The first half of this story was published in the May issue of WEIRD TALES. A copy will be mailed by the publishers for twenty-five cents.
SUMMARY OF THE FIRST INSTALLMENT
The earth is rocked to its foundation, and the end of the world is threatened, by a mysterious, unseen power known only as “KWO.” At regular intervals, gigantic earthquakes and tidal waves visit the earth, destroying great cities and spreading terror. Dr. Ferdinand Gresham, American astronomer, attributes all this to the Seuen-H’Sin, a Chinese sect with which he is familiar. Finally, when the life of the world seems doomed, he gains permission from the U. S. Navy Department to proceed in the destroyer, Albatross, to the lair of “KWO” and do everything possible to stop the world-wide havoc. Accompanied by his friend, Arthur (who tells the story), the astronomer sails to a lonely spot in the frozen North, where they discover the diabolical power plant of “KWO.” It has developed, meanwhile, that “KWO” and his sorcerers are moon worshipers and are endeavoring to create a second moon by splitting the earth in two. In the Moon God’s Temple Dr. Gresham and his friend, disguised as Chinese, witness the weird rites of the sect, in which a human being is sacrificed, and then their identity is discovered. Attacked, they flee back toward their ship, but the earth seems suddenly to open, and Arthur is swallowed in a black pit.
CHAPTER NINE STARTS FROM THIS POINT
CHAPTER IX
IN THE SORCERERS’ POWER
What happened immediately after that first drop into the abyss I do not know. My only recollection is of hurtling down a steep incline amid a smothering avalanche of dirt, of striking heavily upon a rocky ledge, and of bounding off again into the inky void as my senses left me.
The next thing I knew was the slow dawn of a sensation of cold; and then my eyes fluttered open and I beheld the moon shining upon me through a rent in the surrounding blackness. At first I was too dazed to comprehend anything that had occurred, but soon, with considerable pain, I raised myself upon one elbow and looked about, whereupon understanding gradually returned.
The place where I lay was a mud-covered ledge upon one of the steep, sloping walls of a huge chasm that had opened in the earth. The gash was probably seventy-five feet across at this point, and above me the walls soared perhaps a hundred feet. Within arm’s reach the shelf that supported me broke off in a precipice. I was half imbedded in soft mud, and was soaked to the skin and nearly frozen.
How long I had lain there I could not tell, but I judged it had not been more that two or three hours, for the moon still was high in the heavens.
All at once, as I gazed upon the weird scene, my heart leaped with anguish at remembrance of my vanished comrade, Dr. Ferdinand Gresham. He had dropped before me into the chasm, and therefore must have fallen clear of the ledge and plunged into the depths!