Argosy All-Story Weekly — "The Purple Limited" — page 125: what you’re looking at

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

THE METAL MONSTER. hope -in Ruth’s call. .“ Quick! Some- thing’s happening to Martin!” Beforé she had ceased we were beside her; bending over Ventnor. His lips were opening, slowly, slowly — with an effort agonizing to watch. Then from his half- open mouth his voice came through lips that scarcely moved; faint, faint as though it floated from infinite distances, a ghost of a voice whispering with fantom breath out of a dead throat. “Hard! Hard! So hard!” the whis- pering complained. ‘ Don’t know how long I can keep connection — with voice. Can’t tell whether speaking—or thinking. Words and thoughts so much one where I am—can’t tell—you have to piece out what I say. | “‘ Was fool to shoot. Sorry—might have gotten you in worse trouble—but suppose crazy with fear for Ruth—thought, too, might be worth chance. Sorry—not my usual line, yet not sure—something outside myself, something bigger seemed force me _ — perhaps nat fool thing—sorry, though.” ' The thin thread of sound ceased. I felt my eyes fill with tears; it was like Ventnor to flay himself like this for what he thought 691 half-seen threads of the spindrift, vocal fragments of thought swiftly assembled by some subtle faculty of the mind as they fell into a coherent, incredible message. ‘Group consciousness—gigantic — oper- ating within our sphere—operating also in spheres of vibration, energy, force—above, below one to which humanity reacts—per- ception, command forces known to us— but in greater degree—cognizant, manipu- late unknown energies — senses known to us—unknown—can’t realize them fully— impossible cover, only impinge on contact points akin our senses, forces—even these profoundly modified by additional ones— metallic, crystalline, magnetic, electric— inorganic with every power of organic— consciousness basically same as ours—pro- foundly changed by differences in mechan- ism through which it finds expression— difference our bodies—theirs. , “Conscious, mobile — inexorable, invul- nerable. Getting clearer—see more clearly —see—” the voice shrilled out in a shud- dering, thin lash of despair—‘ No! oh, God—no!”’ Then clearly and solemnly: “ And God said: let us make man in our No— stupidity, like him to make this effort to’ image, after our likeness, and let them have admit his supposed fault and crave forgive- ness—as like him as that mad attack upon the flaming disk in its own temple, sur- rounded by its ministers, had been so baf- flingly unlike his usual cool, collected self. “‘ Martin,” I called, bending closer, “‘ it’s nothing, old friend. No one blames you. Try to rouse yourself.” “ Dear,” it was Ruth, passionately ten- der, “it’s me! Can you hear me?” “Only speck of consciousness and mo- tionless in the void,” the whisper began again. ‘Terribly alive, terribly alone. Seem outside space yet—still in body. - Can’t see, hear, feel—short-circuited from every sense—but in some strange way real- ize you—Ruth, Walter, Drake, Norhala. ‘“‘ See without seeing — here floating in darkness that is also light—black light— indescribable. In touch, too, with these—” Again the voice trailed into silence; re- turned, word and phrase pouring forth dis- connected, with a curious ard turbulent rhythm, like rushing wave crests linked by dominion over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” _ A silence; we bent closer, listening; the still, small voice took up the thread once more—but clearly further on. Something we had missed between that text from Genesis and what we were now hearing; ~something that even as he had warned us, he had not been able to make articulate. ‘The whisper broke through clearly in the middle of a sentence. “Nor is Jehovah the God of myriads of millions who through those same centuries, and centuries upon centuries before them, found earth a garden and grave—and al! these countless gods and goddesses only fantom barriers raised by man to stand be- tween him and the eternal forces man’s in- stinct has always warned him stand ever in readiness to destroy; that do destroy him as soon as his vigilance relaxes, his re- sistance weakens—the eternal, ruthless law that will annihilate humanity the instant it mG (C(O) 6)(0)©) S (C(O) nn