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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/26852-8.txt b/26852-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2347df5 --- /dev/null +++ b/26852-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6813 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blue Germ, by Martin Swayne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Blue Germ + +Author: Martin Swayne + +Release Date: October 9, 2008 [EBook #26852] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLUE GERM *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +THE BLUE GERM + + + + +_WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ + +LORD RICHARD IN THE PANTRY +CUPID GOES NORTH +THE SPORTING INSTINCT + +IN MESOPOTAMIA. (With Illustrations in Colour by the Author.) + +LONDON: HODDER AND STOUGHTON + + + + +THE BLUE GERM + +BY MARTIN SWAYNE + +HODDER AND STOUGHTON +LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO +MCMXVIII + +Printed in Great Britain By +Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, +BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, +AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + + + + +TO + +J. E. H. W. + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAP. PAGE + I. BLACK MAGIC 1 + II. SARAKOFF'S MANIFESTO 5 + III. THE BUTTERFLIES 14 + IV. THE SIX TUBES 21 + V. THE GREAT AQUEDUCT 29 + VI. THE ATTITUDE OF MR. THORNDUCK 32 + VII. LEONORA 40 + VIII. THE BLUE DISEASE 58 + IX. THE MAN FROM BIRMINGHAM 67 + X. THE ILLNESS OF MR. ANNOT 79 + XI. THE RESURRECTION 90 + XII. MR. CLUTTERBUCK'S OPINION 101 + XIII. THE DEAD IMMORTAL 110 + XIV. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF IMMORTALITY 123 + XV. THE TERRIBLE FEAR 132 + XVI. THE VISIT OF THE HOME SECRETARY 144 + XVII. CLUTTERBUCK'S ODD BEHAVIOUR 156 + XVIII. IMMORTAL LOVE 161 + XIX. THE MEETING AT THE QUEEN'S HALL 177 + XX. THE WAY BACK 188 + XXI. JASON 196 + XXII. THE FIRST MURDERS 206 + XXIII. AT DOWNING STREET 216 + XXIV. NIGHT OF AN IMMORTAL 224 + XXV. OUR FLIGHT 229 + XXVI. ON THE SPANIARD'S WALK 236 + XXVII. LEONORA'S VOICE 245 +XXVIII. THE KILLING OF DESIRE 252 + XXIX. THE REVOLT OF THE YOUNG 260 + XXX. THE GREAT SLEEP 273 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +BLACK MAGIC + + +I had just finished breakfast, and deeply perplexed had risen from the +table in order to get a box of matches to light a cigarette, when my +black cat got between my feet and tripped me up. + +I fell forwards, making a clutch at the table-cloth. My forehead struck +the corner of the fender and the last thing I remembered was a crash of +falling crockery. Then all became darkness. My parlour-maid found me +lying face downwards on the hearth-rug ten minutes later. My cat was +sitting near my head, blinking contentedly at the fire. A little blood +was oozing from a wound above my left eye. + +They carried me up to my bedroom and sent for my colleague, Wilfred +Hammer, who lived next door. For three days I lay insensible, and Hammer +came in continually, whenever he could spare the time from his +patients, and brooded over me. On the fourth day I began to move about +in my bed, restless and muttering, and Hammer told me afterwards that I +seemed to be talking of a black cat. On the night of the fourth day I +suddenly opened my eyes. My perplexity had left me. An idea, clear as +crystal, was now in my mind. + +From that moment my confinement to bed was a source of impatience to me. +Hammer, large, fair, square-headed, and imperturbable, insisted on +complete rest, and I chafed under the restraint. I had only one +desire--to get up, slip down to St. Dane's Hospital in my car, mount the +bare stone steps that led up to the laboratory and begin work at once. + +"Let me up, Hammer," I implored. + +"My dear fellow, you're semi-delirious." + +"I must get up," I muttered. + +He laughed slowly. + +"Not for another week or two, Harden. How is the black cat?" + +"That cat is a wizard." + +I lay watching him between half-closed eyelids. + +"He gave me the idea." + +"He gave you a nasty concussion," said Hammer. + +"It was probably the only way to the idea," I answered. "I tell you the +cat is a wizard. He did it on purpose. He's a black magician." + +Hammer laughed again, and went towards the door. + +"Then the idea must be black magic," he said. + +I smiled painfully, for my head was throbbing. But I was happier then +than I had ever been, for I had solved the problem that had haunted my +brain for ten years. + +"There's no such thing as black magic," I said. + + +Three weeks later I beheld the miracle. It was wrought on the last day +of December, in the laboratory of the hospital, high above the gloom and +squalor of the city. The miracle occurred within a brilliant little +circle of light, and I saw it with my eye glued to a microscope. It +passed off swiftly and quietly, and though I expected it, I was filled +with a great wonder and amazement. + +To a lay mind the amazement with which I beheld the miracle will require +explanation. I had witnessed the transformation of one germ into +another; a thing which is similar to a man seeing a flock of sheep on a +hill-side change suddenly into a herd of cattle. For many minutes I +continued to move the slide in an aimless way with trembling fingers. My +temperament is earthy; it had once occurred to me quite seriously that +if I saw a miracle I would probably go mad under the strain. Now that I +had seen one, after the first flash of realization my mind was listless +and dull, and all feeling of surprise had died away. The black rods +floated with slow motion in the minute currents of fluid I had +introduced. The faint roar of London came up from far below; the clock +ticked steadily and the microscope lamp shone with silent radiance. And +I, Richard Harden, sat dangling my short legs on the high stool, +thinking and thinking.... + +That night I wrote to Professor Sarakoff. A month later I was on my way +to Russia. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SARAKOFF'S MANIFESTO + + +The recollection of my meeting with Sarakoff remains vividly in my mind. +I was shown into a large bare room, heated by an immense stove like an +iron pagoda. The floor was of light yellow polished wood; the walls were +white-washed, and covered with pencil marks. A big table covered with +papers and books stood at one end. At the other, through an open +doorway, there was a glimpse of a laboratory. Sarakoff stood in the +centre of the room, his hands deep in his pockets, his pipe sending up +clouds of smoke, his tall muscular frame tilted back. His eyes were +fixed on an extraordinary object that crawled slowly over the polished +floor. It was a gigantic tortoise--a specimen of _Testudo +elephantopus_--a huge cumbersome brute. Its ancient, scaly head was +thrust out and its eyes gleamed with a kind of sharp intelligence. The +surface of its vast and massive shell was covered over with scribbles in +white chalk--notes made by Sarakoff who was in the habit of jotting down +figures and formulę on anything near at hand. + +As there was only one chair in the room, Sarakoff eventually thrust me +into it, while he sat down on the great beast--whom he called +Belshazzar--and told me over and over again how glad he was to see me. +And this warmth of his was pleasant to me. + +"Are you experimenting on Belshazzar?" I asked at length. + +He nodded, and smiled enigmatically. + +"He is two hundred years old," he said. "I want to get at his secret." + +That was the first positive proof I got of the line of research Sarakoff +was intent upon, although, reading between the lines of his many +publications, I had guessed something of it. + +In every way, Sarakoff was a complete contrast to me. Tall, lean, +black-bearded and deep-voiced, careless of public opinion and prodigal +in ideas, he was just my antithesis. He was possessed of immense energy. +His tousled black hair, moustaches and beard seemed to bristle with it; +it shone in his pale blue eyes. He was full of sudden violence, flinging +test-tubes across the laboratory, shouting strange songs, striding about +snapping his fingers. There was no repose in him. At first I was a +little afraid of him, but the feeling wore off. He spoke English +fluently, because when a boy he had been at school in London. + +I will not enter upon a detailed account of our conversation that first +morning in Russia, when the snow lay thick on the roofs of the city, and +the ferns of frost sparkled on the window-panes of the laboratory. +Briefly, we found ourselves at one over many problems of human research, +and I congratulated myself on the fact that in communicating the account +of the miracle at St. Dane's Hospital to Sarakoff alone, I had done +wisely. He was wonderfully enthusiastic. + +"That discovery of yours has furnished the key to the great riddle I had +set myself," he exclaimed, striding to and fro. "We will astonish the +world, my friend. It is only a question of time." + +"But what is the riddle you speak of?" I asked. + +"I will tell you soon. Have patience!" he cried. He came towards me +impulsively and shook my hand. "We shall find it beyond a doubt, and we +will call it the Sarakoff-Harden Bacillus! What do you think of that?" + +I was somewhat mystified. He sat down again on the back of the tortoise, +smoking in his ferocious manner and smiling and nodding to himself. I +though it best to let him disclose his plans in his own way, and kept +back the many eager questions that rose to my lips. + +"It seems to me," said Sarakoff suddenly, "that England would be the +best place to try the experiment. There's a telegraph everywhere, +reporters in every village, and enough newspapers to carpet every square +inch of the land. In a word, it's a first-class place to watch the +results of an experiment." + +"On a large scale?" + +"On a gigantic scale--an experiment, ultimately, on the world." + +I was puzzled and was anxious to draw him into fuller details. + +"It would begin in England?" I asked carelessly. + +He nodded. + +"But it would spread. You remember how the last big outbreak of +influenza, which started in this country, spread like wildfire until the +waves, passing east and west, met on the other side of the globe? That +was a big experiment." + +"Of nature," I added. + +He did not reply. + +"An experiment of nature, you mean?" I urged. At the time of the last +big outburst of influenza which began in Russia, Sarakoff must have been +a student. Did he know anything about the origin of the mysterious and +fatal visitation? + +"Yes, of nature," he replied at last, but not in a tone that satisfied +me. His manner intrigued me so much that I felt inclined to pursue the +subject, but at that moment we were interrupted in a singular way. + +The door burst open, and into the room rushed a motley crowd of men. +Most of them were young students, but here and there I saw older men, +and at the head of the mob was a white-bearded individual, wearing an +astrachan cap, who brandished a copy of some Russian periodical in his +hand. + +Belshazzar drew in his head with a hiss that I could hear even above +the clamour of this intrusion. + +A furious colloquy began, which I could not understand, since it was in +Russian. Sarakoff stood facing the angry crowd coolly enough, but that +he was inwardly roused to a dangerous degree, I could tell from his +gestures. The copy of the periodical was much in evidence. Fists were +shaken freely. The aged, white-bearded leader worked himself up into a +frenzy and finally jumped on the periodical, stamping it under his feet +until he was out of breath. + +Then this excited band trooped out of the room and left us in peace. + +"What is it?" I asked when their steps had died away. + +Sarakoff shrugged his shoulders and then laughed. He picked up the +battered periodical and pointed to an article in it. + +"I published a manifesto this morning--that is all," he remarked airily. + +"What sort of manifesto?" + +"On the origin of death." He sat down on Belshazzar's broad back and +twisted his moustaches. "You see, Harden, I believe that in a few more +years death will only exist as an uncertain element, appearing rarely, +as an unnatural and exceptional incident. Life will be limitless; and +the length of years attained by Belshazzar will seem as nothing." + +It is curious how the spirit of a new discovery broods over the world +like a capricious being, animating one investigator here, another there; +partially revealing itself in this continent, disclosing another of its +secrets in that, until all the fragments when fitted together make up +the whole wonder. It seems that my discovery, coupled with the results +of his own unpublished researches, had led Sarakoff to make that odd +manifesto. Our combined work, although carried out independently, had +given the firm groundwork of an amazing theory which Sarakoff had been +maturing in his excited brain for many long years. + +Sarakoff translated the manifesto to me. It was a trifle bombastic, and +its composition appeared to me vague. No wonder it had roused hostility +among his colleagues, I thought, as Sarakoff walked about, declaiming +with outstretched arm. Put as briefly as possible, Sarakoff held all +disease as due to germs of one sort or another; and decay of bodily +tissue he regarded in the same light. In such a theory I stood beside +him. + +He continued to translate from the soiled and torn periodical, waving +his arm majestically. + +"We have only to eliminate all germs from the world to banish disease +and decay--and _death_. Such an end can be attained in one way alone; a +way which is known only to me, thanks to a magnificent series of +profound investigations. I announce, therefore, that the disappearance +of death from this planet can be anticipated with the utmost confidence. +Let us make preparations. Let us consider our laws. Let us examine our +resources. Let us, in short, begin the reconstruction of society." + +"Good heavens!" I exclaimed, and sat staring at him. + +He twirled his moustaches and observed me with shining eyes. + +"What do you think of it?" + +I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. + +"Surely it is far fetched?" + +"Not a bit of it. Now listen to me carefully. I'll give you, step by +step, the whole matter." He walked up and down for some minutes and then +suddenly stopped beside me and thumped me on the back. "There's not a +flaw in it!" he cried. "It's magnificent. My dear fellow, death is only +a failure in human perfection. There's nothing mysterious in it. +Religion has made a ridiculous fuss about it. There's nothing more +mysterious in it than there is in a badly-oiled engine wearing out. Now +listen. I'm going to begin...." + +I listened, fascinated. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE BUTTERFLIES + + +Two years passed by after my return to London without special incident, +save that my black cat died. My work as a consulting physician occupied +most of my time. In the greater world beyond my consulting-room door +life went on undisturbed by any thought of the approaching upheaval, +full of the old tragedies of ambition and love and sickness. But +sometimes as I examined my patients and listened to their tales of +suffering and pain, a curious contraction of the heart would come upon +me at the thought that perhaps some day, not so very far remote, all the +endless cycle of disease and misery would cease, and a new dawn of hope +burst with blinding radiance upon weary humanity. And then a mood of +unbelief would darken my mind and I would view the creation of the +bacillus as an idle and vain dream, an illusion never to be +realized.... + +One evening as I sat alone before my study fire, my servant entered and +announced there was a visitor to see me. + +"Show him in here," I said, thinking he was probably a late patient who +had come on urgent business. + +A moment later Professor Sarakoff himself was shown in. + +I rose with a cry of welcome and clasped his hand. + +"My dear fellow, why didn't you let me know you were coming?" I cried. + +He smiled upon me with a mysterious brightness. + +"Harden," he said in a low voice, as if afraid of being heard, "I came +on a sudden impulse. I wanted to show you something. Wait a moment." + +He went out into the hall and returned bearing a square box in his +hands. He laid it on the table and then carefully closed the door. + +"It is the first big result of my experiments," he whispered. He opened +the box and drew out a glass case covered over with white muslin. + +He stepped back from the table and looked at me triumphantly. + +"What is it?" I asked. + +"Lift up the muslin." + +I did so. On the wooden floor of the glass case were a great number of +dark objects. At first I thought they were some kind of grub, and then +on closer inspection I saw what they were. + +"Butterflies!" I exclaimed. + +He held up a warning finger and tiptoed to the door. He opened it +suddenly and seemed relieved to find no one outside. + +"Hush!" he said, closing the door again. "Yes, they are butterflies." He +came back to the table and gave one of the glass panels a tap with his +finger. The butterflies stirred and some spread their wings. They were a +brilliant greenish purple shot with pale blue. "Yes, they are +butterflies." + +I peered at them. + +"The specimen is unknown in England as far as I know." + +"Quite so. They are peculiar to Russia." + +"But what are you doing with them?" I asked. + +He continued to smile. + +"Do you notice anything remarkable about these butterflies?" + +"No," I said after prolonged observation, "I can't say I do ... save +that they are not denizens of this country." + +"I think we might christen them," he said. "Let us call them Lepidoptera +Sarakoffii." He tapped the glass again and watched the insects move. +"But they are very remarkable," he continued. "Do they appear healthy to +you?" + +"Perfectly." + +"You agree, then, that they are in good condition?" + +"They seem to be in excellent condition." + +"No signs of decay--or disease?" + +"None." + +He nodded. + +"And yet," he said thoughtfully, "they should be, according to natural +law, a mass of decayed tissue." + +"Ah!" I looked at him with dawning comprehension. "You mean----?" + +"I mean that they should have died long ago." + +"How long do they live normally?" + +"About twenty to thirty hours. At the outside their life is not more +than thirty-six hours. These are somewhat older." + +I gazed at the little creatures crawling aimlessly about. _Aimless_, did +I say? There they were, filling up the floor of the glass case, moving +with difficulty, getting in each other's way, sprawling and colliding, +apparently without aim or purpose. At that spectacle my thoughts might +well have taken a leap into the future and seen, instead of a crowded +mass of butterflies, a crowded mass of humanity. I asked Sarakoff a +question. + +"How old are they?" I expected to hear they had existed perhaps a day or +two beyond their normal limit. + +"They are almost exactly a year old," was the reply. I stared, +marvelling. A year old! I bent down, gazing at the turbulent restless +mass of gaudy colour. A year old--and still vital and healthy! + +"You mean these insects have lived a whole year?" I exclaimed, still +unconvinced. + +He nodded. + +"But that is a miracle!" + +"It is, proportionately, equal to a man living twenty-five thousand +years instead of the normal seventy." + +"You don't suggest----?" + +He replaced the muslin covering and took out his pipe and tobacco pouch. +Absurd, outrageous ideas crowded to my mind. Was it, then, possible that +our dream was to become reality? + +"I don't suppose they'll live much longer," I stammered. + +He was silent until he had lit his pipe. + +"If you met a man who had lived twenty-five thousand years, would you be +inclined to tell me he would not live much longer, simply on general +considerations?" + +I could not find a satisfactory answer. + +As a matter of fact the question scarcely conveyed anything to me. One +can realize only by reference to familiar standards. The idea of a man +who has lived one hundred and fifty years is to me a more realistic +curiosity than the idea of a man twenty-five thousand years old. But I +caught a glimpse, as it were, of strange figures, moving about in a +colourless background, with calm gestures, slow speeches, silences +perhaps a year in length. The familiar outline of London crumbled +suddenly away, the blotches of shadow and the coloured shafts of light +striking between the gaps in the crowds, the violet-lit tubes, the +traffic, faded into the conception of twenty-five thousand years. All +this many-angled, many-coloured modern spectacle that was a few thousand +years removed from cave dwellings, was rolled flat and level, merging +into this grey formless carpet of time. + +Next morning Sarakoff returned to Russia, bearing with him the wonderful +butterflies, and for many months I heard nothing from him. But before he +went he told me that he would return soon. + +"I have only one step further to take and the ideal germ will be +created, Harden. Then we poor mortals will realize the dream that has +haunted us since the beginning of time. We will attain immortality, and +the fear of death, round which everything is built, will vanish. We will +become gods!" + +"Or devils, Sarakoff," I murmured. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SIX TUBES + + +One night, just as I entered my house, the telephone bell in the hall +rang sharply. I picked up the receiver impatiently, for I was tired with +the long day's work. + +"Is that Dr. Harden?" + +"Yes." + +"Can you come down to Charing Cross Station at once? The station-master +is speaking." + +"An accident?" + +"No. We wish you to identify a person who has arrived by the boat-train. +The police are detaining him as a suspect. He gave your name as a +reference. He is a Russian." + +"All right. I'll come at once." + +I hung up the receiver and told the servant to whistle for a taxi-cab. +Ten minutes later I was picking my way through the crowds on the +platform to the station-master's office. I entered, and found a strange +scene being enacted. On one side of a table stood Sarakoff, very +flushed, with shining eyes, clasping a black bag tightly to his breast. +On the other side stood a group of four men, the station-master, a +police officer, a plain clothes man and an elderly gentleman in white +spats. The last was pointing an accusing finger at Sarakoff. + +"Open that bag and we'll believe you!" he shouted. + +Sarakoff glared at him defiantly. + +I recognized his accuser at once. It was Lord Alberan, the famous Tory +obstructionist. + +"Anarchist!" Lord Alberan's voice rang out sharply. He took out a +handkerchief and mopped his face. + +"Arrest him!" he said to the constable with an air of satisfaction. "I +knew he was an anarchist the moment I set eyes on him at Dover. There is +an infernal machine in that bag. The man reeks of vodka. He is mad." + +"Idiot," exclaimed Sarakoff, with great vehemence. "I drink nothing but +water." + +"He wishes to destroy London," said Lord Alberan coldly. "There is +enough dynamite in that bag to blow the whole of Trafalgar Square into +fragments. Arrest him instantly." + +I stepped forward from the shadows by the door. Sarakoff uttered a cry +of pleasure. + +"Ah, Harden, I knew you would come. Get me out of this stupid +situation!" + +"What is the matter?" I asked, glancing at the station-master. He +explained briefly that Lord Alberan and Sarakoff had travelled up in the +same compartment from Dover, and that Sarakoff's strange restlessness +and excited movements had roused Lord Alberan's suspicions. As a +consequence Sarakoff had been detained for examination. + +"If he would open his bag we should be satisfied," added the +station-master. I looked at my friend significantly. + +"Why not open it?" I asked. "It would be simplest." + +My words had the effect of quieting the excited professor. He put the +bag on the table, and placed his hands on the top of it. + +"Very well," he said slowly, "I will open it, since my friend Dr. Harden +has requested me to do so." + +"Stand back!" cried Lord Alberan, flinging out his arms. "We may be so +much dust flying over London in a moment." + +Sarakoff took out a key and unlocked the bag. There was silence for a +moment, only broken by hurrying footsteps on the platform without. Then +Lord Alberan stepped cautiously forward. + +He saw the worn canvas lining of the bag. He took a step nearer and saw +a wooden rack, fitted in the interior, containing six glass tubes whose +mouths were stopped with plugs of cotton wool. + +"You see, there is nothing important there," said Sarakoff with a smile. +"These objects are of purely scientific interest." He took out one of +the tubes and held it up to the light. It was half full of a +semi-transparent jelly-like mass, faintly blue in colour. The detective, +the policeman and the station official clustered round, their faces +turned up to the light and their eyes fixed on the tube. The Russian +looked at them narrowly, and reading nothing but dull wonderment in +their expressions, began to speak again. + +"Yes--the Bacillus Pyocyaneus," he said, with a faint mocking smile and +a side glance at me. "It is occasionally met with in man and is easily +detected by the blue bye-product it gives off while growing." He twisted +the tube slowly round. "It is quite an interesting culture," he +continued idly. "Do you observe the uniform distribution of the growth +and the absence of any sign of liquefaction in the medium?" + +Lord Alberan cleared his throat. + +"I--er--I think we owe you an apology," he said. "My suspicions were +unfounded. However, I did my duty to my country by having you examined. +You must admit your conduct was suspicious--highly suspicious, sir!" + +Sarakoff replaced the tube and locked the bag. Lord Alberan marched to +the door and held it open. + +"We need not detain you, sir," said the detective. The policeman squared +his shoulders and hitched up his belt. The station official looked +nervous. + +Dr. Sarakoff, with a gesture of indifference, picked up the bag and, +taking me by the arm, passed out on to the brilliantly-lit platform. +"_Pyocyaneus_," he muttered in my ear; "_pyocyaneus_, indeed! Confound +the fellow. He might have got me into no end of trouble if he had known +the truth, Harden." + +"But what is it?" I asked. "What have you got in the bag?" + +He stopped under a sizzling arc-lamp outside the station. + +"The bag," he said touching the worn leather lovingly, "contains six +tubes of the Sarakoff-Harden bacillus. Yes, I have added your name to +it. I will make your name immortal--by coupling it with mine." + +"But what is the Sarakoff-Harden bacillus?" I cried. + +He struck an attitude under the viperish glare of the lamp and smiled. +He certainly did look like an anarchist at the moment. He loomed over +me, huge, satanic, inscrutable. + +A thrill, almost of fear, passed over me. I glanced round in some +apprehension. Under an archway near by I saw Lord Alberan looking +fixedly at us. The expression of suspicion had returned to his face. + +"You mean----?" He nodded. I gulped a little. "You really have----?" He +continued to nod. "Then we can try the great experiment?" I whispered, +dry throated. + +"At once!" The detective passed us, brushing against my shoulder. I +caught Sarakoff by the arm. + +"Look here--we must get away," I muttered. I felt like a criminal. +Sarakoff clasped the bag firmly under his free arm. We began to walk +hurriedly away. Our manner was furtive. Once I looked back and saw +Alberan talking, with excited gestures, to the detective. They were both +looking in our direction. The impulse to run possessed me. "Quick," I +exclaimed, "there's a taxi. Jump in. Drive to Harley Street--like the +devil." + +Inside the cab I lay back, my mind in a whirl. + +"We begin the experiment to-morrow," said Sarakoff at last. "Have you +made plans as I told you?" + +"Yes--yes. Of course. Only I never believed it possible." I controlled +myself and sat up. "I fixed on Birmingham. It seemed best--but I never +dreamed----" + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "Birmingham, then!" + +"Their water supply comes from Wales." + +We spoke no more till I turned the key of my study door behind me. It +was in this way that the germ, which made so vast and strange an +impression on the course of the world's history, first reached England. +It had lain under the very nose of Lord Alberan, who opposed everything +new automatically. Yet it, the newest of all things, escaped his +vigilance. + + +We decided to put our plans into action without delay, and next morning +we set off, carrying with us the precious tubes of the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus. Throughout the long journey we scarcely spoke to each other. +Each of us was absorbed in his picture of the future effects of the +germ. + +There was one strange fact that Sarakoff had told me the night before, +and that I had verified. The bacillus was ultra-microscopical--that is, +it could not be seen, even with the highest power, under the microscope. +Its presence was only to be detected by the blue stain it gave off +during its growth. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE GREAT AQUEDUCT + + +The Birmingham reservoirs are a chain of lakes artificially produced by +damming up the River Elan, a tributary of the Wye. The great aqueduct +which carries the water from the Elan, eighty miles across country, +travelling through hills and bridging valleys, runs past Ludlow and +Cleobury Mortimer, through the Wyre Forest to Kidderminster, and on to +Birmingham itself through Frankley, where there is a large storage +reservoir from which the water is distributed. + +The scenery was bleak and desolate. Before us the sun was sinking in a +flood of crimson light. We walked briskly, the long legs of the Russian +carrying him swiftly over the uneven ground while I trotted beside him. +Before the last rays of the sun had died away we saw the black outline +of the Caban Loch dam before us, and caught the sheen of water beyond. +On the north lay the river Elan and on the south the steep side of a +mountain towered up against the luminous sky. The road runs along the +left bank of the river bounded by a series of bold and abrupt crags that +rise to a height of some eight hundred feet above the level of the +water. Just below the Caban Dam is a house occupied by an inspector in +charge of the gauge apparatus that is used to measure the outflow of +water from the huge natural reservoirs. The lights from his house +twinkled through the growing darkness as we drew near, and we skirted it +by a short detour and pressed on. + +"How long does water take to get from here to Birmingham?" asked +Sarakoff as we climbed up to the edge of the first lake. + +"It travels about a couple of miles an hour," I replied. "So that means +about a day and a half." + +We spoke in low voices, for we were afraid of detection. The presence of +two visitors at that hour might well have attracted attention. + +"A day and a half! Then the bacillus has a long journey to take." He +stopped at the margin of the water and stared across the shadowy lake. +"Yes, it has a long journey to take, for it will go round the whole +world." + +The last glow in the sky tinted the calm sheet of water a deep blood +colour. Sarakoff opened his bag and took out a couple of tubes. + +He pulled the cotton-wool plugs out of the tubes, and with a long wire, +loosened the gelatinous contents. Then, inverting the tubes he flung +them into the lake close to the beginning of the huge aqueduct. + +I stared as the tubes vanished from sight, feeling that it was too late +to regret what had now been done, for nothing could collect those +millions of bacilli, that had been set free in the water. Already some +of them had perhaps entered the dark cavernous mouth of the first +culvert to start on their slow journey to Birmingham. The light faded +from the sky and darkness spread swiftly over the lake. Sarakoff emptied +the remaining tubes calmly and then turned his footsteps in the +direction of Rhayader. I waited a moment longer in the deep silence of +that lonely spot; and then with a shiver followed my friend. The +bacillus had been let loose on the world. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ATTITUDE OF MR. THORNDUCK + + +We reached London next day in the afternoon. I felt exhausted and could +scarcely answer Sarakoff, who had talked continuously during the +journey. + +But his theory had interested me. The Russian had revealed much of his +character, under the stress of excitement. He spoke of the coming of +Immortality in the light of a _physical_ boon to mankind. He seemed to +see in his mind's eye a great picture of comfort and physical enjoyment +and of a humanity released from the grim spectres of disease and death, +and ceaselessly pursuing pleasure. + +"I love life," he remarked. "I love fame and success. I love comfort, +ease, laughter, and companionship. The whole of Nature is beautiful to +me, and a beautiful woman is Nature's best reward. Now that the dawn of +Immortality is at hand, Harden, we must set about reorganizing the world +so that it may yield the maximum of pleasure." + +"But surely there will be some limit to pleasure?" I objected. + +"Why? Can't you see that is just what there will not be?" he cried +excitedly. "We are going to do away with the confining limits. Your +imagination is too cramped! You sit there, huddled up in a corner, as if +we had let loose a dreadful plague on Birmingham!" + +"It may prove to be so," I muttered. I do not think I had any clear idea +as to the future, but there is a natural machinery in the mind that +doubts golden ages and universal panaceas. Call it superstition if you +will, but man's instinct tells him he cannot have uninterrupted pleasure +without paying for it. I said as much to the Russian. + +He gave vent to a roar of laughter. + +"You have all the caution and timidity of your race," he said. "You are +fearful even in your hour of deliverance. My friend, it is impossible to +conceive, even faintly, of the change that will come over us towards the +meaning of life. Can't you see that, as soon as the idea of Immortality +gets hold of people, they will devote all their energies to making their +earth a paradise? Why, it is obvious. They will then know that there is +no other paradise." + +He took out his watch and made a calculation. His face became flushed. + +"The bacillus has travelled forty-two miles towards Birmingham," he +said, just as our train drew in to the London terminus. + +I was busy with patients until dinner-time and did not see anything of +Sarakoff. While working, my exhaustion and anxiety wore off, and were +replaced by a mild exhilaration. One of my patients was a professor of +engineering at a northern university; a brilliant young man, who, but +for physical disease, had the promise of a great career before him. He +had been sent to me, after having made a round of the consultants, to +see if I could give him any hope as to the future. I went into his case +carefully, and then addressed him a question. + +"What is your own view of your case, Mr. Thornduck?" + +He looked surprised. His face relaxed, and he smiled. I suppose he +detected a message of hope in my expression. + +"I have been told by half-a-dozen doctors that I have not long to live, +Dr. Harden," he replied. "But it is very difficult for me to grasp that +view. I find that I behave as if nothing were the matter. I still go on +working. I still see goals far ahead. Death is just a word--frequently +uttered, it is true--but meaningless. What am I to do?" + +"Go on working." + +"And am I to expect only a short lease of life?" + +I rose from my writing-table and walked to the hearth. A surge of power +came over me as I thought of the bacillus which was so silently and +steadily advancing on Birmingham. + +"Do you believe in miracles?" I asked. + +"That is an odd question." He reflected for a time. "No, I don't think +so. All one is taught now-a-days is in a contrary direction, isn't it?" + +"Yes, but our knowledge only covers a very small field--perhaps an +artificially isolated one, too." + +"Then you think only a miracle will save my life?" + +I nodded and gazed at him. + +"You seem amused," he remarked quietly. + +"I am not amused, Mr. Thornduck. I am very happy." + +"Does my case interest you?" + +"Extremely. As a case, you are typical. Your malady is invariably fatal. +It is only one of the many maladies that we know to be fatal, while we +remain ignorant of all else. Under ordinary circumstances, you would +have before you about three years of reasonable health and sanity." + +"And then?" + +"Well, after that you would be somewhat helpless. You would begin to +employ that large section of modern civilization that deals with the +somewhat helpless." + +I began to warm to my theme, and clasped my hands behind my back. + +"Yes, you would pass into that class that disproves all theories of a +kindly Deity, and you would become an undergraduate in the vast and +lamentable University of Suffering, through whose limitless corridors we +medical men walk with weary footsteps. Ah, if only an intelligent group +of scientists had had the construction of the human body to plan! Think +what poor stuff it is! Think how easy it would have been to make it +more enduring! The cell--what a useless fragile delicacy! And we are +made of millions of these useless fragile delicacies." + +To my surprise he laughed with great amusement. He stood there, young, +pleasant, and smiling. I stared at him with a curious uneasiness. For +the moment I had forgotten what it had been my intention to say. The +dawn of Immortality passed out of my mind, and I found myself gazing, as +it were, on something strangely mysterious. + +"Your religion helps you?" I hazarded. + +"Religion?" He mused for a moment. "Don't you think there is some +meaning behind our particular inevitable destinies--that we may perhaps +have earned them?" + +"Nonsense! It is all the cruel caprice of Nature, and nothing else." + +"Oh, come, Dr. Harden, you surely take a larger view. Do you think the +short existence we have here is all the chance of activity we ever have? +That I have a glimpse of engineering, and you have a short phase of +doctoring on this planet, and that then we have finished all +experience?" + +"Certainly. It would not be possible to take any other view--horrible." + +"But you believe in some theory of evolution--of slow upward progress?" + +"Yes, of course. That is proved beyond all doubt." + +"And yet you think it applies only to the body--to the instrument--and +not to the immaterial side of us?" + +I stared at him in astonishment. + +"I do not think there is any immaterial side, Mr. Thornduck." + +He smiled. + +"A very unsatisfying view, surely?" he remarked. + +"Unsatisfying, perhaps, but sound science," I retorted. + +"Sound?" He pondered for an instant. "Can a thing be sound and +unsatisfying at the same time? When I see a machine that's ugly--that's +unsatisfying from the artist's point of view--I always know it's wrongly +planned and inefficient. Don't you think it's the same with theories of +life?" He took out his watch and glanced at it. "But I must not keep +you. Good-bye, Dr. Harden." + +He went to the door, nodded, and left the room before I recalled that I +meant to hint to him that a miracle was going to happen, and save his +life. I remained on the hearth-rug, wondering what on earth he meant. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LEONORA + + +I found a note in the hall from Sarakoff asking me to come round to the +Pyramid Restaurant at eight o'clock to meet a friend of his. It was a +crisp clear evening, and I decided to walk. There were two problems on +my mind. One was the outlook of Sarakoff, which even I deemed to be too +materialistic. The other was the attitude of young Thornduck, which was +obviously absurd. + +In my top hat and solemn frock-coat I paced slowly down Harley Street. + +Thornduck talked as if suffering, as if all that side of existence which +the Blue Germ was to do away with, were necessary and salutary. Sarakoff +spoke as if pleasure was the only aim of life. Now, though sheer +physical pleasure had never entered very deeply into my life, I had +never denied the fact that it was the only motive of the majority of my +patients. For what was all our research for? Simply to mitigate +suffering; and that is another way of saying that it was to increase +physical well-being. Why, then, did Sarakoff's views appear extreme to +me? What was there in my composition that whispered a doubt when I had +the doctrine of maximum pleasure painted with glowing enthusiasm by the +Russian in the train that afternoon? + +I moved into Oxford Street deeply pondering. The streets were crowded, +and from shop windows there streamed great wedges of white and yellow +light. The roar of traffic was round me. The 'buses were packed with men +and women returning late from business, or on the way to seek relaxation +in the city's amusements. I passed through the throng as through a +coloured mist of phantoms. My eyes fastened on the faces of those who +passed by. Who could really doubt the doctrine of pleasure? Which one of +those people would hesitate to plunge into the full tide of the senses, +did not the limitations of the body prevent him? + +I crossed Piccadilly Circus with a brisker step. It was no use worrying +over questions which could not be examined scientifically. The only +really important question in life was to be a success. + +The brilliant entrance of the Pyramid Restaurant was before me, and +within, standing on the marble floor, I saw the tall figure of the +Russian. + +Sarakoff greeted me with enthusiasm. He was wearing evening-dress with a +white waistcoat, and the fact perturbed me. I put my hat and stick in +the cloakroom. + +"Who is coming?" I asked anxiously. + +"Leonora," he whispered. "I only found out she was in London this +afternoon. I met her when I was strolling in the Park while you were +busy with your patients." + +"But who is Leonora?" I asked. "And can I meet her in this state?" + +"Oh, never mind about your dress. You are a busy doctor and she will +understand. Leonora is the most marvellous woman in the world. I intend +to make her marry me." + +"Is she English?" I stammered. + +He laughed. + +"Little man, you look terrified, as usual. You are always terrified. It +is your habit. No, Leonora is not English. She is European. If you went +out into the world of amusement a little more--and it would be good for +you--you would know that she has the most exquisite voice in the history +of civilization. She transcends the nightingale because her body is +beautiful. She transcends the peacock because her voice is beautiful. +She is, in fact, worthy of every homage, and you will meet her in a +short time. Like all perfect things she is late." + +He took out his watch and glanced at the door. + +"You are an extraordinary person, Sarakoff," I observed, after watching +him a moment. "Will you answer me a rather intimate question?" + +"Certainly." + +"What precisely do you mean when you say you intend to make the charming +lady marry you?" + +"Precisely what I say. She loves fame. So far I have been unsuccessful, +because she does not think I am famous enough." + +"How do you intend to remedy that?" + +He stared at me in amazement. + +"Do you think that any people have ever been so famous as you and I will +be in a few days?" + +I looked away and studied the bright throng of visitors in the hall. + +"In a few days?" I asked. "Are you not a trifle optimistic? Don't you +think that it will take months before the possibilities and meaning of +the germ are properly realized?" + +"Rubbish," exclaimed Sarakoff. "You are a confirmed pessimist. You are +impossible, Harden. You are a mass of doubts and apprehensions. Ah, here +is Leonora at last. Is she not marvellous?" + +I looked towards the entrance. I saw a woman of medium height, very +fair, dressed in some soft clinging material of a pale primrose colour. +From a shoulder hung a red satin cloak. Round her neck was a string of +large pearls, and in her hair was a jewelled osprey. She presented a +striking appearance and I gained the impression of some northern spirit +in her that shone out of her eyes with the brilliancy of ice. + +Sarakoff strode forward, and the contrast that these two afforded was +extraordinary. Tall, dark, warm and animated, he stood beside her, and +stooped to kiss her hand. She gazed at him with a smile so slight that +it seemed scarcely to disturb the perfect symmetry of her face. He began +to talk, moving his whole body constantly and making gestures with his +arms, with a play of different expressions in his face. She listened +without moving, save that her eyes wandered slowly round the large hall. +At length Sarakoff beckoned to me. + +I approached somewhat awkwardly and was introduced. + +"Leonora," said the Russian, "this is a little English doctor with a +very large brain. He was closely connected with the great discovery of +which I am going to tell you something to-night at dinner. He is my +friend and his name is Richard Harden." + +"I like your name," said Leonora, in a clear soft voice. + +I took her hand. We passed into the restaurant. It was one of those vast +pleasure-palaces of music, scent, colour and food that abounded in +London. An orchestra was playing somewhere high aloft. The luxury of +these establishments was always sounding a curious warning deep down in +my mind. But then, as Sarakoff had said, I am a pessimist, and if I were +to say that I have noticed that nature often becomes very prodigal and +lavish just before she takes away and destroys, I would be uttering, +perhaps, one of the many half-truths in which the pessimistic spirit +delights. + +Our table was in a corner at an agreeable distance from the orchestra. +Sarakoff placed Leonora between him and myself. Attentive waiters +hurried to serve us; and the eyes of everyone in our immediate +neighbourhood were turned in our direction. Leonora did not appear to be +affected by the interest she aroused. She flung her cloak on the back of +her chair, put her elbows on the table, and gazed at the Russian +intently. + +"Tell me of your discovery, Alexis." + +He smiled, enchanted. + +"I shall be best able to give you some idea of what our discovery means +if I begin by telling you that I am going to read your character. Does +that interest you?" + +She nodded. Then she turned to me and studied me for a moment. + +"No, Alexis. Let Richard read my character first." + +I blushed successfully. + +"Why do you blush?" she asked with some interest. + +"He blushed because of your unpardonable familiarity in calling him +Richard," laughed Sarakoff. + +"I shall be most happy, Leonora," I stammered, making an immense effort, +and longing for the waiter to bring the champagne. "But I am not good at +the art." + +"But you must try." + +I saw no way out of the predicament. Sarakoff's eyes were twinkling +roguishly, so I began, keeping my gaze on the table. + +"You have a well-controlled character, with a considerable power of +knowing exactly what you want to do with your life, and you come from +the North. I fancy you sleep badly." + +"How do you know I sleep badly?" she challenged. + +"Your eyes are a clear frosty blue, and you are of rather slight build. +I am merely speaking from my own experience as a doctor." + +I suppose my words were not particularly gracious or well-spoken. +Leonora simply nodded and leaned back from the table. + +"Now, Alexis, tell me about myself," she said. + +My glass now contained champagne and I decided to allow that wizard to +take charge of my affairs for a time. + +"Leonora, you are one of those women who visit this dull planet from +time to time for reasons best known to themselves. I think you must come +from Venus, or one of the asteroids; or it may be from Sirius. From the +beginning you knew you were not like ordinary people." + +"Alexis," she drawled, "you are boring me." + +"Capital!" said Sarakoff. "Now we will descend to facts, as our friend +here did. You are the most inordinately vain, ambitious, cold-hearted +woman in Europe, Leonora. You value yourself before everything. You +think your voice and your beauty cannot be beaten, and you are right. +Now if I were to tell you that your voice and your beauty could be +preserved, year after year, without any change, what would you think?" + +A kind of fierce vitality sprang into her face. + +"What do you mean?" she asked quietly. "Have you discovered the elixir +of youth?" + +He nodded. She laid her hand on his arm. + +"How long does its effect last?" + +"Well--for a considerable time." + +"You are certain?" + +"Absolutely." + +She leaned towards him. + +"You will let no one else have it, Alexis," she asked softly. "Only me?" + +Sarakoff glanced at me. + +"Leonora, you are very selfish." + +"Of course." + +"Well, you are not the only person who is going to have the elixir. The +whole world is going to have it." + +I watched her with absorbed attention. She seemed to accept the idea of +an elixir of youth without any incredulity, and did not find anything +extraordinary in the fact of its discovery. In that respect, I fancied, +she was typical of a large class of women--that class that thinks a +doctor is a magician, or should be. But when Sarakoff said that the +whole world was going to have the elixir, a spasm of anger shewed for a +moment in her face. She lowered her eyes. + +"This is unkind of you, Alexis. Why should not just you and I have the +elixir?" She raised her eyes and turned them directly on Sarakoff. "Why +not?" she murmured. + +The Russian flushed slightly. + +"Leonora, it must either not be, or else the whole world must have it. +It can't be confined. It must spread. It's a germ. We have let it loose +in Birmingham." + +She shuddered. + +"A germ? What does he mean?" She turned to me. + +"It's a germ that will do away with all disease and decay," I said. + +"It will make me younger?" + +"Of that I am uncertain. It will more probably fix us where we are." + +The Russian nodded in confirmation of my view. Leonora considered for a +while. I could see nothing in her appearance that she could have wished +altered, but she seemed dissatisfied. + +"I should have preferred it to make us all a little younger," she said +decidedly. Her total lack of the sense of miracles astonished me. She +behaved as if Sarakoff had told her that we had discovered a new kind +of soap or a new patent food. "But I am glad you have found it, Alexis," +she continued. "It will certainly make you famous. That will be nice, +but I am sorry you should have given the elixir to Birmingham first. +Birmingham is in no need of an elixir, my friend. You should have put +something else in their water-supply." She turned to me and examined me +with calm criticism. "What a pity you didn't discover the elixir when +you were younger, Richard. Your hair is grey at the temples." A clear +laugh suddenly came from her. "What a lot of jealously there will be, +Alexis. The old ones will be so envious of the young. Think how Madame +Réaour will rage--and Betty, and the Signora--all my friends--oh, I feel +quite glad now that it doesn't make people younger. You are sure it +won't?" + +"I don't think so," said Sarakoff, watching her through half-closed +lids. "No, I think you are safe, Leonora." + +"And my voice?" + +"It will preserve that ... indefinitely, I think." + +She was arrested by the new idea. She looked into the distance and +fingered the pearls at her throat. + +"Then I shall become the most famous singer in the whole world," she +murmured. "And I shall have all the money I want. My friend, you have +done me a service. I will not forget it." She looked at him and laughed +slightly. "But I do not think you have done the world a service. A great +many people will not like the germ. No, they will desire to get rid of +it, Alexis." + +She shuddered a little. I stared at her. + +"I think you are mistaken," said Alexis, gruffly. + +She shook her head. + +"Come, let us finish dinner quickly and I will take you both to my flat +and sing to you a little." + +Leonora's flat was in Whitehall Court, and of its luxury I need not +speak. I must confess to the fact that, sober and timid as is my nature, +I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. Leonora was generous. Her voice was +exquisite. I sat on a deep couch of green satin and gazed at a Chinese +idol cut in green jade, that stood on a neighbouring table, with all my +senses lulled by the charm of her singing. The sense of responsibility +fell away from me like severed cords. I became pagan as I lolled there, +a creature of sensuous feeling. Sarakoff lay back in a deep chair in the +shadow with his eyes fixed on Leonora. We were both in a kind of +delicious drowsiness when the opening of the door roused us. + +Leonora stopped abruptly. With some difficulty I removed my gaze from +the Chinese figure, which had hypnotized me, and looked round +resentfully. + +Lord Alberan was standing in the doorway. He seemed surprised to find +that Leonora had visitors. I could not help marking a slight air of +proprietorship in his manner. + +"I am afraid I am interrupting," he said smoothly. He crossed to the +piano and leant over Leonora. "You got my telegram?" + +"No," she replied; "I did not even know you had returned from France." + +"I came the day before yesterday. I had to go down to Maltby Towers. I +came up to town to-day and wired you on the way." + +He straightened himself and turned towards us. Leonora rose and came +down the room. We rose. + +"Geoffrey," she said, drawling slightly, "I want to introduce you to two +friends of mine. They will soon be very famous--more famous than you +are--because they have discovered a germ that is going to keep us all +young." + +Lord Alberan glanced at me and then looked hard at the Russian. A +swiftly passing surprise shewed that he recognized Sarakoff. Leonora +mentioned our names casually, took up a cigarette and dropped into a +chair. + +"Yes," she continued, "these gentlemen have put the germ into the water +that supplies Birmingham." She struck a match and lit the cigarette. I +noticed she actually smoked very little, but seemed to like to watch the +burning cigarette. "Do sit down. What are you standing for, Geoffrey?" + +Lord Alberan's attitude relaxed. He had evidently decided on his course +of action. + +"That is very interesting," he observed, as if he had never seen +Sarakoff before. "A germ that is going to keep us all young. It reminds +me of the Arabian Nights. I should like to see it." + +"You've seen it already," replied Sarakoff, imperturbably. + +Lord Alberan's cold eyes looked steadily before him. His mouth +tightened. + +"Really?" + +"You saw it at Charing Cross Station the night before last." + +"At Charing Cross Station?" + +I tried to signal to the Russian, but he seemed determined to proceed. + +"Yes--you thought I was an anarchist. You saw the contents of my bag. +Six tubes containing a blue-coloured gelatine. Perhaps, Lord Alberan, +you remember now." + +"I remember perfectly," he exclaimed, smiling slightly. "Yes, I regret +my mistake. One has to be careful." + +"Did you think my Alexis was an anarchist?" cried Leonora. "You are the +stupidest of Englishmen." + +It was obvious that Alberan did not like this. He glanced at a thin gold +watch that he carried in his waistcoat pocket. + +"I will not interrupt you any longer," he remarked gravely. "You are +quite occupied, I see, and I much apologize for intruding." + +"Don't be still more stupid," she said lazily. "Sit down. Tell me how +you like the idea of never dying." + +"I am afraid I cannot entertain the idea seriously." He hesitated and +then looked firmly at Sarakoff. "Do I understand, sir, that you have +actually put some germ into the Birmingham water-supply?" + +The Russian nodded. + +"You'll hear about it in a day or two," he said quietly. + +"You had permission to do this?" + +"No, I had no permission." + +"Are you aware that you are making a very extraordinary statement, sir?" + +"Perfectly." + +Lord Alberan became very red. The lower part of his face seemed to +expand. His eyes protruded. + +"Don't gobble," said Leonora. + +"Gobble?" stuttered Alberan, turning upon her. "How dare you say I +gobble?" + +"But you are gobbling." + +"I refuse to stay here another moment. I will leave immediately. As for +you, sir, you shall hear from me in course of time. To-morrow I am +compelled to go abroad again, but when I return I shall institute a +vigorous and detailed enquiry into your movements, which are highly +suspicious, sir,--highly suspicious." He moved to the door and then +turned. "Mademoiselle, I wish you good-night." He bowed stiffly and went +out. + +"Thank heaven, I've got rid of him for good," murmured Leonora. "He +proposed to me last week, Alexis." + +"And what did you say?" asked Sarakoff. + +"I said I would see, but things are different now." She turned her eyes +straight in his direction. "That is, if you have told me the truth, +Alexis. Oh, isn't it wonderful!" She jumped up and threw out her arms. +"Suppose that it all comes true, Alexis! Immortality--always to be young +and beautiful!" + +"It will come true," he said. + +She lowered her arms slowly and looked at him. + +"I wonder how long love will last?" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE BLUE DISEASE + + +Next day the first news of the Sarakoff-Harden bacillus appeared in a +small paragraph in an evening paper, and immediately I saw it, I hurried +back to the house in Harley Street where Sarakoff was writing a record +of our researches. + +"Listen to this," I cried, bursting excitedly into the room. I laid the +paper on the table and pointed to the column. "Curious disease among +trout in Wales," I read. "In the Elan reservoirs which have long been +famed for their magnificent trout, which have recently increased so +enormously in size and number that artificial stocking is entirely +unnecessary, a curious disease has made its appearance. Fish caught +there this morning are reported to have an unnatural bluish tint, and +their flesh, when cooked, retains this hue. It is thought that some +disease has broken out. Against this theory is the fact that no dead +fish have been observed. The Water Committee of the City Council of +Birmingham are investigating this matter." + +Sarakoff pushed his chair back and twisted it round towards me. For some +moments we stared at each other with almost scared expressions. Then a +smile passed over the Russian's face. + +"Ah, we had forgotten that. A bluish tint! Of course, it was to be +expected." + +"Yes," I cried, "and what is more, the bluish tint will show itself in +every man, woman or child infected with the bacillus. Good heavens, +fancy not thinking of that ourselves!" + +Sarakoff picked up the paper and read the paragraph for himself. Then he +laid it down. "It is strange that one so persistently neglects the +obvious in one's calculations. Of course there will be a bluish tint." +He leaned back and pulled at his beard. "I should think it will show +itself in the whites of the eyes first, just as jaundice shews itself +there. Leonora won't like that--it won't suit her colouring. You see +that these fish, when cooked, retained the bluish hue. That is very +interesting." + +"It's very bad luck on the trout." + +"Why?" + +"After getting the bacillus into their system, they blunder on to a hook +and meet their death straight away." + +"The bacillus is not proof against death by violence," replied Sarakoff +gravely. "That is a factor that will always remain constant. We are +agreed in looking on all disease as eventually due to poisons derived +from germ activity, but a bang on the head or asphyxiation or prussic +acid or a bullet in the heart are not due to a germ. Yes, these poor +trout little knew what a future they forfeited when they took the bait." + +"The bacillus is in Birmingham by now," I said suddenly. I passed my +hand across my brow nervously, and glanced at the manuscript lying +before Sarakoff. "You had better keep those papers locked up. I spent an +awful day at the hospital. It dawned on me that the whole medical +profession will want to tear us in pieces before the year is out." + +"In theory they ought not to." + +"Who cares for theory, when it is a question of earning a living? As I +walked along the street to-day, I could have shrieked aloud when I saw +everybody hurrying about as if nothing were going to happen. This is +unnerving me. It is so tremendous." + +Sarakoff picked up his pen, and traced out a pattern in the blotting-pad +before him. + +"The Water Committee of Birmingham are investigating the matter," he +observed. "It will be amusing to hear their report. What will they think +when they make a bacteriological examination of the water in the +reservoir? It will stagger them." + +The next morning I was down to breakfast before my friend and stood +before the fire eagerly scanning the papers. At first I could find +nothing that seemed to indicate any further effects of the bacillus. I +was in the act of buttering a piece of toast when my eye fell on one of +the newspapers lying beside me. A heading in small type caught my eye. + +"_The measles epidemic in Ludlow._" I picked the paper up. + +"The severe epidemic of measles which began last week and seemed likely +to spread through the entire town, has mysteriously abated. Not only are +no further cases reported, but several doctors report that those +already attacked have recovered in an incredibly short space of time. +Doubt has been expressed by the municipal authorities as to whether the +epidemic was really measles." + +I adjusted my glasses to read the paragraph again. Then I got up and +went into my study. After rummaging in a drawer I pulled out and +unrolled a map of England. The course of the aqueduct from Elan to +Birmingham was marked by a thin red line. I followed it slowly with the +point of my finger and came on the town of Ludlow about half-way along. +I stared at it. + +"Of course," I whispered at length, my finger still resting on the +position of the town. "All these towns on the way are supplied by the +aqueduct. I hadn't thought of that. The bacillus is in Ludlow." + +For about a minute I did not move. Then I rolled up the map and went up +to Sarakoff's bedroom. I met the Russian on the landing on his way to +the bathroom. + +"The bacillus is in Ludlow," I said in a curiously small voice. I stood +on the top stair, holding on to the bannister, my big glasses aslant on +my nose, and the map hanging down in my limp grasp. + +I had to repeat the sentence before Sarakoff heard me. + +"Where's Ludlow?" + +I sank on my knees and unrolled the map on the floor and pointed +directly with my finger. + +Sarakoff went down on all fours and looked at the spot keenly. + +"Ah, on the line of the aqueduct! But how do you know it is there?" + +"It has cut short an epidemic of measles. The doctors are puzzled." + +Sarakoff nodded. He was looking at the names of the other towns that lay +on the course of the aqueduct. + +"Cleobury-Mortimer," he spelt out. "No news from there?" + +"None." + +"And none from Birmingham yet?" + +"None." + +"We'll have news to-morrow." He raised himself on his knees. "Trout and +then measles!" he said, and laughed. "This is only the beginning. No +wonder the Ludlow doctors are puzzled." + +The same evening there was further news of the progress of the bacillus. +From Cleobury-Mortimer, ten miles from Ludlow, and twenty from +Birmingham, it was reported that the measles epidemic there had been cut +short in the same mysterious manner as noticed in Ludlow. But next +morning a paragraph of considerable length appeared which I read out in +a trembling voice to Sarakoff. + +"It was reported a short time ago that the trout in the Elan +reservoirs appeared to be suffering from a singular disease, the +effect of which was to tint their scales and flesh a delicate bluish +colour. The matter is being investigated. In the meanwhile it has been +noticed, both in Ludlow and Cleobury-Mortimer, and also in Knighton, +that the peculiar bluish tint has appeared amongst the inhabitants. +Our correspondent states that it is most marked in the conjunctivę, or +whites of the eyes. There must undoubtedly be some connection between +this phenomenon and the condition of the trout in the Elan reservoirs, +as all the above-mentioned towns lie close to, and receive water from, +the great aqueduct. The most remarkable thing, however, is that the +bluish discolouration does not seem to be accompanied by any symptoms +of illness in those whom it has affected. No sickness or fever has +been observed. It is perhaps nothing more than a curious coincidence +that the abrupt cessation of the measles epidemic in Ludlow and +Cleobury-Mortimer, reported in yesterday's issue, should have occurred +simultaneously with the appearance of bluish discolouration among the +inhabitants." + +On the same evening, I was returning from the hospital and saw the +following words on a poster:-- + +"Blue Disease in Birmingham." + +I bought a paper and scanned the columns rapidly. In the stop-press news +I read:-- + +"The Blue Disease has appeared in Birmingham. Cases are reported all +over the city. The Public Health Department are considering what +measures should be adopted. The disease seems to be unaccompanied by any +dangerous symptoms." + +I stood stock-still in the middle of the pavement. A steady stream of +people hurrying from business thronged past me. A newspaper boy was +shouting something down the street, and as he drew nearer, I heard his +hoarse voice bawling out:-- + +"Blue Disease in Birmingham." + +He passed close to me, still bawling, and his voice died away in the +distance. Men jostled me and glanced at me angrily.... But I was lost in +a dream. The paper dropped from my fingers. In my mind's eye I saw the +Sarakoff-Harden bacillus in Birmingham, teeming in every water-pipe in +countless billions, swarming in the carafes on dining-room tables, and +in every ewer and finger-basin, infecting everything it came in contact +with. And the vision of Birmingham and the whole stretch of country up +to the Elan watershed passed before me, stained with a vivid blue. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE MAN FROM BIRMINGHAM + + +The following day while walking to the hospital, I noticed a group of +people down a side street, apparently looking intently at something +unusual. I turned aside to see what it was. About twenty persons, mostly +errand boys, were standing round a sandwich-board man. At the outskirts +of the circle, I raised myself on tip-toe and peered over the heads of +those in front. The sandwich-board man's back was towards me. + +"What's the matter?" I asked of my neighbour. + +"One of the blue freaks from Birmingham," was the reply. + +My first impulse was to fly. Here I was in close proximity to my +handiwork. I turned and made off a few paces. But curiosity overmastered +me, and I came back. The man was now facing me, and I could see him +distinctly through a gap in the crowd. It was a thin, unshaven face with +straightened features and gaunt cheeks. The eyes were deeply sunken and +at that moment turned downwards. His complexion was pale, but I could +see a faint bluish tinge suffusing the skin, that gave it a strange, +dead look. And then the man lifted his eyes and gazed straight at me. I +caught my breath, for under the black eye brows, the whites of the eyes +were stained a pure sparrow-egg blue. + +"I came from Birmingham yesterday," I heard him saying. "There ain't +nothing the matter with me." + +"You ought to go to a fever hospital," said someone. + +"We don't want that blue stuff in London," added another. + +"Perhaps it's catching," said the first speaker. + +In a flash everyone had drawn back. The sandwich-board man stood in the +centre of the road alone looking sharply round him. Suddenly a wave of +rage seemed to possess him. He shook his fist in the air, and even as he +shook it, his eyes caught the blue sheen of the tense skin over the +knuckles. He stopped, staring stupidly, and the rage passed from his +face, leaving it blank and incredulous. + +"Lor' lumme," he muttered. "If that ain't queer." + +He held out his hand, palm downwards. And from the pavement I saw that +the man's nails were as blue as pieces of turquoise. + +The sun came out from behind a passing cloud and sent a sudden flame of +radiance over the scene in the side street--the sandwich-board man, his +face still blank and incredulous, staring stupidly at his hands; the +crowd standing well back in a wide semi-circle; I further forward, +peering through my spectacles and clutching my umbrella convulsively. +Then a tall man, in morning coat and top-hat, pushed his way through and +touched the man from Birmingham on the shoulder. + +"Can you come to my house?" he asked in an undertone. "I am a doctor and +would like to examine you." + +I shifted my gaze and recognized Dr. Symington-Tearle. The man pointed +to his boards. + +"How about them things?" + +"Oh, you can get rid of them. I'll pay you. Here is my card with the +address. I'll expect you in half-an-hour, and it will be well worth +while your coming." + +Symington-Tearle moved away, and a sudden spasm of jealousy affected me +as I watched the well-shaped top-hat glittering down the street in the +strong sunlight. Why should Symington-Tearle be given an opportunity of +impressing a credulous world with some fantastic rubbish of his own +devising? I stepped into the road. + +"Do you want a five-pound note?" I asked. The man jumped with surprise. +"Very well. Come round to this address at once." + +I handed him my card. My next move was to telephone to the hospital to +say I would be late, and retrace my footsteps homewards. + +My visitor arrived in a very short time, after handing over his boards +to a comrade on the understanding of suitable compensation, and was +shown into my study. Sarakoff was present, and he pored over the man's +nails and eyes and skin with rapt attention. At last he enquired how he +felt. + +"Ain't never felt so well in me life," said the man. "I was saying to a +pal this morning 'ow well I felt." + +"Do you feel as if you were drunk?" asked Sarakoff tentatively. + +"Well, sir, now you put it that way, I feel as if I'd 'ad a good glass +of beer. Not drunk, but 'appy." + +"Are you naturally cheerful?" + +"I carn't say as I am, sir. My profession ain't a very cheery one, not +in all sorts and kinds of weather." + +"But you are distinctly more cheerful this morning than usual?" + +"I am, sir. I don't deny it. I lost my temper sudden like when that +crowd drew away from me as if I'd got the leprosy, and I'm usually a +mild and forbearin' man." + +"Sit down," said Sarakoff. The man obeyed, and Sarakoff began to examine +him carefully. He told him once or twice not to speak, but the man +seemed in a loquacious mood and was incapable of silence for more than a +minute of time. + +"And I ain't felt so clear 'eaded not for years," he remarked. "I seem +to see twice as many things to what I used to, and everything seems to +'ave a new coat of paint. I was saying to a pal early this morning what +a very fine place Trafalgar Square was and 'ow I'd never seemed to +notice it before, though I've known it all my life. And up Regent Street +I begun to notice all sort o' little things I'd never seen before, +though it was my old beat 'afore I went to Birmingham. O' course it may +be because I been out o' London a spell. But blest if I ever seed so +many fine shop windows in Regent Street before, or so many different +colours." + +"Headache?" + +"Bless you, no, sir. Just the opposite, if you understand." He looked +round suddenly. "What's that noise?" he asked. "It's been worryin' me +since I came in here." + +We listened intently, but neither I nor Sarakoff could hear anything. + +"It comes from there." The man pointed to the laboratory door. I went +and opened it and stood listening. In a corner by the window a +clock-work recording barometer was ticking with a faint rhythm. + +"That's the noise," said the man from Birmingham. "I knew it wasn't no +clock, 'cause it's too fast." + +Sarakoff glanced significantly at me. + +"All the senses very acute," he said. "At least, hearing and seeing." He +took a bottle from the laboratory and uncorked it in one corner of the +study. "Can you smell what this is?" + +The man, sitting ten feet away, gave one sniff. + +"Ammonia," he said promptly, and sneezed. "This 'ere Blue Disease," said +the man after a long pause, "is it dangerous?" + +He spread out his fingers, squeezing the turquoise nails to see if the +colour faded. He frowned to find it fixed. I was standing at the window, +my back to the room and my hands twisting nervously with each other +behind me. + +"No, it is not dangerous," said Sarakoff. He sat on the edge of the +writing-table, swinging his legs and staring meditatively at the floor. +"It is not dangerous, is it, Harden?" + +I replied only with a jerky, impatient movement. + +"What I mean," persisted the man, "is this--supposin' the police arrest +me, when I go back to my job. 'Ave they a right? 'Ave people a right to +give me the shove--to put me in a 'orspital? That crowd round me in the +street--it confused me, like--as if I was a leper." He paused and looked +up at Sarakoff enquiringly. "What's the cause of it?" + +"A germ--a bacillus." + +"Same as what gives consumption?" + +Sarakoff nodded. "But this germ is harmless," he added. + +"Then I ain't going to die?" + +"No. That's just the point. You aren't going to die," said the Russian +slowly. "That's what is so strange." + +I jumped round from the window. + +"How do you know?" I said fiercely. "There's no proof. It's all theory +so far. The calculations may be wrong." + +The man stared at me wonderingly. He saw me as a man fighting with some +strange anxiety, with his forehead damp and shining, his spectacles +aslant on his nose and the heavy folds of his frock-coat shaken with a +sudden impetuosity. + +"How do you know?" I repeated, shaking my fist in the air. "How do you +know he isn't going to die?" + +Sarakoff fingered his beard in silence, but his eyes shone with a quiet +certainty. To the man from Birmingham it must have seemed suddenly +strange that we should behave in this manner. His mind was sharpened to +perceive things. Yesterday, had he been present at a similar scene, he +would probably have sat dully, finding nothing curious in my passionate +attitude and the calm, almost insolent, inscrutability of Sarakoff. He +forgot his turquoise finger nails, and stared, open-mouthed. + +"Ain't going to die?" he said. "What do yer mean?" + +"Simply that you aren't going to die," was Sarakoff's soft answer. + +"Yer mean, not die of the Blue Disease?" + +"Not die at all." + +"Garn! Not die at all." He looked at me. "What's he mean, Mister?" He +looked almost surprised with himself at catching the drift of Sarakoff's +sentence. Inwardly he felt something insistent and imperious, forcing +him to grasp words, to blunder into new meanings. Some new force was +alive in him and he was carried on by it in spite of himself. He felt +strung up to a pitch of nervous irritation. He got up from his chair and +came forward, pointing at Sarakoff. "What's this?" he demanded. "Why +don't you speak out? Yer cawn't hide it from me." He stopped. His brain, +working at unwonted speed, had discovered a fresh suspicion. "Look 'ere, +you two know something about this blue disease." He came a step closer, +and looking cunningly in my face, said: "That's why you offered me a +five-pound note, ain't it?" + +I avoided the scrutiny of the sparrow-egg blue orbs close before me. + +"I offered you the money because I wished to examine you," I said +shortly. "Here it is. You can go now." + +I took a note from a safe in the corner of the room, and held it out. +The man took it, felt its crispness and stowed it away in a secure +pocket. His thoughts were temporarily diverted by the prospect of an +immediate future with plenty of money, and he picked up his hat and went +to the door. But his turquoise finger nails lying against the rusty +black of the hat brought him back to his suspicions. He paused and +turned. + +"My name's Wain," he said. "I'm telling you, in case you might 'ear of +me again. 'Erbert Wain. I know what yours is, remember, because I seed +it on the door." He twisted his hat round several times in his hands and +drew his brows together, puzzled at the speed of his ideas. Then he +remembered the card that Symington-Tearle had given him. + +He pulled it out and examined it. "I'm going across to see this gent," +he announced. "It's convenient, 'im living so close. Perhaps he'll 'ave +a word to say about this 'ere disease. Fair spread over Birmingham, so +they say. It would be nasty if any bloke was responsible for it. Good +day to yer." He opened the door slowly, and glanced back at us standing +in the middle of the room watching him. "Look 'ere," he said swiftly, +"what did 'e mean, saying I was never going to die and----" The light +from the window was against his eyes, and he could not see the features +of Sarakoff's face, but there was something in the outline of his body +that checked him. "Guv'ner, it ain't true." The words came hoarsely from +his lips. "I ain't never not going to die." + +Sarakoff spoke. + +"You are never going to die, Mr. Herbert Wain ... you understand?... +_Never_ going to die, unless you get killed in an accident--or starve." + +I jerked up my hand to stop my friend. + +Wain stared incredulously. Then he burst into a roar of laughter and +smacked his thigh. + +"Gor lumme!" he exclaimed, "if that ain't rich. Never going to die! Live +for ever! Strike me, if that ain't a notion!" The tears ran down his +cheeks and he paused to wipe them away. "If I was to believe what you +say," he went on, "it would fair drive me crazy. Live for ever--s'elp +me, if that wouldn't be just 'ell. Good-day to yer, gents. I'm obliged +to yer." + +He went out into the sunlit street still roaring with laughter, a thin, +ragged, tattered figure, with the shadow of immortality upon him. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE ILLNESS OF MR. ANNOT + + +The departure of Mr. Herbert Wain was a relief. I turned to Sarakoff at +once and spoke with some heat. + +"You were more than imprudent to give that fellow hints that we knew +more about the Blue Disease than anybody else," I exclaimed. "This may +be the beginning of incalculable trouble." + +"Nonsense," replied the Russian. "You are far too apprehensive, Harden. +What can he do?" + +"What may he not do?" I cried bitterly. "Do you suppose London will +welcome the spread of the germ? Do you think that people will be pleased +to know that you and I were responsible for its appearance?" + +"When they realize that it brings immortality with it, they will hail us +as the saviours of humanity." + +"Mr. Herbert Wain did not seem to accept the idea of immortality with +any pleasure," I muttered. "The suggestion seemed to strike him as +terrible." + +Sarakoff laughed genially. + +"My friend," he said, "Mr. Herbert Wain is not a man of vision. He is a +cockney, brought up in the streets of a callous city. To him life is a +hard struggle, and immortality naturally appears in a poor light. You +must have patience. It will take some time before the significance of +this immortality is grasped by the people. But when it is grasped, all +the conditions of life will change. Life will become beautiful. We will +have reforms that, under ordinary circumstances, would have taken +countless ages to bring about. We will anticipate our evolution by +thousands of centuries. At one step we will reach the ultimate goal of +our destiny." + +"And what is that?" + +"Immortality, of course. Surely you must see by now that all the +activities of modern life are really directed towards one end--towards +solving the riddle of prolonging life and at the same time increasing +pleasure? Isn't that the inner secret desire that you doctors find in +every patient? So far a compromise has only been possible, but now that +is all changed." + +"I don't agree, Sarakoff. Some people must live for other motives. Take +myself ... I live for science." + +"It is merely your form of pleasure." + +"That's a quibble," I cried angrily. "Science is aspiration. There's all +the difference in the world between aspiration and pleasure. I have +scarcely known what pleasure is. I have worked like a slave all my life, +with the sole ambition of leaving something permanent behind me when I +die." + +"But you won't die," interposed the Russian. "That is the charm of the +new situation." + +"Then why should I work?" The question shaped itself in my mind and I +uttered it involuntarily. I sat down and stared at the fire. A kind of +dull depression came over me, and for some reason the picture of +Sarakoff's butterflies appeared in my mind. I saw them with great +distinctness, crawling aimlessly on the floor of their cage. "Why should +I work?" I repeated. + +Sarakoff merely shrugged his shoulders and turned away. Questions of +that kind did not seem to bother him. His was a nature that escaped the +necessity of self-analysis. But I was different, and our conversation +had aroused a train of odd thought. What, after all, was it that kept my +nose to the grindstone? Why had I slaved incessantly all my life, +reading when I might have slept, examining patients when I might have +been strolling through meadows, hurrying through meals when I might have +eaten at leisure? What was the cause behind all the tremendous activity +and feverish haste of modern people? When Sarakoff had said that I would +not die, and that therein lay the charm of the new situation, it seemed +as if scales had momentarily fallen from my eyes. I beheld myself as +something ridiculous, comparable to a hare that persists in dashing +along a country lane in front of the headlight of a motor car, when a +turn one way or another would bring it to safety. A great uneasiness +filled me, and with it came a determination to ignore these new fields +of thought that loomed round me--a determination that I have seen in old +men when they are faced by the new and contradictory--and I began to +force my attention elsewhere. I was relieved when the door opened and +my servant entered. She handed me a telegram. It was from Miss Annot, +asking me to come to Cambridge at once, as her father was seriously ill. +I scribbled a reply, saying I would be down that afternoon. + +After the servant had left the room, I remained gazing at the fire, but +my depression left me. In place of it I felt a quiet elation, and it was +not difficult for me to account for it. + +"I was wrong in saying that I had scarcely known what pleasure is," I +observed at length, looking up at Sarakoff with a smile. "I must confess +to you that there is one factor in my life that gives me great +pleasure." + +Sarakoff placed himself before me, hands in pockets and pipe in mouth, +and gazed at me with an answering smile in his dark face. + +"A woman?" + +I flushed. The Russian seemed amused. + +"I thought as much," he remarked. "This year I noticed a change in you. +Your fits of abstraction suggested it. Well, may I congratulate you? +When are you to be married?" + +"That is out of the question at present," I answered hurriedly. "In +fact, there is no definite arrangement--just a mutual understanding.... +She is not free." + +Sarakoff raised his shaggy eyebrows. + +"Then she is already married?" + +This cross-examination was intensely painful to me. Between Miss Annot +and myself there was, I hoped, a perfect understanding, and I quite +realized the girl's position. She was devoted to her father, who +required her constant attention and care, and until she was free there +could be no question of marriage, or even an engagement, for fear of +wounding the old man's feelings. I quite appreciated her situation and +was content to wait. + +"No! She has an invalid father, and----" + +"Rubbish!" said Sarakoff, with remarkable force. "Rubbish! Marry her, +man, and then think of her father. Why, that sort of thing----" He drew +a deep breath and checked himself. + +I shook my head. + +"That is impossible. Here, in England, we cannot do such things.... The +girl's duty is plain. I am quite prepared to wait." + +"To wait for what?" + +I looked at him in unthinking surprise. + +"Until Mr. Annot dies, of course." + +Sarakoff remained motionless. Then he took his pipe out of his mouth, +strolled to the window, and began to whistle to himself in subdued +tones. A moment later he left the room. I picked up a time-table and +looked out a train, a little puzzled by his behaviour. + +I reached Cambridge early in the afternoon and took a taxi to the +Annots' house. Miss Annot met me at the door. + +"It is so good of you to come," she said with a faint smile. "My father +behaved very foolishly yesterday. He insisted on inviting the Perrys to +lunch, and he talked a great deal and insisted on drinking wine, with +the result that in the night he had a return of his gastritis. He is +very weak to-day and his mind seems to be wandering a little." + +"You should not have allowed him to do that," I remonstrated. "He is in +too fragile a state to run any risks." + +"Oh, but I couldn't help it. The Perrys are such old friends of +father's, and they were only staying one day in Cambridge. Father would +have fretted if they had not come." + +I had taken off my coat in the hall, and we were now standing in the +drawing-room. + +"You are tired, Alice," I said. + +"I've been up most of the night," she replied, with an effort towards +brightness. "But I do feel tired, I admit." + +I turned away from her and went to the window. For the first time I felt +the awkwardness of our position. I had a strong and natural impulse to +comfort her, but what could I do? After a moment's reflection, I made a +sudden resolution. + +"Alice," I said, "you and I had better become engaged. Don't you think +it would be easier for you?" + +"Oh, don't," she cried. "Father would never endure the idea that I +belonged to another man. He would worry about my leaving him +continually. No, please wait. Perhaps it will not be----" + +She checked herself. I remained silent, staring at the pattern of the +carpet with a frown. To my annoyance, I could not keep Sarakoff's words +out of my mind. And yet Alice was right. I felt sure that no one is a +free agent in the sense that he or she can be guided solely by love. It +is necessary to make a compromise. As these thoughts formed in my mind I +again seemed to hear the loud voice of Sarakoff, sounding in derision +at my cautious views. A conflict arose in my soul. I raised my eyes and +looked at Alice. She was standing by the mantelpiece, staring listlessly +at the grate. A wave of emotion passed over me. I took a step towards +her. + +"Alice!" And then the words stuck in my throat. She turned her head and +her eyes questioned me. I tried to continue, but something prevented me, +and I became suddenly calm again. "Please take me up to your father," I +begged her. She obeyed silently, and I followed her upstairs. + +Mr. Annot was lying in a darkened room with his eyes closed. He was a +very old man, approaching ninety, with a thin aquiline face and white +hair. He lay very still, and at first I thought he was unconscious. But +his pulse was surprisingly good, and his breathing deep and regular. + +"He is sleeping," I murmured. + +She leaned over the bed. + +"He scarcely slept during the night," she whispered. "This will do him +good." + +"His pulse could not be better," I murmured. + +She peered at him more closely. + +"Isn't he very pale?" + +I stooped down, so that my face was close to hers. The old man certainly +looked very pale. A marble-like hue lay over his features, and yet the +skin was warm to the touch. + +"How long has he been asleep?" I asked. + +"He was awake over an hour ago, when I looked in last. He said then that +he was feeling drowsy." + +"I think we'll wake him up." + +Alice hesitated. + +"Won't you wait for tea?" she whispered. "He would probably be awake by +then." + +I shook my head. + +"I must get back to London by five. Do you mind if we have a little more +light?" + +She moved to the window and raised the blind half way. I examined the +old man attentively. There was no doubt about the curious pallor of his +skin. It was like the pallor of extreme collapse, save for the presence +of a faint colour in his cheeks which seemed to lie as a bright +transparency over a dead background. My fingers again sought his pulse. +It was full and steady. As I counted it my eyes rested on his hand. + +I stooped down suddenly with an exclamation. Alice hurried to my side. + +"Where did those friends of his come from?" I asked swiftly. + +"The Perrys? From Birmingham." + +"Was there anything wrong with them?" + +"What do you mean?" + +Before I could reply the old man opened his eyes. The light fell clearly +on his face. Alice uttered a cry of horror. I experienced an +extraordinary sensation of fear. Out of the marble pallor of Mr. Annot's +face, two eyes, stained a sparrow-egg blue, stared keenly at us. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE RESURRECTION + + +For some moments none of us spoke. Alice recovered herself first. + +"What is the matter with him?" she gasped. + +I was incapable of finding a suitable reply, and stood, tongue-tied, +staring foolishly at the old man. He seemed a little surprised at our +behaviour. + +"Dr. Harden," he said, "I am glad to see you. My daughter did not tell +me you were coming." + +His voice startled me. It was strong and clear. On my previous visit to +him he had spoken in quavering tones. + +"Oh, father, how do you feel?" exclaimed Alice, kneeling beside the bed. + +"My dear, I feel extremely well. I have not felt so well for many +years." He stretched out his hand and patted his daughter's head. "Yes, +my sleep has done me good. I should like to get up for tea." + +"But your eyes----" stammered Alice "Can you see, father?" + +"See, my dear? What does she mean, Dr. Harden?" + +"There is some discolouration of the conjunctivę," I said hastily. "It +is nothing to worry about." + +At that moment Alice caught sight of his finger nails. + +"Look!" she cried, "they're blue." + +The old man raised his hands and looked at them in astonishment. + +"How extraordinary," he murmured. "What do you make of that, doctor?" + +"It is nothing," I assured him. "It is only pigmentation +caused--er--caused by some harmless germ." + +"I know what it is," cried Alice suddenly. "It's the Blue Disease. +Father, you remember the Perrys were telling us about it yesterday at +lunch. They said it was all over Birmingham, and that they had come +south partly to escape it. They must have brought the infection with +them." + +"Yes," I said, "that is certainly the explanation. And now, Mr. Annot, +let me assure you that this disease is harmless. It has no ill effects." + +Mr. Annot sat up in bed with an exhibition of vigour that was remarkable +in a man of his age. + +"I can certainly witness to the fact that it causes no ill effects, Dr. +Harden," he exclaimed. "This morning I felt extremely weak and was +prepared for the end. But now I seem to have been endowed with a fresh +lease of life. I feel young again. Do you think this Blue Disease is the +cause of it?" + +"Possibly. It is difficult to say," I answered in some confusion. "But +you must not think of getting up, Mr. Annot. Rest in bed for the next +week is essential." + +"Humbug!" cried the old man, fixing his brilliant eyes upon me. "I am +going to get up this instant." + +"Oh, father, please don't be so foolish!" + +"Foolish, child? Do you think I'm going to lie here when I feel as if my +body and mind had been completely rejuvenated? I repeat I am going to +get up. Nothing on earth will keep me in bed." + +The old man began to remove the bedclothes. I made an attempt to +restrain him, but was met by an outburst of irritation that warned me +not to interfere. I motioned Alice to follow me, and together we left +the room. As we went downstairs I heard a curious sound proceeding from +Mr. Annot's bedroom. We halted on the stairs and listened. The sound +became louder and clearer. + +"Father is singing," said Alice in a low voice. Then she took out her +handkerchief and began to sob. + +We continued our way downstairs, Alice endeavouring to stifle her sobs, +and I in a dazed condition of mind. I was stunned by the fact that that +mad experiment of ours should have had such a sudden and strange result. +It produced in me a fear that was far worse to bear than the vague +anxiety I had felt ever since those fatal tubes of the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus had been emptied into the lake. I stumbled into the +drawing-room and threw myself upon a chair. My legs were weak, and my +hands were trembling. + +"Alice," I said, "you must not allow this to distress you. The Blue +Disease is not dangerous." + +She lifted a tear-stained face and looked at me dully. + +"Richard, I can't bear it any longer. I've given half my life to looking +after father. I simply can't bear it." + +I sat up and stared at her. What strange intuition had come to her? + +"What do you mean?" + +She sobbed afresh. + +"I can't endure the sight of him with those blue eyes," she went on, +rather wildly. "Richard, I must get away. I've never been from him for +more than a few hours at a time for the last fifteen years. Don't think +I want him to die." + +"I don't." + +"I'm glad he's better," she remarked irrelevantly. + +"So am I." + +"The Perrys were saying that the doctors up in Birmingham think that the +Blue Disease cut short other diseases, and made people feel better." She +twisted her handkerchief for some moments. "Does it?" she asked, looking +at me directly. + +"I--er--I have heard it does." + +An idea had come into my mind, and I could not get rid of it. Why should +I not tell her all that I knew? + +"I'm thirty-five," she remarked. + +"And I'm forty-two." I tried to smile. + +"Life's getting on for us both," she added. + +"I know, Alice. I suggested that we should get engaged a short while +ago. Now I suggest that we get married--as soon as possible." I got up +and paced the room. "Why not?" I demanded passionately. + +She shook her head, and appeared confused. + +"It's impossible. Who could look after him? I should never be happy, +Richard, as long as he was living." + +I stopped before her. + +"Not with me?" + +"No, Richard. I should be left a great deal to myself. A doctor's wife +always is. I've thought it out carefully. I would think of him." + +After a long silence, I made a proposal that I had refused to entertain +before. + +"Well, there's no reason why he should not come and live with us. There +is plenty of room in my house at Harley Street. Would that do?" + +It was a relief to me when she said that she would not consent to an +arrangement of that kind. I sat down again. + +"Alice," I said quietly, "it is necessary that we should decide our +future. There are special reasons." + +She glanced at me enquiringly. There was a pause in which I tried to +collect my thoughts. + +"Your father," I continued, "is suffering from a very peculiar disease. +It is wrong, perhaps, to call it a disease. You wouldn't call life a +disease, would you?" + +"I don't understand." + +"No, of course not. Well, to put it as simply as possible, it is likely +that your father will live a long time now. When he said he felt as if +his mind and body had been rejuvenated he was speaking the truth." + +"But he will be ninety next year," she said bluntly. + +"I know. But that will make no difference. This germ, that is now in his +body, has the power of arresting all further decay. Your father will +remain as he is now for an indefinite period." + +I met her eyes as steadily as I could, but there was a quality in her +gaze that caused me to look elsewhere. + +"How do you know this?" she asked after a painful silence. + +"I--er--I can't tell you." The colour mounted to my cheeks, and I began +to tap the carpet impatiently with the toe of my boot. "You wouldn't +understand," I continued in as professional a manner as I could muster. +"You would need first to study the factors that bring about old age." + +"Where did the Blue Disease come from? Tell me. I can surely understand +that!" + +"You have read the paper, haven't you?" + +"I've read that no one understands what it is, and that the doctors are +puzzled." + +"How should I know where it comes from?" + +She regarded me searchingly. + +"You know something about it," she said positively. "Richard, you are +keeping it back from me. I have a right to know what it is." + +I was silent. + +"If you don't tell me, how can I trust you again?" she asked. "Don't you +see that there will always be a shadow between us?" + +It was not difficult for me to guess that my guilty manner had roused +her suspicions. She had seen my agitation, and had found it +unaccountable. I resolved to entrust her with the secret of the germ. + +"Do you remember that I once told you my friend, Professor Sarakoff, had +succeeded in keeping butterflies alive for over a year?" + +She nodded. + +"He and I have been experimenting on those lines and he has found a germ +that has the property of keeping human beings alive in the same way. The +germ has escaped ... into the world ... and it is the cause of the Blue +Disease." + +"How did it escape?" + +I winced. In her voice I was conscious of a terrible accusation. + +"By accident," I stammered. + +She jumped to her feet. + +"I don't believe it! That is a lie!" + +"Alice, you must calm yourself! I am trying to tell you exactly what +happened." + +"Was it by accident?" + +The vision of that secret expedition to the water supply of Birmingham +passed before me. I felt like a criminal. I could not raise my eyes; my +cheeks were burning. In the silence that followed, the sound of Mr. +Annot's voice became audible. Alice stood before me, rigid and +implacable. + +"It was--by accident," I said. I tried to look at her, and failed. She +remained motionless for about a minute. Then she turned and left the +room. I heard her go slowly upstairs. A door banged. Actuated by a +sudden desire, I stepped into the hall, seized my coat and hat and +opened the front door. I was just in time. As I gently closed the door I +heard Mr. Annot on the landing above. He was singing some long-forgotten +tune in a strange cracked voice. + +I stood outside on the doorstep, listening, until, overcome by +curiosity, I bent down and lifted the flap of the letter-box. The +interior of the hall was plainly visible. Mr. Annot had ceased singing +and was now standing before the mirror which hung beside the hatstand. +He was a trifle unsteady, and swayed on his frail legs, but he was +staring at himself with a kind of savage intensity. At last he turned +away and I caught the expression on his face.... With a slight shiver, I +let down the flap noiselessly. There was something in that expression +that for me remains unnamable; and I think now, as I look back into +those past times, that of all the signs which showed me that the +Sarakoff-Harden bacillus was an offence against humanity, that strange +look on the nonagenarian's face was the most terrible and obvious. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MR. CLUTTERBUCK'S OPINION + + +When I reached London it was dusk, and a light mist hung in the +darkening air. The lamps were twinkling in the streets. I decided to get +some tea in a restaurant adjoining the station. When I entered it was +crowded, and the only seat that was empty was at a small table already +occupied by another man. I sat down, and gave my order to the waitress, +and remained staring moodily at the soiled marble surface of the table. +My neighbour was engrossed in his paper. + +During my journey from Cambridge I had come to a certain conclusion. +Sarakoff was of the opinion that we should publish a statement about the +germ of immortality, and now I was in agreement with him. For I had been +reflecting upon the capacity of human mind for retaining secrets and had +come to the conclusion that it is so constructed that its power of +retention is remarkably small. I felt that it would be a matter of +extraordinary relief if everyone in that tea-shop knew the secret of the +Blue Germ. + +I began to study the man who sat opposite me. He was a quietly dressed +middle-aged man. The expression on his rather pale, clean-shaven face +suggested that he was a clerk or secretary. He looked reliable, +unimaginative, careful and methodical. He was reading his newspaper with +close attention. A cup of tea and the remains of a toasted muffin were +at his elbow. It struck me that here was a very average type of man, and +an immense desire seized upon me to find out what opinion he would +pronounce if I were to tell him my secret. I waited until he looked up. + +"Is there any news?" I asked. + +He observed me for a moment as if he resented my question. + +"The Blue Disease is spreading in London," he remarked shortly, and +returned to his paper. I felt rebuffed, but reflected that this, after +all, was how an average man might be expected to behave. + +"A curious business," I continued. "I am a doctor, and therefore very +much interested in it." + +His manner changed. He assumed the attitude of the average man towards a +doctor at once, and I was gratified to observe it. + +"I was just thinking I'd like to hear what a doctor thinks about it," he +said, laying down his paper. "I thought of calling in on Dr. Sykes on my +way home to-night; he attends my wife. Do you know Dr. Sykes?" + +"Which one?" I asked cautiously, not willing to disappoint him. + +"Dr. Sykes of Harlesden," he said, with a look of surprise. + +"Oh, yes, I know Dr. Sykes. Why did you think of going to see him?" + +He smiled apologetically and pointed to the paper. + +"It sounds so queer ... the disease. They say, up in Birmingham, that +it's stopping all diseases in the hospitals ... everywhere. People +getting well all of a sudden. Now I don't believe that." + +"Have you seen a case yet?" + +"Yes. A woman. In the street this afternoon as I was coming from lunch. +The police took her. She was mad, I can tell you. There was a big crowd. +She screamed. I think she was drunk." He paused, and glanced at me. +"What do you think of it?" + +I took a deep breath. + +"I don't _think_, I _know_," I said, in as quiet a manner as possible. +He stared a moment, and a nervous smile appeared and swiftly vanished. +He seemed uncertain what to do. + +"You've found out something?" he asked at length, playing with his +teaspoon and keeping his eyes on the table. I regarded him carefully. I +was not quite certain if he still thought I was a doctor. + +"I'm not a lunatic," I said. "I'm merely stating a rather extraordinary +fact. I know all about the germ of the Blue Disease." + +He raised his eyes for an instant, and then lowered them. His hand had +stopped trifling with the teaspoon. + +"Yes," he said, "the doctors think it's due to a germ of some sort." He +made a sort of effort and continued. "It is funny, some of these germs +being invisible through microscopes. Measles and chickenpox and common +things like that. They've never seen the germs that cause them, that's +what the papers say. It seems odd--having something you can't see." He +turned his head, and looked for his hat that hung on a peg behind him. + +"One moment," I said. I took out my card-case. "I want you to read this +card. Don't think I'm mad. I want to talk to you for a particular reason +which I'll explain in a moment." He took the card hesitatingly and read +it. Then he looked at me. "The reason why I am speaking to you is this," +I said. "I want to find out what a decent citizen like yourself will +think of something I know. It concerns the Blue Disease and its origin." + +He seemed disturbed, and took out his watch. + +"I ought to get home. My wife----" + +"Is your wife ill?" + +"Yes." + +"What's the matter with her?" + +He frowned. + +"Dr. Sykes thinks it's lung trouble." + +"Consumption?" + +He nodded, and an expression of anxiety came over his face. + +"Good," I exclaimed. "Now listen to what I have to say. Before the week +is out your wife will be cured. I swear it." + +He said nothing. It was plain that he was still suspicious. + +"You read what they say in the papers about the Blue Disease cutting +short other diseases? Well, that Blue Disease will be all over London in +a day or two. Now do you understand?" + +I saw that I had interested him. He settled himself on his chair, and +began to examine me. His gaze travelled over my face and clothes, +pausing at my cuff-links and my tie and collar. Then he looked at my +card again. Inwardly he came to a decision. + +"I'm willing to listen to what you've got to say," he remarked, "if you +think it's worth saying." + +"Thank you. I think it's worth hearing." I leaned my arms on the table +in front of me. "This Blue Disease is not an accidental thing. It was +deliberately planned, by two scientists. I was one of those scientists." + +"You can't plan a disease," he remarked, after a considerable silence. + +"You're wrong. We found a way of creating new germs. We worked at the +idea of creating a particular kind of germ that would kill all other +germs ... and we were successful. Then we let loose the germ on the +world." + +"How?" + +"We infected the water supply of Birmingham at its origin in Wales." + +I watched his expression intently. + +"You mean that you did this secretly, without knowing what the result +would be?" he asked at last. + +"We foresaw the result to a certain extent." + +He thought for some time. + +"But you had no right to infect a water supply. That's criminal, +surely?" + +"It's criminal if the infection is dangerous to people. If you put +cholera in a reservoir, of course it's criminal." + +"But this germ...?" + +"This germ does not kill people. It kills the germs in people." + +"What's the difference?" + +"All the difference in the world! It's like this.... By the way, what is +your name?" + +"Clutterbuck." The word escaped his lips by accident. He looked +annoyed. I smiled reassuringly. + +"It's like this, Mr. Clutterbuck. If you kill all the germs in a +person's body, that person doesn't die. He lives ... indefinitely. Now +do you see?" + +"No, I don't see," said Clutterbuck with great frankness. "I don't +understand what you're driving at. You tell me that you're a doctor and +you give me a card bearing a well-known specialist's name. Then you say +you created a germ and put it in the Birmingham water supply and that +the result is the Blue Disease. This germ, you say, doesn't kill people, +but does something else which I don't follow. Now I was taught that +germs are dangerous things, and it seems to me that if your story is +true--which I don't believe--you are guilty of a criminal act." He +pushed back his chair and reached for his hat. There was a flush on his +face. + +"Then you don't believe my tale?" + +"No, I'm sorry, but I don't." + +"Well, Mr. Clutterbuck, will you believe it when you see your wife +restored to health in a few days' time?" + +He paused and stared at me. + +"What you say is impossible," he said slowly. "If you were a doctor +you'd know that as well as I do." + +"But the reports in the paper?" + +"Oh, that's journalistic rubbish." + +He picked up his umbrella and beckoned to the waitress. I made a last +attempt. + +"If I take you to my house will you believe me then?" + +"Look here," he said in an angry tone, "I've had enough of this. I can't +waste my time. I'm sure of one thing and that is that you're no doctor. +You've got somebody's card-case. You don't look like a doctor and you +don't speak like one. I should advise you to be careful." + +He moved away from the table. Some neighbouring people stared at me for +a moment and then went on eating. Mr. Clutterbuck paid at the desk and +left the establishment. I had received the verdict of the average man. