Murray Leinster (Duke Classic SiFi) by The Runaway Skyscraper Read Free Book Online Page A

occasion. He did not know what
to expect from them. From the hunters he expected but little. The
Indians were wary hunters, and game would be shy if not scarce.
    The great cloud of birds he had seen at sunset was a hopeful
sign. Arthur vaguely remembered stories of great flocks of
wood-pigeons which had been exterminated, as the buffalo was
exterminated. As he considered the remembrance became more clear.
    They had flown in huge flocks which nearly darkened the sky. As late
as the forties of the nineteenth century they had been an important
article of food, and had glutted the market at certain seasons of
the year.
    Estelle had said the birds he had seen at sunset were
pigeons. Perhaps this was one of the great flocks. If it were really
so, the food problem would be much lessened, provided a way could be
found to secure them. The ammunition in the tower was very limited,
and a shell could not be found for every bird that was needed,
nor even for every three or four. Great traps must be devised, or
bird-lime might possibly be produced. Arthur made a mental note
to ask Estelle if she knew anything of bird-lime.
    A vague, humming roar, altering in pitch, came to his ears. He
listened for some time before he identified it as the sound of the
wind playing upon the irregular surfaces of the tower. In the city
the sound was drowned by the multitude of other noises, but here
Arthur could hear it plainly.
    He listened a moment, and became surprised at the number of
night noises he could hear. In New York he had closed his ears to
incidental sounds from sheer self-protection. Somewhere he heard
the ripple of a little spring. As the idea of a spring came into
his mind, he remembered Estelle's description of the deep-toned
roar she had heard.
    He put his hand on the cold stone of the building. There was still
a vibrant quivering of the rock. It was weaker than before, but
was still noticeable.
    He drew back from the rock and looked up into the sky. It seemed
to blaze with stars, far more stars than Arthur had ever seen in
the city, and more than he had dreamed existed.
    As he looked, however, a cloud seemed to film a portion of the
heavens. The stars still showed through it, but they twinkled in
a peculiar fashion that Arthur could not understand.
    He watched in growing perplexity. The cloud moved very swiftly. Thin
as it seemed to be, it should have been silvery from the moonlight,
but the sky was noticeably darker where it moved. It advanced toward
the tower and seemed to obscure the upper portion. A confused motion
became visible among its parts. Wisps of it whirled away from the
brilliantly lighted tower, and then returned swiftly toward it.
    Arthur heard a faint tinkle, then a musical scraping, which became
louder. A faint scream sounded, then another. The tinkle developed
into the sound made by breaking glass, and the scraping sound became
that of the broken fragments as they rubbed against the sides of
the tower in their fall.
    The scream came again. It was the frightened cry of a woman. A
soft body struck the earth not ten feet from where Arthur stood,
then another, and another.

XI
*
    Arthur urged the elevator boy to greater speed. They were speeding up
the shaft as rapidly as possible, but it was not fast enough. When
they at last reached the height at which the excitement seemed to
be centered, the car was stopped with a jerk and Arthur dashed down
the hall.
    Half a dozen frightened stenographers stood there, huddled together.
    "What's the matter?" Arthur demanded. Men were running, from the
other floors to see what the trouble was.
    "The—the windows broke, and—and something flew in at us!" one of
them gasped. There was a crash inside the nearest office and the
women screamed again.
    Arthur drew a revolver from his pocket and advanced to the door. He
quickly threw it open, entered, and closed it behind him. Those
left out in the hall waited tensely.
    There was no sound. The women began to look even more frightened. The
men