Vampires of the Desert Read online

  Within a week twenty planes were at work. Soon the greenery vanished under the black coating, and far and near — to well beyond the most distant spots where the Night Death had taken its toll — the country was drenched with the shower of crude petroleum. The most careful search failed to reveal a single living plant of the terrestrial hydroids, and when no more deaths occurred, even in dry weather, and when the people, regaining confidence, remained out of doors at night, we judged that the operations had met with entire success.

  Still, for weeks an airplane patrol was maintained, until Nature again took a hand and removed all danger of the recurrence of the terrible deadly plague. With the eruption of Orsini volcano in southern Chile, the ocean's bed again altered, the Humboldt Current resumed his long interrupted course and once again the west coast of South America became a rainless, barren desert. And until the climate again changes, the Night Death will be a thing of the past, the Vampires of the Desert will never reappear.

  Perhaps this will never happen within the present century or again such changes may take place tomorrow or next year.

  About the Author

  Alpheus Hyatt Verrill, known as Hyatt Verrill, (1871-1954) was an American archaeologist, explorer, inventor, illustrator and author. He was the son of Addison Emery Verrill (1839–1926), the first professor of zoology at Yale University. Hyatt Verrill wrote on a wide variety of topics, including natural history, travel, radio and whaling. He participated in a number of archaeological expeditions to the West Indies, South, and Central America. He travelled extensively throughout the West Indies, and all of the Americas, North, Central and South. Theodore Roosevelt stated: "It was my friend Verrill here, who really put the West Indies on the map.” During 1896 he served as natural history editor of Webster's International Dictionary., and he illustrated many of his own writings as well. During 1902 Verrill invented the autochrome process of natural-color photography. Among his writings are many science fiction works including twenty six published in 'Amazing Stories' pulp magazines.

  Other works by A. Hyatt Verrill

  Into the Green Prism

  Beyond the Green Prism

  The Golden City: A Tale of Adventure in Unknown Guiana

  The Boy Adventurers: In the Land of the Monkey Men

  The Treasure of the Golden God

  Through the Andes

  The Inner World

  Magazine Appearances:

  The Bridge of

  When the Moon Ran Wild (by Ray Ainsbury)

  Beyond the Pole

  Through the Crater's Rim

  The Man Who Could Vanish

  The Plague of the Living Dead

  The Voice from the Inner World

  The Ultra-Elixir of Youth

  The Astounding Discoveries of Doctor Mentiroso (by H. Hyatt Verrill)

  The Psychological Solution

  The King of the Monkey Men

  The World of the Giant Ants

  Death From the Skies

  Vampires of the Desert

  Dirigibles of Death

  The Feathered Detective

  The Non-Gravitational Vortex

  Monsters of the Ray

  A Visit to Suari

  When the Moon Ran Wild

  The Exterminator

  The Death Drum

  The Mummy of Ret-Seh

  The Flying Head

  The Ghostly Vengeance

  Table of Contents

  About the Author