She succeeded, but--well, it was all over
that quick. The Aradna was gone!"
But the Spot had by this time lost a good deal of its terror.
Knowing what was on the other side, and who, made a great
difference. As the doctor said later in a private consultation
with Chick and Harry:
"It's not so bad. That is, if Hobart Fenton is at work there. I
think he is. Really, I only regret that we didn't know of this
beforehand; we could have sent a message through to him."
And the professor went on to explain what he meant. At the time he
spoke, it was twenty-four hours after the Aradna's going; another
twenty-four hours would see the evening of the Last Day--the
sixteenth of the sacred Days of Life--what the Rhamdas alluded to
as "the Day of Judgment." And the Mahovisal was a seething mass of
humanity, all bent upon seeing the fulfillment of their highest
hopes.
"Bear in mind that if the Spot should not open at the last moment,
you and I are done for. We will be self-condemned 'False Ones';
our lives will not last one minute after midnight tomorrow night
if we fail to get through!
"That Prophecy means EVERYTHING to the Thomahlians. There was a
time when they accepted it on faith; now it is an intellectual
conviction with every last one of them. And one and all look
forward to a new and glorious life beyond the Spot--in the occult
world--our world!
"Now, the ticklish part of the job will be to open the Spot just
long enough to permit us to get through, yet prevent the whole
Prophecy from coming to pass.
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