“These things are common throughout the world,” said he.
The Tcha exchanged looks of wonderment, and some shook their heads doubtingly. Finally one arose and said:
“The records which we have preserved show that when we brought our knowledge of electricity from Atlantis, the savage inhabitants of this continent were wholly ignorant of it. They had even no chariots to run by electricity. The records prove this.”
“Then,” spoke Paul, “you are entitled to precedence in this matter, as well. Such things the world is well acquainted with to-day, and we have many uses for electricity which you, perhaps, have never yet dreamed of; but they have all been discovered within the last fifty years.”
This admission seemed to please the Tcha. Ama, who took a deep interest in the discussion, said:
“Tell me, then; what electric devices are in use by your people that we know not of?”
“By means of a wire,” he replied, “I, at one end of this valley, can talk with a person at the other end, who will hear me distinctly, although I do not raise my voice. Again, I can point a tube at one standing a hundred paces away, and render him as one dead; yet he will recover in a short space of time. Still again, I am able to—”
I sprang to my feet, crying aloud in fear and horror.
“Look out—for God’s sake!” and pointed upward.
For, gazing casually at the cliff overhead, I had seen a large rock slowly detach itself from the wall and hang trembling just above Ama’s throne, as it held in place only by the clinging vines above it.