The Moon Pool | Page 6

time.
"Of course I wanted to pitch our camp there," he went on again quietly,
"but I soon gave up that idea. The natives were
panic-stricken--threatened to turn back. 'No,' they said, 'too great ani
there. We go to any other place--but not there.'
"We finally picked for our base the islet called Uschen-Tau. It was
close to the isle of desire, but far enough away from it to satisfy our
men. There was an excellent camping-place and a spring of fresh water.
We pitched our tents, and in a couple of days the work was in full
swing."
CHAPTER III
The Moon Rock
"I do not intend to tell you now," Throckmartin continued, "the results
of the next two weeks, nor of what we found. Later--if I am allowed, I
will lay all that before you. It is sufficient to say that at the end of those
two weeks I had found confirmation for many of my theories.
"The place, for all its decay and desolation, had not infected us with
any touch of morbidity--that is not Edith, Stanton, or myself. But Thora
was very unhappy. She was a Swede, as you know, and in her blood ran
the beliefs and superstitions of the Northland--some of them so
strangely akin to those of this far southern land; beliefs of spirits of
mountain and forest and water werewolves and beings malign. From
the first she showed a curious sensitivity to what, I suppose, may be
called the 'influences' of the place. She said it 'smelled' of ghosts and
warlocks.

"I laughed at her then--
"Two weeks slipped by, and at their end the spokesman for our natives
came to us. The next night was the full of the moon, he said. He
reminded me of my promise. They would go back to their village in the
morning; they would return after the third night, when the moon had
begun to wane. They left us sundry charms for our 'protection,' and
solemnly cautioned us to keep as far away as possible from
Nan-Tauach during their absence. Half-exasperated, half-amused I
watched them go.
"No work could be done without them, of course, so we decided to
spend the days of their absence junketing about the southern islets of
the group. We marked down several spots for subsequent exploration,
and on the morning of the third day set forth along the east face of the
breakwater for our camp on Uschen-Tau, planning to have everything
in readiness for the return of our men the next day.
"We landed just before dusk, tired and ready for our cots. It was only a
little after ten o'clock that Edith awakened me.
"'Listen!' she said. 'Lean over with your ear close to the ground!'
"I did so, and seemed to hear, far, far below, as though coming up from
great distances, a faint chanting. It gathered strength, died down, ended;
began, gathered volume, faded away into silence.
"'It's the waves rolling on rocks somewhere,' I said. 'We're probably
over some ledge of rock that carries the sound.'
"'It's the first time I've heard it,' replied my wife doubtfully. We listened
again. Then through the dim rhythms, deep beneath us, another sound
came. It drifted across the lagoon that lay between us and Nan-Tauach
in little tinkling waves. It was music--of a sort; I won't describe the
strange effect it had upon me. You've felt it--"
"You mean on the deck?" I asked. Throckmartin nodded.

"I went to the flap of the tent," he continued, "and peered out. As I did
so Stanton lifted his flap and walked out into the moonlight, looking
over to the other islet and listening. I called to him.
"'That's the queerest sound!' he said. He listened again. 'Crystalline!
Like little notes of translucent glass. Like the bells of crystal on the
sistrums of Isis at Dendarah Temple,' he added half-dreamily. We
gazed intently at the island. Suddenly, on the sea-wall, moving slowly,
rhythmically, we saw a little group of lights. Stanton laughed.
"'The beggars!' he exclaimed. 'That's why they wanted to get away, is it?
Don't you see, Dave, it's some sort of a festival--rites of some kind that
they hold during the full moon! That's why they were so eager to have
us keep away, too.'
"The explanation seemed good. I felt a curious sense of relief, although
I had not been sensible of any oppression.
"'Let's slip over,' suggested Stanton--but I would not.
"'They're a difficult lot as it is,' I said. 'If we break into one of their
religious ceremonies they'll probably never forgive us. Let's keep out of
any family party where we haven't been invited.'
"'That's so,' agreed Stanton.
"The strange tinkling rose and fell, rose and fell--
"'There's something--something very unsettling about it,' said Edith at
last