The Project Gutenberg EBook of Zehru of Xollar, by Hal K. Wells

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Title: Zehru of Xollar

Author: Hal K. Wells

Release Date: October 14, 2008 [EBook #26917]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: _Blake made a lightning snatch at a tentacle with both
hands._]

Zehru of Xollar

By Hal K. Wells

Three Earthlings are whisked on an
inter-dimensional journey to the den
of the Scientist Zehru.

When the rolling thunder of infra-bass first came to their ears, Robert
Blake and Helen Lawton were standing on the platform of a New York
subway station waiting for the arrival of an uptown express to bear them
to their homes.

They made a strikingly attractive couple as they stood there. New York
had not had time as yet to remove the bronze tan of an outdoor life from
Blake's ruggedly good-looking face. His tall athletic figure was still
conspicuous for the lithe strength that had made him an All-Western
tackle less than two years ago.

Standing beside Blake's husky figure, Helen Lawton looked like a tiny,
very perfect, blonde doll, with an exquisitely molded face framed in
curly bobbed hair that was the clear golden-amber hue of orange honey.
There was a diamond sparkling on the ring finger of the girl's slim left
hand, placed there by Blake.

It was well after midnight, and the only other passenger waiting on the
station was a burly chap leaning against one of the white pillars on the
other side of the platform. After a casual glance at the fellow, with
his derby hat shoved far back from a low forehead, his blatantly
conspicuous clothing, and the suspicious bulge under one arm-pit, Blake
had mentally set him down as a minor gangster, probably a strong-arm man
for some beer mob.

Blake and Helen had been standing there but a few minutes when the
strange sound first became audible. For a moment Blake thought it was
merely the rumbling roar of an express approaching far down the tunnel.
Then he realized that no subway train could p