The Great Stone of Sardis - Story Book
The Light Beneath Sardis
Frank R. Stockton
1898
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
Three thin chirps pierced the engine roar.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
At Sardis, Roland Clewe crossed the garden without seeing the robin chicks begging inside a weathered tomato can.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
Margaret Raleigh paused beside them, but Roland kept walking toward the glass-roofed lens house and its waiting machines.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
She touched his sleeve. "Small lives are waiting too."
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
His gaze stayed on the iron tower.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
"Not now. The world is waiting," Roland said.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
He had built useful ships and tools, yet usefulness no longer satisfied him.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
He wanted the Artesian Ray to make solid earth transparent and expose a secret large enough to shake history.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
Inside, a roof latch hung bent above fresh boot marks.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
He recognized the narrow tread of Rovinski's boots.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
The rival had found Sardis before the ray awakened.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Waiting Machines
Under the locked floor, darkness seemed to listen.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
That listening darkness brightened when the Artesian Ray sent a colorless circle through the workshop floor.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
Stone remained solid under the rail, yet every buried layer appeared inside the beam.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
Margaret Raleigh leaned over the rail, then pulled back as the visible shaft deepened past fourteen miles.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
Her fingers found Roland Clewe's wrist.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
"Enough for tonight," she said, easing the lever upward.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
Roland covered her hand and lowered it again.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
"One more mile," he said.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
The light opened onto a vast pale emptiness where no map promised space.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
The earth was hollow there.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
Above the roof, Rovinski watched through a fan-driven basket, his beard pressed flat by the spinning wind.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
He sketched the shaft, the Automatic Shell, and the steel car beside it.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
Below, one loose window clasp tapped softly.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Ray Awakens
Margaret heard the tapping and looked up.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
The soft tapping stopped at once.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
The Automatic Shell broke loose and struck the transparent circle nose-first.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
Its ribs tore through miles of stone before stopping inside the hidden radiance.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
The impossible machine survived intact.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
Roland Clewe ordered the car lowered before Margaret Raleigh finished fastening its second safety line.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
She blocked the gate. "Ambition is not armor."
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
For once, Roland met her eyes.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
His hand shook above the brake, but he secured the line and waited for her nod.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
The car sank through cold rock.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
At the bottom, he stepped onto invisible ground and saw his shadow fall through miles of light.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
Then his boot slipped sideways.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
He caught a steel rib while the unseen slope pulled his legs toward open brightness.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
Roland climbed back into the car, breathing hard.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Cave Of Light
The return cable trembled in Margaret's hands.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
The cable steadied when Roland Clewe rose and Margaret Raleigh pulled him through the gate.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
He tried speaking, but only dust and breath came out.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
Then his closed fist opened.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
A rough diamond beyond crown jewels filled his palm with cold fire.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
Margaret ignored the Great Stone of Sardis and held Roland's hands.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
For a moment, he let the discovery wait.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
Near midnight, Rovinski lowered the car and descended toward the diamonds.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
He ignored the written warning beside the loose retaining pin.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
The pin shook free above him.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
It fell for fourteen miles.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
The steel point pierced Rovinski before he could understand the light.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
Rovinski returned with closed eyes.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
Margaret held Roland's arm as he covered the diamond.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
At dawn, Roland and Margaret sealed the shaft, leaving the Artesian Ray as a window.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Price Below
Warm daylight spread across the sealed floor.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
That warm daylight filled Sardis when invited scientists gathered around the Artesian Ray.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
They stared through the ground at the Automatic Shell fourteen miles below.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
Doubt ended when Roland Clewe set the Great Stone of Sardis on dark cloth.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
After the crowds faded, Roland and Margaret married quietly.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
One quiet morning, three thin chirps called across the garden.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
He left the breakfast table.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
Under broad leaves, the weathered tomato can held three chicks with open beaks.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
Margaret Raleigh found him crouched there, his celebrated diamond locked away indoors.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
She knelt beside him. "Worth the wait?"
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
Roland nodded, and this time his eyes never left the nest.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
The man who had pierced the planet stayed still while tiny feathers trembled in morning light.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The Smallest Discovery
Roland rested his open hand beside the nest as the garden filled with song.
The Light Beneath Sardis
The End
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