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diff --git a/old/7ccol10.txt b/old/7ccol10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ebc01fe --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7ccol10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11056 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Caesar's Column, by Ignatius Donnelly +(#2 in our series by Ignatius Donnelly) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Caesar's Column + +Author: Ignatius Donnelly + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5155] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 17, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, CAESAR'S COLUMN *** + + + + +This eBook was created by Norm Wolcott. + + + + Caesar's Column by Ignatius Donnelly + +Redactor's note: In this one of his last books Donnelly presages +later futurist works such as "Brave New World" and "1984". The +original scans and OCR were provided by Mr. J.B. Hare; for further +information about Donnelly and this book see +http://www.sacred-texts.com/utopia/cc/index.htm. There is only one +footnote marked {fn1. ] + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + CAESAR'S COLUMN + + A Story of the Twentieth Century. + + BY IGNATIUS DONNELLY. + + writing as + + EDMUND BOISGILBERT, M.D. + + Chicago, F.J. Shulte & Co. + + [1890] + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + To the Public + + I THE GREAT CITY + + II. MY ADVENTURE + + III. THE BEGGAR'S HOME + + IV. THE UNDER-WORLD + + V. ESTELLA WASHINGTON + + VI. THE INTERVIEW + + VII. THE HIDING-PLACE + + VIII. THE BROTHERHOOD + + IX. THE POISONED KNIFE + + X. PREPARATIONS FOR TO-NIGHT + + XI. HOW THE WORLD CAME TO BE RUINED + + XII. GABRIEL'S UTOPIA + + XIII. THE COUNCIL OF THE OLIGARCHY + + XIV. THE SPY'S STORY + + XV. THE MASTER OF "THE DEMONS" + + XVI. GABRIEL'S FOLLY + + XVII. THE FLIGHT AND PURSUIT + + XVIII. THE EXECUTION + + XIX. THE MAMELUKES OF THE AIR + + XX. THE WORKINGMEN'S MEETING + + XXI. A SERMON OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY + + XXII. ESTELLA AND I + + XXIII. MAX'S STORY-THE SONGSTRESS + + XXIV. MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE JOURNEYMAN PRINTER + + XXV. MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE DARK SHADOW + + XXVI. MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE WIDOW AND HER SON + + XXVII. MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE BLACKSMITH SHOP + + XXVIII. MAX'S STORY CONCLUDED--THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS + + XXIX. ELYSIUM + + XXX. UPON THE HOUSE-TOP + + XXXI. "SHEOL" + + XXXII. THE RAT-TRAP + + XXXIII. "THE OCEAN OVERPEERS ITS LIST" + + XXXIV. THE PRINCE GIVES HIS LAST BRIBE + + XXXV. THE LIBERATED PRISONER + + XXXVI. CAESAR ERECTS HIS MONUMENT + + XXXVII. THE SECOND DAY + + XXXVIII. THE FLIGHT + + XXXIX. EUROPE + + XL. THE GARDEN IN THE MOUNTAINS + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + +_"The true poet is only a masked father-confessor, whose special +function it is to exhibit what is dangerous in sentiment and +pernicious in action, by a vivid picture of the +consequences."--Goethe._ + + To the Public + +It is to you, O thoughtful and considerate public, that I dedicate +this book. May it, under the providence of God, do good to this +generation and posterity! + +I earnestly hope my meaning, in the writing thereof, may not be +misapprehended. + +It must not be thought, because I am constrained to describe the +overthrow of civilization, that I desire it. The prophet is not +responsible for the event he foretells. He may contemplate it with +profoundest sorrow. Christ wept over the doom of Jerusalem. + +Neither am I an anarchist: for I paint a dreadful picture of the +world-wreck which successful anarchism would produce. + +I seek to preach into the ears of the able and rich and powerful the +great truth that neglect of the sufferings of their fellows, +indifference to the great bond of brotherhood which lies at the base +of Christianity, and blind, brutal and degrading worship of mere +wealth, must--given time and pressure enough--eventuate in the +overthrow of society and the destruction of civilization. + +I come to the churches with my heart filled with the profoundest +respect for the essentials of religion; I seek to show them why they +have lost their hold upon the poor,--upon that vast multitude, the +best-beloved of God's kingdom,--and I point out to them how they may +regain it. I tell them that if Religion is to reassume her ancient +station, as crowned mistress of the souls of men, she must stand, in +shining armor bright, with the serpent beneath her feet, the champion +and defender of mankind against all its oppressors. + +The world, to-day, clamors for deeds, not creeds; for bread, not +dogma; for charity, not ceremony; for love, not intellect. + +Some will say the events herein described are absurdly impossible. + +Who is it that is satisfied with the present unhappy condition of +society? It is conceded that life is a dark and wretched failure for +the great mass of mankind. The many are plundered to enrich the few. +Vast combinations depress the price of labor and increase the cost of +the necessaries of existence. The rich, as a rule, despise the poor; +and the poor are coming to hate the rich. The face of labor grows +sullen; the old tender Christian love is gone; standing armies are +formed on one side, and great communistic organizations on the other; +society divides itself into two hostile camps; no white flags pass +from the one to the other. They wait only for the drum-beat and the +trumpet to summon them to armed conflict. + +These conditions have come about in less than a century; most of them +in a quarter of a century. Multiply them by the years of another +century, and who shall say that the events I depict are impossible? +There is an acceleration of movement in human affairs even as there +is in the operations of gravity. The dead missile out of space at +last blazes, and the very air takes fire. The masses grow more +intelligent as they grow more wretched; and more capable of +cooperation as they become more desperate. The labor organizations of +to-day would have been impossible fifty years ago. And what is to +arrest the flow of effect from cause? What is to prevent the coming +of the night if the earth continues to revolve on its axis? The fool +may cry out: "There shall be no night!" But the feet of the hours +march unrelentingly toward the darkness. + +Some may think that, even if all this be true, "Caesar's Column" +should not have been published. Will it arrest the moving evil to +ignore its presence? What would be thought of the surgeon who, seeing +upon his patient's lip the first nodule of the cancer, tells him +there is no danger, and laughs him into security while the roots of +the monster eat their way toward the great arteries? If my message be +true it should be spoken; and the world should hear it. The cancer +should be cut out while there is yet time. Any other course + +"Will but skin and film the ulcerous place, While rank corruption, +mining all beneath, infects unseen." + +Believing, as I do, that I read the future aright, it would be +criminal in me to remain silent. I plead for higher and nobler +thoughts in the souls of men; for wider love and ampler charity in +their hearts; for a renewal of the bond of brotherhood between the +classes; for a reign of justice on earth that shall obliterate the +cruel hates and passions which now divide the world. + +If God notices anything so insignificant as this poor book, I pray +that he may use it as an instrumentality of good for mankind; for he +knows I love his human creatures, and would help them if I had the +power. + + CHAPTER I + + THE GREAT CITY + +[This book is a series of letters, from Gabriel Weltstein, in New +York, to his brother, Heinrich Weltstein, in the State of Uganda, +Africa.] + +NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 1988 + +My Dear Brother: + +Here I am, at last, in the great city. My eyes are weary with gazing, +and my mouth speechless with admiration; but in my brain rings +perpetually the thought: Wonderful!--wonderful!--most wonderful! + +What an infinite thing is man, as revealed in the tremendous +civilization he has built up! These swarming, laborious, all-capable +ants seem great enough to attack heaven itself, if they could but +find a resting-place for their ladders. Who can fix a limit to the +intelligence or the achievements of our species? + +But our admiration may be here, and our hearts elsewhere. And so from +all this glory and splendor I turn back to the old homestead, amid +the high mountain valleys of Africa; to the primitive, simple +shepherd-life; to my beloved mother, to you and to all our dear ones. +This gorgeous, gilded room fades away, and I see the leaning hills, +the trickling streams, the deep gorges where our woolly thousands +graze; and I hear once more the echoing Swiss horns of our herdsmen +reverberating from the snow-tipped mountains. But my dream is gone. +The roar of the mighty city rises around me like the bellow of many +cataracts. + +New York contains now ten million inhabitants; it is the largest city +that is, or ever has been, in the world. It is difficult to say where +it begins or ends: for the villas extend, in almost unbroken +succession, clear to Philadelphia; while east, west and north noble +habitations spread out mile after mile, far beyond the municipal +limits. + +But the wonderful city! Let me tell you of it. + +As we approached it in our air-ship, coming from the east, we could +see, a hundred miles before we reached the continent, the radiance of +its millions of magnetic lights, reflected on the sky, like the glare +of a great conflagration. These lights are not fed, as in the old +time, from electric dynamos, but the magnetism of the planet itself +is harnessed for the use of man. That marvelous earth-force which the +Indians called "the dance of the spirits," and civilized man +designated "the aurora borealis," is now used to illuminate this +great metropolis, with a clear, soft, white light, like that of the +full moon, but many times brighter. And the force is so cunningly +conserved that it is returned to the earth, without any loss of +magnetic power to the planet. Man has simply made a temporary loan +from nature for which he pays no interest. + +Night and day are all one, for the magnetic light increases +automatically as the day-light wanes; and the business parts of the +city swarm as much at midnight as at high noon. In the old times, I +am told, part of the streets was reserved for foot-paths for men and +women, while the middle was given up to horses and wheeled vehicles; +and one could not pass from side to side without danger of being +trampled to death by the horses. But as the city grew it was found +that the pavements would not hold the mighty, surging multitudes; +they were crowded into the streets, and many accidents occurred. The +authorities were at length compelled to exclude all horses from the +streets, in the business parts of the city, and raise the central +parts to a level with the sidewalks, and give them up to the +exclusive use of the pedestrians, erecting stone pillars here and +there to divide the multitude moving in one direction from those +flowing in another. These streets are covered with roofs of glass, +which exclude the rain and snow, but not the air. And then the wonder +and glory of the shops! They surpass all description. Below all the +business streets are subterranean streets, where vast trains are +drawn, by smokeless and noiseless electric motors, some carrying +passengers, others freight. At every street corner there are electric +elevators, by which passengers can ascend or descend to the trains. +And high above the house-tops, built on steel pillars, there are +other railroads, not like the unsightly elevated trains we saw +pictures of in our school books, but crossing diagonally over the +city, at a great height, so as to best economize time and distance. + +The whole territory between Broadway and the Bowery and Broome Street +and Houston Street is occupied by the depot grounds of the great +inter-continental air-lines; and it is an astonishing sight to see +the ships ascending and descending, like monstrous birds, black with +swarming masses of passengers, to or from England, Europe, South +America, the Pacific Coast, Australia, China, India and Japan. + +These air-lines are of two kinds: the anchored and the independent. +The former are hung, by revolving wheels, upon great wires suspended +in the air; the wires held in place by metallic balloons, +fish-shaped, made of aluminium, and constructed to turn with the wind +so as to present always the least surface to the air-currents. These +balloons, where the lines cross the oceans, are secured to huge +floating islands of timber, which are in turn anchored to the bottom +of the sea by four immense metallic cables, extending north, south, +east and west, and powerful enough to resist any storms. These +artificial islands contain dwellings, in which men reside, who keep +up the supply of gas necessary for the balloons. The independent +air-lines are huge cigar-shaped balloons, unattached to the earth, +moving by electric power, with such tremendous speed and force as to +be as little affected by the winds as a cannon ball. In fact, unless +the wind is directly ahead the sails of the craft are so set as to +take advantage of it like the sails of a ship; and the balloon rises +or falls, as the birds do, by the angle at which it is placed to the +wind, the stream of air forcing it up, or pressing it down, as the +case may be. And just as the old-fashioned steam-ships were provided +with boats, in which the passengers were expected to take refuge, if +the ship was about to sink, so the upper decks of these air-vessels +are supplied with parachutes, from which are suspended boats; and in +case of accident two sailors and ten passengers are assigned to each +parachute; and long practice has taught the bold craftsmen to descend +gently and alight in the sea, even in stormy weather, with as much +adroitness as a sea-gull. In fact, a whole population of air-sailors +has grown up to manage these ships, never dreamed of by our +ancestors. The speed of these aerial vessels is, as you know, very +great--thirty-six hours suffices to pass from New York to London, in +ordinary weather. The loss of life has been less than on the +old-fashioned steamships; for, as those which go east move at a +greater elevation than those going west, there is no danger of +collisions; and they usually fly above the fogs which add so much to +the dangers of sea-travel. In case of hurricanes they rise at once to +the higher levels, above the storm; and, with our increased +scientific knowledge, the coming of a cyclone is known for many days +in advance; and even the stratum of air in which it will move can be +foretold. + +I could spend hours, my dear brother, telling you of the splendor of +this hotel, called _The Darwin_, in honor of the great English +philosopher of the last century. It occupies an entire block from +Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue, and from Forty-sixth Street to +Forty-seventh. The whole structure consists of an infinite series of +cunning adjustments, for the delight and gratification of the human +creature. One object seems to be to relieve the guests from all +necessity for muscular exertion. The ancient elevator, or "lift," as +they called it in England, has expanded until now whole rooms, filled +with ladies and gentlemen, are bodily carried up from the first story +to the roof; a professional musician playing the while on the +piano--not the old-fashioned thing our grandmothers used, but a huge +instrument capable of giving forth all sounds of harmony from the +trill of a nightingale to the thunders of an orchestra. And when you +reach the roof of the hotel you find yourself in a glass-covered +tropical forest, filled with the perfume of many flowers, and bright +with the scintillating plumage of darting birds; all sounds of +sweetness fill the air, and many glorious, star-eyed maidens, guests +of the hotel, wander half seen amid the foliage, like the houris in +the Mohammedan's heaven. + +But as I found myself growing hungry I descended to the dining-room. +It is three hundred feet long: a vast multitude were there eating in +perfect silence. It is considered bad form to interrupt digestion +with speech, as such a practice tends to draw the vital powers, it is +said, away from the stomach to the head. Our forefathers were +expected to shine in conversation, and be wise and witty while +gulping their food between brilliant passages. I sat down at a table +to which I was marshaled by a grave and reverend seignior in an +imposing uniform. As I took my seat my weight set some machinery in +motion. A few feet in front of me suddenly rose out of the table a +large upright mirror, or such I took it to be; but instantly there +appeared on its surface a grand bill of fare, each article being +numbered. The whole world had been ransacked to produce the viands +named in it; neither the frozen recesses of the north nor the +sweltering regions of the south had been spared: every form of food, +animal and vegetable, bird, beast, reptile, fish; the foot of an +elephant, the hump of a buffalo, the edible bird-nests of China; +snails, spiders, shell-fish, the strange and luscious creatures +lately found in the extreme depths of the ocean and fished for with +dynamite; in fact, every form of food pleasant to the palate of man +was there. For, as you know, there are men who make fortunes now by +preserving and breeding the game animals, like the deer, the moose, +the elk, the buffalo, the antelope, the mountain sheep and goat, and +many others, which but for their care would long since have become +extinct. They select barren regions in mild climates, not fit for +agriculture, and enclosing large tracts with wire fences, they raise +great quantities of these valuable game animals, which they sell to +the wealthy gourmands of the great cities, at very high prices. + +I was perplexed, and, turning to the great man who stood near me, I +began to name a few of the articles I wanted. He smiled complacently +at my country ignorance, and called my attention to the fact that the +table immediately before me contained hundreds of little knobs or +buttons, each one numbered; and he told me that these were connected +by electric wires with the kitchen of the hotel, and if I would +observe the numbers attached to any articles in the bill of fare +which I desired, and would touch the corresponding numbers of the +knobs before me, my dinner would be ordered on a similar mirror in +the kitchen, and speedily served. I did as he directed. In a little +while an electric bell near me rang; the bill of fare disappeared +from the mirror; there was a slight clicking sound; the table parted +in front of me, the electric knobs moving aside; and up through the +opening rose my dinner carefully arranged, as upon a table, which +exactly filled the gap caused by the recession of that part of the +original table which contained the electric buttons. I need not say I +was astonished. I commenced to eat, and immediately the same bell, +which had announced the disappearance of the bill of fare, rang +again. I looked up, and the mirror now contained the name of every +state in the Republic, from Hudson's Bay to the Isthmus of Darien; +and the names of all the nations of the world; each name being +numbered. My attendant, perceiving my perplexity, called my attention +to the fact that the sides of the table which had brought up my +dinner contained another set of electric buttons, corresponding with +the numbers on the mirror; and he explained to me that if I would +select any state or country and touch the corresponding button the +news of the day, from that state or country, would appear in the +mirror. He called my attention to, the fact that every guest in the +room had in front of him a similar mirror, and many of them were +reading the news of the day as they ate. I touched the knob +corresponding with the name of the new state of Uganda, in Africa, +and immediately there appeared in the mirror all the doings of the +people of that state--its crimes, its accidents, its business, the +output of its mines, the markets, the sayings and doings of its +prominent men; in fact, the whole life of the community was unrolled +before me like a panorama. I then touched the button for another +African state, Nyanza; and at once I began to read of new lines of +railroad; new steam-ship fleets upon the great lake; of large +colonies of white men, settling new States, upon the higher lands of +the interior; of their colleges, books, newspapers; and particularly +of a dissertation upon the genius of Chaucer, written by a Zulu +professor, which had created considerable interest among the learned +societies of the Transvaal. I touched the button for China and read +the important news that the Republican Congress of that great and +highly civilized nation had decreed that English, the universal +language of the rest of the globe, should be hereafter used in the +courts of justice and taught in all the schools. Then came the news +that a Manchurian professor, an iconoclast, had written a learned +work, in English, to prove that George Washington's genius and moral +greatness had been much over-rated by the partiality of his +countrymen. He was answered by a learned doctor of Japan who argued +that the greatness of all great men consisted simply in opportunity, +and that for every illustrious name that shone in the pages of +history, associated with important events, a hundred abler men had +lived and died unknown. The battle was raging hotly, and all China +and Japan were dividing into contending factions upon this great +issue. + +Our poor ignorant ancestors of a hundred years ago drank alcohol in +various forms, in quantities which the system could not consume or +assimilate, and it destroyed their organs and shortened their lives. +Great agitations arose until the manufacture and sale of alcoholic +beverages was prohibited over nearly all the world. At length the +scientists observed that the craving was based on a natural want of +the system; that alcohol was found in small quantities in nearly +every article of food; and that the true course was to so increase +the amount of alcohol in the food, without gratifying the palate, as +to meet the real necessities of the system, and prevent a decrease of +the vital powers. + +It is laughable to read of those days when men were drugged with +pills, boluses and powders. Now our physic is in our food; and the +doctor prescribes a series of articles to be eaten or avoided, as the +case may be. One can see at once by consulting his "vital-watch," +which shows every change in the magnetic and electric forces of the +body, just how his physical strength wanes or increases; and he can +modify his diet accordingly; he can select, for instance, a dish +highly charged with quinine or iron, and yet perfectly palatable; +hence, among the wealthier classes, a man of one hundred is as common +now-a-days as a man of seventy was a century ago; and many go far +beyond that point, in full possession of all their faculties. + +I glanced around the great dining-room and inspected my neighbors. +They all carried the appearance of wealth; they were quiet, decorous +and courteous. But I could not help noticing that the women, young +and old, were much alike in some particulars, as if some general +causes had molded them into the same form. Their brows were all +fine--broad, square, and deep from the ear forward; and their jaws +also were firmly developed, square like a soldier's; while the +profiles were classic in their regularity, and marked by great +firmness. The most peculiar feature was their eyes. They had none of +that soft, gentle, benevolent look which so adorns the expression of +my dear mother and other good women whom we know. On the contrary, +their looks were bold, penetrating, immodest, if I may so express it, +almost to fierceness: they challenged you; they invited you; they +held intercourse with your soul. + +The chief features in the expression of the men were incredulity, +unbelief, cunning, observation, heartlessness. I did not see a good +face in the whole room: powerful faces there were, I grant you; high +noses, resolute mouths, fine brows; all the marks of shrewdness and +energy; a forcible and capable race; but that was all. I did not see +one, my dear brother of whom I could say, "That man would sacrifice +himself for another; that man loves his fellow man." + +I could not but think how universal and irresistible must have been +the influences of the age that could mold all these Men and women +into the same soulless likeness. I pitied them. I pitied mankind, +caught in the grip of such wide-spreading tendencies. I said to +myself: "Where is it all to end? What are we to expect of a race +without heart or honor? What may we look for when the powers of the +highest civilization supplement the instincts of tigers and wolves? +Can the brain of man flourish when the heart is dead?" + +I rose and left the room. + +I had observed that the air of the hotel was sweeter, purer and +cooler than that of the streets outside. I asked one of the +attendants for an explanation. He took me out to where we could +command a view of the whole building, and showed me that a great +canvas pipe rose high above the hotel, and, tracing it upwards, far +as the eye could reach, he pointed out a balloon, anchored by cables, +so high up as to be dwarfed to a mere speck against the face of the +blue sky. He told me that the great pipe was double; that through one +division rose the hot, exhausted air of the hotel, and that the +powerful draft so created operated machinery which pumped down the +pure, sweet air from a higher region, several miles above the earth; +and, the current once established, the weight of the colder +atmosphere kept up the movement, and the air was then distributed by +pipes to every part of the hotel. He told me also that the hospitals +of the city were supplied in the same manner; and the result had +been, be said, to diminish the mortality of the sick one-half; for +the air so brought to them was perfectly free from bacteria and full +of all life-giving properties. A company had been organized to supply +the houses of the rich with his cold, pure air for so much a thousand +feet, as long ago illuminating gas was furnished. + +I could not help but think that there was need that some man should +open connection with the upper regions of God's charity, and bring +down the pure beneficent spirit of brotherly love to this afflicted +earth, that it might spread through all the tainted hospitals of +corruption for the healing of the hearts and souls of the people. + +This attendant, a sort of upper-servant, I suppose, was quite +courteous and polite, and, seeing that I was a stranger, he proceeded +to tell me that the whole city was warmed with hot water, drawn from +the profound depths of the earth, and distributed as drinking water +was distributed a century ago, in pipes, to all the houses, for a +fixed and very reasonable charge. This heat-supply is so uniform and +so cheap that it has quite driven out all the old forms of +fuel--wood, coal, natural gas, etc. + +And then he told me something which shocked me greatly. You know that +according to our old-fashioned ideas it is unjustifiable for any +person to take his own life, and thus rush into the presence of his +Maker before he is called. We are of the opinion of Hamlet that God +has "fixed his canon 'gainst self-slaughter." Would you believe it, +my dear brother, in this city they actually facilitate suicide! A +race of philosophers has arisen in the last fifty years who argue +that, as man was not consulted about his coming into the world, he +has a perfect right to leave it whenever it becomes uncomfortable. +These strange arguments were supplemented by the economists, always a +powerful body in this utilitarian land, and they urged that, as men +could not be prevented from destroying themselves, if they had made +up their minds to do so, they might just as well shuffle off the +mortal coil in the way that would give least trouble to their +surviving fellow-citizens. That, as it was, they polluted the rivers, +and even the reservoirs of drinking-water, with their dead bodies, +and put the city to great expense and trouble to recover and identify +them. Then came the humanitarians, who said that many persons, intent +on suicide, but knowing nothing of the best means of effecting their +object, tore themselves to pieces with cruel pistol shots or knife +wounds, or took corrosive poisons, which subjected them to agonizing +tortures for hours before death came to their relief; and they argued +that if a man had determined to leave the world it was a matter of +humanity to help him out of it by the pleasantest means possible. +These views at length prevailed, and now in all the public squares or +parks they have erected hand some houses, beautifully furnished, with +baths and bedrooms. If a man has decided to die, he goes there. He is +first photographed; then his name, if he sees fit to give it, is +recorded, with his residence; and his directions are taken as to the +disposition of his body. There are tables at which he can write his +farewell letters to his friends. A doctor explains to him the nature +and effect of the different poisons, and he selects the kind he +prefers. He is expected to bring with him the clothes in which he +intends to be cremated. He swallows a little pill, lies down upon a +bed, or, if he prefers it, in his coffin; pleasant music is played +for him; he goes to sleep, and wakes up on the other side of the +great line. Every day hundreds of people, men and women, perish in +this way; and they are borne off to the great furnaces for the dead, +and consumed. The authorities assert that it is a marked improvement +over the old-fashioned methods; but to my mind it is a shocking +combination of impiety and mock-philanthropy. The truth is, that, in +this vast, over-crowded city, man is a drug,--a superfluity,--and I +think many men and women end their lives out of an overwhelming sense +of their own insignificance;--in other words, from a mere weariness +of feeling that they are nothing, they become nothing. + +I must bring this letter to an end, but before retiring I shall make +a visit to the grand parlors of the hotel. You suppose I will walk +there. Not at all, my dear brother. I shall sit down in a chair; +there is an electric magazine in the seat of it. I touch a spring, +and away it goes. I guide it with my feet. I drive into one of the +great elevators. I descend to the drawing-room floor. I touch the +spring again, and in a few moments I am moving around the grand +salon, steering myself clear of hundreds of similar chairs, occupied +by fine-looking men or the beautiful, keen-eyed, unsympathetic women +I have described. The race has grown in power and loveliness--I fear +it has lost in lovableness. + +Good-by. With love to all, I remain your affectionate brotherly + +Gabriel Weltstein. + + CHAPTER II. + + MY ADVENTURE + +My Dear Heinrich: + +I little supposed when I wrote you yesterday that twenty four hours +could so completely change my circumstances. Then I was a dweller in +the palatial Darwin Hotel, luxuriating in all its magnificence. Now I +am hiding in a strange house and trembling for my liberty;--but I +will tell you all. + +Yesterday morning, after I had disposed by sample of our wool, and +had called upon the assayer of ores, but without finding him, to show +him the specimens of our mineral discoveries, I returned to the +hotel, and there, after obtaining directions from one of the clerks +at the "Bureau of Information," I took the elevated train to the +great Central Park. + +I shall not pause to describe at length the splendors of this +wonderful place; the wild beasts roaming about among the trees, +apparently at dangerous liberty, but really inclosed by fine steel +wire fences, almost invisible to the eye; the great lakes full of the +different water fowl of the world; the air thick with birds +distinguished for the sweetness of their song or the brightness of +their plumage; the century-old trees, of great size and artistically +grouped; beautiful children playing upon the greensward, accompanied +by nurses and male servants; the whole scene constituting a holiday +picture. Between the trees everywhere I saw the white and gleaming +statues of the many hundreds of great men and women who have adorned +the history of this country during the last two hundred years--poets, +painters, musicians, soldiers, philanthropists, statesmen. + +After feasting my eyes for some time upon this charming picture of +rural beauty, I left the Park. Soon after I had passed through the +outer gate,-guarded by sentinels to exclude the ragged and wretched +multitude, but who at the same time gave courteous admission to +streams of splendid carriages,--I was startled by loud cries of "Look +out there!" I turned and saw a sight which made my blood run cold. A +gray-haired, hump-backed beggar, clothed in rags, was crossing the +street in front of a pair of handsome horses, attached to a +magnificent open carriage. The burly, ill-looking flunkey who, clad +in gorgeous livery, was holding the lines, had uttered the cry of +warning, but at the same time had made no effort to check the rapid +speed of his powerful horses. In an instant the beggar was down under +the hoofs of the steeds. The flunkey laughed! I was but a few feet +distant on the side-walk, and, quick as thought, I had the horses by +their heads and pushed them back upon their haunches. At this moment +the beggar, who had been under the feet of the horses, crawled out +close to the front wheels of the carriage; and the driver, indignant +that anything so contemptible should arrest the progress of his +magnificent equipage, struck him a savage blow with his whip, as he +was struggling to his feet. I saw the whip wind around his neck; and, +letting go the horses' heads, who were now brought to a stand-still, +I sprang forward, and as the whip descended for a second blow I +caught it, dragged it from the hand of the miscreant, and with all my +power laid it over him. Each blow where it touched his flesh brought +the blood, and two long red gashes appeared instantaneously upon his +face. He dropped his lines and shrieked in terror, holding his hands +up to protect his face. Fortunately a crowd had assembled, and some +poorly dressed men had seized the horses' heads, or there would have +been a run-away. As I raised my hand to lash the brute again, a +feminine shriek reached my ears, and I became aware that there were +ladies in the open barouche. My sense of politeness overcame in an +instant my rage, and I stepped back, and, taking off my hat, began to +apologize and explain the cause of the difficulty. As I did so I +observed that the occupants of the carriage were two young ladies, +both strikingly handsome, but otherwise very unlike in appearance. +The one nearest me, who had uttered the shrieks, was about twenty +years of age, I should think, with aquiline features, and black eyes +and hair; every detail of the face was perfect, but there was a bold, +commonplace look out of the bright eyes. Her companion instantly +arrested all my attention. It seemed to me I had never beheld a more +beautiful. and striking countenance. She was younger, by two or three +years, than her companion; her complexion was fairer; her long golden +hair fell nearly to her waist, enfolding her like a magnificent, +shining garment; her eyes were blue and large and set far apart; and +there was in them, and in the whole contour of the face, a look of +honesty and dignity, and calm intelligence, rarely witnessed in the +countenance of woman. She did not appear to be at all alarmed; and +when I told my story of the driver lashing the aged beggar, her face +lighted up, and she said, with a look that thrilled me, and in a soft +and gentle voice: "We are much obliged to you, sir; you did perfectly +right." + +I was about to reply, when I felt some one tugging fiercely at my +coat, and turning around, I was surprised to find that the beggar was +drawing me away from the carriage by main force. I was astonished +also at the change in his appearance. The aspect of decrepitude had +disappeared, a green patch that I had noticed covering one of his +eyes had fallen off, and his black eyes shone with a look of command +and power that was in marked contrast with his gray hair, his crooked +back, and his rags. + +"Come," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "come quickly, or you will be +arrested and cast into prison." + +"What for?" I asked. + +"I will tell you hereafter--look!" + +I looked around me and saw that a great crowd had collected as if by +magic, for this city of ten millions of people so swarms with +inhabitants that the slightest excitement will assemble a multitude +in a few minutes. I noticed, too, in the midst of the mob, a +uniformed policeman. The driver saw him also, and, recovering his +courage, cried out, "Arrest him--arrest him." The policeman seized me +by the collar. I observed that at that instant the beggar whispered +something in his ear: the officer's hand released its hold upon my +coat. The next moment the beggar cried out, "Back! Back! Look out! +Dynamite!" The crowd crushed back on each other in great confusion; +and I felt the beggar dragging me off, repeating his cry of +warning--"Dynamite! Dynamite!"--at every step, until the mob +scattered in wild confusion, and I found myself breathless in a small +alley. "Come, come," cried my companion, "there is no time to lose. +Hurry, hurry!" We rushed along, for the manner of the beggar inspired +me with a terror I could not explain, until, after passing through +several back streets and small alleys, with which the beggar seemed +perfectly familiar, we emerged on a large street and soon took a +corner elevator up to one of the railroads in the air which I have +described. After traveling for two or three miles we exchanged to +another train, and from that to still another, threading our way +backward and forward over the top of the great city. At length, as if +the beggar thought we had gone far enough to baffle pursuit, we +descended upon a bustling business street, and paused at a corner; +and the beggar appeared to be looking out for a hack. He permitted a +dozen to pass us, however, carefully inspecting the driver of each. +At last he hailed one, and we took our seats. He gave some whispered +directions to the driver, and we dashed off. + +"Throw that out of the window," he said. + +I followed the direction of his eyes and saw that I still held in my +hand the gold-mounted whip which I had snatched from the hand of the +driver. In my excitement I had altogether forgotten its existence, +but had instinctively held on to it. + +"I will send it back to the owner," I said. + +"No, no; throw it away: that is enough to convict you of highway +robbery." + +I started, and exclaimed: + +"Nonsense; highway robbery to whip a blackguard?" + +"Yes. You stop the carriage of an aristocrat; you drag a valuable +whip out of the hand of his coachman; and you carry it off. If that +is not highway robbery, what is it? Throw it away." + +His manner was imperative. I dropped the whip out of the window and +fell into a brown study. I occasionally stole a glance at my strange +companion, who, with the dress of extreme poverty, and the gray hair +of old age, had such a manner of authority and such an air of +promptitude and decision. + +After about a half-hour's ride we stopped at the corner of two +streets in front of a plain but respectable-looking house. It seemed +to be in the older part of the town. My companion paid the driver and +dismissed him, and, opening the door, we entered. + +I need not say that I began to think this man was something more than +a beggar. But why this disguise? And who was he? + + CHAPTER III. + + THE BEGGAR'S HOME + +The house we entered was furnished with a degree of splendor of which +the external appearance gave no prophecy. We passed up the stairs and +into a handsome room, hung around with pictures, and adorned with +book-cases. The beggar left me. + +I sat for some time looking at my surroundings, and wondering over +the strange course of events which had brought me there, and still +more at the actions of my mysterious companion. I felt assured now +that his rags were simply a disguise, for he entered the house with +all the air of a master; his language was well chosen and correctly +spoken, and possessed those subtle tones and intonations which mark +an educated mind. I was thinking over these matters when the door +opened and a handsome young gentleman, arrayed in the height of the +fashion, entered the room. I rose to my feet and began to apologize +for my intrusion and to explain that I had been brought there by a +beggar to whom I had rendered some trifling service in the street. +The young gentleman listened, with a smiling face, and then, +extending his hand, said: + +"I am the beggar; and I do now what only the hurry and excitement +prevented me from doing before--I thank you for the life you have +saved. If you had not come to my rescue I should probably have been +trampled to death under the feet of those vicious horses, or sadly +beaten at least by that brutal driver." + +The expression of my face doubtless showed my extreme astonishment, +for he proceeded: + +"I see you are surprised; but there are many strange things in this +great city. I was disguised for a particular purpose, which I cannot +explain to you. But may I not request the name of the gentleman to +whom I am under so many obligations? Of course, if you have any +reasons for concealing it, consider the question as not asked." + +"No," I replied, Smiling, "I have no concealments. My name is Gabriel +Weltstein; I live in the new state of Uganda, in the African +confederation, in the mountains of Africa, near the town of Stanley; +and I am engaged in sheep-raising, in the mountains. I belong to a +colony of Swiss, from the canton of Uri, who, led by my grandfather, +settled there. seventy years ago. I came to this city yesterday to +see if I could not sell my wool directly to the manufacturers, and +thus avoid the extortions of the great Wool Ring, which has not only +our country but the whole world in its grasp; but I find the +manufacturers are tied hand and foot, and afraid of that powerful +combination; they do not dare to deal with me; and thus I shall have +to dispose of my product at the old price. It is a shameful state of +affairs in a country which calls itself free." + +"Pardon me for a moment," said the young gentleman, and left the +room. On his return I resumed: + +"But now that I have told you who I am, will you be good enough to +tell me something about yourself?" + +"Certainly," he replied, "and with pleasure. I am a native of this +city; my name is Maximilian Petion; by profession I am an attorney; I +live in this house with my mother, to whom I shall soon have the +pleasure of introducing you." + +"Thank you," I replied, still studying the face of my new +acquaintance. His complexion was dark, the eyes and hair almost +black; the former very bright and penetrating; his brow was high, +broad and square; his nose was prominent, and there was about the +mouth an expression of firmness, not unmixed with kindness. +Altogether it was a face to inspire respect and confidence. But I +made up my mind not to trust too much to appearances. I could not +forget the transformation which I had witnessed, from the rags of the +ancient beggar to this well-dressed young gentleman. I knew that the +criminal class were much given to such disguises. I thought it better +therefore to ask some questions that might throw light upon the +subject. + +"May I inquire," I said, "what were your reasons for hurrying me away +so swiftly and mysteriously from the gate of the Park?" + +"Because," he replied, "you were in great danger, and you had +rendered me a most important service. I could not leave you there to +be arrested, and punished with a long period of imprisonment, +because, following the impulse of your heart, you had saved my life +and scourged the wretch who would have driven his horses over me." + +"But why should I be punished with a long term of imprisonment? In my +own country the act I performed would have received the applause of +every one. Why did you not tell me to throw away that whip on the +instant, so as to avoid the appearance of stealing it, and then +remain to testify in my behalf if I had been arrested?" + +"Then you do not know," he replied, "whose driver it was you +horsewhipped?" + +"No," I said; "how should I? I arrived here but yesterday." + +"That was the carriage of Prince Cabano, the wealthiest and most +vindictive man in the city. If you had been taken you would have been +consigned to imprisonment for probably many years." + +"Many years," I replied; "imprisoned for beating an insolent driver! +Impossible. No jury would convict me of such an offense." + +"Jury!" he said, with a bitter smile; "it is plain to see you are a +stranger and come from a newly settled part of the world, and know +nothing of our modern civilization. The jury would do whatever Prince +Cabano desired them to do. Our courts, judges and juries are the +merest tools of the rich. The image of justice has slipped the +bandage from one eye, and now uses her scales to weigh the bribes she +receives. An ordinary citizen has no more prospect of fair treatment +in our courts, contending with a millionaire, than a new-born infant +would have of life in the den of a wolf." + +"But," I replied, rather hotly, "I should appeal for justice to the +public through the newspapers." + +"The newspapers!" he said, and his face darkened as he spoke; "the +newspapers are simply the hired mouthpieces of power; the devil's +advocates of modern civilization; their influence is always at the +service of the highest bidder; it is their duty to suppress or +pervert the truth, and they do it thoroughly. They are paid to +mislead the people under the guise of defending them. A century ago +this thing began, and it has gone on, growing worse and worse, until +now the people laugh at the opinions of the press, and doubt the +truth even of its reports of occurrences." + +"Can this be possible?" I said. + +"Let me demonstrate it to you," he replied, and, stepping to the +wall, he spoke quietly into a telephone tube, of which there were a +number ranged upon the wall, and said: + +"Give me the particulars of the whipping of Prince Cabano's coachman, +this afternoon, at the south gate of Central Park." + +Almost immediately a bell rang, and on the opposite wall, in What I +had supposed to be a mirror, appeared these words: + + _From the Evening Guardian:_ + + A HORRIBLE OUTRAGE! + + HIGHWAY ROBBERY!--ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS REWARD! + + This afternoon, about three o'clock, an event transpired at + the south gate of Central Park which shows the turbulent + and vicious + + spirit of the lower classes, and reinforces the demand we + have so often made for repressive measures and a stronger + government. + + As the carriage of our honored fellow-citizen Prince + Cabano, containing two ladies, members of his family, was + quietly entering the Park, a tall, powerful ruffian, + apparently a stranger, with long yellow hair, reaching to + his shoulders, suddenly grasped a valuable gold-mounted + whip out of the hands of the driver, and, because he + resisted the robbery, beat him across the face, inflicting + very severe wounds. The horses became very much terrified, + and but for the fact that two worthy men, John Henderson of + 5222 Delavan Street, and William Brooks of 7322 Bismarck + Street, seized them by the head, a terrible accident would + undoubtedly have occurred. Policeman number B 17822 took + the villain prisoner, but he knocked the guardian of the + law down and escaped, accompanied by a ragged old fellow + who seemed to have been his accomplice. It is believed that + the purpose of the thieves was to rob the occupants of the + carriage, as the taller one approached the ladies, but just + then his companion saw the policeman coming and gave him + warning, and they fled together. Prince Cabano is naturally + very much incensed at this outrage, and has offered a + reward of one thousand dollars for the apprehension of + either of the ruffians. They have been tracked for a + considerable distance by the detectives; but after leaving + the elevated cars all trace of them was suddenly and + mysteriously lost. The whip was subsequently found on Bomba + Street and identified. Neither of the criminals is known to + the police. The taller one was quite young and fairly well + dressed, and not ill-looking, while his companion had the + appearance of a beggar, and seemed to be about seventy + years of age. The Chief of Police will pay liberally for + any information that may lead to the arrest of the robbers. + +"There," said my companion, "what do you think of that?" + +I need not say that I was paralyzed with this adroit mingling of fact +and falsehood. I realized for the first time the perils of my +situation. I was a stranger in the great city, without a friend or +acquaintance, and hunted like a felon! While all these thoughts +passed through my brain, there came also a pleasing flash of +remembrance of that fair face, and that sweet and gentle smile, and +that beaming look of gratitude and approval of my action in whipping +the brutal driver. But if my new acquaintance was right; if neither +courts nor juries nor newspapers nor public opinion could be appealed +to for justice or protection, then indeed might I be sent to prison +as a malefactor, for a term of years, for performing a most righteous +act. If it was true, and I had heard something of the same sort in my +far-away African home, that money ruled everything in this great +country; and if his offended lordship desired to crush me, he could +certainly do so. While I was buried in these reflections I had not +failed to notice that an electric bell rang upon the side of the +chamber and a small box opened, and the young gentleman advanced and +took from the box a sheet of tissue paper, closely written. I +recognized it as a telegram. He read it carefully, and I noticed him +stealing glances at me, as if comparing the details of my appearance +with something written on the paper. When he finished he advanced +toward me, with a brighter look on his face, and, holding out his +hand, said: + +"I have already hailed you as my benefactor, my preserver; permit me +now to call you my friend." + +"Why do you say so?" I asked. + +"Because," he replied, "I now know that every statement you made to +me about yourself is literally true; and that in your personal +character you deserve the respect and friendship of all men. You look +perplexed. Let me explain. You told me some little time since your +name and place of residence. I belong to a society which has its +ramifications all over the world. When I stepped out of this room I +sent an inquiry to the town near which you reside, and asked if such +a person as you claimed to be lived there; what was his appearance, +standing and character, and present residence. I shall not shock your +modesty by reading the reply I have just received. You will pardon +this distrust, but we here in the great city are suspicious, and +properly so, of strangers, and even more so of each other. I did not +know but that you were in the employment of the enemies of our +society, and sought to get into my confidence by rendering me a +service,--for the tricks to which the detectives resort are infinite. +I now trust you implicitly, and you can command me in everything." + +I took his hand warmly and thanked him cordially. It was impossible +to longer doubt that frank and beaming face. + +"But," I said, "are we not in great danger? Will not that hackman, +for the sake of the reward, inform the police of our whereabouts?" + +"No!" he said; "have no fears upon that score. Did you not observe +that I permitted about a dozen hacks to pass me before I hailed the +one that brought us here? That man wore on his dress a mark that told +me he belonged to our Brotherhood. He knows that if he betrays us he +will die within twenty-four hours, and that there is no power on +earth could save him; if he fled to the uttermost ends of the earth +his doom would overtake him with the certainty of fate. So have no +uneasiness. We are as safe here as if a standing army of a hundred +thousand of our defenders surrounded this house." + +"Is that the explanation," I asked, "of the policeman releasing his +grip upon my coat?" + +"Yes," he replied, quietly. + +"Now," said I, "who is this Prince Cabano, and how does he happen to +be called Prince? I thought your Republic eschewed all titles of +nobility." + +"So it does," he replied, "by law. But we have a great many titles +which are used socially, by courtesy. The Prince, for instance, when +he comes to sign his name to a legal document, writes it Jacob +Isaacs. But his father, when he grew exceedingly rich and ambitious, +purchased a princedom in Italy for a large sum, and the government, +being hard up for money, conferred the title of Prince with the +estate. His son, the present Isaacs, succeeded, of course, to his +estates and his title." + +"'Isaacs," I said, "is a Jewish name?" + +"Yes," he replied, "the aristocracy of the world is now almost +altogether of Hebrew origin." + +"Indeed," I asked, "how does that happen?" + +"Well," he replied, "it was the old question of the survival of the +fittest. Christianity fell upon the Jews, originally a race of +agriculturists and shepherds, and forced them, for many centuries, +through the most terrible ordeal of persecution the history of +mankind bears any record of. Only the strong of body, the cunning of +brain, the long-headed, the persistent, the men with capacity to live +where a dog would starve, survived the awful trial. Like breeds like; +and now the Christian world is paying, in tears and blood, for the +sufferings inflicted by their bigoted and ignorant ancestors upon a +noble race. When the time came for liberty and fair play the Jew was +master in the contest with the Gentile, who hated and feared him. + +"They are the great money-getters of the world. They rose from +dealers in old clothes and peddlers of hats to merchants, to bankers, +to princes. They were as merciless to the Christian as the Christian +had been to them. They said, with Shylock: 'The villainy you teach me +I will execute; and it shall go hard but I will better the +instruction.' The 'wheel of fortune has come full circle;' and the +descendants of the old peddlers now own and inhabit the palaces where +their ancestors once begged at the back doors for secondhand clothes; +while the posterity of the former lords have been, in many cases, +forced down into the swarming misery of the lower classes. This is a +sad world, and to contemplate it is enough to make a man a +philosopher; but he will scarcely know whether to belong to the +laughing or the weeping school--whether to follow the example of +Democritus or Heraclitus." + +"And may I ask," I said, "what is the nature of your society?" + +"I cannot tell you more at this time," he replied, "than that it is a +political secret society having a membership of millions, and +extending all over the world. Its purposes are the good of mankind. +Some day, I hope, you may learn more about it. Come," he added, "let +me show you my house, and introduce you to my mother." + +Touching a secret spring in the wall, a hidden door flew open, and we +entered a small room. I thought I had gotten into the dressing-room +of a theater. Around the walls hung a multitude of costumes, male and +female, of different sizes, and suited for all conditions of life. On +the table were a collection of bottles, holding what I learned were +hair dyes of different colors; and there was also an assortment of +wigs, beards and mustaches of all hues. I thought I recognized among +the former the coarse white hair of the quondam beggar. I pointed it +out to him. + +"Yes," he said, with a laugh, "I will not be able to wear that for +some time to come." + +Upon another table there was a formidable array of daggers, pistols +and guns; and some singular-looking iron and copper things, which he +told me were cartridges of dynamite and other deadly explosives. + +I realized that my companion was a conspirator. But of what kind? I +could not believe evil of him. There was a manliness and kindliness +in his face which forbade such a thought; although the square chin +and projecting jaws and firm-set mouth indicated a nature that could +be most dangerous; and I noticed sometimes a restless, wild look in +his eyes. + +I followed him into another room, where he introduced me to a +sweet-faced old lady, with the same broad brow and determined, but +gentle, mouth which so distinguished her son. It was evident that +there was great love between them, although her face wore a troubled +and anxious look, at times, as she regarded him. It seemed to me that +she knew he was engaged in dangerous enterprises. + +She advanced to me with a smile and grasped both my hands with her +own, as she said: + +"My son has already told me that you have this day rendered him and +me an inestimable service. I need not say that I thank you with all +my heart." + +I made light of the matter and assured her that I was under greater +obligations to her son than he was to me. Soon after we sat down to +dinner, a sumptuous meal, to which it seemed to me all parts of the +world had contributed. We had much pleasant conversation, for both +the host and hostess were persons of ripe information. In the old +days our ancestors wasted years of valuable time in the study of +languages that were no longer spoken on the earth; and civilization +was thus cramped by the shadow of the ancient Roman Empire, whose +dead but sceptered sovereigns still ruled the spirits of mankind from +their urns. Now every hour is considered precious for the +accumulation of actual knowledge of facts and things, and for the +cultivation of the graces of the mind; so that mankind has become +wise in breadth of knowledge, and sweet and gentle in manner. I +expressed something of this thought to Maximilian, and he replied: + +"Yes; it is the greatest of pities that so noble and beautiful a +civilization should have become so hollow and rotten at the core." + +"Rotten at the core!" I exclaimed, in astonishment; "what do you +mean?" + +"What I mean is that our civilization has grown to be a gorgeous +shell; a mere mockery; a sham; outwardly fair and lovely, but +inwardly full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. To think that +mankind is so capable of good, and now so cultured and polished, and +yet all above is cruelty, craft and destruction, and all below is +suffering, wretchedness, sin and shame." + +"What do you mean?" I asked. + +"That civilization is a gross and dreadful failure for seven-tenths +of the human family; that seven-tenths of the backs of the world are +insufficiently clothed; seven-tenths of the stomachs of the world are +insufficiently fed; seven-tenths of the minds of the world are +darkened and despairing, and filled with bitterness against the +Author of the universe. It is pitiful to think what society is, and +then to think what it might have been if our ancestors had not cast +away their magnificent opportunities--had not thrown them into the +pens of the swine of greed and gluttony." + +"But," I replied, "the world does not look to me after that fashion. +I have been expressing to my family my delight at viewing the vast +triumphs of man over nature, by which the most secret powers of the +universe have been captured and harnessed for the good of our race. +Why, my friend, this city preaches at every pore, in every street and +alley, in every shop and factory, the greatness of humanity, the +splendor of civilization!" + +"True, my friend," replied Maximilian; "but you see only the surface, +the shell, the crust of life in this great metropolis. To-morrow we +will go out together, and I shall show you the fruits of our modern +civilization. I shall take you, not upon the upper deck of society, +where the flags are flying, the breeze blowing, and the music +playing, but down into the dark and stuffy depths of the hold of the +great vessel, where the sweating gnomes, in the glare of the +furnace-heat, furnish the power which drives the mighty ship +resplendent through the seas of time. We will visit the +_Under-World_." + +But I must close for tonight, and subscribe myself affectionately +your brother, + +Gabriel + + CHAPTER IV. + + THE UNDER-WORLD + +My Dear Heinrich: + +Since I wrote you last night I have been through dreadful scenes. I +have traversed death in life. I have looked with my very eyes on +Hell. I am sick at heart. My soul sorrows for humanity. + +Max (for so I have come to call my new-found friend) woke me very +early, and we breakfasted by lamp-light. + +Yesterday he had himself dyed my fair locks of a dark brown, almost +black hue, and had cut off some of my hair's superfluous length. Then +he sent for a tailor, who soon arrayed me in garments of the latest +fashion and most perfect fit. Instead of the singular-looking +mountaineer of the day before, for whom the police were diligently +searching, and on whose head a reward of one thousand dollars had +been placed (never before had my head been valued so highly), there +was nothing in my appearance to distinguish me from the thousands of +other gallant young gentlemen of this great city. + +A carriage waited for us at the door. We chatted together as we drove +along through the quiet streets. + +I asked him: + +"Are the degraded, and even the vicious, members of your Brotherhood?" + +"No; not the criminal class," he replied, "for there is nothing in +their wretched natures on which you can build confidence or trust. +Only those who have fiber enough to persist in labor, under +conditions which so strongly tend to drive them into crime, can be +members of our Brotherhood." + +"May I ask the number of your membership?" + +"In the whole world they amount to more than one hundred millions." + +I started with astonishment. + +"But amid such numbers," I said, "there must certainly be some +traitors?" + +"True, but the great multitude have nothing to tell. They are the +limbs and members, as it were, of the organization; the directing +intelligence dwells elsewhere. The multitude are like the soldiers of +an army; they will obey when the time comes; but they are not taken +into the councils of war." + +A half hour's ride brought us into the domain of the poor. + +An endless procession of men and women with pails and +baskets--small-sized pails and smaller baskets--streamed along the +streets on their way to work. It was not yet six o'clock. I observed +that both men and women were undersized, and that they all very much +resembled each other; as if similar circumstances had squeezed them +into the same likeness. There was no spring to their steps and no +laughter in their eyes; all were spare of frame and stolid or +hungry-looking. The faces of the middle-aged men were haggard and +wore a hopeless expression. Many of them scowled at us, with a look +of hatred, as we passed by them in our carriage. A more joyless, +sullen crowd I never beheld. Street after street they unrolled before +us; there seemed to be millions of them. They were all poorly clad, +and many of them in rags. The women, with the last surviving instinct +of the female heart, had tried to decorate themselves; and here and +there I could observe a bit of bright color on bonnet or apron; but +the bonnets represented the fashions of ten years past, and the +aprons were too often frayed and darned, and relics of some former, +more opulent owners. There were multitudes of children, but they were +without the gambols which characterize the young of all animals; and +there was not even the chirp of a winter bird about them; their faces +were prematurely aged and hardened, and their bold eyes revealed that +sin had no surprises for them. And every one of these showed that +intense look which marks the awful struggle for food and life upon +which they had just entered. The multitude seemed, so far as I could +judge, to be of all nations commingled--the French, German, Irish, +English--Hungarians, Italians, Russians, Jews, Christians, and even +Chinese and Japanese; for the slant eyes of many, and their +imperfect, Tartar-like features, reminded me that the laws made by +the Republic, in the elder and better days, against the invasion of +the Mongolian hordes, had long since become a dead letter. + +What struck me most was their incalculable multitude and their +silence. It seemed to me that I was witnessing the resurrection of +the dead; and that these vast, streaming, endless swarms were the +condemned, marching noiselessly as shades to unavoidable and +everlasting misery. They seemed to me merely automata, in the hands +of some ruthless and unrelenting destiny. They lived and moved, but +they were without heart or hope. The illusions of the imagination, +which beckon all of us forward, even over the roughest paths and +through the darkest valleys and shadows of life, had departed from +the scope of their vision. They knew that to-morrow could bring them +nothing better than today--the same shameful, pitiable, contemptible, +sordid struggle for a mere existence. If they produced children it +was reluctantly or unmeaningly; for they knew the wretches must tread +in their footsteps, and enter, like them, that narrow, gloomy, +high-walled pathway, out of which they could never climb; which began +almost in infancy and ended in a pauper's grave--nay, I am wrong, not +even in a pauper's grave; for they might have claimed, perhaps, some +sort of ownership over the earth which enfolded them, which touched +them and mingled with their dust. But public safety and the demands +of science had long ago decreed that they should be whisked off, as +soon as dead, a score or two at a time, and swept on iron tram-cars +into furnaces heated to such intense white heat that they dissolved, +crackling, even as they entered the chamber, and rose in nameless +gases through the high chimney. That towering structure was the sole +memorial monument of millions of them. Their graveyard was the air. +Nature reclaimed her own with such velocity that she seemed to grudge +them the very dust she had lent them during their wretched +pilgrimage. The busy, toiling, rushing, roaring, groaning universe, +big with young, appeared to cry out: "Away with them! Away with them! +They have had their hour! They have performed their task. Here are a +billion spirits waiting for the substance we loaned them. The spirits +are boundless in number; matter is scarce. Away with them!" + +I need not tell you, my dear brother, of all the shops and factories +we visited. It was the same story everywhere. Here we saw +exemplified, in its full perfection, that "iron law of wages" which +the old economists spoke of; that is to say, the reduction, by +competition, of the wages of the worker to the least sum that will +maintain life and muscular strength enough to do the work required, +with such little surplus of vitality as might be necessary to +perpetuate the wretched race; so that the world's work should not end +with the death of one starved generation. I do not know if there is a +hell in the spiritual universe, but if there is not, one should +certainly be created for the souls of the men who originated, or +justified, or enforced that damnable creed. It is enough, if nothing +else, to make one a Christian, when he remembers how diametrically +opposite to the teaching of the grand doctrine of brotherly love, +enunciated by the gentle Nazarene, is this devil's creed of cruelty +and murder, with all its steadily increasing world-horrors, before +which to-day the universe stands appalled. + +Oh! the pitiable scenes, my brother, that I have witnessed! Room +after room; the endless succession of the stooped, silent toilers; +old, young; men, women, children. And most pitiable of all, the +leering, shameless looks of invitation cast upon us by the women, as +they saw two well-dressed men pass by them. It was not love, nor +license, nor even lust; it was degradation,--willing to exchange +everything for a little more bread. And such rooms--garrets, +sheds--dark, foul, gloomy; overcrowded; with such a stench in the +thick air as made us gasp when entering it; an atmosphere full of +life, hostile to the life of man. Think, my brother, as you sit upon +your mountain side; your gentle sheep feeding around you; breathing +the exquisite air of those elevated regions; and looking off over the +mysterious, ancient world, and the great river valleys leading down +to the marvelous Nile-land afar,--land of temples, ruins, +pyramids,--cradle of civilization, grave of buried empires,--think, I +say, of these millions condemned to live their brief, hopeless span +of existence under such awful conditions! See them as they eat their +mid-day meal. No delightful pause from pleasant labor; no brightly +arrayed table; no laughing and loving faces around a plenteous board, +with delicacies from all parts of the world; no agreeable interchange +of wisdom and wit and courtesy and merriment. No; none of these. +Without stopping in their work, under the eyes of sullen +task-masters, they snatch bites out of their hard, dark bread, like +wild animals, and devour it ravenously.