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE DEAD IMMORTAL + + +When I reached home, Sarakoff was out. He had left a message to say he +would not be in until after midnight, as he was going to hear Leonora +sing at the opera, and purposed to take her to supper afterwards. Dinner +was therefore a solitary meal for me, and when it was all over I +endeavoured to plunge into some medical literature. The hours passed +slowly. It was almost impossible to read, for the process, to me, was +similar to trying to take an interest in a week-old newspaper. + +The thought of the bacillus made the pages seem colourless; it dwarfed +all meaning in the words. I gave up the attempt and set myself to +smoking and gazing into the fire. What was I to do about Alice? + +Midnight came and my mind was still seething. I knew sleep was out of +the question and the desire to walk assailed me. I put on a coat and +hat and left the house. It was a cold night, clear with stars. Harley +Street was silent. My footsteps led me south towards the river. I walked +rapidly, oblivious of others. The problem of Alice was beyond solution, +for the simple reason that I found it impossible to think of her +clearly. She was overshadowed by the wonder of the bacillus. But the +picture of her father haunted me. It filled me with strange emotions, +and at moments with stranger misgivings. + +There are meanings, dimly caught at the time, which remain in the mind +like blind creatures, mewing and half alive. They pluck at the brain +ceaselessly, seeking birth in thought. Old Annot's face peering into the +hall mirror--what was it that photographed the scene so pitilessly in my +memory? I hurried along, scarcely noticing where I went, and as I went I +argued with myself aloud. + +On the Embankment I returned to a full sense of my position in space. +The river ran beneath me, cold and dark. I leaned over the stone +balustrade and stared at the dark forms of barges. Yes, it was true +enough that I had not realized that the germ would keep Mr. Annot alive +indefinitely. Sarakoff's significant whistle that morning came to my +mind, and I saw that I had been guilty of singular denseness in not +understanding its meaning. + +And now old Annot would live on and on, year after year. Was I glad? It +is impossible to say. It was that expression in the old man's face that +dominated me. I tried to think it out. It had been a triumphant look; +and more than that ... a triumphant _toothless_ look. Was that the +solution? I reflected that triumph is an expression that belongs to +youth, to young things, to all that is striving upwards in growth. +Surely old people should look only patient and resigned--never +triumphant--in this world? Some strong action with regard to Alice's +position would be necessary. It was absurd to think that her father +should eternally come between her and me. It would be necessary to go +down to Cambridge and make a clean confession to Alice. And then, when +forgiven, I would insist on an immediate arrangement concerning our +marriage. Marriage! The word vibrated in my soul. The solemnity of that +ceremony was great enough to mere mortals, but what would it mean to us +when we were immortals? Sarakoff had hinted at a new marriage system. +Was such a thing possible? On what factors did marriage rest? Was it +merely a discipline or was it ultimately selfishness? + + +My agitation increased, and I hurried eastwards, soon entering an area +of riverside London that, had I been calmer, might have given me some +alarm. It must have been about two o'clock in the morning when the +pressure of thoughts relaxed in my mind. I found myself in the great +dock area. The forms of giant cranes rose dimly in the air. A distant +glare of light, where nightshifts were at work, illuminated the huge +shapes of ocean steamers. The quays were littered with crates and bales. +A clanking of buffers and the shrill whistles of locomotives came out of +the darkness. For some time I stood transfixed. In my imagination I saw +these big ships, laden with cargo, slipping down the Thames and out into +the sea, carrying with them an added cargo to every part of the earth. +For by them would the Blue Germ travel over the waterways of the world +and enter every port. From the ports it would spread swiftly into the +towns, and from the towns onwards across plain and prairie until the +gift of Immortality had been received by every human being. The vision +thrilled me.... + +A commotion down a side street on my right shattered this glorious +picture. Hoarse cries rang out, and a sound of blows. I could make out a +small dark struggling mass which seemed to break into separate parts and +then coalesce again. A police whistle sounded. The mass again broke up, +and some figures came rushing down the street in my direction. They +passed me in a flash, and vanished. At the far end of the street two +twinkling lights appeared. After a period of hesitation--what doctor +goes willingly into the accidents of the streets?--I walked slowly in +their direction. + +When I reached them I found two policemen bending over the body of a +man, which lay in the gutter face downwards. + +"Good evening," I said. "Can I be of any service? I am a doctor." + +They shone their lamps on me suspiciously. "What are you doing here?" + +"Walking," I replied. Exercise had calmed me. I felt cool and collected. +"I often walk far at nights. Let me see the body." + +I stooped down and turned the body over. The policemen watched me in +silence. The body was that of a young, fair-haired sailor man. There was +a knife between his ribs. His eyes were screwed up into a rigid state of +contraction which death had not yet relaxed. His whole body was rigid. I +knew that the knife had pierced his heart. But the most extraordinary +thing about him was his expression. I have never looked on a face either +in life or death that expressed such terror. Even the policemen were +startled. The light of their lamps shone on that monstrous and distorted +countenance, and we gazed in horrified silence. + +"Is he dead?" asked one at last. + +"Quite dead," I replied, "but it is odd to find this rigidity so early." +I began to press his eyelids apart. The right eye opened. I uttered a +cry of astonishment. + +"Look!" I cried. + +They stared. + +"Blest if that ain't queer," said one. "It's that Blue Disease. He must +'ave come from Birmingham." + +"Queer?" I said passionately. "Why, man, it's tragedy--unadulterated +tragedy. The man was an Immortal." + +They stared at me heavily. + +"Immortal?" said one. + +"He would have lived for ever," I said. "In his system there is the most +marvellous germ that the world has ever known. It was circulating in his +blood. It had penetrated to every part of his body. A few minutes ago, +as he walked along the dark street, he had before him a future of +unnumbered years. And now he lies in the gutter. Can you imagine a +greater tragedy?" + +The policemen transferred their gaze from me to the dead man. Then, as +if moved by a common impulse, they began to laugh. I watched them +moodily, plunged in an extraordinary vein of thought. When I moved away +they at once stopped me. + +"No, you don't," said one. "We'll want you at the police station to give +your evidence. Not," he continued with a grin, "to tell that bit of +information you just gave us, about him being an angel or something." + +"I didn't say he was an angel." + +They laughed tolerantly. Like Mr. Clutterbuck, they thought I was mad. + +"Let's hope he's an angel," said the other. "But, by his face, he looks +more like the other thing. Bill, you go round for the ambulance. I'll +stay with the gentleman." + +The policeman moved away ponderously and vanished in the darkness. + +"What was that you were saying, sir?" asked the policeman who remained +with me. + +"Never mind," I muttered, "you wouldn't understand." + +"I'm interested in religious matters," continued the policeman in a soft +voice. "You think that the Blue Disease is something out of the common?" + +I am never surprised at London policemen, but I looked at this one +closely before I replied. + +"You seem a reasonable man," I said. "Let me tell you that what I have +told you about the germ--that it confers immortality--is correct. In a +day or two you will be immortal." + +He seemed to reflect in a calm massive way on the news. His eyes were +fixed on the dead man's face. + +"An Immortal Policeman?" + +"Yes." + +"You're asking me to believe a lot, sir." + +"I know that. But still, there it is. It's the truth." + +"And what about crime?" he continued. "If we were all Immortals, what +about crime?" + +"Crime will become so horrible in its meaning that it will stop." + +"It hasn't stopped yet...." + +"Of course not. It won't, till people realize they are immortal." + +He shifted his lantern and shone it down the road. + +"Well, sir, it seems to me it will be a long time before people realize +_that_. In fact, I don't see how anyone could ever realize it." + +"Why not?" + +"Just think," he said, with a large air. "Supposing crime died out, what +would happen to the Sunday papers? Where would those lawyers be? What +would we do with policemen? No, you can't realize it. You can't realize +the things you exist for all vanishing. It's not human nature." He +brooded for a time. "You can't do away with crime," he continued. +"What's behind crime? Woman and gold--one or the other, or both. Now you +don't mean to tell me, sir, that the Blue Disease is doing away with +women and gold in a place like Birmingham? Why, sir, what made +Birmingham? What do you suppose life is?" + +"I have never been asked the question before by a policeman," I said. "I +do not know what made Birmingham, but I will tell you what life is. It +is ultimately a cell, containing protoplasm and a nucleus." + +A low rumbling noise began somewhere in his vast bulk. It gradually +increased to a roar. I became aware that he was laughing. He held his +sides. I thought his shining belt would burst. At length his hilarity +slowly subsided, and he became sober. He surveyed the dead body at his +feet. + +"No, sir," he said, "don't you believe it. Life is women and gold. It +always was that, and it always will be." He shone his lamp downwards so +that the light fell on the terrible features of the dead sailor. "Now +this man, sir, was killed because of money, I'll wager. And behind the +money I reckon you'll find a woman." He mused for a time. "Not +necessarily a pretty woman, but a woman of some sort." + +"How do you account for that look of fear on his face?" + +"I couldn't say. I've never seen anything like it. I've seen a lot of +dead faces, but they are usually quiet enough, as if they were asleep. +But I'll tell you one thing, sir, that I have noticed, and that is that +money--which includes diamonds and such like, makes a man die worse and +more bitter than anything else." + +He turned his lantern down the street. A sound of wheels reached us. + +"That's the ambulance." + +"Will you really require me at the police station?" I asked. + +"Yes." + +"Will it be necessary to prove who I am?" + +He smiled. + +"You won't need to prove that you're a doctor, sir," he said genially. +"We have a lot to do with doctors. I could tell you were a doctor after +talking a minute with you. You are all the same." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Well--it's the things you say. Now only a doctor could have said what +you did--about life being a cell. Do you know, sir, I sometimes believe +that doctors is more innocent than parsons. It's the things they +say...." + +The low rumbling began again in his interior. I waited silently until +the ambulance came up. I felt a slight shade of annoyance. But how could +I expect the enormous uneducated bulk beside me to take a really +intelligent and scientific view of life? Of course life was a cell. +Every educated person knew that--and now that cell was, for the first +time in history, about to become immortal--but what did the policeman +care? How stupid people were, I reflected. We moved off in a small +procession towards the police station. Half an hour later I was on my +way west, deeply pondering on the causes of that extraordinary +expression of fear in the dead sailor's face. Never in my life before +had I seen so agonized a countenance, but I was destined to see others +as terrible. As I walked, the strangeness of the dead man's tragedy +grew in my mind and filled me with a tremendous wonder, for who had ever +seen a dead Immortal? + +On reaching home I roused Sarakoff and related to him what I had seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF IMMORTALITY + + +After two hours of sleep I awoke. My brief rest had been haunted by +unpleasant dreams, vague and indefinite, but seeming to centre about the +idea of an impending catastrophe. I lay in bed staring at the dimly +outlined window. I felt quite rested and very wide awake. For some time +I remained motionless, reflecting on my night adventures and idly +thinking whether it was worth while getting up and attending to some +correspondence that was overdue. The prospect of a chilly study was not +attractive. And then I noticed a very peculiar sensation. + +There is only one thing that I can compare it with. After a day of +exhausting work a glass of champagne produces in me an almost immediate +effect. I feel as if the worries of the day are suddenly removed to a +great and blessed distance. A happy indifference takes their place. I +felt the same effect as I lay in bed on that dreary winter's morning. +The idea that I should get up and work retreated swiftly. A pleasant +sense of languor came over me. My eyes closed and for some time I lay in +a blissful state of peace, such as I had never experienced before so far +as my memory could tell. + +I do not know how long I lay in this state, but at length a persistent +noise made me open my eyes. I looked round. It seemed to be full +daylight now. The first thing I noticed was the unusual size of the +room. The ceiling seemed far above my head. The walls seemed to have +receded many feet. In my astonishment I uttered an exclamation. The +result was startling. My voice seemed to reverberate and re-echo as if I +had shouted with all my strength. Considerably startled, I remained in a +sitting posture, gazing at my unfamiliar surroundings. The persistent +noise that had first roused me continued, and for a long time I could +not account for it. It appeared to come from under my bed. I leaned over +the edge, but could see nothing. And then, in a flash, I knew what it +was. It was the sound of my watch, that lay under my pillow. + +I drew it out and stared at it in a state of mystification. Each of its +ticks sounded like a small hammer striking sharply against a metal +plate. I held it to my ear and was almost deafened. For a moment I +wondered whether I were not in the throes of some acute nervous +disorder, in which the senses became sharpened to an incredible degree. +Such an exultation of perception could only be due to some powerful +intoxicant at work on my body. Was I going mad? I laid the watch on the +counterpane and in the act of doing it, the explanation burst on my +mind. For the recollection of Mr. Herbert Wain and the Clockdrum +suddenly came to me. I flung aside the bedclothes, ran to the window and +drew the curtains. The radiance of the day almost blinded me. I pressed +my hands to my eyes in a kind of agony, feeling that they had been +seared and destroyed, and dropped on my knees. I remained in this +position for over a minute and then gradually withdrew my hands and +gazed at the carpet. I dared not look up yet. The pattern of the carpet +glowed in colours more brilliant than I had ever seen before. As I +knelt there, in attitude of prayer, it seemed to me that I had never +noticed colour before; that all my life had been passed without any +consciousness of colour. At last I lifted my sight from the miracle of +the carpet to the miracle of the day. High overhead, through the dingy +windowpane, was a patch of clear sky, infinitely sweet, remote and +inaccessible, framed by golden clouds. As I gazed at it an indescribable +reverence and joy filled my mind. In the purity of the morning light, it +seemed the most lovely and wonderful thing I had ever beheld. And I, +Richard Harden, consulting physician who had hitherto looked on life +through a microscope, remained kneeling on my miraculous carpet, gazing +upwards at the miraculous heavens. Acting on some strange impulse I +stretched out my hands, and then I saw something which turned me into a +rigid statue. + +It was in this attitude that Sarakoff found me. + +He entered my room violently. His hair was tousled and his beard stuck +out at a grotesque angle. He was clad in pink pyjamas, and in his hand +he carried a silver-backed mirror. My attitude did not seem to cause him +any surprise. The door slammed behind him, with a noise of thunder, and +he rushed across the room to where I knelt, and stooping, examined my +finger nails at which I was staring. + +"Good!" he shouted. "Good! Harden, you've got it too!" + +He pointed triumphantly. Under the nails there was a faint tinge of +blue, and at the nail-bed this was already intense, forming little +crescent-shaped areas of vivid turquoise. + +Sarakoff sat down on the edge of my bed and studied himself attentively +in the hand mirror. + +"A slight pallor is perceptible in the skin," he announced as if he was +dictating a note for a medical journal, "and this is due, no doubt, to a +deposit of the blue pigment in the deeper layers of the epidermis. The +hair is at present unaffected save at the roots. God knows what colour +blond hair will become. I am anxious about Leonora. The expression--I +suppose I can regard myself as a typical case, Harden--is serene, if not +animated. Subjectively, one may observe a great sense of exhilaration +coupled with an extraordinary increase in the power of perception. You, +for example, look to me quite different." + +"In what way?" I demanded. + +"Well, as you kneel there, I notice in you a kind of angular grandeur, a +grotesque touch of the sublime, that was not evident to me before. If I +were a sculptor, I would like to model you like that. I cannot explain +why--I am just saying what I feel. I have never felt any impulse towards +art until this morning." He twisted his moustache. "Yes, you have quite +an interesting face, Harden. I can see in it evidence that you have +suffered intensely. You have taken life too seriously. You have worked +too hard. You are stunted and deformed with work." + +I regarded him with some astonishment. + +"Work is all very well," he continued, "but this morning I see with +singular clarity that it is only a means of development. My dear Harden, +if it is overdone, it simply dwarfs the soul. Our generation has not +recognized this properly." + +"But you were always an apostle of hard work," I remarked irritably. + +"May be." He made a gesture of dismissal. "Now, I am an Immortal, and +you are an Immortal. The background to life has changed. Formerly, the +idea of death lurked constantly in the depths of the unconscious mind, +and by its vaguely-felt influences spurred us on to continual exertion. +That is all changed. We have, at one stroke, removed this dire spectre. +We are free." + +He rose suddenly and flung the mirror across the room. + +"What do we need mirrors for?" he cried. "It is only when we fear death +that we need mirrors to tell us how long we have to live." He strode +over to me and halted. "You seem in no hurry to get up from that +carpet," he observed. His remark made me realize that I had been +kneeling for some minutes. Now this was rather odd. I am restless by +nature and rarely remain in one position for any length of time, and to +stay like that, kneeling before the window, was indeed curious. I got up +and moved to the dressing-table, thinking. Sarakoff must have been +thinking in the same direction, for he asked me a question. + +"Did you realize you were kneeling?" + +"Yes," I replied. "I knew what I was doing. It merely did not occur to +me that I should change my position." + +"The explanation is simple," said the Russian. "Restlessness, or the +idea that we must change our position, or that we should be doing +something else, belongs to the anxious side of life; and the anxious +side of life is nourished and kept vigorous by the latent fear of death. +All that is removed from you, and therefore you see no reason why you +should do anything until it pleases you." + +I began to study myself in the glass on the dressing-table. The +examination interested me immensely. There was certainly a marble-like +hue about the skin. The whites of my eyes were distinctly stained, but +not so intensely as had been the case with Mr. Herbert Wain, showing +that I had not suffered from the Blue Disease as long as he had. But +when I began to study my reflection from the ęsthetic point of view, I +became deeply engrossed. + +"I don't agree with you, Sarakoff," I remarked at length. "We still need +mirrors. In fact I have never found the mirror so interesting in my +life." + +"Don't use that absurd phrase," he answered. "It implies that something +other than life exists." + +"So it does." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Well, if I stick this pair of scissors into your heart you will die, my +dear fellow." He was silent, and a frown began to gather on his brow. +"Yes," I continued, "your psychological deductions are not entirely +valid. The fear of death still exists, but now limited to a small +sphere. In that sphere, it will operate with extreme intensity." I +picked up the scissors and made a stealthy movement towards him. To my +amazement I obtained an immediate proof of my theory. He sprang up with +a loud cry, darted to the door and vanished. For a moment I stood in a +state of bewilderment. Was it possible that he, with all his size and +strength, was afraid of me? And then a great fit of laughter overcame me +and I sank down on my bed with the tears coming from my eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE TERRIBLE FEAR + + +On coming down to breakfast, I found Sarakoff already seated at the +table devouring the morning papers. I picked up a discarded one and +stood by the fire, glancing over its contents. There was only one +subject of news, and that was the spread of the Blue Disease. From every +part of the north cases were reported, and in London it had broken out +in several districts. + +"So it's all come true," I remarked. + +He nodded, and continued reading. I sauntered to the window. A thin +driving snow was now falling, and the passers-by were hurrying along in +the freezing slush, with collars turned up and heads bowed before the +wind. + +"This is an ideal day to spend indoors by the fireside," I observed. "I +think I'll telephone to the hospital and tell Jones to take my work." + +Sarakoff raised his eyes, and then his eyebrows. + +"So," he said, "the busy man suddenly thinks work a bother. The power of +the germ, Harden, is indeed miraculous." + +"Do you think my inclination is due to the germ?" + +"Beyond a doubt. You were the most over-conscientious man I ever knew +until this morning." + +For some reason I found this observation very interesting. I wished to +discuss it, and I was about to reply when the door opened and my +housemaid announced that Dr. Symington-Tearle was in the hall and would +like an immediate interview. + +"Shew him in," I said equably. Symington-Tearle usually had a most +irritating effect upon me, but at the moment I felt totally indifferent +to him. He entered in his customary manner, as if the whole of London +were feverishly awaiting him. I introduced Sarakoff, but +Symington-Tearle hardly noticed him. + +"Harden," he exclaimed in his loud dominating tones, "I am convinced +that there is no such thing as this Blue Disease. I believe it all to be +a colossal plant. Some practical joker has introduced a chemical into +the water supply." + +"Probably," I murmured, still thinking of Sarakoff's observation. + +"I'm going to expose the whole thing in the evening papers; I examined a +case yesterday--a man called Wain--and was convinced there was nothing +wrong with him. He was really pigmented. And what is it but mere +pigmentation?" He passed his hand over his brow and frowned. "Yes, yes," +he continued, "that's what it is--a colossal joke. We've all been taken +in by it--everyone except me." He sat down by the breakfast table +suddenly and once more passed his hand over his brow. + +"What was I saying?" he asked. + +Sarakoff and I were now watching him intently. + +"That the Blue Disease was a joke," I said. + +"Ah, yes--a joke." He looked up at Sarakoff and stared for a moment. "Do +you know," he said, "I believe it really is a joke." + +An expression of intense solemnity came over his face, and he sat +motionless gazing in front of him with unblinking eyes. I crossed to +where he sat and peered at his face. + +"I thought so," I remarked. "You've got it too." + +"Got what?" + +"The Blue Disease. I suppose you caught it from Wain, as we did." I +picked up one of his hands and pointed to the faintly-tinted +fingernails. Dr. Symington-Tearle stared at them with an air of such +child-like simplicity and gravity that Sarakoff and I broke into loud +laughter. + +The humour of the situation passed with a peculiar suddenness and we +ceased laughing abruptly. I sat down at the table, and for some time the +three of us gazed at one another and said nothing. The spirit-lamp that +heated the silver dish of bacon upon the table spurted at intervals and +I saw Symington-Tearle stare at it in faint surprise. + +"Does it sound very loud?" asked Sarakoff at length. + +"Extraordinarily loud. And upon my soul your voice nearly deafens me." + +"It will pass," I said. "One gets adjusted to the extreme sensitiveness +in a short time. How do you feel?" + +"I feel," said Symington-Tearle slowly, "as if I were newly constructed +from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. After a Turkish bath +and twenty minutes' massage I've experienced a little of the feeling." + +He stared at Sarakoff, then at me, and finally at the spirit lamp. We +must have presented an odd spectacle. For there we sat, three men who, +under ordinary circumstances, were extremely busy and active, lolling +round the unfinished breakfast table while the hands of the clock +travelled relentlessly onward. + +Relentlessly? That was scarcely correct. To me, owing to some mysterious +change that I cannot explain, the clock had ceased to be a tyrannous and +hateful monster. I did not care how fast it went or to what hour it +pointed. Time was no longer precious, any more than the sand of the sea +is precious. + +"Aren't you going to have any breakfast?" asked Symington-Tearle. + +"I'm not in the least hurry," replied Sarakoff. "I think I'll take a +sip of coffee. Are you hungry, Harden?" + +"No. I don't want anything save coffee. But I'm in no hurry." + +My housemaid entered and announced that the gentleman who had been +waiting in Dr. Symington-Tearle's car, and was now in the hall, wished +to know if the doctor would be long. + +"Oh, that is a patient of mine," said Symington-Tearle, "ask him to come +in." + +A large, stout, red-faced gentleman entered, wrapped in a thick frieze +motor coat. He nodded to us briefly. + +"Sorry to interrupt," he said, "but time's getting on, Tearle. My +consultation with Sir Peverly Salt was for half past nine, if you +remember. It's that now." + +"Oh, there's plenty of time," said Tearle. "Sit down, Ballard. It's nice +and warm in here." + +"It may be nice and warm," replied Mr. Ballard loudly, "but I don't want +to keep Sir Peverly waiting." + +"I don't see why you shouldn't keep him waiting," said Tearle. "In fact +I really don't see why you should go to him at all." + +Mr. Ballard stared for a moment. Then his eyes travelled round the table +and dwelt first on Sarakoff and then on me. I suppose something in our +manner rather baffled him, but outwardly he shewed no sign of it. + +"I don't quite follow you," he said, fixing his gaze upon Tearle again. +"If you recollect, you advised me strongly four days ago to consult Sir +Peverly Salt about the condition of my heart, and you impressed upon me +that his opinion was the best that was obtainable. You rang him up and +an appointment was fixed for this morning at half-past nine, and I was +told to call on you shortly after nine." + +He paused, and once more his eyes dwelt in turn upon each of us. They +returned to Tearle. "It is now twenty-five minutes to ten," he said. His +face had become redder, and his voice louder. "And I understood that Sir +Peverly is a very busy man." + +"He certainly is busy," said Tearle. "He's far too busy. It is very +interesting to think that business is only necessary in so far----" + +"Look here," said Mr. Ballard violently. "I'm a man with a short temper. +I'm hanged if I'll stand this nonsense. What the devil do you think +you're all doing? Are you playing a joke on me?" + +He glared round at us, and then he made a sudden movement towards the +table. In a moment we were all on our feet. I felt an acute terror seize +me, and without waiting to see what happened, I flung open the door that +led into my consulting room, darted to the further door, across the hall +and up to my bedroom. + +There was a cry and a rush of feet across the hall. Mr. Ballard's voice +rang out stormily. A door slammed, and then another door, and then all +was silent. + +I became aware of a movement behind me, and looking round sharply, I saw +my housemaid Lottie staring at me in amazement. She had been engaged in +making the bed. + +"Whatever is the matter, sir?" she asked. + +"Hush!" I whispered. "There's a dangerous man downstairs." + +I turned the key in the lock, listened for a moment, and then tip-toed +my way across the floor to a chair. My limbs were shaking. It is +difficult to describe the intensity of my terror. There was a cold +sweat on my forehead. "He might have killed me. Think of that!" + +Her eyes were fixed on me. + +"Oh, sir, you do look bad," she exclaimed. "Whatever has happened to +you?" She came nearer and gazed into my eyes. "They're all blue, sir. It +must be that disease you've got." + +A sudden irritation flashed over me. "Don't stare at me like that. +You'll have it yourself to-morrow," I shouted. "The whole of the blessed +city will have it." A loud rap at the door interrupted me. I jumped up, +darted across the room and threw myself under the bed. "Don't let anyone +in," I whispered. The rap was repeated. Sarakoff's voice sounded +without. + +"Let me in. It's all right. He's gone. The front door is bolted." I +crawled out and unlocked the door. Sarakoff, looking rather pale, was +standing in the passage. He carried a poker. "Symington-Tearle's in the +coal-cellar," he announced. "He won't come out." + +I wiped my brow with a handkerchief. + +"Good heavens, Sarakoff," I exclaimed, "this kind of thing will lead to +endless trouble. I had no idea the terror would be so uncontrollable." + +"I'm glad you feel it as I do," said the Russian. "When you threatened +me with a pair of scissors this morning I felt mad with fear." + +"It's awful," I murmured. "We can't be too careful." We began to descend +the stairs. "Sarakoff, you remember I told you about that dead sailor? I +see now why that expression was on his face. It was the terror that he +felt." + +"Extraordinary!" he muttered. "He couldn't have known. It must have been +instinctive." + +"Instincts are like that," I said. "I don't suppose an animal knows +anything about death, or even thinks of it, yet it behaves from the very +first as if it knew. It's odd." + +A door opened at the far end of the hall, and Symington-Tearle emerged. +There was a patch of coal-dust on his forehead. His hair, usually so +flat and smooth that it seemed like a brass mirror, was now disordered. + +"Has he gone?" he enquired hoarsely. + +We nodded. I pointed to the chain on the door. + +"It's bolted," I said. "Come into the study." + +I led the way into the room. Tearle walked to the window, then to a +chair, and finally took up a position before the fire. + +"This is extraordinary!" he exclaimed. + +"What do you make of it?" I asked. + +"I can make nothing of it. What's the matter with me? I never felt +anything like that terror that came over me when Ballard approached me." + +Sarakoff took out a large handkerchief and passed it across his face. +"It's only the fear of physical violence," he said. "That's the only +weak spot. Fear was formerly distributed over a wide variety of +possibilities, but now it's all concentrated in one direction." + +"Why?" Tearle stared at me questioningly. + +"Because the germ is in us," I said. "We're immortal." + +"Immortal?" + +Sarakoff threw out his hands, and flung back his head. "Immortals!" + +I crossed to my writing-table, and picked up a heavy volume. + +"Here is the first edition of Buckwell Pink's _System of Medicine_. This +book was produced at immense cost and labour, and it is to be published +next week. When that book is published no one will buy it." + +"Why not?" demanded Tearle. "I wrote an article in it myself." + +"So did I," was my reply. "But that won't make any difference. No member +of the medical profession will be interested in it." + +"Not interested? I can't believe that. It contains all the recent work." + +"The medical profession will not be interested in it for a very simple +reason. The medical profession will have ceased to exist." + +A look of amazement came to Tearle's face. I tapped the volume and +continued. + +"You are wrong in thinking it contains all the recent work. It does not. +The last and greatest achievement of medical science is not recorded in +these pages. It is only recorded in ourselves. For that blue +pigmentation in your eyes and fingers is due to the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus which closes once and for all the chapter of medicine." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE VISIT OF THE HOME SECRETARY + + +In a few hours the initial effects of stimulation had worn off. The +acuity of hearing was no longer so pronounced and the sense of +refreshment, although still present, was not intense. We were already +becoming adjusted to the new condition. The feeling of inertia and +irresponsibility became gradually replaced by a general sense of +calmness. To me, it seemed as if I had entered a world of new +perspectives, a larger world in which space and time were widened out +immeasurably. I could scarcely recall the nature of those impulses that +had once driven me to and fro in endless activities, and in a constant +state of anxiety. For now I had no anxiety. + +It is difficult to describe fully the extraordinary sense of freedom +that came from this change. For anxiety--the great modern emotion--is +something that besets a life on all sides so silently and so +continuously that it escapes direct detection. But it is there, +tightening the muscles, crinkling the skin, quickening the heart and +shortening the breath. Though almost imperceptible, it lurks under the +most agreeable surroundings, requiring only a word or a look to bring it +into the light. To be free from it--ah, that was an experience that no +man could ever forget! It was perhaps the nearest approach to that +condition of bliss, which many expect in one of the Heavens, that had +ever been attained on earth. As long as no physical danger threatened, +this bliss-state surrounded me. Its opposite, that condition of violent, +agonizing, uncontrollable fear that suddenly surged over one on the +approach of bodily danger, was something which passed as swiftly as it +came, and left scarcely a trace behind it. But of that I shall have more +to say, for it produced the most extraordinary state of affairs and more +than anything else threatened to disorganize life completely. + +I fancy Sarakoff was more awed by the bliss-state than I was. During the +rest of the day he was very quiet and sat gazing before him His +boisterousness had vanished. Symington-Tearle had left us--a man deeply +amazed and totally incredulous. I noticed that Sarakoff scarcely smoked +at all during that morning. As a rule his pipe was never out. He was in +the habit of consuming two ounces of tobacco a day, which in my opinion +was suicidal. He certainly lit his pipe several times, mechanically, but +laid it aside almost immediately. At lunch--we had not moved out of the +house yet--we had very little appetite. As a matter of interest I will +give exactly what we ate and drank. Sarakoff took some soup and a piece +of bread, and then some cheese. I began with some cold beef, and finding +it unattractive, pushed it away and ate some biscuits and butter. There +was claret on the table. I wish here to call attention to a passing +impression that I experienced when sipping that claret. I had recently +got in several dozen bottles of it and on that day regretted it because +it seemed to me to be extremely poor stuff. It tasted sour and harsh. + +We did not talk much. It was not because my mind was devoid of ideas, +but rather because I was feeling that I had a prodigious, incalculable +amount to think about. Perhaps it was the freedom from anxiety that +made thinking easier, for there is little doubt that anxiety, however +masked, deflects and disturbs the power of thought more than anything +else. Indeed it seemed to me that I had never really thought clearly +before. To begin a conversation with Sarakoff seemed utterly artificial. +It would have been a useless interruption. I was entirely absorbed. + +Sarakoff was similarly absorbed. When, therefore, the servant came in to +announce that two gentlemen wished to see us, and were in the +waiting-room, we were loth to move. I got up at length and went across +the hall. I recollect that before entering the waiting-room I was +entirely without curiosity. It was a matter of total indifference to me +that two visitors were within. They had no business to interrupt +me--that was my feeling. They were intruders and should have known +better. + +I entered the room. Standing by the fire was Lord Alberan. Beside him +was a tall thin man, carefully dressed and something of a dandy, who +looked at me sharply as I came across the room. I recognized his face, +but failed to recall his name. + +Lord Alberan, holding himself very stiffly, cleared his throat. + +"Good day, Dr. Harden," he said, without offering his hand. "I have +brought Sir Robert Smith to interview you. As you may know he is the +Home Secretary." He cleared his throat again, and his face became rather +red. "I have reported to the Home Secretary the information that +I--er--that I acquired from you and your Russian companion concerning +this epidemic that has swept over Birmingham and is now threatening +London." He paused and stared at me. His eyes bulged. "Good heavens," he +exclaimed, "you've got it yourself." + +Sir Robert Smith took a step towards me and examined my face +attentively. + +"Yes," he said, "there's no doubt you've got it." + +I indicated some chairs with a calm gesture. + +"Won't you sit down?" + +Lord Alberan refused, but Sir Robert lowered himself gracefully into an +arm-chair and crossed his legs. + +"Dr. Harden," he said, in smooth and pleasant tones, "I wish you to +understand that I come here, at this unusual hour, solely in the spirit +of one who desires to get all the information possible concerning the +malady, called the Blue Disease, which is now sweeping over England. I +understand from my friend Lord Alberan, that you know something about +it." + +"That is true." + +"How much do you know?" + +"I know all there is to be known." + +"Ah!" Sir Robert leaned forward. Lord Alberan nodded violently and +glared at me. There was a pause. "What you say is very interesting," +said Sir Robert at length, keeping his eyes fixed upon me. "You +understand, of course, that the Blue Disease is causing a lot of +anxiety?" + +"Anxiety?" I exclaimed. "Surely you are wrong. It has the opposite +effect. It abolishes anxiety." + +"You mean----?" he queried politely. + +"I mean that the germ, when once in the system, produces an atmosphere +of extraordinary calm," I returned. "I am aware of that atmosphere at +this moment. I have never felt so perfectly tranquil before." + +He nodded, without moving his eyes. + +"So I see. You struck me, as you came into the room, as a man who is at +peace with himself." Lord Alberan snorted, and was about to speak, but +Sir Robert held up his hand. "Tell me, Dr. Harden, did you actually +contaminate the water of Birmingham?" + +"My friend Sarakoff and I introduced the germ that we discovered into +the Elan reservoirs." + +"With what object?" + +"To endow humanity with the gift of immortality." + +"Ah!" he nodded gently. "The gift of immortality." He mused for a +moment, and never once did his eyes leave my face. "That is +interesting," he continued. "I recollect that at the International +Congress at Moscow, a few years ago, there was much talk about +longevity. Virchow, I fancy, and Nikola Tesla made some suggestive +remarks. So you think you have discovered the secret?" + +"I am sure." + +"Of course you use the term immortality in a relative sense? You mean +that the--er--germ that you discovered confers a long life on those it +attacks?" + +"I mean what I say. It confers immortality." + +"Indeed!" His expression remained perfectly polite and interested, but +his eyes turned for a brief moment in the direction of Lord Alberan. "So +you are now immortal, Dr. Harden?" + +"Yes." + +"And will you, in such circumstances, go on practising +medicine--indefinitely?" + +"No. There will be no medicine to practise." + +"Ah!" he nodded. "I see--the germ does away with disease. Quite so." He +leaned back in the chair and pressed his finger tips together. "I +suppose," he continued, "that you are aware that what you say is very +difficult to believe?" + +"Why?" + +"Well, the artificial prolongation of life is, I believe, a possibility +that we are all prepared to accept. By special methods we may live a few +extra years, and everything goes to show that we are actually living +longer than our ancestors. At least I believe so. But for a man of your +position, Dr. Harden, to say that the epidemic is an epidemic of +immortality is, in my opinion, an extravagant statement." + +"You are entitled to any opinion you like," I replied tranquilly. "It is +possible to live with totally erroneous opinions. For all I know you may +think the earth is square. It makes no difference to me." + +"What do you mean, sir?" exclaimed Lord Alberan. He had become +exceedingly red during our conversation and the lower part of his face +had begun to swell. "Be careful what you say," he continued violently. +"You are in danger of being arrested, sir. Either that, or being locked +in an asylum." + +The Home Secretary raised a restraining hand. + +"One moment, Lord Alberan," he said, "I have not quite finished. Dr. +Harden, will you be so good as to ask your friend--his name is Sarakoff, +I believe--to come in here?" + +I rose without haste and fetched the Russian. He behaved in an extremely +quiet manner, nodded to Alberan and bowed to the Home Secretary. + +Sir Robert gave a brief outline of the conversation he had had with me, +which Sarakoff listened to with an absolutely expressionless face. + +"I see that you also suffer from the epidemic," said Sir Robert. "Are +you, then, immortal?" + +"I am an Immortal," said the Russian, in deep tones. "You will be +immortal to-morrow." + +"I quite understand that I will probably catch the Blue Disease," said +Sir Robert, suavely. "At present there are cases reported all over +London, and we are at a loss to know what to do." + +"You can do nothing," I said. + +"We had thought of forming isolation camps." He stared at us +thoughtfully. There was a slightly puzzled look in his face. It was the +first time I had noticed it. It must have been due to Sarakoff's +profound calm. "How did you gentlemen find the germ?" he asked suddenly. + +Sarakoff reflected. + +"It would take perhaps a week to explain." + +Sir Robert smiled slightly. + +"I'm afraid I am too busy," he murmured. + +"You are wasting your time," muttered Alberan in his ear. "Arrest +them." + +The Home Secretary took no notice. + +"It is curious that this epidemic seems to cut short other diseases," he +said slowly. "That rather supports what you tell me." + +His eyes rested searchingly on my face. + +"You are foolish to refuse to believe us," I said. "We have told you the +truth." + +"It would be very strange if it were true." He walked to the window and +stood for a moment looking on to the street. Then he turned with a +movement of resolution. "I will not trespass on your time," he said. +"Lord Alberan, we need not stay. I am satisfied with what these +gentlemen have said." He bowed to us and went to the door. Lord Alberan, +very fierce and upright, followed him. The Home Secretary paused and +looked back. The puzzled looked had returned to his face. + +"The matter is to be discussed in the House to-night," he said. "I think +that it will be as well for you if I say nothing of what you have told +me. People might be angry." We gazed at him unmoved. He took a sudden +step towards us and held out his hands. "Come now, gentlemen, tell me +the truth. You invented that story, didn't you?" Neither of us spoke. +He looked appealingly at me, and with a laugh left the room. He turned, +however, in a moment, and stood looking at me. "There is a meeting at +the Queen's Hall to-night," he said slowly. "It is a medical conference +on the Blue Disease. No doubt you know of it. I am going to ask you a +question." He paused and smiled at Sarakoff. "Will you gentlemen make a +statement before those doctors to-night?" + +"We intended to do so," said Sarakoff. + +"I am delighted to hear it," said the Home Secretary. "It is a great +relief to me. They will know how best to deal with you. Good day." + +He left the room. + +I heard the front door close and then brisk footsteps passing the window +on the pavement outside. + +"There's no doubt that they're both a little mad." Sir Robert's voice +sounded for a moment, and then died away. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +CLUTTERBUCK'S ODD BEHAVIOUR + + +Scarcely had the Home Secretary departed when my maid announced that a +patient was waiting to see me in my study. + +I left Sarakoff sitting tranquilly in the waiting-room and entered the +study. A grave, precise, clean-shaven man was standing by the window. He +turned as I entered. It was Mr. Clutterbuck. + +"So you are Dr. Harden!" he exclaimed. + +He stopped and looked confused. + +"Yes," I said; "please sit down, Mr. Clutterbuck." + +He did so, twisting his hat awkwardly and gazing at the floor. + +"I owe you an apology," he said at length. "I came to consult you, +little expecting to find that it was you after all--that you were Dr. +Harden. I must apologize for my rudeness to you in the tea-shop, but +what you said was so extraordinary ... you could not expect me to +believe." + +He glanced at me, and then looked away. There was a dull flush on his +face. + +"Please do not apologize. What did you wish to consult me about?" + +"About my wife." + +"Is she worse?" + +"No." He dropped his hat, recovered it, and finally set it upon a corner +of the table. "No, she is not worse. In fact, she is the reverse. She is +better." + +I waited, feeling only a mild interest in the cause of his agitation. + +"She has got the Blue Disease," he continued, speaking with difficulty. +"She got it yesterday and since then she has been much better. Her cough +has ceased. She--er--she is wonderfully better." He began to drum with +his fingers on his knee, and looked with a vacant gaze at the corner of +the room. "Yes, she is certainly better. I was wondering if----" + +There was a silence. + +"Yes?" + +He started and looked at me. + +"Why, you've got it, too!" he exclaimed. "How extraordinary! I hadn't +noticed it." He got to his feet and went to the window. "I suppose I +shall get it next," he muttered. + +"Certainly, you'll get it." + +He nodded, and continued to stare out of the window. At length he spoke. + +"My wife is a woman who has suffered a great deal, Dr. Harden. I have +never had enough money to send her to health resorts, and she has always +refused to avail herself of any institutional help. For the last year +she has been confined to a room on the top floor of our house--a nice, +pleasant room--and it has been an understood thing between Dr. Sykes and +myself that her malady was to be given a convenient name. In fact, we +have called it a weak heart. You understand, of course." + +"Perfectly." + +"I have always been led to expect that the end was inevitable," he +continued, speaking with sudden rapidity. "Under such circumstances I +made certain plans. I am a careful man, Dr. Harden, and I look ahead and +lay my plans." He stopped abruptly and turned to face me. "Is there any +truth in what you told me the other day?" + +I nodded. A curiously haggard expression came over him. He stepped +swiftly towards me and caught my arm. + +"Does the germ cure disease?" + +"Of course. Your wife is now immortal. You need not be alarmed, Mr. +Clutterbuck. She is immortal. Before her lies a future absolutely free +from suffering. She will rapidly regain her normal health and strength. +Provided she avoids accidents, your wife will live for ever." + +"My wife will live forever?" he repeated hoarsely. "Then what will +happen to me?" + +"You, too, will live for ever," I said calmly. "Please do not grasp my +arm so violently." + +He drew back. He was extremely pale, and there were beads of +perspiration on his brow. + +"Are you married?" he asked. + +"No." + +"Have you any idea what all this means to me if what you say is true?" +he exclaimed. He drew his hand across his eyes. "I am mad to believe you +for an instant. But she is better--there is no denying that. Good God, +if it is true, what a tragedy you have made of human lives!" + +He remained standing in the middle of the room, and I, not +comprehending, gazed at him. Then, of a sudden, he picked up his hat, +and muttering something, dashed out and vanished. + +I heard the front door bang. Perfectly calm and undisturbed, I rejoined +Sarakoff in the waiting-room. The incident of Mr. Clutterbuck passed +totally from my mind, and I began to reflect on certain problems arising +out of the visit of the Home Secretary. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +IMMORTAL LOVE + + +On the same afternoon Miss Annot paid me a visit. I was still sitting in +the waiting-room, and Sarakoff was with me. My mind had been deeply +occupied with the question of the larger beliefs that we hold. For it +had come to me with peculiar force that law and order, and officials +like the Home Secretary, are concerned only with the small beliefs of +humanity, with the burdensome business of material life. As long as a +man dressed properly, walked decently and paid correctly, he was +accepted, in spite of the fact that he might firmly believe the world +was square. No one worried about those matters. We judge people +ultimately by how they eat and drink and get up and sit down. What they +say is of little importance in the long run. If we examine a person +professionally, we merely ask him what day it is, where he is, what is +his name and where he was born. We watch him to see if he washes, +undresses and dresses, and eats properly. We ask him to add two and two, +and to divide six by three, and then we solemnly give our verdict that +he is either sane or insane. + +The enormity of this revelation engrossed me with an almost painful +activity of thought. + +I gazed across at Sarakoff and wondered what appalling gulf divided our +views on supreme things. What view did he really take of women? Did he +or did he not think that the planets and stars were inhabited? Did he +believe in the evolution of the soul like Mr. Thornduck? + +A kind of horror possessed me as I stared at him and reflected that +these questions had never entered my consciousness until that moment. I +had lived with him and dined with him and worked with him, and yet +hitherto it would have concerned me far more if I had seen him tuck his +napkin under his collar or spit on the carpet.... What laughable little +folk we were! I, who had always seen man as the last and final +expression of evolution, now saw him as the stumbling, crawling, +incredibly stupid, result of a tentative experiment--a first step up a +ladder of infinitive length. + +Whilst I was immersed in the humiliation of these thoughts Miss Annot +entered. She wore a dark violet coat and skirt and a black hat. I +noticed that her complexion, usually somewhat muddy, was perfectly +clear, though of a marble pallor. We greeted each other quietly and I +introduced Sarakoff. + +"So you are an Immortal, Alice," I said smiling. She gazed at me. + +"Richard, I do not know what I am, but I know one thing; I am entirely +changed. Some strange miracle has been wrought in me. I came to ask you +what it is." + +"You see that both Professor Sarakoff and I have got the germ in our +systems like you, Alice. Yes, it is a miracle; we are Immortals." + +I studied her face attentively, she had changed. It seemed to me that +she was another woman, she moved in a new way, her speech was unhurried, +her gaze was direct and thoughtful. I recalled her former appearance +when her manner had been nervous and bashful, her eyes downcast, her +movements hurried and anxious. + +"I do not understand," she said. "Tell me all you know." + +I did so, I suppose I must have talked for an hour on end. Throughout +that time neither she nor Sarakoff stirred. When I had finished there +was a long silence. + +"It is funny to think of our last meeting, Richard," she said at length. +"Do you remember how my father behaved? He is different now. He sits all +day in his study--he eats very little. He seems to be in a dream." + +"And you?" I asked. + +"I am in a dream, too. I do not understand it. All the things I used to +busy myself with seem unimportant." + +"That is how we feel," said Sarakoff. He rose to his feet and spoke +strongly. "Harden, as Miss Annot says, everything has changed. I never +foresaw this; I do not understand it myself." + +He went slowly to the mantelpiece and leaned against it. + +"When I created this germ, I saw in my mind an ideal picture of life. I +saw a world freed from a dire spectre, a world from which fear had been +removed, the fear of death. I saw the great triumph of materialism and +the final smashing up of all superstition. A man would live in a state +of absolute certainty. He would lay his plans for pleasure and comfort +and enjoyment with absolute precision, knowing--not hoping--but +certainly knowing, that they would come about. I saw cities and gardens +built in triumph to cater for the gratification of every sense. I saw +new laws in operation, constructed by men who knew that they had +mastered the secret of life and had nothing to fear. I saw all those +things about which we are so timid and vague--marriage and divorce, the +education of children, luxury, the working classes, religion and so +on--absolutely settled in black and white. I saw what I thought to be +the millennium." + +"And now?" asked Alice. + +"Now I see nothing. I am in the dark. I do not understand what has +happened to me." + +"What we are in for now, no man can say," I remarked. + +"It's the extraordinary restfulness that puzzles me," said Sarakoff. +"Here I have been sitting for hours and I feel no inclination to do +anything." + +"The thing that is most extraordinary to me is the difficulty I have in +realizing how I spent my time formerly," said Alice. "Of course, father +is no bother now and meals have been cut down, but that does not account +for all of it. It seems as if I had been living in a kind of nightmare +in the past, from which I have suddenly escaped." + +"What do you feel most inclined to do?" I asked. + +"Nothing at present. I sit and think. It was difficult for me to make +myself come here to-day." She smiled suddenly. "Richard, it seems +strange to recall that we were engaged." + +She spoke without any embarrassment and I answered her with equal ease. + +"I hope you don't think our engagement is broken off, Alice. I think my +feelings towards you are unchanged." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Sarakoff. "That is interesting. Are you sure of that, +Harden?" + +"Not altogether," I answered tranquilly. "There is a lot to think out +before I can be sure, but I know that I feel towards Alice a great +sympathy." + +"Sympathy!" the Russian exclaimed. "What are we coming to? Good heavens! +Is sympathy to be our strongest emotion? What do you think, Miss Annot." + +"Sympathy is exactly what I feel," she replied. "Richard and I would be +very good companions. Isn't that more important than passion?" + +"Is sympathy to be the bond between the sexes, then, and is all passion +and romance to die?" he exclaimed scornfully. He seemed to be struggling +with himself, as if he were trying to throw off some spell that held +him. "Surely I seem to recollect that yesterday life contained some +richer emotions than sympathy," he muttered. "What has come over us? Why +doesn't my blood quicken when I think of Leonora?" He burst into a +laugh. "Harden, this is comic. There is no other word for it. It is +simply comic." + +"It may be comic, Sarakoff, but to speak candidly, I prefer my state +to-day to my state yesterday. Last night seems to me like a bad dream." +I got to my feet. "There is one thing I must see about as soon as +possible, and that is getting rid of this house. What an absurd place to +live in this is! It is a comic house, if you like--like a tomb." + +The room seemed suddenly absurd. It was very dark, the wallpaper was of +a heavy-moulded variety, sombre in hue and covered with meaningless +figuring. The ceiling was oppressive. It, too, was moulded in some +fantastic manner. Several large faded oil-paintings hung on the wall. I +do not know why they hung there, they were hideous and meaningless as +well. The whole place was meaningless. It was the _meaninglessness_ that +seemed to leap out upon me wherever I turned my eyes. The fireplace +astounded me. It was a mass of pillars and super-structures and +carvings, increasing in complexity from within outwards, until it +attained the appearance of an ornate temple in the centre of which +burned a little coal. It was grotesque. On the topmost ledges of this +monstrous absurdity stood two vases. They bulged like distended +stomachs, covered on their outsides with yellow, green and black +splotches of colour. I recollected that I paid ten pounds apiece for +them. Under what perverted impulse had I done that? My memories became +incredible. I moved deliberately to the mantelpiece and seized the +vases. I opened the window and hurled them out on to the pavement. They +fell with a crash, and their fragments littered the ground. + +Alice expressed no surprise. + +"It is rather comic," said the Russian, "but where are you going to +live?" + +"Alice and I will go and live by the sea. We have plenty to think about. +I feel as if I could never stop thinking, as if I had to dig away a +mountain of thought with a spade. Alice, we will go round to the house +agent now." + +When Alice and I left the house the remains of the vases littered the +pavement at our feet. We walked down Harley Street. The house agent +lived in Regent Street. It was now a clear, crisp afternoon with a +pleasant tint of sunlight in the air. A newspaper boy passed, calling +something unintelligible in an excited voice. I stopped him and bought a +paper. + +"What an inhuman noise to make," said Alice. "It seems to jar on every +nerve in my body. Do ask him to stop." + +"You're making too much noise," I said to the lad. "You must call +softly. It is an outrage to scream like that." + +He stared up at me, an impudent amazed face surmounting a tattered and +dishevelled body, and spoke. + +"You two do look a couple of guys, wiv' yer blue faices. If some of them +doctors round 'ere catches yer, they'll pop yer into 'ospital." + +He ran off, shrieking his unintelligible jargon. + +"We must get to the sea," I said firmly. "This clamour of London is +unbearable." + +I opened the paper. Enormous headlines stared me in the face. + +"Blue Disease sweeping over London. Ten thousand cases reported to-day. +Europe alarmed. Question of the isolation of Great Britain under +discussion. Debate in the Commons to-night. The Duke of Thud and the +Earl of Blunder victims. The Royal Family leave London." + +We stood together on the pavement and gazed at these statements in +silence. A sense of wonder filled my mind. What a confusion! What an +emotional, feverish, heated confusion! Why could not they take the +matter calmly? What, in the name of goodness, was the reason of this +panic. They knew that the Blue Disease had caused no fatalities in +Birmingham, and yet so totally absent was the power of thought and +deduction, that they actually printed those glaring headlines. + +"The fools," I said. "The amazing, fatuous fools. They simply want to +sell the paper. They have no other idea." + +A strong nausea came over me. I crumpled up the paper and stood staring +up and down the street. The newspaper boy was in the far distance, still +shrieking. I saw Sir Barnaby Burtle, the obstetrician, standing by his +scarlet front door, eagerly devouring the news. His jaw was slack and +his eyes protruded. + +The solemn houses of Harley Street only increased my nausea. The folly +of it--the selfish, savage folly of life! + +"Come, Richard," said Alice. "The sooner we get to the house agent the +better. We could never live here." + +"I'll put him on to the job of finding a bungalow on the South Coast at +once," I said. "And then we'll go and live there." + +"We must get married," she observed. + +"Married!" I stopped and stared at her with a puzzled expression. "Don't +you think the marriage ceremony is rather barbarous?" + +She did not reply; we walked on immersed in our own thoughts. At times I +detected in the passers-by a gleam of sparrow-egg blue. + +My house agent was a large, confused individual who habitually wore a +shining top hat on the back of his head and twisted a cigar in the +corner of his mouth. He was very fat, with one of those creased faces +that seem to fall into folds like a heavy crimson curtain. His brooding, +congested eye fell upon me as we entered, and an expression of alarm +became visible in its depths. He pushed his chair back and retreated to +a corner of the room. + +"Dr. Harden!" he exclaimed fearfully, "you oughtn't to come here like +that, you really oughtn't." + +"Don't be an ass, Franklyn," I said firmly. "You are bound to catch the +germ sooner or later. It will impress you immensely." + +"It's all over London," he whimpered. "It's too much; it will hit us +hard. It's too much." + +"Listen to me," I said. "I have come here to see you about business. Now +sit down in your chair; I won't touch you. I want you to get me a +bungalow by the sea with a garden as soon as possible. I am going to +sell my house." + +"Sell your house!" He became calmer. "That is very extraordinary, Dr. +Harden." + +"I am going out of London." + +He was astonished. + +"But your house--in Harley Street--so central...." he stammered. "I +don't understand. Are you giving up your practice?" + +"Of course." + +"At your age, Dr. Harden?" + +"What has age got to do with it? There is no such thing as age." + +He stared. Then his eyes turned to Alice. + +"No such thing as age?" he murmured helplessly. "But surely you are not +going to sell; you have the best house in Harley Street. Its commanding +position ... in the centre of that famous locality...." + +"Do you think that any really sane man would live in the centre of +Harley Street," I asked calmly. "Is he likely to find any peace in that +furnace of crude worldly ambitions? But all that is already a thing of +the past. In a few weeks, Franklyn, Harley Street will be deserted." + +"Deserted?" His eyes rolled. + +"Deserted," I said sternly. "In its upper rooms there may remain a few +Immortals, but the streets will be silent. The great business of +sickness, which occupies the attention of a third of the world and +furnishes the main topic of conversation in every home, will be gone. +Sell my house, Franklyn, and find me a bungalow on the South Coast +facing the sea." + +I turned away and went towards the door, Alice followed me. The house +agent sat in helpless amazement. He filled me with a sense of nausea. He +seemed so gross, so mindless. + +"A bungalow," he whispered. + +"Yes. Let us have long, low, simple rooms and a garden where we may grow +enough to live on. The age of material complexity and noise is at an +end. We need peace." + +Strolling along at a slow pace, we went down Oxford Street towards the +Marble Arch. It was dusk. The newsboys were howling at every corner and +everyone had a paper. Little groups of people stood on the pavements +discussing the news. In the roadway the stream of traffic was incessant. +The huge motor-buses thundered and swayed along, with their loads of +pale humanity feverishly clinging to them. The public-houses were +crowded. The slight tension that the threat of the Blue Disease produced +in people filled the bars with men and women, seeking the relaxation of +alcohol. There was in the air that liveliness, that tendency to collect +into small crowds, that is evident whenever the common safety of the +great herd is threatened. In the Park a crowd surrounded the platform of +an agitator. In a voice like that of a delirious man, he implored the +crowd to go down on its knees and repent ... the end of the world was at +hand ... the Blue Disease was the pouring out of one of the vials of +wrath ... repent!... repent!... His voice rang in our ears and drove us +away. We crossed the damp grass. I stumbled over a sleeping man. There +was something familiar in his appearance and I stooped down and turned +him over. It was Mr. Herbert Wain. He seemed to be fast asleep.... We +walked to King's Cross, and I put Alice without regret in the train for +Cambridge. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MEETING AT THE QUEEN'S HALL + + +The same night a vast meeting of medical men had been summoned at the +Queen's Hall, with the object of discussing the nature of the strange +visitation, and the measures that should be adopted. Doctors came from +every part of the country. The meeting began at eight o'clock, and Sir +Jeremy Jones, the President of the Royal College of Physicians, opened +the discussion with a paper in which the most obvious features of the +disease were briefly tabulated. + +The great Hall was packed. Sarakoff and I got seats in the front row of +the gallery. Sir Jeremy Jones, a large bland man, with beautiful silver +grey hair, wearing evening dress, and pince-nez, stood up on the +platform amid a buzz of talk. The short outburst of clapping soon ceased +and Sir Jeremy began. + +The beginnings of the disease were outlined, the symptoms described, +and then the physician laid down his notes, and seemed to look directly +up at me. + +"So far," he said, in suave and measured tones, "I have escaped the Blue +Disease, but at any moment I may find myself a victim, and the fact does +not disquiet me. For I am convinced that we are witnessing the sudden +intrusion and the swift spread of an absolutely harmless organism--one +that has been, perhaps, dormant for centuries in the soil, or has +evolved to its present form in the deep waters of the Elan watershed by +a process whose nature we can only dimly guess at. Some have suggested a +meteoric origin, and it is true that some meteoric stones fell over +Wales recently. But that is far-fetched to my mind, for how could a +white-hot stone harbour living matter? Whatever its origin, it is, I am +sure, a harmless thing, and though strange, and at first sight alarming, +we need none of us alter our views of life or our way of living. The +subject is now open for discussion, and I call on Professor Sarakoff, of +Petrograd, the eminent bacteriologist, to give us the benefit of his +views, as I believe he has a statement to make." + +A burst of applause filled the Hall. + +"Good," muttered Sarakoff in my ear. "I will certainly give them my +views." + +"Be careful," I said idly. Sir Jeremy was gazing round the Hall. +Sarakoff stood up and there arose cries for silence. He made a striking +figure with his giant stature, his black hair and beard and his +blue-stained eyes. Sir Jeremy sat down, smiling blandly. + +"Mr. President and Gentlemen," began the Professor, in a voice that +carried to every part of the Hall. "I, as an Immortal, desire to make a +few simple and decisive statements to you to-night regarding the nature +of the Blue Disease, the germ of which was prepared by myself and my +friend, Dr. Richard Harden. The germ--in future to be known as the +Sarakoff-Harden bacillus--is ultra-microscopical. It grows in +practically every medium with great ease. In the human body it finds an +admirable host, and owing to the fact that it destroys all other +organisms, it confers immortality on the person who is infected by it. +We are therefore on the threshold of a new era." + +After this brief statement Sarakoff calmly sat down, and absolute +silence reigned. Sir Jeremy, still smiling blandly, stared up at him. +Every face was turned in our direction. A murmur began, which quickly +increased. A doctor behind me leaned over and touched my shoulder. + +"Is he sane?" he asked in a whisper. + +"Perfectly," I replied. + +"But you don't believe him?" + +"Of course I do." + +"But it's ridiculous! Who is this Dr. Harden?" + +"I am Dr. Harden." + +The uproar in the Hall was now considerable. Sir Jeremy rose, and waved +his hands in gestures of restraint. Finally he had recourse to a bell +that stood on the table. + +"Gentlemen," he said, when silence was restored. "We have just heard a +remarkable statement from Professor Sarakoff and I think I am justified +in asking for proofs." + +I instantly got up. I was quite calm. + +"I can prove that Sarakoff's statement is perfectly correct," I said. "I +am Richard Harden. I discovered the method whereby the bacillus became a +possibility. Every man in this Hall who has the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus in his system is immortal. You, Mr. President, are not yet one +of the Immortals. But I fancy in a day or two you will join us." I +paused and smiled easily at the concourse below and around me. "It is +really bad luck on the medical profession," I continued. "I'm afraid +we'll all have to find some other occupation. Of course you've all +noticed how the germ cuts short disease." + +I sat down again. The smile on Sir Jeremy's face had weakened a little. + +"Turn them out!" shouted an angry voice from the body of the Hall. + +Sir Jeremy held up a protesting hand, and then took off his glasses and +began to polish them. A buzz of talk arose. Men turned to one another +and began to argue. The doctor behind me leaned forward again. + +"Is this a joke?" he enquired rather loudly. + +"No." + +"But you two are speaking rubbish. What the devil do you mean by saying +you're immortal?" + +I turned and looked at him. My calmness enraged him. He was a shaggy, +irritable, middle-aged practitioner. + +"You've got the Blue Disease, but you're no more immortal than a blue +monkey." He looked fiercely round at his neighbours. "What do you +think?" + +A babel of voices sounded in our ears. + +Sir Jeremy Jones appeared perplexed. Someone stood up in the body of the +Hall and Sir Jeremy caught his eye and seemed relieved. It was my friend +Hammer, who had tended me after the accident that my black cat had +brought about. + +"Gentlemen," said Hammer, when silence had fallen. "Although the +statements of Professor Sarakoff and Dr. Harden appear fantastical, I +believe that they may be nearer the truth than we suppose." His manner, +slow, impressive and calm, aroused general attention. Frowning slightly, +he drew himself up and clasped the lapels of his coat. "This afternoon," +he continued, "I was at the bedside of a sick child who was at the point +of death. This child had been visited yesterday by a relative who, two +hours after the visit, developed the Blue Disease. Now----" He paused +and looked slowly about him. "Now the child was suffering from +peritonitis, and there was no possible chance of recovery. Yet that +child _did_ recover and is now well." + +The whole audience was staring at him. Hammer took a deep breath and +grasped his coat more firmly. + +"That child, I repeat, is now well. The recovery set in under my own +eyes. I saw for myself the return of life to a body that was moribund. +The return was swift. In one hour the transformation was complete, and +it was _in that hour_ that the child developed the outward signs of the +Blue Disease." + +He paused. A murmur ran round the hall and then once more came silence. + +"I am of the opinion," said Hammer deliberately, "that the cause of the +miracle--for it was a miracle--was the Blue Disease. Think, Gentlemen, +of a child in the last stages of septic peritonitis, practically dead. +Think again of the same child, one hour later, alive, free from pain, +smiling, interested--and stained with the Blue Disease. What conclusion, +as honest men, are we to draw from that?" + +He sat down. At once a man near him got to his feet. + +"The point of view hinted at by the last speaker is correct," he said. +"I can corroborate it to a small extent. This morning I was confined to +my bed with the beginnings of a bad influenzal cold. At midday I +developed the Blue Disease, and now I am as well as I have ever been in +the whole of my life. I attribute my cure to the Blue Disease." + +Scarcely had he taken his seat again when a grave scholarly man arose in +the gallery. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "I come from Birmingham; and it is a city of +miracles. The sick are being cured in thousands daily. The hospitals are +emptying daily. I verily believe that the Blue Disease may prove to be +all that Dr. Sarakoff and Dr. Harden claim it to be." + +The effect of these speakers upon the meeting was remarkable. A thrill +passed over the crowded Hall. Hammer rose again. + +"Let us accept for a moment that this new infection confers immortality +on humanity," he said, weighing each word carefully. "What are we, as +medical men, going to do? Look into the future--a future free from +disease, from death, possibly from pain. Are we to accept such a future +passively, or are we, as doctors, to strive to eradicate this new germ +as we strive to eradicate other germs?" + +Sir Jeremy Jones, with an expression of dismay, raised his hand. + +"Surely, surely," he exclaimed shrilly, "we are going too far. That the +Blue Disease may modify the course of illness is conceivable, and seems +to be supported by evidence. But to assume that it confers +immortality----" + +"Why should we doubt it?" returned Hammer warmly. "We have been told +that it does by two responsible men of science, and so far their claim +is justified. You, Mr. Chairman, have not seen the miracle that I have +seen this afternoon. If the germ can bring a moribund child back to life +in an hour, why should it not banish disease from the world?" + +"But if it does banish disease from the world, that does not mean it +confers immortality," objected Sir Jeremy. "Do you mean to say that we +are to regard natural death as a disease?" + +He gazed round the hall helplessly. Several men arose to speak, but were +unable to obtain a hearing, for excitement now ran high and every man +was discussing the situation with his neighbour. For a moment, a +strange dread had gripped the meeting, paralysing thought, but it +passed, and while some remained perplexed the majority began to resent +vehemently the suggestions of Hammer. I could hear those immediately +behind me insisting that the view was sheer rubbish. It was +preposterous. It was pure lunacy. With these phrases, constantly +repeated, they threw off the startling effect of Hammer's speech, and +fortified themselves in the conviction that the Blue Disease was merely +a new malady, similar to other maladies, and that life would proceed as +before. + +I turned to them. + +"You are deliberately deceiving yourselves," I said. "You have heard the +evidence. You are simply making as much noise as possible in order to +shut out the truth." + +My words enraged them. A sudden clamour arose around us. Several men +shook their fists and there were angry cries. One of them made a +movement towards us. In an instant calmness left us. The scene around us +seemed to leap up to our senses as something terrible and dangerous. +Sarakoff and I scrambled to our feet, pushed our way frantically +through the throng, reached the corridor and dashed down it. Fear of +indescribable intensity had flamed in our souls, and in a moment we +found ourselves running violently down Regent Street. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE WAY BACK + + +It had been a wet night. Pools of water lay on the glistening pavements, +but the rain had ceased. We ran steadily until we came in sight of +Piccadilly Circus, and there our fear left us suddenly. It was like the +cutting off of a switch. We stopped in the street, gasping for breath. + +"This is really absurd," I observed; "we must learn to control +ourselves." + +"We can't control an emotion of that strength, Harden. It's +overwhelming. It's all the emotion we had before concentrated into a +single expression. No, it's going to be a nuisance." + +"The worst of it is that we cannot foresee it. We get no warning. It +springs out of the unknown like a tiger." + +We walked slowly across the Circus. It was thronged with a night crowd, +and seemed like some strange octagonal room, walled by moving coloured +lights. Here lay a scene that remained eternally the same whatever the +conditions of life--a scene that neither war, nor pestilence, nor famine +could change. We stood by the fountain, immersed in our thoughts. "I +used to enjoy this kind of thing," said Sarakoff at length. + +"And now?" + +"Now it is curiously meaningless--absolutely indecipherable." + +We walked on and entered Coventry Street. Here Sarakoff suddenly pushed +open a door and I followed him. We found ourselves in a brilliantly +illuminated restaurant. A band was playing. We sat down at an unoccupied +table. + +"Harden, I wish to try an experiment. I want to see if, by an effort, we +can get back to the old point of view." + +He beckoned to the waiter and ordered champagne, cognac, oysters and +caviare. Then he leaned back in his seat and smiled. + +"Somehow I feel it won't work," I began. + +He held up his hand. + +"Wait. It is an experiment. You must give it a fair chance. Come, let us +be merry." + +I nodded. + +"Let us eat, drink and be merry," I murmured. + +I watched the flushed faces and sparkling eyes around us. So far we had +attracted no attention. Our table was in a corner, behind a pillar. The +waiter hurried up with a laden tray, and in a moment the table was +covered with bottles and plates. + +"Now," said Sarakoff, "we will begin with a glass of brandy. Let us try +to recall the days of our youth--a little imagination, Harden, and then +perhaps the spell will be broken. A toast--Leonora!" + +"Leonora," I echoed. + +We raised our glasses. I took a sip and set down my glass. Our eyes met. + +"Is the brandy good?" + +"It is of an admirable quality," said Sarakoff. He put his glass on the +table and for some time we sat in silence. + +"Excuse me," I said. "Don't you think the caviare is a trifle----?" + +He made a gesture of determination. + +"Harden, we will try champagne." + +He filled two glasses. + +"Let us drink off the whole glass," he said. "Really, Harden, we must +try." + +I managed to take two gulps. The stuff was nasty. It seemed like weak +methylated spirits. + +"Continue," said Sarakoff firmly; "let us drink ourselves into the +glorious past, whither the wizard of alcohol transports all men." + +I took two more gulps. Sarakoff did the same. It was something in the +nature of a battle against an invisible resistance. I gripped the table +hard with my free hand, and took another gulp. + +"Sarakoff," I gasped. "I can't take any more. If you want to get alcohol +into my system you must inject it under my skin. I can't do it this +way." + +He put down his glass. It was half full. There were beads of +perspiration on his brow. + +"I'll finish that glass somehow," he observed. He passed his hand across +his forehead. "This is extraordinary. It's just like taking poison, +Harden, and yet it is an excellent brand of wine." + +"Do get these oysters taken away," I said. "They serve no purpose lying +here. They only take up room." + +"Wait till I finish my glass." + +With infinite trouble he drank the rest of the champagne. The effort +tired him. He sat, breathing quickly and staring before him. + +"That's a pretty woman," he observed. "I did not notice her before." + +I followed the direction of his gaze. A young woman, dressed in emerald +green, sat at a table against the opposite wall. She was talking very +excitedly, making many gestures and seemed to me a little intoxicated. + +Sarakoff poured out some more champagne. + +"I am getting back," he muttered. He looked like a man engaged in some +terrific struggle with himself. His breath was short and thick, his eyes +were reddened. Perspiration covered his face and hands. He finished the +second glass. + +"Yes, she is pretty," he said, "I like that white skin against the +brilliant green. She's got grace, too. Have you noticed white-skinned +women always are graceful, and have little ears, Harden?" + +He laughed suddenly, with his old boisterousness and clapped me on the +shoulder. + +"This is the way out!" he shouted, and pointed to the silver tub that +contained the champagne bottle. + +His voice sounded loudly above the music. + +"The way out!" he repeated. He got to his feet. His eyes were congested. +The sweat streamed down his cheeks. "Here," he called in his deep +powerful voice, "here, all you who are afraid--here is the way out." He +waved his arms. People stopped drinking and talking to turn and stare at +him. "Back to the animals!" he shouted. "Back to the fur and hair and +flesh! I was up on the mountain top, but I've found the way back. Here +it is--here is the magic you need, if you're tired of the frozen +heights!" + +He swayed as he spoke. Strangely interested, I stared up at him. + +"He's delirious," called out the emerald young woman. "He's got that +horrid disease." + +The manager and a couple of waiters came up. "It's coming," shouted +Sarakoff; "I saw it sweeping over the world. See, the world is white, +like snow. They have robbed it of colour." The manager grasped his arm +firmly. + +"Come with me," he said. "You are ill. I will put you in a taxi." + +"You don't understand," said Sarakoff. "You are in it still. Don't you +see I'm a traveller?" + +"He is mad," whispered a waiter in my ear. + +"A traveller," shouted the Russian. "But I've come back. Greeting, +brothers. It was a rough journey, but now I hear and see you." + +"If you do not leave the establishment at once I will get a policeman," +said the manager with a hiss. + +Sarakoff threw out his hands. + +"Make ready!" he cried. "The great uprooting!" He began to laugh +unsteadily. "The end of disease and the end of desire--there's no +difference. You never knew that, brothers. I've come back to tell +you--thousands and thousands of miles--into the great dimension of hell +and heaven. It was a mistake and I'm going back. Look! She's +fading--further and further----" He pointed a shaking hand across the +room and suddenly collapsed, half supported by the manager. + +"Dead drunk," remarked a neighbour. + +I turned. + +"No. Live drunk," I said. "The champagne has brought him back to the +world of desire." + +The speaker, a clean-shaven young man, stared insolently. + +"You have no business to come into a public place with that disease," he +said with a sneer. + +"You are right. I have no business here. My business is to warn the +world that the end of desire is at hand." I signalled to a waiter and +together we managed to get Sarakoff into a taxi-cab. + +As we drove home, all that lay behind Sarakoff's broken confused words +revealed itself with increasing distinctness to me. + +Sarakoff spoke again. + +"Harden," he muttered thickly, "there was a flaw--in the dream----" + +"Yes," I said. "I was sure there would be a flaw. I hadn't noticed it +before----" + +"We're cut off," he whispered. "Cut off." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +JASON + + +Next morning the headlines of the newspapers blazed out the news of the +meeting at the Queen's Hall, and the world read the words of Sarakoff. + +Strange to say, most of the papers seemed inclined to view the situation +seriously. + +"If," said one in a leading article, "it really means that immortality +is coming to humanity--and there is, at least, much evidence from +Birmingham that supports the view that the germ cures all sickness--then +we are indeed face to face with a strange problem. For how will +immortality affect us as a community? As a community, we live together +on the tacit assumption that the old will die and the young will take +their place. All our laws and customs are based on this idea. We can +scarcely think of any institution that is not established upon the +certainty of death. What, then, if death ceases? Our food supply----" + +I was interrupted, while reading, by my servant who announced that a +gentleman wished to see me on urgent business. I laid aside the paper +and waited for him to enter. + +My early visitor was a tall, heavily-built man, with strong eyes. He was +carefully dressed. He looked at me attentively, nodded, and sat down. + +"My name is Jason--Edward Jason. You have no doubt heard of me." + +"Certainly," I said. "You are the proprietor of this paper that I have +just been reading." + +He nodded. + +"And of sixty other daily papers, Dr. Harden," he said in a soft voice. +"I control much of the opinion in the country, and I intend to control +it all before I die." + +"A curious intention. But why should you die? You will get the germ in +time. I calculate that in a month at the outside the whole of London and +the best part of the country will be infected." + +While I spoke he stared hard at me. He nodded again, glanced at his +boots, pinched his lips, and then stared again. + +"A year ago I made a tour of all the big men in your profession, both +here, in America, and on the continent, Dr. Harden. I had a very +definite reason for doing this. The reason was that--well, it does not +matter now. I wanted a diagnosis and a forecast of the future. I +consulted forty medical men--all with big names. Twenty-one gave me +practically identical opinions. The remaining nineteen were in +disagreement. Of that nineteen six gave me a long life." + +"What did the twenty-one give you?" + +"Five years at the outside." + +I looked at him critically. + +"Yes, I should have given the same--a year ago." + +He coloured a little, and his gaze fell; he shifted himself in his +chair. Then he looked up suddenly, with a strong glow in his eyes. + +"And now?" + +"Now I give you--immortality." I spoke quite calmly, with no intention +of any dramatic effect. + +The colour faded from his cheeks, and the glow in his eyes increased. + +"If I get the Blue Disease, do you swear that it will cure me?" + +"Of course it will cure you." + +He got to his feet. He seemed to be in the grip of some powerful +emotion, and I could see that he was determined to control himself. He +walked down the room and stood for some time near the window. + +"A gipsy once told me I would die when I was fifty-two. Will you believe +me when I say that that prophecy has weighed upon me more than any +medical opinion?" He turned and came up the room and stood before me. +"Did you ever read German psychology and philosophy?" + +"To a certain extent--in translations." + +"Well, Dr. Harden, I stepped out of the pages of some of those books, I +think. You've heard of the theory of the Will to Power? The men who +based human life on that instinct were right!" He clenched his hands and +closed his eyes. "This last year has been hell to me. I've been haunted +every hour by the thought of death--just so much longer--so many +thousand days--and then Nothing!" He opened his eyes and sat down +before me. "Are you ambitious, Dr. Harden?" + +"I was--very ambitious." + +"Do you know what it is to have a dream of power, luring you on day and +night? Do you know what is to see the dream becoming reality, bit by +bit--and then to be given a time limit, when the dream is only half +worked out?" + +"I have had my dream," I said. "It is now realized." + +"The germ?" + +I nodded. He leaned forward. + +"Then you are satisfied?" + +"I have no desires now." + +He did not appear to understand. + +"I don't believe yet in your theory of immortality," he said slowly. +"But I do believe that the germ cures sickness. I have had private +reports from Birmingham, and to-morrow I'm going to publish them as +evidence. You see, Harden, I've decided to back you. To-morrow I'm going +to make Gods of you and your Russian associate. I'm going to call you +the greatest benefactors the race has known. I'm going to lift you up to +the skies." + +He looked at me earnestly. + +"Doesn't that stir you?" he asked. + +"No, I told you that I have no desires." + +He laughed. + +"You're dazed. You must have worked incredibly hard. Wait till you see +your name surrounded by the phrases I will devise you. I can make men +out of nothing." His eyes shone into mine. "I once heard a man say that +the trail of the serpent lay across my papers. That man is in an asylum +now. I can break men, too, you see. Now I want to ask you something." + +I watched him with ease, totally uninfluenced by his magnetism--calm and +aloof as a man watching a mechanical doll. + +"Can you limit the germ?" he asked softly. + +I shook my head. + +"Can you take any steps to stop it or keep it--within control?" + +I shook my head again. He stared for a minute at me. + +"I believe you," he said at last. "It's a pity. Think what we could have +done--just a few of us!" He sat for some time drumming his fingers on +his knees and frowning slightly. Then he stood up. + +"Never mind," he exclaimed. "I'm convinced it will cure me. That is the +main thing. I'll have plenty of time to realize my dream now, Harden, +thanks to you. You don't know what that means--ah, you don't know!" + +"By the way," I said, "I see you are suggesting that food may become a +problem in the future. I think we'll be all right." + +"Why?" + +"Well, you see, if there's no desire, there's no appetite." + +"I don't understand," he said. "It seems clear that if disease is +mastered by the germ, then the death-rate will drop, and there will be +more mouths to fill. If everyone lives for their threescore and ten, the +food question will be serious." + +"Oh, they'll live longer than that. They'll live for ever, Mr. Jason." + +He laughed tolerantly. + +"In any case there will be a food problem," he said in a quiet friendly +voice. "There will be more births, and more children--for none will +die--and more old people." + +"There won't be more births," I said. + +He swung round on his heel. + +"Why not?" he asked sharply. + +"Because there will be no desire, Mr. Jason. You can't have births +without desires, don't you see?" + +At that moment Sarakoff entered the room. I introduced him to the great +newspaper proprietor. Jason made some complimentary remarks, which +Sarakoff received with cool gravity. + +I could see that Jason was very puzzled. He had seated himself again, +and was watching the Russian closely. + +"The effects of last night have vanished," said Sarakoff to me. "My head +is clear again and I have no intention of ever repeating the +experiment." + +"You got back, to some extent." + +"Yes, partly. It was tremendously painful. I felt like a man in a +nightmare." + +I turned to Jason and explained what had happened at the restaurant. He +listened intently. + +"You see," I concluded, "the germ kills desire. Sarakoff and I live on a +level of consciousness that is undisturbed by any craving. We live in a +wonderful state of peace, which is only broken by the appearance of +physical danger--against which, of course, the germ is not proof." + +Jason was silent. + +"Do you mean to tell me," he said at length, in a very deliberate voice, +"that the effect of the germ is to destroy ambition?" + +"Worldly ambition, certainly," I replied. "But I believe that, in time, +ambitions of a subtler nature will reveal themselves in us, as +Immortals." + +Jason smiled very broadly. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "you are wonderful men. You have discovered +something that benefits humanity enormously. But take my advice--leave +your other theories alone. Stick to the facts--that your germ cures +sickness. Drop the talk about immortality and desire. It's too +fantastic, even for me. In the meantime I shall spread abroad the news +that the end of sickness is at hand, and that humanity is on the +threshold of a new era. For that I believe with all my heart." + +"One moment," said Sarakoff. "If you believe that this germ does away +with disease, what is going to cause men to die?" + +"Old age." + +"But that is a disease itself." + +"Wear and tear isn't a disease. That's what kills most of us." + +"Yes, but wear and tear comes from desire, Mr. Jason," I said. "And the +germ knocks that out. So what is left, save immortality?" + +When Jason left us, I could see that he was impressed by the possibility +of life being, at least, greatly prolonged. And this was the line he +took in his newspapers next day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE FIRST MURDERS + + +The effect of Jason's newspapers on public opinion was remarkable. +Humanity ever contains within it the need for mystery, and the strange +and incredible, if voiced by authority, stir it to its depths. The facts +about the healing of sickness and the cure of disease in Birmingham were +printed in heavy type and read by millions. Nothing was said about +immortality save what Sarakoff and I had stated at the Queen's Hall +meeting. But instinctively the multitude leaped to the conclusion that +if the end of disease was at hand, then the end of death--at least, the +postponement of death--was to be expected. + +Jason, pale and masterful, visited us in the afternoon, and told us of +the spread of the tidings in England. "They've swallowed it," he +exclaimed; "it's stirred them as nothing else has done in the last +hundred years. I visited the East End to-day. The streets are full of +people. Crowds everywhere. It might lead to anything." + +"Is the infection spreading swiftly?" + +"It's spreading. But there are plenty of people, like myself, who +haven't got it yet. I should say that a quarter of London is blue." He +looked at me with a sudden anxiety. "You're sure I'll get it?" + +"Quite sure. Everyone is bound to get it. There's no possible immunity." + +He sat heavily in the chair, staring at the carpet. + +"Harden, I didn't quite like the look of those crowds in the East End. +Anything big like this stirs up the people. It excites them and then the +incalculable may happen. I've been thinking about the effect upon the +uneducated mind. I've spread over the country the vision of humanity +free from disease, and that's roused something in them--something +dangerous--that I didn't foresee. Disease, Harden, whatever you doctors +think of it, puts the fear of God into humanity. It's these sudden +releases--releases from ancient fears--that are so dangerous. Are you +sure you can't stop the germ, or direct it along certain channels?" + +"I have already told you that's impossible." + +"You might as well try and stop the light of day," said Sarakoff from a +sofa, where he was lying apparently asleep. "Let the people think what +they like now. Wait till they get it themselves. There are rules in the +game, Jason, that you have no conception of, and that I have only +realized since I became immortal. Yes--rules in the game, whether you +play it in the cellar or the attic, or in the valley, or on the mountain +top." + +"Your friend is very Russian," said Jason equably. "I have always heard +they are dreamers and visionaries. Personally, I am a practical man, and +as such I foresee trouble. If the masses of the people have no illness, +and enjoy perfect health, we shall be faced by a difficult problem. +They'll get out of hand. Depressed states of health are valuable assets +in keeping the social organization together. All this demands careful +thought. I am visiting the Prime Minister this evening and shall give +him my views." + +At that moment a newspaper boy passed the window with an afternoon +edition and Jason went out to get a copy. He returned with a smile of +satisfaction, carrying the paper open before him. + +"Three murders in London," he announced. "One in Plaistow, one in East +Ham and one in Pimlico. I told you there was unrest abroad." He laid the +paper on the table and studied it "In every case it was an aged +person--two old women, and one old man. Now what does that mean?" + +"A gang at work." + +He shook his head. + +"No. In one case the murderer has been caught. It was a case of +patricide--a hideous crime. Curiously enough the victim had the Blue +Disease. The end must have been ghastly, as it states here that the +expression on the old man's face was terrible." + +He sat beside the table, drumming his fingers on it and staring at the +wall before him. I was not particularly interested in the news, but I +was interested in Jason. Character had formerly appealed little to me, +but now I found an absorbing problem in it. + +"Harden, do you think that son killed his father _because_ he had the +Blue Disease?" + +I was struck by the remark. For some reason the picture of Alice's +father came into my mind. Jason sprang to his feet. + +"Yes, that's it," he exclaimed. "That's what lay behind those restless +crowds. I knew there was something--a riddle to read, and now I've got +the answer. The crowd doesn't know what's rousing them. But I do. It's +fear and resentment, Harden. It's fear and resentment against the old." +He brought his fist down on the table. "The germ's going to lead to war! +It's going to lead to the worst war humanity has ever experienced--the +war of the young against the old. Not the ancient strife or struggle +between young and old, but open bloodshed, my friends. That's what your +germ is going to do." + +I smiled and shook my head. + +"Wait," said Sarakoff from the sofa; "wait a little. Why are you in such +a hurry to jump to conclusions?" + +"Because it's my business to jump to conclusions just six hours before +anyone else does," said Jason. "I calculate that my mind, for the last +twenty years, has been six hours ahead of time. I live in a state of +chronic anticipation, Dr. Sarakoff. Just let me use your telephone for a +moment." + +He returned a quarter of an hour later. His expression was calm, but his +eyes were hard. "I was right," he said. "Those two old women had the +Blue Disease, and a girl, a daughter, is suspect in one case. Can't you +imagine the situation? Girl lives with her aged mother--can't get +free--mother has what money there is--not allowed to marry--girl +unconsciously counts on mother's death--probably got a secret +love-affair--is expecting the moment of release--and then, along comes +the Blue Disease and one of my newspapers telling her what it means. The +old lady recovers her health--the future shuts down like a rat trap and +what does the poor girl do? Kills her mother--and probably goes mad. +That, gentlemen, is my theory of the case." + +He strode up and down the room. + +"You may think I'm taking a low view," he cried. "But there are hundreds +of thousands of similar cases in England. God help the old if the young +forget their religion!" + +For some reason I was unmoved by the outcry. It was no doubt owing to +the peculiar emotionless state that the germ induced in people. Jason +was roused. He paced to and fro in silence, with his brows contracted. +At length he stopped before me. + +"Do you see any way out?" + +"There will be no war between the young and the old," I replied. "In +another week everyone will get the germ and that will be the end of war +in every form." + +He drew a chair and sat down before me. + +"You don't understand," he said earnestly. "Perhaps you had a happy +childhood. I didn't. I know how some sons and daughters feel because I +suffered in that way. People are strangely blind to suffering unless +they have suffered themselves. When I was a young man, my father put me +in his office and gave me a clerk's wages. He kept me there for six +years at eighteen shillings a week. Whenever I made a suggestion +concerning the business he was careful to ridicule it. Whenever I tried +to break away and start on my own, he prevented it. There were a +thousand other things--ways in which he fettered me. My only sister he +kept at home to do the housework. He forbade her to marry. She and I +never had enough money to do anything, to go anywhere, or to buy +anything. Now, to be quite frank, I longed for him to die so that I +could get free. To me he was an ogre, a great merciless tyrant, a giant +with a club. Well, he died. When he was dead I felt what a man dying of +thirst in the desert must feel when he suddenly comes to a spring of +water. I recovered, and became what I am. My sister never recovered. She +had been suppressed beyond all the limits of elasticity. As far as her +body is concerned, it is alive. Her soul is dead." + +He paused and looked at me meditatively. + +"If your blue germ had come along then, Harden, I might---- Who knows? I +have often wondered why our pulpit religion ignores the crimes of +parents to their children. I'm not conventionally religious, but I seem +to remember that Christ indirectly said something pretty strong on the +subject. But the pulpit folk show a wonderful facility for ignoring the +awkward things Christ said. In about three years' time I'm going to turn +my guns on the Church. They've sneered at me too much." + +"There will be a new Church by that time," murmured Sarakoff. "And no +guns." + +Jason eyed the prostrate figure of the Russian. + +"I refer to my newspapers. That's going to be my final triumph. Why do +you smile?" + +"Because you said a moment ago that it was your business to be six hours +ahead of everyone else. You're countless centuries behind Harden and me. +We have taken a leap into the future. If you want to know what humanity +will be, look at us closely. You'll get some hints that should be +valuable. I admit that our bodies are old-fashioned in their size and +shape, but not our emotions." + +The telephone bell rang in the hall and Jason jumped up. + +"I think that's for me." + +He went out. I remained sitting calmly in my chair. An absolute serenity +surrounded me. All that Jason did or said was like looking at an +interesting play. I was perfectly content to sit and think--think of +Jason, of what his motives were, of the reason why a man is blind where +his desires are at work, of the new life, of the new organizations that +would be necessary. I was like a glutton before a table piled high with +delicacies and with plenty of time to spare. Sarakoff seemed to be in +the same condition for he lay with his eyes half shut, motionless and +absorbed. + +Jason entered the room suddenly. He carried his hat and stick. + +"Two more murders reported from Greenwich, and ten from Birmingham. It's +becoming serious, Harden! I'm off to Downing Street. Watch the morning +editions!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AT DOWNING STREET + + +That night, at eight o'clock, I was summoned to Downing Street. I left +Sarakoff lying on the sofa, apparently asleep. I drove the first part of +the way in a taxi, but at the corner of Orchard Street the cab very +nearly collided with another vehicle, and in a moment I was a helpless +creature of fear. So I walked the rest of the way, much to the +astonishment of the driver, who thought I was a lunatic. It was a fine +crisp evening and the streets were unusually full. Late editions of the +paper were still being cried, and under the lamps were groups of people, +talking excitedly. + +From what I could gather from snatches of conversation that I overheard, +it seemed that many thought the millennium was at hand. I mused on this, +wondering if beneath the busy exterior of life there lurked in people's +hearts a secret imperishable conviction. And, after all, was it not a +millennium--the final triumph of science--the conquest of the irrational +by the rational? + +There was a good deal of drunkenness, and crowds of men and women, +linked arm and arm, went by, singing senseless songs. In Piccadilly +Circus the scene was unusually animated. Here, beyond doubt, the Jason +press had produced a powerful impression. The restaurants and bars +blazed with light. Crowds streamed in and out and a spirit of hilarious +excitement pervaded everyone. Irresponsibility--that was the universal +attitude; and I became deeply occupied in thinking how the germ should +have brought about such a temper in the multitude. Only occasionally did +I catch the blue stain in the eyes of the throng about me. + +I reached Downing Street and was shown straight into a large, rather +bare room. By the fireplace sat Jason, and beside him, on the hearthrug, +stood the Premier. Jason introduced me and I was greeted with quiet +courtesy. + +"I intend to make a statement in the House to-night and would like to +put a few questions to you," said the Premier in a slow clear voice. +"The Home Secretary has been considering whether you and Dr. Sarakoff +should be arrested. I see no use in that. What you have done cannot be +undone." + +"That is true." + +"In matters like this," he continued, "it is always a question of taking +sides. Either we must oppose you and the germ, or we must side with you, +and extol the virtues of the new discovery. A neutral attitude would +only rouse irritation. I have therefore looked into the evidence +connected with the effects claimed for the germ, and have received +reports on the rate of its spread. It would seem that it is of benefit +to man, so far as can be judged at present, and that its course cannot +be stayed." + +I assented, and remained gazing abstractedly at the fire. + +He continued in a sterner tone-- + +"It may, however, be necessary to place you and Dr. Sarakoff under +police protection. There is no saying what may happen. Your action in +letting loose the germ in the water supply of Birmingham was +unfortunate. You have taken a great liberty with humanity, whatever may +result from it." + +"Medical men have no sense of proportion," murmured Jason. "Science +makes them so helpless." + +"I see no kind of helplessness in rescuing humanity from disease," I +answered calmly. "Please tell me what you want to know." + +They both looked at me attentively. The Premier took out a pair of +pince-nez and began to clean the lenses, still watching me. + +"France is unwilling to let the germ into her territory. Can measures be +taken to stop its access to the Continent?" + +"No. It will get there inevitably. It has probably got there long ago. +It is air borne and water borne and probably sea borne as well. The +whole world will be infected sooner or later. There is no immunity +possible." + +The Premier put on his pince-nez and warmed his hands at the fire. + +"Then what will the result of the germ be upon mankind?" he asked at +length. + +"It will begin a new era. What has made reform so difficult up to now?" + +"People do not see eye to eye on all questions, Dr. Harden. That is the +main reason." + +"And why do they not see eye to eye?" + +"Because their desires are not the same." + +"Very good. Now imagine a humanity without desires, as you and Jason +understand desire. What would be the result?" + +"It is impossible to conceive. The wheels of the world would cease +turning. We should be like sheep without a shepherd." He surveyed me +quietly for some time. "Then you think the germ will kill desire?" + +"I know it. I am a living example. I have no desires. I am like a man +without a body, I am immortal." + +Jason laughed. + +"You are above temptation?" he asked. + +"Absolutely. Neither money, power nor woman has any influence on me. +They are meaningless." + +"You have, perhaps, reached Nirvana?" the Premier enquired. + +"Yes. That is why I am immortal. I have reached Nirvana." + +"By a trick." + +"If you like--by a trick." + +"Then I cannot think you will stay there for long," said the Premier. "I +shall look forward to my attack of the Blue Disease with interest. It +will be amusing to note one's sensations." + +It was clear to me that he was defending himself against my greater +knowledge, but it was a matter of no importance to me. I was faintly +oppressed by the dreary immensity of the room. I had become sensitive to +atmosphere, and the feeling of that room was not harmonious. + +The Premier stood in deep thought. + +"If the germ prolongs life, it will lead to complications," he remarked. +"The question of being too old has attracted public attention for some +time now, which shows the way the wind is blowing. Oldness has become, +in a small degree, a problem. The world is younger than it used to +be--more impatient, more anxious to live a free life, to escape from any +form of bondage. And so people have begun to ask what we are to do with +our old men." + +He paused and looked at Jason. + +"My friend Jason thinks these murders are caused indirectly by the +germ." + +"It is possible." + +"It seems fantastic. But there may be something in it." The Premier +raised his eyes and studied the ceiling. "There is certainly some +excitement abroad. We are dealing with an unprecedented situation. I +therefore propose to say to-night that if, in the course of time, we +find that life is prolonged and disease done away with, new laws will +have to be considered." + +"Not only new laws," I said. "We shall have to reconstruct the whole +future of life. But there is no hurry. There is plenty of time. There is +eternity before us." + +"What do you eat?" demanded the Premier suddenly. + +"A little bread or biscuit." + +He clasped his hands behind his back and surveyed me for quite a minute. + +"I don't believe you're a quack," he observed. "But when you walked into +the room, I was doubtful." + +"Why?" + +"Because you wouldn't look at me squarely." + +"Why should I look at you squarely? I looked at you and saw you. I have +no desire to make any impression on you, or to dominate you in any way. +It was sufficient just to see you. As Immortals, we do not waste our +time looking at one another squarely. An Immortal cannot act." + +The Premier smiled to himself and took out his watch. + +"I am obliged to you for the instance," he said. "Good-night." + +I rose and walked towards the door. On my way I stopped before a vast +dingy oil-painting. + +"Why do you all deceive yourselves that you admire things like that? +Throw it away. When you become an Immortal you won't live here." + +The Premier and Jason stood together on the hearth-rug. They watched me +intently as I went out and closed the door behind me. A servant met me +on the landing and escorted me downstairs. I observed that he was an +Immortal. + +"What are you doing here?" I asked. + +"I am a spectator," he said in a calm voice. "And you?" + +"I, too, am a spectator." