sensations. Little wonder, he thought, that the wretched unarmed workmen had been scared stiff, and unable to cope with the horror.
Everyone held his breath as Tiger brought the rifle to his shoulder and took aim. It seemed seconds before the weapon crashed. With a terrifying snarl the beast rose up on its hind legs, biting at its shoulder where the bullet must have struck. It fell, and for a moment Rex thought it was all over. But no. Getting on its feet again the great cat charged.
Tiger stood his ground. Not that he had any alternative, for running would not save him.
Again he fired, but if the bullet went home the animal gave no sign of it. He jerked another cartridge into the breech and fired again. Still the beast came on.
Rex went cold all over. Was the brute invulnerable? He knew the shots must be hitting the creature. Why didn't they stop it?
From ten yards the cat made its final spring. Tiger fired at it in the air, leapt aside, and as it landed on the spot where he had stood put the muzzle of the rifle almost into its ear and pulled the trigger. Rex, who had subconsciously been counting, knew it was the last cartridge in his magazine.
Tiger backed away, reloading swiftly. But he need not have troubled. The animal that was to have been a pet was on its side. For a few seconds it tore at the ground with its claws, then lay still. Tiger gave it one more shot to make quite sure; then, with the rifle again in the crook of his arm he walked bad< to where the others were waiting.
Sorry I had to kill your kitten, Rex, but it was the only thing to do,'
he said cheerfully.
Rex went limp as his strung-up nerves relaxed. 'My good-ness !' he breathed. 'You gave me a fright.'
Tiger smiled.
gave myself one if it comes to that. I wasn't expecting anything that size.'
'It must have been eating some carrion that had died from your special insecticide, Professor,' opined Toby.
The moral seems to be, let us bring no more carnivorous animals to Mars,'
said the Professor seriously, looking at them over his spectacles.
Tiger was filling his pipe. 'If a kitten could do that, I'd hate to meet a lion that had been here for a week or two,' he observed, whimsically.
'A well, the workmen can get on now,' said the Professor. 'Allow me to congratulate you, my dear colleague, on a masterly piece of work.'
Together they walked back to the ship, where Vargo was waiting, and from where he had watched the end of the Terror. But there was such an unusual expression on his face that the others looked at him enquiringly.
What's wrong?' asked the Professor. 'Has something happened to upset you?'
I have news that you will find hard to believe,' answered Vargo, dispassionately.
What is it? Out with it, my dear chap.'
'Rolm is on Earth.'
Everyone stared.
On Earth!' ejaculated the Professor.
Impossible,' muttered Tiger.
It is not impossible. It is true,' said Vargo simply. I have been talking to some of his crew. They did not want to speak, but I forced the truth from them. Rolto, dressed like a man of Earth, was landed at a place where later the ship was to pick him up.'
'But what was his idea?' cried the Professor.
'He described his exploit as a scouting expedition.' 'For what purpose?'
don't know. He did not say.'
'Now we know who took my suit,' put in Tiger. 'And my books,' said the Professor.
It also explains why Rolto, when we were on Mino, was so anxious to learn English,'
contributed Rex. I thought it was queer at the time. I can't think why I didn't suspect the reason.'
'Dear — dear ! This is an extraordinary business,' said the Professor, slowly. Still, I can't see that the silly fellow can do any harm. What exactly is the position now, Vargo?'
The position is this,' stated Vargo. 'When the crew took Rolto's ship bads to Earth to pick him up he was not at the appointed place. It has been back twice since, always landing during the hours of darkness of course, but Rolto was not there. When we landed here the crew were about to return to Mino to take the instructions of the High Council.'
'Do you know where Rolto was landed?' asked the Pro-fessor. 'Earth is a big place.'
The crew do not know the name of the region, but they can find it. They describe it as a large open space, purple in colour, with many hills.
There is water on both sides of the country.' That sounds like Scotland,'
observed Tiger.
have an idea it is the very place where we landed to pick you up,'
announced Vargo.
'Have you a reason for that idea?'
'Yes. Rolto's crew have admitted to me that we were watched on, that occasion. Rolto would note the exact spot and suppose it to be safe. For that reason he would choose it for his own landing.'
'Yes, I agree,' murmured the Professor.
'The fellow must be crazy,' declared Toby.
don't know. Is he any crazier than us, visiting his home town?' The Profe
ssor chuckled. '
Perhaps we are all crazy.' He became serious. I think we had better push on home right away to see what mischief master Rolto has been into. He always had a bee in his bonnet about Earth. Perhaps by now he has a whole swarm. I imagine there would be no difficulty in our taking Rolto's navigator with us, Vargo, to show us the exact place where he landed his Captain?'
'No difficulty.'
Then let us go. We shall not need Rolto's ship. If we find him you can bring him home.'
Very well.'
Toby shook his head. 'With ships coming and going no wonder our newspapers are full of stories of Flying Saucers.'
`By the time we've finished there's likely to be even more talk about them,' observed Rex moodily. 16 The final problem Within an hour the Tavona was on its way to Earth, carrying Rolto's navigator in addition to its normal complement.
03 Now To The Stars Page 14