{fr. 1} + +Toil, toil, toil, from early morn until late at night; then home they +swarm; tumble into their wretched beds; snatch a few hours of +disturbed sleep, battling with vermin, in a polluted atmosphere; and +then up again and to work; and so on, and on, in endless, mirthless, +hopeless round; until, in a few years, consumed with disease, mere +rotten masses of painful wretchedness, they die, and are wheeled off +to the great + +I asked one of the foremen what wages these men and women received. +He told me. It seemed impossible that human life could be maintained +upon such a pittance. I then asked whether they ever ate meat. "No," +he said, "except when they had a rat or mouse" "A rat or mouse!" I +exclaimed. "Oh yes," he replied, "the rats and mice were important +articles of diet,--just as they had been for centuries in China. The +little children, not yet able to work, fished for them in the sewers, +with hook and line, precisely as they had done a century ago in +Paris, during the great German siege. A dog," he added, "was a great +treat. When the authorities killed the vagrant hounds there was a big +scramble among the poor for the bodies." + +I was shocked at these statements; and then I remembered that some +philosopher had argued that cannibalism had survived almost to our +own times, in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, because they had +contained no animals of large size with which the inhabitants could +satisfy the dreadful craving of the system for flesh-food; and hence +they devoured their captives. + +"Do these people ever marry?" I inquired. + +"Marry!" he exclaimed, with a laugh; "why, they could not afford to +pay the fee required by law. And why should they marry? There is no +virtue among them. No," he said, "they had almost gotten down to the +condition of the Australian savages, who, if not prevented by the +police, would consummate their animal-like nuptials in the public +streets." + +Maximilian told me that this man was one of the Brotherhood. I did +not wonder at it. + +From the shops and mills of honest industry, Maximilian led me--it +was still broad daylight--into the criminal quarters. We saw the wild +beasts in their lairs; in the iron cages of circumstance which +civilization has built around them, from which they too readily break +out to desolate their fellow-creatures. But here, too, were the +fruits of misgovernment. If it were possible we might trace back from +yonder robber and murderer--a human hyena--the long ancestral line of +brutality, until we see it starting from some poor peasant of the +Middle Ages, trampled into crime under the feet of feudalism. The +little seed of weakness or wickedness has been carefully nursed by +society, generation after generation, until it has blossomed at last +in this destructive monster. Civilization has formulated a new +variety of the genus _homo_--and it must inevitably perpetuate its +kind. + +The few prey on the many; and in turn a few of the many prey upon +all. These are the brutal violators of justice, who go to prison, or +to the scaffold, for breaking through a code of laws under which +peaceful but universal injustice is wrought. If there were enough of +these outlaws they might establish a system of jurisprudence for the +world under which it would be lawful to rob and murder by the rule of +the strong right hand, but criminal to reduce millions to +wretchedness by subtle and cunning arts; and, hoity-toity, the +prisons would change their tenants, and the brutal plunderers of the +few would give place to the cultured spoilers of the many. + +And when you come to look at it, my brother, how shall we compare the +conditions of the well-to-do-man, who has been merely robbed of his +watch and purse, even at the cost of a broken head, which will heal +in a few days, with the awful doom of the poor multitude, who from +the cradle to the grave work without joy and live without hope? Who +is there that would take back his watch and purse at the cost of +changing places with one of these wretches? + +And who is there that, if the choice were presented to him, would not +prefer instant death, which is but a change of conditions, a flight +from world to world, or at worst annihilation, rather than to be +hurled into the living tomb which I have depicted, there to grovel +and writhe, pressed down by the sordid mass around him, until death +comes to his relief? + +And so it seems to me that, in the final analysis of reason, the +great criminals of the world are not these wild beasts, who break +through all laws, whose selfishness takes the form of the bloody +knife, the firebrand, or the bludgeon; but those who, equally +selfish, corrupt the foundations of government and create laws and +conditions by which millions suffer, and out of which these murderers +and robbers naturally and unavoidably arise. + +But I must bring this long letter to a conclusion, and subscribe +myself, with love to all, + +Your affectionate brother, +Gabriel + + CHAPTER V. + + ESTELLA WASHINGTON + +My Dear Heinrich: + +One morning after breakfast, Max and I were seated in the library, +enjoying our matutinal cigars, when, the conversation flagging, I +asked Maximilian whether he had noticed the two young ladies who were +in the Prince of Cabano's carriage the morning I whipped the driver. +He replied that he had not observed them particularly, as he was too +much excited and alarmed for my safety to pay especial attention to +anything else; but he had seen that there were two young women in the +barouche, and his glance had shown him they were both handsome. + +"Have you any idea who they were?" I asked after a pause, for I +shrank from revealing the interest I took in one of them. + +"No," said he, indifferently; "probably a couple of the Prince's +mistresses." + +The word stung me like an adder; and I half rose from my chair, my +face suffused and my eyes indignant. + +"Why, what is the matter?" asked Maximilian; "I hope I have said +nothing to offend you." + +I fell back in my chair, ashamed of the exhibition of feeling into +which I had been momentarily betrayed, and replied: + +"Oh, no; but I am sure you are wrong. If you had looked, for but a +moment, at the younger of the two, you would never have made such a +remark." + +"I meant no harm," he answered, "but the Prince is a widower; he has +a perfect harem in his palace; he has his agents at work everywhere +buying up handsome women; and when I saw two such in his carriage, I +naturally came to the conclusion that they were of that character." + +"Buying up women!" I exclaimed; "what are you talking about? This is +free America, and the twentieth century. Do you dream that it is a +Mohammedan land?" + +"It isn't anything half so good," he retorted; "it is enslaved +America; and the older we grow the worse for us. There was a golden +age once in America--an age of liberty; of comparatively equal +distribution of wealth; of democratic institutions. Now we have but +the shell and semblance of all that. We are a Republic only in name; +free only in forms. Mohammedanism--and we must do the Arabian prophet +the justice to say that he established a religion of temperance and +cleanliness, without a single superstition--never knew, in its worst +estate, a more complete and abominable despotism than that under +which we live. And as it would be worse to starve to death in sight +of the most delicious viands than in the midst of a foodless desert, +so the very assertions, constantly dinned in our ears by the hireling +newspapers, that we are the freest people on earth, serve only to +make our slavery more bitter and unbearable. But as to the buying up +of women for the harems of the wealthy, that is an old story, my dear +friend. More than a century ago the editor of a leading journal in +London was imprisoned for exposing it. The virtuous community +punished the man who protested against the sin, and took the sinners +to its loving bosom. And in this last century matters have grown +every day worse and worse. Starvation overrides all moralities; the +convictions of the mind give way to the necessities of the body. The +poet said long ago: + + "'Women are not + In their best fortunes strong, but want will perjure + The ne'er-touched vestal.' + +"But he need not have confined this observation to women. The +strongest resolves of men melt in the fire of want like figures of +wax. It is simply a question of increasing the pressure to find the +point where virtue inevitably breaks. Morality, in man or woman, is a +magnificent flower which blossoms only in the rich soil of +prosperity: impoverish the land and the bloom withers. If there are +cases that seem to you otherwise, it is simply because the pressure +has not been great enough; sufficient nourishment has not yet been +withdrawn from the soil. Dignity, decency, honor, fade away when man +or woman is reduced to shabby, shameful, degrading, cruel +wretchedness. Before the clamors of the stomach the soul is silent." + +"I cannot believe that," I replied; "look at the martyrs who have +perished in the flames for an opinion." + +"Yes," he said, "it is easy to die in an ecstasy of enthusiasm for a +creed, with all the world looking on; to exchange life for eternal +glory; but put the virgin, who would face without shrinking the +flames or the wild beasts of the arena, into some wretched garret, in +some miserable alley, surrounded by the low, the ignorant, the vile; +close every avenue and prospect of hope; shut off every ennobling +thought or sight or deed; and then subject the emaciated frame to +endless toil and hopeless hunger, and the very fibers of the soul +will rot under the debasing ordeal; and there is nothing left but the +bare animal, that must be fed at whatever sacrifice. And remember, my +dear fellow, that chastity is a flower of civilization. Barbarism +knows nothing of it. The woman with the least is, among many tribes, +mostly highly esteemed, and sought after by the young men for +wedlock." + +"My dear Maximilian," I said, "these are debasing views to take of +life. Purity is natural to woman. You will see it oftentimes among +savages. But, to recur to the subject we were speaking of. I feel +very confident that the younger of those two women I saw in that +carriage is pure. God never placed such a majestic and noble +countenance over a corrupt soul. The face is transparent; the spirit +looks out of the great eyes; and it is a spirit of dignity, +nobleness, grace and goodness." + +"Why," said he, laughing, "the barbed arrow of Master Cupid, my dear +Gabriel, has penetrated quite through all the plates of your +philosophy." + +"I will not confess that," I replied; "but I will admit that I would +like to know something more about that young lady, for I never saw a +face that interested me half so much." + +"Now," said he, "see what it is to have a friend. I can find out for +you all that is known about her. We have members of our society in +the household of every rich man in New York. I will first find out +who she is. I will ask the Master of the Servants, who is a member of +our Brotherhood, who were the two ladies out riding at the time of +our adventure. I can communicate with him in cipher." + +He went to the wall; touched a spring; a door flew open; a receptacle +containing pen, ink and paper appeared; he wrote a message, placed it +in an interior cavity, which connected with a pneumatic tube, rang a +bell, and in a few minutes another bell rang, and he withdrew from a +similar cavity a written message. He read out to me the following: + +"The elder lady, Miss Frederika Bowers; the younger, Miss Estella +Washington; both members of the Prince of Cabano's household." + +"Estella Washington," I repeated; "a noble name. Can you tell me +anything about her?" + +"Certainly," he replied; "we have a Bureau of Inquiry connected with +our society, and we possess the most complete information, not only +as to our own members, but as to almost every one else in the +community of any note. Wait a moment." + +He opened the same receptacle in the wall, wrote a few words on a +sheet of paper, and dispatched it by the pneumatic tube to the +central office of that district, whence it was forwarded at once to +its address. It was probably fifteen minutes before the reply +arrived. It read as follows: + + Miss ESTELLA WASHINGTON.--Aged eighteen. _Appearance_: + Person tall and graceful; complexion fair; eyes blue; hair + long and golden; face handsome. _Pedigree_: A lineal + descendant of Lawrence Washington, brother of the first + President of the Republic. _Parents_: William Washington + and Sophia, his wife. Father, a graduate of the University + of Virginia; professor of Indo-European literature for ten + years in Harvard University. Grandfather, Lawrence + Washington, a judge of the Supreme Court of the United + States for fifteen years. Sophia, mother of Estella, _nee_ + Wainwright, an accomplished Greek and Sanscrit scholar, + daughter of Professor Elias Wainwright, who occupied the + chair of psychological science in Yale College for twenty + years. Families of both parents people of great learning + and social position, but not wealthy in any of the + branches. _History_: Father died when Estella was eight + years old, leaving his family poor. Her mother, after a + hard struggle with poverty, died two years later. Estella, + then ten years old, was adopted by Maria, widow of George + Washington, brother of Estella's father, who had + subsequently married one Ezekiel Plunkett, who is also + dead. Maria Plunkett is a woman of low origin and sordid + nature, with a large share of cunning; she lives at No. + 2682 Grand Avenue. She had observed that Estella gave + promise of great beauty, and as none of the other + + relatives put in a claim for the child, she took possession + of her, with intent to educate her highly, improve her + appearance by all the arts known to such women, and + eventually sell her for a large sun, to some wealthy + aristocrat as a mistress; believing that her honorable + descent would increase the price which her personal charms + would bring. On the 5th day of last month she sold her, for + $5,000, to the Master of the Servants of the so-called + Prince of Cabano; and she was taken to his house. Estella + who is quite ignorant of the wickedness of the world, or + the true character of her aunt, for whom she entertains a + warm feeling of gratitude and affection, believes that she + is to serve as lady-companion for Miss Frederika Bowers, + the favorite mistress of the Prince, but whom Estella + supposes to be his niece. + +You can imagine, my dear brother--for you have a kind and sensitive +heart, and love your wife--the pangs that shot through me, and +distorted my very soul, as I listened to this dreadful narrative. Its +calm, dispassionate, official character, while it confirmed its +truth, added to the horrors of the awful story of crime! Think of it! +a pure, beautiful, cultured, confiding girl, scarcely yet a woman, +consigned to a terrible fate, by one whom she loved and trusted. And +the lurid light it threw on the state of society in which such a +sacrifice could be possible! I forgot every pretense of indifference, +which I had been trying to maintain before Maximilian, and, springing +up, every fiber quivering, I cried out: + +"She must be saved!" + +Maximilian, too, although colder-blooded, and hardened by contact +with this debased age, was also stirred to his depths; his face was +flushed, and he seized me by the hand. He said: + +"I will help you, my friend." + +"But what can we do?" I asked. + +"We should see her at once," he replied, "and, if it is not yet too +late, carry her away from that damnable place, that house of hell, +and its devilish owner, who preys on innocence and youth. We have one +thing in our favor: the Master of the Servants, who bought Estella, +is the same person who answered my first message. He belongs, as I +told you, to our Brotherhood. He is in my power. He will give us +access to the poor girl, and will do whatever is necessary to be +done. Come, let us go!" + +Those thin, firm lips were more firmly set than ever; the handsome +eyes flashed with a fierce light; he hurried for an instant into his +secret room. + +"Take this magazine pistol," he said, "and this knife," handing me a +long bowie-knife covered with a handsome, gold-embossed sheath; "we +are going into a den of infamy where everything is possible. Never +unsheathe that knife until you are compelled to use it, for a scratch +from it is certain and instant death; it is charged with the most +deadly poison the art of the chemist has been able to produce; the +secret is known only to our Brotherhood; the discoverer is an Italian +professor, a member of our society." + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE INTERVIEW + +Mounting to one of the electrical railroads, we were soon at the +house of the Prince. Passing around to the servants' entrance of the +palace, Maximilian sent in his card to the Master of the Servants, +who soon appeared, bowing deferentially to my friend. We were ushered +into his private room. Maximilian first locked the door; he then +examined the room carefully, to see if there was any one hidden +behind the tapestry or furniture; for the room, like every part of +the palace, was furnished in the most lavish and extravagant style. +Satisfied with his search, he turned to Rudolph, as the Master of the +Servants was called, and handed him the message he had received, +which gave the history of Estella. + +"Read it," he said. + +Rudolph read it with a troubled countenance. + +"Yes," he said, "I am familiar with most of the facts here stated, +and believe them all to be true. What would you have me do?" + +"First," said Maximilian, "we desire to know if Estella is still in +ignorance of the purpose for which she was brought here." + +"Yes," he replied; "Frederika is jealous of her, as I can see, and +has contrived to keep her out of the Prince's sight. She has no +desire to be supplanted by a younger and fairer woman." + +"God be praised for that jealousy," exclaimed Maximilian. "We must +see Estella; can you manage it for us?" + +"Yes," he said, "I will bring her here. I know she is in the palace. +I saw her but a few moments since. Wait for Me." "Stop," said +Maximilian, "have you the receipt for the $5,000 signed by Mrs. +Plunkett?" + +"No; but I can get it." + +"Do so, pray; and when you bring her here introduce me to her as Mr. +Martin, and my friend here as Mr. Henry. She may refuse our +assistance, and we must provide against the revenge of the Prince." + +"I will do as you command," replied Rudolph, who acted throughout as +if he felt himself in the presence of a superior officer. + +As we sat waiting his return I was in a state of considerable +excitement. Delight, to know that she was still the pure angel I had +worshiped in my dreams, contended with trepidation as I felt I must +soon stand in her presence. + +The door opened and Rudolph entered; behind him came the tall form of +the beautiful girl I had seen in the carriage: she seemed to me +fairer than ever. Her eyes first fell upon me; she started and +blushed. It was evident she recognized me; and I fancied the +recognition was not unpleasant to her. She then turned to Maximilian +and then to Rudolph, who introduced us as we had requested. I offered +her a chair. She sat down, evidently astonished at such an interview, +and yet entirely mistress of herself. After a moment's pause,--for +Maximilian, as he told me afterwards, was too bewildered with her +splendid beauty to speak,--she said, in a sweet and gentle voice: + +"Mr. Rudolph tells me that you desire to speak to me on matters of +importance." + +At a sign from Maximilian Rudolph closed and locked the door. She +started, and it seemed to me that her eyes turned to me with more +confidence than to either of the others. + +"Miss Washington," said Maximilian, "it is true we desire to speak +with you on matters of the greatest moment to yourself. But we shall +say things so surprising to you, so harsh and cruel, so utterly in +conflict with your present opinions, that I scarce know how to begin." + +She had grown paler during this speech, and I then said: + +"Be assured that nothing but the profound respect we feel for you, +and the greatest desire to serve you, and save you from ruin, could +have induced us to intrude upon you." + +Her face showed her increasing alarm; she placed her hand on her +heart, as if to still its beatings, and then, with constrained +dignity, replied: + +"I do not understand you, gentlemen. I do not know what the dangers +are to which you allude. Can you not speak plainly?" + +"My friend here, Mr. Henry," said Maximilian, looking at me, "you +have, I perceive, already recognized." + +"Yes," she said, with another blush, "if I am not mistaken, he is the +gentleman who saved the life of a poor beggar, some days since, and +punished, as he deserved, our insolent driver. Miss Frederika, the +Prince's niece, has, at my request, refused since that time to permit +him to drive us when we go out together, as we often do. I am glad to +thank you again," she said, with a charmingly ingenuous air, "for +your noble act in saving that poor man's life." + +"It was nothing," I said, "but if the service was of any value it has +been a thousand times repaid by your kind words." + +"You can easily imagine," said Maximilian, "that my friend here, +after that interview, was naturally curious to find out something +about you." + +She blushed and cast down her eyes; and the thought flashed across my +mind that perhaps she had been likewise curious to find out something +about me. + +"I am a member," said Maximilian, "of a secret society. We have a +'Bureau of Inquiry' whose business it is to collect information, for +the use of the society, concerning every person of any note. This +information is carefully tabulated and preserved, and added to from +day to day; so that at any moment it is subject to the call of our +officers. When my friend desired to know something about you" (here +the blue, wondering eyes were cast down again), "I sent a message to +our Bureau of Inquiry, and received a reply which I have here. I fear +to show it to you. The shock will be too great to learn in a moment +the utter baseness of one in whom you have trusted. I fear you have +not the courage to endure such a blow; and at the same time I know of +no better way to communicate to your purity and innocence the +shocking facts which it is my duty to disclose." + +Estella smiled, and reached forth her hand for the paper with the +dignity of conscious courage and high blood. + +"Let me read it," she said; "I do not think it can tell me anything I +cannot endure." + +Maximilian delivered the paper into her hand. I watched her face as +she read it. At first there was a look of wonder at the minuteness of +the knowledge of her family which the paper revealed; then the +interest became more intense; then the eyebrows began to rise and the +blue eyes to dilate with horror; then an expression of scorn swept +over her face; and as she read the last word she flung the paper from +her as if it had been a serpent, and rising up, yes, towering, a +splendid image of wrath, she turned upon us and cried out: + +"This is a base falsehood! A cowardly trick to wound me! A shameful +attempt to injure my dear aunt." + +And, wheeling around on Rudolph, her eyes blazing, she said: + +"Unlock that door! I shall reveal at once to the Prince this attack +on his good name and Miss Frederika. How dare you bring these men +here with such falsehoods?" + +Rudolph, alarmed for himself, hung his head in silence. He was +trembling violently. + +"Rudolph," said Maximilian, solemnly, "I call upon you, by the oath +you have taken, to say to this lady whether or not the contents of +that paper are true." + +"I believe them to be true," responded Rudolph, in a low tone. + +It was wonderful to see the fine indignation, the keen penetration +that shone in Estella's eyes, as she looked first at Rudolph and then +at Maximilian. + +"Rudolph," said Maximilian, "by the oath you have taken, tell Miss +Washington whether or not you paid $5,000 to her aunt, Maria +Plunkett, for the purchase of her body, as set forth in that paper." + +"It is true," replied Rudolph, in the same low tone. + +"It is false!" cried Estella,--and yet I thought there was that in +her tone which indicated that the hideous doubt had begun to enter +her soul. + +"Rudolph," said Maximilian, "tell this lady whether you took a +receipt from her aunt for the money you paid for her." + +"I did," replied Rudolph. + +"Miss Washington," said Maximilian, like a lawyer who has reached his +crucial question, for he was a trained attorney, "would you recognize +your aunt's signature if you saw it?" + +"Certainly." + +"You have often seen her write?" + +"Yes; hundreds of times." + +"Have you any reason to distrust this good man, Rudolph? Do you not +know that in testifying to the truth he runs the risk of his own +destruction?" + +"Yes, yes," she said, and there was a wild and worried look in her +eyes. + +"Read the receipt, Rudolph," said Maximilian. + +Rudolph read, in the same low and almost trembling tones, the +following: + + NEW YORK, August 5th, 1988.--Received of Matthew Rudolph, + + for the Prince of Cabano, the sum of five thousand dollars, + in consideration of which I have delivered to the said + Prince of Cabano the body of my niece, Estella Washington; + and I hereby agree, as the custodian of the said Estella + Washington, never to demand any further payment, from the + said Prince of Cabano, on account of my said niece, and + never to reclaim her; and I also pledge myself never to + reveal to any of the relatives of the said Estella + Washington her place of residence. + + (Signed) Maria Plunkett. + +As he finished reading Estella seized the receipt quickly out of his +hands, and fixed her eyes eagerly upon the signature. In a moment she +became deadly pale, and would have fallen on the floor, but that I +caught her in my arms--(oh, precious burden!)--and bore her to a +sofa. Rudolph brought some water and bathed her face. In a few +minutes she recovered consciousness. She looked at us curiously at +first, and then, as memory returned to her, an agonized and +distraught look passed over her features, and I feared she would +faint again. I held some water to her lips. She looked at me with an +intense look as I knelt at her side. Then hey eyes passed to +Maximilian and Rudolph, who stood respectfully a little distance from +her. The tears flowed down her face. Then a new thought seemed to +strike her, and she rose to a sitting posture. + +"It cannot be true. My aunt could not do it. You are strangers to me. +It is a conspiracy. I will ask Frederika." + +"No! no!" said Rudolph; "not Frederika; it would not be to her +interest to tell you the truth. But is there any one of the servants +in whom you have more confidence than all the others?" + +"Yes," she said, "there is Mary Callaghan, an honest girl, if there +is one anywhere. I think she loves me; and I do not believe she would +deceive me." + +"Then," said Rudolph, "you shall send for her to come here. None of +us shall speak to her lest you might think we did so to prompt her. +We will hide behind the tapestry. Dry your tears; ring for a servant, +and request Mary to come to you, and then ask her such questions as +you choose." + +This was done, and in a few moments Mary appeared--an honest, stout, +rosy-cheeked Irish girl, with the frank blue eyes and kindly smile of +her people. + +"Mary," said Estella, "you have always been kind to me. Do you love +me sufficiently to tell me the truth if I ask you some questions?" + +"Sure, and you may do so, my dear," said Mary. + +"Then, Mary, tell me, is Frederika the Prince of Cabano's niece?" + +"Niver a drop's blood to him," replied Mary. + +"What is she doing in his house, then?" asked Estella. + +"Sure, it would be as much as my place is worth, ma'am, to answer +that question; and hard enough it is for an honest girl to get a +place now-a-days. If it hadn't been for Barney McGuiggan, who married +my brother's sister-in-law, and who is own cousin to Mr. Flaherty, +the butler's second assistant, I couldn't have got the place I have +at all, at all. And if I said a word against Miss Frederika, out I +would go, and where would I find another place?" + +"But, Mary, if you speak the truth no harm shall follow to you. I +shall never repeat what you say. I do not ask out of idle curiosity, +but much depends on your answer." + +"Indeed, ma'am," replied Mary, "if you weren't as innocent as ye're +purty, you would have found out the answer to your own question long +ago. Faith, an' don't everybody in the house know she's"--here she +approached, and whispered solemnly in her ear--"she's the Prince's +favorite mistress?" + +Estella recoiled. After a pause she said: + +"And, Mary, who are the other young ladies we call the Prince's +cousins--Miss Lucy, Miss Julia and the rest?" + +"Ivery one of them's the same. It's just as I told Hannah, the cook's +scullion; I didn't belave ye knew a word of what was going on in this +house. And didn't I tell her that Miss Frederika was contriving to +kape you out of the Prince's sight.; and that was the rason she took +you out riding for hours ivery day, and made you sleep in a remote +part of the palace; for if the Prince ever clapped his two ougly eyes +upon you it would be all up wid Madame Frederika." + +I could see from where I was hidden that Estella grasped the back of +a chair for support, and she said in a low voice: + +"You may go, Mary; I am much obliged to you for your friendship and +honesty." + +We found her sitting in the chair, with her hands over her face, +sobbing convulsively. At last she looked around upon us and cried out: + +"Oh my God! What shall I do? I am sold--sold--a helpless slave. Oh, +it is horrible!" + +"You will never be without friends while we live," I said, advancing +to her side. + +"But I must fly," she cried out, "and how--where?" + +"My dear Miss Washington," said Maximilian, in his kindest tones, "I +have a dear mother, who will be glad to welcome you as her own child; +and in our quiet home you can remain, safe from the power of the +Prince, until you have time to think out your future course of life; +and if you conclude to remain with us forever you will be only the +more welcome. Here is Rudolph, who will vouch for me that I am an +honorable man, and that you can trust yourself to me with safety." + +"Yes," said Rudolph; "Maximilian Petion is the soul of honor. His +simple word is more than the oath of another." + +"Then let us fly at once," said Estella. + +"No," replied Rudolph, "that would not do; this house is guarded and +full of spies. You would be followed and reclaimed." + +"What, then, do you advise?" asked Maximilian. + +"Let me see," replied the old man, thinking; "this is Thursday. On +Monday night next the members of 'the government' have their meeting +here. There will be a number of visitors present, and more or less +confusion; more guards will be necessary also, and I can contrive to +have one of the Brotherhood act as sentinel at the door which opens +into a hall which connects with this room; for you see here is a +special entrance which leads to a stairway and to the door I speak +of. I will procure a gentleman's dress for Miss Estella; she is tall +and will readily pass in the dark for a man. I will secure for you a +permit for a carriage to enter the grounds. You will bring a close +carriage and wait with the rest of the equipages, near at hand. But I +must have some one who will accompany Miss Estella from this room to +the carriage, for I must not show myself." + +I stepped forward and said, "I will be here." + +"But there is some danger in the task," said Rudolph, looking at me +critically. "If detected, your life would pay the forfeit." + +"I would the danger were ten times as great," I replied. Estella +blushed and gave me a glance of gratitude. + +"There is one difficulty I perceive," said Maximilian. + +"What is that?" asked Rudolph. + +"I hesitate about leaving Miss Washington exposed to the danger of +remaining four days longer in this horrible house." + +"I will look after that," replied Rudolph. "She had better pretend +ill health, and keep her room during that time. It is on an upper +floor, and if she remains there the danger will be very slight that +the Prince will see her." + +"Miss Washington," I said, handing her the dagger which Max had given +me, "take this weapon. It is poisoned with the most deadly virus +known to the art of man. A scratch from it is certain death. Use it +to defend yourself if assailed." + +"I know how I shall use it in the last extremity," she said, +meaningly. + +"Better," I replied, "purity in death than degradation in life." + +She thanked me with her eyes, and took the dagger and hid it in her +bosom. + +"There is one other matter," said Rudolph to Max; "the meeting next +Monday night is to be a very important one, I think, from certain +indications. It is called to prepare for an expected outbreak of the +people. It would be well that some reliable person should be present, +as heretofore, who can report to you all that occurs. If you can send +me a discreet man I can hide him where I have before hidden our +brethren." + +"Why could I not serve the purpose?" I said. "I will be here anyhow; +and as I would have to remain until the gathering broke up, I might +just as well witness the proceedings." + +"He is not one of us," said Rudolph, doubtfully. + +"No," replied Max; "but I will vouch for his fidelity with my life." + +"Then be it so," said Rudolph. "Let Miss Washington withdraw by the +farther door; and after a reasonable delay we will pass through into +a communicating series of rooms, and I will then show your friend +where he is to be concealed." + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE HIDING-PLACE + +I had seen something of the magnificence of this age, and of the +splendor of its lordly habitations; but I was not prepared for the +grandeur of the rooms through which Rudolph led me. It would be +impossible to adequately describe them. We moved noiselessly over +carpets soft and deep as a rich sward, but tinted with colors and +designs, from the great looms of the world, beside which the +comparison of nature's carpets seemed insignificant. We passed up +great winding stairs, over which, it seemed to me, three carriages +might have been driven abreast; we were surrounded at every step by +exquisite statuary and royal paintings; our course led through great +libraries where the softened light fell on the endless arrays of +richly-bound books. But they were as dead intelligence under the +spell of a magician. No pale students sat at the tables here, +availing themselves of the treasures which it had taken generations +to assemble, and some of which could scarcely be found elsewhere. Men +and women passed and repassed us; for the house was so full of +servants that it seemed like a town in itself. Here and there were +quiet-looking watchmen, who served the place of police in a great +city, and whose duty it was to keep watch and ward over the +innumerable articles which everywhere met the eye--costly books, +works of art, bronzes, jeweled boxes, musical instruments, small +groups of exquisite statuary, engravings, curios, etc., from all +quarters of the earth. It represented, in short, the very profligacy +and abandon of unbounded wealth. Each room seemed to contain a king's +ransom. I could not help but contrast this useless and extravagant +luxury, which served no purpose but display and vanity, with the +dreadful homes and working-places of the poor I had visited the day +before. And it seemed to me as if a voice pierced my heart, crying +out through all its recesses, in strident tones, "How long, O Lord, +how long?" And then I thought how thin a crust of earth separated all +this splendor from that burning hell of misery beneath it. And if the +molten mass of horror should break its limitations and overflow the +earth! Already it seemed to me the planet trembled; I could hear the +volcanic explosions; I could see the sordid flood of wrath and hunger +pouring through these halls; cataracts of misery bursting through +every door and window, and sweeping away all this splendor into +never-ending blackness and ruin. I stood still, lost in these +engrossing reflections, when Rudolph touched me on the arm, and led +the way through a great hall, covered with ancestral portraits, into +a magnificent chamber. In the center stood a large table, and around +it about two score chairs, all made of dark tropical wood. It was +like the council chamber of some great government, with the throne of +the king at one end. + +"This," said Rudolph, in a solemn whisper, "this is where they meet. +This is the real center of government of the American continent; all +the rest is sham and form. The men who meet here determine the +condition of all the hundreds of millions who dwell on the great land +revealed to the world by Columbus. Here political parties, courts, +juries, governors, legislatures, congresses, presidents are made and +unmade; and from this spot they are controlled and directed in the +discharge of their multiform functions. The decrees formulated here +are echoed by a hundred thousand newspapers, and many thousands of +orators; and they are enforced by an uncountable army of soldiers, +servants, tools, spies, and even assassins. He who stands in the way +of the men who assemble here perishes. He who would oppose them takes +his life in his hands. You are, young man, as if I had led you to the +center of the earth, and I had placed your hand upon the very pivot, +the well-oiled axle, upon which, noiselessly, the whole great globe +revolves, and from which the awful forces extend which hold it all +together." + +I felt myself overawed. It was as if mighty spirits even then +inhabited that dusky and silent chamber; hostile and evil spirits of +whom mankind were at once the subjects and the victims. I followed +Rudolph on tiptoe as he advanced to the end of the room. + +"Here," he said, entering through a wide arch "is a conservatory +which is constantly kept supplied and renewed, from the hot-houses of +the palace, with the most magnificent flowers. The only humanizing +trait the Prince seems to possess is an affection for flowers. And he +especially loves those strange Mexican and South American plants, the +_cactaceae_, which unite the most exquisite flowers to the most +grotesque and repulsive forms, covered with great spear-like spines, +and which thrive only in barren lands, and on the poorest soil. I +have taken advantage of the presence of these plants to construct the +hiding-place about which I spoke to you. Here are some which are +fifteen feet high. They touch the ceiling of the room. Around them I +have arranged a perfect hedge or breast-work of smaller plants of the +same family, growing in large boxes. Nothing could penetrate through +this prickly wall; and I have united the boxes by hooks and staples +on the inside. There is, however, one which a strong man can move +aside; and through the opening thus formed he can crawl to the center +of the barricade, and, having replaced the hooks, it would be almost +impossible to reach him; while he could not be seen unless one were +immediately over him and looked down upon him. Then between him and +the council room I have arranged a screen of flowers, which will hide +you when you stand up, while between the blossoms you can see +everything with little risk of being seen. But in case you should be +detected you will observe behind you a window, which, as the weather +is warm, I shall leave open. On the outside is a great ivy vine that +will bear your weight. You will have to dare the spines of the cacti +behind you; make a great leap to the window and take your chances of +escaping the fusillade of pistol shots, by flying in the darkness, +into the garden. I will show you the grounds so that you will not be +lost in them, if you get that far. If caught, you will have to +pretend to be a burglar who entered at the window for purposes of +plunder. It would do you no good to inculpate me, for it would doom +us both to instant death as spies; while a supposed burglar would be +simply turned over to the law and punished by a term of imprisonment. +I give you these instructions although I hope there will be no +necessity for them. This hiding-place has been several times used, +and the deepest secrets of the aristocracy revealed to our +Brotherhood, without detection; and if you are prudent and careful +there will be little to fear. The council will meet at eight o'clock; +at half past seven it will be my duty to see that the rooms are in +order, and to make sure that there are no spies or intruders on the +premises, and to so report in person to the Prince, and deliver him +the key of the outer door. I shall cover your dress with the garments +of one of the household servants, and take you with me to help make +that last examination; and, watching an opportunity, you will slip +into the hiding-place; having first taken off the disguise I have +lent you, which we will hide among the plants. You must be armed and +prepared for every emergency. I will meet you in the garden at half +past six; before we part I will furnish you with a key to an outer +gate, by which you can enter. As soon as the council has broken up, I +will return to the room and again disguise you in the servant's +dress. The Prince always entertains his guests with a lunch and +champagne before they separate. + +"In the meantime I will bring Estella to my room; you can then pass +out together and boldly advance to your carriage. You will first have +to agree with Maximilian where it will stand; and the guard at the +door will show you to it. When once in it, drive like the wind. You +must arrange with Maximilian as to what is to be done in case you +find you are followed, for in that event it will not do to drive +directly to his house. You must enter the house of some one of the +Brotherhood and pass rapidly through it, with Miss Washington, to a +carriage that will be in waiting in a rear street. And you must be +prepared with one or more such subterfuges, for you are dealing with +men of terrible power and cunning, whose arms reach everywhere; and +on the night of their councils--and in fact upon all other +nights--the place abounds with spies. Come with me and I will show +you the garden and how to enter it." + +I was struck with the intelligence, sagacity and executive capacity +of the man; and I said to him: + +"How comes it that you, holding such a position of trust and power, +where your compensation must be all you can ask, are, at the same +time, a member of a society which, if I understand aright, threatens +to overturn the existing order of things. You are not driven to +rebellion by want or oppression." + +"No," he said; "I was educated at Heidelberg; I come of a wealthy +family; but in my youth, while an enthusiastic lover of liberty and +humanity, I became a member of a German branch of this now universal +Brotherhood. I had my dreams, as many have, of reforming the world. +But my membership, by a strange accident, became known, and I was +forced to fly in disgrace, discarded by my relatives, to America. +Here I lived in great poverty for a time, until the Brotherhood came +to my assistance and secured me a servant's place in this house. I +have gradually risen to my present position. While I am not so +enthusiastic as I once was, nor so sanguine of the good results of +the promised revolution of the _proletariat_, I have nevertheless +seen enough within these walls to show me the justice of our cause +and the necessity for Some kind of reformation. I could not draw back +now, if I desired to; and I do not know that I would if I could. We +are all moving together on the face of the torrent, and whither it +will eventually sweep us no one can tell. But come," he added, "to +the garden, or our long conversation may be noticed, and arouse +suspicion." + + CHAPTER VIII. + + THE BROTHERHOOD + +I cannot give you, my dear brother, a detailed account of every day's +occurrences, although I know that your love for me would make every +incident of interest to you. I shall, however, jot down my +reflections on sheets, and send them to you as occasion serves. + +The more I have seen, and the more I have conversed with Maximilian, +the more clearly I perceive that the civilized world is in a +desperate extremity. This Brotherhood of Destruction, with its +terrible purposes and its vast numbers, is a reality. If the ruling +class had to deal only with a brutalized peasantry, they might, as +they did in other ages, trample them into animal-like inability to +organize and defend themselves. But the public school system, which, +with the other forms of the Republic, is still kept up, has made, if +not all, at least a very large percentage of the unhappy laboring +classes intelligent. In fact, they are wonderfully intelligent; their +organizations have been to them clubs, debating societies and +legislatures. And you know that all the greatest minds of the earth +have come out of the masses, if not directly, at least after one or +two removes. The higher aristocracy have contributed but very few to +the honored catalogue of men of pre-eminent genius. And therefore you +will not be surprised to hear that in these great organizations there +have arisen, from among the very laborers, splendid orators, capable +organizers, profound students of politics and political economy, +statesmen and masterly politicians. Nature, which knows no limit to +her capacity for the creation of new varieties, and, dealing with +hundreds of millions, has in numerable elements to mingle in her +combinations, has turned out some marvelous leaders among these poor +men. Their hard fortunes have driven out of their minds all +illusions, all imagination, all poetry; and in solemn fashion they +have bent themselves to the grim and silent struggle with their +environment. Without imagination, I say, for this seems to me to be a +world without a song. + +And it is to the credit of these great masses that they are keen +enough to recognize the men of ability that rise up. among them, and +even out of their poor, hard-earned resources to relieve them of the +necessity for daily toil, that they may devote themselves to the +improvement of their minds, and the execution of the great tasks +assigned them. There is no doubt that if the ruling classes had been +willing to recognize these natural leaders as men of the same race, +blood, tongue and capacity as themselves, and had reached down to +them a helping and kindly hand, there might have been long since a +coming together of the two great divisions of society; and such a +readjustment of the values of labor as would, while it insured +happiness to those below, have not materially lessened the enjoyments +of those above. But the events which preceded the great war against +the aristocracy in 1640, in England; the great revolution of 1789, in +France; and the greater civil war of 1861, in America, all show how +impossible it is, by any process of reasoning, to induce a privileged +class to peacefully yield up a single tittle of its advantages. There +is no bigotry so blind or intense as that of caste; and long +established wrongs are only to be rooted out by fire and sword. And +hence the future looks so black to me. The upper classes might reform +the world, but they will not; the lower classes would, but they +cannot; and for a generation or more these latter have settled down +into a sullen and unanimous conviction that the only remedy is +world-wide destruction. We can say, as one said at the opening of the +Cromwellian struggle, "God help the land where ruin must reform!" But +the proletariat are desperate. They are ready, like the blind Samson, +to pull down the pillars of the temple, even though they themselves +fall, crushed to death amid the ruins; for + + "The grave is brighter than their hearths and homes." + +I learn from Maximilian that their organization is most perfect. +Every one of their hundred millions is now armed with one of the +newest improved magazine rifles. The use of the white powder reduces +very much the size of the cartridges; the bullets are also much +smaller than they were formerly, but they are each charged with a +most deadly and powerful explosive, which tears the body of the +victim it strikes to pieces. These small cartridges are stored in the +steel stock and barrel of the rifles, which will hold about one +hundred of them; and every soldier therefore carries in his hand a +weapon almost equal to the old-time Gatling or Armstrong gun. + +The mode in which these guns were procured shows the marvelous nature +of the organization and its resources. Finding that the cost of the +guns was greatly increased by the profits of the manufacturer and the +middleman, and that it was, in fact, very doubtful whether the +government would permit them to purchase them in any large +quantities, they resolved to make them for themselves. In the depths +of abandoned coal mines, in the wildest and most mountainous part of +Tennessee, they established, years ago, their armories and foundries. +Here, under pretense of coal-mining and iron-working, they brought +members of their Brotherhood, workmen from the national gun-works; +and these, teaching hundreds of others the craft, and working day and +night, in double gangs, have toiled until every able-bodied man in +the whole vast Brotherhood, in America and Europe, has been supplied +with his weapon and a full accompaniment of ammunition. The cost of +all this was reduced to a minimum, and has been paid by each member +of the Brotherhood setting aside each week a small percentage of his +earnings. But, lest they should break out permaturely,{sic} before +the leaders gave the word, these guns have not been delivered +directly to their owners, but to the "commanders of tens," as they +are called; for the Brotherhood is divided into groups of ten each; +and it is the duty of these commanders to bury the weapons and +ammunition in the earth in rubber sacks, furnished for the purpose, +and only to deliver them when the signal comes to strike. In the +meantime the men are trained. with sticks in all the evolutions of +soldiers. You can see how cunning is all this system. A traitor +cannot betray more than nine of his fellows, and his own death is +certain to follow. If the commander of a squad goes over to the +enemy, he can but deliver up nine men and ten guns, and perhaps +reveal the supposed name of the one man who, in a disguise, has +communicated with him from the parent society. But when the signal is +given a hundred million trained soldiers will stand side by side, +armed with the most efficient weapons the cunning of man is able to +produce, and directed by a central authority of extraordinary +ability. Above all this dreadful preparation the merry world goes on, +singing and dancing, marrying and giving in marriage, as thoughtless +of the impending catastrophe as were the people of Pompeii in those +pleasant August days in 79, just before the city was buried in +ashes;--and yet the terrible volcano had stood there, in the +immediate presence of themselves and their ancestors, for +generations, and more than once the rocking earth had given signal +tokens of its awful Possibilities. + +If I believed that this wonderful Brotherhood was capable of anything +beyond destruction, I should not look with such terror as I do upon +the prospect. But after destruction there must come construction--the +erection of law and civilization upon the ruins of the present order +of things. Who can believe that these poor brutalized men will be +capable, armed to the teeth with deadly weapons, and full of +passions, hates and revenges, to recreate the slaughtered society? In +civilized life the many must work; and who among these liberated +slaves will be ready to lay down their weapons and take up their +tasks? When the negroes of San Domingo broke out, in that +world-famous and bloody insurrection, they found themselves, when +they had triumphed, in a tropical land, where the plentiful bounties +of nature hung abundant supplies of food upon every tree and shrub. +But in the temperate regions of America and Europe these vast +populations can only live by great toil, and if none will toil all +must starve; but before they starve they will slay each other, and +that means universal conflict, savagery, barbarism, chaos. + +I tremble, my brother, I tremble with horror when I think of what is +crawling toward us, with noiseless steps; couchant, silent, +treacherous, pardlike; scarce rustling the dry leaves as it moves, +and yet with bloodshot, glaring eyes and tense-drawn limbs of steel, +ready for the fatal spring. When comes it? To-night? To-morrow? A +week hence? Who can say? + +And the thought forever presses on me, Can I do nothing to avert this +catastrophe? Is there no hope? For mankind is in itself so noble, so +beautiful, so full of all graces and capacities; with aspirations +fitted to sing among the angels; with comprehension fitted to embrace +the universe! Consider the exquisite, lithe-limbed figures of the +first man and woman, as they stood forth against the red light of +their first sunset--fresh from the hand of the Mighty One--His +graceful, perfected, magnificent thoughts! What love shines out of +their great eyes; what goodness, like dawn-awakened flowers, is +blooming in their singing hearts! And all to come to this. To this! A +hell of injustice, ending in a holocaust of slaughter. + +God is not at fault. Nature is not to blame. Civilization, signifying +increased human power, is not responsible. But human greed,--blind, +insatiable human greed,--shallow cunning; the basest, stuff-grabbing, +nut-gathering, selfish instincts, these have done this work! The rats +know too much to gnaw through the sides of the ship that carries +them; but these so-called wise men of the world have eaten away the +walls of society in a thousand places, to the thinness of +tissue-paper, and the great ocean is about to pour in at every +aperture. And still they hoot and laugh their insolent laugh of +safety and triumph above the roar of the greedy and boundless waters, +just ready to overwhelm them forever. + +Full of these thoughts, which will not permit me to sleep at night, +and which haunt my waking hours, I have gone about, for some days, +accompanied by Maximilian, and have attended meetings of the +workingmen in all parts of the city. The ruling class long since +denied them the privilege of free speech, under the pretense that the +safety of society required it. In doing so they have screwed down the +safety-valve, while the steam continues to generate. Hence the men +meet to discuss their wrongs and their remedies in underground +cellars, under old ruined breweries and warehouses; and there, in +large, low-roofed apartments, lighted by tallow candles, flaring +against the dark, damp, smoky walls, the swarming masses assemble, to +inflame each other mutually against their oppressors, and to look +forward, with many a secret hint and innuendo, to that great day of +wrath and revenge which they know to be near at hand-- + + "And with pale lips men say, + To-morrow, perchance to-day, + Enceladus may arise!" + +But as any member is permitted to bring in a friend--for these are +not meetings of the Brotherhood itself, but simply voluntary +gatherings of workmen,--and as any man may prove a traitor, their +utterances are guarded and enigmatical. + +More than once I have spoken to them in these dim halls; and while +full of sympathy for their sufferings, and indignant as they +themselves can be against their oppressors, I have pleaded with them +to stay their hands, to seek not to destroy, but to reform. I preach +to them of the glories of civilization; I trace its history backward +through a dozen eras and many nations; I show them how slowly it +grew, and by what small and gradual accretions; I tell them how +radiantly it has burst forth in these latter centuries, with such +magnificent effulgence, until today man has all nature at his feet, +shackled and gyved, his patient logman. I tell them that a ruffian, +with one blow of his club, can destroy the life of a man; and that +all the doctors and scientists and philosophers of the world, working +together for ages, could not restore that which he has so rudely +extinguished. And so, I say to them, the civilization which it has +taken ten thousand years to create may be swept away in an hour; and +there shall be no power in the wit or wisdom of man to reestablish it. + +Most of them have listened respectfully; a few have tried to answer +me; some have mocked me. But it is as if one came where grouped +convicts stood, long imprisoned, who heard--with knives in their +hands--the thunderous blows of their friends as they battered down +the doors of their prison-house, and he should beg them not to go +forth, lest they should do harm to society! They will out, though the +heavens and the earth came together! One might as well whisper to +Niagara to cease falling, or counsel the resistless cyclone, in its +gyrating and terrible advance, to have a care of the rose-bushes. + + CHAPTER IX. + + THE POISONED KNIFE + +When we returned home, on Sunday evening, Max found the receptacle in +the wall which communicated with the pneumatic-tube system standing +open. In it he found a long communication in cipher. He read a few +lines with a startled look and then said: + +"Here is important news, Gabriel. It is written in one of the ciphers +of the Brotherhood, which I will translate to you. The number is that +of Rudolph--the number it is addressed to is my own. We know each +other in the Brotherhood, not by our names, but by the numbers given +us when we became members. Listen: + +"From number 28,263 M 2, to No. 160,053 P 4. Dated this 7:9, from the +house of the condemned, No. 826 B." + +"That," said Maximilian, "means the Prince Cabano." He continued to +read: + +"Startling events have occurred since I saw you. The former favorite +mistress of 826 B, who was displaced by Frederika, is a French girl, +Celestine d'Aublay. She resented her downfall bitterly, and she hates +Frederika with the characteristic vehemence of her race. She learned +from the talk of the servants that a new victim--Estella--had been +brought into the house, a girl of great beauty; and that Frederika +was trying to prevent 826 B from seeing her. A sudden thought took +possession of her mind; she would overthrow Frederika just as she +herself had been overthrown. Yesterday, Saturday afternoon, she +watched for 826 B in the hallways and chambers. The snuffling old +wretch has a fashion of prying around in all parts of the house, +under the fear that he is being robbed by the servants; and it was +not long until Celestine encountered him. She threw herself in his +way. + +"'Well, little one,' he said, chucking her under the chin, 'how have +you been? I have not seen your pretty face for a long time.' + +"'Indeed,' said she, 'you care very little now for my pretty face, or +that of any one else, since you have your new toy, Estella.' + +"'Estella!' he repeated, 'who is Estella?' + +"'Come, come,' she said laughing; 'that will not do! Master Rudolph +brings into the house a young girl of ravishing beauty, and weeks +afterwards you ask me who she is! I am not to be deceived that way. I +know you too well.' + +"'But really,' he replied, 'I have not seen her. This is the first I +have ever heard of her. Who is she?' + +"'Her name is Estella Washington,' replied Celestine; 'she is about +eighteen years old.' + +"'Estella Washington,' he said respectfully; 'that is a great name. +What is she like?' + +"'I have told you already,' was the reply, 'that she is of +magnificent beauty, tall, fair, stately, graceful and innocent., + +"'Indeed, I must see her.' + +"He hurried to his library and rang my bell. + +"'Rudolph,' he said, when I appeared, 'who is this Estella Washington +that you brought into the house some weeks since? Celestine has been +telling me about her. How comes it I have never seen her?' + +"My heart came into my mouth with a great leap; but I controlled my +excitement and replied: + +"'My lord, I reported to you the fact of the purchase some time +since, and the payment of $5,000 to an aunt of Estella.' + +"'True,' he said, 'I remember it now; but I was much occupied at the +time. How comes it, however, that she has been in the house and I +have never seen her?' + +"I determined not to betray Frederika, and so I replied: + +"'It must have been by accident, your lordship; and, moreover, +Estella is of a very quiet, retiring disposition, and has kept her +room a great part of the time since she came here.' + +"'Go to her and bring her here,' he said. + +"There was no help for it; so I proceeded to Estella's room. + +"'Miss Washington,' I said, 'I have bad news for you. The Prince +desires to see you!' + +"She rose up, very pale. + +'''My God,' she said, 'what shall I do?' + +"And then she began to fumble in the folds of her dress for the knife +your friend gave her. + +"'Be calm and patient,' I said; 'do nothing desperate. On the night +after next your friend will come for you. We must delay matters all +we can. Keep your room, and I will tell the Prince that you are too +sick to leave your bed, but hope to be well enough to pay your +respects to him to-morrow afternoon. We will thus gain twenty-four +hours' delay, and we may be able to use the same device again +to-morrow.' + +"But she was very much excited, and paced the room with hurried +steps, wringing her hands. To calm her I said: + +"'You are in no danger. You can lock your door. And see, come here,' +I said, and, advancing to one of the window sills, I lifted it up and +disclosed, neatly coiled within it, a ladder of cords, with stout +bamboo rounds. 'As a last resort,' I continued, 'you can drop this +out of the window and fly. All the rooms in this older part of the +palace are furnished with similar fire-escapes. You see that yellow +path below us; and there beyond the trees you may perceive a part of +the wall of the gardens; that path terminates at a little gate, and +here is a key that will unlock it. Study the ground well from your +windows. Your escape would, however, have to be made by night; but as +you would run some risk in crossing the grounds, and, when you passed +the gate, would find yourself in the midst of a strange world, +without a friend, you must only think of flight as your last resource +in the most desperate extremity. We must resort to cunning, until +your friends come for you, on Monday night. But be patient and +courageous. Remember, I am your friend, and my life is pledged to +your service.' + +"She turned upon me, and her penetrating eyes seemed to read my very +soul. + +"'How,' she said, 'can I trust you? You are a stranger to me. Worse +than that, you are the hired instrument of that monster--that dealer +in flesh and blood. You bought me and brought me here; and who are +your friends? They too are strangers to me. Why should I believe in +strangers when the one whom I loved, and in whom I placed +unquestioning trust, has betrayed me, and sold me to the most +dreadful fate?' + +"I hung my head. + +"'It chances,' I replied, humbly, 'that the instruments of vice may +sometimes loathe the work they do. The fearful executioner may, +behind his mask, hide the traces of grief and pity. I do not blame +you for your suspicions. I once had aspirations, perhaps as high, and +purity of soul nearly as great as your own. But what are we? The +creatures of fate; the victims of circumstances. We look upon the +Medusa-head of destiny, with its serpent curls, and our wills, if not +our souls, are turned into stone. God alone, who knows all, can judge +the heart of man. But I am pledged, by ties the most awful, to a +society which, however terrible its methods may be, is, in its grand +conceptions, charitable and just. My life would not be worth a day's +purchase if I did not defend you. One of your friends stands high in +that society.' + +"'Which one is that?' she asked eagerly. + +"'The smaller and darker one,' I replied. + +"'Can you tell me anything about the other?' she asked, and a slight +blush seemed to mantle her face, as if she were ashamed of the +question. + +"'Very little,' I replied; 'he is not a member of our Brotherhood; +but he is a brave man, and the friend of Mr. Maximilian can not be a +bad man.' + +"'No,' she said, thoughtfully; 'he is of a good and noble nature, and +it is in him I trust.' + +"'But,' said I, 'I must leave you, or the Prince will wonder at my +long absence.' + +"As I took my departure I heard her locking the door behind me. I +reported to the Prince that Miss Washington was quite ill, and +confined to her bed, but that she hoped to do herself the honor of +calling upon him the next day. He looked glum, but assented. Upon +leaving him, I called upon Frederika and requested her to come to my +room. In a few moments she appeared. After seating her I said: + +"'Miss Frederika, will you pardon me if I ask you a few questions +upon matters of importance to both of us?' + +"'Certainly,' she replied. + +"'In the first place,' I said, 'you regard me as your friend, do you +not? Have I not always shown a disposition to serve you?' + +"She replied with some pleasant smiles and assurances of friendship. + +"'Now let me ask you another question,' I continued. 'Do you +entertain friendly sentiments to Miss Estella?" + +"'Indeed I do,' she replied; 'she is a sweet-tempered, innocent and +gentle girl.' + +"'I am glad to hear it,' I said; 'did you know that the Prince has +discovered her, and has just sent me for her?' + +"Her large black eyes fairly blazed. + +"'Who has told him of her?' she asked, fiercely, and her voice rose +high and shrill. + +"'Your enemy, Miss Celestine,' I replied. 'I suspected as much,' she +said. + +"''I need not tell you,' I said, 'that Celestine's motive was to +supplant and humble you.' + +"'I understand that,' she replied, and her hands twitched nervously, +as if she would like to encounter her foe. + +"'Now let me ask you another question,' I continued. 'Would you not +be glad to see Estella safely out of this house?' + +"'Indeed I would,' she replied, eagerly. + +"'If I place my life in your hands, will you be true to me?' I asked. + +"She took me earnestly by the hand, and replied: + +"'Neither in life nor in death will I betray you., + +"'Then,' said I, 'I will tell you that Estella has friends who are as +anxious to get her away from this place as you are. They have +arranged to come for her on Monday night next. You must help me to +protect her from the Prince in the meantime, and to facilitate her +escape when the time comes.' + +"'I will do so,' she said; 'tell me what I can do now?' + +"'Make yourself very entertaining to the Prince,' I replied, 'and +keep his thoughts away from the stranger. Estella pleads sickness and +keeps her room; and we may be able to protect her in that way until +the fateful night arrives. And remember,' I said, touching her upon +the breast and looking earnestly into her eyes, for I have little +faith in such natures, 'that I am a member of a great secret society, +and if any mishap were to happen to me, through your agency, your own +life would pay the immediate forfeit.' + +"She shrank back affrighted, and assured me again of her good faith. +And as she desires to be quit of Estella, I think she will not betray +us." + +"SUNDAY EVENING, seven o'clock. + +"I resume my narrative. I have gone through dreadful scenes since I +laid down my pen. + +"This afternoon about five o'clock the Prince rang for me. + +"'Bring Estella,' he said. + +"I went at once to her room. I found her looking paler than usual. +She had the appearance of one that had not slept. + +"'Estella,' I said, 'the Prince has again sent for you. I shall +return and make the same excuse. Do not worry--all will be well. We +are one day nearer your deliverance.' + +"I returned and told the Prince that Estella was even worse than the +day before; that she had a high fever; and that she apologized for +not obeying his summons; but that she hoped by to-morrow to be well +enough to pay her respects to him. + +"He was in one of his sullen fits. I think Frederika had been +overdoing her blandishments, and he had become suspicious; for he is +one of the most cunning of men. + +"'Frederika is behind this business,' he said. + +"'Behind what business, my lord?' I asked. + +"'This sickness of Estella. Bring her to me, ill or well,' he +replied; 'I want to see her.' + +"He was in no humor to be trifled with; and so I returned to my room +to think it over. I saw that Estella would have to barricade herself +in her room. How could she support life in the meantime? The first +requisite was, therefore, food. I went at once to Michael, the cook's +assistant, who is a trusty friend of mine, and secured from him, +secretly and under a pledge of silence, food enough to last until the +next night. I hurried to Estella, told her of her danger, and gave +her the basket of provisions. I instructed her to lock her door. + +"'If they break it in,' I said, 'use your knife on the first man that +touches you. If they send you food or drink, do not use them. If they +attempt to chloroform you, stop up the pipe with soap. If the worst +comes to the worst, use the rope-ladder. If you manage to get outside +the garden gate, call a hack and drive to that address.' Here I gave +her your direction on a small piece of tissue paper. 