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +NIGHT OF AN IMMORTAL + + +I passed a most remarkable night. On reaching home I went to bed as +usual. My mind was busy, but what busied it was not the events of the +day. + +I lay in the darkness in a state of absolute contentment. My eyes were +closed. My body was motionless, and felt warm and comfortable. I was +quite aware of the position of my limbs in space and I could hear the +sound of passing vehicles outside. I was not asleep and yet at the same +time I was not awake. I knew I was not properly awake because, when I +tried to move, there seemed to be a resistance to the impulse, which +prevented it from reaching the muscles. As I have already said, I could +feel. The sensation of my body was there, though probably diminished, +but the power of movement was checked, though only slightly. And all +the time I lay in that state, my mind was perfectly lucid and +continually active. I thought about many things and the power of thought +was very great, in that I could keep my attention fixed hour after hour +on the same train of thought, go backwards and forwards along it, change +and modify its gradations, just as if I were dealing with some material +and plastic formation. Since that time I have become acquainted with a +doctrine that teaches that thoughts are in the nature of things--that a +definite thought is a formation in some tenuous medium of matter, just +as a cathedral is a structure in gross matter. This is certainly the +kind of impression I gained then. + +It was now in the light of contrast that I could reflect on the rusty +and clumsy way in which I had previously done my thinking, and I +remembered with a faint amusement that there had been a time when I +considered that I had a very clear and logical mind. Logical! What did +we, as mere mortals full of personal desire, know of logic? The +reflection seemed infinitely humorous. My thoughts had about them a new +quality of stability. They formed themselves into clear images, which +had a remarkable permanence. Their power and influence was greatly +increased. If, for example, I thought out a bungalow situated on the +cliff, I built up, piece by piece in my mind, the complete picture; and +once built up it remained there so that I could see it as a whole, and +almost, so to speak, walk round it and view it from different angles. I +could lay aside this thought-creation just as I might lay aside a model +in clay, and later on bring it back into my mind, as fresh and clear as +ever. The enjoyment of thinking under such conditions is impossible to +describe. It was like the joy of a man, blind from childhood, suddenly +receiving his sight. + +As ordinary mortals, we are all familiar with the apparently real scenes +that occur in dreams. In our dreams we see buildings and walk round +them. We see flights of steps and climb them. We apparently touch and +taste food. We meet friends and strangers and converse with them. At +times we seem to gaze over landscapes covered with woods and meadows. + +It seemed to me that the magic of dreams had in some way become attached +to thought. For as Immortals we did not dream as mortals do. In place +of dreaming, we created immense thought-forms, working as it were on a +new plane of matter whose resources were inexhaustible. + +That night I built my ideal bungalow and when I had finished it I +constructed my ideal garden. And then I made a sea and a coast-line, and +when it was finished it was so real to me that I actually seemed to go +into its rooms, sit on the verandah, breathe in its sea-airs and listen +to the surf below its cliff. I remember that one of its rooms did not +please me entirely, and that I seemed to pull it down--in thought--and +reconstruct it according to my wish. This took time, for brick by brick +I thought the new room into existence. One law that governed that state +was easy to grasp, for whatever you did not think out clearly assumed a +blurred unsatisfactory form. It became clear to me as early as that +first night of immortality that the more familiar a man was with matter +on the earth and its ways and possibilities, the more easily could he +make his constructions on that plan of thought. + +The whole of that night I lay in this state of creative joy and I know +that my body remained motionless. It seemed that only a film divided me +from the use of my limbs, but that film was definite. At eight o'clock +on that morning, I became aware of a vague feeling of strain. It was a +very slight sensation, but its effect was to make the thoughts that +occupied my consciousness to become less definite. I had to make an +effort to keep them distinct. The strain slowly became greater. It had +begun with a sense of distance, but it seemed to get nearer, and I +experienced a feeling that I can only compare to as that which a man has +when he is losing his balance and about to fall. + +The strain ended suddenly. I found myself moving my limbs. I opened my +eyes and looked round. The graphic, visible quality of my thoughts had +now vanished. I was awake. + + +I have given the above account of the night of an Immortal, because it +has seemed to me right that some record should be left of the effect of +the germ on the mind. I would explain the inherent power of thought as +being due to the freedom from the ordinary desires of mortals, which +waste and dissipate the energies of the mind ... but of that I cannot be +certain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +OUR FLIGHT + + +I got out of bed and began to examine my clothes. They were strewn about +the floor and on chairs. The colour of them seemed peculiar to my +senses. My frock coat, of heavy black material, with curious braiding +and buttons, fascinated me. I counted the number of separate things that +made up my complete attire. They were twenty-four in number. I +discovered that in addition to these articles of actual wearing material +I was in the habit of carrying on my person about sixty other articles. +For some reason I found these calculations very interesting. I had a +kind of counting mania that morning. I counted all the things I used in +dressing myself. I counted the number of stripes on my trousers and on +my wall-paper; I counted the number of rooms in my house, the articles +of furniture that they contained, and the number of electric lamps. I +went into the kitchen and counted everything I could see, to the +astonishment of my servants. I observed that my cook showed a faint blue +stain in her eyes, but that the other servants showed no signs as yet of +the Blue Disease. I went into my study and counted the books; I opened +one of them. It was the British Pharmacopoeia. I began mechanically to +count the number of drugs it contained. I was still counting them when +the breakfast gong sounded. I went across the hall and counted on my way +the number of sticks and hats and coats that were there. I finished up +by counting the number of things on the breakfast table. Then I picked +up the newspaper. There were, by the way, one hundred and four distinct +things on my breakfast table. + +The paper was full of the records of crime and of our names. + +The account of the Prime Minister's statement in the House was given in +full. Our names were printed in large letters, and apparently our +qualifications had been looked up, for they were mentioned, together +with a little biographical sketch. In a perfectly calm and observant +spirit I read the closely-printed column. My eye paused for some time at +an account of my personal appearance--"a small, insignificant-looking +man, with straight blue-black hair, like a Japanese doll, and an untidy +moustache, speaking very deliberately and with a manner of extreme +self-assurance." + +Extreme self-assurance! I reflected that there might, after all, be some +truth in what the reporter said. On the night that I had spoken at the +Queen's Hall meeting I had been quite self-possessed. I pursued the +narrative and smiled slightly at a description of the Russian--"a +loosely-built, bearded giant, unkempt in appearance, and with huge +square hands and pale Mongolian eyes which roll like those of a maniac." +That was certainly unfair, unless the reporter had seen him at the +restaurant when Sarakoff drank the champagne. I was about to continue, +when a red brick suddenly landed neatly on my breakfast table, and +raised the number of articles on that table to one hundred and five. + +There was a tinkle of falling glass; I looked up and saw that the +window was shattered. The muslin curtain in front of it had been torn +down by the passage of the brick, and the street without was visible +from where I sat. A considerable crowd had gathered on the pavement. +They saw me and a loud cry went up. The front door bell was ringing and +there was a sound of heavy blows that echoed through the house. + +My housemaid came running into the room. She uttered a shriek as she saw +the faces beyond the window and ran out again. I heard a door at the +back of the house slam suddenly. + +A couple of men, decently enough dressed, were getting over the area +rails with the intent of climbing in at the window. I jumped up and went +swiftly upstairs. So far I was calm. I entered Sarakoff's bedroom. It +was in darkness. The Russian was lying motionless on the bed. I shook +him by the shoulder. It seemed impossible to rouse him, and yet in +outward appearance he seemed only lightly asleep. I redoubled my efforts +and at length he opened his eyes, and his whole body, which had felt +under my hands as limp and flaccid as a pillow, suddenly seemed to +tighten up and become resilient. + +"Get up," I said. "They're trying to break into the house. We may be in +danger. We can escape by the back door through the mews." + +The blows on the front door were clearly audible. + +"I've been listening to it for some time," he said. "But I seemed to +have lost the knack of waking up properly." + +"We have no time to waste," I said firmly. + +We went quickly downstairs. Sarakoff had flung a blue dressing-gown over +his pyjamas and thrust his feet into a pair of slippers. On reaching the +hall there was a loud crack and a roar of voices. In an instant the +agonizing fear swept over us. We dashed to the back of the house, +through the servants' quarters and out into the mews. Without pausing +for an instant we ran down the cobbled alley and emerged upon Devonshire +Street. We turned to the right, dashed across Portland Place and reached +Great Portland Street. We ran steadily, wholly mastered by the great +fear of physical injury, and oblivious to the people around us. We +passed the Underground Station. Our flight down the Euston Road was +extraordinary. Sarakoff was in front, his dressing-gown flying, and his +pink pyjamas making a vivid area of colour in the drab street. I +followed a few yards in the rear, hatless, with my breath coming in +gasps. + +It was Sarakoff who first saw the taxi-cab. He veered suddenly into the +road and held out his arms. The cab slowed down and in a moment we were +inside it. + +"Go on," shouted Sarakoff, "Drive on. Don't stop." + +The driver was a man of spirit and needed no further directions. The cab +jerked forward and we sped towards St. Pancras Station. + +"Follow the tram lines up to Hampstead," I called out, and he nodded. We +lay gasping in the back of the cab, cannoning helplessly as it swayed +round corners. By the time we had reached Hampstead our fear had left +us. + +The cab drew up on the Spaniard's Walk and we alighted. It was a bleak +and misty morning. The road seemed deserted. A thin column of steam rose +from the radiator of the taxi, and there was a smell of over-heated +oil. + +"Sharp work that," said the driver, getting out and beating his arms +across his chest. His eyes moved over us with frank curiosity. Sarakoff +shivered and drew his dressing-gown closely round him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +ON THE SPANIARD'S WALK + + +I paid the man half-a-sovereign. There was a seat near by and Sarakoff +deposited himself upon it. I joined him. On those heights the morning +air struck chill. London, misty-blue, lay before us. The taxi-man took +out his pipe and began to fill it. + +"Lucky me comin' along like that," he observed. "If it hadn't been +because of my missus I wouldn't have been out so early." He blew a puff +of smoke and continued: "This Blue Disease seems to confuse folk. My +missus was took with it last night." He paused to examine us at his +leisure. "When did you get it?" + +"We became immortal the day before yesterday," said Sarakoff. + +The taxi-man took his pipe out of his mouth and stared. + +"You ain't them two doctors what's in the paper this morning, by any +chance?" he asked. "Them as is supposed to 'ave invented this Blue +Disease?" + +We nodded. He emitted a low whistle and gazed thoughtfully at us. At +length he spoke I noticed his tone had changed. + +"As I was saying, my missus was took with it in the night. I had a job +waking 'er up, and when she opened her eyes I near had a fit. We'd had a +bit of a tiff overnight, but she got up as quiet as a lamb and never +said a word agin me, which surprised me. When I 'ad dressed myself I +went into the kitchen to get a bit o' breakfast, and she was setting in +a chair starin' at nothing. The kettle wasn't boiling, and there wasn't +nothing ready, so I asked 'er quite polite, what she was doing. 'I'm +thinking,' she says, and continues sitting in the chair. After a bit of +reasoning with her, I lost my temper and picked up a leg of a chair, +what we had broke the evening previous when we was 'aving a argument. +She jump up and bolted out of the house, just as she was, with her 'air +in curl-papers, and that's the last I saw of her. I waited an hour and +then took the old cab out of the garage, and I was going to look for my +breakfast when I met you two gents." He took his pipe out of his mouth +and wiped his lips. "Now I put it all down to this 'ere Blue Disease. +It's sent my missus off 'er head." + +"There's no reason why you should think your wife mad simply because she +ran away when you tried to strike her," I said. "It's surely a proof of +her sanity." + +He shook his head. + +"That ain't correct," he said, with conviction. "She always liked a +scrap. She's a powerful young woman, and her language is extraordinary +fine when she's roused, and she knows it. I can't understand it." + +He looked up suddenly. + +"So it was you two who made this disease was it?" + +"Yes." + +"Fancy that!" he said. "Fancy a couple of doctors inventing a disease. +It does sound a shame, don't it?" + +"Wait till you get it," said Sarakoff. + +"It seems to me you've been and done something nasty," he went on. +"Ain't there enough diseases without you two going and makin' a new +one? It's a fair sickener to think of all the diseases there +are--measles and softenin' of the brain, and 'eaving stummicks and what +not. What made you do it? That's what I want to know." He was getting +angry. He pointed the stem of his pipe at us accusingly. His small eyes +shone. "It's fair sickening," he muttered. "I've never took to doctors, +nor parsons--never in my life." + +He spat expressively. + +"And my wife, too, clean barmy," he continued. "Who 'ave I got to thank +for that? You two gents. Doctors, you call yourselves. I arsk you, what +is doctors? They never does me any good. I never seed anyone they'd done +any good. And yet they keeps on and no one says nothing. It's fair +sickening." + +There was a sound of footsteps behind me. I turned and saw a policeman +climbing slowly up the bank towards the road. Like all policemen he +appeared not to notice us until he was abreast of our seat. Then he +stopped and eyed each of us in turn. His boots were muddy. + +"These gents," said the taxi-man, "'ave been and done something nasty." + +The phrase seemed attractive to him and he repeated it. The policeman, +a tall muscular man, surveyed us in silence. Sarakoff, his hair and +beard dishevelled, was leaning back in a corner of the seat, with his +legs crossed. His dressing-gown was tucked closely round him, and below +it, his pink pyjamas fluttered in the thin breeze. His expression was +calm. + +The taxi-man continued-- + +"I picked these gents up in the Euston Road. They was in a hurry. I +thought they'd done something ordinary, same as what you or me might do, +but it seems I was wrong. They've been and done something nasty. They've +gone and invented this 'ere Blue Disease." + +The policeman raised his helmet a little and the taxi-man uttered an +exclamation. + +"Why, you've got it yourself," he said, and stared. The policeman's eyes +were stained a vivid blue. + +"An immortal policeman!" murmured Sarakoff dreamily. + +The discovery seemed to discomfit the taxi-man. The tide of indignation +in him was deflected, and he shifted his feet. The policeman, with a +deliberation that was magnificent advanced to the seat and sat down +beside me. + +"Good-morning," I said. + +"Good-morning," he replied in a deep calm voice. He removed his helmet +from his head and allowed the wind to stir his hair. The taxi-man moved +a step nearer us. + +"You ought to arrest them," he said. "Here's my wife got it, and you, +and who's to say when it will end? They're doctors, too. I allus had my +own suspicions of doctors, and 'ere they are, just as I supposed, +inventing diseases to keep themselves going. That's what you ought to do +... arrest them. I'll drive you all down to the police-station." The +policeman replaced his helmet, crossed his long blue legs, and leaned +back in the corner of the seat. Side by side on the seat Sarakoff, the +policeman, and I gazed tranquilly at the figure of the taxi-man, at the +taxi-cab, and at the misty panorama of London that lay beyond the Vale +of Health. The expression of anger returned to the taxi-man's face. + +"And 'ere am I, standing and telling you to do your duty, and all the +time I haven't had my breakfast," he said bitterly. "If you was to cop +them two gents, your name would be in all the evenin' papers." He +paused, and frowned, conscious that he was making little impression on +the upholder of law and order. "Why 'aven't I 'ad my breakfast? All +because of these two blokes. I tell you, you ought to cop them." + +"When I was a boy," said the policeman, "I used to collect stamps." + +"Did yer," exclaimed the taxi-man sarcastically. "You do interest me, +reely you do." + +"Yes, I used to collect stamps." The policeman settled himself more +comfortably. "And afore that I was in the 'abit of collecting bits o' +string." + +"You surprise me," said the taxi-man. "And what did you collect afore +you collected bits of string?" + +"So far as I recollect, I didn't collect nothing. I was trying to +remember while I was walking across the Heath." He turned to us. "Did +you collect anything?" + +"Yes," I said. "I used to collect beetles." + +"Beetles?" The policeman nodded thoughtfully. "I never had an eye for +beetles. But, as I said, I collected stamps. I remember I would walk for +miles to get a new stamp, and of an evening I would sit and count the +stamps in my album over and over again till my head was fair giddy." He +paused and stroked his clean-shaven chin thoughtfully. "I recollect as +if it was yesterday how giddy my head used to get." + +The taxi-man seemed about to say something, but he changed his mind. + +"Why did you collect beetles?" the policeman asked me. + +"I was interested in them." + +"But that ain't a suitable answer," he replied. "It ain't suitable. +That's what I've been seeing for the first time this morning. The point +is--why was you interested in beetles, and why was I interested in bits +o' string and stamps?" + +"Yes, he's quite right," said Sarakoff; "that certainly is the point." + +"To say that we are interested in a thing is no suitable explanation," +continued the policeman. "After I'd done collecting stamps----" + +"Why don't you arrest these two blokes?" shouted the taxi-man suddenly. +"Why can't you do yer duty, you blue fathead?" + +"I'm coming to that," said the policeman imperturbably. "As I was +saying, after I collected stamps, I collected knives--any sort of old +rusty knife--and then I joined the force and began to collect men, I +collected all sorts o' men--tall and short, fat and thin. Now why did I +do that?" + +"It seems to me," observed the taxi-man, suddenly calm, "that somebody +will be collecting you soon, and there won't be no need to arsk the +reason why." + +"That's where you and me don't agree," said the policeman. "I came to +the conclusion this morning that we don't ask the reason why enough--not +by 'alf. Now if somebody did as you say, and started collectin' +policemen, what would be the reason?" + +"Reason?" shouted the taxi-man. "Don't arsk me for a reason." + +He turned to his taxi-cab and jerked the starting handle violently. The +clatter of the engine arose. He climbed into his seat, and pulled at his +gears savagely. In a few moments he had turned his cab, after wrenching +in fury at the steering-wheel, and was jolting down the road in the +morning brightness in search of breakfast. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +LEONORA'S VOICE + + +"My theory," said the policeman, "is that collectin'--and by that I mean +all sorts of collection, including that of money--comes from a craving +to 'ave something what other people 'aven't got. It comes from a kind o' +pride which is foolish. Take a man like Morgan, for instance. Now he +spent his life collecting dollars, and he never once stopped to ask +'imself why he was doin' it. I 'eard a friend of mine, a socialist he +was, saying as 'ow no one had wasted his life more than Morgan. At the +time it struck me as a silly kind of thing to say. But now I seem to see +it in a different light." He meditated for some minutes. "It's the +reason why--that's what we 'aven't thought of near enough." + +I was about to reply when a motor-car stopped before us. It was a large +green limousine. It drew up suddenly, with a scraping of tyres, and a +woman got out of it. I recognized her at once. It was Leonora. She was +wearing a motoring-coat of russet-brown material, and her hat was tied +with a veil. + +"Alexis!" she exclaimed. + +Sarakoff roused himself. He stood up and bowed. + +"What are you doing here?" she asked. + +"Leonora," he said, "I am so glad to see you. We are just taking the +air, and discussing a few matters of general interest." He patted her on +the shoulder. "I congratulate you, Leonora. You are an Immortal. It +suits you very well." + +She was certainly one of the Immortals. The stain in her eyes was +wonderfully vivid, but it did not produce a displeasing effect, as I had +fancied it would. Indeed, her eyes had lost their hard restless look, +and in place of it was an expression of bewilderment. + +"What has happened to me?" she exclaimed. "Alexis, what is this that you +have done to me?" + +"What I told you about at the Pyramid Restaurant. You have got the germ +in you and now you are immortal. Sit down, Leonora. I find it warmer +when I am sitting. My friend and I had to leave Harley Street somewhat +hurriedly, and I had not time to dress." + +She sat down and loosened her veil. + +"Last night a dreadful thing happened," she said. "And yet, although it +was dreadful, I do not feel upset about it. I have been trying to feel +upset--as I should--but I can't. Let me tell you about it. I lay down +yesterday afternoon in my room after tea to rest. I always do that when +I can. I think I fell asleep for a moment. Then I felt a curious light +feeling, as if I had suddenly been for a long holiday, and I got up. +Alexis, when I saw myself in the glass I was horrified. I had the Blue +Disease." + +"Of course," said Sarakoff. "You were bound to get it. You knew that." + +"I didn't know what to do. I wasn't very upset, only I felt something +dreadful had happened. Well, I went to the Opera as usual and everyone +was very sympathetic, but I said I was all right. But when my call came +I suddenly knew--quite calmly, but certainly--that I could not sing +properly. I went on the stage and began, but it was just as if I were +singing for the first time in my life. They had to ring the curtain +down. I apologized. I was quite calm and smiling. But there the fact +remained--I had lost my voice. I had failed in public." + +"Extraordinary," muttered Sarakoff. "Are you sure it was not just +nervousness?" + +"No, I'm certain of that. I felt absolutely self-possessed; far more so +that I usually do, and that is saying a lot. No, my voice has gone. The +Blue Disease has destroyed it. And yet I somehow don't feel any +resentment. I don't understand. Richard, tell me what has happened." + +I shook my head. + +"I don't know," I said. "I can't explain. The germ is doing things that +I never foresaw." + +"I ought to be furious with you," she said. + +"Try to be--if you can," smiled Sarakoff. "That's one of the strange +things. I can't be furious. I have only two emotions--perfect calmness, +or violent, horrible fear." + +"Fear?" she exclaimed. + +"Yes, fear of the worst kind conceivable." + +"I understand the perfect calmness," she said, "but the fear--no." + +"You will understand in time." + +The policeman listened to our conversation with grave attention. Leonora +was sitting between Sarakoff and me, and did not seem to find the +presence of the visitor surprising. The green limousine stood in the +road before us, the chauffeur sitting at the wheel looking steadily in +front of him. The Heath seemed remarkably empty. The mist over London +was lifting under the influence of the sun. + +I was revolving in my mind a theory as to why Leonora had lost her +voice. I already knew that the germ produced odd changes in the realm of +likes and dislikes. I remembered Sarakoff's words that the germ was +killing desire. My thoughts were clear, easy and lucid, and the problem +afforded by Leonora's singular experience gave me a sense of quiet +enjoyment. If the germ really did do away with desire, why should it at +the same time do away with Leonora's wonderful voice? I recalled with +marvellous facility everything I knew about her. My memory supplied me +with every detail at the dinner of the Pyramid Restaurant. The words of +Sarakoff, which had at the time seemed coarse, came back to me. He had +called her a vain ambitious cold-hearted woman, who thought that her +voice and her beauty could not be beaten. + +My reflections were interrupted by the policeman. + +"The lady," he remarked, "has lost her voice sudden-like. Now I lost my +'abit of arresting people sudden-like too. I lost it this morning. Any +other time I should have taken the gentleman in the dressing-gown in +charge for being improperly dressed. But this morning it don't come +natural to me. If he wants to wear a dressing-gown on the Spaniard's +Walk, he presumably 'as his own reasons. It don't concern me." + +"It seems to me that the germ takes ambition out of us," said Sarakoff. + +"Ambition?" said the policeman. "No, that ain't right. I've got ambition +still--only it's a different kind of ambition." + +"I have no ambition now," said Leonora at length. "Alexis is right. This +malady has taken the ambition out of me. I may be Immortal, but if I am, +then I am an Immortal without ambition. I seem to be lost, to be +suddenly diffused into space or time, to be a kind of vapour. Something +has dissolved in me--something hard, bright, alert. I do not know why I +am here. The car came round as usual to take me for my morning run. I +got in--why I don't know." + +Sarakoff was studying her attentively. + +"It is very strange," he said. "You used to arouse a feeling of strength +and determination in me, Leonora. You used to stimulate me intensely. +This morning I only feel one thing about you." + +"What is that?" + +"I feel that I have cheated you." + +"Cheated her?" exclaimed the policeman. "How do you come to that +conclusion?" + +"I've destroyed the one thing that was herself--I've destroyed desire in +her. I've left her a mind devoid of all values tacked on to a body that +no longer interests her. For what was Leonora, who filled the hearts of +men with madness, but an incarnation of desire?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE KILLING OF DESIRE + + +We drove in Leonora's car through London. The streets were crowded. I do +not think that much routine work was done that day. People formed little +crowds on the pavements, and at Oxford Circus someone was speaking to a +large concourse from the seat of a motor lorry. + +Leonora seemed extraordinarily apathetic. She leaned back in the car and +seemed uninterested in the passing scene. Sarakoff, wrapped up in a fur +rug, stared dreamily in front of him. As far as I can recall them, my +feelings during that swift tour of London were vague. The buildings, the +people, the familiar signs in the streets, the shop windows, all seemed +to have lost in some degree the quality of reality. I was detached from +them; and whenever I made an effort to rouse myself, the ugliness and +meaninglessness of everything I saw seemed strangely emphasized. + +When we reached Harley Street we found my house little damaged, save for +a broken panel in the green front door and a few panes of glass smashed +in the lower windows. The house was empty. The servants had vanished. + +Leonora said she wished to go home and she drove off in the car. +Sarakoff did not even wave farewell to her, but went straight up to his +room and lay down on the bed. I went into the study and sat in my chair +by the fireplace. + +I was roused by the opening of the door, and looking up I saw a face +that I recognized, but for the moment I could not fit a name to it. My +visitor came in calmly, and sat down opposite me. + +"My name is Thornduck," he said. "I came to consult you about my health +a few days ago." + +"I remember," I said. + +"Your front door was open so I walked in." + +I nodded. His eyes, stained with blue, rested on me. + +"I have been thinking," he said. "It struck me that there was something +you forgot to tell me the other day." + +I nodded again. + +"You began, if you remember, by asking me if I believed in miracles. +That set me thinking, and as I saw your name in the paper, connected +with the Blue Disease, I knew you were a miracle-monger. How did you do +it?" + +"I don't know. It was all due to my black cat. Tripped over it, got +concussion and regained my senses with the idea that led up to the +germ." + +He smiled. + +"A black cat," he mused. "I wonder if it's all black magic?" + +"That's what Hammer suggested. I don't know what kind of magic it is." + +"Of course it _is_ magic," said Thornduck. + +"Magic?" + +"Of course. Have you even thought what kind of magic it is?" + +"No." + +"A big magic, such as you have worked, is just bringing the distant +future into the present with a rush." + +"Sarakoff had some such idea," I murmured. "He spoke of anticipating +our evolution by centuries at one stroke." + +"Exactly. That's magic. The question remains--is it black magic?" He +crossed his thin legs and leaned back in the chair. "I got the Blue +Disease the day before yesterday and since then I've thought more than I +have ever done in all my life. When I read in the paper this morning +that you said the Blue Disease conferred immortality on people I was not +surprised. I had come to the same conclusion in a roundabout way. But I +want to ask you one question. Did you know beforehand that _it killed +desire_?" + +"No. Neither Sarakoff nor I foresaw that." + +"Well, if you had let me into your confidence before I could have told +you that right away in the general principle contained in the saying +that you can't eat your cake and have it. It's just another aspect of +the law of the conservation of energy, isn't it?" + +"I always had a doubt----" + +"Naturally. It's intuitional. The laws of the universe are just +intuitions put into words. You've carried out an enormous spiritual +experiment to prove what all religions have always asserted however +obscurely. All religion teaches that you can't eat your cake and have +it. That's the essence of religion, and you, formerly a cut-and-dried +scientist, have gone and proved it to the whole world for eternity. +Rather odd, isn't it?" + +I watched his face with interest. It was thin and the complexion was +transparent. His eyes, wonderfully wide and brilliantly stained by the +germ, produced in me a new sensation. It was akin to enthusiasm, but in +it was something of love, such as I had never experienced for any man. I +became uplifted. My whole being began to vibrate to some strangely +delicate and exquisite influence, and I knew that Thornduck was the +medium through which these impulses reached me. It was not his words but +the atmosphere round him that raised me temporarily to this degree of +receptivity. + +"It is odd," I said. + +He continued to look at me. + +"You have a message for me?" I observed at last. + +"Why, yes, I have," he replied. "You have done wrong, Harden. You have +worked black magic, and it will fail out of sheer necessity." + +"Tell me what I have done." + +"You have artificially produced a condition of life many ages before +humanity is ready to receive it. The body of desire is being worked up +by endless labour into something more delicate and sensitive--into a +transmutation that we can only dimly understand. At present the whole +plot of life is based on the principle of desire and in this way people +are kept busy, constantly spurred on to thought and activity by +essentially selfish motives. It is only in abstract thought that the +selfless ideal has a real place as yet, but the very fact that it is +there shows what lies at the top of the ladder that humanity is so +painfully climbing. As long as desire is the plot of life, death is +necessary, for its terrible shadow sharpens desire and makes the prizes +more alluring and the struggle more desperate. And so man goes on, +ceaselessly active and striving, for without activity and striving there +is no perfecting of the instrument. You can't have upward progress in +conditions of stagnation. All that strange incredible side of life, +called the Devil, is the inner plot of life that makes the wheels go +round and evolution possible. It is vitally necessary to keep the vast +machinery running at the present level of evolution. Desire is the +furnace in the engine-house. The wheels go round and the fabric is +slowly and intricately spun and only pessimists and bigots fail to see +evidence of any purpose in it all. Now what has your Blue Disease done? +It has taken the whole plot out of life at its present stage of +development at one fell swoop. It has killed Desire--put out the furnace +before the pattern in the fabric is nearly complete." + +"But I never could see that, Thornduck. How could I foresee that?" + +"If you had had a grain of vision you would have known that you couldn't +give humanity the gift of immortality without some compensatory loss. +The law of compensation is as sure as the law of gravity--you ought to +know that." + +"I had dim feelings--I knew Sarakoff was wrong, with his dream of +physical bliss--but how could I foresee that desire would go?" + +"As a mere scientist, test-tube in hand, you couldn't. But you're +better than that. You've got a glimmering of moral imagination in you." + +He fell into a reverie. + +"You are keeping something back. Tell me plainly what you mean," I +asked. + +"Don't you see that if the germ lasts any length of time," he said, "the +machinery will run down and--stop?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE REVOLT OF THE YOUNG + + +Amid all the strife and clamour of the next few days one thing stands +out now in my mind with sinister radiance. It is that peculiar form of +lawlessness which broke out and had as its object the destruction of the +old. + +There is no doubt that the idea of immortality got hold of people and +carried them away completely. The daily miracles that were occurring of +the renewal of health and vigour, the cure of disease and the passing of +those infirmities that are associated with advancing years, impressed +the popular imagination deeply. As a result there grew up a widespread +discontent and bitterness. The young--those who were as yet free from +the germ--conceived in their hearts that an immense injustice had been +done to them. + +It must be remembered that life at that time had taken on a strange and +abnormal aspect. Its horizons had been suddenly altered by the germ. +Although breadth had been given to it from the point of years, a curious +contraction had appeared at the same time. It was a contraction felt +most acutely by those in inferior positions. It was a contraction that +owed its existence to the sense of being shut in eternally by those in +higher positions, whom death no longer would remove at convenient +intervals. The student felt it as he looked at his professor. The clerk +felt it as he looked at his manager. The subaltern felt it as he looked +at his colonel. The daughter felt it when she looked at her mother, and +the son when he looked at his father. The germ had given simultaneously +a tremendous blow to freedom, and a tremendous impetus to freedom. + +Thus, perhaps for the first time in history, there swiftly began an +accumulation and concentration of those forces of discontent which, in +normal times, only manifest themselves here and there in the +relationships between old and young men, and are regarded with +good-humoured patience. A kind of war broke out all over the country. + +This war was terrible in its nature. All the secret weariness and +unspoken bitterness of the younger generation found a sudden outlet. +Goaded to madness by the prospect of a future of continual repression, +in which the old would exercise an undiminished authority, the younger +men and women plunged into a form of excess over which a veil must be +drawn.... There is only one thing which can be recorded in their favour. +Chloroform and drowning appear to have been the methods most often used, +and they are perhaps merciful ways of death. The great London clubs +became sepulchres. All people who had received the highest distinctions +and honours, whose names were household words, were removed with +ruthless determination. Scarcely a single well-known man or woman of the +older generation, whose name was honoured in science, literature, art, +business or politics, was spared. All aged and wealthy people perished. +A clean sweep was made, and made with a decision and unanimity that was +incredible. + +It is painful now to recall the terrible nature of that civil war. It +lasted only a short time, but it opened my eyes to the inner plan upon +which mortal man is based. For I am compelled to admit that this +widespread murder, that suddenly flashed into being, was founded upon +impulses that lie deep in man's heart. They were those giant impulses +that lie behind growth, and the effect of the germ was merely to throw +them suddenly into the broad light of day, unchained, grim and +implacable. + +Fortunately, the germ spread steadily and quickly, killing as it did so +all hate and desire. + +Jason, still free from the germ, flung himself into the general uproar +with extraordinary vigour. It was clear that he thought the great +opportunity had come which would eventually bring him to the height of +his power. To check the growing lawlessness and murder he advocated a +new adjustment of property. Big meetings were held in the public spaces +of London, and some wild ideas were formulated. + +In the meantime the medical profession, as far as the men yet free from +the germ were concerned, continued its work in a dull, mechanical way. +Each day the number of patients fell lower, as the Blue Disease slowly +spread. Hammer, himself an Immortal, came to see me once, but only to +speak of the necessity for the immediate simplification of houses. It +was odd to observe how, once a man became infected, his former interests +and anxieties fell away from him like an old garment. In Harley Street +an attitude of stubborn disbelief continued amongst those still mortal. +There is something magnificent in that adamantine spirit which refuses +to recognize the new, even though it moves with ever-increasing +distinctness before the very eyes of the deniers. I was not surprised. I +was familiar with medical men. + +Meanwhile the Royal Family became infected by the germ, and passed out +of the public eye. The Prime Minister became a victim and vanished. For +once a man had the germ in his system, as far as externals were +concerned, he almost ceased to exist. + +The infection of Jason occurred in my presence. He had come in to +explain to me a proposed line of campaign as regards the marriage laws. + +"This germ of yours has given people the courage to think!" he +exclaimed. "It is extraordinary how timid people were in thinking. It +has launched them out, and now is the time to bring in new proposals." + +"In all your calculations, you omit to recollect the effects of the +germ," I said. "Surely you have seen by now that it changes human nature +totally?" + +He stared at me uncomprehendingly. He was one of those men, so common in +public life, who have no power of understanding what they themselves +have not experienced. He continued with undiminished enthusiasm. + +"We must have marriage contracts for definite periods. With the +increased state of health, and the full span of life confronting every +man, we must face the problem squarely. Now what stands in our way?" + +He got up and went to the window. It was a dull foggy day, and there was +frost on the ground. He stared outside for some moments. + +"What, I repeat, stands in our way?" + +"Well?" + +"The Church, and a mass of superstitions that we have inherited from the +Old Testament. That's what stands in our way. We still attach more value +to the Old Testament than to the New. The Scotch, for example, like the +Jews.... Yes, of course.... What was I saying?" + +He left the window and sat down once more before me, moving rather +listlessly. + +"Yes, Harden. Of course. That's what it is, isn't it? Do you +remember--diddle--yes it was diddle, diddle----" + +He paused and frowned. + +"Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle," he muttered, "Yes--hey, +diddle, diddle, diddle--that's what it is, isn't it?" + +"Of course," I said. "It's all really that." + +"Just diddle, diddle, diddle?" + +"Yes--if you like." + +"That is substituting diddle for riddle," he said earnestly. He frowned +again and passed his hand across his eyes. + +"Yes," I said calmly. "It's going a step up." + +I suppose about half an hour passed before either of us spoke again +after this extraordinary termination to our conversation. In absolute +silence we sat facing one another and during that time I saw the blue +stain growing clearer and clearer in Jason's eyes. At last he rose. + +"It's very odd," he said. "Tell me, were you like this?" + +"How do you feel?" + +"As if I had been drunk and suddenly had been made sober. I will leave +you. I want to think. I will go down to the country." + +"And your papers?" + +"We must have a new Press," he said, and left the room. + + +That same day the great railway accident occurred just outside London +that led to the death of sixty people, many of them Immortals. Its +effect on public imagination was profound. All dangerous enterprises +became invested with a terrible radiance. Men asked themselves if, in +face of a future of health, it was worth risking life in rashness of any +description, and gradually traffic came to a standstill. Long before the +germ had infected the whole populace all activities fraught with danger +had ceased. The coal mines were abandoned. The railways were silent. The +streets of London became empty of traffic. + + +Blue-stained people began to throng the streets of London in vast +masses, moving to and fro without aim or purpose, perfectly orderly, +vacant, lost--like Sarakoff's butterflies.... + +Thornduck came to see me one day when the reign of the germ was +practically absolute in London. + +"They are wandering into the country in thousands," he remarked. "They +have lost all sense of home and possession. They are vague, trying to +form an ideal socialistic community. What a mess your germ is making of +life! They're not ready for it. The question is whether they will rouse +themselves to consider the food question." + +"We need scarcely any food," I replied. "I've had nothing to eat +to-day." + +"Nor I. But since we're still linked up to physical bodies we must +require some nourishment." + +"I have eaten two biscuits and a little cheese in the last twenty-four +hours. Surely you don't think that food is to be a serious problem under +such circumstances?" + +"It might be. You must remember that initiative is now destroyed in the +vast majority of people. They may permit themselves to die of inanition. +Can you say you have an appetite now?" + +I reflected for some time, striving to recall the feeling of hunger +that belonged to the days of desire. + +"No. I have no appetite." + +"Think carefully. In place of appetite have you no tendencies?" + +"I feel a kind of lethargy," I said at last. "I felt it yesterday and +to-day it is stronger." + +"As if you wished to sleep?" + +"Not exactly. But it is akin to that. I have some difficulty in keeping +my attention on things. There is a kind of pull within me away +from--away from reality." + +He nodded. + +"I went in to see your Russian friend. He's upstairs. He is not exactly +asleep. He is more like a man partially under the influence of a drug." + +"I will go and see him," I said. + +Sarakoff was lying on the bed with his eyes shut. He was breathing +quietly. His eyelids quivered, as if they might open at any moment, but +my entrance did not rouse him. His limbs were relaxed. I spoke to him +and tried to wake him, without result. Then I remembered how I had +stumbled across the body of Herbert Wain in the Park some days ago. He +had seemed to be in a strange kind of sleep. I sat down on the bed and +stared at the motionless figure of the Russian. There was something +strangely pathetic in his pose. His rough hair and black beard, his keen +aquiline face seemed weirdly out of keeping with his helpless state. +Here lay the man whose brain had once teemed with ambitious desires, +relaxed and limp like a baby, while the nails of his hands, turquoise +blue, bore silent witness to his great experiment on humanity. Had it +failed? Where was all that marvellous vision of physical happiness that +had haunted him? The streets of London were filled with people, no +longer working, no longer crying or weeping, but moving aimlessly, like +people in a dream. Were they happy? I moved to the window and drew down +the blind. + +"This may be the end," I thought. "The germ will be sweeping through +France now. It may be the end of all things." + +I rejoined Thornduck in the study. + +"Sarakoff is in a kind of trance," I observed. "What do you make of it?" + +"Isn't it natural?" he asked. "What kind of a man was he? What motives +did he work on? Just think what the killing of desire means. All those +things that depended on worldly ambition, self-gratification, physical +pleasure, conceit, lust, hatred, passion, egotism, selfishness, vanity, +avarice, sensuality and so on, are undermined and rendered paralysed by +the germ. What remains? Why, in most people, practically nothing +remains." + +"Even so," I said, "I don't see why Sarakoff should go into a trance." + +"He's gone into a trance simply because there's not enough left in him +to constitute an individuality. The germ has taken the inside clean out +of him. He's just an immortal shell now." + +"Then do you think----?" + +I stared at him wonderingly. + +"I think that the germ will send most of the world to sleep." + +He got up and walked to the window. The clear noonday light fell on his +thin sensitive face and accentuated the pallor of his skin. + +"All those who are bound on the wheel of desire will fall asleep," he +murmured. A smile flickered on his lips and he turned and looked at me. + +"Harden," he said, "it's really very funny. It's infinitely humorous, +isn't it?" + +"I see nothing humorous in anything," I replied. "I've lost all sense of +humour." + +He raised his eyebrows. + +"Of humour?" he queried. "Surely not. Humour is surely immortal." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE GREAT SLEEP + + +On that day the animals in London fell asleep with few exceptions. The +exceptions were, I believe, all dogs. I do not pretend to explain, how +it came about that dogs remained awake longer than other animals. The +reason may be that dogs have some quality in them which is superior even +to the qualities found in man, for there is a sweetness in the nature of +dogs that is rare in men and women. + +Many horses were overcome in the streets and lay down where they were. +No attempt was made to remove them. They were left, stretched out on +their sides, apparently unconscious. + +And many thousands of men and women fell asleep. In some cases men were +overcome by the sleep before their dogs, which has always seemed strange +to me. It was Thornduck who told me this, for he remained awake during +this period that the germ reigned supreme. He tells me that I fell +asleep the next evening in my chair in the study and that he carried me +upstairs to my room. I had just returned from visiting Leonora, whom I +had found unconscious. He made a tour of London next morning. In the +City there was a profound stillness. + +In the West End matters were much the same. In Cavendish Square he +entered many houses and found silence and sleep within. Everywhere doors +and windows were wide open, giving access to any who might desire it. He +visited the Houses of Parliament only to find a few comatose +blue-stained men lying about on the benches. For the sleep had overtaken +people by stealth. One day, passing by the Zoo, he had climbed the fence +and made an inspection of the inmates. With the exception of an elephant +that was nodding drowsily, the animals lay motionless in their cages, +deep in the trance that the germ induced. + +From time to time he met a man or woman awake like himself and stopped +to talk. Those who still retained sufficient individuality to continue +existence were the strangest mixture of folk, for they were of every +class, many of them being little better than beggars. They were people +in whom the desire of life played a minor part. They were those people +who are commonly regarded as being failures, people who live and die +unknown to the world. They were those people who devote themselves to an +obscure existence, shun the rewards of successful careers, and are +ridiculed by all prosperous individuals. It seems that Thornduck was +instrumental in calling a meeting of these people at St. Paul's. There +were about two thousand of them in all, but many in the outlying suburbs +remained ignorant of the meeting, and Thornduck considers that in the +London district alone there must have been some thousands who did not +attend. At the meeting, which must have been the strangest in all +history, the question of the future was discussed. Many believed that +the effect of the germ on those in the great sleep would ultimately lead +to a cessation of life owing to starvation. Thornduck held that the germ +would pass, arguing on principles that were so unscientific that I +refrain from giving them. Eventually it appears that a decision was +reached to leave London on a certain date and migrate southwards in +search of a region where a colony might be founded under laws and +customs suitable for Immortals. Thornduck says that there was one thing +that struck him very forcibly at the meeting at St. Paul's. All the +people gathered there had about them a certain sweetness and strength, +which, although it was very noticeable, escaped his powers of analysis. + +He attempted on several occasions to get into telegraphic communication +with the Continent, but failed. In his wanderings he entered many homes, +always being careful to lay out at full length any of the unconscious +inmates who were asleep on chairs, for he feared that they might come to +harm, and that their limbs might become stiffened into unnatural +postures. + +All the time he had a firm conviction that the phase of sleep was +temporary. He himself had moments in which a slight drowsiness overtook +him, but he never lost the enhanced power of thought that I had +experienced in the early stages of the Blue Disease. So absolute was +his conviction that a general awakening would come about that he began +to busy his mind with the question as to what he could do, in +conjunction with the other Immortals who were still awake, to benefit +humanity when it should emerge from the trance. This question was +discussed continually. Many thought that they should burn all records, +financial, political, governmental and private, so that some opportunity +of starting afresh might be given to mankind, enslaved to the past and +fettered by law and custom. But the danger of chaos resulting from such +a step deterred him. He confessed that the more he thought on the +subject the more clearly he saw that under the circumstances belonging +to its stage of evolution, the organization of the world was suited to +the race that inhabited it. All change, he saw, had to come from within, +and that to alter external conditions suddenly and artificially might do +incredible harm. We were constructed to develop against resistance, and +to remove such resistances before they had been overcome naturally was +to tamper with the inner laws of life. And so, after long discussion, +they did nothing.... + +It is curious to reflect that they, earnest men devoted to progress, +having at their mercy the machinery of existence, walked through the +midst of sleeping London and did nothing. But then none of them were +fanatics, for Thornduck stated that the fanatics fell early to sleep, +thus proving that the motives behind their fanaticism were egotistical, +and a source of satisfaction to themselves. He made a point of visiting +the homes of some of them. Philanthropists, too, succumbed early. + +On the seventh day after the great sleep had overtaken London the +effects of the germ began to wane. Those who had fallen asleep latest +were the earliest to open their eyes. The blue stain rapidly vanished +from eyes, skin and nails.... I regained my waking sense on the evening +of the seventh day and found myself in a small country cottage whither +Thornduck had borne me in a motor-car, fearing lest awakened London +might seek some revenge on the discoverers of the germ. Sarakoff lay on +a couch beside me, still fast asleep. + +The first clear idea that came to me concerned Alice Annot. I determined +to go to her at once. Then I remembered with vexation that I had +wantonly smashed two vases worth ten pounds apiece. + +I struggled to my feet. My hands were thin and wasted. I was ravenous +with hunger. I felt giddy. + +"What's the time?" I called confusedly. "It must be very late. Wake up!" + +And I stooped down and began to shake Sarakoff violently. + + +THE END + + + + +Printed in Great Britain by +Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, +BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, +AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original text have been corrected for this electronic edition. + +In Chapter III, a missing period was added after "his pipe and tobacco +pouch". + +In Chapter IV, a missing quotation mark was added before "pyocyaneus, +indeed", and a comma was changed to a period after "Of course". + +In Chapter VI, a missing period was added after "'A very unsatisfying +view, surely?' he remarked". + +In Chapter VIII, "the municipal authorites" was changed to "the +municipal authorities", "this phenomen" was changed to "this +phenomenon", and "scanned the colums" was changed to "scanned the +columns". + +In Chapter XIII, a comma was changed to a period after "cold and dark", +and "protaplasm" was changed to "protoplasm". + +In Chapter XIV, a period was added after "something other than life +exists". + +In Chapter XV, "in the in the hall" was changed to "in the hall". + +In Chapter XVI, "Dr Harden" (in the sentence ending "in smooth and +pleasant tones") was changed to "Dr. Harden", and commas were changed to +periods following "The gift of immortality" and "if it were true". + +In Chapter XVIII, "millenium" was changed to "millennium". + +In Chapter XXIII, a missing period was added after "the millennium was +at hand". + +In Chapter XXVI, a missing period was added after "with conviction", +"flutted" was changed to "fluttered", and "I'ad my breakfast" was +changed to "I 'ad my breakfast". + +In Chapter XXIX, "undimished enthusiasm" was changed to "undiminished +enthusiasm".] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blue Germ, by Martin Swayne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLUE GERM *** + +***** This file should be named 26852-8.txt or 26852-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/8/5/26852/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Blue Germ + +Author: Martin Swayne + +Release Date: October 9, 2008 [EBook #26852] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLUE GERM *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>THE BLUE GERM</h1> + +<hr style="width: 35%; margin-bottom: 0.5em;" /> +<p class="center"><i>WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR</i></p> + +<p class="center">LORD RICHARD IN THE PANTRY<br /> +CUPID GOES NORTH<br /> +THE SPORTING INSTINCT<br /> +<br />IN MESOPOTAMIA. (With Illustrations in Colour by the Author.)</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">London</span>: HODDER AND STOUGHTON</p> + +<hr style="width: 35%; margin-top: 0.5em;" /> + +<h1>THE BLUE GERM</h1> + +<h2><span style="font-size: 80%;">BY</span><br /> +MARTIN SWAYNE</h2> + +<p class="center">HODDER AND STOUGHTON<br /> +<span style="font-size: 80%;">LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO<br /> +MCMXVIII</span></p> + +<p style="font-size: 80%; text-align: center;"><span class="smcap">Printed in Great Britain By<br /> +Richard Clay & Sons, Limited,</span><br /> +BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1,<br /> +AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center; font-size: 120%; margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em;"> +TO<br />J. E. H. W.</p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum"><span style="font-size: 80%;">CHAP.</span></td> +<td class="chapname"> </td> +<td class="chappage"><span style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">I.</td> +<td class="chapname">BLACK MAGIC</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">II.</td> +<td class="chapname">SARAKOFF'S MANIFESTO</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">5</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">III.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE BUTTERFLIES</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">14</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IV.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE SIX TUBES</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">21</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">V.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE GREAT AQUEDUCT</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">29</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VI.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE ATTITUDE OF MR. THORNDUCK</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">32</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VII.</td> +<td class="chapname">LEONORA</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">40</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE BLUE DISEASE</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">58</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IX.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE MAN FROM BIRMINGHAM</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">67</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">X.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE ILLNESS OF MR. ANNOT</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">79</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XI.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE RESURRECTION</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">90</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XII.</td> +<td class="chapname">MR. CLUTTERBUCK'S OPINION</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">101</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE DEAD IMMORTAL</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">110</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIV.</td> +<td class="chapname">FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF IMMORTALITY</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">123</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XV.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE TERRIBLE FEAR</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">132</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVI.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE VISIT OF THE HOME SECRETARY</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">144</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVII.</td> +<td class="chapname">CLUTTERBUCK'S ODD BEHAVIOUR</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">156</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">IMMORTAL LOVE</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">161</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIX.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE MEETING AT THE QUEEN'S HALL</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">177</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XX.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE WAY BACK</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">188</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXI.</td> +<td class="chapname">JASON</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">196</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXII.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE FIRST MURDERS</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">206</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">AT DOWNING STREET</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">216</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXIV.</td> +<td class="chapname">NIGHT OF AN IMMORTAL</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">224</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXV.</td> +<td class="chapname">OUR FLIGHT</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">229</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXVI.</td> +<td class="chapname">ON THE SPANIARD'S WALK</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">236</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXVII.</td> +<td class="chapname">LEONORA'S VOICE</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">245</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE KILLING OF DESIRE</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">252</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXIX.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE REVOLT OF THE YOUNG</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">260</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXX.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE GREAT SLEEP</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">273</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>BLACK MAGIC</h3> + + +<p>I had just finished breakfast, and deeply perplexed had risen from the +table in order to get a box of matches to light a cigarette, when my +black cat got between my feet and tripped me up.</p> + +<p>I fell forwards, making a clutch at the table-cloth. My forehead struck +the corner of the fender and the last thing I remembered was a crash of +falling crockery. Then all became darkness. My parlour-maid found me +lying face downwards on the hearth-rug ten minutes later. My cat was +sitting near my head, blinking contentedly at the fire. A little blood +was oozing from a wound above my left eye.</p> + +<p>They carried me up to my bedroom and sent for my colleague, Wilfred +Hammer, who lived next door. For three days I lay insensible, and Hammer +came in continually, whenever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> he could spare the time from his +patients, and brooded over me. On the fourth day I began to move about +in my bed, restless and muttering, and Hammer told me afterwards that I +seemed to be talking of a black cat. On the night of the fourth day I +suddenly opened my eyes. My perplexity had left me. An idea, clear as +crystal, was now in my mind.</p> + +<p>From that moment my confinement to bed was a source of impatience to me. +Hammer, large, fair, square-headed, and imperturbable, insisted on +complete rest, and I chafed under the restraint. I had only one +desire—to get up, slip down to St. Dane's Hospital in my car, mount the +bare stone steps that led up to the laboratory and begin work at once.</p> + +<p>"Let me up, Hammer," I implored.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, you're semi-delirious."</p> + +<p>"I must get up," I muttered.</p> + +<p>He laughed slowly.</p> + +<p>"Not for another week or two, Harden. How is the black cat?"</p> + +<p>"That cat is a wizard."</p> + +<p>I lay watching him between half-closed eyelids.</p> + +<p>"He gave me the idea."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>"He gave you a nasty concussion," said Hammer.</p> + +<p>"It was probably the only way to the idea," I answered. "I tell you the +cat is a wizard. He did it on purpose. He's a black magician."</p> + +<p>Hammer laughed again, and went towards the door.</p> + +<p>"Then the idea must be black magic," he said.</p> + +<p>I smiled painfully, for my head was throbbing. But I was happier then +than I had ever been, for I had solved the problem that had haunted my +brain for ten years.</p> + +<p>"There's no such thing as black magic," I said.</p> + +<p class="newscene">Three weeks later I beheld the miracle. It was wrought on the last day +of December, in the laboratory of the hospital, high above the gloom and +squalor of the city. The miracle occurred within a brilliant little +circle of light, and I saw it with my eye glued to a microscope. It +passed off swiftly and quietly, and though I expected it, I was filled +with a great wonder and amazement.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>To a lay mind the amazement with which I beheld the miracle will require +explanation. I had witnessed the transformation of one germ into +another; a thing which is similar to a man seeing a flock of sheep on a +hill-side change suddenly into a herd of cattle. For many minutes I +continued to move the slide in an aimless way with trembling fingers. My +temperament is earthy; it had once occurred to me quite seriously that +if I saw a miracle I would probably go mad under the strain. Now that I +had seen one, after the first flash of realization my mind was listless +and dull, and all feeling of surprise had died away. The black rods +floated with slow motion in the minute currents of fluid I had +introduced. The faint roar of London came up from far below; the clock +ticked steadily and the microscope lamp shone with silent radiance. And +I, Richard Harden, sat dangling my short legs on the high stool, +thinking and thinking....</p> + +<p>That night I wrote to Professor Sarakoff. A month later I was on my way +to Russia.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>SARAKOFF'S MANIFESTO</h3> + + +<p>The recollection of my meeting with Sarakoff remains vividly in my mind. +I was shown into a large bare room, heated by an immense stove like an +iron pagoda. The floor was of light yellow polished wood; the walls were +white-washed, and covered with pencil marks. A big table covered with +papers and books stood at one end. At the other, through an open +doorway, there was a glimpse of a laboratory. Sarakoff stood in the +centre of the room, his hands deep in his pockets, his pipe sending up +clouds of smoke, his tall muscular frame tilted back. His eyes were +fixed on an extraordinary object that crawled slowly over the polished +floor. It was a gigantic tortoise—a specimen of <i>Testudo +elephantopus</i>—a huge cumbersome brute. Its ancient, scaly head was +thrust out and its eyes gleamed with a kind<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> of sharp intelligence. The +surface of its vast and massive shell was covered over with scribbles in +white chalk—notes made by Sarakoff who was in the habit of jotting down +figures and formulæ on anything near at hand.</p> + +<p>As there was only one chair in the room, Sarakoff eventually thrust me +into it, while he sat down on the great beast—whom he called +Belshazzar—and told me over and over again how glad he was to see me. +And this warmth of his was pleasant to me.</p> + +<p>"Are you experimenting on Belshazzar?" I asked at length.</p> + +<p>He nodded, and smiled enigmatically.</p> + +<p>"He is two hundred years old," he said. "I want to get at his secret."</p> + +<p>That was the first positive proof I got of the line of research Sarakoff +was intent upon, although, reading between the lines of his many +publications, I had guessed something of it.</p> + +<p>In every way, Sarakoff was a complete contrast to me. Tall, lean, +black-bearded and deep-voiced, careless of public opinion and prodigal +in ideas, he was just my antithesis. He was possessed of immense energy. +His tousled black hair, moustaches and beard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> seemed to bristle with it; +it shone in his pale blue eyes. He was full of sudden violence, flinging +test-tubes across the laboratory, shouting strange songs, striding about +snapping his fingers. There was no repose in him. At first I was a +little afraid of him, but the feeling wore off. He spoke English +fluently, because when a boy he had been at school in London.</p> + +<p>I will not enter upon a detailed account of our conversation that first +morning in Russia, when the snow lay thick on the roofs of the city, and +the ferns of frost sparkled on the window-panes of the laboratory. +Briefly, we found ourselves at one over many problems of human research, +and I congratulated myself on the fact that in communicating the account +of the miracle at St. Dane's Hospital to Sarakoff alone, I had done +wisely. He was wonderfully enthusiastic.</p> + +<p>"That discovery of yours has furnished the key to the great riddle I had +set myself," he exclaimed, striding to and fro. "We will astonish the +world, my friend. It is only a question of time."</p> + +<p>"But what is the riddle you speak of?" I asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>"I will tell you soon. Have patience!" he cried. He came towards me +impulsively and shook my hand. "We shall find it beyond a doubt, and we +will call it the Sarakoff-Harden Bacillus! What do you think of that?"</p> + +<p>I was somewhat mystified. He sat down again on the back of the tortoise, +smoking in his ferocious manner and smiling and nodding to himself. I +though it best to let him disclose his plans in his own way, and kept +back the many eager questions that rose to my lips.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me," said Sarakoff suddenly, "that England would be the +best place to try the experiment. There's a telegraph everywhere, +reporters in every village, and enough newspapers to carpet every square +inch of the land. In a word, it's a first-class place to watch the +results of an experiment."</p> + +<p>"On a large scale?"</p> + +<p>"On a gigantic scale—an experiment, ultimately, on the world."</p> + +<p>I was puzzled and was anxious to draw him into fuller details.</p> + +<p>"It would begin in England?" I asked carelessly.</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>"But it would spread. You remember how the last big outbreak of +influenza, which started in this country, spread like wildfire until the +waves, passing east and west, met on the other side of the globe? That +was a big experiment."</p> + +<p>"Of nature," I added.</p> + +<p>He did not reply.</p> + +<p>"An experiment of nature, you mean?" I urged. At the time of the last +big outburst of influenza which began in Russia, Sarakoff must have been +a student. Did he know anything about the origin of the mysterious and +fatal visitation?</p> + +<p>"Yes, of nature," he replied at last, but not in a tone that satisfied +me. His manner intrigued me so much that I felt inclined to pursue the +subject, but at that moment we were interrupted in a singular way.</p> + +<p>The door burst open, and into the room rushed a motley crowd of men. +Most of them were young students, but here and there I saw older men, +and at the head of the mob was a white-bearded individual, wearing an +astrachan cap, who brandished a copy of some Russian periodical in his +hand.</p> + +<p>Belshazzar drew in his head with a hiss that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> I could hear even above +the clamour of this intrusion.</p> + +<p>A furious colloquy began, which I could not understand, since it was in +Russian. Sarakoff stood facing the angry crowd coolly enough, but that +he was inwardly roused to a dangerous degree, I could tell from his +gestures. The copy of the periodical was much in evidence. Fists were +shaken freely. The aged, white-bearded leader worked himself up into a +frenzy and finally jumped on the periodical, stamping it under his feet +until he was out of breath.</p> + +<p>Then this excited band trooped out of the room and left us in peace.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" I asked when their steps had died away.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff shrugged his shoulders and then laughed. He picked up the +battered periodical and pointed to an article in it.</p> + +<p>"I published a manifesto this morning—that is all," he remarked airily.</p> + +<p>"What sort of manifesto?"</p> + +<p>"On the origin of death." He sat down on Belshazzar's broad back and +twisted his moustaches. "You see, Harden, I believe that in a few more +years death will only exist as an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> uncertain element, appearing rarely, +as an unnatural and exceptional incident. Life will be limitless; and +the length of years attained by Belshazzar will seem as nothing."</p> + +<p>It is curious how the spirit of a new discovery broods over the world +like a capricious being, animating one investigator here, another there; +partially revealing itself in this continent, disclosing another of its +secrets in that, until all the fragments when fitted together make up +the whole wonder. It seems that my discovery, coupled with the results +of his own unpublished researches, had led Sarakoff to make that odd +manifesto. Our combined work, although carried out independently, had +given the firm groundwork of an amazing theory which Sarakoff had been +maturing in his excited brain for many long years.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff translated the manifesto to me. It was a trifle bombastic, and +its composition appeared to me vague. No wonder it had roused hostility +among his colleagues, I thought, as Sarakoff walked about, declaiming +with outstretched arm. Put as briefly as possible, Sarakoff held all +disease as due to germs of one sort or another; and decay of bodily +tissue he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> regarded in the same light. In such a theory I stood beside +him.</p> + +<p>He continued to translate from the soiled and torn periodical, waving +his arm majestically.</p> + +<p>"We have only to eliminate all germs from the world to banish disease +and decay—and <i>death</i>. Such an end can be attained in one way alone; a +way which is known only to me, thanks to a magnificent series of +profound investigations. I announce, therefore, that the disappearance +of death from this planet can be anticipated with the utmost confidence. +Let us make preparations. Let us consider our laws. Let us examine our +resources. Let us, in short, begin the reconstruction of society."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens!" I exclaimed, and sat staring at him.</p> + +<p>He twirled his moustaches and observed me with shining eyes.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of it?"</p> + +<p>I shrugged my shoulders helplessly.</p> + +<p>"Surely it is far fetched?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it. Now listen to me carefully. I'll give you, step by +step, the whole matter." He walked up and down for some minutes and then +suddenly stopped beside me and thumped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> me on the back. "There's not a +flaw in it!" he cried. "It's magnificent. My dear fellow, death is only +a failure in human perfection. There's nothing mysterious in it. +Religion has made a ridiculous fuss about it. There's nothing more +mysterious in it than there is in a badly-oiled engine wearing out. Now +listen. I'm going to begin...."</p> + +<p>I listened, fascinated.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE BUTTERFLIES</h3> + + +<p>Two years passed by after my return to London without special incident, +save that my black cat died. My work as a consulting physician occupied +most of my time. In the greater world beyond my consulting-room door +life went on undisturbed by any thought of the approaching upheaval, +full of the old tragedies of ambition and love and sickness. But +sometimes as I examined my patients and listened to their tales of +suffering and pain, a curious contraction of the heart would come upon +me at the thought that perhaps some day, not so very far remote, all the +endless cycle of disease and misery would cease, and a new dawn of hope +burst with blinding radiance upon weary humanity. And then a mood of +unbelief would darken my mind and I would view the creation of the +bacillus as an idle and vain dream, an illusion never to be +realized....</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>One evening as I sat alone before my study fire, my servant entered and +announced there was a visitor to see me.</p> + +<p>"Show him in here," I said, thinking he was probably a late patient who +had come on urgent business.</p> + +<p>A moment later Professor Sarakoff himself was shown in.</p> + +<p>I rose with a cry of welcome and clasped his hand.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, why didn't you let me know you were coming?" I cried.</p> + +<p>He smiled upon me with a mysterious brightness.</p> + +<p>"Harden," he said in a low voice, as if afraid of being heard, "I came +on a sudden impulse. I wanted to show you something. Wait a moment."</p> + +<p>He went out into the hall and returned bearing a square box in his +hands. He laid it on the table and then carefully closed the door.</p> + +<p>"It is the first big result of my experiments," he whispered. He opened +the box and drew out a glass case covered over with white muslin.</p> + +<p>He stepped back from the table and looked at me triumphantly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>"What is it?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Lift up the muslin."</p> + +<p>I did so. On the wooden floor of the glass case were a great number of +dark objects. At first I thought they were some kind of grub, and then +on closer inspection I saw what they were.</p> + +<p>"Butterflies!" I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>He held up a warning finger and tiptoed to the door. He opened it +suddenly and seemed relieved to find no one outside.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" he said, closing the door again. "Yes, they are butterflies." He +came back to the table and gave one of the glass panels a tap with his +finger. The butterflies stirred and some spread their wings. They were a +brilliant greenish purple shot with pale blue. "Yes, they are +butterflies."</p> + +<p>I peered at them.</p> + +<p>"The specimen is unknown in England as far as I know."</p> + +<p>"Quite so. They are peculiar to Russia."</p> + +<p>"But what are you doing with them?" I asked.</p> + +<p>He continued to smile.</p> + +<p>"Do you notice anything remarkable about these butterflies?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>"No," I said after prolonged observation, "I can't say I do ... save +that they are not denizens of this country."</p> + +<p>"I think we might christen them," he said. "Let us call them Lepidoptera +Sarakoffii." He tapped the glass again and watched the insects move. +"But they are very remarkable," he continued. "Do they appear healthy to +you?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly."</p> + +<p>"You agree, then, that they are in good condition?"</p> + +<p>"They seem to be in excellent condition."</p> + +<p>"No signs of decay—or disease?"</p> + +<p>"None."</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p>"And yet," he said thoughtfully, "they should be, according to natural +law, a mass of decayed tissue."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" I looked at him with dawning comprehension. "You mean——?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that they should have died long ago."</p> + +<p>"How long do they live normally?"</p> + +<p>"About twenty to thirty hours. At the outside their life is not more +than thirty-six hours. These are somewhat older."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>I gazed at the little creatures crawling aimlessly about. <i>Aimless</i>, did +I say? There they were, filling up the floor of the glass case, moving +with difficulty, getting in each other's way, sprawling and colliding, +apparently without aim or purpose. At that spectacle my thoughts might +well have taken a leap into the future and seen, instead of a crowded +mass of butterflies, a crowded mass of humanity. I asked Sarakoff a +question.</p> + +<p>"How old are they?" I expected to hear they had existed perhaps a day or +two beyond their normal limit.</p> + +<p>"They are almost exactly a year old," was the reply. I stared, +marvelling. A year old! I bent down, gazing at the turbulent restless +mass of gaudy colour. A year old—and still vital and healthy!</p> + +<p>"You mean these insects have lived a whole year?" I exclaimed, still +unconvinced.</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p>"But that is a miracle!"</p> + +<p>"It is, proportionately, equal to a man living twenty-five thousand +years instead of the normal seventy."</p> + +<p>"You don't suggest——?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>He replaced the muslin covering and took out his pipe and tobacco pouch. +Absurd, outrageous ideas crowded to my mind. Was it, then, possible that +our dream was to become reality?</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose they'll live much longer," I stammered.</p> + +<p>He was silent until he had lit his pipe.</p> + +<p>"If you met a man who had lived twenty-five thousand years, would you be +inclined to tell me he would not live much longer, simply on general +considerations?"</p> + +<p>I could not find a satisfactory answer.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact the question scarcely conveyed anything to me. One +can realize only by reference to familiar standards. The idea of a man +who has lived one hundred and fifty years is to me a more realistic +curiosity than the idea of a man twenty-five thousand years old. But I +caught a glimpse, as it were, of strange figures, moving about in a +colourless background, with calm gestures, slow speeches, silences +perhaps a year in length. The familiar outline of London crumbled +suddenly away, the blotches of shadow and the coloured shafts of light +striking between the gaps in the crowds, the violet-lit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> tubes, the +traffic, faded into the conception of twenty-five thousand years. All +this many-angled, many-coloured modern spectacle that was a few thousand +years removed from cave dwellings, was rolled flat and level, merging +into this grey formless carpet of time.</p> + +<p>Next morning Sarakoff returned to Russia, bearing with him the wonderful +butterflies, and for many months I heard nothing from him. But before he +went he told me that he would return soon.</p> + +<p>"I have only one step further to take and the ideal germ will be +created, Harden. Then we poor mortals will realize the dream that has +haunted us since the beginning of time. We will attain immortality, and +the fear of death, round which everything is built, will vanish. We will +become gods!"</p> + +<p>"Or devils, Sarakoff," I murmured.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE SIX TUBES</h3> + + +<p>One night, just as I entered my house, the telephone bell in the hall +rang sharply. I picked up the receiver impatiently, for I was tired with +the long day's work.</p> + +<p>"Is that Dr. Harden?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Can you come down to Charing Cross Station at once? The station-master +is speaking."</p> + +<p>"An accident?"</p> + +<p>"No. We wish you to identify a person who has arrived by the boat-train. +The police are detaining him as a suspect. He gave your name as a +reference. He is a Russian."</p> + +<p>"All right. I'll come at once."</p> + +<p>I hung up the receiver and told the servant to whistle for a taxi-cab. +Ten minutes later I was picking my way through the crowds on the +platform to the station-master's office. I entered,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> and found a strange +scene being enacted. On one side of a table stood Sarakoff, very +flushed, with shining eyes, clasping a black bag tightly to his breast. +On the other side stood a group of four men, the station-master, a +police officer, a plain clothes man and an elderly gentleman in white +spats. The last was pointing an accusing finger at Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>"Open that bag and we'll believe you!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff glared at him defiantly.</p> + +<p>I recognized his accuser at once. It was Lord Alberan, the famous Tory +obstructionist.</p> + +<p>"Anarchist!" Lord Alberan's voice rang out sharply. He took out a +handkerchief and mopped his face.</p> + +<p>"Arrest him!" he said to the constable with an air of satisfaction. "I +knew he was an anarchist the moment I set eyes on him at Dover. There is +an infernal machine in that bag. The man reeks of vodka. He is mad."</p> + +<p>"Idiot," exclaimed Sarakoff, with great vehemence. "I drink nothing but +water."</p> + +<p>"He wishes to destroy London," said Lord Alberan coldly. "There is +enough dynamite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> in that bag to blow the whole of Trafalgar Square into +fragments. Arrest him instantly."</p> + +<p>I stepped forward from the shadows by the door. Sarakoff uttered a cry +of pleasure.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Harden, I knew you would come. Get me out of this stupid +situation!"</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" I asked, glancing at the station-master. He +explained briefly that Lord Alberan and Sarakoff had travelled up in the +same compartment from Dover, and that Sarakoff's strange restlessness +and excited movements had roused Lord Alberan's suspicions. As a +consequence Sarakoff had been detained for examination.</p> + +<p>"If he would open his bag we should be satisfied," added the +station-master. I looked at my friend significantly.</p> + +<p>"Why not open it?" I asked. "It would be simplest."</p> + +<p>My words had the effect of quieting the excited professor. He put the +bag on the table, and placed his hands on the top of it.</p> + +<p>"Very well," he said slowly, "I will open it, since my friend Dr. Harden +has requested me to do so."</p> + +<p>"Stand back!" cried Lord Alberan, flinging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> out his arms. "We may be so +much dust flying over London in a moment."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff took out a key and unlocked the bag. There was silence for a +moment, only broken by hurrying footsteps on the platform without. Then +Lord Alberan stepped cautiously forward.</p> + +<p>He saw the worn canvas lining of the bag. He took a step nearer and saw +a wooden rack, fitted in the interior, containing six glass tubes whose +mouths were stopped with plugs of cotton wool.</p> + +<p>"You see, there is nothing important there," said Sarakoff with a smile. +"These objects are of purely scientific interest." He took out one of +the tubes and held it up to the light. It was half full of a +semi-transparent jelly-like mass, faintly blue in colour. The detective, +the policeman and the station official clustered round, their faces +turned up to the light and their eyes fixed on the tube. The Russian +looked at them narrowly, and reading nothing but dull wonderment in +their expressions, began to speak again.</p> + +<p>"Yes—the Bacillus Pyocyaneus," he said, with a faint mocking smile and +a side glance at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> me. "It is occasionally met with in man and is easily +detected by the blue bye-product it gives off while growing." He twisted +the tube slowly round. "It is quite an interesting culture," he +continued idly. "Do you observe the uniform distribution of the growth +and the absence of any sign of liquefaction in the medium?"</p> + +<p>Lord Alberan cleared his throat.</p> + +<p>"I—er—I think we owe you an apology," he said. "My suspicions were +unfounded. However, I did my duty to my country by having you examined. +You must admit your conduct was suspicious—highly suspicious, sir!"</p> + +<p>Sarakoff replaced the tube and locked the bag. Lord Alberan marched to +the door and held it open.</p> + +<p>"We need not detain you, sir," said the detective. The policeman squared +his shoulders and hitched up his belt. The station official looked +nervous.</p> + +<p>Dr. Sarakoff, with a gesture of indifference, picked up the bag and, +taking me by the arm, passed out on to the brilliantly-lit platform. +"<i>Pyocyaneus</i>," he muttered in my ear; "<i>pyocyaneus</i>, indeed! Confound +the fellow. He might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> have got me into no end of trouble if he had known +the truth, Harden."</p> + +<p>"But what is it?" I asked. "What have you got in the bag?"</p> + +<p>He stopped under a sizzling arc-lamp outside the station.</p> + +<p>"The bag," he said touching the worn leather lovingly, "contains six +tubes of the Sarakoff-Harden bacillus. Yes, I have added your name to +it. I will make your name immortal—by coupling it with mine."</p> + +<p>"But what is the Sarakoff-Harden bacillus?" I cried.</p> + +<p>He struck an attitude under the viperish glare of the lamp and smiled. +He certainly did look like an anarchist at the moment. He loomed over +me, huge, satanic, inscrutable.</p> + +<p>A thrill, almost of fear, passed over me. I glanced round in some +apprehension. Under an archway near by I saw Lord Alberan looking +fixedly at us. The expression of suspicion had returned to his face.</p> + +<p>"You mean——?" He nodded. I gulped a little. "You really have——?" He +continued to nod. "Then we can try the great experiment?" I whispered, +dry throated.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>"At once!" The detective passed us, brushing against my shoulder. I +caught Sarakoff by the arm.</p> + +<p>"Look here—we must get away," I muttered. I felt like a criminal. +Sarakoff clasped the bag firmly under his free arm. We began to walk +hurriedly away. Our manner was furtive. Once I looked back and saw +Alberan talking, with excited gestures, to the detective. They were both +looking in our direction. The impulse to run possessed me. "Quick," I +exclaimed, "there's a taxi. Jump in. Drive to Harley Street—like the +devil."</p> + +<p>Inside the cab I lay back, my mind in a whirl.</p> + +<p>"We begin the experiment to-morrow," said Sarakoff at last. "Have you +made plans as I told you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—yes. Of course. Only I never believed it possible." I controlled +myself and sat up. "I fixed on Birmingham. It seemed best—but I never +dreamed——"</p> + +<p>"Good!" he exclaimed. "Birmingham, then!"</p> + +<p>"Their water supply comes from Wales."</p> + +<p>We spoke no more till I turned the key of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> study door behind me. It +was in this way that the germ, which made so vast and strange an +impression on the course of the world's history, first reached England. +It had lain under the very nose of Lord Alberan, who opposed everything +new automatically. Yet it, the newest of all things, escaped his +vigilance.</p> + +<p class="newscene">We decided to put our plans into action without delay, and next morning +we set off, carrying with us the precious tubes of the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus. Throughout the long journey we scarcely spoke to each other. +Each of us was absorbed in his picture of the future effects of the +germ.</p> + +<p>There was one strange fact that Sarakoff had told me the night before, +and that I had verified. The bacillus was ultra-microscopical—that is, +it could not be seen, even with the highest power, under the microscope. +Its presence was only to be detected by the blue stain it gave off +during its growth.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE GREAT AQUEDUCT</h3> + + +<p>The Birmingham reservoirs are a chain of lakes artificially produced by +damming up the River Elan, a tributary of the Wye. The great aqueduct +which carries the water from the Elan, eighty miles across country, +travelling through hills and bridging valleys, runs past Ludlow and +Cleobury Mortimer, through the Wyre Forest to Kidderminster, and on to +Birmingham itself through Frankley, where there is a large storage +reservoir from which the water is distributed.</p> + +<p>The scenery was bleak and desolate. Before us the sun was sinking in a +flood of crimson light. We walked briskly, the long legs of the Russian +carrying him swiftly over the uneven ground while I trotted beside him. +Before the last rays of the sun had died away we saw the black outline +of the Caban Loch dam before us,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> and caught the sheen of water beyond. +On the north lay the river Elan and on the south the steep side of a +mountain towered up against the luminous sky. The road runs along the +left bank of the river bounded by a series of bold and abrupt crags that +rise to a height of some eight hundred feet above the level of the +water. Just below the Caban Dam is a house occupied by an inspector in +charge of the gauge apparatus that is used to measure the outflow of +water from the huge natural reservoirs. The lights from his house +twinkled through the growing darkness as we drew near, and we skirted it +by a short detour and pressed on.</p> + +<p>"How long does water take to get from here to Birmingham?" asked +Sarakoff as we climbed up to the edge of the first lake.</p> + +<p>"It travels about a couple of miles an hour," I replied. "So that means +about a day and a half."</p> + +<p>We spoke in low voices, for we were afraid of detection. The presence of +two visitors at that hour might well have attracted attention.</p> + +<p>"A day and a half! Then the bacillus has a long journey to take." He +stopped at the margin of the water and stared across the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> shadowy lake. +"Yes, it has a long journey to take, for it will go round the whole +world."</p> + +<p>The last glow in the sky tinted the calm sheet of water a deep blood +colour. Sarakoff opened his bag and took out a couple of tubes.</p> + +<p>He pulled the cotton-wool plugs out of the tubes, and with a long wire, +loosened the gelatinous contents. Then, inverting the tubes he flung +them into the lake close to the beginning of the huge aqueduct.</p> + +<p>I stared as the tubes vanished from sight, feeling that it was too late +to regret what had now been done, for nothing could collect those +millions of bacilli, that had been set free in the water. Already some +of them had perhaps entered the dark cavernous mouth of the first +culvert to start on their slow journey to Birmingham. The light faded +from the sky and darkness spread swiftly over the lake. Sarakoff emptied +the remaining tubes calmly and then turned his footsteps in the +direction of Rhayader. I waited a moment longer in the deep silence of +that lonely spot; and then with a shiver followed my friend. The +bacillus had been let loose on the world.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE ATTITUDE OF MR. THORNDUCK</h3> + + +<p>We reached London next day in the afternoon. I felt exhausted and could +scarcely answer Sarakoff, who had talked continuously during the +journey.</p> + +<p>But his theory had interested me. The Russian had revealed much of his +character, under the stress of excitement. He spoke of the coming of +Immortality in the light of a <i>physical</i> boon to mankind. He seemed to +see in his mind's eye a great picture of comfort and physical enjoyment +and of a humanity released from the grim spectres of disease and death, +and ceaselessly pursuing pleasure.</p> + +<p>"I love life," he remarked. "I love fame and success. I love comfort, +ease, laughter, and companionship. The whole of Nature is beautiful to +me, and a beautiful woman is Nature's best reward. Now that the dawn of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +Immortality is at hand, Harden, we must set about reorganizing the world +so that it may yield the maximum of pleasure."</p> + +<p>"But surely there will be some limit to pleasure?" I objected.</p> + +<p>"Why? Can't you see that is just what there will not be?" he cried +excitedly. "We are going to do away with the confining limits. Your +imagination is too cramped! You sit there, huddled up in a corner, as if +we had let loose a dreadful plague on Birmingham!"</p> + +<p>"It may prove to be so," I muttered. I do not think I had any clear idea +as to the future, but there is a natural machinery in the mind that +doubts golden ages and universal panaceas. Call it superstition if you +will, but man's instinct tells him he cannot have uninterrupted pleasure +without paying for it. I said as much to the Russian.</p> + +<p>He gave vent to a roar of laughter.</p> + +<p>"You have all the caution and timidity of your race," he said. "You are +fearful even in your hour of deliverance. My friend, it is impossible to +conceive, even faintly, of the change that will come over us towards the +meaning of life. Can't you see that, as soon as the idea of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> Immortality +gets hold of people, they will devote all their energies to making their +earth a paradise? Why, it is obvious. They will then know that there is +no other paradise."</p> + +<p>He took out his watch and made a calculation. His face became flushed.</p> + +<p>"The bacillus has travelled forty-two miles towards Birmingham," he +said, just as our train drew in to the London terminus.</p> + +<p>I was busy with patients until dinner-time and did not see anything of +Sarakoff. While working, my exhaustion and anxiety wore off, and were +replaced by a mild exhilaration. One of my patients was a professor of +engineering at a northern university; a brilliant young man, who, but +for physical disease, had the promise of a great career before him. He +had been sent to me, after having made a round of the consultants, to +see if I could give him any hope as to the future. I went into his case +carefully, and then addressed him a question.</p> + +<p>"What is your own view of your case, Mr. Thornduck?"</p> + +<p>He looked surprised. His face relaxed, and he smiled. I suppose he +detected a message of hope in my expression.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>"I have been told by half-a-dozen doctors that I have not long to live, +Dr. Harden," he replied. "But it is very difficult for me to grasp that +view. I find that I behave as if nothing were the matter. I still go on +working. I still see goals far ahead. Death is just a word—frequently +uttered, it is true—but meaningless. What am I to do?"</p> + +<p>"Go on working."</p> + +<p>"And am I to expect only a short lease of life?"</p> + +<p>I rose from my writing-table and walked to the hearth. A surge of power +came over me as I thought of the bacillus which was so silently and +steadily advancing on Birmingham.</p> + +<p>"Do you believe in miracles?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"That is an odd question." He reflected for a time. "No, I don't think +so. All one is taught now-a-days is in a contrary direction, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but our knowledge only covers a very small field—perhaps an +artificially isolated one, too."</p> + +<p>"Then you think only a miracle will save my life?"</p> + +<p>I nodded and gazed at him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>"You seem amused," he remarked quietly.</p> + +<p>"I am not amused, Mr. Thornduck. I am very happy."</p> + +<p>"Does my case interest you?"</p> + +<p>"Extremely. As a case, you are typical. Your malady is invariably fatal. +It is only one of the many maladies that we know to be fatal, while we +remain ignorant of all else. Under ordinary circumstances, you would +have before you about three years of reasonable health and sanity."</p> + +<p>"And then?"</p> + +<p>"Well, after that you would be somewhat helpless. You would begin to +employ that large section of modern civilization that deals with the +somewhat helpless."</p> + +<p>I began to warm to my theme, and clasped my hands behind my back.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you would pass into that class that disproves all theories of a +kindly Deity, and you would become an undergraduate in the vast and +lamentable University of Suffering, through whose limitless corridors we +medical men walk with weary footsteps. Ah, if only an intelligent group +of scientists had had the construction of the human body to plan! Think +what poor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> stuff it is! Think how easy it would have been to make it +more enduring! The cell—what a useless fragile delicacy! And we are +made of millions of these useless fragile delicacies."</p> + +<p>To my surprise he laughed with great amusement. He stood there, young, +pleasant, and smiling. I stared at him with a curious uneasiness. For +the moment I had forgotten what it had been my intention to say. The +dawn of Immortality passed out of my mind, and I found myself gazing, as +it were, on something strangely mysterious.</p> + +<p>"Your religion helps you?" I hazarded.</p> + +<p>"Religion?" He mused for a moment. "Don't you think there is some +meaning behind our particular inevitable destinies—that we may perhaps +have earned them?"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! It is all the cruel caprice of Nature, and nothing else."</p> + +<p>"Oh, come, Dr. Harden, you surely take a larger view. Do you think the +short existence we have here is all the chance of activity we ever have? +That I have a glimpse of engineering, and you have a short phase of +doctoring on this planet, and that then we have finished all +experience?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>"Certainly. It would not be possible to take any other view—horrible."</p> + +<p>"But you believe in some theory of evolution—of slow upward progress?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course. That is proved beyond all doubt."</p> + +<p>"And yet you think it applies only to the body—to the instrument—and +not to the immaterial side of us?"</p> + +<p>I stared at him in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"I do not think there is any immaterial side, Mr. Thornduck."</p> + +<p>He smiled.</p> + +<p>"A very unsatisfying view, surely?" he remarked.</p> + +<p>"Unsatisfying, perhaps, but sound science," I retorted.