s nothing else to do. Everything
depended upon his being able to bring back the Atom Smasher and take
Lucille and her father away.

"I think you're right, Jim," answered Lucille. "We'll--wait here till
you--come--back."

Her voice died away in a sob. Jim bent and kissed her. Then he began
examining the mechanism of the wings. It did not appear difficult. A
leather strap fastened around the body. Through this strap ran cords
operated by levers upon the breast, and there was a knob in a groove
that looked as if it controlled the starting of the mechanism.

"I'll be back," said Jim.

And suddenly the Eye appeared again, and with it there sounded once
more the whir of wings.

"Down!" shouted Jim.

* * * * *

He was too late. A score of birdmen shot out of the dark and hovered
over them. Next moment they had descended to the ground. Lucille and
Parrish were seized, and Jim, struggling furiously, quickly found
himself equally helpless in their grasp.

The accents of the Atlanteans as they spoke to one another were soft
and liquid, their faces were refined and gentle, but their strength
was that of athletes. Jim saw Lucille and Parrish lifted into the air;
next moment he himself was raised in the arms of one of the birdmen,
who shot upward like an arrow and headed a course back toward the
city, carrying Jim as if he had been as light as a child.

CHAPTER VI

_Human Sacrifice_

In a great open space, flanked by temples and colonnades, the flight
had come to rest. There, under the soft artificial light that made the
whole city as bright as day, Jim, Lucille, and her father were set
down before a sort of rostrum, on which were gathered the dignitaries
of the city.

Jim's hopes were rising fast, for between the Atlanteans and the
savage Drilgoes there was as much difference as between a modern
American and a blackfellow from the Australian bush. These men were
civilized to a degree that even modern America has not attained.

Nowhere was there a speck of dirt to be seen. Vehicles moved
soundlessly along the wide streets on either side of this central
meeting-place, and the whole city was roofed with glass, through which
could be seen the brilliant moon and stars--invisible from the
mist-filled valley without.

* * * * *

Soft garments of white wool clothed men and women alike, fashioned
something like togas, but cut short at the knee, leaving the l