'If you are +about to be seized, chew up the paper and swallow it. Do not in any +event destroy yourself,' I added, 'until the last desperate extremity +is reached; for you have a powerful organization behind you, and even +if recaptured you will be rescued. Good-by.' + +"She thanked me warmly, and as I left the room I heard her again lock +the door. + +"I returned to the Prince, and told him that Estella had said she was +too ill to leave her room, and that she refused to obey his summons. +Unaccustomed to contradiction, especially in his own house, he grew +furious. + +"'Call the servants,' he shouted; 'we will see who is master here!' + +"A few of the men came running; Frederika entered with them; some of +the women followed. We proceeded up stairs to Estella's door. The +Prince shook it violently. + +"'Open the door,' he cried, 'or I will break it down.' + +"I began to hope that he would rush to the doom he has so long +deserved. + +"The calm, steady voice of Estella was now heard from within the +room; speaking in a high and ringing tone: + +"'I appeal to my country. I demand the right to leave this house. I +am an American citizen. The Constitution of the United States forbids +human slavery. My fathers helped to found this government. No one has +the right to sell me into the most hideous bondage. I come of a great +and noble race. I demand my release.' + +"'Come, come, open the door,' cried the Prince, flinging himself +against it until it quivered. + +"The voice of Estella was heard again, in solemn tones: + +"'The man who enters here dies!' + +"The cowardly brute recoiled at once, with terror on every feature of +his face. + +"'Who will break down that door,' he asked, 'and bring out that woman? + +"There was a dead silence for a moment; then Joachim, a +broad-shouldered, superserviceable knave, who had always tried to +ingratiate himself with the Prince by spying upon the rest of the +servants and tattling, stepped forward, with an air of bravado, and +said, 'I will bring her out.' + +"'Go ahead,' said the Prince, sullenly. + +"Joachim made a rush at the door; it trembled and creaked, but did +not yield; he moved farther back, drew his breath hard, and,--strong +as a bull,--went at it with a furious rush; the lock gave way, the +door flew open and Joachim sprawled upon the floor. I could see +Estella standing back near the window, her right arm was raised, and +I caught the glitter of something in her hand. In an instant Joachim +was on his feet and approached her; I saw him grasp her; there was a +slight scuffle, and the next moment Joachim rushed out of the room, +pale as death, with his hand to his breast, crying out: + +"'Oh! my God! she has stabbed me.' + +"He tore open his shirt bosom, and there upon his hairy breast was a +bloody spot; but the knife had struck the breastbone and inflicted +only a shallow flesh-wound. Joachim laughed, replaced his shirt, and +said: + +"'Ah! I might have known a girl's hand could not strike a deadly +blow. I will bring her out, my lord. Get me a rope.' + +"He turned toward me, as he spoke; but on the instant I saw a sharp +spasm contract his features; he clapped his hand to his heart; a look +of surprise and then of terror came over his face. + +"'Oh, my God!' he cried, 'I am poisoned.' + +"The most awful shrieks I ever heard broke from him; and the next +moment his limbs seemed to lose their strength, and he fell in a heap +on the floor; then he rolled over and over; mighty convulsions swept +through him; he groaned, cried, shrieked, foamed at the mouth; there +was a sudden snorting sound, and he stiffened out and was dead. + +"We fell back appalled. Then in the doorway appeared the figure of +Estella, her blue eyes bright as stars, her long golden hair falling +like a cloak to her waist, the red-tipped knife in her hand; she +looked like a Gothic priestess--a Vala of Odin--with the reeking +human sacrifice already at her feet. The blood of a long line of +heroic ancestors thrilled in her veins. Stepping over the dead body, +already beginning to swell and grow spotted with many colors, like a +snake, she advanced toward the Prince, who stood in his +dressing-gown, trembling, and nearly as bloated, pale and hideous as +the wretched Joachim. + +"'Is it you,' she said--'you, the dealer in human flesh and blood, +that has bought me? Come to me, and take possession of your +bond-woman!' + +"With a cry of terror the Prince turned his back and fled as fast as +his legs would carry him, while all the rest of us followed +pell-mell. At the end of the hall is a large iron door, used for +protection in case of fire. + +"'Quick,' shrieked the Prince, 'lock the door! lock the door!' + +"This was done, and he stopped to pant and blow in safety. When he +had recovered his breath, he cried out: + +"'Send for the police! We will have her chloroformed.' + +"I touched Frederika on the arm;--she followed me into an open room. + +"'Tell him,' I whispered to her, quickly, 'tell him that if he calls +in the police there will have to be an inquest over the dead body of +Joachim; there may be questions asked that will be hard to answer. +The girl will have to be taken off to be tried for murder, and he +will lose her. If he attempts to use chloroform she will stab herself +with the poisoned knife. Tell him you will drug her food with +narcotics; that hunger will eventually compel her to eat; and that +when she sleeps she may be made a prisoner, and the knife taken away +from her.' + +"The quick-witted girl saw the force of these suggestions, and ran +after her paramour. She succeeded in her mission. He fears the coming +outbreak, whispers of which are now heard everywhere. He has recalled +the order for the police. He stipulates, however--for he is +suspicious of Frederika, and fears treachery--that he is to drug the +food himself and see it placed in the room; and he has stationed two +trusty guards at the door of Estella's chamber, who are to be changed +every eight hours, and who are instructed that, whenever they think +she is asleep, one of them is to notify him; and carpenters will then +quietly cut the door from its hinges, and they will enter, disarm her +and make her a prisoner. Estella, I find, has barricaded her door +with her bedstead and the rest of the furniture. If she sleeps she +will wake with any attempt to enter the room; but she is not likely, +in her present state of high-wrought excitement, to sleep at all; and +she will not touch the drugged food sent in to her. I have arranged +with Frederika, who has great authority in the house, that on Monday +night the two watchmen shall be furnished with some refreshment +containing morphine; and when they are sound asleep, and the Prince +busy with his guests, she or I will go to the room, carrying +Estella's masculine disguise, and then bring her to my room, where +she will join your friend. + +"I do not think she is in any present danger. The poisoned knife is +her safeguard. The whole household, after witnessing its terrible +potency, fear it as they would the fangs of a rattlesnake. It was a +lucky thought that left it with her. + +"If your friend does not fail us, all will be well. + + "Farewell. + +28,263 M 2." + +I need not tell you, my dear Heinrich, that we both followed this +narrative with the most rapt attention and the most intense feeling. + +"Brave girl!" I cried, when Maximilian stopped reading, "she is worth +dying for." "Or living for," said he, "which is better still. How she +rose to the occasion!" + +"Yes," I said, "that was blood." + +"There is as good stuff in the ranks," he replied, "as ever came out +of them. The law of heredity is almost as unreliable as the law of +variation. Everything rises out of the mud, and everything goes back +into it." + +"Do you think," I asked, after a pause, "that she will be safe until +to-morrow night? Should I not go to her at once? Could I not see +Rudolph and have her descend the rope-ladder, and I meet her and +bring her here?" + +"No," he replied, it is now too late for that; it is midnight. You +can place full faith in Rudolph; his penetration and foresight are +extraordinary. He will not sleep until Estella is out of that house; +and his busy brain will be full of schemes in the meantime. The best +thing we can do now is to go to bed and prepare, by a good long +sleep, for the excitements and dangers of to-morrow night. Do not +fear for Estella. She has ceased to be a child. In an hour she has +risen to the full majesty of her womanhood." + + CHAPTER X. + + PREPARATIONS FOR TO-NIGHT + +The next morning I found Maximilian in conference with a stranger; a +heavily-built, large-jawed, uncommunicative man. As I was about to +withdraw my friend insisted that I should sit down. + +"We have been making the necessary arrangements for next Monday +night," he said. "The probabilities are great that we may be followed +when we leave the house, and traced. It will not do to go, as Rudolph +suggested, to the residence of any friend, and pass through it to +another carriage. The Oligarchy would visit a terrible vengeance on +the head of the man who so helped us to escape. I have instructed +this gentleman to secure us, through an agent, three empty houses in +different parts of the city, and he has done so; they stand in the +center of blocks, and have rear exits, opening upon other streets or +alleys, at right angles with the streets on which the houses stand. +Then in these back streets he is to have covered carriages with the +fleetest horses he can obtain. Our pursuers, thinking we are safely +housed, may return to report our whereabouts to their masters. +Estella being missed the next day, the police will visit the house, +but they will find no one there to punish; nothing but curtains over +the windows." + +"But," said I, "will they not follow the carriage that brought us +there, and thus identify its owner and driver, and force them to tell +who employed them?" + +"Of course; I have thought of that, and provided for it. There are +members of the Brotherhood who have been brought from other cities in +disguise, and three of these will have another carriage, which, +leaving the Prince's grounds soon after we do, will pursue our +pursuers. They will be well armed and equipped with hand-grenades of +dynamite. If they perceive that the spies cannot be shaken off, or +that they propose to follow any of our carriages to their stables, it +will be their duty to swiftly overtake the pursuers, and, as they +pass them, fling the explosives under the horses' feet, disabling or +killing them. It will take the police some time to obtain other +horses, and before they can do so, all traces of us will be lost. If +necessary, our friends will not hesitate to blow up the spies as well +as the horses." + +"But," I suggested, "will they not identify the man who rented the +houses?" + +Maximilian laughed. + +"Why," said he, "my dear Gabriel, you would make a conspirator +yourself. We will have to get you into the Brotherhood. We are too +old to be caught that way. The man who rented the houses has been +brought here from a city hundreds of miles distant; he was thoroughly +disguised. As soon as he engaged the buildings, and paid one month's +rent in advance for each, he left the city; and before to-morrow +night he will be home again, and without his disguise; and he could +never be suspected or identified as the same man. And," he added, "I +do not propose that you shall go into that lion's den unsupported. We +will have twenty of the Brotherhood, under Rudolph's management, +scattered through the household, as servants; and three hundred more +will be armed to the teeth and near at hand in the neighborhood; and +if it becomes necessary they will storm the house and burn it over +the villians' heads, rather than that you or Estella shall come to +harm." + +I pressed his hand warmly, and thanked him for his care of me, and of +one so dear to me. + +He laughed. "That is all right," he said; "good and unselfish men are +so scarce in this world that one cannot do too much for them. We must +be careful lest, like the dodo and the great auk, the breed becomes +extinct." + +"But," said I, "may not the Oligarchy find you out, even here?" + +"No," he replied, "my identity is lost. Here I live, in my real +appearance, under a false name. But I have a house elsewhere, in +which I dwell disguised, but under my real name, and with an unreal +character. Here I am a serious, plotting conspirator; there I am a +dissipated, reckless, foolish spendthrift, of whom no man need be +afraid. It chanced that after certain events had occurred, of which I +may tell you some day, I did not return home for several years; and +then I came for revenge, with ample preparations for my own safety. I +resumed my old place in society with a new appearance and a new +character. That personage is constantly watched by spies; but he +spends his time in drunkenness and deeds of folly; and his enemies +laugh and say, 'He will never trouble us; he will be dead soon.' And +so, with the real name and the unreal appearance and character in one +place, and a false name, but the real appearance and character, in +another, I lead a dual life and thwart the cunning of my enemies, and +prepare for the day of my vengeance." + +His eyes glowed with a baleful light as he spoke, and I could see +that some great injustice, "like eager droppings into milk," had +soured an otherwise loving and affectionate nature. I put my hand on +his and said: + +"My dear Max, your enemies are my enemies and your cause my cause, +from henceforth forever." + +His face beamed with delight, as he replied: + +"I may some day, my dear Gabriel, hold you to that pledge." + +"Agreed," I responded; "at all times I am ready." + +He gave his agent a roll of money, and with mutual courtesies they +separated. + + CHAPTER XI. + + HOW THE WORLD CAME TO BE RUINED + +We were uneasy, restless, longing for the night to come. To while +away the time we conversed upon subjects that were near our hearts. + +I said to Maximilian while he paced the room: + +"How did this dreadful state of affairs, in which the world now finds +itself, arise? Were there no warnings uttered by any intelligent men? +Did the world drift blindly and unconsciously into this condition?" + +"No," said Maximilian, going to his library; "no; even a hundred +years ago the air was full of prophecies. Here," he said, laying his +hand upon a book, is _The Century Magazine_, of February, 1889; and +on page 622 we read: + + For my own part, I must confess my fears that, unless some + important change is made in the constitution of our voting + population, _the breaking strain upon our political system + will come within half a century_. Is it not evident that + our present tendencies are in the wrong direction? The + rapidly increasing use of money in elections, for the + undisguised purchase of votes, and the growing disposition + to tamper with the ballot and the tally-sheet, are some of + the symptoms. . . . Do you think that you will convince the + average election officer that it is a great crime to cheat + in the return of votes, when he knows that a good share of + those votes have been purchased with money? No; the + machinery of the election will not be kept free from fraud + while the atmosphere about the polls reeks with bribery. + _The system will all go down together_. In a constituency + which can be bribed all the forms of law tend swiftly to + decay. + +"And here," he said, picking up another volume, "is a reprint of the +choicest gems of _The North American Review_. In the number for +March, 1889, Gen. L. S. Bryce, a member of Congress, said: + + We live in a commercial age--not in a military age; and the + shadow that is stealing over the American landscape + partakes of a commercial character. In short, _the shadow + is of an unbridled plutocracy_, caused, created and + cemented in no slight degree by legislative, aldermanic and + congressional action; _a plutocracy that is far more + wealthy than any aristocracy that has ever crossed the + horizon of the world's history, and one that has been + produced in a shorter consecutive period_; the names of + whose members are emblazoned, not on the pages of their + nation's glory, but of its peculations; who represent no + struggle for their country's liberties, but for its boodle; + no contests for Magna Charta,{sic} but railroad charters; + and whose octopus-grip is extending over every branch of + industry; a plutocracy which controls the price of the + bread that we eat, the price of the sugar that sweetens our + cup, the price of the oil that lights us on our way, the + price of the very coffins in which we are finally buried; a + plutocracy which encourages no kindly relation between + landlord and tenant, which has so little sense of its + political duties as even to abstain from voting, and which, + in short, by its effrontery, is already causing the + unthinking masses to seek relief in communism, in + single-taxism, and in every other ism, which, if ever + enforced, would infallibly make their second state worse + than the first. + +"And here are hundreds of warnings of the same kind. Even the +President of the United States, in that same year, 1889, uttered this +significant language: + + Those who use unlawful methods, if moved by no higher + motive than the selfishness that prompted them, may well + stop and inquire, What is to be the end of this? + +"Bishop Potter, of New York, in the national ceremonies, held April +30, 1889, which marked the centennial anniversary of the first +inauguration of George Washington, spoke of the plutocracy, which had +already reached alarming proportions, and expressed his doubts +whether the Republic would ever celebrate another centennial. +Afterwards, in explaining his remarks, he said: + + When I speak of this as the era of the plutocrats, nobody + can misunderstand me. Everybody has recognized the rise of + the money power. Its growth not merely stifles the + independence of the people, but the blind believers in this + omnipotent power of money assert that its liberal use + condones every offense. The pulpit does not speak out as it + should. These plutocrats are the enemies of religion, as + they are of the state. And, not to mince matters, I will + say that, while I had the politicians in mind prominently, + there "are others." I tell you I have heard the corrupt use + of money in elections and the sale of the sacred right of + the ballot openly defended by ministers of the gospel. I + may find it necessary to put such men of the sacred office + in the public pillory. + +"And Bishop Spalding, of Peoria, Illinois, about the same time, said: + + Mark my words, the saloon in America has become a public + nuisance. The liquor trade, by meddling with politics and + corrupting politics, has become a menace and a danger. + Those who think and those who love America and those who + love liberty are going to bring this moral question into + politics more and more; also this question of bribery, this + question of lobbying, this question of getting measures + through state and national legislatures by corrupt means. + They are going to be taken hold of. Our press, which has + done so much to enlighten our people, which represents so + much that is good in our civilization, must also be + reformed. It must cease to pander to such an extent to the + low and sensual + + appetites of man. My God, man is animal enough! You don't + want to pander to his pruriency! You don't want to pander + to the beast that is in him. . . . Our rich men--and they + are numerous, and their wealth is great--their number and + their wealth will increase--but our rich men _must do their + duty or perish_. I tell you, in America, we will not + tolerate vast wealth in the hands of men who do nothing for + the people. + +"And here is a still more remarkable article, by Dr. William Barry, +in _The Forum_ for April, 1889. He speaks of-- + + The concrete system of capitalism; which in its present + shape is not much more than a century old, and goes back to + Arkwright's introduction of the spinning-jenny in + 1776--that notable year--as to its hegira or divine epoch + of creation. + +"And again he says: + + This it is that justifies Von Hartmann's description of the + nineteenth century as "the most irreligious that has ever + been seen;" this and not the assault upon dogma or the + decline of the churches. There is a depth below atheism, + below anti-religion, and into that the age has fallen. It + is the callous indifference to everything which does not + make for wealth. . . . What is eloquently described as "the + progress of civilization," as "material prosperity," and + "unexampled wealth," or, more modestly, as "the rise of the + industrial middle class," becomes, when we look into it + with eyes purged from economic delusions, the creation of a + "lower and lowest" class, without land of their own, + without homes, tools or property beyond the strength of + their hands; whose lot is more helplessly wretched than any + poet of the Inferno has yet imagined. Sunk in the mire of + ignorance, want and immorality, they seem to have for their + only gospel the emphatic words attributed to Mr. Ruskin: + "If there is a next world they _will_ be damned; and if + there is none, they are damned already." .--- Have all + these things come to pass that the keeper of a whisky-shop + in California may grow rich on the spoils of drunken miners, + + and great financiers dictate peace and war to venerable + European monarchies? The most degraded superstition that + ever called itself religion has not preached such a dogma + as this. It falls below fetichism. The worship of the + almighty dollar, incarnate in the self-made capitalist, is + a deification at which Vespasian himself, with his "_Ut + puto, deus fio_," would stare and gasp. + +"And this remarkable article concludes with these words of prophecy: + + The agrarian difficulties of Russia, France, Italy, + Ireland, and of wealthy England, show us that ere long the + urban and the rural populations will be standing in the + same camp. They will be demanding the abolition of that + great and scandalous paradox whereby, though production has + increased three or four times as much as the mouths it + should fill, those mouths are empty. The backs it should + clothe are naked; the heads it should shelter, homeless; + the brains it should feed, dull or criminal, and the souls + it should help to save, brutish. Surely it is time that + science, morality and religion should speak out. A great + change is coming. It is even now at our doors. Ought not + men of good will to consider how they shall receive it, so + that its coming may be peaceable? + +"And here," Max added, "is the great work of Prof. Scheligan, in +which he quotes from _The Forum_, of December, 1889, p. 464, a +terrible story of the robberies practiced on the farmers by railroad +companies and money-lenders. The railroads in 1882 took, he tells us, +one-half of the entire wheat crop of Kansas to carry the other half +to market! In the thirty-eight years following 1850 the railroad +interest of the United States increased 1580 per cent.; the banking +interest 918 per cent., and the farming interest only 252 per cent. A +man named Thomas G. Shearman showed, in 1889, that 100,000 persons in +the United States would, in thirty years, at the rate at which wealth +was being concentrated in the hands of the few, own _three-fifths of +all the property of the entire country_. The _American Economist_ +asserted, in 1889, that in twenty-five years the number of people in +the United States who owned their own homes had fallen from +five-eighths to three-eighths. A paper called _The Progress_, of +Boston, in 1889, gave the following significant and prophetic figures: + + The eloquent Patrick Henry said: "We can only judge the + future by the past." + + Look at the past: + + When Egypt went down 2 per cent. of her population owned 97 + per cent. of her wealth. The people were starved to death. + + When Babylon went down 2 per cent. of her population owned + all the wealth. The people were starved to death. + + When Persia went down 1 per cent. of her population owned + the land. + + When Rome went down 1,800 men owned all the known world. + + There are about 40,000,000 people in England, Ireland and + Wales, and 100,000 people own all the land in the United + Kingdom. + + For the past twenty years the United States has rapidly + followed in the steps of these old nations. Here are the + figures: + + In 1850 capitalists owned 371/2 per cent. of the nation's + wealth. + + In 1870 they owned 63 percent. + +"In 1889, out of 1,500,000 people living in New York City, 1,100,000 +dwelt in tenement-houses. + +"At the same time farm-lands, east and west, had fallen, in +twenty-five years, to one-third or one-half their cost. State +Assessor Wood, of New York, declared, in 1889, that, in his opinion, +'in a few decades _there will be none but tenant farmers in this +State_.' + +"In 1889 the farm mortgages in the Western States amounted to three +billion four hundred and twenty-two million dollars." + +"Did these wonderful utterances and most significant statistics," I +asked, "produce no effect on that age?" + +"None at all," he replied. "'Wisdom cries in the streets, and no man +regards her.' The small voice of Philosophy was unheard amid the +blare of the trumpets that heralded successful knavery; the rabble +ran headlong to the devil after gauds and tinsel." + +"Have there been," I asked, "no later notes of warning of the coming +catastrophe?" + +"Oh, yes," he replied; "ten thousand. All through the past century +the best and noblest of each generation, wherever and whenever they +could find newspapers or magazines that dared to publish their +utterances, poured forth, in the same earnest tones, similar +prophecies and appeals. But in vain. Each generation found the +condition of things more desperate and hopeless: every year +multiplied the calamities of the world. The fools could not see that +a great cause must continue to operate until checked by some higher +power. And here there was no higher power that desired to check it. +As the domination and arrogance of the ruling class increased, the +capacity of the lower classes to resist, within the limits of law and +constitution, decreased. Every avenue, in fact, was blocked by +corruption. juries, courts, legislatures, congresses, they were as if +they were not. The people were walled in by impassable barriers. +Nothing was left them but the primal, brute instincts of the animal +man, and upon these they fell back, and the Brotherhood of +Destruction arose. But no words can tell the sufferings that have +been endured by the good men, here and there, who, during the past +century, tried to save mankind. Some were simply ostracised from +social intercourse with their caste; others were deprived of their +means of living and forced down into the ranks of the wretched; and +still others"--and here, I observed, his face grew ashy pale, and the +muscles about his mouth twitched nervously--"still others had their +liberty sworn away by purchased perjury, and were consigned to +prisons, where they still languish, dressed in the hideous garb of +ignominy, and performing the vile tasks of felons." After a pause, +for I saw he was strangely disturbed, I said to him: + +"How comes it that the people have so long submitted to these great +wrongs? Did they not resist?" + +"They did," he replied; "but the fruit of the tree of evil was not +yet ripe. At the close of the nineteenth century, in all the great +cities of America, there was a terrible outbreak of the workingmen; +they destroyed much property and many lives, and held possession of +the cities for several days. But the national government called for +volunteers, and hundreds of thousands of warlike young men, sons of +farmers, sprang to arms: and, after several terrible battles, they +suppressed the revolution, with the slaughter of tens of thousands of +those who took part in it; while afterwards the revengeful Oligarchy +sent thousands of others to the gallows. And since then, in Europe +and America, there have been other outbreaks, but all of them +terminated in the same way. The condition of the world has, however, +steadily grown worse and worse; the laboring classes have become more +and more desperate. The farmers' sons could, for generations, be +counted upon to fight the workmen; but the fruit has been steadily +ripening. Now the yeomanry have lost possession of their lands; their +farms have been sold under their feet; cunning laws transferred the +fruit of their industry into the pockets of great combinations, who +loaned it back to them again, secured by mortgages; and, as the +pressure of the same robbery still continued, they at last lost their +homes by means of the very wealth they had themselves produced. Now a +single nabob owns a whole county; and a state is divided between a +few great loan associations; and the men who once tilled the fields, +as their owners, are driven to the cities to swell the cohorts of the +miserable, or remain on the land a wretched peasantry, to contend for +the means of life with vile hordes of Mongolian coolies. And all this +in sight of the ruins of the handsome homes their ancestors once +occupied! Hence the materials for armies have disappeared. Human +greed has eaten away the very foundations on which it stood. And of +the farmers who still remain nearly all are now members of our +Brotherhood. When the Great Day comes, and the nation sends forth its +call for volunteers, as in the past, that cry will echo in desolate +places; or it will ring through the triumphant hearts of savage and +desperate men who are hastening to the banquet of blood and +destruction. And the wretched, yellow, under-fed coolies, with +women's garments over their effeminate limbs, will not have the +courage or the desire or the capacity to make soldiers and defend +their oppressors." + +"But have not the Oligarchy standing armies?" I asked. + +"Yes. In Europe, however, they have been constrained, by inability to +wring more taxes from the impoverished people, to gradually diminish +their numbers. There, you know, the real government is now a coterie +of bankers, mostly Israelites; and the kings and queens, and +so-called presidents, are mere toys and puppets in their hands. All +idea of national glory, all chivalry, all pride, all battles for +territory or supremacy have long since ceased. Europe is a banking +association conducted exclusively for the benefit of the bankers. +Bonds take the place of national aspirations. To squeeze the wretched +is the great end of government; to toil and submit, the destiny of +the peoples. + +"The task which Hannibal attempted, so disastrously, to subject the +Latin and mixed-Gothic races of Europe to the domination of the +Semitic blood, as represented in the merchant-city of Carthage, has +been successfully accomplished in these latter days by the cousins of +the Phœnicians, the Israelites. The nomadic children of Abraham +have fought and schemed their way, through infinite depths of +persecution, from their tents on the plains of Palestine, to a power +higher than the thrones of Europe. The world is to-day Semitized. The +children of Japhet lie prostrate slaves at the feet of the children +of Shem; and the sons of Ham bow humbly before their august dominion. + +"The standing armies of Europe are now simply armed police; for, as +all the nations are owned by one power--the money power--there is no +longer any danger of their assaulting each other. But in the greed of +the sordid commercial spirit which dominates the continent they have +reduced, not only the numbers, but the pay of the soldiers, until it +is little better than the compensation earned by the wretched +peasantry and the mechanics; while years of peace and plunder have +made the rulers careless and secure. Hence our powerful association +has spread among these people like wild-fire: the very armies are +honeycombed with our ideas, and many of the soldiers belong to the +Brotherhood. + +"Here, in America, they have been wise enough to pay the soldiers of +their standing army better salaries; and hence they do not so readily +sympathize with our purposes. But we outnumber them ten to one, and +do not fear them. There is, however, one great obstacle which we have +not yet seen the way to overcome. More than a century ago, you know, +dirigible air-ships were invented. The Oligarchy have a large force +of several thousands of these, sheathed with that light but strong +metal, aluminium; in popular speech they are known as _The Demons_. +Sailing over a hostile force, they drop into its midst great bombs, +loaded with the most deadly explosives, mixed with bullets; and, +where one of these strikes the ground, it looks like the crater of an +extinct volcano; while leveled rows of dead are strewed in every +direction around it. But this is not all. Some years since a French +chemist discovered a dreadful preparation, a subtle poison, which, +falling upon the ground, being heavier than the air and yet +expansive, rolls, 'like a slow blot that spreads,' steadily over the +earth in all directions, bringing sudden death to those that breathe +it. The Frenchman sold the secret of its preparation to the Oligarchy +for a large sum; but he did not long enjoy his ill-gotten wealth. He +was found dead in his bed the next day, poisoned by the air from a +few drops of his own invention; killed, it is supposed, by the +governments, so that they would possess forever the exclusive +monopoly of this terrible instrument of slaughter. It is upon this +that they principally rely for defense from the uprisings of the +oppressed people. These air-ships, 'the Demons,' are furnished with +bombs, loaded with this powerful poison; and, when an outbreak +occurs, they sail, like great, foul birds, dark-winged and terrible, +over the insurgents; they let fall a single bomb, which inspires such +terror in the multitude that those not instantaneously killed by the +poison fly with the utmost speed; and the contest is at an end. We +have long labored to bring the men who arm these air-ships, and who +manufacture this poison, into our organization, but so far without +success. The Oligarchy knows their value, and pays them well. We +have, however, bribed one or two of their men, not themselves in the +secret, but who have inspired the others to make demand after demand +upon the government for increased pay, knowing that they held +everything in their power. The Oligarchy has been constrained to +yield to these demands, which have only led, under our inspiration, +to still greater claims; and it is our hope that before long the +rulers will refuse to go farther in that direction; and then, in the +discontent that will inevitably follow, the men will yield to our +approaches. It will be the old story over again--the army that was +called in to defend effete Rome at last took possession of the empire +and elected the emperors. This is the fate that cruelty and injustice +ultimately bring upon their own heads--they are devoured by their +instruments. As Manfred says: + + "'The spirits I have raised abandon me; + The spells that I had recked of torture me.'" + +"You are right," I replied; "there is nothing that will insure +permanent peace but universal justice: that is the only soil that +grows no poisons. Universal justice means equal opportunities for all +men and a repression by law of those gigantic abnormal selfishnesses +which ruin millions for the benefit of thousands. In the old days +selfishness took the form of conquest, and the people were reduced to +serfs. Then, in a later age, it assumed the shape of individual +robbery and murder. Laws were made against these crimes. Then it +broke forth in the shape of subtle combinations, 'rings,' or +'trusts,' as they called them, corporations, and all the other +cunning devices of the day, some of which scarcely manifested +themselves on the surface, but which transferred the substance of one +man into the pockets of another, and reduced the people to slavery as +completely and inevitably as ever the robber barons of old did the +original owners of the soil of Europe." + + CHAPTER XII. + + GABRIEL'S UTOPIA + +"But what would you do, my good Gabriel," said Maximilian, smiling, +"if the reformation of the world were placed in your hands? Every man +has an Utopia in his head. Give me some idea of yours." + +"First," I said, "I should do away with all interest on money. +Interest on money is the root and ground of the world's troubles. It +puts one man in a position of safety, while another is in a condition +of insecurity, and thereby it at once creates a radical distinction +in human society." + +"How do you make that out?" he asked. + +"The lender takes a mortgage on the borrower's land or house, or +goods, for, we will say, one-half or one-third their value; the +borrower then assumes all the chances of life in his efforts to repay +the loan. If he is a farmer, he has to run the risk of the fickle +elements. Rains may drown, droughts may burn up his crops. If a +merchant, he encounters all the hazards of trade; the bankruptcy of +other tradesmen; the hostility of the elements sweeping away +agriculture, and so affecting commerce; the tempests that smite his +ships, etc. If a mechanic, he is still more dependent upon the +success of all above him, and the mutations of commercial prosperity. +He may lose employment; he may sicken; he may die. But behind all +these risks stands the money-lender, in perfect security. The failure +of his customer only enriches him; for he takes for his loan property +worth twice or thrice the sum he has advanced upon it. Given a +million of men and a hundred years of time, and the slightest +advantage possessed by any one class among the million must result, +in the long run, in the most startling discrepancies of condition. A +little evil grows like a ferment--it never ceases to operate; it is +always at work. Suppose I bring before you a handsome, rosy-cheeked +young man, full of life and hope and health. I touch his lip with a +single _bacillus of phthisis pulmonalis_--consumption. It is +invisible to the eye; it is too small to be weighed. judged by all +the tests of the senses, it is too insignificant to be thought of; +but it has the capacity to multiply itself indefinitely. The youth +goes off singing. Months, perhaps years, pass before the deadly +disorder begins to manifest itself; but in time the step loses its +elasticity; the eyes become dull; the roses fade from the cheeks; the +strength departs, and eventually the joyous youth is but a shell--a +cadaverous, shrunken form, inclosing a shocking mass of putridity; +and death ends the dreadful scene. Give one set of men in a community +a financial advantage over the rest, however slight--it may be almost +invisible--and at the end of centuries that class so favored will own +everything and wreck the country. A penny, they say, put out at +interest the day Columbus sailed from Spain, and compounded ever +since, would amount now to more than all the assessed value of all +the property, real, personal and mixed, on the two continents of +North and South America." + +"But," said Maximilian, "how would the men get along who wanted to +borrow?" + +"The necessity to borrow is one of the results of borrowing. The +disease produces the symptoms. The men who are enriched by borrowing +are infinitely less in number than those who are ruined by it; and +every disaster to the middle class swells the number and decreases +the opportunities of the helplessly poor. Money in itself is +valueless. It becomes valuable only by use--by exchange for things +needful for life or comfort. If money could not be loaned, it would +have to be put out by the owner of it in business enterprises, which +would employ labor; and as the enterprise would not then have to +support a double burden--to wit, the man engaged in it and the usurer +who sits securely upon his back--but would have to maintain only the +former usurer--that is, the present employer--its success would be +more certain; the general prosperity of the community would be +increased thereby, and there would be therefore more enterprises, +more demand for labor, and consequently higher wages. Usury kills off +the enterprising members of a community by bankrupting them, and +leaves only the very rich and the very poor; for every dollar the +employers of labor pay to the lenders of money has to come eventually +out of the pockets of the laborers. Usury is therefore the cause of +the first aristocracy, and out of this grow all the other +aristocracies. Inquire where the money came from that now oppresses +mankind, in the shape of great corporations, combinations, etc., and +in nine cases out of ten you will trace it back to the fountain of +interest on money loaned. The coral island is built out of the bodies +of dead coral insects; large fortunes are usually the accumulations +of wreckage, and every dollar represents disaster." + +"Well," said Maximilian, "having abolished usury, in your Utopia, +what would you do next?" + +"I would set to work to make a list of all the laws, or parts of +laws, or customs, or conditions which, either by commission or +omission, gave any man an advantage over any other man; or which +tended to concentrate the wealth of the community in the hands of a +few. And having found out just what these wrongs or advantages were, +I would abolish them _instanter_." + +"Well, let us suppose," said Maximilian, "that you were not +immediately murdered by the men whose privileges you had +destroyed--even as the Gracchi were of old--what would you do next? +Men differ in every detail. Some have more industry, or more +strength, or more cunning, or more foresight, or more acquisitiveness +than others. How are you to prevent these men from becoming richer +than the rest?" + +"I should not try to," I said. "These differences in men are +fundamental, and not to be abolished by legislation; neither are the +instincts you speak of in themselves injurious. Civilization, in +fact, rests upon them. It is only in their excess that they become +destructive. It is right and wise and proper for men to accumulate +sufficient wealth to maintain their age in peace, dignity and plenty, +and to be able to start their children into the arena of life +sufficiently equipped. A thousand men in a community worth $10,000 or +$50,000, or even $100,000 each, may be a benefit, perhaps a blessing; +but one man worth fifty or one hundred millions, or, as we have them +now-a-days, one thousand millions, is a threat against the safety and +happiness of every man in the world. I should establish a maximum +beyond which no man could own property. I should not stop his +accumulations when he had reached that point, for with many men +accumulation is an instinct; but I should require him to invest the +surplus, under the direction of a governmental board of management, +in great works for the benefit of the laboring classes. He should +establish schools, colleges, orphan asylums, hospitals, model +residences, gardens, parks, libraries, baths, places of amusement, +music-halls, sea-side excursions in hot weather, fuel societies in +cold weather, etc., etc. I should permit him to secure immortality by +affixing his name to his benevolent works; and I should honor him +still further by placing his statue in a great national gallery set +apart to perpetuate forever the memory of the benefactors of the +race." + +"But," said Maximilian, with a smile, "it would not take long for +your rich men, with their surplus wealth, to establish all those +works you speak of. What would you do with the accumulations of the +rest?" + +"Well," said I, "we should find plenty to do. We would put their +money, for instance, into a great fund and build national railroads, +that would bring the productions of the farmers to the workmen, and +those of the workmen to the farmers, at the least cost of +transportation, and free from the exactions of speculators and +middlemen. Thus both farmers and workmen would live better, at less +expense and with less toil." + +"All very pretty," said he; "but your middlemen would starve. + +"Not at all," I replied; "the cunning never starve. There would be +such a splendid era of universal prosperity that they would simply +turn their skill and shrewdness into some new channels, in which, +however, they would have to give something of benefit, as an +equivalent for the benefits they received. Now they take the cream, +and butter, and beef, while some one else has to raise, feed and milk +the cow." + +"But," said he, "all this would not help our farmers in their present +condition--they are blotted off the land." + +"True," I replied; "but just as I limited a man's possible wealth, so +should I limit the amount of land he could own. I would fix a maximum +of, say, 100 or 500 acres, or whatever amount might be deemed just +and reasonable. I should abolish all corporations, or turn them back +into individual partnerships. Abraham Lincoln, in the great civil war +of the last century, gave the Southern insurgents so many days in +which to lay down their arms or lose their slaves. In the same way I +should grant one or two years' time, in which the great owners of +land should sell their estates, in small tracts, to actual occupants, +to be paid for in installments, on long time, without interest. And +if they did not do so, then, at the end of the period prescribed, I +should confiscate the lands and sell them, as the government in the +old time sold the public lands, for so much per acre, to actual +settlers, and turn the proceeds over to the former owners." + +"But, as you had abolished interest on money, there could be no +mortgages, and the poor men would starve to death before they could +raise a crop." + +"Then," I replied, "I should invoke the power of the nation, as was +done in that great civil war of 1861, and issue paper money, +receivable for all taxes, and secured by the guarantee of the faith +and power of five hundred million people; and make advances to carry +these ruined peasants beyond the first years of distress--that money +to be a loan to them, without interest, and to be repaid as a tax on +their land. Government is only a machine to insure justice and help +the people, and we have not yet developed half its powers. And we are +under no more necessity to limit ourselves to the governmental +precedents of our ancestors than we are to confine ourselves to the +narrow boundaries of their knowledge, or their inventive skill, or +their theological beliefs. The trouble is that so many seem to regard +government as a divine something which has fallen down upon us out of +heaven, and therefore not to be improved upon or even criticised; +while the truth is, it is simply a human device to secure human +happiness, and in itself has no more sacredness than a wheelbarrow or +a cooking-pot. The end of everything earthly is the good of man; and +there is nothing sacred on earth but man, because he alone shares the +Divine conscience." + +"But," said he, "would not your paper money have to be redeemed in +gold or silver?" + +"Not necessarily," I replied. "The adoration of gold and silver is a +superstition of which the bankers are the high priests and mankind +the victims. Those metals are of themselves of little value. What +should make them so?" + +"Are they not the rarest and most valuable productions of the world?" +said Maximilian. + +"By no means," I replied; "there are many metals that exceed them in +rarity and value. While a kilogram of gold is worth about $730 and +one of silver about $43.50, the same weight of iridium (the heaviest +body known) costs $2,400; one of palladium, $3,075; one of calcium +nearly $10,000; one of stibidium, $20,000; while vanadium, the true +'king of metals,' is worth $25,000 per kilogram, as against $730 for +gold or $43.50 for silver." + +"Why, then, are they used as money?" he asked. + +"Who can tell? The practice dates back to prehistoric ages. Man +always accepts as right anything that is in existence when he is +born." + +"But are they not more beautiful than other metals? And are they not +used as money because acids will not corrode them?" + +"No," I replied; "some of the other metals exceed them in beauty. The +diamond far surpasses them in both beauty and value, and glass +resists the action of acids better than either of them." + +"What do you propose?" he asked. + +"Gold and silver," I said, "are the bases of the world's currency. If +they are abundant, all forms of paper money are abundant. If they are +scarce, the paper money must shrink in proportion to the shrinkage of +its foundation; if not, there come panics and convulsions, in the +effort to make one dollar of gold pay three, six or ten of paper. For +one hundred and fifty years _the production of gold and silver has +been steadily shrinking, while the population and business of the +world have been rapidly increasing_. + +"Take a child a few years old; let a blacksmith weld around his waist +an iron band. At first it causes him little inconvenience. He plays. +As he grows older it becomes tighter; it causes him pain; he scarcely +knows what ails him. He still grows. All his internal organs are +cramped and displaced. He grows still larger; he has the head, +shoulders and limbs of a man and the waist of a child. He is a +monstrosity. He dies. This is a picture of the world of to-day, bound +in the silly superstition of some prehistoric nation. But this is not +all. Every decrease in the quantity, actual or relative, of gold and +silver increases the purchasing power of the dollars made out of +them; and the dollar becomes the equivalent for a larger amount of +the labor of man and his productions. This makes the rich man richer +and the poor man poorer. The iron band is displacing the organs of +life. As the dollar rises in value, man sinks. Hence the decrease in +wages; the increase in the power of wealth; the luxury of the few; +the misery of the many." + +"How would you help it?" he asked. + +"I would call the civilized nations together in council, and devise +an international paper money, to be issued by the different nations, +but to be receivable as legal tender for all debts in all countries. +It should hold a fixed ratio to population, never to be exceeded; and +it should be secured on all the property of the civilized world, and +acceptable in payment of all taxes, national, state and municipal, +everywhere. I should declare gold and silver legal tenders only for +debts of five dollars or less. An international greenback that was +good in New York, London, Berlin, Melbourne, Paris and Amsterdam, +would be good anywhere. The world, released from its iron band, would +leap forward to marvelous prosperity; there would be no financial +panics, for there could be no contraction; there would be no more +torpid 'middle ages,' dead for lack of currency, for the money of a +nation would expand, _pari passu_, side by side with the growth of +its population. There would be no limit to the development of +mankind, save the capacities of the planet; and even these, through +the skill of man, could be increased a thousand-fold beyond what our +ancestors dreamed of. The very seas and lakes, judiciously farmed, +would support more people than the earth now maintains. A million +fish ova now go to waste where one grows to maturity. + +"The time may come when the slow processes of agriculture will be +largely discarded, and the food of man be created out of the chemical +elements of which it is composed, transfused by electricity and +magnetism. We have already done something in that direction in the +way of synthetic chemistry. Our mountain ranges may, in after ages, +be leveled down and turned into bread for the support of the most +enlightened, cultured, and, in its highest sense, religious people +that ever dwelt on the globe. All this is possible if civilization is +preserved from the destructive power of the ignorant and brutal +plutocracy, who now threaten the safety of mankind. They are like the +slave-owners of 1860; they blindly and imperiously insist on their +own destruction; they strike at the very hands that would save them." + +"But," said Maximilian, "is it not right and necessary that the +intellect of the world should rule the world?" + +"Certainly," I replied; "but what is intellect? It is breadth of +comprehension; and this implies gentleness and love. The man whose +scope of thought takes in the created world, and apprehends man's +place in nature, cannot be cruel to his fellows. Intellect, if it is +selfish, is wisely selfish. It perceives clearly that such a shocking +abomination as our present condition cannot endure. It knows that a +few men cannot safely batten down the hatches over the starving crew +and passengers, and then riot in drunken debauchery on the deck. When +the imprisoned wretches in the hold become desperate enough--and it +is simply a question of time--they will fire the ship or scuttle it, +and the fools and their victims will all perish together. True +intellect is broad, fore-sighted, wide-ranging, merciful, just. Some +one said of old that 'the gods showed what they thought of riches by +the kind of people they gave them to.' It is not the poets, the +philosophers, the philanthropists, the historians, the sages, the +scholars, the really intellectual of any generation who own the great +fortunes. No; but there is a subsection of the brain called cunning; +it has nothing to do with elevation of mind, or purity of soul, or +knowledge, or breadth of view; it is the lowest, basest part of the +intellect. It is the trait of foxes, monkeys, crows, rats and other +vermin. It delights in holes and subterranean shelters; it will not +disdain filth; it is capable of lying, stealing, trickery, knavery. +Let me give you an example: + +"It is recorded that when the great war broke out in this country +against slavery, in 1861, there was a rich merchant in this city, +named A. T. Stewart. Hundreds of thousands of men saw in the war only +the great questions of the Union and the abolition of human +bondage--the freeing of four millions of human beings, and the +preservation of the honor of the flag; and they rushed forward eager +for the fray. They were ready to die that the Nation and Liberty +might live. But while their souls were thus inflamed with great and +splendid emotions, and they forgot home, family, wealth, life, +everything, Stewart, the rich merchant, saw simply the fact that the +war would cut off communication between the North and the +cotton-producing States, and that this would result in a rise in the +price of cotton goods; and so, amid the wild agitations of +patriotism, the beating of drums and the blaring of trumpets, he sent +out his agents and bought up all the cotton goods he could lay his +hands on. He made a million dollars, it is said, by this little piece +of cunning. But if all men had thought and acted as Stewart did, we +should have had no Union, no country, and there would be left to-day +neither honor nor manhood in all the world. The nation was saved by +those poor fellows who did not consider the price of cotton goods in +the hour of America's crucial agony. Their dust now billows the earth +of a hundred battlefields; but their memory will be kept sweet in the +hearts of men forever! On the other hand, the fortune of the great +merchant, as it did no good during his life, so, after his death, it +descended upon an alien to his blood; while even his wretched carcass +was denied, by the irony of fate, rest under his splendid mausoleum, +and may have found its final sepulchre in the stomachs of dogs! + +"This little incident illustrates the whole matter. It is not +Intellect that rules the world of wealth, it is _Cunning_. _Muscle_ +once dominated mankind--the muscle of the baron's right arm; and +Intellect had to fly to the priesthood, the monastery, the friar's +gown, for safety. Now _Muscle_ is the world's slave, and _Cunning_ is +the baron--the world's master. + +"Let me give you another illustration: Ten thousand men are working +at a trade. One of them conceives the scheme of an invention, whereby +their productive power is increased tenfold. Each of them, we will +say, had been producing, by his toil, property worth four dollars and +a half per day, and his wages were, we will say, one dollar and a +half per day. Now, he is able with the new invention to produce +property worth forty-five dollars per day. Are his wages increased in +due proportion, to fifteen dollars per day, or even to five dollars +per day? Not at all. _Cunning_ has stepped in and examined the poor +workman's invention; it has bought it from him for a pittance; it +secures a patent--a monopoly under the shelter of unwise laws. The +workmen still get their $1.50 per day, and _Cunning_ pockets the +remainder. But this is not all: If one man can now do the work of +ten, then there are nine men thrown out of employment. But the nine +men must live; they want the one man's place; they are hungry; they +will work for less; and down go wages, until they reach the lowest +limit at which the workmen can possibly live. Society has produced +one millionaire and thousands of paupers. The millionaire cannot eat +any more or wear any more than one prosperous yeoman, and therefore +is of no more value to trade and commerce; but the thousands of +paupers have to be supported by the tax-payers, and they have no +money to spend, and they cannot buy the goods of the merchants, or +the manufacturers, and all business languishes. In short, the most +utterly useless, destructive and damnable crop a country can grow +is--millionaires. If a community were to send. to India and import a +lot of man-eating tigers, and turn them loose on the streets, to prey +on men, women and children, they would not inflict a tithe of the +misery that is caused by a like number of millionaires. And there +would be this further disadvantage: the inhabitants of the city could +turn out and kill the tigers, but the human destroyers are protected +by the benevolent laws of the very people they are immolating on the +altars of wretchedness and vice." + +"But what is your remedy?" asked Max. + +"Government," I replied; "government--national, state and +municipal--is the key to the future of the human race. + +"There was a time when the town simply represented cowering peasants, +clustered under the shadow of the baron's castle for protection. It +advanced slowly and reluctantly along the road of civic development, +scourged forward by the whip of necessity. We have but to expand the +powers of government to solve the enigma of the world. Man separated +is man savage; man gregarious is man civilized. A higher development +in society requires that this instrumentality of co-operation shall +be heightened in its powers. There was a time when every man +provided, at great cost, for the carriage of his own letters. Now the +government, for an infinitely small charge, takes the business off +his hands. There was a time when each house had to provide itself +with water. Now the municipality furnishes water to all. The same is +true of light. At one time each family had to educate its own +children; now the state educates them. Once every man went armed to +protect himself. Now the city protects him by its armed police. These +hints must be followed out. The city of the future must furnish +doctors for all; lawyers for all; entertainments for all; business +guidance for all. It will see to it that no man is plundered, and no +man starved, who is willing to work." + +"But," said Max, "if you do away with interest on money and thus +scatter coagulated capital into innumerable small enterprises, how +are you going to get along without the keen-brained masters of +business, who labor gigantically for gigantic personal profits; but +who, by their toll and their capital, bring the great body of +producers into relation with the great body of consumers? Are these +men not necessary to society? Do they not create occasion and +opportunity for labor? Are not their active and powerful brains at +the back of all progress? There may be a thousand men idling, and +poorly fed and clothed, in a neighborhood: along comes one of these +shrewd adventurers; he sees an opportunity to utilize the bark of the +trees and the ox-hides of the farmers' cattle, and he starts a +tannery. He may accumulate more money than the thousand men he sets +to work; but has he not done more? Is not his intellect immeasurably +more valuable than all those unthinking muscles?" + +"There is much force in your argument," I replied, "and I do not +think that society should discourage such adventurers. But the +muscles of the many are as necessary to the man you describe as his +intellect is to the muscles; and as they are all men together there +should be some equity in the distribution of the profits. And +remember, we have gotten into a way of thinking as if numbers and +wealth were everything. It is better for a nation to contain thirty +million people, prosperous, happy and patriotic, than one hundred +millions, ignorant, wretched and longing for an opportunity to +overthrow all government. The over-population of the globe will come +soon enough. We have no interest in hurrying it. The silly ancestors +of the Americans called it 'national development' when they imported +millions of foreigners to take up the public lands, and left nothing +for their own children. + +"And here is another point: Men work at first for a competence--for +enough to lift them above the reach of want in those days which they +know to be rapidly approaching, when they can no longer toil. But, +having reached that point, they go on laboring for vanity--one of the +shallowest of the human passions. The man who is worth $ 100,000 says +to himself, 'There is Jones; he is worth $500,000; he lives with a +display and extravagance I cannot equal. I must increase my fortune +to half a million.' Jones, on the other hand, is measuring himself +against Brown, who has a million. He knows that men cringe lower to +Brown than they do to him. He must have a million--half a million is +nothing. And Brown feels that he is overshadowed by Smith, with his +ten millions; and so the childish emulation continues. Men are +valued, not for themselves, but for their bank account. In the +meantime these vast concentrations of capital are made at the expense +of mankind. If, in a community of a thousand persons, there are one +hundred millions of wealth, and it is equally divided between them, +all are comfortable and happy. If, now, ten men, by cunning devices, +grasp three-fourths of all this wealth, and put it in their pockets, +there is but one-fourth left to divide among the nine hundred and +ninety, and they are therefore poor and miserable. Within certain +limits accumulation in one place represents denudation elsewhere. + +"And thus, under the stimulus of shallow vanity," I continued, "a +rivalry of barouches and bonnets--an emulation of waste and +extravagance--all the powers of the minds of men are turned--not to +lift up the world, but to degrade it. A crowd of little +creatures--men and women--are displayed upon a high platform, in the +face of mankind, parading and strutting about, with their noses in +the air, as tickled as a monkey with a string of beads, and covered +with a glory which is not their own, but which they have been able to +purchase; crying aloud: 'Behold what I _have got!_' not, 'Behold what +I _am!