The Night Land

And the Earth-Current then to begin to fail; and though they laboured

through many thousands of years, they came to no better resource. And so

it was they ceased to have communication with the Great Redoubt; for the

current had a lack of power to work the instruments; and the recording

instruments ceased to be sensible of our messages.

And thereafter came a million years, maybe, of silence; with ever the

birthing and marrying and dying of those lonesome humans. And they grew

less; and some put this to the lack of the Earth-Current, which dwindled

slowly through the centuries of that Eternity.

And once in a thousand years, maybe, one among them would be Sensitive,

and abled to hear beyond ordinary; and to these, at times, there would

seem to come the thrilling of the aether; so that such an one would go

listening; and sometimes seem to catch half messages; and so awaken a

great interest in all the Pyramid; and there would be turning up of old

Records, and many words and writings, and attempts to send the

Master-Word through the night; in which, doubtless sometimes they

succeeded; for there was set down in the Records of the Great Redoubt

certain occasions on which there had come the call of the Master-Word,

which had been arranged and made holy between the two Redoubts in the

early days of that second life of this world.

Yet, now for an hundred thousand years, there had been none Sensitive;

and in that time the people of the Pyramid had become no more than ten

thousand; and the Earth-Current was weak and powerless to put the joy of

life into them; so that they went listlessly, but deemed it not strange,

because of so many aeons of usage.

And then, to the wonder of all, the Earth-Current had put forth a new

power; so that young people ceased to be old over-soon; and there was

happiness and a certain joy in the living; and a strange birthing of

children, such as had not been through half a million years.

And then came a new thing. Naani, the daughter of the Master

Monstruwacan of that Redoubt had shown to all that she was Sensitive;

for she had perceived odd vibrations afloat in the night; and concerning

these she told her father; and presently, because their blood moved

afresh in their bodies, they had heart to discover the plans of the

ancient instruments; for the instruments had long rusted, and been

forgotten.

And so they builded them a new instrument to send forth a message; for

they had no memory at that time that the brain-elements had power to do

thus; though, mayhap, their brain-elements were weakened, through so

many ages of starvation of the Earth-Current, and could not have obeyed,

even had their masters known all that we of the Great Redoubt knew.