A Voyage to Arcturus [14]
Nightspore.
"Then bare your arm too, you aristocrat of the universe," said Krag. "Let us see what your blood is made of."
Nightspore obeyed.
Krag pulled out the big blade of the knife, and made a careless and almost savage slash at Maskull's upper arm. The wound was deep, and blood flowed freely.
"Do I bind it up?" asked Maskull, scowling with pain.
Krag spat on the wound 'Pull your shirt down. it won't bleed any more."
He then turned his attention to Nightspore, who endured his operation with grim indifference. Krag threw the knife on the floor.
An awful agony, emanating from the wound, started to run through Maskull's body, and he began to doubt whether he would not have to faint, but it subsided almost immediately, and then he felt nothing but a gnawing ache in the injured arm, just strong enough to make life one long discomfort.
"That's finished," said Krag. "Now you can follow me."
Picking up the lantern, he walked toward the door. The others hastened after him, to take advantage of the light, and a moment later their footsteps, clattering down the uncarpeted stairs, resounded through the deserted house. Krag waited till they were out, and then banged the front door after them with such violence that the windows shook.
While they were walking swiftly across to the tower, Maskull caught his arm. "I heard a voice up those stairs."
"What did it say?"
"That I am to go, but Nightspore is to return."
Krag smiled. "The journey is getting notorious," he remarked, after a pause. "There must be ill - wishers about.... Well, do you want to return?"
"I don't know what I want. But I thought the thing was curious enough to be mentioned."
"It is not a bad thing to hear voices," said Krag, "but you mustn't for a minute imagine that all is wise that comes to you out of the night world."
When they had arrived at the open gateway of the tower, he immediately set foot on the bottom step of the spiral staircase and ran nimbly up, bearing the lantern. Maskull followed him with some trepidation, in view of his previous painful experience on these stairs, but when, after the first half - dozen steps, he discovered that he was still breathing freely, his dread changed to relief and astonishment, and he could have chattered like a girl.
At the lowest window Krag went straight ahead without stepping, but Maskull clambered into the embrasure, in order to renew his acquaintance with the miraculous spectacle of the Arcturian group. The lens had lost its magic property. It had become a common sheet of glass, through which the ordinary sky field appeared.
The climb continued, and at the second and third windows he again mounted and stared out, but still the common sights presented themselves. After that, he gave up and looked through no more windows.
Krag and Nightspore meanwhile had gone on ahead with the light, so that he had to complete the ascent in darkness. When he was near the top, he saw yellow light shining through the crack of a half - opened door. His companions were standing just inside a small room, shut off from the staircase by rough wooden planking; it was rudely furnished and contained nothing of astronomical interest. The lantern was resting on a table.
Maskull walked in and looked around him with curiosity. "Are we at the top?"
"Except for the platform over our heads," replied Krag.
"Why didn't that lowest window magnify, as it did earlier in the evening?"
"Oh, you missed your opportunity," said Krag, grinning. "If you had finished your climb then, you would have seen heart - expanding sights. From the fifth window, for example, you would have seen Tormance like a continent in relief; from the sixth you would have seen it like a landscape.... But now there's no need."
"Why not - and what has need got to do with it?"
"Things are changed, my friend, since that wound of yours. For the same reason that you have now been able to mount the stairs, there was no necessity to stop and gape at illusions en route."
"Very well," said Maskull, not
"Then bare your arm too, you aristocrat of the universe," said Krag. "Let us see what your blood is made of."
Nightspore obeyed.
Krag pulled out the big blade of the knife, and made a careless and almost savage slash at Maskull's upper arm. The wound was deep, and blood flowed freely.
"Do I bind it up?" asked Maskull, scowling with pain.
Krag spat on the wound 'Pull your shirt down. it won't bleed any more."
He then turned his attention to Nightspore, who endured his operation with grim indifference. Krag threw the knife on the floor.
An awful agony, emanating from the wound, started to run through Maskull's body, and he began to doubt whether he would not have to faint, but it subsided almost immediately, and then he felt nothing but a gnawing ache in the injured arm, just strong enough to make life one long discomfort.
"That's finished," said Krag. "Now you can follow me."
Picking up the lantern, he walked toward the door. The others hastened after him, to take advantage of the light, and a moment later their footsteps, clattering down the uncarpeted stairs, resounded through the deserted house. Krag waited till they were out, and then banged the front door after them with such violence that the windows shook.
While they were walking swiftly across to the tower, Maskull caught his arm. "I heard a voice up those stairs."
"What did it say?"
"That I am to go, but Nightspore is to return."
Krag smiled. "The journey is getting notorious," he remarked, after a pause. "There must be ill - wishers about.... Well, do you want to return?"
"I don't know what I want. But I thought the thing was curious enough to be mentioned."
"It is not a bad thing to hear voices," said Krag, "but you mustn't for a minute imagine that all is wise that comes to you out of the night world."
When they had arrived at the open gateway of the tower, he immediately set foot on the bottom step of the spiral staircase and ran nimbly up, bearing the lantern. Maskull followed him with some trepidation, in view of his previous painful experience on these stairs, but when, after the first half - dozen steps, he discovered that he was still breathing freely, his dread changed to relief and astonishment, and he could have chattered like a girl.
At the lowest window Krag went straight ahead without stepping, but Maskull clambered into the embrasure, in order to renew his acquaintance with the miraculous spectacle of the Arcturian group. The lens had lost its magic property. It had become a common sheet of glass, through which the ordinary sky field appeared.
The climb continued, and at the second and third windows he again mounted and stared out, but still the common sights presented themselves. After that, he gave up and looked through no more windows.
Krag and Nightspore meanwhile had gone on ahead with the light, so that he had to complete the ascent in darkness. When he was near the top, he saw yellow light shining through the crack of a half - opened door. His companions were standing just inside a small room, shut off from the staircase by rough wooden planking; it was rudely furnished and contained nothing of astronomical interest. The lantern was resting on a table.
Maskull walked in and looked around him with curiosity. "Are we at the top?"
"Except for the platform over our heads," replied Krag.
"Why didn't that lowest window magnify, as it did earlier in the evening?"
"Oh, you missed your opportunity," said Krag, grinning. "If you had finished your climb then, you would have seen heart - expanding sights. From the fifth window, for example, you would have seen Tormance like a continent in relief; from the sixth you would have seen it like a landscape.... But now there's no need."
"Why not - and what has need got to do with it?"
"Things are changed, my friend, since that wound of yours. For the same reason that you have now been able to mount the stairs, there was no necessity to stop and gape at illusions en route."
"Very well," said Maskull, not