_' + +"And then the inexpressible servility of those below them! The fools +would not recognize Socrates if they fell over him in the street; but +they can perceive Crœsus a mile off; they can smell him a block +away; and they will dislocate their vertebrae abasing themselves +before him. It reminds one of the time of Louis XIV. in France, when +millions of people were in the extremest misery--even unto +starvation; while great grandees thought it the acme of earthly bliss +and honor to help put the king to bed, or take off his dirty socks. +And if a common man, by any chance, caught a glimpse of royalty +changing its shirt, he felt as if he had looked into heaven and +beheld Divinity creating worlds. Oh, it is enough to make a man +loathe his species." + +"Come, come," said Maximilian, "you grow bitter. Let us go to dinner +before you abolish all the evils of the world, or I shall be disposed +to quit New York and buy a corner lot in Utopia." + + CHAPTER XIII. + + THE COUNCIL OF THE OLIGARCHY + +Precisely as Rudolph had forecast, things came to pass. I arrived at +the palace of the Prince at half past six; at half past seven, my +ordinary suit was covered with a braided livery, and I accompanied +Rudolph to the council-chamber. We placed the table, chairs, pens, +ink, paper, etc., in order. Watching our opportunity, we drew aside a +heavy box in which grew a noble specimen of the _cactus grandiflorus_ +in full bloom, the gorgeous flowers just opening with the sunset, and +filling the chamber with their delicious perfume. I crawled through +the opening; took off my liveried suit; handed it back to Rudolph; he +pushed the box into its place again; I inserted the hooks in their +staples, and the barricade was complete. With many whispered +injunctions and directions he left me. I heard him go out and lock +the door--not the door by which we had entered--and all was silence. + +There was room, by doubling up my limbs, Turk-fashion, to sit down in +the inclosure. I waited. I thought of Estella. Rudolph had assured me +that she had not been disturbed. They were waiting for hunger to +compel her to eat the drugged food. Then I wondered whether we would +escape in safety. Then my thoughts dwelt on the words she had spoken +of me, and I remembered the pleased look upon her face when we met in +Rudolph's room, and my visions became very pleasant. Even the dead +silence and oppressive solitude of the two great rooms could not +still the rapid beatings of my heart. I forgot my mission and thought +only of Estella and the future. + +I was recalled to earth and its duties by the unlocking of the +farther door. I heard Rudolph say, as if in answer to a question: + +"Yes, my lord, I have personally examined the rooms and made sure +that there are no spies concealed anywhere." + +"Let me see," said the Prince; "lift up the tapestry." + +I could hear them moving about the council-chamber, apparently going +around the walls. Then I heard them advancing into the conservatory. +I shrank down still lower; they moved here and there among the +flowers, and even paused for a few moments before the mass of +flowering cacti. + +"That _flagelliformis_," said the Prince, "looks sickly. The soil is +perhaps too rich. Tell the gardener to change the earth about it." + +"I shall do so, my lord," said Rudolph; and to my great relief they +moved off. In a few minutes I heard them in the council-chamber. With +great caution I rose slowly. A screen of flowers had been cunningly +placed by Rudolph between the cacti and that apartment. At last, +half-stooping, I found an aperture in the rich mass of blossoms. The +Prince was talking to Rudolph. I had a good view of his person. He +was dressed in an evening suit. He was a large man, somewhat +corpulent; or, as Rudolph had said, bloated. He had a Hebraic cast of +countenance; his face seemed to be all angles. The brow was square +and prominent, projecting at the corners; the nose was quite high and +aquiline; the hair had the look of being dyed; a long, thick black +mustache covered his upper lip, but it could not quite conceal the +hard, cynical and sneering expression of his mouth; great bags of +flesh hung beneath the small, furtive eyes. Altogether the face +reminded me of the portraits of Napoleon the Third, who was thought +by many to have had little of Napoleon in him except the name. + +There was about Prince Cabano that air of confidence and command +which usually accompanies great wealth or success of any kind. +Extraordinary power produces always the same type of countenance. You +see it in the high-nosed mummied kings of ancient Egypt. There is +about them an aristocratic _hauteur_ which even the shrinking of the +dry skin for four thousand years has not been able to quite subdue. +We feel like taking off our hats even to their parched hides. You see +it in the cross-legged monuments of the old crusaders, in the +venerable churches of Europe; a splendid breed of ferocious +barbarians they were, who struck ten blows for conquest and plunder +where they struck one for Christ. And you can see the same type of +countenance in the present rulers of the world--the great bankers, +the railroad presidents, the gigantic speculators, the uncrowned +monarchs of commerce, whose golden chariots drive recklessly over the +prostrate bodies of the people. + +And then there is another class who are everywhere the aides and +ministers of these oppressors. You can tell them at a glance--large, +coarse, corpulent men; red-faced, brutal; decorated with vulgar +taste; loud-voiced, selfish, self-assertive; cringing sycophants to +all above them, slave-drivers of all below them. They are determined +to live on the best the world can afford, and they care nothing if +the miserable perish in clusters around their feet. The howls of +starvation will not lessen one iota their appetite or their +self-satisfaction. These constitute the great man's world. He +mistakes their cringings, posturings and compliments for the approval +of mankind. He does not perceive how shallow and temporary and worse +than useless is the life he leads; and he cannot see, beyond these +well-fed, corpulent scamps, the great hungry, unhappy millions who +are suffering from his misdeeds or his indifference. + +While I was indulging in these reflections the members of the +government were arriving. They were accompanied by servants, black +and white, who, with many bows and flexures, relieved them of their +wraps and withdrew. The door was closed and locked. Rudolph stood +without on guard. + +I could now rise to my feet with safety, for the council-chamber was +in a blaze of electric light, while the conservatory was but +partially illuminated. + +The men were mostly middle-aged, or advanced in years. They were +generally large men, with finely developed brows--natural selection +had brought the great heads to the top of affairs. Some were cleancut +in feature, looking merely like successful business men; others, like +the Prince, showed signs of sensuality and dissipation, in the baggy, +haggard features. They were unquestionably an able assembly. There +were no orators among them; they possessed none of the arts of the +rostrum or the platform. They spoke sitting, in an awkward, +hesitating manner; but what they said was shrewd and always to the +point. They had no secretaries or reporters. They could trust no one +with their secrets. Their conclusions were conveyed by the +president--Prince Cabano--to one man, who at once communicated what +was needful to their greater agents, and these in turn to the lesser +agents; and so the streams of authority flowed, with lightninglike +speed, to the remotest parts of the so-called Republic; and many a +man was struck down, ruined, crushed, destroyed, who had little +suspicion that the soundless bolt which slew him came from that +faraway chamber. + +The Prince welcomed each newcomer pleasantly, and assigned him to his +place. When all were seated he spoke: + +"I have called you together, gentlemen," he said "because we have +very important business to transact. The evidences multiply that we +are probably on the eve of another outbreak of the restless +_canaille_; it may be upon a larger scale than any we have yet +encountered. The filthy wretches seem to grow more desperate every +year; otherwise they would not rush upon certain death, as they seem +disposed to do. + +"I have two men in this house whom I thought it better that you +should see and hear face to face. The first is General Jacob Quincy, +commander of the forces which man our ten thousand air-ships, or +_Demons_, as they are popularly called. I think it is understood by +all of us that, in these men, and the deadly bombs of poisonous gas +with which their vessels are equipped, we must find our chief +dependence for safety and continued power. We must not forget that we +are outnumbered a thousand to one, and the world grows very restive +under our domination. If it were not for the _Demons_ and the +poison-bombs, I should fear the results of the coming contest--with +these, victory is certain. + +"Quincy, on behalf of his men, demands another increase of pay. We +have already several times yielded to similar applications. We are +somewhat in the condition of ancient Rome, when the praetorians +murdered the emperor Pertinax, and sold the imperial crown to Didius +Julianus. These men hold the control of the continent in their hands. +Fortunately for us, they are not yet fully aware of their own power, +and are content to merely demand an increase of pay. We cannot +quarrel with them at this time, with a great insurrection pending. A +refusal might drive them over to the enemy. I mention these facts so +that, whatever demands General Quincy may make, however extravagant +they may be, you will express no dissatisfaction. When he is gone we +can talk over our plans for the future, and decide what course we +will take as to these troublesome men when the outbreak is over. I +shall have something to propose after he leaves us." + +There was a general expression of approval around the table. + +"There is another party here to-night," continued the Prince. "He is +a very shrewd and cunning spy; a member of our secret police service. +He goes by the name of Stephen Andrews in his intercourse with me. +What his real name may be I know not. + +"You are aware we have had great trouble to ascertain anything +definitely about this new organization, and have succeeded but +indifferently. Their plans seem to be so well taken, and their +cunning so great, that all our attempts have come to naught. Many of +our spies have disappeared; the police cannot learn what becomes of +them; they are certainly dead, but none of their bodies are ever +found. It is supposed that they have been murdered, loaded with +weights and sunk in the river. This man Andrews has so far escaped. +He works as a mechanic--in fact, he really is such--in one of the +shops; and he is apparently the most violent and bitter of our +enemies. He will hold intercourse with no one but me, for he suspects +all the city police, and he comes here but seldom--not more than once +in two or three months--when I pay him liberally and assign him to +new work. The last task I gave him was to discover who are the +leaders of the miserable creatures in this new conspiracy. He has +found it very difficult to obtain any positive information upon this +point. The organization is very cunningly contrived. The Brotherhood +is made up in groups of ten. No one of the rank and file knows more +than nine other members associated with him. The leaders of these +groups of ten are selected by a higher power. These leaders are again +organized in groups of ten, under a leader again selected by a higher +power; but in this second group of ten no man knows his fellow's name +or face; they meet always masked. And so the scale rises. The highest +body of all is a group of one hundred, selected out of the whole +force by an executive committee. Andrews has at length, after years +of patient waiting and working, been selected as one of this upper +hundred. He is to be initiated to-morrow night. He came to me for +more money; for he feels he is placing himself in great danger in +going into the den of the chief conspirators. I told him that I +thought you would like to question him, and so he has returned again +to-night, disguised in the dress of a woman, and he is now in the +library awaiting your pleasure. I think we had better see him before +we hear what Quincy has to say. Shall I send for him?" + +General assent being given, lie stepped to the door and told Rudolph +to bring up the woman he would find in the library. In a few moments +the door opened and a tall personage, dressed like a woman, with a +heavy veil over her face, entered. The Prince said: + +"Lock the door and come forward." + +The figure did so, advanced to the table and removed the bonnet and +veil, disclosing the dark, bronzed face of a workman--a keen, shrewd, +observant, watchful, strong face. + + CHAPTER XIV. + + THE SPY'S STORY + +"Andrews," said the Prince, "tell these gentlemen what you have found +out about the extent of this organization and the personality of its +leaders?" + +"My lord," replied the man, "I can speak only by hearsay--from +whispers which I have heard in a thousand places, and by piecing +together scraps of information which I have gathered in a great many +ways. I do not yet speak positively. After to-morrow night I hope to +be able to tell you everything." + +"I understand the difficulties you have to contend with," replied the +Prince; "and these gentlemen will not hold you to a strict +accountability for the correctness of what you have gathered in that +way." + +"You can have no idea," said Andrews, "of the difficulty of obtaining +information. It is a terrible organization. I do not think that +anything like it has every existed before on the earth. One year ago +there were fifteen of us engaged in this work; I am the only one left +alive to-night." + +His face grew paler as he spoke, and there was a visible start and +sensation about the council board. + +"This organization," he continued, "is called '_The Brotherhood of +Destruction_.' It extends all over Europe and America, and numbers, I +am told, _one hundred million members_." + +"Can that be possible?" asked one gentleman, in astonishment. + +"I believe it to be true," said Andrews, solemnly. "Nearly every +workman of good character and sober habits in New York belongs to it; +and so it is in all our great cities; while the blacks of the South +are members of it to a man. Their former masters have kept them in a +state of savagery, instead of civilizing and elevating them; and the +result is they are as barbarous and bloodthirsty as their ancestors +were when brought from Africa, and fit subjects for such a terrible +organization." + +"What has caused such a vast movement?" asked another gentleman. + +"The universal misery and wretchedness of the working classes, in the +cities, on the farms--everywhere," replied Andrews. + +"Are they armed?" asked another of the Council. + +"It is claimed," said Andrews, "that every one of the hundred +millions possesses a magazine rifle of the most improved pattern, +with abundance of fixed ammunition." + +"I fear, my good man," said another member of the Council, with a +sneer, "that you have been frightened by some old woman's tales. +Where could these men buy such weapons? What would they buy them +with? Where would they hide them? Our armories and manufacturers are +forbidden by law to sell firearms, unless under special permit, +signed by one of our trusty officers. The value of those guns would +in itself be a vast sum, far beyond the means of those miserable +wretches. And our police are constantly scouring the cities and the +country for weapons, and they report that the people possess none, +except a few old-fashioned, worthless fowling-pieces, that have come +down from father to son." + +"As I said before," replied Andrews, "I tell you only what I have +gleaned among the workmen in those secret whispers which pass from +one man's mouth to another man's ear. I may be misinformed; but I am +told that these rifles are manufactured by the men themselves (for, +of course, all the skilled work of all kinds is done by workingmen) +in some remote and desolate parts of Europe or America; they are +furnished at a very low price, at actual cost, and paid for in small +installments, during many years. They are delivered to the captains +of tens and by them buried in rubber bags in the earth." + +"Then that accounts," said one man, who had not yet spoken, "for a +curious incident which occurred the other day near the town of +Zhitomir, in the province of Volhynia, Russia, not very far from the +borders of Austria. A peasant made an offer to the police to deliver +up, for 200 rubles, and a promise of pardon for himself, nine of his +fellow conspirators and their rifles. His terms were accepted and he +was paid the money. He led the officers to a place in his barnyard, +where, under a manure-heap, they dug up ten splendid rifles of +American make, with fixed ammunition, of the most improved kind, the +whole inclosed in a rubber bag to keep out the damp. Nine other +peasants were arrested; they were all subjected to the knout; but +neither they nor their captain could tell anything more than he had +at first revealed. The Russian newspapers have been full of +speculations as to how the rifles came there, but could arrive at no +reasonable explanation." + +"What became of the men?" asked Andrews, curiously. + +"Nine of them were sent to Siberia for life; the tenth man, who had +revealed the hiding-place of the guns, was murdered that night with +his wife and all his family, and his house burned up. Even two of his +brothers, who lived near him, but had taken no part in the matter, +were also slain." + +"I expected as much," said Andrews quietly. + +This unlooked-for corroboration of the spy's story produced a marked +sensation, and there was profound silence for some minutes. + +At last the Prince spoke up: + +"Andrews," said he, "what did you learn about the leaders of this +organization?" + +"There are three of them, I am told," replied the spy; they +constitute what is known as 'the Executive Committee.' The +commander-in-chief, it is whispered, is called, or was called--for no +one can tell what his name is now--Caesar Lomellini; a man of Italian +descent, but a native of South Carolina. He is, it is said, of +immense size, considerable ability, and the most undaunted courage. +His history is singular. He is now about forty-five years of age. In +his youth, so the story goes, he migrated to the then newly settled +State of Jefferson, on the upper waters of the Saskatchewan. He had +married early, like all his race, and had a family. He settled down +on land and went to farming. He was a quiet, peaceable, industrious +man. One year, just as he was about to harvest his crops, a discharge +of lightning killed his horses; they were the only ones he had. He +was without the means to purchase another team, and without horses he +could not gather his harvest. He was therefore forced to mortgage his +land for enough to buy another pair of horses. The money-lender +demanded large interest on the loan and an exorbitant bonus besides; +and as the 'bankers,' as they called themselves, had an organization, +he could not get the money at a lower rate anywhere in that vicinity. +It was the old story. The crops failed sometimes, and when they did +not fail the combinations and trusts of one sort or another swept +away Caesar's profits; then he had to renew the loan, again and again, +at higher rates of interest, and with still greater bonuses; then the +farm came to be regarded as not sufficient security for the debt; and +the horses, cattle, machinery, everything he had was covered with +mortgages. Caesar worked like a slave, and his family toiled along +with him. At last the crash came; he was driven out of his home; the +farm and all had been lost for the price of a pair of horses. Right +on the heels of this calamity, Caesar learned that his eldest +daughter--a beautiful, dark-eyed girl--had been seduced by a +lawyer--the agent of the money-lender--and would in a few months +become a mother. Then all the devil that lay hid in the depths of the +man's nature broke forth. That night the lawyer was attacked in his +bed and literally hewed to pieces: the same fate overtook the +money-lender. Before morning Caesar and his family had fled to the +inhospitable mountain regions north of the settlement. There he +gathered around him a band of men as desperate as himself, and waged +bloody and incessant war on society. He seemed, however, to have a +method in his crimes, for, while he spared the poor, no man who +preyed upon his fellow-men was safe for an hour. At length the +government massed a number of troops in the vicinity; the place got +too hot for him; Caesar and his men fled to the Pacific coast; and +nothing more was heard of him for three or four years. Then the +terrible negro insurrection broke out in the lower Mississippi +Valley, which you all remember, and a white man, of gigantic stature, +appeared as their leader, a man of great daring and enterprise. When +that rebellion had been suppressed, after many battles, the white man +disappeared; and it is now claimed that he is in this city at the +head of this terrible Brotherhood of Destruction; and that he is the +same Caesar Lomellini who was once a peaceful farmer in the State of +Jefferson." + +The spy paused. The Prince said: + +"Well, who are the others?" + +"It is reported that the second in command, but really 'the brains of +the organization,' as he is called by the men, is a Russian Jew. His +name I could not learn; very few have seen him or know anything about +him. He is said to be a cripple, and to have a crooked neck. It is +reported he was driven out of his synagogue in Russia, years ago, for +some crimes he had committed. He is believed to be the man who +organized the Brotherhood in Europe, and he has come here to make the +two great branches act together. If what is told of him be true, he +must be a man of great ability, power and cunning." + +"Who is the third?" asked the Prince. + +"There seems to be more obscurity about him than either of the +others," replied the spy. "I heard once that he was an American, a +young man of great wealth and ability, and that he had furnished much +of the money needed to carry on the Brotherhood. But this again is +denied by others. Jenkins, who was one of our party, and who was +killed some months since, told me, in our last interview, that he had +penetrated far enough to find out who the third man was; and he told +me this curious story, which may or may not be true. He said that +several years ago there lived in this city a man of large fortune, a +lawyer by education, but not engaged in the practice of his +profession, by the name of Arthur Phillips. He was a benevolent man, +of scholarly tastes, and something of a dreamer. He had made a study +of the works of all the great socialist writers, and had become a +convert to their theories, and very much interested in the cause of +the working people. He established a monthly journal for the +dissemination of his views. He spoke at the meetings of the workmen, +and was very much beloved and respected by them. Of course, so +Jenkins said, all this was very distasteful to the ruling class (I am +only repeating the story as it was told to me, your lordships will +please remember), and they began to persecute him. First he was +ostracised from his caste. But this did not trouble him much. He had +no family but his wife and one son who was away at the university. He +redoubled his exertions to benefit the working classes. At this time +he had a lawsuit about some property with a wealthy and influential +man, a member of the government. In the course of the trial Phillips +produced a writing, which purported to be signed by two men, and +witnessed by two others; and Phillips swore he saw all of them sign +it. Whereupon not only the men themselves, but the two witnesses to +the paper, came up and swore, point-blank, that their alleged +signatures were forgeries. There were four oaths against one. +Phillips lost his case. But this was not the worst of it. The next +day he was indicted for forgery and perjury; and, despite his wealth +and the efforts of the ablest counsel he could employ, he was +convicted and sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude in the state +prison. His friends said he was innocent; that he had been sacrificed +by the ruling class, who feared him and desired to destroy him; that +all the witnesses had been suborned by large sums of money to swear +as they did; that the jury was packed, the judge one of their tools, +and even his own lawyers corrupted. After several years his son--who +bore the same name as himself--Arthur Phillips--returned from the +university; and Jenkins told me that he had learned, in some +mysterious way, that this was really the man who, out of revenge for +the wrongs inflicted on his father, was now the third member of the +Executive Committee of the Brotherhood, and had furnished them with +large sums of money." + +As this story progressed, listened to most attentively by all, I +noticed that one large man, flashily dressed, flushed somewhat, and +that the rest turned and looked at him. When Andrews stopped, the +Prince said, quietly: + +"Count, that is your man." + +"Yes," replied the man spoken to, very coolly. "There is, however, no +truth," he added, "in the latter part of the story; for I have had +detectives shadow young Phillips ever since he returned to the city, +and they report to me that he is a shallow, dissipated, drunken, +worthless fellow, who spends his time about saloons and running after +actresses and singers; and that it will not be long until he will +have neither health nor fortune left." + +I need not say that I was an intent listener to everything, and +especially to the latter part of the spy's story. I pieced it out +with what Maximilian had told me, and felt certain that Maximilian +Petion and Arthur Phillips were one and the same person. I could now +understand why it was that a gentleman so intelligent, frank and +kindly by nature could have engaged in so desperate and bloody a +conspiracy. Nor could I, with that awful narrative ringing in my +cars, blame him much. What struck me most forcibly was that there was +no attempt, on the part of the Count, to deny the sinister part of +Jenkins' story; and the rest of the Council evidently had no doubt of +its truth; nor did it seem to lessen him a particle in their esteem. +In fact, one man said, and the rest assented to the sentiment: + +"Well, it is a lucky thing the villain is locked up, anyhow." + +There were some among these men whose faces were not bad. Under +favorable circumstances they might have been good and just men. But +they were the victims of a pernicious system, as fully as were the +poor, shambling, ragged wretches of the streets and slums, who had +been ground down by their acts into drunkenness and crime. + +"When will the outbreak come?" asked one of the Council. + +"That I cannot tell," said Andrews. "They seem to be waiting for +something, or there is a hitch in their plans. The men are eager to +break forth, and are only held back by the leaders. By their talk +they are confident of success when the insurrection does come." + +"What are their plans?" asked the Prince. + +"They have none," replied Andrews, "except to burn, rob, destroy and +murder. They have long lists of the condemned, I am told, including +all those here present, and hundreds of thousands besides. They will +kill all the men, women and children of the aristocracy, except the +young girls, and these will be reserved for a worse fate--at least +that is what the men about the beer-houses mutter between their cups." + +The members of the government looked uneasy; some even were a trifle +pale. + +"Can you come here Wednesday night next and tell us what you learn +during your visit to their 'Council of One Hundred'?" asked the +Prince. + +"Yes," replied Andrews--"if I am alive. But it is dangerous for me to +come here." + +"Wait in the library," said the Prince, "until I am at liberty, and I +will give you an order for the thousand dollars I promised you; and +also a key that will admit you to this house at any hour of the day +or night. Gentlemen," he said, turning to his associates, "have you +any further questions to ask this man?" + +They had none, and Andrews withdrew. + +"I think," said the Prince, "we had better reassemble here on +Wednesday night. Matters are growing critical." + +This was agreed to. The Prince stepped to the door and whispered a +few words to Rudolph. + + CHAPTER XV. + + THE MASTER OF "THE DEMONS" + +The door, in a few minutes, opened, and closed behind a tall, +handsome, military-looking man, in a bright uniform, with the +insignia of a brigadier-general of the United States army on his +shoulders. + +The Prince greeted him respectfully and invited him to a seat. + +"General Quincy," said the Prince, "I need not introduce you to these +gentlemen; you have met them all before. I have told them that you +desired to speak to them about matters relating to your command; and +they are ready to hear you." + +"Gentlemen," said the General, rising to his feet, "I regret to have +to approach you once more in reference to the pay of the officers and +men of my command. I fear you will think them importunate, if not +unreasonable. I am not here of my own volition, but as the mouthpiece +of others. Neither have I incited them to make these demands for +increased pay. The officers and men seem to have a high sense of +their great importance in the present condition of public affairs. +They openly declare that those they maintain in power are enjoying +royal affluence, which they could not possess for a single day +without their aid; and therefore they claim that they should be well +paid." + +The General paused, and the Prince said, in his smoothest tones: + +"That is not an unreasonable view to take of the matter. What do they +ask?" + +"I have here," replied the General, drawing a paper from his pocket, +"a schedule of their demands, adopted at their last meeting." He +handed it to the Prince. + +"You will see," he continued, "that it ranges from $5,000 per year, +for the common soldiers, up through the different grades, to $25,000 +per year for the commanding officer." + +Not a man at the Council table winced at this extraordinary demand. +The Prince said: + +"The salaries asked for are high; but they will come out of the +public taxes and not from our pockets; and if you can assure me that +your command, in view of this increase of compensation, will work +with increased zeal, faithfulness and courage on behalf of law, order +and society, I, for one, should be disposed to accede to the demand +you make. What say you, gentlemen?" + +There was a general expression of assent around the table. + +The commander of the Demons thanked them, and assured them that the +officers and men would be glad to hear that their request was +granted, and that the Council might depend upon their valor and +devotion in any extremity of affairs. + +"Have you an abundant supply of the death-bombs on hand?" asked the +Prince. + +"Yes, many tons of them," was the reply. + +"Are they well guarded?" + +"Yes, with the utmost care. A thousand men of my command watch over +them constantly." + +"Your air-vessels are in perfect order?" + +"Yes; we drill and exercise with them every day." + +"You anticipate an outbreak?" + +"Yes; we look for it any hour." + +"Have you any further questions to ask General Quincy?" inquired the +Prince. + +"None." + +He was bowed out and the door locked behind him. The Prince returned +to his seat. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "that matter is settled, and we are safe for +the present. But you can see the ticklish ground we stand on. These +men will not rest satisfied with the immense concessions we have made +them; they will demand more and more as the consciousness of their +power increases. They know we are afraid of them. In time they will +assume the absolute control of the government, and our power will be +at an end. If we resist them, they will have but to drop a few of +their death-bombs through the roofs of our palaces, and it is all +over with us." + +"What can we do?" asked two or three. + +"We must have recourse to history," he replied, "and profit by the +experience of others similarly situated. In the thirteenth century +the sultan of Egypt, Malek-ed-Adell the Second, organized a body of +soldiery made up of slaves, bought from the Mongols, who had taken +them in battle. They were called the _Bahri Mamelukes_. They formed +the Sultan's bodyguard. They were mounted on the finest horses in the +world, and clad in the most magnificent dresses. They were of our own +white race--Circassians. But Malek had unwittingly created, out of +the slaves, a dangerous power. They, not many years afterward, +deposed and murdered his son, and placed their general on the throne. +For several generations they ruled Egypt. To circumscribe their power +a new army of Mamelukes was formed, called the _Borgis_. But the cure +was as bad as the disease. In 1382 the _Borgi Mamelukes_ rose up, +overthrew their predecessors, and made their leader, Barkok, supreme +ruler. This dynasty held power until 1517, when the Ottoman Turks +conquered Egypt. The Turks perceived that they must either give up +Egypt or destroy the Mamelukes. They massacred them in great numbers; +and, at last, Mehemet Ah beguiled four hundred and seventy of their +leaders into the citadel of Cairo, and closed the gates, and ordered +his mercenaries to fire upon them. But one man escaped. He leaped his +horse from the ramparts and escaped unhurt, although the horse was +killed by the prodigious fall. + +"Now, let us apply this teaching of history. I propose that after +this outbreak is over we shall order the construction of ten thousand +more of these air-vessels, and this will furnish us an excuse for +sending a large force of apprentices to the present command to learn +the management of the ships. We will select from the circle of our +relatives some young, able, reliable man to command these new troops. +We will then seize upon the magazine of bombs and arrest the officers +and men. We will charge them with treason. The officers we will +execute, and the men we will send to prison for life; for it would +not be safe, with their dangerous knowledge, to liberate them. After +that we will keep the magazine of bombs and the secret of the poison +in the custody of men of our own caste, so that the troops commanding +the air-ships will never again feel that sense of power which now +possesses them." + +These plans met with general approval. + +"But what are we to do with the coming outbreak?" asked one of the +councilors. + +"I have thought of that, too," replied the Prince. "It is our +interest to make it the occasion of a tremendous massacre, such as +the world has never before witnessed. There are too many people on +the earth, anyhow. In this way we will strike such terror into the +hearts of the _canaille_ that they will remain submissive to our +will, and the domination of our children, for centuries to come." + +"But how will you accomplish that?" asked one. + +"Easily enough," replied the Prince. "You know that the first step +such insurgents usually take is to tear up the streets of the city +and erect barricades of stones and earth and everything else they can +lay their hands on. Heretofore we have tried to stop them. My advice +is that we let them alone--let them build their barricades as high +and as strong as they please, and if they leave any outlets +unobstructed, let our soldiers close them up in the same way. We have +then got them in a rat-trap, surrounded by barricades, and every +street and alley outside occupied by our troops. If there are a +million in the trap, so much the better. Then let our flock of Demons +sail up over them and begin to drop their fatal bombs. The whole +streets within the barricades will soon be a sea of invisible poison. +If the insurgents try to fly they will find in their own barricades +the walls of their prison-house; and if they attempt to scale them +they will be met, face to face, with our massed troops, who will be +instructed to take no prisoners. If they break into the adjacent +houses to escape, our men will follow from the back streets and +gardens and bayonet them at their leisure, or fling them back into +the poison. If ten millions are slain all over the world, so much the +better. There will be more room for what are left, and the world will +sleep in peace for centuries. + +"These plans will be sent out, with your approval, to all cities, and +to Europe. When the rebellion is crushed in the cities, it will not +take long to subdue it among the wretched peasants of the country, +and our children will rule this world for ages to come." + + CHAPTER XVI. + + GABRIEL'S FOLLY + +While the applause that followed this diabolical scheme rang loud and +long around the council-chamber, I stood there paralyzed. My eyes +dilated and my heartbeat furiously. I was overwhelmed with the +dreadful, the awful prospect, so coolly presented by that impassive, +terrible man. My imagination was always vivid, and I saw the whole +horrid reality unrolled before me like a panorama. The swarming +streets filled with the oppressed people; the dark shadows of the +Demons floating over them; the first bomb; the terror; the confusion; +the gasping of the dying; the shrieks, the groans--another and +another bomb falling here, there, everywhere; the surging masses +rushing from death to death; the wild flight; the barricades a line +of fire and bayonets; the awful and continuous rattle of the guns, +sounding like the grinding of some dreadful machinery that crunches +the bones of the living; the recoil from the bullets to the poison; +the wounded stumbling over the dead, now covering the streets in +strata several feet thick; and still the bombs crash and the poison +spreads. Death! death! nothing but death! _Ten million dead!_ Oh, my +God! + +I clasped my head--it felt as if it would burst. I must save the +world from such a calamity. These men are human. They cannot be +insensible to an appeal for mercy--for justice! + +Carried away by these thoughts, I stooped down and unclasped the +hooks; I pushed aside the box; I crawled out; the next moment I stood +before them in the full glare of the electric lamps. + +"For God's sake," I cried, "save the world from such an awful +calamity! Have pity on mankind; even as you hope that the Mind and +Heart of the Universe will have pity on you. I have heard all. Do not +plunge the earth into horrors that will shock the very stars in their +courses. The world can be saved! It can be saved! You have power. Be +pitiful. Let me speak for you. Let me go to the leaders of this +insurrection and bring you together." + +"He is mad," said one. + +"No, no," I replied, "I am not mad. It is you that are mad. It is the +wretched people who are mad--mad with suffering and misery, as you +with pride and hardness of heart. You are all _men_. Hear their +demands. Yield a little of your superfluous blessings; and touch +their hearts--with kindness, and love will spring up like flowers in +the track of the harrow. For the sake of Christ Jesus, who died on +the cross for all men, I appeal to you. Be just, be generous, be +merciful. Are they not your brethren? Have they not souls like +yourselves? Speak, speak, and I will toil as long as I can breathe. I +will wear the flesh from off my bones, if I can reconcile the castes +of this wretched society, and save civilization." + +The Prince had recoiled with terror at my first entrance. He had now +rallied his faculties. + +"How did you come here?" he asked. + +Fortunately the repulsive coldness with which the Council had met my +earnest appeals, which I had fairly shrieked at them, had restored to +some extent the balance of my reason. The thought flashed over me +that I must not betray Rudolph. + +"Through yonder open window," I replied. + +"How did you reach it?" asked the Prince. + +"I climbed up the ivy vine to it." + +"What did you come here for?" he asked. + +"To appeal to you, in the name of God, to prevent the coming of this +dreadful outbreak." + +"The man is a religious fanatic," said one of the Council to another; +"probably one of the street preachers." + +The Prince drew two or three of the leaders together, and they +whispered for a few minutes. Then he went to the door and spoke to +Rudolph. I caught a few words: "Not leave--alive--send for +Macarius--midnight--garden." + +Rudolph advanced and took me by the arm. The revulsion had come. I +was dazed--overwhelmed. There swept over me, like the rush of a +flood, the dreadful thought: "What will become of Estella?" I went +with him like a child. I was armed, but an infant might have slain me. + +When we were in the hall, Rudolph said to me, in a hoarse whisper: + +"I heard everything. You meant nobly; but you were foolish--wild. You +might have ruined us all. But there is a chance of escape yet. It +will be an hour before the assassin will arrive. I can secure that +much delay. In the meantime, be prudent and silent, and follow my +directions implicitly." + +I promised, very humbly, to do so. + + CHAPTER XVII. + + THE FLIGHT AND PURSUIT + +He opened the door of a room and pushed me into it. "Wait," he +whispered, "for my orders." I looked around me. It was Rudolph's +room--the one I had been in before. I was not alone. There was a +young gentleman standing at a window, looking out into the garden. He +turned around and advanced toward me, with his hand extended and a +smile on his face. It was Estella! looking more charming than ever in +her masculine dress. I took her hand. Then my heart smote me; and I +fell upon my knees before her. + +"O Estella," I cried, "pardon me. I would have sacrificed you for +mankind--you that are dearer to me than the whole human race. Like a +fool I broke from my hiding-place, and appealed to those hearts of +stone--those wild beasts--those incarnate fiends--to spare the world +the most dreadful calamity it has ever known. They proposed to murder +_ten million human beings_! I forgot my task--my duty--you--my own +safety--everything, to save the world." + +Her eyes dilated as I spoke, and then, without a trace of mock +modesty, without a blush, she laid her hand upon my head and said +simply: + +"If you had done less, I should have loved you less. What am I in the +presence of such a catastrophe? But if you are to die we can at least +perish together. In that we have the mastery of our enemies. Our +liberty is beyond their power." + +"But you shall not die," I said, wildly, springing to my feet. "The +assassin comes! Give me the poisoned knife. When he opens the door I +shall slay him. I shall bear you with me. Who will dare to arrest our +departure with that dreadful weapon--that instantaneous +death--shining in my hand. Besides, I carry a hundred lives at my +girdle. Once in the streets, we can escape." + +She took from the pocket of her coat the sheathed dagger and handed +it to me. + +"We must, however, be guided by the counsels of Rudolph," she quietly +said; "he is a faithful friend." + +"True," I replied. + +We sat near each other. I presumed nothing upon the great admission +she had so gravely made. This was a woman to be worshiped rather than +wooed. I told her all the story of my life. I described my home in +that strange, wild, ancient, lofty land; my mother, my brothers; the +wide, old, roomy house; the trees, the flowers, the clustering, +bleating sheep. + +A half hour passed. The door opened. A burst of laughter and the +clinking of glasses resounded through it. Rudolph entered. + +"The Prince and his friends," he said, "make merry over their assured +victory. If you will tell Maximilian all you have heard to-night, the +result may be different from what they anticipate. Come with me." + +He led the way through a suite of two or three rooms which +communicated with his apartment. + +"We must throw the hounds off the scent of the fox," he said; and, to +our astonishment, he proceeded to tear down the heavy curtains from +two windows, having first locked the door and closed the outer +shutters. He then tore the curtains into long strips, knotting them +together; we pulled upon them to test their strength. He then opened +one of the windows and dropped the end of the long rope thus formed +out of it, fastening the other to a heavy piece of furniture, within +the room. + +"That will account for your escape," he said. "I have already thrown +the rope ladder from the window of the room Estella occupied. These +precautions are necessary for my own safety." + +Then, locking the communicating doors, we returned to his room. + +"Put this cloak over your shoulders," he said; "it will help disguise +you. Walk boldly down these stairs," opening another door--not the +one we had entered by; "turn to the right--to the right, +remember--and on your left hand you will soon find a door--the first +you will come to. Open it. Say to the man on guard: 'Show me to the +carriage of Lord Southworth.' There is no such person; but that is +the signal agreed upon. He will lead you to the carriage. Maximilian +is the footman. Farewell, and may God bless you." + +We shook hands. I followed his directions; we met no one; I opened +the door; the guard, as soon as I uttered the password, led me, +through a mass of carriages, to where one stood back under some +overhanging trees. The footman hurried to open the door. I gave my +hand to Estella; she sprang in; I followed her. But this little +movement of instinctive courtesy on my part toward a woman had been +noticed by one of the many spies hanging around. He thought it +strange that one man should offer his hand to assist another into a +carriage. He whispered his suspicions to a comrade. We had hardly +gone two blocks from the palace when Maximilian leaned down and said: +"I fear we are followed." + +Our carriage turned into another street, and then into another. I +looked out and could see--for the streets were very bright with the +magnetic light--that, some distance behind us, came two carriages +close together, while at a greater distance, behind them, I caught +sight of a third vehicle. Maximilian leaned down again and said: + +"We are certainly pursued by two carriages. The third one I recognize +as our own--the man with the bombs. We will drive to the first of the +houses we have secured. Be ready to spring out the moment we stop, +and follow me quickly into the house, for all depends on the rapidity +of our movements." + +In a little while the carriage suddenly stopped. I took Estella's +hand. She needed no help. Maximilian was ascending the steps of a +house, key in hand. We followed. I looked back. One of our pursuers +was a block away; the other a little behind him. The carriage with +the bombs I could not see--it might be obscured by the trees, or it +might have lost us in the fierce speed with which we had traveled. + +"Quick," said Maximilian, pulling us in and locking the door. + +We followed him, running through a long, lighted hall, out into a +garden; a gate flew open; we rushed across the street and sprang into +another carriage; Maximilian leaped to his place; crack went the +whip, and away we flew; but on the instant the quick eyes of my +friend saw, rapidly whirling around the next corner, one of the +carriages that had been pursuing us. + +"They suspected our trick," said he. "Where, in heaven's name, is the +man with the bombs?" he added, anxiously. + +Our horses were swift, but still that shadow clung to us; the streets +were still and deserted, for it was after midnight; but they were as +bright as if the full moon shone in an unclouded sky. + +"Ah! there he comes, at last," said Maximilian, with a sigh of +relief. "I feared we might meet another carriage of the police, and +this fellow behind us would call it to his help, and our case would +be desperate, as they would know our trick. We should have to fight +for it. Now observe what takes place." + +Estella, kneeling on the cushions, looked out through the glass +window in the back of the carriage; I leaned far out at the side. + +"See, Estella," I cried, "how that hindmost team flies! They move +like race-horses on the course." + +Nearer and nearer they come to our pursuers; they are close behind +them; the driver of the front carriage seems to know that there is +danger; he lashes his horses furiously; it is in vain. Now they are +side by side--side by side for a time; but now our friends forge +slowly ahead. The driver of the beaten team suddenly pulls his horses +back on their haunches. It is too late. A man stands up on the seat +of the front carriage-it is an open barouche. I could see his arm +describe an arc through the air; the next instant the whole street +was ablaze with a flash of brilliant red light, and the report of a +tremendous explosion rang in my ears. Through the smoke and dust I +could dimly see the horses of our pursuers piled in a heap upon the +street, kicking, plunging, dying. + +"It is all right now," said Maximilian quietly; and then he spoke to +the driver: "Turn the next corner to the left." + +After having made several changes of direction--with intent to throw +any other possible pursuers off the track--and it being evident that +we were not followed, except by the carriage of our friends, we drove +slowly to Maximilian's house and alighted. + +The sweet-faced old lady took the handsome, seeming boy, Estella, in +her arms, and with hearty cordiality welcomed her to her new home. We +left them together, mingling tears of joy. + +Max and I adjourned to the library, and there, at his request, I told +him all that had happened in the council-chamber. He smoked his cigar +and listened attentively. His face darkened as I repeated the spy's +story, but he neither admitted nor denied the truth of the part which +I thought related to himself. When I told him about the commander of +the air-ships, his interest was so great that his cigar went out; and +when I narrated the conversation which occurred after General Quincy +had left the room his face lighted up with a glow of joy. He listened +intently to the account of the Prince's plan of battle, and smiled +grimly. But when I told how I came from my hiding-place and appealed +to the oligarchy to spare mankind, he rose from his chair and walked +the room, profoundly agitated; and when I had finished, by narrating +how Rudolph led me to his room, to the presence of Estella, he threw +his arms around my neck, and said, "You dear old fool! It was just +like you;" but I could see that his eyes were wet with emotion. + +Then he sat for some time in deep thought. At last he said: + +"Gabriel, would you be willing to do something more to serve me?" + +"Certainly," I replied; "anything." + +"Would you go with me to-morrow night and tell this tale to the +council of our Brotherhood? My own life and the lives of my friends, +and _the liberty of one dear to me_, may depend upon your doing so." + +"I shall go with you most willingly," I said. "To tell you the +truth," I added, "While I cannot approve of your terrible +Brotherhood, nevertheless what I have seen and heard tonight +satisfies me that the Plutocrats should no longer cumber the earth +with their presence. Men who can coolly plot, amid laughter, the +death of ten million human beings, for the purpose of preserving +their ill-gotten wealth and their ill-used power, should be +exterminated from the face of the planet as enemies of mankind--as +poisonous snakes--vermin." + +He grasped my hand and thanked me. + +It was pleasant to think, that night, that Estella loved me; that I +had saved her; that we were under the same roof; and I wove visions +in my brain brighter than the dreams of fairyland; and Estella moved +everywhere amid them, a radiant angel. + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + THE EXECUTION + +"Now, Gabriel," said Max, "I will have to blindfold you--not that I +mistrust you, but that I have to satisfy the laws of our society and +the scruples of others." + +This was said just before we opened the door. He folded a silk +handkerchief over my face, and led me down the steps and seated me in +a carriage. He gave some whispered directions to the driver, and away +we rolled. It was a long drive. At last I observed that peculiar +salty and limy smell in the air, which told me we were approaching +the river. The place was very still and solitary. There were no +sounds of vehicles or foot-passengers. The carriage slowed up, and we +stopped. + +"This way," said Max, opening the door of the carriage, and leading +me by the hand. We walked a few steps; we paused; there were low +whisperings. Then we descended a long flight of steps; the air had a +heavy and subterranean smell; we hurried forward through a large +chamber. I imagined it to be the cellar of some abandoned warehouse; +the light came faintly through the bandage over my face, and I +inferred that a guide was carrying a lantern before us. Again we +stopped. There was more whispering and the rattle of paper, as if the +guards were examining some document. The whispering was renewed; then +we entered and descended again a flight of steps, and again went +forward for a short distance. The air was very damp and the smell +earthy. Again I heard the whispering and the rattling of paper. There +was delay. Some one within was sent for and came out. Then the door +was flung open, and we entered a room in which the air appeared to be +drier than in those we had passed through, and it seemed to be +lighted up. There were little movements and stirrings of the +atmosphere which indicated that there were a number of persons in the +room. I stood still. + +Then a stern, loud voice said: + +"Gabriel Weltstein, hold up your right hand." + +I did so. The voice continued: + +"You do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that the +statements you are about to make are just and true; that you are +incited to make them neither by corruption, nor hate, nor any other +unworthy motive; and that you will tell the truth and all the truth; +and to this you call all the terrors of the unknown world to witness; +and you willingly accept death if you utter anything that is false." + +I bowed my head. + +"What brother vouches for this stranger?" asked the same stern voice. + +Then I heard Maximilian. He spoke as if he was standing near my side. +He said: + +"I do. If I had not been willing to vouch for him with my life, I +should not have asked to bring him--not a member of our +Brotherhood--into this presence. He saved my life; he is a noble, +just and honorable man--one who loves his kind, and would bless and +help them if he could. He has a story to tell which concerns us all." + +"Enough," said the voice. "Were you present in the council-chamber of +the Prince of Cabano last night? If so, tell us what you saw and +heard?" + +Just then there was a slight noise, as if some one was moving quietly +toward the door behind me, by which I had just entered. Then came +another voice, which I had not before heard--a thin, shrill, +strident, imperious voice--a voice that it seemed to me I should +recognize again among a million. It cried out: + +"Back to your seat! Richard, tell the guards to permit no one to +leave this chamber until the end of our meeting." + +There was a shuffling of feet, and whispering, and then again +profound silence. + +"Proceed," said the stern voice that had first spoken. + +Concealing all reference to Estella, and omitting to name Rudolph, +whom I referred to simply as one of their Brotherhood known to +Maximilian, I told, in the midst of a grave-like silence, how I had +been hidden in the room next to the council-chamber; and then I went +on to give a concise history of what I had witnessed and heard. + +"Uncover his eyes!" exclaimed the stern voice. + +Maximilian untied the handkerchief. For a moment or two I was blinded +by the sudden glare of light. Then, as my eyes recovered their +function, I could see that I stood, as I had supposed, in the middle +of a large vault or cellar. Around the room, on rude benches, sat +perhaps one hundred men. At the end, on a sort of dais, or raised +platform, was a man of gigantic stature, masked and shrouded. Below +him, upon a smaller elevation, sat another, whose head, I noticed +even then, was crooked to one side. Still below him, on a level with +the floor, at a table, were two men who seemed to be secretaries. +Every man present wore a black mask and a long cloak of dark +material. Near me stood one similarly shrouded, who, I thought, from +the size and figure, must be Maximilian. + +It was a solemn, silent, gloomy assemblage, and the sight of it +thrilled through my very flesh and bones. I was not frightened, but +appalled, as I saw all those eyes, out of those expressionless dark +faces, fixed upon me. I felt as if they were phantoms, or dead men, +in whom only the eyes lived. + +The large man stood up. He was indeed a giant. He seemed to uncoil +himself from his throne as he rose. + +"Unmask," he said. + +There was a rustle, and the next moment the masks were gone and the +cloaks had fallen down. + +It was an extraordinary assemblage that greeted my eyes; a long array +of stern faces, dark and toil-hardened, with great, broad brows and +solemn or sinister eyes. + +Last night I had beheld the council of the Plutocracy. Here was the +council of the Proletariat. The large heads at one end of the line +were matched by the large heads at the other. A great injustice, or +series of wrongs, working through many generations, had wrought out +results that in some sense duplicated each other. Brutality above had +produced brutality below; cunning there was answered by cunning here; +cruelty in the aristocrat was mirrored by cruelty in the workman. +High and low were alike victims--unconscious victims--of a system. +The crime was not theirs; it lay at the door of the shallow, +indifferent, silly generations of the past. + +My eyes sought the officers. I noticed that Maximilian was +disguised--out of an excess of caution, as I supposed--with +eye-glasses and a large dark mustache. His face, I knew, was really +beardless. + +I turned to the president. Such a man I had never seen before. He +was, I should think, not less than six feet six inches high, and +broad in proportion. His great arms hung down until the monstrous +hands almost touched the knees. His skin was quite dark, almost +negroid; and a thick, close mat of curly black hair covered his huge +head like a thatch. His face was muscular, ligamentous; with great +bars, ridges and whelks of flesh, especially about the jaws and on +the forehead. But the eyes fascinated me. They were the eyes of a +wild beast, deep-set, sullen and glaring; they seemed to shine like +those of the cat-tribe, with a luminosity of their own. This, then--I +said to myself--must be Caesar, the commander of the dreaded +Brotherhood. + +A movement attracted me to the man who sat below him; he had spoken +to the president. + +He was in singular contrast with his superior. He was old and +withered. One hand seemed to be shrunken, and his head was +permanently crooked to one side. The face was mean and sinister; two +fangs alone remained in his mouth; his nose was hooked; the eyes were +small, sharp, penetrating and restless; but the expanse of brow above +them was grand and noble. It was one of those heads that look as if +they had been packed full, and not an inch of space wasted. His +person was unclean, however, and the hands and the long finger-nails +were black with dirt. I should have picked him out anywhere as a very +able and a very dangerous man. He was evidently the vice-president of +whom the spy had spoken--the nameless Russian Jew who was accounted +"the brains of the Brotherhood." + +"Gabriel Weltstein," said the giant, in the same stern, loud voice, +"each person in this room will now pass before you,--the officers +last; and,--under the solemn oath you have taken,--I call upon you to +say whether the spy you saw last night in the council-chamber of the +Prince of Cabano is among them. But first, let me ask, did you see +him clearly, and do you think you will be able to identify him?" + +"Yes," I replied; "he faced me for nearly thirty minutes, and I +should certainly know him if I saw him again." + +"Brothers," said the president, "you will now------" + +But here there was a rush behind me. I turned toward the door. Two +men were scuffling with a third, who seemed to be trying to break +out. There were the sounds of a struggle; then muttered curses; then +the quick, sharp report of a pistol. There was an exclamation of pain +and more oaths; knives flashed in the air; others rushed pell-mell +into the melee; and then the force of numbers seemed to triumph, and +the crowd came, dragging a man forward to where I stood. His face was +pale as death; the blood, streamed from a flesh wound on his +forehead; an expression of dreadful terror glared out of his eyes; he +gasped and looked from right to left. The giant had descended from +his dais. He strode forward. The wretch was laid at my feet. + +"Speak," said Caesar, "is that the man?" + +"It is," I replied. + +The giant took another step, and he towered over the prostrate wretch. + +"Brothers," he asked, "what is your judgment upon the spy?" + +"Death!" rang the cry from a hundred throats. + +The giant put his hand in his bosom; there was a light in his +terrible face as if he had long waited for such an hour. + +"Lift him up," he said. + +Two strong men held the spy by his arms; they lifted him to his feet; +he writhed and struggled and shrieked, but the hands that held him +were of iron. + +"Stop!" said the thin, strident voice I had heard before, and the +cripple advanced into the circle. He addressed the prisoner: + +"Were you followed to this place?" + +"Yes, yes," eagerly cried the spy. "Spare me, spare me, and I will +tell you everything. Three members of the police force were appointed +to follow, in a carriage, the vehicle that brought me here. They were +to wait about until the meeting broke up and then shadow the tallest +man and a crook-necked man to their lodgings and identify them. They +are now waiting in the dark shadows of the warehouse." + +"Did you have any signal agreed upon with them?" asked the cripple. + +"Yes," the wretch replied, conscious that he was giving up his +associates to certain death, but willing to sacrifice the whole world +if he might save his own life. "Spare me, spare me, and I win tell +you all." + +"Proceed," said the cripple. + +"I would not trust myself to be known by them. I agreed with Prince +Cabano upon a signal between us. I am to come to them, if I need +their help, and say: 'Good evening, what time is it?' The reply is, +'It is thieves' time.' Then I am to say, 'The more the better;' and +they are to follow me." + +"Richard," said the cripple, "did you hear that?" + +"Yes." + +"Take six men with you; leave them in the brew-house cellar; lead the +police thither; throw the bodies in the river." + +The man called Richard withdrew, with his men, to his work of murder. + +The prisoner rolled his eyes appealingly around that dreadful circle. + +"Spare me!" he cried. "I know the secrets of the banks. I can lead +you into the Prince of Cabano's house. Do not kill me. + +"Is that all?" asked the giant. + +"Yes," replied the cripple. + +In an instant the huge man, like some beast that had been long held +back from its prey, gave a leap forward, his face revealing terrible +ferocity; it was a tiger that glares, plunges and devours. I saw +something shining, brilliant and instantaneous as an electric flash; +then there was the sound of a heavy blow. The spy sprang clean out of +the hands that were holding him, high up in the air; and fell, close +to me, stone dead. He had been dead, indeed, when he made that +fearful leap. His heart was split in twain. His spring was not the +act of the man; it was the protest of the body against the rush of +the departing spirit; it was the clay striving to hold on to the soul. + +The giant stooped and wiped his bloody knife upon the clothes of the +dead man. The cripple laughed a crackling, hideous laugh. I hope God +will never permit me to hear such a laugh again. Others took it +up--it echoed all around the room. I could think of nothing but the +cachinnations of the fiends as the black gates burst open and new +hordes of souls are flung, startled and shrieking, into hell. + +"Thus die all the enemies of the Brotherhood!" cried the thin voice +of the cripple. + +And long and loud they shouted. + +"Remove the body through the back door," said the giant, "and throw +it into the river." + +"Search his clothes first," said the cripple. + +They did so, and found the money which the Prince had ordered to be +given him--it was the price of his life--and also a bundle of papers. +The former was handed over to the treasurer of the Brotherhood; the +latter were taken possession of by the vice-president. + +Then, resuming his seat, the giant said: + +"Gabriel Weltstein, the Brotherhood thank you for the great service +you have rendered them. We regret that your scruples will not permit +you to become one of us; but we regard you as a friend and we honor +you as a man; and if at any time the Brotherhood can serve you, be +assured its full powers shall be put forth in your behalf." + +I was too much shocked by the awful scene I had just witnessed to do +more than bow my head. + +"There is one thing more," he continued, "we shall ask of you; and +that is that you will repeat your story once again to another man, +who will soon be brought here. We knew from Maximilian what you were +about to tell, and we made our arrangements accordingly. Do not +start," he said, "or look alarmed--there will be no more executions." + +Turning to the men, he said: "Resume your masks." He covered his own +face, and all the rest did likewise. + + CHAPTER XIX. + + THE MAMELUKES OF THE AIR + +The vice-president of the Brotherhood leaned forward and whispered to +one of the secretaries, who, taking two men with him, left the room. +A seat was given me. There was a pause of perhaps ten minutes. Not a +whisper broke the silence. Then there came a rap at the door. The +other secretary went to it. There was whispering and consultation; +then the door opened and the secretary and his two companions +entered, leading a large man, blindfolded. He wore a military +uniform. They stopped in the middle of the room. + +"General Jacob Quincy," said the stern voice of the president, +"before we remove the bandage from your eyes I ask you to repeat, in +this presence, the pledge you made to the representative of the +Brotherhood, who called upon you today." + +The man said: + +"I was informed by your messenger that you had a communication to +make to me which involved the welfare, and perhaps the lives, of the +officers and men commanding and manning the air-vessels, or +war-ships, called by the people 'The Demons.' You invited me here +under a pledge of safe conduct; you left your messenger with my men, +as hostage for my return; and I promised never to reveal to mortal +ear anything that I might see or hear, except so far as it might be +necessary, with your consent, to do so to warn my command of those +dangers which you assure me threaten them. This promise I here renew, +and swear by the Almighty God to keep it forever inviolate." + +"Remove his bandage," said the president. + +They did so, and there stood before me the handsome and intelligent +officer whom I had seen last night in the Prince of Cabano's +council-chamber. + +The president nodded to the cripple, as if by some pre-arrangement, +and said, "Proceed." + +"General Jacob Quincy," said the thin, penetrating voice of the +vice-president of the Order, "you visited a certain house last night, +on a matter of business, connected with your command. How many men +knew of your visit?" + +"Three," said the general, with a surprised look. "I am to +communicate the results to a meeting of my command tomorrow night; +but I thought it better to keep the matter pretty much to myself +until that time." + +"May I ask who were the men to whom you spoke of the matter?" + +"I might object to your question," he said, "but that I suppose +something important lies behind it. The men were my brother, Col. +Quincy; my adjutant-general, Captain Underwood, and my friend Major +Hartwright." + +"Do you think any of these men would tell your story to any one else?" + +"Certainly not. I would venture my life upon their prudence and +secrecy, inasmuch as I asked them to keep the matter to themselves. +But why do you ask such questions?" + +"Because," said the wily cripple, "I have a witness here who is about +to reveal to you everything you said and did in that council-chamber +last night, even to the minutest detail. If you had told your story +to many, or to untrustworthy persons, there might be a possibility +that this witness had gleaned the facts from others; and that he had +not been present, as he claims; and therefore that you could not +depend upon what he says as to other matters of importance. Do you +recognize the justice of my reasoning?" + +"Certainly," said the general. "If you produce here a man who can +tell me just where I was last night, what I said, and what was said +to me, I shall believe that he was certainly present; for I well know +he did not get it from me or my friends; and I know, equally well, +that none of those with whom I had communication would tell what took +place to you or any friend of yours." + +"Be kind enough to stand up," said the cripple to me. I did so. + +"Did you ever see that man before?" he asked the general. + +The general looked at me intently. + +"Never," he replied. + +"Have you ever seen this man before?" he asked me. + +"Yes," I replied. + +"When and where?" + +"Last night; at the palace of Prince Cabano--in his council-chamber." + +"Proceed, and tell the whole story." + +I did so. The general listened closely, never relaxing his scrutiny +of my face. When I had finished my account of the interview, the +cripple asked the general whether it was a faithful narration of what +had taken place. He said it was--wonderfully accurate in every +particular. + +"You believe him, then, to be a truthful witness," asked the cripple, +"and that he was present at your interview, with the Council of the +Plutocracy?" + +'I do," said General Quincy. + +"Now proceed," he said to me, "to tell what took place after this +gentleman left the room." + +I did so. The face of the general darkened into a scowl as I +proceeded, and he flushed with rage when I had concluded my story. + +"Do you desire to ask the witness any questions?" said the cripple. + +"None at all," he replied. + +He stood for several minutes lost in deep thought. I felt that the +destiny of the world hung tremblingly in the balance. At last he +spoke, in a low voice. + +"Who represents your organization?" he asked. + +"The Executive Committee," replied the president. + +"Who are they?" he inquired. + +"Myself,--the vice-president"--pointing to the cripple--"and yonder +gentleman"--designating the cowled and masked figure of Maximilian, +who stood near me. + +"Could I have a private conference with you?" he asked. + +"Yes," replied the president, somewhat eagerly; "come this way." + +All four moved to a side door, which seemed to lead into another +subterranean chamber;--the cripple carried a torch. + +"Wait here for me," said Maximilian, as he passed me. + +I sat down. The cowled figures remained seated around the walls. Not +a sound broke the profound silence. I could see that all eyes were +fixed upon the door by which the Executive Committee had left us, and +my own were riveted there also. + +We all felt the gravity of the occasion. Five minutes--ten +minutes--fifteen minutes--twenty minutes passed. The door opened. We +thought the conference was over. No; it was only the cripple; his +face was uncovered and flushed with excitement. He walked quickly to +the secretary's table; took up pen, ink and paper, and returned to +the other cellar, closing the door after him. There was a movement +among the cowled figures--whispers--excitement; they augured that +things were going well--the agreement was to be reduced to writing! +Five minutes more passed--then ten--then fifteen. The door opened, +and they came out:--the gigantic Caesar ahead. All the faces were +uncovered, and I thought there was a look of suppressed triumph upon +the countenances of the Executive Committee. The commander of the +Demons looked sedate and thoughtful, like a man who had taken a very +grave and serious step. + +The president resumed the chair. He spoke to the secretary. + +"You will cover the eyes of General Quincy," he said. "Take two men +with you; accompany him to his carriage, then go with him to his +residence, and bring back our hostage.--General," he said, "good +night," and then added meaningly, "_Au revoir!