</p> + +<p>"Sound?" He pondered for an instant. "Can a thing be sound and +unsatisfying at the same time? When I see a machine that's ugly—that's +unsatisfying from the artist's point of view—I always know it's wrongly +planned and inefficient. Don't you think it's the same with theories of +life?" He took out his watch and glanced at it. "But I must not keep +you. Good-bye, Dr. Harden."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>He went to the door, nodded, and left the room before I recalled that I +meant to hint to him that a miracle was going to happen, and save his +life. I remained on the hearth-rug, wondering what on earth he meant.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>LEONORA</h3> + + +<p>I found a note in the hall from Sarakoff asking me to come round to the +Pyramid Restaurant at eight o'clock to meet a friend of his. It was a +crisp clear evening, and I decided to walk. There were two problems on +my mind. One was the outlook of Sarakoff, which even I deemed to be too +materialistic. The other was the attitude of young Thornduck, which was +obviously absurd.</p> + +<p>In my top hat and solemn frock-coat I paced slowly down Harley Street.</p> + +<p>Thornduck talked as if suffering, as if all that side of existence which +the Blue Germ was to do away with, were necessary and salutary. Sarakoff +spoke as if pleasure was the only aim of life. Now, though sheer +physical pleasure had never entered very deeply into my life, I had +never denied the fact that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> was the only motive of the majority of my +patients. For what was all our research for? Simply to mitigate +suffering; and that is another way of saying that it was to increase +physical well-being. Why, then, did Sarakoff's views appear extreme to +me? What was there in my composition that whispered a doubt when I had +the doctrine of maximum pleasure painted with glowing enthusiasm by the +Russian in the train that afternoon?</p> + +<p>I moved into Oxford Street deeply pondering. The streets were crowded, +and from shop windows there streamed great wedges of white and yellow +light. The roar of traffic was round me. The 'buses were packed with men +and women returning late from business, or on the way to seek relaxation +in the city's amusements. I passed through the throng as through a +coloured mist of phantoms. My eyes fastened on the faces of those who +passed by. Who could really doubt the doctrine of pleasure? Which one of +those people would hesitate to plunge into the full tide of the senses, +did not the limitations of the body prevent him?</p> + +<p>I crossed Piccadilly Circus with a brisker step. It was no use worrying +over questions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> which could not be examined scientifically. The only +really important question in life was to be a success.</p> + +<p>The brilliant entrance of the Pyramid Restaurant was before me, and +within, standing on the marble floor, I saw the tall figure of the +Russian.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff greeted me with enthusiasm. He was wearing evening-dress with a +white waistcoat, and the fact perturbed me. I put my hat and stick in +the cloakroom.</p> + +<p>"Who is coming?" I asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Leonora," he whispered. "I only found out she was in London this +afternoon. I met her when I was strolling in the Park while you were +busy with your patients."</p> + +<p>"But who is Leonora?" I asked. "And can I meet her in this state?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, never mind about your dress. You are a busy doctor and she will +understand. Leonora is the most marvellous woman in the world. I intend +to make her marry me."</p> + +<p>"Is she English?" I stammered.</p> + +<p>He laughed.</p> + +<p>"Little man, you look terrified, as usual. You are always terrified. It +is your habit.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> No, Leonora is not English. She is European. If you went +out into the world of amusement a little more—and it would be good for +you—you would know that she has the most exquisite voice in the history +of civilization. She transcends the nightingale because her body is +beautiful. She transcends the peacock because her voice is beautiful. +She is, in fact, worthy of every homage, and you will meet her in a +short time. Like all perfect things she is late."</p> + +<p>He took out his watch and glanced at the door.</p> + +<p>"You are an extraordinary person, Sarakoff," I observed, after watching +him a moment. "Will you answer me a rather intimate question?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>"What precisely do you mean when you say you intend to make the charming +lady marry you?"</p> + +<p>"Precisely what I say. She loves fame. So far I have been unsuccessful, +because she does not think I am famous enough."</p> + +<p>"How do you intend to remedy that?"</p> + +<p>He stared at me in amazement.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>"Do you think that any people have ever been so famous as you and I will +be in a few days?"</p> + +<p>I looked away and studied the bright throng of visitors in the hall.</p> + +<p>"In a few days?" I asked. "Are you not a trifle optimistic? Don't you +think that it will take months before the possibilities and meaning of +the germ are properly realized?"</p> + +<p>"Rubbish," exclaimed Sarakoff. "You are a confirmed pessimist. You are +impossible, Harden. You are a mass of doubts and apprehensions. Ah, here +is Leonora at last. Is she not marvellous?"</p> + +<p>I looked towards the entrance. I saw a woman of medium height, very +fair, dressed in some soft clinging material of a pale primrose colour. +From a shoulder hung a red satin cloak. Round her neck was a string of +large pearls, and in her hair was a jewelled osprey. She presented a +striking appearance and I gained the impression of some northern spirit +in her that shone out of her eyes with the brilliancy of ice.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff strode forward, and the contrast that these two afforded was +extraordinary.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> Tall, dark, warm and animated, he stood beside her, and +stooped to kiss her hand. She gazed at him with a smile so slight that +it seemed scarcely to disturb the perfect symmetry of her face. He began +to talk, moving his whole body constantly and making gestures with his +arms, with a play of different expressions in his face. She listened +without moving, save that her eyes wandered slowly round the large hall. +At length Sarakoff beckoned to me.</p> + +<p>I approached somewhat awkwardly and was introduced.</p> + +<p>"Leonora," said the Russian, "this is a little English doctor with a +very large brain. He was closely connected with the great discovery of +which I am going to tell you something to-night at dinner. He is my +friend and his name is Richard Harden."</p> + +<p>"I like your name," said Leonora, in a clear soft voice.</p> + +<p>I took her hand. We passed into the restaurant. It was one of those vast +pleasure-palaces of music, scent, colour and food that abounded in +London. An orchestra was playing somewhere high aloft. The luxury of +these establishments was always sounding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> a curious warning deep down in +my mind. But then, as Sarakoff had said, I am a pessimist, and if I were +to say that I have noticed that nature often becomes very prodigal and +lavish just before she takes away and destroys, I would be uttering, +perhaps, one of the many half-truths in which the pessimistic spirit +delights.</p> + +<p>Our table was in a corner at an agreeable distance from the orchestra. +Sarakoff placed Leonora between him and myself. Attentive waiters +hurried to serve us; and the eyes of everyone in our immediate +neighbourhood were turned in our direction. Leonora did not appear to be +affected by the interest she aroused. She flung her cloak on the back of +her chair, put her elbows on the table, and gazed at the Russian +intently.</p> + +<p>"Tell me of your discovery, Alexis."</p> + +<p>He smiled, enchanted.</p> + +<p>"I shall be best able to give you some idea of what our discovery means +if I begin by telling you that I am going to read your character. Does +that interest you?"</p> + +<p>She nodded. Then she turned to me and studied me for a moment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>"No, Alexis. Let Richard read my character first."</p> + +<p>I blushed successfully.</p> + +<p>"Why do you blush?" she asked with some interest.</p> + +<p>"He blushed because of your unpardonable familiarity in calling him +Richard," laughed Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>"I shall be most happy, Leonora," I stammered, making an immense effort, +and longing for the waiter to bring the champagne. "But I am not good at +the art."</p> + +<p>"But you must try."</p> + +<p>I saw no way out of the predicament. Sarakoff's eyes were twinkling +roguishly, so I began, keeping my gaze on the table.</p> + +<p>"You have a well-controlled character, with a considerable power of +knowing exactly what you want to do with your life, and you come from +the North. I fancy you sleep badly."</p> + +<p>"How do you know I sleep badly?" she challenged.</p> + +<p>"Your eyes are a clear frosty blue, and you are of rather slight build. +I am merely speaking from my own experience as a doctor."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>I suppose my words were not particularly gracious or well-spoken. +Leonora simply nodded and leaned back from the table.</p> + +<p>"Now, Alexis, tell me about myself," she said.</p> + +<p>My glass now contained champagne and I decided to allow that wizard to +take charge of my affairs for a time.</p> + +<p>"Leonora, you are one of those women who visit this dull planet from +time to time for reasons best known to themselves. I think you must come +from Venus, or one of the asteroids; or it may be from Sirius. From the +beginning you knew you were not like ordinary people."</p> + +<p>"Alexis," she drawled, "you are boring me."</p> + +<p>"Capital!" said Sarakoff. "Now we will descend to facts, as our friend +here did. You are the most inordinately vain, ambitious, cold-hearted +woman in Europe, Leonora. You value yourself before everything. You +think your voice and your beauty cannot be beaten, and you are right. +Now if I were to tell you that your voice and your beauty could be +preserved, year after year, without any change, what would you think?"</p> + +<p>A kind of fierce vitality sprang into her face.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>"What do you mean?" she asked quietly. "Have you discovered the elixir +of youth?"</p> + +<p>He nodded. She laid her hand on his arm.</p> + +<p>"How long does its effect last?"</p> + +<p>"Well—for a considerable time."</p> + +<p>"You are certain?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely."</p> + +<p>She leaned towards him.</p> + +<p>"You will let no one else have it, Alexis," she asked softly. "Only me?"</p> + +<p>Sarakoff glanced at me.</p> + +<p>"Leonora, you are very selfish."</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>"Well, you are not the only person who is going to have the elixir. The +whole world is going to have it."</p> + +<p>I watched her with absorbed attention. She seemed to accept the idea of +an elixir of youth without any incredulity, and did not find anything +extraordinary in the fact of its discovery. In that respect, I fancied, +she was typical of a large class of women—that class that thinks a +doctor is a magician, or should be. But when Sarakoff said that the +whole world was going to have the elixir, a spasm of anger shewed for a +moment in her face. She lowered her eyes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>"This is unkind of you, Alexis. Why should not just you and I have the +elixir?" She raised her eyes and turned them directly on Sarakoff. "Why +not?" she murmured.</p> + +<p>The Russian flushed slightly.</p> + +<p>"Leonora, it must either not be, or else the whole world must have it. +It can't be confined. It must spread. It's a germ. We have let it loose +in Birmingham."</p> + +<p>She shuddered.</p> + +<p>"A germ? What does he mean?" She turned to me.</p> + +<p>"It's a germ that will do away with all disease and decay," I said.</p> + +<p>"It will make me younger?"</p> + +<p>"Of that I am uncertain. It will more probably fix us where we are."</p> + +<p>The Russian nodded in confirmation of my view. Leonora considered for a +while. I could see nothing in her appearance that she could have wished +altered, but she seemed dissatisfied.</p> + +<p>"I should have preferred it to make us all a little younger," she said +decidedly. Her total lack of the sense of miracles astonished me. She +behaved as if Sarakoff had told her that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> we had discovered a new kind +of soap or a new patent food. "But I am glad you have found it, Alexis," +she continued. "It will certainly make you famous. That will be nice, +but I am sorry you should have given the elixir to Birmingham first. +Birmingham is in no need of an elixir, my friend. You should have put +something else in their water-supply." She turned to me and examined me +with calm criticism. "What a pity you didn't discover the elixir when +you were younger, Richard. Your hair is grey at the temples." A clear +laugh suddenly came from her. "What a lot of jealously there will be, +Alexis. The old ones will be so envious of the young. Think how Madame +Réaour will rage—and Betty, and the Signora—all my friends—oh, I feel +quite glad now that it doesn't make people younger. You are sure it +won't?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so," said Sarakoff, watching her through half-closed +lids. "No, I think you are safe, Leonora."</p> + +<p>"And my voice?"</p> + +<p>"It will preserve that ... indefinitely, I think."</p> + +<p>She was arrested by the new idea. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> looked into the distance and +fingered the pearls at her throat.</p> + +<p>"Then I shall become the most famous singer in the whole world," she +murmured. "And I shall have all the money I want. My friend, you have +done me a service. I will not forget it." She looked at him and laughed +slightly. "But I do not think you have done the world a service. A great +many people will not like the germ. No, they will desire to get rid of +it, Alexis."</p> + +<p>She shuddered a little. I stared at her.</p> + +<p>"I think you are mistaken," said Alexis, gruffly.</p> + +<p>She shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Come, let us finish dinner quickly and I will take you both to my flat +and sing to you a little."</p> + +<p>Leonora's flat was in Whitehall Court, and of its luxury I need not +speak. I must confess to the fact that, sober and timid as is my nature, +I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. Leonora was generous. Her voice was +exquisite. I sat on a deep couch of green satin and gazed at a Chinese +idol cut in green jade, that stood on a neighbouring table, with all my +senses lulled by the charm of her singing. The sense of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> responsibility +fell away from me like severed cords. I became pagan as I lolled there, +a creature of sensuous feeling. Sarakoff lay back in a deep chair in the +shadow with his eyes fixed on Leonora. We were both in a kind of +delicious drowsiness when the opening of the door roused us.</p> + +<p>Leonora stopped abruptly. With some difficulty I removed my gaze from +the Chinese figure, which had hypnotized me, and looked round +resentfully.</p> + +<p>Lord Alberan was standing in the doorway. He seemed surprised to find +that Leonora had visitors. I could not help marking a slight air of +proprietorship in his manner.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I am interrupting," he said smoothly. He crossed to the +piano and leant over Leonora. "You got my telegram?"</p> + +<p>"No," she replied; "I did not even know you had returned from France."</p> + +<p>"I came the day before yesterday. I had to go down to Maltby Towers. I +came up to town to-day and wired you on the way."</p> + +<p>He straightened himself and turned towards us. Leonora rose and came +down the room. We rose.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>"Geoffrey," she said, drawling slightly, "I want to introduce you to two +friends of mine. They will soon be very famous—more famous than you +are—because they have discovered a germ that is going to keep us all +young."</p> + +<p>Lord Alberan glanced at me and then looked hard at the Russian. A +swiftly passing surprise shewed that he recognized Sarakoff. Leonora +mentioned our names casually, took up a cigarette and dropped into a +chair.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she continued, "these gentlemen have put the germ into the water +that supplies Birmingham." She struck a match and lit the cigarette. I +noticed she actually smoked very little, but seemed to like to watch the +burning cigarette. "Do sit down. What are you standing for, Geoffrey?"</p> + +<p>Lord Alberan's attitude relaxed. He had evidently decided on his course +of action.</p> + +<p>"That is very interesting," he observed, as if he had never seen +Sarakoff before. "A germ that is going to keep us all young. It reminds +me of the Arabian Nights. I should like to see it."</p> + +<p>"You've seen it already," replied Sarakoff, imperturbably.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>Lord Alberan's cold eyes looked steadily before him. His mouth +tightened.</p> + +<p>"Really?"</p> + +<p>"You saw it at Charing Cross Station the night before last."</p> + +<p>"At Charing Cross Station?"</p> + +<p>I tried to signal to the Russian, but he seemed determined to proceed.</p> + +<p>"Yes—you thought I was an anarchist. You saw the contents of my bag. +Six tubes containing a blue-coloured gelatine. Perhaps, Lord Alberan, +you remember now."</p> + +<p>"I remember perfectly," he exclaimed, smiling slightly. "Yes, I regret +my mistake. One has to be careful."</p> + +<p>"Did you think my Alexis was an anarchist?" cried Leonora. "You are the +stupidest of Englishmen."</p> + +<p>It was obvious that Alberan did not like this. He glanced at a thin gold +watch that he carried in his waistcoat pocket.</p> + +<p>"I will not interrupt you any longer," he remarked gravely. "You are +quite occupied, I see, and I much apologize for intruding."</p> + +<p>"Don't be still more stupid," she said lazily.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> "Sit down. Tell me how +you like the idea of never dying."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I cannot entertain the idea seriously." He hesitated and +then looked firmly at Sarakoff. "Do I understand, sir, that you have +actually put some germ into the Birmingham water-supply?"</p> + +<p>The Russian nodded.</p> + +<p>"You'll hear about it in a day or two," he said quietly.</p> + +<p>"You had permission to do this?"</p> + +<p>"No, I had no permission."</p> + +<p>"Are you aware that you are making a very extraordinary statement, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly."</p> + +<p>Lord Alberan became very red. The lower part of his face seemed to +expand. His eyes protruded.</p> + +<p>"Don't gobble," said Leonora.</p> + +<p>"Gobble?" stuttered Alberan, turning upon her. "How dare you say I +gobble?"</p> + +<p>"But you are gobbling."</p> + +<p>"I refuse to stay here another moment. I will leave immediately. As for +you, sir, you shall hear from me in course of time. To-morrow I am +compelled to go abroad again,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> but when I return I shall institute a +vigorous and detailed enquiry into your movements, which are highly +suspicious, sir,—highly suspicious." He moved to the door and then +turned. "Mademoiselle, I wish you good-night." He bowed stiffly and went +out.</p> + +<p>"Thank heaven, I've got rid of him for good," murmured Leonora. "He +proposed to me last week, Alexis."</p> + +<p>"And what did you say?" asked Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>"I said I would see, but things are different now." She turned her eyes +straight in his direction. "That is, if you have told me the truth, +Alexis. Oh, isn't it wonderful!" She jumped up and threw out her arms. +"Suppose that it all comes true, Alexis! Immortality—always to be young +and beautiful!"</p> + +<p>"It will come true," he said.</p> + +<p>She lowered her arms slowly and looked at him.</p> + +<p>"I wonder how long love will last?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE BLUE DISEASE</h3> + + +<p>Next day the first news of the Sarakoff-Harden bacillus appeared in a +small paragraph in an evening paper, and immediately I saw it, I hurried +back to the house in Harley Street where Sarakoff was writing a record +of our researches.</p> + +<p>"Listen to this," I cried, bursting excitedly into the room. I laid the +paper on the table and pointed to the column. "Curious disease among +trout in Wales," I read. "In the Elan reservoirs which have long been +famed for their magnificent trout, which have recently increased so +enormously in size and number that artificial stocking is entirely +unnecessary, a curious disease has made its appearance. Fish caught +there this morning are reported to have an unnatural bluish tint, and +their flesh, when cooked, retains this hue. It is thought that some +disease has broken out. Against this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> theory is the fact that no dead +fish have been observed. The Water Committee of the City Council of +Birmingham are investigating this matter."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff pushed his chair back and twisted it round towards me. For some +moments we stared at each other with almost scared expressions. Then a +smile passed over the Russian's face.</p> + +<p>"Ah, we had forgotten that. A bluish tint! Of course, it was to be +expected."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I cried, "and what is more, the bluish tint will show itself in +every man, woman or child infected with the bacillus. Good heavens, +fancy not thinking of that ourselves!"</p> + +<p>Sarakoff picked up the paper and read the paragraph for himself. Then he +laid it down. "It is strange that one so persistently neglects the +obvious in one's calculations. Of course there will be a bluish tint." +He leaned back and pulled at his beard. "I should think it will show +itself in the whites of the eyes first, just as jaundice shews itself +there. Leonora won't like that—it won't suit her colouring. You see +that these fish, when cooked, retained the bluish hue. That is very +interesting."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>"It's very bad luck on the trout."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"After getting the bacillus into their system, they blunder on to a hook +and meet their death straight away."</p> + +<p>"The bacillus is not proof against death by violence," replied Sarakoff +gravely. "That is a factor that will always remain constant. We are +agreed in looking on all disease as eventually due to poisons derived +from germ activity, but a bang on the head or asphyxiation or prussic +acid or a bullet in the heart are not due to a germ. Yes, these poor +trout little knew what a future they forfeited when they took the bait."</p> + +<p>"The bacillus is in Birmingham by now," I said suddenly. I passed my +hand across my brow nervously, and glanced at the manuscript lying +before Sarakoff. "You had better keep those papers locked up. I spent an +awful day at the hospital. It dawned on me that the whole medical +profession will want to tear us in pieces before the year is out."</p> + +<p>"In theory they ought not to."</p> + +<p>"Who cares for theory, when it is a question of earning a living? As I +walked along the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> street to-day, I could have shrieked aloud when I saw +everybody hurrying about as if nothing were going to happen. This is +unnerving me. It is so tremendous."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff picked up his pen, and traced out a pattern in the blotting-pad +before him.</p> + +<p>"The Water Committee of Birmingham are investigating the matter," he +observed. "It will be amusing to hear their report. What will they think +when they make a bacteriological examination of the water in the +reservoir? It will stagger them."</p> + +<p>The next morning I was down to breakfast before my friend and stood +before the fire eagerly scanning the papers. At first I could find +nothing that seemed to indicate any further effects of the bacillus. I +was in the act of buttering a piece of toast when my eye fell on one of +the newspapers lying beside me. A heading in small type caught my eye.</p> + +<p>"<i>The measles epidemic in Ludlow.</i>" I picked the paper up.</p> + +<p>"The severe epidemic of measles which began last week and seemed likely +to spread through the entire town, has mysteriously abated. Not only are +no further cases reported,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> but several doctors report that those +already attacked have recovered in an incredibly short space of time. +Doubt has been expressed by the municipal authorities as to whether the +epidemic was really measles."</p> + +<p>I adjusted my glasses to read the paragraph again. Then I got up and +went into my study. After rummaging in a drawer I pulled out and +unrolled a map of England. The course of the aqueduct from Elan to +Birmingham was marked by a thin red line. I followed it slowly with the +point of my finger and came on the town of Ludlow about half-way along. +I stared at it.</p> + +<p>"Of course," I whispered at length, my finger still resting on the +position of the town. "All these towns on the way are supplied by the +aqueduct. I hadn't thought of that. The bacillus is in Ludlow."</p> + +<p>For about a minute I did not move. Then I rolled up the map and went up +to Sarakoff's bedroom. I met the Russian on the landing on his way to +the bathroom.</p> + +<p>"The bacillus is in Ludlow," I said in a curiously small voice. I stood +on the top stair, holding on to the bannister, my big<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> glasses aslant on +my nose, and the map hanging down in my limp grasp.</p> + +<p>I had to repeat the sentence before Sarakoff heard me.</p> + +<p>"Where's Ludlow?"</p> + +<p>I sank on my knees and unrolled the map on the floor and pointed +directly with my finger.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff went down on all fours and looked at the spot keenly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, on the line of the aqueduct! But how do you know it is there?"</p> + +<p>"It has cut short an epidemic of measles. The doctors are puzzled."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff nodded. He was looking at the names of the other towns that lay +on the course of the aqueduct.</p> + +<p>"Cleobury-Mortimer," he spelt out. "No news from there?"</p> + +<p>"None."</p> + +<p>"And none from Birmingham yet?"</p> + +<p>"None."</p> + +<p>"We'll have news to-morrow." He raised himself on his knees. "Trout and +then measles!" he said, and laughed. "This is only the beginning. No +wonder the Ludlow doctors are puzzled."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>The same evening there was further news of the progress of the bacillus. +From Cleobury-Mortimer, ten miles from Ludlow, and twenty from +Birmingham, it was reported that the measles epidemic there had been cut +short in the same mysterious manner as noticed in Ludlow. But next +morning a paragraph of considerable length appeared which I read out in +a trembling voice to Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>"It was reported a short time ago that the trout in the Elan +reservoirs appeared to be suffering from a singular disease, the +effect of which was to tint their scales and flesh a delicate bluish +colour. The matter is being investigated. In the meanwhile it has been +noticed, both in Ludlow and Cleobury-Mortimer, and also in Knighton, +that the peculiar bluish tint has appeared amongst the inhabitants. +Our correspondent states that it is most marked in the conjunctivæ, or +whites of the eyes. There must undoubtedly be some connection between +this phenomenon and the condition of the trout in the Elan reservoirs, +as all the above-mentioned towns lie close to, and receive water from, +the great aqueduct. The most remarkable thing, however, is that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +bluish discolouration does not seem to be accompanied by any symptoms +of illness in those whom it has affected. No sickness or fever has +been observed. It is perhaps nothing more than a curious coincidence +that the abrupt cessation of the measles epidemic in Ludlow and +Cleobury-Mortimer, reported in yesterday's issue, should have occurred +simultaneously with the appearance of bluish discolouration among the +inhabitants."</p> + +<p>On the same evening, I was returning from the hospital and saw the +following words on a poster:—</p> + +<p>"Blue Disease in Birmingham."</p> + +<p>I bought a paper and scanned the columns rapidly. In the stop-press news +I read:—</p> + +<p>"The Blue Disease has appeared in Birmingham. Cases are reported all +over the city. The Public Health Department are considering what +measures should be adopted. The disease seems to be unaccompanied by any +dangerous symptoms."</p> + +<p>I stood stock-still in the middle of the pavement. A steady stream of +people hurrying from business thronged past me. A newspaper boy was +shouting something down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> street, and as he drew nearer, I heard his +hoarse voice bawling out:—</p> + +<p>"Blue Disease in Birmingham."</p> + +<p>He passed close to me, still bawling, and his voice died away in the +distance. Men jostled me and glanced at me angrily.... But I was lost in +a dream. The paper dropped from my fingers. In my mind's eye I saw the +Sarakoff-Harden bacillus in Birmingham, teeming in every water-pipe in +countless billions, swarming in the carafes on dining-room tables, and +in every ewer and finger-basin, infecting everything it came in contact +with. And the vision of Birmingham and the whole stretch of country up +to the Elan watershed passed before me, stained with a vivid blue.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE MAN FROM BIRMINGHAM</h3> + + +<p>The following day while walking to the hospital, I noticed a group of +people down a side street, apparently looking intently at something +unusual. I turned aside to see what it was. About twenty persons, mostly +errand boys, were standing round a sandwich-board man. At the outskirts +of the circle, I raised myself on tip-toe and peered over the heads of +those in front. The sandwich-board man's back was towards me.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" I asked of my neighbour.</p> + +<p>"One of the blue freaks from Birmingham," was the reply.</p> + +<p>My first impulse was to fly. Here I was in close proximity to my +handiwork. I turned and made off a few paces. But curiosity overmastered +me, and I came back. The man was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> now facing me, and I could see him +distinctly through a gap in the crowd. It was a thin, unshaven face with +straightened features and gaunt cheeks. The eyes were deeply sunken and +at that moment turned downwards. His complexion was pale, but I could +see a faint bluish tinge suffusing the skin, that gave it a strange, +dead look. And then the man lifted his eyes and gazed straight at me. I +caught my breath, for under the black eye brows, the whites of the eyes +were stained a pure sparrow-egg blue.</p> + +<p>"I came from Birmingham yesterday," I heard him saying. "There ain't +nothing the matter with me."</p> + +<p>"You ought to go to a fever hospital," said someone.</p> + +<p>"We don't want that blue stuff in London," added another.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it's catching," said the first speaker.</p> + +<p>In a flash everyone had drawn back. The sandwich-board man stood in the +centre of the road alone looking sharply round him. Suddenly a wave of +rage seemed to possess him. He shook his fist in the air, and even as he +shook it, his eyes caught the blue sheen of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> tense skin over the +knuckles. He stopped, staring stupidly, and the rage passed from his +face, leaving it blank and incredulous.</p> + +<p>"Lor' lumme," he muttered. "If that ain't queer."</p> + +<p>He held out his hand, palm downwards. And from the pavement I saw that +the man's nails were as blue as pieces of turquoise.</p> + +<p>The sun came out from behind a passing cloud and sent a sudden flame of +radiance over the scene in the side street—the sandwich-board man, his +face still blank and incredulous, staring stupidly at his hands; the +crowd standing well back in a wide semi-circle; I further forward, +peering through my spectacles and clutching my umbrella convulsively. +Then a tall man, in morning coat and top-hat, pushed his way through and +touched the man from Birmingham on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Can you come to my house?" he asked in an undertone. "I am a doctor and +would like to examine you."</p> + +<p>I shifted my gaze and recognized Dr. Symington-Tearle. The man pointed +to his boards.</p> + +<p>"How about them things?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>"Oh, you can get rid of them. I'll pay you. Here is my card with the +address. I'll expect you in half-an-hour, and it will be well worth +while your coming."</p> + +<p>Symington-Tearle moved away, and a sudden spasm of jealousy affected me +as I watched the well-shaped top-hat glittering down the street in the +strong sunlight. Why should Symington-Tearle be given an opportunity of +impressing a credulous world with some fantastic rubbish of his own +devising? I stepped into the road.</p> + +<p>"Do you want a five-pound note?" I asked. The man jumped with surprise. +"Very well. Come round to this address at once."</p> + +<p>I handed him my card. My next move was to telephone to the hospital to +say I would be late, and retrace my footsteps homewards.</p> + +<p>My visitor arrived in a very short time, after handing over his boards +to a comrade on the understanding of suitable compensation, and was +shown into my study. Sarakoff was present, and he pored over the man's +nails and eyes and skin with rapt attention. At last he enquired how he +felt.</p> + +<p>"Ain't never felt so well in me life," said the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> man. "I was saying to a +pal this morning 'ow well I felt."</p> + +<p>"Do you feel as if you were drunk?" asked Sarakoff tentatively.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, now you put it that way, I feel as if I'd 'ad a good glass +of beer. Not drunk, but 'appy."</p> + +<p>"Are you naturally cheerful?"</p> + +<p>"I carn't say as I am, sir. My profession ain't a very cheery one, not +in all sorts and kinds of weather."</p> + +<p>"But you are distinctly more cheerful this morning than usual?"</p> + +<p>"I am, sir. I don't deny it. I lost my temper sudden like when that +crowd drew away from me as if I'd got the leprosy, and I'm usually a +mild and forbearin' man."</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said Sarakoff. The man obeyed, and Sarakoff began to examine +him carefully. He told him once or twice not to speak, but the man +seemed in a loquacious mood and was incapable of silence for more than a +minute of time.</p> + +<p>"And I ain't felt so clear 'eaded not for years," he remarked. "I seem +to see twice as many things to what I used to, and everything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> seems to +'ave a new coat of paint. I was saying to a pal early this morning what +a very fine place Trafalgar Square was and 'ow I'd never seemed to +notice it before, though I've known it all my life. And up Regent Street +I begun to notice all sort o' little things I'd never seen before, +though it was my old beat 'afore I went to Birmingham. O' course it may +be because I been out o' London a spell. But blest if I ever seed so +many fine shop windows in Regent Street before, or so many different +colours."</p> + +<p>"Headache?"</p> + +<p>"Bless you, no, sir. Just the opposite, if you understand." He looked +round suddenly. "What's that noise?" he asked. "It's been worryin' me +since I came in here."</p> + +<p>We listened intently, but neither I nor Sarakoff could hear anything.</p> + +<p>"It comes from there." The man pointed to the laboratory door. I went +and opened it and stood listening. In a corner by the window a +clock-work recording barometer was ticking with a faint rhythm.</p> + +<p>"That's the noise," said the man from Birmingham. "I knew it wasn't no +clock, 'cause it's too fast."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>Sarakoff glanced significantly at me.</p> + +<p>"All the senses very acute," he said. "At least, hearing and seeing." He +took a bottle from the laboratory and uncorked it in one corner of the +study. "Can you smell what this is?"</p> + +<p>The man, sitting ten feet away, gave one sniff.</p> + +<p>"Ammonia," he said promptly, and sneezed. "This 'ere Blue Disease," said +the man after a long pause, "is it dangerous?"</p> + +<p>He spread out his fingers, squeezing the turquoise nails to see if the +colour faded. He frowned to find it fixed. I was standing at the window, +my back to the room and my hands twisting nervously with each other +behind me.</p> + +<p>"No, it is not dangerous," said Sarakoff. He sat on the edge of the +writing-table, swinging his legs and staring meditatively at the floor. +"It is not dangerous, is it, Harden?"</p> + +<p>I replied only with a jerky, impatient movement.</p> + +<p>"What I mean," persisted the man, "is this—supposin' the police arrest +me, when I go back to my job. 'Ave they a right? 'Ave people a right to +give me the shove—to put me in a 'orspital? That crowd round<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> me in the +street—it confused me, like—as if I was a leper." He paused and looked +up at Sarakoff enquiringly. "What's the cause of it?"</p> + +<p>"A germ—a bacillus."</p> + +<p>"Same as what gives consumption?"</p> + +<p>Sarakoff nodded. "But this germ is harmless," he added.</p> + +<p>"Then I ain't going to die?"</p> + +<p>"No. That's just the point. You aren't going to die," said the Russian +slowly. "That's what is so strange."</p> + +<p>I jumped round from the window.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?" I said fiercely. "There's no proof. It's all theory +so far. The calculations may be wrong."</p> + +<p>The man stared at me wonderingly. He saw me as a man fighting with some +strange anxiety, with his forehead damp and shining, his spectacles +aslant on his nose and the heavy folds of his frock-coat shaken with a +sudden impetuosity.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?" I repeated, shaking my fist in the air. "How do you +know he isn't going to die?"</p> + +<p>Sarakoff fingered his beard in silence, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> his eyes shone with a quiet +certainty. To the man from Birmingham it must have seemed suddenly +strange that we should behave in this manner. His mind was sharpened to +perceive things. Yesterday, had he been present at a similar scene, he +would probably have sat dully, finding nothing curious in my passionate +attitude and the calm, almost insolent, inscrutability of Sarakoff. He +forgot his turquoise finger nails, and stared, open-mouthed.</p> + +<p>"Ain't going to die?" he said. "What do yer mean?"</p> + +<p>"Simply that you aren't going to die," was Sarakoff's soft answer.</p> + +<p>"Yer mean, not die of the Blue Disease?"</p> + +<p>"Not die at all."</p> + +<p>"Garn! Not die at all." He looked at me. "What's he mean, Mister?" He +looked almost surprised with himself at catching the drift of Sarakoff's +sentence. Inwardly he felt something insistent and imperious, forcing +him to grasp words, to blunder into new meanings. Some new force was +alive in him and he was carried on by it in spite of himself. He felt +strung up to a pitch of nervous irritation. He got up from his chair and +came forward, point<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>ing at Sarakoff. "What's this?" he demanded. "Why +don't you speak out? Yer cawn't hide it from me." He stopped. His brain, +working at unwonted speed, had discovered a fresh suspicion. "Look 'ere, +you two know something about this blue disease." He came a step closer, +and looking cunningly in my face, said: "That's why you offered me a +five-pound note, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>I avoided the scrutiny of the sparrow-egg blue orbs close before me.</p> + +<p>"I offered you the money because I wished to examine you," I said +shortly. "Here it is. You can go now."</p> + +<p>I took a note from a safe in the corner of the room, and held it out. +The man took it, felt its crispness and stowed it away in a secure +pocket. His thoughts were temporarily diverted by the prospect of an +immediate future with plenty of money, and he picked up his hat and went +to the door. But his turquoise finger nails lying against the rusty +black of the hat brought him back to his suspicions. He paused and +turned.</p> + +<p>"My name's Wain," he said. "I'm telling you, in case you might 'ear of +me again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> 'Erbert Wain. I know what yours is, remember, because I seed +it on the door." He twisted his hat round several times in his hands and +drew his brows together, puzzled at the speed of his ideas. Then he +remembered the card that Symington-Tearle had given him.</p> + +<p>He pulled it out and examined it. "I'm going across to see this gent," +he announced. "It's convenient, 'im living so close. Perhaps he'll 'ave +a word to say about this 'ere disease. Fair spread over Birmingham, so +they say. It would be nasty if any bloke was responsible for it. Good +day to yer." He opened the door slowly, and glanced back at us standing +in the middle of the room watching him. "Look 'ere," he said swiftly, +"what did 'e mean, saying I was never going to die and——" The light +from the window was against his eyes, and he could not see the features +of Sarakoff's face, but there was something in the outline of his body +that checked him. "Guv'ner, it ain't true." The words came hoarsely from +his lips. "I ain't never not going to die."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff spoke.</p> + +<p>"You are never going to die, Mr. Herbert Wain ... you understand?... +<i>Never</i> going<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> to die, unless you get killed in an accident—or starve."</p> + +<p>I jerked up my hand to stop my friend.</p> + +<p>Wain stared incredulously. Then he burst into a roar of laughter and +smacked his thigh.</p> + +<p>"Gor lumme!" he exclaimed, "if that ain't rich. Never going to die! Live +for ever! Strike me, if that ain't a notion!" The tears ran down his +cheeks and he paused to wipe them away. "If I was to believe what you +say," he went on, "it would fair drive me crazy. Live for ever—s'elp +me, if that wouldn't be just 'ell. Good-day to yer, gents. I'm obliged +to yer."</p> + +<p>He went out into the sunlit street still roaring with laughter, a thin, +ragged, tattered figure, with the shadow of immortality upon him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE ILLNESS OF MR. ANNOT</h3> + + +<p>The departure of Mr. Herbert Wain was a relief. I turned to Sarakoff at +once and spoke with some heat.</p> + +<p>"You were more than imprudent to give that fellow hints that we knew +more about the Blue Disease than anybody else," I exclaimed. "This may +be the beginning of incalculable trouble."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," replied the Russian. "You are far too apprehensive, Harden. +What can he do?"</p> + +<p>"What may he not do?" I cried bitterly. "Do you suppose London will +welcome the spread of the germ? Do you think that people will be pleased +to know that you and I were responsible for its appearance?"</p> + +<p>"When they realize that it brings immortality with it, they will hail us +as the saviours of humanity."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>"Mr. Herbert Wain did not seem to accept the idea of immortality with +any pleasure," I muttered. "The suggestion seemed to strike him as +terrible."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff laughed genially.</p> + +<p>"My friend," he said, "Mr. Herbert Wain is not a man of vision. He is a +cockney, brought up in the streets of a callous city. To him life is a +hard struggle, and immortality naturally appears in a poor light. You +must have patience. It will take some time before the significance of +this immortality is grasped by the people. But when it is grasped, all +the conditions of life will change. Life will become beautiful. We will +have reforms that, under ordinary circumstances, would have taken +countless ages to bring about. We will anticipate our evolution by +thousands of centuries. At one step we will reach the ultimate goal of +our destiny."</p> + +<p>"And what is that?"</p> + +<p>"Immortality, of course. Surely you must see by now that all the +activities of modern life are really directed towards one end—towards +solving the riddle of prolonging life and at the same time increasing +pleasure? Isn't that the inner secret desire that you doctors find in +every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> patient? So far a compromise has only been possible, but now that +is all changed."</p> + +<p>"I don't agree, Sarakoff. Some people must live for other motives. Take +myself ... I live for science."</p> + +<p>"It is merely your form of pleasure."</p> + +<p>"That's a quibble," I cried angrily. "Science is aspiration. There's all +the difference in the world between aspiration and pleasure. I have +scarcely known what pleasure is. I have worked like a slave all my life, +with the sole ambition of leaving something permanent behind me when I +die."</p> + +<p>"But you won't die," interposed the Russian. "That is the charm of the +new situation."</p> + +<p>"Then why should I work?" The question shaped itself in my mind and I +uttered it involuntarily. I sat down and stared at the fire. A kind of +dull depression came over me, and for some reason the picture of +Sarakoff's butterflies appeared in my mind. I saw them with great +distinctness, crawling aimlessly on the floor of their cage. "Why should +I work?" I repeated.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff merely shrugged his shoulders and turned away. Questions of +that kind did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> seem to bother him. His was a nature that escaped the +necessity of self-analysis. But I was different, and our conversation +had aroused a train of odd thought. What, after all, was it that kept my +nose to the grindstone? Why had I slaved incessantly all my life, +reading when I might have slept, examining patients when I might have +been strolling through meadows, hurrying through meals when I might have +eaten at leisure? What was the cause behind all the tremendous activity +and feverish haste of modern people? When Sarakoff had said that I would +not die, and that therein lay the charm of the new situation, it seemed +as if scales had momentarily fallen from my eyes. I beheld myself as +something ridiculous, comparable to a hare that persists in dashing +along a country lane in front of the headlight of a motor car, when a +turn one way or another would bring it to safety. A great uneasiness +filled me, and with it came a determination to ignore these new fields +of thought that loomed round me—a determination that I have seen in old +men when they are faced by the new and contradictory—and I began to +force my attention elsewhere. I was relieved when the door opened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> and +my servant entered. She handed me a telegram. It was from Miss Annot, +asking me to come to Cambridge at once, as her father was seriously ill. +I scribbled a reply, saying I would be down that afternoon.</p> + +<p>After the servant had left the room, I remained gazing at the fire, but +my depression left me. In place of it I felt a quiet elation, and it was +not difficult for me to account for it.</p> + +<p>"I was wrong in saying that I had scarcely known what pleasure is," I +observed at length, looking up at Sarakoff with a smile. "I must confess +to you that there is one factor in my life that gives me great +pleasure."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff placed himself before me, hands in pockets and pipe in mouth, +and gazed at me with an answering smile in his dark face.</p> + +<p>"A woman?"</p> + +<p>I flushed. The Russian seemed amused.</p> + +<p>"I thought as much," he remarked. "This year I noticed a change in you. +Your fits of abstraction suggested it. Well, may I congratulate you? +When are you to be married?"</p> + +<p>"That is out of the question at present," I answered hurriedly. "In +fact, there is no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> definite arrangement—just a mutual understanding.... +She is not free."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff raised his shaggy eyebrows.</p> + +<p>"Then she is already married?"</p> + +<p>This cross-examination was intensely painful to me. Between Miss Annot +and myself there was, I hoped, a perfect understanding, and I quite +realized the girl's position. She was devoted to her father, who +required her constant attention and care, and until she was free there +could be no question of marriage, or even an engagement, for fear of +wounding the old man's feelings. I quite appreciated her situation and +was content to wait.</p> + +<p>"No! She has an invalid father, and——"</p> + +<p>"Rubbish!" said Sarakoff, with remarkable force. "Rubbish! Marry her, +man, and then think of her father. Why, that sort of thing——" He drew +a deep breath and checked himself.</p> + +<p>I shook my head.</p> + +<p>"That is impossible. Here, in England, we cannot do such things.... The +girl's duty is plain. I am quite prepared to wait."</p> + +<p>"To wait for what?"</p> + +<p>I looked at him in unthinking surprise.</p> + +<p>"Until Mr. Annot dies, of course."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>Sarakoff remained motionless. Then he took his pipe out of his mouth, +strolled to the window, and began to whistle to himself in subdued +tones. A moment later he left the room. I picked up a time-table and +looked out a train, a little puzzled by his behaviour.</p> + +<p>I reached Cambridge early in the afternoon and took a taxi to the +Annots' house. Miss Annot met me at the door.</p> + +<p>"It is so good of you to come," she said with a faint smile. "My father +behaved very foolishly yesterday. He insisted on inviting the Perrys to +lunch, and he talked a great deal and insisted on drinking wine, with +the result that in the night he had a return of his gastritis. He is +very weak to-day and his mind seems to be wandering a little."</p> + +<p>"You should not have allowed him to do that," I remonstrated. "He is in +too fragile a state to run any risks."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I couldn't help it. The Perrys are such old friends of +father's, and they were only staying one day in Cambridge. Father would +have fretted if they had not come."</p> + +<p>I had taken off my coat in the hall, and we were now standing in the +drawing-room.</p> + +<p>"You are tired, Alice," I said.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>"I've been up most of the night," she replied, with an effort towards +brightness. "But I do feel tired, I admit."</p> + +<p>I turned away from her and went to the window. For the first time I felt +the awkwardness of our position. I had a strong and natural impulse to +comfort her, but what could I do? After a moment's reflection, I made a +sudden resolution.</p> + +<p>"Alice," I said, "you and I had better become engaged. Don't you think +it would be easier for you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't," she cried. "Father would never endure the idea that I +belonged to another man. He would worry about my leaving him +continually. No, please wait. Perhaps it will not be——"</p> + +<p>She checked herself. I remained silent, staring at the pattern of the +carpet with a frown. To my annoyance, I could not keep Sarakoff's words +out of my mind. And yet Alice was right. I felt sure that no one is a +free agent in the sense that he or she can be guided solely by love. It +is necessary to make a compromise. As these thoughts formed in my mind I +again seemed to hear the loud voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> of Sarakoff, sounding in derision +at my cautious views. A conflict arose in my soul. I raised my eyes and +looked at Alice. She was standing by the mantelpiece, staring listlessly +at the grate. A wave of emotion passed over me. I took a step towards +her.</p> + +<p>"Alice!" And then the words stuck in my throat. She turned her head and +her eyes questioned me. I tried to continue, but something prevented me, +and I became suddenly calm again. "Please take me up to your father," I +begged her. She obeyed silently, and I followed her upstairs.</p> + +<p>Mr. Annot was lying in a darkened room with his eyes closed. He was a +very old man, approaching ninety, with a thin aquiline face and white +hair. He lay very still, and at first I thought he was unconscious. But +his pulse was surprisingly good, and his breathing deep and regular.</p> + +<p>"He is sleeping," I murmured.</p> + +<p>She leaned over the bed.</p> + +<p>"He scarcely slept during the night," she whispered. "This will do him +good."</p> + +<p>"His pulse could not be better," I murmured.</p> + +<p>She peered at him more closely.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>"Isn't he very pale?"</p> + +<p>I stooped down, so that my face was close to hers. The old man certainly +looked very pale. A marble-like hue lay over his features, and yet the +skin was warm to the touch.</p> + +<p>"How long has he been asleep?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"He was awake over an hour ago, when I looked in last. He said then that +he was feeling drowsy."</p> + +<p>"I think we'll wake him up."</p> + +<p>Alice hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Won't you wait for tea?" she whispered. "He would probably be awake by +then."</p> + +<p>I shook my head.</p> + +<p>"I must get back to London by five. Do you mind if we have a little more +light?"</p> + +<p>She moved to the window and raised the blind half way. I examined the +old man attentively. There was no doubt about the curious pallor of his +skin. It was like the pallor of extreme collapse, save for the presence +of a faint colour in his cheeks which seemed to lie as a bright +transparency over a dead background. My fingers again sought his pulse. +It was full and steady. As I counted it my eyes rested on his hand.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>I stooped down suddenly with an exclamation. Alice hurried to my side.</p> + +<p>"Where did those friends of his come from?" I asked swiftly.</p> + +<p>"The Perrys? From Birmingham."</p> + +<p>"Was there anything wrong with them?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>Before I could reply the old man opened his eyes. The light fell clearly +on his face. Alice uttered a cry of horror. I experienced an +extraordinary sensation of fear. Out of the marble pallor of Mr. Annot's +face, two eyes, stained a sparrow-egg blue, stared keenly at us.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE RESURRECTION</h3> + + +<p>For some moments none of us spoke. Alice recovered herself first.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter with him?" she gasped.</p> + +<p>I was incapable of finding a suitable reply, and stood, tongue-tied, +staring foolishly at the old man. He seemed a little surprised at our +behaviour.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Harden," he said, "I am glad to see you. My daughter did not tell +me you were coming."</p> + +<p>His voice startled me. It was strong and clear. On my previous visit to +him he had spoken in quavering tones.</p> + +<p>"Oh, father, how do you feel?" exclaimed Alice, kneeling beside the bed.</p> + +<p>"My dear, I feel extremely well. I have not felt so well for many +years." He stretched out his hand and patted his daughter's head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> "Yes, +my sleep has done me good. I should like to get up for tea."</p> + +<p>"But your eyes——" stammered Alice "Can you see, father?"</p> + +<p>"See, my dear? What does she mean, Dr. Harden?"</p> + +<p>"There is some discolouration of the conjunctivæ," I said hastily. "It +is nothing to worry about."</p> + +<p>At that moment Alice caught sight of his finger nails.</p> + +<p>"Look!" she cried, "they're blue."</p> + +<p>The old man raised his hands and looked at them in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"How extraordinary," he murmured. "What do you make of that, doctor?"</p> + +<p>"It is nothing," I assured him. "It is only pigmentation +caused—er—caused by some harmless germ."</p> + +<p>"I know what it is," cried Alice suddenly. "It's the Blue Disease. +Father, you remember the Perrys were telling us about it yesterday at +lunch. They said it was all over Birmingham, and that they had come +south partly to escape it. They must have brought the infection with +them."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>"Yes," I said, "that is certainly the explanation. And now, Mr. Annot, +let me assure you that this disease is harmless. It has no ill effects."</p> + +<p>Mr. Annot sat up in bed with an exhibition of vigour that was remarkable +in a man of his age.</p> + +<p>"I can certainly witness to the fact that it causes no ill effects, Dr. +Harden," he exclaimed. "This morning I felt extremely weak and was +prepared for the end. But now I seem to have been endowed with a fresh +lease of life. I feel young again. Do you think this Blue Disease is the +cause of it?"</p> + +<p>"Possibly. It is difficult to say," I answered in some confusion. "But +you must not think of getting up, Mr. Annot. Rest in bed for the next +week is essential."</p> + +<p>"Humbug!" cried the old man, fixing his brilliant eyes upon me. "I am +going to get up this instant."</p> + +<p>"Oh, father, please don't be so foolish!"</p> + +<p>"Foolish, child? Do you think I'm going to lie here when I feel as if my +body and mind had been completely rejuvenated? I repeat I am going to +get up. Nothing on earth will keep me in bed."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>The old man began to remove the bedclothes. I made an attempt to +restrain him, but was met by an outburst of irritation that warned me +not to interfere. I motioned Alice to follow me, and together we left +the room. As we went downstairs I heard a curious sound proceeding from +Mr. Annot's bedroom. We halted on the stairs and listened. The sound +became louder and clearer.</p> + +<p>"Father is singing," said Alice in a low voice. Then she took out her +handkerchief and began to sob.</p> + +<p>We continued our way downstairs, Alice endeavouring to stifle her sobs, +and I in a dazed condition of mind. I was stunned by the fact that that +mad experiment of ours should have had such a sudden and strange result. +It produced in me a fear that was far worse to bear than the vague +anxiety I had felt ever since those fatal tubes of the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus had been emptied into the lake. I stumbled into the +drawing-room and threw myself upon a chair. My legs were weak, and my +hands were trembling.</p> + +<p>"Alice," I said, "you must not allow this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> to distress you. The Blue +Disease is not dangerous."</p> + +<p>She lifted a tear-stained face and looked at me dully.</p> + +<p>"Richard, I can't bear it any longer. I've given half my life to looking +after father. I simply can't bear it."</p> + +<p>I sat up and stared at her. What strange intuition had come to her?</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>She sobbed afresh.</p> + +<p>"I can't endure the sight of him with those blue eyes," she went on, +rather wildly. "Richard, I must get away. I've never been from him for +more than a few hours at a time for the last fifteen years. Don't think +I want him to die."</p> + +<p>"I don't."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad he's better," she remarked irrelevantly.</p> + +<p>"So am I."</p> + +<p>"The Perrys were saying that the doctors up in Birmingham think that the +Blue Disease cut short other diseases, and made people feel better." She +twisted her handkerchief for some moments. "Does it?" she asked, looking +at me directly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>"I—er—I have heard it does."</p> + +<p>An idea had come into my mind, and I could not get rid of it. Why should +I not tell her all that I knew?</p> + +<p>"I'm thirty-five," she remarked.</p> + +<p>"And I'm forty-two." I tried to smile.</p> + +<p>"Life's getting on for us both," she added.</p> + +<p>"I know, Alice. I suggested that we should get engaged a short while +ago. Now I suggest that we get married—as soon as possible." I got up +and paced the room. "Why not?" I demanded passionately.</p> + +<p>She shook her head, and appeared confused.</p> + +<p>"It's impossible. Who could look after him? I should never be happy, +Richard, as long as he was living."</p> + +<p>I stopped before her.</p> + +<p>"Not with me?"</p> + +<p>"No, Richard. I should be left a great deal to myself. A doctor's wife +always is. I've thought it out carefully. I would think of him."</p> + +<p>After a long silence, I made a proposal that I had refused to entertain +before.</p> + +<p>"Well, there's no reason why he should not come and live with us. There +is plenty of room in my house at Harley Street. Would that do?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>It was a relief to me when she said that she would not consent to an +arrangement of that kind. I sat down again.</p> + +<p>"Alice," I said quietly, "it is necessary that we should decide our +future. There are special reasons."</p> + +<p>She glanced at me enquiringly. There was a pause in which I tried to +collect my thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Your father," I continued, "is suffering from a very peculiar disease. +It is wrong, perhaps, to call it a disease. You wouldn't call life a +disease, would you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't understand."</p> + +<p>"No, of course not. Well, to put it as simply as possible, it is likely +that your father will live a long time now. When he said he felt as if +his mind and body had been rejuvenated he was speaking the truth."</p> + +<p>"But he will be ninety next year," she said bluntly.</p> + +<p>"I know. But that will make no difference. This germ, that is now in his +body, has the power of arresting all further decay. Your father will +remain as he is now for an indefinite period."</p> + +<p>I met her eyes as steadily as I could, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> there was a quality in her +gaze that caused me to look elsewhere.</p> + +<p>"How do you know this?" she asked after a painful silence.</p> + +<p>"I—er—I can't tell you." The colour mounted to my cheeks, and I began +to tap the carpet impatiently with the toe of my boot. "You wouldn't +understand," I continued in as professional a manner as I could muster. +"You would need first to study the factors that bring about old age."</p> + +<p>"Where did the Blue Disease come from? Tell me. I can surely understand +that!"</p> + +<p>"You have read the paper, haven't you?"</p> + +<p>"I've read that no one understands what it is, and that the doctors are +puzzled."</p> + +<p>"How should I know where it comes from?"</p> + +<p>She regarded me searchingly.</p> + +<p>"You know something about it," she said positively. "Richard, you are +keeping it back from me. I have a right to know what it is."</p> + +<p>I was silent.</p> + +<p>"If you don't tell me, how can I trust you again?" she asked. "Don't you +see that there will always be a shadow between us?"</p> + +<p>It was not difficult for me to guess that my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> guilty manner had roused +her suspicions. She had seen my agitation, and had found it +unaccountable. I resolved to entrust her with the secret of the germ.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember that I once told you my friend, Professor Sarakoff, had +succeeded in keeping butterflies alive for over a year?"</p> + +<p>She nodded.</p> + +<p>"He and I have been experimenting on those lines and he has found a germ +that has the property of keeping human beings alive in the same way. The +germ has escaped ... into the world ... and it is the cause of the Blue +Disease."</p> + +<p>"How did it escape?"</p> + +<p>I winced. In her voice I was conscious of a terrible accusation.</p> + +<p>"By accident," I stammered.</p> + +<p>She jumped to her feet.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it! That is a lie!"</p> + +<p>"Alice, you must calm yourself! I am trying to tell you exactly what +happened."</p> + +<p>"Was it by accident?"</p> + +<p>The vision of that secret expedition to the water supply of Birmingham +passed before me. I felt like a criminal. I could not raise my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> eyes; my +cheeks were burning. In the silence that followed, the sound of Mr. +Annot's voice became audible. Alice stood before me, rigid and +implacable.</p> + +<p>"It was—by accident," I said. I tried to look at her, and failed. She +remained motionless for about a minute. Then she turned and left the +room. I heard her go slowly upstairs. A door banged. Actuated by a +sudden desire, I stepped into the hall, seized my coat and hat and +opened the front door. I was just in time. As I gently closed the door I +heard Mr. Annot on the landing above. He was singing some long-forgotten +tune in a strange cracked voice.</p> + +<p>I stood outside on the doorstep, listening, until, overcome by +curiosity, I bent down and lifted the flap of the letter-box. The +interior of the hall was plainly visible. Mr. Annot had ceased singing +and was now standing before the mirror which hung beside the hatstand. +He was a trifle unsteady, and swayed on his frail legs, but he was +staring at himself with a kind of savage intensity. At last he turned +away and I caught the expression on his face.... With a slight shiver, I +let down the flap noiselessly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> There was something in that expression +that for me remains unnamable; and I think now, as I look back into +those past times, that of all the signs which showed me that the +Sarakoff-Harden bacillus was an offence against humanity, that strange +look on the nonagenarian's face was the most terrible and obvious.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>MR. CLUTTERBUCK'S OPINION</h3> + + +<p>When I reached London it was dusk, and a light mist hung in the +darkening air. The lamps were twinkling in the streets. I decided to get +some tea in a restaurant adjoining the station. When I entered it was +crowded, and the only seat that was empty was at a small table already +occupied by another man. I sat down, and gave my order to the waitress, +and remained staring moodily at the soiled marble surface of the table. +My neighbour was engrossed in his paper.</p> + +<p>During my journey from Cambridge I had come to a certain conclusion. +Sarakoff was of the opinion that we should publish a statement about the +germ of immortality, and now I was in agreement with him. For I had been +reflecting upon the capacity of human mind for retaining secrets and had +come to the conclusion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> that it is so constructed that its power of +retention is remarkably small. I felt that it would be a matter of +extraordinary relief if everyone in that tea-shop knew the secret of the +Blue Germ.</p> + +<p>I began to study the man who sat opposite me. He was a quietly dressed +middle-aged man. The expression on his rather pale, clean-shaven face +suggested that he was a clerk or secretary. He looked reliable, +unimaginative, careful and methodical. He was reading his newspaper with +close attention. A cup of tea and the remains of a toasted muffin were +at his elbow. It struck me that here was a very average type of man, and +an immense desire seized upon me to find out what opinion he would +pronounce if I were to tell him my secret. I waited until he looked up.</p> + +<p>"Is there any news?" I asked.</p> + +<p>He observed me for a moment as if he resented my question.</p> + +<p>"The Blue Disease is spreading in London," he remarked shortly, and +returned to his paper. I felt rebuffed, but reflected that this, after +all, was how an average man might be expected to behave.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>"A curious business," I continued. "I am a doctor, and therefore very +much interested in it."</p> + +<p>His manner changed. He assumed the attitude of the average man towards a +doctor at once, and I was gratified to observe it.</p> + +<p>"I was just thinking I'd like to hear what a doctor thinks about it," he +said, laying down his paper. "I thought of calling in on Dr. Sykes on my +way home to-night; he attends my wife. Do you know Dr. Sykes?"</p> + +<p>"Which one?" I asked cautiously, not willing to disappoint him.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Sykes of Harlesden," he said, with a look of surprise.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I know Dr. Sykes. Why did you think of going to see him?"</p> + +<p>He smiled apologetically and pointed to the paper.</p> + +<p>"It sounds so queer ... the disease. They say, up in Birmingham, that +it's stopping all diseases in the hospitals ... everywhere. People +getting well all of a sudden. Now I don't believe that."</p> + +<p>"Have you seen a case yet?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. A woman. In the street this after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>noon as I was coming from lunch. +The police took her. She was mad, I can tell you. There was a big crowd. +She screamed. I think she was drunk." He paused, and glanced at me. +"What do you think of it?"</p> + +<p>I took a deep breath.</p> + +<p>"I don't <i>think</i>, I <i>know</i>," I said, in as quiet a manner as possible. +He stared a moment, and a nervous smile appeared and swiftly vanished. +He seemed uncertain what to do.</p> + +<p>"You've found out something?" he asked at length, playing with his +teaspoon and keeping his eyes on the table. I regarded him carefully. I +was not quite certain if he still thought I was a doctor.</p> + +<p>"I'm not a lunatic," I said. "I'm merely stating a rather extraordinary +fact. I know all about the germ of the Blue Disease."</p> + +<p>He raised his eyes for an instant, and then lowered them. His hand had +stopped trifling with the teaspoon.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, "the doctors think it's due to a germ of some sort." He +made a sort of effort and continued. "It is funny, some of these germs +being invisible through microscopes. Measles and chickenpox and common +things<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> like that. They've never seen the germs that cause them, that's +what the papers say. It seems odd—having something you can't see." He +turned his head, and looked for his hat that hung on a peg behind him.</p> + +<p>"One moment," I said. I took out my card-case. "I want you to read this +card. Don't think I'm mad. I want to talk to you for a particular reason +which I'll explain in a moment." He took the card hesitatingly and read +it. Then he looked at me. "The reason why I am speaking to you is this," +I said. "I want to find out what a decent citizen like yourself will +think of something I know. It concerns the Blue Disease and its origin."</p> + +<p>He seemed disturbed, and took out his watch.</p> + +<p>"I ought to get home. My wife——"</p> + +<p>"Is your wife ill?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with her?"</p> + +<p>He frowned.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Sykes thinks it's lung trouble."</p> + +<p>"Consumption?"</p> + +<p>He nodded, and an expression of anxiety came over his face.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>"Good," I exclaimed. "Now listen to what I have to say. Before the week +is out your wife will be cured. I swear it."</p> + +<p>He said nothing. It was plain that he was still suspicious.</p> + +<p>"You read what they say in the papers about the Blue Disease cutting +short other diseases? Well, that Blue Disease will be all over London in +a day or two. Now do you understand?"</p> + +<p>I saw that I had interested him. He settled himself on his chair, and +began to examine me. His gaze travelled over my face and clothes, +pausing at my cuff-links and my tie and collar. Then he looked at my +card again. Inwardly he came to a decision.</p> + +<p>"I'm willing to listen to what you've got to say," he remarked, "if you +think it's worth saying."</p> + +<p>"Thank you. I think it's worth hearing." I leaned my arms on the table +in front of me. "This Blue Disease is not an accidental thing. It was +deliberately planned, by two scientists. I was one of those scientists."</p> + +<p>"You can't plan a disease," he remarked, after a considerable silence.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>"You're wrong. We found a way of creating new germs. We worked at the +idea of creating a particular kind of germ that would kill all other +germs ... and we were successful. Then we let loose the germ on the +world."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"We infected the water supply of Birmingham at its origin in Wales."</p> + +<p>I watched his expression intently.</p> + +<p>"You mean that you did this secretly, without knowing what the result +would be?" he asked at last.</p> + +<p>"We foresaw the result to a certain extent."</p> + +<p>He thought for some time.</p> + +<p>"But you had no right to infect a water supply. That's criminal, +surely?"</p> + +<p>"It's criminal if the infection is dangerous to people. If you put +cholera in a reservoir, of course it's criminal."</p> + +<p>"But this germ...?"</p> + +<p>"This germ does not kill people. It kills the germs in people."</p> + +<p>"What's the difference?"</p> + +<p>"All the difference in the world! It's like this.... By the way, what is +your name?"</p> + +<p>"Clutterbuck." The word escaped his lips<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> by accident. He looked +annoyed. I smiled reassuringly.</p> + +<p>"It's like this, Mr. Clutterbuck. If you kill all the germs in a +person's body, that person doesn't die. He lives ... indefinitely. Now +do you see?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't see," said Clutterbuck with great frankness. "I don't +understand what you're driving at. You tell me that you're a doctor and +you give me a card bearing a well-known specialist's name. Then you say +you created a germ and put it in the Birmingham water supply and that +the result is the Blue Disease. This germ, you say, doesn't kill people, +but does something else which I don't follow. Now I was taught that +germs are dangerous things, and it seems to me that if your story is +true—which I don't believe—you are guilty of a criminal act." He +pushed back his chair and reached for his hat. There was a flush on his +face.</p> + +<p>"Then you don't believe my tale?"</p> + +<p>"No, I'm sorry, but I don't."</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Clutterbuck, will you believe it when you see your wife +restored to health in a few days' time?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>He paused and stared at me.</p> + +<p>"What you say is impossible," he said slowly. "If you were a doctor +you'd know that as well as I do."</p> + +<p>"But the reports in the paper?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's journalistic rubbish."</p> + +<p>He picked up his umbrella and beckoned to the waitress. I made a last +attempt.</p> + +<p>"If I take you to my house will you believe me then?"</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said in an angry tone, "I've had enough of this. I can't +waste my time. I'm sure of one thing and that is that you're no doctor. +You've got somebody's card-case. You don't look like a doctor and you +don't speak like one. I should advise you to be careful."</p> + +<p>He moved away from the table. Some neighbouring people stared at me for +a moment and then went on eating. Mr. Clutterbuck paid at the desk and +left the establishment. I had received the verdict of the average man.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>THE DEAD IMMORTAL</h3> + + +<p>When I reached home, Sarakoff was out. He had left a message to say he +would not be in until after midnight, as he was going to hear Leonora +sing at the opera, and purposed to take her to supper afterwards. Dinner +was therefore a solitary meal for me, and when it was all over I +endeavoured to plunge into some medical literature. The hours passed +slowly. It was almost impossible to read, for the process, to me, was +similar to trying to take an interest in a week-old newspaper.</p> + +<p>The thought of the bacillus made the pages seem colourless; it dwarfed +all meaning in the words. I gave up the attempt and set myself to +smoking and gazing into the fire. What was I to do about Alice?</p> + +<p>Midnight came and my mind was still seething. I knew sleep was out of +the question<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> and the desire to walk assailed me. I put on a coat and +hat and left the house. It was a cold night, clear with stars. Harley +Street was silent. My footsteps led me south towards the river. I walked +rapidly, oblivious of others. The problem of Alice was beyond solution, +for the simple reason that I found it impossible to think of her +clearly. She was overshadowed by the wonder of the bacillus. But the +picture of her father haunted me. It filled me with strange emotions, +and at moments with stranger misgivings.</p> + +<p>There are meanings, dimly caught at the time, which remain in the mind +like blind creatures, mewing and half alive. They pluck at the brain +ceaselessly, seeking birth in thought. Old Annot's face peering into the +hall mirror—what was it that photographed the scene so pitilessly in my +memory? I hurried along, scarcely noticing where I went, and as I went I +argued with myself aloud.</p> + +<p>On the Embankment I returned to a full sense of my position in space. +The river ran beneath me, cold and dark. I leaned over the stone +balustrade and stared at the dark forms of barges. Yes, it was true +enough that I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> had not realized that the germ would keep Mr. Annot alive +indefinitely. Sarakoff's significant whistle that morning came to my +mind, and I saw that I had been guilty of singular denseness in not +understanding its meaning.</p> + +<p>And now old Annot would live on and on, year after year. Was I glad? It +is impossible to say. It was that expression in the old man's face that +dominated me. I tried to think it out. It had been a triumphant look; +and more than that ... a triumphant <i>toothless</i> look. Was that the +solution? I reflected that triumph is an expression that belongs to +youth, to young things, to all that is striving upwards in growth. +Surely old people should look only patient and resigned—never +triumphant—in this world? Some strong action with regard to Alice's +position would be necessary. It was absurd to think that her father +should eternally come between her and me. It would be necessary to go +down to Cambridge and make a clean confession to Alice. And then, when +forgiven, I would insist on an immediate arrangement concerning our +marriage. Marriage! The word vibrated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> in my soul. The solemnity of that +ceremony was great enough to mere mortals, but what would it mean to us +when we were immortals? Sarakoff had hinted at a new marriage system. +Was such a thing possible? On what factors did marriage rest? Was it +merely a discipline or was it ultimately selfishness?</p> + +<p class="newscene">My agitation increased, and I hurried eastwards, soon entering an area +of riverside London that, had I been calmer, might have given me some +alarm. It must have been about two o'clock in the morning when the +pressure of thoughts relaxed in my mind. I found myself in the great +dock area. The forms of giant cranes rose dimly in the air. A distant +glare of light, where nightshifts were at work, illuminated the huge +shapes of ocean steamers. The quays were littered with crates and bales. +A clanking of buffers and the shrill whistles of locomotives came out of +the darkness. For some time I stood transfixed. In my imagination I saw +these big ships, laden with cargo, slipping down the Thames and out into +the sea, carrying with them an added cargo to every part of the earth. +For by them would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> the Blue Germ travel over the waterways of the world +and enter every port. From the ports it would spread swiftly into the +towns, and from the towns onwards across plain and prairie until the +gift of Immortality had been received by every human being. The vision +thrilled me....</p> + +<p>A commotion down a side street on my right shattered this glorious +picture. Hoarse cries rang out, and a sound of blows. I could make out a +small dark struggling mass which seemed to break into separate parts and +then coalesce again. A police whistle sounded. The mass again broke up, +and some figures came rushing down the street in my direction. They +passed me in a flash, and vanished. At the far end of the street two +twinkling lights appeared. After a period of hesitation—what doctor +goes willingly into the accidents of the streets?—I walked slowly in +their direction.</p> + +<p>When I reached them I found two policemen bending over the body of a +man, which lay in the gutter face downwards.</p> + +<p>"Good evening," I said. "Can I be of any service? I am a doctor."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>They shone their lamps on me suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"</p> + +<p>"Walking," I replied. Exercise had calmed me. I felt cool and collected. +"I often walk far at nights. Let me see the body."</p> + +<p>I stooped down and turned the body over. The policemen watched me in +silence. The body was that of a young, fair-haired sailor man. There was +a knife between his ribs. His eyes were screwed up into a rigid state of +contraction which death had not yet relaxed. His whole body was rigid. I +knew that the knife had pierced his heart. But the most extraordinary +thing about him was his expression. I have never looked on a face either +in life or death that expressed such terror. Even the policemen were +startled. The light of their lamps shone on that monstrous and distorted +countenance, and we gazed in horrified silence.</p> + +<p>"Is he dead?" asked one at last.</p> + +<p>"Quite dead," I replied, "but it is odd to find this rigidity so early." +I began to press his eyelids apart. The right eye opened. I uttered a +cry of astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Look!" I cried.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>They stared.</p> + +<p>"Blest if that ain't queer," said one. "It's that Blue Disease. He must +'ave come from Birmingham."</p> + +<p>"Queer?" I said passionately. "Why, man, it's tragedy—unadulterated +tragedy. The man was an Immortal."</p> + +<p>They stared at me heavily.</p> + +<p>"Immortal?" said one.</p> + +<p>"He would have lived for ever," I said. "In his system there is the most +marvellous germ that the world has ever known. It was circulating in his +blood. It had penetrated to every part of his body. A few minutes ago, +as he walked along the dark street, he had before him a future of +unnumbered years. And now he lies in the gutter. Can you imagine a +greater tragedy?"</p> + +<p>The policemen transferred their gaze from me to the dead man. Then, as +if moved by a common impulse, they began to laugh. I watched them +moodily, plunged in an extraordinary vein of thought. When I moved away +they at once stopped me.</p> + +<p>"No, you don't," said one. "We'll want you at the police station to give +your evidence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> Not," he continued with a grin, "to tell that bit of +information you just gave us, about him being an angel or something."</p> + +<p>"I didn't say he was an angel."</p> + +<p>They laughed tolerantly. Like Mr. Clutterbuck, they thought I was mad.</p> + +<p>"Let's hope he's an angel," said the other. "But, by his face, he looks +more like the other thing. Bill, you go round for the ambulance. I'll +stay with the gentleman."</p> + +<p>The policeman moved away ponderously and vanished in the darkness.</p> + +<p>"What was that you were saying, sir?" asked the policeman who remained +with me.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," I muttered, "you wouldn't understand."</p> + +<p>"I'm interested in religious matters," continued the policeman in a soft +voice. "You think that the Blue Disease is something out of the common?"</p> + +<p>I am never surprised at London policemen, but I looked at this one +closely before I replied.</p> + +<p>"You seem a reasonable man," I said. "Let me tell you that what I have +told you about the germ—that it confers immortality—is correct. In a +day or two you will be immortal."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>He seemed to reflect in a calm massive way on the news. His eyes were +fixed on the dead man's face.</p> + +<p>"An Immortal Policeman?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"You're asking me to believe a lot, sir."</p> + +<p>"I know that. But still, there it is. It's the truth."</p> + +<p>"And what about crime?" he continued. "If we were all Immortals, what +about crime?"</p> + +<p>"Crime will become so horrible in its meaning that it will stop."</p> + +<p>"It hasn't stopped yet...."</p> + +<p>"Of course not. It won't, till people realize they are immortal."</p> + +<p>He shifted his lantern and shone it down the road.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, it seems to me it will be a long time before people realize +<i>that</i>. In fact, I don't see how anyone could ever realize it."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Just think," he said, with a large air. "Supposing crime died out, what +would happen to the Sunday papers? Where would those lawyers be? What +would we do with policemen? No, you can't realize it. You can't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> realize +the things you exist for all vanishing. It's not human nature." He +brooded for a time. "You can't do away with crime," he continued. +"What's behind crime? Woman and gold—one or the other, or both. Now you +don't mean to tell me, sir, that the Blue Disease is doing away with +women and gold in a place like Birmingham? Why, sir, what made +Birmingham? What do you suppose life is?"</p> + +<p>"I have never been asked the question before by a policeman," I said. "I +do not know what made Birmingham, but I will tell you what life is. It +is ultimately a cell, containing protoplasm and a nucleus."</p> + +<p>A low rumbling noise began somewhere in his vast bulk. It gradually +increased to a roar. I became aware that he was laughing. He held his +sides. I thought his shining belt would burst. At length his hilarity +slowly subsided, and he became sober. He surveyed the dead body at his +feet.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," he said, "don't you believe it. Life is women and gold. It +always was that, and it always will be." He shone his lamp downwards so +that the light fell on the terrible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> features of the dead sailor. "Now +this man, sir, was killed because of money, I'll wager. And behind the +money I reckon you'll find a woman." He mused for a time. "Not +necessarily a pretty woman, but a woman of some sort."</p> + +<p>"How do you account for that look of fear on his face?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't say. I've never seen anything like it. I've seen a lot of +dead faces, but they are usually quiet enough, as if they were asleep. +But I'll tell you one thing, sir, that I have noticed, and that is that +money—which includes diamonds and such like, makes a man die worse and +more bitter than anything else."</p> + +<p>He turned his lantern down the street. A sound of wheels reached us.</p> + +<p>"That's the ambulance."</p> + +<p>"Will you really require me at the police station?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Will it be necessary to prove who I am?"</p> + +<p>He smiled.</p> + +<p>"You won't need to prove that you're a doctor, sir," he said genially. +"We have a lot to do with doctors. I could tell you were a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> doctor after +talking a minute with you. You are all the same."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Well—it's the things you say. Now only a doctor could have said what +you did—about life being a cell. Do you know, sir, I sometimes believe +that doctors is more innocent than parsons. It's the things they +say...."</p> + +<p>The low rumbling began again in his interior. I waited silently until +the ambulance came up. I felt a slight shade of annoyance. But how could +I expect the enormous uneducated bulk beside me to take a really +intelligent and scientific view of life? Of course life was a cell. +Every educated person knew that—and now that cell was, for the first +time in history, about to become immortal—but what did the policeman +care? How stupid people were, I reflected. We moved off in a small +procession towards the police station. Half an hour later I was on my +way west, deeply pondering on the causes of that extraordinary +expression of fear in the dead sailor's face. Never in my life before +had I seen so agonized a countenance, but I was destined to see others +as terrible. As I walked, the strangeness of the dead man's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> tragedy +grew in my mind and filled me with a tremendous wonder, for who had ever +seen a dead Immortal?</p> + +<p>On reaching home I roused Sarakoff and related to him what I had seen.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF IMMORTALITY</h3> + + +<p>After two hours of sleep I awoke. My brief rest had been haunted by +unpleasant dreams, vague and indefinite, but seeming to centre about the +idea of an impending catastrophe. I lay in bed staring at the dimly +outlined window. I felt quite rested and very wide awake. For some time +I remained motionless, reflecting on my night adventures and idly +thinking whether it was worth while getting up and attending to some +correspondence that was overdue. The prospect of a chilly study was not +attractive. And then I noticed a very peculiar sensation.</p> + +<p>There is only one thing that I can compare it with. After a day of +exhausting work a glass of champagne produces in me an almost immediate +effect. I feel as if the worries of the day are suddenly removed to a +great and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> blessed distance. A happy indifference takes their place. I +felt the same effect as I lay in bed on that dreary winter's morning. +The idea that I should get up and work retreated swiftly. A pleasant +sense of languor came over me. My eyes closed and for some time I lay in +a blissful state of peace, such as I had never experienced before so far +as my memory could tell.</p> + +<p>I do not know how long I lay in this state, but at length a persistent +noise made me open my eyes. I looked round. It seemed to be full +daylight now. The first thing I noticed was the unusual size of the +room. The ceiling seemed far above my head. The walls seemed to have +receded many feet. In my astonishment I uttered an exclamation. The +result was startling. My voice seemed to reverberate and re-echo as if I +had shouted with all my strength. Considerably startled, I remained in a +sitting posture, gazing at my unfamiliar surroundings. The persistent +noise that had first roused me continued, and for a long time I could +not account for it. It appeared to come from under my bed. I leaned over +the edge, but could see nothing. And then, in a flash, I knew what it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +was. It was the sound of my watch, that lay under my pillow.</p> + +<p>I drew it out and stared at it in a state of mystification. Each of its +ticks sounded like a small hammer striking sharply against a metal +plate. I held it to my ear and was almost deafened. For a moment I +wondered whether I were not in the throes of some acute nervous +disorder, in which the senses became sharpened to an incredible degree. +Such an exultation of perception could only be due to some powerful +intoxicant at work on my body. Was I going mad? I laid the watch on the +counterpane and in the act of doing it, the explanation burst on my +mind. For the recollection of Mr. Herbert Wain and the Clockdrum +suddenly came to me. I flung aside the bedclothes, ran to the window and +drew the curtains. The radiance of the day almost blinded me. I pressed +my hands to my eyes in a kind of agony, feeling that they had been +seared and destroyed, and dropped on my knees. I remained in this +position for over a minute and then gradually withdrew my hands and +gazed at the carpet. I dared not look up yet. The pattern of the carpet +glowed in colours more brilliant than I had ever seen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> before. As I +knelt there, in attitude of prayer, it seemed to me that I had never +noticed colour before; that all my life had been passed without any +consciousness of colour. At last I lifted my sight from the miracle of +the carpet to the miracle of the day. High overhead, through the dingy +windowpane, was a patch of clear sky, infinitely sweet, remote and +inaccessible, framed by golden clouds. As I gazed at it an indescribable +reverence and joy filled my mind. In the purity of the morning light, it +seemed the most lovely and wonderful thing I had ever beheld. And I, +Richard Harden, consulting physician who had hitherto looked on life +through a microscope, remained kneeling on my miraculous carpet, gazing +upwards at the miraculous heavens. Acting on some strange impulse I +stretched out my hands, and then I saw something which turned me into a +rigid statue.</p> + +<p>It was in this attitude that Sarakoff found me.</p> + +<p>He entered my room violently. His hair was tousled and his beard stuck +out at a grotesque angle. He was clad in pink pyjamas, and in his hand +he carried a silver-backed mirror. My attitude did not seem to cause him +any surprise.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> The door slammed behind him, with a noise of thunder, and +he rushed across the room to where I knelt, and stooping, examined my +finger nails at which I was staring.</p> + +<p>"Good!" he shouted. "Good! Harden, you've got it too!"</p> + +<p>He pointed triumphantly. Under the nails there was a faint tinge of +blue, and at the nail-bed this was already intense, forming little +crescent-shaped areas of vivid turquoise.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff sat down on the edge of my bed and studied himself attentively +in the hand mirror.</p> + +<p>"A slight pallor is perceptible in the skin," he announced as if he was +dictating a note for a medical journal, "and this is due, no doubt, to a +deposit of the blue pigment in the deeper layers of the epidermis. The +hair is at present unaffected save at the roots. God knows what colour +blond hair will become. I am anxious about Leonora. The expression—I +suppose I can regard myself as a typical case, Harden—is serene, if not +animated. Subjectively, one may observe a great sense of exhilaration +coupled with an extraordinary increase in the power of perception. You, +for example, look to me quite different."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>"In what way?" I demanded.</p> + +<p>"Well, as you kneel there, I notice in you a kind of angular grandeur, a +grotesque touch of the sublime, that was not evident to me before. If I +were a sculptor, I would like to model you like that. I cannot explain +why—I am just saying what I feel. I have never felt any impulse towards +art until this morning." He twisted his moustache. "Yes, you have quite +an interesting face, Harden. I can see in it evidence that you have +suffered intensely. You have taken life too seriously. You have worked +too hard. You are stunted and deformed with work."</p> + +<p>I regarded him with some astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Work is all very well," he continued, "but this morning I see with +singular clarity that it is only a means of development. My dear Harden, +if it is overdone, it simply dwarfs the soul. Our generation has not +recognized this properly."</p> + +<p>"But you were always an apostle of hard work," I remarked irritably.</p> + +<p>"May be." He made a gesture of dismissal. "Now, I am an Immortal, and +you are an Immortal. The background to life has changed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> Formerly, the +idea of death lurked constantly in the depths of the unconscious mind, +and by its vaguely-felt influences spurred us on to continual exertion. +That is all changed. We have, at one stroke, removed this dire spectre. +We are free."</p> + +<p>He rose suddenly and flung the mirror across the room.</p> + +<p>"What do we need mirrors for?" he cried. "It is only when we fear death +that we need mirrors to tell us how long we have to live." He strode +over to me and halted. "You seem in no hurry to get up from that +carpet," he observed. His remark made me realize that I had been +kneeling for some minutes. Now this was rather odd. I am restless by +nature and rarely remain in one position for any length of time, and to +stay like that, kneeling before the window, was indeed curious. I got up +and moved to the dressing-table, thinking. Sarakoff must have been +thinking in the same direction, for he asked me a question.</p> + +<p>"Did you realize you were kneeling?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I replied. "I knew what I was doing. It merely did not occur to +me that I should change my position."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>"The explanation is simple," said the Russian. "Restlessness, or the +idea that we must change our position, or that we should be doing +something else, belongs to the anxious side of life; and the anxious +side of life is nourished and kept vigorous by the latent fear of death. +All that is removed from you, and therefore you see no reason why you +should do anything until it pleases you."</p> + +<p>I began to study myself in the glass on the dressing-table. The +examination interested me immensely. There was certainly a marble-like +hue about the skin. The whites of my eyes were distinctly stained, but +not so intensely as had been the case with Mr. Herbert Wain, showing +that I had not suffered from the Blue Disease as long as he had. But +when I began to study my reflection from the æsthetic point of view, I +became deeply engrossed.</p> + +<p>"I don't agree with you, Sarakoff," I remarked at length. "We still need +mirrors. In fact I have never found the mirror so interesting in my +life."</p> + +<p>"Don't use that absurd phrase," he answered. "It implies that something +other than life exists."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>"So it does."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Well, if I stick this pair of scissors into your heart you will die, my +dear fellow." He was silent, and a frown began to gather on his brow. +"Yes," I continued, "your psychological deductions are not entirely +valid. The fear of death still exists, but now limited to a small +sphere. In that sphere, it will operate with extreme intensity." I +picked up the scissors and made a stealthy movement towards him. To my +amazement I obtained an immediate proof of my theory. He sprang up with +a loud cry, darted to the door and vanished. For a moment I stood in a +state of bewilderment. Was it possible that he, with all his size and +strength, was afraid of me? And then a great fit of laughter overcame me +and I sank down on my bed with the tears coming from my eyes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>THE TERRIBLE FEAR</h3> + + +<p>On coming down to breakfast, I found Sarakoff already seated at the +table devouring the morning papers. I picked up a discarded one and +stood by the fire, glancing over its contents. There was only one +subject of news, and that was the spread of the Blue Disease. From every +part of the north cases were reported, and in London it had broken out +in several districts.</p> + +<p>"So it's all come true," I remarked.</p> + +<p>He nodded, and continued reading. I sauntered to the window. A thin +driving snow was now falling, and the passers-by were hurrying along in +the freezing slush, with collars turned up and heads bowed before the +wind.</p> + +<p>"This is an ideal day to spend indoors by the fireside," I observed. "I +think I'll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> telephone to the hospital and tell Jones to take my work."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff raised his eyes, and then his eyebrows.</p> + +<p>"So," he said, "the busy man suddenly thinks work a bother. The power of +the germ, Harden, is indeed miraculous."</p> + +<p>"Do you think my inclination is due to the germ?"</p> + +<p>"Beyond a doubt. You were the most over-conscientious man I ever knew +until this morning."</p> + +<p>For some reason I found this observation very interesting. I wished to +discuss it, and I was about to reply when the door opened and my +housemaid announced that Dr. Symington-Tearle was in the hall and would +like an immediate interview.</p> + +<p>"Shew him in," I said equably. Symington-Tearle usually had a most +irritating effect upon me, but at the moment I felt totally indifferent +to him. He entered in his customary manner, as if the whole of London +were feverishly awaiting him. I introduced Sarakoff, but +Symington-Tearle hardly noticed him.</p> + +<p>"Harden," he exclaimed in his loud domi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>nating tones, "I am convinced +that there is no such thing as this Blue Disease. I believe it all to be +a colossal plant. Some practical joker has introduced a chemical into +the water supply."</p> + +<p>"Probably," I murmured, still thinking of Sarakoff's observation.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to expose the whole thing in the evening papers; I examined a +case yesterday—a man called Wain—and was convinced there was nothing +wrong with him. He was really pigmented. And what is it but mere +pigmentation?" He passed his hand over his brow and frowned. "Yes, yes," +he continued, "that's what it is—a colossal joke. We've all been taken +in by it—everyone except me." He sat down by the breakfast table +suddenly and once more passed his hand over his brow.</p> + +<p>"What was I saying?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff and I were now watching him intently.</p> + +<p>"That the Blue Disease was a joke," I said.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes—a joke." He looked up at Sarakoff and stared for a moment. "Do +you know," he said, "I believe it really is a joke."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>An expression of intense solemnity came over his face, and he sat +motionless gazing in front of him with unblinking eyes. I crossed to +where he sat and peered at his face.</p> + +<p>"I thought so," I remarked. "You've got it too."</p> + +<p>"Got what?"</p> + +<p>"The Blue Disease. I suppose you caught it from Wain, as we did." I +picked up one of his hands and pointed to the faintly-tinted +fingernails. Dr. Symington-Tearle stared at them with an air of such +child-like simplicity and gravity that Sarakoff and I broke into loud +laughter.</p> + +<p>The humour of the situation passed with a peculiar suddenness and we +ceased laughing abruptly. I sat down at the table, and for some time the +three of us gazed at one another and said nothing. The spirit-lamp that +heated the silver dish of bacon upon the table spurted at intervals and +I saw Symington-Tearle stare at it in faint surprise.</p> + +<p>"Does it sound very loud?" asked Sarakoff at length.</p> + +<p>"Extraordinarily loud. And upon my soul your voice nearly deafens me."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>"It will pass," I said. "One gets adjusted to the extreme sensitiveness +in a short time. How do you feel?"</p> + +<p>"I feel," said Symington-Tearle slowly, "as if I were newly constructed +from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. After a Turkish bath +and twenty minutes' massage I've experienced a little of the feeling."</p> + +<p>He stared at Sarakoff, then at me, and finally at the spirit lamp. We +must have presented an odd spectacle. For there we sat, three men who, +under ordinary circumstances, were extremely busy and active, lolling +round the unfinished breakfast table while the hands of the clock +travelled relentlessly onward.</p> + +<p>Relentlessly? That was scarcely correct. To me, owing to some mysterious +change that I cannot explain, the clock had ceased to be a tyrannous and +hateful monster. I did not care how fast it went or to what hour it +pointed. Time was no longer precious, any more than the sand of the sea +is precious.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you going to have any breakfast?" asked Symington-Tearle.</p> + +<p>"I'm not in the least hurry," replied Sara<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>koff. "I think I'll take a +sip of coffee. Are you hungry, Harden?"</p> + +<p>"No. I don't want anything save coffee. But I'm in no hurry."</p> + +<p>My housemaid entered and announced that the gentleman who had been +waiting in Dr. Symington-Tearle's car, and was now in the hall, wished +to know if the doctor would be long.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is a patient of mine," said Symington-Tearle, "ask him to come +in."</p> + +<p>A large, stout, red-faced gentleman entered, wrapped in a thick frieze +motor coat. He nodded to us briefly.</p> + +<p>"Sorry to interrupt," he said, "but time's getting on, Tearle. My +consultation with Sir Peverly Salt was for half past nine, if you +remember. It's that now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's plenty of time," said Tearle. "Sit down, Ballard. It's nice +and warm in here."</p> + +<p>"It may be nice and warm," replied Mr. Ballard loudly, "but I don't want +to keep Sir Peverly waiting."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why you shouldn't keep him waiting," said Tearle. "In fact +I really don't see why you should go to him at all."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>Mr. Ballard stared for a moment. Then his eyes travelled round the table +and dwelt first on Sarakoff and then on me. I suppose something in our +manner rather baffled him, but outwardly he shewed no sign of it.