The Fire People

Transcriber's note:

      This e-text was produced from _Argosy All-Story Weekly_,
      October 21 and 28 and November, 4, 11, and 18, 1922.




THE FIRE PEOPLE

by

RAY CUMMINGS

Author of "The Golden Atom," etc.




CONTENTS

   CHAPTER I.       THE COMING OF THE LIGHT.
   CHAPTER II.      THE UNKNOWN ENEMY.
   CHAPTER III.     THE LANDING OF THE INVADERS.
   CHAPTER IV.      THE MEETING.
   CHAPTER V.       CAPTURED!
   CHAPTER VI.      MIELA.
   CHAPTER VII.     THE MERCUTIAN CAMP.
   CHAPTER VIII.    THE ESCAPE.
   CHAPTER IX.      FUTILE ATTACKS.
   CHAPTER X.       MIELA'S STORY.
   CHAPTER XI.      TO SAVE THE WORLD.
   CHAPTER XII.     THE LANDING ON MERCURY.
   CHAPTER XIII.    THE CAPTIVE EARTH-MAN.
   CHAPTER XIV.     THE RULER OF THE LIGHT COUNTRY.
   CHAPTER XV.      THE MOUNTAIN CONCLAVE.
   CHAPTER XVI.     THE FIRE PLANET.
   CHAPTER XVII.    THE FIGHT AT THE BAYOU.
   CHAPTER XVIII.   REVOLUTION.
   CHAPTER XIX.     THE NEW RULER.
   CHAPTER XX.      IN THE TWILIGHT COUNTRY.
   CHAPTER XXI.     ANOTHER LIGHT-RAY!
   CHAPTER XXII.    THE THEFT OF THE LIGHT-RAY.
   CHAPTER XXIII.   THE STROM.
   CHAPTER XXIV.    THE WATER CITY.
   CHAPTER XXV.     PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.
   CHAPTER XXVI.    THE BATTLE.
   CHAPTER XXVII.   THE SIEGE OF THE LONE CITY.
   CHAPTER XXVIII.  THE END OF TAO.
   CHAPTER XXIX.    THE RETURN.




CHAPTER I.


THE COMING OF THE LIGHT.


The first of the new meteors landed on the earth in November, 1940. It was
discovered by a farmer in his field near Brookline, Massachusetts, shortly
after daybreak on the morning of the 11th. Astronomically, the event was
recorded by the observatory at Harvard as the sudden appearance of what
apparently was a new star, increasing in the short space of a few hours
from invisibility to a power beyond that of the first magnitude, and then
as rapidly fading again to invisibility. This star was recorded by two of
the other great North American observatories, and by one in the Argentine
Republic. That it was comparatively small in mass and exceedingly close to
the earth, even when first discovered, was obvious. All observers agreed
that it was a heavenly body of an entirely new order.

The observatory at Harvard supplemented its account by recording the
falling, just before dawn of the 11th, of an extraordinarily brilliant
meteor that flamed with a curious red and green light as it entered the
earth's atmosphere. This meteor did not burn itself out, but fell, still
retaining its luminosity, from a point near the zenith, to the horizon.

What the farmer saw was a huge fire burning near the center of his field.
It was circular in form and about thirty feet in diameter. He was
astonished to see it there, but what surprised him more was its peculiar
aspect.

It was still the twilight of dawn when he reached the field. He beheld the
fire first from a point several hundred yards away. As he explained it,
the light--for it was more aptly described as a light than a
fire--extended in parallel rays from the ground directly upward into the
sky. He could see no line of demarkation where it ended at the top. It
seemed to extend into the sky an infinite distance. It was, in fact, as
though an enormous searchlight were buried in his field, casting its beam
of light directly upward.

But more than all this, the farmer was struck by the extraordinary color
of the light. At the base it was a deep, solid green. This green color
extended upward for perhaps fifty feet, then it shaded into red. The
farmer noticed, too, that the fire did not leap and dance with flames, but
seemed rather to glow--a steady light like the burning of colored powder.
In the morning half-light it threw a weird, unearthly reddish-green glow
over the field.

The farmer approached to within twenty feet of the light. He looked to see
what was burning, but could not determine, for the greenish base extended
directly down into the ground. He noticed also that it gave out
extraordinarily little heat. The morning was not exceptionally cold, yet
he stood within twenty feet of the fire without discomfort.

I was on the staff of the Boston _Observer_ at this time. I reached
Brookline about noon of the 11th of November, and went directly to the
field where the fire was burning. Nearly a thousand people were there,
watching.

By daylight the fire still held its green and red color, although its
light was much less intense. It held its characteristic shape. Though
clearly definable, under the rays of the sun it became quite transparent.
Looking through it, I could see plainly the crowd of people on the farther
side of the field. The effect was similar to looking through a faintly
tinted glass, except that now I noticed that the light had a sort of
crawling motion, like the particles of a heavy fog. The fire came from a
hole in the ground; by daylight now the hole could be seen plainly.

For some moments I stood silent, awestruck by this extraordinary
spectacle.