_" + +"_Au revoir_," said the general, as the handkerchief was adjusted +over his face. + +The commander of the Demons and his escort withdrew. The president +sat consulting his watch, and when he was sure that they were beyond +hearing, he sprang to his feet, his eyes glowing and his whole frame +dilated with excitement. + +"Brothers," he cried out, "we have got the world in our hands at +last. The day is near we have so long toiled and waited for! The +Demons are with us!" + +The wildest demonstrations of joy followed--cheer after cheer broke +forth; the men embraced each other. + +"The world's slavery is at an end," cried one. + +"Death to the tyrants!" shouted another. + +"Down with the Oligarchy!" roared a third. + +"Come," said Maximilian, taking me by the arm, "it is time to go." + +He replaced the bandage over my eyes and led me out. For some time +after I left the room, and while in the next cellar, I could hear the +hoarse shouts of the triumphant conspirators. Victory was now +assured. My heart sank within me. The monstrous chorus was chanting +the requiem of a world. + +In the carriage Maximilian was trembling with excitement. One thought +seemed to be uppermost in his mind. "He will be free! He will be +free!" he continually cried. When at last he grew more calm, he +embraced me, and called me the preserver of himself; and all his +family; and all his friends; and all his work,--the savior of his +father! Then he became incoherent again. He cursed the baseness of +mankind. "It was noble," he said, "to crush a rotten world for +revenge, or for justice' sake; but to sell out a trust, for fifty +millions of the first plunder, was execrable--it was damnable. It was +a shame to have to use such instruments. But the whole world was +corrupt to the very core; there was not enough consistency in it to +make it hang together. Yet there was one consolation--the end was +coming! Glory be to God! The end was coming!" + +And he clapped his hands and shouted, like a madman. + +When he grew quieter I asked him what day the blow was to be struck. +Not for some time, he said. In the morning the vice-president would +take an air-ship to Europe, with a cipher letter from General Quincy +to the commandant of the Demons in England--to be delivered in case +it was thought safe to do so. The cripple was subtle and cunning +beyond all men. He was to arrange for the purchase of the officers +commanding the Demons all over Europe; and he was to hold a council +of the leaders of the Brotherhood, and arrange for a simultaneous +outbreak on both sides of the Atlantic, so that one continent should +not come to the help of the other. If, however, this could not be +effected, he was to return home, and the Brotherhood would +precipitate the revolution all over America at the same hour, and +take the chances of holding their own against the banker-government +of Europe. + +That night I lay awake a long time, cogitating; and the subject of my +thoughts was--Estella. + +It had been my intention to return to Africa before the great +outbreak took place. I could not remain and witness the ruin of +mankind. But neither could I leave Estella behind me. Maximilian +might be killed. I knew his bold and desperate nature; he seemed to +me to have been driven almost, if not quite, to insanity, by the +wrongs of his father. Revenge had become a mania with him. If he +perished in the battle what would become of Estella, in a world torn +to pieces? She had neither father, nor mother, nor home. But she +loved me and I must protect her! + +On the other hand, she was powerless and dependent on the kindness of +strangers. Her speech in that moment of terror might have expressed +more than she felt. Should I presume upon it? Should I take advantage +of her distress to impose my love upon her? But, if the Brotherhood +failed, might not the Prince recover her, and bear her back to his +hateful palace and his loathsome embraces? Dangers environed her in +every direction. I loved her; and if she would not accompany me to my +home as my wife, she must go as my sister. She could not stay where +she was. I must again save her. + +I fell asleep and dreamed that Estella and I were flying into space +on the back of a dragon, that looked very much like Prince Cabano. + + CHAPTER XX. + + THE WORKINGMEN'S MEETING + +I have told you, my dear Heinrich, that I have latterly attended, and +even spoken at, a number of meetings of the workingmen of this city. +I have just returned from one of the largest I have seen. It was held +in a great underground chamber, or series of cellars, connected with +each other, under an ancient warehouse. Before I retire to my couch I +will give you some description of the meeting, not only because it +will enable you to form some idea of the state of feeling among the +mechanics and workmen, but because this one, unfortunately, had a +tragical ending. + +There were guards stationed at the door to give warning of the coming +of the police. There were several thousand persons present. It was +Saturday night. When we arrived the hall was black with people--a +gloomy, silent assemblage. There were no women present; no bright +colors--all dark and sad-hued. The men were nearly all workingmen, +many of them marked by the grime of their toil. Maximilian whispered +to me that the attendance was larger than usual, and he thought it +indicated that, by a kind of instinct, the men knew the great day of +deliverance was near at hand. + +The president of a labor organization had taken the chair before we +came in. As I walked up the hall I was greeted with cheers, and +invited to the platform. Maximilian accompanied me. + +A man in a blouse was speaking. He was discussing the doctrines of +Karl Marx and the German socialists of the last century. He was +attentively listened to, but his remarks aroused no enthusiasm; they +all seemed familiar with the subjects of his discourse. + +He was followed by another workman, who spoke upon the advantages of +co-operation between the employers and the employed. His remarks were +moderate and sensible. He was, however, answered by another workman, +who read statistics to show that, after a hundred years of trial, the +co-operative system had not extended beyond a narrow circle. "There +were too many greedy employers and too many helpless workmen. +Competition narrowed the margin of profit and hardened the heart of +the master, while it increased the number of the wretchedly poor, who +must work at any price that would maintain life." [Applause.] "The +cure must be more radical than that." [Great applause.] + +He was followed by a school teacher, who thought that the true remedy +for the evils of society was universal education. "If all men were +educated they could better defend their rights. Education meant +intelligence, and intelligence meant prosperity. It was the ignorant +hordes from Europe who were crowding out the American workingmen and +reducing them to pauperism." [Applause. I + +Here a rough-looking man, who, I inferred, was an English miner, said +he begged leave to differ from the gentleman who had last spoken. (I +noticed that these workingmen, unless very angry, used in their +discussions the courteous forms of speech common in all parliamentary +bodies.) + +"A man who knew how to read and write," he continued, "did not +command any better wages for the work of his hands than the man who +could not." [Applause.] "His increased knowledge tended to make him +more miserable." [Applause.] "Education was so universal that the +educated man, without a trade, had to take the most inadequate +pittance of compensation, and was not so well off, many times, as the +mechanic." [Applause.] "The prisons and alms-houses were full of +educated men; and three-fourths of the criminal class could read and +write. Neither was the gentleman right when he spoke of the European +immigrants as 'ignorant hordes.' The truth was, the proportion of the +illiterate was much less in some European despotisms than it was in +the American Republic." [Applause from the foreigners present.] +"Neither did it follow that because a man was educated he was +intelligent. There was a vast population of the middle class, who had +received good educations, but who did not have any opinion upon any +subject, except as they derived it from their daily newspapers." +[Applause.] "The rich men owned the newspapers and the newspapers +owned their readers; so that, practically, the rich men cast all +those hundreds of thousands of votes. If these men had not been able +to read and write they would have talked with one another upon public +affairs, and have formed some correct ideas; their education simply +facilitated their mental subjugation; they were chained to the +chariots of the Oligarchy; and they would never know the truth until +they woke up some bright morning and found it was the Day of +Judgment." [Sensation and great applause.] + +Here I interposed: + +"Universal education is right; it is necessary," I said; "but it is +not all-sufficient. Education will not stop corruption or +misgovernment. No man is fit to be free unless he possesses a +reasonable share of education; but every man who possesses that +reasonable share of education is riot fit to be free. A man may be +able to read and write and yet be a fool or a knave." [Laughter and +applause.] "What is needed is a society which shall bring to Labor +the aid of the same keenness, penetration, foresight, and even +cunning, by which wealth has won its triumphs. Intellect should have +its rewards, but it should not have everything. But this defense of +labor could only spring from the inspiration of God, for the natural +instinct of man, in these latter days, seems to be to prey on his +fellow. We are sharks that devour the wounded of our own kind." + +I paused, and in the midst of the hall a thin gentleman, dressed in +black, with his coat buttoned to his throat, and all the appearance +of a clergyman, arose and asked whether a stranger would be permitted +to say a few words. He was received in sullen silence, for the clergy +are not popular with the proletariat. His manner, however, was quiet +and unassuming, and he appeared like an honest man. + +The chairman said he had no doubt the audience would be glad to hear +his views, and invited him to the platform. + +He said, in a weak, thin voice: + +"I have listened, brethren, with a great deal of interest and +pleasure to the remarks that have been made by the different +speakers. There is no doubt the world has fallen into evil +conditions; and it is very right that you should thus assemble and +consider the causes and the remedy. And, with your kind permission, I +will give you my views on the subject. + +"Brethren, your calamities are due, in my opinion, to the loss of +religion in the world and the lack of virtue among individuals. What +is needed for the reformation of mankind is a new interest in the +church--a revival of faith. If every man will purify his own heart, +all hearts will then be pure; and when the hearts of all are pure, +and filled with the divine sentiment of justice and brotherhood, no +man will be disposed to treat his neighbor unjustly. But, while this +is true, you must remember that, after all, this world is only a +place of temporary trial, to prepare us for another and a better +world. This existence consists of a few troubled and painful years, +at best, but there you will enjoy eternal happiness in the company of +the angels of God. We have the assurance of the Holy Scriptures that +riches and prosperity here are impediments to happiness hereafter. +The beggar Lazarus is shown to us in the midst of everlasting bliss, +while the rich man Dives, who had supported him for years, by the +crumbs from his table, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, is +burning in an eternal hell. Remember that it is 'less difficult for a +camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to +enter the kingdom of heaven;' and so, my friends, you may justly +rejoice in your poverty and your afflictions, for 'those whom the +Lord loveth he chasteneth;' and the more wretched your careers may +be, here on earth, the more assured you are of the delights of an +everlasting heaven. And do not listen, my brethren, to the men who +tell you that you must hate government and law. 'The powers that be +are ordained of God,' saith the Scripture; and by patient resignation +to the evils of this world you will lay up treasures for yourselves +in heaven, where the moth and rust cannot consume, and where thieves +do not break in and steal. They tell you that you should improve your +condition. But suppose you possessed all the pleasures which this +transitory world could give you, of what avail would it be if your +earthly happiness made you lose the eternal joys of heaven? 'What +will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own +soul?' Nothing, my brethren, nothing. Be patient, therefore----" + +As the reverend gentleman had proceeded the murmurs and objections of +the audience kept increasing, until at last it broke forth in a storm +of howls and execrations which completely drowned his voice. The +whole audience--I could see their faces from where I sat on the +platform--were infuriated. Arms were waving in the air, and the scene +was like Bedlam. I requested the clergyman to sit down, and, as soon +as he did so, the storm began to subside. A man rose in the midst of +the audience and mounted a bench. Loud cries and applause greeted +him. I could distinguish the name on a hundred lips, "Kelker! +Kelker!" As I ascertained afterwards, he was a professor, of German +descent, a man of wide learning, who had lost his position in the +university, and in society as well, by his defense of the rights of +the people. He now earned a meager living at shoemaking. He was a +tall, spare man, with gold eyeglasses (sole relic of his past +station), poorly clad; and he had the wild look of a man who had been +hunted all his life. He spoke with great vehemence, and in a +penetrating voice, that could be heard all over that vast assemblage, +which, as soon as he opened his mouth, became as still as death. + +"Friends and brothers," he said; "friends by the ties of common +wrongs, brothers in misery, I regret that you did not permit the +reverend gentleman to proceed. Ours is a liberality that hears all +sides; and, for one, I should have been glad to hear what this +advocate of the ancient creeds had to say for them. But since he has +taken his seat I shall reply to him. + +"He tells us that his religion is the one only thing which will save +us; and that it is better for us to be miserable here that we may be +happy hereafter. If that is so, heaven must be crowded now-a-days, +for the misery of the earth is unlimited and unspeakable; and it is +rapidly increasing." [Laughter and applause.] "But religion has had +control of the world for nearly two thousand years, and this is what +it has brought us to. It has been, in all ages, the moral +police-force of tyrants." [Great applause.] "It has chloroformed +poverty with promises of heaven, while the robbers have plundered the +world." (Continued applause.] "It has kept the people in submission, +and has sent uncountable millions through wretched lives to shameful +graves. [Great applause.] "With a lot of myths and superstitions, +derived from a dark and barbarous past, it has prevented civilization +from protecting mankind; and, Nero-like, has fiddled away upon its +ridiculous dogmas while the world was burning." [Great cheers.] + +"When have your churches helped man to improve his condition? They +are gorgeous palaces, where once a week the women assemble to display +their millinery and the men to maintain their business prestige." +[Laughter and applause.] "What great reform have they not opposed? +What new discoveries in science have they not resisted?" [Applause.] +"Man has only become great when he has escaped out of their +clutches." [Cheers.] "They have preached heaven and helped turn earth +into a hell." [Great cheers.] "They stood by, without a murmur, and +beheld mankind brought down to this awful condition; and now, in the +midst of our unbearable calamities, they tell us it is well for us to +starve; that starvation is the especial gate of heaven; and that +Dives deserved hell because he had plenty to eat while on earth." +[Great cheering.] "And why do they do this? Because, if they can get +possession of our consciences and persuade us to starve to death +patiently, and not resist, they will make it so much the easier for +the oppressors to govern us; and the rich, in return, will maintain +the churches." [Sensation.] "They are throttling us in the name of +God!" [Tremendous applause.] "Our sons march in endless procession to +the prison and the scaffold; our daughters take their places in the +long line of the bedizened cortege of the brothel; and every fiber of +our poor frames and brains shrieks out its protest against +insufficient nourishment; and this man comes to us and talks about +his Old-World, worn-out creeds, which began in the brains of +half-naked barbarians, and are a jumble of the myths of a +hundred-----" + +Here the speaker grew wild and hoarse with passion, and the audience, +who had been growing more and more excited and turbulent as he +proceeded, burst into a tremendous uproar that drowned every other +sound. A crowd of the more desperate--dark-faced, savage-looking +workingmen--made a rush for the platform to seize the clergyman; and +they would soon have had possession of him. But in this extremity I +sprang to the front of the platform, between him and the oncoming +mob, and by my mere presence, and the respect they have for me as +their friend, I stilled the tempest and restored order. + +"My dear friends!" I said, "be patient! Are you the men who boast of +your toleration? You meet to discuss your sufferings and their +remedy; and when one tells you how he would cure you, you rise up to +slay him. Be just. This poor man may be mistaken--the body of which +he is a member may be mistaken--as to the best way to serve and save +mankind; but that his purpose is good, and that he loves you, who can +doubt? Look at him! Observe his poor garments; his emaciated figure. +What joys of life does he possess? He has given up everything to help +you. Into your darkest alleys--into your underground dens--where +pestilence and starvation contend for their victims, he goes at high +noon and in the depth of the blackest night, and he brings to the +parting soul consolation and hope. And why not? Who can doubt that +there is another life? Who that knows the immortality of matter, its +absolute indestructibility, can believe that mind, intelligence, +soul,--which must be, at the lowest estimate--if they are not +something higher--a form of matter,--are to perish into nothingness? +If it be true, as we know it is, that the substance of the poor flesh +that robes your spirits--nay, of the very garments you wear--shall +exist, undiminished by the friction of eternity, aeons after our +planet is blotted out of space and our sun forgotten, can you believe +that this intelligence, whereby I command your souls into thought, +and communicate with the unsounded depths of your natures, can be +clipped off into annihilation? Nay, out of the very bounty and +largess of God I speak unto you; and that in me which speaks, and +that in you which listens, are alike part and parcel of the eternal +Maker of all things, without whom is nothing made." [Applause.] + +"And so, my friends, every good man who loves you, and would improve +your condition, in time or in eternity, is your friend, and to be +venerated by you." [Applause.] "And while we may regret the errors of +religion, in the past, or in the present, let us not forget its +virtues. Human in its mechanism, it has been human in its +infirmities. In the doctrine of the brotherhood of man and the +fatherhood of God, which are the essential principles of +Christianity, lies the redemption of mankind. But some of the +churchmen have misconceived Christ, or perverted him to their own +base purposes. He who drove the money-changers out of the temple, and +denounced the aristocrats of his country as whited sepulchres, and +preached a communism of goods, would not view to-day with patience or +equanimity the dreadful sufferings of mankind. We have inherited +Christianity without Christ; we have the painted shell of a religion, +and that which rattles around within it is not the burning soul of +the Great Iconoclast, but a cold and shriveled and meaningless +tradition. Oh! for the quick-pulsing, warm-beating, mighty human +heart of the man of Galilee! Oh! for his uplifted hand, armed with a +whip of scorpions, to depopulate the temples of the world, and lash +his recreant preachers into devotion to the cause of his poor +afflicted children!" [Great applause.] + +"There is no Power in the world too great or too sacred to be used by +Goodness for the suppression of Evil. Religion--true religion--not +forms or ceremonies, but _inspired purpose_--should take possession +of the _governments_ of the world and enforce _justice!_ The purified +individual soul we may not underestimate. These are the swept and +garnished habitations in which the angels dwell, and look with +unpolluted eyes upon the world. But this is not all. To make a few +virtuous where the many are vicious is to place goodness at a +disadvantage. To teach the people patience and innocence in the midst +of craft and cruelty, is to furnish the red-mouthed wolves with +woolly, bleating lambs. Hence the grip of the churches on humanity +has been steadily lessening during the past two hundred years. Men +permanently love only those things that are beneficial to them. The +churches must come to the rescue of the people or retire from the +field. A babe in the claws of a tiger is not more helpless than a +small virtuous minority in the midst of a cruel and bloody world. +Virtue we want, but virtue growing out of the bosom of universal +justice. While you labor to save one soul, poverty crushes a million +into sin. You are plucking brands from a constantly increasing +conflagration. The flames continue to advance and devour what you +have saved. The religion of the world must be built on universal +prosperity, and this is only possible on a foundation of universal +justice. If the web of the cloth is knotted in one place it is +because the threads have, in an unmeaning tangle, been withdrawn from +another part. Human misery is the correlative and equivalent of +injustice somewhere else in society. + +"What the world needs is a new organization--a great world-wide +Brotherhood of Justice. It should be composed of all men who desire +to lift up the oppressed and save civilization and society. It should +work through governmental instrumentalities. Its altars should be the +schools and the ballot-boxes. It should combine the good, who are not +yet, I hope, in a minority, against the wicked. It should take one +wrong after another, concentrate the battle of the world upon them, +and wipe them out of existence. It should be sworn to a perpetual +crusade against every evil. It is not enough to heal the wounds +caused by the talons of the wild beasts of injustice; it should +pursue them to their bone-huddled dens and slay them." [Great +applause.] "It should labor not alone to relieve starvation, but to +make starvation impossible;--_to kill it in its causes_. + +"With the widest toleration toward those who address themselves to +the future life, even to the neglect of this, the sole dogma of our +society should be justice. If there is an elysium in the next world, +and not a continuation of the troubled existence through which we are +now passing, we will be all the better fitted to enjoy it if we have +helped to make this world a heaven. And he who has labored to make +earth a hell should enjoy his workmanship in another and more +dreadful world, forever and forever. + +"And oh, ye churches! Will ye not come up to the help of the people +against the mighty? Will ye not help us break the jaws of the spoiler +and drag the prey from between his teeth? Think what you could do if +all your congregation were massed together to crush the horrid wrongs +that abound in society! To save the world _you must fight corruption +and take possession of government_. Turn your thoughts away from +Moses and his ragged cohorts, and all the petty beliefs and blunders +of the ancient world. Here is a world greater than Moses ever dreamed +of. Here is a population infinitely vaster in numbers, more +enlightened, more capable of exquisite enjoyment, and exquisite +suffering, than all the children of Israel and all the subjects of +imperial Rome combined. Come out of the past into the present. God is +as much God to-day as he was in the time of the Pharaohs. If God +loved man then he loves him now. Surely the cultured denizen of this +enlightened century, in the midst of all the splendors of his +transcendent civilization, is as worthy of the tender regard of his +Creator as the half-fed and ignorant savage of the Arabian desert +five thousand years ago. God lives yet, and he lives for us." + +Here I paused. Although the vast audience had listened patiently to +my address, and had, occasionally, even applauded some of its +utterances, yet it was evident that what I said did not touch their +hearts. In fact, a stout man, with a dark, stubbly beard, dressed +like a workingman, rose on one of the side benches and said: + +"Fellow-toilers, we have listened with great respect to what our +friend Gabriel Weltstein has said to us, for we know he would help us +if he could--that his heart is with us. And much that he has said is +true. But the time has gone by to start such a society as be speaks +of. Why, if we formed it, the distresses of the people are so great +that our very members would sell us out on election day." [Applause.] +"The community is rotten to the core; and so rotten that it is not +conscious that it is rotten." [Applause.] "There is no sound place to +build on. There is no remedy but the utter destruction of the +existing order of things." [Great applause.] "It cannot be worse for +us than it is; it may be better." [Cheers.] + +"But," I cried out, "do you want to destroy civilization??" + +"Civilization," he replied solemnly; "what interest have we in the +preservation of civilization? Look around and behold its fruits! Here +are probably ten thousand industrious, sober, intelligent workingmen; +I doubt if there is one in all this multitude that can honestly say +he has had, during the past week, enough to eat." [Cries of "That's +so."] "I doubt if there is one here who believes that the present +condition of things can give him, or his children, anything better +for the future." [Applause.] "Our masters have educated us to +understand that we have no interest in civilization or society. We +are its victims, not its members. They depend on repression, on force +alone; on cruelty, starvation, to hold us down until we work our +lives away. Our lives are all we have;--it may be all we will ever +have! They are as dear to us as existence is to the millionaire. + +"What is civilization worth which means happiness for a few thousand +men and inexpressible misery for hundreds of millions? No, down with +it!" [Immense cheering. Men rising and waving their hats.] "If they +have set love and justice adrift and depend only on force, why should +we not have recourse to force also?" [Cheers and applause, mingled +with cries of "Take care!" "Look out!" "Spies!" etc.] "Yes," +continued the speaker, "I mean, of course, the force of argument and +reason." [Great laughter and applause.] "Of course none of us would +advocate a violation of the law--that blessed law which it has cost +our masters so much hard-earned money to purchase;" [renewed laughter +and applause,] "and which restrains us and not them; for under it no +injustice is forbidden to them, and no justice is permitted to us, +Our labor creates everything; we possess nothing. Yes, we have the +scant supply of food necessary to enable us to create more." +[Applause.] "We have ceased to be men--we are machines. Did God die +for a machine? Certainly not. + +"We are crushed under the world which we maintain, and our groans are +drowned in the sounds of music and laughter." [Great applause.] "We +have a hell that is more desperate and devilish than any dreamed of +by the parsons--for we have to suffer to maintain the pleasures of +heaven, while we have no share in what we ourselves create." +[Laughter and applause.] "Do you suppose that if heaven were blown to +pieces hell would be any worse off? At least, the work would stop." +[Great applause, long-continued, with cries of "That's so!"] + +Here a great uproar broke out near the end of the hall. A man had +been caught secretly taking notes of the speaker's remarks. He was +evidently a detective. On the instant a hundred men sprang upon him, +and he was beaten and trampled under foot, until not only life, but +all semblance of humanity, had been crushed out of him; and the +wretched remains were dragged out and thrown upon the pavement. It is +impossible to describe the uproar and confusion which ensued. In the +midst of it a large platoon of police, several hundred strong, with +their belts strung with magazine pistols, and great clubs in their +hands, broke into the room, and began to deal blows and make arrests +right and left, while the crowd fled through all the doors. +Maximilian seized me and the poor clergyman, who had been sitting in +a dazed and distraught state for some time, and dragged us both up a +back stairway and through a rear exit into the street. There we took +a carriage, and, after we had left the bewildered clergyman at his +residence, Maximilian said to me as we rode home: + +"You see, my dear Gabriel, I was right and you were wrong. That +workman told the truth. You have arrived on the scene too late. A +hundred years ago you might have formed your Brotherhood of Justice +and saved society. Now there is but one cure--the Brotherhood of +_Destruction_." + +"Oh, my dear friend," I replied, "do not say so. _Destruction!_ What +is it? The wiping out of the slow accumulations made by man's +intelligence during thousands of years. A world cataclysm. A day of +judgment. A day of fire and ashes. A world burned and swept bare of +life. All the flowers of art; the beautiful, gossamer-like works of +glorious literature; the sweet and lovely creations of the souls of +men long since perished, and now the inestimable heritage of +humanity; all, all crushed, torn, leveled in the dust. And all that +is savage, brutal, cruel, demoniac in man's nature let loose to +ravage the face of the world. Oh! horrible--most horrible! The mere +thought works in me like a convulsion; what must the inexpressible +reality be? To these poor, suffering, hopeless, degraded toilers; +these children of oppression and the dust; these chained slaves, +anything that would break open the gates of their prison-house would +be welcome, even though it were an earthquake that destroyed the +planet. But you and I, my dear friend, are educated to higher +thoughts. We know the value of the precious boon of civilization. We +know how bare and barren, and wretched and torpid, and utterly +debased is soulless barbarism. I see enough to convince me that the +ramifications of your society are like a net-work of wires, all over +the earth, penetrating everywhere, and at every point touching the +most deadly explosives of human passions and hates; and that it needs +but the pressure of your finger upon the pedal to blow up the world. +The folly of centuries has culminated in the most terrible +organization that ever grew out of the wretchedness of mankind. But +oh, my friend--you have a broad mind and a benevolent soul--tell me, +is there no remedy? Cannot the day of wrath be averted?" + +The tears flowed down my face as I spoke, and Maximilian placed his +hand gently upon my arm, and said in the kindliest manner: + +"My dear Gabriel, I have thought such thoughts as these many times; +not with the fervor and vehemence of your more imaginative nature, +but because I shrank, at first, from what you call 'a +world-cataclysm.' But facts are stronger than the opinions of man. +There is in every conflagration a time when a few pails of water +would extinguish it; then there comes a time when the whole +fire-department, with tons of water, can alone save what is left of +the property; but sometimes a point is reached where even the boldest +firemen are forced to recoil and give up the building to the +devouring element. Two hundred years ago a little wise statesmanship +might have averted the evils from which the world now suffers. One +hundred years ago a gigantic effort, of all the good men of the +world, might have saved society. Now the fire pours through every +door, and window and crevice; the roof crackles; the walls totter; +the heat of hell rages within the edifice; it is doomed; there is no +power on earth that can save it; it must go down into ashes. What can +you or I do? What will it avail the world if we rush into the flames +and perish? No; we witness the working-out of great causes which we +did not create. When man permits the establishment of self-generating +evil he must submit to the effect. Our ancestors were blind, +indifferent, heartless. We live in the culmination of their misdeeds. +They have crawled into their graves and drawn the earth over them, +and the flowers bloom on their last resting-places, and we are the +inheritors of the hurricane which they invoked. Moreover," he +continued, "how can reformation come? You have seen that audience +to-night. Do you think they are capable of the delicate task of +readjusting the disarranged conditions of the world? That workman was +right. In the aggregate they are honest--most honest and honorable; +but is there one of them whose cramped mind and starved stomach could +resist the temptation of a ten-dollar bill? Think what a ten-dollar +bill is to them! It represents all they crave: food, clothes, +comfort, joy. It opens the gate of heaven to them; it is paradise, +for a few hours at least. Why, they would mortgage their souls, they +would trade their Maker, for a hundred dollars! The crime is not +theirs, but the shallow creatures who once ruled the world, and +permitted them to be brought to this state. And where else can you +turn? Is it to the newspapers? They are a thousand times more +dishonest than the workingmen. Is it to the halls of legislation? +There corruption riots and rots until the stench fills the earth. The +only ones who could reform the world are the rich and powerful: but +they see nothing to reform. Life is all sunshine for them; +civilization is a success for them; they need no better heaven than +they enjoy. They have so long held mankind in subjection that they +laugh at the idea of the great, dark, writhing masses, rising up to +overthrow them. Government is, to them, an exquisitely adjusted piece +of mechanism whose object is to keep the few happy and the many +miserable." + +"But," said I, "if an appeal were made to them; if they were assured +of the dangers that really threatened them; if their better and +kindlier natures were appealed to, do you not think they might +undertake the task of remedying the evils endured by the multitude? +They cannot all be as abandoned and utterly vicious as Prince Cabano +and his Council." + +"No," he replied; "have you not already made the test? The best of +them would probably hang you for your pains. Do you think they would +be willing to relinquish one-tenth of their pleasures, or their +possessions, to relieve the distresses of their fellows? If you do, +you have but a slight conception of the callousness of their hearts. +You were right in what you said was the vital principle of +Christianity--brotherly love, not alone of the rich for the rich, but +of the poor and rich for each other. But that spirit has passed away +from the breasts of the upper classes. Science has increased their +knowledge one hundred per cent. and their vanity one thousand per +cent. The more they know of the material world the less they can +perceive the spiritual world around and within it. The acquisition of +a few facts about nature has closed their eyes to the existence of a +God." + +"Ah," said I, "that is a dreadful thought! It seems to me that the +man who possesses his eyesight must behold a thousand evidences of a +Creator denied to a blind man; and in the same way the man who knows +most of the material world should see the most conclusive evidences +of design and a Designer. The humblest blade of grass preaches an +incontrovertible sermon. What force is it that brings it up, green +and beautiful, out of the black, dead earth? Who made it succulent +and filled it full of the substances that will make flesh and blood +and bone for millions of gentle, grazing animals? What a gap would it +have been in nature if there had been no such growth, or if, being +such, it had been poisonous or inedible? Whose persistent purpose is +it--whose everlasting will--that year after year, and age after age, +stirs the tender roots to life and growth, for the sustenance of +uncounted generations of creatures? Every blade of grass, therefore, +points with its tiny finger straight upward to heaven, and proclaims +an eternal, a benevolent God. It is to me a dreadful thing that men +can penetrate farther and farther into nature with their senses, and +leave their reasoning faculties behind them. Instead of mind +recognizing mind, dust simply perceives dust. This is the suicide of +the soul." + +"Well, to this extremity," said Maximilian, "the governing classes of +the world have progressed. We will go to-morrow--it will be +Sunday--and visit one of their churches; and you shall see for +yourself to what the blind adoration of wealth and the heartless +contempt of humanity have brought the world." + + CHAPTER XXI. + + A SERMON OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY + +Max and I entered the church together. It is a magnificent +structure--palatial, cathedral-like, in its proportions--a gorgeous +temple of fashion, built with exquisite taste, of different-colored +marbles, and surrounded by graceful columns. Ushers, who looked like +guards in uniform, stood at the doors, to keep out the poorly-dressed +people, if any such presented themselves; for it was evident that +this so-called church was exclusively a club-house of the rich. + +As we entered we passed several marble statues. It is a curious +illustration of the evolution of religion, in these latter days, that +these statues are not representations of any persons who have ever +lived, or were supposed to have lived on earth, or anywhere else; and +there was not in or about them any hint whatever of myth or antique +belief. In the pre-Christian days the work of the poet and sculptor +taught a kind of history in the statues of the pagan divinities. +Bacchus told of some ancient race that had introduced the vine into +Europe and Africa. Ceres, with her wheat-plant, recited a similar +story as to agriculture. And Zeus, Hercules, Saturn and all the rest +were, in all probability--as Socrates declared--deified men. And, of +course, Christian art was full of beautiful allusions to the life of +the Savior, or to his great and holy saints and martyrs. But here we +had simply splendid representations of naked human figures, male and +female, wondrously beautiful, but holding no associations whatever +with what you and I, my dear Heinrich, call religion. + +Passing these works of art, we entered a magnificent hall. At the +farther end was a raised platform, almost embowered in flowers of +many hues, all in full bloom. The light entered through stained +windows, on the sides of the hall, so colored as to cast a weird and +luxurious effulgence over the great chamber. On the walls were a +number of pictures; some of a very sensuous character; all of great +beauty and perfect workmanship; but none of them of a religious +nature, unless we might except one of the nude Venus rising from the +sea. + +The body of the hall was arranged like a great lecture-room; there +were no facilities for or suggestions of devotion, but the seats were +abundantly cushioned, and with every arrangement for the comfort of +the occupants. The hall was not more than half full, the greater part +of those present being women. Most of these were fair and beautiful; +and even those who had long passed middle age retained, by the virtue +of many cunning arts, well known to these people, much of the +appearance and freshness of youth. I might here note that the +prolongation of life in the upper classes, and its abbreviation in +the lower classes, are marked and divergent characteristics of this +modern civilization. + +I observed in the women, as I had in those of the Darwin Hotel, +associated with great facial perfection, a hard and soulless look out +of the eyes; and here, even more than there, I could not but notice a +sensuality in the full, red lips, and the quick-glancing eyes, which +indicated that they were splendid animals, and nothing more. + +An usher led us up one of the thickly carpeted aisles to a front pew; +there was a young lady already seated in it. I entered first, and Max +followed me. The young lady was possessed of imperial beauty. She +looked at us both quite boldly, without shrinking, and smiled a +little. We sat down. They were singing a song--I could not call it a +hymn; it was all about the "Beautiful and the Good"--or something of +that sort. The words and tune were fine, but there were no allusions +to religion, or God, or heaven, or anything else of a sacred +character. The young lady moved toward me and offered to share her +song-book with me. She sang quite sweetly, but there was no more soul +in her voice than there was in the song. + +After a little time the preacher appeared on the platform. Max told +me his name was Professor Odyard, and that he was one of the most +eminent philosophers and orators of the day, but that his moral +character was not of the best. He was a large, thick-set, florid, +full-bearded man, with large lips, black hair and eyes, and swarthy +skin. His voice was sweet and flute-like, and he had evidently +perfected himself in the graces of elocution. He spoke with a great +deal of animation and action; in fact, he was a very vivacious actor. + +He commenced by telling the congregation of some new scientific +discoveries, recently made in Germany, by Professor Von der Slahe, to +the effect that the whole body of man, and of all other animals and +even inanimate things, was a mass of living microbes--not in the +sense of disease or parasites, but that the intrinsic matter of all +forms was life-forms; the infinite molecules were creatures; and that +there was no substance that was not animated; and that life was +therefore infinitely more abundant in the world than matter; that +life was matter. + +And then he went on to speak of the recent great discoveries made by +Professor Thomas O'Connor, of the Oregon University, which promise to +end the reign of disease on earth, and give men patriarchal leases of +life. More than a century ago it had been observed, where the +bacteria of contagious disorders were bred in culture-infusions, for +purposes of study, that after a time they became surrounded by masses +of substance which destroyed them. It occurred to Professor O'Connor, +that it was a rule of Nature that life preyed on life, and that every +form of being was accompanied by enemies which held its over-growth +in check: the deer were eaten by the wolves; the doves by the hawks; +the gnats by the dragon-flies. + + "Big fleas had little fleas to bite 'em, + And these had lesser still, ad infinitum." + +Professor O'Connor found that, in like manner, bacteria, of all +kinds, were devoured by minuter forms of life. Recovery from sickness +meant that the microbes were destroyed by their natural enemies +before they had time to take possession of the entire system; death +resulted where the vital powers could not hold out until the balance +of nature was thus re-established. He found, therefore, that the +remedy for disease was to take some of the culture-infusion in which +malignant bacteria had just perished, and inject it into the veins of +the sick man. This was like stocking a rat-infested barn with +weasels. The invisible, but greedy swarms of bacilli penetrated every +part of the body in search of their prey, and the man recovered his +health. Where an epidemic threatened, the whole community was to be +thus inoculated, and then, when a wandering microbe found lodgment in +a human system, it would be pounced upon and devoured before it could +reproduce its kind. He even argued that old age was largely due to +bacteria; and that perpetual youth would be possible if a germicide +could be found that would reach every fiber of the body, and destroy +the swarming life-forms which especially attacked the vital forces of +the aged. + +And then he referred to a new invention by a California scientist, +named Henry Myers, whereby telephonic communication had been +curiously instituted with intelligences all around us--not spirits or +ghosts, but forms of life like our own, but which our senses had +hitherto not been able to perceive. They were new forms of matter, +but of an extreme tenuity of substance; and with intellects much like +our own, though scarcely of so high or powerful an order. It was +suggested by the preacher that these shadowy earth-beings had +probably given rise to many of the Old-World beliefs as to ghosts, +spirits, fairies, goblins, angels and demons. The field in this +direction, he said, had been just opened, and it was difficult to +tell how far the diversity and multiplicity of creation extended. He +said it was remarkable that our ancestors had not foreseen these +revelations, for they knew that there were sound-waves both above and +below the register of our hearing; and light-waves of which our eyes +were able to take no cognizance; and therefore it followed, _a +priori_, that nature might possess an infinite number of forms of +life which our senses were not fitted to perceive. For instance, he +added, there might be right here, in this very hall, the houses and +work-shops and markets of a multitude of beings, who swarmed about +us, but of such tenuity that they passed through our substance, and +we through theirs, without the slightest disturbance of their +continuity. All that we knew of Nature taught us that she was +tireless in the prodigality of her creative force, and boundless in +the diversity of her workmanship; and we now knew that what the +ancients called spirit was simply an attenuated condition of matter. + +The audience were evidently keenly intellectual and highly educated, +and they listened with great attention to this discourse. In fact, I +began to perceive that the office of preacher has only survived, in +this material age, on condition that the priest shall gather up, +during the week, from the literary and scientific publications of the +whole world, the gems of current thought and information, digest them +carefully, and pour them forth, in attractive form, for their +delectation on Sunday. As a sort of oratorical and poetical reviewer, +essayist and rhapsodist, the parson and his church had survived the +decadence of religion. + +"Nature," he continued, "is as merciless as she is prolific. Let us +consider the humblest little creature that lives--we will say the +field-mouse. Think what an exquisite compendium it is of bones, +muscles, nerves, veins, arteries--all sheathed in such a delicate, +flexible and glossy covering of skin. Observe the innumerable and +beautiful adjustments in the little animal: the bright, pumping, +bounding blood; the brilliant eyes, with their marvelous powers; the +apprehending brain, with its sentiments and emotions, its loves, its +fears, its hopes; and note, too, that wonderful net-work, that +telegraphic apparatus of nerves which connects the brain with the +eyes and ears and quick, vivacious little feet. One who took but a +half view of things would say, 'How benevolent is Nature, that has so +kindly equipped the tiny field-mouse with the means of +protection--its quick, listening ears; its keen, watchful eyes; its +rapid, glancing feet!' But look a little farther, my brethren, and +what do you behold? This same benevolent Nature has formed another, +larger creature, to watch for and spring upon this 'timorous little +beastie,' even in its moments of unsuspecting happiness, and rend, +tear, crush and mangle it to pieces. And to this especial work Nature +has given the larger animal a set of adjustments as exquisitely +perfect as those it has conferred on the smaller one; to-wit: eyes to +behold in the darkness; teeth to tear; claws to rend; muscles to +spring; patience to wait; and a stomach that clamors for the blood of +its innocent fellow-creature. + +"And what lesson does this learned and cultured age draw from these +facts? Simply this: that the plan of Nature necessarily involves +cruelty, suffering, injustice, destruction, death. + +"We are told by a school of philanthropists more numerous in the old +time, fortunately, than they are at present, that men should not be +happy while their fellow-men are miserable; that we must decrease our +own pleasures to make others comfortable; and much more of the same +sort. But, my brethren, does Nature preach that gospel to the cat +when it destroys the field-mouse? No; she equips it with special +aptitudes for the work of slaughter. + +"If Nature, with her interminable fecundity, pours forth millions of +human beings for whom there is no place on earth, and no means of +subsistence, what affair is that of ours, my brethren? We did not +make them; we did not ask Nature to make them. And it is Nature's +business to feed them, not yours or mine. Are we better than Nature? +Are we wiser? Shall we rebuke the Great Mother by caring for those +whom she has abandoned? If she intended that all men should be happy, +why did she not make them so? She is omnipotent. She permits evil to +exist, when with a breath of her mouth she could sweep it away +forever. But it is part of her scheme of life. She is indifferent to +the cries of distress which rise up to her, in one undying wail, from +the face of the universe. With stony eyes the thousand-handed goddess +sits, serene and merciless, in the midst of her worshipers, like a +Hindoo idol. Her skirts are wet with blood; her creation is based on +destruction; her lives live only by murder. The cruel images of the +pagan are truer delineations of Nature than the figures which typify +the impotent charity of Christendom--an exotic in the midst of an +alien world. + +"Let the abyss groan. Why should we trouble ourselves. Let us close +our ears to the cries of distress we are not able to relieve. It was +said of old time, 'Many are called, but few chosen.' Our ancestors +placed a mythical interpretation on this text; but we know that it +means:--many are called to the sorrows of life, but few are chosen to +inherit the delights of wealth and happiness. Buddha told us, +'Poverty is the curse of Brahma'; Mahomet declared that 'God smote +the wicked with misery'; and Christ said, 'The poor ye have always +with you.' Why, then, should we concern ourselves about the poor? +They are part of the everlasting economy of human society. Let us +leave them in the hands of Nature. She who made them can care for +them. + +"Let us rejoice that out of the misery of the universe we are +reserved for happiness. For us are music, painting, sculpture, the +interweaving glories of the dance, the splendors of poetry and +oratory, the perfume of flowers, all delicate and dainty viands and +sparkling wines and nectars; and above all Love! Love! Entrancing, +enrapturing Love! With its glowing cheeks--its burning eyes--its hot +lips--its wreathing arms--its showering kisses--its palpitating +bosoms--its intertwining symmetry of beauty and of loveliness." + +Here the young lady with the song book drew up closer to me, and +looked up into my eyes with a gaze which no son of Adam could +misunderstand. I thought of Estella, like a true knight, and turned +my face to the preacher. While his doctrines were, to me, utterly +heartless and abominable, there was about him such an ecstasy of +voluptuousness, associated with considerable intellectual force and +passionate oratory, that I was quite interested in him as a +psychological study. I could not help but think by what slow stages, +through many generations, a people calling themselves Christians +could have been brought to this curious commingling of +intellectuality and bestiality; and all upon the basis of +indifference to the sorrows and sufferings of their fellow-creatures. + +"On with the dance!" shouted the preacher, "though we dance above +graves. Let the very calamities of the world accentuate our +pleasures, even as the warm and sheltered fireside seems more +delightful when we hear without the roar of the tempest. The ancient +Egyptians brought into their banquets the mummied bodies of the dead, +to remind them of mortality. It was a foolish custom. Men are made to +feast and made to die; and the one is as natural as the other. Let +us, on the other hand, when we rejoice together, throw open our +windows, that we may behold the swarming, starving multitudes who +stream past our doors. Their pinched and ashy faces and hungry eyes, +properly considered, will add a flavor to our viands. We will rejoice +to think that if, in this ill-governed universe, all cannot be blest, +we at least rise above the universal wretchedness and are reserved +for happiness. + +"Rejoice, therefore, my children, in your wealth, in your health, in +your strength, in your bodies, and in your loves. Ye are the flower +and perfection of mankind. Let no plea shorten, by one instant, your +pleasures. Death is the end of all things--of consciousness; of +sensation; of happiness. Immortality is the dream of dotards. When ye +can no longer enjoy, make ready for the grave; for the end of Love is +death. + +"And what is Love? Love is the drawing together of two beings, in +that nature-enforced affinity and commingling, when out of the very +impact and identity of two spirits, life, triumphant life, springs +into the universe. + +"What a powerful impulse is this Love? It is nature-wide. The rushing +together of the chemical elements; the attraction of suns and +planets--all are Love. See how even the plant casts its pollen abroad +on the winds, that it may somewhere reach and rest upon the loving +bosom of a sister-flower; and there, amid perfume and sweetness and +the breath of zephyrs, the great mystery of life is re-enacted. The +plant is without intellect, but it is sensible to Love. + +"And who shall doubt, when he contemplates the complicated mechanism +by which, everywhere, this God-Nature--blind as to pain and sin and +death, but tender and solicitous as to birth and life--makes Love +possible, imperative, soulful, overwhelming, that the purposed end +and aim of life is Love. And how pitiful and barren seem to us the +lives of the superstitious and ascetic hermits of the ancient world, +who fled to desert places, to escape from Love, and believed that +they were overcoming the foul fiend by prayers and fastings and +scourgings. But outraged Nature, mighty amid the ruins of their +blasted hearts, reasserted herself, and visited them even in dreams; +and the white arms and loving lips of woman overwhelmed them with hot +and passionate caresses, in visions against which they strove in vain. + +"Oh, my brethren, every nerve, fiber, muscle, and 'petty artery of +the body,' participates in Love. Love is the conqueror of death, +because Love alone perpetuates life. Love is life! Love is religion! +Love is the universe! Love is God!" And with this climax he sat down +amid great applause, as in a theater. + +I need scarcely say to you, my dear Heinrich, that I was absolutely +shocked by this sermon. Knowing, as you do, the kind and pure and +gentle doctrines taught in the little church in our mountain home, +where love means charity for man and worship of God, you may imagine +how my blood boiled at this cruel, carnal and heartless harangue. The +glowing and picturesque words which he poured out were simply a +carpet of flowers spread over crawling serpents. + +The audience of course were familiar with these doctrines. The +preacher owed his success, indeed, to the fact that he had +courageously avowed the sentiments which had dwelt in the breasts of +the people and had been enacted in their lives for generations. The +congregation had listened with rapt attention to this eloquent echo +of their own hearts; this justification of their Nature-worship; this +re-birth of Paganism. The women nestled closer to the men at the +tender passages; and I noticed many a flashing interchange of +glances, between bold, bright eyes, which told too well that the +great preacher's adjurations were not thrown away upon unwilling +listeners. + +Another song was sung; and then there was a rustle of silks and +satins. The audience were about to withdraw. The preacher sat upon +his sofa, on the platform, mopping his broad forehead with his +handkerchief, for he had spoken with great energy. I could restrain +myself no longer. I rose and said in a loud voice, which at once +arrested the movement of the congregation: + +"Reverend sir, would you permit a stranger to make a few comments on +your sermon?" + +"Certainly," he replied, very courteously; "we welcome discussion. +Will you step to the platform?" + +"No," I replied; "with your permission I shall speak from where I +stand. + +"I can only say to you that I am inexpressibly shocked and grieved by +your discourse. + +"Are you blind? Can you not see that Christianity was intended by God +to be something better and nobler, superimposed, as an after-birth of +time, on the brutality of the elder world? Does not the great +doctrine of Evolution, in which you believe, preach this gospel? If +man rose from a brute form, then advanced to human and savage life, +yet a robber and a murderer; then reached civility and culture, and +philanthropy; can you not see that the fingerboard of God points +forward, unerringly, along the whole track of the race; and that it +is still pointing forward to stages, in the future, when man shall +approximate the angels? But this is not your doctrine. Your creed +does not lead forward; it leads backward, to the troglodyte in his +cavern, splitting the leg-bones of his victim to extract the marrow +for his cannibalistic feast. _He_ would have enjoyed your sermon!" +[Great excitement in the congregation.] + +"And your gospel of Love. What is it but beastliness? Like the old +Greeks and Romans, and all undeveloped antiquity, you deify the +basest traits of the fleshly organism; you exalt an animal incident +of life into the end of life. You drive out of the lofty temples of +the soul the noble and pure aspirations, the great charities, the +divine thoughts, which should float there forever on the pinions of +angels; and you cover the floor of the temple with crawling +creatures, toads, lizards, vipers--groveling instincts, base +appetites, leprous sensualities, that befoul the walls of the house +with their snail-like markings, and climb, and climb, until they look +out of the very windows of the soul, with such repellent and brutish +eyes, that real love withers and shrinks at the sight, and dies like +a blasted flower. + +"O shallow teacher of the blind, do you not see that Christianity was +a new force, Heaven-sent, to overcome that very cruelty and +heartlessness of Nature which you so much commend? Nature's offspring +was indeed the savage, merciless as the creed you preach. Then came +God, who breathed a soul into the nostrils of the savage. Then came +One after Him who said the essence of all religion was man's love for +his fellow man, and for the God that is over all; that the highest +worship of the Father was to heal the sick, and feed the hungry, and +comfort the despised and rejected, and lift up the fallen. And +love!--that was true love, made up in equal parts of adoration and of +pity! Not the thing you call love, which makes these faces flush with +passion and these eyes burn with lust!" + +I had gotten thus far, and was proceeding swimmingly, very much to my +own satisfaction, when an old woman who stood near me, and who was +dressed like a girl of twenty, with false rubber shoulders and neck +and cheeks, to hide the ravages of time, hurled a huge hymn-book, the +size of a Bible, at me. Age had not impaired the venerable woman's +accuracy of aim, nor withered the strength of her good right arm; and +the volume of diluted piety encountered me, with great force, just +below my right ear, and sent me reeling over against Max. As I rose, +nothing disconcerted, to renew my discourse, I found the air full of +hymn-books, cushions, umbrellas, overshoes, and every other missile +they could lay their hands on; and then I perceived that the whole +congregation, men, women, children, preacher, clerks and ushers, were +all advancing upon me with evil intent. I would fain have staid to +have argued the matter out with them, for I was full of a great many +fine points, which I had not yet had time to present, but Max, who +never had any interest in theological discussions, and abhorred a +battle with Amazons, seized me by the arm and literally dragged me +out of the church. I continued, however, to shout back my anathemas +of the preacher, and that worthy answered me with floods of abuse; +and the women screamed, and the men howled and swore; and altogether +it was a very pretty assemblage that poured forth upon the sidewalk. + +"Come along," said Max; "you will be arrested, and that will spoil +everything." + +He hurried me into a carriage and we drove off. Although still full +of the debate, I could not help but laugh when I looked back at the +multitude in front of the church. Every one was wildly ejaculating, +except some of the sisters, who were kissing the hands and face of +the preacher--dear, good man--to console him for the hateful insults +I had heaped upon him! They reminded me of a swarm of hornets whose +paper domicile had been rudely kicked by the foot of some wandering +country boy. + +"Well, well," said Max, "you are a strange character! Your impulses +will some time cost you your life. If I did not think so much of you +as I do, I should tell you you were a great fool. Why couldn't you +keep quiet? You surely didn't hope to convert that congregation, any +more than you could have converted the Council of the Plutocracy." + +"But, my dear fellow," I replied, "it was a great comfort to me to be +able to tell that old rascal just what I thought of him. And you +can't tell--it may do some good." + +"No, no," said Max; "the only preacher that will ever convert that +congregation is Caesar Lomellini. Caesar is a bigger brute than they +are--which is saying a good deal. The difference is, they are brutes +who are in possession of the good things of this world; and Caesar is +a brute who wants to get into possession of them. And there is +another difference: they are polished and cultured brutes, and Caesar +is the brute natural,--'the unaccommodated man' that Lear spoke of." + + CHAPTER XXII. + + ESTELLA AND I + +I need not say to you, my dear Heinrich, how greatly I love Estella. +It is not alone for her beauty, although that is as perfect and as +graceful as the dream of some Greek artist hewn in immortal marble. +That alone would have elicited merely my admiration. But there is +that in her which wins my profoundest respect and love--I had almost +said my veneration. Her frame is but the crystal-clear covering of a +bright and pure soul, without stain or shadow or blemish. It does not +seem possible for her to be otherwise than good. And yet, within this +goodness, there is an hereditary character intrenched, capable, under +necessity, of all heroism--a fearless and a potent soul. And, besides +all this, she is a woman, womanly; a being not harsh and angular in +character, but soft and lovable-- + + "A countenance in which do meet + Sweet records, promises as sweet; + A creature not too bright or good + For human nature's daily food; + For transient sorrows, simple wiles, + Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears and smiles." + +You may judge, my dear brother, having gone through a similar +experience, how profoundly I was drawn to her; how absolute a +necessity she seemed to my life. Neither was I a despairing lover; +for had she not, at a time when death seemed imminent, avowed her +love for me? Yes, "_love_"--that was the word she used; and the look +which accompanied it gave the word a double emphasis. But there was a +giant difficulty in my path. If she had compromised her maiden +reserve in that particular, how could I take advantage of it? And how +could I still further take advantage of her lonely and friendless +condition to press my suit? And yet I could not leave her alone to +encounter all the dangers of the dreadful time which I know too well +is approaching. If she had stood, happy and contented, in the midst +of her family, under the shelter of father and mother, surrounded by +brothers and sisters, with a bright and peaceful future before her, I +could have found courage enough to press my suit, to throw myself at +her feet, and woo her boldly, as man woos woman. But this poor, +unhappy, friendless, lovely girl! What could I do? Day and night I +pondered the problem, and at last an expedient occurred to me. + +I called upon her. She had fled from the palace without a wardrobe. A +woman may be a heroine, but she is still a woman. Joan of Arc must +have given considerable thought to her cap and ribbons. Estella was +busy, with a dressmaker, contriving several dresses. I asked her if I +could speak with her. She started, blushed a little, and led the way +into another room. I closed the door. + +"My dear Estella," I said, "I have been amusing my leisure by +composing a fairy story." + +"Indeed," she said, smiling, "a strange occupation for a +philanthropist and philosopher, to say nothing of a poet." + +"It is, perhaps," I replied, in the same playful vein, "the poetical +portion of my nature that has set me at this work. But I cannot +satisfy myself as to the denouement of my story, and I desire your +aid and counsel." + +"I am all attention," she replied; "proceed with your story;--but +first, wait a moment. I will get some of my work; and then I can +listen to you without feeling that I am wasting precious time." + +"Otherwise you would feel," I said, "that your time was wasted +listening to me?" + +"No," she said, laughing, "but in listening to a fairy tale." She +returned in a few moments, and we took seats, I covering my real +feeling by an assumed gayety, and Estella listening attentively, with +her eyes on her work. + +"You must know," I commenced, "that my tale is entitled: + +THE STORY OF PRINCESS CHARMING AND THE KNIGHT WEAKHART. + +'Once upon a time'--you know all fairy stories are dated from that +eventful period of the world's history--there was a beautiful +princess, who lived in a grand palace, and her name was Princess +Charming; and she was every way worthy of her name; for she was as +good as she was handsome. But a dreadful dwarf, who had slain many +people in that country, slew her father and mother, and robbed the +poor Princess of her fine house, and carried her off and delivered +her to an old fairy, called Cathel, a wicked and bad old sorceress +and witch, who sat all day surrounded by black cats, weaving +incantations and making charms, which she sold to all who would buy +of her. Now, among the customers of Cathel was a monstrous and bloody +giant, whose castle was not far away. He was called The Ogre Redgore. +He was a cannibal, and bought charms from Cathel, with which to +entice young men, women and children into his dreadful den, which was +surrounded with heaps of bones of those he had killed and devoured. +Now it chanced that when he came one day to buy his charms from +Cathel, the old witch asked him if he did not desire to purchase a +beautiful young girl. He said he wanted one of that very kind for a +banquet he was about to give to some of his fellow giants. And +thereupon the wicked old woman showed him the fair and lovely +Princess Charming, sitting weeping, among the ashes, on the kitchen +hearth. He felt her flesh, to see if she was young and tender enough +for the feast, and, being satisfied upon this important point, he and +the old witch were not long in coming to terms as to the price to be +paid for her. + +"And so he started home, soon after, with poor Princess Charming +under his arm; she, the while, filling the air with her piteous +lamentations and appeals for help. + +"And now it so chanced that a wandering knight, called Weakhart, from +a far country, came riding along the road that very day, clad in +steel armor, and with his lance in rest. And when he heard the +pitiful cries of Princess Charming, and beheld her beauty, he drove +the spurs into his steed and dashed forward, and would have driven +the lance clear through the giant's body; but that worthy saw him +coming, and, dropping the Princess and springing aside with great +agility, he caught the lance and broke it in many pieces. Then they +drew their swords and a terrible battle ensued; and Princess Charming +knelt down, the while, by the roadside, and prayed long and earnestly +for the success of the good Knight Weakhart. But if he was weak of +heart he was strong of arm, and at last, with a tremendous blow, he +cut the ugly ogre's head off; and the latter fell dead on the road, +as an ogre naturally will when his head is taken off. And then the +Knight Weakhart was more afraid of being alone with the Princess than +he had been of the giant. But she rose up, and dried her tears, and +thanked him. And then the Princess and the Knight were in a grave +quandary; for, of course, she could not go back to the den of that +wicked witch, Cathel, and she had nowhere else to go. And so +Weakhart, with many tremblings, asked her to go with him to a cavern +in the woods, where he had taken shelter." + +Here I glanced at Estella, and her face was pale and quiet, and the +smile was all gone from it. I continued: + +"There was nothing else for it; and so the poor Princess mounted in +front of the Knight on his horse, and they rode off together to the +cavern. And there Weakhart fitted up a little room for the Princess, +and made her a bed of the fragrant boughs of trees, and placed a door +to the room and showed her how she could fasten it, and brought her +flowers. And every day he hunted the deer and the bear, and made a +fire and cooked for her; and he treated her with as much courtesy and +respect as if she had been a queen sitting upon her throne. + +"And, oh! how that poor Knight Weakhart loved the Princess! He loved +the very ground she walked on; and he loved all nature because it +surrounded her; and he loved the very sun, moon and stars because +they shone down upon her. + +Nay, not only did he love her; he worshiped her, as the devotee +worships his god. She was all the constellations of the sky to him. +Universal nature had nothing that could displace her for a moment +from his heart. Night and day she filled his soul with her ineffable +image; and the birds and the breeze and the whispering trees seemed +to be all forever speaking her beloved name in his ears. + +"But what could he do? The Princess was poor, helpless, dependent +upon him. Would it not be unmanly of him to take advantage of her +misfortunes and frighten or coax her into becoming his wife? Might +she not mistake gratitude for love? Could she make a free choice +unless she was herself free? + +"And so the poor Knight Weakhart stilled the beating of the +fluttering bird in his bosom, and hushed down his emotions, and +continued to hunt and cook and wait upon his beloved Princess. + +"At last, one day, the Knight Weakhart heard dreadful news. A people +called Vandals, rude and cruel barbarians, bloodthirsty and warlike, +conquerors of nations, had arrived in immense numbers near the +borders of that country, and in a few days they would pour over and +ravage the land, killing the men and making slaves of the women. He +must fly. One man could do nothing against such numbers. He could not +leave the Princess Charming behind him: she would fall into the hands +of the savages. He knew that she had trust enough in him to go to the +ends of the earth with him. He had a sort of dim belief that she +loved him. What should he do? Should he overcome his scruples and ask +the lady of his love to wed him; or should he invite her to accompany +him as his friend and sister? Would it not be mean and contemptible +to take advantage of her distresses, her solitude and the very danger +that threatened the land, and thus coerce her into a marriage which +might be distasteful to her? + +"Now, my dear Estella," I said, with a beating heart, "thus far have +I progressed with my fairy tale; but I know not how to conclude it. +Can you give me any advice?" + +She looked up at me, blushing, but an arch smile played about her +lips. + +"Let us play out the play," she said. "I will represent the Princess +Charming--a very poor representative, I fear;--and you will take the +part of the good Knight Weakhart--a part which I imagine you are +especially well fitted to play. Now," she said, "you know the old +rhyme: + + "'He either fears his fate too much, + Or his desert is small, + Who fears to put it to the touch, + And win or lose it all.' + +"Therefore, I would advise that you--acting the Knight Weakhart, of +course--take the bolder course and propose to Princess Charming to +marry you." + +I began to see through her device, and fell on my knees, and grasped +the Princess's hand, and poured forth my love in rapturous words, +that I shall not pretend to repeat, even to you, my dear brother. +When I had paused, for want of breath, Estella said: + +"Now I must, I suppose, act the part of Princess Charming, and give +the foolish Knight his answer." + +And here she put her arms around my neck--I still kneeling--and +kissed me on the forehead, and said, laughing, but her eyes +glistening with emotion: + +"You silly Knight Weakhart, you are well named; and really I prefer +the ogre whose head you were cruel enough to cut off, or even one of +those hideous Vandals you are trying to frighten me with. What kind +of a weak heart or weak head have you, not to know that a woman never +shrinks from dependence upon the man she loves, any more than the ivy +regrets that it is clinging to the oak and cannot stand alone? A true +woman must weave the tendrils of her being around some loved object; +she cannot stand alone any more than the ivy. And so--speaking, of +course, for the Princess Charming!