</p> + +<p>"I don't quite follow you," he said, fixing his gaze upon Tearle again. +"If you recollect, you advised me strongly four days ago to consult Sir +Peverly Salt about the condition of my heart, and you impressed upon me +that his opinion was the best that was obtainable. You rang him up and +an appointment was fixed for this morning at half-past nine, and I was +told to call on you shortly after nine."</p> + +<p>He paused, and once more his eyes dwelt in turn upon each of us. They +returned to Tearle. "It is now twenty-five minutes to ten," he said. His +face had become redder, and his voice louder. "And I understood that Sir +Peverly is a very busy man."</p> + +<p>"He certainly is busy," said Tearle. "He's far too busy. It is very +interesting to think that business is only necessary in so far——"</p> + +<p>"Look here," said Mr. Ballard violently. "I'm a man with a short temper. +I'm hanged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> if I'll stand this nonsense. What the devil do you think +you're all doing? Are you playing a joke on me?"</p> + +<p>He glared round at us, and then he made a sudden movement towards the +table. In a moment we were all on our feet. I felt an acute terror seize +me, and without waiting to see what happened, I flung open the door that +led into my consulting room, darted to the further door, across the hall +and up to my bedroom.</p> + +<p>There was a cry and a rush of feet across the hall. Mr. Ballard's voice +rang out stormily. A door slammed, and then another door, and then all +was silent.</p> + +<p>I became aware of a movement behind me, and looking round sharply, I saw +my housemaid Lottie staring at me in amazement. She had been engaged in +making the bed.</p> + +<p>"Whatever is the matter, sir?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" I whispered. "There's a dangerous man downstairs."</p> + +<p>I turned the key in the lock, listened for a moment, and then tip-toed +my way across the floor to a chair. My limbs were shaking. It is +difficult to describe the intensity of my terror.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> There was a cold +sweat on my forehead. "He might have killed me. Think of that!"</p> + +<p>Her eyes were fixed on me.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, you do look bad," she exclaimed. "Whatever has happened to +you?" She came nearer and gazed into my eyes. "They're all blue, sir. It +must be that disease you've got."</p> + +<p>A sudden irritation flashed over me. "Don't stare at me like that. +You'll have it yourself to-morrow," I shouted. "The whole of the blessed +city will have it." A loud rap at the door interrupted me. I jumped up, +darted across the room and threw myself under the bed. "Don't let anyone +in," I whispered. The rap was repeated. Sarakoff's voice sounded +without.</p> + +<p>"Let me in. It's all right. He's gone. The front door is bolted." I +crawled out and unlocked the door. Sarakoff, looking rather pale, was +standing in the passage. He carried a poker. "Symington-Tearle's in the +coal-cellar," he announced. "He won't come out."</p> + +<p>I wiped my brow with a handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, Sarakoff," I exclaimed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> "this kind of thing will lead to +endless trouble. I had no idea the terror would be so uncontrollable."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you feel it as I do," said the Russian. "When you threatened +me with a pair of scissors this morning I felt mad with fear."</p> + +<p>"It's awful," I murmured. "We can't be too careful." We began to descend +the stairs. "Sarakoff, you remember I told you about that dead sailor? I +see now why that expression was on his face. It was the terror that he +felt."</p> + +<p>"Extraordinary!" he muttered. "He couldn't have known. It must have been +instinctive."</p> + +<p>"Instincts are like that," I said. "I don't suppose an animal knows +anything about death, or even thinks of it, yet it behaves from the very +first as if it knew. It's odd."</p> + +<p>A door opened at the far end of the hall, and Symington-Tearle emerged. +There was a patch of coal-dust on his forehead. His hair, usually so +flat and smooth that it seemed like a brass mirror, was now disordered.</p> + +<p>"Has he gone?" he enquired hoarsely.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>We nodded. I pointed to the chain on the door.</p> + +<p>"It's bolted," I said. "Come into the study."</p> + +<p>I led the way into the room. Tearle walked to the window, then to a +chair, and finally took up a position before the fire.</p> + +<p>"This is extraordinary!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"What do you make of it?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"I can make nothing of it. What's the matter with me? I never felt +anything like that terror that came over me when Ballard approached me."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff took out a large handkerchief and passed it across his face. +"It's only the fear of physical violence," he said. "That's the only +weak spot. Fear was formerly distributed over a wide variety of +possibilities, but now it's all concentrated in one direction."</p> + +<p>"Why?" Tearle stared at me questioningly.</p> + +<p>"Because the germ is in us," I said. "We're immortal."</p> + +<p>"Immortal?"</p> + +<p>Sarakoff threw out his hands, and flung back his head. "Immortals!"</p> + +<p>I crossed to my writing-table, and picked up a heavy volume.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>"Here is the first edition of Buckwell Pink's <i>System of Medicine</i>. This +book was produced at immense cost and labour, and it is to be published +next week. When that book is published no one will buy it."</p> + +<p>"Why not?" demanded Tearle. "I wrote an article in it myself."</p> + +<p>"So did I," was my reply. "But that won't make any difference. No member +of the medical profession will be interested in it."</p> + +<p>"Not interested? I can't believe that. It contains all the recent work."</p> + +<p>"The medical profession will not be interested in it for a very simple +reason. The medical profession will have ceased to exist."</p> + +<p>A look of amazement came to Tearle's face. I tapped the volume and +continued.</p> + +<p>"You are wrong in thinking it contains all the recent work. It does not. +The last and greatest achievement of medical science is not recorded in +these pages. It is only recorded in ourselves. For that blue +pigmentation in your eyes and fingers is due to the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus which closes once and for all the chapter of medicine."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>THE VISIT OF THE HOME SECRETARY</h3> + + +<p>In a few hours the initial effects of stimulation had worn off. The +acuity of hearing was no longer so pronounced and the sense of +refreshment, although still present, was not intense. We were already +becoming adjusted to the new condition. The feeling of inertia and +irresponsibility became gradually replaced by a general sense of +calmness. To me, it seemed as if I had entered a world of new +perspectives, a larger world in which space and time were widened out +immeasurably. I could scarcely recall the nature of those impulses that +had once driven me to and fro in endless activities, and in a constant +state of anxiety. For now I had no anxiety.</p> + +<p>It is difficult to describe fully the extraordinary sense of freedom +that came from this change. For anxiety—the great modern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> emotion—is +something that besets a life on all sides so silently and so +continuously that it escapes direct detection. But it is there, +tightening the muscles, crinkling the skin, quickening the heart and +shortening the breath. Though almost imperceptible, it lurks under the +most agreeable surroundings, requiring only a word or a look to bring it +into the light. To be free from it—ah, that was an experience that no +man could ever forget! It was perhaps the nearest approach to that +condition of bliss, which many expect in one of the Heavens, that had +ever been attained on earth. As long as no physical danger threatened, +this bliss-state surrounded me. Its opposite, that condition of violent, +agonizing, uncontrollable fear that suddenly surged over one on the +approach of bodily danger, was something which passed as swiftly as it +came, and left scarcely a trace behind it. But of that I shall have more +to say, for it produced the most extraordinary state of affairs and more +than anything else threatened to disorganize life completely.</p> + +<p>I fancy Sarakoff was more awed by the bliss-state than I was. During the +rest of the day he was very quiet and sat gazing before him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> His +boisterousness had vanished. Symington-Tearle had left us—a man deeply +amazed and totally incredulous. I noticed that Sarakoff scarcely smoked +at all during that morning. As a rule his pipe was never out. He was in +the habit of consuming two ounces of tobacco a day, which in my opinion +was suicidal. He certainly lit his pipe several times, mechanically, but +laid it aside almost immediately. At lunch—we had not moved out of the +house yet—we had very little appetite. As a matter of interest I will +give exactly what we ate and drank. Sarakoff took some soup and a piece +of bread, and then some cheese. I began with some cold beef, and finding +it unattractive, pushed it away and ate some biscuits and butter. There +was claret on the table. I wish here to call attention to a passing +impression that I experienced when sipping that claret. I had recently +got in several dozen bottles of it and on that day regretted it because +it seemed to me to be extremely poor stuff. It tasted sour and harsh.</p> + +<p>We did not talk much. It was not because my mind was devoid of ideas, +but rather because I was feeling that I had a prodigious, incalculable +amount to think about. Perhaps it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> was the freedom from anxiety that +made thinking easier, for there is little doubt that anxiety, however +masked, deflects and disturbs the power of thought more than anything +else. Indeed it seemed to me that I had never really thought clearly +before. To begin a conversation with Sarakoff seemed utterly artificial. +It would have been a useless interruption. I was entirely absorbed.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff was similarly absorbed. When, therefore, the servant came in to +announce that two gentlemen wished to see us, and were in the +waiting-room, we were loth to move. I got up at length and went across +the hall. I recollect that before entering the waiting-room I was +entirely without curiosity. It was a matter of total indifference to me +that two visitors were within. They had no business to interrupt +me—that was my feeling. They were intruders and should have known +better.</p> + +<p>I entered the room. Standing by the fire was Lord Alberan. Beside him +was a tall thin man, carefully dressed and something of a dandy, who +looked at me sharply as I came across the room. I recognized his face, +but failed to recall his name.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>Lord Alberan, holding himself very stiffly, cleared his throat.</p> + +<p>"Good day, Dr. Harden," he said, without offering his hand. "I have +brought Sir Robert Smith to interview you. As you may know he is the +Home Secretary." He cleared his throat again, and his face became rather +red. "I have reported to the Home Secretary the information that +I—er—that I acquired from you and your Russian companion concerning +this epidemic that has swept over Birmingham and is now threatening +London." He paused and stared at me. His eyes bulged. "Good heavens," he +exclaimed, "you've got it yourself."</p> + +<p>Sir Robert Smith took a step towards me and examined my face +attentively.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, "there's no doubt you've got it."</p> + +<p>I indicated some chairs with a calm gesture.</p> + +<p>"Won't you sit down?"</p> + +<p>Lord Alberan refused, but Sir Robert lowered himself gracefully into an +arm-chair and crossed his legs.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Harden," he said, in smooth and pleasant tones, "I wish you to +understand that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> I come here, at this unusual hour, solely in the spirit +of one who desires to get all the information possible concerning the +malady, called the Blue Disease, which is now sweeping over England. I +understand from my friend Lord Alberan, that you know something about +it."</p> + +<p>"That is true."</p> + +<p>"How much do you know?"</p> + +<p>"I know all there is to be known."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" Sir Robert leaned forward. Lord Alberan nodded violently and +glared at me. There was a pause. "What you say is very interesting," +said Sir Robert at length, keeping his eyes fixed upon me. "You +understand, of course, that the Blue Disease is causing a lot of +anxiety?"</p> + +<p>"Anxiety?" I exclaimed. "Surely you are wrong. It has the opposite +effect. It abolishes anxiety."</p> + +<p>"You mean——?" he queried politely.</p> + +<p>"I mean that the germ, when once in the system, produces an atmosphere +of extraordinary calm," I returned. "I am aware of that atmosphere at +this moment. I have never felt so perfectly tranquil before."</p> + +<p>He nodded, without moving his eyes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>"So I see. You struck me, as you came into the room, as a man who is at +peace with himself." Lord Alberan snorted, and was about to speak, but +Sir Robert held up his hand. "Tell me, Dr. Harden, did you actually +contaminate the water of Birmingham?"</p> + +<p>"My friend Sarakoff and I introduced the germ that we discovered into +the Elan reservoirs."</p> + +<p>"With what object?"</p> + +<p>"To endow humanity with the gift of immortality."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he nodded gently. "The gift of immortality." He mused for a +moment, and never once did his eyes leave my face. "That is +interesting," he continued. "I recollect that at the International +Congress at Moscow, a few years ago, there was much talk about +longevity. Virchow, I fancy, and Nikola Tesla made some suggestive +remarks. So you think you have discovered the secret?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure."</p> + +<p>"Of course you use the term immortality in a relative sense? You mean +that the—er—germ that you discovered confers a long life on those it +attacks?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>"I mean what I say. It confers immortality."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" His expression remained perfectly polite and interested, but +his eyes turned for a brief moment in the direction of Lord Alberan. "So +you are now immortal, Dr. Harden?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And will you, in such circumstances, go on practising +medicine—indefinitely?"</p> + +<p>"No. There will be no medicine to practise."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he nodded. "I see—the germ does away with disease. Quite so." He +leaned back in the chair and pressed his finger tips together. "I +suppose," he continued, "that you are aware that what you say is very +difficult to believe?"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Well, the artificial prolongation of life is, I believe, a possibility +that we are all prepared to accept. By special methods we may live a few +extra years, and everything goes to show that we are actually living +longer than our ancestors. At least I believe so. But for a man of your +position, Dr. Harden, to say that the epidemic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> is an epidemic of +immortality is, in my opinion, an extravagant statement."</p> + +<p>"You are entitled to any opinion you like," I replied tranquilly. "It is +possible to live with totally erroneous opinions. For all I know you may +think the earth is square. It makes no difference to me."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, sir?" exclaimed Lord Alberan. He had become +exceedingly red during our conversation and the lower part of his face +had begun to swell. "Be careful what you say," he continued violently. +"You are in danger of being arrested, sir. Either that, or being locked +in an asylum."</p> + +<p>The Home Secretary raised a restraining hand.</p> + +<p>"One moment, Lord Alberan," he said, "I have not quite finished. Dr. +Harden, will you be so good as to ask your friend—his name is Sarakoff, +I believe—to come in here?"</p> + +<p>I rose without haste and fetched the Russian. He behaved in an extremely +quiet manner, nodded to Alberan and bowed to the Home Secretary.</p> + +<p>Sir Robert gave a brief outline of the conversation he had had with me, +which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> Sarakoff listened to with an absolutely expressionless face.</p> + +<p>"I see that you also suffer from the epidemic," said Sir Robert. "Are +you, then, immortal?"</p> + +<p>"I am an Immortal," said the Russian, in deep tones. "You will be +immortal to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I quite understand that I will probably catch the Blue Disease," said +Sir Robert, suavely. "At present there are cases reported all over +London, and we are at a loss to know what to do."</p> + +<p>"You can do nothing," I said.</p> + +<p>"We had thought of forming isolation camps." He stared at us +thoughtfully. There was a slightly puzzled look in his face. It was the +first time I had noticed it. It must have been due to Sarakoff's +profound calm. "How did you gentlemen find the germ?" he asked suddenly.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff reflected.</p> + +<p>"It would take perhaps a week to explain."</p> + +<p>Sir Robert smiled slightly.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I am too busy," he murmured.</p> + +<p>"You are wasting your time," muttered Alberan in his ear. "Arrest +them."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>The Home Secretary took no notice.</p> + +<p>"It is curious that this epidemic seems to cut short other diseases," he +said slowly. "That rather supports what you tell me."</p> + +<p>His eyes rested searchingly on my face.</p> + +<p>"You are foolish to refuse to believe us," I said. "We have told you the +truth."</p> + +<p>"It would be very strange if it were true." He walked to the window and +stood for a moment looking on to the street. Then he turned with a +movement of resolution. "I will not trespass on your time," he said. +"Lord Alberan, we need not stay. I am satisfied with what these +gentlemen have said." He bowed to us and went to the door. Lord Alberan, +very fierce and upright, followed him. The Home Secretary paused and +looked back. The puzzled looked had returned to his face.</p> + +<p>"The matter is to be discussed in the House to-night," he said. "I think +that it will be as well for you if I say nothing of what you have told +me. People might be angry." We gazed at him unmoved. He took a sudden +step towards us and held out his hands. "Come now, gentlemen, tell me +the truth. You invented that story, didn't you?" Neither of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> us spoke. +He looked appealingly at me, and with a laugh left the room. He turned, +however, in a moment, and stood looking at me. "There is a meeting at +the Queen's Hall to-night," he said slowly. "It is a medical conference +on the Blue Disease. No doubt you know of it. I am going to ask you a +question." He paused and smiled at Sarakoff. "Will you gentlemen make a +statement before those doctors to-night?"</p> + +<p>"We intended to do so," said Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>"I am delighted to hear it," said the Home Secretary. "It is a great +relief to me. They will know how best to deal with you. Good day."</p> + +<p>He left the room.</p> + +<p>I heard the front door close and then brisk footsteps passing the window +on the pavement outside.</p> + +<p>"There's no doubt that they're both a little mad." Sir Robert's voice +sounded for a moment, and then died away.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>CLUTTERBUCK'S ODD BEHAVIOUR</h3> + + +<p>Scarcely had the Home Secretary departed when my maid announced that a +patient was waiting to see me in my study.</p> + +<p>I left Sarakoff sitting tranquilly in the waiting-room and entered the +study. A grave, precise, clean-shaven man was standing by the window. He +turned as I entered. It was Mr. Clutterbuck.</p> + +<p>"So you are Dr. Harden!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>He stopped and looked confused.</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said; "please sit down, Mr. Clutterbuck."</p> + +<p>He did so, twisting his hat awkwardly and gazing at the floor.</p> + +<p>"I owe you an apology," he said at length. "I came to consult you, +little expecting to find that it was you after all—that you were Dr. +Harden. I must apologize for my rudeness to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> you in the tea-shop, but +what you said was so extraordinary ... you could not expect me to +believe."</p> + +<p>He glanced at me, and then looked away. There was a dull flush on his +face.</p> + +<p>"Please do not apologize. What did you wish to consult me about?"</p> + +<p>"About my wife."</p> + +<p>"Is she worse?"</p> + +<p>"No." He dropped his hat, recovered it, and finally set it upon a corner +of the table. "No, she is not worse. In fact, she is the reverse. She is +better."</p> + +<p>I waited, feeling only a mild interest in the cause of his agitation.</p> + +<p>"She has got the Blue Disease," he continued, speaking with difficulty. +"She got it yesterday and since then she has been much better. Her cough +has ceased. She—er—she is wonderfully better." He began to drum with +his fingers on his knee, and looked with a vacant gaze at the corner of +the room. "Yes, she is certainly better. I was wondering if——"</p> + +<p>There was a silence.</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>He started and looked at me.</p> + +<p>"Why, you've got it, too!" he exclaimed. "How extraordinary! I hadn't +noticed it." He got to his feet and went to the window. "I suppose I +shall get it next," he muttered.</p> + +<p>"Certainly, you'll get it."</p> + +<p>He nodded, and continued to stare out of the window. At length he spoke.</p> + +<p>"My wife is a woman who has suffered a great deal, Dr. Harden. I have +never had enough money to send her to health resorts, and she has always +refused to avail herself of any institutional help. For the last year +she has been confined to a room on the top floor of our house—a nice, +pleasant room—and it has been an understood thing between Dr. Sykes and +myself that her malady was to be given a convenient name. In fact, we +have called it a weak heart. You understand, of course."</p> + +<p>"Perfectly."</p> + +<p>"I have always been led to expect that the end was inevitable," he +continued, speaking with sudden rapidity. "Under such circumstances I +made certain plans. I am a careful man, Dr. Harden, and I look ahead and +lay my plans." He stopped abruptly and turned to face me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> "Is there any +truth in what you told me the other day?"</p> + +<p>I nodded. A curiously haggard expression came over him. He stepped +swiftly towards me and caught my arm.</p> + +<p>"Does the germ cure disease?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. Your wife is now immortal. You need not be alarmed, Mr. +Clutterbuck. She is immortal. Before her lies a future absolutely free +from suffering. She will rapidly regain her normal health and strength. +Provided she avoids accidents, your wife will live for ever."</p> + +<p>"My wife will live forever?" he repeated hoarsely. "Then what will +happen to me?"</p> + +<p>"You, too, will live for ever," I said calmly. "Please do not grasp my +arm so violently."</p> + +<p>He drew back. He was extremely pale, and there were beads of +perspiration on his brow.</p> + +<p>"Are you married?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Have you any idea what all this means to me if what you say is true?" +he exclaimed. He drew his hand across his eyes. "I am mad to believe you +for an instant. But she is better—there is no denying that. Good God,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +if it is true, what a tragedy you have made of human lives!"</p> + +<p>He remained standing in the middle of the room, and I, not +comprehending, gazed at him. Then, of a sudden, he picked up his hat, +and muttering something, dashed out and vanished.</p> + +<p>I heard the front door bang. Perfectly calm and undisturbed, I rejoined +Sarakoff in the waiting-room. The incident of Mr. Clutterbuck passed +totally from my mind, and I began to reflect on certain problems arising +out of the visit of the Home Secretary.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>IMMORTAL LOVE</h3> + + +<p>On the same afternoon Miss Annot paid me a visit. I was still sitting in +the waiting-room, and Sarakoff was with me. My mind had been deeply +occupied with the question of the larger beliefs that we hold. For it +had come to me with peculiar force that law and order, and officials +like the Home Secretary, are concerned only with the small beliefs of +humanity, with the burdensome business of material life. As long as a +man dressed properly, walked decently and paid correctly, he was +accepted, in spite of the fact that he might firmly believe the world +was square. No one worried about those matters. We judge people +ultimately by how they eat and drink and get up and sit down. What they +say is of little importance in the long run. If we examine a person +professionally, we merely ask him what day it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> is, where he is, what is +his name and where he was born. We watch him to see if he washes, +undresses and dresses, and eats properly. We ask him to add two and two, +and to divide six by three, and then we solemnly give our verdict that +he is either sane or insane.</p> + +<p>The enormity of this revelation engrossed me with an almost painful +activity of thought.</p> + +<p>I gazed across at Sarakoff and wondered what appalling gulf divided our +views on supreme things. What view did he really take of women? Did he +or did he not think that the planets and stars were inhabited? Did he +believe in the evolution of the soul like Mr. Thornduck?</p> + +<p>A kind of horror possessed me as I stared at him and reflected that +these questions had never entered my consciousness until that moment. I +had lived with him and dined with him and worked with him, and yet +hitherto it would have concerned me far more if I had seen him tuck his +napkin under his collar or spit on the carpet.... What laughable little +folk we were! I, who had always seen man as the last and final +expression of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> evolution, now saw him as the stumbling, crawling, +incredibly stupid, result of a tentative experiment—a first step up a +ladder of infinitive length.</p> + +<p>Whilst I was immersed in the humiliation of these thoughts Miss Annot +entered. She wore a dark violet coat and skirt and a black hat. I +noticed that her complexion, usually somewhat muddy, was perfectly +clear, though of a marble pallor. We greeted each other quietly and I +introduced Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>"So you are an Immortal, Alice," I said smiling. She gazed at me.</p> + +<p>"Richard, I do not know what I am, but I know one thing; I am entirely +changed. Some strange miracle has been wrought in me. I came to ask you +what it is."</p> + +<p>"You see that both Professor Sarakoff and I have got the germ in our +systems like you, Alice. Yes, it is a miracle; we are Immortals."</p> + +<p>I studied her face attentively, she had changed. It seemed to me that +she was another woman, she moved in a new way, her speech was unhurried, +her gaze was direct and thoughtful. I recalled her former appearance +when her manner had been nervous and bash<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>ful, her eyes downcast, her +movements hurried and anxious.</p> + +<p>"I do not understand," she said. "Tell me all you know."</p> + +<p>I did so, I suppose I must have talked for an hour on end. Throughout +that time neither she nor Sarakoff stirred. When I had finished there +was a long silence.</p> + +<p>"It is funny to think of our last meeting, Richard," she said at length. +"Do you remember how my father behaved? He is different now. He sits all +day in his study—he eats very little. He seems to be in a dream."</p> + +<p>"And you?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"I am in a dream, too. I do not understand it. All the things I used to +busy myself with seem unimportant."</p> + +<p>"That is how we feel," said Sarakoff. He rose to his feet and spoke +strongly. "Harden, as Miss Annot says, everything has changed. I never +foresaw this; I do not understand it myself."</p> + +<p>He went slowly to the mantelpiece and leaned against it.</p> + +<p>"When I created this germ, I saw in my mind an ideal picture of life. I +saw a world<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> freed from a dire spectre, a world from which fear had been +removed, the fear of death. I saw the great triumph of materialism and +the final smashing up of all superstition. A man would live in a state +of absolute certainty. He would lay his plans for pleasure and comfort +and enjoyment with absolute precision, knowing—not hoping—but +certainly knowing, that they would come about. I saw cities and gardens +built in triumph to cater for the gratification of every sense. I saw +new laws in operation, constructed by men who knew that they had +mastered the secret of life and had nothing to fear. I saw all those +things about which we are so timid and vague—marriage and divorce, the +education of children, luxury, the working classes, religion and so +on—absolutely settled in black and white. I saw what I thought to be +the millennium."</p> + +<p>"And now?" asked Alice.</p> + +<p>"Now I see nothing. I am in the dark. I do not understand what has +happened to me."</p> + +<p>"What we are in for now, no man can say," I remarked.</p> + +<p>"It's the extraordinary restfulness that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> puzzles me," said Sarakoff. +"Here I have been sitting for hours and I feel no inclination to do +anything."</p> + +<p>"The thing that is most extraordinary to me is the difficulty I have in +realizing how I spent my time formerly," said Alice. "Of course, father +is no bother now and meals have been cut down, but that does not account +for all of it. It seems as if I had been living in a kind of nightmare +in the past, from which I have suddenly escaped."</p> + +<p>"What do you feel most inclined to do?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Nothing at present. I sit and think. It was difficult for me to make +myself come here to-day." She smiled suddenly. "Richard, it seems +strange to recall that we were engaged."</p> + +<p>She spoke without any embarrassment and I answered her with equal ease.</p> + +<p>"I hope you don't think our engagement is broken off, Alice. I think my +feelings towards you are unchanged."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" exclaimed Sarakoff. "That is interesting. Are you sure of that, +Harden?"</p> + +<p>"Not altogether," I answered tranquilly. "There is a lot to think out +before I can be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> sure, but I know that I feel towards Alice a great +sympathy."</p> + +<p>"Sympathy!" the Russian exclaimed. "What are we coming to? Good heavens! +Is sympathy to be our strongest emotion? What do you think, Miss Annot."</p> + +<p>"Sympathy is exactly what I feel," she replied. "Richard and I would be +very good companions. Isn't that more important than passion?"</p> + +<p>"Is sympathy to be the bond between the sexes, then, and is all passion +and romance to die?" he exclaimed scornfully. He seemed to be struggling +with himself, as if he were trying to throw off some spell that held +him. "Surely I seem to recollect that yesterday life contained some +richer emotions than sympathy," he muttered. "What has come over us? Why +doesn't my blood quicken when I think of Leonora?" He burst into a +laugh. "Harden, this is comic. There is no other word for it. It is +simply comic."</p> + +<p>"It may be comic, Sarakoff, but to speak candidly, I prefer my state +to-day to my state yesterday. Last night seems to me like a bad dream." +I got to my feet. "There is one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> thing I must see about as soon as +possible, and that is getting rid of this house. What an absurd place to +live in this is! It is a comic house, if you like—like a tomb."</p> + +<p>The room seemed suddenly absurd. It was very dark, the wallpaper was of +a heavy-moulded variety, sombre in hue and covered with meaningless +figuring. The ceiling was oppressive. It, too, was moulded in some +fantastic manner. Several large faded oil-paintings hung on the wall. I +do not know why they hung there, they were hideous and meaningless as +well. The whole place was meaningless. It was the <i>meaninglessness</i> that +seemed to leap out upon me wherever I turned my eyes. The fireplace +astounded me. It was a mass of pillars and super-structures and +carvings, increasing in complexity from within outwards, until it +attained the appearance of an ornate temple in the centre of which +burned a little coal. It was grotesque. On the topmost ledges of this +monstrous absurdity stood two vases. They bulged like distended +stomachs, covered on their outsides with yellow, green and black +splotches of colour. I recollected that I paid ten pounds apiece for +them. Under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> what perverted impulse had I done that? My memories became +incredible. I moved deliberately to the mantelpiece and seized the +vases. I opened the window and hurled them out on to the pavement. They +fell with a crash, and their fragments littered the ground.</p> + +<p>Alice expressed no surprise.</p> + +<p>"It is rather comic," said the Russian, "but where are you going to +live?"</p> + +<p>"Alice and I will go and live by the sea. We have plenty to think about. +I feel as if I could never stop thinking, as if I had to dig away a +mountain of thought with a spade. Alice, we will go round to the house +agent now."</p> + +<p>When Alice and I left the house the remains of the vases littered the +pavement at our feet. We walked down Harley Street. The house agent +lived in Regent Street. It was now a clear, crisp afternoon with a +pleasant tint of sunlight in the air. A newspaper boy passed, calling +something unintelligible in an excited voice. I stopped him and bought a +paper.</p> + +<p>"What an inhuman noise to make," said Alice. "It seems to jar on every +nerve in my body. Do ask him to stop."</p> + +<p>"You're making too much noise," I said to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> the lad. "You must call +softly. It is an outrage to scream like that."</p> + +<p>He stared up at me, an impudent amazed face surmounting a tattered and +dishevelled body, and spoke.</p> + +<p>"You two do look a couple of guys, wiv' yer blue faices. If some of them +doctors round 'ere catches yer, they'll pop yer into 'ospital."</p> + +<p>He ran off, shrieking his unintelligible jargon.</p> + +<p>"We must get to the sea," I said firmly. "This clamour of London is +unbearable."</p> + +<p>I opened the paper. Enormous headlines stared me in the face.</p> + +<p>"Blue Disease sweeping over London. Ten thousand cases reported to-day. +Europe alarmed. Question of the isolation of Great Britain under +discussion. Debate in the Commons to-night. The Duke of Thud and the +Earl of Blunder victims. The Royal Family leave London."</p> + +<p>We stood together on the pavement and gazed at these statements in +silence. A sense of wonder filled my mind. What a confusion! What an +emotional, feverish, heated confusion! Why could not they take the +matter calmly?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> What, in the name of goodness, was the reason of this +panic. They knew that the Blue Disease had caused no fatalities in +Birmingham, and yet so totally absent was the power of thought and +deduction, that they actually printed those glaring headlines.</p> + +<p>"The fools," I said. "The amazing, fatuous fools. They simply want to +sell the paper. They have no other idea."</p> + +<p>A strong nausea came over me. I crumpled up the paper and stood staring +up and down the street. The newspaper boy was in the far distance, still +shrieking. I saw Sir Barnaby Burtle, the obstetrician, standing by his +scarlet front door, eagerly devouring the news. His jaw was slack and +his eyes protruded.</p> + +<p>The solemn houses of Harley Street only increased my nausea. The folly +of it—the selfish, savage folly of life!</p> + +<p>"Come, Richard," said Alice. "The sooner we get to the house agent the +better. We could never live here."</p> + +<p>"I'll put him on to the job of finding a bungalow on the South Coast at +once," I said. "And then we'll go and live there."</p> + +<p>"We must get married," she observed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>"Married!" I stopped and stared at her with a puzzled expression. "Don't +you think the marriage ceremony is rather barbarous?"</p> + +<p>She did not reply; we walked on immersed in our own thoughts. At times I +detected in the passers-by a gleam of sparrow-egg blue.</p> + +<p>My house agent was a large, confused individual who habitually wore a +shining top hat on the back of his head and twisted a cigar in the +corner of his mouth. He was very fat, with one of those creased faces +that seem to fall into folds like a heavy crimson curtain. His brooding, +congested eye fell upon me as we entered, and an expression of alarm +became visible in its depths. He pushed his chair back and retreated to +a corner of the room.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Harden!" he exclaimed fearfully, "you oughtn't to come here like +that, you really oughtn't."</p> + +<p>"Don't be an ass, Franklyn," I said firmly. "You are bound to catch the +germ sooner or later. It will impress you immensely."</p> + +<p>"It's all over London," he whimpered. "It's too much; it will hit us +hard. It's too much."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>"Listen to me," I said. "I have come here to see you about business. Now +sit down in your chair; I won't touch you. I want you to get me a +bungalow by the sea with a garden as soon as possible. I am going to +sell my house."</p> + +<p>"Sell your house!" He became calmer. "That is very extraordinary, Dr. +Harden."</p> + +<p>"I am going out of London."</p> + +<p>He was astonished.</p> + +<p>"But your house—in Harley Street—so central...." he stammered. "I +don't understand. Are you giving up your practice?"</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>"At your age, Dr. Harden?"</p> + +<p>"What has age got to do with it? There is no such thing as age."</p> + +<p>He stared. Then his eyes turned to Alice.</p> + +<p>"No such thing as age?" he murmured helplessly. "But surely you are not +going to sell; you have the best house in Harley Street. Its commanding +position ... in the centre of that famous locality...."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that any really sane man would live in the centre of +Harley Street," I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> asked calmly. "Is he likely to find any peace in that +furnace of crude worldly ambitions? But all that is already a thing of +the past. In a few weeks, Franklyn, Harley Street will be deserted."</p> + +<p>"Deserted?" His eyes rolled.</p> + +<p>"Deserted," I said sternly. "In its upper rooms there may remain a few +Immortals, but the streets will be silent. The great business of +sickness, which occupies the attention of a third of the world and +furnishes the main topic of conversation in every home, will be gone. +Sell my house, Franklyn, and find me a bungalow on the South Coast +facing the sea."</p> + +<p>I turned away and went towards the door, Alice followed me. The house +agent sat in helpless amazement. He filled me with a sense of nausea. He +seemed so gross, so mindless.</p> + +<p>"A bungalow," he whispered.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Let us have long, low, simple rooms and a garden where we may grow +enough to live on. The age of material complexity and noise is at an +end. We need peace."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>Strolling along at a slow pace, we went down Oxford Street towards the +Marble Arch. It was dusk. The newsboys were howling at every corner and +everyone had a paper. Little groups of people stood on the pavements +discussing the news. In the roadway the stream of traffic was incessant. +The huge motor-buses thundered and swayed along, with their loads of +pale humanity feverishly clinging to them. The public-houses were +crowded. The slight tension that the threat of the Blue Disease produced +in people filled the bars with men and women, seeking the relaxation of +alcohol. There was in the air that liveliness, that tendency to collect +into small crowds, that is evident whenever the common safety of the +great herd is threatened. In the Park a crowd surrounded the platform of +an agitator. In a voice like that of a delirious man, he implored the +crowd to go down on its knees and repent ... the end of the world was at +hand ... the Blue Disease was the pouring out of one of the vials of +wrath ... repent!... repent!... His voice rang in our ears and drove us +away. We crossed the damp grass. I stumbled over a sleeping man. There +was something familiar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> in his appearance and I stooped down and turned +him over. It was Mr. Herbert Wain. He seemed to be fast asleep.... We +walked to King's Cross, and I put Alice without regret in the train for +Cambridge.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>THE MEETING AT THE QUEEN'S HALL</h3> + + +<p>The same night a vast meeting of medical men had been summoned at the +Queen's Hall, with the object of discussing the nature of the strange +visitation, and the measures that should be adopted. Doctors came from +every part of the country. The meeting began at eight o'clock, and Sir +Jeremy Jones, the President of the Royal College of Physicians, opened +the discussion with a paper in which the most obvious features of the +disease were briefly tabulated.</p> + +<p>The great Hall was packed. Sarakoff and I got seats in the front row of +the gallery. Sir Jeremy Jones, a large bland man, with beautiful silver +grey hair, wearing evening dress, and pince-nez, stood up on the +platform amid a buzz of talk. The short outburst of clapping soon ceased +and Sir Jeremy began.</p> + +<p>The beginnings of the disease were outlined,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> the symptoms described, +and then the physician laid down his notes, and seemed to look directly +up at me.</p> + +<p>"So far," he said, in suave and measured tones, "I have escaped the Blue +Disease, but at any moment I may find myself a victim, and the fact does +not disquiet me. For I am convinced that we are witnessing the sudden +intrusion and the swift spread of an absolutely harmless organism—one +that has been, perhaps, dormant for centuries in the soil, or has +evolved to its present form in the deep waters of the Elan watershed by +a process whose nature we can only dimly guess at. Some have suggested a +meteoric origin, and it is true that some meteoric stones fell over +Wales recently. But that is far-fetched to my mind, for how could a +white-hot stone harbour living matter? Whatever its origin, it is, I am +sure, a harmless thing, and though strange, and at first sight alarming, +we need none of us alter our views of life or our way of living. The +subject is now open for discussion, and I call on Professor Sarakoff, of +Petrograd, the eminent bacteriologist, to give us the benefit of his +views, as I believe he has a statement to make."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>A burst of applause filled the Hall.</p> + +<p>"Good," muttered Sarakoff in my ear. "I will certainly give them my +views."</p> + +<p>"Be careful," I said idly. Sir Jeremy was gazing round the Hall. +Sarakoff stood up and there arose cries for silence. He made a striking +figure with his giant stature, his black hair and beard and his +blue-stained eyes. Sir Jeremy sat down, smiling blandly.</p> + +<p>"Mr. President and Gentlemen," began the Professor, in a voice that +carried to every part of the Hall. "I, as an Immortal, desire to make a +few simple and decisive statements to you to-night regarding the nature +of the Blue Disease, the germ of which was prepared by myself and my +friend, Dr. Richard Harden. The germ—in future to be known as the +Sarakoff-Harden bacillus—is ultra-microscopical. It grows in +practically every medium with great ease. In the human body it finds an +admirable host, and owing to the fact that it destroys all other +organisms, it confers immortality on the person who is infected by it. +We are therefore on the threshold of a new era."</p> + +<p>After this brief statement Sarakoff calmly sat down, and absolute +silence reigned. Sir<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> Jeremy, still smiling blandly, stared up at him. +Every face was turned in our direction. A murmur began, which quickly +increased. A doctor behind me leaned over and touched my shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Is he sane?" he asked in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," I replied.</p> + +<p>"But you don't believe him?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I do."</p> + +<p>"But it's ridiculous! Who is this Dr. Harden?"</p> + +<p>"I am Dr. Harden."</p> + +<p>The uproar in the Hall was now considerable. Sir Jeremy rose, and waved +his hands in gestures of restraint. Finally he had recourse to a bell +that stood on the table.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said, when silence was restored. "We have just heard a +remarkable statement from Professor Sarakoff and I think I am justified +in asking for proofs."</p> + +<p>I instantly got up. I was quite calm.</p> + +<p>"I can prove that Sarakoff's statement is perfectly correct," I said. "I +am Richard Harden. I discovered the method whereby the bacillus became a +possibility. Every man in this Hall who has the Sarakoff-Harden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +bacillus in his system is immortal. You, Mr. President, are not yet one +of the Immortals. But I fancy in a day or two you will join us." I +paused and smiled easily at the concourse below and around me. "It is +really bad luck on the medical profession," I continued. "I'm afraid +we'll all have to find some other occupation. Of course you've all +noticed how the germ cuts short disease."</p> + +<p>I sat down again. The smile on Sir Jeremy's face had weakened a little.</p> + +<p>"Turn them out!" shouted an angry voice from the body of the Hall.</p> + +<p>Sir Jeremy held up a protesting hand, and then took off his glasses and +began to polish them. A buzz of talk arose. Men turned to one another +and began to argue. The doctor behind me leaned forward again.</p> + +<p>"Is this a joke?" he enquired rather loudly.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"But you two are speaking rubbish. What the devil do you mean by saying +you're immortal?"</p> + +<p>I turned and looked at him. My calmness enraged him. He was a shaggy, +irritable, middle-aged practitioner.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>"You've got the Blue Disease, but you're no more immortal than a blue +monkey." He looked fiercely round at his neighbours. "What do you +think?"</p> + +<p>A babel of voices sounded in our ears.</p> + +<p>Sir Jeremy Jones appeared perplexed. Someone stood up in the body of the +Hall and Sir Jeremy caught his eye and seemed relieved. It was my friend +Hammer, who had tended me after the accident that my black cat had +brought about.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said Hammer, when silence had fallen. "Although the +statements of Professor Sarakoff and Dr. Harden appear fantastical, I +believe that they may be nearer the truth than we suppose." His manner, +slow, impressive and calm, aroused general attention. Frowning slightly, +he drew himself up and clasped the lapels of his coat. "This afternoon," +he continued, "I was at the bedside of a sick child who was at the point +of death. This child had been visited yesterday by a relative who, two +hours after the visit, developed the Blue Disease. Now——" He paused +and looked slowly about him. "Now the child was suffering from +peritonitis, and there was no possible chance of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> recovery. Yet that +child <i>did</i> recover and is now well."</p> + +<p>The whole audience was staring at him. Hammer took a deep breath and +grasped his coat more firmly.</p> + +<p>"That child, I repeat, is now well. The recovery set in under my own +eyes. I saw for myself the return of life to a body that was moribund. +The return was swift. In one hour the transformation was complete, and +it was <i>in that hour</i> that the child developed the outward signs of the +Blue Disease."</p> + +<p>He paused. A murmur ran round the hall and then once more came silence.</p> + +<p>"I am of the opinion," said Hammer deliberately, "that the cause of the +miracle—for it was a miracle—was the Blue Disease. Think, Gentlemen, +of a child in the last stages of septic peritonitis, practically dead. +Think again of the same child, one hour later, alive, free from pain, +smiling, interested—and stained with the Blue Disease. What conclusion, +as honest men, are we to draw from that?"</p> + +<p>He sat down. At once a man near him got to his feet.</p> + +<p>"The point of view hinted at by the last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> speaker is correct," he said. +"I can corroborate it to a small extent. This morning I was confined to +my bed with the beginnings of a bad influenzal cold. At midday I +developed the Blue Disease, and now I am as well as I have ever been in +the whole of my life. I attribute my cure to the Blue Disease."</p> + +<p>Scarcely had he taken his seat again when a grave scholarly man arose in +the gallery.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said, "I come from Birmingham; and it is a city of +miracles. The sick are being cured in thousands daily. The hospitals are +emptying daily. I verily believe that the Blue Disease may prove to be +all that Dr. Sarakoff and Dr. Harden claim it to be."</p> + +<p>The effect of these speakers upon the meeting was remarkable. A thrill +passed over the crowded Hall. Hammer rose again.</p> + +<p>"Let us accept for a moment that this new infection confers immortality +on humanity," he said, weighing each word carefully. "What are we, as +medical men, going to do? Look into the future—a future free from +disease, from death, possibly from pain. Are we to accept such a future +passively, or are we, as doctors,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> to strive to eradicate this new germ +as we strive to eradicate other germs?"</p> + +<p>Sir Jeremy Jones, with an expression of dismay, raised his hand.</p> + +<p>"Surely, surely," he exclaimed shrilly, "we are going too far. That the +Blue Disease may modify the course of illness is conceivable, and seems +to be supported by evidence. But to assume that it confers +immortality——"</p> + +<p>"Why should we doubt it?" returned Hammer warmly. "We have been told +that it does by two responsible men of science, and so far their claim +is justified. You, Mr. Chairman, have not seen the miracle that I have +seen this afternoon. If the germ can bring a moribund child back to life +in an hour, why should it not banish disease from the world?"</p> + +<p>"But if it does banish disease from the world, that does not mean it +confers immortality," objected Sir Jeremy. "Do you mean to say that we +are to regard natural death as a disease?"</p> + +<p>He gazed round the hall helplessly. Several men arose to speak, but were +unable to obtain a hearing, for excitement now ran high and every man +was discussing the situation with his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> neighbour. For a moment, a +strange dread had gripped the meeting, paralysing thought, but it +passed, and while some remained perplexed the majority began to resent +vehemently the suggestions of Hammer. I could hear those immediately +behind me insisting that the view was sheer rubbish. It was +preposterous. It was pure lunacy. With these phrases, constantly +repeated, they threw off the startling effect of Hammer's speech, and +fortified themselves in the conviction that the Blue Disease was merely +a new malady, similar to other maladies, and that life would proceed as +before.</p> + +<p>I turned to them.</p> + +<p>"You are deliberately deceiving yourselves," I said. "You have heard the +evidence. You are simply making as much noise as possible in order to +shut out the truth."</p> + +<p>My words enraged them. A sudden clamour arose around us. Several men +shook their fists and there were angry cries. One of them made a +movement towards us. In an instant calmness left us. The scene around us +seemed to leap up to our senses as something terrible and dangerous. +Sarakoff and I scrambled to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> our feet, pushed our way frantically +through the throng, reached the corridor and dashed down it. Fear of +indescribable intensity had flamed in our souls, and in a moment we +found ourselves running violently down Regent Street.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>THE WAY BACK</h3> + + +<p>It had been a wet night. Pools of water lay on the glistening pavements, +but the rain had ceased. We ran steadily until we came in sight of +Piccadilly Circus, and there our fear left us suddenly. It was like the +cutting off of a switch. We stopped in the street, gasping for breath.</p> + +<p>"This is really absurd," I observed; "we must learn to control +ourselves."</p> + +<p>"We can't control an emotion of that strength, Harden. It's +overwhelming. It's all the emotion we had before concentrated into a +single expression. No, it's going to be a nuisance."</p> + +<p>"The worst of it is that we cannot foresee it. We get no warning. It +springs out of the unknown like a tiger."</p> + +<p>We walked slowly across the Circus. It was thronged with a night crowd, +and seemed like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> some strange octagonal room, walled by moving coloured +lights. Here lay a scene that remained eternally the same whatever the +conditions of life—a scene that neither war, nor pestilence, nor famine +could change. We stood by the fountain, immersed in our thoughts. "I +used to enjoy this kind of thing," said Sarakoff at length.</p> + +<p>"And now?"</p> + +<p>"Now it is curiously meaningless—absolutely indecipherable."</p> + +<p>We walked on and entered Coventry Street. Here Sarakoff suddenly pushed +open a door and I followed him. We found ourselves in a brilliantly +illuminated restaurant. A band was playing. We sat down at an unoccupied +table.</p> + +<p>"Harden, I wish to try an experiment. I want to see if, by an effort, we +can get back to the old point of view."</p> + +<p>He beckoned to the waiter and ordered champagne, cognac, oysters and +caviare. Then he leaned back in his seat and smiled.</p> + +<p>"Somehow I feel it won't work," I began.</p> + +<p>He held up his hand.</p> + +<p>"Wait. It is an experiment. You must give it a fair chance. Come, let us +be merry."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>I nodded.</p> + +<p>"Let us eat, drink and be merry," I murmured.</p> + +<p>I watched the flushed faces and sparkling eyes around us. So far we had +attracted no attention. Our table was in a corner, behind a pillar. The +waiter hurried up with a laden tray, and in a moment the table was +covered with bottles and plates.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Sarakoff, "we will begin with a glass of brandy. Let us try +to recall the days of our youth—a little imagination, Harden, and then +perhaps the spell will be broken. A toast—Leonora!"</p> + +<p>"Leonora," I echoed.</p> + +<p>We raised our glasses. I took a sip and set down my glass. Our eyes met.</p> + +<p>"Is the brandy good?"</p> + +<p>"It is of an admirable quality," said Sarakoff. He put his glass on the +table and for some time we sat in silence.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me," I said. "Don't you think the caviare is a trifle——?"</p> + +<p>He made a gesture of determination.</p> + +<p>"Harden, we will try champagne."</p> + +<p>He filled two glasses.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>"Let us drink off the whole glass," he said. "Really, Harden, we must +try."</p> + +<p>I managed to take two gulps. The stuff was nasty. It seemed like weak +methylated spirits.</p> + +<p>"Continue," said Sarakoff firmly; "let us drink ourselves into the +glorious past, whither the wizard of alcohol transports all men."</p> + +<p>I took two more gulps. Sarakoff did the same. It was something in the +nature of a battle against an invisible resistance. I gripped the table +hard with my free hand, and took another gulp.</p> + +<p>"Sarakoff," I gasped. "I can't take any more. If you want to get alcohol +into my system you must inject it under my skin. I can't do it this +way."</p> + +<p>He put down his glass. It was half full. There were beads of +perspiration on his brow.</p> + +<p>"I'll finish that glass somehow," he observed. He passed his hand across +his forehead. "This is extraordinary. It's just like taking poison, +Harden, and yet it is an excellent brand of wine."</p> + +<p>"Do get these oysters taken away," I said. "They serve no purpose lying +here. They only take up room."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>"Wait till I finish my glass."</p> + +<p>With infinite trouble he drank the rest of the champagne. The effort +tired him. He sat, breathing quickly and staring before him.</p> + +<p>"That's a pretty woman," he observed. "I did not notice her before."</p> + +<p>I followed the direction of his gaze. A young woman, dressed in emerald +green, sat at a table against the opposite wall. She was talking very +excitedly, making many gestures and seemed to me a little intoxicated.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff poured out some more champagne.</p> + +<p>"I am getting back," he muttered. He looked like a man engaged in some +terrific struggle with himself. His breath was short and thick, his eyes +were reddened. Perspiration covered his face and hands. He finished the +second glass.</p> + +<p>"Yes, she is pretty," he said, "I like that white skin against the +brilliant green. She's got grace, too. Have you noticed white-skinned +women always are graceful, and have little ears, Harden?"</p> + +<p>He laughed suddenly, with his old boisterousness and clapped me on the +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"This is the way out!" he shouted, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> pointed to the silver tub that +contained the champagne bottle.</p> + +<p>His voice sounded loudly above the music.</p> + +<p>"The way out!" he repeated. He got to his feet. His eyes were congested. +The sweat streamed down his cheeks. "Here," he called in his deep +powerful voice, "here, all you who are afraid—here is the way out." He +waved his arms. People stopped drinking and talking to turn and stare at +him. "Back to the animals!" he shouted. "Back to the fur and hair and +flesh! I was up on the mountain top, but I've found the way back. Here +it is—here is the magic you need, if you're tired of the frozen +heights!"</p> + +<p>He swayed as he spoke. Strangely interested, I stared up at him.</p> + +<p>"He's delirious," called out the emerald young woman. "He's got that +horrid disease."</p> + +<p>The manager and a couple of waiters came up. "It's coming," shouted +Sarakoff; "I saw it sweeping over the world. See, the world is white, +like snow. They have robbed it of colour." The manager grasped his arm +firmly.</p> + +<p>"Come with me," he said. "You are ill. I will put you in a taxi."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>"You don't understand," said Sarakoff. "You are in it still. Don't you +see I'm a traveller?"</p> + +<p>"He is mad," whispered a waiter in my ear.</p> + +<p>"A traveller," shouted the Russian. "But I've come back. Greeting, +brothers. It was a rough journey, but now I hear and see you."</p> + +<p>"If you do not leave the establishment at once I will get a policeman," +said the manager with a hiss.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff threw out his hands.</p> + +<p>"Make ready!" he cried. "The great uprooting!" He began to laugh +unsteadily. "The end of disease and the end of desire—there's no +difference. You never knew that, brothers. I've come back to tell +you—thousands and thousands of miles—into the great dimension of hell +and heaven. It was a mistake and I'm going back. Look! She's +fading—further and further——" He pointed a shaking hand across the +room and suddenly collapsed, half supported by the manager.</p> + +<p>"Dead drunk," remarked a neighbour.</p> + +<p>I turned.</p> + +<p>"No. Live drunk," I said. "The champagne has brought him back to the +world of desire."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>The speaker, a clean-shaven young man, stared insolently.</p> + +<p>"You have no business to come into a public place with that disease," he +said with a sneer.</p> + +<p>"You are right. I have no business here. My business is to warn the +world that the end of desire is at hand." I signalled to a waiter and +together we managed to get Sarakoff into a taxi-cab.</p> + +<p>As we drove home, all that lay behind Sarakoff's broken confused words +revealed itself with increasing distinctness to me.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff spoke again.</p> + +<p>"Harden," he muttered thickly, "there was a flaw—in the dream——"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said. "I was sure there would be a flaw. I hadn't noticed it +before——"</p> + +<p>"We're cut off," he whispered. "Cut off."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>JASON</h3> + + +<p>Next morning the headlines of the newspapers blazed out the news of the +meeting at the Queen's Hall, and the world read the words of Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, most of the papers seemed inclined to view the situation +seriously.</p> + +<p>"If," said one in a leading article, "it really means that immortality +is coming to humanity—and there is, at least, much evidence from +Birmingham that supports the view that the germ cures all sickness—then +we are indeed face to face with a strange problem. For how will +immortality affect us as a community? As a community, we live together +on the tacit assumption that the old will die and the young will take +their place. All our laws and customs are based on this idea. We can +scarcely think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> of any institution that is not established upon the +certainty of death. What, then, if death ceases? Our food supply——"</p> + +<p>I was interrupted, while reading, by my servant who announced that a +gentleman wished to see me on urgent business. I laid aside the paper +and waited for him to enter.</p> + +<p>My early visitor was a tall, heavily-built man, with strong eyes. He was +carefully dressed. He looked at me attentively, nodded, and sat down.</p> + +<p>"My name is Jason—Edward Jason. You have no doubt heard of me."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," I said. "You are the proprietor of this paper that I have +just been reading."</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p>"And of sixty other daily papers, Dr. Harden," he said in a soft voice. +"I control much of the opinion in the country, and I intend to control +it all before I die."</p> + +<p>"A curious intention. But why should you die? You will get the germ in +time. I calculate that in a month at the outside the whole of London and +the best part of the country will be infected."</p> + +<p>While I spoke he stared hard at me. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> nodded again, glanced at his +boots, pinched his lips, and then stared again.</p> + +<p>"A year ago I made a tour of all the big men in your profession, both +here, in America, and on the continent, Dr. Harden. I had a very +definite reason for doing this. The reason was that—well, it does not +matter now. I wanted a diagnosis and a forecast of the future. I +consulted forty medical men—all with big names. Twenty-one gave me +practically identical opinions. The remaining nineteen were in +disagreement. Of that nineteen six gave me a long life."</p> + +<p>"What did the twenty-one give you?"</p> + +<p>"Five years at the outside."</p> + +<p>I looked at him critically.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I should have given the same—a year ago."</p> + +<p>He coloured a little, and his gaze fell; he shifted himself in his +chair. Then he looked up suddenly, with a strong glow in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"And now?"</p> + +<p>"Now I give you—immortality." I spoke quite calmly, with no intention +of any dramatic effect.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>The colour faded from his cheeks, and the glow in his eyes increased.</p> + +<p>"If I get the Blue Disease, do you swear that it will cure me?"</p> + +<p>"Of course it will cure you."</p> + +<p>He got to his feet. He seemed to be in the grip of some powerful +emotion, and I could see that he was determined to control himself. He +walked down the room and stood for some time near the window.</p> + +<p>"A gipsy once told me I would die when I was fifty-two. Will you believe +me when I say that that prophecy has weighed upon me more than any +medical opinion?" He turned and came up the room and stood before me. +"Did you ever read German psychology and philosophy?"</p> + +<p>"To a certain extent—in translations."</p> + +<p>"Well, Dr. Harden, I stepped out of the pages of some of those books, I +think. You've heard of the theory of the Will to Power? The men who +based human life on that instinct were right!" He clenched his hands and +closed his eyes. "This last year has been hell to me. I've been haunted +every hour by the thought of death—just so much longer—so many +thou<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>sand days—and then Nothing!" He opened his eyes and sat down +before me. "Are you ambitious, Dr. Harden?"</p> + +<p>"I was—very ambitious."</p> + +<p>"Do you know what it is to have a dream of power, luring you on day and +night? Do you know what is to see the dream becoming reality, bit by +bit—and then to be given a time limit, when the dream is only half +worked out?"</p> + +<p>"I have had my dream," I said. "It is now realized."</p> + +<p>"The germ?"</p> + +<p>I nodded. He leaned forward.</p> + +<p>"Then you are satisfied?"</p> + +<p>"I have no desires now."</p> + +<p>He did not appear to understand.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe yet in your theory of immortality," he said slowly. +"But I do believe that the germ cures sickness. I have had private +reports from Birmingham, and to-morrow I'm going to publish them as +evidence. You see, Harden, I've decided to back you. To-morrow I'm going +to make Gods of you and your Russian associate. I'm going to call you +the greatest benefactors the race has known. I'm going to lift you up to +the skies."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>He looked at me earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Doesn't that stir you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No, I told you that I have no desires."</p> + +<p>He laughed.</p> + +<p>"You're dazed. You must have worked incredibly hard. Wait till you see +your name surrounded by the phrases I will devise you. I can make men +out of nothing." His eyes shone into mine. "I once heard a man say that +the trail of the serpent lay across my papers. That man is in an asylum +now. I can break men, too, you see. Now I want to ask you something."</p> + +<p>I watched him with ease, totally uninfluenced by his magnetism—calm and +aloof as a man watching a mechanical doll.</p> + +<p>"Can you limit the germ?" he asked softly.</p> + +<p>I shook my head.</p> + +<p>"Can you take any steps to stop it or keep it—within control?"</p> + +<p>I shook my head again. He stared for a minute at me.</p> + +<p>"I believe you," he said at last. "It's a pity. Think what we could have +done—just a few of us!" He sat for some time drumming his fingers on +his knees and frowning slightly. Then he stood up.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>"Never mind," he exclaimed. "I'm convinced it will cure me. That is the +main thing. I'll have plenty of time to realize my dream now, Harden, +thanks to you. You don't know what that means—ah, you don't know!"</p> + +<p>"By the way," I said, "I see you are suggesting that food may become a +problem in the future. I think we'll be all right."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, if there's no desire, there's no appetite."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand," he said. "It seems clear that if disease is +mastered by the germ, then the death-rate will drop, and there will be +more mouths to fill. If everyone lives for their threescore and ten, the +food question will be serious."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they'll live longer than that. They'll live for ever, Mr. Jason."</p> + +<p>He laughed tolerantly.</p> + +<p>"In any case there will be a food problem," he said in a quiet friendly +voice. "There will be more births, and more children—for none will +die—and more old people."</p> + +<p>"There won't be more births," I said.</p> + +<p>He swung round on his heel.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>"Why not?" he asked sharply.</p> + +<p>"Because there will be no desire, Mr. Jason. You can't have births +without desires, don't you see?"</p> + +<p>At that moment Sarakoff entered the room. I introduced him to the great +newspaper proprietor. Jason made some complimentary remarks, which +Sarakoff received with cool gravity.</p> + +<p>I could see that Jason was very puzzled. He had seated himself again, +and was watching the Russian closely.</p> + +<p>"The effects of last night have vanished," said Sarakoff to me. "My head +is clear again and I have no intention of ever repeating the +experiment."</p> + +<p>"You got back, to some extent."</p> + +<p>"Yes, partly. It was tremendously painful. I felt like a man in a +nightmare."</p> + +<p>I turned to Jason and explained what had happened at the restaurant. He +listened intently.</p> + +<p>"You see," I concluded, "the germ kills desire. Sarakoff and I live on a +level of consciousness that is undisturbed by any craving. We live in a +wonderful state of peace,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> which is only broken by the appearance of +physical danger—against which, of course, the germ is not proof."</p> + +<p>Jason was silent.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to tell me," he said at length, in a very deliberate voice, +"that the effect of the germ is to destroy ambition?"</p> + +<p>"Worldly ambition, certainly," I replied. "But I believe that, in time, +ambitions of a subtler nature will reveal themselves in us, as +Immortals."</p> + +<p>Jason smiled very broadly.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said, "you are wonderful men. You have discovered +something that benefits humanity enormously. But take my advice—leave +your other theories alone. Stick to the facts—that your germ cures +sickness. Drop the talk about immortality and desire. It's too +fantastic, even for me. In the meantime I shall spread abroad the news +that the end of sickness is at hand, and that humanity is on the +threshold of a new era. For that I believe with all my heart."</p> + +<p>"One moment," said Sarakoff. "If you believe that this germ does away +with disease, what is going to cause men to die?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>"Old age."</p> + +<p>"But that is a disease itself."</p> + +<p>"Wear and tear isn't a disease. That's what kills most of us."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but wear and tear comes from desire, Mr. Jason," I said. "And the +germ knocks that out. So what is left, save immortality?"</p> + +<p>When Jason left us, I could see that he was impressed by the possibility +of life being, at least, greatly prolonged. And this was the line he +took in his newspapers next day.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>THE FIRST MURDERS</h3> + + +<p>The effect of Jason's newspapers on public opinion was remarkable. +Humanity ever contains within it the need for mystery, and the strange +and incredible, if voiced by authority, stir it to its depths. The facts +about the healing of sickness and the cure of disease in Birmingham were +printed in heavy type and read by millions. Nothing was said about +immortality save what Sarakoff and I had stated at the Queen's Hall +meeting. But instinctively the multitude leaped to the conclusion that +if the end of disease was at hand, then the end of death—at least, the +postponement of death—was to be expected.</p> + +<p>Jason, pale and masterful, visited us in the afternoon, and told us of +the spread of the tidings in England. "They've swallowed it," he +exclaimed; "it's stirred them as nothing else has done in the last +hundred years. I visited the East End to-day. The streets are full of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +people. Crowds everywhere. It might lead to anything."</p> + +<p>"Is the infection spreading swiftly?"</p> + +<p>"It's spreading. But there are plenty of people, like myself, who +haven't got it yet. I should say that a quarter of London is blue." He +looked at me with a sudden anxiety. "You're sure I'll get it?"</p> + +<p>"Quite sure. Everyone is bound to get it. There's no possible immunity."</p> + +<p>He sat heavily in the chair, staring at the carpet.</p> + +<p>"Harden, I didn't quite like the look of those crowds in the East End. +Anything big like this stirs up the people. It excites them and then the +incalculable may happen. I've been thinking about the effect upon the +uneducated mind. I've spread over the country the vision of humanity +free from disease, and that's roused something in them—something +dangerous—that I didn't foresee. Disease, Harden, whatever you doctors +think of it, puts the fear of God into humanity. It's these sudden +releases—releases from ancient fears—that are so dangerous. Are you +sure you can't stop the germ, or direct it along certain channels?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>"I have already told you that's impossible."</p> + +<p>"You might as well try and stop the light of day," said Sarakoff from a +sofa, where he was lying apparently asleep. "Let the people think what +they like now. Wait till they get it themselves. There are rules in the +game, Jason, that you have no conception of, and that I have only +realized since I became immortal. Yes—rules in the game, whether you +play it in the cellar or the attic, or in the valley, or on the mountain +top."</p> + +<p>"Your friend is very Russian," said Jason equably. "I have always heard +they are dreamers and visionaries. Personally, I am a practical man, and +as such I foresee trouble. If the masses of the people have no illness, +and enjoy perfect health, we shall be faced by a difficult problem. +They'll get out of hand. Depressed states of health are valuable assets +in keeping the social organization together. All this demands careful +thought. I am visiting the Prime Minister this evening and shall give +him my views."</p> + +<p>At that moment a newspaper boy passed the window with an afternoon +edition and Jason went out to get a copy. He returned with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> smile of +satisfaction, carrying the paper open before him.</p> + +<p>"Three murders in London," he announced. "One in Plaistow, one in East +Ham and one in Pimlico. I told you there was unrest abroad." He laid the +paper on the table and studied it "In every case it was an aged +person—two old women, and one old man. Now what does that mean?"</p> + +<p>"A gang at work."</p> + +<p>He shook his head.</p> + +<p>"No. In one case the murderer has been caught. It was a case of +patricide—a hideous crime. Curiously enough the victim had the Blue +Disease. The end must have been ghastly, as it states here that the +expression on the old man's face was terrible."</p> + +<p>He sat beside the table, drumming his fingers on it and staring at the +wall before him. I was not particularly interested in the news, but I +was interested in Jason. Character had formerly appealed little to me, +but now I found an absorbing problem in it.</p> + +<p>"Harden, do you think that son killed his father <i>because</i> he had the +Blue Disease?"</p> + +<p>I was struck by the remark. For some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> reason the picture of Alice's +father came into my mind. Jason sprang to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's it," he exclaimed. "That's what lay behind those restless +crowds. I knew there was something—a riddle to read, and now I've got +the answer. The crowd doesn't know what's rousing them. But I do. It's +fear and resentment, Harden. It's fear and resentment against the old." +He brought his fist down on the table. "The germ's going to lead to war! +It's going to lead to the worst war humanity has ever experienced—the +war of the young against the old. Not the ancient strife or struggle +between young and old, but open bloodshed, my friends. That's what your +germ is going to do."</p> + +<p>I smiled and shook my head.</p> + +<p>"Wait," said Sarakoff from the sofa; "wait a little. Why are you in such +a hurry to jump to conclusions?"</p> + +<p>"Because it's my business to jump to conclusions just six hours before +anyone else does," said Jason. "I calculate that my mind, for the last +twenty years, has been six hours ahead of time. I live in a state of +chronic anticipation, Dr. Sarakoff. Just let me use your telephone for a +moment."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>He returned a quarter of an hour later. His expression was calm, but his +eyes were hard. "I was right," he said. "Those two old women had the +Blue Disease, and a girl, a daughter, is suspect in one case. Can't you +imagine the situation? Girl lives with her aged mother—can't get +free—mother has what money there is—not allowed to marry—girl +unconsciously counts on mother's death—probably got a secret +love-affair—is expecting the moment of release—and then, along comes +the Blue Disease and one of my newspapers telling her what it means. The +old lady recovers her health—the future shuts down like a rat trap and +what does the poor girl do? Kills her mother—and probably goes mad. +That, gentlemen, is my theory of the case."</p> + +<p>He strode up and down the room.</p> + +<p>"You may think I'm taking a low view," he cried. "But there are hundreds +of thousands of similar cases in England. God help the old if the young +forget their religion!"</p> + +<p>For some reason I was unmoved by the outcry. It was no doubt owing to +the peculiar emotionless state that the germ induced in people. Jason +was roused. He paced to and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> fro in silence, with his brows contracted. +At length he stopped before me.</p> + +<p>"Do you see any way out?"</p> + +<p>"There will be no war between the young and the old," I replied. "In +another week everyone will get the germ and that will be the end of war +in every form."</p> + +<p>He drew a chair and sat down before me.</p> + +<p>"You don't understand," he said earnestly. "Perhaps you had a happy +childhood. I didn't. I know how some sons and daughters feel because I +suffered in that way. People are strangely blind to suffering unless +they have suffered themselves. When I was a young man, my father put me +in his office and gave me a clerk's wages. He kept me there for six +years at eighteen shillings a week. Whenever I made a suggestion +concerning the business he was careful to ridicule it. Whenever I tried +to break away and start on my own, he prevented it. There were a +thousand other things—ways in which he fettered me. My only sister he +kept at home to do the housework. He forbade her to marry. She and I +never had enough money to do anything, to go anywhere, or to buy +anything. Now, to be quite frank, I longed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> for him to die so that I +could get free. To me he was an ogre, a great merciless tyrant, a giant +with a club. Well, he died. When he was dead I felt what a man dying of +thirst in the desert must feel when he suddenly comes to a spring of +water. I recovered, and became what I am. My sister never recovered. She +had been suppressed beyond all the limits of elasticity. As far as her +body is concerned, it is alive. Her soul is dead."</p> + +<p>He paused and looked at me meditatively.</p> + +<p>"If your blue germ had come along then, Harden, I might—— Who knows? I +have often wondered why our pulpit religion ignores the crimes of +parents to their children. I'm not conventionally religious, but I seem +to remember that Christ indirectly said something pretty strong on the +subject. But the pulpit folk show a wonderful facility for ignoring the +awkward things Christ said. In about three years' time I'm going to turn +my guns on the Church. They've sneered at me too much."</p> + +<p>"There will be a new Church by that time," murmured Sarakoff. "And no +guns."</p> + +<p>Jason eyed the prostrate figure of the Russian.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>"I refer to my newspapers. That's going to be my final triumph. Why do +you smile?"</p> + +<p>"Because you said a moment ago that it was your business to be six hours +ahead of everyone else. You're countless centuries behind Harden and me. +We have taken a leap into the future. If you want to know what humanity +will be, look at us closely. You'll get some hints that should be +valuable. I admit that our bodies are old-fashioned in their size and +shape, but not our emotions."</p> + +<p>The telephone bell rang in the hall and Jason jumped up.</p> + +<p>"I think that's for me."</p> + +<p>He went out. I remained sitting calmly in my chair. An absolute serenity +surrounded me. All that Jason did or said was like looking at an +interesting play. I was perfectly content to sit and think—think of +Jason, of what his motives were, of the reason why a man is blind where +his desires are at work, of the new life, of the new organizations that +would be necessary. I was like a glutton before a table piled high with +delicacies and with plenty of time to spare. Sarakoff seemed to be in +the same condition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> for he lay with his eyes half shut, motionless and +absorbed.</p> + +<p>Jason entered the room suddenly. He carried his hat and stick.</p> + +<p>"Two more murders reported from Greenwich, and ten from Birmingham. It's +becoming serious, Harden! I'm off to Downing Street. Watch the morning +editions!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>AT DOWNING STREET</h3> + + +<p>That night, at eight o'clock, I was summoned to Downing Street. I left +Sarakoff lying on the sofa, apparently asleep. I drove the first part of +the way in a taxi, but at the corner of Orchard Street the cab very +nearly collided with another vehicle, and in a moment I was a helpless +creature of fear. So I walked the rest of the way, much to the +astonishment of the driver, who thought I was a lunatic. It was a fine +crisp evening and the streets were unusually full. Late editions of the +paper were still being cried, and under the lamps were groups of people, +talking excitedly.</p> + +<p>From what I could gather from snatches of conversation that I overheard, +it seemed that many thought the millennium was at hand. I mused on this, +wondering if beneath the busy exterior of life there lurked in people's +hearts a secret imperishable conviction. And, after all,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> was it not a +millennium—the final triumph of science—the conquest of the irrational +by the rational?</p> + +<p>There was a good deal of drunkenness, and crowds of men and women, +linked arm and arm, went by, singing senseless songs. In Piccadilly +Circus the scene was unusually animated. Here, beyond doubt, the Jason +press had produced a powerful impression. The restaurants and bars +blazed with light. Crowds streamed in and out and a spirit of hilarious +excitement pervaded everyone. Irresponsibility—that was the universal +attitude; and I became deeply occupied in thinking how the germ should +have brought about such a temper in the multitude. Only occasionally did +I catch the blue stain in the eyes of the throng about me.</p> + +<p>I reached Downing Street and was shown straight into a large, rather +bare room. By the fireplace sat Jason, and beside him, on the hearthrug, +stood the Premier. Jason introduced me and I was greeted with quiet +courtesy.</p> + +<p>"I intend to make a statement in the House to-night and would like to +put a few questions to you," said the Premier in a slow clear voice. +"The Home Secretary has been considering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> whether you and Dr. Sarakoff +should be arrested. I see no use in that. What you have done cannot be +undone."</p> + +<p>"That is true."</p> + +<p>"In matters like this," he continued, "it is always a question of taking +sides. Either we must oppose you and the germ, or we must side with you, +and extol the virtues of the new discovery. A neutral attitude would +only rouse irritation. I have therefore looked into the evidence +connected with the effects claimed for the germ, and have received +reports on the rate of its spread. It would seem that it is of benefit +to man, so far as can be judged at present, and that its course cannot +be stayed."</p> + +<p>I assented, and remained gazing abstractedly at the fire.</p> + +<p>He continued in a sterner tone—</p> + +<p>"It may, however, be necessary to place you and Dr. Sarakoff under +police protection. There is no saying what may happen. Your action in +letting loose the germ in the water supply of Birmingham was +unfortunate. You have taken a great liberty with humanity, whatever may +result from it."</p> + +<p>"Medical men have no sense of proportion,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> murmured Jason. "Science +makes them so helpless."</p> + +<p>"I see no kind of helplessness in rescuing humanity from disease," I +answered calmly. "Please tell me what you want to know."</p> + +<p>They both looked at me attentively. The Premier took out a pair of +pince-nez and began to clean the lenses, still watching me.</p> + +<p>"France is unwilling to let the germ into her territory. Can measures be +taken to stop its access to the Continent?"</p> + +<p>"No. It will get there inevitably. It has probably got there long ago. +It is air borne and water borne and probably sea borne as well. The +whole world will be infected sooner or later. There is no immunity +possible."</p> + +<p>The Premier put on his pince-nez and warmed his hands at the fire.</p> + +<p>"Then what will the result of the germ be upon mankind?" he asked at +length.</p> + +<p>"It will begin a new era. What has made reform so difficult up to now?"</p> + +<p>"People do not see eye to eye on all questions, Dr. Harden. That is the +main reason."</p> + +<p>"And why do they not see eye to eye?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>"Because their desires are not the same."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Now imagine a humanity without desires, as you and Jason +understand desire. What would be the result?"</p> + +<p>"It is impossible to conceive. The wheels of the world would cease +turning. We should be like sheep without a shepherd." He surveyed me +quietly for some time. "Then you think the germ will kill desire?"</p> + +<p>"I know it. I am a living example. I have no desires. I am like a man +without a body, I am immortal."</p> + +<p>Jason laughed.</p> + +<p>"You are above temptation?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Absolutely. Neither money, power nor woman has any influence on me. +They are meaningless."</p> + +<p>"You have, perhaps, reached Nirvana?" the Premier enquired.</p> + +<p>"Yes. That is why I am immortal. I have reached Nirvana."</p> + +<p>"By a trick."</p> + +<p>"If you like—by a trick."</p> + +<p>"Then I cannot think you will stay there for long," said the Premier. "I +shall look forward to my attack of the Blue Disease with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> interest. It +will be amusing to note one's sensations."</p> + +<p>It was clear to me that he was defending himself against my greater +knowledge, but it was a matter of no importance to me. I was faintly +oppressed by the dreary immensity of the room. I had become sensitive to +atmosphere, and the feeling of that room was not harmonious.</p> + +<p>The Premier stood in deep thought.</p> + +<p>"If the germ prolongs life, it will lead to complications," he remarked. +"The question of being too old has attracted public attention for some +time now, which shows the way the wind is blowing. Oldness has become, +in a small degree, a problem. The world is younger than it used to +be—more impatient, more anxious to live a free life, to escape from any +form of bondage. And so people have begun to ask what we are to do with +our old men."</p> + +<p>He paused and looked at Jason.</p> + +<p>"My friend Jason thinks these murders are caused indirectly by the +germ."</p> + +<p>"It is possible."</p> + +<p>"It seems fantastic. But there may be something in it." The Premier +raised his eyes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> and studied the ceiling. "There is certainly some +excitement abroad. We are dealing with an unprecedented situation. I +therefore propose to say to-night that if, in the course of time, we +find that life is prolonged and disease done away with, new laws will +have to be considered."</p> + +<p>"Not only new laws," I said. "We shall have to reconstruct the whole +future of life. But there is no hurry. There is plenty of time. There is +eternity before us."</p> + +<p>"What do you eat?" demanded the Premier suddenly.</p> + +<p>"A little bread or biscuit."</p> + +<p>He clasped his hands behind his back and surveyed me for quite a minute.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe you're a quack," he observed. "But when you walked into +the room, I was doubtful."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because you wouldn't look at me squarely."</p> + +<p>"Why should I look at you squarely? I looked at you and saw you. I have +no desire to make any impression on you, or to dominate you in any way. +It was sufficient just to see you. As Immortals, we do not waste our +time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> looking at one another squarely. An Immortal cannot act."</p> + +<p>The Premier smiled to himself and took out his watch.</p> + +<p>"I am obliged to you for the instance," he said. "Good-night."</p> + +<p>I rose and walked towards the door. On my way I stopped before a vast +dingy oil-painting.</p> + +<p>"Why do you all deceive yourselves that you admire things like that? +Throw it away. When you become an Immortal you won't live here."</p> + +<p>The Premier and Jason stood together on the hearth-rug. They watched me +intently as I went out and closed the door behind me. A servant met me +on the landing and escorted me downstairs. I observed that he was an +Immortal.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"I am a spectator," he said in a calm voice. "And you?"</p> + +<p>"I, too, am a spectator."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>NIGHT OF AN IMMORTAL</h3> + + +<p>I passed a most remarkable night. On reaching home I went to bed as +usual. My mind was busy, but what busied it was not the events of the +day.</p> + +<p>I lay in the darkness in a state of absolute contentment. My eyes were +closed. My body was motionless, and felt warm and comfortable. I was +quite aware of the position of my limbs in space and I could hear the +sound of passing vehicles outside. I was not asleep and yet at the same +time I was not awake. I knew I was not properly awake because, when I +tried to move, there seemed to be a resistance to the impulse, which +prevented it from reaching the muscles. As I have already said, I could +feel. The sensation of my body was there, though probably diminished, +but the power of movement was checked, though only slightly. And<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> all +the time I lay in that state, my mind was perfectly lucid and +continually active. I thought about many things and the power of thought +was very great, in that I could keep my attention fixed hour after hour +on the same train of thought, go backwards and forwards along it, change +and modify its gradations, just as if I were dealing with some material +and plastic formation. Since that time I have become acquainted with a +doctrine that teaches that thoughts are in the nature of things—that a +definite thought is a formation in some tenuous medium of matter, just +as a cathedral is a structure in gross matter. This is certainly the +kind of impression I gained then.</p> + +<p>It was now in the light of contrast that I could reflect on the rusty +and clumsy way in which I had previously done my thinking, and I +remembered with a faint amusement that there had been a time when I +considered that I had a very clear and logical mind. Logical! What did +we, as mere mortals full of personal desire, know of logic? The +reflection seemed infinitely humorous. My thoughts had about them a new +quality of stability. They formed themselves into clear images, which +had a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> remarkable permanence. Their power and influence was greatly +increased. If, for example, I thought out a bungalow situated on the +cliff, I built up, piece by piece in my mind, the complete picture; and +once built up it remained there so that I could see it as a whole, and +almost, so to speak, walk round it and view it from different angles. I +could lay aside this thought-creation just as I might lay aside a model +in clay, and later on bring it back into my mind, as fresh and clear as +ever. The enjoyment of thinking under such conditions is impossible to +describe. It was like the joy of a man, blind from childhood, suddenly +receiving his sight.</p> + +<p>As ordinary mortals, we are all familiar with the apparently real scenes +that occur in dreams. In our dreams we see buildings and walk round +them. We see flights of steps and climb them. We apparently touch and +taste food. We meet friends and strangers and converse with them. At +times we seem to gaze over landscapes covered with woods and meadows.</p> + +<p>It seemed to me that the magic of dreams had in some way become attached +to thought. For as Immortals we did not dream as mortals<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> do. In place +of dreaming, we created immense thought-forms, working as it were on a +new plane of matter whose resources were inexhaustible.</p> + +<p>That night I built my ideal bungalow and when I had finished it I +constructed my ideal garden. And then I made a sea and a coast-line, and +when it was finished it was so real to me that I actually seemed to go +into its rooms, sit on the verandah, breathe in its sea-airs and listen +to the surf below its cliff. I remember that one of its rooms did not +please me entirely, and that I seemed to pull it down—in thought—and +reconstruct it according to my wish. This took time, for brick by brick +I thought the new room into existence. One law that governed that state +was easy to grasp, for whatever you did not think out clearly assumed a +blurred unsatisfactory form. It became clear to me as early as that +first night of immortality that the more familiar a man was with matter +on the earth and its ways and possibilities, the more easily could he +make his constructions on that plan of thought.</p> + +<p>The whole of that night I lay in this state of creative joy and I know +that my body remained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> motionless. It seemed that only a film divided me +from the use of my limbs, but that film was definite. At eight o'clock +on that morning, I became aware of a vague feeling of strain. It was a +very slight sensation, but its effect was to make the thoughts that +occupied my consciousness to become less definite. I had to make an +effort to keep them distinct. The strain slowly became greater. It had +begun with a sense of distance, but it seemed to get nearer, and I +experienced a feeling that I can only compare to as that which a man has +when he is losing his balance and about to fall.</p> + +<p>The strain ended suddenly. I found myself moving my limbs. I opened my +eyes and looked round. The graphic, visible quality of my thoughts had +now vanished. I was awake.</p> + +<p class="newscene">I have given the above account of the night of an Immortal, because it +has seemed to me right that some record should be left of the effect of +the germ on the mind. I would explain the inherent power of thought as +being due to the freedom from the ordinary desires of mortals, which +waste and dissipate the energies of the mind ... but of that I cannot be +certain.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3>OUR FLIGHT</h3> + + +<p>I got out of bed and began to examine my clothes. They were strewn about +the floor and on chairs. The colour of them seemed peculiar to my +senses. My frock coat, of heavy black material, with curious braiding +and buttons, fascinated me. I counted the number of separate things that +made up my complete attire. They were twenty-four in number. I +discovered that in addition to these articles of actual wearing material +I was in the habit of carrying on my person about sixty other articles. +For some reason I found these calculations very interesting. I had a +kind of counting mania that morning. I counted all the things I used in +dressing myself. I counted the number of stripes on my trousers and on +my wall-paper; I counted the number of rooms in my house, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> articles +of furniture that they contained, and the number of electric lamps. I +went into the kitchen and counted everything I could see, to the +astonishment of my servants. I observed that my cook showed a faint blue +stain in her eyes, but that the other servants showed no signs as yet of +the Blue Disease. I went into my study and counted the books; I opened +one of them. It was the British Pharmacopœia. I began mechanically to +count the number of drugs it contained. I was still counting them when +the breakfast gong sounded. I went across the hall and counted on my way +the number of sticks and hats and coats that were there. I finished up +by counting the number of things on the breakfast table. Then I picked +up the newspaper. There were, by the way, one hundred and four distinct +things on my breakfast table.</p> + +<p>The paper was full of the records of crime and of our names.</p> + +<p>The account of the Prime Minister's statement in the House was given in +full. Our names were printed in large letters, and apparently our +qualifications had been looked up, for they were mentioned, together +with a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> biographical sketch. In a perfectly calm and observant +spirit I read the closely-printed column. My eye paused for some time at +an account of my personal appearance—"a small, insignificant-looking +man, with straight blue-black hair, like a Japanese doll, and an untidy +moustache, speaking very deliberately and with a manner of extreme +self-assurance."</p> + +<p>Extreme self-assurance! I reflected that there might, after all, be some +truth in what the reporter said. On the night that I had spoken at the +Queen's Hall meeting I had been quite self-possessed. I pursued the +narrative and smiled slightly at a description of the Russian—"a +loosely-built, bearded giant, unkempt in appearance, and with huge +square hands and pale Mongolian eyes which roll like those of a maniac." +That was certainly unfair, unless the reporter had seen him at the +restaurant when Sarakoff drank the champagne. I was about to continue, +when a red brick suddenly landed neatly on my breakfast table, and +raised the number of articles on that table to one hundred and five.</p> + +<p>There was a tinkle of falling glass; I looked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> up and saw that the +window was shattered. The muslin curtain in front of it had been torn +down by the passage of the brick, and the street without was visible +from where I sat. A considerable crowd had gathered on the pavement. +They saw me and a loud cry went up. The front door bell was ringing and +there was a sound of heavy blows that echoed through the house.</p> + +<p>My housemaid came running into the room. She uttered a shriek as she saw +the faces beyond the window and ran out again. I heard a door at the +back of the house slam suddenly.</p> + +<p>A couple of men, decently enough dressed, were getting over the area +rails with the intent of climbing in at the window. I jumped up and went +swiftly upstairs. So far I was calm. I entered Sarakoff's bedroom. It +was in darkness. The Russian was lying motionless on the bed. I shook +him by the shoulder. It seemed impossible to rouse him, and yet in +outward appearance he seemed only lightly asleep. I redoubled my efforts +and at length he opened his eyes, and his whole body, which had felt +under my hands as limp and flaccid as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> a pillow, suddenly seemed to +tighten up and become resilient.</p> + +<p>"Get up," I said. "They're trying to break into the house. We may be in +danger. We can escape by the back door through the mews."</p> + +<p>The blows on the front door were clearly audible.</p> + +<p>"I've been listening to it for some time," he said. "But I seemed to +have lost the knack of waking up properly."</p> + +<p>"We have no time to waste," I said firmly.</p> + +<p>We went quickly downstairs. Sarakoff had flung a blue dressing-gown over +his pyjamas and thrust his feet into a pair of slippers. On reaching the +hall there was a loud crack and a roar of voices. In an instant the +agonizing fear swept over us. We dashed to the back of the house, +through the servants' quarters and out into the mews. Without pausing +for an instant we ran down the cobbled alley and emerged upon Devonshire +Street. We turned to the right, dashed across Portland Place and reached +Great Portland Street. We ran steadily, wholly mastered by the great +fear of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> physical injury, and oblivious to the people around us. We +passed the Underground Station. Our flight down the Euston Road was +extraordinary. Sarakoff was in front, his dressing-gown flying, and his +pink pyjamas making a vivid area of colour in the drab street. I +followed a few yards in the rear, hatless, with my breath coming in +gasps.</p> + +<p>It was Sarakoff who first saw the taxi-cab. He veered suddenly into the +road and held out his arms. The cab slowed down and in a moment we were +inside it.</p> + +<p>"Go on," shouted Sarakoff, "Drive on. Don't stop."</p> + +<p>The driver was a man of spirit and needed no further directions. The cab +jerked forward and we sped towards St. Pancras Station.</p> + +<p>"Follow the tram lines up to Hampstead," I called out, and he nodded. We +lay gasping in the back of the cab, cannoning helplessly as it swayed +round corners. By the time we had reached Hampstead our fear had left +us.</p> + +<p>The cab drew up on the Spaniard's Walk and we alighted. It was a bleak +and misty morning. The road seemed deserted. A thin column of steam rose +from the radiator of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> taxi, and there was a smell of over-heated +oil.</p> + +<p>"Sharp work that," said the driver, getting out and beating his arms +across his chest. His eyes moved over us with frank curiosity. Sarakoff +shivered and drew his dressing-gown closely round him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + +<h3>ON THE SPANIARD'S WALK</h3> + + +<p>I paid the man half-a-sovereign. There was a seat near by and Sarakoff +deposited himself upon it. I joined him. On those heights the morning +air struck chill. London, misty-blue, lay before us. The taxi-man took +out his pipe and began to fill it.</p> + +<p>"Lucky me comin' along like that," he observed. "If it hadn't been +because of my missus I wouldn't have been out so early." He blew a puff +of smoke and continued: "This Blue Disease seems to confuse folk. My +missus was took with it last night." He paused to examine us at his +leisure. "When did you get it?"</p> + +<p>"We became immortal the day before yesterday," said Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>The taxi-man took his pipe out of his mouth and stared.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>"You ain't them two doctors what's in the paper this morning, by any +chance?" he asked. "Them as is supposed to 'ave invented this Blue +Disease?"</p> + +<p>We nodded. He emitted a low whistle and gazed thoughtfully at us. At +length he spoke I noticed his tone had changed.</p> + +<p>"As I was saying, my missus was took with it in the night. I had a job +waking 'er up, and when she opened her eyes I near had a fit. We'd had a +bit of a tiff overnight, but she got up as quiet as a lamb and never +said a word agin me, which surprised me. When I 'ad dressed myself I +went into the kitchen to get a bit o' breakfast, and she was setting in +a chair starin' at nothing. The kettle wasn't boiling, and there wasn't +nothing ready, so I asked 'er quite polite, what she was doing. 'I'm +thinking,' she says, and continues sitting in the chair. After a bit of +reasoning with her, I lost my temper and picked up a leg of a chair, +what we had broke the evening previous when we was 'aving a argument. +She jump up and bolted out of the house, just as she was, with her 'air +in curl-papers, and that's the last I saw of her. I waited an hour and +then took the old cab out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> of the garage, and I was going to look for my +breakfast when I met you two gents." He took his pipe out of his mouth +and wiped his lips. "Now I put it all down to this 'ere Blue Disease. +It's sent my missus off 'er head."</p> + +<p>"There's no reason why you should think your wife mad simply because she +ran away when you tried to strike her," I said. "It's surely a proof of +her sanity."</p> + +<p>He shook his head.</p> + +<p>"That ain't correct," he said, with conviction. "She always liked a +scrap. She's a powerful young woman, and her language is extraordinary +fine when she's roused, and she knows it. I can't understand it."