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289
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
·
Various
162
Whence
came
the
glow?
Apparently
from
the
very
walls
of
the
tunnel,
or
its
roof;
but
surely
from
somewhere,
surely
from
some
secret
place,
whence
it
was
diffused
all
over.
"And
Jaska,"
said
Sarka,
"the
Moon,
according
to
my
father's
researches,
is
literally
honeycombed
with
craters
like
this
one!"
Again,
as
he
thought,
that
strange,
sudden
cessation
of
the
clucking
of
the
Gnomes.
Whither
were
they
leading
them?
It
was
plain
to
be
seen
that
the
Gnomes
were
heading
for
some
destination,
almost
herding
Sarka
and
Jaska
toward
it.
Capering
creatures,
who
behaved
witlessly,
yet
were
far
from
witless.
If
Sarka
were
not
sadly
mistaken,
these
were
Moon-men--and
women,
too,
perhaps,
since
he
could
not
tell
the
sex
of
them--and
those
gleaming
cubes
were
their
outer
guards,
perhaps
slaves.
If
the
cubes
were
really
of
metal--they
had
felt
warm
to
Sarka's
touch--then
these
Moon-men
had
gone
further
in
science
than
Earthlings,
as
they
had
imbued
at
least
some
metals,
or
stones,
with
intelligence
sufficiently
advanced
for
them
to
perform
actions
independently
of
their
masters'
wills.
Sarka,
too,
was
remembering
another
thing:
that
he
had
touched
one
of
these
Gnomes,
to
remove
it
from
Jaska--and
had
felt
a
distinct
shock
that
was
patently
electrical!
The
bluish
glow
was
increasing,
becoming
more
soft
and
mellow,
shading
gradually
into
golden,
as
they
advanced--shading
still
as
they
preceded
until
it
was
almost
white,
almost
blinding,
in
its
radiance.
Then,
of
a
sudden,
the
clucking
of
the
Gnomes
ended,
and
the
creatures
ceased
their
capering,
fell
into
something
that
might
have
been
an
ordered
military
formation,
and
with
Jaska
and
Sarka
in
the
midst
of
them,
moved
straight
toward
a
broad
expanse
of
the
tunnel
wall,
in
the
face
of
which
appeared
three
long
lines,
deeply
cut
in
the
shape
of
a
triangle.
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