uiring
smile spoke volumes. He opened his mouth to accept the invitation but
the words would not come. He could only nod his head vigorously like
an abashed schoolboy.

Some vacation!

[Illustration: Advertisement.]

Phalanxes of Atlans

_By F. V. W. Mason_

CONCLUSION

WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE

[Illustration: _Yes, there came a strange, but welcome sight._]

[Sidenote: Never did an aviator ride a more amazing sky-steed than
Alden on his desperate dash to the great Jarmuthian Ziggurat.]

Victor Nelson and Richard Alden are forced down on a flight over an
unexplored Arctic region. Returning from a hunt for food, Nelson finds
his companion gone; but many footprints and blood splashes establish a
clear trail to a tunnel, passing beneath a range of very high
mountains on the edge of the unexplored area. In following the trail,
Nelson encounters and slays an allosaurus, a terrible, carnivorous
species of dinosaur surviving from the Cretaceous era.

Then he presses on to presently emerge in an almost tropical valley
and encounter a remnant of the long lost Atlantean race, who are ruled
by a dynasty of English-speaking kings--descendants of Sir Henry
Hudson, who had wandered into Atlans after being abandoned by his men.

This valley in the Arctic owes its existence to the thinness of the
earth's crust, which permits the interior heat to warm the surface.

The Atlanteans are on the verge of war with another race, the
Jarmuthians, descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel, when Nelson is
transported to Heliopolis, the Atlantean Capital, for trial. All
strangers must prove their value to the State or be condemned to feed
the war monsters.

Nelson soon discovers that Alden had been captured from the Atlanteans
by the Jarmuthians. He strikes a bargain with Altorius, Emperor of
Atlans. He will undertake to fight any six of the enemy on condition
he and Alden will be released if successful.

Altorius agrees to Nelson's suggestion and makes a proposal to the
Jarmuthians. Heretofore he had been paying them an annual tribute of
six maidens, as price for the safety of Altara, Sacred Virgin of
Atlans, whom Jarmuth had captured in a previous war. With Nelson's
bargain in mind he offers an increase of six maidens to the annual
tribute, if the American fails to defeat six Jarmuthian champions. On
the other hand, if Nelson wins, all tribute will cease, Altara will
not be sacrificed, and Alden is to be returned unharmed.