</p> + +<p>He looked up suddenly.</p> + +<p>"So it was you two who made this disease was it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Fancy that!" he said. "Fancy a couple of doctors inventing a disease. +It does sound a shame, don't it?"</p> + +<p>"Wait till you get it," said Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me you've been and done something nasty," he went on. +"Ain't there enough diseases without you two going and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> makin' a new +one? It's a fair sickener to think of all the diseases there +are—measles and softenin' of the brain, and 'eaving stummicks and what +not. What made you do it? That's what I want to know." He was getting +angry. He pointed the stem of his pipe at us accusingly. His small eyes +shone. "It's fair sickening," he muttered. "I've never took to doctors, +nor parsons—never in my life."</p> + +<p>He spat expressively.</p> + +<p>"And my wife, too, clean barmy," he continued. "Who 'ave I got to thank +for that? You two gents. Doctors, you call yourselves. I arsk you, what +is doctors? They never does me any good. I never seed anyone they'd done +any good. And yet they keeps on and no one says nothing. It's fair +sickening."</p> + +<p>There was a sound of footsteps behind me. I turned and saw a policeman +climbing slowly up the bank towards the road. Like all policemen he +appeared not to notice us until he was abreast of our seat. Then he +stopped and eyed each of us in turn. His boots were muddy.</p> + +<p>"These gents," said the taxi-man, "'ave been and done something nasty."</p> + +<p>The phrase seemed attractive to him and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> repeated it. The policeman, +a tall muscular man, surveyed us in silence. Sarakoff, his hair and +beard dishevelled, was leaning back in a corner of the seat, with his +legs crossed. His dressing-gown was tucked closely round him, and below +it, his pink pyjamas fluttered in the thin breeze. His expression was +calm.</p> + +<p>The taxi-man continued—</p> + +<p>"I picked these gents up in the Euston Road. They was in a hurry. I +thought they'd done something ordinary, same as what you or me might do, +but it seems I was wrong. They've been and done something nasty. They've +gone and invented this 'ere Blue Disease."</p> + +<p>The policeman raised his helmet a little and the taxi-man uttered an +exclamation.</p> + +<p>"Why, you've got it yourself," he said, and stared. The policeman's eyes +were stained a vivid blue.</p> + +<p>"An immortal policeman!" murmured Sarakoff dreamily.</p> + +<p>The discovery seemed to discomfit the taxi-man. The tide of indignation +in him was deflected, and he shifted his feet. The policeman, with a +deliberation that was magnificent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> advanced to the seat and sat down +beside me.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning," I said.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning," he replied in a deep calm voice. He removed his helmet +from his head and allowed the wind to stir his hair. The taxi-man moved +a step nearer us.</p> + +<p>"You ought to arrest them," he said. "Here's my wife got it, and you, +and who's to say when it will end? They're doctors, too. I allus had my +own suspicions of doctors, and 'ere they are, just as I supposed, +inventing diseases to keep themselves going. That's what you ought to do +... arrest them. I'll drive you all down to the police-station." The +policeman replaced his helmet, crossed his long blue legs, and leaned +back in the corner of the seat. Side by side on the seat Sarakoff, the +policeman, and I gazed tranquilly at the figure of the taxi-man, at the +taxi-cab, and at the misty panorama of London that lay beyond the Vale +of Health. The expression of anger returned to the taxi-man's face.</p> + +<p>"And 'ere am I, standing and telling you to do your duty, and all the +time I haven't had my breakfast," he said bitterly. "If you was to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> cop +them two gents, your name would be in all the evenin' papers." He +paused, and frowned, conscious that he was making little impression on +the upholder of law and order. "Why 'aven't I 'ad my breakfast? All +because of these two blokes. I tell you, you ought to cop them."</p> + +<p>"When I was a boy," said the policeman, "I used to collect stamps."</p> + +<p>"Did yer," exclaimed the taxi-man sarcastically. "You do interest me, +reely you do."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I used to collect stamps." The policeman settled himself more +comfortably. "And afore that I was in the 'abit of collecting bits o' +string."</p> + +<p>"You surprise me," said the taxi-man. "And what did you collect afore +you collected bits of string?"</p> + +<p>"So far as I recollect, I didn't collect nothing. I was trying to +remember while I was walking across the Heath." He turned to us. "Did +you collect anything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said. "I used to collect beetles."</p> + +<p>"Beetles?" The policeman nodded thoughtfully. "I never had an eye for +beetles. But, as I said, I collected stamps. I remember I would walk for +miles to get a new stamp, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> of an evening I would sit and count the +stamps in my album over and over again till my head was fair giddy." He +paused and stroked his clean-shaven chin thoughtfully. "I recollect as +if it was yesterday how giddy my head used to get."</p> + +<p>The taxi-man seemed about to say something, but he changed his mind.</p> + +<p>"Why did you collect beetles?" the policeman asked me.</p> + +<p>"I was interested in them."</p> + +<p>"But that ain't a suitable answer," he replied. "It ain't suitable. +That's what I've been seeing for the first time this morning. The point +is—why was you interested in beetles, and why was I interested in bits +o' string and stamps?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he's quite right," said Sarakoff; "that certainly is the point."</p> + +<p>"To say that we are interested in a thing is no suitable explanation," +continued the policeman. "After I'd done collecting stamps——"</p> + +<p>"Why don't you arrest these two blokes?" shouted the taxi-man suddenly. +"Why can't you do yer duty, you blue fathead?"</p> + +<p>"I'm coming to that," said the policeman imperturbably. "As I was +saying, after I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> collected stamps, I collected knives—any sort of old +rusty knife—and then I joined the force and began to collect men, I +collected all sorts o' men—tall and short, fat and thin. Now why did I +do that?"</p> + +<p>"It seems to me," observed the taxi-man, suddenly calm, "that somebody +will be collecting you soon, and there won't be no need to arsk the +reason why."</p> + +<p>"That's where you and me don't agree," said the policeman. "I came to +the conclusion this morning that we don't ask the reason why enough—not +by 'alf. Now if somebody did as you say, and started collectin' +policemen, what would be the reason?"</p> + +<p>"Reason?" shouted the taxi-man. "Don't arsk me for a reason."</p> + +<p>He turned to his taxi-cab and jerked the starting handle violently. The +clatter of the engine arose. He climbed into his seat, and pulled at his +gears savagely. In a few moments he had turned his cab, after wrenching +in fury at the steering-wheel, and was jolting down the road in the +morning brightness in search of breakfast.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> + +<h3>LEONORA'S VOICE</h3> + + +<p>"My theory," said the policeman, "is that collectin'—and by that I mean +all sorts of collection, including that of money—comes from a craving +to 'ave something what other people 'aven't got. It comes from a kind o' +pride which is foolish. Take a man like Morgan, for instance. Now he +spent his life collecting dollars, and he never once stopped to ask +'imself why he was doin' it. I 'eard a friend of mine, a socialist he +was, saying as 'ow no one had wasted his life more than Morgan. At the +time it struck me as a silly kind of thing to say. But now I seem to see +it in a different light." He meditated for some minutes. "It's the +reason why—that's what we 'aven't thought of near enough."</p> + +<p>I was about to reply when a motor-car stopped before us. It was a large +green limousine.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> It drew up suddenly, with a scraping of tyres, and a +woman got out of it. I recognized her at once. It was Leonora. She was +wearing a motoring-coat of russet-brown material, and her hat was tied +with a veil.</p> + +<p>"Alexis!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff roused himself. He stood up and bowed.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Leonora," he said, "I am so glad to see you. We are just taking the +air, and discussing a few matters of general interest." He patted her on +the shoulder. "I congratulate you, Leonora. You are an Immortal. It +suits you very well."</p> + +<p>She was certainly one of the Immortals. The stain in her eyes was +wonderfully vivid, but it did not produce a displeasing effect, as I had +fancied it would. Indeed, her eyes had lost their hard restless look, +and in place of it was an expression of bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"What has happened to me?" she exclaimed. "Alexis, what is this that you +have done to me?"</p> + +<p>"What I told you about at the Pyramid Restaurant. You have got the germ +in you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> and now you are immortal. Sit down, Leonora. I find it warmer +when I am sitting. My friend and I had to leave Harley Street somewhat +hurriedly, and I had not time to dress."</p> + +<p>She sat down and loosened her veil.</p> + +<p>"Last night a dreadful thing happened," she said. "And yet, although it +was dreadful, I do not feel upset about it. I have been trying to feel +upset—as I should—but I can't. Let me tell you about it. I lay down +yesterday afternoon in my room after tea to rest. I always do that when +I can. I think I fell asleep for a moment. Then I felt a curious light +feeling, as if I had suddenly been for a long holiday, and I got up. +Alexis, when I saw myself in the glass I was horrified. I had the Blue +Disease."</p> + +<p>"Of course," said Sarakoff. "You were bound to get it. You knew that."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know what to do. I wasn't very upset, only I felt something +dreadful had happened. Well, I went to the Opera as usual and everyone +was very sympathetic, but I said I was all right. But when my call came +I suddenly knew—quite calmly, but certainly—that I could not sing +properly. I went on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> stage and began, but it was just as if I were +singing for the first time in my life. They had to ring the curtain +down. I apologized. I was quite calm and smiling. But there the fact +remained—I had lost my voice. I had failed in public."</p> + +<p>"Extraordinary," muttered Sarakoff. "Are you sure it was not just +nervousness?"</p> + +<p>"No, I'm certain of that. I felt absolutely self-possessed; far more so +that I usually do, and that is saying a lot. No, my voice has gone. The +Blue Disease has destroyed it. And yet I somehow don't feel any +resentment. I don't understand. Richard, tell me what has happened."</p> + +<p>I shook my head.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," I said. "I can't explain. The germ is doing things that +I never foresaw."</p> + +<p>"I ought to be furious with you," she said.</p> + +<p>"Try to be—if you can," smiled Sarakoff. "That's one of the strange +things. I can't be furious. I have only two emotions—perfect calmness, +or violent, horrible fear."</p> + +<p>"Fear?" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, fear of the worst kind conceivable."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>"I understand the perfect calmness," she said, "but the fear—no."</p> + +<p>"You will understand in time."</p> + +<p>The policeman listened to our conversation with grave attention. Leonora +was sitting between Sarakoff and me, and did not seem to find the +presence of the visitor surprising. The green limousine stood in the +road before us, the chauffeur sitting at the wheel looking steadily in +front of him. The Heath seemed remarkably empty. The mist over London +was lifting under the influence of the sun.</p> + +<p>I was revolving in my mind a theory as to why Leonora had lost her +voice. I already knew that the germ produced odd changes in the realm of +likes and dislikes. I remembered Sarakoff's words that the germ was +killing desire. My thoughts were clear, easy and lucid, and the problem +afforded by Leonora's singular experience gave me a sense of quiet +enjoyment. If the germ really did do away with desire, why should it at +the same time do away with Leonora's wonderful voice? I recalled with +marvellous facility everything I knew about her. My memory supplied me +with every detail at the dinner of the Pyramid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> Restaurant. The words of +Sarakoff, which had at the time seemed coarse, came back to me. He had +called her a vain ambitious cold-hearted woman, who thought that her +voice and her beauty could not be beaten.</p> + +<p>My reflections were interrupted by the policeman.</p> + +<p>"The lady," he remarked, "has lost her voice sudden-like. Now I lost my +'abit of arresting people sudden-like too. I lost it this morning. Any +other time I should have taken the gentleman in the dressing-gown in +charge for being improperly dressed. But this morning it don't come +natural to me. If he wants to wear a dressing-gown on the Spaniard's +Walk, he presumably 'as his own reasons. It don't concern me."</p> + +<p>"It seems to me that the germ takes ambition out of us," said Sarakoff.</p> + +<p>"Ambition?" said the policeman. "No, that ain't right. I've got ambition +still—only it's a different kind of ambition."</p> + +<p>"I have no ambition now," said Leonora at length. "Alexis is right. This +malady has taken the ambition out of me. I may be Immortal, but if I am, +then I am an Immortal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> without ambition. I seem to be lost, to be +suddenly diffused into space or time, to be a kind of vapour. Something +has dissolved in me—something hard, bright, alert. I do not know why I +am here. The car came round as usual to take me for my morning run. I +got in—why I don't know."</p> + +<p>Sarakoff was studying her attentively.</p> + +<p>"It is very strange," he said. "You used to arouse a feeling of strength +and determination in me, Leonora. You used to stimulate me intensely. +This morning I only feel one thing about you."</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"I feel that I have cheated you."</p> + +<p>"Cheated her?" exclaimed the policeman. "How do you come to that +conclusion?"</p> + +<p>"I've destroyed the one thing that was herself—I've destroyed desire in +her. I've left her a mind devoid of all values tacked on to a body that +no longer interests her. For what was Leonora, who filled the hearts of +men with madness, but an incarnation of desire?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + +<h3>THE KILLING OF DESIRE</h3> + + +<p>We drove in Leonora's car through London. The streets were crowded. I do +not think that much routine work was done that day. People formed little +crowds on the pavements, and at Oxford Circus someone was speaking to a +large concourse from the seat of a motor lorry.</p> + +<p>Leonora seemed extraordinarily apathetic. She leaned back in the car and +seemed uninterested in the passing scene. Sarakoff, wrapped up in a fur +rug, stared dreamily in front of him. As far as I can recall them, my +feelings during that swift tour of London were vague. The buildings, the +people, the familiar signs in the streets, the shop windows, all seemed +to have lost in some degree the quality of reality. I was detached from +them; and whenever I made an effort to rouse myself, the ugliness and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +meaninglessness of everything I saw seemed strangely emphasized.</p> + +<p>When we reached Harley Street we found my house little damaged, save for +a broken panel in the green front door and a few panes of glass smashed +in the lower windows. The house was empty. The servants had vanished.</p> + +<p>Leonora said she wished to go home and she drove off in the car. +Sarakoff did not even wave farewell to her, but went straight up to his +room and lay down on the bed. I went into the study and sat in my chair +by the fireplace.</p> + +<p>I was roused by the opening of the door, and looking up I saw a face +that I recognized, but for the moment I could not fit a name to it. My +visitor came in calmly, and sat down opposite me.</p> + +<p>"My name is Thornduck," he said. "I came to consult you about my health +a few days ago."</p> + +<p>"I remember," I said.</p> + +<p>"Your front door was open so I walked in."</p> + +<p>I nodded. His eyes, stained with blue, rested on me.</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking," he said. "It struck<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> me that there was something +you forgot to tell me the other day."</p> + +<p>I nodded again.</p> + +<p>"You began, if you remember, by asking me if I believed in miracles. +That set me thinking, and as I saw your name in the paper, connected +with the Blue Disease, I knew you were a miracle-monger. How did you do +it?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. It was all due to my black cat. Tripped over it, got +concussion and regained my senses with the idea that led up to the +germ."</p> + +<p>He smiled.</p> + +<p>"A black cat," he mused. "I wonder if it's all black magic?"</p> + +<p>"That's what Hammer suggested. I don't know what kind of magic it is."</p> + +<p>"Of course it <i>is</i> magic," said Thornduck.</p> + +<p>"Magic?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. Have you even thought what kind of magic it is?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"A big magic, such as you have worked, is just bringing the distant +future into the present with a rush."</p> + +<p>"Sarakoff had some such idea," I murmured.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> "He spoke of anticipating +our evolution by centuries at one stroke."</p> + +<p>"Exactly. That's magic. The question remains—is it black magic?" He +crossed his thin legs and leaned back in the chair. "I got the Blue +Disease the day before yesterday and since then I've thought more than I +have ever done in all my life. When I read in the paper this morning +that you said the Blue Disease conferred immortality on people I was not +surprised. I had come to the same conclusion in a roundabout way. But I +want to ask you one question. Did you know beforehand that <i>it killed +desire</i>?"</p> + +<p>"No. Neither Sarakoff nor I foresaw that."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you had let me into your confidence before I could have told +you that right away in the general principle contained in the saying +that you can't eat your cake and have it. It's just another aspect of +the law of the conservation of energy, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"I always had a doubt——"</p> + +<p>"Naturally. It's intuitional. The laws of the universe are just +intuitions put into words. You've carried out an enormous spiritual +experi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>ment to prove what all religions have always asserted however +obscurely. All religion teaches that you can't eat your cake and have +it. That's the essence of religion, and you, formerly a cut-and-dried +scientist, have gone and proved it to the whole world for eternity. +Rather odd, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>I watched his face with interest. It was thin and the complexion was +transparent. His eyes, wonderfully wide and brilliantly stained by the +germ, produced in me a new sensation. It was akin to enthusiasm, but in +it was something of love, such as I had never experienced for any man. I +became uplifted. My whole being began to vibrate to some strangely +delicate and exquisite influence, and I knew that Thornduck was the +medium through which these impulses reached me. It was not his words but +the atmosphere round him that raised me temporarily to this degree of +receptivity.</p> + +<p>"It is odd," I said.</p> + +<p>He continued to look at me.</p> + +<p>"You have a message for me?" I observed at last.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I have," he replied. "You have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> done wrong, Harden. You have +worked black magic, and it will fail out of sheer necessity."</p> + +<p>"Tell me what I have done."</p> + +<p>"You have artificially produced a condition of life many ages before +humanity is ready to receive it. The body of desire is being worked up +by endless labour into something more delicate and sensitive—into a +transmutation that we can only dimly understand. At present the whole +plot of life is based on the principle of desire and in this way people +are kept busy, constantly spurred on to thought and activity by +essentially selfish motives. It is only in abstract thought that the +selfless ideal has a real place as yet, but the very fact that it is +there shows what lies at the top of the ladder that humanity is so +painfully climbing. As long as desire is the plot of life, death is +necessary, for its terrible shadow sharpens desire and makes the prizes +more alluring and the struggle more desperate. And so man goes on, +ceaselessly active and striving, for without activity and striving there +is no perfecting of the instrument. You can't have upward progress in +conditions of stagnation. All that strange incredible side of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> life, +called the Devil, is the inner plot of life that makes the wheels go +round and evolution possible. It is vitally necessary to keep the vast +machinery running at the present level of evolution. Desire is the +furnace in the engine-house. The wheels go round and the fabric is +slowly and intricately spun and only pessimists and bigots fail to see +evidence of any purpose in it all. Now what has your Blue Disease done? +It has taken the whole plot out of life at its present stage of +development at one fell swoop. It has killed Desire—put out the furnace +before the pattern in the fabric is nearly complete."</p> + +<p>"But I never could see that, Thornduck. How could I foresee that?"</p> + +<p>"If you had had a grain of vision you would have known that you couldn't +give humanity the gift of immortality without some compensatory loss. +The law of compensation is as sure as the law of gravity—you ought to +know that."</p> + +<p>"I had dim feelings—I knew Sarakoff was wrong, with his dream of +physical bliss—but how could I foresee that desire would go?"</p> + +<p>"As a mere scientist, test-tube in hand, you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> couldn't. But you're +better than that. You've got a glimmering of moral imagination in you."</p> + +<p>He fell into a reverie.</p> + +<p>"You are keeping something back. Tell me plainly what you mean," I +asked.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see that if the germ lasts any length of time," he said, "the +machinery will run down and—stop?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX</h2> + +<h3>THE REVOLT OF THE YOUNG</h3> + + +<p>Amid all the strife and clamour of the next few days one thing stands +out now in my mind with sinister radiance. It is that peculiar form of +lawlessness which broke out and had as its object the destruction of the +old.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt that the idea of immortality got hold of people and +carried them away completely. The daily miracles that were occurring of +the renewal of health and vigour, the cure of disease and the passing of +those infirmities that are associated with advancing years, impressed +the popular imagination deeply. As a result there grew up a widespread +discontent and bitterness. The young—those who were as yet free from +the germ—conceived in their hearts that an immense injustice had been +done to them.</p> + +<p>It must be remembered that life at that time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> had taken on a strange and +abnormal aspect. Its horizons had been suddenly altered by the germ. +Although breadth had been given to it from the point of years, a curious +contraction had appeared at the same time. It was a contraction felt +most acutely by those in inferior positions. It was a contraction that +owed its existence to the sense of being shut in eternally by those in +higher positions, whom death no longer would remove at convenient +intervals. The student felt it as he looked at his professor. The clerk +felt it as he looked at his manager. The subaltern felt it as he looked +at his colonel. The daughter felt it when she looked at her mother, and +the son when he looked at his father. The germ had given simultaneously +a tremendous blow to freedom, and a tremendous impetus to freedom.</p> + +<p>Thus, perhaps for the first time in history, there swiftly began an +accumulation and concentration of those forces of discontent which, in +normal times, only manifest themselves here and there in the +relationships between old and young men, and are regarded with +good-humoured patience. A kind of war broke out all over the country.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>This war was terrible in its nature. All the secret weariness and +unspoken bitterness of the younger generation found a sudden outlet. +Goaded to madness by the prospect of a future of continual repression, +in which the old would exercise an undiminished authority, the younger +men and women plunged into a form of excess over which a veil must be +drawn.... There is only one thing which can be recorded in their favour. +Chloroform and drowning appear to have been the methods most often used, +and they are perhaps merciful ways of death. The great London clubs +became sepulchres. All people who had received the highest distinctions +and honours, whose names were household words, were removed with +ruthless determination. Scarcely a single well-known man or woman of the +older generation, whose name was honoured in science, literature, art, +business or politics, was spared. All aged and wealthy people perished. +A clean sweep was made, and made with a decision and unanimity that was +incredible.</p> + +<p>It is painful now to recall the terrible nature of that civil war. It +lasted only a short time, but it opened my eyes to the inner plan upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +which mortal man is based. For I am compelled to admit that this +widespread murder, that suddenly flashed into being, was founded upon +impulses that lie deep in man's heart. They were those giant impulses +that lie behind growth, and the effect of the germ was merely to throw +them suddenly into the broad light of day, unchained, grim and +implacable.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, the germ spread steadily and quickly, killing as it did so +all hate and desire.</p> + +<p>Jason, still free from the germ, flung himself into the general uproar +with extraordinary vigour. It was clear that he thought the great +opportunity had come which would eventually bring him to the height of +his power. To check the growing lawlessness and murder he advocated a +new adjustment of property. Big meetings were held in the public spaces +of London, and some wild ideas were formulated.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the medical profession, as far as the men yet free from +the germ were concerned, continued its work in a dull, mechanical way. +Each day the number of patients fell lower, as the Blue Disease slowly +spread. Hammer, himself an Immortal, came to see me once, but only to +speak of the necessity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> for the immediate simplification of houses. It +was odd to observe how, once a man became infected, his former interests +and anxieties fell away from him like an old garment. In Harley Street +an attitude of stubborn disbelief continued amongst those still mortal. +There is something magnificent in that adamantine spirit which refuses +to recognize the new, even though it moves with ever-increasing +distinctness before the very eyes of the deniers. I was not surprised. I +was familiar with medical men.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Royal Family became infected by the germ, and passed out +of the public eye. The Prime Minister became a victim and vanished. For +once a man had the germ in his system, as far as externals were +concerned, he almost ceased to exist.</p> + +<p>The infection of Jason occurred in my presence. He had come in to +explain to me a proposed line of campaign as regards the marriage laws.</p> + +<p>"This germ of yours has given people the courage to think!" he +exclaimed. "It is extraordinary how timid people were in thinking. It +has launched them out, and now is the time to bring in new proposals."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>"In all your calculations, you omit to recollect the effects of the +germ," I said. "Surely you have seen by now that it changes human nature +totally?"</p> + +<p>He stared at me uncomprehendingly. He was one of those men, so common in +public life, who have no power of understanding what they themselves +have not experienced. He continued with undiminished enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"We must have marriage contracts for definite periods. With the +increased state of health, and the full span of life confronting every +man, we must face the problem squarely. Now what stands in our way?"</p> + +<p>He got up and went to the window. It was a dull foggy day, and there was +frost on the ground. He stared outside for some moments.</p> + +<p>"What, I repeat, stands in our way?"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"The Church, and a mass of superstitions that we have inherited from the +Old Testament. That's what stands in our way. We still attach more value +to the Old Testament than to the New. The Scotch, for example, like the +Jews.... Yes, of course.... What was I saying?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>He left the window and sat down once more before me, moving rather +listlessly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Harden. Of course. That's what it is, isn't it? Do you +remember—diddle—yes it was diddle, diddle——"</p> + +<p>He paused and frowned.</p> + +<p>"Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle," he muttered, "Yes—hey, +diddle, diddle, diddle—that's what it is, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," I said. "It's all really that."</p> + +<p>"Just diddle, diddle, diddle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—if you like."</p> + +<p>"That is substituting diddle for riddle," he said earnestly. He frowned +again and passed his hand across his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said calmly. "It's going a step up."</p> + +<p>I suppose about half an hour passed before either of us spoke again +after this extraordinary termination to our conversation. In absolute +silence we sat facing one another and during that time I saw the blue +stain growing clearer and clearer in Jason's eyes. At last he rose.</p> + +<p>"It's very odd," he said. "Tell me, were you like this?"</p> + +<p>"How do you feel?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>"As if I had been drunk and suddenly had been made sober. I will leave +you. I want to think. I will go down to the country."</p> + +<p>"And your papers?"</p> + +<p>"We must have a new Press," he said, and left the room.</p> + +<p class="newscene">That same day the great railway accident occurred just outside London +that led to the death of sixty people, many of them Immortals. Its +effect on public imagination was profound. All dangerous enterprises +became invested with a terrible radiance. Men asked themselves if, in +face of a future of health, it was worth risking life in rashness of any +description, and gradually traffic came to a standstill. Long before the +germ had infected the whole populace all activities fraught with danger +had ceased. The coal mines were abandoned. The railways were silent. The +streets of London became empty of traffic.</p> + +<p class="newscene">Blue-stained people began to throng the streets of London in vast +masses, moving to and fro without aim or purpose, perfectly orderly, +vacant, lost—like Sarakoff's butterflies....</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>Thornduck came to see me one day when the reign of the germ was +practically absolute in London.</p> + +<p>"They are wandering into the country in thousands," he remarked. "They +have lost all sense of home and possession. They are vague, trying to +form an ideal socialistic community. What a mess your germ is making of +life! They're not ready for it. The question is whether they will rouse +themselves to consider the food question."</p> + +<p>"We need scarcely any food," I replied. "I've had nothing to eat +to-day."</p> + +<p>"Nor I. But since we're still linked up to physical bodies we must +require some nourishment."</p> + +<p>"I have eaten two biscuits and a little cheese in the last twenty-four +hours. Surely you don't think that food is to be a serious problem under +such circumstances?"</p> + +<p>"It might be. You must remember that initiative is now destroyed in the +vast majority of people. They may permit themselves to die of inanition. +Can you say you have an appetite now?"</p> + +<p>I reflected for some time, striving to recall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> the feeling of hunger +that belonged to the days of desire.</p> + +<p>"No. I have no appetite."</p> + +<p>"Think carefully. In place of appetite have you no tendencies?"</p> + +<p>"I feel a kind of lethargy," I said at last. "I felt it yesterday and +to-day it is stronger."</p> + +<p>"As if you wished to sleep?"</p> + +<p>"Not exactly. But it is akin to that. I have some difficulty in keeping +my attention on things. There is a kind of pull within me away +from—away from reality."</p> + +<p>He nodded.</p> + +<p>"I went in to see your Russian friend. He's upstairs. He is not exactly +asleep. He is more like a man partially under the influence of a drug."</p> + +<p>"I will go and see him," I said.</p> + +<p>Sarakoff was lying on the bed with his eyes shut. He was breathing +quietly. His eyelids quivered, as if they might open at any moment, but +my entrance did not rouse him. His limbs were relaxed. I spoke to him +and tried to wake him, without result. Then I remembered how I had +stumbled across the body of Herbert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> Wain in the Park some days ago. He +had seemed to be in a strange kind of sleep. I sat down on the bed and +stared at the motionless figure of the Russian. There was something +strangely pathetic in his pose. His rough hair and black beard, his keen +aquiline face seemed weirdly out of keeping with his helpless state. +Here lay the man whose brain had once teemed with ambitious desires, +relaxed and limp like a baby, while the nails of his hands, turquoise +blue, bore silent witness to his great experiment on humanity. Had it +failed? Where was all that marvellous vision of physical happiness that +had haunted him? The streets of London were filled with people, no +longer working, no longer crying or weeping, but moving aimlessly, like +people in a dream. Were they happy? I moved to the window and drew down +the blind.</p> + +<p>"This may be the end," I thought. "The germ will be sweeping through +France now. It may be the end of all things."</p> + +<p>I rejoined Thornduck in the study.</p> + +<p>"Sarakoff is in a kind of trance," I observed. "What do you make of it?"</p> + +<p>"Isn't it natural?" he asked. "What kind<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> of a man was he? What motives +did he work on? Just think what the killing of desire means. All those +things that depended on worldly ambition, self-gratification, physical +pleasure, conceit, lust, hatred, passion, egotism, selfishness, vanity, +avarice, sensuality and so on, are undermined and rendered paralysed by +the germ. What remains? Why, in most people, practically nothing +remains."</p> + +<p>"Even so," I said, "I don't see why Sarakoff should go into a trance."</p> + +<p>"He's gone into a trance simply because there's not enough left in him +to constitute an individuality. The germ has taken the inside clean out +of him. He's just an immortal shell now."</p> + +<p>"Then do you think——?"</p> + +<p>I stared at him wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"I think that the germ will send most of the world to sleep."</p> + +<p>He got up and walked to the window. The clear noonday light fell on his +thin sensitive face and accentuated the pallor of his skin.</p> + +<p>"All those who are bound on the wheel of desire will fall asleep," he +murmured. A smile<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> flickered on his lips and he turned and looked at me.</p> + +<p>"Harden," he said, "it's really very funny. It's infinitely humorous, +isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"I see nothing humorous in anything," I replied. "I've lost all sense of +humour."</p> + +<p>He raised his eyebrows.</p> + +<p>"Of humour?" he queried. "Surely not. Humour is surely immortal."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX</h2> + +<h3>THE GREAT SLEEP</h3> + + +<p>On that day the animals in London fell asleep with few exceptions. The +exceptions were, I believe, all dogs. I do not pretend to explain, how +it came about that dogs remained awake longer than other animals. The +reason may be that dogs have some quality in them which is superior even +to the qualities found in man, for there is a sweetness in the nature of +dogs that is rare in men and women.</p> + +<p>Many horses were overcome in the streets and lay down where they were. +No attempt was made to remove them. They were left, stretched out on +their sides, apparently unconscious.</p> + +<p>And many thousands of men and women fell asleep. In some cases men were +overcome by the sleep before their dogs, which has always seemed strange +to me. It was Thornduck who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> told me this, for he remained awake during +this period that the germ reigned supreme. He tells me that I fell +asleep the next evening in my chair in the study and that he carried me +upstairs to my room. I had just returned from visiting Leonora, whom I +had found unconscious. He made a tour of London next morning. In the +City there was a profound stillness.</p> + +<p>In the West End matters were much the same. In Cavendish Square he +entered many houses and found silence and sleep within. Everywhere doors +and windows were wide open, giving access to any who might desire it. He +visited the Houses of Parliament only to find a few comatose +blue-stained men lying about on the benches. For the sleep had overtaken +people by stealth. One day, passing by the Zoo, he had climbed the fence +and made an inspection of the inmates. With the exception of an elephant +that was nodding drowsily, the animals lay motionless in their cages, +deep in the trance that the germ induced.</p> + +<p>From time to time he met a man or woman awake like himself and stopped +to talk. Those who still retained sufficient individuality to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> continue +existence were the strangest mixture of folk, for they were of every +class, many of them being little better than beggars. They were people +in whom the desire of life played a minor part. They were those people +who are commonly regarded as being failures, people who live and die +unknown to the world. They were those people who devote themselves to an +obscure existence, shun the rewards of successful careers, and are +ridiculed by all prosperous individuals. It seems that Thornduck was +instrumental in calling a meeting of these people at St. Paul's. There +were about two thousand of them in all, but many in the outlying suburbs +remained ignorant of the meeting, and Thornduck considers that in the +London district alone there must have been some thousands who did not +attend. At the meeting, which must have been the strangest in all +history, the question of the future was discussed. Many believed that +the effect of the germ on those in the great sleep would ultimately lead +to a cessation of life owing to starvation. Thornduck held that the germ +would pass, arguing on principles that were so unscientific that I +refrain from giving them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> Eventually it appears that a decision was +reached to leave London on a certain date and migrate southwards in +search of a region where a colony might be founded under laws and +customs suitable for Immortals. Thornduck says that there was one thing +that struck him very forcibly at the meeting at St. Paul's. All the +people gathered there had about them a certain sweetness and strength, +which, although it was very noticeable, escaped his powers of analysis.</p> + +<p>He attempted on several occasions to get into telegraphic communication +with the Continent, but failed. In his wanderings he entered many homes, +always being careful to lay out at full length any of the unconscious +inmates who were asleep on chairs, for he feared that they might come to +harm, and that their limbs might become stiffened into unnatural +postures.</p> + +<p>All the time he had a firm conviction that the phase of sleep was +temporary. He himself had moments in which a slight drowsiness overtook +him, but he never lost the enhanced power of thought that I had +experienced in the early stages of the Blue Disease. So absolute was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +his conviction that a general awakening would come about that he began +to busy his mind with the question as to what he could do, in +conjunction with the other Immortals who were still awake, to benefit +humanity when it should emerge from the trance. This question was +discussed continually. Many thought that they should burn all records, +financial, political, governmental and private, so that some opportunity +of starting afresh might be given to mankind, enslaved to the past and +fettered by law and custom. But the danger of chaos resulting from such +a step deterred him. He confessed that the more he thought on the +subject the more clearly he saw that under the circumstances belonging +to its stage of evolution, the organization of the world was suited to +the race that inhabited it. All change, he saw, had to come from within, +and that to alter external conditions suddenly and artificially might do +incredible harm. We were constructed to develop against resistance, and +to remove such resistances before they had been overcome naturally was +to tamper with the inner laws of life. And so, after long discussion, +they did nothing....</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>It is curious to reflect that they, earnest men devoted to progress, +having at their mercy the machinery of existence, walked through the +midst of sleeping London and did nothing. But then none of them were +fanatics, for Thornduck stated that the fanatics fell early to sleep, +thus proving that the motives behind their fanaticism were egotistical, +and a source of satisfaction to themselves. He made a point of visiting +the homes of some of them. Philanthropists, too, succumbed early.</p> + +<p>On the seventh day after the great sleep had overtaken London the +effects of the germ began to wane. Those who had fallen asleep latest +were the earliest to open their eyes. The blue stain rapidly vanished +from eyes, skin and nails.... I regained my waking sense on the evening +of the seventh day and found myself in a small country cottage whither +Thornduck had borne me in a motor-car, fearing lest awakened London +might seek some revenge on the discoverers of the germ. Sarakoff lay on +a couch beside me, still fast asleep.</p> + +<p>The first clear idea that came to me concerned Alice Annot. I determined +to go to her at once. Then I remembered with vex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>ation that I had +wantonly smashed two vases worth ten pounds apiece.</p> + +<p>I struggled to my feet. My hands were thin and wasted. I was ravenous +with hunger. I felt giddy.</p> + +<p>"What's the time?" I called confusedly. "It must be very late. Wake up!"</p> + +<p>And I stooped down and began to shake Sarakoff violently.</p> + +<p class="center" style="margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 4em;">THE END</p> + +<p class="center" style="margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 4em; font-size: 80%;"> +<span class="smcap">Printed in Great Britain by<br /> +Richard Clay & Sons, Limited,</span><br /> +BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1,<br /> +AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>[Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original text have been corrected for this electronic edition.</p> + +<p>In Chapter III, a missing period was added after "his pipe and tobacco +pouch".</p> + +<p>In Chapter IV, a missing quotation mark was added before "<i>pyocyaneus</i>, +indeed", and a comma was changed to a period after "Of course".</p> + +<p>In Chapter VI, a missing period was added after "'A very unsatisfying +view, surely?' he remarked".</p> + +<p>In Chapter VIII, "the municipal authorites" was changed to "the +municipal authorities", "this phenomen" was changed to "this +phenomenon", and "scanned the colums" was changed to "scanned the +columns".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIII, a comma was changed to a period after "cold and dark", +and "protaplasm" was changed to "protoplasm".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIV, a period was added after "something other than life +exists".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XV, "in the in the hall" was changed to "in the hall".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVI, "Dr Harden" (in the sentence ending "in smooth and +pleasant tones") was changed to "Dr. Harden", and commas were changed to +periods following "The gift of immortality" and "if it were true".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVIII, "millenium" was changed to "millennium".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXIII, a missing period was added after "the millennium was +at hand".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXVI, a missing period was added after "with conviction", +"flutted" was changed to "fluttered", and "I'ad my breakfast" was +changed to "I 'ad my breakfast".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXIX, "undimished enthusiasm" was changed to "undiminished +enthusiasm".]</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blue Germ, by Martin Swayne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLUE GERM *** + +***** This file should be named 26852-h.htm or 26852-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/8/5/26852/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Blue Germ + +Author: Martin Swayne + +Release Date: October 9, 2008 [EBook #26852] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLUE GERM *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +THE BLUE GERM + + + + +_WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ + +LORD RICHARD IN THE PANTRY +CUPID GOES NORTH +THE SPORTING INSTINCT + +IN MESOPOTAMIA. (With Illustrations in Colour by the Author.) + +LONDON: HODDER AND STOUGHTON + + + + +THE BLUE GERM + +BY MARTIN SWAYNE + +HODDER AND STOUGHTON +LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO +MCMXVIII + +Printed in Great Britain By +Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, +BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, +AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + + + + +TO + +J. E. H. W. + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAP. PAGE + I. BLACK MAGIC 1 + II. SARAKOFF'S MANIFESTO 5 + III. THE BUTTERFLIES 14 + IV. THE SIX TUBES 21 + V. THE GREAT AQUEDUCT 29 + VI. THE ATTITUDE OF MR. THORNDUCK 32 + VII. LEONORA 40 + VIII. THE BLUE DISEASE 58 + IX. THE MAN FROM BIRMINGHAM 67 + X. THE ILLNESS OF MR. ANNOT 79 + XI. THE RESURRECTION 90 + XII. MR. CLUTTERBUCK'S OPINION 101 + XIII. THE DEAD IMMORTAL 110 + XIV. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF IMMORTALITY 123 + XV. THE TERRIBLE FEAR 132 + XVI. THE VISIT OF THE HOME SECRETARY 144 + XVII. CLUTTERBUCK'S ODD BEHAVIOUR 156 + XVIII. IMMORTAL LOVE 161 + XIX. THE MEETING AT THE QUEEN'S HALL 177 + XX. THE WAY BACK 188 + XXI. JASON 196 + XXII. THE FIRST MURDERS 206 + XXIII. AT DOWNING STREET 216 + XXIV. NIGHT OF AN IMMORTAL 224 + XXV. OUR FLIGHT 229 + XXVI. ON THE SPANIARD'S WALK 236 + XXVII. LEONORA'S VOICE 245 +XXVIII. THE KILLING OF DESIRE 252 + XXIX. THE REVOLT OF THE YOUNG 260 + XXX. THE GREAT SLEEP 273 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +BLACK MAGIC + + +I had just finished breakfast, and deeply perplexed had risen from the +table in order to get a box of matches to light a cigarette, when my +black cat got between my feet and tripped me up. + +I fell forwards, making a clutch at the table-cloth. My forehead struck +the corner of the fender and the last thing I remembered was a crash of +falling crockery. Then all became darkness. My parlour-maid found me +lying face downwards on the hearth-rug ten minutes later. My cat was +sitting near my head, blinking contentedly at the fire. A little blood +was oozing from a wound above my left eye. + +They carried me up to my bedroom and sent for my colleague, Wilfred +Hammer, who lived next door. For three days I lay insensible, and Hammer +came in continually, whenever he could spare the time from his +patients, and brooded over me. On the fourth day I began to move about +in my bed, restless and muttering, and Hammer told me afterwards that I +seemed to be talking of a black cat. On the night of the fourth day I +suddenly opened my eyes. My perplexity had left me. An idea, clear as +crystal, was now in my mind. + +From that moment my confinement to bed was a source of impatience to me. +Hammer, large, fair, square-headed, and imperturbable, insisted on +complete rest, and I chafed under the restraint. I had only one +desire--to get up, slip down to St. Dane's Hospital in my car, mount the +bare stone steps that led up to the laboratory and begin work at once. + +"Let me up, Hammer," I implored. + +"My dear fellow, you're semi-delirious." + +"I must get up," I muttered. + +He laughed slowly. + +"Not for another week or two, Harden. How is the black cat?" + +"That cat is a wizard." + +I lay watching him between half-closed eyelids. + +"He gave me the idea." + +"He gave you a nasty concussion," said Hammer. + +"It was probably the only way to the idea," I answered. "I tell you the +cat is a wizard. He did it on purpose. He's a black magician." + +Hammer laughed again, and went towards the door. + +"Then the idea must be black magic," he said. + +I smiled painfully, for my head was throbbing. But I was happier then +than I had ever been, for I had solved the problem that had haunted my +brain for ten years. + +"There's no such thing as black magic," I said. + + +Three weeks later I beheld the miracle. It was wrought on the last day +of December, in the laboratory of the hospital, high above the gloom and +squalor of the city. The miracle occurred within a brilliant little +circle of light, and I saw it with my eye glued to a microscope. It +passed off swiftly and quietly, and though I expected it, I was filled +with a great wonder and amazement. + +To a lay mind the amazement with which I beheld the miracle will require +explanation. I had witnessed the transformation of one germ into +another; a thing which is similar to a man seeing a flock of sheep on a +hill-side change suddenly into a herd of cattle. For many minutes I +continued to move the slide in an aimless way with trembling fingers. My +temperament is earthy; it had once occurred to me quite seriously that +if I saw a miracle I would probably go mad under the strain. Now that I +had seen one, after the first flash of realization my mind was listless +and dull, and all feeling of surprise had died away. The black rods +floated with slow motion in the minute currents of fluid I had +introduced. The faint roar of London came up from far below; the clock +ticked steadily and the microscope lamp shone with silent radiance. And +I, Richard Harden, sat dangling my short legs on the high stool, +thinking and thinking.... + +That night I wrote to Professor Sarakoff. A month later I was on my way +to Russia. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SARAKOFF'S MANIFESTO + + +The recollection of my meeting with Sarakoff remains vividly in my mind. +I was shown into a large bare room, heated by an immense stove like an +iron pagoda. The floor was of light yellow polished wood; the walls were +white-washed, and covered with pencil marks. A big table covered with +papers and books stood at one end. At the other, through an open +doorway, there was a glimpse of a laboratory. Sarakoff stood in the +centre of the room, his hands deep in his pockets, his pipe sending up +clouds of smoke, his tall muscular frame tilted back. His eyes were +fixed on an extraordinary object that crawled slowly over the polished +floor. It was a gigantic tortoise--a specimen of _Testudo +elephantopus_--a huge cumbersome brute. Its ancient, scaly head was +thrust out and its eyes gleamed with a kind of sharp intelligence. The +surface of its vast and massive shell was covered over with scribbles in +white chalk--notes made by Sarakoff who was in the habit of jotting down +figures and formulae on anything near at hand. + +As there was only one chair in the room, Sarakoff eventually thrust me +into it, while he sat down on the great beast--whom he called +Belshazzar--and told me over and over again how glad he was to see me. +And this warmth of his was pleasant to me. + +"Are you experimenting on Belshazzar?" I asked at length. + +He nodded, and smiled enigmatically. + +"He is two hundred years old," he said. "I want to get at his secret." + +That was the first positive proof I got of the line of research Sarakoff +was intent upon, although, reading between the lines of his many +publications, I had guessed something of it. + +In every way, Sarakoff was a complete contrast to me. Tall, lean, +black-bearded and deep-voiced, careless of public opinion and prodigal +in ideas, he was just my antithesis. He was possessed of immense energy. +His tousled black hair, moustaches and beard seemed to bristle with it; +it shone in his pale blue eyes. He was full of sudden violence, flinging +test-tubes across the laboratory, shouting strange songs, striding about +snapping his fingers. There was no repose in him. At first I was a +little afraid of him, but the feeling wore off. He spoke English +fluently, because when a boy he had been at school in London. + +I will not enter upon a detailed account of our conversation that first +morning in Russia, when the snow lay thick on the roofs of the city, and +the ferns of frost sparkled on the window-panes of the laboratory. +Briefly, we found ourselves at one over many problems of human research, +and I congratulated myself on the fact that in communicating the account +of the miracle at St. Dane's Hospital to Sarakoff alone, I had done +wisely. He was wonderfully enthusiastic. + +"That discovery of yours has furnished the key to the great riddle I had +set myself," he exclaimed, striding to and fro. "We will astonish the +world, my friend. It is only a question of time." + +"But what is the riddle you speak of?" I asked. + +"I will tell you soon. Have patience!" he cried. He came towards me +impulsively and shook my hand. "We shall find it beyond a doubt, and we +will call it the Sarakoff-Harden Bacillus! What do you think of that?" + +I was somewhat mystified. He sat down again on the back of the tortoise, +smoking in his ferocious manner and smiling and nodding to himself. I +though it best to let him disclose his plans in his own way, and kept +back the many eager questions that rose to my lips. + +"It seems to me," said Sarakoff suddenly, "that England would be the +best place to try the experiment. There's a telegraph everywhere, +reporters in every village, and enough newspapers to carpet every square +inch of the land. In a word, it's a first-class place to watch the +results of an experiment." + +"On a large scale?" + +"On a gigantic scale--an experiment, ultimately, on the world." + +I was puzzled and was anxious to draw him into fuller details. + +"It would begin in England?" I asked carelessly. + +He nodded. + +"But it would spread. You remember how the last big outbreak of +influenza, which started in this country, spread like wildfire until the +waves, passing east and west, met on the other side of the globe? That +was a big experiment." + +"Of nature," I added. + +He did not reply. + +"An experiment of nature, you mean?" I urged. At the time of the last +big outburst of influenza which began in Russia, Sarakoff must have been +a student. Did he know anything about the origin of the mysterious and +fatal visitation? + +"Yes, of nature," he replied at last, but not in a tone that satisfied +me. His manner intrigued me so much that I felt inclined to pursue the +subject, but at that moment we were interrupted in a singular way. + +The door burst open, and into the room rushed a motley crowd of men. +Most of them were young students, but here and there I saw older men, +and at the head of the mob was a white-bearded individual, wearing an +astrachan cap, who brandished a copy of some Russian periodical in his +hand. + +Belshazzar drew in his head with a hiss that I could hear even above +the clamour of this intrusion. + +A furious colloquy began, which I could not understand, since it was in +Russian. Sarakoff stood facing the angry crowd coolly enough, but that +he was inwardly roused to a dangerous degree, I could tell from his +gestures. The copy of the periodical was much in evidence. Fists were +shaken freely. The aged, white-bearded leader worked himself up into a +frenzy and finally jumped on the periodical, stamping it under his feet +until he was out of breath. + +Then this excited band trooped out of the room and left us in peace. + +"What is it?" I asked when their steps had died away. + +Sarakoff shrugged his shoulders and then laughed. He picked up the +battered periodical and pointed to an article in it. + +"I published a manifesto this morning--that is all," he remarked airily. + +"What sort of manifesto?" + +"On the origin of death." He sat down on Belshazzar's broad back and +twisted his moustaches. "You see, Harden, I believe that in a few more +years death will only exist as an uncertain element, appearing rarely, +as an unnatural and exceptional incident. Life will be limitless; and +the length of years attained by Belshazzar will seem as nothing." + +It is curious how the spirit of a new discovery broods over the world +like a capricious being, animating one investigator here, another there; +partially revealing itself in this continent, disclosing another of its +secrets in that, until all the fragments when fitted together make up +the whole wonder. It seems that my discovery, coupled with the results +of his own unpublished researches, had led Sarakoff to make that odd +manifesto. Our combined work, although carried out independently, had +given the firm groundwork of an amazing theory which Sarakoff had been +maturing in his excited brain for many long years. + +Sarakoff translated the manifesto to me. It was a trifle bombastic, and +its composition appeared to me vague. No wonder it had roused hostility +among his colleagues, I thought, as Sarakoff walked about, declaiming +with outstretched arm. Put as briefly as possible, Sarakoff held all +disease as due to germs of one sort or another; and decay of bodily +tissue he regarded in the same light. In such a theory I stood beside +him. + +He continued to translate from the soiled and torn periodical, waving +his arm majestically. + +"We have only to eliminate all germs from the world to banish disease +and decay--and _death_. Such an end can be attained in one way alone; a +way which is known only to me, thanks to a magnificent series of +profound investigations. I announce, therefore, that the disappearance +of death from this planet can be anticipated with the utmost confidence. +Let us make preparations. Let us consider our laws. Let us examine our +resources. Let us, in short, begin the reconstruction of society." + +"Good heavens!" I exclaimed, and sat staring at him. + +He twirled his moustaches and observed me with shining eyes. + +"What do you think of it?" + +I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. + +"Surely it is far fetched?" + +"Not a bit of it. Now listen to me carefully. I'll give you, step by +step, the whole matter." He walked up and down for some minutes and then +suddenly stopped beside me and thumped me on the back. "There's not a +flaw in it!" he cried. "It's magnificent. My dear fellow, death is only +a failure in human perfection. There's nothing mysterious in it. +Religion has made a ridiculous fuss about it. There's nothing more +mysterious in it than there is in a badly-oiled engine wearing out. Now +listen. I'm going to begin...." + +I listened, fascinated. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE BUTTERFLIES + + +Two years passed by after my return to London without special incident, +save that my black cat died. My work as a consulting physician occupied +most of my time. In the greater world beyond my consulting-room door +life went on undisturbed by any thought of the approaching upheaval, +full of the old tragedies of ambition and love and sickness. But +sometimes as I examined my patients and listened to their tales of +suffering and pain, a curious contraction of the heart would come upon +me at the thought that perhaps some day, not so very far remote, all the +endless cycle of disease and misery would cease, and a new dawn of hope +burst with blinding radiance upon weary humanity. And then a mood of +unbelief would darken my mind and I would view the creation of the +bacillus as an idle and vain dream, an illusion never to be +realized.... + +One evening as I sat alone before my study fire, my servant entered and +announced there was a visitor to see me. + +"Show him in here," I said, thinking he was probably a late patient who +had come on urgent business. + +A moment later Professor Sarakoff himself was shown in. + +I rose with a cry of welcome and clasped his hand. + +"My dear fellow, why didn't you let me know you were coming?" I cried. + +He smiled upon me with a mysterious brightness. + +"Harden," he said in a low voice, as if afraid of being heard, "I came +on a sudden impulse. I wanted to show you something. Wait a moment." + +He went out into the hall and returned bearing a square box in his +hands. He laid it on the table and then carefully closed the door. + +"It is the first big result of my experiments," he whispered. He opened +the box and drew out a glass case covered over with white muslin. + +He stepped back from the table and looked at me triumphantly. + +"What is it?" I asked. + +"Lift up the muslin." + +I did so. On the wooden floor of the glass case were a great number of +dark objects. At first I thought they were some kind of grub, and then +on closer inspection I saw what they were. + +"Butterflies!" I exclaimed. + +He held up a warning finger and tiptoed to the door. He opened it +suddenly and seemed relieved to find no one outside. + +"Hush!" he said, closing the door again. "Yes, they are butterflies." He +came back to the table and gave one of the glass panels a tap with his +finger. The butterflies stirred and some spread their wings. They were a +brilliant greenish purple shot with pale blue. "Yes, they are +butterflies." + +I peered at them. + +"The specimen is unknown in England as far as I know." + +"Quite so. They are peculiar to Russia." + +"But what are you doing with them?" I asked. + +He continued to smile. + +"Do you notice anything remarkable about these butterflies?" + +"No," I said after prolonged observation, "I can't say I do ... save +that they are not denizens of this country." + +"I think we might christen them," he said. "Let us call them Lepidoptera +Sarakoffii." He tapped the glass again and watched the insects move. +"But they are very remarkable," he continued. "Do they appear healthy to +you?" + +"Perfectly." + +"You agree, then, that they are in good condition?" + +"They seem to be in excellent condition." + +"No signs of decay--or disease?" + +"None." + +He nodded. + +"And yet," he said thoughtfully, "they should be, according to natural +law, a mass of decayed tissue." + +"Ah!" I looked at him with dawning comprehension. "You mean----?" + +"I mean that they should have died long ago." + +"How long do they live normally?" + +"About twenty to thirty hours. At the outside their life is not more +than thirty-six hours. These are somewhat older." + +I gazed at the little creatures crawling aimlessly about. _Aimless_, did +I say? There they were, filling up the floor of the glass case, moving +with difficulty, getting in each other's way, sprawling and colliding, +apparently without aim or purpose. At that spectacle my thoughts might +well have taken a leap into the future and seen, instead of a crowded +mass of butterflies, a crowded mass of humanity. I asked Sarakoff a +question. + +"How old are they?" I expected to hear they had existed perhaps a day or +two beyond their normal limit. + +"They are almost exactly a year old," was the reply. I stared, +marvelling. A year old! I bent down, gazing at the turbulent restless +mass of gaudy colour. A year old--and still vital and healthy! + +"You mean these insects have lived a whole year?" I exclaimed, still +unconvinced. + +He nodded. + +"But that is a miracle!" + +"It is, proportionately, equal to a man living twenty-five thousand +years instead of the normal seventy." + +"You don't suggest----?" + +He replaced the muslin covering and took out his pipe and tobacco pouch. +Absurd, outrageous ideas crowded to my mind. Was it, then, possible that +our dream was to become reality? + +"I don't suppose they'll live much longer," I stammered. + +He was silent until he had lit his pipe. + +"If you met a man who had lived twenty-five thousand years, would you be +inclined to tell me he would not live much longer, simply on general +considerations?" + +I could not find a satisfactory answer. + +As a matter of fact the question scarcely conveyed anything to me. One +can realize only by reference to familiar standards. The idea of a man +who has lived one hundred and fifty years is to me a more realistic +curiosity than the idea of a man twenty-five thousand years old. But I +caught a glimpse, as it were, of strange figures, moving about in a +colourless background, with calm gestures, slow speeches, silences +perhaps a year in length. The familiar outline of London crumbled +suddenly away, the blotches of shadow and the coloured shafts of light +striking between the gaps in the crowds, the violet-lit tubes, the +traffic, faded into the conception of twenty-five thousand years. All +this many-angled, many-coloured modern spectacle that was a few thousand +years removed from cave dwellings, was rolled flat and level, merging +into this grey formless carpet of time. + +Next morning Sarakoff returned to Russia, bearing with him the wonderful +butterflies, and for many months I heard nothing from him. But before he +went he told me that he would return soon. + +"I have only one step further to take and the ideal germ will be +created, Harden. Then we poor mortals will realize the dream that has +haunted us since the beginning of time. We will attain immortality, and +the fear of death, round which everything is built, will vanish. We will +become gods!" + +"Or devils, Sarakoff," I murmured. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SIX TUBES + + +One night, just as I entered my house, the telephone bell in the hall +rang sharply. I picked up the receiver impatiently, for I was tired with +the long day's work. + +"Is that Dr. Harden?" + +"Yes." + +"Can you come down to Charing Cross Station at once? The station-master +is speaking." + +"An accident?" + +"No. We wish you to identify a person who has arrived by the boat-train. +The police are detaining him as a suspect. He gave your name as a +reference. He is a Russian." + +"All right. I'll come at once." + +I hung up the receiver and told the servant to whistle for a taxi-cab. +Ten minutes later I was picking my way through the crowds on the +platform to the station-master's office. I entered, and found a strange +scene being enacted. On one side of a table stood Sarakoff, very +flushed, with shining eyes, clasping a black bag tightly to his breast. +On the other side stood a group of four men, the station-master, a +police officer, a plain clothes man and an elderly gentleman in white +spats. The last was pointing an accusing finger at Sarakoff. + +"Open that bag and we'll believe you!" he shouted. + +Sarakoff glared at him defiantly. + +I recognized his accuser at once. It was Lord Alberan, the famous Tory +obstructionist. + +"Anarchist!" Lord Alberan's voice rang out sharply. He took out a +handkerchief and mopped his face. + +"Arrest him!" he said to the constable with an air of satisfaction. "I +knew he was an anarchist the moment I set eyes on him at Dover. There is +an infernal machine in that bag. The man reeks of vodka. He is mad." + +"Idiot," exclaimed Sarakoff, with great vehemence. "I drink nothing but +water." + +"He wishes to destroy London," said Lord Alberan coldly. "There is +enough dynamite in that bag to blow the whole of Trafalgar Square into +fragments. Arrest him instantly." + +I stepped forward from the shadows by the door. Sarakoff uttered a cry +of pleasure. + +"Ah, Harden, I knew you would come. Get me out of this stupid +situation!" + +"What is the matter?" I asked, glancing at the station-master. He +explained briefly that Lord Alberan and Sarakoff had travelled up in the +same compartment from Dover, and that Sarakoff's strange restlessness +and excited movements had roused Lord Alberan's suspicions. As a +consequence Sarakoff had been detained for examination. + +"If he would open his bag we should be satisfied," added the +station-master. I looked at my friend significantly. + +"Why not open it?" I asked. "It would be simplest." + +My words had the effect of quieting the excited professor. He put the +bag on the table, and placed his hands on the top of it. + +"Very well," he said slowly, "I will open it, since my friend Dr. Harden +has requested me to do so." + +"Stand back!" cried Lord Alberan, flinging out his arms. "We may be so +much dust flying over London in a moment." + +Sarakoff took out a key and unlocked the bag. There was silence for a +moment, only broken by hurrying footsteps on the platform without. Then +Lord Alberan stepped cautiously forward. + +He saw the worn canvas lining of the bag. He took a step nearer and saw +a wooden rack, fitted in the interior, containing six glass tubes whose +mouths were stopped with plugs of cotton wool. + +"You see, there is nothing important there," said Sarakoff with a smile. +"These objects are of purely scientific interest." He took out one of +the tubes and held it up to the light. It was half full of a +semi-transparent jelly-like mass, faintly blue in colour. The detective, +the policeman and the station official clustered round, their faces +turned up to the light and their eyes fixed on the tube. The Russian +looked at them narrowly, and reading nothing but dull wonderment in +their expressions, began to speak again. + +"Yes--the Bacillus Pyocyaneus," he said, with a faint mocking smile and +a side glance at me. "It is occasionally met with in man and is easily +detected by the blue bye-product it gives off while growing." He twisted +the tube slowly round. "It is quite an interesting culture," he +continued idly. "Do you observe the uniform distribution of the growth +and the absence of any sign of liquefaction in the medium?" + +Lord Alberan cleared his throat. + +"I--er--I think we owe you an apology," he said. "My suspicions were +unfounded. However, I did my duty to my country by having you examined. +You must admit your conduct was suspicious--highly suspicious, sir!" + +Sarakoff replaced the tube and locked the bag. Lord Alberan marched to +the door and held it open. + +"We need not detain you, sir," said the detective. The policeman squared +his shoulders and hitched up his belt. The station official looked +nervous. + +Dr. Sarakoff, with a gesture of indifference, picked up the bag and, +taking me by the arm, passed out on to the brilliantly-lit platform. +"_Pyocyaneus_," he muttered in my ear; "_pyocyaneus_, indeed! Confound +the fellow. He might have got me into no end of trouble if he had known +the truth, Harden." + +"But what is it?" I asked. "What have you got in the bag?" + +He stopped under a sizzling arc-lamp outside the station. + +"The bag," he said touching the worn leather lovingly, "contains six +tubes of the Sarakoff-Harden bacillus. Yes, I have added your name to +it. I will make your name immortal--by coupling it with mine." + +"But what is the Sarakoff-Harden bacillus?" I cried. + +He struck an attitude under the viperish glare of the lamp and smiled. +He certainly did look like an anarchist at the moment. He loomed over +me, huge, satanic, inscrutable. + +A thrill, almost of fear, passed over me. I glanced round in some +apprehension. Under an archway near by I saw Lord Alberan looking +fixedly at us. The expression of suspicion had returned to his face. + +"You mean----?" He nodded. I gulped a little. "You really have----?" He +continued to nod. "Then we can try the great experiment?" I whispered, +dry throated. + +"At once!" The detective passed us, brushing against my shoulder. I +caught Sarakoff by the arm. + +"Look here--we must get away," I muttered. I felt like a criminal. +Sarakoff clasped the bag firmly under his free arm. We began to walk +hurriedly away. Our manner was furtive. Once I looked back and saw +Alberan talking, with excited gestures, to the detective. They were both +looking in our direction. The impulse to run possessed me. "Quick," I +exclaimed, "there's a taxi. Jump in. Drive to Harley Street--like the +devil." + +Inside the cab I lay back, my mind in a whirl. + +"We begin the experiment to-morrow," said Sarakoff at last. "Have you +made plans as I told you?" + +"Yes--yes. Of course. Only I never believed it possible." I controlled +myself and sat up. "I fixed on Birmingham. It seemed best--but I never +dreamed----" + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "Birmingham, then!" + +"Their water supply comes from Wales." + +We spoke no more till I turned the key of my study door behind me. It +was in this way that the germ, which made so vast and strange an +impression on the course of the world's history, first reached England. +It had lain under the very nose of Lord Alberan, who opposed everything +new automatically. Yet it, the newest of all things, escaped his +vigilance. + + +We decided to put our plans into action without delay, and next morning +we set off, carrying with us the precious tubes of the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus. Throughout the long journey we scarcely spoke to each other. +Each of us was absorbed in his picture of the future effects of the +germ. + +There was one strange fact that Sarakoff had told me the night before, +and that I had verified. The bacillus was ultra-microscopical--that is, +it could not be seen, even with the highest power, under the microscope. +Its presence was only to be detected by the blue stain it gave off +during its growth. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE GREAT AQUEDUCT + + +The Birmingham reservoirs are a chain of lakes artificially produced by +damming up the River Elan, a tributary of the Wye. The great aqueduct +which carries the water from the Elan, eighty miles across country, +travelling through hills and bridging valleys, runs past Ludlow and +Cleobury Mortimer, through the Wyre Forest to Kidderminster, and on to +Birmingham itself through Frankley, where there is a large storage +reservoir from which the water is distributed. + +The scenery was bleak and desolate. Before us the sun was sinking in a +flood of crimson light. We walked briskly, the long legs of the Russian +carrying him swiftly over the uneven ground while I trotted beside him. +Before the last rays of the sun had died away we saw the black outline +of the Caban Loch dam before us, and caught the sheen of water beyond. +On the north lay the river Elan and on the south the steep side of a +mountain towered up against the luminous sky. The road runs along the +left bank of the river bounded by a series of bold and abrupt crags that +rise to a height of some eight hundred feet above the level of the +water. Just below the Caban Dam is a house occupied by an inspector in +charge of the gauge apparatus that is used to measure the outflow of +water from the huge natural reservoirs. The lights from his house +twinkled through the growing darkness as we drew near, and we skirted it +by a short detour and pressed on. + +"How long does water take to get from here to Birmingham?" asked +Sarakoff as we climbed up to the edge of the first lake. + +"It travels about a couple of miles an hour," I replied. "So that means +about a day and a half." + +We spoke in low voices, for we were afraid of detection. The presence of +two visitors at that hour might well have attracted attention. + +"A day and a half! Then the bacillus has a long journey to take." He +stopped at the margin of the water and stared across the shadowy lake. +"Yes, it has a long journey to take, for it will go round the whole +world." + +The last glow in the sky tinted the calm sheet of water a deep blood +colour. Sarakoff opened his bag and took out a couple of tubes. + +He pulled the cotton-wool plugs out of the tubes, and with a long wire, +loosened the gelatinous contents. Then, inverting the tubes he flung +them into the lake close to the beginning of the huge aqueduct. + +I stared as the tubes vanished from sight, feeling that it was too late +to regret what had now been done, for nothing could collect those +millions of bacilli, that had been set free in the water. Already some +of them had perhaps entered the dark cavernous mouth of the first +culvert to start on their slow journey to Birmingham. The light faded +from the sky and darkness spread swiftly over the lake. Sarakoff emptied +the remaining tubes calmly and then turned his footsteps in the +direction of Rhayader. I waited a moment longer in the deep silence of +that lonely spot; and then with a shiver followed my friend. The +bacillus had been let loose on the world. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ATTITUDE OF MR. THORNDUCK + + +We reached London next day in the afternoon. I felt exhausted and could +scarcely answer Sarakoff, who had talked continuously during the +journey. + +But his theory had interested me. The Russian had revealed much of his +character, under the stress of excitement. He spoke of the coming of +Immortality in the light of a _physical_ boon to mankind. He seemed to +see in his mind's eye a great picture of comfort and physical enjoyment +and of a humanity released from the grim spectres of disease and death, +and ceaselessly pursuing pleasure. + +"I love life," he remarked. "I love fame and success. I love comfort, +ease, laughter, and companionship. The whole of Nature is beautiful to +me, and a beautiful woman is Nature's best reward. Now that the dawn of +Immortality is at hand, Harden, we must set about reorganizing the world +so that it may yield the maximum of pleasure." + +"But surely there will be some limit to pleasure?" I objected. + +"Why? Can't you see that is just what there will not be?" he cried +excitedly. "We are going to do away with the confining limits. Your +imagination is too cramped! You sit there, huddled up in a corner, as if +we had let loose a dreadful plague on Birmingham!" + +"It may prove to be so," I muttered. I do not think I had any clear idea +as to the future, but there is a natural machinery in the mind that +doubts golden ages and universal panaceas. Call it superstition if you +will, but man's instinct tells him he cannot have uninterrupted pleasure +without paying for it. I said as much to the Russian. + +He gave vent to a roar of laughter. + +"You have all the caution and timidity of your race," he said. "You are +fearful even in your hour of deliverance. My friend, it is impossible to +conceive, even faintly, of the change that will come over us towards the +meaning of life. Can't you see that, as soon as the idea of Immortality +gets hold of people, they will devote all their energies to making their +earth a paradise? Why, it is obvious. They will then know that there is +no other paradise." + +He took out his watch and made a calculation. His face became flushed. + +"The bacillus has travelled forty-two miles towards Birmingham," he +said, just as our train drew in to the London terminus. + +I was busy with patients until dinner-time and did not see anything of +Sarakoff. While working, my exhaustion and anxiety wore off, and were +replaced by a mild exhilaration. One of my patients was a professor of +engineering at a northern university; a brilliant young man, who, but +for physical disease, had the promise of a great career before him. He +had been sent to me, after having made a round of the consultants, to +see if I could give him any hope as to the future. I went into his case +carefully, and then addressed him a question. + +"What is your own view of your case, Mr. Thornduck?" + +He looked surprised. His face relaxed, and he smiled. I suppose he +detected a message of hope in my expression. + +"I have been told by half-a-dozen doctors that I have not long to live, +Dr. Harden," he replied. "But it is very difficult for me to grasp that +view. I find that I behave as if nothing were the matter. I still go on +working. I still see goals far ahead. Death is just a word--frequently +uttered, it is true--but meaningless. What am I to do?" + +"Go on working." + +"And am I to expect only a short lease of life?" + +I rose from my writing-table and walked to the hearth. A surge of power +came over me as I thought of the bacillus which was so silently and +steadily advancing on Birmingham. + +"Do you believe in miracles?" I asked. + +"That is an odd question." He reflected for a time. "No, I don't think +so. All one is taught now-a-days is in a contrary direction, isn't it?" + +"Yes, but our knowledge only covers a very small field--perhaps an +artificially isolated one, too." + +"Then you think only a miracle will save my life?" + +I nodded and gazed at him. + +"You seem amused," he remarked quietly. + +"I am not amused, Mr. Thornduck. I am very happy." + +"Does my case interest you?" + +"Extremely. As a case, you are typical. Your malady is invariably fatal. +It is only one of the many maladies that we know to be fatal, while we +remain ignorant of all else. Under ordinary circumstances, you would +have before you about three years of reasonable health and sanity." + +"And then?" + +"Well, after that you would be somewhat helpless. You would begin to +employ that large section of modern civilization that deals with the +somewhat helpless." + +I began to warm to my theme, and clasped my hands behind my back. + +"Yes, you would pass into that class that disproves all theories of a +kindly Deity, and you would become an undergraduate in the vast and +lamentable University of Suffering, through whose limitless corridors we +medical men walk with weary footsteps. Ah, if only an intelligent group +of scientists had had the construction of the human body to plan! Think +what poor stuff it is! Think how easy it would have been to make it +more enduring! The cell--what a useless fragile delicacy! And we are +made of millions of these useless fragile delicacies." + +To my surprise he laughed with great amusement. He stood there, young, +pleasant, and smiling. I stared at him with a curious uneasiness. For +the moment I had forgotten what it had been my intention to say. The +dawn of Immortality passed out of my mind, and I found myself gazing, as +it were, on something strangely mysterious. + +"Your religion helps you?" I hazarded. + +"Religion?" He mused for a moment. "Don't you think there is some +meaning behind our particular inevitable destinies--that we may perhaps +have earned them?" + +"Nonsense! It is all the cruel caprice of Nature, and nothing else." + +"Oh, come, Dr. Harden, you surely take a larger view. Do you think the +short existence we have here is all the chance of activity we ever have? +That I have a glimpse of engineering, and you have a short phase of +doctoring on this planet, and that then we have finished all +experience?" + +"Certainly. It would not be possible to take any other view--horrible." + +"But you believe in some theory of evolution--of slow upward progress?" + +"Yes, of course. That is proved beyond all doubt." + +"And yet you think it applies only to the body--to the instrument--and +not to the immaterial side of us?" + +I stared at him in astonishment. + +"I do not think there is any immaterial side, Mr. Thornduck." + +He smiled. + +"A very unsatisfying view, surely?" he remarked. + +"Unsatisfying, perhaps, but sound science," I retorted. + +"Sound?" He pondered for an instant. "Can a thing be sound and +unsatisfying at the same time? When I see a machine that's ugly--that's +unsatisfying from the artist's point of view--I always know it's wrongly +planned and inefficient. Don't you think it's the same with theories of +life?" He took out his watch and glanced at it. "But I must not keep +you. Good-bye, Dr. Harden." + +He went to the door, nodded, and left the room before I recalled that I +meant to hint to him that a miracle was going to happen, and save his +life. I remained on the hearth-rug, wondering what on earth he meant. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LEONORA + + +I found a note in the hall from Sarakoff asking me to come round to the +Pyramid Restaurant at eight o'clock to meet a friend of his. It was a +crisp clear evening, and I decided to walk. There were two problems on +my mind. One was the outlook of Sarakoff, which even I deemed to be too +materialistic. The other was the attitude of young Thornduck, which was +obviously absurd. + +In my top hat and solemn frock-coat I paced slowly down Harley Street. + +Thornduck talked as if suffering, as if all that side of existence which +the Blue Germ was to do away with, were necessary and salutary. Sarakoff +spoke as if pleasure was the only aim of life. Now, though sheer +physical pleasure had never entered very deeply into my life, I had +never denied the fact that it was the only motive of the majority of my +patients. For what was all our research for? Simply to mitigate +suffering; and that is another way of saying that it was to increase +physical well-being. Why, then, did Sarakoff's views appear extreme to +me? What was there in my composition that whispered a doubt when I had +the doctrine of maximum pleasure painted with glowing enthusiasm by the +Russian in the train that afternoon? + +I moved into Oxford Street deeply pondering. The streets were crowded, +and from shop windows there streamed great wedges of white and yellow +light. The roar of traffic was round me. The 'buses were packed with men +and women returning late from business, or on the way to seek relaxation +in the city's amusements. I passed through the throng as through a +coloured mist of phantoms. My eyes fastened on the faces of those who +passed by. Who could really doubt the doctrine of pleasure? Which one of +those people would hesitate to plunge into the full tide of the senses, +did not the limitations of the body prevent him? + +I crossed Piccadilly Circus with a brisker step. It was no use worrying +over questions which could not be examined scientifically. The only +really important question in life was to be a success. + +The brilliant entrance of the Pyramid Restaurant was before me, and +within, standing on the marble floor, I saw the tall figure of the +Russian. + +Sarakoff greeted me with enthusiasm. He was wearing evening-dress with a +white waistcoat, and the fact perturbed me. I put my hat and stick in +the cloakroom. + +"Who is coming?" I asked anxiously. + +"Leonora," he whispered. "I only found out she was in London this +afternoon. I met her when I was strolling in the Park while you were +busy with your patients." + +"But who is Leonora?" I asked. "And can I meet her in this state?" + +"Oh, never mind about your dress. You are a busy doctor and she will +understand. Leonora is the most marvellous woman in the world. I intend +to make her marry me." + +"Is she English?" I stammered. + +He laughed. + +"Little man, you look terrified, as usual. You are always terrified. It +is your habit. No, Leonora is not English. She is European. If you went +out into the world of amusement a little more--and it would be good for +you--you would know that she has the most exquisite voice in the history +of civilization. She transcends the nightingale because her body is +beautiful. She transcends the peacock because her voice is beautiful. +She is, in fact, worthy of every homage, and you will meet her in a +short time. Like all perfect things she is late." + +He took out his watch and glanced at the door. + +"You are an extraordinary person, Sarakoff," I observed, after watching +him a moment. "Will you answer me a rather intimate question?" + +"Certainly." + +"What precisely do you mean when you say you intend to make the charming +lady marry you?" + +"Precisely what I say. She loves fame. So far I have been unsuccessful, +because she does not think I am famous enough." + +"How do you intend to remedy that?" + +He stared at me in amazement. + +"Do you think that any people have ever been so famous as you and I will +be in a few days?" + +I looked away and studied the bright throng of visitors in the hall. + +"In a few days?" I asked. "Are you not a trifle optimistic? Don't you +think that it will take months before the possibilities and meaning of +the germ are properly realized?" + +"Rubbish," exclaimed Sarakoff. "You are a confirmed pessimist. You are +impossible, Harden. You are a mass of doubts and apprehensions. Ah, here +is Leonora at last. Is she not marvellous?" + +I looked towards the entrance. I saw a woman of medium height, very +fair, dressed in some soft clinging material of a pale primrose colour. +From a shoulder hung a red satin cloak. Round her neck was a string of +large pearls, and in her hair was a jewelled osprey. She presented a +striking appearance and I gained the impression of some northern spirit +in her that shone out of her eyes with the brilliancy of ice. + +Sarakoff strode forward, and the contrast that these two afforded was +extraordinary. Tall, dark, warm and animated, he stood beside her, and +stooped to kiss her hand. She gazed at him with a smile so slight that +it seemed scarcely to disturb the perfect symmetry of her face. He began +to talk, moving his whole body constantly and making gestures with his +arms, with a play of different expressions in his face. She listened +without moving, save that her eyes wandered slowly round the large hall. +At length Sarakoff beckoned to me. + +I approached somewhat awkwardly and was introduced. + +"Leonora," said the Russian, "this is a little English doctor with a +very large brain. He was closely connected with the great discovery of +which I am going to tell you something to-night at dinner. He is my +friend and his name is Richard Harden." + +"I like your name," said Leonora, in a clear soft voice. + +I took her hand. We passed into the restaurant. It was one of those vast +pleasure-palaces of music, scent, colour and food that abounded in +London. An orchestra was playing somewhere high aloft. The luxury of +these establishments was always sounding a curious warning deep down in +my mind. But then, as Sarakoff had said, I am a pessimist, and if I were +to say that I have noticed that nature often becomes very prodigal and +lavish just before she takes away and destroys, I would be uttering, +perhaps, one of the many half-truths in which the pessimistic spirit +delights. + +Our table was in a corner at an agreeable distance from the orchestra. +Sarakoff placed Leonora between him and myself. Attentive waiters +hurried to serve us; and the eyes of everyone in our immediate +neighbourhood were turned in our direction. Leonora did not appear to be +affected by the interest she aroused. She flung her cloak on the back of +her chair, put her elbows on the table, and gazed at the Russian +intently. + +"Tell me of your discovery, Alexis." + +He smiled, enchanted. + +"I shall be best able to give you some idea of what our discovery means +if I begin by telling you that I am going to read your character. Does +that interest you?" + +She nodded. Then she turned to me and studied me for a moment. + +"No, Alexis. Let Richard read my character first." + +I blushed successfully. + +"Why do you blush?" she asked with some interest. + +"He blushed because of your unpardonable familiarity in calling him +Richard," laughed Sarakoff. + +"I shall be most happy, Leonora," I stammered, making an immense effort, +and longing for the waiter to bring the champagne. "But I am not good at +the art." + +"But you must try." + +I saw no way out of the predicament. Sarakoff's eyes were twinkling +roguishly, so I began, keeping my gaze on the table. + +"You have a well-controlled character, with a considerable power of +knowing exactly what you want to do with your life, and you come from +the North. I fancy you sleep badly." + +"How do you know I sleep badly?" she challenged. + +"Your eyes are a clear frosty blue, and you are of rather slight build. +I am merely speaking from my own experience as a doctor." + +I suppose my words were not particularly gracious or well-spoken. +Leonora simply nodded and leaned back from the table. + +"Now, Alexis, tell me about myself," she said. + +My glass now contained champagne and I decided to allow that wizard to +take charge of my affairs for a time. + +"Leonora, you are one of those women who visit this dull planet from +time to time for reasons best known to themselves. I think you must come +from Venus, or one of the asteroids; or it may be from Sirius. From the +beginning you knew you were not like ordinary people." + +"Alexis," she drawled, "you are boring me." + +"Capital!" said Sarakoff. "Now we will descend to facts, as our friend +here did. You are the most inordinately vain, ambitious, cold-hearted +woman in Europe, Leonora. You value yourself before everything. You +think your voice and your beauty cannot be beaten, and you are right. +Now if I were to tell you that your voice and your beauty could be +preserved, year after year, without any change, what would you think?" + +A kind of fierce vitality sprang into her face. + +"What do you mean?" she asked quietly. "Have you discovered the elixir +of youth?" + +He nodded. She laid her hand on his arm. + +"How long does its effect last?" + +"Well--for a considerable time." + +"You are certain?" + +"Absolutely." + +She leaned towards him. + +"You will let no one else have it, Alexis," she asked softly. "Only me?" + +Sarakoff glanced at me. + +"Leonora, you are very selfish." + +"Of course." + +"Well, you are not the only person who is going to have the elixir. The +whole world is going to have it." + +I watched her with absorbed attention. She seemed to accept the idea of +an elixir of youth without any incredulity, and did not find anything +extraordinary in the fact of its discovery. In that respect, I fancied, +she was typical of a large class of women--that class that thinks a +doctor is a magician, or should be. But when Sarakoff said that the +whole world was going to have the elixir, a spasm of anger shewed for a +moment in her face. She lowered her eyes. + +"This is unkind of you, Alexis. Why should not just you and I have the +elixir?" She raised her eyes and turned them directly on Sarakoff. "Why +not?" she murmured. + +The Russian flushed slightly. + +"Leonora, it must either not be, or else the whole world must have it. +It can't be confined. It must spread. It's a germ. We have let it loose +in Birmingham." + +She shuddered. + +"A germ? What does he mean?" She turned to me. + +"It's a germ that will do away with all disease and decay," I said. + +"It will make me younger?" + +"Of that I am uncertain. It will more probably fix us where we are." + +The Russian nodded in confirmation of my view. Leonora considered for a +while. I could see nothing in her appearance that she could have wished +altered, but she seemed dissatisfied. + +"I should have preferred it to make us all a little younger," she said +decidedly. Her total lack of the sense of miracles astonished me. She +behaved as if Sarakoff had told her that we had discovered a new kind +of soap or a new patent food. "But I am glad you have found it, Alexis," +she continued. "It will certainly make you famous. That will be nice, +but I am sorry you should have given the elixir to Birmingham first. +Birmingham is in no need of an elixir, my friend. You should have put +something else in their water-supply." She turned to me and examined me +with calm criticism. "What a pity you didn't discover the elixir when +you were younger, Richard. Your hair is grey at the temples." A clear +laugh suddenly came from her. "What a lot of jealously there will be, +Alexis. The old ones will be so envious of the young. Think how Madame +Reaour will rage--and Betty, and the Signora--all my friends--oh, I feel +quite glad now that it doesn't make people younger. You are sure it +won't?" + +"I don't think so," said Sarakoff, watching her through half-closed +lids. "No, I think you are safe, Leonora." + +"And my voice?" + +"It will preserve that ... indefinitely, I think." + +She was arrested by the new idea. She looked into the distance and +fingered the pearls at her throat. + +"Then I shall become the most famous singer in the whole world," she +murmured. "And I shall have all the money I want. My friend, you have +done me a service. I will not forget it." She looked at him and laughed +slightly. "But I do not think you have done the world a service. A great +many people will not like the germ. No, they will desire to get rid of +it, Alexis." + +She shuddered a little. I stared at her. + +"I think you are mistaken," said Alexis, gruffly. + +She shook her head. + +"Come, let us finish dinner quickly and I will take you both to my flat +and sing to you a little." + +Leonora's flat was in Whitehall Court, and of its luxury I need not +speak. I must confess to the fact that, sober and timid as is my nature, +I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. Leonora was generous. Her voice was +exquisite. I sat on a deep couch of green satin and gazed at a Chinese +idol cut in green jade, that stood on a neighbouring table, with all my +senses lulled by the charm of her singing. The sense of responsibility +fell away from me like severed cords. I became pagan as I lolled there, +a creature of sensuous feeling. Sarakoff lay back in a deep chair in the +shadow with his eyes fixed on Leonora. We were both in a kind of +delicious drowsiness when the opening of the door roused us. + +Leonora stopped abruptly. With some difficulty I removed my gaze from +the Chinese figure, which had hypnotized me, and looked round +resentfully. + +Lord Alberan was standing in the doorway. He seemed surprised to find +that Leonora had visitors. I could not help marking a slight air of +proprietorship in his manner. + +"I am afraid I am interrupting," he said smoothly. He crossed to the +piano and leant over Leonora. "You got my telegram?" + +"No," she replied; "I did not even know you had returned from France." + +"I came the day before yesterday. I had to go down to Maltby Towers. I +came up to town to-day and wired you on the way." + +He straightened himself and turned towards us. Leonora rose and came +down the room. We rose. + +"Geoffrey," she said, drawling slightly, "I want to introduce you to two +friends of mine. They will soon be very famous--more famous than you +are--because they have discovered a germ that is going to keep us all +young." + +Lord Alberan glanced at me and then looked hard at the Russian. A +swiftly passing surprise shewed that he recognized Sarakoff. Leonora +mentioned our names casually, took up a cigarette and dropped into a +chair. + +"Yes," she continued, "these gentlemen have put the germ into the water +that supplies Birmingham." She struck a match and lit the cigarette. I +noticed she actually smoked very little, but seemed to like to watch the +burning cigarette. "Do sit down. What are you standing for, Geoffrey?" + +Lord Alberan's attitude relaxed. He had evidently decided on his course +of action. + +"That is very interesting," he observed, as if he had never seen +Sarakoff before. "A germ that is going to keep us all young. It reminds +me of the Arabian Nights. I should like to see it." + +"You've seen it already," replied Sarakoff, imperturbably. + +Lord Alberan's cold eyes looked steadily before him. His mouth +tightened. + +"Really?" + +"You saw it at Charing Cross Station the night before last." + +"At Charing Cross Station?" + +I tried to signal to the Russian, but he seemed determined to proceed. + +"Yes--you thought I was an anarchist. You saw the contents of my bag. +Six tubes containing a blue-coloured gelatine. Perhaps, Lord Alberan, +you remember now." + +"I remember perfectly," he exclaimed, smiling slightly. "Yes, I regret +my mistake. One has to be careful." + +"Did you think my Alexis was an anarchist?" cried Leonora. "You are the +stupidest of Englishmen." + +It was obvious that Alberan did not like this. He glanced at a thin gold +watch that he carried in his waistcoat pocket. + +"I will not interrupt you any longer," he remarked gravely. "You are +quite occupied, I see, and I much apologize for intruding." + +"Don't be still more stupid," she said lazily. "Sit down. Tell me how +you like the idea of never dying." + +"I am afraid I cannot entertain the idea seriously." He hesitated and +then looked firmly at Sarakoff. "Do I understand, sir, that you have +actually put some germ into the Birmingham water-supply?" + +The Russian nodded. + +"You'll hear about it in a day or two," he said quietly. + +"You had permission to do this?" + +"No, I had no permission." + +"Are you aware that you are making a very extraordinary statement, sir?" + +"Perfectly." + +Lord Alberan became very red. The lower part of his face seemed to +expand. His eyes protruded. + +"Don't gobble," said Leonora. + +"Gobble?" stuttered Alberan, turning upon her. "How dare you say I +gobble?" + +"But you are gobbling." + +"I refuse to stay here another moment. I will leave immediately. As for +you, sir, you shall hear from me in course of time. To-morrow I am +compelled to go abroad again, but when I return I shall institute a +vigorous and detailed enquiry into your movements, which are highly +suspicious, sir,--highly suspicious." He moved to the door and then +turned. "Mademoiselle, I wish you good-night." He bowed stiffly and went +out. + +"Thank heaven, I've got rid of him for good," murmured Leonora. "He +proposed to me last week, Alexis." + +"And what did you say?" asked Sarakoff. + +"I said I would see, but things are different now." She turned her eyes +straight in his direction. "That is, if you have told me the truth, +Alexis. Oh, isn't it wonderful!" She jumped up and threw out her arms. +"Suppose that it all comes true, Alexis! Immortality--always to be young +and beautiful!" + +"It will come true," he said. + +She lowered her arms slowly and looked at him. + +"I wonder how long love will last?" