Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 146 No. 4 — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

THE FIRE in two places, at the waist and, where the plait ended, the outside of the trouser leg just above the knee. Her skin was cream colored, smooth in texture, and with a delicate flush of red beneath the surface. Her eyes were black, her face small and oval, with a delicately pointed chin. There was nothing remark- able about her features except that they were extraordinarily beautiful. But—and this point Alan noticed at once—there was in her expression, in the delicacy of her face, a spiritual look that he had never seen in a woman before. It made him trust her; and—even then, I think—love her, too. | Such was the strange girl as Alan saw her that morning standing beside the tree on the bank of the little Florida bayou. “T can’t talk your language,” said Alan. He realized it was a silly thing to say. But his smile answered hers, and he went for- ward until he was standing close beside her. She did not appear so tall now, for he towered over her, the strength and bigness of his frame making hers seem all the frailer by contrast. 7 He held out his hand. The girl looked at it, puzzled. “‘Won’t you shake hands?” he said; and then he realized that, too, was a silly re- mark. She wrinkled up her forehead in thought; then, with a-sudden comprehension, she laughed—a soft little ripple of laughter— and placed her hand awkwardly in his. As he released her hand she reached hers forward and brushed it lightly against his cheek. Alan understood that was her form of greeting. Then she spread her wings and curtsied low—making as charming a pic- ture, he thought, as he had ever seen in his life. As she straightened up her eyes laughed into his, and again she spoke a few soft words — wholly unintelligible. Then she pointed toward the sun, which was still low over the horizon, and then to the silver object lying back near the center of the island. “ ~“T know,” said Alan. ‘‘ Mercury.” The girl repeated his last word imme- diately, enunciating it almost perfectly. PEOPLE. 495 Then she laid her hand upon her breast, saying: “ Miela.” ‘ Alan,” he answered, indicating himself. The girl laughed delightedly, repeating the word several times. Then she took him by the hand and made him understand that she wished to lead him back into the island. They started off, and then Alan noticed a curious thing. She walked as though weighted to the ground by some invisible load. She did not raise her feet normally, but dragged them, like a diver who walks on land in his heavily weighted iron shoes. After a few steps she spread her wings, and, flapping them slowly, was able to get along better, although it. was obvious that she could not lift her body off the ground to fly. For a moment Alan was puzzled, then he understood. The force of gravity on earth was too great for the power of her muscles, which were developed only to meet the pull of Mercury—a very much smaller planet. : The girl was so exceedingly frail Alan judged she did not weigh, here on earth, much over a hundred pounds. But even that he could see was too much for her. She could not fly, and it was only by the aid of her wings that she was able to walk with anything like his own freedom of move- ment. | He made her understand, somehow, that he comprehended her plight. Then, after a time, he put his left arm about her waist. She spread the great red wings out behind him, the right one passing over his shoul- der; and in this fashion they went forward more easily. — The girl kept constantly talking and ges- turing. She seemed remarkably intelligent; and even then, at the very beginning of their acquaintanceship, she made Alan un- derstand that she intended to learn his language. Indeed, she seemed concerned about little else; and she went about her task systematically and with an ability that amazed him. As they walked forward she kept con- tinually stooping to touch objects on the round—a _ stick, a handful of.sand, a 5 : POA AO CIS Conn