They mounted the platform. They were very small and seemed to be far
away. I blinked. Horror surged over me. Their figures were dwindling as
they stood there. Polter was saying something to the man at the
microscope. Other men were nearby, watching. All were normal, save
Polter and Babs. A moment passed. Polter was standing by the chair in
which the man at the microscope was sitting. And Polter's head barely
reached its seat! Babs was clinging to him now. Another moment and they
were both tiny figures down by the chair-leg. Then they began walking
with swaying steps toward the miniature railing of the white slab. The
white reflection from the slab plainly illumined them. Polter's arm was
around Babs. I had not realized how small they were until I saw Polter
lift the rope of the little four-inch fence, and he and Babs stooped and
walked under it. The fragment of quartz lay a foot from them in the
center of the white surface. They walked unsteadily toward it. But soon
they were running.
My horrified senses whirled. Then abruptly I felt something touch my
face! Alan and I were lying in shadow. No one had noticed my writhing
movements, and Alan was still in drugged unconsciousness. Something tiny
and light and soundless as a butterfly wing brushed my face! I jerked my
head aside. On the floor, within six inches of my eyes, I saw the tiny
figure of a girl an inch high! She stood, with a warning gesture to her
lips--a human girl in a filmy flowing robe. Long, pale golden tresses
lay on her white shoulders; her face, small as my little fingernail,
colorful as a miniature painted on ivory, was so close to my eyes that I
could see her expression--warning me not to move.
There was a faint glow of light on the floor where she stood, but in a
moment she moved out of it. Then I felt her brush against the back of my
head. My ear was near the ground. A tiny warm hand touched my ear lobe;
clung to it. A tiny voice sounded in my ear.
"Please do not move your head. You might kill me!"
There was a pause. I held myself rigid. Then the tiny voice came again.
"I am Glora, a friend. I have the drug! I will help you!"
CHAPTER III
It seemed that Alan was stirring. I felt the tiny hand leave my ear. I
thought that I could hear faint little footfalls as the girl scampered
away, fearful that a sudden movement by Alan would crush her. I turned
cautiously after a moment and saw Alan's eyes upon me. He too had seen,
with a blurred returning consciousness, the dwindling figures of Babs
and Polter. I followed his gaze. The while slab with the golden quartz
under the microscope seemed empty. The several men in this huge circular
dome-room were dispersing to their affairs; three of them sat whispering
by what I now saw was a pile of gold ingots stacked crosswise. But the
fellow at the microscope held his place, his eyes glued to its aperture
as he watched the vanishing figures of Polter and Babs on the
rock-fragment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account