by Hal K. Wells
the time, out of direct contact withanything through which the cable's charge might ground.
Foster crouched on the girder, his eyes fixed upon the scene below as hetensely waited for the best moment to make the leap. The machine hadshifted its position slightly while he had been stripping. It was nowtoo far over the right to be under the cable when it fell.
For a moment as the machine maneuvered still farther over to the rightin its conflict with the cornered men, Foster was afraid that hisopportunity had passed. An idea came to him and he yelled directions.One of the men suddenly dashed to the left, apparently in a last franticeffort to escape the metal colossus. The machine flashed quickly over tohead the fugitive off. The maneuver brought it for the moment directlyunder Foster's position.
Foster's muscles tensed swiftly, then flung his body headlong out intospace. His aim was perfect. The bulky roll of cloth in his outstretchedright hand struck the cable squarely with all the force of his hurtlingbody behind it.
There was a searing flash of blue flame as the last thread of the cablesnapped, and a tearing flood of agony that blotted all consciousnessfrom Foster's brain as his falling body hurtled on toward the cavernfloor.
* * * * *
He struggled slowly back to consciousness to find Garrigan and anotherof the men working over him. There was the stabbing pain of broken bonesin his left ankle. With the men helping him, he sat up and lookedaround.
The scene was one of utter chaos and destruction. The falling cable hadobviously found its mark on Layroh's machine-body and in its lastfurious convulsions the metal colossus had completely wrecked the greatglass case in the center of the cavern floor.
The machine itself was now nothing more than a tangled heap of twistedmetal. In its shattered crystal compartment was a torn blob of swiftlyblackening gelatin--all that remained of Layroh, the Shining One. Othershredded figures of dead flesh marked where the ten half-awakened slugshad died in the wreckage of the glass-walled case.
And in the many tiers of small cells along the cavern's back wall weremore figures of death. The severed cable had been the source of theenergy that had kept those dormant figures alive. When that energyceased death had come quickly. Those figures in the cells were no longerShining Ones. Their bodies were already swiftly darkening in decay.
Foster smiled grimly as he looked around the cavern. There werescientific treasures here that would revolutionize a world. It was afitting retribution for the Shining Ones. When they had destroyedAtlantis they had robbed Earth of countless centuries of scientificknowledge and progress. Now, here in the cavern that had at last becometheir tomb, they were leaving a legacy of science that would go fartoward repaying that ancient debt.
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Astounding Stories_ November 1932. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.