--I accept the heart and hand of +the poor, weak-headed Knight Weakhart." + +I folded her in my arms and began to give her all the kisses I had +been hoarding up for her since the first day we met. But she put up +her hand playfully, and pushed me back, and cried out: + +"Stop! Stop! the play is over!' + +"No! no!" I replied, "it is only beginning; and it will last as long +as we two live." + +Her face grew serious in an instant, and she whispered: + +"Yes, until death doth us part." + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + MAX'S STORY-THE SONGSTRESS + +When Max came home the next evening I observed that his face wore a +very joyous expression--it was indeed radiant. He smiled without +cause; he moved as if on air. At the supper table his mother noticed +these significant appearances also, and remarked upon them, smiling. +Max laughed and said: + +"Yes, I am very happy; I will tell you something surprising after +supper." + +When the evening meal was finished we adjourned to the library. Max +closed the doors carefully, and we all sat. down in a group together, +Max holding the withered hand of the gentle old lady in his own, and +Estella and I being near together. + +"Now," said Max, "I am about to tell you a long story. It may not be +as interesting to you as it is to me; but you are not to interrupt +me. And, dear mother," he said, turning to her with a loving look, +"you must not feel hurt that I did not make you my confidante, long +ere this, of the events I am about to detail; I did not really know +myself how they were going to end--I never knew until to-day. + +"You must understand," he continued, "that, while I have been living +under my own name elsewhere, but in disguise, as I have told you; and +conscious that my actions were the subject of daily espionage, it was +my habit to frequent all the resorts where men congregate in great +numbers, from the highest even to the lowest. I did this upon +principle: not only to throw my enemies off the track as to my real +character, but also because it was necessary to me, in the great work +I had undertaken, that I should sound the whole register of humanity, +down to its bass notes. + +"There is, in one of the poorer portions of the city, a great music +hall, or 'variety theater,' as they call it, frequented by multitudes +of the middle and lower orders. It is arranged, indeed, like a huge +theater, but the audience are furnished with beer and pipes, and +little tables, all for an insignificant charge; and there they sit, +amid clouds of smoke, and enjoy the singing, dancing and acting upon +the stage. There are many of these places in the city, and I am +familiar with them all. They are the poor man's club and opera. Of +course, the performers are not of a high order of talent, and +generally not of a high order of morals; but occasionally singers or +actors of real merit and good character begin on these humble boards, +and afterwards rise to great heights in their professions. + +"One night I wandered into the place I speak of, took a seat and +called for my clay pipe and pot of beer. I was paying little +attention to the performance on the stage, for it was worn threadbare +with me; but was studying the faces of the crowd around me, when +suddenly I was attracted by the sound of the sweetest voice I ever +heard. I turned to the stage, and there stood a young girl, but +little more than a child, holding her piece of music in her hand, and +singing, to the thrumming accompaniment of a wheezy piano, a sweet +old ballad. The girl was slight of frame and small, not more than +about five feet high. She was timid, for that was her first +appearance, as the play-bills stated; and the hand trembled that held +the music. I did not infer that she had had much training as a +musician; but the voice was the perfection of nature's workmanship; +and the singing was like the airy warbling of children in the happy +unconsciousness of the household, or the gushing music of birds +welcoming the red light of the dawning day while yet the dew and the +silence lie over all nature. A dead quiet had crept over the +astonished house; but at the close of the first stanza a thunderous +burst of applause broke forth that shook the whole building. It was +pleasant to see how the singer brightened into confidence, as a child +might, at the sound; the look of anxiety left the sweet face; the +eyes danced; the yellow curls shook with half-suppressed merriment; +and when the applause had subsided, and the thrumming of the old +piano began again, there was an abandon in the rush of lovely melody +which she poured forth, with delicate instinctive touches, fine +cadences and joyous, bird-like warblings, never dreamed of by the +composer of the old tune. The vast audience was completely carried +away. The voice entered into their slumbering hearts like a +revelation, and walked about in them like a singing spirit in halls +of light. They rose to their feet; hats were flung in the air; a +shower of silver pieces, and even some of gold--a veritable Danae +shower--fell all around the singer, while the shouting and clapping +of hands were deafening. The _debutante_ was a success. The singer +had passed the ordeal. She had entered into the promised land of fame +and wealth. I looked at the programme, as did hundreds of others; it +read simply: _'A Solo by Miss Christina Carlson--first appearance.'_ +The name was Scandinavian, and the appearance of the girl confirmed +that supposition. She evidently belonged to the great race of Nilsson +and Lind. Her hair, a mass of rebellious, short curls, was of the +peculiar shade of light yellow common among that people; it looked as +if the xanthous locks of the old Gauls, as described by Caesar, had +been faded out, in the long nights and the ice and snow of the +Northland, to this paler hue. But what struck me most, in the midst +of those contaminated surroundings, was the air of innocence and +purity and lightheartedness which shone over every part of her +person, down to her little feet, and out to her very finger tips. +There was not the slightest suggestion of art, or craft, or +double-dealing, or thought within a thought, or even vanity. She was +delighted to think she had passed the dreadful ambuscade of a first +appearance successfully, and that employment--and _bread_--were +assured for the future. That seemed to be the only triumph that +danced in her bright eyes. + +"'Who is she?' 'Where did she come from?' were the questions I heard, +in whispers, all around me; for many of the audience were Germans, +Frenchmen and Jews, all passionate lovers of music, and to them the +ushering in of a new star in the artistic firmament is equal to a new +world born before the eyes of an astronomer. + +"When she left the stage there was a rush of the privileged artists +for the green-room. I followed them. There I found the little singer +standing by the side of a middle-aged, careworn woman, evidently her +mother, for she was carefully adjusting a poor, thin cloak over the +girl's shoulders, while a swarm of devotees, including many debauched +old gallants, crowded around, pouring forth streams of compliments, +which Christina heard with pleased face and downcast eyes. + +"I kept in the background, watching the scene. There was something +about this child that moved me strangely. True, I tried to pooh-pooh +away the sentiment, and said to myself: 'Why bother your head about +her? She is one of the "refuse;" she will go down into the dark ditch +with the rest, baseness to baseness linked.' But when I looked at the +modest, happy face, the whole poise of the body--for every fiber of +the frame of man or woman partakes of the characteristics of the +soul--I could not hold these thoughts steadily in my mind. And I said +to myself: 'If she is as pure as she looks I will watch over her. She +will need a friend in these scenes. Here success is more dangerous +than misery.' + +"And so, when Christina and her mother left the theater, I followed +them, but at a respectful distance. They called no carriage, and +there were no cars going their way; but they trudged along, and I +followed them; a weary distance it was--through narrow and dirty +streets and back alleys--until at last they stopped at the door of a +miserable tenement-house. They entered, and like a shadow I crept +noiselessly behind them. Up, up they went; floor after floor, until +the topmost garret was reached. Christina gave a glad shout; a door +flew open; she entered a room that seemed to be bursting with +children; and I could hear the broader voice of a man, mingled with +ejaculations of childish delight, as Christina threw down her gifts +of gold and silver on the table, and told in tones of girlish ecstasy +of her great triumph, calling ever and anon upon her mother to vouch +for the truth of her wonderful story. And then I had but time to +shrink back into a corner, when a stout, broad-shouldered man, +dressed like a workingman, rushed headlong down the stairs, with a +large basket in his hand, to the nearest eating-house; and he soon +returned bearing cooked meats and bread and butter, and bottles of +beer, and pastry, the whole heaped up and running over the sides of +the basket. And oh, what a tumult of joy there was in that room! I +stood close to the closed door and listened. There was the +hurry-scurry of many feet, little and big, as they set the table; the +quick commands; the clatter of plates and knives and forks; the +constant chatter; the sounds of helping each other and of eating; and +then Christina, her mouth, it seemed to me, partly filled with bread +and butter, began to give her father some specimens of the cadenzas +that had brought down the house; and the little folks clapped their +hands with delight, and the mother thanked God fervently that their +poverty and their sufferings were at an end. + +"I felt like a guilty thing, standing there, sharing in the happiness +to which I had not been invited; and at last I stole down the stairs, +and into the street. I need not say that all this had vastly +increased my interest in the pretty singer. This picture of poverty +associated with genius, and abundant love shining over all, was very +touching. + +"The next day I set a detective agency to work to find out all they +could about the girl and her family. One of their men called upon me +that evening, with a report. He had visited the place and made +inquiries of the neighbors, of the shop-keepers, the police, etc., +and this is what he had found out: + +"There was no person in the building of the name of 'Carson,' but in +the garret I had described a man resided named 'Carl Jansen,' a Swede +by birth, a blacksmith by trade, and a very honest, worthy man and +good workman, but excessively poor. He had lived for some years in +New York; he had a large family of children; his wife took in +washing, and thus helped to fill the many greedy little mouths; the +oldest girl was named Christina; she was seventeen years of age; she +had attended the public schools, and of late years had worked at +embroidery, her earnings going into the common stock. She was a good, +amiable girl, and highly spoken of by every one who knew her. She had +attended Sunday school, and there it had been discovered that she +possessed a remarkably fine voice, and she had been placed in the +choir; and, after a time, at the suggestion of some of the teachers, +her mother had taken her to the manager of the variety hall, who was +so pleased with her singing that he gave her a chance to appear on +the boards of his theater. She had made her _debut_ last night, and +the whole tenement-house, and, in fact, the whole alley and +neighboring streets, were talking that morning of her great success; +and, strange to say, they all rejoiced in the brightening fortunes of +the poor family. + +"'Then,' I said to myself, 'Carlson was merely a stage name, probably +suggested by the manager of the variety show.' + +"I determined to find out more about the pretty Christina." + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE JOURNEYMAN PRINTER + +"You may be sure that that night the public took the variety theater +by storm; every seat was filled; the very aisles were crowded with +men standing; the beer flowed in streams and the tobacco-smoke rose +in clouds; the establishment was doing a splendid business. Christina +was down on the bills for three solos. Each one was a triumph--encore +followed encore--and when the performance closed the little singer +was called before the curtain and another Danae shower of silver and +gold, and some bouquets, fell around her. When I went behind the +scenes I found the happy girl surrounded by even a larger circle of +admirers than the night before, each one sounding her praises. I +called the manager aside. He knew me well as a rich young +spendthrift. I said to him: + +"'How much a week do you pay Christina?' + +"'I promised her,' said he, 'five dollars a week; but,' and here he +looked at me suspiciously, 'I have determined to double it. I shall +pay her ten.' + +"'That is not enough,' I said; 'you will find in her a gold mine. You +must pay her fifty.' + +"'My dear sir,' he said, 'I cannot afford it. I really cannot.' + +"'Well,' said 'I will speak to Jobson [a rival in business]; he will +pay her a hundred. I saw him here to-night. He has already heard of +her.' + +"'But,' said he, 'she has contracted with me to sing for three +months, at five dollars per week; and I have permitted her to take +home all the money that was thrown on the stage last night and +to-night. Now I shall pay her ten. Is not that liberal?' + +"'Liberal!' I said; 'it is hoggish. This girl has made you two +hundred dollars extra profit to-night. She is under age. She cannot +make a binding contract. And the money that was thrown to her belongs +to her and not to you. Come, what do you say--shall I speak to +Jobson?' + +"'What interest have you in this girl?' he asked, sullenly. + +"'That is no matter of yours,' I replied; 'if you will not pay her +what I demand, to-morrow night she will sing for Jobson, and your +place will be empty.' + +"'Well,' said he, 'I will pay it; but I don't see what right you have +to interfere in my business.' + +"'That is not all,' I said; 'go to her now and tell her you have made +a good deal of money to-night, by her help, and ask her to accept +fifty dollars from you as a present; and tell her, in my hearing, +that she is to receive fifty dollars a week hereafter. The family are +very poor, and need immediate help. And besides, if she does not know +that she is to receive a liberal salary, when the agents of the other +houses come for her, she may leave you. Fair play is the wisest +thing.' + +"He thought a moment; he was very angry with me; but finally he +swallowed his wrath, and pushed his way through the crowd to where +Christina stood, and said to her with many a bow and smile: + +"'Miss Christina, your charming voice has greatly increased my +business to-night; and I think it only fair to give you a part of my +profits--here are fifty dollars.' + +"Christina was delighted--she took the money--she had never seen so +large an amount before--she handed it to her mother; and both were +profuse in their thanks, while the crowd vigorously applauded the +good and generous manager. + +"'But this is not all,' he continued; 'instead of five dollars per +week, the sum we had agreed upon, for your singing, I shall pay you +hereafter fifty dollars a week!' + +"There was still greater applause; Christina's eyes swam with +happiness; her mother began to cry; Christina seized the manager's +hand, and the old scamp posed, as he received the thanks of those +present, as if all this were the outcome of his own generosity, and +as if he were indeed the best and noblest of men. I have no doubt +that if I had not interfered he would have kept her on the five +dollars a week, and the silly little soul would have been satisfied. + +"I followed them home. I again listened to their happiness. And then +I heard the mother tell the father that they must both go out +to-morrow and find a better place to lodge in, for they were rich +now. A bright thought flashed across my mind, and I hastened away. + +"The next morning, at daybreak, I hurried to the same detective I had +employed the day before; he was a shrewd, but not unkindly fellow. I +explained to him my plans, and we went out together. We took a +carriage and drove rapidly from place to place; he really seemed +pleased to find himself engaged, for once in his life, in a good +action. What I did will be revealed as I go on with this story. + +"At half past eight o'clock that morning the Jansen family had +finished their breakfast and talked over and over again, for the +twentieth time, their wonderful turn of fortune, and all its +incidents, including repeated counting of their marvelous hoard of +money. Then Christina was left in charge of the children, and the +father and mother sallied forth to look for a new residence. The +neighbors crowded around to congratulate them; and they +explained,--for, kindly-hearted souls, they did not wish their old +companions in poverty to think that they had willingly fled from +them, at the first approach of good fortune,--they explained that +they must get a new home nearer to the theater, for Christina's sake; +and that they proposed that she should have teachers in music and +singing and acting; for she was now the bread-winner of the family, +and they hoped that some day she would shine in opera with the great +artists. + +"Did the neighbors know of any place, suitable for them, which they +could rent? + +"No, they did not; they rarely passed out of their own poor +neighborhood. + +"But here a plainly dressed man, who looked like a workman, and who +had been listening to the conversation, spoke up and said that he had +observed, only that morning, a bill of 'To Rent' upon a very neat +little house, only a few blocks from the theater; and, as he was +going that way, he would be glad to show them the place. They thanked +him; and, explaining to him that the business of renting houses was +something new to them, for heretofore they had lived in one or two +rooms--they might have added, very near the roof--they walked off +with the stranger. He led them into a pleasant, quiet, respectable +neighborhood, and at last stopped before a small, neat three-story +house, with a little garden in front and another larger one in the +rear. + +"'What a pretty place!' said the mother; 'but I fear the rent will be +too high for us.' + +"'Well, there is no harm in inquiring,' said the workman, and he rang +the bell. + +"A young man, dressed like a mechanic, answered the summons. He +invited them in; the house was comfortably, but not richly furnished. +They went through it and into the garden; they were delighted with +everything. And then came the question they feared to ask: What was +the rent? + +"'Well,' said the young man, pleasantly, I must explain my position. +I am a printer by trade. My name is Francis Montgomery. I own this +house. It was left to me by my parents. It is all I have. I am not +married. I cannot live in it alone; it is too big for that; and, +besides, I think I should get some income out of it, for there are +the taxes to be paid. But I do not want to leave the house. I was +born and raised here. I thought that if I could get some pleasant +family to take it, who would let me retain one of the upper rooms, +and would board me, I would rent the house for'--here he mentioned a +ridiculously low price. 'I do not want,' he added, 'any expensive +fare. I am content to take "pot-luck" with the family. I like your +looks; and if you want the house, at the terms I have named, I think +we can get along pleasantly together. I may not be here all the time.' + +"The offer was accepted; the workman was dismissed with thanks. That +afternoon the whole family moved in. The delight of Christina was +unbounded. There was one room which I had forseen would be assigned +to her, and that I had adorned with some flowers. She was introduced +to me; we shook hands; and I was soon a member of the family. What a +curious flock of little white-heads, of all ages, they were--sturdy, +rosy, chubby, healthy, merry, and loving toward one another. They +brought very little of their poor furniture with them; it was too +shabby for the new surroundings; they gave it away to their former +neighbors. But I noticed that the father carefully carried into the +kitchen an old chair, time-worn and venerable; the back was gone, and +it was nothing but a stool. The next day I observed a pudgy little +boy, not quite three years old (the father's favorite, as I +discovered), driving wrought nails into it with a little iron hammer. + +"'Stop! stop! my man!' I exclaimed; 'you must not drive nails in the +furniture.' + +"I looked at the chair: the seat of it was a mass of nailholes. And +then Christina, noticing my looks of perplexity, said: + +"'Last Christmas we were very, very poor. Papa was out of work. We +could scarcely get enough to eat. Papa saw the preparations in the +store windows for Christmas--the great heaps of presents; and he saw +the busy parents hurrying about buying gifts for their children, and +he felt very sad that he could not give us any presents, not even to +little Ole, whom he loves so much. So he went into the blacksmith +shop of a friend, and, taking up a piece of iron that had been thrown +on the floor, he made that little hammer Ole has in his hand, and a +number of wrought nails; and he brought them home and showed Ole how +to use the hammer and drive the nails into the chair; and when he had +driven them all into the wood, papa would pry them out for him, and +the work would commence all over again, and Ole was happy all day +long.' + +"I found my eyes growing damp; for I was thinking of the riotous +profusion of the rich, and of the costly toys they heap upon their +children; and the contrast of this poor man, unable to buy a single +cheap toy for his family, and giving his chubby boy a rude iron +hammer and nails, to pound into that poor stool, as a substitute for +doll or rocking-horse, was very touching. And then I looked with some +wonder at the straightforward honesty of the little maid, who, in the +midst of the new, fine house, was not ashamed to talk so frankly of +the dismal wretchedness and want which a few days before had been the +lot of the family. She saw nothing to be ashamed of in poverty; while +by meaner and more sordid souls it is regarded as the very abasement +of shame and crime. + +"Ole was pounding away at his nails. + +"'Does he not hurt himself sometimes?' I asked. + +"'Oh yes, she said, laughing; 'at first he would hit his little +fingers many a hard rap; and he would start to cry, but papa would +tell him that "_men_ never cry;--and then it was funny to see how he +would purse up his little red mouth, while the tears of pain ran down +from his big round eyes, but not a sound more would escape him.' + +"And I said to myself: 'This is the stuff of which was formed the +masterful race that overran the world under the names of a dozen +different peoples. Ice and snow made the tough fiber, mental and +physical, which the hot sun of southern climes afterward melted into +the viciousness of more luxurious nations. Man is scourged into +greatness by adversity, and leveled into mediocrity by prosperity. +This little fellow, whose groans die between his set teeth, has in +him the blood of the Vikings.' + +"There was one thing I did out of policy, which yet went very much +against my inclinations, in dealing with such good and honest people. +I knew that in all probability I had been traced by the spies of the +Oligarchy to this house; they would regard it of course as a crazy +adventure, and would naturally assign it to base purposes. But it +would not do for me to appear altogether different, even in this +family, from the character I had given myself out to be, of a +reckless and dissipated man; for the agents of my enemies might talk +to the servant, or to members of the household. And so the second +night I came home to supper apparently drunk. It was curious to see +the looks of wonder, sorrow and sympathy exchanged between the +members of the family as I talked ramblingly and incoherently at the +table. But this feint served one purpose; it broke down the barrier +between landlord and tenants. Indeed, paradoxical as it may seem, I +think they thought more of me because of my supposed infirmity; for +'pity is akin to love;' and it is hard for the tenderer feelings of +the heart to twine about one who is so strong and flawless that he +demands no sympathy or forbearance at our hands. I ceased to be the +rich owner of a house--I was simply one of themselves; a foolish +journeyman printer; given to drink, but withal a kindly and pleasant +man. Two days afterwards, Christina, who had looked at me several +times with a troubled brow, took me aside and tried to persuade me to +join a temperance society of which her father was a member. It was +very pretty and touching to see the motherly way in which the little +woman took my hand, and coaxed me to give up my vice, and told me, +with eloquent earnestness, all the terrible consequences which would +flow from it. I was riot foolish enough to think that any tender +sentiment influenced her. It was simply her natural goodness, and her +pity for a poor fellow, almost now one of their own family, who was +going to destruction. And indeed, if I had been a veritable drunkard, +she would have turned me from my evil courses. But I assured her that +I would try to reform; that I would drink less than previously, and +that, on the next New Year's day, I might be able to summon up +courage enough to go with her father to his society, and pledge +myself to total abstinence. She received these promises with many +expressions of pleasure; and, although I had to keep up my false +character, I never afterwards wounded her feelings by appearing +anything more than simply elevated in spirit by drink. + +"They were a very kind, gentle, good people; quite unchanged by +prosperity and unaffected in their manners. Even in their poverty the +children had all looked clean and neat; now they were prettily, but +not expensively, dressed. Their religious devotion was great; and I +endeared myself to them by sometimes joining in their household +prayers. And I said to myself: If there is no God--as the miserable +philosophers tell us--there surely ought to be one, if for nothing +else than to listen to the supplications of these loving and grateful +hearts. And I could not believe that such tender devotions could +ascend and be lost forever in empty and unresponsive space. The +impulse of prayer, it seems to me, presupposes a God." + + CHAPTER XXV. + + MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE DARK SHADOW + +"But a cloud was moving up to cover the fair face of this pleasant +prospect; and yet the sun was shining and the birds singing. + +"Christina was very busy during the day with her teachers. She loved +music and was anxious to excel. She had her lessons on the piano; she +improved her mind by a judicious course of reading, in which I helped +her somewhat; she went twice a week to a grand Italian maestro, who +perfected her in her singing. And she took long walks to the poor +neighborhood where she had formerly lived, to visit the sick and +wretched among her old acquaintances, and she never left them +empty-handed. + +"At the theater she grew more and more popular. Even the rudest of +the audience recognized instinctively in her the goodness which they +themselves lacked. Every song was an ovation. Her praises began to +resound in the newspapers; and she had already received advances from +the manager of one of the grand opera-houses. A bright future opened +before her--a vista of light and music and wealth and delight. + +"She did not escape, however, the unpleasant incidents natural to +such a career. Her mother accompanied her to every performance, and +was, in so far, a shield to her; but she was beset with visitors at +the house; she was annoyed by men who stopped and claimed +acquaintance with her on the streets; she received many gifts, +flowers, fruit, jewelry, and all the other tempting sweet nothings +which it is thought bewitch the heart of frail woman. But they had no +effect upon her. Only goodness seemed to cling to her, and evil fell +far off from her. You may set two plants side by side in the same +soil--one will draw only bitterness and poison from the earth; while +the other will gather, from the same nurture, nothing but sweetness +and perfume. + + 'For virtue, as it never will be moved, + Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven; + So lust, though to a radiant angel linked, + Will sate itself in a celestial bed, + And prey on garbage." + +"Among the men who pestered Christina with their attentions was a +young fellow named Nathan Brederhagan, the son of a rich widow. He +was one of those weak and shallow brains to whom wealth becomes only +a vehicle in which to ride to destruction. He was in reality all that +I pretended to be--a reckless, drunken, useless spendthrift, with no +higher aim in life than wine and woman. He spent his days in vanity +and his nights in debauchery. Across the clouded portal of this +fool's brain came, like a vision, the beautiful, gentle, gifted +Christina. She was a new toy, the most charming he had ever seen, +and, like a child, he must possess it. And so he began a series of +persecutions. He followed her everywhere; he fastened himself upon +her at the theater; he showered all sorts of gifts on her; and, when +he found she returned his presents, and that she refused or resisted +all his advances, he grew so desperate that he at last offered to +marry her, although with a consciousness that he was making a most +heroic and extraordinary sacrifice of himself in doing so. But even +this condescension--to his unbounded astonishment--she declined with +thanks. And then the silly little fool grew more desperate than ever, +and battered up his poor brains with strong drink, and wept in +maudlin fashion to his acquaintances. At last one of these--a fellow +of the same kidney, but with more enterprise than himself--said to +him: 'Why don't you carry her off?' Nathan opened his eyes very wide, +stopped his sniffling and blubbering, and made up his mind to follow +this sage advice. To obtain the necessary nerve for such a prodigious +undertaking he fired up with still more whisky; and when the night +came he was crazy with drink. Obtaining a carriage and another +drunken fool to help him, he stationed himself beside the pavement, +in the quiet street where Christina lived, and but a few doors +distant from her house; and then, as she came along with her mother, +he seized upon her, while his companion grasped Mrs. Jansen. He began +to drag Christina toward the carriage; but the young girl was +stronger than he was, and not only resisted him, but began to shriek, +ably seconded by her mother, until the street rang. The door of their +house flew open, and Mr. Jansen, who had recognized the voices of his +wife and daughter, was hurrying to their rescue; whereupon the little +villain cried in a tone of high tragedy, 'Then die!' and stabbed her +in the throat with a little dagger he carried. He turned and sprang +into the carriage; while the poor girl, who had become suddenly +silent, staggered and fell into the arms of her father. + +"It chanced that I was absent from the house that night, on some +business of the Brotherhood, and the next morning I breakfasted in +another part of the city, at a restaurant. I had scarcely begun my +meal when a phonograph, which, in a loud voice, was proclaiming the +news of the day before for the entertainment of the guests, cried out: + +PROBABLE MURDER--A YOUNG GIRL STABBED. + + Last night, at about half-past eleven, on Seward Street, + near Fifty-first Avenue, a young girl was assaulted and + brutally stabbed in the throat by one of two men. The girl + is a singer employed in Peter Bingham's variety theater, a + few blocks distant from the place of the attack. She was + accompanied by her mother, and they were returning on foot + from the theater, where she had been singing. The man had a + carriage ready, and while one of them held her mother, the + other tried to force the young girl into the + + carriage; it was plainly the purpose of the men to abduct + her. She resisted, however; whereupon the ruffian who had + hold of her, hearing the footsteps of persons approaching, + and seeing that he could not carry her off, drew a knife + and stabbed her in the throat, and escaped with his + companion in the carriage. The girl was carried into her + father's house, No. 1252 Seward Street, and the + distinguished surgeon, Dr. Hemnip, was sent for. He + pronounced the wound probably fatal. The young girl is + named Christina Jansen; she sings under the stage-name of + Christina Carlson, and is the daughter of Carl Jansen, + living at the place named. Inquiry at the theater showed + her to be a girl of good character, very much esteemed by + her acquaintances, and greatly admired as a very brilliant + singer. + + LATER.--A young man named Nathan Brederhagan, belonging to + a wealthy and respectable family, and residing with his + mother at No. 637 Sherman Street, was arrested this morning + at one o'clock, in his bed, by police officer No. 18,333, + on information furnished by the family of the unfortunate + girl. A bloody dagger was found in his pocket. As the girl + is likely to die he was committed to jail and bail refused. + He is represented to be a dissipated, reckless young + fellow, and it seems was in love with the girl, and sought + her hand in marriage; and she refused him; whereupon, in + his rage, he attempted to take her life. His terrible deed + has plunged a large circle of relatives and friends into + great shame and sorrow. + +"I had started to my feet as soon as I heard the words, 'The girl is +a singer in Peter Bingham's Variety Theater,' but, when her name was +mentioned and her probable death, the pangs that shot through me no +words of mine can describe. + +"It is customary with us all to think that our intellect is our self, +and that we are only what we think; but there are in the depths of +our nature feelings, emotions, qualities of the soul, with which the +mere intelligence has nothing to do; and which, when they rise up, +like an enraged elephant from the jungle, scatter all the +conventionalities of our training, and all the smooth and +automaton-like operations of our minds to the winds. As I stood +there, listening to the dead-level, unimpassioned, mechanical voice +of the phonograph, pouring forth those deadly sentences, I realized +for the first time what the sunny-haired little songstress was to me. + +"'Wounded! Dead!' + +"I seized my hat, and, to the astonishment of the waiters, I rushed +out. I called a hack. I had to alter my appearance. I grudged the +time necessary for this very necessary precaution, but, paying the +driver double fare, I went, as fast as his horses' legs could carry +me, to the place, in a saloon kept by one of the Brotherhood, where I +was in the habit of changing my disguises. I dismissed the hack, +hurried to my room, and in a few minutes I was again flying along, in +another hack, to 1252 Seward Street. I rushed up the steps. Her +mother met me in the hall. She was crying. + +"'Is she alive?' I asked. + +"'Yes, yes,' she replied. + +"'What does the doctor say?' I inquired. + +"'He says she will not die--but her voice is gone forever,' she +replied. + +"Her tears burst forth afresh. I was shocked--inexpressibly shocked. +True, it was joy to know she would live; but to think of that noble +instrument of grace and joy and melody silenced forever! It was like +the funeral of an angel! God, in the infinite diversity of his +creation, makes so few such voices--so few such marvelous adjustments +of those vibrating chords to the capabilities of the air and the +human sense and the infinite human soul that dwells behind the +sense--and all to be the spoil of a ruffian's knife. Oh! if I could +have laid my hands on the little villain! I should have butchered him +with his own dagger--sanctified, as it was, with her precious blood. +The infamous little scoundrel! To think that such a vicious, shallow, +drunken brute could have power to 'break into the bloody house of +life' and bring to naught such a precious and unparalleled gift of +God. I had to clutch the railing of the stairs to keep from falling. +Fortunately for me, poor Mrs. Jansen was too much absorbed in her own +sorrows to notice mine. She grieved deeply and sincerely for her +daughter's sufferings and the loss of her voice; but, worse than all, +there rose before her- the future! She looked with dilated eyes into +that dreadful vista. She saw again the hard, grinding, sordid poverty +from which they had but a little time before escaped-she saw again +her husband bent down with care, and she heard her children crying +once more for bread. I read the poor woman's thoughts. It was not +selfishness--it was love for those dear to her; and I took her hand, +and--scarcely knowing what I said--I told her she must not worry, +that she and her family should never suffer want again. She looked at +me in surprise, and thanked me, and said I was always good and kind. + +"In a little while she took me to Christina's room. The poor girl was +under the influence of morphine and sleeping a troubled sleep. Her +face was very pale from loss of blood; and her head and neck were all +bound up in white bandages, here and there stained with the ghastly +fluid that flowed from her wounds. It was a pitiable sight: her +short, crisp yellow curls broke here and there, rebelliously, through +the folds of the linen bandages; and I thought how she used to shake +them, responsive to the quiverings of the cadenzas and trills that +poured from her bird-like throat. 'Alas!' I said to myself, 'poor +throat! you will never sing again! Poor little curls, you will never +tremble again in sympathy with the dancing delight of that happy +voice.' A dead voice! Oh! it is one of the saddest things in the +world! I went to the window to hide the unmanly tears which streamed +down my face. + +"When she woke she seemed pleased to see me near her, and extended +her hand to me with a little smile. The doctor had told her she must +not attempt to speak. I held her hand for awhile, and told how +grieved I was over her misfortune. And then I told her I would bring +her a tablet and pencil, so that she might communicate her wants to +us; and then I said to her that I was out of a job at my trade (I +know that the angels in heaven do not record such lies), and that I +had nothing to do, and could stay and wait upon her; for the other +children were too small, and her mother too busy to be with her all +the time, and her father and I could divide the time between us. She +smiled again and thanked me with her eyes. + +"And I was very busy and almost happy--moving around that room on +tiptoe in my slippers while she slept, or talking to her in a bright +and chatty way, about everything that I thought would interest her, +or bringing her flowers, or feeding her the liquid food which alone +she could swallow. + +"The doctor came every day. I questioned him closely. He was an +intelligent man, and had, I could see, taken quite a liking to his +little patient. He told me that the knife had just missed, by a +hair's breadth, the carotid artery, but unfortunately it had struck +the cervical plexus, that important nerve-plexus, situated in the +side of the neck; and had cut the recurrent laryngeal nerve, which +arises from the cervical plexus and supplies the muscles of the +larynx; and it had thereby caused instant paralysis of those muscles, +and aphonia, or loss of voice. I asked him if she would ever be able +to sing again. He said it was not certain. If the severed ends of the +nerve reunited fully her voice might return with all its former +power. He hoped for the best. + +"One morning, I was called down stairs by Mrs. Jansen; it was three +or four days after the assault had been made on Christina. There I +found the chief of police of that department. He said it had become +necessary, in the course of the legal proceedings, that Brederhagan +should be identified by Christina as her assailant. The doctor had +reported that there was now no danger of her death; and the family of +the little rascal desired to get him out on bail. I told him I would +confer with the physician, when he called, as to whether Christina +could stand the excitement of such an interview, and I would notify +him. He thanked me and took his leave. That day I spoke upon the +subject to Dr. Hemnip, and he thought that Christina had so far +recovered her strength that she might see the prisoner the day after +the next. At the same time he cautioned her not to become nervous or +excited, and not to attempt to speak. She was simply to write 'Yes' +on her tablet, in answer to the question asked her by the police. The +interview was to be as brief as possible. I communicated with the +chief of police, as I had promised, giving him these details, and +fixed an hour for him to call." + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE WIDOW AND HER SON + +"The next day, about ten in the morning, I went out to procure some +medicine for Christina. I was gone but a few minutes, and on my +return, as I mounted the stairs, I was surprised to hear a strange +voice in the sick-room. I entered and was introduced by Mrs. Jansen +to 'Mrs. Brederhagan,' the rich widow, the mother of the little +wretch who had assaulted Christina. She was a large, florid woman, +extravagantly dressed, with one of those shallow, unsympathetic +voices which betoken a small and flippant soul. Her lawyers had told +her that Nathan would probably be sent to prison for a term of years; +and so she had come to see if she could not beg his victim to spare +him. She played her part well. She got down on her knees by the +bedside in all her silks and furbelows, and seized Christina's hand +and wept; and told of her own desolate state as a widow--drawing, +incidentally, a picture of the virtues of her deceased husband, which +he himself--good man--would not have recognized in this world or any +other. And then she descanted on the kind heart of her poor boy, and +how he had been led off by bad company, etc., etc. Christina listened +with an intent look to all this story; but she flushed when the widow +proceeded to say how deeply her son loved her, Christina, and that it +was his love for her that had caused him to commit his desperate act; +and she actually said that, although Christina was but a poor singer, +with no blood worth speaking of, in comparison with her own +illustrious long line of nobodies, yet she brought Christina an offer +from her son--sanctioned by her own approval--that he would--if she +would spare him from imprisonment and his family from disgrace--marry +her outright and off-hand; and that she would, as a magnanimous and +generous, upper-crust woman, welcome her, despite all her +disadvantages and drawbacks, to her bosom as a daughter! All this she +told with a great many tears and ejaculations, all the time clinging +to Christina's hand. + +"When she had finished and risen, and readjusted her disarranged +flounces, Christina took her tablet and wrote: + +"I could not marry your son. As to the rest, I will think it over. +Please do not come again.' + +"The widow would have gotten down on her knees and gone at it again; +but I took her aside and said to her: + +'Do you not see that this poor girl is very weak, and your appeals +distress her? Go home and I will communicate with you.' + +"And I took her by the arm, and firmly but respectfully led her out +of the room, furbelows, gold chains and all. She did not feel at all +satisfied with the success of her mission; but I saw her into her +carriage and told the driver to take her home. I was indignant. I +felt that the whole thing was an attempt to play upon the sympathies +of my poor little patient, and that the woman was a hollow, heartless +old fraud. + +"The next day, at the appointed hour, the chief of police came, +accompanied by the prisoner. The latter had had no liquor for several +days and was collapsed enough. All his courage and vanity had oozed +out of him. He was a dilapidated wreck. He knew that the penitentiary +yawned for him, and he felt his condition as deeply as such a shallow +nature could feel anything. I scowled at the wretch in a way which +alarmed him for his personal safety, and he trembled and hurried +behind the policeman. + +"Christina had been given a strengthening drink. The doctor was there +with his finger on her pulse; she was raised up on some pillows. Her +father and mother were present. When we entered she looked for an +instant at the miserable, dejected little creature, and I saw a +shudder run through her frame, and then she closed her eyes. + +"'Miss Jansen,' said the chief of police, 'be kind enough to say +whether or not this is the man who tried to kill you.' + +"I handed her the tablet and pencil. She wrote a few words. I handed +it to the chief. + +"'What does this mean?' he said, in evident astonishment. + +"I took the tablet out of his hand, and was thunderstruck to find on +it these unexpected words: + +"_'This is not the man.'_ + +"'Then,' said the chief of Police, 'there is nothing more to do than +to discharge the prisoner.' + +"Her father and mother stepped forward; but she waved them back with +her hand; and the chief led the culprit out, too much stunned to yet +realize that he was free. + +"'What does this mean, Christina?' I asked, in a tone that expressed +indignation, if not anger. + +"She took her tablet and wrote: + +"'What good would it do to send that poor, foolish boy to prison for +many years? He was drunk or he would not have hurt me. It will do no +good to bring disgrace on a respectable family. This great lesson may +reform him and make him a good man.' + +"At that moment I made up my mind to make Christina my wife, if she +would have me. Such a soul was worth a mountain of rubies. There are +only a few of them in each generation, and fortunate beyond +expression is the man who can call one of them his own! + +"But I was not going to see my poor love, or her family, imposed on +by that scheming old widow. I hurried out of the house; I called a +hack, and drove to Mrs. Brederhagan's house. I found her and her son +in the first paroxysm of joy--locked in each other's arms. + +"'Mrs. Brederhagan,' I said, 'your vicious little devil of a son here +has escaped punishment so far for his cruel and cowardly assault upon +a poor girl. He has escaped through her unexampled magnanimity and +generosity. But do you know what he has done to her? He has silenced +her exquisite voice forever. He has ruthlessly destroyed that which a +million like him could not create. That poor girl will never sing +again. She was the sole support of her family. This imp here has +taken the bread out of their mouths--they will starve. You owe it to +her to make a deed of gift whereby you will endow her with the amount +she was earning when your son's dagger pierced her poor throat and +silenced her voice; that is--fifty dollars a week.' + +"The widow ruffled up her feathers, and said she did not see why she +should give Christina fifty dollars a week. She had declared that her +son was not the one who had assaulted her, and he was a free man, and +that was the end of their connection with the matter. + +"'Ha! ha!' said I, 'and so, that is your position? Now you will send +at once for a notary and do as I tell you, or in one hour your son +shall be arrested again. _Christina's mother knows him perfectly +well, and will identify him_; and Christina herself will not swear in +court to the generous falsehood she told to screen you and yours from +disgrace. You are a worthy mother of such a son, when you cannot +appreciate one of the noblest acts ever performed in this world.' + +"The widow grew pale at these threats; and after she and her hopeful +son--who was in a great fright--had whispered together, she +reluctantly agreed to my terms. A notary was sent for, and the deed +drawn and executed, and a check given, at my demand, for the first +month's payment. + +"'Now,' said I, turning to Master Nathan, 'permit me to say one word +to you, young man. If you ever again approach, or speak to, or molest +in any way, Miss Christina Carlson, I will,'-and here I drew close to +him and put my finger on his breast,--'I will kill you like a dog.' + +"With this parting shot I left the happy pair." + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE BLACKSMITH SHOP + +"I need not describe the joy there was in the Jansen family when I +brought home Mrs. Brederhagan's deed of gift and the money. Christina +did not yet know that her voice was destroyed, and hence was disposed +to refuse what she called 'the good lady's great generosity.' But we +reminded her that the widow was rich, and that her son had inflicted +great and painful wounds upon her, which had caused her weeks of +weary sickness, to say nothing of the doctor's bills and the other +expenses they had been subjected to; and so, at last, she consented +and agreed that, for the present at least, she would receive the +widow's money, but only until she could resume her place on the +boards of the theater. But the deed of gift drove the brooding +shadows out of the heart and eyes of poor Mrs. Jansen. + +"I need not tell you all the details of Christina's recovery. Day by +day she grew stronger. She began to speak in whispers, and gradually +she recovered her power of speech, although the voice at first +sounded husky. She was soon able to move about the house, for youth +and youthful spirits are great medicines. One day she placed her hand +on mine and thanked me for all my great kindness to her; and said, in +her arch way, that I was a good, kindhearted friend, and it was a +pity I had any weaknesses; and that I must not forget my promise to +her about the next New Year's day. But she feared that I had +neglected my business to look after her. + +"At length she learned from the doctor that she could never sing +again; that her throat was paralyzed. It was a bitter grief to her, +and she wept quietly for some hours. And then she comforted herself +with the reflection that the provision made for her by Mrs. +Brederhagan had placed herself and her family beyond the reach of +poverty. But for this I think she would have broken her heart. + +"I had been cogitating for some days upon a new idea. It seemed to me +that these plain, good people would be much happier in the country +than in the city; and, besides, their income would go farther. They +had country blood in their veins, and it takes several generations to +get the scent of the flowers out of the instincts of a family; they +have subtle promptings in them to walk in the grass and behold the +grazing kine. And a city, after all, is only fit for temporary +purposes--to see the play and the shops and the mob--and wear one's +life out in nothingnesses. As one of the poets says: + + "'Thus is it in the world-hive; most where men + Lie deep in cities as in drifts--death drifts-- + Nosing each other like a flock of sheep; + Not knowing and not caring whence nor whither + They come or go, so that they fool together." + +"And then I thought, too, that Mr. Jansen was unhappy in idleness. He +was a great, strong man, and accustomed all his life to hard work, +and his muscles cried out for exercise. + +"So I started out and made little excursions in all directions. At +last I found the very place I had been looking for. It was about +twelve miles beyond the built-up portions of the suburbs, in a high +and airy neighborhood, and contained about ten acres of land. There +was a little grove, a field, a garden, and an old-fashioned, roomy +house. The house needed some repairs, it is true; but beyond the +grove two roads crossed each other, and at the angle would be an +admirable place for a blacksmith shop. I purchased the whole thing +very cheaply. Then I set carpenters to work to repair the house and +build a blacksmith shop. The former I equipped with furniture, and +the latter with anvil, bellows and other tools, and a supply of coal +and iron. + +"When everything was ready I told Christina another of my white lies. +I said to her that Mrs. Brederhagan, learning that her voice was +ruined forever by her son's dagger, had felt impelled, by her +conscience and sense of right, to make her a present of a little +place in the country, and had deputed me to look after the matter for +her, and that I had bought the very place that I thought would suit +them. + +"And so we all started out to view the premises. It would be hard to +say who was most delighted, Christina or her mother or her father; +but I am inclined to think the latter took more pure happiness in his +well-equipped little shop, with the big sign, 'CARL JANSEN, +BLACKSMITH,' and the picture of a man shoeing a horse, than Christina +did in the flowerbed, or her mother in the comfortable household +arrangements. + +"Soon after the whole family moved out. I was right. A race that has +lived for several generations in the country is an exotic in a city." + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + MAX'S STORY CONCLUDED--THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS + +"I used to run out every other day, and I was as welcome as if I had +been really a member of the family. The day before yesterday I found +the whole household in a state of joyous excitement. Christina had +been enjoined to put the baby to sleep; and while rocking it in its +cradle she had, all unconsciously, begun to sing a little nursery +song. Suddenly she sprang to her feet, and, running to her mother, +cried out: + +"'Oh, mother! I can sing! Listen.' + +"She found, however, that the voice was still quite weak, and that if +she tried to touch any of the higher notes there was a pain in her +throat. + +"I advised her to forbear singing for some time, and permit the +organs of the voice to resume their natural condition. It might be +that the doctor was wrong in his prognosis of her case; or it might +be that the injured nerve, as he had said was possible, had resumed +its function, through the curative power of nature. But it was a +great delight to us all, and especially to the poor girl herself, to +think that her grand voice might yet be restored to her. + +"To-day I went out again. + +"I thought that Mr. Jansen met me with a constrained manner; and when +Mrs. Jansen saw me, instead of welcoming me with a cordial smile, as +was usual with her, she retreated into the house. And when I went +into the parlor, Christina's manner was still more embarrassing. She +blushed as she extended her hand to me, and seemed very much +confused; and yet her manner was not unkind or unfriendly. I could +not understand it. + +"'What is the matter, Christina?' I asked. + +"The little woman was incapable of double-dealing, and so she said: + +"'You know it came into my head lately, very often, that Mrs. +Brederhagan had been exceedingly, I might say extraordinarily, kind +to me. It is true her son had done me a great injury, and might have +killed me; and I refused to testify against him. But she had not only +given me that deed of gift you brought me, but she had also presented +papa with this charming home. And so I said to myself that she must +think me very rude and ungrateful, since I had never called upon her +to thank her in person. And so, knowing that Nathan had been sent to +Europe, I made up my mind, yesterday, that I would go into town, and +call upon Mrs. Brederhagan, and thank her for all her kindness. + +"'I took a hack to her house from the station, and sent up my card. +She received me quite kindly. After a few inquiries and commonplaces +I thanked her as I had intended doing. She smiled and made light of +it; then I spoke of the house and the garden, and the blacksmith +shop, and how grateful we all were to her. + +"'"Why," said she, "what on earth are you talking about? I never gave +you a house, or a garden, or a blacksmith shop." + +"'You may imagine my surprise. + +"'"Why," said I, "did you not give Mr. Frank Montgomery the money to +purchase it, and tell him to have the deed made out to my father?" + +"'"My dear," said she, "you bewilder me; I never in all my life heard +of such a person as Mr. Frank Montgomery; and I certainly never gave +him any money to buy a house for anybody." + +"'"Why," said I, "do you pretend you do not know Mr. Frank +Montgomery, who brought me your deed of gift?" + +"That," she said, "was not Mr. Frank Montgomery, but Mr. Arthur +Phillips." + +"'"No, no," I said, "you are mistaken; it was Frank Montgomery, a +printer by trade, who owns the house we used to live in, at 1252 +Seward Street. I am well acquainted with him." + +"'"Well," said she, "this is certainly astonishing! Mr. Arthur +Phillips, whom I have known for years, a young gentleman of large +fortune, a lawyer by profession, comes to me and tells me, the very +day you said my son was not the man who assaulted you, that unless I +settled fifty dollars a week on you for life, by a deed of gift, he +would have Nathan rearrested for an attempt to murder you, and would +prove his guilt by your mother; and now you come and try to make me +believe that Arthur Phillips, the lawyer, is Frank Montgomery, the +printer; that he lives in a little house on Seward Street, and that I +have been giving him money to buy you houses and gardens and +blacksmith shops in the country! I hope, my dear, that the shock you +received, on that dreadful night, has not affected your mind. But I +would advise you to go home to your parents." + +"'And therewithal she politely bowed me out.' + +"'I was very much astonished and bewildered. I stood for some time on +the doorstep, not knowing what to do next. Then it occurred to me +that I would go to your house and ask you what it all meant; for I +had no doubt Mrs. Brederhagan was wrong, and that you were, indeed, +Frank Montgomery, the printer. I found the house locked up and empty. +A bill on the door showed that it was to rent, and referred inquiries +to the corner grocery. They remembered me very well there. I asked +them where you were. They did not know. Then I asked whether they +were not agents for you to rent the house. Oh, no; you did not own +the house. But had you not lived in it for years? No; you rented it +the very morning of the same day we moved in. I was astounded, and +more perplexed than ever. What did it all mean? If you did not own +the house and had not been born in it, or lived there all your life, +as you said, then the rest of your story was probably false also, and +the name you bore was assumed. And for what purpose? And why did you +move into that house the same day we rented it from you? It looked +like a scheme to entrap us; and yet you had always been so kind and +good that I could not think evil of you. Then it occurred to me that +I would go and see Peter Bingham, the proprietor of the theater. I +desired, anyhow, to tell him that I thought I would recover my voice, +and that I might want another engagement with him after awhile. When +I met him I fancied there was a shade of insolence in his manner. +When I spoke of singing again he laughed, and said he guessed I would +never want to go on the boards again. Why? I asked. Then he laughed +again, and said "Mr. Phillips would not let me;" and then he began to +abuse you, and said you "had forced him to give me fifty dollars a +week for my singing when it wasn't worth ten dollars; but he +understood then what it all meant, and that now every one understood +it;--that you had lived in the same house with me for months, and now +you had purchased a cage for your bird in the country." At first I +could not understand what he meant; and when at last I comprehended +his meaning and burst into tears, he began to apologize; but I would +not listen to him, and hurried home and told everything to papa and +mamma. + +"'Now,' she continued, looking me steadily in the face with her +frank, clear eyes, 'we have talked it all over for hours, and we have +come to several conclusions. First, you are not Francis Montgomery, +but Arthur Phillips; second, you are not a poor printer, but a rich +young gentleman; third, you have done me a great many kindnesses and +attributed them to others. You secured me a large salary from +Bingham; you made Mrs. Brederhagan settle an income upon me; you +nursed me through all my sickness, with the tenderness of a brother, +and you have bought this beautiful place and presented it to papa. +You have done us all nothing but good; and you claimed no credit for +it; and we shall all be grateful to you and honor you and pray for +you to the end of our lives. But,' and here she took my hand as a +sister might, 'but we cannot keep this place. You will yourself see +that we cannot. You a poor printer, we met on terms of equality. From +a rich young gentleman this noble gift would be universally +considered as the price of my honor and self-respect. It is so +considered already. The deed of gift from Mrs. Brederhagan I shall +avail myself of until I am able to resume my place on the stage; but +here is a deed, signed by my father and mother, for this place, and +tomorrow we must leave it. We may not meet again'- and here the large +eyes began to swim in tears--'but--but--I shall never forget your +goodness to me.' + +"'Christina,' I said, 'suppose I had really been Frank Montgomery, +the printer, would you have driven me away from you thus?' + +"'Oh! no! no!' she cried; 'you are our dearest and best friend. And I +do not drive you away. I must leave you. The world can have only one +interpretation of the relation of two people so differently +situated--a very wealthy young gentleman and a poor little singer, +the daughter of a poor, foreign-born workman.' + +"'Well, then,' said I, taking her in my arms, 'let the blabbing, +babbling old world know that that poor little singer sits higher in +my heart, yes, in my brain and judgment, than all the queens and +princesses of the world. I have found in her the one inestimable +jewel of the earth--a truly good and noble woman. If I deceived you +it was because I loved you; loved you with my whole heart and soul +and all the depths of my being. I wanted to dwell in the same house +with you; to study you; to see you always near me. I was happier when +I was nursing you through your sickness than I have ever been before +or since. I was sorry, to tell the truth, when you got well, and were +no longer dependent on me. And now, Christina, if you will say yes, +we will fix the day for the wedding.' + +"I knew as soon as I began to speak that I had won my case. There was +no struggle to escape from my arms; and, as I went on, she relaxed +even her rigidity, and reposed on my breast with trusting confidence. + +"'Frank,' she said, not looking up, and speaking in a low tone--'I +shall always call you Frank--I loved the poor printer from the very +first; and if the rich man can be content with the affection I gave +the poor one, my heart and life are yours. But stop,' she added, +looking up with an arch smile, 'you must not forget the promise you +made me about New Year's day!' + +"'Ah, my dear,' I replied, 'that was part of poor Frank's character, +and I suppose that is what you loved him for; but if you will marry a +rich man you must be content to forego all those attractions of the +poor, foolish printer. I shall not stand up next New Year's day and +make a vow to drink no more; but I make a vow now to kiss the +sweetest woman in the world every day in the year.' + +"And, lest I should forget so sacred an obligation, I began to put my +vow into execution right then and there. + +"Afterward the old folks were called in, and I told them my whole +story. And I said to them, moreover, that there was storm and danger +ahead; that the great convulsion might come any day; and so it is +agreed that we are to be married, at Christina's home, the day after +to-morrow. And to-morrow I want my dear mother, and you, my dear +friends, to go with me to visit the truest and noblest little woman +that ever promised to make a man happy." + +When Max had finished his long story, his mother kissed and cried +over him; and Estella and I shook hands with him; and we were a very +happy party; and no one would have thought, from our jests and +laughter, that the bloodhounds of the aristocracy were hunting for +three of us, and that we were sitting under the dark presaging shadow +of a storm that was ready to vomit fire and blood at any moment. + +Before we retired that night Estella and I had a private conference, +and I fear that at the end of it I made the same astonishing vow +which Max had made to Christina. And I came to another surprising +conclusion--that is, that no woman is worth worshiping unless she is +worth wooing. But what I said to Estella, and what she said to me, +will never be revealed to any one in this world;--the results, +however, will appear hereafter, in this veracious chronicle. + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + ELYSIUM + +It was a bright and sunny autumn day. We were a very happy party. +Estella was disguised with gold spectacles, a black wig and a veil, +and she looked like some middle-aged school-teacher out for a +holiday. We took the electric motor to a station one mile and a half +from Mr. Jansen's, and walked the rest of the way. The air was pure +and sweet and light; it seemed to be breathed right out of heaven. +The breezes touched us and dallied with us and delighted us, like +ministering angels. The whole panoply of nature was magnificent; the +soft-hued, grassy fields; the embowered trees; the feeding cattle; +the children playing around the houses;-- + + > + + "Clowns cracking jokes, and lasses with sly eyes, + And the smile settling on their sun-flecked cheeks + Like noon upon the mellow apricot." + +My soul rose upon wings and swam in the ether like a swallow; and I +thanked God that he had given us this majestic, this beautiful, this +surpassing world, and had placed within us the delicate sensibility +and capability to enjoy it. In the presence of such things +death--annihilation--seemed to me impossible, and I exclaimed aloud: + + > + + "Hast thou not heard + That thine existence, here on earth, is but + The dark and narrow section of a life + Which was with God, long ere the sun was lit, + And shall be yet, when all the bold, bright stars + Are dark as death-dust?" + +And oh, what a contrast was all this to the clouded world we had left +behind us, in yonder close-packed city, with its poverty, its misery, +its sin, its injustice, its scramble for gold, its dark hates and +terrible plots. But, I said to myself, while God permits man to wreck +himself, he denies him the power to destroy the world. The grass +covers the graves; the flowers grow in the furrows of the cannon +balls; the graceful foliage festoons with blossoms the ruins of the +prison and the torture-chamber; and the corn springs alike under the +foot of the helot or the yeoman. And I said to myself that, even +though civilization should commit suicide, the earth would still +remain--and with it some remnant of mankind; and out of the +uniformity of universal misery a race might again arise worthy of the +splendid heritage God has bestowed upon us. + +Mr. Jansen had closed up his forge in honor of our visit, and had +donned a new broadcloth suit, in which he seemed as comfortable as a +whale in an overcoat. Christina ran out to meet us, bright and +handsome, all in white, with roses in her curly hair. The sweet-faced +old lady took her to her arms, and called her "my daughter," and +kissed her, and expressed her pleasure that her son was about to +marry so good and noble a girl. Mrs. Jansen held back modestly at +first, a little afraid of "the great folks," but she was brought +forward by Christina, and introduced to us all. And then we had to +make the acquaintance of the whole flock of blue-eyed, curly-haired, +rosy-cheeked little ones, gay in white dresses and bright ribbons. +Even Master Ole forgot, for a time, his enrapturing hammer and nails, +and stood, with eyes like saucers, contemplating the irruption of +outside barbarians. We went into the house, and there, with many a +laugh and jest, the spectacled school-teacher was transformed into my +own bright and happy Estella. The two girls flowed into one another, +by natural affinity, like a couple of drops of quicksilver; each +recognized the transparent soul in the other, and in a moment they +were friends for life. + +We were a jolly party. Care flew far away from us, and many a laugh +and jest resounded. + +"There is one thing, Christina," said Max, "that I cannot comprehend, +and of which I demand an explanation. Your name is 'Christina +Jansen,' and yet you appeared in public by the name of 'Christina +Carlson.' Now I refuse to marry you until this thing is explained; +for I may be arrested and charged with bigamy for marrying two women +at once! I am willing to wed 'Christina Jansen'--but what am I to do +with 'Christina Carlson'? I could be "happy with either were t'other +dear charmer away.'" + +Christina laughed and blushed and said: + +"If you do not behave yourself you shall not have either of the +Christinas. But I will tell you, my dear friend, how that happened. +You must know that in our Sweden, especially in the northern part of +it, where father and mother came from, we are a very primitive +people--far 'behind the age,' you will say. And there we have no +family names, like Brown or Jones or Smith; but each man is simply +the son of his father, and he takes his father's first name. Thus if +'Peter' has a son and he is christened 'Ole,' then he is 'Ole +Peterson,' or Ole the son of Peter; and if his son is called 'John,' +then he is 'John Oleson.' I think, from what I have read in the books +you gave me, Frank, that the same practice prevailed, centuries ago, +in England, and that is how all those English names, such as Johnson, +Jackson, Williamson, etc., came about. But the females of the family, +in Sweden, are called 'daughters' or 'dotters;' and hence, by the +custom of my race, I am 'Christina Carl's Dotter.' And when Mr. +Bingham asked me my name to print on his play bills, that is what I +answered him; but he said 'Christina Carl's Dotter' was no name at +all. It would never do; and so he called me 'Christina Carlson.' +There you have the explanation of the whole matter." + +"I declare," said Frank, "this thing grows worse and worse! Why, +there are three of you. I shall have to wed not only 'Christina +Jansen,' and 'Christina Carlson,' but 'Christina Carl's Dotter.' Why, +that would be not only bigamy, but _trigamy!