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE BLUE DISEASE + + +Next day the first news of the Sarakoff-Harden bacillus appeared in a +small paragraph in an evening paper, and immediately I saw it, I hurried +back to the house in Harley Street where Sarakoff was writing a record +of our researches. + +"Listen to this," I cried, bursting excitedly into the room. I laid the +paper on the table and pointed to the column. "Curious disease among +trout in Wales," I read. "In the Elan reservoirs which have long been +famed for their magnificent trout, which have recently increased so +enormously in size and number that artificial stocking is entirely +unnecessary, a curious disease has made its appearance. Fish caught +there this morning are reported to have an unnatural bluish tint, and +their flesh, when cooked, retains this hue. It is thought that some +disease has broken out. Against this theory is the fact that no dead +fish have been observed. The Water Committee of the City Council of +Birmingham are investigating this matter." + +Sarakoff pushed his chair back and twisted it round towards me. For some +moments we stared at each other with almost scared expressions. Then a +smile passed over the Russian's face. + +"Ah, we had forgotten that. A bluish tint! Of course, it was to be +expected." + +"Yes," I cried, "and what is more, the bluish tint will show itself in +every man, woman or child infected with the bacillus. Good heavens, +fancy not thinking of that ourselves!" + +Sarakoff picked up the paper and read the paragraph for himself. Then he +laid it down. "It is strange that one so persistently neglects the +obvious in one's calculations. Of course there will be a bluish tint." +He leaned back and pulled at his beard. "I should think it will show +itself in the whites of the eyes first, just as jaundice shews itself +there. Leonora won't like that--it won't suit her colouring. You see +that these fish, when cooked, retained the bluish hue. That is very +interesting." + +"It's very bad luck on the trout." + +"Why?" + +"After getting the bacillus into their system, they blunder on to a hook +and meet their death straight away." + +"The bacillus is not proof against death by violence," replied Sarakoff +gravely. "That is a factor that will always remain constant. We are +agreed in looking on all disease as eventually due to poisons derived +from germ activity, but a bang on the head or asphyxiation or prussic +acid or a bullet in the heart are not due to a germ. Yes, these poor +trout little knew what a future they forfeited when they took the bait." + +"The bacillus is in Birmingham by now," I said suddenly. I passed my +hand across my brow nervously, and glanced at the manuscript lying +before Sarakoff. "You had better keep those papers locked up. I spent an +awful day at the hospital. It dawned on me that the whole medical +profession will want to tear us in pieces before the year is out." + +"In theory they ought not to." + +"Who cares for theory, when it is a question of earning a living? As I +walked along the street to-day, I could have shrieked aloud when I saw +everybody hurrying about as if nothing were going to happen. This is +unnerving me. It is so tremendous." + +Sarakoff picked up his pen, and traced out a pattern in the blotting-pad +before him. + +"The Water Committee of Birmingham are investigating the matter," he +observed. "It will be amusing to hear their report. What will they think +when they make a bacteriological examination of the water in the +reservoir? It will stagger them." + +The next morning I was down to breakfast before my friend and stood +before the fire eagerly scanning the papers. At first I could find +nothing that seemed to indicate any further effects of the bacillus. I +was in the act of buttering a piece of toast when my eye fell on one of +the newspapers lying beside me. A heading in small type caught my eye. + +"_The measles epidemic in Ludlow._" I picked the paper up. + +"The severe epidemic of measles which began last week and seemed likely +to spread through the entire town, has mysteriously abated. Not only are +no further cases reported, but several doctors report that those +already attacked have recovered in an incredibly short space of time. +Doubt has been expressed by the municipal authorities as to whether the +epidemic was really measles." + +I adjusted my glasses to read the paragraph again. Then I got up and +went into my study. After rummaging in a drawer I pulled out and +unrolled a map of England. The course of the aqueduct from Elan to +Birmingham was marked by a thin red line. I followed it slowly with the +point of my finger and came on the town of Ludlow about half-way along. +I stared at it. + +"Of course," I whispered at length, my finger still resting on the +position of the town. "All these towns on the way are supplied by the +aqueduct. I hadn't thought of that. The bacillus is in Ludlow." + +For about a minute I did not move. Then I rolled up the map and went up +to Sarakoff's bedroom. I met the Russian on the landing on his way to +the bathroom. + +"The bacillus is in Ludlow," I said in a curiously small voice. I stood +on the top stair, holding on to the bannister, my big glasses aslant on +my nose, and the map hanging down in my limp grasp. + +I had to repeat the sentence before Sarakoff heard me. + +"Where's Ludlow?" + +I sank on my knees and unrolled the map on the floor and pointed +directly with my finger. + +Sarakoff went down on all fours and looked at the spot keenly. + +"Ah, on the line of the aqueduct! But how do you know it is there?" + +"It has cut short an epidemic of measles. The doctors are puzzled." + +Sarakoff nodded. He was looking at the names of the other towns that lay +on the course of the aqueduct. + +"Cleobury-Mortimer," he spelt out. "No news from there?" + +"None." + +"And none from Birmingham yet?" + +"None." + +"We'll have news to-morrow." He raised himself on his knees. "Trout and +then measles!" he said, and laughed. "This is only the beginning. No +wonder the Ludlow doctors are puzzled." + +The same evening there was further news of the progress of the bacillus. +From Cleobury-Mortimer, ten miles from Ludlow, and twenty from +Birmingham, it was reported that the measles epidemic there had been cut +short in the same mysterious manner as noticed in Ludlow. But next +morning a paragraph of considerable length appeared which I read out in +a trembling voice to Sarakoff. + +"It was reported a short time ago that the trout in the Elan +reservoirs appeared to be suffering from a singular disease, the +effect of which was to tint their scales and flesh a delicate bluish +colour. The matter is being investigated. In the meanwhile it has been +noticed, both in Ludlow and Cleobury-Mortimer, and also in Knighton, +that the peculiar bluish tint has appeared amongst the inhabitants. +Our correspondent states that it is most marked in the conjunctivae, or +whites of the eyes. There must undoubtedly be some connection between +this phenomenon and the condition of the trout in the Elan reservoirs, +as all the above-mentioned towns lie close to, and receive water from, +the great aqueduct. The most remarkable thing, however, is that the +bluish discolouration does not seem to be accompanied by any symptoms +of illness in those whom it has affected. No sickness or fever has +been observed. It is perhaps nothing more than a curious coincidence +that the abrupt cessation of the measles epidemic in Ludlow and +Cleobury-Mortimer, reported in yesterday's issue, should have occurred +simultaneously with the appearance of bluish discolouration among the +inhabitants." + +On the same evening, I was returning from the hospital and saw the +following words on a poster:-- + +"Blue Disease in Birmingham." + +I bought a paper and scanned the columns rapidly. In the stop-press news +I read:-- + +"The Blue Disease has appeared in Birmingham. Cases are reported all +over the city. The Public Health Department are considering what +measures should be adopted. The disease seems to be unaccompanied by any +dangerous symptoms." + +I stood stock-still in the middle of the pavement. A steady stream of +people hurrying from business thronged past me. A newspaper boy was +shouting something down the street, and as he drew nearer, I heard his +hoarse voice bawling out:-- + +"Blue Disease in Birmingham." + +He passed close to me, still bawling, and his voice died away in the +distance. Men jostled me and glanced at me angrily.... But I was lost in +a dream. The paper dropped from my fingers. In my mind's eye I saw the +Sarakoff-Harden bacillus in Birmingham, teeming in every water-pipe in +countless billions, swarming in the carafes on dining-room tables, and +in every ewer and finger-basin, infecting everything it came in contact +with. And the vision of Birmingham and the whole stretch of country up +to the Elan watershed passed before me, stained with a vivid blue. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE MAN FROM BIRMINGHAM + + +The following day while walking to the hospital, I noticed a group of +people down a side street, apparently looking intently at something +unusual. I turned aside to see what it was. About twenty persons, mostly +errand boys, were standing round a sandwich-board man. At the outskirts +of the circle, I raised myself on tip-toe and peered over the heads of +those in front. The sandwich-board man's back was towards me. + +"What's the matter?" I asked of my neighbour. + +"One of the blue freaks from Birmingham," was the reply. + +My first impulse was to fly. Here I was in close proximity to my +handiwork. I turned and made off a few paces. But curiosity overmastered +me, and I came back. The man was now facing me, and I could see him +distinctly through a gap in the crowd. It was a thin, unshaven face with +straightened features and gaunt cheeks. The eyes were deeply sunken and +at that moment turned downwards. His complexion was pale, but I could +see a faint bluish tinge suffusing the skin, that gave it a strange, +dead look. And then the man lifted his eyes and gazed straight at me. I +caught my breath, for under the black eye brows, the whites of the eyes +were stained a pure sparrow-egg blue. + +"I came from Birmingham yesterday," I heard him saying. "There ain't +nothing the matter with me." + +"You ought to go to a fever hospital," said someone. + +"We don't want that blue stuff in London," added another. + +"Perhaps it's catching," said the first speaker. + +In a flash everyone had drawn back. The sandwich-board man stood in the +centre of the road alone looking sharply round him. Suddenly a wave of +rage seemed to possess him. He shook his fist in the air, and even as he +shook it, his eyes caught the blue sheen of the tense skin over the +knuckles. He stopped, staring stupidly, and the rage passed from his +face, leaving it blank and incredulous. + +"Lor' lumme," he muttered. "If that ain't queer." + +He held out his hand, palm downwards. And from the pavement I saw that +the man's nails were as blue as pieces of turquoise. + +The sun came out from behind a passing cloud and sent a sudden flame of +radiance over the scene in the side street--the sandwich-board man, his +face still blank and incredulous, staring stupidly at his hands; the +crowd standing well back in a wide semi-circle; I further forward, +peering through my spectacles and clutching my umbrella convulsively. +Then a tall man, in morning coat and top-hat, pushed his way through and +touched the man from Birmingham on the shoulder. + +"Can you come to my house?" he asked in an undertone. "I am a doctor and +would like to examine you." + +I shifted my gaze and recognized Dr. Symington-Tearle. The man pointed +to his boards. + +"How about them things?" + +"Oh, you can get rid of them. I'll pay you. Here is my card with the +address. I'll expect you in half-an-hour, and it will be well worth +while your coming." + +Symington-Tearle moved away, and a sudden spasm of jealousy affected me +as I watched the well-shaped top-hat glittering down the street in the +strong sunlight. Why should Symington-Tearle be given an opportunity of +impressing a credulous world with some fantastic rubbish of his own +devising? I stepped into the road. + +"Do you want a five-pound note?" I asked. The man jumped with surprise. +"Very well. Come round to this address at once." + +I handed him my card. My next move was to telephone to the hospital to +say I would be late, and retrace my footsteps homewards. + +My visitor arrived in a very short time, after handing over his boards +to a comrade on the understanding of suitable compensation, and was +shown into my study. Sarakoff was present, and he pored over the man's +nails and eyes and skin with rapt attention. At last he enquired how he +felt. + +"Ain't never felt so well in me life," said the man. "I was saying to a +pal this morning 'ow well I felt." + +"Do you feel as if you were drunk?" asked Sarakoff tentatively. + +"Well, sir, now you put it that way, I feel as if I'd 'ad a good glass +of beer. Not drunk, but 'appy." + +"Are you naturally cheerful?" + +"I carn't say as I am, sir. My profession ain't a very cheery one, not +in all sorts and kinds of weather." + +"But you are distinctly more cheerful this morning than usual?" + +"I am, sir. I don't deny it. I lost my temper sudden like when that +crowd drew away from me as if I'd got the leprosy, and I'm usually a +mild and forbearin' man." + +"Sit down," said Sarakoff. The man obeyed, and Sarakoff began to examine +him carefully. He told him once or twice not to speak, but the man +seemed in a loquacious mood and was incapable of silence for more than a +minute of time. + +"And I ain't felt so clear 'eaded not for years," he remarked. "I seem +to see twice as many things to what I used to, and everything seems to +'ave a new coat of paint. I was saying to a pal early this morning what +a very fine place Trafalgar Square was and 'ow I'd never seemed to +notice it before, though I've known it all my life. And up Regent Street +I begun to notice all sort o' little things I'd never seen before, +though it was my old beat 'afore I went to Birmingham. O' course it may +be because I been out o' London a spell. But blest if I ever seed so +many fine shop windows in Regent Street before, or so many different +colours." + +"Headache?" + +"Bless you, no, sir. Just the opposite, if you understand." He looked +round suddenly. "What's that noise?" he asked. "It's been worryin' me +since I came in here." + +We listened intently, but neither I nor Sarakoff could hear anything. + +"It comes from there." The man pointed to the laboratory door. I went +and opened it and stood listening. In a corner by the window a +clock-work recording barometer was ticking with a faint rhythm. + +"That's the noise," said the man from Birmingham. "I knew it wasn't no +clock, 'cause it's too fast." + +Sarakoff glanced significantly at me. + +"All the senses very acute," he said. "At least, hearing and seeing." He +took a bottle from the laboratory and uncorked it in one corner of the +study. "Can you smell what this is?" + +The man, sitting ten feet away, gave one sniff. + +"Ammonia," he said promptly, and sneezed. "This 'ere Blue Disease," said +the man after a long pause, "is it dangerous?" + +He spread out his fingers, squeezing the turquoise nails to see if the +colour faded. He frowned to find it fixed. I was standing at the window, +my back to the room and my hands twisting nervously with each other +behind me. + +"No, it is not dangerous," said Sarakoff. He sat on the edge of the +writing-table, swinging his legs and staring meditatively at the floor. +"It is not dangerous, is it, Harden?" + +I replied only with a jerky, impatient movement. + +"What I mean," persisted the man, "is this--supposin' the police arrest +me, when I go back to my job. 'Ave they a right? 'Ave people a right to +give me the shove--to put me in a 'orspital? That crowd round me in the +street--it confused me, like--as if I was a leper." He paused and looked +up at Sarakoff enquiringly. "What's the cause of it?" + +"A germ--a bacillus." + +"Same as what gives consumption?" + +Sarakoff nodded. "But this germ is harmless," he added. + +"Then I ain't going to die?" + +"No. That's just the point. You aren't going to die," said the Russian +slowly. "That's what is so strange." + +I jumped round from the window. + +"How do you know?" I said fiercely. "There's no proof. It's all theory +so far. The calculations may be wrong." + +The man stared at me wonderingly. He saw me as a man fighting with some +strange anxiety, with his forehead damp and shining, his spectacles +aslant on his nose and the heavy folds of his frock-coat shaken with a +sudden impetuosity. + +"How do you know?" I repeated, shaking my fist in the air. "How do you +know he isn't going to die?" + +Sarakoff fingered his beard in silence, but his eyes shone with a quiet +certainty. To the man from Birmingham it must have seemed suddenly +strange that we should behave in this manner. His mind was sharpened to +perceive things. Yesterday, had he been present at a similar scene, he +would probably have sat dully, finding nothing curious in my passionate +attitude and the calm, almost insolent, inscrutability of Sarakoff. He +forgot his turquoise finger nails, and stared, open-mouthed. + +"Ain't going to die?" he said. "What do yer mean?" + +"Simply that you aren't going to die," was Sarakoff's soft answer. + +"Yer mean, not die of the Blue Disease?" + +"Not die at all." + +"Garn! Not die at all." He looked at me. "What's he mean, Mister?" He +looked almost surprised with himself at catching the drift of Sarakoff's +sentence. Inwardly he felt something insistent and imperious, forcing +him to grasp words, to blunder into new meanings. Some new force was +alive in him and he was carried on by it in spite of himself. He felt +strung up to a pitch of nervous irritation. He got up from his chair and +came forward, pointing at Sarakoff. "What's this?" he demanded. "Why +don't you speak out? Yer cawn't hide it from me." He stopped. His brain, +working at unwonted speed, had discovered a fresh suspicion. "Look 'ere, +you two know something about this blue disease." He came a step closer, +and looking cunningly in my face, said: "That's why you offered me a +five-pound note, ain't it?" + +I avoided the scrutiny of the sparrow-egg blue orbs close before me. + +"I offered you the money because I wished to examine you," I said +shortly. "Here it is. You can go now." + +I took a note from a safe in the corner of the room, and held it out. +The man took it, felt its crispness and stowed it away in a secure +pocket. His thoughts were temporarily diverted by the prospect of an +immediate future with plenty of money, and he picked up his hat and went +to the door. But his turquoise finger nails lying against the rusty +black of the hat brought him back to his suspicions. He paused and +turned. + +"My name's Wain," he said. "I'm telling you, in case you might 'ear of +me again. 'Erbert Wain. I know what yours is, remember, because I seed +it on the door." He twisted his hat round several times in his hands and +drew his brows together, puzzled at the speed of his ideas. Then he +remembered the card that Symington-Tearle had given him. + +He pulled it out and examined it. "I'm going across to see this gent," +he announced. "It's convenient, 'im living so close. Perhaps he'll 'ave +a word to say about this 'ere disease. Fair spread over Birmingham, so +they say. It would be nasty if any bloke was responsible for it. Good +day to yer." He opened the door slowly, and glanced back at us standing +in the middle of the room watching him. "Look 'ere," he said swiftly, +"what did 'e mean, saying I was never going to die and----" The light +from the window was against his eyes, and he could not see the features +of Sarakoff's face, but there was something in the outline of his body +that checked him. "Guv'ner, it ain't true." The words came hoarsely from +his lips. "I ain't never not going to die." + +Sarakoff spoke. + +"You are never going to die, Mr. Herbert Wain ... you understand?... +_Never_ going to die, unless you get killed in an accident--or starve." + +I jerked up my hand to stop my friend. + +Wain stared incredulously. Then he burst into a roar of laughter and +smacked his thigh. + +"Gor lumme!" he exclaimed, "if that ain't rich. Never going to die! Live +for ever! Strike me, if that ain't a notion!" The tears ran down his +cheeks and he paused to wipe them away. "If I was to believe what you +say," he went on, "it would fair drive me crazy. Live for ever--s'elp +me, if that wouldn't be just 'ell. Good-day to yer, gents. I'm obliged +to yer." + +He went out into the sunlit street still roaring with laughter, a thin, +ragged, tattered figure, with the shadow of immortality upon him. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE ILLNESS OF MR. ANNOT + + +The departure of Mr. Herbert Wain was a relief. I turned to Sarakoff at +once and spoke with some heat. + +"You were more than imprudent to give that fellow hints that we knew +more about the Blue Disease than anybody else," I exclaimed. "This may +be the beginning of incalculable trouble." + +"Nonsense," replied the Russian. "You are far too apprehensive, Harden. +What can he do?" + +"What may he not do?" I cried bitterly. "Do you suppose London will +welcome the spread of the germ? Do you think that people will be pleased +to know that you and I were responsible for its appearance?" + +"When they realize that it brings immortality with it, they will hail us +as the saviours of humanity." + +"Mr. Herbert Wain did not seem to accept the idea of immortality with +any pleasure," I muttered. "The suggestion seemed to strike him as +terrible." + +Sarakoff laughed genially. + +"My friend," he said, "Mr. Herbert Wain is not a man of vision. He is a +cockney, brought up in the streets of a callous city. To him life is a +hard struggle, and immortality naturally appears in a poor light. You +must have patience. It will take some time before the significance of +this immortality is grasped by the people. But when it is grasped, all +the conditions of life will change. Life will become beautiful. We will +have reforms that, under ordinary circumstances, would have taken +countless ages to bring about. We will anticipate our evolution by +thousands of centuries. At one step we will reach the ultimate goal of +our destiny." + +"And what is that?" + +"Immortality, of course. Surely you must see by now that all the +activities of modern life are really directed towards one end--towards +solving the riddle of prolonging life and at the same time increasing +pleasure? Isn't that the inner secret desire that you doctors find in +every patient? So far a compromise has only been possible, but now that +is all changed." + +"I don't agree, Sarakoff. Some people must live for other motives. Take +myself ... I live for science." + +"It is merely your form of pleasure." + +"That's a quibble," I cried angrily. "Science is aspiration. There's all +the difference in the world between aspiration and pleasure. I have +scarcely known what pleasure is. I have worked like a slave all my life, +with the sole ambition of leaving something permanent behind me when I +die." + +"But you won't die," interposed the Russian. "That is the charm of the +new situation." + +"Then why should I work?" The question shaped itself in my mind and I +uttered it involuntarily. I sat down and stared at the fire. A kind of +dull depression came over me, and for some reason the picture of +Sarakoff's butterflies appeared in my mind. I saw them with great +distinctness, crawling aimlessly on the floor of their cage. "Why should +I work?" I repeated. + +Sarakoff merely shrugged his shoulders and turned away. Questions of +that kind did not seem to bother him. His was a nature that escaped the +necessity of self-analysis. But I was different, and our conversation +had aroused a train of odd thought. What, after all, was it that kept my +nose to the grindstone? Why had I slaved incessantly all my life, +reading when I might have slept, examining patients when I might have +been strolling through meadows, hurrying through meals when I might have +eaten at leisure? What was the cause behind all the tremendous activity +and feverish haste of modern people? When Sarakoff had said that I would +not die, and that therein lay the charm of the new situation, it seemed +as if scales had momentarily fallen from my eyes. I beheld myself as +something ridiculous, comparable to a hare that persists in dashing +along a country lane in front of the headlight of a motor car, when a +turn one way or another would bring it to safety. A great uneasiness +filled me, and with it came a determination to ignore these new fields +of thought that loomed round me--a determination that I have seen in old +men when they are faced by the new and contradictory--and I began to +force my attention elsewhere. I was relieved when the door opened and +my servant entered. She handed me a telegram. It was from Miss Annot, +asking me to come to Cambridge at once, as her father was seriously ill. +I scribbled a reply, saying I would be down that afternoon. + +After the servant had left the room, I remained gazing at the fire, but +my depression left me. In place of it I felt a quiet elation, and it was +not difficult for me to account for it. + +"I was wrong in saying that I had scarcely known what pleasure is," I +observed at length, looking up at Sarakoff with a smile. "I must confess +to you that there is one factor in my life that gives me great +pleasure." + +Sarakoff placed himself before me, hands in pockets and pipe in mouth, +and gazed at me with an answering smile in his dark face. + +"A woman?" + +I flushed. The Russian seemed amused. + +"I thought as much," he remarked. "This year I noticed a change in you. +Your fits of abstraction suggested it. Well, may I congratulate you? +When are you to be married?" + +"That is out of the question at present," I answered hurriedly. "In +fact, there is no definite arrangement--just a mutual understanding.... +She is not free." + +Sarakoff raised his shaggy eyebrows. + +"Then she is already married?" + +This cross-examination was intensely painful to me. Between Miss Annot +and myself there was, I hoped, a perfect understanding, and I quite +realized the girl's position. She was devoted to her father, who +required her constant attention and care, and until she was free there +could be no question of marriage, or even an engagement, for fear of +wounding the old man's feelings. I quite appreciated her situation and +was content to wait. + +"No! She has an invalid father, and----" + +"Rubbish!" said Sarakoff, with remarkable force. "Rubbish! Marry her, +man, and then think of her father. Why, that sort of thing----" He drew +a deep breath and checked himself. + +I shook my head. + +"That is impossible. Here, in England, we cannot do such things.... The +girl's duty is plain. I am quite prepared to wait." + +"To wait for what?" + +I looked at him in unthinking surprise. + +"Until Mr. Annot dies, of course." + +Sarakoff remained motionless. Then he took his pipe out of his mouth, +strolled to the window, and began to whistle to himself in subdued +tones. A moment later he left the room. I picked up a time-table and +looked out a train, a little puzzled by his behaviour. + +I reached Cambridge early in the afternoon and took a taxi to the +Annots' house. Miss Annot met me at the door. + +"It is so good of you to come," she said with a faint smile. "My father +behaved very foolishly yesterday. He insisted on inviting the Perrys to +lunch, and he talked a great deal and insisted on drinking wine, with +the result that in the night he had a return of his gastritis. He is +very weak to-day and his mind seems to be wandering a little." + +"You should not have allowed him to do that," I remonstrated. "He is in +too fragile a state to run any risks." + +"Oh, but I couldn't help it. The Perrys are such old friends of +father's, and they were only staying one day in Cambridge. Father would +have fretted if they had not come." + +I had taken off my coat in the hall, and we were now standing in the +drawing-room. + +"You are tired, Alice," I said. + +"I've been up most of the night," she replied, with an effort towards +brightness. "But I do feel tired, I admit." + +I turned away from her and went to the window. For the first time I felt +the awkwardness of our position. I had a strong and natural impulse to +comfort her, but what could I do? After a moment's reflection, I made a +sudden resolution. + +"Alice," I said, "you and I had better become engaged. Don't you think +it would be easier for you?" + +"Oh, don't," she cried. "Father would never endure the idea that I +belonged to another man. He would worry about my leaving him +continually. No, please wait. Perhaps it will not be----" + +She checked herself. I remained silent, staring at the pattern of the +carpet with a frown. To my annoyance, I could not keep Sarakoff's words +out of my mind. And yet Alice was right. I felt sure that no one is a +free agent in the sense that he or she can be guided solely by love. It +is necessary to make a compromise. As these thoughts formed in my mind I +again seemed to hear the loud voice of Sarakoff, sounding in derision +at my cautious views. A conflict arose in my soul. I raised my eyes and +looked at Alice. She was standing by the mantelpiece, staring listlessly +at the grate. A wave of emotion passed over me. I took a step towards +her. + +"Alice!" And then the words stuck in my throat. She turned her head and +her eyes questioned me. I tried to continue, but something prevented me, +and I became suddenly calm again. "Please take me up to your father," I +begged her. She obeyed silently, and I followed her upstairs. + +Mr. Annot was lying in a darkened room with his eyes closed. He was a +very old man, approaching ninety, with a thin aquiline face and white +hair. He lay very still, and at first I thought he was unconscious. But +his pulse was surprisingly good, and his breathing deep and regular. + +"He is sleeping," I murmured. + +She leaned over the bed. + +"He scarcely slept during the night," she whispered. "This will do him +good." + +"His pulse could not be better," I murmured. + +She peered at him more closely. + +"Isn't he very pale?" + +I stooped down, so that my face was close to hers. The old man certainly +looked very pale. A marble-like hue lay over his features, and yet the +skin was warm to the touch. + +"How long has he been asleep?" I asked. + +"He was awake over an hour ago, when I looked in last. He said then that +he was feeling drowsy." + +"I think we'll wake him up." + +Alice hesitated. + +"Won't you wait for tea?" she whispered. "He would probably be awake by +then." + +I shook my head. + +"I must get back to London by five. Do you mind if we have a little more +light?" + +She moved to the window and raised the blind half way. I examined the +old man attentively. There was no doubt about the curious pallor of his +skin. It was like the pallor of extreme collapse, save for the presence +of a faint colour in his cheeks which seemed to lie as a bright +transparency over a dead background. My fingers again sought his pulse. +It was full and steady. As I counted it my eyes rested on his hand. + +I stooped down suddenly with an exclamation. Alice hurried to my side. + +"Where did those friends of his come from?" I asked swiftly. + +"The Perrys? From Birmingham." + +"Was there anything wrong with them?" + +"What do you mean?" + +Before I could reply the old man opened his eyes. The light fell clearly +on his face. Alice uttered a cry of horror. I experienced an +extraordinary sensation of fear. Out of the marble pallor of Mr. Annot's +face, two eyes, stained a sparrow-egg blue, stared keenly at us. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE RESURRECTION + + +For some moments none of us spoke. Alice recovered herself first. + +"What is the matter with him?" she gasped. + +I was incapable of finding a suitable reply, and stood, tongue-tied, +staring foolishly at the old man. He seemed a little surprised at our +behaviour. + +"Dr. Harden," he said, "I am glad to see you. My daughter did not tell +me you were coming." + +His voice startled me. It was strong and clear. On my previous visit to +him he had spoken in quavering tones. + +"Oh, father, how do you feel?" exclaimed Alice, kneeling beside the bed. + +"My dear, I feel extremely well. I have not felt so well for many +years." He stretched out his hand and patted his daughter's head. "Yes, +my sleep has done me good. I should like to get up for tea." + +"But your eyes----" stammered Alice "Can you see, father?" + +"See, my dear? What does she mean, Dr. Harden?" + +"There is some discolouration of the conjunctivae," I said hastily. "It +is nothing to worry about." + +At that moment Alice caught sight of his finger nails. + +"Look!" she cried, "they're blue." + +The old man raised his hands and looked at them in astonishment. + +"How extraordinary," he murmured. "What do you make of that, doctor?" + +"It is nothing," I assured him. "It is only pigmentation +caused--er--caused by some harmless germ." + +"I know what it is," cried Alice suddenly. "It's the Blue Disease. +Father, you remember the Perrys were telling us about it yesterday at +lunch. They said it was all over Birmingham, and that they had come +south partly to escape it. They must have brought the infection with +them." + +"Yes," I said, "that is certainly the explanation. And now, Mr. Annot, +let me assure you that this disease is harmless. It has no ill effects." + +Mr. Annot sat up in bed with an exhibition of vigour that was remarkable +in a man of his age. + +"I can certainly witness to the fact that it causes no ill effects, Dr. +Harden," he exclaimed. "This morning I felt extremely weak and was +prepared for the end. But now I seem to have been endowed with a fresh +lease of life. I feel young again. Do you think this Blue Disease is the +cause of it?" + +"Possibly. It is difficult to say," I answered in some confusion. "But +you must not think of getting up, Mr. Annot. Rest in bed for the next +week is essential." + +"Humbug!" cried the old man, fixing his brilliant eyes upon me. "I am +going to get up this instant." + +"Oh, father, please don't be so foolish!" + +"Foolish, child? Do you think I'm going to lie here when I feel as if my +body and mind had been completely rejuvenated? I repeat I am going to +get up. Nothing on earth will keep me in bed." + +The old man began to remove the bedclothes. I made an attempt to +restrain him, but was met by an outburst of irritation that warned me +not to interfere. I motioned Alice to follow me, and together we left +the room. As we went downstairs I heard a curious sound proceeding from +Mr. Annot's bedroom. We halted on the stairs and listened. The sound +became louder and clearer. + +"Father is singing," said Alice in a low voice. Then she took out her +handkerchief and began to sob. + +We continued our way downstairs, Alice endeavouring to stifle her sobs, +and I in a dazed condition of mind. I was stunned by the fact that that +mad experiment of ours should have had such a sudden and strange result. +It produced in me a fear that was far worse to bear than the vague +anxiety I had felt ever since those fatal tubes of the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus had been emptied into the lake. I stumbled into the +drawing-room and threw myself upon a chair. My legs were weak, and my +hands were trembling. + +"Alice," I said, "you must not allow this to distress you. The Blue +Disease is not dangerous." + +She lifted a tear-stained face and looked at me dully. + +"Richard, I can't bear it any longer. I've given half my life to looking +after father. I simply can't bear it." + +I sat up and stared at her. What strange intuition had come to her? + +"What do you mean?" + +She sobbed afresh. + +"I can't endure the sight of him with those blue eyes," she went on, +rather wildly. "Richard, I must get away. I've never been from him for +more than a few hours at a time for the last fifteen years. Don't think +I want him to die." + +"I don't." + +"I'm glad he's better," she remarked irrelevantly. + +"So am I." + +"The Perrys were saying that the doctors up in Birmingham think that the +Blue Disease cut short other diseases, and made people feel better." She +twisted her handkerchief for some moments. "Does it?" she asked, looking +at me directly. + +"I--er--I have heard it does." + +An idea had come into my mind, and I could not get rid of it. Why should +I not tell her all that I knew? + +"I'm thirty-five," she remarked. + +"And I'm forty-two." I tried to smile. + +"Life's getting on for us both," she added. + +"I know, Alice. I suggested that we should get engaged a short while +ago. Now I suggest that we get married--as soon as possible." I got up +and paced the room. "Why not?" I demanded passionately. + +She shook her head, and appeared confused. + +"It's impossible. Who could look after him? I should never be happy, +Richard, as long as he was living." + +I stopped before her. + +"Not with me?" + +"No, Richard. I should be left a great deal to myself. A doctor's wife +always is. I've thought it out carefully. I would think of him." + +After a long silence, I made a proposal that I had refused to entertain +before. + +"Well, there's no reason why he should not come and live with us. There +is plenty of room in my house at Harley Street. Would that do?" + +It was a relief to me when she said that she would not consent to an +arrangement of that kind. I sat down again. + +"Alice," I said quietly, "it is necessary that we should decide our +future. There are special reasons." + +She glanced at me enquiringly. There was a pause in which I tried to +collect my thoughts. + +"Your father," I continued, "is suffering from a very peculiar disease. +It is wrong, perhaps, to call it a disease. You wouldn't call life a +disease, would you?" + +"I don't understand." + +"No, of course not. Well, to put it as simply as possible, it is likely +that your father will live a long time now. When he said he felt as if +his mind and body had been rejuvenated he was speaking the truth." + +"But he will be ninety next year," she said bluntly. + +"I know. But that will make no difference. This germ, that is now in his +body, has the power of arresting all further decay. Your father will +remain as he is now for an indefinite period." + +I met her eyes as steadily as I could, but there was a quality in her +gaze that caused me to look elsewhere. + +"How do you know this?" she asked after a painful silence. + +"I--er--I can't tell you." The colour mounted to my cheeks, and I began +to tap the carpet impatiently with the toe of my boot. "You wouldn't +understand," I continued in as professional a manner as I could muster. +"You would need first to study the factors that bring about old age." + +"Where did the Blue Disease come from? Tell me. I can surely understand +that!" + +"You have read the paper, haven't you?" + +"I've read that no one understands what it is, and that the doctors are +puzzled." + +"How should I know where it comes from?" + +She regarded me searchingly. + +"You know something about it," she said positively. "Richard, you are +keeping it back from me. I have a right to know what it is." + +I was silent. + +"If you don't tell me, how can I trust you again?" she asked. "Don't you +see that there will always be a shadow between us?" + +It was not difficult for me to guess that my guilty manner had roused +her suspicions. She had seen my agitation, and had found it +unaccountable. I resolved to entrust her with the secret of the germ. + +"Do you remember that I once told you my friend, Professor Sarakoff, had +succeeded in keeping butterflies alive for over a year?" + +She nodded. + +"He and I have been experimenting on those lines and he has found a germ +that has the property of keeping human beings alive in the same way. The +germ has escaped ... into the world ... and it is the cause of the Blue +Disease." + +"How did it escape?" + +I winced. In her voice I was conscious of a terrible accusation. + +"By accident," I stammered. + +She jumped to her feet. + +"I don't believe it! That is a lie!" + +"Alice, you must calm yourself! I am trying to tell you exactly what +happened." + +"Was it by accident?" + +The vision of that secret expedition to the water supply of Birmingham +passed before me. I felt like a criminal. I could not raise my eyes; my +cheeks were burning. In the silence that followed, the sound of Mr. +Annot's voice became audible. Alice stood before me, rigid and +implacable. + +"It was--by accident," I said. I tried to look at her, and failed. She +remained motionless for about a minute. Then she turned and left the +room. I heard her go slowly upstairs. A door banged. Actuated by a +sudden desire, I stepped into the hall, seized my coat and hat and +opened the front door. I was just in time. As I gently closed the door I +heard Mr. Annot on the landing above. He was singing some long-forgotten +tune in a strange cracked voice. + +I stood outside on the doorstep, listening, until, overcome by +curiosity, I bent down and lifted the flap of the letter-box. The +interior of the hall was plainly visible. Mr. Annot had ceased singing +and was now standing before the mirror which hung beside the hatstand. +He was a trifle unsteady, and swayed on his frail legs, but he was +staring at himself with a kind of savage intensity. At last he turned +away and I caught the expression on his face.... With a slight shiver, I +let down the flap noiselessly. There was something in that expression +that for me remains unnamable; and I think now, as I look back into +those past times, that of all the signs which showed me that the +Sarakoff-Harden bacillus was an offence against humanity, that strange +look on the nonagenarian's face was the most terrible and obvious. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MR. CLUTTERBUCK'S OPINION + + +When I reached London it was dusk, and a light mist hung in the +darkening air. The lamps were twinkling in the streets. I decided to get +some tea in a restaurant adjoining the station. When I entered it was +crowded, and the only seat that was empty was at a small table already +occupied by another man. I sat down, and gave my order to the waitress, +and remained staring moodily at the soiled marble surface of the table. +My neighbour was engrossed in his paper. + +During my journey from Cambridge I had come to a certain conclusion. +Sarakoff was of the opinion that we should publish a statement about the +germ of immortality, and now I was in agreement with him. For I had been +reflecting upon the capacity of human mind for retaining secrets and had +come to the conclusion that it is so constructed that its power of +retention is remarkably small. I felt that it would be a matter of +extraordinary relief if everyone in that tea-shop knew the secret of the +Blue Germ. + +I began to study the man who sat opposite me. He was a quietly dressed +middle-aged man. The expression on his rather pale, clean-shaven face +suggested that he was a clerk or secretary. He looked reliable, +unimaginative, careful and methodical. He was reading his newspaper with +close attention. A cup of tea and the remains of a toasted muffin were +at his elbow. It struck me that here was a very average type of man, and +an immense desire seized upon me to find out what opinion he would +pronounce if I were to tell him my secret. I waited until he looked up. + +"Is there any news?" I asked. + +He observed me for a moment as if he resented my question. + +"The Blue Disease is spreading in London," he remarked shortly, and +returned to his paper. I felt rebuffed, but reflected that this, after +all, was how an average man might be expected to behave. + +"A curious business," I continued. "I am a doctor, and therefore very +much interested in it." + +His manner changed. He assumed the attitude of the average man towards a +doctor at once, and I was gratified to observe it. + +"I was just thinking I'd like to hear what a doctor thinks about it," he +said, laying down his paper. "I thought of calling in on Dr. Sykes on my +way home to-night; he attends my wife. Do you know Dr. Sykes?" + +"Which one?" I asked cautiously, not willing to disappoint him. + +"Dr. Sykes of Harlesden," he said, with a look of surprise. + +"Oh, yes, I know Dr. Sykes. Why did you think of going to see him?" + +He smiled apologetically and pointed to the paper. + +"It sounds so queer ... the disease. They say, up in Birmingham, that +it's stopping all diseases in the hospitals ... everywhere. People +getting well all of a sudden. Now I don't believe that." + +"Have you seen a case yet?" + +"Yes. A woman. In the street this afternoon as I was coming from lunch. +The police took her. She was mad, I can tell you. There was a big crowd. +She screamed. I think she was drunk." He paused, and glanced at me. +"What do you think of it?" + +I took a deep breath. + +"I don't _think_, I _know_," I said, in as quiet a manner as possible. +He stared a moment, and a nervous smile appeared and swiftly vanished. +He seemed uncertain what to do. + +"You've found out something?" he asked at length, playing with his +teaspoon and keeping his eyes on the table. I regarded him carefully. I +was not quite certain if he still thought I was a doctor. + +"I'm not a lunatic," I said. "I'm merely stating a rather extraordinary +fact. I know all about the germ of the Blue Disease." + +He raised his eyes for an instant, and then lowered them. His hand had +stopped trifling with the teaspoon. + +"Yes," he said, "the doctors think it's due to a germ of some sort." He +made a sort of effort and continued. "It is funny, some of these germs +being invisible through microscopes. Measles and chickenpox and common +things like that. They've never seen the germs that cause them, that's +what the papers say. It seems odd--having something you can't see." He +turned his head, and looked for his hat that hung on a peg behind him. + +"One moment," I said. I took out my card-case. "I want you to read this +card. Don't think I'm mad. I want to talk to you for a particular reason +which I'll explain in a moment." He took the card hesitatingly and read +it. Then he looked at me. "The reason why I am speaking to you is this," +I said. "I want to find out what a decent citizen like yourself will +think of something I know. It concerns the Blue Disease and its origin." + +He seemed disturbed, and took out his watch. + +"I ought to get home. My wife----" + +"Is your wife ill?" + +"Yes." + +"What's the matter with her?" + +He frowned. + +"Dr. Sykes thinks it's lung trouble." + +"Consumption?" + +He nodded, and an expression of anxiety came over his face. + +"Good," I exclaimed. "Now listen to what I have to say. Before the week +is out your wife will be cured. I swear it." + +He said nothing. It was plain that he was still suspicious. + +"You read what they say in the papers about the Blue Disease cutting +short other diseases? Well, that Blue Disease will be all over London in +a day or two. Now do you understand?" + +I saw that I had interested him. He settled himself on his chair, and +began to examine me. His gaze travelled over my face and clothes, +pausing at my cuff-links and my tie and collar. Then he looked at my +card again. Inwardly he came to a decision. + +"I'm willing to listen to what you've got to say," he remarked, "if you +think it's worth saying." + +"Thank you. I think it's worth hearing." I leaned my arms on the table +in front of me. "This Blue Disease is not an accidental thing. It was +deliberately planned, by two scientists. I was one of those scientists." + +"You can't plan a disease," he remarked, after a considerable silence. + +"You're wrong. We found a way of creating new germs. We worked at the +idea of creating a particular kind of germ that would kill all other +germs ... and we were successful. Then we let loose the germ on the +world." + +"How?" + +"We infected the water supply of Birmingham at its origin in Wales." + +I watched his expression intently. + +"You mean that you did this secretly, without knowing what the result +would be?" he asked at last. + +"We foresaw the result to a certain extent." + +He thought for some time. + +"But you had no right to infect a water supply. That's criminal, +surely?" + +"It's criminal if the infection is dangerous to people. If you put +cholera in a reservoir, of course it's criminal." + +"But this germ...?" + +"This germ does not kill people. It kills the germs in people." + +"What's the difference?" + +"All the difference in the world! It's like this.... By the way, what is +your name?" + +"Clutterbuck." The word escaped his lips by accident. He looked +annoyed. I smiled reassuringly. + +"It's like this, Mr. Clutterbuck. If you kill all the germs in a +person's body, that person doesn't die. He lives ... indefinitely. Now +do you see?" + +"No, I don't see," said Clutterbuck with great frankness. "I don't +understand what you're driving at. You tell me that you're a doctor and +you give me a card bearing a well-known specialist's name. Then you say +you created a germ and put it in the Birmingham water supply and that +the result is the Blue Disease. This germ, you say, doesn't kill people, +but does something else which I don't follow. Now I was taught that +germs are dangerous things, and it seems to me that if your story is +true--which I don't believe--you are guilty of a criminal act." He +pushed back his chair and reached for his hat. There was a flush on his +face. + +"Then you don't believe my tale?" + +"No, I'm sorry, but I don't." + +"Well, Mr. Clutterbuck, will you believe it when you see your wife +restored to health in a few days' time?" + +He paused and stared at me. + +"What you say is impossible," he said slowly. "If you were a doctor +you'd know that as well as I do." + +"But the reports in the paper?" + +"Oh, that's journalistic rubbish." + +He picked up his umbrella and beckoned to the waitress. I made a last +attempt. + +"If I take you to my house will you believe me then?" + +"Look here," he said in an angry tone, "I've had enough of this. I can't +waste my time. I'm sure of one thing and that is that you're no doctor. +You've got somebody's card-case. You don't look like a doctor and you +don't speak like one. I should advise you to be careful." + +He moved away from the table. Some neighbouring people stared at me for +a moment and then went on eating. Mr. Clutterbuck paid at the desk and +left the establishment. I had received the verdict of the average man. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE DEAD IMMORTAL + + +When I reached home, Sarakoff was out. He had left a message to say he +would not be in until after midnight, as he was going to hear Leonora +sing at the opera, and purposed to take her to supper afterwards. Dinner +was therefore a solitary meal for me, and when it was all over I +endeavoured to plunge into some medical literature. The hours passed +slowly. It was almost impossible to read, for the process, to me, was +similar to trying to take an interest in a week-old newspaper. + +The thought of the bacillus made the pages seem colourless; it dwarfed +all meaning in the words. I gave up the attempt and set myself to +smoking and gazing into the fire. What was I to do about Alice? + +Midnight came and my mind was still seething. I knew sleep was out of +the question and the desire to walk assailed me. I put on a coat and +hat and left the house. It was a cold night, clear with stars. Harley +Street was silent. My footsteps led me south towards the river. I walked +rapidly, oblivious of others. The problem of Alice was beyond solution, +for the simple reason that I found it impossible to think of her +clearly. She was overshadowed by the wonder of the bacillus. But the +picture of her father haunted me. It filled me with strange emotions, +and at moments with stranger misgivings. + +There are meanings, dimly caught at the time, which remain in the mind +like blind creatures, mewing and half alive. They pluck at the brain +ceaselessly, seeking birth in thought. Old Annot's face peering into the +hall mirror--what was it that photographed the scene so pitilessly in my +memory? I hurried along, scarcely noticing where I went, and as I went I +argued with myself aloud. + +On the Embankment I returned to a full sense of my position in space. +The river ran beneath me, cold and dark. I leaned over the stone +balustrade and stared at the dark forms of barges. Yes, it was true +enough that I had not realized that the germ would keep Mr. Annot alive +indefinitely. Sarakoff's significant whistle that morning came to my +mind, and I saw that I had been guilty of singular denseness in not +understanding its meaning. + +And now old Annot would live on and on, year after year. Was I glad? It +is impossible to say. It was that expression in the old man's face that +dominated me. I tried to think it out. It had been a triumphant look; +and more than that ... a triumphant _toothless_ look. Was that the +solution? I reflected that triumph is an expression that belongs to +youth, to young things, to all that is striving upwards in growth. +Surely old people should look only patient and resigned--never +triumphant--in this world? Some strong action with regard to Alice's +position would be necessary. It was absurd to think that her father +should eternally come between her and me. It would be necessary to go +down to Cambridge and make a clean confession to Alice. And then, when +forgiven, I would insist on an immediate arrangement concerning our +marriage. Marriage! The word vibrated in my soul. The solemnity of that +ceremony was great enough to mere mortals, but what would it mean to us +when we were immortals? Sarakoff had hinted at a new marriage system. +Was such a thing possible? On what factors did marriage rest? Was it +merely a discipline or was it ultimately selfishness? + + +My agitation increased, and I hurried eastwards, soon entering an area +of riverside London that, had I been calmer, might have given me some +alarm. It must have been about two o'clock in the morning when the +pressure of thoughts relaxed in my mind. I found myself in the great +dock area. The forms of giant cranes rose dimly in the air. A distant +glare of light, where nightshifts were at work, illuminated the huge +shapes of ocean steamers. The quays were littered with crates and bales. +A clanking of buffers and the shrill whistles of locomotives came out of +the darkness. For some time I stood transfixed. In my imagination I saw +these big ships, laden with cargo, slipping down the Thames and out into +the sea, carrying with them an added cargo to every part of the earth. +For by them would the Blue Germ travel over the waterways of the world +and enter every port. From the ports it would spread swiftly into the +towns, and from the towns onwards across plain and prairie until the +gift of Immortality had been received by every human being. The vision +thrilled me.... + +A commotion down a side street on my right shattered this glorious +picture. Hoarse cries rang out, and a sound of blows. I could make out a +small dark struggling mass which seemed to break into separate parts and +then coalesce again. A police whistle sounded. The mass again broke up, +and some figures came rushing down the street in my direction. They +passed me in a flash, and vanished. At the far end of the street two +twinkling lights appeared. After a period of hesitation--what doctor +goes willingly into the accidents of the streets?--I walked slowly in +their direction. + +When I reached them I found two policemen bending over the body of a +man, which lay in the gutter face downwards. + +"Good evening," I said. "Can I be of any service? I am a doctor." + +They shone their lamps on me suspiciously. "What are you doing here?" + +"Walking," I replied. Exercise had calmed me. I felt cool and collected. +"I often walk far at nights. Let me see the body." + +I stooped down and turned the body over. The policemen watched me in +silence. The body was that of a young, fair-haired sailor man. There was +a knife between his ribs. His eyes were screwed up into a rigid state of +contraction which death had not yet relaxed. His whole body was rigid. I +knew that the knife had pierced his heart. But the most extraordinary +thing about him was his expression. I have never looked on a face either +in life or death that expressed such terror. Even the policemen were +startled. The light of their lamps shone on that monstrous and distorted +countenance, and we gazed in horrified silence. + +"Is he dead?" asked one at last. + +"Quite dead," I replied, "but it is odd to find this rigidity so early." +I began to press his eyelids apart. The right eye opened. I uttered a +cry of astonishment. + +"Look!" I cried. + +They stared. + +"Blest if that ain't queer," said one. "It's that Blue Disease. He must +'ave come from Birmingham." + +"Queer?" I said passionately. "Why, man, it's tragedy--unadulterated +tragedy. The man was an Immortal." + +They stared at me heavily. + +"Immortal?" said one. + +"He would have lived for ever," I said. "In his system there is the most +marvellous germ that the world has ever known. It was circulating in his +blood. It had penetrated to every part of his body. A few minutes ago, +as he walked along the dark street, he had before him a future of +unnumbered years. And now he lies in the gutter. Can you imagine a +greater tragedy?" + +The policemen transferred their gaze from me to the dead man. Then, as +if moved by a common impulse, they began to laugh. I watched them +moodily, plunged in an extraordinary vein of thought. When I moved away +they at once stopped me. + +"No, you don't," said one. "We'll want you at the police station to give +your evidence. Not," he continued with a grin, "to tell that bit of +information you just gave us, about him being an angel or something." + +"I didn't say he was an angel." + +They laughed tolerantly. Like Mr. Clutterbuck, they thought I was mad. + +"Let's hope he's an angel," said the other. "But, by his face, he looks +more like the other thing. Bill, you go round for the ambulance. I'll +stay with the gentleman." + +The policeman moved away ponderously and vanished in the darkness. + +"What was that you were saying, sir?" asked the policeman who remained +with me. + +"Never mind," I muttered, "you wouldn't understand." + +"I'm interested in religious matters," continued the policeman in a soft +voice. "You think that the Blue Disease is something out of the common?" + +I am never surprised at London policemen, but I looked at this one +closely before I replied. + +"You seem a reasonable man," I said. "Let me tell you that what I have +told you about the germ--that it confers immortality--is correct. In a +day or two you will be immortal." + +He seemed to reflect in a calm massive way on the news. His eyes were +fixed on the dead man's face. + +"An Immortal Policeman?" + +"Yes." + +"You're asking me to believe a lot, sir." + +"I know that. But still, there it is. It's the truth." + +"And what about crime?" he continued. "If we were all Immortals, what +about crime?" + +"Crime will become so horrible in its meaning that it will stop." + +"It hasn't stopped yet...." + +"Of course not. It won't, till people realize they are immortal." + +He shifted his lantern and shone it down the road. + +"Well, sir, it seems to me it will be a long time before people realize +_that_. In fact, I don't see how anyone could ever realize it." + +"Why not?" + +"Just think," he said, with a large air. "Supposing crime died out, what +would happen to the Sunday papers? Where would those lawyers be? What +would we do with policemen? No, you can't realize it. You can't realize +the things you exist for all vanishing. It's not human nature." He +brooded for a time. "You can't do away with crime," he continued. +"What's behind crime? Woman and gold--one or the other, or both. Now you +don't mean to tell me, sir, that the Blue Disease is doing away with +women and gold in a place like Birmingham? Why, sir, what made +Birmingham? What do you suppose life is?" + +"I have never been asked the question before by a policeman," I said. "I +do not know what made Birmingham, but I will tell you what life is. It +is ultimately a cell, containing protoplasm and a nucleus." + +A low rumbling noise began somewhere in his vast bulk. It gradually +increased to a roar. I became aware that he was laughing. He held his +sides. I thought his shining belt would burst. At length his hilarity +slowly subsided, and he became sober. He surveyed the dead body at his +feet. + +"No, sir," he said, "don't you believe it. Life is women and gold. It +always was that, and it always will be." He shone his lamp downwards so +that the light fell on the terrible features of the dead sailor. "Now +this man, sir, was killed because of money, I'll wager. And behind the +money I reckon you'll find a woman." He mused for a time. "Not +necessarily a pretty woman, but a woman of some sort." + +"How do you account for that look of fear on his face?" + +"I couldn't say. I've never seen anything like it. I've seen a lot of +dead faces, but they are usually quiet enough, as if they were asleep. +But I'll tell you one thing, sir, that I have noticed, and that is that +money--which includes diamonds and such like, makes a man die worse and +more bitter than anything else." + +He turned his lantern down the street. A sound of wheels reached us. + +"That's the ambulance." + +"Will you really require me at the police station?" I asked. + +"Yes." + +"Will it be necessary to prove who I am?" + +He smiled. + +"You won't need to prove that you're a doctor, sir," he said genially. +"We have a lot to do with doctors. I could tell you were a doctor after +talking a minute with you. You are all the same." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Well--it's the things you say. Now only a doctor could have said what +you did--about life being a cell. Do you know, sir, I sometimes believe +that doctors is more innocent than parsons. It's the things they +say...." + +The low rumbling began again in his interior. I waited silently until +the ambulance came up. I felt a slight shade of annoyance. But how could +I expect the enormous uneducated bulk beside me to take a really +intelligent and scientific view of life? Of course life was a cell. +Every educated person knew that--and now that cell was, for the first +time in history, about to become immortal--but what did the policeman +care? How stupid people were, I reflected. We moved off in a small +procession towards the police station. Half an hour later I was on my +way west, deeply pondering on the causes of that extraordinary +expression of fear in the dead sailor's face. Never in my life before +had I seen so agonized a countenance, but I was destined to see others +as terrible. As I walked, the strangeness of the dead man's tragedy +grew in my mind and filled me with a tremendous wonder, for who had ever +seen a dead Immortal? + +On reaching home I roused Sarakoff and related to him what I had seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF IMMORTALITY + + +After two hours of sleep I awoke. My brief rest had been haunted by +unpleasant dreams, vague and indefinite, but seeming to centre about the +idea of an impending catastrophe. I lay in bed staring at the dimly +outlined window. I felt quite rested and very wide awake. For some time +I remained motionless, reflecting on my night adventures and idly +thinking whether it was worth while getting up and attending to some +correspondence that was overdue. The prospect of a chilly study was not +attractive. And then I noticed a very peculiar sensation. + +There is only one thing that I can compare it with. After a day of +exhausting work a glass of champagne produces in me an almost immediate +effect. I feel as if the worries of the day are suddenly removed to a +great and blessed distance. A happy indifference takes their place. I +felt the same effect as I lay in bed on that dreary winter's morning. +The idea that I should get up and work retreated swiftly. A pleasant +sense of languor came over me. My eyes closed and for some time I lay in +a blissful state of peace, such as I had never experienced before so far +as my memory could tell. + +I do not know how long I lay in this state, but at length a persistent +noise made me open my eyes. I looked round. It seemed to be full +daylight now. The first thing I noticed was the unusual size of the +room. The ceiling seemed far above my head. The walls seemed to have +receded many feet. In my astonishment I uttered an exclamation. The +result was startling. My voice seemed to reverberate and re-echo as if I +had shouted with all my strength. Considerably startled, I remained in a +sitting posture, gazing at my unfamiliar surroundings. The persistent +noise that had first roused me continued, and for a long time I could +not account for it. It appeared to come from under my bed. I leaned over +the edge, but could see nothing. And then, in a flash, I knew what it +was. It was the sound of my watch, that lay under my pillow. + +I drew it out and stared at it in a state of mystification. Each of its +ticks sounded like a small hammer striking sharply against a metal +plate. I held it to my ear and was almost deafened. For a moment I +wondered whether I were not in the throes of some acute nervous +disorder, in which the senses became sharpened to an incredible degree. +Such an exultation of perception could only be due to some powerful +intoxicant at work on my body. Was I going mad? I laid the watch on the +counterpane and in the act of doing it, the explanation burst on my +mind. For the recollection of Mr. Herbert Wain and the Clockdrum +suddenly came to me. I flung aside the bedclothes, ran to the window and +drew the curtains. The radiance of the day almost blinded me. I pressed +my hands to my eyes in a kind of agony, feeling that they had been +seared and destroyed, and dropped on my knees. I remained in this +position for over a minute and then gradually withdrew my hands and +gazed at the carpet. I dared not look up yet. The pattern of the carpet +glowed in colours more brilliant than I had ever seen before. As I +knelt there, in attitude of prayer, it seemed to me that I had never +noticed colour before; that all my life had been passed without any +consciousness of colour. At last I lifted my sight from the miracle of +the carpet to the miracle of the day. High overhead, through the dingy +windowpane, was a patch of clear sky, infinitely sweet, remote and +inaccessible, framed by golden clouds. As I gazed at it an indescribable +reverence and joy filled my mind. In the purity of the morning light, it +seemed the most lovely and wonderful thing I had ever beheld. And I, +Richard Harden, consulting physician who had hitherto looked on life +through a microscope, remained kneeling on my miraculous carpet, gazing +upwards at the miraculous heavens. Acting on some strange impulse I +stretched out my hands, and then I saw something which turned me into a +rigid statue. + +It was in this attitude that Sarakoff found me. + +He entered my room violently. His hair was tousled and his beard stuck +out at a grotesque angle. He was clad in pink pyjamas, and in his hand +he carried a silver-backed mirror. My attitude did not seem to cause him +any surprise. The door slammed behind him, with a noise of thunder, and +he rushed across the room to where I knelt, and stooping, examined my +finger nails at which I was staring. + +"Good!" he shouted. "Good! Harden, you've got it too!" + +He pointed triumphantly. Under the nails there was a faint tinge of +blue, and at the nail-bed this was already intense, forming little +crescent-shaped areas of vivid turquoise. + +Sarakoff sat down on the edge of my bed and studied himself attentively +in the hand mirror. + +"A slight pallor is perceptible in the skin," he announced as if he was +dictating a note for a medical journal, "and this is due, no doubt, to a +deposit of the blue pigment in the deeper layers of the epidermis. The +hair is at present unaffected save at the roots. God knows what colour +blond hair will become. I am anxious about Leonora. The expression--I +suppose I can regard myself as a typical case, Harden--is serene, if not +animated. Subjectively, one may observe a great sense of exhilaration +coupled with an extraordinary increase in the power of perception. You, +for example, look to me quite different." + +"In what way?" I demanded. + +"Well, as you kneel there, I notice in you a kind of angular grandeur, a +grotesque touch of the sublime, that was not evident to me before. If I +were a sculptor, I would like to model you like that. I cannot explain +why--I am just saying what I feel. I have never felt any impulse towards +art until this morning." He twisted his moustache. "Yes, you have quite +an interesting face, Harden. I can see in it evidence that you have +suffered intensely. You have taken life too seriously. You have worked +too hard. You are stunted and deformed with work." + +I regarded him with some astonishment. + +"Work is all very well," he continued, "but this morning I see with +singular clarity that it is only a means of development. My dear Harden, +if it is overdone, it simply dwarfs the soul. Our generation has not +recognized this properly." + +"But you were always an apostle of hard work," I remarked irritably. + +"May be." He made a gesture of dismissal. "Now, I am an Immortal, and +you are an Immortal. The background to life has changed. Formerly, the +idea of death lurked constantly in the depths of the unconscious mind, +and by its vaguely-felt influences spurred us on to continual exertion. +That is all changed. We have, at one stroke, removed this dire spectre. +We are free." + +He rose suddenly and flung the mirror across the room. + +"What do we need mirrors for?" he cried. "It is only when we fear death +that we need mirrors to tell us how long we have to live." He strode +over to me and halted. "You seem in no hurry to get up from that +carpet," he observed. His remark made me realize that I had been +kneeling for some minutes. Now this was rather odd. I am restless by +nature and rarely remain in one position for any length of time, and to +stay like that, kneeling before the window, was indeed curious. I got up +and moved to the dressing-table, thinking. Sarakoff must have been +thinking in the same direction, for he asked me a question. + +"Did you realize you were kneeling?" + +"Yes," I replied. "I knew what I was doing. It merely did not occur to +me that I should change my position." + +"The explanation is simple," said the Russian. "Restlessness, or the +idea that we must change our position, or that we should be doing +something else, belongs to the anxious side of life; and the anxious +side of life is nourished and kept vigorous by the latent fear of death. +All that is removed from you, and therefore you see no reason why you +should do anything until it pleases you." + +I began to study myself in the glass on the dressing-table. The +examination interested me immensely. There was certainly a marble-like +hue about the skin. The whites of my eyes were distinctly stained, but +not so intensely as had been the case with Mr. Herbert Wain, showing +that I had not suffered from the Blue Disease as long as he had. But +when I began to study my reflection from the aesthetic point of view, I +became deeply engrossed. + +"I don't agree with you, Sarakoff," I remarked at length. "We still need +mirrors. In fact I have never found the mirror so interesting in my +life." + +"Don't use that absurd phrase," he answered. "It implies that something +other than life exists." + +"So it does." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Well, if I stick this pair of scissors into your heart you will die, my +dear fellow." He was silent, and a frown began to gather on his brow. +"Yes," I continued, "your psychological deductions are not entirely +valid. The fear of death still exists, but now limited to a small +sphere. In that sphere, it will operate with extreme intensity." I +picked up the scissors and made a stealthy movement towards him. To my +amazement I obtained an immediate proof of my theory. He sprang up with +a loud cry, darted to the door and vanished. For a moment I stood in a +state of bewilderment. Was it possible that he, with all his size and +strength, was afraid of me? And then a great fit of laughter overcame me +and I sank down on my bed with the tears coming from my eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE TERRIBLE FEAR + + +On coming down to breakfast, I found Sarakoff already seated at the +table devouring the morning papers. I picked up a discarded one and +stood by the fire, glancing over its contents. There was only one +subject of news, and that was the spread of the Blue Disease. From every +part of the north cases were reported, and in London it had broken out +in several districts. + +"So it's all come true," I remarked. + +He nodded, and continued reading. I sauntered to the window. A thin +driving snow was now falling, and the passers-by were hurrying along in +the freezing slush, with collars turned up and heads bowed before the +wind. + +"This is an ideal day to spend indoors by the fireside," I observed. "I +think I'll telephone to the hospital and tell Jones to take my work." + +Sarakoff raised his eyes, and then his eyebrows. + +"So," he said, "the busy man suddenly thinks work a bother. The power of +the germ, Harden, is indeed miraculous." + +"Do you think my inclination is due to the germ?" + +"Beyond a doubt. You were the most over-conscientious man I ever knew +until this morning." + +For some reason I found this observation very interesting. I wished to +discuss it, and I was about to reply when the door opened and my +housemaid announced that Dr. Symington-Tearle was in the hall and would +like an immediate interview. + +"Shew him in," I said equably. Symington-Tearle usually had a most +irritating effect upon me, but at the moment I felt totally indifferent +to him. He entered in his customary manner, as if the whole of London +were feverishly awaiting him. I introduced Sarakoff, but +Symington-Tearle hardly noticed him. + +"Harden," he exclaimed in his loud dominating tones, "I am convinced +that there is no such thing as this Blue Disease. I believe it all to be +a colossal plant. Some practical joker has introduced a chemical into +the water supply." + +"Probably," I murmured, still thinking of Sarakoff's observation. + +"I'm going to expose the whole thing in the evening papers; I examined a +case yesterday--a man called Wain--and was convinced there was nothing +wrong with him. He was really pigmented. And what is it but mere +pigmentation?" He passed his hand over his brow and frowned. "Yes, yes," +he continued, "that's what it is--a colossal joke. We've all been taken +in by it--everyone except me." He sat down by the breakfast table +suddenly and once more passed his hand over his brow. + +"What was I saying?" he asked. + +Sarakoff and I were now watching him intently. + +"That the Blue Disease was a joke," I said. + +"Ah, yes--a joke." He looked up at Sarakoff and stared for a moment. "Do +you know," he said, "I believe it really is a joke." + +An expression of intense solemnity came over his face, and he sat +motionless gazing in front of him with unblinking eyes. I crossed to +where he sat and peered at his face. + +"I thought so," I remarked. "You've got it too." + +"Got what?" + +"The Blue Disease. I suppose you caught it from Wain, as we did." I +picked up one of his hands and pointed to the faintly-tinted +fingernails. Dr. Symington-Tearle stared at them with an air of such +child-like simplicity and gravity that Sarakoff and I broke into loud +laughter. + +The humour of the situation passed with a peculiar suddenness and we +ceased laughing abruptly. I sat down at the table, and for some time the +three of us gazed at one another and said nothing. The spirit-lamp that +heated the silver dish of bacon upon the table spurted at intervals and +I saw Symington-Tearle stare at it in faint surprise. + +"Does it sound very loud?" asked Sarakoff at length. + +"Extraordinarily loud. And upon my soul your voice nearly deafens me." + +"It will pass," I said. "One gets adjusted to the extreme sensitiveness +in a short time. How do you feel?" + +"I feel," said Symington-Tearle slowly, "as if I were newly constructed +from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. After a Turkish bath +and twenty minutes' massage I've experienced a little of the feeling." + +He stared at Sarakoff, then at me, and finally at the spirit lamp. We +must have presented an odd spectacle. For there we sat, three men who, +under ordinary circumstances, were extremely busy and active, lolling +round the unfinished breakfast table while the hands of the clock +travelled relentlessly onward. + +Relentlessly? That was scarcely correct. To me, owing to some mysterious +change that I cannot explain, the clock had ceased to be a tyrannous and +hateful monster. I did not care how fast it went or to what hour it +pointed. Time was no longer precious, any more than the sand of the sea +is precious. + +"Aren't you going to have any breakfast?" asked Symington-Tearle. + +"I'm not in the least hurry," replied Sarakoff. "I think I'll take a +sip of coffee. Are you hungry, Harden?" + +"No. I don't want anything save coffee. But I'm in no hurry." + +My housemaid entered and announced that the gentleman who had been +waiting in Dr. Symington-Tearle's car, and was now in the hall, wished +to know if the doctor would be long. + +"Oh, that is a patient of mine," said Symington-Tearle, "ask him to come +in." + +A large, stout, red-faced gentleman entered, wrapped in a thick frieze +motor coat. He nodded to us briefly. + +"Sorry to interrupt," he said, "but time's getting on, Tearle. My +consultation with Sir Peverly Salt was for half past nine, if you +remember. It's that now." + +"Oh, there's plenty of time," said Tearle. "Sit down, Ballard. It's nice +and warm in here." + +"It may be nice and warm," replied Mr. Ballard loudly, "but I don't want +to keep Sir Peverly waiting." + +"I don't see why you shouldn't keep him waiting," said Tearle. "In fact +I really don't see why you should go to him at all." + +Mr. Ballard stared for a moment. Then his eyes travelled round the table +and dwelt first on Sarakoff and then on me. I suppose something in our +manner rather baffled him, but outwardly he shewed no sign of it. + +"I don't quite follow you," he said, fixing his gaze upon Tearle again. +"If you recollect, you advised me strongly four days ago to consult Sir +Peverly Salt about the condition of my heart, and you impressed upon me +that his opinion was the best that was obtainable. You rang him up and +an appointment was fixed for this morning at half-past nine, and I was +told to call on you shortly after nine." + +He paused, and once more his eyes dwelt in turn upon each of us. They +returned to Tearle. "It is now twenty-five minutes to ten," he said. His +face had become redder, and his voice louder. "And I understood that Sir +Peverly is a very busy man." + +"He certainly is busy," said Tearle. "He's far too busy. It is very +interesting to think that business is only necessary in so far----" + +"Look here," said Mr. Ballard violently. "I'm a man with a short temper. +I'm hanged if I'll stand this nonsense. What the devil do you think +you're all doing? Are you playing a joke on me?" + +He glared round at us, and then he made a sudden movement towards the +table. In a moment we were all on our feet. I felt an acute terror seize +me, and without waiting to see what happened, I flung open the door that +led into my consulting room, darted to the further door, across the hall +and up to my bedroom. + +There was a cry and a rush of feet across the hall. Mr. Ballard's voice +rang out stormily. A door slammed, and then another door, and then all +was silent. + +I became aware of a movement behind me, and looking round sharply, I saw +my housemaid Lottie staring at me in amazement. She had been engaged in +making the bed. + +"Whatever is the matter, sir?" she asked. + +"Hush!" I whispered. "There's a dangerous man downstairs." + +I turned the key in the lock, listened for a moment, and then tip-toed +my way across the floor to a chair. My limbs were shaking. It is +difficult to describe the intensity of my terror. There was a cold +sweat on my forehead. "He might have killed me. Think of that!" + +Her eyes were fixed on me. + +"Oh, sir, you do look bad," she exclaimed. "Whatever has happened to +you?" She came nearer and gazed into my eyes. "They're all blue, sir. It +must be that disease you've got." + +A sudden irritation flashed over me. "Don't stare at me like that. +You'll have it yourself to-morrow," I shouted. "The whole of the blessed +city will have it." A loud rap at the door interrupted me. I jumped up, +darted across the room and threw myself under the bed. "Don't let anyone +in," I whispered. The rap was repeated. Sarakoff's voice sounded +without. + +"Let me in. It's all right. He's gone. The front door is bolted." I +crawled out and unlocked the door. Sarakoff, looking rather pale, was +standing in the passage. He carried a poker. "Symington-Tearle's in the +coal-cellar," he announced. "He won't come out." + +I wiped my brow with a handkerchief. + +"Good heavens, Sarakoff," I exclaimed, "this kind of thing will lead to +endless trouble. I had no idea the terror would be so uncontrollable." + +"I'm glad you feel it as I do," said the Russian. "When you threatened +me with a pair of scissors this morning I felt mad with fear." + +"It's awful," I murmured. "We can't be too careful." We began to descend +the stairs. "Sarakoff, you remember I told you about that dead sailor? I +see now why that expression was on his face. It was the terror that he +felt." + +"Extraordinary!" he muttered. "He couldn't have known. It must have been +instinctive." + +"Instincts are like that," I said. "I don't suppose an animal knows +anything about death, or even thinks of it, yet it behaves from the very +first as if it knew. It's odd." + +A door opened at the far end of the hall, and Symington-Tearle emerged. +There was a patch of coal-dust on his forehead. His hair, usually so +flat and smooth that it seemed like a brass mirror, was now disordered. + +"Has he gone?" he enquired hoarsely. + +We nodded. I pointed to the chain on the door. + +"It's bolted," I said. "Come into the study." + +I led the way into the room. Tearle walked to the window, then to a +chair, and finally took up a position before the fire. + +"This is extraordinary!" he exclaimed. + +"What do you make of it?" I asked. + +"I can make nothing of it. What's the matter with me? I never felt +anything like that terror that came over me when Ballard approached me." + +Sarakoff took out a large handkerchief and passed it across his face. +"It's only the fear of physical violence," he said. "That's the only +weak spot. Fear was formerly distributed over a wide variety of +possibilities, but now it's all concentrated in one direction." + +"Why?" Tearle stared at me questioningly. + +"Because the germ is in us," I said. "We're immortal." + +"Immortal?" + +Sarakoff threw out his hands, and flung back his head. "Immortals!" + +I crossed to my writing-table, and picked up a heavy volume. + +"Here is the first edition of Buckwell Pink's _System of Medicine_. This +book was produced at immense cost and labour, and it is to be published +next week. When that book is published no one will buy it." + +"Why not?" demanded Tearle. "I wrote an article in it myself." + +"So did I," was my reply. "But that won't make any difference. No member +of the medical profession will be interested in it." + +"Not interested? I can't believe that. It contains all the recent work." + +"The medical profession will not be interested in it for a very simple +reason. The medical profession will have ceased to exist." + +A look of amazement came to Tearle's face. I tapped the volume and +continued. + +"You are wrong in thinking it contains all the recent work. It does not. +The last and greatest achievement of medical science is not recorded in +these pages. It is only recorded in ourselves. For that blue +pigmentation in your eyes and fingers is due to the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus which closes once and for all the chapter of medicine." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE VISIT OF THE HOME SECRETARY + + +In a few hours the initial effects of stimulation had worn off. The +acuity of hearing was no longer so pronounced and the sense of +refreshment, although still present, was not intense. We were already +becoming adjusted to the new condition. The feeling of inertia and +irresponsibility became gradually replaced by a general sense of +calmness. To me, it seemed as if I had entered a world of new +perspectives, a larger world in which space and time were widened out +immeasurably. I could scarcely recall the nature of those impulses that +had once driven me to and fro in endless activities, and in a constant +state of anxiety. For now I had no anxiety. + +It is difficult to describe fully the extraordinary sense of freedom +that came from this change. For anxiety--the great modern emotion--is +something that besets a life on all sides so silently and so +continuously that it escapes direct detection. But it is there, +tightening the muscles, crinkling the skin, quickening the heart and +shortening the breath. Though almost imperceptible, it lurks under the +most agreeable surroundings, requiring only a word or a look to bring it +into the light. To be free from it--ah, that was an experience that no +man could ever forget! It was perhaps the nearest approach to that +condition of bliss, which many expect in one of the Heavens, that had +ever been attained on earth. As long as no physical danger threatened, +this bliss-state surrounded me. Its opposite, that condition of violent, +agonizing, uncontrollable fear that suddenly surged over one on the +approach of bodily danger, was something which passed as swiftly as it +came, and left scarcely a trace behind it. But of that I shall have more +to say, for it produced the most extraordinary state of affairs and more +than anything else threatened to disorganize life completely. + +I fancy Sarakoff was more awed by the bliss-state than I was. During the +rest of the day he was very quiet and sat gazing before him His +boisterousness had vanished. Symington-Tearle had left us--a man deeply +amazed and totally incredulous. I noticed that Sarakoff scarcely smoked +at all during that morning. As a rule his pipe was never out. He was in +the habit of consuming two ounces of tobacco a day, which in my opinion +was suicidal. He certainly lit his pipe several times, mechanically, but +laid it aside almost immediately. At lunch--we had not moved out of the +house yet--we had very little appetite. As a matter of interest I will +give exactly what we ate and drank. Sarakoff took some soup and a piece +of bread, and then some cheese. I began with some cold beef, and finding +it unattractive, pushed it away and ate some biscuits and butter. There +was claret on the table. I wish here to call attention to a passing +impression that I experienced when sipping that claret. I had recently +got in several dozen bottles of it and on that day regretted it because +it seemed to me to be extremely poor stuff. It tasted sour and harsh. + +We did not talk much. It was not because my mind was devoid of ideas, +but rather because I was feeling that I had a prodigious, incalculable +amount to think about. Perhaps it was the freedom from anxiety that +made thinking easier, for there is little doubt that anxiety, however +masked, deflects and disturbs the power of thought more than anything +else. Indeed it seemed to me that I had never really thought clearly +before. To begin a conversation with Sarakoff seemed utterly artificial. +It would have been a useless interruption. I was entirely absorbed. + +Sarakoff was similarly absorbed. When, therefore, the servant came in to +announce that two gentlemen wished to see us, and were in the +waiting-room, we were loth to move. I got up at length and went across +the hall. I recollect that before entering the waiting-room I was +entirely without curiosity. It was a matter of total indifference to me +that two visitors were within. They had no business to interrupt +me--that was my feeling. They were intruders and should have known +better. + +I entered the room. Standing by the fire was Lord Alberan. Beside him +was a tall thin man, carefully dressed and something of a dandy, who +looked at me sharply as I came across the room. I recognized his face, +but failed to recall his name. + +Lord Alberan, holding himself very stiffly, cleared his throat. + +"Good day, Dr. Harden," he said, without offering his hand. "I have +brought Sir Robert Smith to interview you. As you may know he is the +Home Secretary." He cleared his throat again, and his face became rather +red. "I have reported to the Home Secretary the information that +I--er--that I acquired from you and your Russian companion concerning +this epidemic that has swept over Birmingham and is now threatening +London." He paused and stared at me. His eyes bulged. "Good heavens," he +exclaimed, "you've got it yourself." + +Sir Robert Smith took a step towards me and examined my face +attentively. + +"Yes," he said, "there's no doubt you've got it." + +I indicated some chairs with a calm gesture. + +"Won't you sit down?" + +Lord Alberan refused, but Sir Robert lowered himself gracefully into an +arm-chair and crossed his legs. + +"Dr. Harden," he said, in smooth and pleasant tones, "I wish you to +understand that I come here, at this unusual hour, solely in the spirit +of one who desires to get all the information possible concerning the +malady, called the Blue Disease, which is now sweeping over England. I +understand from my friend Lord Alberan, that you know something about +it." + +"That is true." + +"How much do you know?" + +"I know all there is to be known." + +"Ah!" Sir Robert leaned forward. Lord Alberan nodded violently and +glared at me. There was a pause. "What you say is very interesting," +said Sir Robert at length, keeping his eyes fixed upon me. "You +understand, of course, that the Blue Disease is causing a lot of +anxiety?" + +"Anxiety?" I exclaimed. "Surely you are wrong. It has the opposite +effect. It abolishes anxiety." + +"You mean----?" he queried politely. + +"I mean that the germ, when once in the system, produces an atmosphere +of extraordinary calm," I returned. "I am aware of that atmosphere at +this moment. I have never felt so perfectly tranquil before." + +He nodded, without moving his eyes. + +"So I see. You struck me, as you came into the room, as a man who is at +peace with himself." Lord Alberan snorted, and was about to speak, but +Sir Robert held up his hand. "Tell me, Dr. Harden, did you actually +contaminate the water of Birmingham?" + +"My friend Sarakoff and I introduced the germ that we discovered into +the Elan reservoirs." + +"With what object?" + +"To endow humanity with the gift of immortality." + +"Ah!" he nodded gently. "The gift of immortality." He mused for a +moment, and never once did his eyes leave my face. "That is +interesting," he continued. "I recollect that at the International +Congress at Moscow, a few years ago, there was much talk about +longevity. Virchow, I fancy, and Nikola Tesla made some suggestive +remarks. So you think you have discovered the secret?" + +"I am sure." + +"Of course you use the term immortality in a relative sense? You mean +that the--er--germ that you discovered confers a long life on those it +attacks?" + +"I mean what I say. It confers immortality." + +"Indeed!" His expression remained perfectly polite and interested, but +his eyes turned for a brief moment in the direction of Lord Alberan. "So +you are now immortal, Dr. Harden?" + +"Yes." + +"And will you, in such circumstances, go on practising +medicine--indefinitely?" + +"No. There will be no medicine to practise." + +"Ah!" he nodded. "I see--the germ does away with disease. Quite so." He +leaned back in the chair and pressed his finger tips together. "I +suppose," he continued, "that you are aware that what you say is very +difficult to believe?" + +"Why?" + +"Well, the artificial prolongation of life is, I believe, a possibility +that we are all prepared to accept. By special methods we may live a few +extra years, and everything goes to show that we are actually living +longer than our ancestors. At least I believe so. But for a man of your +position, Dr. Harden, to say that the epidemic is an epidemic of +immortality is, in my opinion, an extravagant statement." + +"You are entitled to any opinion you like," I replied tranquilly. "It is +possible to live with totally erroneous opinions. For all I know you may +think the earth is square. It makes no difference to me." + +"What do you mean, sir?" exclaimed Lord Alberan. He had become +exceedingly red during our conversation and the lower part of his face +had begun to swell. "Be careful what you say," he continued violently. +"You are in danger of being arrested, sir. Either that, or being locked +in an asylum." + +The Home Secretary raised a restraining hand. + +"One moment, Lord Alberan," he said, "I have not quite finished. Dr. +Harden, will you be so good as to ask your friend--his name is Sarakoff, +I believe--to come in here?" + +I rose without haste and fetched the Russian. He behaved in an extremely +quiet manner, nodded to Alberan and bowed to the Home Secretary. + +Sir Robert gave a brief outline of the conversation he had had with me, +which Sarakoff listened to with an absolutely expressionless face. + +"I see that you also suffer from the epidemic," said Sir Robert. "Are +you, then, immortal?" + +"I am an Immortal," said the Russian, in deep tones. "You will be +immortal to-morrow." + +"I quite understand that I will probably catch the Blue Disease," said +Sir Robert, suavely. "At present there are cases reported all over +London, and we are at a loss to know what to do." + +"You can do nothing," I said. + +"We had thought of forming isolation camps." He stared at us +thoughtfully. There was a slightly puzzled look in his face. It was the +first time I had noticed it. It must have been due to Sarakoff's +profound calm. "How did you gentlemen find the germ?" he asked suddenly. + +Sarakoff reflected. + +"It would take perhaps a week to explain." + +Sir Robert smiled slightly. + +"I'm afraid I am too busy," he murmured. + +"You are wasting your time," muttered Alberan in his ear. "Arrest +them." + +The Home Secretary took no notice. + +"It is curious that this epidemic seems to cut short other diseases," he +said slowly. "That rather supports what you tell me." + +His eyes rested searchingly on my face. + +"You are foolish to refuse to believe us," I said. "We have told you the +truth." + +"It would be very strange if it were true." He walked to the window and +stood for a moment looking on to the street. Then he turned with a +movement of resolution. "I will not trespass on your time," he said. +"Lord Alberan, we need not stay. I am satisfied with what these +gentlemen have said." He bowed to us and went to the door. Lord Alberan, +very fierce and upright, followed him. The Home Secretary paused and +looked back. The puzzled looked had returned to his face. + +"The matter is to be discussed in the House to-night," he said. "I think +that it will be as well for you if I say nothing of what you have told +me. People might be angry." We gazed at him unmoved. He took a sudden +step towards us and held out his hands. "Come now, gentlemen, tell me +the truth. You invented that story, didn't you?" Neither of us spoke. +He looked appealingly at me, and with a laugh left the room. He turned, +however, in a moment, and stood looking at me. "There is a meeting at +the Queen's Hall to-night," he said slowly. "It is a medical conference +on the Blue Disease. No doubt you know of it. I am going to ask you a +question." He paused and smiled at Sarakoff. "Will you gentlemen make a +statement before those doctors to-night?" + +"We intended to do so," said Sarakoff. + +"I am delighted to hear it," said the Home Secretary. "It is a great +relief to me. They will know how best to deal with you. Good day." + +He left the room. + +I heard the front door close and then brisk footsteps passing the window +on the pavement outside. + +"There's no doubt that they're both a little mad." Sir Robert's voice +sounded for a moment, and then died away. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +CLUTTERBUCK'S ODD BEHAVIOUR + + +Scarcely had the Home Secretary departed when my maid announced that a +patient was waiting to see me in my study. + +I left Sarakoff sitting tranquilly in the waiting-room and entered the +study. A grave, precise, clean-shaven man was standing by the window. He +turned as I entered. It was Mr. Clutterbuck. + +"So you are Dr. Harden!" he exclaimed. + +He stopped and looked confused. + +"Yes," I said; "please sit down, Mr. Clutterbuck." + +He did so, twisting his hat awkwardly and gazing at the floor. + +"I owe you an apology," he said at length. "I came to consult you, +little expecting to find that it was you after all--that you were Dr. +Harden. I must apologize for my rudeness to you in the tea-shop, but +what you said was so extraordinary ... you could not expect me to +believe." + +He glanced at me, and then looked away. There was a dull flush on his +face. + +"Please do not apologize. What did you wish to consult me about?" + +"About my wife." + +"Is she worse?" + +"No." He dropped his hat, recovered it, and finally set it upon a corner +of the table. "No, she is not worse. In fact, she is the reverse. She is +better." + +I waited, feeling only a mild interest in the cause of his agitation. + +"She has got the Blue Disease," he continued, speaking with difficulty. +"She got it yesterday and since then she has been much better. Her cough +has ceased. She--er--she is wonderfully better." He began to drum with +his fingers on his knee, and looked with a vacant gaze at the corner of +the room. "Yes, she is certainly better. I was wondering if----" + +There was a silence. + +"Yes?" + +He started and looked at me. + +"Why, you've got it, too!" he exclaimed. "How extraordinary! I hadn't +noticed it." He got to his feet and went to the window. "I suppose I +shall get it next," he muttered. + +"Certainly, you'll get it." + +He nodded, and continued to stare out of the window. At length he spoke. + +"My wife is a woman who has suffered a great deal, Dr. Harden. I have +never had enough money to send her to health resorts, and she has always +refused to avail herself of any institutional help. For the last year +she has been confined to a room on the top floor of our house--a nice, +pleasant room--and it has been an understood thing between Dr. Sykes and +myself that her malady was to be given a convenient name. In fact, we +have called it a weak heart. You understand, of course." + +"Perfectly." + +"I have always been led to expect that the end was inevitable," he +continued, speaking with sudden rapidity. "Under such circumstances I +made certain plans. I am a careful man, Dr. Harden, and I look ahead and +lay my plans." He stopped abruptly and turned to face me. "Is there any +truth in what you told me the other day?" + +I nodded. A curiously haggard expression came over him. He stepped +swiftly towards me and caught my arm. + +"Does the germ cure disease?" + +"Of course. Your wife is now immortal. You need not be alarmed, Mr. +Clutterbuck. She is immortal. Before her lies a future absolutely free +from suffering. She will rapidly regain her normal health and strength. +Provided she avoids accidents, your wife will live for ever." + +"My wife will live forever?" he repeated hoarsely. "Then what will +happen to me?" + +"You, too, will live for ever," I said calmly. "Please do not grasp my +arm so violently." + +He drew back. He was extremely pale, and there were beads of +perspiration on his brow. + +"Are you married?" he asked. + +"No." + +"Have you any idea what all this means to me if what you say is true?" +he exclaimed. He drew his hand across his eyes. "I am mad to believe you +for an instant. But she is better--there is no denying that. Good God, +if it is true, what a tragedy you have made of human lives!" + +He remained standing in the middle of the room, and I, not +comprehending, gazed at him. Then, of a sudden, he picked up his hat, +and muttering something, dashed out and vanished. + +I heard the front door bang. Perfectly calm and undisturbed, I rejoined +Sarakoff in the waiting-room. The incident of Mr. Clutterbuck passed +totally from my mind, and I began to reflect on certain problems arising +out of the visit of the Home Secretary. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +IMMORTAL LOVE + + +On the same afternoon Miss Annot paid me a visit. I was still sitting in +the waiting-room, and Sarakoff was with me. My mind had been deeply +occupied with the question of the larger beliefs that we hold. For it +had come to me with peculiar force that law and order, and officials +like the Home Secretary, are concerned only with the small beliefs of +humanity, with the burdensome business of material life. As long as a +man dressed properly, walked decently and paid correctly, he was +accepted, in spite of the fact that he might firmly believe the world +was square. No one worried about those matters. We judge people +ultimately by how they eat and drink and get up and sit down. What they +say is of little importance in the long run. If we examine a person +professionally, we merely ask him what day it is, where he is, what is +his name and where he was born. We watch him to see if he washes, +undresses and dresses, and eats properly. We ask him to add two and two, +and to divide six by three, and then we solemnly give our verdict that +he is either sane or insane. + +The enormity of this revelation engrossed me with an almost painful +activity of thought. + +I gazed across at Sarakoff and wondered what appalling gulf divided our +views on supreme things. What view did he really take of women? Did he +or did he not think that the planets and stars were inhabited? Did he +believe in the evolution of the soul like Mr. Thornduck? + +A kind of horror possessed me as I stared at him and reflected that +these questions had never entered my consciousness until that moment. I +had lived with him and dined with him and worked with him, and yet +hitherto it would have concerned me far more if I had seen him tuck his +napkin under his collar or spit on the carpet.... What laughable little +folk we were! I, who had always seen man as the last and final +expression of evolution, now saw him as the stumbling, crawling, +incredibly stupid, result of a tentative experiment--a first step up a +ladder of infinitive length. + +Whilst I was immersed in the humiliation of these thoughts Miss Annot +entered. She wore a dark violet coat and skirt and a black hat. I +noticed that her complexion, usually somewhat muddy, was perfectly +clear, though of a marble pallor. We greeted each other quietly and I +introduced Sarakoff. + +"So you are an Immortal, Alice," I said smiling. She gazed at me. + +"Richard, I do not know what I am, but I know one thing; I am entirely +changed. Some strange miracle has been wrought in me. I came to ask you +what it is." + +"You see that both Professor Sarakoff and I have got the germ in our +systems like you, Alice. Yes, it is a miracle; we are Immortals." + +I studied her face attentively, she had changed. It seemed to me that +she was another woman, she moved in a new way, her speech was unhurried, +her gaze was direct and thoughtful. I recalled her former appearance +when her manner had been nervous and bashful, her eyes downcast, her +movements hurried and anxious. + +"I do not understand," she said. "Tell me all you know." + +I did so, I suppose I must have talked for an hour on end. Throughout +that time neither she nor Sarakoff stirred. When I had finished there +was a long silence. + +"It is funny to think of our last meeting, Richard," she said at length. +"Do you remember how my father behaved? He is different now. He sits all +day in his study--he eats very little. He seems to be in a dream." + +"And you?" I asked. + +"I am in a dream, too. I do not understand it. All the things I used to +busy myself with seem unimportant." + +"That is how we feel," said Sarakoff. He rose to his feet and spoke +strongly. "Harden, as Miss Annot says, everything has changed. I never +foresaw this; I do not understand it myself." + +He went slowly to the mantelpiece and leaned against it. + +"When I created this germ, I saw in my mind an ideal picture of life. I +saw a world freed from a dire spectre, a world from which fear had been +removed, the fear of death. I saw the great triumph of materialism and +the final smashing up of all superstition. A man would live in a state +of absolute certainty. He would lay his plans for pleasure and comfort +and enjoyment with absolute precision, knowing--not hoping--but +certainly knowing, that they would come about. I saw cities and gardens +built in triumph to cater for the gratification of every sense. I saw +new laws in operation, constructed by men who knew that they had +mastered the secret of life and had nothing to fear. I saw all those +things about which we are so timid and vague--marriage and divorce, the +education of children, luxury, the working classes, religion and so +on--absolutely settled in black and white. I saw what I thought to be +the millennium." + +"And now?" asked Alice. + +"Now I see nothing. I am in the dark. I do not understand what has +happened to me." + +"What we are in for now, no man can say," I remarked. + +"It's the extraordinary restfulness that puzzles me," said Sarakoff. +"Here I have been sitting for hours and I feel no inclination to do +anything." + +"The thing that is most extraordinary to me is the difficulty I have in +realizing how I spent my time formerly," said Alice. "Of course, father +is no bother now and meals have been cut down, but that does not account +for all of it. It seems as if I had been living in a kind of nightmare +in the past, from which I have suddenly escaped." + +"What do you feel most inclined to do?" I asked. + +"Nothing at present. I sit and think. It was difficult for me to make +myself come here to-day." She smiled suddenly. "Richard, it seems +strange to recall that we were engaged." + +She spoke without any embarrassment and I answered her with equal ease. + +"I hope you don't think our engagement is broken off, Alice. I think my +feelings towards you are unchanged." