Amazing Stories, August 1927 — page 51: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE RETREAT TO MARS large number of box-shaped objects, held in place by bars reaching from floor to roof of the chamber, each box bearing a number. Removing one of the retaining bars, which fitted into sockets, I pulled down the top box of the tier, “On the front of this box was a Jever-like handle, this I turned, and as I did so there came the hissing sound of air entering a vacuum. Turning the handle further—it was quite stiff—the air rushed in with a final sigh and the lid of the box raised sufficiently for me to put my fingers under it and throw it back. “The lever had operated an eccentric which had forced the lid up against the pressure of the outside air. The lid was tongued, and fitted into a cor- responding groove in the upper edge of the box, and the groove was filled with a waxy substance which had made the joint air tight. I noticed afterwards that each box had a filled hole through which the air had evidently been exhausted. “Carefully packed in a substance that looked like fine steel wool were a number of broad oblong cases, about the size of a standard volume of the ‘Encyclo- pedia Britannica,’ the topmost of which I removed. It was of the same metallic substance that I had en- countered all along, and on its edge was a little knob set in a recess. This I pressed and a cover flew back. “Tt was a volume, and such a volume as the eyes of living man never saw before. There before me was the most startling illustration I had ever looked upon. Instead of the usual lifeless flat things we are used to, there lay a picture in three dimensions. The illustration depicted an animal or reptile—I don’t know which it was—and it stood out there in the torch light like a live thing. I ran my fingers lightly over the surface to assure myself that it was not a model, or in relief, but it was as flat as a table top. The colors were marvelous; they had life and brightness in them which enhanced the natural look about the thing. “At the foot of the case in which the picture lay was a tiny lever-like arrangement. I pressed this over and as I did so there was a tiny whirring sound followed by a click, and the picture flicked out of sight, and was replaced by another. “One-half the page—if I may call them pages— was occupied by this new illustration, the other half being filled with characters, evidently writing of some kind. Page after page flicked by at my touch, the majority bearing those wonderfully executed il- lustrations in three dimensions. Ros after box was opened, and each was found filled with these strange volumes. I carefully replaced those I had removed and closed the lids of the boxes, replacing them in their tiers. “Where was I going to start in this place? I felt like a child surrounded by novel toys, not know- ing which to examine first. Then it occurred to me that everything was arranged in a methodical man- ner—the numbering of the cases and the volumes showed this. Looking on the door of this cell I saw something I had overlooked before. It was num- bered ten, according to our notation. Number one must be on the first landing. “The air was becoming thick and suffocating with the oily smoke of the torches, but I made my way to 465 the first cell and opened it in its turn. Being warned this time, I had the boy stand back with the torch so that it would not be blown out. The pressure here was much lower than in the other cell. I was nearly overthrown by the sudden gust of air that drove in before me as the door swung back. “This chamber was similar to the one below, and in the topmost row of boxes I saw number one ina corner. I removed this case and, as the air was be- coming unbearable, I took it out into the sunlight to examine it. “Tt contained what I may liken to a child’s primer, profusely illustrated. The first volume was filled with pictures of common objects, each with a few symbols at the sides. Trees, rivers, lakes and mountains; birds, beasts and reptiles, the majority of which were unknown to me, were illustrated. The second volume contained composite pictures—simple actions of human-like creatures and so on. I saw at once that it would be quite easy for a man of average intelligence to learn this unknown language with the aid of this wonderful primer. To one who was accustomed to deciphering old writings, as I was, the task would be ridiculously easy. “The setting of the sun drove me back to camp, but not before I had replaced and locked the place, taking the keys with me. “By the light of the fire I studied my trophies that night. It might interest you to know just how the ‘lessons’ were arranged. Take for example the verb ‘to walk.’ In one set of pictures a being was shown in the foreground, approaching a hill. The second showed him, bent forward, walking up the hill, while a third showed him at the top. The characters were exactly the same in each case, but over the first was an inverted V; over the second, nothing; and over the third a V. The tenses were all indicated by a symbol above the verb. The de- grees of adjectives were similarly indicated, hence it simplified the written language exceedingly. “T sat and studied well into the night until weari- ness compelled me to cease, but at dawn I was awake and at it again. Throughout the day I worked, hav- ing given instructions to the boys to continue their work of removing the earth from around the cylin- der. “Hivery moment the system of writing became clearer, until late in the afternoon I came to a lone sentence set out in large characters. A rough trans- lation of it would be: “WE GREET YOU. CONTINUE, WE HAVE MUCH IN STORE FOR YOU?’ “Here was a direct message, and a message that made my heart leap. If I had worked hard up to this point, I worked feverishly now. Who, I won- dered, were ‘WE’? “The following day another message was trans- lated. It read: ‘THE PEOPLE OF ANOTHER WORLD GREET YOU.’ “I checked my translation again and again, but I had made no mistake. That was the meaning of the sentence. “As the days slipped by I came across more of these interpolated sentences, all encouraging me to go on. This personal TiLCOMICDOOKS: COM