_" + +And then Estella came to the rescue, and said that she felt sure that +Max would be glad to have her even if there were a dozen of her. + +And Frank, who had become riotous, said to me: + +"You see, old fellow, you are about to marry a girl with a pedigree, +and I another without one." + +"No," said Christina, "I deny that charge; with us the very name we +bear declares the pedigree. I am 'Christina Carl's Dotter,' and +'Carl' was the son of 'John,' who was the son of 'Frederick,' who was +the son of 'Christian;' and so on for a hundred generations. I have a +long pedigree; and I am very proud of it; and, what is more, they +were all good, honest, virtuous people." And she heightened up a bit. +And then Frank kissed her before us all, and she boxed his ears, and +then dinner was announced. + +And what a pleasant dinner it was: the vegetables, crisp and fresh, +were from their own garden; and the butter and milk and cream and +schmearkase from their own dairy; and the fruit from their own trees; +and the mother told us that the pudding was of Christina's own +making; and thereupon Frank ate more of it than was good for him; and +everything was so neat and bright, and everybody so happy; and Frank +vowed that there never was before such luscious, golden butter; and +Mrs. Jansen told us that that was the way they made it in Sweden, and +she proceeded to explain the whole process. The only unhappy person +at the table, it seemed to me, was poor Carl, and he had a wretched +premonition that he was certainly going to drop some of the food on +that brand-new broadcloth suit of his. I feel confident that when we +took our departure he hurried to take off that overwhelming grandeur, +with very much the feeling with which the dying saint shuffles off +the mortal coil, and soars to heaven. + +But then, in the midst of it all, there came across me the dreadful +thought of what was to burst upon the world in a few days; and I +could have groaned aloud in anguish of spirit. I felt we were like +silly sheep gamboling on the edge of the volcano. But why not? We had +not brought the world to this pass. Why should we not enjoy the +sunshine, and that glorious light, brighter than all sunshine--the +love of woman? For God alone, who made woman--the true woman--knows +the infinite capacities for good which he has inclosed within her +soul. And I don't believe one bit of that orthodox story. I think Eve +ate the apple to obtain knowledge, and Adam devoured the core because +he was hungry. + +And these thoughts, of course, were suggested by my looking at +Estella. She and Christina were in a profound conference; the two +shades of golden hair mingling curiously as they whispered to each +other, and blushed and laughed. And then Estella came over to me, and +smiled and blushed again, and whispered: "Christina is delighted with +the plan." + +And then I said to Max, in a dignified, solemn way: + +'My dear Max, or Frank, or Arthur, or whatever thy name may be--and +'if thou hast no other name to call thee by I will call thee +devil'--I have observed, with great regret, that thou art very much +afraid of standing up to-morrow and encountering in wedlock's +ceremony the battery of bright eyes of the three Christinas. Now I +realize that a friend should not only 'bear a friend's infirmities,' +but that he should stand by him in the hour of danger; and so +to-morrow, 'when fear comes down upon you like a house,' Estella and +I have concluded to stand with you, in the imminent deadly breach, +and share your fate; and if, when you get through, there are any of +the Christinas left, I will--with Estella's permission--even marry +them myself 'For I am determined that such good material shall not go +to waste.' + +There was a general rejoicing, and Max embraced me; and then he +hugged Christina; and then I took advantage of the excuse--I was very +happy in finding such excuses--to do likewise by my stately beauty; +and then there was handshaking by the old folks all around, and +kisses from the little folks. + +Not long afterward there was much whispering and laughing between +Christina and Estella; they were in the garden; they seemed to be +reading some paper, which they held between them. And then that +scamp, Max, crept quietly behind them, and, reaching over, snatched +the paper out of their hands. And then Estella looked disturbed, and +glanced at me and blushed; and Max began to dance and laugh, and +cried out, "Ho! ho! we have a poet in the family!" And then I +realized that some verses, which I had given Estella the day before, +had fallen into the hands of that mocker. I would not give much for a +man who does not grow poetical when he is making love. It is to man +what song is to the bird. But to have one's weaknesses exposed--that +is another matter! And so I ran after Max; but in vain. He climbed +into a tree, and then began to recite my love poetry: + +"Listen to this," he cried; "here are fourteen verses; each one +begins and ends with the word _'thee.'_ Here's a sample: + + "'All thought, all fear, all grief, all earth, all air, + Forgot shall be; + Knit unto each, to each kith, kind and kin,-- + Life, like these rhyming verses, shall begin + And end in--_thee!_' + +"And here," he cried, "is another long poem. Phœbus! what a +name--_'Artesian Waters!'_ + +Here Christina, Estella and I pelted the rogue with apples. + +"I know why they are called 'Artesian Waters,'" he cried; "it is +because it took a great _bore_ to produce them. Hal ha! But listen to +it: + + "'There is a depth at which perpetual springs + Fresh water, in all lands: + The which once reached, the buried torrent flings + Its treasures o'er the sands.' + +"Ouch!" he cried, "that one hit me on the nose: I mean the apple, not +the verse. + + "'One knows not how, beneath the dark, deep crust, + The clear flood there has come: + One knows not why, amid eternal dust, + Slumbers that sea of foam.' + +"Plain enough," he cried, dodging the apples; "the attraction of +gravitation did the business for it. + + "'Dark-buried, sepulchred, entombed and deep, + Away from mortal ken, + It lies, till, summoned from its silent sleep, + It leaps to light again.' + +"Very good," he said, "and now here comes the application, the moral +of the poem. + + "'So shall we find no intellect so dull, + No soul so cold to move, + No heart of self or sinfulness so full, + But still hath power to love.' + +"Of course," he said; "he knows how it is himself; the poet fills the +bill exactly. + + 'It lives immortal, universal all, + The tenant of each breast; + Locked in the silence of unbroken thrall, + And deep and pulseless rest; + Till, at a touch, with burst of power and pride, + Its swollen torrents roll, + Dash all the trappings of the mind aside, + And ride above the soul.' + +"Hurrah!" he cried, "that's splendid! But here's some more: _'To +Estella.'_" + +But I could stand no more, and so began to climb the tree. It was an +apple-tree, and not a very big one at that, and Max was forced to +retreat out upon a limb, and then drop to the ground. But the young +ladies were too quick for him; they pounced upon him as he fell; and +very soon my precious verses were hidden in Estella's bosom, whence, +in a burst of confidence and pride, they had been taken to exhibit to +Christina. + +"Yes," said Estella, "it was nothing but mean jealousy, because he +could not write such beautiful poetry to Christina." "Exactly," said +Christina, "and I think I will refuse to marry him until he produces +some verses equally fine." + +"Before I would write such poetry as that," said Max, "I would go and +hang myself." + +"No man ought to be allowed to marry," said Estella, "until he has +written a poem." + +"If you drive Max to that," I said, "other people will hang +themselves rather than hear his verses." + +And thus, with laugh and jest and badinage, the glorious hours passed +away. + +It was growing late; but we could not go until we had seen the cows +milked, for that was a great event in the household; and "Bossy" +especially was a wonderful cow. Never before in the world had there +been such a cow as "Bossy." The children had tied some ribbons to her +horns, and little Ole was astride of her broad back, his chubby legs +pointing directly to the horizon, and the rest of the juveniles +danced around her; while the gentle and patient animal stood chewing +her cud, with a profound look upon her peaceful face, much like that +of a chief-justice considering "the rule in Shelley's case," or some +other equally solemn and momentous subject. + +And I could not help but think how kindly we should feel toward these +good, serviceable ministers to man; for I remembered how many +millions of our race had been nurtured through childhood and maturity +upon their generous largess. I could see, in my imagination, the +great bovine procession, lowing and moving, with their bleating +calves trotting by their side, stretching away backward, farther and +farther, through all the historic period; through all the conquests +and bloody earth-staining battles, and all the sin and suffering of +the race; and far beyond, even into the dim, pre-historic age, when +the Aryan ancestors of all the European nations dwelt together under +the same tents, and the blond-haired maidens took their name of +"daughters" (the very word we now use) from their function of +milkmaidens. And it seemed to me that we should love a creature so +intimately blended with the history of our race, and which had done +so much, indirectly, to give us the foundation on which to build +civilization. + +But we must away; and Carl, glad to do something in scenes in which +he was not much fitted to shine, drove us to the station in his open +spring wagon; Estella, once more the elderly, spectacled maiden, by +my side; and the sunny little Christina beside Max's mother--going to +the station to see us off; while that gentleman, on the front seat, +talked learnedly with Carl about the pedigree of the famous horse +"Lightning," which had just trotted its mile in less than two minutes. + +And I thought, as I looked at Carl, how little it takes to make a +happy household; and what a beautiful thing the human race is under +favorable circumstances; and what a wicked and cruel and utterly +abominable thing is the man who could oppress it, and drive it into +the filth of sin and shame. + +I will not trouble you, my dear brother, by giving you a detailed +account of the double marriage the next day. The same person married +us both--a Scandinavian preacher, a friend of the Jansen family. I +was not very particular who tied the knot and signed the bill of sale +of Estella, provided I was sure the title was good. But I do think +that the union of man and wife should be something more than a mere +civil contract. Marriage is not a partnership to sell dry +goods--(sometimes, it is true, it is principally an obligation to buy +them)--or to practice medicine or law together; it is, or should be, +an intimate blending of two souls, and natures, and lives; and where +the marriage is happy and perfect there is, undoubtedly, a +growing-together, not only of spirit and character, but even in the +physical appearance of man and wife. Now as these two souls came--we +concede--out of heaven, it seems to me that the ceremony which thus +destroys their individuality, and blends them into one, should have +some touch and color of heaven in it also. + +It was a very happy day. + +As I look upon it now it seems to me like one of those bright, wide +rays of glorious light which we have sometimes seen bursting through +a rift in the clouds, from the setting sun, and illuminating, for a +brief space of time, the black, perturbed and convulsed sky. One of +our poets has compared it to-- + + "A dead soldier's sword athwart his pall." + +But it faded away, and the storm came down, at last, heavy and dark +and deadly. + + CHAPTER XXX. + + UPON THE HOUSE-TOP + +A few days after our joint wedding Max came running in one day, and +said: + +"It is to be to-morrow." + +He gave each of us a red cross to sew upon our clothes. He was very +much excited, and hurried out again. + +I had said to him, the morning of our marriage, that I desired to +return home before the outbreak came, for I was now responsible for +Estella's life and safety; and I feared that all communication of one +part of the world with another would be cut off by the threatened +revolution. He had begged me to remain. He said that at the interview +with General Quincy it had been made a condition of the contract that +each of the executive committee--Caesar, the vice-president and +himself--should have one of the flying air-ships placed at his +disposal, after the outbreak, well manned and equipped with bombs and +arms of all kinds. These "Demons" were to be subject to their order +at any time, and to be guarded by the troops at their magazine in one +of the suburbs until called for. + +The committee had several reasons for making this arrangement: the +outbreak might fail and they would have to fly; or the outbreak might +succeed, but become ungovernable, and they would have to escape from +the tempest they had themselves invoked. Max had always had a dream +that after the Plutocracy was overthrown the insurgents would +reconstruct a purer and better state of society; but of late my +conversations with him, and his own observations, had begun to shake +his faith in this particular. + +He said to me that if I remained he would guarantee the safety of +myself and wife, and after I had seen the outbreak he would send me +home in his air-ship; and moreover, if he became satisfied that the +revolution had passed beyond the control of himself and friends, he +would, after rescuing his father from the prison where he was +confined, accompany me with his whole family, and we would settle +down together in my distant mountain home. He had, accordingly, +turned all his large estate into gold and silver, which he had +brought to the house; and I had likewise filled one large room full +of a great library of books, which I had purchased to take with +me--literature, science, art, encyclopedias, histories, philosophies, +in fact all the treasures of the world's genius--together with type, +printing presses, telescopes, phonographs, photographic instruments, +electrical apparatus, eclesions, phemasticons, and all the other +great inventions which the last hundred years have given us. For, I +said to myself, if civilization utterly perishes in the rest of the +world, there, in the mountains of Africa, shut out from attack by +rocks and ice-topped mountains, and the cordon of tropical barbarians +yet surrounding us, we will wait until exhausted and prostrate +mankind is ready to listen to us and will help us reconstruct society +upon a wise and just basis. + +In the afternoon Max returned, bringing with him Carl Jansen and all +his family. A dozen men also came, bearing great boxes. They were old +and trusted servants of his father's family; and the boxes contained +magazine rifles and pistols and fixed ammunition, together with +hand-grenades. These were taken out, and we were all armed. Even the +women had pistols, and knives strapped to their girdles. The men went +out and again returned, bearing quantities of food, sufficient to +last us during a siege, and also during our flight to my home. Water +was also collected in kegs and barrels, for the supply might be cut +of. Then Max came, and under his orders, as soon as night fell, the +lower windows, the cellar openings and the front door were covered +with sheathings of thick oak plank, of three thicknesses, strongly +nailed; then the second story windows were similarly protected, +loopholes being first bored, through which our rifles could be +thrust, if necessary. Then the upper windows were also covered in the +same way. The back door was left free for ingress and egress through +the yard and back street, but powerful bars were arranged across it, +and the oak plank left ready to board it up when required. The +hand-grenades--there were a pile of them--were carried up to the flat +roof. Then one of the men went out and painted red crosses on the +doors and windows. + +We ate our supper in silence. A feeling of awe was upon all of us. +Every one was told to pack up his goods and valuables and be ready +for instant flight when the word was given; and to each one were +assigned the articles he or she was to carry. + +About ten o'clock Max returned and told us all to come up to the +roof. The house stood, as I have already said, upon a corner; it was +in the older part of the city, and not far from where the first great +battle would be fought. Max whispered to me that the blow would be +struck at six o'clock in Europe and at twelve o'clock at night in +America. The fighting therefore had already begun in the Old World. +He further explained to me something of the plan of battle. The +Brotherhood at twelve would barricade a group of streets in which +were the Sub-Treasury of the United States, and all the principal +banks, to wit: Cedar, Pine, Wall, Nassau, William, Pearl and Water +Streets. Two hundred thousand men would be assembled to guard these +barricades. They would then burst open the great moneyed institutions +and blow up the safes with giant powder and Hecla powder. At daybreak +one of Quincy's air-ships would come and receive fifty millions of +the spoils in gold, as their share of the plunder, and the price of +their support. As soon as this was delivered, and carried to their +armory, the whole fleet of air-vessels would come up and attack the +troops of the Oligarchy. If, however, General Quincy should violate +his agreement, and betray them, they had provided a large number of +great cannon, mounted on high wheels, so that they could be fired +vertically, and these were to be loaded with bombs of the most +powerful explosives known to science, and so constructed with +fulminating caps that, if they struck the air-ship at any point, they +would explode and either destroy it or so disarrange its machinery as +to render it useless. Thus they were provided, he thought, for every +emergency. + +At eleven he came to me and whispered that if anything happened to +him he depended on me to take his wife and mother and his father, if +possible, with me to Africa. I grasped his hand and assured him of my +devotion. He then embraced Christina and his mother and left them, +weeping bitterly, in each other's arms. + +There was a parapet around the roof. I went to the corner of it, and, +leaning over, looked down into the street. Estella came and stood +beside me. She was very calm and quiet. The magnetic lights yet +burned, and the streets below me were almost as bright as day. There +were comparatively few persons moving about. Here and there a +carriage, or a man on horseback, dashed furiously past, at full +speed; and I thought to myself, "The Oligarchy have heard of the +tremendous outbreak in Europe, and are making preparations for +another here." It was a still, clear night; and the great solemn +stars moved over the face of heaven unconscious or indifferent as to +what was going forward on this clouded little orb. + +I thought it must be nearly twelve. I drew out my watch to look at +the time. It lacked one minute of that hour. Another instant, and the +whole city was wrapped in profound darkness. Some of the workmen +about the Magnetic Works were members of the Brotherhood, and, in +pursuance of their orders, they had cut the connections of the works +and blotted out the light. + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + "SHEOL" + +I looked down into the dark street. I could see nothing; but +immediately a confused buzz and murmur, of motion everywhere, arose +from the depths below me. As it grew louder and clearer I could hear +the march of thousands of feet, moving rapidly; and then a number of +wagons, heavily loaded, creaked and groaned over the pavements. I +surmised that these wagons were loaded with stones, and were to be +used in the construction of the barricades. There was no music, no +shouting, not even the sound of voices; but tramp, tramp, tramp, in +endless multitude, the heavy feet went by; and now and then, where +the light yet streamed out of the window of some house, I could see +the glitter of the steel barrels of rifles; and here and there I +caught a glimpse of men on horseback, officers apparently, but +dressed in the rough garb of workmen. Along the line of the houses +near me, I could see, at opened, lighted windows, an array of pale +faces, looking out with astonishment and terror at this dark and +silent procession, which seemed to have arisen out of the earth, and +was so vast that one might dream that the trumpet of the archangel +had been blown, and all the dead of a thousand battle-fields had +risen up for one last grand review. And not alone past our doors, but +through all the streets near us, the same mighty, voiceless +procession moved on; all converging to the quarter where the +treasures of the great city lay, heaped up in safe and vault. + +And then, several blocks away, but within the clear range of my +vision, a light appeared in the street--it blazed--it rose higher and +higher. I could see shadowy figures moving around it, heaping boxes, +barrels and other combustibles upon the flame. It was a bonfire, +kindled to light the work of building a barricade at that point. +Across the street a line of wagons had been placed; the tail of each +one touching the front of another, the horses having been withdrawn. +And then hundreds of busy figures were to be seen at work, tearing up +the pavements of the street and heaping the materials under the +wagons; and then shovels flew, and the earth rose over it all; a deep +ditch being excavated quite across the street, on the side near me. +Then men, lit by the red light, looked, at the distance, like hordes +of busy black insects. Behind them swarmed, as far as I could see, +thousands upon thousands of dark forms, mere masses, touched here and +there by the light of the bonfire, gleaming on glittering steel. They +were the men within the barricades. There was a confused noise in +other quarters, which I supposed was caused by the erection of a +number of similar barricades elsewhere. Then the tramp of the +marching masses past our doors ceased; and for a time the silence was +profound. + +So far not a soldier or policeman had been visible. The Oligarchy +were evidently carrying out the plan of the Prince of Cabano. They +were permitting the insurgents to construct their "rat-trap" without +interruption. Only a few stragglers were upon the street, drawn there +doubtless by curiosity; and still the pale faces were at the windows; +and some even talked from window to window, and wondered what it all +meant. + +Suddenly there was a terrific explosion that shook the house. I could +see a shower of stones and brick and timbers and dust, rising like a +smoke, seamed with fire, high in the air, within the lines of the +barricades. Then came another, even louder; then another, and +another, and another, until it sounded like a bombardment. Then these +ceased, and after a little time came the sounds of smaller +explosions, muffled as if under ground or within walls. + +"They are blowing open the banks," I whispered to Estella. + +Then all was quiet for a space. In a little while the bombardment +began again, as if in another part of the territory inclosed in the +barricades. + +And still there was not a soldier to be seen in the deserted streets +near me. + +And again came other explosions. + +At last I saw the red light beginning to touch the clouds along the +eastern horizon with its crimson brush. The fateful day was dawning. + +And then, in a little while, far away to the north, soft and dull at +first, but swelling gradually into greater volume, a mighty sound +arose; and through it I could hear bursts of splendid melody, rising +and falling and fluttering, like pennons, above the tumult; and I +recognized the notes of that grand old Scotch air, "The Campbells are +Coming." + +It was the defenders of society advancing with the swinging step of +assured triumph. + +Oh, it was a splendid sight! In all the bravery of banners, and +uniforms, and shining decorations, and amidst the majestic and +inspiriting outpouring of music, they swept along, the thousands +moving as one. How they did contrast with that gloomy, dark, ragged, +sullen multitude who had preceded them. And with them came, rattling +along, multitudes of those dreadful machine guns--those cataracts of +fire and death--drawn by prancing, well-fed, shining horses. And the +lips of the gunners were set for carnage; for they had received +orders _to take no prisoners!_ The world was to be taught a lesson +to-day--a bloody and an awful lesson. Ah! little did they think how +it would be taught! + +In the gray light of the breaking day they came--an endless +multitude. And all the windows were white with waving handkerchiefs, +and the air stormy with huzzas and cries of "God bless you." And at +the head of every column, on exuberant steeds, that seemed as if they +would leap out of their very skins with the mere delight of living, +rode handsome officers, smiling and bowing to the ladies at the +windows;--for was it not simply holiday work to slay the +_canaille_--the insolent _canaille_--the unreasonable dogs--who +demanded some share in the world's delights--who were not willing to +toil and die that others might live and be happy? And the very music +had a revengeful, triumphant ring and sting to it, as if every +instrument cried out: "Ah, we will give it to them!" + +But it was splendid! It was the very efflorescence of the art of +war--the culmination of the evolution of destruction--the perfect +flower of ten thousand years of battle and blood. + +But I heard one officer cry out to another, as they passed below me: + +"What's the matter with the Demons? Why are they not here?" + +"I can't say," replied the one spoken to; "but they will be here in +good time." + +The grand and mighty stream of men poured on. They halted close to +the high barricade. It was a formidable structure at least fifteen +feet high and many feet in thickness. The gray of dawn had turned +into red, and a pale, clear light spread over all nature. I heard +some sparrows, just awakened, twittering and conversing in a tall +tree near me. They, too, wondered, doubtless, what it all meant, and +talked it over in their own language. + +The troops deployed right and left, and soon the insurgent mass was +closely surrounded in every direction and every outlet closed. The +"rat-trap" was set. Where were the rat-killers? I could see many a +neck craned, and many a face lifted up, looking toward the west, for +their terrible allies of the air. But they came not. + +There was a dead pause. It was the stillness before the thunder. + + CHAPTER XXXII. + + THE RAT-TRAP + +Some of the troops advanced toward the barricade. Instantly the long +line of its top bristled with fire; the fire was returned; the rattle +was continuous and terrible, mingled with the rapid, grinding noise +of the machine guns. The sound spread in every direction. The +barricades were all attacked. + +Suddenly the noise began to decrease. It was as if some noble orator +had begun to speak in the midst of a tumultuous assembly. Those +nearest him catch his utterances first, and become quiet; the wave of +silence spreads like a great ripple in the water; until at last the +whole audience is as hushed as death. So something--some +extraordinary thing--had arrested the battle; down, down, dropped the +tumult; and at last there were only a few scattering shots to be +heard, here and there; and then these, too, ceased. + +I could see the soldiers looking to the west. I swept the sky with my +glass. Yes, something portentous had indeed happened! Instead of the +whole dark flight of thousands of airships for which the soldiers had +been looking, there came, athwart the sky, like a great black bird, a +single Demon. + +As it approached it seemed to be signaling some one. Little flags of +different colors were run up and taken down. I turned and looked to +the barricaded district. And there on the top of a very high +building, in its midst, I could see a group of men. They, too, were +raising and lowering little flags. Nearer and nearer swept the great +bird; every eye and many a field-glass in all that great throng were +fastened upon it, with awe-struck interest--the insurgents rejoicing; +the soldiers perplexed. Nearer and nearer it comes. + +Now it pauses right over the tall building; it begins to descend, +like a sea-gull about to settle in the waves. Now it is but a short +distance above the roof. I could see against the bright sky the +gossamer traces of a rope ladder, falling down from the ship to the +roof. The men below take hold of it and steady it. A man descends. +Something about him glitters in the rising sun. He is probably an +officer. He reaches the roof. They bow and shake hands. I can see him +wave his hand to those above him. A line of men descend; they +disappear in the building; they reappear; they mount the ladder; +again and again they come and go. + +"They are removing the treasure," I explain to our party, gathering +around me. + +Then the officer shakes hands again with the men on the roof; they +bow to each other; he reascends the ladder; the air-ship rises in the +air, higher and higher, like an eagle regaining its element; and away +it sails, back into the west. + +An age of bribery terminates in one colossal crime of corruption! + +I can see the officers gathering in groups and taking counsel +together. They are alarmed. Then they write. They must tell the +Oligarchy of this singular scene, and their suspicions, and put them +on their guard. There is danger in the air. In a moment orderlies +dash down the street in headlong race, bearing dispatches. In a +little while they come back, hurrying, agitated. I took to the north. +I can see a black line across the street. It is a high barricade. It +has been quietly constructed while the fight raged. And beyond, far +as my eyes can penetrate, there are dark masses of armed men. + +The orderlies report--there is movement--agitation. I can see the +imperious motions of an officer. I can read the signs. He is saying, +"Back--back--for your lives! Break out through the side streets!" +They rush away; they divide; into every street they turn. Alas! in a +few minutes, like wounded birds, they come trailing back. There is no +outlet. Every street is blockaded, barricaded, and filled with huge +masses of men. _The rat-trap has another rat-trap outside of it!_ + +The Oligarchy will wait long for those dispatches. They will never +read them this side of eternity. The pear has ripened. The inevitable +has come. The world is about to shake off its masters. + +There is dead silence. Why should the military renew the fight in the +midst of the awful doubt that rests upon their souls? + +Ah! we will soon know the best or worst; for, far away to the west, +dark, portentous as a thundercloud--spread out like the wings of +mighty armies--moving like a Fate over the bright sky, comes on the +vast array of the Demons. + +"Will they be faithful to their bargain?" I ask myself; "or will old +loyalty and faith to their masters rise up in their hearts?" + +No, no, it is a rotten age. Corruption sticks faster than love. + +On they come! Thousands of them. They swoop, they circle; they pause +above the insurgents. The soldiers rejoice! Ah, no! No bombs fall, a +meteor of death. They separate; they move north, south, east, west; +they are above the streets packed full of the troops of the +government! + +May God have mercy on them now! The sight will haunt me to my dying +day. I can see, like a great black rain of gigantic drops, the lines +of the falling bombs against the clear blue sky. + +And, oh, my God! what a scene below, in those close-packed streets, +among those gaily dressed multitudes! The dreadful astonishment! The +crash--the bang--the explosions; the uproar, the confusion; and, most +horrible of all, the inevitable, invisible death by the poison. + +The line of the barricade is alive with fire. With my glass I can +almost see the dynamite bullets exploding in the soldiers, tearing +them to pieces, like internal volcanoes. + +An awful terror is upon them. They surge backward and forward; then +they rush headlong down the streets. The farther barricades open upon +them a hail of death; and the dark shadows above--so well named +Demons--slide slowly after them; and drop, drop, drop, the deadly +missiles fall again among them. + +Back they surge. The poison is growing thicker. They scream for +mercy; they throw away their guns; they are panic-stricken. They +break open the doors of houses and hide themselves. But even here the +devilish plan of Prince Cabano is followed out to the very letter. +The triumphant mob pour in through the back yards; and they bayonet +the soldiers under beds, or in closets, or in cellars; or toss them, +alive and shrieking, from windows or roofs, down into the deadly gulf +below. + +And still the bombs drop and crash, and drop and crash; and the +barricades are furnaces of living fire. The dead lie in heaps and +layers in the invisible, pernicious poison. + +But, lo! the fire slackens; the bombs cease to fall; only now and +then a victim flies out of the houses, cast into death. There is +nothing left to shoot at. The grand army of the Plutocracy is +annihilated; it is not. + +"The Demons" moved slowly off. They had earned their money. The +Mamelukes of the Air had turned the tables upon the Sultan. They +retired to their armory, doubtless to divide the fifty millions +equitably between them. + +The mob stood still for a few minutes. They could scarcely realize +that they were at last masters of the city. But quickly a full sense +of all that their tremendous victory signified dawned upon them. The +city lay prostrate, chained, waiting to be seized upon. + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + "THE OCEAN OVERPEERS ITS LIST" + +And then all avenues were open. And like a huge flood, long damned +up, turbulent, turbid, muddy, loaded with wrecks and debris, the +gigantic mass broke loose, full of foam and terror, and flowed in +every direction. A foul and brutal and ravenous multitude it was, +dark with dust and sweat, armed with the weapons of civilization, but +possessing only the instincts of wild beasts. + +At first they were under the control of some species of discipline +and moved toward the houses of the condemned, of whom printed +catalogues had been furnished the officers. The shouts, the yells, +the delight were appalling. + +Now and then some poor wretch, whose sole offense was that he was +well-dressed, would take fright and start to run, and then, like +hounds after a rabbit, they would follow in full cry; and when he was +caught a hundred men would struggle to strike him, and he would +disappear in a vortex of arms, clubs and bayonets, literally torn to +pieces. + +A sullen roar filled the air as this human cyclone moved onward, +leaving only wrecks behind it. Now it pauses at a house. The captain +consults his catalogue. "This is it," he cries; and doors and windows +give way before the thunderous mob; and then the scenes are terrible. +Men are flung headlong, alive, out of the windows to the ravenous +wretches below; now a dead body comes whirling down; then the +terrified inhabitants fly to the roofs, and are pursued from house to +house and butchered in sight of the delighted spectators. But when +the condemned man--the head of the house--is at last found, hidden +perhaps in some coal-hole or cellar, and is brought up, black with +dust, and wild with terror, his clothes half torn from his back; and +he is thrust forth, out of door or window, into the claws of the wild +beasts, the very heavens ring with acclamations of delight; and happy +is the man who can reach over his fellows and know that he has struck +the victim. + +Then up and away for another vengeance. Before them is solitude; +shops and stores and residences are closed and barricaded; in the +distance teams are seen flying and men scurrying to shelter; and +through crevices in shutters the horrified people peer at the mob, as +at an invasion of barbarians. + +Behind them are dust, confusion, dead bodies, hammered and beaten out +of all semblance of humanity; and, worse than all, the criminal +classes--that wretched and inexplicable residuum, who have no +grievance against the world except their own existence--the base, the +cowardly, the cruel, the sneaking, the inhuman, the horrible! These +flock like jackals in the track of the lions. They rob the dead +bodies; they break into houses; they kill if they are resisted; they +fill their pockets. Their joy is unbounded. Elysium has descended +upon earth for them this day. Pickpockets, sneak-thieves, +confidence-men, burglars, robbers, assassins, the refuse and +outpouring of grog-shops and brothels, all are here. And women, +too--or creatures that pass for such--having the bodies of women and +the habits of ruffians;--harpies--all claws and teeth and +greed--bold--desperate--shameless--incapable of good. They, too, are +here. They dart hither and thither; they swarm--they dance--they +howl--they chatter--they quarrel and battle, like carrion-vultures, +over the spoils. + +Civilization is gone, and all the devils are loose! No more courts, +nor judges, nor constables, nor prisons! That which it took the world +ten thousand years to create has gone in an hour. + +And still the thunderous cyclones move on through a hundred streets. +Occasionally a house is fired; but this is not part of the programme, +for they have decided to keep all these fine residences for +themselves! They will be rich. They will do no more work. The rich +man's daughters shall be their handmaidens; they will wear his purple +and fine linen. + +But now and then the flames rise up--perhaps a thief kindles the +blaze--and it burns and burns; for who would leave the glorious work +to put it out? It burns until the streets stop it and the block is +consumed. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there is no wind to breed a +general conflagration. The storms to-day are all on earth; and the +powers of the air are looking down with hushed breath, horrified at +the exceeding wickedness of the little crawlers on the planet we call +men. + +They do not, as a rule, steal. Revenge--revenge--is all their +thought. And why should they steal? Is it not all their own? Now and +then a too audacious thief is caught and stuck full of bayonets; or +he is flung out of a window, and dies at the hands of the mob the +death of the honest man for whom he is mistaken; and thus, by a +horrible travesty of fate, he perishes for that which he never was +nor could be. + +Think of the disgust of a thief who finds himself being murdered for +an honest man, an aristocrat, and can get no one to believe his +asseverations that he is simply and truly a thief--and nothing more! +It is enough to make Death grin! + +The rude and begrimed insurgents are raised by their terrible +purposes to a certain dignity. They are the avengers of time--the +God-sent--the righters of the world's wrongs--the punishers of the +ineffably wicked. They do not mean to destroy the world; they will +reform it--redeem it. They will make it a world where there shall be +neither toil nor oppression. But, poor fellows! their arms are more +potent for evil than their brains for good. They are omnipotent to +destroy; they are powerless to create. + +But still the work of ruin and slaughter goes on. The mighty city, +with its ten million inhabitants, lies prostrate, chained, helpless, +at the mercy of the enraged _canaille_. The dogs have become lions. + +The people cannot comprehend it. They look around for their +defenders--the police, the soldiery. "Where are they? Will not this +dreadful nightmare pass away?" No; no; never--never. This is the +culmination--this is the climax--"the century's aloe flowers to-day." +These are "the grapes of wrath" which God has stored up for the day +of his vengeance; and now he is trampling them out, and this is the +red juice--look you!--that flows so thick and fast in the very +gutters. + +You were blind, you were callous, you were indifferent to the sorrows +of your kind. The cry of the poor did not touch you, and every +pitiful appeal wrung from human souls, every groan and sob and shriek +of men and women, and the little starving children--starving in body +and starving in brain--rose up and gathered like a great cloud around +the throne of God; and now, at last, in the fullness of time, it has +burst and comes down upon your wretched heads, a storm of +thunderbolts and blood. + +You had money, you had power, you had leisure, you had intelligence, +you possessed the earth; all things were possible unto you. Did you +say to one another: "These poor souls are our brethren. For them +Christ died on Calvary. What can we do to make their lives bright and +happy?" No; no; you cried out, "'On with the dance!' Let them go down +into the bottomless pit!" + +And you smiled and said to one another, in the words of the first +murderer, when he lied to God: "Am I my brother's keeper?" Nay, you +said further to one another, "There is no God!" For you thought, if +there was one, surely He would not permit the injustice manifest in +the world. But, lo! He is here. Did you think to escape him? Did you +think the great Father of Cause and Effect--the All-knowing, the +universe-building God,--would pass you by? + +As you sowed, so must you reap. Evil has but one child--Death! For +hundreds of years you have nursed and nurtured Evil. Do you complain +if her monstrous progeny is here now, with sword and torch? What else +did you expect? Did you think she would breed angels? + +Your ancestors, more than two centuries ago, established and +permitted Slavery. What was the cry of the bondman to them? What the +sobs of the mother torn from her child--the wife from her husband--on +the auction block? Who among them cared for the lacerated bodies, the +shameful and hopeless lives? They were merry; they sang and they +danced; and they said, "Gods sleeps." + +But a day came when there was a corpse at every fireside. And not the +corpse of the black stranger--the African--the slave;--but the +corpses of fair, bright-faced men; their cultured, their manly, their +noble, their best-loved. And, North and South, they sat, rocking +themselves to and fro, in the midst of the shards and ashes of +desolation, crying aloud for the lives that would come back to bless +them never, nevermore. + +God wipes out injustice with suffering; wrong with blood; sin with +death. You can no more get beyond the reach of His hand than you can +escape from the planet. + + CHAPTER XXXIV. + + THE PRINCE GIVES HIS LAST BRIBE + +But it was when the mob reached the wealthier parts of the city that +the horrors of the devastation really began. Here almost every grand +house was the abode of one of the condemned. True, many of them had +fled. But the cunning cripple--the vice-president--had provided for +this too. At the railroad stations, at the bridges and ferries, even +on the yachts of the princes, men were stationed who would recognize +and seize them; and if they even escaped the dangers of the suburbs, +and reached the country, there they found armed bands of desperate +peasants, ranging about, slaying every one who did not bear on his +face and person the traces of the same wretchedness which they +themselves had so long endured. Nearly every rich man had, in his own +household and among his own servants, some bitter foe, who hated him, +and who had waited for this terrible day and followed him to the +death. + +The Prince of Cabano, through his innumerable spies, had early +received word of the turn affairs had taken. He had hurriedly filled +a large satchel with diamonds and other jewels of great value, and, +slinging it over his shoulders, and arming himself with sword, knife +and pistols, he had called Frederika to him (he had really some +little love for his handsome concubine), and loading her pockets and +his own with gold pieces, and taking her by the hand, he had fled in +great terror to the river side. His fine yacht lay off in the stream. +He called and shouted until he was hoarse, but no one replied from +the vessel. He looked around. The wharves were deserted; the few +boats visible were chained and padlocked to their iron rings. The +master of many servants was helpless. He shouted, screamed, tore his +hair, stamped and swore viciously. The man who had coolly doomed ten +million human beings to death was horribly afraid he would have to +die himself. He ran back, still clinging to Frederika, to hide in the +thick shrubbery of his own garden; there, perhaps, he might find a +faithful servant who would get him a boat and take him off to the +yacht in safety. + +But then, like the advancing thunder of a hurricane, when it champs +the earth and tears the trees to pieces with its teeth, came on the +awful mob. + +Now it is at his gates. He buries himself and companion in a thick +grove of cedars, and they crouch to the very ground. Oh, how humble +is the lord of millions! How all the endowments of the world fall off +from a man in his last extremity! He shivers, he trembles--yea, he +prays! Through his bloodshot eyes he catches some glimpses of a +God--of a merciful God who loves _all_ his creatures. Even Frederika, +though she has neither love nor respect for him, pities him, as the +bloated mass lies shivering beside her. Can this be the same lordly +gentleman, every hair of whose mustache bespoke empire and dominion, +who a few days since plotted the abasement of mankind? + +But, hark! the awful tumult. The crashing of glass, the breaking of +furniture, the beating in of doors with axes; the _canaille_ have +taken possession of the palace. They are looking for him everywhere. +They find him not. + +Out into the grounds and garden; here, there, everywhere, they turn +and wind and quarter, like bloodhounds that have lost the scent. + +And then the Prince hears, quite near him, the piping voice of a +little ragged boy--a bare-footed urchin--saying: "They came back from +the river; they went in here.---(He is one of the cripple's spies, +set upon him to watch him.)---This way, this way!" And the next +instant, like a charge of wild cattle, the mob bursts through the +cedars, led by a gigantic and ferocious figure, black with dust and +mantled with blood--the blood of others. + +The Prince rose from his lair as the yell of the pursuers told he was +discovered; he turned as if to run; his trembling legs failed him; +his eyes glared wildly; he tried to draw a weapon, but his hand shook +so it was in vain. The next instant there was a crack of a pistol in +the hands of one of the mob. The ball struck the Prince in the back +of the neck, even in the same spot where, a century before, the +avenging bullet smote the assassin of the good President Lincoln. +With a terrible shriek he fell down, and moaned in the most exquisite +torture. His suffering was so great that, coward as he was, he cried +out: "Kill me! kill me!" A workman, stirred by a human sentiment, +stepped forward and pointed his pistol, but the cripple struck the +weapon up. + +"No, no," he said; "let him suffer for a few hours something of the +misery he and his have inflicted on mankind during centuries. A +thousand years of torture would not balance the account. The wound is +mortal--his body is now paralyzed--only the sense of pain remains. +The damned in hell do not suffer more. Come away." + +But Caesar had seen a prize worth pursuing. Frederika had risen, and +when the Prince was shot she fled. Caesar pursued her, crashing +through the shrubbery like an enraged mammoth; and soon the cripple +laughed one of his dreadful laughs--for he saw the giant returning, +dragging the fair girl after him, by the hair of her head, as we have +seen, in the pictures, ogres hauling off captured children to +destruction. + +And still the Prince lay upon his back; and still he shrieked and +moaned and screamed in agony, and begged for death. + +An hour passed, and there was dead silence save for his cries; the +mob had swept off to new scenes of slaughter. + +The Prince heard the crackling of a stick, and then a stealthy step. +A thief, hunting for plunder, was approaching. The Prince, by great +effort, hushed his outcries. + +"Come here," said he, as the pale, mean face peered at him curiously +through the shrubbery. "Come nearer." + +The thief stood close to him. + +"Would you kill a man for a hundred thousand dollars?" asked the +Prince. + +The thief grinned, and nodded his head; it signified that he would +commit murder for the hundred thousandth part of that sum. + +"I am mortally wounded and in dreadful pain," growled the Prince, the +suppressed sobs interrupting his speech. "If I tell you where you can +find a hundred thousand dollars, will you drive my knife through my +heart?" + +"Yes," said the thief. + +"Then take the knife," he said. + +The thief did so, eying {sic} it rapaciously--for it was +diamond-studded and gold-mounted. + +"But," said the Prince--villain himself and anticipating all villainy +in others,--"if I tell you where the money is you will run away to +seek it, and leave me here to die a slow and agonizing death." + +"No," said the thief; "I promise you on my honor." + +A thief's honor! + +"I tell you what you must do," said the Prince, after thinking a +moment. "Kneel down and lean over me; put your arms around me; I +cannot hold you with my hands, for they are paralyzed; but put the +lapel of your coat between my teeth. I will then tell you where the +treasure is; but I will hold on to you by my teeth until you kill me. +You will have to slay me to escape from me. + +The thief did as he was directed; his arms were around the Prince; +the lapel of his coat was between the Prince's teeth; and then +through his shut teeth, tight clenched on the coat, the Prince +muttered: + +"It is in the satchel beneath me." + +Without a word the thief raised his right hand and drove the knife +sidewise clear through the Prince's heart. + +The last of the accumulations of generations of wrong and robbery and +extortion and cruelty had sufficed to purchase their heritor a +miserable death,--in the embrace of a thief! + + CHAPTER XXXV. + + THE LIBERATED PRISONER + +About two o'clock that day Maximilian returned home. He was covered +with dust and powder-smoke, but there was no blood upon him. I did +not see him return; but when I entered the drawing-room I started +back. There was a stranger present. I could not long doubt as to who +he was. He was locked in the arms of Max's mother. He was a pitiful +sight. A tall, gaunt man; his short hair and stubby beard white as +snow. He was prematurely aged--his back was stooped--his pallid +complexion reminded one of plants grown in cellars; he had a +dejected, timorous look, like one who had long been at the mercy of +brutal masters; his hands were seamed and calloused with hard work; +he was without a coat, and his nether garments had curious, +tiger-like stripes upon them. He was sobbing like a child in the arms +of his wife. He seemed very weak in body and mind. Maximilian gave +him a chair, and his mother sat down by him, weeping bitterly, and +holding the poor calloused hands in her own, and patting them gently, +while she murmured words of comfort and rejoicing. The poor man +looked bewildered, as if he could not quite collect his faculties; +and occasionally he would glance anxiously at the door, as if he +expected that, at any moment, his brutal masters would enter and take +him back to his tasks. + +"Gabriel," said Maximilian,--and his face was flushed and +working,--"this is--or was--my father." + +I took the poor hand in my own and kissed it, and spoke encouragingly +to him. And this, I thought, was once a wealthy, handsome, portly, +learned gentleman; a scholar and a philanthropist; and his only crime +was that he loved his fellow-men! And upon how many such men have the +prison doors of the world closed--never to open again? + +They took him away to the bath; they fed him; they put upon him the +clothes of a gentleman. He smiled in a childish way, and smoothed the +fine cloth with his hands; and then he seemed to realize, for the +first time, that he was, indeed, no longer a prisoner--that his +jailers had gone out of his life forever. + +"I must go now," said Maximilian, hurriedly; "I will be back this +evening. I have a duty to perform." + +He returned at nightfall. There was a terrible light in his eyes. + +"I have avenged my father," he said to me, in a hoarse whisper. "Come +this way." + +He took me into the library, for he would not have the women hear the +dreadful story. I shut the door. He said: + +"I had made all the necessary arrangements to prevent the escape of +the Count and his accomplices. I knew that he would fly, at the first +alarm, to his yacht, which lies out in the harbor. He had ruined my +father by bribery; so I brought his own instrument to bear upon him, +and bribed, with a large sum, his confidential friend, who was in +command of his vessel, to deliver him up to me. As I had anticipated, +the cunning wretch fled to the yacht; they took him on board. Then +they made him prisoner. He was shackled and chained to the mast. He +begged for his life and liberty. He had brought a fortune with him in +gold and jewels. He offered the whole of it to his _friend_, as a +bribe, for he surmised what was coming. The faithful officer replied, +as I had instructed him, that the Count could not offer that +treasure, for he himself had already appropriated it to his own +purposes. The miscreant had always had a lively sense of the power of +money for evil; he saw it now in a new light--for he was penniless. +After taking my father from the prison and bringing him home, I +arranged as to the other prisoners and then went to the yacht. I +introduced myself to the Count. I told him that I had deceived his +spies--that I had led a double life; that I had joined the +Brotherhood and had become one of its leading spirits, with but two +objects:--to punish him and his villainous associates and to rescue +my father. That, as they had destroyed my father for money, the same +instruments should now destroy him, through fear. That they were all +prisoners, and should die together a fearful death; but if they had a +hundred lives they could not atone for the suffering they had caused +one good and great-hearted man. They had compelled him, for years, to +work in the society of the basest of his species--at work too hard +for even a young and strong man; they had separated him from his +family; they had starved his mind and heart and body; they had beaten +and scourged him for the slightest offenses. He had suffered a +thousand deaths. It would be no equivalent to simply kill them. They +should die in prolonged agony. And as he--the Count--had always gone +upon the principle that it was right to work upon the weaknesses of +others to accomplish his purposes, I should imitate him. I should not +touch him myself. + +"I then ordered the captain and his men to put him in the boat and +carry him ashore. + +"He begged and pleaded and abased himself; he entreated and shrieked; +but he addressed hearts as hard as his own. + +"On the river-bank were a body of my men. In the midst of them they +had the other prisoners--the corrupt judge, eight of the +jurymen--four had died since the trial--and the four lying witnesses. +They were all shackled together. A notary public was present, and +they signed and acknowledged their confessions, that they had been +bribed to swear against my father and convict him; and they even +acknowledged, in their terror, the precise sums which they had +received for their dreadful acts. + +"'Spare me! spare me!' shrieked the Count, groveling on the ground; +'only part of that money came from me. I was but the instrument of +the government. I was commanded to do as I did.' + +"'The others have already gone to their account,' I replied, 'every +man of them. You will overtake them in a little while.' + +"I ordered the prisoners to chain him to a stout post which stood in +the middle of one of the wharves. They were unshackled and did so +with alacrity; my men standing around ready to shoot them down if +they attempted to fly. The Count writhed and shrieked for help, but +in a little while he was securely fastened to the post. There was a +ship loaded with lumber lying beside the next wharf. I ordered them +to bring the lumber; they quickly piled it up in great walls around +him, within about ten feet of him; and then more and more was heaped +around these walls. The Count began to realize the death that awaited +him, and his screams were appalling. But I said to him: + +"'O Count, be calm. This is not as bad as a sentence of twenty years +in the penitentiary for an honest and innocent man. And, remember, my +dear Count, how you have enjoyed yourself all these years, while my +poor father has been toiling in prison in a striped suit. Think of +the roast beef you have eaten and the wine you have consumed! And, +moreover, the death you are about to die, my dear Count, was once +fashionable and popular in the world; and many a good and holy man +went up to heaven from just such a death-bed as you shall have-a +death-bed of fire and ashes. And see, my good Count, how willingly +these honest men, whom you hired, with your damnable money, to +destroy my father--see how willingly they work to prepare your +funeral pile! What a supple and pliant thing, O Count, is human +baseness. It has but one defect--it may be turned upon ourselves! And +then, O my dear Count, it shocks us and hurts our feelings. But say +your prayers, Count, say your prayers. Call upon God, for He is the +only one likely to listen to you now.' + +"'Here,' I said to the judge, 'put a match to the pile.' + +"The miserable wretch, trembling and hoping to save his own life by +his superserviceable zeal, got down upon his knees, and lighted a +match, and puffed and blew to make the fire catch. At last it started +briskly, and in a few minutes the Count was screaming in the center +of a roaring furnace. + +"I gave a preconcerted signal to my men. In the twinkling of an eye +each of the prisoners was manacled hand and foot, shrieking and +roaring for mercy. + +"'It was a splendid joke, gentlemen,' I said to them, 'that you +played on my father. To send that good man to prison, and to go home +with the price of his honor and his liberty jingling in your pockets. +It was a capital joke; and you will now feel the finest point of the +witticism. In with them!' + +"And high above the walls of fire they were thrown, and the briber +and the bribed--the villain and his instruments--all perished howling +together." + +I listened, awestruck, to the terrible story. There was a light in +Max's eyes which showed that long brooding over the wrongs of his +father and the sight of his emaciated and wretched form had "worked +like madness in his brain," until he was, as I had feared, a +monomaniac, with but one idea--revenge. + +"Max, dear Max." I said, "for Heaven's sake never let Christina or +your mother hear that dreadful story. It was a madman's act! Never +think of it again. You have wiped out the crime in blood; there let +it end. And leave these awful scenes, or you will become a maniac." + +He did not answer me for a time, but looked down thoughtfully; and +then he glanced at me, furtively, and said: + +"Is not revenge right? Is it not simply justice?" + +"Perhaps so, in some sense," I replied; "and if you had killed those +base wretches with your own hand the world could not have much blamed +you. Remember, however, 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and I +will repay.' But to send them out of life by such dreadful tortures! +It is too terrible." + +"But death," he said, "is nothing; it is the mere end of +life--perhaps of consciousness; and that is no atonement for years of +suffering, every day of which was full of more agony than death +itself can wring from the human heart." + +"I will not argue with you, Max," I replied, "for you are wrong, and +I love you; but do you not see, when a heart, the kindest in the +world, could conceive and execute such a terrible revenge, that the +condition of the mind is abnormal? But let us change the gloomy +subject. The dreadful time has put 'tricks of desperation' in your +brain. And it is not the least of the crimes of the Oligarchy that it +could thus pervert honest and gentle natures, and turn them into +savages. And that is what it has done with millions. It has fought +against goodness, and developed wickedness." + + CHAPTER XXXVI. + + CAESAR ERECTS HIS MONUMENT + +"What other news have you?" I asked. + +"The strangest you ever heard," replied Max. + +"What is it?" + +"Caesar," said Max, "has fallen upon a scheme of the most frenzied and +extraordinary kind." + +"Are the members of the Executive Committee all going crazy +together?" I asked. + +"Surely," replied Max, "the terrible events we are passing through +would be our excuse if we did. But you shall hear. After I had +avenged my father I proceeded to find Caesar. I heard from members of +the Brotherhood, whom I met on the streets, that he was at Prince +Cabano's palace. I hurried there, as it was necessary I should confer +with him on some matters. A crowd had reassembled around the +building, which had become in some sort a headquarters; and, in fact, +Caesar has confiscated it to his own uses, and intends to keep it as +his home hereafter. I found him in the council-chamber. You never saw +such a sight. He was so black with dust and blood that he looked like +a negro. He was hatless, and his mat of hair rose like a wild beast's +mane. He had been drinking; his eyes were wild and rolling; the great +sword he held in his right hand was caked with blood to the hilt. He +was in a fearful state of excitement, and roared when he spoke. A +king-devil, come fresh out of hell, could scarcely have looked more +terrible. Behind him in one corner, crouching and crying together, +were a bevy of young and handsome women. The Sultan had been +collecting his harem. When he caught sight of me he rushed forward +and seized my hand, and shouted out: + +"'Hurrah, old fellow! This is better than raising potatoes on the +Saskatchewan, or hiding among the niggers in Louis--hic--iana. Down +with the Oligarchy. To hell with them. Hurrah! This is my palace. I +am a king! Look-a-there,' he said, with a roll and a leer, pointing +over his shoulder at the shrinking and terrified women; 'ain't they +beauties,--hic--all mine--every one of 'em.' + +"Here one of his principal officers came up, and the following +dialogue occurred: + +"'I came, General, to ask you what we are to do with the dead.' + +"'Kill 'em,' roared Caesar, 'kill 'em, d--n 'em.' + +"'But, General, they are dead already,' replied the officer who was a +steady fellow and perfectly sober. + +"Well, what's the matter with 'em, then?' replied Caesar. 'Come, come, +Bill, if they're dead, that's the end of them. Take a drink,' and he +turned, unsteadily, toward the council-table, on which stood several +bottles and demijohns. + +"'But some of us have talked it over,' said the officer. 'A number of +the streets are impassable already with the dead. There must be a +quarter of a million of soldiers and citizens lying about, and the +number is being added to every minute. The weather is warm, and they +will soon breed a pestilence that will revenge them on their slayers. +Those killed by the poison are beginning to smell already. We +couldn't take any action without your authority, and so I came to ask +you for your orders.' + +"'Burn 'em up,' said Caesar. + +"'We can't,' said the man; 'we would have to burn up the city to +destroy them in that way; there are too many of them; and it would be +an immense task to bury them.' + +"'Heap 'em all up in one big pile,' said Caesar. + +"'That wouldn't do--the smell they would make in decaying would be +unbearable, to say nothing of the sickness they would create.' + +"Caesar was standing unsteadily, looking at us with lackluster eyes. +Suddenly an idea seemed to dawn in his monstrous head--an idea as +monstrous and uncouth as the head itself. His eyes lighted up. + +"'I have it!' he shouted. 'By G-d, I have it! Make a pyramid of them, +and pour cement over them, and let it stand forever as a monument of +this day's glorious work! Hoorrah!" + +"'That's a pretty good idea,' said the officer, and the others +present, courtier-like--for King Caesar already has his +courtiers--applauded the idea vociferously. + +"'We'll have a monument that shall last while the earth stands,' +cried Caesar. 