"Edmond Hamilton - Children of the Sun" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

entered there ! You too will go out along



7
the Beam, lost forever from the sight of The silence of age- long death was in the
men !тАЭ place and the mingled smell of centuries
He turned then and vanished into the and of the raw new soil. Newton led the
jungle. way around the gallery, his footsteps
тАЬI have been studying this landslide,тАЭ ringing hollow against the vault of stone.
said Simon Wright irrelevantly. тАЬI believe He found a narrow stairway, going
that it was artificially caused by the natives down.
to seal this place after Carlin entered it.тАЭ They descended, passing the other
тАЬVery likely,тАЭ Captain Future answered. galleries, and came at last into a small
He stood for a moment in deep though. тАЬI chamber. It had had a door to the outside,
wonder what Kah meant by the 'Bright a massive, age-tarnished metal door that
Ones who do not return' ?тАЭ had buckled somewhat with pressure and
тАЬProbably an euphemism for the dead,тАЭ had let dirt sift through the cracks.
said Otho pessimistically. тАЬWe'll know Opposite the door was a low, square
better when we've found a way inside.тАЭ opening in the stone wall. Above it was an
They turned to and began to dig again. inscription. Holding his lamp high, Curt
The citadel stood on a sort of promontory, Newton read slowly, тАЬHere is the
partly blocked now by the slide, so that the birthplace of the Children of the Sun.тАЭ
natives could only come at them up the
slope, and Grag effectively barred the way.
Now and again a spear whistled harmlessly
into the dirt but there was no attack. CHAPTER III
The last glowing thread of the Beam
narrowed into nothingness and was gone.
Dread Metamorphosis
Utter darkness descended on the hidden
world of Vulcan. Newton and Otho
worked on by the light of belt- lamps.
WONDERINGLY
They struck the solid stone of the they went through
building, and the work went faster. After a
into the central chamber of the citadel.
few minutes Otho cried, тАЬThere's an
Dirt had spilled down from above,
opening here !тАЭ
covering a good part of the floor. Newton
They discarded their improvised spades.
realized that only the upper gallery, serving
The loose dirt flew under their hands and
as a stop for the soil to dam itself against,
presently they had uncovered the upper
had saved the interior of the citadel from
arches of a triple window. From there the
being heavily inundated.
way was easy.