steel tracks, upon which were mounted the movable towers he had
seen from a distance. These tapering structures bore aloft long,
tautly drawn wire cables, spanning the gorge and supporting great
buckets which soared at regular intervals back and forth, bearing
concrete for the work below. Up and out of the depths tremendous
walls were growing like the massive ramparts of a mediaeval city;
tremendous steel forms, braced and trussed and reinforced to
withstand the weight of the countless tons, stood in regular
patterns. In the floor of the chasm were mysterious pits, black
tunnel mouths, in and out of which men crept like ants. Far across
on the opposite lip of the hill, little electric trains sped to
and fro, apparently without the aid of human hands. Everywhere was
a steady, feverish activity.

From the commanding eminence where the sightseers stood the
spectacle was awe-inspiring; for though the whole vast work lay
spread out beneath them in what looked like a hopeless confusion,
yet as their eyes followed it a great and magic system became
manifest. The whole organism seemed animate with some slow,
intricate intelligence. The metal skips careening across those
dizzy heights regulated their courses to a hand's-breadth,
deposited their burdens carefully, then hurried back for more; the
shuttle trains that dodged about so feverishly, untended and
unguided, performed each some vital function. The great
conglomerate body was dead, yet it pulsated with a life of its
own. Its effect of being governed by a single indwelling mind of
superhuman capacity was overpowering.

Kirk heard Mrs. Cortlandt explaining: "The ships will steam up
from the sea through the dredged channel you see over yonder, then