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Sarakoff. "That is interesting. Are you sure of that, +Harden?" + +"Not altogether," I answered tranquilly. "There is a lot to think out +before I can be sure, but I know that I feel towards Alice a great +sympathy." + +"Sympathy!" the Russian exclaimed. "What are we coming to? Good heavens! +Is sympathy to be our strongest emotion? What do you think, Miss Annot." + +"Sympathy is exactly what I feel," she replied. "Richard and I would be +very good companions. Isn't that more important than passion?" + +"Is sympathy to be the bond between the sexes, then, and is all passion +and romance to die?" he exclaimed scornfully. He seemed to be struggling +with himself, as if he were trying to throw off some spell that held +him. "Surely I seem to recollect that yesterday life contained some +richer emotions than sympathy," he muttered. "What has come over us? Why +doesn't my blood quicken when I think of Leonora?" He burst into a +laugh. "Harden, this is comic. There is no other word for it. It is +simply comic." + +"It may be comic, Sarakoff, but to speak candidly, I prefer my state +to-day to my state yesterday. Last night seems to me like a bad dream." +I got to my feet. "There is one thing I must see about as soon as +possible, and that is getting rid of this house. What an absurd place to +live in this is! It is a comic house, if you like--like a tomb." + +The room seemed suddenly absurd. It was very dark, the wallpaper was of +a heavy-moulded variety, sombre in hue and covered with meaningless +figuring. The ceiling was oppressive. It, too, was moulded in some +fantastic manner. Several large faded oil-paintings hung on the wall. I +do not know why they hung there, they were hideous and meaningless as +well. The whole place was meaningless. It was the _meaninglessness_ that +seemed to leap out upon me wherever I turned my eyes. The fireplace +astounded me. It was a mass of pillars and super-structures and +carvings, increasing in complexity from within outwards, until it +attained the appearance of an ornate temple in the centre of which +burned a little coal. It was grotesque. On the topmost ledges of this +monstrous absurdity stood two vases. They bulged like distended +stomachs, covered on their outsides with yellow, green and black +splotches of colour. I recollected that I paid ten pounds apiece for +them. Under what perverted impulse had I done that? My memories became +incredible. I moved deliberately to the mantelpiece and seized the +vases. I opened the window and hurled them out on to the pavement. They +fell with a crash, and their fragments littered the ground. + +Alice expressed no surprise. + +"It is rather comic," said the Russian, "but where are you going to +live?" + +"Alice and I will go and live by the sea. We have plenty to think about. +I feel as if I could never stop thinking, as if I had to dig away a +mountain of thought with a spade. Alice, we will go round to the house +agent now." + +When Alice and I left the house the remains of the vases littered the +pavement at our feet. We walked down Harley Street. The house agent +lived in Regent Street. It was now a clear, crisp afternoon with a +pleasant tint of sunlight in the air. A newspaper boy passed, calling +something unintelligible in an excited voice. I stopped him and bought a +paper. + +"What an inhuman noise to make," said Alice. "It seems to jar on every +nerve in my body. Do ask him to stop." + +"You're making too much noise," I said to the lad. "You must call +softly. It is an outrage to scream like that." + +He stared up at me, an impudent amazed face surmounting a tattered and +dishevelled body, and spoke. + +"You two do look a couple of guys, wiv' yer blue faices. If some of them +doctors round 'ere catches yer, they'll pop yer into 'ospital." + +He ran off, shrieking his unintelligible jargon. + +"We must get to the sea," I said firmly. "This clamour of London is +unbearable." + +I opened the paper. Enormous headlines stared me in the face. + +"Blue Disease sweeping over London. Ten thousand cases reported to-day. +Europe alarmed. Question of the isolation of Great Britain under +discussion. Debate in the Commons to-night. The Duke of Thud and the +Earl of Blunder victims. The Royal Family leave London." + +We stood together on the pavement and gazed at these statements in +silence. A sense of wonder filled my mind. What a confusion! What an +emotional, feverish, heated confusion! Why could not they take the +matter calmly? What, in the name of goodness, was the reason of this +panic. They knew that the Blue Disease had caused no fatalities in +Birmingham, and yet so totally absent was the power of thought and +deduction, that they actually printed those glaring headlines. + +"The fools," I said. "The amazing, fatuous fools. They simply want to +sell the paper. They have no other idea." + +A strong nausea came over me. I crumpled up the paper and stood staring +up and down the street. The newspaper boy was in the far distance, still +shrieking. I saw Sir Barnaby Burtle, the obstetrician, standing by his +scarlet front door, eagerly devouring the news. His jaw was slack and +his eyes protruded. + +The solemn houses of Harley Street only increased my nausea. The folly +of it--the selfish, savage folly of life! + +"Come, Richard," said Alice. "The sooner we get to the house agent the +better. We could never live here." + +"I'll put him on to the job of finding a bungalow on the South Coast at +once," I said. "And then we'll go and live there." + +"We must get married," she observed. + +"Married!" I stopped and stared at her with a puzzled expression. "Don't +you think the marriage ceremony is rather barbarous?" + +She did not reply; we walked on immersed in our own thoughts. At times I +detected in the passers-by a gleam of sparrow-egg blue. + +My house agent was a large, confused individual who habitually wore a +shining top hat on the back of his head and twisted a cigar in the +corner of his mouth. He was very fat, with one of those creased faces +that seem to fall into folds like a heavy crimson curtain. His brooding, +congested eye fell upon me as we entered, and an expression of alarm +became visible in its depths. He pushed his chair back and retreated to +a corner of the room. + +"Dr. Harden!" he exclaimed fearfully, "you oughtn't to come here like +that, you really oughtn't." + +"Don't be an ass, Franklyn," I said firmly. "You are bound to catch the +germ sooner or later. It will impress you immensely." + +"It's all over London," he whimpered. "It's too much; it will hit us +hard. It's too much." + +"Listen to me," I said. "I have come here to see you about business. Now +sit down in your chair; I won't touch you. I want you to get me a +bungalow by the sea with a garden as soon as possible. I am going to +sell my house." + +"Sell your house!" He became calmer. "That is very extraordinary, Dr. +Harden." + +"I am going out of London." + +He was astonished. + +"But your house--in Harley Street--so central...." he stammered. "I +don't understand. Are you giving up your practice?" + +"Of course." + +"At your age, Dr. Harden?" + +"What has age got to do with it? There is no such thing as age." + +He stared. Then his eyes turned to Alice. + +"No such thing as age?" he murmured helplessly. "But surely you are not +going to sell; you have the best house in Harley Street. Its commanding +position ... in the centre of that famous locality...." + +"Do you think that any really sane man would live in the centre of +Harley Street," I asked calmly. "Is he likely to find any peace in that +furnace of crude worldly ambitions? But all that is already a thing of +the past. In a few weeks, Franklyn, Harley Street will be deserted." + +"Deserted?" His eyes rolled. + +"Deserted," I said sternly. "In its upper rooms there may remain a few +Immortals, but the streets will be silent. The great business of +sickness, which occupies the attention of a third of the world and +furnishes the main topic of conversation in every home, will be gone. +Sell my house, Franklyn, and find me a bungalow on the South Coast +facing the sea." + +I turned away and went towards the door, Alice followed me. The house +agent sat in helpless amazement. He filled me with a sense of nausea. He +seemed so gross, so mindless. + +"A bungalow," he whispered. + +"Yes. Let us have long, low, simple rooms and a garden where we may grow +enough to live on. The age of material complexity and noise is at an +end. We need peace." + +Strolling along at a slow pace, we went down Oxford Street towards the +Marble Arch. It was dusk. The newsboys were howling at every corner and +everyone had a paper. Little groups of people stood on the pavements +discussing the news. In the roadway the stream of traffic was incessant. +The huge motor-buses thundered and swayed along, with their loads of +pale humanity feverishly clinging to them. The public-houses were +crowded. The slight tension that the threat of the Blue Disease produced +in people filled the bars with men and women, seeking the relaxation of +alcohol. There was in the air that liveliness, that tendency to collect +into small crowds, that is evident whenever the common safety of the +great herd is threatened. In the Park a crowd surrounded the platform of +an agitator. In a voice like that of a delirious man, he implored the +crowd to go down on its knees and repent ... the end of the world was at +hand ... the Blue Disease was the pouring out of one of the vials of +wrath ... repent!... repent!... His voice rang in our ears and drove us +away. We crossed the damp grass. I stumbled over a sleeping man. There +was something familiar in his appearance and I stooped down and turned +him over. It was Mr. Herbert Wain. He seemed to be fast asleep.... We +walked to King's Cross, and I put Alice without regret in the train for +Cambridge. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MEETING AT THE QUEEN'S HALL + + +The same night a vast meeting of medical men had been summoned at the +Queen's Hall, with the object of discussing the nature of the strange +visitation, and the measures that should be adopted. Doctors came from +every part of the country. The meeting began at eight o'clock, and Sir +Jeremy Jones, the President of the Royal College of Physicians, opened +the discussion with a paper in which the most obvious features of the +disease were briefly tabulated. + +The great Hall was packed. Sarakoff and I got seats in the front row of +the gallery. Sir Jeremy Jones, a large bland man, with beautiful silver +grey hair, wearing evening dress, and pince-nez, stood up on the +platform amid a buzz of talk. The short outburst of clapping soon ceased +and Sir Jeremy began. + +The beginnings of the disease were outlined, the symptoms described, +and then the physician laid down his notes, and seemed to look directly +up at me. + +"So far," he said, in suave and measured tones, "I have escaped the Blue +Disease, but at any moment I may find myself a victim, and the fact does +not disquiet me. For I am convinced that we are witnessing the sudden +intrusion and the swift spread of an absolutely harmless organism--one +that has been, perhaps, dormant for centuries in the soil, or has +evolved to its present form in the deep waters of the Elan watershed by +a process whose nature we can only dimly guess at. Some have suggested a +meteoric origin, and it is true that some meteoric stones fell over +Wales recently. But that is far-fetched to my mind, for how could a +white-hot stone harbour living matter? Whatever its origin, it is, I am +sure, a harmless thing, and though strange, and at first sight alarming, +we need none of us alter our views of life or our way of living. The +subject is now open for discussion, and I call on Professor Sarakoff, of +Petrograd, the eminent bacteriologist, to give us the benefit of his +views, as I believe he has a statement to make." + +A burst of applause filled the Hall. + +"Good," muttered Sarakoff in my ear. "I will certainly give them my +views." + +"Be careful," I said idly. Sir Jeremy was gazing round the Hall. +Sarakoff stood up and there arose cries for silence. He made a striking +figure with his giant stature, his black hair and beard and his +blue-stained eyes. Sir Jeremy sat down, smiling blandly. + +"Mr. President and Gentlemen," began the Professor, in a voice that +carried to every part of the Hall. "I, as an Immortal, desire to make a +few simple and decisive statements to you to-night regarding the nature +of the Blue Disease, the germ of which was prepared by myself and my +friend, Dr. Richard Harden. The germ--in future to be known as the +Sarakoff-Harden bacillus--is ultra-microscopical. It grows in +practically every medium with great ease. In the human body it finds an +admirable host, and owing to the fact that it destroys all other +organisms, it confers immortality on the person who is infected by it. +We are therefore on the threshold of a new era." + +After this brief statement Sarakoff calmly sat down, and absolute +silence reigned. Sir Jeremy, still smiling blandly, stared up at him. +Every face was turned in our direction. A murmur began, which quickly +increased. A doctor behind me leaned over and touched my shoulder. + +"Is he sane?" he asked in a whisper. + +"Perfectly," I replied. + +"But you don't believe him?" + +"Of course I do." + +"But it's ridiculous! Who is this Dr. Harden?" + +"I am Dr. Harden." + +The uproar in the Hall was now considerable. Sir Jeremy rose, and waved +his hands in gestures of restraint. Finally he had recourse to a bell +that stood on the table. + +"Gentlemen," he said, when silence was restored. "We have just heard a +remarkable statement from Professor Sarakoff and I think I am justified +in asking for proofs." + +I instantly got up. I was quite calm. + +"I can prove that Sarakoff's statement is perfectly correct," I said. "I +am Richard Harden. I discovered the method whereby the bacillus became a +possibility. Every man in this Hall who has the Sarakoff-Harden +bacillus in his system is immortal. You, Mr. President, are not yet one +of the Immortals. But I fancy in a day or two you will join us." I +paused and smiled easily at the concourse below and around me. "It is +really bad luck on the medical profession," I continued. "I'm afraid +we'll all have to find some other occupation. Of course you've all +noticed how the germ cuts short disease." + +I sat down again. The smile on Sir Jeremy's face had weakened a little. + +"Turn them out!" shouted an angry voice from the body of the Hall. + +Sir Jeremy held up a protesting hand, and then took off his glasses and +began to polish them. A buzz of talk arose. Men turned to one another +and began to argue. The doctor behind me leaned forward again. + +"Is this a joke?" he enquired rather loudly. + +"No." + +"But you two are speaking rubbish. What the devil do you mean by saying +you're immortal?" + +I turned and looked at him. My calmness enraged him. He was a shaggy, +irritable, middle-aged practitioner. + +"You've got the Blue Disease, but you're no more immortal than a blue +monkey." He looked fiercely round at his neighbours. "What do you +think?" + +A babel of voices sounded in our ears. + +Sir Jeremy Jones appeared perplexed. Someone stood up in the body of the +Hall and Sir Jeremy caught his eye and seemed relieved. It was my friend +Hammer, who had tended me after the accident that my black cat had +brought about. + +"Gentlemen," said Hammer, when silence had fallen. "Although the +statements of Professor Sarakoff and Dr. Harden appear fantastical, I +believe that they may be nearer the truth than we suppose." His manner, +slow, impressive and calm, aroused general attention. Frowning slightly, +he drew himself up and clasped the lapels of his coat. "This afternoon," +he continued, "I was at the bedside of a sick child who was at the point +of death. This child had been visited yesterday by a relative who, two +hours after the visit, developed the Blue Disease. Now----" He paused +and looked slowly about him. "Now the child was suffering from +peritonitis, and there was no possible chance of recovery. Yet that +child _did_ recover and is now well." + +The whole audience was staring at him. Hammer took a deep breath and +grasped his coat more firmly. + +"That child, I repeat, is now well. The recovery set in under my own +eyes. I saw for myself the return of life to a body that was moribund. +The return was swift. In one hour the transformation was complete, and +it was _in that hour_ that the child developed the outward signs of the +Blue Disease." + +He paused. A murmur ran round the hall and then once more came silence. + +"I am of the opinion," said Hammer deliberately, "that the cause of the +miracle--for it was a miracle--was the Blue Disease. Think, Gentlemen, +of a child in the last stages of septic peritonitis, practically dead. +Think again of the same child, one hour later, alive, free from pain, +smiling, interested--and stained with the Blue Disease. What conclusion, +as honest men, are we to draw from that?" + +He sat down. At once a man near him got to his feet. + +"The point of view hinted at by the last speaker is correct," he said. +"I can corroborate it to a small extent. This morning I was confined to +my bed with the beginnings of a bad influenzal cold. At midday I +developed the Blue Disease, and now I am as well as I have ever been in +the whole of my life. I attribute my cure to the Blue Disease." + +Scarcely had he taken his seat again when a grave scholarly man arose in +the gallery. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "I come from Birmingham; and it is a city of +miracles. The sick are being cured in thousands daily. The hospitals are +emptying daily. I verily believe that the Blue Disease may prove to be +all that Dr. Sarakoff and Dr. Harden claim it to be." + +The effect of these speakers upon the meeting was remarkable. A thrill +passed over the crowded Hall. Hammer rose again. + +"Let us accept for a moment that this new infection confers immortality +on humanity," he said, weighing each word carefully. "What are we, as +medical men, going to do? Look into the future--a future free from +disease, from death, possibly from pain. Are we to accept such a future +passively, or are we, as doctors, to strive to eradicate this new germ +as we strive to eradicate other germs?" + +Sir Jeremy Jones, with an expression of dismay, raised his hand. + +"Surely, surely," he exclaimed shrilly, "we are going too far. That the +Blue Disease may modify the course of illness is conceivable, and seems +to be supported by evidence. But to assume that it confers +immortality----" + +"Why should we doubt it?" returned Hammer warmly. "We have been told +that it does by two responsible men of science, and so far their claim +is justified. You, Mr. Chairman, have not seen the miracle that I have +seen this afternoon. If the germ can bring a moribund child back to life +in an hour, why should it not banish disease from the world?" + +"But if it does banish disease from the world, that does not mean it +confers immortality," objected Sir Jeremy. "Do you mean to say that we +are to regard natural death as a disease?" + +He gazed round the hall helplessly. Several men arose to speak, but were +unable to obtain a hearing, for excitement now ran high and every man +was discussing the situation with his neighbour. For a moment, a +strange dread had gripped the meeting, paralysing thought, but it +passed, and while some remained perplexed the majority began to resent +vehemently the suggestions of Hammer. I could hear those immediately +behind me insisting that the view was sheer rubbish. It was +preposterous. It was pure lunacy. With these phrases, constantly +repeated, they threw off the startling effect of Hammer's speech, and +fortified themselves in the conviction that the Blue Disease was merely +a new malady, similar to other maladies, and that life would proceed as +before. + +I turned to them. + +"You are deliberately deceiving yourselves," I said. "You have heard the +evidence. You are simply making as much noise as possible in order to +shut out the truth." + +My words enraged them. A sudden clamour arose around us. Several men +shook their fists and there were angry cries. One of them made a +movement towards us. In an instant calmness left us. The scene around us +seemed to leap up to our senses as something terrible and dangerous. +Sarakoff and I scrambled to our feet, pushed our way frantically +through the throng, reached the corridor and dashed down it. Fear of +indescribable intensity had flamed in our souls, and in a moment we +found ourselves running violently down Regent Street. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE WAY BACK + + +It had been a wet night. Pools of water lay on the glistening pavements, +but the rain had ceased. We ran steadily until we came in sight of +Piccadilly Circus, and there our fear left us suddenly. It was like the +cutting off of a switch. We stopped in the street, gasping for breath. + +"This is really absurd," I observed; "we must learn to control +ourselves." + +"We can't control an emotion of that strength, Harden. It's +overwhelming. It's all the emotion we had before concentrated into a +single expression. No, it's going to be a nuisance." + +"The worst of it is that we cannot foresee it. We get no warning. It +springs out of the unknown like a tiger." + +We walked slowly across the Circus. It was thronged with a night crowd, +and seemed like some strange octagonal room, walled by moving coloured +lights. Here lay a scene that remained eternally the same whatever the +conditions of life--a scene that neither war, nor pestilence, nor famine +could change. We stood by the fountain, immersed in our thoughts. "I +used to enjoy this kind of thing," said Sarakoff at length. + +"And now?" + +"Now it is curiously meaningless--absolutely indecipherable." + +We walked on and entered Coventry Street. Here Sarakoff suddenly pushed +open a door and I followed him. We found ourselves in a brilliantly +illuminated restaurant. A band was playing. We sat down at an unoccupied +table. + +"Harden, I wish to try an experiment. I want to see if, by an effort, we +can get back to the old point of view." + +He beckoned to the waiter and ordered champagne, cognac, oysters and +caviare. Then he leaned back in his seat and smiled. + +"Somehow I feel it won't work," I began. + +He held up his hand. + +"Wait. It is an experiment. You must give it a fair chance. Come, let us +be merry." + +I nodded. + +"Let us eat, drink and be merry," I murmured. + +I watched the flushed faces and sparkling eyes around us. So far we had +attracted no attention. Our table was in a corner, behind a pillar. The +waiter hurried up with a laden tray, and in a moment the table was +covered with bottles and plates. + +"Now," said Sarakoff, "we will begin with a glass of brandy. Let us try +to recall the days of our youth--a little imagination, Harden, and then +perhaps the spell will be broken. A toast--Leonora!" + +"Leonora," I echoed. + +We raised our glasses. I took a sip and set down my glass. Our eyes met. + +"Is the brandy good?" + +"It is of an admirable quality," said Sarakoff. He put his glass on the +table and for some time we sat in silence. + +"Excuse me," I said. "Don't you think the caviare is a trifle----?" + +He made a gesture of determination. + +"Harden, we will try champagne." + +He filled two glasses. + +"Let us drink off the whole glass," he said. "Really, Harden, we must +try." + +I managed to take two gulps. The stuff was nasty. It seemed like weak +methylated spirits. + +"Continue," said Sarakoff firmly; "let us drink ourselves into the +glorious past, whither the wizard of alcohol transports all men." + +I took two more gulps. Sarakoff did the same. It was something in the +nature of a battle against an invisible resistance. I gripped the table +hard with my free hand, and took another gulp. + +"Sarakoff," I gasped. "I can't take any more. If you want to get alcohol +into my system you must inject it under my skin. I can't do it this +way." + +He put down his glass. It was half full. There were beads of +perspiration on his brow. + +"I'll finish that glass somehow," he observed. He passed his hand across +his forehead. "This is extraordinary. It's just like taking poison, +Harden, and yet it is an excellent brand of wine." + +"Do get these oysters taken away," I said. "They serve no purpose lying +here. They only take up room." + +"Wait till I finish my glass." + +With infinite trouble he drank the rest of the champagne. The effort +tired him. He sat, breathing quickly and staring before him. + +"That's a pretty woman," he observed. "I did not notice her before." + +I followed the direction of his gaze. A young woman, dressed in emerald +green, sat at a table against the opposite wall. She was talking very +excitedly, making many gestures and seemed to me a little intoxicated. + +Sarakoff poured out some more champagne. + +"I am getting back," he muttered. He looked like a man engaged in some +terrific struggle with himself. His breath was short and thick, his eyes +were reddened. Perspiration covered his face and hands. He finished the +second glass. + +"Yes, she is pretty," he said, "I like that white skin against the +brilliant green. She's got grace, too. Have you noticed white-skinned +women always are graceful, and have little ears, Harden?" + +He laughed suddenly, with his old boisterousness and clapped me on the +shoulder. + +"This is the way out!" he shouted, and pointed to the silver tub that +contained the champagne bottle. + +His voice sounded loudly above the music. + +"The way out!" he repeated. He got to his feet. His eyes were congested. +The sweat streamed down his cheeks. "Here," he called in his deep +powerful voice, "here, all you who are afraid--here is the way out." He +waved his arms. People stopped drinking and talking to turn and stare at +him. "Back to the animals!" he shouted. "Back to the fur and hair and +flesh! I was up on the mountain top, but I've found the way back. Here +it is--here is the magic you need, if you're tired of the frozen +heights!" + +He swayed as he spoke. Strangely interested, I stared up at him. + +"He's delirious," called out the emerald young woman. "He's got that +horrid disease." + +The manager and a couple of waiters came up. "It's coming," shouted +Sarakoff; "I saw it sweeping over the world. See, the world is white, +like snow. They have robbed it of colour." The manager grasped his arm +firmly. + +"Come with me," he said. "You are ill. I will put you in a taxi." + +"You don't understand," said Sarakoff. "You are in it still. Don't you +see I'm a traveller?" + +"He is mad," whispered a waiter in my ear. + +"A traveller," shouted the Russian. "But I've come back. Greeting, +brothers. It was a rough journey, but now I hear and see you." + +"If you do not leave the establishment at once I will get a policeman," +said the manager with a hiss. + +Sarakoff threw out his hands. + +"Make ready!" he cried. "The great uprooting!" He began to laugh +unsteadily. "The end of disease and the end of desire--there's no +difference. You never knew that, brothers. I've come back to tell +you--thousands and thousands of miles--into the great dimension of hell +and heaven. It was a mistake and I'm going back. Look! She's +fading--further and further----" He pointed a shaking hand across the +room and suddenly collapsed, half supported by the manager. + +"Dead drunk," remarked a neighbour. + +I turned. + +"No. Live drunk," I said. "The champagne has brought him back to the +world of desire." + +The speaker, a clean-shaven young man, stared insolently. + +"You have no business to come into a public place with that disease," he +said with a sneer. + +"You are right. I have no business here. My business is to warn the +world that the end of desire is at hand." I signalled to a waiter and +together we managed to get Sarakoff into a taxi-cab. + +As we drove home, all that lay behind Sarakoff's broken confused words +revealed itself with increasing distinctness to me. + +Sarakoff spoke again. + +"Harden," he muttered thickly, "there was a flaw--in the dream----" + +"Yes," I said. "I was sure there would be a flaw. I hadn't noticed it +before----" + +"We're cut off," he whispered. "Cut off." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +JASON + + +Next morning the headlines of the newspapers blazed out the news of the +meeting at the Queen's Hall, and the world read the words of Sarakoff. + +Strange to say, most of the papers seemed inclined to view the situation +seriously. + +"If," said one in a leading article, "it really means that immortality +is coming to humanity--and there is, at least, much evidence from +Birmingham that supports the view that the germ cures all sickness--then +we are indeed face to face with a strange problem. For how will +immortality affect us as a community? As a community, we live together +on the tacit assumption that the old will die and the young will take +their place. All our laws and customs are based on this idea. We can +scarcely think of any institution that is not established upon the +certainty of death. What, then, if death ceases? Our food supply----" + +I was interrupted, while reading, by my servant who announced that a +gentleman wished to see me on urgent business. I laid aside the paper +and waited for him to enter. + +My early visitor was a tall, heavily-built man, with strong eyes. He was +carefully dressed. He looked at me attentively, nodded, and sat down. + +"My name is Jason--Edward Jason. You have no doubt heard of me." + +"Certainly," I said. "You are the proprietor of this paper that I have +just been reading." + +He nodded. + +"And of sixty other daily papers, Dr. Harden," he said in a soft voice. +"I control much of the opinion in the country, and I intend to control +it all before I die." + +"A curious intention. But why should you die? You will get the germ in +time. I calculate that in a month at the outside the whole of London and +the best part of the country will be infected." + +While I spoke he stared hard at me. He nodded again, glanced at his +boots, pinched his lips, and then stared again. + +"A year ago I made a tour of all the big men in your profession, both +here, in America, and on the continent, Dr. Harden. I had a very +definite reason for doing this. The reason was that--well, it does not +matter now. I wanted a diagnosis and a forecast of the future. I +consulted forty medical men--all with big names. Twenty-one gave me +practically identical opinions. The remaining nineteen were in +disagreement. Of that nineteen six gave me a long life." + +"What did the twenty-one give you?" + +"Five years at the outside." + +I looked at him critically. + +"Yes, I should have given the same--a year ago." + +He coloured a little, and his gaze fell; he shifted himself in his +chair. Then he looked up suddenly, with a strong glow in his eyes. + +"And now?" + +"Now I give you--immortality." I spoke quite calmly, with no intention +of any dramatic effect. + +The colour faded from his cheeks, and the glow in his eyes increased. + +"If I get the Blue Disease, do you swear that it will cure me?" + +"Of course it will cure you." + +He got to his feet. He seemed to be in the grip of some powerful +emotion, and I could see that he was determined to control himself. He +walked down the room and stood for some time near the window. + +"A gipsy once told me I would die when I was fifty-two. Will you believe +me when I say that that prophecy has weighed upon me more than any +medical opinion?" He turned and came up the room and stood before me. +"Did you ever read German psychology and philosophy?" + +"To a certain extent--in translations." + +"Well, Dr. Harden, I stepped out of the pages of some of those books, I +think. You've heard of the theory of the Will to Power? The men who +based human life on that instinct were right!" He clenched his hands and +closed his eyes. "This last year has been hell to me. I've been haunted +every hour by the thought of death--just so much longer--so many +thousand days--and then Nothing!" He opened his eyes and sat down +before me. "Are you ambitious, Dr. Harden?" + +"I was--very ambitious." + +"Do you know what it is to have a dream of power, luring you on day and +night? Do you know what is to see the dream becoming reality, bit by +bit--and then to be given a time limit, when the dream is only half +worked out?" + +"I have had my dream," I said. "It is now realized." + +"The germ?" + +I nodded. He leaned forward. + +"Then you are satisfied?" + +"I have no desires now." + +He did not appear to understand. + +"I don't believe yet in your theory of immortality," he said slowly. +"But I do believe that the germ cures sickness. I have had private +reports from Birmingham, and to-morrow I'm going to publish them as +evidence. You see, Harden, I've decided to back you. To-morrow I'm going +to make Gods of you and your Russian associate. I'm going to call you +the greatest benefactors the race has known. I'm going to lift you up to +the skies." + +He looked at me earnestly. + +"Doesn't that stir you?" he asked. + +"No, I told you that I have no desires." + +He laughed. + +"You're dazed. You must have worked incredibly hard. Wait till you see +your name surrounded by the phrases I will devise you. I can make men +out of nothing." His eyes shone into mine. "I once heard a man say that +the trail of the serpent lay across my papers. That man is in an asylum +now. I can break men, too, you see. Now I want to ask you something." + +I watched him with ease, totally uninfluenced by his magnetism--calm and +aloof as a man watching a mechanical doll. + +"Can you limit the germ?" he asked softly. + +I shook my head. + +"Can you take any steps to stop it or keep it--within control?" + +I shook my head again. He stared for a minute at me. + +"I believe you," he said at last. "It's a pity. Think what we could have +done--just a few of us!" He sat for some time drumming his fingers on +his knees and frowning slightly. Then he stood up. + +"Never mind," he exclaimed. "I'm convinced it will cure me. That is the +main thing. I'll have plenty of time to realize my dream now, Harden, +thanks to you. You don't know what that means--ah, you don't know!" + +"By the way," I said, "I see you are suggesting that food may become a +problem in the future. I think we'll be all right." + +"Why?" + +"Well, you see, if there's no desire, there's no appetite." + +"I don't understand," he said. "It seems clear that if disease is +mastered by the germ, then the death-rate will drop, and there will be +more mouths to fill. If everyone lives for their threescore and ten, the +food question will be serious." + +"Oh, they'll live longer than that. They'll live for ever, Mr. Jason." + +He laughed tolerantly. + +"In any case there will be a food problem," he said in a quiet friendly +voice. "There will be more births, and more children--for none will +die--and more old people." + +"There won't be more births," I said. + +He swung round on his heel. + +"Why not?" he asked sharply. + +"Because there will be no desire, Mr. Jason. You can't have births +without desires, don't you see?" + +At that moment Sarakoff entered the room. I introduced him to the great +newspaper proprietor. Jason made some complimentary remarks, which +Sarakoff received with cool gravity. + +I could see that Jason was very puzzled. He had seated himself again, +and was watching the Russian closely. + +"The effects of last night have vanished," said Sarakoff to me. "My head +is clear again and I have no intention of ever repeating the +experiment." + +"You got back, to some extent." + +"Yes, partly. It was tremendously painful. I felt like a man in a +nightmare." + +I turned to Jason and explained what had happened at the restaurant. He +listened intently. + +"You see," I concluded, "the germ kills desire. Sarakoff and I live on a +level of consciousness that is undisturbed by any craving. We live in a +wonderful state of peace, which is only broken by the appearance of +physical danger--against which, of course, the germ is not proof." + +Jason was silent. + +"Do you mean to tell me," he said at length, in a very deliberate voice, +"that the effect of the germ is to destroy ambition?" + +"Worldly ambition, certainly," I replied. "But I believe that, in time, +ambitions of a subtler nature will reveal themselves in us, as +Immortals." + +Jason smiled very broadly. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "you are wonderful men. You have discovered +something that benefits humanity enormously. But take my advice--leave +your other theories alone. Stick to the facts--that your germ cures +sickness. Drop the talk about immortality and desire. It's too +fantastic, even for me. In the meantime I shall spread abroad the news +that the end of sickness is at hand, and that humanity is on the +threshold of a new era. For that I believe with all my heart." + +"One moment," said Sarakoff. "If you believe that this germ does away +with disease, what is going to cause men to die?" + +"Old age." + +"But that is a disease itself." + +"Wear and tear isn't a disease. That's what kills most of us." + +"Yes, but wear and tear comes from desire, Mr. Jason," I said. "And the +germ knocks that out. So what is left, save immortality?" + +When Jason left us, I could see that he was impressed by the possibility +of life being, at least, greatly prolonged. And this was the line he +took in his newspapers next day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE FIRST MURDERS + + +The effect of Jason's newspapers on public opinion was remarkable. +Humanity ever contains within it the need for mystery, and the strange +and incredible, if voiced by authority, stir it to its depths. The facts +about the healing of sickness and the cure of disease in Birmingham were +printed in heavy type and read by millions. Nothing was said about +immortality save what Sarakoff and I had stated at the Queen's Hall +meeting. But instinctively the multitude leaped to the conclusion that +if the end of disease was at hand, then the end of death--at least, the +postponement of death--was to be expected. + +Jason, pale and masterful, visited us in the afternoon, and told us of +the spread of the tidings in England. "They've swallowed it," he +exclaimed; "it's stirred them as nothing else has done in the last +hundred years. I visited the East End to-day. The streets are full of +people. Crowds everywhere. It might lead to anything." + +"Is the infection spreading swiftly?" + +"It's spreading. But there are plenty of people, like myself, who +haven't got it yet. I should say that a quarter of London is blue." He +looked at me with a sudden anxiety. "You're sure I'll get it?" + +"Quite sure. Everyone is bound to get it. There's no possible immunity." + +He sat heavily in the chair, staring at the carpet. + +"Harden, I didn't quite like the look of those crowds in the East End. +Anything big like this stirs up the people. It excites them and then the +incalculable may happen. I've been thinking about the effect upon the +uneducated mind. I've spread over the country the vision of humanity +free from disease, and that's roused something in them--something +dangerous--that I didn't foresee. Disease, Harden, whatever you doctors +think of it, puts the fear of God into humanity. It's these sudden +releases--releases from ancient fears--that are so dangerous. Are you +sure you can't stop the germ, or direct it along certain channels?" + +"I have already told you that's impossible." + +"You might as well try and stop the light of day," said Sarakoff from a +sofa, where he was lying apparently asleep. "Let the people think what +they like now. Wait till they get it themselves. There are rules in the +game, Jason, that you have no conception of, and that I have only +realized since I became immortal. Yes--rules in the game, whether you +play it in the cellar or the attic, or in the valley, or on the mountain +top." + +"Your friend is very Russian," said Jason equably. "I have always heard +they are dreamers and visionaries. Personally, I am a practical man, and +as such I foresee trouble. If the masses of the people have no illness, +and enjoy perfect health, we shall be faced by a difficult problem. +They'll get out of hand. Depressed states of health are valuable assets +in keeping the social organization together. All this demands careful +thought. I am visiting the Prime Minister this evening and shall give +him my views." + +At that moment a newspaper boy passed the window with an afternoon +edition and Jason went out to get a copy. He returned with a smile of +satisfaction, carrying the paper open before him. + +"Three murders in London," he announced. "One in Plaistow, one in East +Ham and one in Pimlico. I told you there was unrest abroad." He laid the +paper on the table and studied it "In every case it was an aged +person--two old women, and one old man. Now what does that mean?" + +"A gang at work." + +He shook his head. + +"No. In one case the murderer has been caught. It was a case of +patricide--a hideous crime. Curiously enough the victim had the Blue +Disease. The end must have been ghastly, as it states here that the +expression on the old man's face was terrible." + +He sat beside the table, drumming his fingers on it and staring at the +wall before him. I was not particularly interested in the news, but I +was interested in Jason. Character had formerly appealed little to me, +but now I found an absorbing problem in it. + +"Harden, do you think that son killed his father _because_ he had the +Blue Disease?" + +I was struck by the remark. For some reason the picture of Alice's +father came into my mind. Jason sprang to his feet. + +"Yes, that's it," he exclaimed. "That's what lay behind those restless +crowds. I knew there was something--a riddle to read, and now I've got +the answer. The crowd doesn't know what's rousing them. But I do. It's +fear and resentment, Harden. It's fear and resentment against the old." +He brought his fist down on the table. "The germ's going to lead to war! +It's going to lead to the worst war humanity has ever experienced--the +war of the young against the old. Not the ancient strife or struggle +between young and old, but open bloodshed, my friends. That's what your +germ is going to do." + +I smiled and shook my head. + +"Wait," said Sarakoff from the sofa; "wait a little. Why are you in such +a hurry to jump to conclusions?" + +"Because it's my business to jump to conclusions just six hours before +anyone else does," said Jason. "I calculate that my mind, for the last +twenty years, has been six hours ahead of time. I live in a state of +chronic anticipation, Dr. Sarakoff. Just let me use your telephone for a +moment." + +He returned a quarter of an hour later. His expression was calm, but his +eyes were hard. "I was right," he said. "Those two old women had the +Blue Disease, and a girl, a daughter, is suspect in one case. Can't you +imagine the situation? Girl lives with her aged mother--can't get +free--mother has what money there is--not allowed to marry--girl +unconsciously counts on mother's death--probably got a secret +love-affair--is expecting the moment of release--and then, along comes +the Blue Disease and one of my newspapers telling her what it means. The +old lady recovers her health--the future shuts down like a rat trap and +what does the poor girl do? Kills her mother--and probably goes mad. +That, gentlemen, is my theory of the case." + +He strode up and down the room. + +"You may think I'm taking a low view," he cried. "But there are hundreds +of thousands of similar cases in England. God help the old if the young +forget their religion!" + +For some reason I was unmoved by the outcry. It was no doubt owing to +the peculiar emotionless state that the germ induced in people. Jason +was roused. He paced to and fro in silence, with his brows contracted. +At length he stopped before me. + +"Do you see any way out?" + +"There will be no war between the young and the old," I replied. "In +another week everyone will get the germ and that will be the end of war +in every form." + +He drew a chair and sat down before me. + +"You don't understand," he said earnestly. "Perhaps you had a happy +childhood. I didn't. I know how some sons and daughters feel because I +suffered in that way. People are strangely blind to suffering unless +they have suffered themselves. When I was a young man, my father put me +in his office and gave me a clerk's wages. He kept me there for six +years at eighteen shillings a week. Whenever I made a suggestion +concerning the business he was careful to ridicule it. Whenever I tried +to break away and start on my own, he prevented it. There were a +thousand other things--ways in which he fettered me. My only sister he +kept at home to do the housework. He forbade her to marry. She and I +never had enough money to do anything, to go anywhere, or to buy +anything. Now, to be quite frank, I longed for him to die so that I +could get free. To me he was an ogre, a great merciless tyrant, a giant +with a club. Well, he died. When he was dead I felt what a man dying of +thirst in the desert must feel when he suddenly comes to a spring of +water. I recovered, and became what I am. My sister never recovered. She +had been suppressed beyond all the limits of elasticity. As far as her +body is concerned, it is alive. Her soul is dead." + +He paused and looked at me meditatively. + +"If your blue germ had come along then, Harden, I might---- Who knows? I +have often wondered why our pulpit religion ignores the crimes of +parents to their children. I'm not conventionally religious, but I seem +to remember that Christ indirectly said something pretty strong on the +subject. But the pulpit folk show a wonderful facility for ignoring the +awkward things Christ said. In about three years' time I'm going to turn +my guns on the Church. They've sneered at me too much." + +"There will be a new Church by that time," murmured Sarakoff. "And no +guns." + +Jason eyed the prostrate figure of the Russian. + +"I refer to my newspapers. That's going to be my final triumph. Why do +you smile?" + +"Because you said a moment ago that it was your business to be six hours +ahead of everyone else. You're countless centuries behind Harden and me. +We have taken a leap into the future. If you want to know what humanity +will be, look at us closely. You'll get some hints that should be +valuable. I admit that our bodies are old-fashioned in their size and +shape, but not our emotions." + +The telephone bell rang in the hall and Jason jumped up. + +"I think that's for me." + +He went out. I remained sitting calmly in my chair. An absolute serenity +surrounded me. All that Jason did or said was like looking at an +interesting play. I was perfectly content to sit and think--think of +Jason, of what his motives were, of the reason why a man is blind where +his desires are at work, of the new life, of the new organizations that +would be necessary. I was like a glutton before a table piled high with +delicacies and with plenty of time to spare. Sarakoff seemed to be in +the same condition for he lay with his eyes half shut, motionless and +absorbed. + +Jason entered the room suddenly. He carried his hat and stick. + +"Two more murders reported from Greenwich, and ten from Birmingham. It's +becoming serious, Harden! I'm off to Downing Street. Watch the morning +editions!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AT DOWNING STREET + + +That night, at eight o'clock, I was summoned to Downing Street. I left +Sarakoff lying on the sofa, apparently asleep. I drove the first part of +the way in a taxi, but at the corner of Orchard Street the cab very +nearly collided with another vehicle, and in a moment I was a helpless +creature of fear. So I walked the rest of the way, much to the +astonishment of the driver, who thought I was a lunatic. It was a fine +crisp evening and the streets were unusually full. Late editions of the +paper were still being cried, and under the lamps were groups of people, +talking excitedly. + +From what I could gather from snatches of conversation that I overheard, +it seemed that many thought the millennium was at hand. I mused on this, +wondering if beneath the busy exterior of life there lurked in people's +hearts a secret imperishable conviction. And, after all, was it not a +millennium--the final triumph of science--the conquest of the irrational +by the rational? + +There was a good deal of drunkenness, and crowds of men and women, +linked arm and arm, went by, singing senseless songs. In Piccadilly +Circus the scene was unusually animated. Here, beyond doubt, the Jason +press had produced a powerful impression. The restaurants and bars +blazed with light. Crowds streamed in and out and a spirit of hilarious +excitement pervaded everyone. Irresponsibility--that was the universal +attitude; and I became deeply occupied in thinking how the germ should +have brought about such a temper in the multitude. Only occasionally did +I catch the blue stain in the eyes of the throng about me. + +I reached Downing Street and was shown straight into a large, rather +bare room. By the fireplace sat Jason, and beside him, on the hearthrug, +stood the Premier. Jason introduced me and I was greeted with quiet +courtesy. + +"I intend to make a statement in the House to-night and would like to +put a few questions to you," said the Premier in a slow clear voice. +"The Home Secretary has been considering whether you and Dr. Sarakoff +should be arrested. I see no use in that. What you have done cannot be +undone." + +"That is true." + +"In matters like this," he continued, "it is always a question of taking +sides. Either we must oppose you and the germ, or we must side with you, +and extol the virtues of the new discovery. A neutral attitude would +only rouse irritation. I have therefore looked into the evidence +connected with the effects claimed for the germ, and have received +reports on the rate of its spread. It would seem that it is of benefit +to man, so far as can be judged at present, and that its course cannot +be stayed." + +I assented, and remained gazing abstractedly at the fire. + +He continued in a sterner tone-- + +"It may, however, be necessary to place you and Dr. Sarakoff under +police protection. There is no saying what may happen. Your action in +letting loose the germ in the water supply of Birmingham was +unfortunate. You have taken a great liberty with humanity, whatever may +result from it." + +"Medical men have no sense of proportion," murmured Jason. "Science +makes them so helpless." + +"I see no kind of helplessness in rescuing humanity from disease," I +answered calmly. "Please tell me what you want to know." + +They both looked at me attentively. The Premier took out a pair of +pince-nez and began to clean the lenses, still watching me. + +"France is unwilling to let the germ into her territory. Can measures be +taken to stop its access to the Continent?" + +"No. It will get there inevitably. It has probably got there long ago. +It is air borne and water borne and probably sea borne as well. The +whole world will be infected sooner or later. There is no immunity +possible." + +The Premier put on his pince-nez and warmed his hands at the fire. + +"Then what will the result of the germ be upon mankind?" he asked at +length. + +"It will begin a new era. What has made reform so difficult up to now?" + +"People do not see eye to eye on all questions, Dr. Harden. That is the +main reason." + +"And why do they not see eye to eye?" + +"Because their desires are not the same." + +"Very good. Now imagine a humanity without desires, as you and Jason +understand desire. What would be the result?" + +"It is impossible to conceive. The wheels of the world would cease +turning. We should be like sheep without a shepherd." He surveyed me +quietly for some time. "Then you think the germ will kill desire?" + +"I know it. I am a living example. I have no desires. I am like a man +without a body, I am immortal." + +Jason laughed. + +"You are above temptation?" he asked. + +"Absolutely. Neither money, power nor woman has any influence on me. +They are meaningless." + +"You have, perhaps, reached Nirvana?" the Premier enquired. + +"Yes. That is why I am immortal. I have reached Nirvana." + +"By a trick." + +"If you like--by a trick." + +"Then I cannot think you will stay there for long," said the Premier. "I +shall look forward to my attack of the Blue Disease with interest. It +will be amusing to note one's sensations." + +It was clear to me that he was defending himself against my greater +knowledge, but it was a matter of no importance to me. I was faintly +oppressed by the dreary immensity of the room. I had become sensitive to +atmosphere, and the feeling of that room was not harmonious. + +The Premier stood in deep thought. + +"If the germ prolongs life, it will lead to complications," he remarked. +"The question of being too old has attracted public attention for some +time now, which shows the way the wind is blowing. Oldness has become, +in a small degree, a problem. The world is younger than it used to +be--more impatient, more anxious to live a free life, to escape from any +form of bondage. And so people have begun to ask what we are to do with +our old men." + +He paused and looked at Jason. + +"My friend Jason thinks these murders are caused indirectly by the +germ." + +"It is possible." + +"It seems fantastic. But there may be something in it." The Premier +raised his eyes and studied the ceiling. "There is certainly some +excitement abroad. We are dealing with an unprecedented situation. I +therefore propose to say to-night that if, in the course of time, we +find that life is prolonged and disease done away with, new laws will +have to be considered." + +"Not only new laws," I said. "We shall have to reconstruct the whole +future of life. But there is no hurry. There is plenty of time. There is +eternity before us." + +"What do you eat?" demanded the Premier suddenly. + +"A little bread or biscuit." + +He clasped his hands behind his back and surveyed me for quite a minute. + +"I don't believe you're a quack," he observed. "But when you walked into +the room, I was doubtful." + +"Why?" + +"Because you wouldn't look at me squarely." + +"Why should I look at you squarely? I looked at you and saw you. I have +no desire to make any impression on you, or to dominate you in any way. +It was sufficient just to see you. As Immortals, we do not waste our +time looking at one another squarely. An Immortal cannot act." + +The Premier smiled to himself and took out his watch. + +"I am obliged to you for the instance," he said. "Good-night." + +I rose and walked towards the door. On my way I stopped before a vast +dingy oil-painting. + +"Why do you all deceive yourselves that you admire things like that? +Throw it away. When you become an Immortal you won't live here." + +The Premier and Jason stood together on the hearth-rug. They watched me +intently as I went out and closed the door behind me. A servant met me +on the landing and escorted me downstairs. I observed that he was an +Immortal. + +"What are you doing here?" I asked. + +"I am a spectator," he said in a calm voice. "And you?" + +"I, too, am a spectator." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +NIGHT OF AN IMMORTAL + + +I passed a most remarkable night. On reaching home I went to bed as +usual. My mind was busy, but what busied it was not the events of the +day. + +I lay in the darkness in a state of absolute contentment. My eyes were +closed. My body was motionless, and felt warm and comfortable. I was +quite aware of the position of my limbs in space and I could hear the +sound of passing vehicles outside. I was not asleep and yet at the same +time I was not awake. I knew I was not properly awake because, when I +tried to move, there seemed to be a resistance to the impulse, which +prevented it from reaching the muscles. As I have already said, I could +feel. The sensation of my body was there, though probably diminished, +but the power of movement was checked, though only slightly. And all +the time I lay in that state, my mind was perfectly lucid and +continually active. I thought about many things and the power of thought +was very great, in that I could keep my attention fixed hour after hour +on the same train of thought, go backwards and forwards along it, change +and modify its gradations, just as if I were dealing with some material +and plastic formation. Since that time I have become acquainted with a +doctrine that teaches that thoughts are in the nature of things--that a +definite thought is a formation in some tenuous medium of matter, just +as a cathedral is a structure in gross matter. This is certainly the +kind of impression I gained then. + +It was now in the light of contrast that I could reflect on the rusty +and clumsy way in which I had previously done my thinking, and I +remembered with a faint amusement that there had been a time when I +considered that I had a very clear and logical mind. Logical! What did +we, as mere mortals full of personal desire, know of logic? The +reflection seemed infinitely humorous. My thoughts had about them a new +quality of stability. They formed themselves into clear images, which +had a remarkable permanence. Their power and influence was greatly +increased. If, for example, I thought out a bungalow situated on the +cliff, I built up, piece by piece in my mind, the complete picture; and +once built up it remained there so that I could see it as a whole, and +almost, so to speak, walk round it and view it from different angles. I +could lay aside this thought-creation just as I might lay aside a model +in clay, and later on bring it back into my mind, as fresh and clear as +ever. The enjoyment of thinking under such conditions is impossible to +describe. It was like the joy of a man, blind from childhood, suddenly +receiving his sight. + +As ordinary mortals, we are all familiar with the apparently real scenes +that occur in dreams. In our dreams we see buildings and walk round +them. We see flights of steps and climb them. We apparently touch and +taste food. We meet friends and strangers and converse with them. At +times we seem to gaze over landscapes covered with woods and meadows. + +It seemed to me that the magic of dreams had in some way become attached +to thought. For as Immortals we did not dream as mortals do. In place +of dreaming, we created immense thought-forms, working as it were on a +new plane of matter whose resources were inexhaustible. + +That night I built my ideal bungalow and when I had finished it I +constructed my ideal garden. And then I made a sea and a coast-line, and +when it was finished it was so real to me that I actually seemed to go +into its rooms, sit on the verandah, breathe in its sea-airs and listen +to the surf below its cliff. I remember that one of its rooms did not +please me entirely, and that I seemed to pull it down--in thought--and +reconstruct it according to my wish. This took time, for brick by brick +I thought the new room into existence. One law that governed that state +was easy to grasp, for whatever you did not think out clearly assumed a +blurred unsatisfactory form. It became clear to me as early as that +first night of immortality that the more familiar a man was with matter +on the earth and its ways and possibilities, the more easily could he +make his constructions on that plan of thought. + +The whole of that night I lay in this state of creative joy and I know +that my body remained motionless. It seemed that only a film divided me +from the use of my limbs, but that film was definite. At eight o'clock +on that morning, I became aware of a vague feeling of strain. It was a +very slight sensation, but its effect was to make the thoughts that +occupied my consciousness to become less definite. I had to make an +effort to keep them distinct. The strain slowly became greater. It had +begun with a sense of distance, but it seemed to get nearer, and I +experienced a feeling that I can only compare to as that which a man has +when he is losing his balance and about to fall. + +The strain ended suddenly. I found myself moving my limbs. I opened my +eyes and looked round. The graphic, visible quality of my thoughts had +now vanished. I was awake. + + +I have given the above account of the night of an Immortal, because it +has seemed to me right that some record should be left of the effect of +the germ on the mind. I would explain the inherent power of thought as +being due to the freedom from the ordinary desires of mortals, which +waste and dissipate the energies of the mind ... but of that I cannot be +certain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +OUR FLIGHT + + +I got out of bed and began to examine my clothes. They were strewn about +the floor and on chairs. The colour of them seemed peculiar to my +senses. My frock coat, of heavy black material, with curious braiding +and buttons, fascinated me. I counted the number of separate things that +made up my complete attire. They were twenty-four in number. I +discovered that in addition to these articles of actual wearing material +I was in the habit of carrying on my person about sixty other articles. +For some reason I found these calculations very interesting. I had a +kind of counting mania that morning. I counted all the things I used in +dressing myself. I counted the number of stripes on my trousers and on +my wall-paper; I counted the number of rooms in my house, the articles +of furniture that they contained, and the number of electric lamps. I +went into the kitchen and counted everything I could see, to the +astonishment of my servants. I observed that my cook showed a faint blue +stain in her eyes, but that the other servants showed no signs as yet of +the Blue Disease. I went into my study and counted the books; I opened +one of them. It was the British Pharmacopoeia. I began mechanically to +count the number of drugs it contained. I was still counting them when +the breakfast gong sounded. I went across the hall and counted on my way +the number of sticks and hats and coats that were there. I finished up +by counting the number of things on the breakfast table. Then I picked +up the newspaper. There were, by the way, one hundred and four distinct +things on my breakfast table. + +The paper was full of the records of crime and of our names. + +The account of the Prime Minister's statement in the House was given in +full. Our names were printed in large letters, and apparently our +qualifications had been looked up, for they were mentioned, together +with a little biographical sketch. In a perfectly calm and observant +spirit I read the closely-printed column. My eye paused for some time at +an account of my personal appearance--"a small, insignificant-looking +man, with straight blue-black hair, like a Japanese doll, and an untidy +moustache, speaking very deliberately and with a manner of extreme +self-assurance." + +Extreme self-assurance! I reflected that there might, after all, be some +truth in what the reporter said. On the night that I had spoken at the +Queen's Hall meeting I had been quite self-possessed. I pursued the +narrative and smiled slightly at a description of the Russian--"a +loosely-built, bearded giant, unkempt in appearance, and with huge +square hands and pale Mongolian eyes which roll like those of a maniac." +That was certainly unfair, unless the reporter had seen him at the +restaurant when Sarakoff drank the champagne. I was about to continue, +when a red brick suddenly landed neatly on my breakfast table, and +raised the number of articles on that table to one hundred and five. + +There was a tinkle of falling glass; I looked up and saw that the +window was shattered. The muslin curtain in front of it had been torn +down by the passage of the brick, and the street without was visible +from where I sat. A considerable crowd had gathered on the pavement. +They saw me and a loud cry went up. The front door bell was ringing and +there was a sound of heavy blows that echoed through the house. + +My housemaid came running into the room. She uttered a shriek as she saw +the faces beyond the window and ran out again. I heard a door at the +back of the house slam suddenly. + +A couple of men, decently enough dressed, were getting over the area +rails with the intent of climbing in at the window. I jumped up and went +swiftly upstairs. So far I was calm. I entered Sarakoff's bedroom. It +was in darkness. The Russian was lying motionless on the bed. I shook +him by the shoulder. It seemed impossible to rouse him, and yet in +outward appearance he seemed only lightly asleep. I redoubled my efforts +and at length he opened his eyes, and his whole body, which had felt +under my hands as limp and flaccid as a pillow, suddenly seemed to +tighten up and become resilient. + +"Get up," I said. "They're trying to break into the house. We may be in +danger. We can escape by the back door through the mews." + +The blows on the front door were clearly audible. + +"I've been listening to it for some time," he said. "But I seemed to +have lost the knack of waking up properly." + +"We have no time to waste," I said firmly. + +We went quickly downstairs. Sarakoff had flung a blue dressing-gown over +his pyjamas and thrust his feet into a pair of slippers. On reaching the +hall there was a loud crack and a roar of voices. In an instant the +agonizing fear swept over us. We dashed to the back of the house, +through the servants' quarters and out into the mews. Without pausing +for an instant we ran down the cobbled alley and emerged upon Devonshire +Street. We turned to the right, dashed across Portland Place and reached +Great Portland Street. We ran steadily, wholly mastered by the great +fear of physical injury, and oblivious to the people around us. We +passed the Underground Station. Our flight down the Euston Road was +extraordinary. Sarakoff was in front, his dressing-gown flying, and his +pink pyjamas making a vivid area of colour in the drab street. I +followed a few yards in the rear, hatless, with my breath coming in +gasps. + +It was Sarakoff who first saw the taxi-cab. He veered suddenly into the +road and held out his arms. The cab slowed down and in a moment we were +inside it. + +"Go on," shouted Sarakoff, "Drive on. Don't stop." + +The driver was a man of spirit and needed no further directions. The cab +jerked forward and we sped towards St. Pancras Station. + +"Follow the tram lines up to Hampstead," I called out, and he nodded. We +lay gasping in the back of the cab, cannoning helplessly as it swayed +round corners. By the time we had reached Hampstead our fear had left +us. + +The cab drew up on the Spaniard's Walk and we alighted. It was a bleak +and misty morning. The road seemed deserted. A thin column of steam rose +from the radiator of the taxi, and there was a smell of over-heated +oil. + +"Sharp work that," said the driver, getting out and beating his arms +across his chest. His eyes moved over us with frank curiosity. Sarakoff +shivered and drew his dressing-gown closely round him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +ON THE SPANIARD'S WALK + + +I paid the man half-a-sovereign. There was a seat near by and Sarakoff +deposited himself upon it. I joined him. On those heights the morning +air struck chill. London, misty-blue, lay before us. The taxi-man took +out his pipe and began to fill it. + +"Lucky me comin' along like that," he observed. "If it hadn't been +because of my missus I wouldn't have been out so early." He blew a puff +of smoke and continued: "This Blue Disease seems to confuse folk. My +missus was took with it last night." He paused to examine us at his +leisure. "When did you get it?" + +"We became immortal the day before yesterday," said Sarakoff. + +The taxi-man took his pipe out of his mouth and stared. + +"You ain't them two doctors what's in the paper this morning, by any +chance?" he asked. "Them as is supposed to 'ave invented this Blue +Disease?" + +We nodded. He emitted a low whistle and gazed thoughtfully at us. At +length he spoke I noticed his tone had changed. + +"As I was saying, my missus was took with it in the night. I had a job +waking 'er up, and when she opened her eyes I near had a fit. We'd had a +bit of a tiff overnight, but she got up as quiet as a lamb and never +said a word agin me, which surprised me. When I 'ad dressed myself I +went into the kitchen to get a bit o' breakfast, and she was setting in +a chair starin' at nothing. The kettle wasn't boiling, and there wasn't +nothing ready, so I asked 'er quite polite, what she was doing. 'I'm +thinking,' she says, and continues sitting in the chair. After a bit of +reasoning with her, I lost my temper and picked up a leg of a chair, +what we had broke the evening previous when we was 'aving a argument. +She jump up and bolted out of the house, just as she was, with her 'air +in curl-papers, and that's the last I saw of her. I waited an hour and +then took the old cab out of the garage, and I was going to look for my +breakfast when I met you two gents." He took his pipe out of his mouth +and wiped his lips. "Now I put it all down to this 'ere Blue Disease. +It's sent my missus off 'er head." + +"There's no reason why you should think your wife mad simply because she +ran away when you tried to strike her," I said. "It's surely a proof of +her sanity." + +He shook his head. + +"That ain't correct," he said, with conviction. "She always liked a +scrap. She's a powerful young woman, and her language is extraordinary +fine when she's roused, and she knows it. I can't understand it." + +He looked up suddenly. + +"So it was you two who made this disease was it?" + +"Yes." + +"Fancy that!" he said. "Fancy a couple of doctors inventing a disease. +It does sound a shame, don't it?" + +"Wait till you get it," said Sarakoff. + +"It seems to me you've been and done something nasty," he went on. +"Ain't there enough diseases without you two going and makin' a new +one? It's a fair sickener to think of all the diseases there +are--measles and softenin' of the brain, and 'eaving stummicks and what +not. What made you do it? That's what I want to know." He was getting +angry. He pointed the stem of his pipe at us accusingly. His small eyes +shone. "It's fair sickening," he muttered. "I've never took to doctors, +nor parsons--never in my life." + +He spat expressively. + +"And my wife, too, clean barmy," he continued. "Who 'ave I got to thank +for that? You two gents. Doctors, you call yourselves. I arsk you, what +is doctors? They never does me any good. I never seed anyone they'd done +any good. And yet they keeps on and no one says nothing. It's fair +sickening." + +There was a sound of footsteps behind me. I turned and saw a policeman +climbing slowly up the bank towards the road. Like all policemen he +appeared not to notice us until he was abreast of our seat. Then he +stopped and eyed each of us in turn. His boots were muddy. + +"These gents," said the taxi-man, "'ave been and done something nasty." + +The phrase seemed attractive to him and he repeated it. The policeman, +a tall muscular man, surveyed us in silence. Sarakoff, his hair and +beard dishevelled, was leaning back in a corner of the seat, with his +legs crossed. His dressing-gown was tucked closely round him, and below +it, his pink pyjamas fluttered in the thin breeze. His expression was +calm. + +The taxi-man continued-- + +"I picked these gents up in the Euston Road. They was in a hurry. I +thought they'd done something ordinary, same as what you or me might do, +but it seems I was wrong. They've been and done something nasty. They've +gone and invented this 'ere Blue Disease." + +The policeman raised his helmet a little and the taxi-man uttered an +exclamation. + +"Why, you've got it yourself," he said, and stared. The policeman's eyes +were stained a vivid blue. + +"An immortal policeman!" murmured Sarakoff dreamily. + +The discovery seemed to discomfit the taxi-man. The tide of indignation +in him was deflected, and he shifted his feet. The policeman, with a +deliberation that was magnificent advanced to the seat and sat down +beside me. + +"Good-morning," I said. + +"Good-morning," he replied in a deep calm voice. He removed his helmet +from his head and allowed the wind to stir his hair. The taxi-man moved +a step nearer us. + +"You ought to arrest them," he said. "Here's my wife got it, and you, +and who's to say when it will end? They're doctors, too. I allus had my +own suspicions of doctors, and 'ere they are, just as I supposed, +inventing diseases to keep themselves going. That's what you ought to do +... arrest them. I'll drive you all down to the police-station." The +policeman replaced his helmet, crossed his long blue legs, and leaned +back in the corner of the seat. Side by side on the seat Sarakoff, the +policeman, and I gazed tranquilly at the figure of the taxi-man, at the +taxi-cab, and at the misty panorama of London that lay beyond the Vale +of Health. The expression of anger returned to the taxi-man's face. + +"And 'ere am I, standing and telling you to do your duty, and all the +time I haven't had my breakfast," he said bitterly. "If you was to cop +them two gents, your name would be in all the evenin' papers." He +paused, and frowned, conscious that he was making little impression on +the upholder of law and order. "Why 'aven't I 'ad my breakfast? All +because of these two blokes. I tell you, you ought to cop them." + +"When I was a boy," said the policeman, "I used to collect stamps." + +"Did yer," exclaimed the taxi-man sarcastically. "You do interest me, +reely you do." + +"Yes, I used to collect stamps." The policeman settled himself more +comfortably. "And afore that I was in the 'abit of collecting bits o' +string." + +"You surprise me," said the taxi-man. "And what did you collect afore +you collected bits of string?" + +"So far as I recollect, I didn't collect nothing. I was trying to +remember while I was walking across the Heath." He turned to us. "Did +you collect anything?" + +"Yes," I said. "I used to collect beetles." + +"Beetles?" The policeman nodded thoughtfully. "I never had an eye for +beetles. But, as I said, I collected stamps. I remember I would walk for +miles to get a new stamp, and of an evening I would sit and count the +stamps in my album over and over again till my head was fair giddy." He +paused and stroked his clean-shaven chin thoughtfully. "I recollect as +if it was yesterday how giddy my head used to get." + +The taxi-man seemed about to say something, but he changed his mind. + +"Why did you collect beetles?" the policeman asked me. + +"I was interested in them." + +"But that ain't a suitable answer," he replied. "It ain't suitable. +That's what I've been seeing for the first time this morning. The point +is--why was you interested in beetles, and why was I interested in bits +o' string and stamps?" + +"Yes, he's quite right," said Sarakoff; "that certainly is the point." + +"To say that we are interested in a thing is no suitable explanation," +continued the policeman. "After I'd done collecting stamps----" + +"Why don't you arrest these two blokes?" shouted the taxi-man suddenly. +"Why can't you do yer duty, you blue fathead?" + +"I'm coming to that," said the policeman imperturbably. "As I was +saying, after I collected stamps, I collected knives--any sort of old +rusty knife--and then I joined the force and began to collect men, I +collected all sorts o' men--tall and short, fat and thin. Now why did I +do that?" + +"It seems to me," observed the taxi-man, suddenly calm, "that somebody +will be collecting you soon, and there won't be no need to arsk the +reason why." + +"That's where you and me don't agree," said the policeman. "I came to +the conclusion this morning that we don't ask the reason why enough--not +by 'alf. Now if somebody did as you say, and started collectin' +policemen, what would be the reason?" + +"Reason?" shouted the taxi-man. "Don't arsk me for a reason." + +He turned to his taxi-cab and jerked the starting handle violently. The +clatter of the engine arose. He climbed into his seat, and pulled at his +gears savagely. In a few moments he had turned his cab, after wrenching +in fury at the steering-wheel, and was jolting down the road in the +morning brightness in search of breakfast. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +LEONORA'S VOICE + + +"My theory," said the policeman, "is that collectin'--and by that I mean +all sorts of collection, including that of money--comes from a craving +to 'ave something what other people 'aven't got. It comes from a kind o' +pride which is foolish. Take a man like Morgan, for instance. Now he +spent his life collecting dollars, and he never once stopped to ask +'imself why he was doin' it. I 'eard a friend of mine, a socialist he +was, saying as 'ow no one had wasted his life more than Morgan. At the +time it struck me as a silly kind of thing to say. But now I seem to see +it in a different light." He meditated for some minutes. "It's the +reason why--that's what we 'aven't thought of near enough." + +I was about to reply when a motor-car stopped before us. It was a large +green limousine. It drew up suddenly, with a scraping of tyres, and a +woman got out of it. I recognized her at once. It was Leonora. She was +wearing a motoring-coat of russet-brown material, and her hat was tied +with a veil. + +"Alexis!" she exclaimed. + +Sarakoff roused himself. He stood up and bowed. + +"What are you doing here?" she asked. + +"Leonora," he said, "I am so glad to see you. We are just taking the +air, and discussing a few matters of general interest." He patted her on +the shoulder. "I congratulate you, Leonora. You are an Immortal. It +suits you very well." + +She was certainly one of the Immortals. The stain in her eyes was +wonderfully vivid, but it did not produce a displeasing effect, as I had +fancied it would. Indeed, her eyes had lost their hard restless look, +and in place of it was an expression of bewilderment. + +"What has happened to me?" she exclaimed. "Alexis, what is this that you +have done to me?" + +"What I told you about at the Pyramid Restaurant. You have got the germ +in you and now you are immortal. Sit down, Leonora. I find it warmer +when I am sitting. My friend and I had to leave Harley Street somewhat +hurriedly, and I had not time to dress." + +She sat down and loosened her veil. + +"Last night a dreadful thing happened," she said. "And yet, although it +was dreadful, I do not feel upset about it. I have been trying to feel +upset--as I should--but I can't. Let me tell you about it. I lay down +yesterday afternoon in my room after tea to rest. I always do that when +I can. I think I fell asleep for a moment. Then I felt a curious light +feeling, as if I had suddenly been for a long holiday, and I got up. +Alexis, when I saw myself in the glass I was horrified. I had the Blue +Disease." + +"Of course," said Sarakoff. "You were bound to get it. You knew that." + +"I didn't know what to do. I wasn't very upset, only I felt something +dreadful had happened. Well, I went to the Opera as usual and everyone +was very sympathetic, but I said I was all right. But when my call came +I suddenly knew--quite calmly, but certainly--that I could not sing +properly. I went on the stage and began, but it was just as if I were +singing for the first time in my life. They had to ring the curtain +down. I apologized. I was quite calm and smiling. But there the fact +remained--I had lost my voice. I had failed in public." + +"Extraordinary," muttered Sarakoff. "Are you sure it was not just +nervousness?" + +"No, I'm certain of that. I felt absolutely self-possessed; far more so +that I usually do, and that is saying a lot. No, my voice has gone. The +Blue Disease has destroyed it. And yet I somehow don't feel any +resentment. I don't understand. Richard, tell me what has happened." + +I shook my head. + +"I don't know," I said. "I can't explain. The germ is doing things that +I never foresaw." + +"I ought to be furious with you," she said. + +"Try to be--if you can," smiled Sarakoff. "That's one of the strange +things. I can't be furious. I have only two emotions--perfect calmness, +or violent, horrible fear." + +"Fear?" she exclaimed. + +"Yes, fear of the worst kind conceivable." + +"I understand the perfect calmness," she said, "but the fear--no." + +"You will understand in time." + +The policeman listened to our conversation with grave attention. Leonora +was sitting between Sarakoff and me, and did not seem to find the +presence of the visitor surprising. The green limousine stood in the +road before us, the chauffeur sitting at the wheel looking steadily in +front of him. The Heath seemed remarkably empty. The mist over London +was lifting under the influence of the sun. + +I was revolving in my mind a theory as to why Leonora had lost her +voice. I already knew that the germ produced odd changes in the realm of +likes and dislikes. I remembered Sarakoff's words that the germ was +killing desire. My thoughts were clear, easy and lucid, and the problem +afforded by Leonora's singular experience gave me a sense of quiet +enjoyment. If the germ really did do away with desire, why should it at +the same time do away with Leonora's wonderful voice? I recalled with +marvellous facility everything I knew about her. My memory supplied me +with every detail at the dinner of the Pyramid Restaurant. The words of +Sarakoff, which had at the time seemed coarse, came back to me. He had +called her a vain ambitious cold-hearted woman, who thought that her +voice and her beauty could not be beaten. + +My reflections were interrupted by the policeman. + +"The lady," he remarked, "has lost her voice sudden-like. Now I lost my +'abit of arresting people sudden-like too. I lost it this morning. Any +other time I should have taken the gentleman in the dressing-gown in +charge for being improperly dressed. But this morning it don't come +natural to me. If he wants to wear a dressing-gown on the Spaniard's +Walk, he presumably 'as his own reasons. It don't concern me." + +"It seems to me that the germ takes ambition out of us," said Sarakoff. + +"Ambition?" said the policeman. "No, that ain't right. I've got ambition +still--only it's a different kind of ambition." + +"I have no ambition now," said Leonora at length. "Alexis is right. This +malady has taken the ambition out of me. I may be Immortal, but if I am, +then I am an Immortal without ambition. I seem to be lost, to be +suddenly diffused into space or time, to be a kind of vapour. Something +has dissolved in me--something hard, bright, alert. I do not know why I +am here. The car came round as usual to take me for my morning run. I +got in--why I don't know." + +Sarakoff was studying her attentively. + +"It is very strange," he said. "You used to arouse a feeling of strength +and determination in me, Leonora. You used to stimulate me intensely. +This morning I only feel one thing about you." + +"What is that?" + +"I feel that I have cheated you." + +"Cheated her?" exclaimed the policeman. "How do you come to that +conclusion?" + +"I've destroyed the one thing that was herself--I've destroyed desire in +her. I've left her a mind devoid of all values tacked on to a body that +no longer interests her. For what was Leonora, who filled the hearts of +men with madness, but an incarnation of desire?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE KILLING OF DESIRE + + +We drove in Leonora's car through London. The streets were crowded. I do +not think that much routine work was done that day. People formed little +crowds on the pavements, and at Oxford Circus someone was speaking to a +large concourse from the seat of a motor lorry. + +Leonora seemed extraordinarily apathetic. She leaned back in the car and +seemed uninterested in the passing scene. Sarakoff, wrapped up in a fur +rug, stared dreamily in front of him. As far as I can recall them, my +feelings during that swift tour of London were vague. The buildings, the +people, the familiar signs in the streets, the shop windows, all seemed +to have lost in some degree the quality of reality. I was detached from +them; and whenever I made an effort to rouse myself, the ugliness and +meaninglessness of everything I saw seemed strangely emphasized. + +When we reached Harley Street we found my house little damaged, save for +a broken panel in the green front door and a few panes of glass smashed +in the lower windows. The house was empty. The servants had vanished. + +Leonora said she wished to go home and she drove off in the car. +Sarakoff did not even wave farewell to her, but went straight up to his +room and lay down on the bed. I went into the study and sat in my chair +by the fireplace. + +I was roused by the opening of the door, and looking up I saw a face +that I recognized, but for the moment I could not fit a name to it. My +visitor came in calmly, and sat down opposite me. + +"My name is Thornduck," he said. "I came to consult you about my health +a few days ago." + +"I remember," I said. + +"Your front door was open so I walked in." + +I nodded. His eyes, stained with blue, rested on me. + +"I have been thinking," he said. "It struck me that there was something +you forgot to tell me the other day." + +I nodded again. + +"You began, if you remember, by asking me if I believed in miracles. +That set me thinking, and as I saw your name in the paper, connected +with the Blue Disease, I knew you were a miracle-monger. How did you do +it?" + +"I don't know. It was all due to my black cat. Tripped over it, got +concussion and regained my senses with the idea that led up to the +germ." + +He smiled. + +"A black cat," he mused. "I wonder if it's all black magic?" + +"That's what Hammer suggested. I don't know what kind of magic it is." + +"Of course it _is_ magic," said Thornduck. + +"Magic?" + +"Of course. Have you even thought what kind of magic it is?" + +"No." + +"A big magic, such as you have worked, is just bringing the distant +future into the present with a rush." + +"Sarakoff had some such idea," I murmured. "He spoke of anticipating +our evolution by centuries at one stroke." + +"Exactly. That's magic. The question remains--is it black magic?" He +crossed his thin legs and leaned back in the chair. "I got the Blue +Disease the day before yesterday and since then I've thought more than I +have ever done in all my life. When I read in the paper this morning +that you said the Blue Disease conferred immortality on people I was not +surprised. I had come to the same conclusion in a roundabout way. But I +want to ask you one question. Did you know beforehand that _it killed +desire_?" + +"No. Neither Sarakoff nor I foresaw that." + +"Well, if you had let me into your confidence before I could have told +you that right away in the general principle contained in the saying +that you can't eat your cake and have it. It's just another aspect of +the law of the conservation of energy, isn't it?" + +"I always had a doubt----" + +"Naturally. It's intuitional. The laws of the universe are just +intuitions put into words. You've carried out an enormous spiritual +experiment to prove what all religions have always asserted however +obscurely. All religion teaches that you can't eat your cake and have +it. That's the essence of religion, and you, formerly a cut-and-dried +scientist, have gone and proved it to the whole world for eternity. +Rather odd, isn't it?" + +I watched his face with interest. It was thin and the complexion was +transparent. His eyes, wonderfully wide and brilliantly stained by the +germ, produced in me a new sensation. It was akin to enthusiasm, but in +it was something of love, such as I had never experienced for any man. I +became uplifted. My whole being began to vibrate to some strangely +delicate and exquisite influence, and I knew that Thornduck was the +medium through which these impulses reached me. It was not his words but +the atmosphere round him that raised me temporarily to this degree of +receptivity. + +"It is odd," I said. + +He continued to look at me. + +"You have a message for me?" I observed at last. + +"Why, yes, I have," he replied. "You have done wrong, Harden. You have +worked black magic, and it will fail out of sheer necessity." + +"Tell me what I have done." + +"You have artificially produced a condition of life many ages before +humanity is ready to receive it. The body of desire is being worked up +by endless labour into something more delicate and sensitive--into a +transmutation that we can only dimly understand. At present the whole +plot of life is based on the principle of desire and in this way people +are kept busy, constantly spurred on to thought and activity by +essentially selfish motives. It is only in abstract thought that the +selfless ideal has a real place as yet, but the very fact that it is +there shows what lies at the top of the ladder that humanity is so +painfully climbing. As long as desire is the plot of life, death is +necessary, for its terrible shadow sharpens desire and makes the prizes +more alluring and the struggle more desperate. And so man goes on, +ceaselessly active and striving, for without activity and striving there +is no perfecting of the instrument. You can't have upward progress in +conditions of stagnation. All that strange incredible side of life, +called the Devil, is the inner plot of life that makes the wheels go +round and evolution possible. It is vitally necessary to keep the vast +machinery running at the present level of evolution. Desire is the +furnace in the engine-house. The wheels go round and the fabric is +slowly and intricately spun and only pessimists and bigots fail to see +evidence of any purpose in it all. Now what has your Blue Disease done? +It has taken the whole plot out of life at its present stage of +development at one fell swoop. It has killed Desire--put out the furnace +before the pattern in the fabric is nearly complete." + +"But I never could see that, Thornduck. How could I foresee that?" + +"If you had had a grain of vision you would have known that you couldn't +give humanity the gift of immortality without some compensatory loss. +The law of compensation is as sure as the law of gravity--you ought to +know that." + +"I had dim feelings--I knew Sarakoff was wrong, with his dream of +physical bliss--but how could I foresee that desire would go?" + +"As a mere scientist, test-tube in hand, you couldn't. But you're +better than that. You've got a glimmering of moral imagination in you." + +He fell into a reverie. + +"You are keeping something back. Tell me plainly what you mean," I +asked. + +"Don't you see that if the germ lasts any length of time," he said, "the +machinery will run down and--stop?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE REVOLT OF THE YOUNG + + +Amid all the strife and clamour of the next few days one thing stands +out now in my mind with sinister radiance. It is that peculiar form of +lawlessness which broke out and had as its object the destruction of the +old. + +There is no doubt that the idea of immortality got hold of people and +carried them away completely. The daily miracles that were occurring of +the renewal of health and vigour, the cure of disease and the passing of +those infirmities that are associated with advancing years, impressed +the popular imagination deeply. As a result there grew up a widespread +discontent and bitterness. The young--those who were as yet free from +the germ--conceived in their hearts that an immense injustice had been +done to them. + +It must be remembered that life at that time had taken on a strange and +abnormal aspect. Its horizons had been suddenly altered by the germ. +Although breadth had been given to it from the point of years, a curious +contraction had appeared at the same time. It was a contraction felt +most acutely by those in inferior positions. It was a contraction that +owed its existence to the sense of being shut in eternally by those in +higher positions, whom death no longer would remove at convenient +intervals. The student felt it as he looked at his professor. The clerk +felt it as he looked at his manager. The subaltern felt it as he looked +at his colonel. The daughter felt it when she looked at her mother, and +the son when he looked at his father. The germ had given simultaneously +a tremendous blow to freedom, and a tremendous impetus to freedom. + +Thus, perhaps for the first time in history, there swiftly began an +accumulation and concentration of those forces of discontent which, in +normal times, only manifest themselves here and there in the +relationships between old and young men, and are regarded with +good-humoured patience. A kind of war broke out all over the country. + +This war was terrible in its nature. All the secret weariness and +unspoken bitterness of the younger generation found a sudden outlet. +Goaded to madness by the prospect of a future of continual repression, +in which the old would exercise an undiminished authority, the younger +men and women plunged into a form of excess over which a veil must be +drawn.... There is only one thing which can be recorded in their favour. +Chloroform and drowning appear to have been the methods most often used, +and they are perhaps merciful ways of death. The great London clubs +became sepulchres. All people who had received the highest distinctions +and honours, whose names were household words, were removed with +ruthless determination. Scarcely a single well-known man or woman of the +older generation, whose name was honoured in science, literature, art, +business or politics, was spared. All aged and wealthy people perished. +A clean sweep was made, and made with a decision and unanimity that was +incredible. + +It is painful now to recall the terrible nature of that civil war. It +lasted only a short time, but it opened my eyes to the inner plan upon +which mortal man is based. For I am compelled to admit that this +widespread murder, that suddenly flashed into being, was founded upon +impulses that lie deep in man's heart. They were those giant impulses +that lie behind growth, and the effect of the germ was merely to throw +them suddenly into the broad light of day, unchained, grim and +implacable. + +Fortunately, the germ spread steadily and quickly, killing as it did so +all hate and desire. + +Jason, still free from the germ, flung himself into the general uproar +with extraordinary vigour. It was clear that he thought the great +opportunity had come which would eventually bring him to the height of +his power. To check the growing lawlessness and murder he advocated a +new adjustment of property. Big meetings were held in the public spaces +of London, and some wild ideas were formulated. + +In the meantime the medical profession, as far as the men yet free from +the germ were concerned, continued its work in a dull, mechanical way. +Each day the number of patients fell lower, as the Blue Disease slowly +spread. Hammer, himself an Immortal, came to see me once, but only to +speak of the necessity for the immediate simplification of houses. It +was odd to observe how, once a man became infected, his former interests +and anxieties fell away from him like an old garment. In Harley Street +an attitude of stubborn disbelief continued amongst those still mortal. +There is something magnificent in that adamantine spirit which refuses +to recognize the new, even though it moves with ever-increasing +distinctness before the very eyes of the deniers. I was not surprised. I +was familiar with medical men. + +Meanwhile the Royal Family became infected by the germ, and passed out +of the public eye. The Prime Minister became a victim and vanished. For +once a man had the germ in his system, as far as externals were +concerned, he almost ceased to exist. + +The infection of Jason occurred in my presence. He had come in to +explain to me a proposed line of campaign as regards the marriage laws. + +"This germ of yours has given people the courage to think!" he +exclaimed. "It is extraordinary how timid people were in thinking. It +has launched them out, and now is the time to bring in new proposals." + +"In all your calculations, you omit to recollect the effects of the +germ," I said. "Surely you have seen by now that it changes human nature +totally?" + +He stared at me uncomprehendingly. He was one of those men, so common in +public life, who have no power of understanding what they themselves +have not experienced. He continued with undiminished enthusiasm. + +"We must have marriage contracts for definite periods. With the +increased state of health, and the full span of life confronting every +man, we must face the problem squarely. Now what stands in our way?" + +He got up and went to the window. It was a dull foggy day, and there was +frost on the ground. He stared outside for some moments. + +"What, I repeat, stands in our way?" + +"Well?" + +"The Church, and a mass of superstitions that we have inherited from the +Old Testament. That's what stands in our way. We still attach more value +to the Old Testament than to the New. The Scotch, for example, like the +Jews.... Yes, of course.... What was I saying?" + +He left the window and sat down once more before me, moving rather +listlessly. + +"Yes, Harden. Of course. That's what it is, isn't it? Do you +remember--diddle--yes it was diddle, diddle----" + +He paused and frowned. + +"Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle," he muttered, "Yes--hey, +diddle, diddle, diddle--that's what it is, isn't it?" + +"Of course," I said. "It's all really that." + +"Just diddle, diddle, diddle?" + +"Yes--if you like." + +"That is substituting diddle for riddle," he said earnestly. He frowned +again and passed his hand across his eyes. + +"Yes," I said calmly. "It's going a step up." + +I suppose about half an hour passed before either of us spoke again +after this extraordinary termination to our conversation. In absolute +silence we sat facing one another and during that time I saw the blue +stain growing clearer and clearer in Jason's eyes. At last he rose. + +"It's very odd," he said. "Tell me, were you like this?" + +"How do you feel?" + +"As if I had been drunk and suddenly had been made sober. I will leave +you. I want to think. I will go down to the country." + +"And your papers?" + +"We must have a new Press," he said, and left the room. + + +That same day the great railway accident occurred just outside London +that led to the death of sixty people, many of them Immortals. Its +effect on public imagination was profound. All dangerous enterprises +became invested with a terrible radiance. Men asked themselves if, in +face of a future of health, it was worth risking life in rashness of any +description, and gradually traffic came to a standstill. Long before the +germ had infected the whole populace all activities fraught with danger +had ceased. The coal mines were abandoned. The railways were silent. The +streets of London became empty of traffic. + + +Blue-stained people began to throng the streets of London in vast +masses, moving to and fro without aim or purpose, perfectly orderly, +vacant, lost--like Sarakoff's butterflies.... + +Thornduck came to see me one day when the reign of the germ was +practically absolute in London. + +"They are wandering into the country in thousands," he remarked. "They +have lost all sense of home and possession. They are vague, trying to +form an ideal socialistic community. What a mess your germ is making of +life! They're not ready for it. The question is whether they will rouse +themselves to consider the food question." + +"We need scarcely any food," I replied. "I've had nothing to eat +to-day." + +"Nor I. But since we're still linked up to physical bodies we must +require some nourishment." + +"I have eaten two biscuits and a little cheese in the last twenty-four +hours. Surely you don't think that food is to be a serious problem under +such circumstances?" + +"It might be. You must remember that initiative is now destroyed in the +vast majority of people. They may permit themselves to die of inanition. +Can you say you have an appetite now?" + +I reflected for some time, striving to recall the feeling of hunger +that belonged to the days of desire. + +"No. I have no appetite." + +"Think carefully. In place of appetite have you no tendencies?" + +"I feel a kind of lethargy," I said at last. "I felt it yesterday and +to-day it is stronger." + +"As if you wished to sleep?" + +"Not exactly. But it is akin to that. I have some difficulty in keeping +my attention on things. There is a kind of pull within me away +from--away from reality." + +He nodded. + +"I went in to see your Russian friend. He's upstairs. He is not exactly +asleep. He is more like a man partially under the influence of a drug." + +"I will go and see him," I said. + +Sarakoff was lying on the bed with his eyes shut. He was breathing +quietly. His eyelids quivered, as if they might open at any moment, but +my entrance did not rouse him. His limbs were relaxed. I spoke to him +and tried to wake him, without result. Then I remembered how I had +stumbled across the body of Herbert Wain in the Park some days ago. He +had seemed to be in a strange kind of sleep. I sat down on the bed and +stared at the motionless figure of the Russian. There was something +strangely pathetic in his pose. His rough hair and black beard, his keen +aquiline face seemed weirdly out of keeping with his helpless state. +Here lay the man whose brain had once teemed with ambitious desires, +relaxed and limp like a baby, while the nails of his hands, turquoise +blue, bore silent witness to his great experiment on humanity. Had it +failed? Where was all that marvellous vision of physical happiness that +had haunted him? The streets of London were filled with people, no +longer working, no longer crying or weeping, but moving aimlessly, like +people in a dream. Were they happy? I moved to the window and drew down +the blind. + +"This may be the end," I thought. "The germ will be sweeping through +France now. It may be the end of all things." + +I rejoined Thornduck in the study. + +"Sarakoff is in a kind of trance," I observed. "What do you make of it?" + +"Isn't it natural?" he asked. "What kind of a man was he? What motives +did he work on? Just think what the killing of desire means. All those +things that depended on worldly ambition, self-gratification, physical +pleasure, conceit, lust, hatred, passion, egotism, selfishness, vanity, +avarice, sensuality and so on, are undermined and rendered paralysed by +the germ. What remains? Why, in most people, practically nothing +remains." + +"Even so," I said, "I don't see why Sarakoff should go into a trance." + +"He's gone into a trance simply because there's not enough left in him +to constitute an individuality. The germ has taken the inside clean out +of him. He's just an immortal shell now." + +"Then do you think----?" + +I stared at him wonderingly. + +"I think that the germ will send most of the world to sleep." + +He got up and walked to the window. The clear noonday light fell on his +thin sensitive face and accentuated the pallor of his skin. + +"All those who are bound on the wheel of desire will fall asleep," he +murmured. A smile flickered on his lips and he turned and looked at me. + +"Harden," he said, "it's really very funny. It's infinitely humorous, +isn't it?" + +"I see nothing humorous in anything," I replied. "I've lost all sense of +humour." + +He raised his eyebrows. + +"Of humour?" he queried. "Surely not. Humour is surely immortal." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE GREAT SLEEP + + +On that day the animals in London fell asleep with few exceptions. The +exceptions were, I believe, all dogs. I do not pretend to explain, how +it came about that dogs remained awake longer than other animals. The +reason may be that dogs have some quality in them which is superior even +to the qualities found in man, for there is a sweetness in the nature of +dogs that is rare in men and women. + +Many horses were overcome in the streets and lay down where they were. +No attempt was made to remove them. They were left, stretched out on +their sides, apparently unconscious. + +And many thousands of men and women fell asleep. In some cases men were +overcome by the sleep before their dogs, which has always seemed strange +to me. It was Thornduck who told me this, for he remained awake during +this period that the germ reigned supreme. He tells me that I fell +asleep the next evening in my chair in the study and that he carried me +upstairs to my room. I had just returned from visiting Leonora, whom I +had found unconscious. He made a tour of London next morning. In the +City there was a profound stillness. + +In the West End matters were much the same. In Cavendish Square he +entered many houses and found silence and sleep within. Everywhere doors +and windows were wide open, giving access to any who might desire it. He +visited the Houses of Parliament only to find a few comatose +blue-stained men lying about on the benches. For the sleep had overtaken +people by stealth. One day, passing by the Zoo, he had climbed the fence +and made an inspection of the inmates. With the exception of an elephant +that was nodding drowsily, the animals lay motionless in their cages, +deep in the trance that the germ induced. + +From time to time he met a man or woman awake like himself and stopped +to talk. Those who still retained sufficient individuality to continue +existence were the strangest mixture of folk, for they were of every +class, many of them being little better than beggars. They were people +in whom the desire of life played a minor part. They were those people +who are commonly regarded as being failures, people who live and die +unknown to the world. They were those people who devote themselves to an +obscure existence, shun the rewards of successful careers, and are +ridiculed by all prosperous individuals. It seems that Thornduck was +instrumental in calling a meeting of these people at St. Paul's. There +were about two thousand of them in all, but many in the outlying suburbs +remained ignorant of the meeting, and Thornduck considers that in the +London district alone there must have been some thousands who did not +attend. At the meeting, which must have been the strangest in all +history, the question of the future was discussed. Many believed that +the effect of the germ on those in the great sleep would ultimately lead +to a cessation of life owing to starvation. Thornduck held that the germ +would pass, arguing on principles that were so unscientific that I +refrain from giving them. Eventually it appears that a decision was +reached to leave London on a certain date and migrate southwards in +search of a region where a colony might be founded under laws and +customs suitable for Immortals. Thornduck says that there was one thing +that struck him very forcibly at the meeting at St. Paul's. All the +people gathered there had about them a certain sweetness and strength, +which, although it was very noticeable, escaped his powers of analysis. + +He attempted on several occasions to get into telegraphic communication +with the Continent, but failed. In his wanderings he entered many homes, +always being careful to lay out at full length any of the unconscious +inmates who were asleep on chairs, for he feared that they might come to +harm, and that their limbs might become stiffened into unnatural +postures. + +All the time he had a firm conviction that the phase of sleep was +temporary. He himself had moments in which a slight drowsiness overtook +him, but he never lost the enhanced power of thought that I had +experienced in the early stages of the Blue Disease. So absolute was +his conviction that a general awakening would come about that he began +to busy his mind with the question as to what he could do, in +conjunction with the other Immortals who were still awake, to benefit +humanity when it should emerge from the trance. This question was +discussed continually. Many thought that they should burn all records, +financial, political, governmental and private, so that some opportunity +of starting afresh might be given to mankind, enslaved to the past and +fettered by law and custom. But the danger of chaos resulting from such +a step deterred him. He confessed that the more he thought on the +subject the more clearly he saw that under the circumstances belonging +to its stage of evolution, the organization of the world was suited to +the race that inhabited it. All change, he saw, had to come from within, +and that to alter external conditions suddenly and artificially might do +incredible harm. We were constructed to develop against resistance, and +to remove such resistances before they had been overcome naturally was +to tamper with the inner laws of life. And so, after long discussion, +they did nothing.... + +It is curious to reflect that they, earnest men devoted to progress, +having at their mercy the machinery of existence, walked through the +midst of sleeping London and did nothing. But then none of them were +fanatics, for Thornduck stated that the fanatics fell early to sleep, +thus proving that the motives behind their fanaticism were egotistical, +and a source of satisfaction to themselves. He made a point of visiting +the homes of some of them. Philanthropists, too, succumbed early. + +On the seventh day after the great sleep had overtaken London the +effects of the germ began to wane. Those who had fallen asleep latest +were the earliest to open their eyes. The blue stain rapidly vanished +from eyes, skin and nails.... I regained my waking sense on the evening +of the seventh day and found myself in a small country cottage whither +Thornduck had borne me in a motor-car, fearing lest awakened London +might seek some revenge on the discoverers of the germ. Sarakoff lay on +a couch beside me, still fast asleep. + +The first clear idea that came to me concerned Alice Annot. I determined +to go to her at once. Then I remembered with vexation that I had +wantonly smashed two vases worth ten pounds apiece. + +I struggled to my feet. My hands were thin and wasted. I was ravenous +with hunger. I felt giddy. + +"What's the time?" I called confusedly. "It must be very late. Wake up!" + +And I stooped down and began to shake Sarakoff violently. + + +THE END + + + + +Printed in Great Britain by +Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, +BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. 1, +AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original text have been corrected for this electronic edition. + +In Chapter III, a missing period was added after "his pipe and tobacco +pouch". + +In Chapter IV, a missing quotation mark was added before "pyocyaneus, +indeed", and a comma was changed to a period after "Of course". + +In Chapter VI, a missing period was added after "'A very unsatisfying +view, surely?' he remarked". + +In Chapter VIII, "the municipal authorites" was changed to "the +municipal authorities", "this phenomen" was changed to "this +phenomenon", and "scanned the colums" was changed to "scanned the +columns". + +In Chapter XIII, a comma was changed to a period after "cold and dark", +and "protaplasm" was changed to "protoplasm". + +In Chapter XIV, a period was added after "something other than life +exists". + +In Chapter XV, "in the in the hall" was changed to "in the hall". + +In Chapter XVI, "Dr Harden" (in the sentence ending "in smooth and +pleasant tones") was changed to "Dr. Harden", and commas were changed to +periods following "The gift of immortality" and "if it were true". + +In Chapter XVIII, "millenium" was changed to "millennium". + +In Chapter XXIII, a missing period was added after "the millennium was +at hand". + +In Chapter XXVI, a missing period was added after "with conviction", +"flutted" was changed to "fluttered", and "I'ad my breakfast" was +changed to "I 'ad my breakfast". + +In Chapter XXIX, "undimished enthusiasm" was changed to "undiminished +enthusiasm".] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blue Germ, by Martin Swayne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLUE GERM *** + +***** This file should be named 26852.txt or 26852.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/8/5/26852/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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