'And, hold on, Bill,' he continued, 'you shall build +it;--and--I say--we won't make a pyramid of it--it shall be a +column--_Caesar's Column_--by G-d. It shall reach to the skies! And if +there aren't enough dead to build it of, why, we'll kill some more; +we've got plenty to kill. Old Thingumbob, who used to live here--in +my palace--said he would kill ten million of us to-day. But he +didn't. Not much! Max's friend--that d---d long-legged fellow, from +Africa--he dished him, for he told old Quincy all about it. And now +I've got old Thingumbob's best girl in the corner yonder. Oh, it's +jolly. But build the column, Bill--build it high and strong. I +remember--hic--how they used to build houses on the Saskatchewan, +when I was grubbing for potatoes there. They had a board frame the +length of a wall, and three or four feet high. They would throw in +stones, bowlders, pebbles, dirt, anything, and, when it was full, +they would pour cement over it all; and when it hardened--hic--which +it did in a few minutes, they lifted up the frame and made another +course. I say, Bill, that's the way you must build Caesar's column. +And get Charley Carpenter to help you; he's an engineer. And, hold +on, Bill, put a lot of dynamite--Jim has just told me they had found +tons of it--put a lot of dynamite--hic--in the middle of it, and if +they try to tear down my monument, it will blow them to the d---l. +And, I say, Max, that long-legged, preaching son-of-thunder--that +friend of yours--he must write an inscription for it. Do you hear? +He's the man to do it. Something fine. By G-d, we will build a +monument that will beat the pyramids of all the other Caesars. +Caesar's Column! Hoorrah!' + +"And the great brute fairly jumped and danced with delight over his +extraordinary conception. + +"Bill hurried out. They have sixty thousand prisoners--men who had +not been among the condemned--but merchants, professional men, etc. +They were debating, when I came up, whether they would kill them, but +I suggested that they be set to work on the construction of Caesar's +Column, and if they worked well, that their lives be spared. This was +agreed to. They are now building the monument on Union Square. +Thousands of wagons are at work bringing in the dead. Other wagons +are hauling cement, sand, etc. Bill and his friend Carpenter are at +work. They have constructed great wooden boxes, about forty feet from +front to rear, about four feet high and fifty feet long. The dead are +to be laid in rows--the feet of the one row of men near the center of +the monument, and the feet of the next row touching the heads of the +first, and so on. In the middle of the column there is to be a +cavity, about five feet square, running from the top to the bottom of +the monument, in which the dynamite is to be placed; while wires will +lead out from it among the bodies, so arranged, with fulminating +charges, that any attempt to destroy the monument or remove the +bodies will inevitably result in a dreadful explosion. But we will go +up after dinner and look at the work," he said, "for they are to +labor night and day until it is finished. The members of the +Brotherhood have entered with great spirit into the idea of such a +monument, as a symbol and memorial of their own glory and triumph." + +"I remember," said I, "reading somewhere that, some centuries ago, an +army of white men invaded one of the Barbary states. They were +defeated by the natives, and were every one slain. The Moors took +their bodies and piled them up in a great monument, and there the +white bones and grinning skulls remain to this day, a pyramid of +skeletons; a ghastly warning to others who might think to make a like +attempt at invasion of the country. Caesar must have read of that +terrible trophy of victory." + +"Perhaps so," said Maximilian; "but the idea may have been original +with him; for there is no telling what such a monstrous brain as his, +fired by whisky and battle, might or might not produce." + +At dinner poor Mr. Phillips was looking somewhat better. He had a +great many questions to ask his son about the insurrection. + +"Arthur," he said, "if the bad man and his accomplices, who so +cruelly used me, should be made prisoners, I beg you, as a favor to +me, not to punish them. Leave them to God and their own consciences." + +"I shall," said Max, quietly. + +Mrs. Phillips heartily approved of this sentiment. I looked down at +my plate, but before my eyes there came a dreadful picture of that +fortress of flame, with the chained man in the midst, and high above +it I could see, swung through the air by powerful arms, manacled +figures, who descended, shrieking, into the vortex of fire. + +After many injunctions to his guards, to look well after the house, +Max and I, well armed and wearing our red crosses, and accompanied by +two of our most trusted men, sallied forth through the back gate. + +What a scene! Chaos; had come. There were no cars or carriages. +Thieves and murderers were around us; scenes of rapine and death on +every hand. We moved together in a body; our magazine rifles ready +for instant use. + +Our red crosses protected us from the members of the Brotherhood; and +the thieves gave our guns a wide berth. At a street crossing we +encountered a wagon-load of dead bodies; they were being hauled to +the monument. The driver, one of the Brotherhood, recognized Max, and +invited us to seats beside him. Familiarity makes death as natural as +life. We accepted his offer--one of our men sitting on the tailboard +of the wagon; and in this gory chariot we rode slowly through +Broadway, deserted now by everything but crime. The shops had all +been broken open; dead bodies lay here and there; and occasionally a +burned block lifted its black arms appealingly to heaven. As we drew +near to Union Square a wonderful sight--such as the world had never +before beheld--expanded before us. Great blazing bonfires lighted the +work; hundreds of thousands had gathered to behold the ghastly +structure, the report of which had already spread everywhere. These +men nearly all belonged to the Brotherhood, or were members of the +lower orders, who felt that they had nothing to fear from +insurrection. There were many women among them, and not a few +thieves, who, drawn by curiosity, for awhile forgot their +opportunities and their instincts. Within the great outer circle of +dark and passionate and exultant faces, there was another assemblage +of a very different appearance. These were the prisoners at work upon +the monument. Many of them were gray-haired; some were bloody from +wounds upon their heads or bodies; they were all pale and terrified; +not a few were in rags, or half naked, their clothes having been +literally torn from their backs. They were dejected, and yet moved +with alacrity, in fear of the whips or clubs in the hands of their +masters, who passed among them, filling the air with oaths. Max +pointed out to me prominent merchants, lawyers and clergymen. They +were all dazed-looking, like men after a terrific earthquake, who had +lost confidence in the stability of everything. It was Anarchy +personified:--the men of intellect were doing the work; the men of +muscle were giving the orders. The under-rail had come on top. It +reminded me of Swift's story of the country where the men were +servants to the horses. + +The wagons rolled up, half a dozen at a time, and dumped their +dreadful burdens on the stones, with no more respect or ceremony than +if they had been cord-wood. Then the poor trembling prisoners seized +them by the head and feet, and carried them to other prisoners, who +stood inside the boxes, and who arranged them like double lines from +a central point:--it was the many-rayed sun of death that had set +upon civilization. Then, when the box was full and closely packed, +they poured the liquid cement, which had been mixed close at hand, +over them. It hardened at once, and the dead were entombed forever. +Then the box was lifted and the work of sepulture went on. + +While I stood watching the scene I heard a thrilling, ear-piercing +shriek--a dreadful cry! A young man, who was helping to carry a +corpse, let go his hold and fell down on the pavement. I went over to +him. He was writhing and moaning. He had observed something familiar +about the form he was bearing--it was the body of a woman. He had +peered through the disheveled hair at the poor, agonized, +blood-stained features, and recognized--_his wife!_ + +One of the guards raised his whip to strike him, and shouted: + +"Here! Get up! None of this humbugging." + +"I caught the ruffian's arm. The poor wretch was embracing the dead +body, and moaning pitiful expressions of love and tenderness into the +ears that would never hear him more. The ruffian threatened me. But +the mob was moved to mercy, and took my part; and even permitted the +poor creature to carry off his dead in his arms, out into the outer +darkness. God only knows where he could have borne it. + +I grew sick at heart. The whole scene was awful. + +I advanced toward the column. It was already several feet high, and +ladders were being made, up which the dead might be borne. Coffee and +bread and meat were served out to the workers. + +I noticed a sneaking, ruffianly fellow, going about among the +prisoners, peering into every face. Not far from me a ragged, +hatless, gray-haired man, of over seventy, was helping another, +equally old, to bear a heavy body to the ladders. The ruffian looked +first into the face of the man at the feet of the corpse; then he +came to the man at the head. He uttered an exclamation of delight. + +"Ha! you old scoundrel," he cried, drawing his pistol. "So I've found +you. You're the man that turned my sick wife out of your house, +because she couldn't pay the rent. I've got you now." + +The old man fell on his knees, and held up his hands, and begged for +mercy. I heard an explosion--a red spot suddenly appeared on his +forehead, and he fell forward, over the corpse he had been +carrying--dead. + +"Come! move lively!" cried one of the guards, snapping his whip; +"carry them both to the workmen." + +I grew dizzy. Maximilian came up. + +"How pale you are," he said. + +"Take me away!" I exclaimed, "or I shall faint." + +We rode back in another chariot of revolution--a death-cart. + + CHAPTER XXXVII. + + THE SECOND DAY + +It was a dreadful night. Crowds of farmers from the surrounding +country kept pouring into the city. They were no longer the honest +yeomanry who had filled, in the old time, the armies of Washington, +and Jackson, and Grant, and Sherman, with brave patriotic soldiers; +but their brutalized descendants--fierce serfs--cruel and +bloodthirsty peasants. Every man who owned anything was their enemy +and their victim. They invaded the houses of friend and foe alike, +and murdered men, women and children. Plunder! plunder! They had no +other thought. + +One of our men came to me at midnight, and said: + +"Do you hear those shrieks?" + +"Yes," I replied. + +"They are murdering the family next door." + +These were pleasant, kindly people, who had never harmed any one. But +this maelstrom swallows good and bad alike. + +Another came running to me, and cried: + +"They are attacking the house!" + +"Where?" I asked. + +"At the front door." + +"Throw over a hand-grenade," I said. + +There was a loud crash, and a scurrying of flying feet. The cowardly +miscreants had fled. They were murderers, not warriors. + +All night long the awful Bedlam raged. The dark streets swarmed. +Three times we had to have recourse to the hand-grenades. Fires +sprang up all over the city, licking the darkness with their hideous +tongues of flame, and revealing by their crimson glare the awful +sights of that unparalleled time. The dread came upon me: What if +some wretch should fire a house in our block? How should we choose +between the conflagration and those terrible streets? Would it not be +better to be ashes and cinders, than to fall into the hands of that +demoniacal mob? + +No one slept. Max sat apart and thought. Was he considering--too +late!--whether it was right to have helped produce this terrible +catastrophe? Early in the morning, accompanied by three of his men, +he went out. + +We ate breakfast in silence. It seemed to me we had no right to eat +in the midst of so much death and destruction. + +There was an alarm, and the firing of guns above us. Some miscreants +had tried to reach the roof of our house from the adjoining +buildings. We rushed up. A lively fusillade followed. Our magazine +rifles and hand-grenades were too much for them; some fell dead and +the rest beat a hasty retreat. They were peasants, searching for +plunder. + +After awhile there came a loud rapping at the front door. I leaned +over the parapet and asked who was there. A Tough-looking man replied: + +"I have a letter for you." + +Fearing some trick, to break into the house, I lowered a long cord +and told him to tie the letter to it. He did so. I pulled up a large +sheet of dirty wrapping-paper. There were some lines scrawled upon +it, in lead-pencil, in the large hand of a schoolboy--almost +undecipherable. With some study I made out these words: + + MISTER GABRIEL, MAX'S FRIEND: Caesar wants that thing to put + on the front of the column. + + BILL. + +It took me a few minutes to understand it. At last I realized that +Caesar's officer--Bill--had sent for the inscription for the monument, +about which Caesar had spoken to Max. + +I called down to the messenger to wait, and that I would give it to +him. + +I sat down, and, after some thought, wrote, on the back of the +wrapping-paper, these words: + + THIS GREAT MONUMENT + IS + ERECTED BY + CAESAR LOMELLINI, + COMMANDING GENERAL OF + THE BROTHERHOOD OF DESTRUCTION, + IN COMMEMORATION OF THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF + MODERN CIVILIZATION. + + It is composed of the bodies of a quarter of a million of + human beings, who were once the rulers, or the instruments + of the rulers, of this mighty, but, alas! this ruined city. + + They were dominated by leaders who were altogether evil. + + They corrupted the courts, the juries, the newspapers, the + legislatures, the congresses, the ballot-boxes and the + hearts and souls of the people. + + They formed gigantic combinations to plunder the poor; to + make the miserable more miserable; to take from those who + had least and give it to those who had most. + + They used the machinery of free government to effect + oppression; they made liberty a mockery, and its traditions + a jest; they drove justice from the land and installed + cruelty, ignorance, despair and vice in its place. + + Their hearts were harder than the nether mill-stone; they + degraded humanity and outraged God. + + At length indignation stirred in the vasty courts of + heaven; and overburdened human nature rose in universal + revolt on earth. + + By the very instruments which their own wickedness had + created they perished; and here they lie, sepulchred in + stone, and heaped around explosives as destructive as their + own lives. We execrate their vices, while we weep for their + misfortunes. They were the culmination of centuries of + misgovernment; and they paid an awful penalty for the sins + of generations of short-sighted + + and selfish ancestors, as well as for their own cruelty and + wickedness. + + Let this monument, O man! stand forever. + + Should civilization ever revive on earth, let the human + race come hither and look upon this towering shaft, and + learn to restrain selfishness and live righteously. From + this ghastly pile let it derive the great lesson, that no + earthly government can endure which is not built on mercy, + justice, truth and love. + +I tied the paper to the cord and lowered it down to the waiting +messenger. + +At noon Max returned. His clothes were torn, his face pale, his eyes +wild-looking, and around his head he wore a white bandage, stained +with his own blood. Christina screamed and his mother fainted. + +"What is the matter, Max?" I asked. + +"It is all in vain," he replied despairingly; "I thought I would be +able to create order out of chaos and reconstruct society. But that +dream is past." + +"What has happened?" I asked. + +"I went this morning to Prince Cabano's palace to get Caesar to help +me. He had held high carnival all night and was beastly drunk, in +bed. Then I went out to counsel with the mob. But another calamity +had happened. Last night the vice-president--the Jew--fled, in one of +the Demons, carrying away one hundred million dollars that had been +left in his charge." + +"Where did he go?" I asked. + +"No one knows. He took several of his trusted followers, of his own +nation, with him. It is rumored that he has gone to Judea; that he +proposes to make himself king in Jerusalem, and, with his vast +wealth, re-establish the glories of Solomon, and revive the ancient +splendors of the Jewish race, in the midst of the ruins of the world." + +"What effect has his flight had on the mob?" I asked. + +"A terrible effect. They are wild with suspicions and full of rumors. +They gathered, in a vast concourse, around the Cabano palace, to +prevent Caesar leaving them, like the cripple. They believe that he, +too, has another hundred millions hidden in the cellars of the +palace. They clamored for him to appear. The tumult of the mob was +frightful. + +"I rose to address them from the steps of the palace. I told them +they need not fear that Caesar would leave them--he was dead drunk, +asleep in bed. If they feared treachery, let them appoint a committee +to search the palace for treasure. But--I went on--there was a great +danger before them which they had not thought of. They must establish +some kind of government that they would all obey. If they did not +they would soon be starving. I explained to them that this vast city, +of ten million inhabitants, had been fed by thousands of carloads of +food which were brought in, every day, from the outside world. Now +the cars had ceased to run, The mob had eaten up all the food in the +shops, and tomorrow they would begin to feel the pangs of starvation. +And I tried to make them understand what it meant for ten million +people to be starving together. + +"They became very quiet. One man cried out: + +"'What would you have us do?' + +"'You must establish a provisional government. You must select one +man to whose orders you will all submit. Then you must appoint a +board of counselors to assist him. Then the men among you who are +engineers and conductors of trains of cars and of air-lines must +reassume their old places; and they must go forth into the country +and exchange the spoils you have gathered for cattle and flour and +vegetables, and all other things necessary for life.' + +"'He wants to make himself a king,' growled one ruffian. + +"'Yes,' said another, 'and set us all at work again.' + +"'He's a d----d aristocrat, anyhow,' cried a third. + +"But there were some who had sense enough to see that I was right, +and the mob at once divided into two clamorous factions. Words led to +blows. A number were killed. Three wretches rushed at me. I shot one +dead, and wounded another; the third gave me a flesh wound on the +head with a sword; my hat broke the force of the blow, or it would +have made an end of me. As he raised his weapon for a second stroke, +I shot him dead. My friends forced me through the door of the palace, +in front of which I had been standing; we double-locked it to keep +out the surging wild beasts; I fled through the back door, and +reached here. + +"All hope is gone," he added sadly; "I can do nothing now but provide +for our own safety." + + CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + THE FLIGHT + +"Yes," I replied, "we cannot remain here another night. Think what +would be the effect if a fire broke out anywhere in this block!" + +He looked at me in a startled way. + +"True," he said; "we must fly. I would cheerfully give my life if its +sacrifice would arrest these horrors; but it would not." + +Christina came and stood beside him. He wrote a letter to General +Quincy. He made three copies of it. Selecting three of his best men, +he gave each a copy, and told them to make their way together, well +armed, to the armory of the airships. It was a perilous journey, but +if either of them reached his destination, he was to deliver his copy +of the letter to the general. In it Max asked General Quincy to send +him one of the "Demons," as promised, that night at eight o'clock; +and he also requested, as a signal that the messengers had reached +him and that the air-ship would come, that he would send up a single +Demon, high in the air, at once on receiving the letter. + +We went to the roof with our field-glasses. In two hours, we thought, +the messengers, walking rapidly, would reach the armory. Two hours +passed. Nothing was visible in the heavens in the direction of the +armory, although we swept the whole region with our glasses. What if +our messengers had all been slain? What if General Quincy refused to +do as he had agreed, for no promises were likely to bind a man in +such a dreadful period of anarchy? Two hours and a quarter--two hours +and a half passed, and no signal. We began to despair. Could we +survive another night of horrors? At last + +Estella, who had been quietly looking to the west with her glass, +cried out: + +"See! there is something rising in the air." + +We looked. Yes, thank heaven! it was the signal. The Demon rose like +a great hawk to a considerable height, floated around for awhile in +space, and then slowly descended. + +It would come! + +All hands were set at work. A line was formed from the roof to the +rooms below; and everything of value that we desired to carry with us +was passed from hand to hand along the line and placed in heaps, +ready for removal. Even the women joined eagerly in the work. We did +not look for our messengers; they were to return to us in the +air-ship. + +The afternoon was comparatively quiet. The mobs on the street seemed +to be looking for food rather than treasure. They were, however, +generally resting, worn out; they were sleeping--preparing for the +evening. With nightfall the saturnalia of death would begin again +with redoubled force. + +We ate our dinner at six; and then Mr. Phillips suggested that we +should all join in family prayers. We might never have another +opportunity to do so, he said. He prayed long and earnestly to God to +save the world and protect his dear ones; and we all joined fervently +in his supplications to the throne of grace. + +At half past seven, equipped for the journey, we were all upon the +roof, looking out in the direction of the west for the coming of the +Demon. A little before eight we saw it rise through the twilight +above the armory. Quincy, then, was true to his pledge. It came +rapidly toward us, high in the air; it circled around, and at last +began to descend just over our heads. It paused about ten feet above +the roof, and two ladders were let down. The ladies and Mr. Phillips +were first helped up to the deck of the vessel; and the men began to +carry up the boxes, bales, trunks, money, books and instruments we +had collected together. + +Just at this moment a greater burst of tumult reached my ears. I went +to the parapet and looked down. Up the street, to the north, came a +vast concourse of people. It stretched far back for many blocks. My +first notion was that they were all drunk, their outcries were so +vociferous. They shouted, yelled and screamed. Some of them bore +torches, and at their head marched a ragged fellow with a long pole, +which he carried upright before him. At the top of it was a black +mass, which I could not make out in the twilight. At this instant +they caught sight of the Demon, and the uproar redoubled; they danced +like madmen, and I could hear Max's name shouted from a hundred lips. + +"What does it mean?" I asked him. + +"It means that they are after me. Hurry up, men," he continued, +"hurry up." + +We all sprang to work; the women stood at the top and received the +smaller articles as a line of men passed them up. + +Then came a thunderous voice from below: + +"Open the door, or we will break it down." + +Max replied by casting a bomb over the parapet. It exploded, killing +half a dozen men. But this mob was not to be intimidated like the +thieves. The bullets began to fly; fortunately the gathering darkness +protected us. The crowd grew blacker, and more dense and turbulent. +Then a number of stalwart fellows appeared, bearing a long beam, +which they proposed to use as a battering-ram, to burst open the +door, which had resisted all previous attacks. + +"Bring down one of the death bombs," said Max to the men in the Demon. + +Two stout fellows, belonging to the air-ship, carried down, +carefully, between them, a great black sphere of iron. + +"Over with it!" cried Max. + +There was a crash, an explosion; the insurgents caught a whiff of the +poisoned air; the men dropped the beam; there was a rush backward +amid cries of terror, and the street was clear for a considerable +space around the house. + +"Hurry, men, hurry!" cried Max. + +I peeped over the parapet. A number of the insurgents were rushing +into a house three doors distant. In a few moments they poured out +again, looking behind them as they ran. + +"I fear they have fired that house," I said to Max. + +"I expected as much," he replied, quietly. + +"Hurry, men, hurry," he again cried. + +The piles on the roof were diminishing rapidly. I turned to pass up +bundles of my precious books. Another sound broke on my ears; a +roaring noise that rapidly increased--it was the fire. The mob +cheered. Then bursts of smoke poured out of the windows of the doomed +house; then great arms and hands of flame reached out and snapped and +clutched at the darkness, as if they would drag down ancient Night +itself, with all its crown of stars, upon the palpitating breast of +the passionate conflagration. Then the roof smoked; then it seemed to +burst open, and vast volumes of flame and smoke and showers of sparks +spouted forth. The blaze brought the mob into fearful relief, but +fortunately it was between us and the great bulk of our enemies. + +"My God," said Max, "it is Caesar's head!" + +I looked, and there, sure enough, upon the top of the long pole I had +before noticed, was the head of the redoubtable giant. It stood out +as if it had been painted in gory characters by the light of the +burning house upon that background of darkness. I could see the +glazed and dusty eyes; the protruding tongue; the great lower jaw +hanging down in hideous fashion; and from the thick, bull-like neck +were suspended huge gouts of dried and blackened blood. + +"It is the first instinct of such mobs," said Max, quietly, to +suspect their leaders and slay them. They killed Caesar, and then came +after me. When they saw the air-ship they were confirmed in their +suspicions; they believe that I am carrying away their treasure." + +I could not turn my eyes from that ferocious head. It fascinated me. +It waved and reeled with the surging of the mob. It seemed to me to +be executing a hideous dance in mid-air, in the midst of that +terrible scene; it floated over it like a presiding demon. The +protruding tongue leered at the blazing house and the unspeakable +horrors of that assemblage, lit up, as it was, in all its awful +features, by the towering conflagration. + +The crowd yelled and the fire roared. The next house was blazing now, +and the roof of the one nearest us was smoking. The mob, perceiving +that we did not move, concluded that the machinery of the air-ship +was broken, and screamed with joy as the flames approached us. + +Up, up, went bundle and package and box; faster, and faster, and +faster. We were not to be intimidated by fire or mobs! The roof of +the house next us was now blazing, and we could hear the fire, like a +furnace, roaring within it. + +The work is finished; every parcel is safe. + +"Up, up, men!" + +Max and I were the last to leave the roof; it had become insufferably +hot. We stood on the deck; the engineer touched the lever of the +electric engine; the great bird swayed for an instant, and then began +to rise, like a veritable Phoenix from its nest of flame, surrounded +by cataracts of sparks. As the mob saw us ascend, veiled dimly, at +first, by that screen of conflagration, they groaned with dismay and +disappointment. The bullets flew and hissed around us, but our +metallic sides laughed them to scorn. Up, up, straight and swift as +an arrow we rose. The mighty city lay unrolled below us, like a great +map, starred here and there with burning houses. Above the trees of +Union Square, my glass showed me a white line, lighted by the +bon-fires, where Caesar's Column was towering to the skies, bearing +the epitaph of the world. + +I said to Max: + +"What will those millions do to-morrow?" + +"Starve," he said. + +"What will they do next week?" + +"Devour each other," he replied. + +There was silence for a time. + +"Will not civil government rise again out of this ruin?" I asked. + +"Not for a long time," he replied. "Ignorance, passion, suspicion, +brutality, criminality, will be the lions in the path. Men who have +such dreadful memories of labor can scarcely be forced back into it. +And who is to employ them? After about three-fourths of the human +family have died of hunger, or been killed, the remainder, +constituting, by the law of the survival of the fittest, the most +powerful and brutal, will find it necessary, for self-defense against +each other, to form squads or gangs. The greatest fighter in each of +these will become chief, as among all savages. Then the history of +the world will be slowly repeated. A bold ruffian will conquer a +number of the adjacent squads, and become a king. Gradually, and in +its rudest forms, labor will begin again; at first exercised +principally by slaves. Men will exchange liberty for protection. +After a century or two a kind of commerce may arise. Then will follow +other centuries of wars, between provinces or nations. A new +aristocracy will spring up. Culture will lift its head. A great +power, like Rome in the old world, may arise. Some vast superstition +may take possession of the world; and Alfred, Victoria and Washington +may be worshiped, as Saturn, Juno and Hercules were in the past; with +perhaps dreadful and bloody rites like those of the Carthaginians and +ancient Mexicans. And so, step by step, mankind will re-enact the +great human drama, which begins always with a tragedy, runs through a +comedy, and terminates in a catastrophe." + +The city was disappearing--we were over the ocean--the cool salt +breeze was refreshing. We both looked back. + +"Think," I said, "what is going on yonder." + +Max shuddered. There was a sullen light in his eyes. He looked at his +father, who was on his knees praying. + +"I would destroy the world," he said, "to save him from a living +death." + +He was justifying himself unto himself. + +"Gabriel," he said, after a pause, "if this outbreak had not occurred +now, yet would it certainly have come to pass. It was but a question +of time. The breaking-strain on humanity was too great. The world +could not have gone on; neither could it have turned back. The crash +was inevitable. It may be God's way of wiping off the blackboard. It +may be that the ancient legends of the destruction of our race by +flood and fire are but dim remembrances of events like that which is +now happening." + +"It may be so, Max," I replied; and we were silent. + +Even the sea bore testimony to the ruin of man. The lighthouses no +longer held up their fingers of flame to warn the mariner from the +treacherous rocks. No air-ship, brilliant with many lights shining +like innumerable eyes, and heavy with passengers, streamed past us +with fierce swiftness, splitting the astonished and complaining air. +Here and there a sailing vessel, or a steamer, toiled laboriously +along, little dreaming that, at their journey's end, starving +creatures would swarm up their sides to kill and devour. + +How still and peaceful was the night--the great, solemn, patient +night! How sweet and pure the air! How delightful the silence to ears +that had rung so lately with the clamors of that infuriated mob! How +pleasant the darkness to eyeballs seared so long by fire and flame +and sights of murder! Estella and Christina came and sat down near +us. Their faces showed the torture they had endured,--not so much +from fear as from the shock and agony with which goodness +contemplates terrific and triumphant evil. + +I looked into the grand depths of the stars above us; at that endless +procession of shining worlds; at that illimitable expanse of silence. +And I thought of those vast gaps and lapses of manless time, when all +these starry hosts unrolled and marshaled themselves before the +attentive eyes of God, and it had not yet entered into his heart to +create that swarming, writhing, crawling, contentious mass we call +humanity. And I said to myself, "Why should a God condescend to such +a work as man?" + +And yet, again, I felt that one grateful heart, that darted out the +living line of its love and adoration from this dark and perturbed +earth, up to the shining throne of the Great Intelligence, must be of +more moment and esteem in the universe than millions of tons of +mountains--yea, than a wilderness of stars. For matter is but the +substance with which God works; while thought, love, conscience and +consciousness are parts of God himself. We think; therefore we are +divine: we pray; therefore we are immortal. + +Part of God! The awful, the inexpressible, the incomprehensible God. +His terrible hand swirls, with unresting power, yonder innumerable +congregation of suns in their mighty orbits, and yet stoops, with +tender touch, to build up the petals of the anemone, and paint with +rainbow hues the mealy wings of the butterfly. + +I could have wept over man; but I remembered that God lives beyond +the stars. + + CHAPTER XXXIX. + + EUROPE + +The next day we were flying over the ocean. The fluctuous and +changeable waves were beneath us, with their multitudinous hues and +colors, as light and foam and billows mingled. Far as the eye could +reach, they seemed to be climbing over each other forever, like the +endless competitions of men in the arena of life. Above us was the +panorama of the clouds--so often the harbingers of terror; for even +in their gentlest forms they foretell the tempest, which is ever +gathering the mists around it like a garment, and, however +slow-paced, is still advancing. + +A whale spouted. Happy nature! How cunningly were the wet, sliding +waves accommodated to that smooth skin and those nerves which rioted +in the play of the tumbling waters. A school of dolphins leaped and +gamboled, showing their curved backs to the sun in sudden glimpses; a +vast family; merry, social, jocund, abandoned to happiness. The gulls +flew about us as if our ship was indeed a larger bird; and I thought +of the poet's lines wherein he describes-- + + "The gray gull, balanced on its bow-like wings, + Between two black waves, seeking where to dive." + +And here were more kindly adjustments. How the birds took advantage +of the wind and made it lift them or sink them, or propel them +forward; tacking, with infinite skill, right in the eye of the gale, +like a sailing-vessel. It was not toil--it was delight, rapture--the +very glory and ecstasy of living. Everywhere the benevolence of God +was manifest: light, sound, air, sea, clouds, beast, fish and bird; +we were in the midst of all; we were a part of all; we rejoiced in +all. + +And then my thoughts reverted to the great city; to that congregation +of houses; to those streets swarming with murderers; to that hungry, +moaning multitude. + +Why did they not listen to me? Why did rich and poor alike mock me? +If they had not done so, this dreadful cup might have been averted +from their lips. But it would seem as if faith and civilization were +incompatible. Christ was only possible in a barefooted world; and the +few who wore shoes murdered him. What dark perversity was it in the +blood of the race that made it wrap itself in misery, like a garment, +while all nature was happy? + +Max told me that we had had a narrow escape. Of the three messengers +we had sent forth to General Quincy, but one reached him; the others +had been slain on the streets. And when the solitary man fought his +way through to the armory he found the Mamelukes of the Air full of +preparations for a flight that night to the mountain regions of South +America. Had we delayed our departure for another day, or had all +three of our messengers been killed by the marauders, we must all +have perished in the midst of the flames of the burning building. We +joined Mr. Phillips, therefore, with unwonted heartiness in the +morning prayers. + +The next day we came in sight of the shores of Europe. As we drew +near, we passed over multitudes of open boats, river steamers and +ships of all kinds, crowded with people. Many of these vessels were +unfitted for a sea voyage, but the horrors they fled from were +greater than those the great deep could conjure up. Their occupants +shouted to us, through speaking-trumpets, to turn back; that all +Europe was in ruins. And we, in reply, warned them of the condition +of things in America, and advised them to seek out uncivilized lands, +where no men dwelt but barbarians. + +As we neared the shore we could see that the beaches, wharves and +tongues of sand were everywhere black with people, who struggled like +madmen to secure the few boats or ships that remained. With such +weapons as they had hurriedly collected they fought back the +better-armed masses of wild and desperate men who hung upon their +skirts, plying the dreadful trade of murder. Some of the agonized +multitude shrieked to us for help. Our hearts bled for them, but we +could do nothing. Their despairing hands were held up to us in +supplication as the air-ship darted over them. + +But why dilate upon the dreadful picture that unrolled beneath us? +Hamlets, villages, towns, cities, blackened and smoking masses of +ruin. The conflicts were yet raging on every country road and city +street; we could hear the shrieks of the flying, the rattle of rifles +and pistols in the hands of the pursuers. Desolation was everywhere. +Some even rushed out and fired their guns viciously at us, as if +furious to see anything they could not destroy. Never before did I +think mankind was so base. I realized how much of the evil in human +nature had been for ages suppressed and kept in subjection by the +iron force of law and its terrors. Was man the joint product of an +angel and a devil? Certainly in this paroxysm of fate he seemed to be +demoniacal. + +We turned southward over the trampled gardens and vineyards of +France. A great volcanic lava field of flame and ashes--burning, +smoking--many miles in extent--showed where Paris had been. Around it +ragged creatures were prowling, looking for something to eat, digging +up roots in the fields. At one place, in the open country, I +observed, ahead of us, a tall and solitary tree in a field; near it +were the smouldering ruins of a great house. I saw something white +moving in the midst of the foliage, near the top of the tree. I +turned my glass upon it. It was a woman, holding something in her +arms. + +"Can we not take her up?" I asked the captain of the airship. + +"We cannot stop the vessel in that distance--but we might return to +it," he replied. + +"Then do so, for God's sake," I said. + +We swooped downward. We passed near the tree. The woman screamed to +us to stop, and held up an infant. Christina and Estella and all the +other women wept. We passed the tree--the despairing cries of the +woman were dreadful to listen to. But she takes courage; sees us +sweep about; we come slowly back; we stop; a rope ladder falls; I +descend; I grasp the child's clothes between my teeth; I help the +woman up the ladder. She falls upon the deck of the ship, and cries +out in French: "Spare my child!" Dreadful period! when every human +being is looked upon as a murderer. The women comfort her. Her +clothes are in rags, but upon her fingers are costly jewels. Her babe +is restored to her arms; she faints with hunger and exhaustion. For +three days, she tells us, she has been hidden in that tree, without +food or drink; and has seen all dear to her perish--all but her +little Francois. And with what delight Estella and Christina and the +rest cuddle and feed the pretty, chubby, hungry little stranger! + +Thank God for the angel that dwells in human nature. And woe unto him +who bids the devil rise to cast it out! + +Max, during all this day, is buried in profound thought. He looks out +at the desolated world and sighs. Even Christina fails to attract his +attention. Why should he be happy when there is so much misery? Did +he not help to cause it? + +But, after a time, we catch sight of the blue and laughing waters of +the Mediterranean, with its pleasant, bosky islands. This is gone, +and in a little while the yellow sands of the great desert stretch +beneath us, and extend ahead of us, far as the eye can reach. We pass +a toiling caravan, with its awkward, shuffling, patient camels, and +its dark attendants. They have heard nothing, in these solitudes, of +the convulsions that rend the world. They pray to Allah and Mahomet +and are happy. The hot, blue, cloudless sky rises in a great dome +above their heads; their food is scant and rude, but in their veins +there burn not those wild fevers of ambition which have driven +mankind to such frenzies and horrors. They live and die as their +ancestors did, ten thousand years ago--unchangeable as the stars +above their heads; and these are even as they shone clear and bright +when the Chaldean shepherds first studied the outlines of the +constellations, and marked the pathways of the wandering planets. + +Before us, at last, rise great blue masses, towering high in air, +like clouds, and extending from east to west; and these, in a little +while, as we rush on, resolve themselves into a mighty mountain +range, snow-capped, with the yellow desert at its feet, stretching +out like a Persian rug. + +I direct the pilot, and in another hour the great ship begins to +abate its pace; it sweeps in great circles. I see the sheep flying +terrified by our shadow; then the large, roomy, white-walled house, +with its broad verandas, comes into view; and before it, looking up +at us in surprise, are my dear mother and brothers, and our servants. + +The ship settles down from its long voyage. We are at home. We are at +peace. + + CHAPTER XL. + + THE GARDEN IN THE MOUNTAINS + +[_These concluding lines are from the journal of Gabriel Weltstein_.] + +Since my return home I have not been idle. In the first place, I +collected and put together the letters I had written to my brother +Heinrich, from New York. I did this because I thought they were +important, as a picture of the destruction of civilization, and of +the events which led up to it. I furthermore had them printed on our +printing-press, believing that every succeeding century would make +them more valuable to posterity; and that in time they would be +treasured as we now treasure the glimpses of the world before the +Deluge, contained in the Book of Genesis. + +And I have concluded to still further preserve, in the pages of this +journal, a record of events as they transpire. + +As soon as I had explained to my family the causes of our return--for +which they were in part prepared by my letters to Heinrich--and had +made them acquainted with my wife and friends, I summoned a meeting +of the inhabitants of our colony--there are about five thousand of +them, men, women and children. + +They all came, bringing baskets of provisions with them, as to a +picnic. We met in an ancient grove upon a hillside. I spoke to them +and told them the dreadful tale of the destruction of the world. I +need not say that they were inexpressibly shocked by the awful +narrative. Many of them wept bitterly, and some even cried out +aloud--for they had left behind them, in Switzerland, many dear +friends and relatives. I comforted them as best I could, by reminding +them that the Helvetian Republic had survived a great many dynasties +and revolutions; that they were not given to the luxuries and +excesses that had wrecked the world, but were a primitive people, +among whom labor had always remained honorable. Moreover, they were a +warlike race, and their mountains were their fortifications; and they +would, therefore, probably, be able to defend themselves against the +invasion of the hungry and starving hordes who would range and ravage +the earth. + +The first question for us, I said, was to ascertain how to best +protect ourselves from like dangers. We then proceeded to discuss the +physical conformation of our country. It is a vast table-land, +situated at a great height far above the tropical and miasmatic +plains, and surrounded by mountains still higher, in which dwell the +remnants of that curious white race first described by Stanley. The +only access to our region from the lower country is by means of the +ordinary wagon road which winds upward through a vast defile or gorge +in the mountains. At one point the precipitous walls of this gorge +approach so closely together that there is room for only two wagons +to pass abreast. We determined to assemble all our men the next day +at this place, and build up a high wall that would completely cut off +communication with the external world, making the wall so thick and +strong that it would be impossible for any force that was likely to +come against us to batter it down. + +This was successfully accomplished; and a smooth, straight wall, +thirty feet high and about fifty broad at its widest point, now rises +up between our colony and the external world. It was a melancholy +reflection that we--human beings--were thus compelled to exclude our +fellow-men. + +We also stationed a guard at a high point near the wall, and +commanding a view of its approaches for many miles; and we agreed +upon a system of bale-fires (_Bael_ fires), or signal beacons, to +warn the whole settlement, in case of the approach of an enemy. + +We next established a workshop, under the charge of Carl Jansen, in +which he trained some of our young men in metal-working, and they +proceeded to make a large supply of magazine rifles, so that every +man in the settlement might be well armed. Carl is one of those +quiet, unpretending men whose performance is always better than their +promise; and he is a skillful worker in the metals. The iron and coal +we found in abundance in our mountains. We also cast a number of +powerful cannon, placed on very high wheels, and which could be fired +vertically in case we were attacked by air-ships;--although I thought +it probable that the secret of their manufacture would be lost to the +world in the destruction of civilization. We, however, carefully +housed the Demon under a shed, built for the purpose, intending, when +we had time, to make other air-ships like it, with which to +communicate with the external world, should we desire to do so. + +Having taken all steps necessary to protect ourselves from others, we +then began to devise means by which we might protect ourselves from +ourselves; for the worst enemies of a people are always found in +their own midst, in their passions and vanities. And the most +dangerous foes of a nation do not advance with drums beating and +colors flying, but creep upon it insidiously, with the noiseless feet +of a fatal malady. + +In this work I received great help from Max, and especially from his +father. The latter had quite recovered the tone of his mind. He was +familiar with all the philosophies of government, and he continued to +be filled with an ardent desire to benefit mankind. Max had seemed, +for some days after our arrival, to be seriously depressed, brooding +over his own thoughts; and he seized eagerly upon the work I gave him +to do, as if he would make up by service to our people for any +injuries he had done the world. We held many consultations. For good +purposes and honest instincts we may trust to the multitude; but for +long-sighted thoughts of philanthropy, of statesmanship and +statecraft, we must look to a few superior intellects. It is, +however, rarely that the capacity to do good and the desire to do +good are found united in one man. + +When we had formulated our scheme of government we called the people +together again; and after several days of debate it was substantially +agreed upon. + +In our constitution, we first of all acknowledged our dependence on +Almighty God; believing that all good impulses on earth spring from +his heart, and that no government can prosper which does not possess +his blessing. + +We decreed, secondly, a republican form of government. Every adult +man and woman of sound mind is permitted to vote. We adopted a system +of voting that we believed would insure perfect secrecy and prevent +bribery--something like that which had already been in vogue, in some +countries, before the revolution of the Proletariat. + +The highest offense known to our laws is treason against the state, +and this consists not only in levying war against the government, but +in corrupting the voter or the office-holder; or in the voter or +office-holder selling his vote or his services. For these crimes the +penalty is death. But, as they are in their very nature secret +offenses, we provide, in these cases only, for three forms of +verdict: "guilty," "not guilty" and "suspected." This latter verdict +applies to cases where the jury are morally satisfied, from the +surrounding circumstances, that the man is guilty, although there is +not enough direct and positive testimony to convict him. The jury +then have the power--not as a punishment to the man, but for the +safety of the community--to declare him incapable of voting or +holding office for a period of not less than one nor more than five +years. We rank bribery and corruption as high treason; because +experience has demonstrated that they are more deadly in their +consequences to a people than open war against the government, and +many times more so than murder. + +We decreed, next, universal and compulsory education. No one can vote +who cannot read and write. We believe that one man's ignorance should +not countervail the just influence of another man's intelligence. +Ignorance is not only ruinous to the individual, but destructive to +society. It is an epidemic which scatters death everywhere. + +We abolish all private schools, except the higher institutions and +colleges. We believe it to be essential to the peace and safety of +the commonwealth that the children of all the people, rich and poor, +should, during the period of growth, associate together. In this way, +race, sectarian and caste prejudices are obliterated, and the whole +community grow up together as brethren. Otherwise, in a generation or +two, we shall have the people split up into hostile factions, fenced +in by doctrinal bigotries, suspicious of one another, and +antagonizing one another in politics, business and everything else. + +But, as we believe that it is not right to cultivate the heads of the +young to the exclusion of their hearts, we mingle with abstract +knowledge a cult of morality and religion, to be agreed upon by the +different churches; for there are a hundred points wherein they agree +to one wherein they differ. And, as to the points peculiar to each +creed, we require the children to attend school but five days in the +week, thus leaving one day for the parents or pastors to take charge +of their religious training in addition to the care given them on +Sundays. + +We abolish all interest on money, and punish with imprisonment the +man who receives it. + +The state owns all roads, streets, telegraph or telephone lines, +railroads and mines, and takes exclusive control of the mails and +express matter. + +As these departments will in time furnish employment for a great many +officials, who might be massed together by the party in power, and +wielded for political purposes, we decree that any man who accepts +office relinquishes, for the time being, his right of suffrage. The +servants of the people have no right to help rule them; and he who +thinks more of his right to vote than of an office is at liberty to +refuse an appointment. + +As we have not an hereditary nobility, as in England, or great +geographical subdivisions, as in America, we are constrained, in +forming our Congress or Parliament, to fall back upon a new device. + +Our governing body, called _The People_, is divided into three +branches. The first is elected exclusively by the producers, to-wit: +the workmen in the towns and the farmers and mechanics in the +country; and those they elect must belong to their own class. As +these constitute the great bulk of the people, the body that +represents them stands for the House of Commons in England, or the +House of Representatives in America. The second branch is elected +exclusively by and from the merchants and manufacturers, and all who +are engaged in trade, or as employers of labor. The third branch, +which is the smallest of the three, is selected by the authors, +newspaper writers, artists, scientists, philosophers and literary +people generally. This branch is expected to hold the balance of +power, where the other two bodies cannot agree. It may be expected +that they will be distinguished by broad and philanthropic views and +new and generous conceptions. Where a question arises as to which of +these three groups or subdivisions a voter belongs to, the matter is +to be decided by the president of the Republic. + +No law can be passed, in the first instance, unless it receives a +majority vote in each of the three branches, or a two-thirds vote in +two of them. Where a difference of opinion arises upon any point of +legislation, the three branches are to assemble together and discuss +the matter at issue, and try to reach an agreement. As, however, the +experience of the world has shown that there is more danger of the +upper classes combining to oppress the producers than there is of the +producers conspiring to govern them,--except in the last desperate +extremity, as shown recently,--it is therefore decreed that if the +Commons, by a three-fourths vote, pass any measure, it becomes a law, +notwithstanding the veto of the other two branches. + +The executive is elected by the Congress for a period of four years, +and is not eligible for re-election. He has no veto and no control of +any patronage. In the election of president a two-thirds vote of each +branch is necessary. + +Whenever it can be shown, in the future, that in any foreign country +the wages of labor and the prosperity of the people are as high as in +our own, then free trade with that people is decreed. But whenever +the people of another country are in greater poverty, or working at a +lower rate of wages than our own, then all commercial intercourse +with them shall be totally interdicted. For impoverished labor on one +side of a line, unless walled out, must inevitably drag down labor on +the other side of the line to a like condition. Neither is the device +of a tariff sufficient; for, although it is better than free trade, +yet, while it tends to keep up the price of goods, it lets in the +products of foreign labor; this diminishes the wages of our own +laborers by decreasing the demand for their productions to the extent +of the goods imported; and thus, while the price of commodities is +held up for the benefit of the manufacturers, the price of labor +falls. There can be no equitable commerce between two peoples +representing two different stages of civilization, and both engaged +in producing the same commodities. Thus the freest nations are +constantly pulled down to ruin by the most oppressed. What would +happen to heaven if you took down the fence between it and hell? We +are resolved that our republic shall be of itself, by itself--"in a +great pool, a swan's nest." + +As a corollary to these propositions, we decree that our Congress +shall have the right to fix the rate of compensation for all forms of +labor, so that wages shall never fall below a rate that will afford +the laborer a comfortable living, with a margin that will enable him +to provide for his old age. It is simply a question of the adjustment +of values. This experiment has been tried before by different +countries, but it was always tried in the interest of the employers; +the laborers had no voice in the matter; and it was the interest of +the upper class to cheapen labor; and hence _Muscle_ became a drug +and _Cunning_ invaluable and masterful; and the process was continued +indefinitely until the catastrophe came. Now labor has its own branch +of our Congress, and can defend its rights and explain its +necessities. + +In the comparison of views between the three classes some reasonable +ground of compromise will generally be found; and if error is +committed we prefer that it should enure to the benefit of the many, +instead of, as heretofore, to the benefit of the few. + +We declare in the preamble to our constitution that "this government +is intended to be merely a plain and simple instrument, to insure to +every industrious citizen not only liberty, but an educated mind, a +comfortable home, an abundant supply of food and clothing, and a +pleasant, happy life." + +Are not these the highest objects for which governments can exist? +And if government, on the old lines, did not yield these results, +should it not have been so reformed as to do so? + +We shall not seek to produce uniformity of recompense for all kinds +of work; for we know that skilled labor is intrinsically worth more +than unskilled; and there are some forms of intellectual toil that +are more valuable to the world than any muscular exertion. The object +will be not to drag down, but to lift up; and, above all, to prevent +the masses from falling into that awful slough of wretchedness which +has just culminated in world-wide disaster. + +The government will also regulate the number of apprentices who shall +enter any given trade or pursuit. For instance, there may be too many +shoemakers and not enough farmers; if, now, more shoemakers crowd +into that trade, they will simply help starve those already there; +but if they are distributed to farming, and other employments, where +there is a lack, then there is more work for the shoemakers, and in +time a necessity for more shoemakers. + +There is no reason why the ingenuity of man should not be applied to +these great questions. It has conquered the forces of steam and +electricity, but it has neglected the great adjustments of society, +on which the happiness of millions depends. If the same intelligence +which has been bestowed on perfecting the steam-engine had been +directed to a consideration of the correlations of man to man, and +pursuit to pursuit, supply and demand would have precisely matched +each other, and there need have been no pauperism in the world--save +that of the sick and imbecile. And the very mendicants would begin to +rise when the superincumbent pressure of those who live on the edge +of pauperism had been withdrawn. + +We deny gold and silver any function as money except for small +amounts--such as five dollars or less. We know of no supplies of +those metals in our mountains, and if we tied our prosperity to their +chariot, the little, comparatively, there is among us, would +gradually gravitate into a few hands, and these men would become the +masters of the country. We issue, therefore, a legal-tender paper +money, receivable for all indebtedness, public and private, and not +to be increased beyond a certain _per capita_ of population. + +We decree a limitation upon the amount of land or money any one man +can possess. All above that must be used, either by the owner or the +government, in works of public usefulness. + +There is but one town in our colony--it is indeed not much more than +a village--called Stanley. The republic has taken possession of all +the land in and contiguous to it, not already built on--paying the +owners the present price of the same; and hereafter no lots will be +sold except to persons who buy to build homes for themselves; and +these lots will be sold at the original cost price. Thus the +opportunity for the poor to secure homes will never be diminished. + +We further decree that when hereafter any towns or cities or villages +are to be established, it shall only be by the nation itself. +Whenever one hundred persons or more petition the government, +expressing their desire to build a town, the government shall then +take possession of a sufficient tract of land, paying the intrinsic, +not the artificial, price therefor. It shall then lay the land out in +lots, and shall give the petitioners and others the right to take the +lots at the original cost price, provided they make their homes upon +them. We shut out all speculators. + +No towns started in any other way shall have railroad or mail +facilities. + +When once a municipality is created in the way I have described, it +shall provide, in the plat of the town, parks for recreation; no lot +shall contain less than half an acre; the streets shall be very wide +and planted with fruit trees in double and treble rows. In the center +of the town shall be erected a town hall, with an assembly chamber, +arranged like a theater, and large enough to seat all the +inhabitants. The building shall also contain free public baths, a +library, a reading-room, public offices, etc. The municipality shall +divide the people into groups of five hundred families each, and for +each group they shall furnish a physician, to be paid for out of the +general taxes. They shall also provide in the same way concerts and +dramatic representations and lectures, free of charge. The hours of +labor are limited to eight each day; and there are to be two holidays +in the week, Wednesday and Sundays. just as the state is able to +carry the mails for less than each man could carry them for himself, +so the cost of physicians and entertainments procured by the +municipality will be much less than under the old system. + +We do not give any encouragement to labor-saving inventions, although +we do not discard them. We think the end of government should be--not +cheap goods or cheap men, but happy families. If any man makes a +serviceable invention the state purchases it at a reasonable price +for the benefit of the people. + +Men are elected to whom all disputes are referred; each of the +contestants selects a man, and the three act together as arbitrators. +Where a jury is demanded the defeated party pays all the expenses. We +hold that it is not right that all the peaceable citizens should be +taxed to enable two litigious fellows to quarrel. Where a man is +convicted of crime he is compelled to work out all the cost of his +trial and conviction, and the cost of his support as a prisoner, +before he can be discharged. If vice will exist, it must be made +self-supporting. + +[_An extract from Gabriel's journal-five years later._] + +I have just left a very happy group upon the veranda--Estella and our +two darling little children; Christina and her three flaxen-haired +beauties. Max is away on his sheep farm. My mother and Mrs. and Mr. +Phillips are reading, or playing with the children. The sun is +shining brightly, and the birds are singing. I enter my library to +make this entry in my journal. + +God has greatly blessed us and all our people. There were a few +conservatives who strenuously objected at first to our reforms; but +we mildly suggested to them that if they were not happy--and desired +it--we would transfer them to the outside world, where they could +enjoy the fruits of the time-hallowed systems they praised so much. +They are now the most vigorous supporters of the new order of things. +And this is one of the merits of your true conservative: if you can +once get him into the right course he will cling to it as tenaciously +as he formerly clung to the wrong. They are not naturally bad men; +their brains are simply incapable of suddenly adjusting themselves to +new conceptions. + +The Demon returned yesterday from a trip to the outside world. Max's +forebodings have been terribly realized. Three-fourths of the human +race, in the civilized lands, have been swept away. In France and +Italy and Russia the slaughter has been most appalling. In many +places the Demon sailed for hundreds of miles without seeing a human +being. The wild beasts--wolves and bears--are reassuming possession +of the country. In Scandinavia and in northern America, where the +severity of the climate somewhat mitigated the ferocity of man, some +sort of government is springing up again; and the peasants have +formed themselves into troops to defend their cattle and their homes +against the marauders. + +But civility, culture, seem to have disappeared. There are no +newspapers, no books, no schools, no teachers. The next generation +will be simply barbarians, possessing only a few dim legends of the +refinement and wonderful powers of their ancestors. Fortunate it is +indeed, that here, in these mountains, we have preserved all the +instrumentalities with which to restore, when the world is ready to +receive it, the civilization of the former ages. + +Our constitution has worked admirably. Not far from here has arisen +the beautiful village of Lincoln. It is a joy to, visit it, as I do +very often. + +The wide streets are planted with trees; not shade trees, but fruit +trees, the abundance of which is free to all. Around each modest +house there is a garden, blooming with flowers and growing food for +the household. There are no lordly palaces to cast a chill shadow +over humble industry; and no resplendent vehicles to arouse envy and +jealousy in the hearts of the beholders. Instead of these shallow +vanities a sentiment of brotherly love dwells in all hearts. The poor +man is not worked to death, driven to an early grave by hopeless and +incessant toil. No; he sings while he works, and his heart is merry. +No dread shadow of hunger hangs over him. We are breeding men, not +millionaires. + +And the good wife sings also while she prepares the evening meal, for +she remembers that this is the night of the play; and yonder, on that +chair, lies the unfinished dress which her handsome daughter is to +wear, next Saturday night, to the weekly ball. And her sons are +greatly interested in the lectures on chemistry and history. + +Let us look in upon them at supper. The merry, rosy faces of young +and old; the cheerful converse; the plain and abundant food. Here are +vegetables from their own garden, and fruit from the trees that line +the wide streets. + +Listen to their talk! The father is telling how the municipality +bought, some three years ago, a large number of female calves, at a +small cost; and now they are milch cows; and the town authorities are +about to give one of them to every poor family that is without one. + +And they praise this work; they love mankind, and the good, kindly +government--their own government--which so cares for humanity and +strives to lift it up. And then the father explains that each person +who now receives a free gift of a milch cow is to bring to the +municipal government the first female calf raised by that cow, and +the city will care for that, too, for two or three years, and then +bestow it upon some other poor family; and so, in endless rotation, +the organized benevolence does its work, perennial as seed-time and +harvest; and none are the poorer for it, and all are the happier. + +But come; they have finished their supper, amid much merriment, and +are preparing to go to the play. Let us follow them. How the streets +swarm! Not with the dark and terrible throngs that dwell so vividly +in my memory; but a joyous crowd--laughing, talking, loving one +another--each with a merry smile and a kindly word for his neighbor. +And here we are at the door of the play-house. + +There is no fumbling to find the coins that can perhaps be but poorly +spared; but free as the streets the great doors open. What hurry, +what confusion, what chatter, what a rustle of dresses, as they seek +their seats. + +But hush! The curtain rises. The actors are their own +townspeople--young men and women who have shown an aptitude for the +art; they have been trained at the cost of the town, and are paid a +small stipend for their services once a week. How the lights shine! +How sweet is the music! What a beautiful scene! And what lovely +figures are these, clad in the picturesque garb of some far-away +country or some past age. And listen! They are telling the old, old +story; old as the wooing of Eve in Eden; the story of human love, +always so dear, so precious to the human heart. + +But see! the scene has changed--here is a merry-making; a crowd of +flower-wreathed lads and lasses enter, and the harmonious dance, +instinct with life and motion,--the poetry of human limbs,--unrolls +itself before our eyes. + +And so the pretty drama goes forward. An idyl of the golden age; of +that glorious epoch when virtue was always triumphant, and vice was +always exposed and crushed. + +But the play is over; and the audience stream back, laughing and +chatting, under the stars, down the long, fruit-embowered streets, to +their flower-bedecked, humble homes. + +And how little it costs to make mankind happy! + +And what do we miss in all this joyous scene? Why, where are the +wolves, that used to prowl through the towns and cities of the world +that has passed away? The slinking, sullen, bloody-mouthed +miscreants, who, under one crafty device or another, would spring +upon, and tear, and destroy the poor, shrieking, innocent +people--where are they? + +Ah! this is the difference: The government which formerly fed and +housed these monsters, under cunning kennels of perverted law, and +broke open holes in the palisades of society, that they might crawl +through and devastate the community, now shuts up every crevice +through which they could enter; stops every hole of opportunity; +crushes down every uprising instinct of cruelty and selfishness. And +the wolves have disappeared; and our little world is a garden of +peace and beauty, musical with laughter. + +And so mankind moves with linked hands through happy lives to deaths; +and God smiles down upon them from his throne beyond the stars. + + End of Caesar's Column by Ignatius Donnelly + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, CAESAR'S COLUMN *** + +This file should be named 7ccol10.txt or 7ccol10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7ccol11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7ccol10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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